This Blog is a Teenager!

It was September 2011 when I started this blog.

I was about halfway through my masters program in theology, and I was getting ready to go to my first theology conference at the end of the month, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I was reading a lot of blogs, and wanted a place to write about the theology I was reading, writing, and studying.

My traditional blogiversary post would list the top ten posts of the year. But on this momentous occasion, I figured I’d list the top ten of all time, and talk a little bit about them:

1. Topics in Early Church History?
2. Bible Translations: Formal or Functional?
3. Perpetua and Felicity
4. Chronological or Canonical?
5. Impressions from Paul’s letters to the Galatians, Philippians, Corinthians, and Philemon
6. A Mimetic Reading of the Ferguson Events.
7. Models of the Church, part 1
8. Rape Culture and the Construction of Virgin Saints
9. Phrases and Shapes in Two Languages: Hail Mary, Ave Maria
10. N. T. Wright’s “Big Book on Paul”

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Items one, two, four, and seven are what I think of as my “basic theology grad school” posts. I assume they’re popular as resources for other theology grad students, and I hope they’ve been helpful.

Items five and ten are associated with my independent study on Paul: the former was actually part of it, and the latter were my notes from a seminar with N. T. Wright that he gave at the EI, which was fascinating.

Items three and eight were prompted by the course I took in early church history, specifically the martyrdom accounts of Perpetua and Felicity, and of Thecla, which we read in class. In both cases, I’m drawing heavily on both feminist and mimetic theology, so these feel more characteristic of my theological approach than anything else on the list.

Only two of the top ten posts were written after grad school. Item six was about the events in Ferguson, after the police shooting of Michael Brown: just over ten years ago, now, just a few months after I had graduated.

Item nine is the one that most surprised me to see on this Top Ten list. In Phrases and Shapes in Two Languages: Hail Mary, Ave Maria, I’m just playing around with what is probably the fourth prayer every Catholic child is taught. (The first three are the Sign of the Cross, the Glory Be, and the Lord’s Prayer.)

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I opened this post with what I was doing when I started this blog. But to reframe it from the blog’s point of view:

Having had a very active infancy and toddlerhood, it had gotten pretty quiet by the time it was old enough for school… until recently. Now, it seems to be ready to re-engage with the world, on somewhat different terms, perhaps, in its teen years.

And with more attitude, probably, too. 😉

Manuscripts and Marginalia

I’ve long thought that the Protestant Reformation could not have occurred prior to the invention of the printing press, because sola scriptura — the idea that people could prayerfully discern for themselves the proper interpretation of scriptural texts, rather than relying on priests and bishops — cannot be implemented unless people can have their own Bibles. And before the printing press, when every copy of every book had to be hand-copied, only rich people could afford books, including the Bible.

According to this review of Words Are Not Enough: Paratexts, Manuscripts, and the Real New Testament, author Garrick V. Allen introduces us 21st century Christians to the history and experience of scripture prior to the printing press, before it was “a book.” Here’s a lovely excerpt that was included in the review:

From my view, the New Testament is not just an immaterial text floating in the penumbra to be reconstructed in one ideal, perfect way in the form of a printed book. We can try to make it this if we wish, but it’s more significant when we let it be what it is: a diverse set of narratives and letters that have been remade each time they are copied and printed by people, people who have had to negotiate many conflicting technological, theological, and political realities and possibilities.

When we discussed this general concept in the scripture classes I took, one of my professors suggested that the experience of text on the internet resembles the pre-modern experience of texts in important ways: it can change over time. There can be multiple versions that are not identical. Some versions have broader reach than others. Some disappear when links are broken (pace the Internet Archive, for which we are thankful!).

This is definitely going on my wish list, and it could make for a fantastic book group discussion for a bible study group that’s looking for a change of pace.

On a related note, since I can’t think of medieval manuscripts without thinking of the cute little pictures that scribes often drew in the margins, An Itinerant Scribe makes a good case for these as pre-internet memes ! Her blog post Medieval Manuscripts Marginalia: the Original Memes includes example marginalia complete with explanations. Check it out!

“Mary and the Holy Spirit: Pastoral Paradigms and Ecumenical Prospects”

“Mary and the Holy Spirit: Pastoral Paradigms and Ecumenical Prospects”
— Read on www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-dunning-lecture-peter-casarella-phd-tickets-1020725556617

What an intriguing topic for my alma mater’s annual Dunning Lecture! On October 15th, 7:30pm Eastern time, you can attend online by Zoom, or in person at the beautiful St Mary’s Seminary & University building on Roland Avenue in Baltimore.

Ecumenical prospects seems clear to me — and exciting! — but I’ve no idea about pastoral paradigms.

The lecture is free, but does require tickets, which you can get at the link above.

Catholic Conversations on the US Election

The Catholic Church must bear witness to its values in the political square, with more focus on its social justice teaching and not only abortion, according to Catholic voters who gathered online to discuss the U.S. presidential election. — Read on www.ncronline.org/news/catholics-urge-emphasis-churchs-social-teachings-not-just-abortion-election

Last Saturday, I participated in the online “synodal conversation” among US Catholics in relation to the upcoming presidential election that NCR reports on here. We were provided preparatory material in advance, which covered both the questions we were asked to reflect on, and the method that we would be using. The material on method included synodal guidelines and USCCB material.

After an introduction and prayer in plenary, we broke up into small groups of 8-10 participants including a facilitator, who kept us on topic and on schedule. Most of the ~ninety minute session was spent in the small groups, with a brief wrapup in plenary at the end. The conversations themselves were confidential, so I won’t be talking about the content here, but I thought I’d share my experience within those guidelines.

The method was designed for navigating conversations among people who disagree about faith topics. There wasn’t much of that in my group; we all seemed to be on basically the same page with respect to the topics we were discussing. I found this a bit disappointing, but not surprising, since I’d learned about this opportunity from Faithful America, an organization that speaks for and with progressive Christians in the United States, including some of the Catholic groups that organized this event. On the other hand, I found it deeply satisfying to be able to talk about the teachings and practices of the Catholic church with other Catholics that I could be reasonably sure would not be shocked or scandalized by anything I might say.

Part of the process was for each small group to “report out”, by putting together a brief written report summarizing the results of the conversation. In practice, this was something the facilitator did, while sharing their screen so the rest of the group could see and participate in the crafting of the report, and agree that it represented what was discussed. Those are the “reports” described in the article.

Overall, I found it a positive experience, and I’d very much like to see more such structured conversations among Catholics at multiple levels.

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Gracious God, we pray for your holy catholic church.
Fill it with your truth;
Keep it in your peace.
Where it is corrupt, reform it.
Where it is in error, correct it.
Where it is right, defend it.
Where it is in want, provide for it.
Where it is divided, reunite it;
for the sake of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

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On Creation: Season, Stations, and Sayers

The first of September is the World Day of Prayer for Creation. It launches the Season of Creation, which lasts through the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, October 4th. His association with nature is widely known by the prevalence of his garden statues. A bit more obscurely, his Canticle of Creation, which you might know as “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” is a glorious prayer of praise to the elements of creation that surround and sustain us.

The Season of Creation is an ecumenical endeavour, begun by the Eastern Orthodox churches in 1989. Various Protestant churches later joined in, and finally in 2015 Pope Francis brought the Catholic church into the observance. Concern for creation, for the environment, has been a consistent theme in Francis’ pontificate, exemplified by his Laudato Si encyclical. There are plenty of resources at https://seasonofcreation.org/resources — I encourage you to go check them out.

This year’s theme is To Hope and Act with Creation: a timely call to action sustained by hope, as we see the effects of climate change accelerating.

I am particularly delighted by the Catholic resource The Way of Creation, or Via Creationis.

Most people are aware that Catholics don’t take the bible literally, and may also be aware that Catholics don’t take the bible as the only source of truth. To paraphrase St Augustine, God wrote two books: the bible, and the universe. If they seem to contradict each other, then we are misunderstanding one or the other or both.

The Stations of Creation, aka the Way of Creation, embodies this Catholic understanding. It interweaves the biblical and scientific stories of creation. Modeled on the Stations of the Cross, the readings for each station consist of a portion of the creation story from the Book of Genesis, followed by the a reading from the Book of the Cosmos, the story of creation according to contemporary science.

“Scientific studies have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of humans. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 283

The Way of Creation, like the Way of the Cross, involves movement from one station to the next. Those who are familiar with the latter will find the former both familiar and new.

℣. We adore you, O Creator, and we bless you.
℟. Because by your holy Word you have created the world.

I picked up another Dorothy Sayers book recently, which is now at the top of my non-fiction TBR pile: The Mind of the Maker: The Expression of Faith through Creativity and Art. And on a hunch, I went looking to see if there was a Sayers podcast, and sure enough, there was! The first episode of The Dorothy L. Sayers Podcast discusses an exchange of letters between Sayers and C. S. Lewis, and makes clear that her primary understanding and relationship to the first Person of the Trinity was as Creator, or Maker, and explicitly not as Father. So this should be a lovely read for the Season of Creation.

Dorothy Sayers is not recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, but in the Episcopal Church, her feast day is December 17, the date of her death in 1957.

#Blaugust Wrapup: Lessons Learned

Well, here we are: it’s August 31st. The blogging festival theme for this week is “Lessons Learned,” and that seems like a fine topic for the last day of #Blaugust2024.

Lesson the first: planning is a semi-superpower. I had two specific goals for this year’s festival, and I’m checking them off as achieved. I’ve definitely gotten the hang of writing a post and scheduling it for later: that was much easier than I’d expected. I didn’t manage to post on Mondays and Thursdays every week, but I averaged two posts a week, which is close enough for jazz. :dancer:

Lesson the second: blogging is best with conversation and community! Thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment, or blogged in response or in- spiration; and a huge shoutout to the #Blaugust Discord community for all the support, advice, spirit, & banter.

Lesson the third: essays are where it’s at, at least for me. “Essay” means “try”, as in let us essay it, and trying means I don’t have to know exactly what I’m going to do when I start…. and if I do know, I’m probably wrong, which I won’t find out until I start writing; and even if I’m not wrong, the writing won’t have the same zing that it does when I’m discovering what I want to say while saying it.

Lesson the fourth: Scrivener makes that essaying easier. Scrivener is overkill for blogging; it’s a feature-full writer’s studio. But since I already own it, and already know how to use it (the learning curve is not shallow), I’ve been using it all month for all but the final formatting in WordPress. Scrivener makes it easy to move things around, or add and remove and re-add bits and pieces, without cutting & pasting: perfect for the process of essaying.

Lesson the fifth and final: blogging is fun! How did I forget that??

As I wave goodbye to #Blaugust until next year, as I watch it recede in my rear view mirror, I need to pause and pull over for a minute, because I forgot something. Blogging festivals don’t festival themselves, and none of this would have happened without Belghast, Blaugust Organizer Extraordinaire.

Thanks for throwing this fantastic annual party, Belghast!
You need any help cleaning up?

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Haunting and the Holy Ghost

Haunted by Haunting

Annie Selak’s evocative post introducing this new series on Haunting over at WIT is well worth reading (so please do click through). Her description of the various characteristics of being haunted has reintroduced me to the Holy Ghost.

I don’t hear the term “Holy Ghost” much anymore, though I understand that at least some of our Episcopalian sisters and brothers and sibs use it regularly. I’m pretty sure I heard it more often as a kid, though; I remember becoming conscious that “Holy Ghost” sounded babyish, and “Holy Spirit” sounded more grown up. Was that a regional difference, when my family moved from New York to Rhode Island? Or was it a liturgical change that was rolled out post Vatican 2? Perhaps the change to “Holy Spirit” was an early example of replacing an English word with its Latinate cognate.

Or perhaps it started sounding “babyish” to me because Saturday morning cartoons often featured animated ghosts that were banal, foolish, rude, or worse. If that’s what a “ghost” was, then “holy ghost” didn’t even make sense.

In her blog post, Dr. Selak describes the relational and communal aspects as key to the experience of being haunted. And just like that, Holy Ghost made sense to me again.

Relational? Absolutely. The Holy Ghost is a Person, after all; the Person of the Trinity to whom I’ve always felt closest. I never thought about that relationship in terms of being haunted before, but it works. Not only when “the Spirit moves me,” but even more when She shows up out of nowhere to help me, to sustain me, to convict me, to comfort me.

Communal? Well, sure! We believe the Holy Ghost has been given to the Church, and to each one of us through the sacraments of initiation. Every Catholic celebration of the eucharist includes something like this text:

Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray,
by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall,

so that they may become for us
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Catholic Church is haunted by many things: the sex abuse scandal, its treatment of indigenous peoples during colonization, its complicity in slaveholding and segregation, its misogyny, its transphobia… the list goes on.

Imagine if we were haunted by the Holy Ghost, instead.

Sin as Entropy

The other day, @catholickungfu wrote the following:

I’d like to pull on Blondel to say that “the wages of sin is death” means sin is a kind of self-contradiction. It’s not in the first place a punishment, you falling apart due to sin….

She wrote more after that, but I read “falling apart due to sin” and my brain immediately said, Whoa, sin as entropy.

Why do things fall apart? Entropy. Why do things run down? Entropy. Why do things move from a state of order to a state of disorder? Entropy.¹

To combat/mitigate entropy, to move things from disorder to order, you have to insert energy into the system. If When the stack of books piled on your desk eventually falls over, the books aren’t stuck on the floor forever. You can pick them up and put them back in a tidier and thus more stable pile: you just have to use energy to do it. And it’s not a permanent fix, either, as every person who has piles of books everywhere knows. As you walk by, as the floor shifts, as you vibrate the desk by bumping it or using it, as you take or add books from the pile without squaring up the edges, the disorder increases, and eventually the pile falls down again.

For a somewhat more technical definition, with thanks to the good folks at sciencenotes.org,

The simple definition is that entropy is the measure of the disorder of a system.

An ordered system has low entropy, while a disordered system has high entropy.

I’ve long thought that “original sin” is just theology-speak for “What the hell is wrong with everything??” Entropy is a pretty darn good metaphor for that! Do things fall apart as punishment? Does a spinning top slow down, wobble, and fall because it did something wrong? No, that’s just how the universe is made.

The Joy of a Childhood Hymn

Sometimes there’s nothing like a childhood hymn.

The communion song at mass this morning was I am the Bread of Life, by Sr Suzanne Toolan. 

I learned that song with the rest of my parish when I was 11. I sang it with all my heart and all my voice at mass in my childhood church. I sang it with soprano harmonies at mass as part of the Newman Community folk group in college. 

It was part of the earliest body of Catholic hymns written after Vatican 2:  to be sung by the congregation in English to a melody, rather than chanted by the choir in Latin.

It was sung less often after a decade or so, as Catholic church musicians gradually learned how to write music that was easier for most people to sing, as our repertoire and hymnals grew, as we broadened our understanding of what could make for a good communion hymn, and how to select the music to harmonize with the readings. But it never quite disappeared from the repertoire, octave jump and all.

This morning, I noticed that Sr Suzanne Toolan was a Sister of Mercy, with “RSM” after her name; which made me smile, because the Sisters of Mercy were so influential in my adult life, through the (sadly now defunct) Mt St Agnes Theological Institute for Women, and its co-founder Sr Dr Mary Aquin O’Neill. I didn’t realize their influence on me went back that far!

It was a joy to sing it again this morning, to re-experience the simplicity of my childhood joy in singing praises to God, together with the layers and textures that my faith has grown over the years. Thanks be to God!

Children singing nursery school Casa by Library of Congress is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0