Being Frank

Mar

A change of scenery and some Eucharistic Swahili…

By Tuppence 5 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

My weekday Mass options have taken a bit of a dive in the last week, from five options per day to…one. Work has shipped me across country to Goma (eastern DRCongo) for six weeks, and that has landed me in Swahili-speaking territory. This is fundamentally a good thing cause Swahili is a language worth learning when you work in central/east Africa.

And I’m going to get a lot of practice cause the only weekday Mass is 6.15am in Swahili. Oooh…I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the Eucharist, I love the Mass, I really like the idea of knowing Swahili (I can now say in Swahili “Can you please take me to Mass at 6.15 tomorrow morning?”), I even quite like mornings…but it’s going to take some super-human (read: divine, grace-filled) strength to get to daily Mass more or less, well, daily.

But hey, if I remember rightly, all things are possible through God – is that not correct? And if my memory serves me well, I’ve never seen attached to this affirmation a footnote saying ‘except getting to very early Masses in very foreign languages‘…so, the logic of the argument is that I am capable, with abundant graces seized, to rise regularly like a monk for some Eucharistic Swahili…

And so on that note, in the interests of seizing any possible graces God may be offering me…I’m not going to fluff around with this posting, but get to bed nice and promptly. YAWN…

Bonne nuit! Kwakesho!

Mar

And now for the news…

By The Dumb Ox 42 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Welcome to Ox Network News, the thinking man’s round up of recent news and current affairs.

Waihopai Wanderers football team back in court
The Waihopai Wanderers, a local football team who like to play soccer with massively oversized soccer balls were back in court yesterday.

They face charges of pitch invasion relating to an incident last year, at a match in Blenheim, where several members of the team became so incensed with a refereeing decision made by a visiting US referee that they rushed on to the field and punctured the giant match ball with a sickle.

The Waihopai Wanderers were supported outside court yesterday by members of the Plough-Spears protest movement – a group which protests games of oversized football by turning ploughs into spears and then using them to stab the giant soccer balls used in oversized football matches.

A spokesperson for the Plough-spears group told reporters outside the court that they are “a protest movement which works to bring about an end to oversized football” and which “seeks peace and non-violence in the world by engaging in acts of destruction of public and private property”.

Destiny church leader pursued by Campbell Live for purchasing more stamps than needed to post A4 envelope
CEO of the Destiny Church Corporation, Bishop Brain Tamaki has become the subject of intense media focus after it was revealed on Campbell Live last night that he recently purchased $2.50 worth of stamps to send an A4 envelope, something which normally only costs $1.50 to send.

When confronted about the postage irregularity by a Campbell Live reporter, Tamaki stated that “God wanted him to buy extra stamps, and that before God had told him this he had been ready to forsake the two extra stamps and spend only $1.50 on postage.”

But some media commentators have expressed doubts about the Campbell Live scrutiny of Tamaki’s postage practices, with some even calling it unjustified.

John Campbell responded to these criticisms by saying that “Tamaki has put himself very much in the public spotlight, and so it is a bit rich for other media personalities to complain when that same spotlight is focused a bit more intently on his postage practices.”

“Look, this isn’t about a witch hunt, in fact I respect a lot of what Tamaki does, and I really loved him in the new Star Wars movies, but why does he think that playing Jango Fett and a Stormtrooper clone in a big budget sci-fi movie entitles him to engage in such clear violations of basic postal practice?”

In other news, Brian Tamaki has announced that from early next month he will no longer be known as Bishop Brian Tamaki, instead he will be addressed as Supreme High Commander Tamaki.

ACT MP says people should be paid $5000 to sterilize party microwave
ACT MP David Garrett is once again courting controversy with statements about paid sterilization.

Last week the ACT MP and part-time blog comment poster authored a comment on a NZ politcal blog which proposed a policy that would see child abusers paid $5000 to be voluntarily sterilized.

His comments were met with condemnation by social commentators and those working in social agencies, and even the leader of the ACT Party, Rodney Wayne, poured public scorn on Mr. Garret’s sterilization proposals.

Within just days of this incident, however, Garrett posted another comment on a Trade Me forum which stated that he supports a policy of paying ACT Party employees $5000 to sterilize the ACT Party’s lunchroom microwave.

Mr. Garrett’s comment states that he considers it an “outrage that party MPs cannot reheat the leftovers from the night before without fear of some sort of food matter from a previous reheat falling in to their lunches, or some sort of cross flavor contamination occurring.”

He goes on to say that as far as he is concerned, “ we have tried everything else and failed, and it’s time that we got real about the appallingly high rates of culinary abuse which occur everyday within the ACT Party lunchroom.”

He finishes his comment by stressing that “he does not support forced sterilization of the microwave”, and that “this is not official ACT Policy”, just “an idea that I like”.

ACT leader Rodney Wayne was unavailable for comment at the time of publication, and when we rang his office earlier today, staff told us that he was at Briscoes.

On tomorrow’s night edition of Ox Network News:
- According to a new TVNZ poll, 67% of poll respondents say that they never respond to media polls
- A Wellington man who listed a 5 bedroom horse for sale on Trade Me is charged with misleading advertising
- Recently failed investment company now offering a 67% return on financial investments in new time travel company

Mar

Outside looking in

By James the Least 48 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

It is interesting what some people are proud of.

Lately I’ve noticed a few avatars on blogs and social networking sites that have a red letter ‘A’ in the bottom corner. Turns out this is the “Out Campaign” – an attempt to bring atheists “out of the closet” (I’m not making this up – they even have a website) and be proud of believing that there is no God.

It got me thinking about just what people believe, and how strange that can seem to people on the outside of those beliefs, looking in on what the believers believe.

I had a fascinating conversation with a colleague the other day. I’m still not sure how we got on to the topic, but she is a devout Christian (not sure of denomination) and was interested when she found out I was a Catholic. There was no judging, but she did have a bunch of questions – the greatest hits on Saints, Mary, female priests (which she wasn’t a fan of, interestingly) etc. And I found it very interesting to hear what she had been told about my faith.

Which gets me to my point today: how easy is it for some to simply accept what they are told without doing their own research. I am Catholic. Yes, I was raised that way, but to think that as I reached the age of reason, I didn’t do my own soul-searching and arrive at the conclusion that my faith was mine is not giving me enough credit. The whole “brain-washing” argument simply doesn’t wash; I had plenty of friends raised as I was who have turned away from the Faith.

Turns out we have brains and can think for ourselves.

But when others give us the “facts” in a nice tidy package, I think there is an inherent laziness within all of us (stronger for some than others) where we decide not to check them out for ourselves. So, when I look at a lot of my Christian brothers and sisters, I can almost hear their pastors “educating” them as to what Catholics believe. Hey, here’s a thought – why not just ask a Catholic? My colleague did and found out that I don’t actually worship idols, or believe Mary can heal me, or that women are second-class citizens, or that gay people are evil. Shock! Horror! On some of these topics, she was genuinely surprised – because it is not what she had been told was the truth.

Think it’s just limited to other Christians looking in? Think again. How often have people jumped on you as a Catholic for the Crusades or the Inquisition? Here’s the thing that gets me about those areas of our history – do I automatically classify all Americans as warmongering, slave-trading, racist, bigots? Of course not, but there are plenty of examples of such fiends in their colourful history as a country, right? But that doesn’t mean that all Americans are the same.

Same goes for Catholics. Sure, there were plenty of sinful men and women who were involved in the Church through the ages, and still definitely are – that’s what happens when you are an organisation of humans! But to look in from the outside and classify all priests as deviants, or all Catholics as bigots, or all Catholic men as sexist…that’s the equivalent of saying that all Americans are revolutionists, or all Chinese people are human rights abusers.

You can’t judge the individuals of an organisation (or a country) by the sum total of that organisation/country’s history. All Romans were corrupt? All Greeks were smart philosophers? Broad generalisations get us pretty close to nowhere – so why do we continue to box and dismiss in this way?

I have friends from fundamentally different backgrounds, religions, countries and creeds – were I simply to box and dismiss them as being “different” to me, how much would I have lost by not having their friendship?

So, the next time you find yourself starting a statement with “all Catholics…” or “all atheists…” or even “all Americans…”, can I suggest you stop at that point and re-consider your sentence?

Are you just standing outside and looking in, judging the lot?

Mar

Should we increase GST?

By eyeWitness 46 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

The government has mooted increasing GST from 12.5% to 15%. This is largely so people are more likely to save and less likely to spend – and to pay for the promised income tax reductions. On top of that it’s a tax that’s hard to avoid and somewhat ‘invisible’ to us in that we don’t think about it; always the aim of a good tax for the Government!

However, GST is a regressive tax, meaning that generally for poorer people a larger proportion of their income will be spent on paying GST – although some argue that this balances itself over time because those with more money eventually spend it even if it is saved in the short term.

Depending on your view of economics you could also argue that less income tax means more incentive for business people in New Zealand – and that may create more jobs, economic growth and wealth for everyone. We also need a tax system that rivals other country’s systems, particularly Australia’s, if we are going to reduce the ‘brain drain’.

As Christians what should we look for in a good tax system? You could say it’s not for the government to forcibly take more money from particular people, but for us to decide to donate it where we want it to go? Or you could say that it’s great that the government takes it upon itself to re-distribute wealth. Or perhaps a balance is needed as we largely have now I think.

The Government now faces the tough challenge of risking some of the support they enjoy (as they almost always do when making good decisions, which is why it always seems so hard to get good things done!) for the sake of the nation’s well-being.

Mar

Washing Feet? Who, me?

By On the Road 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

I was thinking this week – would I wash someone’s feet? Talking with a friend about the gospel of John as we approach Holy Thursday, it started me pondering – how much do I love and serve other people? Who’s feet is God asking me to wash?

It is so easy to live in my own little bubble. My mind is taken up by my own worries. I consistently seek out what is next for me. Working for Fridays – so I can enjoy my life. I spend my time consumed by my own life, sometimes I do not even notice people.

Then I take time to read John’s gospel.

Jesus washed his disciples feet, as they probably sat there wondering who should be on his right and left hand in his kingdom. Washing someone’s feet – one of the most demeaning things a person could do for another. It was work fit for a servant, not the master. Afterwards, he could have said, I wash your feet so you may wash mine. That would have been somewhat expected. Yet, he said that they are to go and wash each other’s feet. Out of love and humility, we are to serve others, carry their burdens, love them, be Christ to them.

There are some incredible examples of this love. One of my favorites is Dick Hoyt, the father of a disabled son who runs triathlons and marathons with him. That is true love.

But, it does not have to be grand gestures. It could be dedicating 110% to your work, the smile to the annoying acquaintance, being cheerful when you are feeling down, staying up late to drive someone home. As Jesus said, what we do to the least of these, we do to Him…

A brief meditation on this from St. Josemaria Escriva:

It is Peter who speaks: Lord, do You wash my feet? Jesus answers: You do not understand what I am doing now; you will understand it later. Peter insists: You will never wash my feet. And Jesus explains: If I do not wash your feet, you will have no part with me. Simon Peter surrenders: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Faced by the call to total self-giving, complete and without any hesitation, we often oppose it with false modesty like Peter’s … May we also be men with a heart like the Apostle’s! Peter allows no one to love Jesus more than he does. That love leads us to reply thus: Here I am! Wash me, head, hands and feet! Purify me completely, for I want to give myself to You without holding anything back.

Mar

“The forks! Use the forks!”

By Methuselah's Beard 7 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Last week I blogged about the Pope, not about how sometimes he looks like the Emperor from Star Wars (only looks mind, no cackly laugh force lightning shooting from the pontiff) but how we should embrace the Pope as our moral superior. Perhaps not embrace him literally, but figuratively although if you do get the chance I’m sure the PB would appreciate a good hug. If you missed it you need to go back and read between the lines.

Anyway, I was on the Tube this evening on the way home from work and I suddenly recalled one day in my Form 2 year. I don’t remember too much about my Form 2 year except the countless minicamps we had (one being a night in the classroom because it was too wet outside… whoopee), picking countless prickles out of my feet, being able to run long distance, and the Mask. This wasn’t ‘The Mask’ with Jim Carrey, this was ‘Mask’ with Cher, a movie about a boy with some sort of facial deformity (I think it was genetic) and his biker mum. It’s actually a touching story I think, but actually all I can remember is having a good laugh (as most 11 year olds would do) with my friends as the movie played out. Of course once the movie ended, I felt terrible about laughing at someone else’s expense and I thought God would be really mad and strike me down. So I spent most of the rest of the day looking into any reflective surface I could to make sure my face was still as I remembered… ah the roots of vanity.

As I recalled this event I came to the conclusion that guilt can drive you to madness. Fortunately, Catholics have the sacrament of confession. Of course this doesn’t mean you can be as bad as you want to be in the knowledge that there’s a safety net, but it’s a nice feeling to have that weight taken off you sometimes. Earlier in the week, I read in the ‘Metro’ (an early morning free newspaper) that a church group in France had set up a confession over the phone service over the Lenten period. I can see how that would be quite attractive for some – the ability to go to confession without the ‘uncomfortableness’ of having to spill your wrongdoings out to someone face to face. Some people must be quite turned off by confession either through bad experiences, or the thought that the priest is silently judging you. It’s quite a tough hurdle to get past. Still, the Catholic authorities have rightly declined to support this undertaking. Besides if people confess over the phone, it negates the ability of the priest to use his force lightning.

Mar

Wait it Out?

By Filia Day 61 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

The upcoming changes to the missal have become quite a topic of conversation in the Catholic media of late, as you well know, I’m sure. Slowly, but surely these conversations are popping up everywhere. Oxy’s post a few weeks back demonstrates the point well -newsletter of a local catholic girls school. Likewise, I went to Mass at St Benedict’s in Auckland this week and the priest talked rather favourably about the differences between using many and all (while he didn’t explicitly refer to the impeding changes to the missal, anyone in the know could have picked that one up!).

Those against the changes are afraid that the Church is once again going to alienate itself from its people, making the liturgy inaccessible through semantics. (Whether the Church actually alienated herself from the people is up for debate, might I add). This is the supposed view from the trenches. I would like to suggest that this is not so much a generalisable view from the trenches but the voice of a small but vocal minority who, either do not understand the impeding changes or have a skewed understanding of liturgy. I think the “Patrickmadrid” blog makes a good point about how open some of these dissenters actually are – they were more than willing to embrace a model fuelled by the “spirit of Vatican II” (completely different from the actual message Vatican II, I might add) but now they are not open to the changes suggested by the Vatican and the Bishops – EVEN WITH FORMATION. This is what I don’t understand. Are they against the actual changes or the apparently swift nature in which they will be enacted????? They say “wait” but do they really mean “let’s cast them aside” or “go back to the drawing board”. If this is the case, then one has to ask the question, how faithful are they to the magisterium of the Church?