Quick Takes Friday

1.

Crappy Catholics. We all know of 'em. Probably we're related to quite a few. I know I see one in the mirror more often than I care to admit. On the 4th Sunday of Advent, my town was FREEZING. And yet, there we all were. Shivering and praying. Shivering and praying.

You know God must love Crappy Catholics because he made so many of them. And they must love Him, too, to show up at church in such, ahem, Crappy Weather.


2.



It happens. Sometimes the homily is lacking a little something at Mass. With all charity, let me direct you to Fr. Tom Cook. His Sunday homilies in October are always dedicated to Pro-Life topics, and this Advent, he's been meditating on the readings of St. Paul that we've been hearing at Mass.


3.



Chesterton's Christmas Poem (excerpt)

A child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;

More of Chesterton's Christmas Meditations:

4.

Christmas Everywhere by Phillips Brooks

Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
Christmas in lands of the fir-tree and pine,
Christmas in lands of the palm-tree and vine,
Christmas where snow peaks stand solemn and white,
Christmas where cornfields stand sunny and bright.
Christmas where children are hopeful and gay,
Christmas where old men are patient and gray,
Christmas where peace, like a dove in his flight,
Broods o're brave men in the thick of the fight;
Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all;
No palace too great, no cottage too small.

5.

Yes, I agree with Fr. Dwight that we should all learn Chant, because it is "home-grown" worship. However, in English, singing the Psalms to the beat of that "old time Protestant religion" can't be beat. You can open up your King James Bible and look at the lyrics to many of the songs set to a Psalm, and it is amazing how well they match up. That isn't often the case with many of the Psalm settings you might hear at Mass.

Now, our crew is learning some of the most famous Chant prayers -- Pater Noster, Salve Regina and others -- but that is because they know the words in English already, and that makes it a lot easier to do vocabulary work with the Chants.

In our morning prayer routine, the "imports" are the milquetoast, and the "homegrowns" are the meat.



6.

Did you know that Interstate Highway 80 is very windy? We call it the Wy-aska-wa Wind, after the three contiguous states that blow the hardest.

7.

Happy New Year!

See Jen for more Quick Takes!