We subscribe to the San Diego Union Tribune mostly because it’s the only paper in town. We also read the Los Angeles Times and it’s so much better it almost hurts. On the other hand sometimes there is something good in the local rag and today was a good example. Steve Breen is the editorial cartoonist and had this cartoon in today’s paper.
When Blessed Pope John XXIII opened the Ecumenical Council of Vatican II on October 11, 1962 he said he wished to open the windows of the Catholic Church and let in some fresh air. It appears that the current pope, Benedict XVI, is continuing the tradition of his predecessor and is slamming shut those very same windows.
Last week word came down that Benedict XVI has loosened the regulations on the Tridentine (Latin) Mass. Previously a priest was required to obtain the permission of his bishop to celebrate the Tridentine mass publicly; now any priest can celebrate it when he wants. For us liberal Catholics this was “much ado about nothing” as most places have a Latin mass somewhere if you want to attend. Here in San Diego it’s celebrated each week at Holy Cross Cemetery. Conservatives and those who like the Latin Mass have complained that some bishops have not been cooperative in allowing congregations to attend Mass in Latin but I don’t think that’s true. I think these folk are going to find that it’s hard to find a priest who knows the Latin Mass; I know I never learned it. But today we received the truly bad news from the Vatican. Previous to Vatican II it was generally taught that the Catholic Church was the only true Church and Protestants were misled. There was no serious dialogue with other Christian Churches and any ecumenism was based on the belief that when they come crawling back to us asking for forgiveness that we’ll accept them back. Vatican II taught that while the fullness of truth “subsists” in the Catholic Church, there is truth in other Churches (called “communities” in the official documents). From this teaching many denominations began to talk about Ecumenism, and talks started in the hope that someday all Christian Churches would one day be reunited. Today we read that the Pope has a different agenda. Last week the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Office of the Holy Inquisition) released a document called Responsa Ad Quaestiones De Aliquibus Sententiis Ad Doctrinam De Ecclesia Pertinetibus, or “Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church” that does nothing but make things more difficult. It claims that the Catholic Church is the only true Church and that other religions are “defective” or “wounded” (depending on how the Latin is translated). It doesn’t say anything new, but it didn’t need to be done. All this does is demand that other Christians reply that this will hurt any dialogue and move us back. It will, in short, slam shut the windows that were bringing in fresh air. It’s also embarrassing to many of us faithful Catholics who have deep and enduring friendships with our Protestant sisters and brothers.Last night several of us gathered to celebrate the birthday of Nancy’s brother Greg (whose birthday was actually Friday the 6th). We also commemorated the fact that yesterday was the 7th anniversary of the death of Nancy’s mother, Marion Graff. July 4th is also a reminder to me and my family of some of the tragic consequences of holiday celebration. My father’s brother Andrew (who was always called “Tonto”) drowned on July 4, 1964 after falling into a lake. My cousing Greg died July 4, 1977 in a single car accident coming home from a July 4th party. To this day I’m not a big fan of fireworks because I remember hearing the fireworks after getting the news of Greg’s death.
This is a little macabre, but maybe I’ve become a little hardened after working with hospice. The Associated Press this morning is reporting on a story from Verviers, Belgium. It seems that Didier Charron was hosting a dinner party. He is known for his temper and a few weeks earlier his wife had asked for a divorce. After dinner was over one of the guests went downstairs to put the leftovers in the freezer and found the body of his wife and stepson there. For me this raises a few questions:
At this point I think Mr. Charron needs to plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court. The next owner of the house should also get a new freezer.
I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday, and if you have a chance take a look at the Declaration of Independence. It’s really a remarkable document for a few reasons. The first of these is the simple boldness of a group of colonists who declared that they could declare this. Political philosophers of the time were beginning to talk about how rights of men (and women we can say now) came not from the king, but from God, and that these rights are “self evident.” That’s fine to write about in the abstract, but the group in Philadelphia that summer were putting their lives on the line for this. The second is that the grievances against George III are listed. In light of President Bush it would be good to review a few of these:
Enough said.
In May when I was in Gardner for Aunt Aldea’s funeral I spent part of a day at the old cemetery photographing family tombstones for my genealogy research. Several of Nancy’s ancestors are buried in Los Angeles and yesterday I wandered around Calvary Cemetery. I was able to find the graves of her paternal grandparents as well as an aunt, an uncle, a great uncle and aunt. Alas I was not able to find the grave of her great grandfather who died in 1920. He is in the records but there was no stone; I assume it was either destroyed or never there. The one stone I did find that I didn’t expect was the grave of her uncle Joseph Graner who died in 1923 at the age of 3 months.
I’ve been a hospice chaplain now for about 9 1/2 years and generally think of myself as pretty competent and pretty experienced. Sometimes I’m reminded of how much I still have to learn.
A few months ago I was asked to join a task force at my work San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care. It was to explore whether or not to talk with Richard Groves of The Sacred Art of Living, who has founded a program that hopes to transform how care is given to terminally ill patients. We were given his book The American Book of Dying; I read the book and was amazed at how transformative this is. He essentially says that we need to look back at the Medieval approaches to hospice care and recapture some of what they knew. Back then they ministered to the sick without the medications and technologies we have now at our disposal.
There’s obviously nothing wrong with current medications and technologies, and if I were sick I would want to use anything that is helpful. But we have come to rely on them to the exclusion of many other interventions, including spiritual interventions. Richard leads something called the Anamcara Project that we are bring to SDHPC starting in September.
The project sees healing as being multi-faceted and requires the practitioner to not only be skilled is his or her own profession but also to have done a great deal of interior work. Simply put it’s not enough to know about the illness, we also have to be willing to know ourselves and know the patient and family. This looks to me to be a challenging and hopefully life changing journey.
Serving on the task force has also given me a chance to work with some of the top people at SDHPC. When I first stated to work there in 2005 I was told by a friend that I would be amazed at the number of smart people I would meet there. Taking nothing away from the people I worked with at Vitas or Odyssey, she’s absolutely right. Task forces can often be a waste of time but this one has been enlightening for me. It’s also been heartening to be included in the group and I look forward to many more of these experiences.
I’m a big fan of the comic strip Dilbert and I read it as a part of my morning newspaper routine. Today’s strip was priceless and just slightly off color: 
Tell the truth, haven’t we all felt like this from time to time?
I spent 8 1/2 hours today down at the San Diego Hall of Justice. I was invited down to be a juror for (I think) the 4th time since I’ve lived in San Diego. The one thing all these episodes have in common: I didn’t get on a jury. Today I reported at 7:45 a.m. and sat in the jury lounge until 11:30 when they told us to go to lunch and return at 1:15. Finally at 1:45 I was called to a courtroom. There were 50 of us and I drew number 37; since it was a trial for a woman charged with misdemeanor reckless driving I assumed the jury would be empaneled long before they got to me. Actually they finished with number 28 which was more than I expected but 9 short of me. I ended my day at 4:15. The good news is that I read 140 pages of my current book Einstien. It’s an excellent book but a long one and it was good to bite off a good chunk of it today.
Most people I know dread jury duty and see it as more of a bother. I have to confess that I like the experiences (even if I don’t get picked for a jury). This is one of those experiences that is a direct result of our Constitution. The framers of our Constitution went to great lengths to make certain, as much as is reasonably possible, that nobody is wrongly convicted. When someone is accused of a crime he is presumed to be innocent unless he voluntarily confesses or is found guilty by twelve of his peers. To be one of these twelve is an awesome responsibility and is rare when we look at all the other nations of the world.
I’m eligible again in one year.
In July 2005 I wrote about the Christian Exodus Movement. They are people who believe the United States has turned away from God and are planning an enclave for themselves. Almost three years ago they chose South Carolina as the place to go; the founder (Cory Burnell) was still living in California but planned to move to South Carolina in 2006 or 2007. He is now announcing that he has found a job and will move his family there next month. There are already about a dozen families who have moved and he expects another two dozen by 2008. As the Burnells plan to move out of California, I have only one question: Can I help you pack?
