As someone on a local mailing list noted, I’ve successfully trolled the entire open source community.
Rich Bowen

«— The Coming One
—» Readers’ Aid

The Graveyard

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“Seminary is where blogs go to die.”

Someone posted that on the true blog-killer, Facebook, and I laughed. I almost wrote, right here in the space where you’re reading these words instead of what I wanted to write, “And something clicked inside me.” But that something clicks a lot and not a damn thing ever happens.

Take, for example, my Greek studies; I’m probably going to fail that class. Am I having trouble understanding what the aorist is, you ask? Or perhaps getting moods mixed up: Confusing the subperative and the injunctive? Nope. The problem is that I’m not memorizing a damn thing. That’s my problem. I know this. Something inside me keeps on clicking, and nothing changes. Click. See? Nothing. Click-click-clicklicklicklicklicklick. Not. A. Damn. Thing.

Something else needs to start clicking deep down inside me.

I might rename this old beast. I named it Decimation and Reconstruction around seven years ago. The blog was itself only a few months old, a little over a year. The webserver hosting my blog (and those of several other men in my parish) was cracked and everyone’s blog was down for about a week. At the time I thought Decimation and Reconstruction nicely summarized what happened and coincidentally served as a nice metaphor for our lives. I have left the title in place for seven years now.

I think perhaps I should rename the blog. Something like “The Abomination of Desolation,” or “Desolation and Recrimination,” or some other play on a Latinate “-tion” ending. Something that reflects that reconstruction never really happens: What is happening is always destruction. Even when we think we’re rebuilding after a massive decimation, we are either deluding ourselves or we are just building another Babel for the next act of God to destroy.

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Filed under: — Basil @ 1:47 pm

«— A Beautiful Vigil
—» The Graveyard

The Coming One

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A meditation on the meaning of the season of Advent.

I grew up in the West, and so Advent was an important part of the preparation for Christmas.[1] The Advent wreath, Advent calendars, singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” — these memories burn in mind like a flame as shining examples of what Advent means.

Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming.” “Beginning the Church’s liturgical year, Advent is the season leading up to the celebration of Christmas. The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas,” according to the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The second coming of Christ is the focus of Advent because the readings and proper hymnography of the church remind the faithful of the yearning of suffering Israel, as well as the imminent coming of the Lord. The burning desire of the old covenant saints burns in our hearts as we long for the coming of the Lord.

The first Sunday of Advent always follows the last Sunday of the church year, the Solemnity of Christ the King. Prior to the liturgical reforms of the twentieth century, the gospel for Christ the King led directly into the yearning of Advent (Mt 24.15–35): “And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven; then, too, all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (v. 30, NJB)[2] The King is coming: Be ready! It is the perfect prelude to the penitence of the coming season of preparation. Read the rest of “The Coming One”

Linknotes:

  1. There are non-liturgical traditions among the various sects of non-Catholic Western Christendom, but they represent, numerically and historically, a minority position.
  2. The readings from the Tridentine lectionary are from the Catholic-Resources.org website.
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Filed under: — Basil @ 4:20 pm

«— Jokers
—» The Coming One

A Beautiful Vigil

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At St Vladimir’s Seminary, where we have been hosting the relics of our community’s patron, the holy great prince Vladimir, the Seminary’s octet and St Tikhon’s Seminary’s Mission Choir sang the Saturday all-night vigil antiphonally. There are already some videos up. The videos uploaded on November 13 all capture the vigil we celebrated before the relics of St. Vladimir.

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Filed under: — Basil @ 10:28 am

«— You Are My Sunshine
—» A Beautiful Vigil

Jokers

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Who wins the clown of the day award? The two a——clowns that unnecessarily honked at me while I waited for a tow on a residential street. I had my hazard lights on, so no one else found such meanness necessary. Here’s to you, jerkoffs; you’re real cool. I hope someone honks in your ear next.

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Filed under: — Basil @ 2:42 pm

«— The Alienation of Captitalism and Marxism
—» Jokers

You Are My Sunshine

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“A glooming peace this morning with it brings.”

Well, actually old Sol is shining rather brightly in fair Yonkers this day; he must not be too full of sorrow. Nature, unlike the implied stage directions in the Bard, usually continues blithely on, reminding us that our lives, too, go on, whatever our joys and sorrows may be.

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Filed under: — Basil @ 9:00 am