Sunday, April 27, 2014

Now it's Official: St. John XXIII; and St. John Paul II


(From Reuters, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
(Early arrivals at St. Peter's, Rome.)

About 1/1000th of the world's living Catholics were in Rome today, to be on hand for the canonization of two Popes: John XXIII and John Paul II. We don't have an exact count, since they didn't all fit in St. Peter's Square, but it looks like about a million Catholics came to be near, if not at, the ceremony.


(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
(Several thousand of the folks who came to Rome, in St. Peter's Square.)

Most of us couldn't make it to Rome: and never will. That won't stop us from celebrating on our home turf, in culturally-appropriate ways: like these folks in the Philippines.


(From Reuters, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
('Mini-popes' and Filipino 'Swiss Guards' in the Philippines.)

Two Millennia and Counting



I've heard that the 11 surviving Apostles and Matthias divided the known world into 12 sectors: one for each of them. Then they headed out, acting on the standing orders outlined in Matthew 28:19-20.

Communications weren't what they are today, but we're reasonably sure that they reached Armenia, Ethiopia, Carthage, Syria, and Persia. One of them made it as far as India. My ancestral homelands don't show up in traditions involving the 12: hardly surprising, since some of them were on the other side of barbarian lands bordering the Roman Empire.

Meanwhile, the authority my Lord gave Peter was passed along to Linus. Centuries rolled by, and so far the bark of Peter has had 264 senior officers on deck.

We're spread thin in some places, but today we live on every continent except Antarctica: and some scientists there have been Catholic, like Brother Consolmagno.

A few dozen Popes are recognized as Saints. Some were anything but. Then there was Benedict IX, who was Pope three times from 1032 to 1048.

As kingdoms, empires, and civilizations, rose and fell: the Church kept going, no matter who was Pope. I could have assumed that the Church 'just happened' to survive every crisis: and was on a millennia-spanning 'lucky streak:' or that the Church was getting outside help. More topics. (January 13, 2011)

Saints: It's What You Do


(From Dnalor 01, via Wikimedia Commons, license #CC-BY-SA 3.0, used w/o permission.)
(John XXIII's body, in the altar of Saint Jerome in St. Peter's.)

John XXIII wasn't declared a Saint because his body is in remarkably good condition, years after his death. The Church recognizes that as the result of embalming and a triple-sealed coffin.

He and John Paul II passed the usual qualifications for Sainthood: which include two verified miracles. Real miracles: not the 'miraculous face of Jesus in a jar of mayonnaise' fluff that gets in the papers now and then. (April 5, 2011; October 17, 2010)

As usual, news coverage of the canonization included 'analysis' that tried to ram Catholic beliefs into contemporary pigeonholes; some refreshingly accurate observations; and lots of pictures. BBC News did a reasonably good job, aside from a clueless analysis, and linked to a nine-item slide show.


(Reuters/BBC News, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)

Related posts:

Fear, Foreboding, and Getting a Grip About Technology

Maybe some folks still have religious scruples about 'defying God' with lightning rods: but I haven't run into any, and I'm certainly not one of them.

My house has a lightning rod, installed by a previous owner. I made sure it's in good working order, since our chimney is one of the taller structures in the neighborhood. Ben Franklin and Prokop Diviš's invention is on most tallish structures in my part of the world.

Lightning rods have apparently joined movable type and the moldboard plow as technology that 'we've always had.'

Even the Internet seems to be gaining grudging acceptance: although I regularly encounter folks who don't seem at all comfortable about social media: and express their grave misgivings in online posts.

My guess is that every generation has included a few with profound misgivings about newfangled technology: or change of any sort, and that's almost another topic.

I grew up in a world of AM radio and dial telephones. Some folks my age never had reasons for learning how to use computers, the Internet, or anything else invented after about 1970. I kept learning new skills, thanks partly to what might charitably be called an eclectic assortment of jobs.

My hat's off to anyone who held down the same job for decades, and still mows grass with a reel mower.

I'm a tad less appreciative of folks who apparently feel that using new tech isn't ethical.

I often share their concerns about Internet fraud, hate-drenched online screed, or vapid 'discussions.' But I've got a good memory, and remember the 'good old days.' We had jerks, fools, some sensible folks, and a few wise ones, then: just as we do today.

I am quite certain that keyboards don't make people do bad things. Technology makes it easier to cut grass, or share ideas: but how often we mow the lawn, and what we say, is up to us.

I'm convinced that we're expected to use the brains God gave us: developing and using new tech wisely.

Fire, Brimstone, and Blank Smiles

I trust that they're sincere: but folks who lap up fire and brimstone tracts, and others whose spirituality involves vacuous smiles and bland platitudes, miss the big picture. My opinion.

God is good, God is merciful, God is loving. God is also just, and all-powerful. (Genesis 35:11; Esther C:2; Psalms 103:8; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1, 268, 2711604, 1846)

God knows our needs. We should trust God to give us what we need, the way a child trusts parents. (Catechism, 305; Matthew 6:31-33)

Getting back to fire, brimstone, and making sense: I don't ask God to wreak terrible retribution on sinners because, often as not, I'm standing on the target. God seems to be very patient, and I'm okay with that.

God Plays Hardball: Occasionally


(From Oliver Spalt, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

By cherry picking verses like Job 37:3, Job 26:10, Psalms 18:3, and Revelation 4:5, I could paint a picture of the Almighty as a sort of action movie hero, with lightning bolts instead of Rambo's morphing M60.

That might appeal to folks who imagine a God with anger management issues, which may explain the continuing appeal of "fire and brimstone" preachers.

I'll grant that God can play hardball. But spectacular displays like the sulphurous fire and plague of frogs in Genesis and Exodus are very rare. (March 31, 2014)


(Detail from John Martin's "The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.")

Dangerous Technology: Learning the Right Lesson

There's an old cartoon showing cavemen and a fire. Several enthusiastic younger folks are admiring the fire. Two older cave men, standing at a safe distance aren't impressed.

One of them says, 'just wait: someday it'll get out of control, and burn down the whole village.' I've used that story before. (July 9, 2011)

They had a point. When villages grew into cities, they caught fire with distressing regularity.

Rome burned in 64 AD. London's memorable fires were in 122, 675, 1087, 1135, 1212, and 1666. Edo burned in 1657, 1668, 1682, 1697, 1772, and 1806. Chicago has only had one famous fire, the one in 1871: but it's a new city.

Instead of deciding that fire was too dangerous, each time we cleaned up the mess and rebuilt. Eventually we developed less flammable buildings, halon extinguishers, and I've been over that before, too. (March 14, 2014)

Make no mistake: fire is a dangerous technology. So is string, for that matter. Both can kill, if not used properly.

But both have been around for so long that they're often not seen as tech at all.

Franklin, Fear, and Lightning Rods

Folks seem much more likely to get upset about new technology: like lightning rods.

Ben Franklin wasn't the only one experimenting with static electricity in the 18th century. He was, however, one of those who survived the experiments.

Georg Wilhelm Richmann, a pioneer in studying electricity and atmospheric electricity, conducted one of the more spectacular experiments. While in St. Petersburg, he set up an insulated rod: and waited to see how it would respond to a nearby electrical storm.

The explosion blew open his shoes, singed his clothes, and left a red spot on his forehead. Georg Wilhelm Richmann was sincerely dead.

Small wonder that some folks in the English colonies feared the 'wrath of God,' when someone suggested adding "metalline conductors" to a church steeple:
"I have read in the Philosophical Transactions the account of the effects of lightning on St. Bride's steeple. 'Tis amazing to me, that after the full demonstration you had given, of the identity of lightning and of electricity, and the power of metalline conductors, they should ever think of repairing that steeple without such conductors. How astonishing is the force of prejudice even in an age of so much knowledge and free enquiry!"
(Letter, To Benjamin Franklin from John Winthrop, 6 January 1768, via founders.archives.gov)

Trusting God, Using Our Brains

Getting back to the lightning rod on my chimney, if God wants to level this house: that's gonna happen. God the Almighty, Ineffable Mystery, Who creates and sustains all things, is not going to be stopped by a pound or so of metal.

I don't, by the way, think that God will smite my house: and I'm confident that lightning rods don't upset an uptight Deity.

We're designed to be curious, to study this astounding creation: and learn new ways of using and managing it. Using science and developing technology is part of our job. (Genesis 1:27-31; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 31, 355-361, 374-379, 2292-2296)

Imagining that science, technology, money, or anything else, will take the place of God is daft: and a very bad idea. (Catechism, 2112-2114)

Trying to do an end run around God's plans by consulting mediums is also against the rules: but we're expected to plan ahead.
"God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2115)
'Trusting Providence' and counting on neighbors to take up the slack isn't new: and it's, ah, imprudent. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

We have free will, so using what God created for good to an evil purpose is always an option. (Catechism, 311)

But I do not see how honest study of this universe can interfere with faith, since the things of faith and the things of this world are both made by God. (Catechism, 159)


(image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)
"Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth."
(Dei Filius (1870), quoted in Catechism, 159)
Related posts:

Friday, April 25, 2014

The Search for Life: Earth-Size Planet, in the Habitable Zone — Found

Many of this galaxy's 17,000,000,000 or so roughly Earth-size planets are probably too hot or too cold to support life. Last week, scientists found one that is a little cooler than our home: but not by much.
  1. Right Size, Right Temperature: Kepler-186f Might Support Life
  2. NASA's Kepler Mission and Habitable Zones

Democritus Vindicated: After 2,000 Years


(From NASA, ESA, STScI/AURA, used w/o permission.)
(Part of the Eagle Nebula, where gas and dust from long-dead stars collapse, forming a new generation.)

Two dozen centuries back, Democritus thought that many worlds exist, that each had a beginning, and that each would eventually end. These radical ideas didn't sit well with folks like Plato: but it looks like Democritus was right.

Aristotle was in his teens when Democritus died, and noticed details about cephalopods that most folks didn't believe until 19th century scientists confirmed his observations. He was a very smart man.

However, Aristotle thought that Earth was the center of the universe: and that the universe was eternal. Just about all educated westerners agreed, until about five centuries ago.

That's when several natural philosophers in Europe noticed that motions of Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Mercury, make more sense in models that place them, and Earth, orbiting the sun. One of them, Galileo Galilei, even observed objects circling Jupiter. I'll get back to Aristotle, Galileo, and getting a grip.

We sent robots to other planets in the Solar system in the last decades of the 20th century: but still hadn't observed any circling other stars. Then, in 1995, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced that they'd detected a planet orbiting 51 Pegasi. Other astronomers confirmed 51 Pegasi b's existence.

Earth-Like Planet Found: After 20 Years

For the first time, we knew that at least one planet orbits a star other than ours. Scientists developed increasingly precise instruments and methods for detecting extrasolar planets and discovered dozens of worlds: then hundreds; with more emerging as fast as the data gets processed.

So far, we've confirmed more than 1,800. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia added another 702 'possibles' last month. We're reasonably sure that we'll eventually find billions of roughly Earth-size planets in this galaxy. (April 18, 2014)

Last week, we spotted an Earth-sized planet orbiting its star every 130 days. 'Sunlight' at high noon would be about as bright and hot as sunlight here an hour before sunset: but if Kepler-186f has an atmosphere and water, some of that water will almost certainly be liquid.

I'm not surprised that we found a planet which is very nearly Earth's twin: but I'm impressed that we found one so soon after spotting 51 Pegasi b.

Maybe we just 'got lucky,' or maybe we found one so soon because many of the billions of Earth-size worlds are in their stars' habitable zones.

The Quest for Life: and Neighbors


(From ESO/L. Calçada, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

If we discover life on other planets while I'm still around, I'll be delighted.

From the way folks respond to new ideas, I'm pretty sure that many will share my fascination.

Others, apparently convinced that God wouldn't or couldn't disregard their values and assumptions, will almost certainly denounce reports of extraterrestrial life as a Satanic plot. We've gone through this sort of goofiness with vaccinations and evolution. (February 12, 2014; January 2, 2014)

I hope we find neighbors in the universe: people who aren't human, but share our nature: creatures with intelligence and will, made of spirit and matter. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 311, 362-368)

I think it's very likely that life started on other worlds. Given the size and age of the universe, I'd be surprised if we don't eventually run into people whose ancestors weren't at all like ours. On the other hand, we may be alone in the universe.

At this point, we don't know: and I certainly won't claim that God couldn't have created life throughout the universe.

That'd be as daft as saying that other worlds can't exist, because Aristotle said so. That's been against the rules for Cathoics since 1277, by the way. (February 23, 2014)

Aristotle, Galileo, and Getting a Grip — or — Poetry Isn't Science


(From Roberto Pillon, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Aristotle observed and described electric rays like this one.)

Ancient Greeks were top-rate at discussing ideas: but not so renown for verifying their theories with observation. They weren't pure theorists, though. One of them, Aristotle, carefully observed catish, cephalopods and ruminants.

Aristotle was brilliant, and helped lay the foundations of today's science. Two millennia later, many European scholars made the mistake of assuming that every Aristotelian assertion was accurate.

Disagreeing with Aristotle, agreeing with St. Augustine that poetry isn't science, and insisting that his theory be accepted as fact, got Galileo in trouble.

That doesn't show that religion is against science, any more than charges of heresy leveled against Dante proves that Christianity opposes poetry.1

It does, I think, show emotion and reason don't play well together, and that's another topic. (December 8, 2013; Another War-on-Terror Blog, December 23, 2008)

    1. Right Size, Right Temperature: Kepler-186f Might Support Life


    (From NASA/JPL-Caltech, used w/o permission.)
    "Kepler-186f, the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone, a range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the planet's surface, is seen in a NASA artist's concept released April 17, 2014."
    "Scientists find Earth-sized world in orbit friendly to life"
    Irene Klotz, Reuters (April 17, 2014)

    "For the first time, scientists have found an Earth-sized world orbiting in a life-friendly zone around a distant star.

    "The discovery, announced on Thursday [April 17, 2014], is the closest scientists have come so far to finding a true Earth twin. The star, known as Kepler-186 and located about 500 light years away in the constellation Cygnus, is smaller and redder than the sun.

    "The star's outermost planet, designated Kepler-186f, receives about one-third the radiation from its parent star as Earth gets from the sun, meaning that high noon on this world would be roughly akin to Earth an hour before sunset, said astronomer Thomas Barclay, with NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

    "The planet is the right distance from its host star for water -- if any exists -- to be liquid on the surface, a condition that scientists suspect is necessary for life.

    " 'This planet is an Earth cousin, not an Earth twin,' said Barclay, who is among a team of scientists reporting on the discovery in the journal Science this week....

    "...'This planet is in the habitable zone, but that's doesn't mean it is habitable,' Barclay said...."
    The artist's concept of what Kepler-186f's appearance makes optimistic assumptions: that the planet has an atmosphere like Earth's, and enough water to "pool" on the surface. Right now, we don't know what Kepler-186f is made of, or if it has an atmosphere of any sort.

    It could be an airless ball of rock, be shrouded in an atmosphere as thick and toxic as we found around Venus: or it could be a slightly-cooler version of Earth, complete with folks who started building cities when dinosaurs still lived.

    We don't know. Yet.

    Known Planets: 1,800 Confirmed as of This Month; One Resembles Earth

    "So far, scientists have found nearly 1,800 planets beyond the solar system.

    " 'The past year has seen a lot of progress in the search for Earth-like planets. Kepler-168f is significant because it is the first exoplanet that is the same temperature and is (almost) the same size as Earth,' astronomer David Charbonneau, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrote in an email.

    " 'For me the impact is to prove that yes, such planets really do exist,' Charbonneau said. 'Now we can point to a star and say, "There lies an Earth-like planet." ' "
    (Irene Klotz, Reuters)
    As David Charbonneau said, no matter what we learn about Kepler-186f, its existence proves "that yes, such planets really do exist ... There lies an Earth-like planet."

    I think it's wildly improbable that Earth and Kepler-186f are the only two planets that are Earth-like. Particularly since we spotted this one less than 20 years after the first discovery of an extrasolar planet.

    2. NASA's Kepler Mission and Habitable Zones


    (From NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech, used w/o permission.)
    "The diagram compares the planets of our inner solar system to Kepler-186, a five-planet star system about 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. The five planets of Kepler-186 orbit an M dwarf, a star that is is half the size and mass of the sun."
    "NASA's Kepler Discovers First Earth-Size Planet In The 'Habitable Zone' of Another Star"
    NASA (April 17, 2014)

    "Using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" -- the range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet. The discovery of Kepler-186f confirms that planets the size of Earth exist in the habitable zone of stars other than our sun.

    "While planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and understanding their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth.

    " 'The discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds like our planet Earth,' said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in Washington. 'Future NASA missions, like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the James Webb Space Telescope, will discover the nearest rocky exoplanets and determine their composition and atmospheric conditions, continuing humankind's quest to find truly Earth-like worlds.'..."
    I'm excited by the discovery of a planet that's so close to being Earth's twin in terms of size and temperature. If we find life elsewhere, it may be on a world very similar to our home: or not.

    Kepler-186f: Summary and Slide Show Excerpts

    These two images are from a NASA Presentation, introducing what we know about Kepler-186f: and what we don't.


    (From NASA, used w/o permission)


    (From NASA, used w/o permission)

    Kepler-186f's orbit is considerably smaller than Earths. It may be a trifle cooler than Earth because Kepler-186 is smaller and cooler than our star.


    (From NASA, used w/o permission)

    Background:
    Related posts:

    1An "absurd charge" of heresy, brought by "those to whom the language of poetic imagery is a sealed book:"
    " 'here shall they hang:' Nowhere, perhaps, does Dante assert more clearly than in this moving an terrible image his conviction of the intimate and unbreakable bond between spirit and flesh. The Suicides willed the death of the flesh, but they cannot be rid of it: their eternity is an eternity of that death. (The absurd charge of heretically denying the resurrection of the body was brought against Dante on the strength of these lines, but only by those to whom the language of poetic imagery is a sealed book.)"
    (Dorothy L. Sayers' footnote to "The Divine Comedy," Inferno, Canto XIII, line 107; "The Divine Comedy 1 Hell," Dante Alighieri, Translation by Dorothy L. Sayers (1949); Penguin Classics reprint)

    Monday, April 21, 2014

    Easter Eggs, Art, and All That

    Decorated eggs aren't a Christian invention: folks were trimming ostrich eggs 60,000 years back. I gather that folks in Mesopotamia started the Easter Egg custom: using real eggs.

    From 1885 to 1917, Peter Carl Fabergé supervised the design and crafting of several dozen very fancy 'eggs.' Fabergé eggs are still famous, one stayed in Russia, and that's another topic.

    In today's America, stores sell plastic eggs and egg-dying kits.

    The Easter Bunny is a hare, not a rabbit, emigrated from Germany in the 18th century, and that's yet another topic.

    Folks have associated eggs, hares, and rabbits, with fertility and rebirth for a very long time: so it's no surprise that folks applied them to the Easter celebration.

    The American Easter parade gave several generations an occasion to show off current fashions. I like the Irving Berlin song, "Easter Parade," but am not disappointed that the Easter parade seems to be on its way out. Maybe it's just me, but the custom seemed apt to encourage avarice and envy.

    Come to think of it, so do decorated Easter eggs, if folks start making them at each other instead of for each other.

    Resurrection Art

    I like the matter-of-fact look of Francesca's "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ."

    Quite a few artists took a more flamboyant approach.


    (From Matthias Grünewald, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
    (Detail from Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece.)

    Art, particularly religious art, can be a delicate subject. My own opinion was in line with what the Church says before I'd read, "...Truth is beautiful in itself...." (Catechism, 2500)

    Art as an end in itself is a bad idea. Being inspired by truth and a love for the Creator's work: and giving "...form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing...." — That's part of being human, and is basically good. (Catechism, 2500-2503)

    Popes, Painters, and Breeches


    (From Michelangelo Buonarroti, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
    (Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam.")

    Pope Julius II put Michelangelo to work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1508. The project kept Michelangelo busy, off an on, under Popes Julius II, Clement VII, and Paul III.

    Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment" took form between 1535 and 1541, while Paul III was Pope. The Pope's Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, didn't approve of the mural's nude figures: and said so.

    There's a story that Michelangelo, annoyed by da Cesena's protests, put his features on Minos, judge of the underworld. Instead of leaving well enough alone, da Cesna complained to the Pope: who told the outraged official that the pontiff's authority didn't extend to Hell: so the portrait would remain.

    Controversy over the 'naughty bits' simmered, until another artist was paid to paint clothes over parts of Michelangelo's work. After that thankless job, he was called "Il Braghettone," or "the breeches maker."

    As the Vatican Museums' website points out, Daniele da Volterra wasn't the only hired vandal: not that they put it that way.

    The good news is that Michelangelo's work was covered: not removed. The Sistine Chapel's art was restored during the 20th century, which sparked a different sort of controversy.

    Somewhat-related posts:

    Sunday, April 20, 2014

    The Eighth Day: Two Millennia and Counting


    (From Piero della Francesca, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
    (Piero della Francesca's "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.")

    Easter is the big holiday for the Catholic Church.

    It's when we celebrate Christ's return to life.

    I enjoy the cultural trappings of this springtime holiday: pastel decorations; plastic eggs; and all. I'll get back to some of that in another post.

    The Sunday of Sundays

    Easter is when God's kingdom enters our time. It is what Saint Athanasius called the Sunday of Sundays, when Christendom celebrates Christ's victory over death. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1168-1171)

    I follow the Man who is God: who died in my place; descended to the abode of the dead; rose from the tomb; and lives today and forever. (Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-111 Peter 4:6; Catechism, 631-635, 638-655)

    By any reasonable standard, that's a big deal.

    That first Easter marked the start of the new creation, the eighth day: a day of life and hope. We've been celebrating ever since. (Catechism, 349, 1166, 2174)

    Related posts:

    Friday, April 18, 2014

    Jesus: Tortured; Executed; Buried - - -


    (From Tintoretto, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
    (Detail from Tintorett's "Crucifixion.")

    Nailed to a cross after a night and day of torture and humiliation, Jesus was "raised high and greatly and greatly exalted ... so marred was his look beyond that of man."
    "3 See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.

    "Even as many were amazed at him - so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals -

    "So shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it."
    (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
    Today's readings start with the prophet Isaiah's words, and end on a gloomy note:
    "Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.

    "So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by."
    (John 19:41-19:42)
    We call today "Good Friday," which isn't as crazy as it might seem. That's because of what happened a few days later.

    Today's readings:
    Related posts:

    Life in the Universe: Focusing the Search

    Scientists have found at least a dozen planets where life might exist. They're learning more about biosignatures: signs of life.
    1. Understanding Life's Limits
    2. A Growing Catalog of Known Worlds
    3. Earth-Sized Planets: Billions of Them
    4. Searching the Sky: Frustration and Vindication

    Life on Other Worlds: Imagined


    (From "Quatermass and the Pit," via Tales of Future Past, used w/o permission)
    ('That's odd: he doesn't look German.')

    Some science fiction movies strayed from the man-in-a-rubber-suit style of space alien. But most extraterrestrials in the movies look at least vaguely human.

    I don't mind, since "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "The Last Starfighter," and "Spaced Invaders" are entertainment: not documentaries.

    If there's life on other worlds, the biggest critters may look like the plants and animals we're familiar with. I think there's something to the argument that there are only so many ways that an animal can swim, crawl, walk, or fly.

    On the other hand, we may find places where the locals think we have too few eyes: and too many arms.


    (From Nobu Tamura, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

    Perceptions

    If we meet intelligent extraterrestrial life: I'm pretty sure that at least a few humans will be very, very upset.

    If we do have neighbors, I'm also pretty sure that at least a few folks here on Earth are going to insist that the space aliens are not people.

    Judging from the difficulty we've had convincing everyone that loving God, loving our neighbor, and seeing everyone as our neighbor, is a good idea, some may never accept the notion that someone can look different, and be a person. And that's another topic. (Matthew 5:43-44; Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)

    We may be alone in the universe. But if we are not, I don't see why a self-aware creature; able to decide whether to act, or not act; and able to communicate; should not be seen as a "person."

    Defining "Persons"

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church's glossary says that a human person is "a unity of spirit and matter, soul and body, capable of knowledge, self–possession, and freedom, who can enter into communion with other persons—and with God."1

    As a Catholic, I have to recognize that not all persons are human: which doesn't mean that we "believe in" space aliens.

    For starters, God is three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is also one, the Trinity. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 189-191, 232-260)

    Angels are persons, too: beings of pure spirit, with no bodies. They "are personal and immortal creatures," with "intelligence and will." But angels are not human. Not even close. (Catechism, 328-330)

    Would I Baptize an Extraterrestrial?

    I'm not authorized to perform baptisms, so: no, I would not. I wouldn't baptize anyone, since I'm not a deacon, priest, or bishop. (Code of Canon Law; Book IV, Part I; Title I; Chapter II; 861-863)

    Bear in mind that I speak with the full authority of some guy with a blog. I do not speak for the Church. My speculation about people who are not human is just that: speculation. I don't intend, or want, to anticipate what the Holy See's decisions. I am in solidarity with Rome, and want to stay that way.

    However, I don't see why someone whose ancestors lived on another planet couldn't be baptized: provided that the space alien wanted to be baptized, understood what being a Christian involves, and had shown that he/she/it embraced our faith.

    Persons and Pangolins

    The real question is, who can be baptized? The rules for adults are pretty basic. The person must have shown an intention to be baptized; been taught what being a Christian means; and acted as if what was taught is true. Regretting past misdeeds helps. Canon law puts it a bit more formally.2

    Not all adults can be baptized. An adult pangolin can't be baptized: no matter how nice the pangolin is. That's because pangolins are not people

    They are also odd-looking critters, and that's yet another topic.

    1. Understanding Life's Limits


    (From NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech, via Space.com, used w/o permission.)
    "The artist's concept depicts Kepler-69c, a planet 1.7 times the size of Earth that orbits in the habitable zone of a star like our sun, located about 2,700 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus."
    "Studies of Extreme Earth Life Can Aid Search for Alien Lifeforms, Scientists Say"
    Elizabeth Howell, Space.com (March 27, 2014)

    "Until we understand the limits of life, it will be difficult to determine if alien planets can host any living beings, scientists say.

    "By studying Earth-bound 'extremophiles' — microbes that survive in harsh conditions, such as hot and acid-filled ocean vents — scientists can understand the limits of temperature, pressure and acidity that support life on Earth more fully. These finding[s] may also be applied to other planets.

    "These life-supporting parameters could be revised, however, if a new extremophile is discovered or biology is different on another world, John Baross, a researcher at the University of Washington who focuses on these microbes said March 17...."
    Scientists have found life 'as we know it' in very unexpected places, including near-boiling water around hydrothermal vents and under glaciers. One microcritter, Deinococcus radiodurans, endures cold, dehydration, vacuum, acid, and extreme radiation.

    I've mentioned speculation about life 'not as we know it' before. It's possible, although perhaps unlikely, that we'll find critters whose biochemistry is fluorocarbon in sulfur, lipid in  hydrogen, or something else. (March 7, 2014)

    "...An Enormous Quantity of Creatures of Every Kind..."

    This Space.com article dragged in the weary old 'religion against science' shibboleth: with the inevitable mention of Galileo.

    It's true that Galileo was placed under house arrest: but the issue wasn't his assertion that Earth went around the Sun.

    What got Galileo in trouble was his refusal to present the heliocentric theory as an interesting idea: not a fact.

    As it turns out, Galileo was right about Earth going around the Sun: but it was a new, and unproven, idea. It didn't help that Galileo took St. Augustine's position, that poetry isn't science. Not that science as we know it existed in the fourth century, and that's yet again another topic.

    Someone with a less abrasive personality than Galileo's might have received a lighter sentence, and I've been over this before. (October 26, 2009)

    The good news is that Elizabeth Howell paid attention to what happened at the convention.
    "...The Vatican Observatory has made its own contributions to astronomy, pointed out José Funes, its current director. The 19th-century director Angelo Secchi was one of the first scientists to authoritatively say that the sun is a star, Funes said.

    "Secchi, like scientists today, also mused on the possibility of life beyond Earth, a theme that Vatican scientists discussed at the conference, Funes added, putting a passage from Secchi's 1870 book, 'Le Soleil' (The Sun) on the screen.

    " 'What to think of these stars without any doubt similar to our sun,' the passage read, 'destined like the sun to keep alive an enormous quantity of creatures of every kind?'..."
    (Elizabeth Howell Space.com)

    "...So Much We Still Don't Understand"


    (From www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/528141, used w/o permission.)
    "One extreme species, the Thermococcus microbe, can survive on so little energy that until now the chemical reaction it uses wasn't thought able to sustain life. These organisms were found living near deep-sea hydrothermal vents...."
    (Space.com)
    "...'This is very much a discovery-based science, and there is so much we still don't understand,' Baross said during the Search for Life Beyond the Solar System conference in Tucson, Ariz.

    "One emerging field of research examines microbes living in a low carbon and energy environment, like the parts of the ocean below where sunlight can reach through the waters. Considering slower evolution over millions of years in these reaches is a 'totally new ballgame' for alien planet researchers, Baross said....

    "...Finding alien life will be a complex task, other scientists pointed out. Perhaps extraterrestrials will require a 'wet' planet like Earth and a 'dry' planet like Mars to pass material back and forth, biochemist Steven Benner of The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in Florida said.

    "Benner suggested that it might be easier for organisms to come alive in a dry environment, but that it would take water to make sustained life possible.

    "Other researchers, meanwhile, are trying to better understand the parameters of life by creating synthetic lifeforms to see how they will behave in different environments...."
    (Elizabeth Howell Space.com)
    "Creating synthetic organisms" does not end well, in the movies: as demonstrated in "Son of Frankenstein," "Eve of Destruction," and "Splice."

    'Tampering with things man was not supposed to know' is what we're supposed to do, though. Pursuing truth isn't the problem: being stupid, greedy, or careless, is. (Catechism, 2292-2296)

    Making "synthetic organisms" goes back a long way. Somewhere between 15,000 and 33,000 years back, we decided that wolves would make good hunting companions: after a few modifications.

    Not long after that, we started tweaking plants. All that's changed over the millennia are details in how we modify organisms:

    2. A Growing Catalog of Known Worlds


    (From PHL @ UPR Arecibo, via Space.com, used w/o permission.)
    (July 29, 2013)
    "Exoplanet tally soars above 1,000"
    Melissa Hogenboom, BBC News (October 22, 2013)

    "The number of observed exoplanets - worlds circling distant stars - has passed 1,000.

    "Of these, 12 could be habitable - orbiting at a distance where it is neither 'too hot' nor 'too cold' for water to be liquid on the surface.

    "The planets are given away by tiny dips in light as they pass in front of their stars or through gravitational 'tugs' on the star from an orbiting world.

    "These new worlds are listed in the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia.

    "The tally now stands at 1,010 new exoplanets, bolstered by 11 new finds from the UK's Wide Angle Search for Planets (Wasp).

    "Abel Mendez of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico, said that although the number has rapidly increased in recent years, due to a lack of funding this figure is much lower than it could be...."
    What impresses me isn't that more than a thousand planets exist. It's that we have, so far, found more than a thousand in the tiny fraction of the Milky Way galaxy we've checked out.

    More will almost certainly be confirmed. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia added another 702 'possibles' to its list on March 6, 2014.

    3. Earth-Sized Planets: Billions of Them

    "At Least One in Six Stars Has an Earth-sized Planet"
    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (January 7, 2013)

    "...A new analysis of Kepler data shows that about 17 percent of stars have an Earth-sized planet in an orbit closer than Mercury. Since the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars, there are at least 17 billion Earth-sized worlds out there.

    "Francois Fressin, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), presented the analysis today in a press conference at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Long Beach, Calif. A paper detailing the research has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal....

    "...They found that 17 percent of stars have a planet 0.8 - 1.25 times the size of Earth in an orbit of 85 days or less. About one-fourth of stars have a super-Earth (1.25 - 2 times the size of Earth) in an orbit of 150 days or less. (Larger planets can be detected at greater distances more easily.) The same fraction of stars has a mini-Neptune (2 - 4 times Earth) in orbits up to 250 days long...."
    Divvying up this galaxy's 17,000,000,000 Earth-sized planets, everyone living today would get roughly two and a half worlds. That's a lot of real estate.

    Earth-size doesn't mean Earth-like. Venus is almost exactly the size of Earth, 94.99% Earth's diameter, but is hot as a self-cleaning oven at the surface, with a crushing atmosphere and clouds of sulfuric acid.

    Even so, a few of the Earth-sized planets we've discovered are in their star's Goldilocks zone, warm enough for liquid water: but not too hot.


    There's more to life than liquid water, of course. We need a particular set of chemicals: which are nowhere near as unique to Earth as some thought.

    We've found adenine and guanine in a meteorite. Maybe the Solar system is the only place in the universe where these chemical modules in DNA drift through space: but that doesn't seem likely.

    We've learned that our sun is brighter than about 85% of the Milky Way's stars: but apart from that isn't unusual. There are millions of other stars like it. Make that billions.

    Earth may be the only planet where life exists: today. But it looks like we'll find places with everything we need to plant life throughout the galaxy.

    4. Searching the Sky: Frustration and Vindication


    (From NASA, used w/o permission.)
    "Artist's concepts of Terrestral Planet Finder-Coronograph (left) and Terrestrial Planet Finder-Interferometer missions."
    "In Hunt for Alien Planets, Frustration Lingers Over Canceled Missions"
    Leslie Mullen, Space.com (June 6, 2011)

    "Geoff Marcy is mad.

    "Not mad as in 'crazy,' although many scientists thought he was nuts when he first started hunting for planets orbiting far-distant stars over 20 years ago.

    "Now that over 500 exoplanets have been detected and the Kepler space telescope has over 1,200 candidate planets waiting to be confirmed, Marcy's dedication and hard work (and his sanity) have been vindicated...."
    Like Geoff Marcy, I'm frustrated that the Terrestrial Planet Finder missions were cancelled. But NASA launched the Kepler observatory, and CNES/ESA's CoRoT mission found exoplanets. I'm confident that there will be more: and we're still going through data gathered in these missions.

    Maybe now that folks know there are destinations in the stars, research and development of a practical Alcubierre warp drive will speed up. And that's — another topic. (May 24, 2013)

    Related posts:

    1 Definition of a human person:
    "PERSON, HUMAN: The human individual, made in the image of God; not some thing but some one, a unity of spirit and matter, soul and body, capable of knowledge, self–possession, and freedom, who can enter into communion with other persons—and with God (357, 362; cf. 1700). The human person needs to live in society, which is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them (1879)."
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary)
    2 Requirements for adult baptism:
    "For an adult to be baptized, the person must have manifested the intention to receive baptism, have been instructed sufficiently about the truths of the faith and Christian obligations, and have been tested in the Christian life through the catechumenate. The adult is also to be urged to have sorrow for personal sins."
    (Code of Canon Law; Book IV, Part I, The Sacraments; Title I, Baptism; Chapter III, Those to be Baptized; 865)

    Sunday, April 13, 2014

    Hosannas: Still Upsetting the Status Quo

    Our granddaughter's baptism was yesterday, which was a very happy occasion. We had a few folks over to celebrate, so my quiet Saturday afternoon was anything but.

    As a result, this post may be less organized than most: which is saying something.

    Palm Sunday


    (Palm fronds at Our Lady of Angels church. April 1, 2012.)

    It's Palm Sunday, when Christians remember Jesus' enthusiastic welcome in Jerusalem: followed by equally-enthusiastic cries of 'crucify him!'

    We'll be holding palm fronds and reading parts of Matthew 21:1-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66 this morning. I enjoy echoing the crowd's hosanna. What comes after that isn't much fun: even though I know what happened on the first Easter.

    "Hosanna" is what "הושע נא" sounds like after folks speaking a Germanic language read Greek and Latin versions of an Aramaic/Hebrew word, and that's another topic. In today's context, hosanna means something like save, rescue, and maybe savior. Some of the folks in Jerusalem understood at least part of who and what Jesus is. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 559)

    Sin, Guilt, and the Kingdom of God


    (Palm Sunday, Our Lady of Angels church. April 1, 2012.)

    Jesus' entry into Jerusalem was, for folks paying attention, the start of the kingdom of God that my Lord had announced. Then as now, some folks liked the status quo: and got in the way. (Matthew 4:17, Matthew 27:1)

    For anyone else, a public execution followed by internment in a borrowed tomb would have been the end. It took Jesus several meetings to convince the surviving apostles that they weren't seeing a ghost, and I've been over that before. (March 11, 2012)

    Sin and guilt are tricky concepts. They're real, and can be undervalued: or seriously misrepresented. We're not supposed to writhe in anguish and despair over our sins. Recognizing our faults, asking forgiveness, and correcting our shortcomings: that makes sense. (Catechism, 1846-1869)

    Recognizing the other guy's faults is often easier: and not necessarily a bad thing. We're supposed to use good judgment. Being 'judgmental,' acting as if it's our job to condemn 'those sinners over there' to everlasting fire? That's a really bad idea: and against the rules. (Catechism, 1861)

    I don't enjoy some parts of our Palm Sunday reenactment: I'm too aware of my personal contributions to humanity's guilt.

    But I think it's prudent to get reminded of the big picture now and then. Besides, like I've said before, Jesus didn't stay dead. (Catechism, 410-412, 638)

    "Of the House and Family of David"

    Laying our guilt for my Lord's crucifixion on "the Jews" is also against the rules: and, in my considered opinion, a really bad idea.

    Yes, the descendants of Abraham and Israel sinned, and their guilt affects Jesus. Buy everyone's sin affects Jesus. (Catechism, 396-409, 595-598)

    I've run into folks with more-or-less anti-Semitic attitudes. I can almost understand these feelings among those on the other side of the Sara-Hagar domestic dispute. We're still dealing with fallout from that incident, and that's yet another topic.

    Gentiles, like me, whose ancestors were on the far side of nowhere when Abram moved out of Ur? Particularly those of us who are Christians? Anti-Semitism makes no sense: not to me. But then, I know what "of the house and family of David" means.

    Sauk Centre, Minnesota; Assisi, Italy - - -


    (Palm Sunday in Our Lady of the Angels church. With - what else? - palms. April 17, 2011.)


    (From Pietro Lorenzetti, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
    (Fresco in the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi.)

    Palm Sunday is above freezing here in central Minnesota this year, last year we had a lovely blanket of snow: but the parish church has a supply of palm fronds each time Palm Sunday rolls around.

    My household weaves our palm fronds into lanyards with a sort of St. Andrew's Cross at the end. I'll probably set mine near my desk again this year. Later, they'll be burned outside the parish church: making ashes for Ash Wednesday.

    That fresco is nearly seven centuries old, in the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi. I'm more amused than upset that some of the buildings in Saint Francis of Assisi's old headquarters are a bit opulent. And that's yet again another topic.

    "... Until the End of the Age"

    My Lord gave us orders we're still following, with varying degrees of success:
    "11 Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

    "Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

    "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 13 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
    (Matthew 28:18-20)
    Two millennia later, 'love God, love your neighbor, everyone's your neighbor' are still a good ideas: and they still threaten folks who enjoy unjust benefits from the status quo.

    We've made a little progress in the last 20 centuries. Ancient evils like prostitution and slavery are illegal in several parts of the world: and, perhaps more importantly, unfashionable.

    I could see the glacial pace with which "love our neighbor" has been taught as a dreadful disappointment; or job security. And that's — you guessed it — still more topics.

    More about Palm Sunday:
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    Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

    Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

    What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

    From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

    I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

    For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

    Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

    Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.