CNS STORY: No ‘Yahweh’ in songs, prayers at Catholic Masses, Vatican rules

September 4, 2008 · Filed Under Doctrine of God, General BlogStuff, News Items · Comments 

WASHINGTON (CNS) — In the not-too-distant future, songs such as "You Are Near," "I Will Bless Yahweh" and "Rise, O Yahweh" will no longer be part of the Catholic worship experience in the United States.

At the very least, the songs will be edited to remove the word "Yahweh" — a name of God that the Vatican has ruled must not "be used or pronounced" in songs and prayers during Catholic Masses.

CNS STORY: No ‘Yahweh’ in songs, prayers at Catholic Masses, Vatican rules.

I’ll refrain from the “Life of Brian” reference here. I wasn’t too sure what I thought about this issue until this morning. I realize that it’s a good thing, because in these days we have what seems to be a lack of reverence. This is a byproduct, I think, of the whole “Jesus is your friend” movement from the 70s or so. And yes, Jesus is your friend. But he is also God, God both immanent and transcendent.

We’ve lost a kind of reverence. God is just another guy we know sometimes. We need to recapture the need to kneel, to bow, to refrain from pronouncing God’s proper name. We need to be in awe of God (yes, that’s still one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you know!). And so not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton is, I think, a good thing. We’ll just have to learn to sing “O Lord, I know you are near…” or something like that.

Because God is awesome. Let’s never lose sight of that. God is awesome.

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Mel Gibson’s Apology a Model of Contrition

August 2, 2006 · Filed Under Catholic Issues, News Items · Comments 

From CATHOLIC LEAGUE for Religious and Civil Rights

“Mel Gibson’s apology is a model of contrition, and it reflects the genuineness of his faith. Indeed, it stands in stark contrast to the ‘If you were offended’ type of apology that we are so accustomed to at the Catholic League. We trust that most Jewish leaders will now do the honorable thing and work with Mel so that all wounds can heal.

“There will always be those who refuse to forgive. They are a tragic lot. Worse, they are the only losers.”

This actually ticks me off.  The Catholic League does good stuff, but this isn't it.  They should have stayed out of it, but everyone's so eager to adopt Mel Gibson as a Catholic.  Here's why they should have stayed out of it:

  1. Mel Gibson is not Catholic.  He belongs to an "independent" traditional "Catholic" sect that does not recognize the Pope or Vatican II. 
  2. The media, who are attacking him in the reprehensible way they attack just about anything they can find, are not attacking him for being Catholic.  They are attacking him for the string of anti-Semitic epithets he uttered while being arrested for drunk driving, epithets that apparently would have made Hitler a little uncomfortable.

It's darn nice of the Catholic League to forgive Gibson.  I'm in favor of forgiveness.  But they, and we as Catholics, were not the injured party.  Gibson needs to take that up with those he injured by his comments.  True contrition, I might add, involves more than just saying "I'm sorry;" it involves restitution, and he needs to take that up with Jewish leaders, who have standing to forgive since they were the injured parties.

So by rushing to Gibson's defense, the Catholic League did not come across so much as defenders of forgiveness.  They came across as anti-Semites as well.  I know that's not what they intended, yet that is how it looked.  Shame on them.

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CNS Movie Review: United 93

April 28, 2006 · Filed Under News Items · Comments 

CNS Movie Review: United 93

NEW YORK (CNS) — Is it too soon for a big-screen drama about Sept. 11, 2001? Does anyone really want to relive the events of that awful day? Can any film that makes the attempt avoid the specter of exploitation?

Those questions will surely percolate in the minds of prospective ticket buyers.

And good questions they are indeed.  The CNS review seems to portray the film in a pretty good light, and it may just be worth seeing.  I had heard that the movie was controversial, and I guess the controversy is whether or not it's too soon to make this kind of movie, or if it should have been made at all.

The real question, I think is why would someone want to see a film about That Awful Day?  Maybe it's morbid curiosity, the kind of thing that explains how the media get away with sensationalizing some of the terrible things they cover.  But maybe it's to remember those who died on Sept. 11, or to remember our own feelings that day, or even to deal with our ongoing grief.  If one of the latter are the case, maybe it would be a good movie to see after all, and it sounds like the film handles the subject pretty well, at least according to this review.

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