Archive for May 23, 2023

The Best Response to the Dodgers: Eucharistic Processions and Hostile Work Environments. Update: No @LOSDodgers posting?

Posted: May 23, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, catholic, catholic devotions, culture
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The LA Dodgers had scheduled a pride night and had invited the anti-Catholic “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” a drag group that attacks the Catholic Church. After a letter from Marco Rubio noting the offence to Catholics the “sisters” were disinvited.

Gay groups whose hatred of faithful Catholics is only slightly eclipsed by the sisters threatened to pull out and the Dodgers caved like a wet blanket.

It goes without saying that if this had been a drag group that made fun of Islam the Dodgers would have run from these guys and denounced them publicly as bigots, but as it’s the Catholic Church the Dodgers are all in on hate.

What remains is what the response should be, I think it should be two fold, one spiritual and one secular.

The spiritual response that I would suggest is a Eucharistic Procession to and around Dodger Stadium, much like the one that took place in DC last week:

Over the weekend, the nation’s capitol saw a Eucharistic procession, the first of its kind organized by the Catholic Information Center (CIC), to bring “Christ’s Real Presence onto the streets of our downtown D.C. neighborhood.” 

Fr. Charles Trullols, director of the CIC, said that he was inspired by the Eucharistic processions of Pope St. John Paul II, who led processions through Rome’s streets for seven years. He continued to say that the U.S. needs God to be put back into Americans’ lives, hoping the procession would help the country, including those in the White House. 

“The CIC houses the closest tabernacle to the White House, and I have absolute faith in the many graces God will bestow onto our country when Christ’s real presence is carried through the streets of D.C. The procession will express our belief that Jesus is passing by and bestowing his love and help on all of us,” Fr. Charles Trullols said

I’m sure the Hispanic community of LA would really get into such an event, perhaps even bearing a banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe the Patron of the Americas. But the real advantage is that whenever you have the Eucharist you have the body blood soul and divinity of Christ and whenever you Christ to a situation you are working toward the good.

Of course a secular response might be appropriate too and there is a very simple one that might stop this in it’s tracks.

I’m sure California has laws concerning creating a hostile work environment and I’m also sure that there are more than a few devout Catholics who work for or play for the Dodgers.

Imagine if one or more of them filed a complaint with the appropriate agencies noting that inviting a group openly hostile to their faith as official guest constitutes a hostile work environment. Imagine the lawsuit that could follow. Imagine if this is promulgated in the largely Catholic countries that the dodgers recruit from.

The Dodgers have sown, let them reap.

In fairness all of this is consistent with the warming of Christ at the last supper:

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.

Remember the word I spoke to you,  ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me also hates my Father.

John 15:18-23

We’ll see much worse before it gets better.

Update: I just noticed that while the Dodgers put out their announcement on the twitter feed it’s not included in their spanish language twitter feed @losdodgers

I wonder why?

Don’t follow your passion

Posted: May 23, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Most students and college administrators wouldn’t like my message in a graduation speech.

Don’t follow your passion. Instead, prepare and perspire.

Had I followed my passion, I would have been the lead singer in a rock ‘n’ roll band. I almost certainly would have failed, although I am a member of the South Dakota and Iowa rock halls of fame.

Instead, I planned for three options: an immediate career in journalism, graduate school in journalism, or a doctoral program in English literature.

I planned my future for at least five years out. Fortunately, I chose correctly. Graduate school in journalism led me to contacts at prominent news organizations and provided a credential I needed 25 years later when I joined academia.

In a Forbes article, Julia Korn explains why following your passion is probably the worst advice someone can give a graduating high school or college student.

According to researchers at Stanford University, the “follow your passion” recommendation can be detrimental to an individual’s success due to narrowmindedness and dedication to a single passion. See http://gregorywalton-stanford.weebly.com/uploads/4/9/4/4/49448111/okeefedweckwalton_2018.pdf

Here’s why “follow your passion” is terrible career advice:

–It assumes we will only have one passion in life. People are dynamic and have more than one specific life interest. It can be limiting to select merely one passion, as it leaves no space for other passions yet to be uncovered. 

–It assumes passions don’t change with time. Humans continually evolve in every stage of our lives. What we once loved may now be a fond (or not so fond) memory.

–It assumes we already know what our passion is. Many people cannot confidently state a specific passion and how it can tie to a career. Most people need time, education, and exposure to different jobs and companies before they can concentrate on a passion.

–Just because you are passionate about something doesn’t mean you are good at it. American talent shows are a great example of this concept. If you aren’t good at your chosen passion, you’re unlikely to rise quickly in the professional rankings. In the long run, you may ultimately be hindering yourself.

–It’s a privileged message not afforded to all. Perhaps money is not a necessity for you. However, for most of the working force, money drives what profession you choose until you can establish yourself enough to make alternative decisions.

Korn suggested: “Commit to learning and re-learning what energizes and drains you. By dedicating yourself to what sparks your interests and what doesn’t, you can more easily align with a successful career path that highlights your true talents.” 

I would add another perspective from Thomas Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”