So Much Time, So Little To Do...

Wait, switch that, reverse it. There is so much that I have wanted to posted about this weekend, but I have been extremely busy. I think the best way to catch up is to do a link round-up. This enables me to touch on a few things at once, a la Conversion Diary and The Anchoress style. So here are some topics and links I want to discuss and let you know about. (Link goodness included... click on them, but dont forget to come back!)

Spirituality and The Mass

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Spiritual Combat & Warfare are always a big topic for me. I found a February post over at The Catholic Thing: Born for Combat talking about such a topic and think it is a good piece. I would have posted earlier, but I really am trying to cut down on my - rehashed posts of other blogs. This post says it all, and I just want to make more people aware of it. It is about the importance of fighting for the faith as Catholics.

Likwise the New Theological Movement posted a month or so ago about the Mass as a Sacrifice. This is a subject that I think more discussion needs to occur about on blogs, but I have had a hard time thinking of anything to add to the topic. The post stands for itself and is a must read. They also discuss the fact that so many folks deny this reality. Mass is not entertainment or "learn about the Faith" time. Our American faith culture is so Protestantized and edutainment driven, we have lost sight and complete understanding of what the Mass truly is.

Bishops Making News

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There are a few good Bishops who are doing things worth posting about, for various reasons. Raymond Cardinal Burke has been in the news quite a bit lately. He got a lot of coverage for his appearance down south at the large Planned Parenthood, but more recently has been quoted talking about the Mass. He echoes the sentiment of a few prominent Catholic media personalities, as well as this blogger's, concerning the need to shift away from a human focused Liturgy to a God centered one.

Bishop Etienne of Cheyenne on the other hand is making news with his ... gun? You have to check out his blog about a spring turkey hunt. Yes, you read all of that correctly.

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The 2011 Canon Law conference will again be at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin. It is in August and I would just love to go! Dr. Peters will of course be there and Cardinal Burke will be hosting. Dr. Charles Rice, a former Ave Law professor and great gentleman, will also be presenting. Oh, if I had a million dollars! Alaska makes this trip almost undoable but if you live anywhere in driving distance and have some relation or interest in law or Canon Law, you would be foolish not to attend. It has a high registration fee relative to its function, but again, those related to the law should not see this as any hurdle. In fact, if you help out with legal (Canon or Secular) issues within your parish or diocese, I would suggest requesting a scholarship of sorts. This is the Superbowl of events for a geek like me.

For those of you in Anchorage, or elsewhere, that attend the Dominican Rite Mass, there is a new booklet  that can help you follow along.

Have you heard about the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska? They have 41 Seminarians! Their Catholic population is estimated around 95,000. That is one seminarian for every 2317 people. Comparatively that number crushes almost all other Dioceses efforts. Could it be the Bishop? You make the call.

The whole, 'When should Confirmation occur?' debate has come up again. This probably merits its own post, but the NTM takes a Thomistic view of the debate. They make some really good points, and once again the weight of the debate falls on the side of moving the Sacrament's celebration earlier and not later in life. There is good theological reasoning behind it, but of course you have to shed any humanistic emotion and bias to understand it, which means that the ears that need to hear it will be of course deaf to the argument from the get-go.

Finally, Erin Manning discusses the troubled situation in the K.C.-St. Joe's Diocese regarding a priest controversy. There is a lot going on in that issue, but the point she brings up about a "Chancery Bubble" is the part that I want to focus on. (Not that the other issue isn't the important one, but I leave other more adept folks to get to the bottom of that.) She discusses how many Bishops shield themselves in many ways behind the Chancery. In some instances I think that the Bishops are really a figurehead to the body politic of the Chancery. Manning brings up some really valid and interesting points that should be considered.

Ok... my fingers are tired... and hopefully you all learned something from this post....

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