2011 February archive at Being Frank

Archive for February, 2011

Feb

What are we listening to?

By Kereopa 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

I’m a big consumer of pop music – on my iPod at the moment are the latest songs from Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, OneRepublic and Train.

But even I’ve been shocked at the latest Billboard Top 100.

Rihanna has a song about S&M, and Enrique Iglesias has just released a song titled “Tonight (I’m going to f*** you)”. Both songs contain sexually explicit lyrics.

What shocks me most is how acceptable these songs are among young teenagers. There are no proections in place to stop kids purchasing this music and plugging it into their ears. In my heyday, it was Marilyn Manson and Slipknot who were beyond repungnant but at least you knew they were and to keep away from them. Their CDs were R16 – but no such age limits apply on iTunes.

It’s not that I’m a prude. I like edgy, contemporary music and I don’t mind particularly if they push the line. So I guess I don’t have a leg to stand on. However, I still very much object to the explicit nature of these songs.

I’ll no longer be buying music off Rihanna or Enrique Iglesias.

Move over Hollywood – the new avenue to push the sexually-explicit agenda is music.

[Admin writes: Today's post was late due to an error on our part, not Kereopa's. Apologies.]

Feb

Social Beings

By Joan of Arc 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

I’m pretty certain that God made us to be social (and I’m not just saying that because I’m an extrovert!). This is something that has really struck me in the last week. We need each other.

During the week I have been working with a single mother who called me in tears because she simply had nobody to talk to. To have no friends to share with is an experience I can’t even imagine but the situation is not uncommon in society today. People have become isolated. For many of the families I work with professionals are the only people they interact with. You could say: “well why don’t they get out there and make some friends?” but that is so much easier said than done. No wonder there is so much depression in our society.

The woman who called me is a member of a church but could not name a single person from the church who she would feel comfortable speaking with about the ‘ups and downs’ of her current situation. What has happened to Christian community? Many churches that I interact with in my work are able to respond to requests for help in a practical sense (providing food, etc) but it seems to be so much harder to find a person in their congregation who will just keep an isolated person company and take the time to listen to their story. Christ does not necessarily ask us to ‘like’ people in our community but He does ask us to love them.

This week has left me asking myself: Do I take time to weep with those who are weeping and rejoice with those who are rejoicing (even and especially when I have something else I would rather be doing)?

I believe that this has been one of the real blessings which has come out of the tragedy of the Christchurch earthquakes. Cantabrians are really getting to know their neighbours and support each other not only in a practical way but in a way that acknowledges each other’s experiences and listens to the stories. I’m sure there are many out there who will be simply needing someone to talk to.

This year ‘Neighbours Day Aotearoa’ is 26-27 March. I think this is a great idea to start living out the commandment of loving one’s neighbour as oneself.

Everyone in Christchurch be assured of my prayers.

Feb

Suffering, frustration and humility

By Voice in the wilderness 125 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Well, having lived through another major earthquake, I thank God for the safety of myself and my loved ones.

I was in the Christchurch Town Hall when it struck and I can honestly say that the name of Jesus was on my lips as soon as it happened.

There is so much suffering going on in Christchurch at the moment, and we have to be careful that we don’t just apportion suffering to specific groups of people.

There has been debate about whether to take donated food and water to wealthy areas or poorer areas, about the difference between people who are suffering because of the earthquake directly, or because of secondary or tertiary effects.

As someone who does not see himself as a “sufferer” I think I need to be careful not to see other people’s situations through my own eyes. Everyone has a unique and individual perspective. Others’ suffering can be hard to understand. This leads to frustration and conflict. Just like in a Marriage, just because you experience the same things, does not mean you will have the same emotional reaction.

Frustration I think is ok, however, we all know it can lead to anger and sometimes to regrettable actions.

All that is left to do is to be humble, meek and loving. To love, you need to submit. Submission requires humility.

For the sufferers, it can be redemptive.

As St Therese of the Child Jesus said: “I would not suffer less.”

Feb

“What kind of God would allow that?”

By Methuselah's Beard 35 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Being in London, I am a few hours behind events that happen in NZ and it was a real shock to hear about the earthquake whilst watching the Breakfast show on the BBC. It was also hard seeing the pictures and reading about the quake and its aftermath. There is actually quite a lot of coverage of the disaster over here and in the Daily Mail today, there were some interesting comments regarding the quake:

Why would God destroy churches? Just terrible tragedy!

And people still pray to “God?” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those who say, “Where was God?” in the face of this disaster, this was a common reaction after the infamous Lisbon Earthquake in 1755 which shattered the faith of many in that generation, including Voltaire. But belief in God has continued and we too easily forget that life for most of human history has been brutal, painful and short. The Victorians were devout believers despite a child mortality rate in which 50% of all recorded deaths were of children under the age of 5. This world IS a place full of illness, disaster and death. No religion teaches that God is there to intervene in all human affairs to prevent suffering, rather that the world is a ‘vale of tears’ from which faith can eventually redeem us. We have free will, and the world is governed by random forces. It IS hard to believe in an omnipotent God who does nothing to intervene, but that is the essence of faith. Yet there is a spark of divinity in the human reaction to such tragedy.

I’ve seen messages on Facebook from people who haven’t darkened the inside of a church in an age, but it’s interesting to see how in moments of grief, tragedy, or moments beyond human comprehension, people still turn to God and the need for consolation through prayer.

God bless everyone down in Christchurch.

Feb

Eternal Rest

By Filia Day 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

The last few days have been incredible ones for New Zealand. I know we’ve had a post about Christchurch yesterday but I can’t help but feel it’s worth a day or two of posts. The images in the herald are harrowing and it seems like everyone knows someone (or someone who knows someone who is missing or has been injured). Yesterday my husband told me that they are pretty sure an old school mate was in the CTV building, for instance. A woman at work knew of two people in Christchurch who are still among the missing. I rarelyy watch TV but how could one not be glued to the coverage over the past two days.

On another note, it’s amazing to see that a country that some purport to be a secular nation mention the word prayer on prime time television so often at such a time. If I’d be statistical enough to count, I would probably got somewhere into the 50s over the last couple of days (and I wasn’t watching Benny Hinn either). It’s quite likely the numbers of deaths will well exceed the current tally of mortalities, which is currently in the 70s. I’m sure, for the “praying types” (quoting directly from Breakfast this morning), we’ve all said many a prayer for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake. One Herald headline struck me this morning, ‘focus remains on the living’. For us Catholics the focus should also be on those souls who have perished.

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine;

et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

Requiéscant in pace.

Amen.

Feb

Bringing out the best in the Kiwi spirit

By Inkling 2 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

In the wake of yesterday’s devastating earthquake in Christchurch, I’d like to dedicate this post today to all the residents of Christchurch, the families affected by the disaster yesterday, and all those working to save lives down there.

They say difficult times bring out the best in us. A friend of mine visited Christchurch recently, and said the community spirit of the people down there was incredible. She experienced an aftershock while she was there, and said that while she was shaken to the bone, the residents were all checking on each other, joking, and fixing things that had toppled over, all with that good-natured indomitableness of spirit that lies at the heart of the Kiwi character. A city full of candles in the darkness indeed.

I can’t imagine what it must be like down there, but, all you brave souls in Christchurch; you’re in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers. xx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12546961

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

- Elizabeth Kubler Ross

Feb

Forty Hours’ Devotion

By Marty Rethul 13 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

It’s upon us again! Each year, between Septuagesima Sunday and Ash Wednesday, we Catholics enjoy(ed) a special time of prayer for the Church and world known as the Forty Hours’ Devotion. Information on its origin and the requirements of the devotion may be found on this site.

Septuagesima Sunday occurred this year on 20 February (that is, two days ago); Ash Wednesday occurs on 9 March. In other words, we have already entered that traditional time of devotion to Our Lord enthroned.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is – outside of the Mass – one of the best and most intimate ways of encountering the Lord. The Forty Hours’ Devotion is a great way to do that within your parish or – even – school.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Can.1275) required that the Forty Hours Devotion should be held annually in every Catholic church or other place where the Blessed Sacrament was reserved. The 1983 Code of Canon Law simply recommends an annual exposition for an ‘appropriate’ but undefined time, and this only if a ‘fitting’ attendance of the faithful can be assured:

Can. 942. It is recommended that in these churches and oratories an annual solemn exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament be held for an appropriate period of time, even if not continuous, so that the local community more profoundly meditates on and adores the Eucharistic Mystery. Such an exposition is to be held, however, only if a suitable gathering of the faithful is foreseen and the established norms are observed.

What is Made Optional Disappears

As is nearly always the case, once something that has been positively prescribed by law is made optional or merely recommended, it quickly falls into disuse. The near disappearance of the Forty Hours Devotion in dioceses the world over attests to this. Is it not time to shake off the lethargy that has overcome us and return to the Eucharistic Lord, the King of Peace, with all our hearts? There are plenty of enthusiastic people here on Being Frank. Why don’t we make an effort to observe at least some time of adoration?

I’m not saying try to do 40 hours all in one hit. Start small. Maybe ask your parish priest for a Holy Hour on the Sundays remaining before Ash Wednesday? You all know your parishes best, and what could work. Why not give it a try?

It Can Be Done This Year

Septuagesima Sunday occurred this year on 20 February (that is, two days ago); Ash Wednesday occurs on 9 March. It seems to me that it would be possible to organize the Forty Hours Devotion in cathedrals and at least something similar in parish churches during the intervening three weeks. Why not reclaim something of the wisdom of our forebears – and try to draw closer to the Lord in prayer before the beginning of Lent?

Invite the faithful to kneel before the throne of the Eucharistic King; His Heart will be touched, and He will show His mercy and His power to the world.