Gratuitous Swimming the Tiber Posting
I don't want to start another bar brawl around here, but I should warn all of our readers that what with Lent about to start, the number of GSTT posts is likely to spike significantly, as ol' Robbo strikes out in earnest for the Roman shore.
My little RCIA group has a pre-Lenten retreat scheduled for Saturday at which I gather we will be getting the "time to fish or cut bait" lecture. I'm happy to report that apart from a couple of people who had no real intention of joining up to begin with (one is already a member of one of the Eastern Churches and the other will probably come in next year), I believe everybody else in my squad will be going through with it. Indeed, after an amazingly good lecture last evening on the Spiritual Life by a Jesuit-trained Extremely Smart Guy, I think the general mood of the group can be summarized as excitement with even a touch of impatience. (I know that's the way I feel.) Anyhoo, as Johnny Olson used to say on "The Price Is Right," "Heeeeere we goooooooo!!!" UPDATE: BTW, it certainly won't be the last time, but let me just send out thanks to all of you who have patiently (I hope) watched this little religious drama unfold here at teh Butchers' Shop. I am deeply grateful for all your comments and links of inquiry and support (published and otherwise) and I also appreciate those civil and respectful notes of opposition which have floated in from time to time. I think I owe especial thanks to Mrs. P and Father M over at Patum Peperium, as well as to our pal The Abbot for supplying what physicists call the energy of activation necessary to finally get my inert backside moving into the River. I'm not sure how Rome will divvy up the frequent flier miles award on your Vatican Visa Cards, but send along the appropriate paperwork and I'll be happy to sign it. Yip! Yip! Yip! UPDATE DEUX: Also BTW, on my reading list for Lent is Chesterton's work on St. Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox. Not that there's any comparison whatsoever, but it occurs to me that if ever I get around to writing an autobiography, The Dumb Llama has a nice ring to it.
Posted by: Robert at 10:35 AM
Comments
1
Jesuits are a mixed bag. I've been roasting one over at my place over his endorsement of Barack Obama, Servant of Moloch, and on the ever popular issue of women's ordination. (There's nothing like roast Jesuit -- ask the Hurons). But then you encounter the Edward Oakes and the Avery Cardinal Dulles variety of Jesuit -- old school -- and you begin to think "the Jesuits -- they ain't so bad."
My dad was Jesuit-educated by the old school type at Fairfield, back in the 1950s. He used to wax profound on the subject of the demise of the Jesuit order.
Personally, I think the order has been too badly penetrated/ compromised by liberation-theologian and "we-are-church" types and I think it probably needs to be suppressed. They say Paul VI and JP II came close on a couple of occasions.
For all his flaws, Malachi Martin's book on the Jesuits is excellent, and gives a good summary of the order's history and subsequent slide into apostasy.
My dad was Jesuit-educated by the old school type at Fairfield, back in the 1950s. He used to wax profound on the subject of the demise of the Jesuit order.
Personally, I think the order has been too badly penetrated/ compromised by liberation-theologian and "we-are-church" types and I think it probably needs to be suppressed. They say Paul VI and JP II came close on a couple of occasions.
For all his flaws, Malachi Martin's book on the Jesuits is excellent, and gives a good summary of the order's history and subsequent slide into apostasy.
Posted by: The Abbot at January 31, 2008 11:31 AM (b1/bF)
2
As for helping you, Robbo, my understanding is that I won't receive any payment now, but on my deathbed, I'll receive total consciousness.
So I got that going for me.
I am, of course, referencing this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnHaTlI1p7o
So I got that going for me.
I am, of course, referencing this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnHaTlI1p7o
Posted by: The Abbot at January 31, 2008 11:42 AM (b1/bF)
3
Bring. It. On.
Posted by: Steve-O at January 31, 2008 01:11 PM (Dee2a)
4
Abbot, Fairfield in the 1950's? Then he was fortunate not only to go to a good school, he got to watch Frank Gifford practice with the Giants. Fairfield was their practice field back in those days. Now that was an education.
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium at January 31, 2008 04:10 PM (FGxlQ)
5
By the way Robbo, thanks but I really, honestly, haven't a clue what for...
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium at January 31, 2008 04:11 PM (FGxlQ)
6
I believe my Dad graduated in 1953, so he may have been too early to see Gifford. I know he and my uncle (his younger brother was a year or two behind him at Fairfield) used to go down to New York on the train quite often.
Both my Dad and my uncle played basketball (they both ran about 6'4"/240, which was big enough in those days) though I don't know if they made varsity. I will attest my father could set a pick with the best of them, and had a pretty good set shot.
Both my Dad and my uncle played basketball (they both ran about 6'4"/240, which was big enough in those days) though I don't know if they made varsity. I will attest my father could set a pick with the best of them, and had a pretty good set shot.
Posted by: The Abbot at January 31, 2008 04:58 PM (b1/bF)
7
Fairfield was known for fielding excellent basketball teams. I think I may have even gone to watch games there. I know the Jesuits there were once old school because they invited me to cotillions. I recently came across an invitation in a box of old things. But my true affiliation with Fairfield was that I was a mother's helper all through high school for two little girls who lived in one of those huge old clapboard colonials on Round Hill Road (near the old school theater) with those terrific ancient stone walls surrounding it. I used to take the girls across the street to play on the fold football field and roll down the hills in to leaf piles. Fun, fun memories.
As for hoping the train, that would have been a piece of cake as the station is within walking distance.
As for hoping the train, that would have been a piece of cake as the station is within walking distance.
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium at January 31, 2008 06:11 PM (zJ6Ve)
8
The Dumb Ox. What a wonderful little book. Chesterton's bio of St. Francis of Assisi is also a gem.
Posted by: Christine at February 01, 2008 01:20 PM (8Khvy)
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