Some good news at last from the Irish Bishops' Conference. The new Irish Catholic Catechism for Adults (ICCA) has been published by Veritas.
I only had a chance for a quick flick through it and may come back later declaring it to be a heterodox outrage. But at first glance it seems like a worthwhile effort.
On the plus side, the format is much more readable as a book than the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which has multiple paragraphs, each numbered and cross referenced. The CCC is undoubtedly an essential resource, but for most people not a book that you sit down and read in sizeable chunks.
Following the format of the United States Catechism for Adults, there are frequent insertions about people of faith from Ireland and these are welcome. They point to the saints in a way that the Irish church sometimes fails to do.
The negatives?
There is only one format which is the oversized paper-back. I like a more compact version.
It is pricey - €24.99 or £19.99. And the study guide, at €12.99 for 92 pages, is very pricey. That said, it is A4 and lends itself to easy photocopying.
It was launched amidst the Tuam baby crisis/scandal.
It was launched by Sean Cardinal Brady - not really the image we want going forward as they say.
It undoubtedly fills a gap - but I'm not entirely convinced as to who the readership will be. It is described as for adults but it strikes me as possibly most suited to older children in schools who continue to be fed a very poor diet of religious education.
I was playing the Glad Game this morning. I'd forgotten my mobile and was annoyed with myself for forgetting it and imagining all the important things I was missing, the texts and tweets and so many necessary things from the ether. So I'm playing the Glad Game and googled Glad Game and found this quote from the book and I immediately thought of Pope Francis and what it is that he's trying to do with the world:
"What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened.... Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Hold up to him his better self, his REAL self that can dare and do and win out!... The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.... People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a man feels kindly and obliging, his neighbors will feel that way, too, before long. But if he scolds and scowls and criticizes—his neighbors will return scowl for scowl, and add interest!... When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good—you will get that..."
Reading the last book in a very good five part series by Anthony Horowitz. It's Oblivion, part of the Power of Five series. Have read the first four books in a very short time - love finding good series that are all already written and published - and where the series isn't monumentally long - please, no Discworld or Wheel of Time.
The Power of Five books are very apocalyptic. Set in the world as we know it, only with the addition of the super evil Old Ones (not to be confused with the sort of Auld Wans we find in Ireland) and five children with extraordinary powers. The narrative moves at a cracking pace. Recommended reading from about ten upwards.
For Mother's Day - yes, my yankee friends, it was this Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, not the second Sunday in May - the kids bought my wife, inter alia, a DVD of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which we watched this evening. I enjoyed it a lot. Those who know me will know it's my sort of film - teenage angst, with characters who talk a lot in full paragraphs. The profound thought from the movie is:
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
which made me think of Sunday's gospel, the Prodigal Son and the difficultly people can have in accepting the love of God in their lives. We miss the love and grace that He offers because we think we don't deserve it. Of course we don't deserve it - that's not the point with God. If we got what we deserved it wouldn't be God.
Certainly wouldn't be Emma Watson either I suspect.
I know some people (women) think Keira Knightley is not a great actress (jealousy) but I consider her an excellent Elizabeth Bennet.
I think it's time to read some Austen again. It's been quite a while. I've just finished The Kill Order and feel the need for something a little more life affirming. Why are so many books for teenagers and young adults apocalyptic? There's the Hunger Games, the Dead (Charlie Higson), the Gone series and loads more really. I suppose when we were younger we read lots of comics that were about the War, and then later 2000A.D.
Bingley's just proposed to Jane and poor Lizzy is being happy for her and not realising her chance will come in the morning.
Just thinking of our strange interplay of Church and State in Ireland. Politicians keep declaring that this is a "Republic" with a big capital R and a confused notion that being a republic implies secular, agnostic, anti-Catholic etc. when in fact in our constitution all powers in the State come from the people "under God".
And yet they seem to claim a special seat at church services. At the recent episcopal ordination in Cobh Cathedral both the President and Taoiseach were represented by their Aides-de-camp. Why were they invited in the first place? Will this continue post abortion-legislation?
Tomorrow's Irish Catholic has a story about the launch of a new book, "Confession: looking into the eyes of God", by Fr Paul Farren. For some reason Minister Simon Coveney is there. Perhaps he's a friend or relative. But here's the thing. Speaking at the launch he "described himself as a Catholic and a regular Massgoeer but admitted he had not been to confession in quite a few years".
It would have been great if he had then continued that his book had inspired him to return to the sacrament. Alas not. What he did say was:
"This book talks about how confession is not about the procedure but about what is in your own head. This is powerful stuff, which gets you thinking more about your relationship with yourself. It challenges the decisions we make."
It's documentary night in our house, i.e. my good wife has control of the remote and isn't letting go. First we had a documentary on the evil of Weightwatchers programmes, then we had an exposé of private companies providing activation support in the UK for the long-term unemployed. Now it's on viruses, how they live, spread, effect us, get inside our bodies.
So I've made the tea and taken refuge in the computer.
I've just finished "A Noble Treason" by Richard Hansen, the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. From the Amazon description:
Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans were handsome, bright university students in 1942 Germany. As members of the Hitler Youth, they had once been enthusiastic supporters of the German renewal promised by National Socialism. But as their realization of Nazi barbarism grew, so did their moral outrage. Hans and Sophie formed a small group of like-minded friends, which initially included two medical students, a student of philosophy, and a fifty-year-old professor. They self-identified as Christians from various traditions--Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodo--and they called themselves the White Rose. In a darkened studio lent them by an artist, they printed eloquent anti-Nazi leaflets, which they ingeniously spread throughout Germany. A Noble Treason tells the true story of this underground group at the University of Munich that instigated, organized, and carried out the first overt resistance to Hitler's regime. What gives A Noble Treason its unforgettable and inspiring quality is the personality, character, and courage of the White Rose members, as they resisted the pull of wartime patriotism and overcame their fear of the terrible price they would pay for their dissidence. The story of the White Rose is one of faith-inspired idealism in deadly conflict with ideological tyranny. Its theme is the ultimate victory of that idealism despite its bloody--and seemingly final--destruction by the state.
Christoph Probst was received into the Church shortly before he died, making his first Holy Communion just hours before his execution. He wrote to his sister:
I go to my death free of all hate.... Never forget that life is nothing if it is not a continual growing into love and a preparation for eternity.
Some follow up googling on Johann Reichhart, the executioner, revealed he carried out more than 3,000 executions. After the war he continued as executioner for the Allies. A strange amoral job. Like other well known executioners he prided himself on doing a quick and clean job, that this was humane. He always dressed impeccably, including wearing a top hat. An innovation he introduced which you can see in the video, was to do away with the former practice of strapping the victim to a board which would be then lifted into place. In his executions the victim lay down, held in place by two assistants and was executed very quickly. This very bizarre website offers museum quality guillotine models, and a detailed history of guillotines. There are some photos of severed heads but there is a warning before you see them.
