A UK paper is reporting that a new letter C.S. Lewis wrote to a child has been found by literary advisor to Lewis’ estate, Walter Hooper. It supposedly puts to rest any doubt that The Chronicles of Narnia are explicitly Christian.
As soon as I read the first line of the letter, "Supposing there really was a world like Narnia…", I knew for certain that I’d read it before. To make sure I wasn’t just experiencing deja vu, I did a little digging.
I was right. I had indeed heard that line before.
[I revised this post on 11/20 to remove some uncharitable statements. I apologize if they offended anyone. – Funky]
This made me chuckle:
"Some people are making a lot of noise about how disruptive [changes to the English Mass] will be. Perhaps. But what I think we’re seeing is mainly the nostalgic response of older people, for whom the current translations have become ‘traditional’ — even if that tradition goes no further back than a few decades. Maybe they can petition Rome for a special Indult by virtue of which Mass can be said (oh, maybe, in one church in each Province) according to the current translation, for the sake of those who are nostalgic for ‘And also with you.’ Perhaps Rome might even promote Bishop Trautman, and bring him to Rome to oversee the ‘And also with you’ Indult?" – Fr. Jim Tucker
Wouldn’t that be poetic justice? 😉
Wuerl lets Pittsburgh have an indult mass – barely. I think he’s afraid that greater availability would spur greater demand. Perhaps if the rumors of his excellency moving to Rome are true his replacement wouldn’t be so stingy with indults. I can hope. 😉
If Latin masses were more widely available, I’d consider going regularly. It’s not that I have anything against mass in vernacular languages or that the Pittsburgh Oratorians abuse the liturgy. Actually, the Novus Ordo masses that I attend at the Newman Center are solemn and respectful. However, there’s only so much you can do with the raw material. All the fine accoutrements in the world, e.g. bells, incense, and chant, won’t make up for the inadequacies of the current missal. Even the best production values and performances won’t turn an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical into a Puccini opera.
OK, perhaps that’s bit harsh, but the Pauline mass is neither an organic growth from the Tridentine, nor a faithful realization of the conciliar recommendations. In a lot of ways, it’s downright Protestant. I say pitch the Pauline missal and start from the Tridentine again. This time, let’s ONLY make the changes that the council actually called for. Once the liturgy is completed in Latin, keep it very far away from ICEL (I Create Exotic Liturgies) and other "innovative" translation groups.
The "reform of the reform" is a noble idea and I support it. In fact, I participate in it by singing in a schola. However, I see this movement as only a stop-gap. Even if the current mass were translated and celebrated properly, it’d still be sub-standard. The Novus Ordo is not the mass of the Second Vatican Council and to say so is an insult to the participants.
On a related note, at some time in the near future, Edey will publish a post detailing Vatican II’s document on the liturgy, Sacrosantum Concilium, the changes to the missal from 1962 to 1965 and from 1965 to 1970, and why the 1970 (Novus Ordo) missal is defficient.
Addendum: A recent post at Pontifications sums up how I feel pretty well.
"Do not mistake me. I am not romanticizing pre-Vatican II liturgy, nor am I pleading for a return to the Latin Mass. But looking at American Catholic liturgy as it has developed over the past forty years, one simply has to wonder, What in the world were people thinking?! How could anyone think that colloquial liturgical language is to be preferred to a formal, hieratic language? How could anyone think that drastic reduction of ritual gestures would strengthen the mystery of the Mass? How could anyone think that the adoption of sentimental pop-music would not destroy the sense of holiness and awe that is proper to the Eucharist? How could anyone think that the radical mutilation of the rite would not undermine the conviction that the Church has received a holy tradition and is not free to make it all up as she goes along? How could anyone think that by turning the celebrant around to face the people the Mass would be magically transformed into an intimate experience of community? How could anyone think that buildings constructed in the functional architectural style of the twentieth century could ever be appropriate to house the Holy Mysteries? Hindsight, of course, is twenty-twenty; but the liturgical delusion that took hold of the Church in the 60s and 70s is truly breathtaking."
There has recently been a great push in the world of women's health to consider prescription birth control (oral contraceptives, IUD, DepoProvera, etc.) not only a "right" but indeed a necessity – the "standard of care," if you will. The fact that ever-growing numbers of registered pharmacists are refusing to fill legal prescriptions for such birth control has caught the attention of quite a few powerful pro-choice and "feminist" groups, who have made it their goal to force such professionals by law to fill all such prescriptions with no questions asked. As a practicing pharmacist, I would like to try to address this issue.
[I’m not sure I can agree with more than about a paragraph of this post, but it’s not offensive, so I’m honoring my promise of free speech to my guest posters. – Funky]
I just happened to flip past Smallville, another remake of the Superman story, on the WB the other night. Three witches were taking the powers of the boy wonder via some powerful spells. It seems to me that Warner Brothers studios is producing more stories and programs with wicca spirituality included. Charmed is on the WB. Harry Potter is on the wide screen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer [I love that show. – Funky] had a few characters who explored witchcraft. Even the movie The Secret Garden had wicca injected into the story.
Of course, the presentation of wicca through the boob tube and the big screen is not new, but it seems like it’s more accepted now. With Joan of Arcadia being replaced with Ghost Whisperer on CBS, my own loathing of the occult (including wicca, demons, and the devil) has become more acute.
What is there to hate? It can be summed up in one statement: "They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone." ( – CCC 2116
By now I'm sure most if not all of you know that Howard Stern is moving to Sirius satellite radio. Whoopee. I'm not a fan of Stern, so I won't miss him. However, that doesn't mean I don't care about what his departure is doing to radio. As a result of the ratings vacuum Stern's move to satellite is leaving, several stations are switching to all-talk formats.
WHAT?!?
Does FM radio need any more !@#$ talk?! Thanks to Stern's popularity, every rock station has its own cheap imitation of his show. It's a pain is the @$$ trying to find a station with both music I like and a minimum of talk in the morning. My butt is dragging when in the morning and the last thing I want is a bunch of nitwits making fart jokes. Give me good old-fashioned rock! I want to bob my head and tap my toes on the bus, not hear the latest celebrity gossip.
Stern imitators have ruined rock radio in the morning. Now, thanks to Stern's move, things are about to get a lot worse. Several Infinity Broadcasting stations, which currently carry Stern, are switching formats. Some are turning into Jack FM, which is basically a 24-hour broadcast of a college student's iPod Shuffle. Others, like WYSP in Philadelphia, are turning into Free FM, 24-hours of talk. Ugh. WYSP has been playing a mix of modern and classic rock for as long as I can remember. It was never as good as WMMR, but it wasn't crap, either. Now it is. I really hope WRKZ in Pittsburgh doesn't suffer the same fate. They play a decent mix of classic rock, early 90's grunge/alternative, and 80's hair bands. No other station in Da Burgh has a mix like that.
Radio is going down the toilet and Infinity is helping to flush. It's too bad internet stations can't easily broadcast on FM. If you want to hear good rock that's actually mixed and transitioned by talented DJs, I recommend Radio Paradise and Radio Free Colorado.