Cardinal George Takes on DaVincin Code and Left Behind Series

From The New Catholic World:



Currently exploiting our gullibility for conspiracy theories is “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown. This is now a best-selling novel which, because it is engagingly written, is being treated as plausible. Unlike holy Scripture and the doctrines of the Church, “The DaVinci Code” has the advantage of explaining Jesus in terms that seem sensible to many by playing on ever-popular biases against the Catholic Church and advancing an esoteric form of feminism. For the price of one book, you get two theories that pander to prejudices today.



What does the novel say? It portrays Jesus as a wealthy teacher with political aspirations who is married to Mary Magdalene; he is a family man around Nazareth, one of the boys but a particularly enlightened one, a university professor before his time. Mary Magdalene is pregnant with his child when Jesus dies, and the secret of this bloodline is the preposterous story line of the book. For this weird idea, the apostles and martyrs gave their lives? Of course not. How, then, did the martyrs and we come to hold that in faith we encounter not an idea but Jesus himself, Son of God, messiah and risen Lord? From the crafty Catholic Church, of course, which, even though the Church celebrates the feast of St. Mary Magdalene yearly, hid the secret knowledge (gnosticism) about Jesus and Mary Magdalene in order to oppress women.



The second century gnostic writings Brown uses to give a façade of scholarship to his fiction were all written years after the four Gospels that the Church eventually came to judge canonical. The historical writings he uses are all spurious. The legend that Mary Magdalene journeyed to southern France with Lazarus after Christ’s resurrection has long been part of local lore in Marseilles, but this legend has nothing to do with the history of the early Merovingian kings of France, as the novel would have it. It is worth noting that when ABC recently presented an hour long special on “The DaVinci Code,” with a panel mostly antagonistic to the apostolic faith of the Church, the host had to conclude at the end of the program that there was no proof of any kind for the theories that the book espouses. A novel, of course, doesn’t need to rely on proof, unless it makes historical claims.



Prophetic claims are made by the “Left Behind” novels, which depend on a misinterpretation of Christian eschatology, our belief that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675). Using the words of canonical Scripture, authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins contort the Advent theme of the Day of the Lord into a theory that the “Rapture” and the Second Coming are two events separated by a time of tribulations and followed by a thousand-year reign of Christ as king of the whole world. This belief is called “premillennial dispensationalism.” It was put together in the mid-1800s by an ex-Anglican minister, John Nelson Darby (1800-1882); in this modern form, it was unknown to any Christian believer during the first 1,800 years of Christianity but is professed in some forms of Protestantism today.



The persuasive force of the “Left Behind” novels comes less from their doctrinal underpinnings about what Christ did and intended than from the fear that one might be left behind at the Rapture, when those who have accepted Christ as Savior will be spirited away by him before the time of tribulations begins in this world. The stories are poignant. Who wants to be left behind? There is a whole federal education program designed to be sure that no child will be left behind! Catholics, who are trapped in what the novels call “Babylonian mysticism,” are prime candidates for being left behind, unless they manage to disentangle themselves from the Church. Once again, the only good Catholic is an ex-Catholic. Since American culture is relentlessly future-oriented, odd religious ideas about the end time have flourished here for two centuries. Those interested in a careful biblical critique of the Rapture theories can consult Carl E. Olson, “Will Catholics Be “Left Behind”? A Catholic Critique of the Rapture and Today’s Prophecy Preachers” (Ignatius, 2003).



If “The DaVinci Code” is a work of bizarre religious imaginings about the past and the “Left Behind” novels are works of sincere but erroneous religious delusions about the future, why be concerned about them in the present? Because they betray in words the one who is truthfully described as “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn. 14: 6), the one we call Our Lord. Christianity is not a parlor game. The faith makes truth claims about who Christ is and what is to be our destiny in him. Both the “Left Behind” books and Dan Brown’s novel, though coming from different perspectives, share a common fallacy. They approach the Christian faith as though its contents were to be found in words and documents alone rather than in the witness and the collective memory of the community Christ himself left behind, his Church. We find salvation through self-surrender in faith to Christ present in the Church, not from personal ideas. Once the anchor of the Church’s authentic witness and teaching is abandoned, gnostic and dispensationalist and other false theories inevitably appear.



The feast of Christmas is a powerful antidote to the gnostic fabrications of Dan Brown and the dispensationalist delusions of the “Left Behind” books. The child born at Bethlehem is the divine Son of the all-holy God. Born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus comes to us truly and fully in a human nature like ours in all things but sin. As the Gospels and St. Paul and the Fathers of the Church have taught, the real flesh of Jesus Christ, not some esoteric secret wisdom, is the means of our salvation. Gnostics were antagonistic to the flesh; and dispensationalists believe that Christians are a “heavenly” people of God, as opposed to Jews who are only God’s “earthly” people. Interestingly, much of the antagonism toward the Church today stems from opposition to her teachings about sexuality, marriage and celibacy and the nature of ordained priesthood, all beliefs that take flesh seriously.

Update on Mother Angelica

From EWTN:



As the Nuns at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama prepare to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, they can’t help but be reminded it was on Christmas Eve two years ago that Mother Angelica suffered her second major stroke, leaving her with partial paralysis and a speech impediment. As she nears the second anniversary of that incident, the Foundress of EWTN Global Catholic Network has improved greatly while quietly living a cloistered life, according to Sister Mary Catherine, Vicar of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.



"She has shown tremendous improvement since her stroke, although her verbal communication is still difficult. Mother is able to lead prayers and gently encourages her sisters in their daily lives,” she said.



“While she is not as mobile as she once was, using a wheel chair and walker to get around, Mother Angelica herself decided several months ago to stop her rehabilitation and speech therapy sessions," Sister Mary Catherine continued. “Mother is content living her life in whatever physical condition Our Lord wills for her.”



Sister Mary Catherine said that Mother still receives letters, cards and emails from her friends around the world who offer her prayers and good wishes. “Many thousands of people have offered prayers for her in the past two years and she is so grateful for them all,” She said.



Sister Mary Catherine said Mother Angelica takes a very active part in her religious community. “Mother is with us at daily Mass, prayers and devotions. She is with us for meals and community time. And, her sense of humor continues to show itself in unexpected ways,” Sister Mary Catherine exclaimed.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The mystery of Our Lady's eyes....always one of the most interesting caveats about the Guadalupe image and anyone who cast aspersions upon it.

New Auxilary Bishop for LA

From the Vatican Information Service:



The Holy Father appointed Fr. Oscar Azarcon Solis, pastor of St. Joseph Co-Cathedral Parish in Thibodaux, U.S.A., as auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles (area 22,685, population 10,985,200, Catholics 4,197,635, priests 1,261, permanent deacons 203, religious 2,621), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in 1953 in San Jose City, Philippines and was ordained a priest in 1979.

Lost Art in Liturgy?

I've been reading a number of critiques lately about liturgy (the Mass) and people's receptivity to it. They all ring true. To paraphrase a large amount of material and to present it perhaps rather simplistically--what is needed from all of us to truly plug back into the Vine is to:



"learn again to gaze"



vs.



"desiring to master"



Presiders, musicians, lectors, extraordinary ministers, and congregants take note.

Dan Reeves Fired

Most surprising thing about this is Dan's age (57), I thought he was a lot older than that.



From ajc.com | Falcons | Dan Reeves out:



"With one of the worst seasons of Dan Reeves' 23-year career as an NFL head coach winding down, Falcons owner Arthur Blank released his head coach from his contract Wednesday morning.

The Falcons are 3-10, with three games left in the season. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who followed Reeves as head coach in Denver after Reeves' contract was not renewed there following the '92 season, will finish the season as Atlanta's interim coach. Phillips also was a head coach in Buffalo, and recommended by Reeves to Blank as interim coach.



Reeves and Blank are expected to speak at a 10:30 a.m. press conference at team headquarters. Reeves also attended the press conference after he was fired by the Giants following the 1996 season."

Former UNH Football Star O'Leary New Head Coach at UCF

I'm being facious about the UNH part, this happened on Monday but seemed to have been totally overshadowed by the BCS mess. UCF is getting a great coach, one that Notre Dame had for about a week.



From the University of Central Florida Athletic Site:



George O’Leary, the two-time ACC Coach of the Year and 2000 National Coach of the Year, was named UCF’s new football coach Monday by athletics director Steve Orsini.



The former Georgia Tech head coach and current Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, O’Leary, 57, signed a five-year and becomes the eighth coach in the school’s 25-year history. He replaces Alan Gooch who coached the team on an interim basis the final two games of 2003 after Mike Kruczek was relieved of his coaching duties Nov. 10.



“After searching the nation I identified my number one candidate and we got him,” Orsini said. “He is the best person for this job. He has a proven track record of building an entire football program to a championship level.”



O’Leary, will continue to fulfill his commitment to the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings in the upcoming weeks while preparing to turn his full attention to the UCF job.



“I see the University of Central Florida as a sleeping giant,” O’Leary said. “I think this is a great opportunity and the potential is outstanding. I was greatly impressed with the people I spoke to about this job and the commitment to not only athletics, but to the students and graduation.”



O'Leary was the head coach at Georgia Tech from 1994-2001 and compiled a 52-33 record while leading the Yellow Jackets to Bowl appearances the last five seasons. He was named the winner of the 2000 Bobby Dodd Award as the National Coach of the Year and was named the ACC’s top coach in 1998 and 2000. Over his final four seasons in Atlanta he led the team to a 34-14 record (.708), including two runner-up finishes and a tie for the ACC title in 1998.