Thursday, June 9, 2011

Good Story 012: About a Boy



Episode 12! About a Boy starring Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, and Toni Collette. From the novel by Nick Hornby.

Download or listen via this link: |Episode #012|

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8 comments:

  1. So many great things about today's podcast but here are just a few comments:

    I also love Donald E. Westlake, particularly the Dortmunder books. His passing made me sad.

    Your Twilight remarks totally made my day. I have often toyed with the idea of writing an essay on what a poor role model Bella makes for young girls due to her always deferring to others and not standing up for herself. But the potentially abusive situation and the victim mindset should also be brought in. There's so much to sink your teeth into (yes, pun intended) when you realize what messages these books send.

    I would leave y'all a review on ITunes but I don't have an account - I listen here on the web. But I'll share this with my Facebook buddies and see if I can promote the podcast that way. :-)

    Julie, I'll see you on Ravelry. :-)

    Patti/Wombatknitter

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  2. Thank you!

    This is a movie I would never had seen if not for your recommendation. So after I listened to this episode I watched it on Netflix streaming and all I can say is wow! Just an excellent movie with much to recommend on multiple levels and it even makes me thing better of Hugh Grant.

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  3. I recently found your podcast and started listening - I was actually in the middle of burning this episode to CD to hand out at our Young Adult group when I heard a few comments that I found rather confusing coming from a Catholic...

    In your encounter with a non-Catholic at the garage he asked "So your priest would not bring up Mary in the middle of church and talk about...", to which you respond "No, no...it doesn't happen and it's not supposed to happen" Really? Not even on the Marian Feasts? I've heard lots of priests talk about Mary during the homily. It *ultimately* becomes about her Son, of course, but Mary still often gets a good deal of "air time".

    You went on to say "If somebody is saying Hail Marys in church that's not the point because you're supposed to be putting your focus on her Son". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you're saying, but are you suggesting that the Hail Mary shouldn't be said because it detracts from Jesus? It's a standard part of the Mass in England. Or do you mean that the point of the Hail Mary is still to ultimately point towards Jesus?

    I would be grateful if you could clear this up. Thanks :)

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  4. Hi Restless Pilgrim!

    First of all I'm honored that you were burning a cd of the podcast! What a compliment!

    Second, please keep in mind that while Scott and I do our best to be accurate, there's no imprimatur on the podcast and we surely can slip up. We want to know when we do, because we're always learning more as we go along! :-)

    On the Mary at Mass issue ...

    I should have made it more clear that my questioner was really just concerned with praying to Mary (as are most Protestants I've ever met). I misrepresented it in making it sound as if a homily wouldn't ever be said which talked about her. In my MIND, I was thinking of prayers. Sorry that didn't get out through my mouth!

    That said, the Hail Mary is a private devotion and not to be included in the public prayers of the liturgy of the Mass. The priest is never supposed to put his own words in place of the public ones. An example that came up just last night in a class I attended on the new liturgy pointed out that some priests will say "Behold the Lamb of God..." when elevating the host ... while what they are supposed to say is "This is the Lamb of God..." Even such a small change is forbidden. That doesn't mean that priests don't do it, especially those who were ordained in those heady reform-laden days right after Vatican II. In fact, the wording will be changing to "Behold" instead of "This is" when the new liturgy comes in.

    But I digress. :-)

    As for the Mass in England, it is perfectly possible that the general instruction from bishops include a private devotion with the public prayers. That used to be the case everywhere before Vatican II when the St. Michael prayer would be said at the end of each Mass. That was changed in the Vatican II reforms. I'm not sure if the bishops could unilaterally decide to include the devotion and make it the norm (which seems likely) or if they had to petition Rome to get permission (which seems equally likely).

    For example, the American bishops have petitioned Rome three times to be allowed to keep "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again" in our liturgy. And been turned down every time. (It is more of "a statement, rather than an expression of the gathered assembly of its incorporation into the Pascal Mystery.)

    Anyway, adaptations for different countries are certainly considered and allowed so I am interested to hear that England has the Hail Mary as a standard part of the Mass.

    Does this help?

    (I am going to look for the book where I read about the Hail Mary and Mass, which was a long time ago ... and I have a lot of books ... but it is an interesting point.)

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  5. Hey Julie,

    Thanks for the clarification. I take your point about devotional prayers in Mass. In fact, in a document issued in 2005 by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, it said:

    "The Roman Rite does not envisage the inclusion of devotional prayers in the Prayer of the Faithful. As is traditional with liturgical prayer, the Prayer of the Faithful is addressed to the Father, through the Son and in the Spirit."
    http://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/GIRM/Documents/CTM.pdf

    The thing is, in 1965 when the Prayers of the Faithful were restored, the bishops seem to have encouraged the inclusion of a Hail Mary at the end of the Prayers of the Faithful (England has historically had a strong Marian devotion). I wonder if the introduction of the new Mass translation will bring this to an end as the liturgy gets a bit of shake-up?

    Having said that, Mary's prayers are requested in every Mass: "...and I ask Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin, all the angels and Saints and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God". Also, I often attend a Byzantine Rite parish which uses the ancient Liturgies of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom which include multiple requests for the assistance of the Theotokos.

    I think my reaction stems from the fact that I'm a revert. At one time I did view any mention of Mary as a detraction from her Son - I was happier if she was never mentioned. It was only when my mindset shifted, when, as you say "everything about Mary points us to her Son", that I stopped being so sensitive to times when she is honoured. (Having said that, I do still occasionally get twitchy)

    Therefore, when non-Catholics ask me about Mary, I try not to downplay her role or her place in the life of the Church, but show how devotion to her increases devotion to her Son. Do whatever He tells you.

    Praise the art and you praise the Artist :-)

    God bless,

    Restless Pilgrim.

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  6. Oh, and I do free CDs for each of our meetups:

    http://jp2group.wordpress.com/resources/

    Actually, this reminds me that I'll have to get everyone over to watch The Castle - I own the special "Pool Room Edition" :-)

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  7. Holy Moly, I see that we're in there twice! That is a BIG honor! :-)

    And, yes, everyone should have a copy of The Castle in their pool room. :-D

    I was just looking through my books and couldn't find the spot where I originally read that, but I did pull out a couple of books about Mary that I wanted to look at again. I was fascinated by one that told how many Marian references there are at Mass (many more than one) and how many Masses are celebrating Marian things. I know I read it all at one time but it was long ago.

    The thing is that I know Mary is such a hurdle for some people as well as praying to the saints. So I always am trying to point out the proper perspective.

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  8. I'm a nerd, so I had to share the "Serenity" episode and I'm English so it was therefore mandatory that I include the episode on "About A Boy" :-)

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