Anamchara

LENT 2009--JOURNEYING WITH ST. BRENDAN

 JOURNEYING THIS LENT WITH ST. BRENDAN

At Brandon Creek, on Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, where the water empties into the Atlantic Ocean, there is a little shrine.  At first glance, it looks odd--a little bronze boat with a man in it, pushing out to sea.  The holy place is a memorial to St. Brendan, one of the four great holy saints of Ireland.  Most famous for his voyage to the uttermost West, where he surely landed in America sometime in the sixth century A. D., St. Brendan seems the most youthful, adventurous, enthusiastic--and yet the most haunted--of the four saints--and that's saying a lot since the others, Patrick, Brigid, and Columba, are no slackers in these areas either.  He was a joyous man who was conscious of his own sinfulness and need of Christ.  His journey over the waves, however, is primarily a spiritual one, towards God, towards Christ the Light, surrounded by the Holy Spirit.  Catholics sometimes don't know how to hold a balance between acknowledging sinfulness and joyously trusting in God.  St. Brendan does this perfectly.  He's a good saint for Lent.  Enjoy the little poem I wrote above Brandon Creek a few years ago.  A blessed Lent to one and all!

RIDER OF THE WAVES

Rider of the waves,

    Brendan of the many voyages,

Least known but bravest

    of the four holy ones of Eire.

I thought of you today,

Askling you to bless me,

Poor wayfarer as I am

    on the lonely seas of life.

Did you hear above gull cries?

Will you answer a humble prayer?

 

Just a portion of your courage,        

    and I could make it.

Just a drop of your kind charity,

    and I would havew the strength to go on.

Just a shadow of your stirring vision,

    and I could find my way.

 

Brendan of the holy path

Hear my cry, know my story;

Pray to the Christ who gave you strength;

Pray that he may uphold me.

My tiny boat is frail;

I have no companions to comfort me.

Alone am I,

Bereft of hope.

St. Brendan, hear my prayer!

Rider of the waves,

Sailor of the sea,

Friend of all in need.

Hear my prayer!

Amen!

        At Brandon Creek, Dingle, Ireland, August 3, 2005

        St. Brendan sailed from here on his famous voyage.

 

THE POPE VS. PELOSI

 

ROUND ONE TO THE POPE!

Today, the Pope and Speaker of the House Pelosi had an audience together at the Vatican.  (The above picture was taken at the White House last spring in less contentious times).  This was no photo op for the pro-abortion, pseudo-Catholic politician.  The Pope, always at his diplomatic best, sent a hard message to her and to all Catholics who think they can be true to the faith and hold positions that cause the deaths of children.

For a fuller presentation of what really went on, I cannot improve upon the excellent reporting of John Allen from the NCR ( a liberal rag but he's the best Vatican reporter there is--always balanced, always full of new insights).  Enjoy--The Pope Meets Pelosi.

WHY "BATTLESTAR GALACTICA" IS MUST VIEWING

 

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:  GREEK TRAGEDY IN SPACE, OR SCI-FI FAIRY TALE?

Rocketing soon toward whatever doom the Mighty Lords of Kobol fate, Battlestar Galactica has not lost any of the drama, tension, tragedy, and suspense that has marked each of its four seasons.  And yet, it is just another sci-fi show--so some think.  But it's not.  Every once in a while a series comes along that rises above the pack.  Many who read this blog know that I think Smallville is one such show.  But whereas good old Clark Kent and friends are dealing with hopes, dreams and destiny issues in the passage from youth to adulthood, albeit framed by the inevitable conflict of good and evil, Admiral Adama, Lee Adama and President of the Colonies Laura Roslin up the ante and deal with the very fate of humanity, particularly exploring the question of what it means to be human.  Here's the five reasons you should watch this show:

• First, its a timely epic dealing with a devastated humanity.  Wiped out by the Cylons, the evil robotic enemies of man, only 40,000 humans are left on an exodus to find the true earth, home of the missing 13th tribe of humanity.  Already, the religious overtones are manifest.  There's a real sense that humanity might be defeated by a power greater than itself, and its search for salvation has the same desperation, angst, and haunted hope that afflicts many people today.
• Second, BSG wrestles with what makes a human being human.  The Cylons question the same thing.  Created by humans, they want to know if they are more than machines.  In a great ironic twist, they are more believers in God, than many of the humans.  No other show on television could sustain such a study of a deep subject over so many years.
• Third, we get an insight on the fact that good and evil are indeed easily perceptible, but the black and white boundaries painted in so easily in theory are often tinged with grey when they manifest themselves in reality.  On the surface, BSG, might seem to be ambiguous when it comes to morality but its defense of human life (abortion is prohibited, even Cyclons are often spared) and its insistence on moral guidelines (Admiral Adama's adherence to duty and law see him through lots of ambiguity that could destroy all humans) make the show a noble exercise against relativism and for eternal concepts such as beauty, truth and justice.
• Fourth, death is constantly treated and explored as subject matter.  It is close to every survivor and yet is faced and challenged.  No other television show has so grittily depicted people's dealing with deaths of loved ones, terminal illness, sudden loss.  There are no easy answers, but no one watching walks away without thinking about his or her ultimate destiny.
• Five, the need for hope.  I add a caveat here.  I give the show four grails right now[let's up that to 5 grails because of the great finale], but it is up in the air whether BSG will opt for the tragic ending or for a hope filled one.  It will be a good show either way, but I betray my own bias when I say that our times need a concrete affirmation of hope.  Hope that is never realized is just a pious fantasy.  BSG and its characters deserve a better fate. 

As a final comment, all the actors deserve major kudos, but the work of Jamie Bamber who plays Lee Adama, Edward Olmos who plays Admiral Adama and Mary McDonnell who plays President Laura Roslin is simply excellent.   The Father/Son relationship (with a great theme song "Wander My Friends") is deeply explored and the growing love between the Admiral and the President reveals a deeper type of love that is possible between people than the usual "romance" angle of most entertainment today.  Powerful stuff, very heavy, often dark and brooding, this is television at its best.  Go enjoy.

******UPDATE:The finale has aired and, what is rare among tv series, the ending was spectacular--and hopeful!!  Very beautiful denoument for all characters and for the plot.  With the ending, BSG is cemented in history as one of the best stories every filmed for television.  

THE POPE AND THE HOLOCAUST

 

GIVE THE POPE A BREAK!

Bombast, belligerence and bombasity make for good newspaper copy but seldom enlighten the minds of inquiring readers.  The brouhaha over Pope Benedict's lifting of the excommunication of a traditionalist bishop, who holds an opinion that the holocaust never happened, is a cloud of confusion tinged with anti-Catholicism.  First, some facts:

• The Pope lifted the excommunication on several traditionalist Bishops who refused to accept the vernacular Mass authorized by Vatican II.  He did this as a sign of compassion and an outreach to bring the lost ones home.
• The excommunication does not rehabilitate these bishops.  They still have to conform to the decrees of Vatican II.  It's just a start.
• The lifting of the excommunication has nothing to do with the personal opinions of the bishops on any subject.  The fact that one of the bishops denies the holocaust is coincidental and did not enter into the Pope's decision.
• The media merged the two issues and made it appear that the Pope was complicit with the offending bishop.  That's just not true.
• The one critique that can be made is that the Pope was ill served by those aides who should have thought about the public relations aspect of the action.  The uproar is out of all proportion to the perceived offense.

After all this Pope has done to help Jewish-Catholic ties, he ought to be given the benefit of the doubt.  It's laughable to have the atheist Christopher Hitchens in Newsweek criticize the Pope who he doesn't honor and whose beliefs he does not subscribe to.  He and other media types simply are using this as an excuse to bash the Church.  And Angela Merkel, leader of Germany, is not so subtly inflaming her constituents to exorcise their collective guilt for the Holocaust by dumping their angst on the Pope. 

Already, the Vatican has taken steps to quell this controversy.  It is unfortunate and the Pope does not deserve the suffering.  Here's a prayer that cooler heads will prevail in the coming days.