[EDIT: I wrote and posted this before I heard about the tragedy in Colorado. It seems very small now to gripe about not being able to see the movie of my choice this weekend (#5). My heart and my prayers go out the the victims and their families, and my apologies to anyone who was hurt by my obliviousness.]
My first "7 Quick Takes"! I've always thought this was a brilliant and fun idea, and I'm glad to have a way to be a part of it now.
They're opening a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Actually they've been trying to get it done for a couple of years now, but have faced a lot of opposition from the locals. Someone will tell me I'm a "useful idiot" or that I hate America or something, but I'm glad to see this particular obstruction of religious freedom being removed. It would be nice if the Federal government took the religious freedom of Catholic organizations as seriously.
Do you like gospel R&B? Me neither, until I heard this album by Marvin Sapp. The vocals are masterful and the musicianship will blow you away. As a disclaimer, I should say that I don't know much about Sapp; what I've read about him on the internet makes me think his church is sort a quasi-Pentecostal personality cult, and I'm sure the theology leaves something to be desired in the way of orthodoxy. The fact that iTunes promoted his album pretty heavily doesn't give me much confidence in that regard either. Still, I don't think there's anything in the lyrics here to offend, and much to inspire.
I just finished Ann Patchett's State of Wonder, which I read at my wife's recommendation. What an amazingly rich book. In just a little over 300 pages she manages to create a place and an atmosphere you feel you can reach out and touch, and fully develop at least two or three memorable characters. Hopefully it won't be too much of spoiler if I admire the way it explores (among other ethical questions) the problem of solving third-world health problems when those of the first world are most attractive to the stockholders in pharmaceutical companies. Very entertaining, and good food for thought.
Speaking of Ann Patchett, she's half-owner of an independent bookstore in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville called Parnassus Books. We got to pop in there last time we were up that way, and it was a blast to shop in a bookstore that... Well, that wasn't Barnes & Noble. Don't get me wrong, I love the heck out of B&N versus the Waldenbooks and Books-A-Million and remainders stores we had here before, but alternatives are becoming few and far between. So anyway, I recommend both her writing and her bookstore.
Unlike everybody else on the Internet, the movie I will be watching this weekend is called The Dark Knight Rises, While I Sink Back Into My La-Z-Boy And Wait For Netflix. Y'all have fun and let me know how it was. And don't worry about spoilers because I have small kids whom the movie would terrify and a wife who (though otherwise wonderful) despises sci-fi/comics-based movies, so anything you tell me will be forgotten long before I actually get around to watching this movie on the tiny little screen of my computer. Not that I'm bitter.
--- 6 ---
I'm using my lunch hour to type this blog entry instead of exercise. My priorities might be a bit confused.
Here is a total newbie question, thrown out in the hope that somebody will eventually read this entry...
All over the Catholic blogosphere I hear about how people pray the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Angelus, or St. Patrick's Breastplate, or whatever. For my own part, I've taken up the Rosary daily since there are plenty of good instructions for this available online, but as a cradle Protestant these other traditions are alien to me. The Episcopalians have the Book of Common Prayer that lays out (among other prayers and service outlines) their idea of the Daily Office; is there some equivalent for the Roman Catholic Church? A collection of public prayers that everybody's referring to? I've seen references to a publication called Magnificat; is that what everybody refers to for the Liturgy of the Hours? Is there some other resource that the average layman can get his hands on inexpensively?
Thanks to Jen Fulwiler for sharing her space for this.
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
#7 There are books (and websites) for the Liturgy of the Hours (the other devotions you mentioned are separate prayers). The actual full-version of the LOTH (a.k.a. the Divine Office) is four volume series of bible-sized books. Such books are traditionally called breviaries. They have a lot of content in large part because they contain "The Office of Readings."
ReplyDeleteMost lay people don't do that "office." The mostly pray Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and/or Night Prayer (Compline). Thos people often use a book called "Christian Prayer" that is one volume. It contains some of the office of readings and some other stuff, but if the most you want to do is Lauds, vespers, and Compline, you could use the book I use "Shorter Christian Prayer."
Like the Mass, the a new edition of the Divine Office came out due to Vatican 2. Some traditionalists pray the old office, most pray the new office.
Feel free to contact me with any further questions.
Thank you Thomas! That was exactly what I was looking for.
Delete