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Nuts, Bolts, and Plain Ol’ Bats

Nuts, Bolts, and Plain Ol’ Bats

Last updated on: November 3, 2005 at 6:04 am by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

Nuts, Bolts, and Plain Ol’ Bats 2005-11-03T06:04:00-06:00 Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

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It is my hope that Pope Benedict XVI will reflect on the example of Jesus, Mary and the early Christian women who lived the Gospel of inclusion and mutual service. Pope Benedict XVI could follow the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and treat women as equals and partners, capable of reflecting fully the image of Christ. A good first step would be to open the priesthood to women, reminding us that women are equal symbols of the sacred. In addition, Pope Benedict could invite Catholic feminists to fill 50 percent of leadership roles in church institutions. If Pope Benedict XVI listens to women’s experiences, opens the priesthood to women and promotes women in decision-making positions, he will fan into flame a new Pentecost in our time.

More groaning available H E R E.

Rosary beads in hand, a dozen adults gathered on the floor at Dutchess Community College Tuesday to ask for “reparation of the sin of blasphemy.”

With heads bowed, they knelt before the oil painting, “Magdalene Mourning Her Lover,” which depicts Mary Magdalene holding a fallen Jesus Christ.

The controversial painting by Ecuadorean-born artist Hugo Bastidas is part of an art exhibit celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at the college’s Mildred I. Washington Gallery.

Participants in the vigil described the painting as an insult to the Christian faith.

More.

I wonder what they’ll do about this …

Da Vinci Code, the game

The games are timed to come out with the film, so we’re expecting a spring 2006 release. They are being developed for this generation platforms.

The Da Vinci Code spent two years on the New York Times best-selling list. While not the best-written book, in my opinion, it was certainly full of twists and turns and had at its core a fairly radical thesis, envisioning a new relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, turning current theology on its head.

Sigh … here.

For those who were wondering about Ann Rice’s reconciliation with the Catholic Church …

The story opens in Egypt, to which Joseph the carpenter and his wife, Mary, fled after the birth of their son. After the death of the despot King Herod, they return to Israel, arriving in the village of Nazareth after a narrow escape in riot-torn Jerusalem.

Jesus is a bright boy devoted to his young mother, who is becoming aware, with some alarm, of supernatural powers that set him apart. He is frustrated by mysteries that surround him and the sense that his family is protecting him from dangers that he can’t see.

NOTE …

The greatest flaw is that Rice treats her subject so respectfully that his narration is staid. The lush imagery of her earlier works, dripping in sexuality and cruelty, is greatly diminished because of the youth of her narrator. If there are sequels (and she has said there will be), her savior chronicles will be better served by the evocative language that’s her signature.

Oh my … M O R E.

Immigrant Women Speak About Leaving the Church
One question was about the concept of original sin, which postulates that we are all born with the taint of Adam’s disobedience; it thrives among evangelical Christians — but with a difference. Catholicism colors original sin with a more sexual tint, casting Eve/woman in the role of temptress; the effect is to foster guilt and wield control. Born-agains, on the other hand, actually find it liberating to see themselves as flawed creatures who can’t help but drink, fight, lie and lust; past transgressions become a doorway that leads them to Christ, without whose love and intervention the sinner will spiral ever downward.

Mainly, I asked the women why they left the Catholic Church.

If you M U S T.

Nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the Languedoc region of France, the tiny hamlet of Rennes-le-Chateau is being overwhelmed by camera-wielding tourists.

There was a time when you could drive up the narrow road that winds carefully to the village without passing another car. Nowadays, the odds are you’ll be trailing a convoy of coaches crammed full of amateur historians.

All of which is a bit strange given that Rennes-le-Chateau is never actually mentioned in The Da Vinci Code. Where it is mentioned, though, is in The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail the book from which Dan Brown took many of his most controversial claims.

First published in 1982, it never enjoyed the same stratospheric success as The Da Vinci Code, but it still made the bestseller lists and caused a maelstrom of controversy among church figures.

The speculative conclusions reached in The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail are now well known, thanks to Mr Brown. What if Jesus wasn’t killed on the cross? What if he actually went on to marry Mary Magdalene and have a child, descendents of whom could still be alive today?

Full story.

Talk about a stretch …

What is evil anyway? The myths of the devil, a snare-layer existing apart from humans, are well established, from Lucifer to Satan to Cruella. Their legends promote the notion that we descendants of Eve are at the mercy of a wicked enemy whose attacks are from outside. When we personalize that enemy and identify it, we can launch a counter-attack. The battle is what our children enact tonight. Smashing pumpkins is a version of witch-burning; if we like such violence it is because it leaves us feeling purified. Nothing sanctifies the self like condemnation of the other.

Read how the above leads to, of course, G W B.

** A comment about Comments … Due to busy-ness, I will be unable to approve Comments until Saturday. Sorry.*

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