Bringing the little ones to our Lord.

An internet petition to recall the YouCat (via Ite ad Thomam). I could see why some would fault those behind the petition as being extreme. Even if they're correct in their assessment, they haven't done the work necessary to convince bishops (and theologians and Catholic intellectuals) of this. Wouldn't their money and energy be better spent on alternate forms of catechesis?

Introduction to the Presentation of YOUCAT
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn

This morning I was thinking of Pope Benedict XVI's defense of WYD. Apparently enough had voiced their criticisms of the event that he believed he should respond. Is it just a defense for the legacy of Pope John Paul II?

Even if the youth have the proper mindset, focusing on the liturgy as the center of it all, does it give too much legitimacy to the cult of youth? After all, would they get as excited about the Sunday liturgy? And how is a youth Mass celebrated by the Pope different from a Sunday 5 P.M. Lifeteen Mass? Should the youth be encouraged to think of themselves as being so distinct from their elders? (We have to make Catholicism "cool." I was going to say "hip" but that word is obsolete. "Cool" has been replaced, too, but I won't use the slang currently in vogue.) There has been a history of youth retreats and such. (The late pontiff used to minister to youth groups when he was a priest.)  But does this only encourage our youth to think in accordance with our political economy, instead of struggling against it? Does it promote infantalization? Our young people should be encouraged to cultivate their spiritual life, but this must be tied to a better understanding of the lay vocation, and simply accepting the status quo may only confirm them in mediocrity or frustration.

Just as a long journey precedes the celebration of World Youth Day, a continuing journey follows it. Friendships are formed which encourage a different way of life and which give it deep support. The purpose of these great Days is, not least, to inspire such friendships and so to create places of living faith in the world, places which are, at the same time, settings of hope and practical charity.

Friendships with whom? Those from home who accompanied them? Or with those who live in different countries? Yes, some of these friendships may last, but for the most part, they will just be fond memories of a great time shared by all. Using the cultivation of friendship to justify World Youth Day... or the expression of the universal character of the Church. How about teaching our youth how to better live as members of particular societies, or what friendship entails? Who is going to preach against excessive mobility? (Or resignation to a state of affairs that is far from ideal?)

Virtuous Leadership: I'm curious as to why the author identifies temperance with self-control, when it seems to me that the latter is closer to continence then temperance. I could add something about the marketing of the book and its projected audience, but... I won't. I was also thinking about the adapting of Austen to a modern milieu. Why doesn't it work? Because the virtues of the characters have to be understood with respect to their social roles, and their social roles are quite different from anything that might be seen as analogous today. (Darcy as a businessman? No.) Without those social roles (and the concomitant cultural expectations), would they have acquired the same virtues?

Fr. Z: I hate this book more than any other book ever published.
(A History of the Athenian Constitution to the end of the Fifth Century B. C. by C. Hignett)

Heinrich Isaac, missa Virgo prudentissima, Gloria