St. Blogs goes Arinze Happy + my contribution

Everyone loves Arinze. That much is clear:

Curt Jester loves Arinze, posting a good quote:

"Suppose a priest comes at the beginning of Mass and says: 'Good morning, everybody, did your team win last night?' That's not a liturgical greeting. If you can find it in any liturgical book, I'll give you a turkey."

Julie loves Arinze (or rather, has a "full-fledged crush" on him)

Rocco loves Arinze (even though he tries to hide it...)

Gerald loves Arinze (and that's an understatement!)

Well, I love Arinze too, and I've really been enjoying "God's Invisible Hand" (our book of the month for April, published by Ignatius Press), the biography of and interview with the good Cardinal.

I've been reading a chapter or two every night before going to bed, and so far I've come across some beautiful sections - some nice little nuggets of Arinze wisdom - that I would like to reproduce (I also intend to review the book once I'm done, either for a mag. or the blog - or more likely both).

"Of course, we had just to reproduce the answer that was written in the catechism book [during primary school]. Some people may smile at it now and say, "We don't want this memory work." Well, they should be informed that they are mistaken because those formulae in the Penny Catechism were carefully thought out, and they encapuslated the theology, our faith for centuries, and some of the best formulations of great theologians and Churchmen. And individuals who now think to formulate it in their own way, if they will succeed in coming anywhere near those exact formulations - very well. But often what we hear is rather poor."

...

Q: And your own vocation? Can you trace how it started?

A: "I cannot tell when I first desired to be a priest. But I know that when I was in the primary school, even before I went to boarding school for the last two years of primary school, I used to watch him [the local parish priest]. And you know what children do when they are at home: they get a little biscuit and a small cloth and say they are "saying Mass". Little brothers and sisters were told to stay there, and we'd be mumbling something and saying that it was Latin."

...

"Because with what the Council envisaged and said, I have no difficulties. But intepretations can differ a lot. You would be surprised how two people can quote Vatican II as if it supported their stands, but those positions are not the same. They can be sincere, both of them. But sincerity is not the only virtue. There's another virtue - objectivity. And sincerity cannot be the criterion for truth."

...

"I've seen places where, after the Sanctus, we wanted to get on with the Mass, but they brought on a whole bevy of girls an filled the whole sanctuary [laughs]. I said to myself: What is this all about? Won't they allow us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist?"

Great stuff, and there's about 356 more pages where that came from (and a large set of pictures to boot!).