Borat... not much to say

So I assume that most of you have heard of the movie Borat (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443453/), which is now out in theatres around the nation. In general, it is the classic storyline of a person from a foreign culture coming to our culture and getting himself into a number of humorous situations due to his ignorance of our culture. This movie is meant to be as humorous as possible, for our own entertaining purposes, at the cost of a culture that is far older than ours. In fact, it is a culture from which we have actually gained a lot from, intellectually. How ironic.

Why am I refusing to see this movie? Why am I so upset by this movie? For one, my father’s family is from Lebanon and is therefore Arabic. If I am not mistaken, Borat is supposed to be Arabic. But my distress goes beyond my personal ancestry. My distress lies in our yearning for peace and an end to dying, mostly at the hands of terrorism. Yet, we take these stereotypes of other cultures (that usually are formed by us) and we have fun with them in the form of cartoons, pictures, and movies. But what good does this do for obtaining peace? Rather, it ignites more fury against us. We have seen this before and should know it will happen. If you find something that pisses off a tiger, would you do it to the tiger anyway?

Why can’t we, as America, just respect other cultures and learn about them? Many may be surprised at how much of our culture comes from others. For example, as Christians a good bit of our beliefs come from the works of St Thomas Aquinas, which include a lot of Aristotle’s philosophy. But if Aristotle’s philosophy had not first been discovered by the Arabic world, Aquinas would not have had Aristotle to work with, possibly preventing his masterful works.

John Paul II said in Theology of the Body that we need to build a culture that fosters the use of proper morality. Is that the culture we are building and showing to the world?

8 1/2 weeks of Advent

Every year, Christmas decorations go up the day after Halloween, as if there are no other days in the calendar left to celebrate. You can’t go shopping anywhere without having “the Christmas spirit” thrown in your face. But just what is that Christmas spirit? Is it really Santa Claus? Is it really the gifts we get?

Yes, I look forward to Christmas. Next to Easter, it is my favorite day of the year. But what is it I like? Midnight Mass—a liturgy that only the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday surpasses. With the birth of Christ, with his taking on humanity, Easter was made possible. There are only three births celebrated in the Roman Calendar—Mary, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ. We celebrate John the Baptist and Mary because they were the forerunner of Christ and his gate to this world. And, as Catholics, we believe that in honoring these occurrences through the Liturgy, we become one with the occurrence. We believe that we are taking part in the occasion, joining our realm with the realm of salvation.

But we so easily allow our consumerist tendencies to come before that. Mass becomes but a blink of an eye, a mere hour-long tradition or even requirement, compared to the day-long festivities of exchanging gifts and eating with family and friends. Let’s go to the early vigil before dinner so that we don’t have to stay up late for Midnight Mass or worry about it in the morning. Yes, as Catholics, we have that privilege. But we must safeguard ourselves so as to not abuse it. I used to. But then I began serving Midnight Mass and fell in love.

Our time of preparation for Christmas has already been set aside as Advent. So why not continue to walk with Christ through his ministry these last few weeks before the first Sunday of Advent, culminating in the Feast of Christ the King?

Prayer beads?

The Rosary is such a beautiful prayer. John Paul the Great referred to it as a compendium to the life of Christ. Offering us a summary of the life of Christ, one cannot help but grow in his or her devotion to Christ in doing it. Contrary to popular belief, Mary is not its main focus.

The best way to a son is through his mother. She carried him, bore him, nursed him, and raised him to manhood. Who would know him better? The Rosary offers us this. It is ultimately time with Mary, the woman who carried Christ, bore Christ, nursed Christ, and raised Christ to manhood. Through her, we have much to learn of Christ.

The Rosary is not meant to be a recitation but instead a meditation. Meditate on different scenes of Christ as you beseech Mary for her intercession. On Mondays and Saturdays, reflect upon the days that our calendar will be remembering soon during the coming seasons of Advent and Christmas. On Thursdays, recall the ministry of Christ on earth, which we are living now through the season of Ordinary Time. On Tuesdays and Fridays, recall the Passion of Christ, from the garden to his death. Then on Sundays and Wednesdays, exalt in the glory of Christ’s conquering of death, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and our Blessed Mother’s place in heaven, praying that one day we too may experience the Beatific Vision.

Remember, meditation, not recitation.

Our Mother gets lonely too, you know.