LOST IN TRANSLATION?

With "optimism and hope" the Catholic parishioners of Kinglake celebrated the fourth incarnation of their church, St Mary's. Three times destroyed by fire it has again arisen from the ashes. But gentle pilgrim if this was the concept design...

What's this...

Oh well, thank the Lord for small mercies, at least there is a church and a priest! Or at least they did have a priest until the Archbishop despatched him for Toowoomba... make of that what you will!

RELIGIOUS PRACTICE... A WEIGHTY ISSUE!

With World Youth Day just around the corner, our Spanish hosts might be interested by a recent study by researchers at Northwestern University in the United States which found that young adults who regularly attended religious events were much more likely to be obese.

Researchers collected data from 2433 people for 18 years, starting between the ages of 20 and 32, all of whom were of normal weight at the beginning of the study. By the end, however, those who had attended a religious function at least once a week were more likely to be obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

"Our main finding was that people with a high frequency of religious participation in young adulthood were 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age than those with no religious participation in young adulthood," said the study's lead investigator and a fourth-year medical student.

Catholics come in all shapes and sizes, and with previous studies identifying religious observance with living longer and better mental health, this most recent study is unlikely to carry much weight.

Indeed reflecting on WYD Sydney, some of the youth represented were positively little more than skin and bone...

ALL THIS TALK OF HATS...

At my old friend Hardman's invocation I did attend upon Mr Coyne's aCatholica to cast an eye over the episcopal speculations going on there and was almost immediately reminded of Beckett's Waiting for Godot that classic absurdist play in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive.

Lucky's monologue is very Coynesk or is it that Coyne's rants are very Luckyesk?

"Immediately promote Tony Doherty to Archbishop of Sydney and give him the Cardinal's hat for this nation. I reckon Tony is the one guy who in seconds could re-unite and restore morale of all the priests and bishops in this nation — and the people. I'd hesitate to place the responsibilities on any person's shoulders given the present low state of morale in the Church across this nation but of all the priests I've met Tony is probably the best I've seen in his pastoral sense, his presentation sense, his "media savvy", his intellectual abilities, his deep love of the authentic Catholic tradition. The only thing against him now is his age and asking him to take on the massive workload and responsibilities that are involved."

How absurdist of you Brian! While we're about it why not declare Doherty Pope...

Please somebody remove Lucky, I mean Brian's hat!

BISHOPS CAUGHT MIA ON THEIR WATCH... SURPRISE AND NO SURPRISE!

Next weekend, NSW goes to the polls and the Australian Christian Values Institute has applauded the actions of the many Catholic bishops of NSW in the release of ‘The Green Agenda’ document to the people of NSW.

Australian Christian Values Institute spokesman, John Miller said, “We applaud the courage and foresight of the Catholic bishops of NSW in releasing this important information. It is not only Catholics who should read the expose but people of other faiths, Christian or non-Christian. Even our Muslim friends will take encouragement from this well crafted defense of the position of the monotheistic traditions in matters of morality and family values. Many atheists will also be disturbed by the Greens’ inhumane policies.”

The document was signed by just 10 NSW bishops including the Sydney Archbishop, George Cardinal Pell. However the Bishop of Bathurst, Michael McKenna, and the Bishop of Broken Bay, David Walker, did not sign the statement. Surprise... and no surprise.

Walker feels that "the bishops need to take great care regarding intervention in the political process" telling The Record, in Perth, that he supports the highlighting of key issues of concern but had some reservations "that attacking a particular political party serves to highlight these issues in the most effective way."

Lismore's Bishop Jarrett, put the initiative in perspective telling The Record that the prelates were not instructing how to vote, but doing "what people expect of us" -- being "watchmen on the tower."

The Greens are toxic but they make no excuses for their anti-Catholic policies. Perhaps more dangerous is the Green's bride-to-be...

Don't be fooled into believing that NSW's Premier Catholic, Kristina's Keneally, has got your back when it comes to these issues either!

FRIAR +FISHER CAUGHT TUCKING IN THROUGH LENT?

Being on the receiving end of hospitality has long been that exclusion clause in the Lenten observances. So while most of us are struggling our way through our Lenten fast it appears that Parramatta's Bishop Anthony Fisher has engaged in a little Lent busting collaboration with the Fairfax media...

Less than a week into the Lenten fast and the Bishop of Parramatta informs Fairfax readers that he dines out regularly and often entertains.

"Cooking is my only art" he says - though you could be forgiven by article's end for sensing it was more the art of degustation.

In a shameless example of Cuisine for Comments the good Bishop names a number of his favourite haunts... Chinese food from local restaurants including Hong Fu North East Chinese...

''The owner makes wonderful handmade noodles and dumplings; they are simple but very special,'' he says.

Half a block away, a number of Uighur diners have opened: one serves the Bishop's favourite fish dish, covered in chillies and cooked in beer.

''The combination of the chilli's fruitiness and the fizz on the tongue is really wonderful,'' he says.

On the way home he might stop at SeaSweet Patisserie for Middle Eastern sweets including baklava and knefe.

''I have a real soft spot for Middle Eastern pastries. I buy boxes of them for gifts,'' he says.

At the El-Phoenician, where he was reintroduced to Lebanese food our not so fasting Friar Tuck'in' recalls his first experiences with Lebanese food as cheap-and-cheerful restaurants

''It has been wonderful to discover sophisticated Lebanese cuisine and its focus on sharing and family'' he says.

+Fisher informs business owners on the busy Church Street strip that when he moved to Parramatta he promised himself he would make his way down Church Street, trying every restaurant but still has a little way to go...

Well your Lordship there is still a little way to go in Lent!

FOOTBALL, MEAT PIES, KANGAROOS AND HOLDEN CARS... A CATHEDRAL FOR OUR TIMES!

Bishop Holohan is reported to have said the new Bunbury cathedral windows showed Bible scenes in an Australian context.

"Cathedral windows for a new cathedral really need to reflect the era and the culture and, therefore, they are contemporary Australian art and have an Australian context and Australian animals," he said.

The panels depict water lilies, dingoes, kangaroos and bilbies alongside scenes including the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and the baptism of Jesus. The building has been designed by Perth architect Marcus Collins to stand for the next 300 years!

Reminded me of this infamous Python skit!

CLOSING THE DOOR ON REFORM BUT CAN THEY EVEN SPELL CONSUBSTANTIAL?

Oh The Age is at it again... disguised as balanced journalism this time!

On June 6, 1960, Fr. Bugnini was appointed the Secretary of the Pontifical Preparatory Commission on the Liturgy. This body drafted the document that would become Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Interestingly, Bugnini not only voted in the new Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy in 1963 but in January of 1964, was appointed Secretary of the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy.

This period in Church history is widely viewed in certain circles not as a Roman micro-management of local churches but rather a period of positive reform. And in a curious footnote the personal secretary of the later Archbishop Bugnini was Archbishop Piero Marini former Papal Master of Ceremonies who enjoyed until a few years ago great influence over liturgy given his highly visible role.

So imagine my surprise when priest forever, Paul Collins, attempts to suggest to the Fairfax readership that the sort of Vatican micro-management seen in the liturgy war is a new development dating back only to the last Pope, John Paul II.

40 years since the hijacking of Vatican II and over the last 10 work has progressed steadily to arrive at a more accurate English translation of the now 3rd edition of the Roman Missal. Bugnini and his contemporaries imposed a move not from English to English but from English to Latin and forced it through in a few short years and this should be viewed as a positive reform?

Bob Dixon, head of the Australian church's Pastoral Research Office, is concerned that nearly a third of Australian church-goers come from non-English-speaking backgrounds and so poses the question that in these circumstances will a more elevated, less idiomatic liturgy create language hurdles for them?

If we understand him correctly he is arguing that either non-English speakers are just generally linguisticly challenged or because English is your second or third language a translation more accurately emulating the Latin, and perhaps even closer in meter and idiom to your native tongue, will be more problematic for you to appreciate than the current liturgical strine peddled in English speaking countries. Arrogant git?

And last that universal galoot McGinnity says the liturgy is "the place we interface with the people and with God - it's a pre-eminent area. It's about meeting around the table of the Lord , and it's sad that it could be the cause of disunity. We would not like to see the Eucharist be a source of division or an exercise in control and power by a particular ideological position within the church." Because we have some experience in its effectiveness??

And there we were believing that the Mass was all about God and the worship of God... not some "interface"!

All these threats... What might have become of God's chosen people if Aaron, after hearing the instruction faithfully recorded in Exodus 28, had told God he didn't feel consulted enough and didn't do sacred dress-ups?

Progressives have been telling us for 40 years that the spirit of Vatican II was a good thing. Finally conservatives get on the same page only to find that yesterday's progressives now want to shut the door on reform that is good for you!

ARGUMENT FOR HUMAN INDUCED GLOBAL WARMING JUST MORE HOT AIR...

According to the Fairfax Press, Cardinal Pell has rebuffed the head of the Bureau of Meteorology, Dr Ayers, for suggesting to a Senate committee that he (the Cardinal) was ''misled'' in his views on global warming.

Cardinal Pell told Fairfax the suggestions made by Dr Ayers, an atmospheric scientist, weren't in the least scientific and that Ayers was obviously little more than a hot-air specialist.

Admitting to having spent "a lot of time studying this stuff" the Cardinal seemed just a little disappointed that Ayer's shallow swipe was the best climate change adocates could muster saying he so regretted "when a discussion of these things is not based on scientific fact."

But leading government Climate Change expert (and classic drip under pressure) Professor Garnaut, an 'economist' of all things! claims there was no "genuine" scientific dissent and the mainstream science supporting global warming was never more sound.

Seriously gentle pilgrim, with an economist (not a scientist) as lead consultant on the issue of human-induced global warming is it any wonder the government is promoting market mechanisms and a revenue grabbing tax as the only mature scientific response!

Well the winds of change are with public sentiment as this lunacy rapidly becomes unhinged and nobody but the recidivistly stupid think a new tax or a carbon market is the answer.

So those dependent upon hot air... beware!

STILL NO MIRRORS AT 'CHEZ COYNE'...

In late January we explored the proposition that there were no mirrors in the Coyne household but his most recent rant all but confirms our worst fears...

Entitled "The right wingers respond", Coyne maligns Cathnews (we are all guilty of that) for what he seemed to suggest was a reluctance to draw attention to the aCatholic position before going to town on an unsuspecting Fr Nicholas Pearce of the great Archdiocese of Melbourne.

Coyne invoke's Pearce's example to advocate the position that the Church no longer recruits from "the best and brightest" in society but rather "grey men" who will not "make waves".

Fr Nicholas keeps a quaint blog of his first year in priestly ministry over at apriestdownunder.com. Honest, if imprudent, his contributions are not worthy of that knave Coyne's agenda which fails to demonstrate any respect for this fine clergyman's work ethic and integrity.

If anything, Rev. Pearce is representative of the many fine men ordained to the priesthood in Melbourne, and indeed beyond, who commit to their ministry with a joy that clergy and laity of Coyne's era have in most cases long since soured for themselves.

A dip of the biretta for Fr Nicholas, I for one find his insights quite instructive on occasion.

As for the knave Coyne who grows more delusional by the day... could someone not get the poor man a mirror!

PRE-LENTEN RETREAT

As one does... or at least should!