More Links: Religious Bits

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
1 Lent
8 Hilary

It's time for some links. You must read this piece from To the Quiet, "Thoughts on the Eucharist." It's a good starting point for conversation on what the Eucharist is and does.

Aly Hawkins at Addison Road has written a wonderful reflection on her experience at the Imposition of the Ashes.

In short, the Body of Christ was there yesterday morning, bright and early to receive the gift of the ashes…and She was breathtaking. Sure, the service was music-free and the priest was one screwdriver short of a toolbox and the squirrelly kids were pretty much out of control. But we were all there because we all needed a little Grace. And Grace was there to be gotten, to be eaten, gobbled up with relish and reverence and humility and whatever awe we could muster up before returning to our workaday lives of computers and construction and customer service…reminding us that from dust we came and to dust we shall return.

And reminding us that dust is not the end. We have a Hope, and He is alive and kickin’ in the bodies and minds and hearts of all those who roused themselves before 8 AM, drawn like little magnets to the pole of Our Lady of the Assumption, and in all who share in the Communion of the Saints. It is a beautiful thing, sharing in a Communion big enough to contain all the strange folk I saw (and didn’t see) on Wednesday morning. A beautiful, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

Long may She bask in the Grace of Our Lord, and long may She share that Grace with all who long for its nourishing bread.

You might also want to check out Chris Erdman: "True Community May Appear in Surprising Places."

In my experience, qualities like availability and vulnerability, accountability and mutuality are necessary for true community—that sense of welcome and belonging, of openness and integration into a common way of life, gently and sometimes subtly bound together by a shared sense of identity and mission. But these are not guarantees that I’ll experience that indescribable quality I know as true when I feel it.

Community is a fallen “power”—a structure of creation. And is experienced in all the brokenness of human life lived on this side of what is called “the Fall” in theological shorthand. But it is also in the process of being transformed by God’s new creation. And there are signs of grace in this world—often in surprising places. And maybe that’s the elusive quality of true community—it simply cannot be controlled, engineered, packaged. It appears as Christ does, incognito. And we recognize it (and miss it) in the same way we recognize and miss Christ among us.

(HT: One House)

The past week has seen commemoration days for some interesting saints. If you'd like to read some nice, short pieces on them, check out these entries:

To the Quiet: Saint John of God (March 8)
Monastic Mumblings: Gregory of Nyssa (March 9)
Monastic Mumblings: The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 10)

There is good news in California: "Inmate Who Became Priest Paroled by Governor," from the LA Times (HT: TitusOneNine). Also check out the earlier background piece, "Serving God - And Time," as well as GetReligion's coverage of that story.

These links are a little old, but they're worth a look:

It seems Annie Lamott has gotten a little illiberal in regard to the rights of the unborn. Amy Welborn provides the story, and a little commentary:

"Oh, so sorry, Annie. Sorry that the Catholics were cool to your Gospel of Choice."

Father at Canterbury Tales has given us all what we really wanted:

"The POD Guide to Rome"

Okay folks. I know you well enough. Let's just be honest. You don't want to hear about great food or what a great time I had with my wife. You want relics, churches, POD sightings, cassocks, shrines, Roman intrigue, fiddlebacks, Latin Masses, and other provocative subjects.

and also "Roman Liturgical Items"

POD, by the way, is an acronymn for "Pious and Overly Devotional."

Like this. (HT: All Too Common)

On that note, this is certainly worth another look: "I Can Only Imagine."

Inclusion? Exclusion? It's all a word game, and the Inclusivists are a very exclusive group of people. Check out Dean Paul Zahl's "Doublethink and the Church." HT: TitusOneNine.

...Recently, someone at a conference was regaling his listeners about a recent episcopal consecration in the Pacific Northwest, and saying how wonderful it was to see every ethnicity and every gender possibility and every “identity” represented so extravagantly at the service. I raised my hand and asked, “How many theological traditionalists were present?” The speaker paused, and then said – before he had time to suppress it – “Well, uh… none.”

That's all I've got for now.

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