Not a workshop I'll be attending

A talk to be given by Dr. Michael Downey at the College on Thursday, Dec. 1 in the Lecture Hall at Caldwell College at 4:30pm on the topic: "Lay Leadership in the Church: More Than a Stopgap Measure." Dr. Downey is the Cardinal's Theologian of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Professor of Systematic Theology and Spirituality at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. Please see the attached files for further information.

I am disinterested in this lecture on so many levels. Where do I begin?

1. I love the Order of Preachers. Dominicans have been wending their ways through my life unnoticed by me until pretty recently (dontcha love it when you finally start to connect God's dots? ...ooooohhhhhh, so that's what that is all about... ) so it hurts that much more to see that some of the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell are wacko. Please let me state in the most clear terms possible: The Sisters who run and teach at our parish school are very good and totally orthodox. I love them and I am confident that when my children attend the school they will receive the fullness of the truth of Holy Mother Church and I will be proud to call them graduates of St. John the Aposlte School. It's just that some of the others are a little off their nutter. and if Fra Lawrence leaves them off his Dominican blogroll, but he's got the cloistered Dominican nuns of Summit, NJ, you know something's gotta be wrong.

2. The theology Dept. at Caldwell leaves much to be desired in terms of their orthodoxy. I know someone who completed their Religious Education Certificate proogram there. She was not pleased and advised me not to pursue it. I didn't.

3. Um, hello, Cardinal Mahony's Theologian? Instead of attending this lecture, I will bang my head against a wall for 3 hours. I am certain that the self-injury will be much less physically painful and that it will be less of a danger to my soul.

4. Dr. Downey teaches at the Los Angeles Seminary. Hmm... No new vocations in LA. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Yup. The head banging sounds a lot more pleasant.