7 Quick Takes Friday (set #37)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: Fr. Muir gives the background on the corrected translation of Mass. A young girl makes a big impact. How congress has suffered in the downturn. 50 people are asked 1 question. Time magazine lobs a grenade at the Catholic Church, just because they can. Fowl, mindless act of criminality in Cornwall. A cat smarter than us.

— 1 —

The Life Teen folks have produced an informative video on the corrected translation of Mass. Father John Muir narrates. This English translation will be used everywhere beginning this Advent.

— 2 —

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Rachel Beckwith wrote: “On June 12th 2011, I’m turning 9. I found out that millions of people don’t live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn’t have access to clean, safe water so I’m celebrating my birthday like never before. I’m asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday.” A birthday charity wish page was setup. Her goal was to raise $300, she fell a little short, but still raised $220.

On July 20, only 38 days after her birthday, Rachel and her family were in a terrible accident. Rachel would not survive, but her birthday wish lives on reaching almost $1,000,000. Her legacy will bring clean drinking water to over 47,000 people.

Thanks to Mary DeTurris Poust for spotting this story.

“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

— 3 —

Downgraded credit worthiness, record public debt, unemployment, foreclosures and general government dysfunction. Is this the change we can believe in? Well, at least those in congress are suffering too. Right?

— 4 —

There is an interesting genre of videos on YouTube that ask 50 people 1 question, at locations around the world. Here, people in Galway, Ireland are asked about their biggest regret:

“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

— 5 —

Time magazine assistant managing editor Bill Saporito recently published a piece having nothing to do with the Church or protection of children. Yet, he opened it as follows:

Having Standard & Poor’s downgrade the creditworthiness of the U.S., and warn the country about further downgrades, is a little like having the Catholic Church lecture Scout leaders on the proper behavior toward boys.

Time Magazine

The absolute IRONY is that the Catholic Church in the US is today probably the best example of comprehensive, enforced policies for the protection of children. Children in the Boy Scouts, Saporito’s church (if he has one), and Saporito’s local public school would be much safer if they followed our programs. That of course, was not his point. His point was simply to smear the Church simply because he has the platform to do so.

Do you still subscribe to Time?

Spotted by my friend Tom.

— 6 —

Mindless criminality in England is not limited to people:

Spotted by Fr. Finigan

— 7 —

Frida Kahio from Berlin wins 2 out of 3 times in a shell game:


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!


Comments

  1. Regarding #5, Time Magazine’s comparison was definitely out of line. However, it’s actually the Boy Scouts who have the more stringent rules. Adults are NEVER alone one-on-one with kids and it’s been that way for at least 20 years (since my brother started in Boy Scouts). It’s only been the last 10 years that churches in general have started really cracking down on adults being alone one-on-one with kids and doing background checks on any adults that will be working with kids.

    Also… the Roman Catholic Church is not the only religious group that has had to pay out settlements for child molestation. For example, there was a big to-do over an ELCA pastor (I think in Atlanta?) who graduated from my seminary that was caught and convicted of molesting kids. The pattern of behavior was seen on his pastoral internship and yet he was still allowed to be ordained. I know that there were a number of parties named in the lawsuit though I don’t remember how much the settlement was per party.

    • Thans Jen, I did not know the Boy Scouts were that good but am happy to hear it. Good for them!

      When I signed up as a CCD teacher (this will be my 2nd year), they ran a full background check and a training program (rules, spotting questionable behavior, etc.). It was a good chance to see first-hand how stringent we now are for the lay folks. I know there are a lot of policies (even unfair ones, but erring on the side of safety) in place for the clergy from seminary on.

      • I know about the Boy Scouts because my dad was the high adventure person for my twin brother’s troop as well as a merit badge counselor. My in-laws were also merit badge counselors for my husband’s troop and one of the requirements that my mother-in-law had was that the parent had to be present during the counselling session.

        I think that after the scandals over abuse in the Roman Catholic church, a lot of churches became more vigilant about doing background checks on volunteers, even for VBS. With clergy and the seminaries, there are already a lot of safeguards built in. The problem in the Catholic church was not necessarily the seminaries but the bishops who kept transferring the problem priests even after they’d offended once. Most denominations that I know of require psychological testing as a prerequisite for admission (I know because I’ve done it) and you’re effectively watched that entire time.

        When my husband was ordained and called to a particular synod in the ELCA, that synod ran background checks on him to make sure there was “nothing in the system” though anything that was present would have been reported already. There are also mandatory workshops on sexual abuse etc. in EVERY synod that have to be repeated throughout one’s pastoral career.

  2. These videos are amazing!! Thank you for that 50 and 1 video! I’m going to check out the rest…

    #2 made me weepy, what a beautiful story!

  3. Number 2 reminds me of the parable of goats and sheep when Jesus said “…I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…”
    May God grant rest to Rachel’s soul.

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