The Ten Commandments: Accounting Systems

It is a little known fact that there are different commandments depending on whether one is Protestant, Jewish or Catholic. This has to do with the different traditions of each group.

Jews even say that they are not so much Commandments as the Ten Words, since they regard the opening statement, "I am the Lord your God, who..." as one of the Ten. From Infogalactic: "עשרת הדברות (transliterated Asereth ha-Dibroth), both translatable as "the ten words", "the ten sayings" or "the ten matters".^[2]"

Traditions:

• LXX: Septuagint, generally followed by Orthodox Christians.
• P: Philo, same as the Septuagint, but with the prohibitions on killing and adultery reversed.
• S: Samaritan Pentateuch, with an additional commandment about Mount Gerizim as 10th.
• T: Jewish Talmud, makes the "prologue" the first "saying" or "matter" and combines the prohibition on worshiping deities other than Yahweh with the prohibition on idolatry.
• A: Augustine follows the Talmud in combining verses 3–6, but omits the prologue as a commandment and divides the prohibition on coveting in two and following the word order of Deuteronomy 5:21 rather than Exodus 20:17.
• C: Catechism of the Catholic Church, largely follows Augustine.
• L: Lutherans follow Luther's Large Catechism, which follows Augustine but omits the prohibition of images^[17] and uses the word order of Exodus 20:17 rather than Deuteronomy 5:21 for the ninth and tenth commandments.
• R: Reformed Christians follow John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, which follows the Septuagint.

The Ten Commandments

LXX	P	S	T	A	C	L	R	Main article	Exodus 20:1-17	Deuteronomy 5:4-21
—	—	—	1	—	1	—	(1)	I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.	2[18]	6[18]
1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	Thou shalt have no other gods before me	3[19]	7[19]
2	2	1	2	1	1	—	2	Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image	4–6[20]	8–10[21]
3	3	2	3	2	2	2	3	Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain	7[22]	11[23]
4	4	3	4	3	3	3	4	Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy	8–11[24]	12–15[25]
5	5	4	5	4	4	4	5	Honour thy father and thy mother	12[26]	16[27]
6	7	5	6	5	5	5	6	Thou shalt not kill	13[28]	17[28]
7	6	6	7	6	6	6	7	Thou shalt not commit adultery	14[29]	18[30]
8	8	7	8	7	7	7	8	Thou shalt not steal	15[31]	19[32]
9	9	8	9	8	8	8	9	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour	16[33]	20[34]
10	10	9	10	10	10	9	10	Thou shalt not covet(neighbor's house)	17a[35]	21b[36]
10	10	9	10	9	9	10	10	Thou shalt not covet(neighbor's wife)	17b[37]	21a[38]
10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	Thou shalt not covet(neighbor's servants, animals, or anything else)	17c[39]	21c[40]
—	—	10	—	—	—	—	—	Ye shall erect these stones which I command thee upon Mount Gerizim	17d(Samaritan)	21d (Samaritan)

A Thanksgiving Story

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 120--21

1623

All this while no supply was heard of, neither knew they when they might expect any. So they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery. At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go on in the general way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end, only for present use (but made no division for inheritance) and ranged all boys and youth under some family. This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.

The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato's and other ancients applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For thiscommunity (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For the young men, that were most able and fit for labour and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense. The strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labours and victuals, clothes, etc., with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them. And for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brook it. Upon the point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like condition, and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them. And would have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none object this is men's corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in His wisdom saw another course fitter for them.

The Founders' Constitution
Volume 1, Chapter 16, Document 1
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s1.html
The University of Chicago Press

Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620--1647. Edited by Samuel Eliot Morison. New York: Modern Library, 1967.

The bishop cometh

Today the Bishop of the Catholic Ordinariate to which the parish belongs which I attend most Sundays for mass is coming to attend the sacrament of Confirmation for our younger sentient members. It is a time of great excitement. The Greek word for Bishop, επίσκοπος, simply means "overseer". May he be welcome, and likewise be delighted by the ministry in our Parish he oversees.

Easiest Way to Avoid Time in Purgatory

It occurred to me the other day, "I wonder what the easiest way to avoid any time in Purgatory is, since there have been various apparitions granting relief from such things?" Most sources just give ways to minimize your time, but I wanted to find a traditional method that eliminates it. For the purpose of answering the question, I assumed that all apparitions and promises reported by Catholic saints were true that have a tradition going back more than 100 years.

This appears to be the easiest one (There are several I found):

"St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, with St. Matilda and St. Bridget, wishing to know something of the Passion of Jesus Christ, offered fervent and special prayers. upon which Our Lord revealed to them:

To all the faithful who shall recite for 3 years, each day, 2 Our Fathers, 2 Hail Marys and 2 Glory Bes in honor of the drops of Blood I lost, I will concede the following 5 graces:

1st: The plenary indulgence and remittance of your sins.
2nd: You will be free from the pains of Purgatory.
3rd: If you should die before completing the said 3 years, for you it will be the same as if you had completed them.
4th: It will be upon your death the same as if you had shed all your blood for the Holy Faith.
5th: I will descend from Heaven to take your soul and that of your relatives, until the fourth generation.

Blessed by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII in Rome, April 5, 1890."

I've seen it in several places on the internet. Seems too good to be true, if you believe in Purgatory. But, then, isn't the whole salvation story "too good to be true" for sinners as well?

Music Review: Sons of Korah

Seeking the Full Spectrum

Before I tell you why you should like the band Sons of Korah and their work, some background: I'm an amateur musician. I led a string quartet for profit doing weddings as a violinist in college. Once upon a time I assisted with vocals and violin for the modern mass at my local Novus-Ordo-only Catholic Church at a service complete with drums, guitars, mandolin, and frequently a jazz-style black dreadlocks-wearing pianist named Yeshua (Don't shoot me, my traddy Catholic brothers; I wouldn't do so today). I played fiddle for a country band that played in bars and other similar venues in Texas also in college (Our signature song was "Silver Tambourine") before I put the quartet together. Probably due to my experiences, I have eclectic taste in music.

One critique I have of most modern Christian music such as you hear on Orlando's "Positive Hits Z88.3" for example is that the music is too focused upon the emotional experience of the worshipper, or describes God with the term "Holy" or "Awesome" without ever really unpacking what that means--likely because doing so would ruin their market segmentation, to analyze the motivations at work cynically. Emotionalism and abstraction tend to have the net effect of turning music intended for worship or spiritual catechesis into mere entertainment, intended not for God's ears but just for the congregation or audience's. Not only is this a disservice to the Faithful, but it plays into the hands of the critics of religion, because indeed it makes religion into nothing more than Marx's "opiate of the Masses" rather than the honest communion between Man and his Maker.

This is analogous to the Prayers of the Faithful you often hear in churches where the representative prays for God to "open our hearts to [insert behavior that the Church wishes the congregation to do more of]." Whether it's giving money for a program, being more friendly to gays, or being okay with illegal immigrants stealing from and further overburdening a welfare system they didn't pay into, the "prayer" wasn't really to God, but to the people listening. It's a subtle attempt to coerce the congregation under the guise of God's sovereign Will. Like entertainment-oriented "worship" music about "God", it's a perversion of what it purports to be. But I digress.

Really, should I perpetually be uplifted specifically with clappy-happy "positive Christian hits"? What modern Christian music do we play in Lent to access that season's emotions, if such a season is even appropriate according to the worldview of the station's DJ? There are exceptions:

But you won't hear them often on the radio.

Maybe I would like to weep at times, or simply be shocked and in awe over something that transcends my capability to fully appreciate.

And sometimes I do come across modern music that causes me to inwardly rejoice this way.

On the other hand, maybe I should be warned by stories of calamity and misplaced priorities. (No, "Jesus Take the Wheel" does not quite do it for me, although it is at least different.) We get enough of that in everyday reality, you say? Perhaps, but should not music reflect the highs and the lows of spiritual life and suffuse them with tonal beauty, redeem them, validate them?

And, what about when that backstabbing jerk at work just got another promotion and God appears not to see? What about when that political candidate just got another pass when he or she should be wearing a striped jumpsuit? Aren't there times when righteous anger is appropriate?

No, the positive hits radio station is not going to provide musical expression to these yearnings of the soul for Justice and terrible Vengeance, or enter into the sadness and hopelessness of poverty, or frankly give listeners access to many of the other righteous emotions on the spectrum of the human heart. (You might even start believing these emotions are inherently sinful, and I'm sure many modern pastors might tell you that you need to turn that frown upside down or risk God's displeasure.) While I agree that brooding over and feeding these emotions until they consume happiness is unhealthy--we are after all "more than conquerors," according to St. Paul--yet they have their correct place. God gave them to us to spur us to the correct action, whether it is casting the merchants and money-changers out of the temple, or falling down to beg God's intercession, and they should be expressed in our music, whether in the Church or outside the Church.

The Solution? Radical return to the Scriptures as the lyrical source of our popular Christian music.

Enter The Sons of Korah

Sons of Korah is an Australian-based band that has been around since the 90s, but I only discovered this past year. They have interpreted over 50 of the 150 Psalms into modern music usually using fairly close translations to the original text. In so doing, they eliminate much of the tendency to shy away from certain spiritual topics, like God's vengeance, or the blessing of having a large family, or the lie that is the prosperity "Gospel". I was especially impressed with what they did with Psalm 95:

I might have expected them to hold off on the conclusion, and admittedly they do conclude on a more positive note by returning to the original theme of the song, but they faithfully communicated the warning at the conclusion of the original Psalm, which is kind of a "downer": "Don't be like Moses' Israelites, because I wiped them out to a man in the Sinai Desert when they doubted me, and they never saw the Promised Land."

Sons of Korah is not your average Christian band. They aren't afraid to hit the impreccatory Psalms either:

I appreciate the completeness of most of SoK's renderings of the Psalms because textual faithfulness helps us better connect with God through His written word and protects us from the filters we often unconsciously place on God and our understanding of Him because of the prejudices of our flawed secular culture that condition our selections and interpretation. They're not always perfect, but I can forgive a bit of musical license usually taken for the sake of phrasing according to the melodic frame they've chosen rather than obvious unwillingness to speak aloud some politically incorrect infallible text (which is better than the modern Catholic Lectionary can boast, I am sorry to tell those of you who use it and are not aware of its strategic omissions).

The music of Sons of Korah is one of those song-forms we were discussing in the comments of Benedict Augustine's excellent article "The Plague of Bad Church Music". Namely, the music of Sons of Korah is inappropriate for use in a traditional liturgical worship service, but fantastic for non-liturgical Christian music, would be great for Youth Gatherings outside the Sanctuary, and useful for personal meditation and catechesis, which is how I listen to it, usually during my morning and evening commutes.

A Bonus You Can Give Yourself

For those with modest sound editing ability, I might suggest you follow my lead by modifying the mp3s or CD tracks slightly. Using the GarageBand application on my MacBook, I did a simple but powerful thing. I spoke the number and opening line of the Psalm at the beginning and end of the audio track: "Psalm 94: O God Who Avenges". By doing this I created what is known as a memory hook. As you probably know, once you've listened to a CD numerous times, you automatically know what track comes next. Likewise, by creating these modified tracks I've been able to substantially increase my ability to cite and recognize the precise source of many pieces of scripture.

For example when Father Holiday interjected "He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust," into his homily a few weeks ago, I instantly knew he was referencing Psalm 103 because I had a song-version of 103 rolling around somewhere in or interacting with my temporal lobe that I had listened to with the Psalm number included before and after the music. And this is the level of scriptural understanding that many educated people once possessed even within living memory, because they were so thoroughly formed by the scriptures.

This kind of mastery is not only didactically useful, but rhetorically powerful and will cause someone with whom you are discussing Scripture to realize your seriousness and level of devotion which will (let's hope) make them more likely to give you a fair hearing: this is the classical appeal to Ethos. Chapter-and-verse memorization is less and less common even in conservative Protestant circles, and has been sadly lacking in young and old Catholics alike and even in the priesthood. It is time for a return. There are many musical sources you can use besides SoK. For example, I've annotated all of Handel's Messiah this way, as well as other scriptural works. The results after a few months will probably amaze you once you get twenty or thirty songs into your rotation: make sure they're catchy, though. If they're boring or poorly executed, it won't work. Your brain knows what it likes and selectively remembers that.

Eventually you can start testing yourself with a pen and paper to see what you can write down, and correct inevitable signal degradation as your brain garbles the memories of the Scripture if you haven't heard it in awhile. This can be particularly satisfying, as it is taking stock of your human limitations and combatting them. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" and all that.

Creating a Culture

If the American culture is totally poison and toxic to Christian spiritual formation, and it is, this indeed necessitates a certain amount of retreat from the culture, turning off the TV as I have advised before, and the development of new Christian media for the catechesis and benefit of God's people. Sons of Korah can be part of that Renaissance, and I thank God for the work they've done over the last few decades that I'm only just learning of and from. Check them out, and support their work!

I would enjoy and profit from hearing of other groups you are familiar with that appear to be moving Christian music away from entertainment and towards worship, scripture, and catechesis in the comments.

So Let's Talk about Creationism Again

A long time ago, I grew tired of explaining to conservative friends why a literal 6 day Creation belief based on Genesis 1-2 is irrational and, once you are familiar with the text, disrespectful to the original intent of the human authorship as well as its infallible divine origin. So I wrote this blog post to unpackage the chronology of the two Genesis accounts and explain that if taken literally, they contradict one another. So in order to avoid believing there are honest to goodness contradictions between the message the human authors of the Bible intended to communicate morally, historically, anologically and theologically, one must take the two accounts as analogically true.

Imagine my surprise when after referring a conservative Presbyterian friend to the blogpost, he started to say (1) I'm the one failing to give scripture its proper deference and (2) the two accounts in Genesis may be reconciled by taking into account that one or both have been altered in transmission from the original autograph (the first physical text) to the ones we have in front of us.

Well, if you don't see the problem with that, I probably can't help you. But consider that by attempting to defend a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2 this way, you are losing far more (ability to trust that the meaning of the text of scripture is substantially unchanged) than you are gaining (ability to say God made the World in six literal days because a version of the Bible we don't have said so). How he knew what this lost text said, is a mystery to me, dear reader. But you see my frustration.

A Presbyterian Asks Me Why I Converted to Catholicism

That's a long story, [Name redacted]. But let me first say that it is far from my intention to question the genuineness or sincerity of your own Christian Faith. I myself was educated by Presbyterians at the Geneva School in Winter Park, FL from middle through High School, and I have always respected the intellectual rigor of Calvinism, even if I had to part ways with many of its distinctives even before becoming Catholic. 

For me, the more apt question became "Why am I *not* Catholic?" Today there are 2.2 billion Christians

Book Review: Answering Atheism

Trent Horn writes with great clarity in this Catholic Answers-funded apologetic work, Answering Atheism. He ably summarizes the key reasons for both belief and crucially, for disbelief. He does such a good job of the latter that sometimes I fear he gives the atheists too much fuel with which to burn.

In my experience, most atheists are influenced far more by their dislike of the parents and desire to

Prioritizing the Bible in Our Lives

Whoever you are, and whatever your vocation aside from Christianity, you must read the Bible. You must know the Bible. Or else, you don't know who Jesus is, or what kind of cosmos you happen to live in for that matter.

It would be better if you knew it inside and out, but I think a few goals you should shoot for (and if already accomplished, shoot for for catechumens under your care) are these:

The Core of the Problem: The Triumph of Radical Empiricism

I think the overall problem with attempting to evangelize the citizens of the modern age is their typical disenchantment with the power of Reason. While we may prove God's existence using rational arguments, the modern (post-modern, whatever) mind of the Twenty-First Century only trusts in those things that can be seen with the eye, tasted, touched, heard and smelled, preferably quantified.

This is, of course, ridiculous, since Science presupposes the reliability not only of our senses and

Fun Story About Matthew 7:21-23

As my father and I were walking across the Rollins College Campus in Winter Park one Saturday afternoon not too long ago, we started talking about religion. I have given up deliberately bringing up religion around my parents, because I have determined that the best witness I can bear is in living a sober and collected Catholic life in all godliness and contentment, while answering any questions they may have in the meantime.

I do not recall how the topic came up then. Perhaps it was a sermon my father had heard recently. But whatever the impetus, my father spoke thus:

Genesis 28

Again, it's amazing to me that God is willing to work with material like Jacob. He's a wily sneaky character, and now he's running away from his problems with Esau rather than facing them. Yet God can work with whatever material humanity gives him. Imagine what he would be able to do in cooperation with some real virtue exerted by someone.

Sometimes when I am tempted to do what is evil, I consider that God is attempting to do something great with my life, even as he is attempting to reform Jacob. Only through cooperating can I hope to climb up the ladder between heaven and Earth, which is in fact near to every human soul, if its owner will open his eyes to see it. While Earth is full of real sorrows, much of our sorrow is simply the result of our inability to trust in God's plan and act like it.

“Oh, what Grace we often forfiet. 

Oh what needless pain we bear! 

All because we do not carry 

Everything to God in prayer."

Heretics Gonna Heretic.

From a misguided fellow convert to Catholicism and real heretic if she actually believes this nonsense:

Pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger submitted an invalid resignation in February of ARSH 2013, predicated upon the error that the Papacy could be bifurcated or in any way shared or expanded.  The relevant Canon is Canon 188, which states very plainly and succinctly:
A resignation made out of grave fear that is inflicted unjustly or out of malice,

New. Easy Commenting Settings

It has come to my attention that the comment settings I had in place basically required one to be a blogger oneself in order to comment. Given the lack of commenting and feedback here despite the relative intensity of commenting on other sites I write for, I am hoping the new settings permitting one to comment with just a username and no other identifying information will encourage more comments.

The new comment settings are effective immediately.

Question: Are Protestants Heretics?

It would seem that Protestants are heretics, because they deny Catholic doctrine and the true nature of the Catholic Church, called in Scripture the "Pillar and Bulwark of the Truth." Therefore they are heretics.

Furthermore, Protestants corrupt some of the Church's Sacraments, such as Holy Communion, which some of them attempt to distribute in the form of grape juice, while others of their ranks use the prescribed wine but deny that Christ is truly Present, and Protestants deny that other Sacraments, such as Confession, exist or are necessary. So

Genesis 27

It's always been amazing to me that God would abide by the workings of such a misused system. If Esau was truly Isaac's firstborn, then shouldn't he have received the blessing? Why does God allow Isaac to unjustly bless the younger child, to take away what belongs to Esau?

I think it illuminates the conundrum that God finds himself in as well. As God, he "holds all things together." As God, he is the One, "in whom we live and move and have our being." But that means that God holds people in being when they sin. He facilitates the continuing existence of rapists and murderers and does not intervene in any special way in most cases of Worldly injustice, or so it would appear at least in the short term.

So if God holds back and abides by the rules, allows Jacob the trickster to trick his way into the blessing, it's nothing new. It is the pattern of humanity. But God is preparing a lesson that he will teach to the legalistic Jacob, turning his worldview on its head, the same way he shook Abraham's worldview as Abraham was on the verge of proving his devotion through the time-tested method of sacrifice of one's child to the deity. But God does not desire burnt sacrifice. He doesn't even want a contract. He wants a covenant, a family to be formed between God and Man. Jacob's treacherous legalism will eventually form the foil for the jewel of God's faithful love for His beloved and chosen.

Genesis 26

What is it with these guys? Isaac follows in the footsteps of dear old dad by lying and claiming Rebekah is his sister, rather than his wife in order to save his hide. Let's note here that while Abraham was merely telling a half-truth, since Sarah was his half-sister, Isaac is telling an out-and-out lie. This could enter us on a journey of exploration into casuistry and just when it's okay to tell a lie or a truth, but I suspect the overarching lesson here, repeated three times now in both the lives of Abraham and Isaac, is don't flaunt your good fortune, including how hot your wife is. Men will attempt to punish you for your good fortune. Keep your good luck to yourself and enjoy it in private.

In other news, Esau becomes a polygamist of foreign wives, making clear yet again he is a bad choice and unworthy of the Blessing of the Firstborn. Of course the irony is that Jacob will be finagled into his own bigamous situation, but that's not for awhile yet.

A Reader Asks, "What led you to the Catholic Church?"

My father and I always used to talk about theology when we would go out on the weekends from as far back as I can remember. Whether we went out on the boat or out to the parks, once other topics had been exhausted, we'd go to that, and I'd have questions, and usually, he had answers. Yes, Baylor is Baptist, and I did convert to Catholicism while I was there. My parents were somewhat confused, since we attended a Lutheran Church for most of my childhood and they would have expected a conversion in a different direction. I could not really say we were Lutherans though, as my parents kind of beat to their own drum. They didn't have me baptized until I could declare Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior which I did when I was eight. 

My journey to full union with the Church was in several stages. First, and this was back in high school, I didn't like the fact that in the Lutheran Church we said the Nicene Creed, except instead of "catholic" we said "Christian". The Pastor told me it meant the same thing. It doesn't mean the same thing. I also didn't like the fact we said the Church is Apostolic. But we don't believe that ministers have to be appointed by successors to the apostles, and we didn't have apostolic succession or bishops the way the Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox do in keeping with the ancient tradition of the Church. 

So by college, I'd decided I wanted to be either Catholic, Anglican or Orthodox, since they all claimed ancient origins and apostolic succession and were Trinitarian Christians who believed (or at least could accept) some form of the Real Presence. But Orthodox didn't seem very Universal either, as there were no easily accessible Orthodox Churches where I was, and the ones I'd been to were all extremely ethnic. There were a lot of other reasons why not Orthodoxy. I believe I wrote a blog post about it a few months back that was in the form of a book review. So Anglicanism it was. How pleasant to have Protestant theology with the catholic form of church government! It was the via media, the best of both worlds. And the music was superb. Until they told me that abortion was okay. That business about St. John Baptist kicking in the womb when Jesus approached was idle poetry. The fact St. Paul forbids againstpharmakeia, which covered abortifacients as well as narcotics was culturally locked to that time period! The Holy Spirit had a new truth for our age. I needed to be open to it.

...

So Catholicism was the only game in town, but I was at an impasse, because they believed in papal infallibility, Marian immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, and they had some weird Aristotelian Greek philosophy stuff they overlaid onto the Scriptural account of the Lord's Supper and forced Catholics to believe.

It took me a long time and many conversations and meditation and study, but I got past those issues, and I realized that the Catholic Church was the only place I could really be intellectually content. At this point, if I were not Catholic, I'm afraid I would be an atheist. So let's hope I'm here to stay. Only the Catholic Church possesses the four marks of the True Church by which all men may know her: She is One, Holy, Universal and Apostolic.

Catalonia Rises

It would appear that the world will soon greet the birth of its newest nation state. I have no opinion about Catalonia's independence from Spain in particular, but in general, I believe in the free self-determination of peoples. If a nation of people wish to live free from another group of people, to cast off the ties that formerly bound them together, they should be free to do so without fear of coercion or violent reprisals. This is in keeping with the moral rectitude of the American Independence we recently celebrated.

The historical case of the Confederacy in moral terms is complicated by the fact that they owned slaves. In so far as Lincoln said he didn't care about freeing the slaves but only cared about preserving the Union, he was in the moral wrong for holding a nation of Southerners captive to their Northern masters.

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about Slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. -Abe Lincoln

In so far as the Confederates owned slaves and did not permit them to depart at will but demanded their labor without payment, they were in the moral wrong. Individuals should be free. Collections of individuals should be free. Governments should be small and as localized as possible to facilitate empathy between the governors and the governed. History is messy, but this much seems certain. Most of the misery of Revolution occurs when one group of people ceases to be of genuine utility to the other, when the ties that bind them cease to be mutual benefit, and become merely contractual.

God does not make a contract with Man. He establishes Covenant. And a covenant creates family bonds of support, commitment and love. Without that love, cooperation is, in the long term, impossible.

Music Library Update

I have updated the Scripture Music Library (Link on Right-hand sidebar) by numbering each of the books of the Bible and adding a few selections to the Psalms.

I would like to add some more verses in the near future, as I have some musical ideas floating around in my head.

Also, if anyone knows of an online audio library of ALL the Psalms, preferably in numerical order, chanted either in English or in Latin, I would be very interested in knowing of its existence. Most of the collections seem pretty random and incomplete though. I would think there would be such a resource, since I recall reading the monks in the medieval monasteries would chant through the entire Psalter once a month.

The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church

Islam and the rest of the World will be overwhelmed by the flood of love from Christians around the World united in solidarity, and by the conversion of nations from disgust at the bloodthirsty inhumanity of the foes of Christ. The ancient Roman emperors did not understand it then. The authoritarian Chinese do not understand it now. The love of Christ is unstoppable, and when you crush it, it blooms and spreads all the more.

In the darkest hour we rejoice. For we know the Day is coming when we shall be caught up in the sky to be with our Beloved.

Compliments to the New Saint Thomas Institute for this beautiful portrait of the Catholic Church's newest Saint.

Father Jacques Hamel, pray for us!

Things to Remember for My Next Caymanian Homecoming

I love Cayman Brac. Many generations of my mother's family lived and worked here in the harsh tropical sun, amidst the sharp rocks and poor soil. I believe I would like to retire here, despite the sparse Catholic presence. So since I must leave it tomorrow morning and begin the long although ridiculously non-arduous journey back to my home in Orlando, I offer some advice to my future self the next time I make it down:

1. Remember to bring along your computer and its charger everywhere.
2. Don't forget to visit the Iron Shore, and the Bluff with its rock climbing and caves.
3. This time, plan more than three hours (maybe more like six) to walk there and explore the caves.
4. Pack good shoes to do this with (like I didn't).
5. If you interact with cows on uncle's farm, do not wear red (like I did).
6. Beware of stepping on sea urchins, known here as "sea eggs" and pack some swim shoes (like I did and didn't, respectively).
7. Expect to get less studying done than you hope.
8. When replacing air-conditioner units for the house (a NECESSITY here, if yours prove dysfunctional as TWO of mine did), do NOT cut the living day-lights out of your fingers on the grating. (No further comment.)
9. Do not expect to understand every word the natives say, even after all your practice, especially those from the West End. (I love you all, island friends and relatives.)
10. Make sure to sample the local vegetable delights , including gineps, ackies, plums, breadfruit, cassava, more mango species than you can shake a stick at, and naseberries, each at least once on your trip, preferably many times.
11. Climb the dangerous rickety ladder system up the Bluff and enjoy that view Grandfather enjoyed every day on his way to tend the cows while he thrived; check footholds thrice before applying full weight.
12. Don't underestimate your cousin's chess-playing abilities, or play her while doing something else: You might not be able to pull the game out of the fire next time.
13. Try not to laugh out loud when my American immigrant family switch into their full Bracker accents.
14. Have a deep conversation with a loved one as you watch the sun set into the Caribbean Sea.
15. Beware of escaping embers from beachside bonfires. (Like I didn't.)
16. Never leave any rigging loose on the boat.
17. Aloe vera is a useful plant for chafing. (No further comment.)
18. Mass is at 11 o'clock in the morning at Stella Maris on the West End up the Bluff. Don't be late!
19. Stop by Grandfather's Grave by the Sea to say a Rosary for his repose.
20. Appreciate the blessedness of having such a loving and close family away from home.

Funeral

Greetings from Cayman Brac. My readers (Hi Mom!) might notice that I have not been active this past week on the blog. The reason is two-fold. First, I am away from home to attend and assist with the funeral of my maternal grandfather. Second, I made the mistake of leaving my computer charger at my uncle's house on Grand Cayman, and only received it back late last night.

The funeral will be tomorrow at Ten o'clock in the morning at the Seamen's Center since my grandfather served briefly in the British Royal Navy. There is only one Mass or Communion Service depending on if a priest is available (this is you in ten years America), on Cayman Brac at Eleven o'clock in the morning on Sunday with no services on Saturday, so I will have to miss my weekly obligation due to unavoidable necessity.


My grandfather was a simple man, born on Cayman Brac 94 years ago. Cayman Brac is a small island in the Caribbean Sea about 500 miles South of Miami, with Cuba in between, from which I write to you as I look out on the reef from a friend's house who has internet. Today, Cayman Brac has about 1,200 inhabitants. I do not know how few people it had in my grandfather's prime years, but our family helped to install electricity and other municipal services on the island, so it was pretty primitive and still is in many ways.

When my grandfather met my grandmother, she already had a small daughter. They had been abandoned by my grandmother's husband, who left for England, and never was heard from again. Despite this fact, and despite the fact that my grandmother was of mixed racial heritage while my grandfather was a member of the white aristocracy of the island, to much social disapproval he married my grandmother and they conceived and raised my mother and then my uncle.

Grandfather helped to build the Panama Canal, and with the money earned from that work, he purchased land here on Cayman Brac that was used for a cattle farm. The farm was not very successful, but it helped keep alive the small family of my grandmother (who was the island's sole seamstress for many years) himself, and my mother and uncle. As for the daughter from a previous marriage, my aunt ambitiously applied for a scholarship to the United States (which my mother later did too) before my mother's birth, and she married an American and raised a family of her own.

The nuclear family my grandfather headed, like the extended family, were and still are Seventh Day Adventists. According to my mother, her father said that before he met my grandmother, an Adventist minister helped release him from his slavery to cigarettes and rum. Although they have their own theological oddities, the Seventh Day Adventists are one of the more conservative Protestant denominations, and their dietary restrictions and strict Sabbatarianism are on the whole salutary to the physical health and well-being of their adherents, probably the most famous now living of whom is former Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson.

According to my cousin, Grandfather's second grandson after me, my grandfather's advice to him was to do what you love to do, because life is short and does not last.

Well, Viejo, I pray for your soul tonight and that by God's mercy you have found the Life that does not grow wearisome. May you rest in peace.

My Bible saves me from hassle.

 am traveling by air to my grandfather's funeral today. While my luggage was being searched by the TSA, they found a fork and knife in my backpack I accidentally left there from my last camping trip. Oops. I fully expected them to strip search me, etc. and confiscate my silverware.

What do you know? The dude with the blue gloves took out my big thick Catholic Bible from my backpack, and after removing my fork and knife (a regular table knife, relatively blunt edge), he put all of it back and wished me a nice day.

I am stupid. But God is gracious. And some TSA agents have common sense and grace of their own.