ANY POLITICAL battles are lost because the “enemy” takes control of the language. For example, ignorant people in the media often claim Catholics oppose stem cell research, but that’s a lie. Catholics support stem cell research, but oppose embryonic stem cell research. 1 Many more examples could be cited.
There was a recent controversy in which Hillary Clinton deleted 30,000+ emails dating from her time as Secretary of State. I will not be entering into this discussion, because—as I’ve said over and over—we don’t discuss politics on this blog.
However, I’ve encountered “expert analysis” on national media outlets. Paul Glastris, editor-in-chief of the Washington Monthly, claimed Clinton’s private server could not be hacked “because it’s encrypted.” Someone else declared that Blackberry phones contain “a special server inside them” which makes them safe, unlike iPhones & androids.
Such ravings are ludicrous. The Calvin & Hobbes theory (UPPER RIGHT) makes more sense. Are they unaware that even the cheapest, most commonplace technology uses encryption? Are they unaware that cell phones—Blackberry, iPhone, and so on—normally communicate with servers not “contained inside” the actual phone?
We’ve been speaking about a landmark article by Daniel Craig, but I question whether those in authority can grasp the terminology. After all, how many bishops realize there have been numerous versions of the Grail psalter? The most recent version—which two bishops told me was voted upon without seeing the actual product—is called the “Revised Grail” and was a joint effort by Conception Abbey and several other groups (including a non-Catholic corporation). This was supposed to be the final version, which would eventually be added to lectionaries, and many books (such as GIA Worship IV) included that text in their hymnals. However, it was recently decided to revise the “Revised Grail” again. 2
How many bishops know that the current Novus Ordo has numerous typos, which have never been corrected? How many realize that our current lectionary readings, Eucharistic Prayers, Responsorial Psalms, and Responsorial Psalm antiphons are owned by separate corporations?
Are you confused yet? You ought to be!
Rather than explaining all these confusing details, it might be easiest to simply obtain the Jogues Illuminated Missal, which clearly lays out the Propers, Readings, and Order of Mass for the Novus Ordo. It even avoids page turns! Moreover, there’s something comforting about a PHYSICAL BOOK which stays in the pews. For years, I printed out the propers using xerox copies, and many parishioners secretly suspected I was inventing these prayers. I cannot blame them, because there’s something incredibly ephemeral about xerox copies.
NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1 Embryonic stem cell research has a noble goal, but uses immoral means to obtain that goal. It requires the murder of an innocent child. Our Constitution says that someone’s life cannot be destroyed without what’s called “due process.”
2 What will they call the new version? Will they call it the Revised-Revised-Grail?
