— 1 —
I have to admit to being a Pope Benedict XVI kinda gal. He’s been the Pope for most of the time I’ve been paying attention. He gave my oldest son his First Holy Communion. He’s a writer and a thinker of thoughts. And, like myself, he seems to have an appreciation for tradition and order and general old-timey-ness. I love that.
So I must admit to joining in a tiny bit as the interwebs gasped in horror as Pope Francis went walking about IN REGULAR SHOES. But, as it turns out, when you’re The Pope . . .
Yes, you get to pick your own shoes. There is a history of Popes wearing red shoes, which is why Pope Benedict chose to do it, but JPII favored brown shoes. Pope Francis picks black shoes. The next guy will also Get To Pick His Own Shoes. And it will be fine.
— 2 —
Les Misérables
comes out on DVD today and if you missed seeing it in the theaters, seriously, what is wrong with you?
If you like redemption, or Catholicism, or movies, or the greatest ending in movie history, YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE.
And if you like really great singing, well, you should see it anyway.
Julie of Happy Catholic* gave me a welcome new perspective on the most maligned singer of the bunch:
I loved the entire thing, even Russell Crowe’s singing which works if you think of it like the character he portrays … earnestly aspiring to give God the glory in all things, even if he is wrong about just how he should do those things.
If you’re wondering if it would be appropriate for your kids to see, you can check out my review here.
— 3 —
Hey, think facebook made up this?:
“Finally I promised one little girl, who made a long journey to see me and proffer her request,—and she is a “Dorothy,” by the way—that when a thousand little girls had written me a thousand little letters asking for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman I would write the book. Either little Dorothy was a fairy in disguise, and waved her magic wand, or the success of the stage production of “The Wizard of OZ” made new friends for the story. For the thousand letters reached their destination long since—and many more followed them.
And now, although pleading guilty to long delay, I have kept my promise in this book.
L. FRANK BAUM.
Chicago, June, 1904”
The fact that my kids think that an apple that looks like this:
is all done, drives me nuts. Apple slices are a good solution, but I still think there’s a good chunk of edible apple in that section of core.
So here’s what I do now:
Slice the apple in half, scoop out the stem and seeds with a melon baller, enjoy. (Maybe with a slice of cheese on top? Yum.)
I appreciated Fr. Z’s take on the use of royal symbols in the Catholic church:
The use of beautiful marble in the church building, precious fabrics and metals for vestments and vessels, music that requires true art and skill to perform, ritual gestures which to worldly eyes seem to be the stuff of bygone eras of royals and the like, all underscore the fact that step by step during Holy Mass the priest is being readied for the sacrifice, which – mysteriously – he himself performs.Back when I resisted the liturgical kissing of my hand when being handed a chain, spoon or chalice, I had made the mistake of imagining myself to be more humble by that resistance. That was a mistake. Ironically, my resistance to those gestures turned the gestures into being about me. Submission to the gestures, on the other hand, erases the priest’s own person and helps him to be what he needs to be in that moment: priest, victim, alter Christus. The trappings, the rubrics, the gestures erase the priest’s poor person. Resisting these things runs the risk of making them all about the priest again.
My kids think that's what an "all done" apple looks like too. I insist on slicing it for them now, but I love your idea!
Love the apple pic. My daughter (20 mos) begs for apples. So, I give them to her. And, each and every time, she takes a bite, chews it and spits it out over and over again. Why do I keep doing this to myself??
Your number 5 drives me bonkers too! My kids don't even get that far. Argh. If I catch them before demolishing it, I use a slicer/corer and they eat way more apple. But that relies on me stalking the fridge, which isn't always possible.
I felt really sad when Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had to give up his red shoes!! It's weird what our mind focuses on in the grand scheme of things. Oh and I love your comparison between Pope Francis & Matthew Crawley!
Claire, I just went to look at your blog and you are a Catholic in Northern Ireland! That is so cool. My goodness, you certainly do come across interesting people in the blogosphere. Thanks for stopping by (and I love that you looked at all 233 quick takes last week, we should all do that sometime).
What are your thoughts on comparing Pope Francis with Tom Bransen? He also had to adjust to life with a different protocol. Hmmmm.
I don't know. Maybe that IS a more apt comparison . . . Certainly they both had adjustments to make, but whereas Matthew seemed to me that he was meant for that "great" life, but just being obstinent, Tom had taken Lady Sybil "down" to his more humble life not vice versa. Of course that's all changed now, and at least we'll get to see how Tom adjusts going forward. Matthew Crawley doesn't have us to worry about anymore.
This…. "And if you like really great singing, well, you should see it anyway" is totally true! LOL. I loved it and yet the singing was painful to me. 🙂
As for the papal change-of-accoutrements, I think there's always a tension between preserving the traditions of the past and recognizing what is and isn't necessary. I was born in 74, so how you feel about B16 is how I felt about JP2; I found the red shoes disconcerting, almost as if they distracted from the man's purpose as spiritual leader. So I'm happy to see them laid aside.
I can finally comment with *some* intelligence on Downton Abbey, since I've seen the first six episodes. 🙂 Your comparison with Matthew is an interesting one, but I think he gave in not because he felt his rank suddenly was that important, but because it was a gift he could give to the people for whom he was responsible. In that sense, I don't know that Pope Francis needs more dignity, etc.; it may well be that he recognizes the need for humility throughout our Church. Although your point about bowing to rubrics you're not comfortable with is a deep, thought-provoking one as well.
I liked Pope B xvi red shoes..u coud really see him coming and i liked Emmitt Smith's red shoes on Dwts season 3 (i think). Can't agree on the bad singing by RC making his character more believeable. I have seem the musical on Bwdy and WE mabye 10 times and great singing only improves the message. The movie was painfully bad singing and why not dub in good singing as hollywood used to do or get actors who CAN sing.
Nanacamille
#3 is so interesting to me. Thanks for sharing, Kendra!
I like the idea of scooping out an apple with a melon baller.