Here’s a nice little article about Oakland A’s prospect Grant Desme leaving baseball to join a seminary.
Author: Adam (Southern California)
Tapestries at the Cathedral
On Ash Wednesday I attended Mass and received ashes at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Many criticized its building as an extravagant expenditure, and some traditionalists have criticized the modernist architecture of the mother church of Los Angeles, which opened in 2002, and I don’t entirely disagree with these criticisms. About the design, however, it must be said that the interior is far more welcoming than the stark exterior and does a much better job of focusing the visitor’s attention on God.
In particular, there are lovely 18-foot-tall woven tapestries all along the north and south walls of the nave depicting the Communion of the Saints as a crowd of people, individually recognizable and identified, gazing toward the altar. These are truly moving — proof that people can still make great sacred art. The artist (John Nava) painted them using a realistic “old master” style, then digitized the images and programmed a computerized loom to make the tapestries, producing an effect that is both classic and very immediate.
If you click on “art” and then “tapestries” on the cathedral’s website, you can read more info and click on the thumbnails to zoom in on a couple of the individual panels.
Tony Blair Converts to Catholicism
The Catholic Church welcomes the former British prime minister into our community. I was surprised to learn from the article that there are more Catholic churchgoers than Anglicans in the U.K.
Pop Culture Peacemaker Shoutout
On last night’s Jeopardy!, the $1600 answer in the category “Rage Against the Machine” (all about people raging against machines, not about the band) was:
In a 1980 antiwar protest, these priest brothers, Daniel & Philip, attacked missile warheads at a G.E. plant.
Contestant Roy, a building inspector from Rancho Cucamonga, California, correctly, albeit ungrammatically, questioned, “What is Berrigan?”
CROP Walk in San Pedro
Howdy folks. This Sunday, April 29, I’ll be participating in the Peninsula Harbor CROP Walk. This is a 10-km walk around the streets of fabulous San Pedro, California to raise funds for Church World Service’s interfaith efforts to fight world and local hunger. My sister is a high school teacher and is heading a team of some of her students called Team Jester (after the St. Joseph’s HS mascot). You can find out more about Church World Service here.
Donation is easy! Just follow this link and you will be taken to my personal donation page where you can make a secure online credit card donation. Donations of any amount are appreciated.
I used to do the Long Beach CROP Walk every year when I was a little kid and it was always a happy event.
A Good Reminder About the Saints
James Martin, S.J., reminds us that being canonized does not mean that a person was without flaws, even after their conversion. This is a big misconception about saints that a lot of people, Catholic and otherwise, have, and I’m glad to see it clarified in a secular forum.
Catholic Worker in the L.A. Times
The L.A. Times has a nice article today about how the Catholic Worker doesn’t register with the IRS as a non-profit corporation.
IKEA USA to Start Charging for Plastic Bags
Single-use bags will be 5 cents; the charge for multi-use bags will drop from 99 cents to 59 cents. Good!
Another “Dumping” of a Hospital Patient on LA’s Skid Row
For a while now there’s been something of an outcry against L.A.-are hospitals, police departments, etc. for the practice of “dumping” those without an address on Skid Row. The latest incident was particularly egregious, as it involved the dumping of a paraplegic with a colostomy bag in the gutter without even a wheelchair, in front of two dozen witnesses. The driver of the van from Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center then took the time to reapply her makeup and perfume before driving away. More details in today’s paper.
Confession in South Bend homeless murders
Police are reporting that a suspect they had in custody confessed to involvement in the murders of Mike Lawson and three other homeless men in South Bend. Previous P&C coverage on this here and here.
Update (by Mike B): This slideshow by the Tribune gives a nice overview of the “scrapping” trade. The accompanying article gets into some of the details.
Particularly among the homeless, the quiet college town of South Bend cemented its reputation for tolerance and hospitality a long time ago. For years, it has been the place to go from around the region for emergency shelter, free meals, and even shots of hope, some said, from myriad charities and service groups.