Things Ecumenical
By Carole | July 21, 2008
Fascinating article by fellow South Dakotan Joseph Bottum on First Things–on the decline of mainline Protestantism in the US. It’s a long but thorough analysis of the situation, and its likely impact on social/political life there–lots of food for thought.
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Quirky Meme
By Carole | July 18, 2008
Just got tagged for a meme by Belloc. Six unspectacular quirks of mine…only six?
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six fellow bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the six blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.
6 Quirks:
1. At ten pm sharp, my brain shuts off. After that, I can barely understand or communicate in English. I’m useless. Really. I cannot be held responsible for anything I say after ten pm.
2. I am a bit of a camel. I don’t require much water, and I can travel a long time without taking a bathroom break.
3. I am a morning person who is very fond of my morning routine…wake up when the sun comes up, which is usually considerably earlier than I actually need to be up for about half the year. Get up around 7, have two nice cups of strong coffee, read the news, and go from there.
4. I once had a mole above the right side of my mouth about which I was self-conscious and had removed when I was a teenager. When I got older, I realized Marilyn Monroe had a mole like mine. I’ve regretted it ever since. Not like…daily, you know, but…once in awhile, I miss the darn thing.
5. One of the ways God will help me to know my sins is to put a word in my mind that I don’t know the meaning of, so that I have to look it up in the dictionary. Like ‘vituperative’.
6. Peanuts can be the source of unutterable misery to me. They make my tummy hurt. Bad.
Now, I pass the baton to: Gabriel, Felix, Christine, Father Dennis, Jen and Maria.
Have fun kids!
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The Hidden Life and the Mission of the Church
By Carole | July 16, 2008
Some years ago, I left a good job for the missions. One of the reasons I did so was that I was tired of the fact that nearly half my time was spent doing piddly little things that I didn’t care about: record keeping, making sure an extension cord was in the right place at the right time, filling out room-reservation forms, going to meetings about next years calendar, and doing and annual dreaded task, writing MBO’s (=management by objective=goal setting for next year). Ugh. I wanted to do great things for God.
Now that I am in mission, I spend a lot of time doing things I don’t care about. The last month has been all about making photocopies, folding paper, stuffing envelopes and sealing them, counting things, ordering toner for the copier, and recycling cartridges. It’s boring. Thanks be to God, I know the goal of doing these things, or I’d go stark raving mad: the letters are asking for funds, to pay for tents, sound systems, showers, toilets, and other things human beings need in order to be at peace when hearing about Jesus. The letters are asking for used kitchen equipment to build a kitchen to feed the hungry–in order for them to be at peace when hearing about Jesus. Today, a phone call from someone who was looking at their old steam table in the monastery kitchen, wondering what he would do with it since they had a new one. The same day, he received a letter I had sent him, asking for the donation of a steam table, among many other things needed. As the envelopes containing people’s sacrifices come in, I record them and take them to the bank. Doesn’t sound like missionary work.
I have had the privilege of orchestrating many memorable, life-changing moments for many people over the years, and I live for the adrenaline rush of those moments and the testimonies that come afterwards. I must admit that I sometimes get bored as I fold letters and seal envelopes, and daydream about the other things I might like to be doing with my time, the dragonslayings, army conquests, and mass conversions I would report on this blog. It is humbling to realize how much (most) of the Church’s mission is not in the adreneline rush moments–it happens in the little, hidden, behind-the-scenes things–someone who shows up to fold letters and seal envelopes, take phone calls, open the mail, go to the bank, and count things to make sure there will be enough for everyone. And other people who show up in a field somewhere in the middle of Ireland, to move an electricity pole that no one will ever realize was not in a safe place, unload gravel that no one will know wasn’t always there, lay pipes that no one will ever see, pour cement, dig holes, etc etc etc.
And considering the thirty years that Joseph and Mary spent in a little house in Nazareth, making meals, hanging laundry, planing wood, sweeping up sawdust, raising the Saviour of the world–I’m learning that those who live the hidden life, and do the humble tasks well, are in good company–and doing great things for God.
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So, Tell it to the Irish!
By Carole | July 12, 2008
So I was chatting with my dad the other night, who lives in America, and he mentioned that he had heard about a big initiative for evangelization that is being launched in the Archdiocese of Dublin. What initiative, I wondered–since I live in Dublin, and have heard no such thing. ‘It was in the paper,’ he replied, referring to the National Catholic Register, which he reads weekly. I asked him to send me the article, and meanwhile, I started looking around Dublin for news of this initiative. Nothing on the Diocesan website. Nothing in the Irish Catholic Newspaper. Nothing on the Catholic Ireland website. Nothing from the Catholic Communications office. I was at Mass last weekend–they read a letter from the Bishop about the Peter’s Pence collection.
Anywyay, for what it’s worth, here it is. It’s a good article–(his heart is in the right place, it seems–but ya gotta wonder about the method! ). I know it is small, but hopefully your computer will let you enlarge it.
Just a wee suggestion on how this evangelization things works: If you want to evangelize the Irish, it might be good to mention it to the Irish. 
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Crafting the Culture: Love, in the Theatre
By Carole | July 5, 2008
For the past year, a group of my friends have been talking about putting together a production of The Jeweler’s Shop by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II). They have finally gone and done it, and this is the weekend. It’s happening in Aras Trasa, Clarendon Street, Dublin 2, at 8 PM.
The play, written for rhapsodic theater, uses words to explore the deep questions around love and marriage. The set is sparse, so the actors have to craft the scenes with their words. It is quite a difficult text, but I have to hand it to them, they’ve done it with a style and an elegance that is unusual for inexperienced thespians. Last night was the first performance, and it went very well. We had a short discussion about the play afterward with some of the audience who lingered, and one girl was in tears, describing the contrast between the message of the play regarding love, versus the message one gets in the prevailing culture.
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South Dakota Women to be Told Abortion Ends a Life
By Carole | July 5, 2008
I have to say, I’m proud of the efforts my little state has been making to defend human life in the womb. Here’s the latest.
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