Posted on 03/25/2007 12:52:43 PM PDT by NYer
Your post is an excellent example of why we need priests. Without priests, we would have no Eucharist and no Confession! To fuly grasp the significance of that statement, read this:
Example of Japanese Catholics who had no Priests for 200 years
I believe the "bliss" - I see it being hauled to detox centers and laying in the gutter passed out on a daily basis.
As to those who do not know how to hold their liquor, the detox center serves them right and well, for everything takes skill in which they are damnably lacking. The skill includes, inter alia, knowing when to pause. There are even commandments on how to do it:
Thou shalt not mix; what you started with, continue with;
Thou shalt eat - before, during and after; and
Thou shalt observe the clouds and regard the seasons, for no sprinter has finished a marathon. Regulate the timing of your intake, for there is a time for every thing under the sun, and that necessarily includes the next drink.
"THE author"? Both were pretty cool guys.
In your "plagiarism" message # 28 you quoted "because to laugh is human" - which was properly attribited by me to Rabelais, and thus not plagiarized in any way, form or fashion. More, my reply to your # 28 was dealing with that very quote and its author. Thus the charge can not stand. When you are dealing with the previous quote, then, as it was done from memory, I could not have properly used quotation marks on the imprecise text; more, I attributed the text as not mine immediately afterwards and without prodding. Thus it does not qualify as the plagiarism either.
I was commenting on BOTH your statements. You adduced the Rabelais to explain your bringing mocking cynicism to the discussion. I commented on the Rabelais to distinguish between human laughter simpliciter and mockery. Then I commented on the one you made earlier, which you described -- NOT immediately but, rather, after some challenges -- as coming from either Menken or Bierce.
(But I must say, I'm glad you set me straight! I appreciate Rabelais but was wondering how anyone would attribute massive learning to either Menken or Bierce. Great wit, yes, but massive learning? )
I guess I made the mistake of thinking that it was clear that I wasn't criticizing the Rabelais because, well, who can deny the truth your attributed quote? And, as you say it was clearly not plagiarized, so why would I describe it as such?
Further, I can't imagine any relationship between slow progress and the Rabelais quote, while the frustratingly slow process of developing virtuous habits is not unlike the movement of an hour hand -- only slower. I'll grant that I could have been clearer about which quote I was referring to. You came looking to start a fight, clearly. I hope I have given some satisfaction.
"K, what is the frequency in the Orthodox Church?"
It depends on the jurisdiction and even the parish. Some "rules" say four times a year, others once a year. Some jurisdictions require confession before every communion. The frequency rate I would say runs from never (a lot of people, especially older cradle Orthodox types among the Greeks at least) to once a month or so. Converts and younger folks seem more faithful to the sacrament. You should know that Orthodoxy makes no distinction between mortal and venial sins as such.
I figure I can go about 2 weeks before I start messing up even more than usual. This once or twice a year isn't getting it for me.
"This once or twice a year isn't getting it for me."
We probably all ought to do what the Slavs do...confession before every communion, and they enforce it too.
But I'm sure others are less habituated to vice than I.
Heigh Ho, another week approaches.
We have communal penance services all over the Milwaukee Diocese, but they always end with individual confessions.
Our pastor brings in 6-8 priests (sometimes the Archbishop comes) and everybody present offers an individual and private confession to any priest there. And it's not one or two sins, either.
It's quite moving, and I love it. My husband and I are going this coming Wednesday to a neighboring parish because we missed ours last week.
As a general proposition, we Orthodox are really, really great sinners (well, not so much the converts...they tend to be pretty holy). We are lucky God is so understanding! :)
The first year the Archbishop came to our parish to hear confessions,a long line formed in front of his station. someofthem were sorry, though because he talked to an elderly lady who was first in line for almost 20 minutes. She was a tiny little thing, and the Abp (a big man) had his hand on her shoulder and his head leaning over her all that time. I think she was even tinier by the time they were through. I was in the next line and quite far back. I was nearly to the front of my line before they were through.
You're right about this article. If more Catholics are returning to Confession that is, indeed, a good thing. But communal penance services that offer general absolution give people an excuse to avoid receiving the real Sacrament of Penance. These kinds of services are an abuse. But, there is a legitimate form of the communal penance service that does not give people general absolution but that gives them the opportunity for individual confession and absolution. This kind of service is a good thing. It's too bad the article confused the two.
We had over 150 people at our Lenten Penance Service. Not bad for a small church! Seven priests!
**but they always end with individual confessions**
That's the way it's supposed to be!
Communal confessions are illicit.
Ambrose Bierce.... hmm...
A cuckold with two sons... one died of alcoholism, the other was shot in an ill-considered duel. He, himself, disappeared while touring Mexico.
That's someone to take spiritual wisdom from /s
Mencken... social Darwinist and radical leftist...
But then something happened: the bitter nihilist scorned Arkansas as a state of Booboisie. (Note the Marxism.) The state responded by praying for his soul in 1931: ""The Holy Spirit informed and inspired me," Mencken said. "Like all other infidels, I am superstitious and always follow hunches: this one seemed to be a superb one.""
With God's grace may the path you choose be far closer to Mencken, GSlob...
Not a penny.
How's that workin' for ya?
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