A Concise Catholic Blogging Ethos, in the words of St. Ambrose

Found in today's Office of Readings, from a letter of St. Ambrose:

".. Let the meaning of your words shine forth, let understanding blaze out. See that your addresses and expositions do not need to invoke the authority of others, but let your words be their own defence. Let no word escape your lips in vain or be uttered without depth of meaning."

I feel I have let my blog go nowhere near what I wanted. And then today's reading reminds me, that words can be light, and water to the parched soul. Today's second reading in the office of readings talks a lot about how the teaching of a Bishop can be like a spring of water. And in the brief passage, quoted above, we see truth compared instead to light, which blazes out.

How different from the "prooftexting" approach of 1970s fundamentalist Christianity, is the speech and discourse of a truly converted soul, which speaks words out of fullness of the Spirit.

I know that St. Ambrose, writing the letter quoted in today's reading, must have been aware of St. James' epistle, chapter 3:

My brethren, be not many of you masters [ie. Bishops], knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

A Minor Friar

Check out this post at A Minor Friar that really got me thinking.

And underneath the excellent post, there is me, blogging in the comment box, like I usually do.

My Bollywood Top 10

Written as a blog comment. And since I haven't posted in a while, it's now a blog post. Without further ado, my top ten Bollywood Films list. Except this one has eleven, and one of them is an Indian film that is most definitely not a bollywood film. Because I am all about expanding your horizons, little ones.


1. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (means "Something has happened to me..."). Shah Rukh Khan, who you met in Kal Ho Na Ho, is arguably the biggest bollywood star under 50. And my fave indian starlet, Kajol, is his romantic interest in this lovely film. My fave.

2. Swades (also SRK). Oh my. Should have won an oscar. My heart will never quite recover.

3. Nach. Possibly the most incredible dancing I have ever seen. And possibly the most beautiful girl on screen, ever.

4. Mumbai se aaya mera doste. WOW. Okay, maybe this one's even better than all the above ones. It's so hard to pick faves. This one is a must see, and features the ever-popular theme of rising up against injustice in tribal areas with their traditional caste-system, against the simplicity and beauty of the poor country people, and the relative coldness and corruption of those who live in the big cities. Country-mouse, city-mouse, Hindi style.

5. Dilwale Dulhania Lejayenge. (DDLJ). Another ShahRukhKhan classic. Also featuring kajol. Same stars as #1.

6. Dil to pagal hai. The heart is completely crazy. Maybe I like Hindi films because I think they represent a kind of emotional "masala" mix of craziness, faithfulness to certain core ideals, and rampant romanticism. There is dancing. There is love. What more do you need? There is Madhuri Dixit, a true goddess of the indian silver screen.

7. Raincoat. And now for something a LOT different. This is not bollywood. This is Bengali intellectual theatre put on screen. If you hate it, don't blame me. But if you like real movies where real directors write real scripts about real things of the heart, you just might LOVE this film. Stars Aishwarya Rai, who is both the #1 and #2 most beautiful woman in the world according to Roger Ebert. His wife apparently doesn't mind his fixation. :-)

8. Salaam e Ishq. Introductions are in order. Bollywood fan, meet Govinda, comedy legend and crazy guy. Govinda, meet your new fan.

9. Loafer - I got sucked in by Monsoon Wedding. I just LOVED that song "Aaja mausam" by Mohd. Rafi, and I had to watch the film where this song made its big screen entrance into the national subconscious song-pool of Great Classic Hindi Film Songs. This is not a spectacular film, rather a typical period piece from the 1970s, but the singing, oh the singing. Mohd Rafi had the voice of an angel. One wishes they had better recording equipment though, in the 1970s in Bombay. The fidelity is close to AM radio.


10. Devdas. A classic novel, that has been turned into films several times. I recommend the modern Shah Rukh Khan version made circa 2000. The classic version stars Dilip Kumar, and is worthy of your time as well.

11.Sholay. Any list of Hindi films that does not contain this film is made by a complete poser. You have to mention this one just like you have to mention Citizen Kane if you want people to think you actually like film. Also, it rocks.

Original blog post that I commented on

What would Jack think...

... of his official blog, the "C.S. Lewis" blog, that is.

Some fantastic stuff on there. Go check it out.

Here's a particularly fantastic post.

What happens at the profession of a Nun?

I found this today while rambling around on the internet. It's the actual order of service for the permanent vows of a Colletine observance of the Poor Clares.

Click this link to read it.

Sometimes it looks blessed, Sometimes it looks cursed

Photograph of Earthrise, taken during the Apollo 8 mission

Little round planet
In a big universe
Sometimes it looks blessed
Sometimes it looks cursed
Depends on what you look at obviously
But even more it depends on the way that you see

from the song "Child of the Wind", Bruce Cockburn,


Today, I'm grieving for the loss of life, for those four women found in that canal, drowned. The police are calling it an "honor killing", a term which some consider controversial. I prefer to point out that the act itself is one of the most chilling acts of betrayal imaginable, whenever a person who ought to love and nurture children, instead betrays them, and kills them.

Are all Canadians shocked by this? I hope so. If a baby, even one day old, is murdered, it's called murder. In canada, one day before she is born, she can be murdered with impunity, and there are many in our country who defend this, and call it right and good. How is it that democracy is our last best hope, for finding truth, and justice, without war, if this is the state of things? How exactly is "pluralism" and a one-sided "tolerance" working out for Canada's well-being, if there are honor killings happening here? How tolerant do we have to be?

I love my country, and I love this world. And I'm grieving for its condition today.

10 Things I want to Learn Before I'm 50

1. I want to learn to play my guitar properly. I want to actually be good.

2. I want to learn enough chemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and toxicology, to be able to hold my own in a conversation with a researcher in any of those fields.

3. I want to learn enough physics to understand exactly what it is they are doing at that CERN place in Switzerland, and what the experimental results mean, and whether the Higgs Boson is proof that the standard model of particles used in Quantum Mechanics is fundamentally bogus, or sound, because right now I can't really tell.

4. I want to learn enough about the history of the world, that I can talk intelligently about most of the ages and centuries in recorded human history.

5. I want to learn how to be kind, humble of heart, and live the gospel, the way St. Francis did, who died before he reached 50.

6. I want to learn why it is that God has put me on this earth, and do something about getting that stuff, whatever it is, done.

7. I want to figure out how to love those people that God has given me the unique privilege of loving and being close to, in a way that will draw them always closer to God. In doing this I hope that the answer to #6 will also come to me.

8. I want to learn how to pray.

9. I want to learn how to give something small to God.

10. I want to learn how to live this life in such a way, that I am ready for death, because I know that we are all going to die.

P.S. Feel free to write your own list. If you're already 50 or up, then add 9 to 19 years to your current age, pick a nice multiple of ten, and use that. Because who knows, any one of us might live to 100.