The Friday Breviarium

Just some brief thoughts...

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Whatsabreviary anyway?

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Breviary - that is what the book containing the Divine Office was once called, and many still call it that. I'm not sure, but I think the origins of the word breviary denote the fact that the secular priest's office is shorter than the monastic office - at any rate, it must have meant that early on. You see, the monastic offices were much longer, and the priest's offices were abbreviated due to their diocesan schedules and so on.

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At least that is how Mr. Peabody explained it to me: "Yes Sherman, in brief, the diocesan priest's prayer book was called a breviary because it was the abbreviated form of the monastic Opus Dei, or Divine Office."

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A happy death.

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I wasn't going to write about Edward Kennedy, simply because everyone - from media personnel to taxi drivers to beauticians to their clients, carry on way too much about celebrities and famous people when they die. Emotions run rampant - I get like that too - but I'm trying to be wiser and keep my mouth shut, which is obviously impossible for anyone with a blog. But I digress.

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Anyway. I hope I can die like Teddy. I read an interview with a priest who assisted at his deathbed, it certainly sounds as if the Senator had a happy death. He had the consolation of the sacraments and a priest - in other words, Christ himself was there assisting him as he prepared to die. Kennedy said he was ready - what more can one hope for?

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Venomous attacks.

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I haven't been a fan of the Kennedy's for decades - the last one I cared about was John Jr. - otherwise I think I saw the family for what they were, most of us did, in a way that wasn't possible when John was president and who for many became a 'martyr' in his assassination. Years later all the skeletons came out of the Kennedy closet and the world knew... The dad was a philanderer, a crook, a Nazi sympathizer, and so on. I suppose it doesn't mean they were bad people since Rose went to Mass everyday. But the family was obviously screwed up, and many people were not quite as enamoured with them as they had been.

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Nevertheless, reflecting upon the reaction of many bloggers to Ted Kennedy's death and eternal judgement, I have to say once again - accusing myself first, we are quite a mean lot. I know, I know, people have been genuinely scandalized by Catholics in public life supporting anti-Catholic policies such as abortion and gay marriage, but many of us really went for the stake in the heart with the dead senator. I know, it happens, as Howard Beale always said, "We get mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!" We all have our faults and prejudices and make our mistakes, and hopefully we can all die like Teddy - with all the means at hand for repentance and forgiveness, assisted by the sacraments and a priest - indeed, to die in the presence of Christ.

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Hecklers and gossips.

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It struck me however, that we civilized people on the web are frequently little different than the crowds who followed the wagons of the condemned to the guillotine, or the audiences in Shakespeare's time who hurled garbage at the actors whose performance they didn't like, or even the Roman spectators in the Colosseum screaming for more bloodshed. Yes, the most respectable amongst us who discreetly hide their nasty little criticism and rumor mongering behind their elegant painted fans, facades of piety, or most deeply enclosed closet; everyone takes their swipes from time to time. And none of us are without sin.

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Woe to us, hypocrites. We cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside we are full of plunder and self indulgence... we are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are filled with dead men's bones; envy, greed, lust, and every kind of filth. Outside we appear righteous, but inside we are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

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"Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." - Matthew 25:13

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Let's pray for one another's conversion and happy death. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.