The papal mass was on TV yesterday in the New York City area.  And by "on TV" I mean all of TV, as in channels 2,4,5,7,9, and 11---everything you can get with rabbit ears.  No sports, no political talk shows, not even infomercials.  Capitalism, entertainment, and politics all submitted, bowed down and gave way to the Pope and the Catholic mass at Yankee Stadium.  I thought this was simply extraordinary.  Not even the State of the Union address gets full six-channel, rabbit-ears coverage.  Time seemed to stop for the Pope, and all eyes were on Yankee Stadium not for baseball or a rock concert, but for a mass.

The mass itself was beautiful.  Before the Eucharist, prayers were offered in many languages, and the liturgy expressed the diversity found in New York City.  Every channel had an announcer and a color commentator, like they were covering the Rose Parade, yet I think that was actually a good thing.  Since the general public is naive about all things Christian, the commentators had to explain everything in great detail, including the doctrine of substantiation, why gifts are displayed before the pope, the significance of the bread and wine, the liturgical significance of prayer, the role of incense, etc.  All the Sunday afternoon TV viewers, so accustomed to old sci-fi flicks or Mets games, were funneled into the worship of thousands of people.

What a sight: thousands of people partaking in communion, and this receiving far more attention than baseball or the president for that matter. 

I was so encouraged by seeing the gospel displayed before all, not in fancy rhetoric or fiery preaching, but in the sacraments and song.  That is truly Christ proclaimed.  In the flesh, so to speak... ... more

Open question: How should a Protestant or Orthodox believer react to the Pope's visit?

How do you respond to the seven contemporary sins the Vatican now deems as weighing heavily on salvation and right Christian living?  Which ones should not be on the list?  What needs to be added?

1. "Bioethical" violations such as birth control
2. "Morally dubious" experiments such as stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty ... more

Worshiping that which is dirt...that is what has been happening in a New Mexico sanctuary visited on pilgrimages, much to the changrin of the sanctuary's priest.

Erik Eckholm reports, "tens of thousands of pilgrims walk eight miles or more to the shrine on Good Friday, some bearing heavy crosses and others approaching on their knees. Scores of people visit every day the rest of the year, many hoping to cure diseases or disabilities with prayer, holy water and, most famously, the healing dirt, which visitors collect from a hole in the floor inside the church." [1]

The priest, Father Roca is a believer in the miraculous, yet he clarifies, "They are the work of the Good Lord.  I always tell people that I have no faith in dirt, I have faith in the Lord." [2]

Legends abound about the site, how the pit of dirt is continually filled, how the cross in the sanctuary came to be found---yet out of these legends miracles still happen.

At first I thought it was ironic that dirt, the indirect victim of the Fall, the essence of our mortal bodies, the genesis of our earthly lives was given such high honor. I thought: shouldn't we be aiming for glorified bodies of the second Adam, not making holy that which is of the first? ... more