Godspell - Day By Day

Call me crazy - but I still love this. Remember how it was when you first fell in Love with Christ? The intense joy and how you couldn't think of anyone or anything else?

George Tooker still lives...

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." - Mark Twain
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George Tooker happens to be one of my favorite painters.  Until this morning I had been under the false impression that he was dead.  He isn't - he is still alive.  He happens to be the last remaining artist of a threesome whose work came to influence my own; Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and Tooker. 
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George Tooker converted to Catholicism, having left the Episcopal church shortly after the death of his companion in 1973.  Subsequently, he painted stations of the cross, as well as an altarpiece depicting the Sacraments for the church of St. Francis of Assisi in Windsor, Vermont.

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George Tooker still lives in Hartland, Vermont.
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Thank you Tom for calling my attention to this.  My apologies for the mistake.  It actually happened to me once too - someone in Boston told the story I had died and was buried at New Melleray - the story developed after I left Boston abruptly to move back to Minneapolis. 
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Art: Meadow I - George Tooker
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A word about fact checking:  This is the second incident wherein I made a mistake regarding facts on a particular person.  I can't recall what the one before this was - but I welcome any reader to please comment if you disagree or question the accuracy of any of my statements.  I try to verify data, yet in this case I just assumed my information to be factual.  My sincere apologies.  (At least George may have benefitted from my prayers.)

See!

Franciscans.

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Photo credit.

And for my next project...

Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.
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Actually, I think I'm going to try my hand at allegories - and maybe a rabbit or two.  Painting that is.  I couldn't sleep last night so I was painting in my mind - I think I will attempt a couple of panels on Teresa's Interior Castle.
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Thought for the day:
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We are all going to die.
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You may quote me on that.

The Abdication of King Juan Carlos of Spain.

The King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, has signed a bill into law legalizing abortion on demand for the first fourteen weeks of pregnancy.  The law, which was recently passed by the Spanish Congress and Senate, also declares abortion as a "right," allows minors as young as 16 to obtain abortions without their parents' consent, and requires abortionist and homosexualist education in the nation's schools. - Source
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The blood of the martyrs of the Spanish Civil War cries out for justice.
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Photo source.

Waiting for Guffman- Chinese Restaurant Scene

I love this scene - adult content.

Single people...

I must say...
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Every so often I come across blog posts discussing vocation discernment issues.  On occasion I note that some people seem to have an almost old fashioned protestant ideal of either/or when it comes to state in life - either marriage or priesthood (or religious life).  I've also noted their insistence that single life is not a vocation.  I suppose that is true on some level, despite the fact it is a state in life.  But what if single people are single because they can't get married, or can't enter religious life, not to mention can't become a priest?  And what if they don't want to?  See - I don't like that type of authoritarian judgement call.  To the ordinary old maid or bachelor loser, it can sometimes sound as if there is no universal call to holiness - as if single people have no place at doughnuts and coffee table in the church basement.
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That said, I often think of a mentally challenged woman from a downtown Minneapolis parish.  (I don't know what to call people with mental disabilities now days - I don't want Sarah Palin people suing me for using the "R" word.)  Anyway, let's call the lady Mary Kate.  No matter which Mass I attended, morning, noon or evening, Mary Kate was usually there.  I've written about her before, I'm sure.  Mary Kate had physical problems as well, and I have no doubt she was abused during her lifetime.  She lived in a group home or nursing home near downtown.
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Mary Kate seemed to me to be a sort of fool for Christ.  She would regularly shout out corrections to fellow worshippers as they came into Mass - especially late-comers.  I usually got yelled at for wearing shorts - otherwise she was nice to me - I think.  Oh wait, once she yelled at me to get away from her when I knelt in her row - I think she knew I had to get to confession.  She also had a habit of crying out, "I want to be a nun in Rochester!  I want to be a nun in Rochester!"  (I sort of enjoyed that.)  She prayed all of the time and sometimes she would pray out loud, begging the Lord for mercy, while it wasn't unusual for her to weep.  When sympathizers moved in to console her she hissed them away.  (Fools for Christ are not always nice.)
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Anyway - I no longer go downtown for Mass, so I don't know if Mary Kate is still there or if she may have died.  She was obviously older than me, and of course single, and I'm assuming she had no family.
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Obviously, the poor thing never even had a vocation either.

Terry Nelson's day off.

I rarely take a day off.
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What?  You don't even work anymore.
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Yes I do - I paint, clean cat boxes, feed rabbits - I also clean the house on occasion and remove snow when it does that... snow I mean.
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Well, what of it?
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Well I took yesterday off - I rarely take a day off.  I went to mail a package and visited a new art store afterwards, and then I stopped by a junk shop looking for frames and other weird stuff I might use in my art.
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Oh?  How was it?
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The thrift store?  I felt as if I was in the Twilight Zone while there - such strange people - and it was crowded.  Really weird people however, like those one would expect to see in a George Tooker waiting room.  Very spooky, very odd.  While browsing the picture bins I came across original art by unknown artists...  nicely framed...  expensively framed...  The highest priced piece was $16.00.
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I came home quite depressed.
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Art: "The Waiting Room" - George Tooker

More on the Devil in the Vatican.

Henry Karlson has an excellent post on the latest claims of Fr. Amorth concerning Satanists in the Vatican - I should always go with my gut on this stuff - Henry's conclusions agree with my own intial opinion on the story...
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"When Fr. Amorth starts relying upon the evidence of demons to construct a Satanic conspiracy in the Vatican, I think we have evidence that Fr. Amorth has forgotten how dangerous it is to interact with demons and to believe whatever it is they have to say. Indeed, the more one talks with them to get knowledge from them, the more warped one is likely to become, and the more likely one is oneself going to be demon possessed. And even if one is not, one is at least playing around with demonic-magic." - Henry Karlson (Don't skip the comments either.)
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 I'm leaving the subject alone after this.
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Photo:  Vanessa Redgrave in Ken Russell's film, "The Devils".  Film based upon the book, "Devils of Loudun" by Aldous Huxley.

Claims of anti-clericalism.

Not so fast...
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Thomas Peters posted on the ongoing revelation of crimes committed by Marciel Macial, founder of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi.  Commenters in turn accused him of anti-clericalism.  I do not get that at all.  I believe the story of Macial's double life is a very important one for Catholics to be aware of.
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Since my last post, I soon became aware of the fact that disclosures by Fr. Gabriel Amorth of the possibility of Satanists in the Vatican might well be credible in light of the Macial affair.  Macial, a prominent priest, founder of a major religious congregation, close to the Pope, respected and revered by his followers, discovered to have been a pedophile, father of illegitimate children, as well as a same-sex abuser - that is big stuff.  The faithful are scandalized and want to see that something is done about it.  That said - such behavior is certainly not of God.
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Consider as well our recent history of the Bishops in the U.S. and Canada, Ireland, and elsewhere who covered up cases of sexual abuse, pederasty, and homosexuality throughout the Western world - what is more demonic than that?  To bring such things to light is not at all anti-clericalism.  Not to do so is being in collusion with those who wish to cover these things up, including the perpetrators and their protectors.
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I'm not a follower of clairvoyants and seers, but this morning on Spirit Daily I noticed a story of one such mystic I had read about in my early days back in the Church, Marie-Julie Jahenny.  Many very traditional folks point to her and Catherine Emmerich as prophesying about our times and the 'New Mass'.  Perhaps they did, I don't know.  (I know some 'followers' of her who tend to see Masons in even the best of parishes.)  However, the following point resonated with me this morning, regarding fallen away Catholics and 'pastors'.   
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"Because of the little respect it has for the apostles of God, the flock grows careless and ceases to observe the laws. The priest himself is responsible for the lack of respect because he does not respect enough his holy ministry, and the place which he occupies in his sacred functions. The flock follows in the footsteps of its pastors; this is a great tragedy." - Marie-Julie Jahenny (June 1881)
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Indeed:  "The flock follows in the footsteps of its pastors."  Nevertheless, today we have 'The Year of the Priest' since the Holy Father knows the Church's desperate need for good, holy priests.  Without good priests, the flock is dispersed and lost - as we've witnessed in the last 50 years or more.

The Exorcist Tells His Story.

Satanists in the Vatican?
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Maybe amongst the cleaning staff - but Cardinals, Bishops, and Monsignors?  C'mon on Tammy Faye.
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I'm not going to get into this much except to say I have troubles with what Fr. Gabriel Amorth claims - after all, he's pretty much basing his claims upon what supposed mystics and demons tell him.  The devil is real of course, but he and his minions lie - lies are of the devil - the devil tries his damnedest to destroy the Church and confidence in Her ministers.
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"Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea Cucurull, a Spanish priest and theologian who specializes in demonology and is now studying for his doctorate of theology in Rome, responded to Fr. Amorth's assertions on March 1.
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After reading reports of Fr. Amorth's accusations pointing a finger at members of the clergy, including cardinals, Fr. Fortea declared that it is a "duty of justice" to speak out in their defense.

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Noting that some prelates "are more spiritual and others more earthly, some more virtuous and others more human," he wrote on his blog, "from there to affirm that some cardinals are members of Satanic sects is an unacceptable distance."
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The Spanish priest then explained the sources of information used by Fr. Amorth to say that Satanic sects are operating in the Vatican.
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In addition to the people that seek help for demonic possession, said Fr. Fortea, "innumerable persons come to us who claim to have visions, revelations and messages from Our Lord." Among these, "a certain number offer apocalyptic messages and revelations about the infiltration of Satanism and the Masons within the dome of the Church."
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The other source Fr. Amorth refers to, according to Fr. Fortea, is the demons who are being exorcised. Of this, the Spanish priest wrote that knowing whether or not the demon is telling the truth "is in many cases impossible."

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"We can know with great confidence when a demon tells the truth in the subject directly related with the exorcism. That is, the number of demons, their name and similar things. But we cannot be confident in what regards concrete news relating to people." - CNA
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Update:  Fr. Z has posted on this story as well, and he has permitted a rather good discussion in the com-box.  Click here.

Franciscans of the Immaculate

If I were younger I would want to enter this order. I hope someday soon they will be invited into the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis.

St. Joseph Refuge of Sinners

Protector of Carmel.
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I finished the retablo on Monday and finally photographed it today. The entire image and the narrative in on Up Your Street if anyone is interested.

Fasting

I found a site with the Orthodox Rules for Fasting.
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I thought this rule was interesting:
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On The Marital Fast
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Married couples are expected to abstain from sexual relations throughout the Church's four fasting seasons, as well as on the weekly Wednesday and Friday fasts. (This aspect of the fasting rule is probably even more widely ignored, and more difficult for many, than those relating to food. In recognition of this, some sources advocate a more modest, minimal rule: couples should abstain from sexual relations before receiving Holy Communion and throughout Holy Week.)
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And this:
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Communion Fast
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So that the Body and Blood of our Lord may be the first thing to pass our lips on the day of communion, we abstain from all food and drink from the time that we retire (or midnight, whichever comes first) the night before. Married couples should abstain from sexual relations the night before communion.
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When communion is in the evening, as with Presanctified Liturgies during Lent, this fast should if possible be extended throughout the day until after communion. For those who cannot keep this discipline, a total fast beginning at noon is sometimes prescribed.
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"Married couples should abstain from sexual relations the night before communion."  What would Christopher West say about that?

Global warming...

Oh it's real all right!
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Get this!  It is over 40 dgrees and the snow is melting like crazy today - in Minnesota.  I was standing right outside in the sun and it was really warm!  So don't try to tell me Global warming is a myth.  No siree Bob!

Nothing to say.

I went your way ten years ago
and I've got nothing to say.
Nothing to say. - Jethro Tull
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I feel as if I'm just repeating myself - I keep posting the same things, falling into the same traps and then getting angry at myself because I really have nothing new to add to what I have said already.
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I'll keep posting, if only to get my art out there - perhaps my art will say what I can't.
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Art: "Above the Narrows" - Andrew Wyeth.  (The title says it all.)

March is the month of St. Joseph

What I'm up to.
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I'm working on my own version of a Cuzco-style retablo of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus - hopefully I will finish it tomorrow.  I'm not sure I like it, it is certainly not as nice as the one shown here - I will title it St. Joseph, Protector of Carmel, with the Infant Jesus. 
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Art:  San José con niño (Saint Joseph with the child) Anonymous Cuzco's School Oil on canvas 18th Century

Control

With a "Z"!
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A friend sent me an article from The Atlantic on the Swiss euthanasiast, Ludwig Minelli.  "Over the past decade, Ludwig Minelli has helped more than 1,000 people kill themselves and has turned Zurich into the undisputed world capital of assisted suicide. Minelli sees himself as a crusader for what he calls “the last human right”—and he believes that helping more and more people to die advances his cause. Even if you believe in an absolute right to die on your own terms, how far is too far in the quest to secure that right?" 
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While reading the article, the following jumped out at me:
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"Minelli today is a committed atheist, but as a child he dreamt of becoming a priest, not so much to honor God as to place himself in a position to, as he later put it, 'teach people how to think.'" - Source
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Isn't that curious? I was thinking along the same lines recently - that some men may have gone for ordination for this very reason, and/or to be in control, and to exercise authority over others.  At least in the case of  priests caught up in abuse scandals and erroneous teachings.
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Just a theory however.
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Art:  Death and Life - Gustav Klimt
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Thanks to Paula for the Minelli piece.  Oh - and "With a 'Z'" is just a play on Liza with a Z - as in Minelli - it makes no sense - but for sure there is no connection to Fr. Z.  I have to explain everything now, don't I?