Adjusting to the Pass/No-Fail of Lent; Little Sisters Of The Poor Prepare To Defend Themselves...more

Adjusting to the Pass/No-Fail of Lent When I’m Used to All “A”s   I thought maybe I’d found a Lenten sacrifice cheat sheet this winter when I was reading The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann, 1973-1983. In an entry dated Tuesday, Jan. 20, 1981, Fr. Schmemann considers what instructions he would give someone eager to be part of a monastic revival. He lays out a rule of daily living:
• always go to the same church, and try to be a real helper, not by lecturing about spiritual life or icons, not by teaching but with a “dust rag” (cf. St. Seraphim of Sarov). Keep at that kind of service and be — in church matters — totally obedient to the parish priest;

• do not thrust yourself and your service on anyone; do not be sad that your talents are not being used; be helpful; serve where you are needed and not where you think you are needed;

• if friends and acquaintances invite you because they are close to you, go, but not too often and within reason. Never stay more than one and a half or two hours. After that the friendliest atmosphere becomes harmful;

• be always simple, light, joyous. Do not teach. Avoid like the plague any “spiritual” conversations and any religious or churchly idle talk. If you act that way, everything will be to your benefit...

Muslim takeover of campus all-faith quiet room causes uproar at German university ...Visitors complained that Muslim students blocked off more than half the room and had used a large picture hanging on the wall to do so. This, apparently, was done to segregate the sexes. The noise from the Muslim students’ praying also kept the “Quiet Room” from being quiet. Besides prayer rugs, Korans were also stored there with one left out in the open. Besides the Koran, “flyers in Arabic and instructional pamphlets in German” were displayed. Calling the rearrangement of the room “highhanded,” Prost said “foot washing possibilities” were also present...


Little Sisters Of The Poor Prepare To Defend Themselves Before The Supreme Court   ...But as Matt Bowman pointed out in National Review, that’s simply not the case: “The government deliberately added more language to the Little Sisters’ form. Because their plan is ‘self-insured,’ in addition to stating their religious objection, the government requires their form to also specifically tell their insurance administrator that he has ‘obligations’ to provide the abortifacient and contraceptive coverage himself.”
Some of the other key facts included in the website are as follows:

• 1 in 3 Americans do not have a plan that is subject to the mandate HHS is fighting so hard to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to follow.
• Exxon, Chevron and Pepsi as well as other large corporations are exempt from the mandate.
• The US military, which employs millions offers a family insurance plan exempt from the mandate.
• There is an easy solution that protects the Little Sisters’ religious freedom and the right of the government to offer these services to women who want them.  Rather than trying to force religious plans to offer these services, the better solution is for the government to provide these services through the ACA healthcare exchange to any employees who want them but can’t get them through employer plans...

A year of dad and baby dubsmashing