Not a Catholic ‘Mass factory’

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:22 pm By tmatt

Catholics who treasure ancient liturgies smirk and call them “Mass factories.” These churches are visions of horizontal utilitarianism, their flat, plain walls broken by patches of metal and glass while rows of chairs face ultramodern altars. The faithful are more likely to see balloons drift to the rafters than clouds of incense veil images of Jesus, Mary and the saints. Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Dallas is certainly not a “Mass factory,” as both critics and fans of this poor... Read more

Watching Billy and the pope

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:22 pm By tmatt

The old voice was shaky and the pre-recorded tape was poor, but the Rev. Billy Graham’s words hit home during the recent Nashville tribute to June and Johnny Cash. “Millions admired him and adored him, but only a few got into John and June’s inner spiritual life,” said Graham, who shared many a crusade stage with Cash. “He and June are in heaven, and we are looking forward to seeing them relatively soon.” The words “relatively soon” did not require... Read more

Episcopal actions, orthodox reactions

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:23 pm By tmatt

Few would fault the clarity of the Orthodox response to the September marriage of Denis Gogolyev and Mikhail Morozev in the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God Chapel in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The bishops defrocked the priest, bulldozed the church and burned the wreckage. “Father Vladimir Enert, who married the gay couple, committed a sin in doing so,” a church spokesman told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “He desecrated the place. We therefore needed to destroy the chapel.” They call... Read more

Comic book visionaries

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:23 pm By tmatt

LOS ANGELES — The story has everything that a comic book needs, like rippling muscles, heaving bosoms, torture, seduction, superhuman feats of strength and moments of crippling guilt. The story builds through pages of dramatic close-ups, epic slaughters and cosmic revelations until, finally, the hero faces his ultimate decision. Will he take a leap of faith and risk everything? “Oh Lord God! Hear me please. Give me strength this one last time,” he prays. “I am prepared! You strengthen me,... Read more

Matrix, the Apocalypse

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:23 pm By tmatt

Anyone looking for the “Matrix” movies at a video store knows to seek the digital mythologies shelved under “science fiction.” That will have to do, since there isn’t a space labeled “apocalyptic.” “These movies are truly that ambitious,” said the Rev. Chris Seay, co-author of “The Gospel Reloaded,” about faith and “The Matrix” phenomenon. “This story reads more like the Book of Revelation more than it does your normal sci-fi thriller. Everything has this other layer of meaning. … You... Read more

Presbyterian Divorce Ahead?

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:03 pm By tmatt

Two decades ago, the northern United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. merged with the southern Presbyterian Church in the U.S. to form the new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This church is not be confused with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in America, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America or many others inspired by the work of a 16th Century French lawyer named John Calvin. Presbyterians... Read more

Boomer bishops on the rise

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:03 pm By tmatt

Some of the lessons Father Kevin Martin learned in seminary have faded with time, but he remembers when the future Episcopal priests were taken to see Catherine Deneuve play a Paris prostitute in the soft-porn “Belle de Jour.” The late 1960s were heady times at Yale University’s Berkeley Divinity School, he said. The sexual revolution inspired people in clerical collars to do things that, today, would turn a sexual-harassment attorney into a pillar of salt. “It was the spirit of... Read more

Hollywood meets the pews

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:03 pm By tmatt

NEW YORK — Cell phone to her ear, “Junket Bible” in hand, the studio publicist dashed into a Park Avenue hotel lobby to face another pack of journalists waiting to catch another shuttle to yet another movie. “You’re the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ press,” she said. “Right?” Nope — wrong demographic. This particular set of scribes represented Baptist Press, the Parents TV Council, Good News Magazine, the 700 Club, Eternal Word Television Network and 20 other religious outlets. They were ready... Read more

Define ‘Jewish,’ please

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:04 pm By tmatt

The telephone rings during dinner and a dispassionate voice invites you to participate in a survey probing the sex lives of modern Americans. Who wants to answer such intimate questions? “Surveys like this always tilt because of the kinds of people who are willing to discuss their private affairs with a stranger,” said Rabbi Daniel Lapin, president of Toward Tradition. “It may sound strange, but that’s how I feel about Jewish surveys, right now. It’s almost like sex. Some of... Read more

The testimony of Johnny Cash

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:04 pm By tmatt

As a veteran of many Billy Graham crusades, Johnny Cash must have known the parable of the drunken airline passenger by heart. Here’s how Graham told this old, old story during his1985 South Florida crusade. One day, the evangelist boarded an airplane at the same time as a fat, boisterous drunk who cursed up a storm and even pinched a stewardess. The crew finally wrestled the man to his seat — right in front of Graham. Another passenger leaned over... Read more