“Fastest-Growing” Neighbor-Silencing Device
Thanks to James Akin for—as usual—synthesizing disparate bits of information into a unified theory (“The ‘Fastest-Growing’ Fallacy,” May/June 2000). It’s easy to see, since most of us aren’t statisticians, how readily we are deceived when numbers start being thrown around.
I actually used the reasoning in Akin’s article to silence an Evangelical neighbor of mine who recently joined a new “church” and had been boasting that it’s the fastest-growing church in our region. When I asked him how many members it had, he said, “Over one hundred, but there were only twenty a year ago. That’s a 400 percent increase.”
“Suppose I started a church today,” I said. “If I could get my wife and four kids to join in the next year, that would be a 500 percent increase. Would that make my new church more successful than yours?”
He admitted then that, overall, the number of members was probably more important than the growth rate.
“Well,” I said, “our little (Catholic) parish has a membership of almost 1,500 families, which equates to about 5,800 people. Let me know when your church gets there.”
He mumbled something about his pastor being an ex-Catholic and the rate at which my Church was losing members, but at least he hasn’t bragged any more about being part of the “fasting-growing” anything.
Allston McCaffrey
Peoria, Illinois
Facing Opposite Directions
Thanks you for the article by Fr. Myron Effing explaining the meaning of the Mass (“Christ’s Peace Offering,” May/June 2000). I found especially helpful his paragraph that distinguished between “real and actual” lay participation as opposed to the currently recommended “active” participation. Father suggests that “active” misses the point.
As part of the laymen’s “real and actual” participation, it seems obvious to me that both laity and priest should be facing the same direction. Presently, in our own parish and so many others, the priest presents the offering in one direction while we in the congregation face the opposite direction. I am old enough to remember the feeling of common unity in sacrificial prayer when the celebrant and we faced the same way.
Tony Atkinson
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Importance of Love in Marriage
Thomists do a disservice to their great teacher by claiming his works have answers to all questions (“Letters,” May/June 2000). No one can deny the magnitude of Aquinas’s intellectual accomplishments. But no human being, not even a genius and a saint, can “say it all.” Christ alone is all truth.
Mr. Sungenis is right in saying that the Holy Father appreciates deeply the contributions that realist phenomenology has made to Catholic thought. The distinction between the meaning of marriage (conjugal love) and the purpose of marriage (procreation) was made by my husband, Dietrich, conscious of the fact that he was breaking new ground and anxious, as he remained to the end of his life, not to write anything that did not meet the full approval of the Church.
He relates in his Memoirs that, while walking along the banks of the Isar in Munich, he discussed this insight on marriage with Nuntius Pacelli. The latter gave his enthusiastic approval and encouraged the young philosopher to publish his views. Dietrich’s book Marriage was printed shortly afterward and has been translated into many languages, including English.
That the distinction between “meaning” and “purpose” in marriage was revolutionary is attested to by the fact that, when my husband visited a Dominican monastery in Salamanca in 1954, one of the monks, upon hearing his name, accused him of heresy for having highlighted the importance of love in marriage.
May I also urge subscribers to This Rock to read Dietrich’s book The Heart (alas, out of print). Every sincere Thomist will have to admit that, hard as he may look in the Summa, he will not find the match of Catholic insights that a phenomenological realist developed in this work.
Alice von Hildebrand
New Rochelle, New York
Total Autonomy
Congratulations on your outstanding article “An Undue Autonomy” (April 2000). My personal opinion is that the Vatican is far too patient with the dissident, “politically correct” factions of the Church. I look forward to the day when a similar letter is sent to rein in Environmental Action in Catholic Worship, a document promulgated by the U.S. bishops’ committee on the liturgy. [Ed. EACW has become a de facto controlling document on church architectural redesigns in this country though it carries no official force.]
It is distressing to many Catholics like me that some of the “shepherds” of the flock, from cardinals on down, possess an enervating attitude on the “oneness” of our Church. They obviously interpret their autonomy within their own dioceses as total autonomy, even when they differ with the Pope.
Joseph Karp, Sr.
Morro Bay, California
No Crude Equation Intended
Dwight Longenecker responds to a letter by Peter Wei Trang (April 2000) criticizing Mr. Longenecker’s article “The Consistency of Catholicism” (March 2000):
Mr. Trang makes a good point. There are certainly important points of divergence between Christology, sacramental theology, and ecclesiology. However, it was never the intention of my article to crudely equate sacramental theology and ecclesiology with the Incarnation. Instead, I aimed to show how the Catholic view supports and complements the primary doctrine of the Incarnation. Of course, the consecrated bread and the Church are not Christ incarnate in the same way as the historical Jesus Christ, but transubstantiation and a Catholic ecclesiology do reflect the Incarnation more accurately than other theological positions and therefore contribute to an inner logic and consistency within Catholic teaching.
Yes, This Rock Ages Like a Fine Wine
When I was first married my parents gave me a subscription to This Rock. At the time I was a lax Catholic, attending Mass but not really reflecting on my faith. I read your magazine; however, I didn’t understand the issues at that time. The blessing of children enriched our marriage, and I began searching for spiritual growth. I found the answers at your web site and engorged myself by downloading most of your radio programs.
Recently, while looking through some storage boxes, I came across my old copies of your magazine. Reading them now is much more enlightening. Sometimes it takes a seed longer to germinate.
Thank you for providing this much-needed ministry. I pray for your continued success.
Ken J. Ciesla
Lombard, Illinois
We Implore Your Gracious Readers
I am a Catholic in India. I belong to the parish of St. Michael at Mahim. Recently, I was moved to start an association of like-minded parishioners who assist in the faith formation of our churchgoing Catholic children so that they will be less likely to fall prey to Fundamentalists.
We have founded the “Mary Kidz Krusade” with the approval of our bishop. We work primarily through the small Christian communities program in our diocese. In India we have a dearth of good Catholic magazines, and the foreign subscription costs are tremendous. We implore your gracious readers to kindly send us via mail any old issues of any Catholic magazines, books, audio cassettes, or Catholic literature. We will then distribute it free to people with a thirst for living their faith on a deeper level.
We will keep our kind benefactors always in our prayers. We request your readers to kindly forward their above mentioned contributions to Mary Kidz Krusade, c/o Neil Azavedo, 12 St. Michael Bhavan, LJ Road, Mahim, Mumbai 400 016, India.
Neil Azavedo
Bombay, India
Biblio-Whopper
Here’s a new one: My local public library has a display on “Two Millennia of Books and Libraries” that includes the following caption:
“1333, Simone Martini, painter. In one of his paintings, ‘The Annunciation,’ he places a book in the hands of the Virgin. The Catholic Church, uncertain about the intellectual capabilities of women, debates whether the ‘Mother of God’ can be recognized as a reader.”
I don’t know how widespread this story is, but it just goes to show that Fundamentalists aren’t the only ones who believe whoppers about the Church. The fact is, in paintings of the Annunciation it’s traditional to show Mary with “a book”—the Book of Hours, to be precise, a prayer book based on the monastic office but much shorter.
In Jesus’ time, it was a popular book among those who could afford books. In Martini’s day there might have been a debate over whether or not Mary could read—you’d certainly get one now—but a strong tradition in the Church held that Mary was educated while she lived as a serving-girl at the Temple in Jerusalem.
In any event, I think it’s interesting that display’s organizer, who probably considers himself an expert on the history of the book, knows about the ancient popularity of the Book of Hours.
Don Schenk
Allentown, Pennsylvania