Aquinas, Ambler, Dante, Connelly, Baur

I am a creature of habit. Especially during the work week, I do the same things at the same time almost every day. And I read books according to the time of day.

Over breakfast I read the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas. I'm in my third year of reading the Summa. Right now I'm in the middle of the "Second Part of the Second Part"; the Summa itself is in three parts, and the second part is itself divided into two parts. I'm reading the treatise about justice, specifically, "Question 77. Cheating, which is committed in buying and selling." Great stuff. It's hard to describe the peace and calm that come from reading St. Thomas, especially right after church and right before the work day starts.

Over lunch I usually read a work-related book, currently "The Object Primer: Agile Model-Driven Development with UML 2.0" by Scott Ambler. Next on my list is "Software Architecture in Practice" although I just noticed the 2nd edition is out, substantially updated over the 1st edition, which is what I have. Hmmm....

Over dinner I'm reading Dante's "Paradiso", the 3rd part of his Divine Comedy, following naturally after the Inferno and the Purgatorio. I hear many people read just the Inferno without moving on to the other two books, for its greater entertainment value. I don't understand this. The Inferno was hard for me to read; it's about souls in self-inflicted torment; all darkness and pain. The Paradiso is a greater accomplishment; from Scripture we know that the mind cannot conceive what awaits the blessed; so Dante can't come close to describing the real thing, but it is a noble attempt nonetheless.

When I have spare time in the evening I read a mystery or some other novel. Currently it's "Trunk Music" by Michael Connelly, part of a series featuring the detective Harry Bosch. I really like this series; I'm trying to read the whole series in order of publication. Previously I read "A Small Death in Lisbon" by Robert Wilson which is one of the finest mysteries I ever read.

At night I read a few pages from a spiritual book before falling asleep. Currently it's "In Silence With God" by Benedict Baur, another very good book about your personal relationship with God; something I continue to struggle with.

Stretching a metaphor until it breaks

I baked two loaves of bread last weekend. They turned out great, thanks to Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. But that's not the point of this post.

A few minutes after I began kneading the bread, I realized it was very hard to work with. Then I looked up and saw the bowl of yeast on my counter... not in the dough I was kneading, where it should have been! Many years ago I forgot the yeast in a bread maker; the bread came out like a brick, and that's what I was on my way to making.

So, I poured the yeast over my brick-in-the-making, and began to work it in. The gluten was pretty solid by then and didn't want to break up. I had to really squish and pull and press and mash. It kind of brought me back to my childhood days of playing in the sand and the mud. Finally everything was mixed into a very nice dough and the bread turned out just great.

That's the literal story. Now let's take an allegorical look... my allegory is a little goofy but it works in a weird kind of way.

The original brick I was kneading is like a dead human soul - lost in sin, immured in the world, unable to look up to Heaven or contemplate God's love and mercy, loving nothing, itself least of all. Such is the fate of the soul turned in upon itself, lacking faith, hope, and charity.

The yeast is like God's word, living and active in Scripture and the church. The yeast is capable of turning a brick (or to use more Scriptural language, a stony heart) into a pliant, life-giving, joyful substance.

But it takes some work. When I first poured the yeast on the brick, all I had was yeast and a brick; I had to do some work to break down the brick and work the yeast into it. That is the action of the Holy Spirit, transforming the stony heart into a living heart. The Spirit transforms us, operating on us even without our knowledge.

And the whole operation is pretty hard on the brick. Once a soul realizes it's in the midst of a dark wood (as Dante found himself at the start of The Inferno), there's a lot of hard work and pain ahead. Turning towards God means turning away from yourself; it's the hardest thing I've ever done. That first turning towards God suffices for your salvation; but God calls us to be holy, and so long as we remain in this vale of tears, we are called upon to let the Holy Spirit continue working on us.

Then you realize the truth about the horror you are leaving behind, and the truth about the glory you are approaching. And then you know it's worthwhile; you are on your way to becoming an aromatic offering to our Savior.

The Bostonians

Last weekend I finished An Outcast of the Islands. How exhilarating it is to finish a great book, and how depressing to realize there is no more of said great book to read!

I am moving on to an author I'm still struggling with. I loved Henry James' book "Washington Square." But I didn't like "The Turn of the Screw" at all. And I've started a few other of his books, and not gotten very far.

But there's no denying that the man can write like nobody's business, and anyone who's books still fill a shelf at Border's a hundred years after he wrote them is a force to be reckoned with. So I've started The Bostonians. Reviews indicate it is a relatively light and satirical book; perhaps not so heavy as, say, "The Golden Bowl". Perhaps this will be the breakthrough book that The Reivers was for my reading of William Faulkner... "The Reivers" set me on fire.

The diocesan shuffle

My diocese moves priests on a regular schedule. Pastors typically stay at a parish for 6 years (or maybe 10 - I forget). Parochial vicars (all priests other than the pastor) generally stay for 2 years.

At my parish our two parochial vicars came two years ago; so on July 1 they are moving on, and two new parochial vicars arrive.

I like the effects this has on the diocese as a corporate body, on the priests, and on the individual parishioners.

The diocese gets a flexible way to move priests to where they are needed, and a way to expose priests to all parts of the diocese, from the more rural to the near-city.

The priests get to know and work with more of their brethren. Parish priests tend to get tunnel-vision, seeing only their parish, so the regular reassignments broaden their horizons. Plus they meet more of the faithful.

Individual parishioners get to meet and work with more priests. This is very important for me. I've talked with people who've had the same pastor for 20+ years. Such a parish inevitably revolves around the person and personality of that one pastor. With priests coming and going relatively frequently, the faithful get to see that the Church's teachings remain the same, just expressed in a different style by each pastor. The focus is more on the person of Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith, less on any one priest.

I am always sorry to see my parish's priests leave, and at the same time I always look forward to meeting the new ones. What a great gift God has given us in the ordinary parish priest! The homilies, Masses, confessions, and counseling I've received from my humble parish priests have done more for my spiritual life than any other human interaction.

Too Many Curses

"Too Many Curses" by A. Lee Martinez is the 5th book from this great fantasy writer - I've also read the previous 4. Almost unheard of for a modern fantasy writer is that all 5 books have different characters, plots, and styles. No trilogies, no series, no continuity from book to book. They are all totally different! How refreshing!

And they are all funny, lighthearted books; but not completely without depth, and internally logical and consistent. I had about decided there would be no more great fantasy writers - maybe I was wrong.

Our daily bread

A few years ago I would get discouraged thinking about all the Masses and confessions I would be going to over the years. Isn't it possible just finally to become the ultimate Christian and stop having to invest the time and effort into driving to church day after day after day?

Then I read a story about an older gentleman who counted up the thousands of sermons he'd heard over the years. He couldn't remember the details of a single one. He thought they were all wasted! His pastor asked him if he could remember any of the thousands of meals his wife had made him, over the same number of years... He couldn't remember them either.

The lesson is clear. We eat three times a day (more or less) to keep up our physical strength and vitality. I attend Mass six times a week (more or less) to keep up my spiritual strength... The homily, the Eucharist, daily spiritual reading, is all food for the mind. On days I neglect Mass, prayer, and reading, my clarity of vision and focus on God suffers; just like my body suffers if I skip a few meals.

Viva Cristo Rey

"Viva Cristo Rey!" - Long live Christ the King - was Miguel Pro's exclamation before his execution by firing squad in Mexico in 1927, during the terrible persecution of Catholics.

The government took this famous picture of the firing squad, intending it to belittle Pro's Catholicity, showing the weakness of the Faith compared to the government. His hands were not tied in that position - he deliberately spread his arms in imitation of the Crucifixion, just before he was shot and killed. Copies of the picture were distributed like postcards, to discourage the faithful. It had the opposite effect, inspiring the Catholics to such an extent the government soon outlawed the pictures.

At last year's Opus Dei retreat, they played Miguel Pro's story during the lunches. The story is hard to forget.

Recently I struggled with the real truth of my life in terms of pride and humility. The catchphrase - "Viva Cristo Rey!" - popped into my head and comforted me greatly. I still repeat it to myself from time to time during the day - when I'm tired, or discouraged, or just to remind myself of God. It clarifies my thoughts and gives me energy.

Long live Christ the King!