John Turturro Would've Been a Better Christ

As a devout follower of the Onion, in addition to my devout Catholicism, I rediscovered this article from years past. I realize the delicious humor isn't meant to be taken seriously, but for the sake of joy and all that is fun in the world, I'd like to imagine that "Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" spoke up in protest regarding Mel Gibson's The Passion while remaining silent and satisfied with Jesus Christ Superstar. Which leads me to believe that in terms of historical accuracy, Gibson's antisemitism is deemed far more offensive by Jesus the Jew than is Superstar's black Judas or disco heaven. Ah yes, I can see it now ... rhinestones, platform shoes and exposed chested males = heaven. God help those hell bound sinners.

Thirteenth Station

The body of Jesus is placed in the arms of his mother

The church, the defender of the rights of God, of the law of God, of human dignity, of the person, cannot remain silent before such an abomination. We want the government to face the fact that reforms are valueless if they are to be carried out at the cost of so much blood. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression.

Hey J.C., you're all right by me

Whatup Palm Sunday.

I attended mass last evening with my parents. My mom was one of the lectors along with another reader and the priest, reading Luke's version of the Passion. It's pretty juicy with a quasi sword fight, betrayal, denial, an angry crowd, etc. This marks the near end of the Lenten season and the beginning of Holy Week which culminates in the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, then Easter Sunday. For those outside the Church, I feel obligated to mention that this is IT. Easter is hands down the biggest deal in Catholicism, even more than Christmas. I realize secular society hasn't quite gotten the message on that one, otherwise Good Friday would be the busiest shopping day of the year. "Black Friday" is a much more relevant name for this day as opposed to the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm not in charge of these things. Getting back to the glory that is Holy Week (and I mean this in all seriousness--I L-O-V-E Holy Week), I've included a video of mainstream cinema depicting the event that Palm Sunday is based on, Jesus' triumphant return from the desert to the city of Jerusalem. Granted, the film was made in 1973 and some might find the look the Pharisees have got going on a bit dated, but I do not. Besides, Jesus is totally hot in this flick. I think this movie is a fabulous portrayal of the Passion as it is based more on the Gospel of Mark than on Luke's, the latter having been written several decades after the Christ event. Mark's gospel also ends without any resurrection* (just like in the movie!) and carries the storyline of a Greek tragedy with a fallen hero. Anyhow, enjoy the clip. I recommend starting at 3:45 seconds into it. Hosanna Superstar!

*Mark 16:8 ends with the empty tomb and the following scripture verses were added later, according to most scholars. More on this can be found in most bible translations and also at the always reliable (sarcasm alert!) online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Twelfth Station

Jesus Dies on the Cross

I would like to make a special appeal to the men of the army, and specifically to the ranks of the National Guard, the police and the military. Brothers, you come from our own people. You are killing your own brother peasants when any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God which says, "Thou shalt not kill." No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you recovered your consciences and obeyed your consciences rather than a sinful order.

24 March 1980

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador by paramilitary trained here at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) in Ft. Benning, GA. It's sickening. Having visited El Salvador a couple of times and having seen the chapel where Romero was shot dead while delivering mass (the Hollywood version doesn't exaggerate the gruesome reality), I feel connected to this modern martyr if by Catholic proximity only. The Jesuit institutions of my high school, undergraduate and graduate education have pumped Catholic social justice teaching into my veins for the past thirteen years. I found an excellent article on the National Catholic Reporter's website about the life of Romero and his influence in the Catholic Church and on the Christian imagination.

Lent opens on Ash Wednesday with the command that we are to remember that we are from dust and will again return to dust ... so, in the words of poet Mary Oliver,

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

RESOURCES:

Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Continuum, 2000)

Marie Dennis, Renny Golden, Scott Wright, Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000)

Life in the Fast(-ing) Lane

To date, the Facebook/Twitter fast has been rather anticlimactic. Abstaining from Twitter has proven so easy, in fact, that I am relieved to find my dependence on the status-update-driven site simply not extant. That said, abandoning Facebook leaves me feeling disconnected from the lives of my friends, especially those living outside of the Pacific Northwest. I have the horrible feeling that I am somehow missing out on something ... as if checking in with Facebook several times a day kept me better attuned to those I care about. This is an illogical conclusion for several reasons, one being that some of the most important people in my life (my mother and father, for example) do not even have Facebook profiles. It's also unreasonable to think that Facebook is a more direct mode of connection than other technologies, such as my cell phone or email. Ultimately, I find this feeling that something is going on without me stems from the many pictures posted on Facebook, the event invites I miss out on viewing the second my profile is included, and the stream-of-consciousness-like nature of tweaking my profile to reflect the music I am listening to, the books I read, and my random thoughts about the universe I determine must be shared publicly. What void in me does this desire for Facebook occupy? Do I really need Facebook to feel connected to my friends, to myself? Or is it just a means for further complicating my life and distracting myself from real relationships with real people in the real world?

As I sit with these musings I have to be honest with myself: I am terrible at this Facebook fast. I "cheat" every Sunday as Sundays are traditionally not considered part of Lent, and I unabashedly checked my profile on my birthday last week, justifying this by embracing St. Patrick's Day (my birthday) as a feast day and therefore it's not subject to Lenten stipulations. But really using Facebook at all, even if only once a week, feels as though I am being adulterous in my abstinence. All this just makes me wonder as to the power of abstaining ... is it the intention that matters, or the practice, or something else? People abstain from a variety of things for a variety of reasons--some folks are forced to abstain, some fasts are necessary due to limited means, some people are simply reaching for personal betterment.

I received a call from my doctor at eight o'clock the evening of my birthday. I've been experiencing rather severe stomach pain since last August and was referred to a functional medicine specialist a few weeks ago. On the phone my doctor--a small woman with a smart-sounding, soothing voice--let me know the results of my allergy test were in, and that of the twenty-two food allergies I was tested for, I am allergic to around six or seven foods. My most extreme allergies are to wheat, cow's milk and eggs. She kindly explained that these allergies may not be the entirety of my tummy troubles, but that removing these foods from my diet should help with the pain. There were other issues discussed, and I will avoid making the mistake of over sharing here, but ultimately the tangible plan for my recovery means eliminating wheat, cow's milk and eggs from meals. This news came as a rather disturbing blow. No more ice cream? No bread? What on earth am I to eat when I dine out for breakfast? I've been eating these foods my entire life and until last August there was never any problem! There has to be some mistake ... I can't eat pizza? As my roommate has gently coughed under her breath, this is a "First World" problem for sure. Much like most eating disorders or lap-band surgeries, people struggling for basic food, shelter and clothing probably do not bother worrying about whether or not they can eat a chicken pot pie as their next meal. I certainly have no experience with worrying about having a next meal.

Like any self-respecting, spoiled First World brat, I threw a childlike fit in response to the food allergy news. Passing through the stages of grief as if a sacred piece of my person had been violently torn away, I sat in denial eating pasta and muffins the first day or so. But as my stomach responded with insufferable cramping that left me depressed and couch-bound an entire day, I angrily caved and went one very grumpy day without any wheat, cow’s milk or egg foods. Still not feeling so great, I passed through into the acceptance of my new hobby, eating rice, fruits and plain veggies like a vegan, but with as much meat as I can justify. At present (it hasn’t even been a week since the news and my spirits broke) I find myself working towards getting excited about the foods I can have and trying to discover new recipes. This ordeal has left me with new ponderings about the nature of abstinence. Despite my whining, food allergies are extremely common and it is no great burden to simply avoid consuming certain foods. But I am finding it difficult to act very gung-ho about fasting against my will. Tuning out of Twitter and attempting to do so with Facebook seems palatable as it was my bright idea to do so, and to write about the experience here. However, declining quiches and cakes has never been my idea of a good time. Perhaps the forced fast from poisonous chocolate-chip cookies and ruinous burritos will yield greater spiritual insight than have my voluntary (and slightly failed) attempts to abolish social networking sites from my universe. If nothing else, I imagine less ice cream might leave me with less cellulite this swimsuit season.

Eleventh Station

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

According to the spokesman of Amnesty International, at least three thousand five hundred peasants have fled from their homes to the capital to escape persecution. "We have complete lists in London and Sweden of young children and women who have been assassinated for being organized," Fuentes stated....

Tenth Station

Jesus is Crucified

The spokesman of Amnesty International said that the victims' bodies characteristically appeared with the thumbs tied behind their backs. Corrosive liquids had been applied to the corpses to prevent identification of the victims by their relatives and to prevent international condemnation, the spokesman added. Nevertheless, the bodies were exhumed and the dead have been identified. Fuentes said that the repression carried out by the Salvadorean army was aimed at breaking the popular organizations through the assassination of their leaders in both town and country.

Almsgivin'

My friend Chris gave me this "I'm savin' up for Jesus!" money tin as a gift a few months ago. Chris is the sort of dear friend that gifts people with random items for no occasion. He has also been known to gift my room mate and I with his leftover Us Weekly magazines, and on one of his visits I let him take all the sugar-free Rock Star energy drinks that sat unwanted on the pantry shelf nearly two years after I bought them in bulk at Costco. I hadn't realized they went so poorly with vodka. Despite trading each other's trash for treasure, the gifted money tin has come to be quite useful this Lenten season. Rather than taking up the traditional rice bowl, with its images of Third World mothers and children, its prayers for peace and world hunger, and its flimsy cardboard walls, I have opted to use this more modern and durable money tin as my Lenten "rice bowl."

Almsgiving is a Lenten practice, along with prayer and, yes of course, fasting. Charity is a way of offering self-sacrifice, much like fasting, so as to give up part of one's self, habits or money to God. My rice bowl is not actually "savin' up for Jesus," as the change and dollar bills in it will join with the change of other abiding Catholics at mass on Holy Thursday and contribute to the Catholic Relief Services "Operation Rice Bowl" fund. Intentionally forfeiting my pennies and dimes at the end of each day towards a collective donation that extends beyond the reach of my meager purse moves me into union with not only Catholics that are "savin' up for Jesus," but also brings me to stand in some small solidarity with those that benefit from my dollar bills. The money I shove into the mouth of this fly priest's tin still brings assistance to the hungry and impoverished Third World mothers and children. It is also quite stylish.

Ninth Station

Jesus Falls

As I entered the church, I was given a cable that says, "Amnesty International confirmed today [that was yesterday] that in El Salvador human rights are violated to extremes that have not been seen in other countries." That is what Patricio Fuentes (spokesman for the urgent action section for Central America in Swedish Amnesty International) said at a press conference in Managua , Nicaragua . Fuentes confirmed that, during two weeks of investigations he carried out in El Salvador, he was able to establish that there had been eighty-three political assassinations between 10 and 14 March.

Eighth Station

Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene

At least fifty people died in serious incidents that day: in the capital, seven persons died in events at the Colonia Santa Lucia; on the outskirts of Tecnillantas, five people died; and in the area of the rubbish dump, after the evacuation of the site by the military, were found the bodies of four workers who had been captured in that action.

Seventh Station

Jesus Falls

Last Sunday, the following were assassinated in Arcatao ….: peasants Marcelino Serrano, Vincente Ayala, twenty-four years old, and his son, Freddy. That same day, Fernando Hernandez Navarro, a peasant, was assassinated in Galera de Jutiapa, when he fled from the military. On the Hacienda Colima, eighteen persons died, at least fifteen of whom were peasants. The administrator and the grocer of the ranch also died.

Sixth Station

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

I could not give you the facts before, but a week ago last Saturday, on 15 March, one of the largest and most distressing military operations was carried out in the countryside. …. In La Laguna, the attackers killed a married couple, Ernesto Navas and Audelia Mejia de Navas, their little children, Martin and Hilda, thirteen and seven years old, and eleven more peasants. Other deaths have been reported, but we do not know the names of the dead. In Plan de Ocotes, two children and four peasants were killed, including two women. In El Rosario, three more peasants were killed. That was last Saturday.

Chill your meat!

The Religion Blogosphere

I stumbled upon this list of religion blogs while avoiding Facebook and surfing the rest of the information superhighway (read as "Internet") instead. Our Fodder isn't listed, clearly because this blog is about spirituality and not religion, so my feelings aren't hurt.

Fifth Station

Jesus is Judged by Pilate

My dear Christians, I have always told you, and I will repeat that the true liberators of our people must come from us Christians, from the people of God. Any historical plan that's not based on what we spoke of in the first point-the dignity of the human being, the love of God, the kingdom of Christ among people-will be a fleeting project. Your project, however, will grow in stability the more it reflects the eternal design of God. It will be a solution of the common good of the people every time, if it meets the needs of the people....