DREADTALK: 'On Gay Couples & Friends In Help And Grace' John Heard - September 30, 2009 At The University Of New South Wales - Sydney

:: Update ::

DREADNOUGHT will address students and faculty on the topic (A Same Sex Attracted Catholic Speaks Out) On Gay Couples & Friends in Help and Grace at the University of New South Wales in Sydney:

- Wednesday September 30, 2009

- 1PM – 2PM (40 mins lecture, 20 mins for discussion)

- Venue (TBC)

- Subject matter (natural law generally / ancient and Christian ideas on friendship, “what does it mean to be faithful to each other in “amicitiae gratuitae auxilio?”” (as the Catechism puts it), homosexuality, love, and the Catholic teaching on human sexuality)

The event is the third in a loose series. The first address (on April 30, 2009) was instigated and organised by student leaders associated with the University of Sydney Catholic Chaplaincy. The second address will be given on Tuesday September 29, 2009 at Macquarie University.

:: The Upshot ::

UNSW is a research, publishing, and teaching powerhouse. By speaking in such venues, to such bright young people, DREADNOUGHT hopes to make a compelling contribution to the discourse on sex, politics, faithfulness, and same sex attraction. (Plus, they ask the right questions).

DREADTALK: 'On Self Mastery & The Ladder Of Love' John Heard - September 29, 2009 At Macquarie University - Sydney

:: Update ::

DREADNOUGHT will address students and faculty on the topic (A Same Sex Attracted Catholic Speaks Out) On Self Mastery and the Ladder of Love at Macquarie University in Sydney:

- Tuesday September 29, 2009

- 1:00PM – 1:50PM (30 mins lecture, 20 mins for discussion)

- E6A 102

- Subject matter (natural law generally / Platonic and Christian conceptions of the scala amoris, the Catechism on “dominii virtutibus quae libertatem educant interiorem” (the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom), beauty, homosexuality, love, and what happens to eros in the Catholic teaching on human sexuality)

The event is the second in a loose series. The first address (on April 30, 2009) was instigated and organised by student leaders associated with the University of Sydney Catholic Chaplaincy.

:: The Upshot ::

Macquarie is an innovative university in Australia. DREADNOUGHT is grateful to the student organisers and the Catholic Society & Chaplaincy for the invitation. Contact them for more information.

:: Coming Soon ::

DREADNOUGHT has also been invited to speak at the University of New South Wales on the following afternoon.

DREADPUBLISHING: 'Being Heard' John Heard - The Blessed Virgin Mary, Titian, Same Sex Attracted Men & The Woman Of Revelation 12

:: Update ::

DREADNOUGHT'S latest column for syndication is on the Blessed Virgin Mary, a painting by Titian (again), and unexpected grace and light for same sex attracted men and women.

:: BEING HEARD – ‘The Woman of Revelation 12’ ::

By John Heard

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a painting. It was more than that, of course, I wrote about the Blessed Virgin Mary and how Catholics relate, or try to relate, to her. How we try to reach up after her. I wrote about how same sex attracted Catholics, in particular, need her to model purity; about how Catholic men and women everywhere want her to stay a while, and be our Queen, our Mother - if not a constant companion in daily toil.

I attached an image of the painting to the article, and it was published alongside. Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, however, has not left me alone. There was the time I sent off another column, one I had copied and pasted to re-write from the earlier template, only to notice afterwards that the painting was still electronically attached.

There was also the time I was checking email (as I am wont to do, on my phone, at all hours), during which the image popped up unexpectedly. Large and luminous in the darkness, the experience revealed another detail to grasp about Titian’s Virgin: she is bright. In the glow, her features shone. The Virgin reflected the light emanating from about where the throne of G-d might be (although Titian left that sort of concrete detail out). In this, I decided, Titian is a mystic.

Diego Velázquez, 'The Immaculate Conception' (1618)

Certainly, since then, I have had cause to think of Mary under another title, one additional to the many I cited in the original article. She is sometimes thought of as the “woman clothed with the sun”, who appears in the captivating twelfth chapter of Revelation. Commonly, statues of Mary, then, show her “with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”.

Scriptural experts in the marginal notes of the Bible I’m reading claim that the woman figured here stands in for the whole people of G-d. She is Israel, ranged against the darkness.

That does not detract from the depictions of Mary as the “woman clothed with the sun”, however. Such interpretations simply complicate the reading. Mary is the Mother of the Church (another title) and Catholics understand themselves to be the people of the New Covenant – Israel.

I am not clever enough to follow this to the logical end. I cannot offer theological insights, and there is no room to make too much fuss about Mary as the Moon that mirrors the blessed light (the grace) that proceeds from the Most Blessed Trinity (her Sun, and ours).

William Blake, 'The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun' (c. 1803-1805) - Brooklyn Museum

It might be enough to say, though, that the experience of thinking on Mary, about the woman of Revelation 12, an experience prompted by spending some time with a superlative piece of art (even in reproduction, even on an iPhone screen), strikes me as a distinctly Catholic activity.

It is also, of course, and some may already be thinking this, a peculiarly queer activity. One of the common stereotypes has same sex attracted men, of course, as more sensitive to art and artistic interests. Mooning over a Titian then, particularly his Assumption of the Virgin, is a moment that is both Catholic and queer.

I do not mean to comment much about this fact, except to point it out. There might not be anything, after all, that is terribly exciting about this unexpected unity, other than the fact that I did not expect to mark it, and I doubt others would. Most people, of course, simply do not think about same sex attraction.

For those who are same sex attracted, however, especially for those who model much that is queer, and little that is currently Catholic, properly speaking – such moments are looked for, let me tell you. Many young men, in particular, but young same sex attracted women too, look for such moments. They want to see how they can fit in the Church.

Not, indeed, just because of what people say about being queer, or “gay” (a notion that has always made very little sense to me). Not even, either, because they might have a fully formed intention to choose Catholicism, to live and grow in the faith of Titian, and of (so many) other creative spirits. Many of the men who write to me do not.

They are not really looking for a reflection of themselves, then, and they do not want an insight into someone else's faith.

Rather, they look for a window onto a moment of grace. They seek truth, and goodness, and beauty. They seek, then, the Blessed Virgin, and they seek G-d.

Happy are we who already know and love Our Lady. Happy, is she, who dwells so close to the Light.

John Heard is an Australian writer. You can read more of his writing on sex, religion, and politics online, and on Facebook join the DREADNOUGHTERS Group.

DREADPUBLISHING: 'Being Heard' John Heard - The Latin Patrimony & The New English Translations of the Mass

:: Update ::

DREADNOUGHT's latest column for syndication is on changes to the English translations of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. It was published in The Record newspaper two weeks ago.

:: BEING HEARD – ‘The Latin Patrimony’ ::

By John Heard

Soon, English-speaking Catholics will confront a new challenge. The English translations of the Third Edition of the Missale Romanum (2000), completed in stages during the last decade, are slated for release sometime after the Vatican grants final approval. At the time of writing, and according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, approval is expected to come through early next year.

Recently, English-speaking Catholics experienced minor changes in the 1969 Mass of Pope Paul VI. Since May 11, 2008 Australian Catholics - for instance - have been asked (.PDF) to assimilate a new posture (standing after the Priest says “Pray brethren…”) and gesture (bowing profoundly before receiving the Most Holy Sacrament).

On the follow-through, however, we have seen mixed results. Congregants are standing at the right time, perhaps because it is hard to stay seated when the priest indicates that it is time to rise, but the individual gesture of respect is sometimes lost or garbled.

Typically, indeed, and since I was an adolescent, I have knelt to receive Holy Communion (directly on the tongue) when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered in the Ordinary Form or, where kneeling is impractical (i.e. would endanger the Host) – I usually genuflect, and then present my tongue, hands folded. Now, after the recent changes and in line with some restored directives from Pope Benedict XVI (who has confirmed that Communion on the tongue is the universal norm), I see many Catholics adopting this posture. Some others bow profoundly. Others still incline their heads slightly. Yet more simply proceed as before. They offer no gesture of respect, and none is currently demanded by the priest / bishop.

This strikes me as curious. Having been drilled in the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist (the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ) as a child, I always found it awkward and embarrassing to have to touch the Host with my hands (the fashion in the 1980s, when I was undergoing catechesis). As an altar boy, I was marked by the great piety evident at Benediction (which our Parish Priest still celebrated in Latin). The humeral veil. The double genuflection. As a same sex attracted young man, in the 1990s, I was still drawn to more pious modes and, frankly, I found it a relief not to have to associate my hands, so often the incorrigible agents of my imperfection, with the Sanctissimum during Mass.

I cannot help thinking that, benefitting from a similarly impressive (it need not be academic) education in Eucharistic theology and pious practice, more Catholics would follow the directives on gesture. It comes naturally from the Catholic ethos. As the old saying goes, if Catholics really believed what they say about the Eucharist, they would approach the altar on their hands and knees.

The new translations will present a much more profound challenge, in the same vein. There is a risk that, without a proper rollout, including (re)-education, we could see a similar gap between norm and practice. Inasmuch as the purpose of the re-translation process is to ensure that the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite more closely conveys the sacrality and beauty of the original Latin, there can be no room for a haphazard application and sloppy uptake.

Good Catholics must resolve, now, to learn as much as they can about the changes before they come into force. Those charged with responsibility for the liturgy must prepare for catechesis and (re)-instruction, so as to ensure the more perfect, seamless assimilation of the new texts.

Indeed, careful study will pay off when the full force of the changes hits. Some of the central texts of the Mass, and many common prayers, have been significantly re-worked. While it is something of a chore to re-learn prayers that one has recited all one’s life, the grace and eloquence, the elevated style, the unambiguously sacred tone of the restored translations, makes the task a joyful, prayerful experience.

Certainly, in the weeks since examples of the restored Mass texts became available for study online, many Catholics have remarked on how much of an improvement they represent.

I must admit that as a bi-Riter (someone who attends both the Ordinary Form and the usus antiquior of the Roman Rite) I was tempted to retreat completely into the unambiguously sacred liturgical architecture of the 1963 Mass of Blessed Pope John XXIII. However, that would be uncharitable. While the restoration of the English translations of the Ordinary Form will no doubt (and happily) prompt some Catholics to seek out the relatively stable usus antiquior, the Holy Father has cross-fertilization in mind. The Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms are one and the same Rite.

As Roman Catholics, it is our duty and our joy to receive both Forms, and indeed to study both, for the more perfect rendering of latria (sacrificial adoration) to the Most Holy Trinity.

John Heard is an Australian writer. You can read more of his writing on sex, religion, and politics online, and on Facebook join the DREADNOUGHTERS Group.