Pressed Down Shaken Together Takes

The New Pope, A Prediction, Netflix Narnia, Generic Statues, Hungry Root, Jesus, and Song of the Week

File: Dante Gabriel Rossetti - The Sermon on the Mount.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Well, it is a very rainy and gray Friday over here. My garden is a wreck because whenever I might have a second to get it in order, it’s pouring rain, and whenever I am very busy, the sun comes out and mocks me. Let’s see, are there any takes out there to be gathered in?

one

A few minutes after I posted yesterday (or that’s what it seemed), the new Pope Leo XIV walked out onto the balcony to be welcomed by the wide world. This is probably the first major ecclesiastical moment in my life that I’ve had seven or eight messaging apps on my phone. I have Signal, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the DM options on all the socials. And they all lit up. Who is this guy? we were all asking each other. And, wouldn’t you know it, in a few minutes, X had the answer, which is…who knows. He seems both liberal and conservative, from Chicago and not from Chicago, staunchly pro-life and meh.

two

I have a prediction. Given the minimal amount of scrolling I’ve done about how Leo XIV was already very close to the Vatican at the time of Francis’ death, I bet he will do it the usual way. He will publicly be all the things that Roman Catholics require—pro-life and against gay marriage—but he will also keep, perhaps a lot more quietly than Francis, trundling down the path into progressivism. He will continue to divide the institution and persecute real conservatives, only he will be a little bit quieter and perhaps more politically savvy. Thus, he will be able to co-opt those who have weak stomachs for conflict. Soon, there will be a small, vocal, and deeply annoying group of “Communion Partners” or whatever they will be called by the Vatican. These well-meaning clerics and theologians will continually explain that it’s going to be fine, don’t believe your lying eyes, being combative is very unholy. In thirty years, when it’s time for the next pope, the church will be in even more chaos than ever. At that point, if I’m wrong, I’ll come back here and admit that I know nothing of which I speak.

three

I wish I had checked my messages a lot sooner, because sitting there was a fantastic post about how, if you care about Narnia at all, you might consider writing to Netflix and, very politely, explaining why having Meryl Streep be the voice of Aslan would wreck everything for you. I commend the whole post, but here’s a taste (and there’s precise instructions at the end):

Rest assured, someone very highly placed in Netflix really likes this casting choice and really wants to do it. However, someone else highly placed is very worried about it… so this is the strategy they have decided upon to gauge the damage to their multi-million dollar investment. This is where you come in.

First off, let’s be clear, Ms. Streep is an inimitable actress, and extremely talented and it would be a huge win for the Narnia project to have her involved in the Narnia project in any other capacity except for Aslan’s voice.

However, rather than shaking our fists at the air or raging against godless Hollywood, many Narnia fans are instead creating a letter-writing campaign, because in Hollywood if the ink isn’t dry it isn’t a done deal. Just look at the highly successful Sonic the Hedgehog franchise which abruptly changed its entire aesthetic due to early fan backlash, and thus earned themselves a very lucrative and beloved series of movies. Netflix may do the very same thing, but only IF they hear from us.

Read the whole thing!

four

I went over and looked at pictures of that big statue that went up in Times Square recently. It is not of a particular individual, but a sort of AI “everybody.” Perhaps you’ve seen it:

Apparently, the maker of this astonishing artistic effort likened it to Michelangelo’s David. I don’t want to be picky or anything, but, um, well, perhaps the artist could try again. Also, leggings aren’t pants.

five

Out of desperation, and because the various members of our household are going in so many different directions, I cracked and signed up for Hungry Root, one of those meals-in-a-box situations where you click around and an AI decides what you should cook and eat and then delivers it to your doorstep. This isn’t for all of us, just the four girls who want to learn to cook and are tired of waiting for me to figure it out. Basically, Matt produces a gorgeous luncheon for the whole family two or three times a week, plus a big pot of soup for the whole church on Sunday, and then we survive on bread and butter and eggs in between. The boys—who are actually grown men—work at Chipotle, and so that’s what they’re subsisting on. So, three times a week, the girls follow the directions and make themselves interesting dinners—surprising dinners, since I haven’t even had time to check over what the algorithm is picking ahead of time. And this, it seems to me, is peak everything.

six

My favorite verse in the Bible showed up in the Daily Office this morning. It’s Luke’s “pressed down, shaken together, overflowing” bit at the end of the Beatitudes. Jesus has been explaining that it’s going to be fine—those who are weeping now are really in the best spot, because later they will get to laugh, and those who are hungry now are basically in the pink, because later they will be full, and that if people have left you out and hurt you and said nasty things about you, you are the most fortunate of all people, because there is a great reward for you in heaven. While you wait for that, however, you may not hold anyone to a standard of your own making. You can’t judge others according to your inclinations and assumptions. You can’t decide not to forgive. You can’t withhold your stuff from people who, rightly or wrongly, decide they need it instead of you. And all of this seems, in human terms, to be impossible.

The only way it works is if you discover that God has the power, the authority, and the desire to put the world back in its proper order. Because he gave his life for you, you can give yours for people who won’t be able to acknowledge, nor even perceive the gift. But that’s ok, because God sees everything, even that unfortunate statude in Times Square.

seven

Somehow, I missed knowing about this important piece of music my whole life:

And on that note, I’ve gotta run. I’m so sorry I can’t read the comments today. It’s another Catechesis weekend and I have to go muck out my atrium.

Have a lovely weekend!