2009 May | Brandon Kraft

Archive - May, 2009

OR: Saturday of the 7th Week of Easter

May 31, 2009 in Church, Feasts, Reflections with 0 Comments

I wrote this yesterday while sitting in a coffee shop in Houston, away from a computer or an Internet connection.

The Office of Readings for [yesterday] (Saturday of the 7th Week of Easter) had two interesting readings: the first was the entire third letter of St. John (don’t worry, it is only 14 verses) and the second was from a sermon from “a sixth-century African author”.

The third letter of John is telling of some unrest in the developing church. John writes to Gaius, first discussing those that help the brothers even though they are strangers. Later, he voices frustration that the leader of the local church (who according to St. John loves being a leader) not only doesn’t help fellow members of the faith who travel into his area, but forbids, on pain of excommunication, anyone from the church to assist.

The sixth-century author writes more of the unity of the church. The author mentions that at the first Pentecost (the birthday of the Church, which [was celebrated today]), the apostles could speak all languages and that was seen as a sign of the Spirit. Yet today (both in the sixth and twenty-first centuries), few after their confirmation are blessed with such a gift. What are we to reply when we are quested about this disparity?

We do, in fact, speak all languages, as we are members of the Church, the body of Christ, and the Church speaks all languages. Ergo, God’s promise of speaking in tongues is true in our unity. Our gifts are not only the gifts which we are individually blessed with, but the gifts of the entire community.

Additionally, therefore, as we benefit from the gifts given to all, we are to share our gifts with the community.

While our Christian church is quite fragmented–Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, these new “Faith” preachers, etc–and our common efforts to reflect the unity we are called to aren’t always actually helpful (e.g. some Christian denominations making a very public action of transferring ministers of one faith into another), we must strive to that unity.

How are we to do this? Through dialog, discussion, prayer. We must represent our faith true to our understanding, but open to others. We must look at Scripture, tradition and the intersection of these things with open minds and hearts. We must strive to understand the correct role of the Bible, the correct role of Tradition, the reason for both the words in Scripture and the root of Tradition. We do not need to look exactly alike, but there must be a common standard.

For the Church, we see the unity in the role of Peter quite important, but more so, the source and summit of our faith–the Eucharist–the humble bread and wine being transformed through the power granted to the priest as part of the one sacrifice on the Cross into the Body and Blood of Christ that we are mandated to consume and share.

It’s a long road, but one that must be traveled, if we’re to witness to the Glory of God the Father through Jesus Christ.

The Office of Readings–the entire office actually–is so full of wisdom. The entire Liturgy of the Church directs us to a life enhanced to the fullness of the Word–Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

After 17 Years, Leno Hangs Up 10:35

May 30, 2009 in Current Events, Film and TV, Funny with 1 Comment

Last night, Jay Leno hosted his final tonight show, available until mid-June on nbc.com, mixing both a look at the past and a look toward the future.

His opening stand-up included thanking Michael Jackson, Monica and Bill and others who helped the comedy write itself during the past 17 years. The comedy piece was a look back at the best of Jaywalking, his regular feature of recorded bits walking around L.A. asking “normal” folks easy current events questions with quite humorous results.

His only guest was his replacement–Conan O’Brien–with a somewhat awkward interview looking at what the new The Tonight Show will look like starting on Monday.

Musical guest was James Taylor. Leno introduced him mention that on his way out of Boston years and years ago Taylor’s song, “Ten miles behind me and Ten-thousand more to go” was playing on the radio leaving an impression on him that has lasted all these years.

The final “goodbye”, I thought, was the most touching. I’m going to let you watch that for yourself. It starts after the final commercial break.

Conan begins on Monday. Leno’s new show will premier at 9 pm (Central) in September.

President Obama Nominates Vatican Ambassador

May 27, 2009 in Church, Politics with 0 Comments

From the White House:
Dr. Miguel Díaz is a Professor of Theology at St. John’s University and
the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota. He is the co-editor of the
book “From the Heart of Our People: Explorations in Catholic Systematic
Theology” and author of “On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian
Perspectives”, named “Best Book of the Year” by the Hispanic
Theological Initiative at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Díaz
taught Religious Studies and Theology at Barry University, the
University of Dayton and the University of Notre Dame. From 2001 to
2003, he taught and served as Academic Dean at St. Vincent de Paul
Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. He is a Board Member of
the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) and Past President
of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States
(ACHTUS). Dr. Díaz holds a B.A. from St. Thomas University and a M.A.
and PhD in Theology from the University of Notre Dame.

“Phoenix” 1992-2009

May 18, 2009 in Personal with 3 Comments

My cat, Phoenix, passed away this morning suffering from either liver failure or liver cancer. He lived a long life providing a great deal of companionship to me and then, after I left for college, for my mom, who lives alone.

We adopted him from the groomer, The Dog Patch, that we took my collie, Duke, to in 1992. Another client of the groomer went to the local mall and left her car doors unlocked. She returned to her car to find someone had left a litter of kittens in her backseat. She brought them to The Dog Patch where my dad found him and adopted him, without consulting my mom.

He was a light gray pile of fur when he was a kitten, thus the name Phoenix after the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes.

He never seemed “quite right”, a bit slow or stupid, if you will. We joked that being left in the backseat of a car in Texas must have fried his brain a bit. We realized later something else was going on.

The most remarkable story, which if I wasn’t there, I would not believe it myself, took place in early 1997. My mom found Phoenix playing with a live mouse in our living room. Flipping the mouse up in the air, letting him land and running away a bit, only to come in and pounce the rodent. Repeatedly. There is truth to the notion that cats like to play with their food.

Mom freaked out–yelling, a bit scared, since well, it is a mouse. Phoenix promptly killed the mouse and ran with it back to her bedroom in his mouth, returning empty handed. Great. Not only is there a dead mouse in the house, but the cat hit it somewhere.

Later that night, when my dad returned home from work, my mom approached the cat and said in a calm voice “Okay Phoenix, you were a really good boy today killing the mouse. Momma doesn’t like mice, but Daddy really does. He would like to see your mouse.” I would testify in court to this, as sure enough, the damn cat who we were convinced was stupid and slow, ran back into the bedroom and came back to the living room with the mouse. He stopped and set it in front on my dad. I feel insane typing this out now, but like I said, I would testify to this in any court-of-law as the truth.

Nevertheless, after that day, we never called him slow again.

My beloved collie, Duke, and Phoenix had a great life together. “Wrestling” around with each other, fighting, literally, like cats and dogs, but would tire themselves out and fall asleep together–Phoenix sleeping snuggled up along the underbelly of the 100+ pound dog. After Duke passed away in 2001, Phoenix became much more picky without the competition for his food.

In the years after my dad’s death, the animals provided a bit of companionship to a virtually-only child (all my siblings are 17+ years older than I am and none lived at home much after I was old enough to remember). After I left for school, Phoenix was “my” cat, providing my mom with a bit of me and companionship as she adjusted to life alone.

My wife doesn’t quite understand the attachment that some pet owners have with their pets, so I do feel a bit silly typing all of this out, but nevertheless, having a pet, namely a dog that was with me from age 4 to age 16 and a cat from age 7 to age 24, can really mold a person.

While he was only a cat, he was a faithful part of the family who (even if he had motives of wanting to ensure a supply of food and clean litter boxes) always was there when you needed a little paw resting on your leg as you watch TV, or someone to talk to in an empty house.