2009 November archive at Being Frank

Archive for November, 2009

Nov

Under new management

By admin 47 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

We interrupt your scheduled James the Least post to announce an exciting change here at Being Frank.

After some recent discussions with NZ Catholic regarding the future of the blog, it was agreed that for these new media properties to truly grow and expand, significant continued investment (in financial, professional expertise, content creation terms) will be required. However, given the limited resources of the paper, they have decided to focus on their primary business of producing a fantastic, national printed paper.

As such, the team at the NZ Catholic have been looking for a partner willing to invest in both the Being Frank blog and the 15th Station podcast network. That partner has come forth in the form of a brand new Catholic media organisation, Icon Media Limited. Formed by a team that includes some already heavily involved in these new media properties, Icon Media has some big plans for building on the great work already put into developing Being Frank and the 15th Station, to really take them to the next level in spreading great Catholic discussion and content throughout New Zealand and the world!

What does that mean for you, reading this? To start with, probably not a lot. :) Being Frank will continue in the same vein that it has already developed – a team of young, faithful Catholics being frank about their Faith and inviting you to join them in discussing and sharing your thoughts too. While the change in ownership means the blog is no longer directly associated with the NZ Catholic, we will continue to work with them in partnership to spread Catholic news and opinion.

So, day to day, things will remain the same with the only real changes being administrative behind the scenes. Coming in 2010, however, will be some exciting new projects and opportunities which we’re hoping to share with the Being Frank community, and that we’re hoping will get you excited and keen to join us.

In the meantime, we want to acknowledge again the NZ Catholic and the Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Patrick Dunn, for having the foresight and courage to help establish these properties, and for the great work they have done in steering the ship so far. We also ask for your prayers and support for Icon Media, and for those of us involved in the blog and the podcasts – that God will guide us and use these humble vehicles for His greater purpose.

If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment, or to contact us through the contact page. Otherwise, we now resume our normal programming (with James’ normal posts resuming next week).

God bless,

The BF Admin team

Nov

Learning all the time

By eyeWitness Closed

Categories: Being Frank...

For the past few weeks in my homegroup we have been going through a Scott Hahn online bible study. I would recommend the lessons – you could work through them yourself or with a group. This is the link : http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/lesson

The Old Testament used to seem full of stories that didn’t make sense to me. I really knew very little about God’s convenants with his ‘chosen people’, the lives of Abraham or David – or how those convenants led to the new covenant instituted by Jesus that we live today. It makes everything make a lot more sense.

Although still the most important thing is putting our faith into practice in a practical way. I love to think in ‘theories’. I love to read about prayer and self-sacrifice. In practice, I am really not so great. Learning how to pray, love others and sacrifice yourself takes time and practice and is a process we will spend our lives completing probably – but I get frustrated and disheartened when I am not good NOW, or grumpy when things in life are harder than I want them to be – I wonder if those things are put in front of us as tests and hurdles that strengthen our character and help us to grow? The whole point of confession is get up, try hard, fall, get up, try hard, fall. So you shoudn’t be discouraged that you’re not perfect, even though it is very easy to do.

One of Jacques Philippes books ( I love his books! ) says that it is normal as you grow closer to God to at first become more conscious of your faults and downfalls. But the worst possible thing to do is to get disheartened – because that is exactly the opposite of what God wants you to do. He just wants you to always try.

Nov

Oh Ye of Little Faith

By On the Road 22 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Life can be stressful sometimes. Work, family, friends, relationships, the odd little thing that comes out of the blue, it can all add up to take its toll. When it all builds up, it is quite easy to lose perspective, to forget to take a step back and a deep breath, and to re-centre on what is most important. That is exactly what happened to me this week

With a wedding day that is fast approaching, I have a lot on my plate. So, when work suddenly became exponentially more stressful, I was not prepared. I had been working on a consulting assignment for three weeks looking for new talent for a very important client, and was not seeing any results. We had already pushed our meeting with them back a week, saying that we needed a bit more time. It was Tuesday, and with the meeting scheduled for Thursday, I was somewhat frantically working to get a result for this assignment I had spent so much time on. But, it was just not happening. No matter what I did, how hard I tried, or how long I worked, it was not coming together. Tuesday came and went, and still nothing was happening. I was working myself up so much, by the end of Tuesday, I was also quite sick.

I had also been praying everyday for the last week for the Lord’s assistance and it seemed to be nowhere in sight. No, He didn’t seem to care on this one.

Wednesday came, and I almost had to stay home from work sick. But, I went in and scheduled a meeting with the partner for the afternoon to ask what we should do because we do not have a result. But, by the time the meeting came around that afternoon everything had come together, I had found the talent I thought was not there, and all of a sudden, it was looking like a much more successful assignment. I was astonished as this had never happened before. The nature of my work is that it will take weeks to accomplish what I had in one morning.

After work that day, as I sat in Church, I was overwhelmed with God’s providence and my lack of faith. I let myself become so stressed about something that was really in God’s hands. It was going to work all along, but in His time. He provided everything I needed, brought it all together, and in His way showed me how I need to trust in Him so much more.

It is now Saturday, the meeting went well, I have come down with a nasty bug (most likely a reaction from the stress I put on myself), and I am still in awe at how my loving Father abundantly provides even when doubt.

Nov

“Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!”

By Methuselah's Beard 8 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Firstly I would like say that I’m not a bad person. I’m generally pleasant to be around, have excellent personal hygiene, like to think I’m well read and knowledgable, and am usually generous. I don’t mind sharing what I have nor do I mind people using something that I own (unless it’s a treasured possession like my shard of the true cross. That one is strictly ‘to see’ only). However, my travels around Europe have left me questioning my generosity.

For you see, around Europe (as those who have traveled through Europe will no doubt be aware) there are many people who tend to follow you around, or park themselves outside shrines, churches, holy buildings, and tourist attractions, asking for money. I suppose you’d call these people beggars, unless there’s a more policitcally correct word that I’m currently not familiar with. Anyway, they’ll hold their hats out to you, or their cups and ask for money. Or they’ll be sitting on the steps of a Church with some rosary beads in hand asking for money. Or they’ll come up to you and ask you if you speak English, then hold out a sign asking you for money. One particular genius I saw stood outside a Church with his hat, and as it was quite difficult to tell if this church charged an entry fee, most people were giving this fellow some sort of token donation to enter the church. I had to applaud his ingenuity (unless of course he was an official money collector and I just went into the church for free… in which case – sorry).

It’s much the same in London. Outside Waterloo station is a man who sits in a wheelchair asking for spare change. Later in the week I’m back at Waterloo station and see the same man taking a break on the stairs while his buddy takes a turn in the wheelchair.

Anyhow, I brushed most of these people off. Do they really need the money? I guess they do or they wouldn’t be out on the streets right? No one really takes to begging as an occupation of choice. Would they use the money for food or other illicit substances? Who knows. Needless to say, I felt I needed my money more than they did and selfishly guarded every penny (except for my wife who decided on parting with some loose change to a guy who was down on his knees in Prague because he looked cold. And his hands were dirty. Bless her.). I do admit though that some of these people really do look like they need the money, but how much change can loose change make?

But my heart has softened recently and I’ve begun sprinkling loose change around to anyone I see asking for money, but with a dog. I try not to let the fact that the dog looks remarkably well fed put me off. It is almost Christmas time after all and everyone deserves to have a little cheer in their lives.

Nov

The Mystery of Faith…

By Filia Day 29 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

In recent times there has been a lot of discussion around standing or kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass. The NZ Catholic in fact ran a small article about it not so long ago, where Michael Otto (the journalist) quoted the usual argument put forward by people who are in favour of standing during the Eucharistic Prayer:

“Kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer is a practice that developed in some countries when people’s involvement in the Mass focussed more on devotion to the Blessed Sacrament than on the meaning of the Eucharistic Prayer. The Second Vatican Council wanted to redress this.”

Let’s critically analyse the ideas which are expressed in this paragraph – which are often put forward in certain circles regarding this topic – and on which I have some reservations.

“Kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer is a practice that developed in some countries when people’s involvement in the Mass focussed more on devotion to the Blessed Sacrament than on the meaning of the Eucharistic Prayer.”

What is implied here?

Devotion of the Blessed Sacrament leads to kneeling

Properly understanding the meaning of the Eucharistic Prayer (and thus Mass) leads to standing

That is what is implied. These are two different things according to this line of thought, and these are almost put at odds with each other in the way that this is written and presented. It implies that previously (the MiddleAges up to Vat II) there was a time where the Mass was defectively understood and included a type of over-devotion to the Blessed Sacrament – producing kneeling. Thus, kneeling is a result/product of a defective understanding (let’s all acknowledge that there were indeed some faithful, prior to Vatican II who didn’t understand Mass very well, but let’s also acknowledge that kneeling has been around since Biblical times. In fact, many of our contemporaries, see kneeling purely as an outward sign of penitence, and mortification, and have lost the deeper meaning of it, which is adoration, humility, child-likeness, littleness, awe, reverence and love).

According to this particular view, we have now emerged from this because we have now recovered and restored a deeper understanding of the Eucharist, and this has led to standing being implimented.

Put another way: kneeling is a sign of a misunderstanding of Mass involving a quasi-immature and under-developed appreciation of what is going on, especially during the Eucharistic Prayer; standing signifies intelligence, understanding, and maturity; and therefore orthodoxy (right practice).

To me, this is a false dichotomy – a false split of things which are inherently connected, and arises from a dialectical (and thus purely opinionated historical) way of looking at the high point of the Mass: ie, the offering of the Risen Christ to the Father – the representation of the Victory (including the Resurrection and Ascension) of Jesus’ sacrifice of Calvary – during the Canon – for the living, for the dead, for the Church, for our salvation, etc. It also suggests to me a confusion and misunderstanding of the essential nature of that part of the Mass.

Basically, devotion, love, adoration, and reverence, expressed through kneeling, for the Blessed Sacrament (ie, Jesus who has just descended onto the altar), is a deep manifestation of an authentic understanding of what is being expressed in the Eucharistic Prayer, and remembered (memoria, anamnesis) through it. That memorial (properly understood) of the Church, is made possible by the Communion in the Holy Spirit, Who is poured out from Christ’s Glorified Eucharistic Body everytime the Church celebrates the Eucharist, and by this She is regenerated and reinvigorated in the same Spirit. This is made possible by Christ’s Eucharistic offering to the Father, on the altars of the Church; and the fruits of that One Offering are in turn offered to us: communion with Jesus in the Holy Spirit as He nourishes our soul, and bathes us in His Love. By this, we are incorporated more deeply into this union with Christ, through the Holy Spirit.

How is it that we encounter (and therefore understand more deeply) what the Eucharistic Prayer, especially the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) prays and expresses? Precisely by looking to the Eucharistic Mystery – that of the Bread and Wine changing into the Body and Blood of Christ, and by concomitance, His Soul and Divinity are also present. If He is present substantially in His Risen and Glorified Body on the altar, then we have present in this Heavenly Bread, the mystery of Redemption: Incarnation, Passion, Death, Resurrection and Acsension. The Eucharistic Prayer is principally focussed on making present that Mystery – through sacramental memoria; and where is the locus of that Mystery as we enter into the memoria of it – the Eucharistic Species! It is through, with, and in this Mystery (Christ substantially present), that the Canon draws its power and meaning! And hence it is eminently and utterly fitting to kneel in awe and love of that Mystery of Love becoming present amongst us at every Mass; and by which the entire Church is renewed and regenerated!

This is why, in the Mysterium Fidei – the Mystery of Faith (Acclamation of Faith) after the consecration (in the Novus Ordo), we are supposed to sing or proclaim that Mystery in the second person, ie, “You have died, You have Risen, You will come again…”. This has now been theologically fixed in the up-coming Third Edition of the Roman Missal to be published next year. The acclamation of the Mystery of Faith is not some abstract look back in the third person to 2 thousand years ago when Jesus died on calvary (eg, Christ has died, Christ has Risen, etc), but through the sacramental memoria, it acclaims Him who is present on the altar, and in Whom is present, the mystery of the incarnation, passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension. This is the Msytery of Faith, the transubstantiated Eucharistic Risen Lord, in Whom the Mystery of Redemption is present, and by Whom we have access to it.

There should be no difference or separation between understanding the meaning of the Eucharistic Prayer, and devotion (implying adoration and love) of the Blessed Sacrament when a person kneels at Mass. Understanding the Canon properly leads to a deeper love and reverence of our Eucharistic Lord, and that is why the Latin rite developed (and still intends to keep) its tradition of kneeling during the Consecration and during the Eucharistic Prayer (Canon) to adore and worship the Mystery of Him who will and has become present before us: firstly to be offered to the Father, by the Church, for our redemption; and Who is then secondarily offered to us, in the form of spiritual food.

“The Second Vatican Council wanted to redress this.”

I have read that documents of the Second Vatican Council, and have read many of the subsequent post-Conciliar documents, and there is nothing in the documents at all saying that the “Council wanted to redress” kneeling. This is inaccurate. The Council wanted to redress the ignorance that many faithful had in not understanding the Mass deeply enough. That did not mean wanting to get rid of kneeling.

Nov

The 4th Sunday in Not-So-Ordinary Time

By Tuppence 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

I think it’s my fourth Sunday here in the Congo, without going to too much effort to do the maths…

If for no other reason but to provide me with good BF fodder, Divine Providence seems to be furnishing me with some rather writeable anecdotes. So…let me share this Sunday…

I rock up to the parish around 10.30am for the 11.30am Mass…I’m part of the meaty polyphonic French, Latin, Lingala-loving young adults choir…so we get there early to practice.

I continue to be winded by how so many of the young Kinshasa women seem to resemble something out of High School Musical or Bring It On. As I said in last week’s blog, the emphasis on kitsch conspicuous bling is kind of killing my soul. While I struggle to remember to brush my hair before leaving the house in the morning (and this has nothing to do with a well-developped sense of the virtue of simplicity), these girls could be going to the Oscars or just strolling Rodeo Drive everytime they step out their front door.

We’re in the middle of practicing Laudate Dominum when a Pauline brother that I recognise from my first week approaches the choirmaster. I recognise this Pauline brother because the first Sunday I went to Mass, soon after I approached the Pauline brothers’ piety stand, this brother appeared with a camera to photograph me making my very first purchase at their humble enterprise. The following week I was presented with an extra-large print of the photo. Uh, thanks?

Well, this time, he wanted to photograph me being part of the choir. All a bit confused (which happens often to me over here), I meekly kind of shrug my shoulders at the choirmaster indicating that I’m really not entirely sure why he would need to take my photo? I’d rather not be made a fuss of – ‘Wow, that’s amazing, the muzungu (white person) can sing with her Congolese brothers and sisters…’ Yeah, buddy, it’s called a Universal Church…get over it.

The choirmaster jumps to my defense and, as is very Congolese, voices are raised within seconds. Said brother is convinced that he’s doing us all a favour by taking my photo, wanting to give the print as a gift to me. And apparently the parish priest gave him permission to photograph the choir. Oh really, fumes the choirmaster, since when did the parish priest have the authority to give permission to photograph anyone other than himself?

Well, continues the choirmaster, there’s no reason to single her out, she doesn’t want to be treated in any special way, and when did you ever ask if you could photograph her or anyone else in the choir for that matter? One of the sopranos steps up to add her two cents. The choirmaster calls forward the young lawyer in the choir as a threat. Unlike in Senegal and Kenya where having your photo taken seems a privilege-cum-obsession, here it seems to be considered quite an invasion. Somehow it all just collapses the rehearsal and we head into the church to get ready for Mass to start. Great way to start Mass.

Mass is very noisy. Mind you, life here is noisy. I live next door to a home for handicapped children (which in itself doesn’t say anything) but it does mean my life is very noisy even in my room and all through the night. Mass is noisy with the fans, the echo, the screech of chairs being moved, the heat, phones going off…I struggle to concentrate.

A lot of the choir members don’t seem particularly focused on the Mass…I feel like I’m being constantly pushed, wait, move over, wait, let that person get in, let that person get out…it never seems to settle for long.

The homily starts – never a brief affair – and one of the Hannah Montana-lookalikes pulls out her Vogue magazine, quietly discussing with her equally Hannah Montana lookalike friend what they thing about some necklaces and bags in the magazine. It really makes my heart sink.

For those who have idealised notions of all Africans being simply non-consumeristic, community-loving, all-faithful ‘people of the red earth’, being in urban Africa squashes that pretty quickly. Given the opportunity, humanity anywhere in the world can be lured far too easily by the shallowness of appearance.

After Mass I’m back at the piety stand. The charming monstrous 4WD of the NGO I’m working for turns up and drives past the piety stand, not before driving through a large mud puddle that manages to spray the lower legs and skirts of all the women standing at the piety stand, including myself. Just as I’m about to exclaim ‘What on earth?’ to the lady next to me, I realise it was ‘my vehicle’ at fault. I apologise profusely to the other women (admittedly, quite the glamour queens themselves) for the careless driving of my chauffeur and skip over the mud puddle to get into the 4×4.

When I explain to the driver what happened, I can tell he’s really embarrassed and ashamed. He asks if I have a tissue to wipe the mud off my legs. I laugh it off and assure him not to worry. “To be honest, some of those ladies could use a bit of mud all over their skirts to teach them that life isn’t all about glamour and appearances…”

Nov

“He doesn’t understand all the new trendy words – like he’ll say “poofs” instead of “gays”

By The Dumb Ox 74 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Has anybody else found it absolutely hilarious to watch the organisers of NZ’s Big Day Out music festival practically falling over themselves to ban Beenie Man – a Jamacian Reggae artist that THEY invited to attend their event in the first place!

What was Beenie Man’s crime?

Well, it seems that he has some anti-gay lyrics in his music that have offended local gay activists – and this has led the organizers of the Big Day Out to panic and remove Beenie Man from the music festival line-up.

Now I am no fan of Beenie Man, in fact I wouldn’t even attend one of his performances if I was paid to so do, but I can’t help but seeing the farcical nature of the way that the Big Day Our organizers have handled this issue.

Basically, it’s not okay to sing about anything anti-gay at the Big Day Out, but if you want to sing about gang violence and killing non-gay people (like Big Day Out 2010 performer Dizzee Rascal does) then that’s okay.

Oh, and it’s also okay for former Big Day Out performer Marilyn Manson to sing about all sorts of obscene and truly satanic lyrics about all manner of vile acts, and if you were to sing anti-Christian hate lyrics that would be okay, but the one thing you must never do is sing anti-gay lyrics.

What makes this whole comical episode even more hilarious is the fact that Beenie Man had apparently previously signed a special pact called the Reggae Compassionate Act, under which he was required to stop performing lyrics promoting violence against gay people.

So, in actual fact, a reggae artist who USED to sing anti-gay lyrics, but who doesn’t anymore, is a definite no, no as well!

This incident highlights the fear that many people now have of the vitriolic gay lobby – in fact, it’s fair to say that the radical Islamists are probably the only other group that shares this ability to strike such fear into the hearts of your average Joe.

And is if all that wasn’t funny enough, there is now a suggestion that Beenie Man hadn’t even finalized his attendance at the Big Day Out event – if this is true, then it means that the Big Day Out just canceled the concert of a reggae artist who isn’t even scheduled to play at their 2010 event.

Pure gold.