GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE GOOD KNOX
CONFUSING COUNSEL ABOUT COMMUNION
BAD VIBES FROM DISBELIEVING SCIENTISTS
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
Long time no hear, from me that is.
I missed wishing you a Merry Christmas and now, by one day, a Happy New Year. In partial compensation, please accept my early best wishes for a blessed Feast of St. Blaise (February 3; he is the patron of throats).
This reminds me that our first port of call on the upcoming Catholic Answers pilgrimage and cruise will be Dubrovnik, the medieval walled city in Croatia that claims relics of St. Blaise.
And that reminds me of still another connection: Last month I spent two weeks in Montepulciano, in Tuscany, taking Italian lessons. The town is noted especially for the beautiful Tempio di San Biagio, constructed between 1518 and 1545 and designed by Antonio da Sangallo il Vecchio (the Elder). "San Biagio" is, of course, Italian for "St. Blaise."
THE GOOD KNOX
On my return to the office from Italy, I found the manuscript of a book that will be published by Ignatius Press in the spring. The title is "Ronald Knox as Apologist." The author is Fr. Milton T. Walsh.
I was especially pleased to be asked to write a promotional blurb for the book because (a) Knox might be my favorite Catholic writer (certainly he is in the top five) and (b) for twenty years I have had in my library a copy of Walsh's Ph.D. dissertation, which was on Knox and which might be considered the first draft of this book.
You might be interested in reading Walsh's account of a recent trip to England, where he made a "Ronald Knox pilgrimage," visiting sites where Knox lived and worked, such as Eton, Oxford, St. Edmund's in Ware, and Mells. The trip report, and much else about Knox, can be found at the web site of the Ronald Knox Society:
www.ronaldknoxsociety.com
Knox not only was an apologist (my favorite book of his along these lines, co-authored with Arnold Lunn, is "Difficulties") but a writer of detective stories, translator of the Bible (singlehandedly!), satirist and wit, and very effective preacher.
Several publishers have reprinted some of Knox's many books or have printed books about Knox. My own "Controversies" (Ignatius Press) includes what I think are some of the choicest apologetic pieces by Knox. Aside from Ignatius Press, I recommend you look at Roman Catholic Books, Sophia Institute Press, Requiem Press, and Dover Publications (one Knox title each, with Dover's being a detective story).
Knox's translation of the New Testament--the translation I prefer for devotional reading--has been reprinted by Templegate Publishers. His magnum opus, "Enthusiasm," has been reprinted by the University of Notre Dame Press. His authorized biography, written by Evelyn Waugh, is out of print but, as of today, still is available through Amazon, as are new and used copies of a fair number of his books.
By the way, the Walsh book can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.
In case you're wondering why I titled this section "The Good Knox," it's because in religious circles the name "Knox" usually first brings to mind "The Bad Knox," which is to say the Protestant Reformer John. This confusion of names induced G.K. Chesterton to write this poem:
Mary of Holyrood may smile indeed
Knowing what grim historic shade it shocks
To see wit, laughter and the Popish creed
Cluster and sparkle in the name of Knox.
The "grim historic shade," of course, was John Knox, who was not the kind of fellow known for wit or laughter and certainly not for the "Popish creed"!
"Mary of Holyrood" refers to Mary, Queen of Scots, who was a Catholic and who was executed in 1587 with the decided acquiescence of Elizabeth I.
MAKES NO SENSE TO ME
In the October 2006 issue of the newsletter of the USCCB's Committee on the Liturgy you will find "Seven Questions on the Distribution of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds." In the old days, Communion was offered to the laity under only one kind, the host. Only the priest received also from the chalice. Nowadays it is common for parishes to offer Communion under both kinds.
At Masses at Catholic Answers we receive under both kinds, but not, probably, the way you might at your parish. We receive by intinction. Maybe you are unfamiliar with the term. It means that our chaplain, Fr. Vincent Serpa, dips the host into the Precious Blood and then places the host on the communicant's tongue. (As you might guess, Communion in the hand is not possible with intinction.)
A special ciborium is used. On top it is shaped something like a doughnut, with hosts in the "ring" portion and a tiny cup for the Precious Blood resting in the "hole" portion.
I mention the USCCB newsletter because the very last line of the "Seven Questions" article reads this way: "Priests should also keep in mind potential health risks associated with intinction, especially in the coming flu season."
This puzzles me because it seems that health risks would be lower when using intinction than when using, as most parishes do, separate cups for the Precious Blood.
In the latter case, communicants drink from a cup, with the lip of the cup then being wiped by the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. This cleansing is good, but any physician will acknowledge that mere wiping cannot remove all bacteria or viruses from a cup. Intinction gets around this problem.
CRABBED SCIENTISTS
I did not hear about a November forum held at the Salk Institute in nearby La Jolla until it was over. It was a gathering of famous and not-so-famous atheists and agnostics. The title was "Beyond Belief," and the theme was that religion is at best a crutch and more usually a sham.
The forum did not offer a wide spectrum of opinions. One participant said "viewpoints have run the gamut from A to B: Should we bash religion with a crowbar or only with a baseball bat?"
Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist from Oxford and the author of the recent "God Delusion," said, "I am utterly fed up with the respect that we--all of us, including the secular among us--are brainwashed into bestowing on religion. Children are systematically taught that there is a higher kind of knowledge which comes from faith, which comes from revelation, which comes from Scripture, which comes from tradition, and that it is the equal if not the superior of knowledge that comes from real science."
And your point, Dr. Dawkins?
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