Quick Book Reviews

THE SHOEMAKER'S GOSPEL: A NOVEL
A shoemaker who lived in Capernaeum while Jesus was there writes his musings in his journal. Among his entries are included thoughts about personal encounters with Jesus and his disciples. The author clearly has incorporated some of the insights and thoughts he has had during his long practice of Ignatian contemplation, which involves putting yourself in the scene when reading the Gospels. Much of it is quite effective in terms of helping the reader imagine where Jesus might have stayed, the sorts of jokes the disciples would tell, how one might speak personally to Jesus in passing, and so forth. The author, of necessity, invents much of Jesus' dialogue during the aforementioned examples and, for the most part, it works.

I had a much more difficult time when the author invented additional parables for Jesus to use as thought provoking examples for his disciples. Not surprisingly, the added parables were much shallower than Jesus' own and jolted me out of the story as I mentally contrasted it to the real parables. They read like parables I would have made up myself and that is no recommendation, believe me. There was a similar lack of depth and originality in most of the shoemaker's insights. I think this book could be useful for those who would like some help in putting themselves "in the scene" with Jesus but it didn't really grab me with any new insights or thoughts that I haven't seen elsewhere.

THE THIRTEENTH TALE: A NOVEL

... I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy. And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child. I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Yet it is not the same. Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential than that. When I was a child, books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books.

This author understands me. And I understand why she wrote this unusual book which is a love letter for those who have read and reread Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and similar classics. It is a double tale wound around the story of a young woman, Margaret, who has been tapped to write the biography of Vida Winter, a very famous and reclusive writer who has never told anyone a single truth about her life story. As the author's tale unfolds, Margaret begins investigating the truth from her side. I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommended even though I feel the author pulled an "Agatha Christie" toward the end when Vida Winter's true identity is finally revealed. But I love Agatha Christie books as well so it all works out. Not perfect but a thoroughly enjoyable read.

You don't have to take my word for it. Steven Riddle has a much more thorough review here.

SWIMMING WITH SCAPULARS
This book was lent to me by a much younger friend with the recommendation that she and her husband both really loved the book. I could tell as there were numerous bits of paper marking favorite passages and underlined mentions of authors for further investigation later. I also could understand their enthusiasm. This is a lively and well written book from Matthew Lickona, a young husband and father, who examines his life and roles thus far through a Catholic viewpoint. Lickona is thoroughly orthodox yet also that most welcome of people who live in the world but not of it ... which is to say he's real. I thoroughly enjoyed this book although I am well past the age where many of the insights are new. However, even with that said, I still gleaned several thought provoking ideas and plan on suggesting this book to my Catholic women's book club which has a range of women from young singles to grandmothers. I think they will all enjoy it. Highly recommended though much more for people in their twenties or thirties.

For a daily look at Matthew, check out his blog.

IN THE STACKS...
I just had the pleasure of getting some books to try from the library and finding that they all look so good I'm having a hard time deciding which to dive into first.

• Isn't It Romantic?: An Entertainment by Ron Hansen ... a French couple tries to find the real America and winds up stranded in a tiny town in Nebraska. Light and fluffy looking ... my favorite kind of quick read.
  


• The Salaryman's Wife by Sujata Massey ... a mystery being solved by the Japanese-American heroine living in Japan. Mystery and exotic locale.
  


• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova ... a modern vampire tale (does everyone remember that Dracula is one of my favorite books?) that follows three timelines, one in the 1930s, one in the 1950s, and one in 1972.
  


Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

2 Corinthians Study: Affliction, Suffering, and Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:1-7
I really like it when we can get the nuances of the original language from Scripture. Often, as we can see below, it conveys so much more than the mere English translation gets across. The definitions below all much more active expressions of how we experience and deal with suffering than what comes to my mind when simply reading the verses with no knowledge of the original Greek.

(i) Paul writes as a man who knows trouble to those who are in trouble. The word that he uses for afflictions is In ordinary Greek this word always describes actual physical pressure on a man. R.C. Trench writes, "When, according to the ancient law of England, those who willfully refused to plead had heavy weights placed on their breasts and were so pressed and crushed to death, this was literally thlipsis." ...

(ii) The answer to this suffering lies in endurance. The Greek word for this endurance is hupomone. The keynote of hupomone is not grim, bleak acceptance of trouble but triumph. It describes the spirit which can not only accept suffering but triumph over it ...

(iii) But we are not left to face this trial and to provide this endurance alone. There comes to us the comfort of God. Between verses 3 and 7 the noun comfort or the verb to comfort occurs no fewer than nine times. Comfort in the New Testament always means far more than soothing sympathy. Always it is true to its root meaning, for its root is the Latin fortis and fortis means brave. Christian comfort is the comfort which brings courage and enables a man to cope with all that life can do to him ...

The Letters to the Corinthians, Revised Edition by William Barclay*

*Barclay is not a Catholic source. Read here for more info about him.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Bleg: Toronto Resources Needed to Offer to Mother and Unborn Baby

I received this request ... anyone know where to go for resources to help this 23-year-old woman and her unborn baby?

She wants to let the baby live, but is under a lot of pressure to have an abortion and does not have a lot of resources on her own. She really needs help from someone or a group in her area (Toronto).

I've been searching online for the Toronto equivalent of the White Rose*, but haven't been able to find anything yet. I'm sure there is something like that. I was wondering if someone on here with better connections within Catholic Charities or the Toronto area might know of a good place I could refer her to.

If anyone wants to email me rather than answer in the comments box, my email is julie[at]glyphnet[dot]com. Thanks!

* White Rose Women's Center is a Catholic crisis pregnancy center providing pro-life education, counseling and aid.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Wasting Time? You Say That Like It's a Bad Thing.

I got this from Hannah. As she warned me, there is one surprising and shocking moment toward the beginning but it goes on to be downright hilarious. Therefore, I'm passing that warning on and, because I like to live on the edge, I'm posting it here for all to enjoy.

Gym class

Update: Evidently some find the whole thing to be shocking ... so I will elaborate on the warning ... mock shooting included.

Waving From the Cloud of Witnesses: Dorothy Day

The Christian life is certainly a paradox. The teaching of St. John of the Cross (which was for beginners, he said) is of the necessity for detachment from creatures; of the need of traveling light through the dark night.

Most of us have not the courage to set out on this path wholeheartedly, so God arranges it for us...

We try to escape, of course, either habitually or occasionally. But we never can. The point I want to make is that a woman can achieve the highest spirituality and union with God through her house and children, through doing her work, which leaves her no time for thought of self, for consolation, for prayer, for reading, for what she might consider development. She is being led along the path of growth inevitably. But she needs to be told these things, instructed in these things, for her hope and endurance, so that she may use whatever prayer she can to cry out in the darkness of the night.

Here is her mortification of the senses:

Her eyes are affronted by disorders, confusion, the sight of human ailments and human functions. Her nose also; her ears tormented with discordant cries, her appetite failing often; her sense of touch in agony from fatigue and weakness.

Her interior senses are also mortified. She is also with her little ones, her interest adapted to theirs; she has not even the companionship of books. She has no longer the gay companions of her youth (their nerves can't stand it). So she has solitude, and a silence form the sounds she'd like to hear -- conversation, music, discussion.

Of course there are consolations and joys. Babies and small children are pure beauty, love, joy -- the truest in this world. But the thorns are there -- of night watches, of illnesses, of infant perversities and contrariness. There are glimpses of heaven and hell.

On Pilgrimage by Dorothy Day

I like that point about God arranging for us what we need in our everyday life. We must be open to it so that we can take full advantage of what we are being offered though. Otherwise it is just inconvenience, pain, and suffering without any of the redemptive possibilities being used.

I am greatly indebted to the friend who, upon hearing that I was not fond of Dorothy Day, sent me this book as well as Praying in the Presence of Our Lord: With Dorothy Day by David Scott, which largely consists of quotes by Day. I also would like to add that Scott's introduction about Day's life is the only one I have ever read that was not a turn off.

I had begun to suspect it was not so much that I did not like Dorothy Day as that I had never read anything that she had written, but only things that others wrote about her. Reading these books proved that suspicion to be correct. Dorothy in person is nothing like the persona presented by others, who I had begun to mentally label "Social Justice Dorothy." Reading her is like looking at a Catholic Madeleine l'Engle whose books about her life and faith I find interesting and inspiring but incomplete.

Both books are highly recommended.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Feeling Blue? Try This.

Guaranteed to put a smile on your face and tears in your eyes (but good tears).

The Devil and Me

Precisely.

I know I have to be careful with the devil. I don't want to shunt off my personal failings onto him -- my evil is my own. Satan won't be around at the judgment to share the blame. But I don't want to discount his power and influence, either. To ignore him is to let him move unseen, which is exactly where he thrives. I don't want to be cocky with him. I sympathize with the old tradition of not saying his name, for fear of giving him an inroad. But neither do I want to cower before him. I believe I have power over him; the thing is not to suppose that the power is my own.

Swimming with Scapulars by Matthew Lickona

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

World's Fastest, and Possibly Most Interesting, History Lesson

Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history?

See it before your eyes in 90 seconds.

Via TSO.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few ...

... that quote never has seemed more meaningful than now, has it? And, frankly, neither has this commentary on it from In Conversation with God.

Early Christianity grew up in a world which seems very much like our own. It boasted abundant material means but suffered from great spiritual poverty. The early Church had the necessary vigor to protect itself from paganizing influences. It was also vibrant enough to transform a worldly civilization from within. The world today seems no more difficult to evangelize. At first sight it may appear to be closed to Christ. Yet if we are firmly united to the Lord as the first Christians were, we can be sure that the transformation will take place once again. How well are we succeeding in our efforts to transform the people around us, the members of our family, our friends, our colleagues at work?

The world is in need of many things. But there is no doubt that it is in great need of apostles who are holy, cheerful, loyal to the Church and eager to make Christ known. The Lord is calling for us to work in his fields: Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Prayer is the most effective means of winning new apostles (Josemaria Escriva). Our apostolic zeal has to be manifested, first of all, in a continuous prayer of petition for new apostles. Prayer always comes first.

That cry of the Son of God, lamenting that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, is always relevant. How it tears at our heartstrings. That cry came from Christ's mouth for you to hear too. How have you responded to it up to now? Do you pray at least daily for that intention of his? (Josemaria Escriva).

In Conversation With God Vol 5

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Cool Weather and Monarch Butterflies

Photo source

What beautiful weather we are having right now. I actually was comfortable in a long sleeved shirt when standing outside chatting with a friend after Adoration. The cool weather is accompanied by those deep blue skies that just seem to come with Autumn.

Even better, as we stood we saw one huge, glorious Monarch butterfly after another floating through the air around us. Driving home, sometimes I would see as many as ten in the skies over the road ahead. It must be that annual migration to Mexico coming through ... it is really wonderful to have all those butterflies drifting in and out of your sight everywhere you go.

Join This Valiant Pro-Life Stand

Ms. magazine is running the names of 5,000 women who are boasting they had abortions. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which publishes Ms.says, "We have to get away from what the politicians are saying and get women's lives back in the picture." They are sending the signatures to Congress, the White House and state legislators.

Amy Pawlak thinks that we should focus on the lives of the unborn, who are the real victims of abortion, no matter what Ms. Magazine says.

Help me create a petition that will put the one in Ms. to shame. Email this post to every man and woman you know. Email your names and cities/states to me. I'll compile them and send a petition to Congress - a petition with the names of people who think women (and their unborn children) deserve better than an abortion.

I want to get more than the 5,000 signatures Ms. is boasting it has...

... if you are a woman who considered having an abortion but chose not to, I'd like to hear from you and your story.

Please do go to her blog to read the entire post.. I will be emailing this to many of my friends and encourage y'all to do the same.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:13)

Marian Fisher, 13, is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to "shoot me first," in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates.

Rita Rhoads, a Mennonite midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News she learned of the girl's plea from her family. What's more, her younger sister, Barbie, who survived the shooting, allegedly asked the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, to "shoot me second," Rhoads said.

Source

I read this in the morning paper and my eyes filled with tears. What more Christian love could we ever see than those young girls offering themselves in an attempt to save their classmates?

When I heard of the shooting in the Amish schoolhouse I was horrified just like everyone else. What could be worse than for our modern, scarred society to spill over into a society that is the epitome of innocence? How many times did I hear someone say that those children would have no idea what to do? (What a sorry and revealing fact about our society that our children have been drilled against such a possibility.)

I was not as upset for the Amish in the aftermath of the tragedy as I have been for the families from other school shootings. Mostly, I think, because I felt that if anyone was equipped to come through horror and loss it would be the Amish who center their lives around God. Yes, it would be terrible to endure but they have God and their community. That is a lot more than I ever felt assured was possessed by survivors of other such events.

I read about the heroism of those two girls. I thought about the Amish and what an example of living the Christian faith of true forgiveness they are showing our country. I wondered if anyone would see it that way who needed to change their way of life. Most probably would just note it as a noble thing and then forget it.

He spoke to them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."

Matthew 13:33

I paged through the rest of the newspaper.

Never have I felt more ensconced in a decadent society; never more akin to the Christians in first century Rome.

Here was the review of Martin Scorsese's newest movie, which our family felt sure would have all the gore, violence, and sex that was not included in the original Hong Kong movie he had copied.

There was the special magazine called something inane like "Be Who You Are" with a photo of Rose O'Donnell and her partner, arms around one another, their wedding rings prominently displayed. Inside was one article after another, featuring as many celebrities as possible, that glorified living the gay lifestyle.

Reports abounded of trials for all sorts of horrible crimes, many committed against the most vulnerable in our society. It went on and on.

All this was against a backdrop of those two girls offering up their lives for their friends. Never had it been so glaringly obvious that it is important for Christians to remain the leaven, the yeast, that Christ called for. We are called to be the witnesses through our actions and our words that there is a way of freedom that many have forgotten; that some truths are absolute.

I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus.

Malcolm Muggeridge

I daresay that all Christians recognize the absolute truth in Muggeridge's words. The mystery is that just as they contain absolute truth, that truth is translated in different ways to different people ... God deals with each of our unique souls in the way that we understand best.

We can't tell from moment to moment in what way we will be called to witness to that truth. If it is simply through living a Christian life as best we can by not snarling at the person who cuts into line ahead of us on a bad day, speaking up to a close friend about a touchy subject that may change forever how they view us, or stepping up to offer ourselves as a sacrifice.

That is the way that we make sure those who need the message aren't allowed to forget the example they are being given by the grieving but forgiving Amish. We repeat it over and over and over ... through our actions, our words, and our lives. Until they are encountering Christ's truth and love everywhere they turn.

It is not easy. Especially since sometimes the people that need to be reminded so desperately of Christ are the ones we see in the mirror. But we are called to be saints. Both for our own sakes and that of the people around us.

Those two girls were superbly equipped to live Christ's truth in every way. I pray that my own children are as well equipped for the trials they encounter in their lives. I pray that I am.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Oranges and Practical Christianity

"...Some of the old ones still refuse to see that my method is better than theirs. The only thing that will convince them is when I get three oranges to their one, and sell them for twice the price because they are full of juice. But we'll show them in the end."

"You puzzle me," said Meredith frankly.

"Why?"

"What have oranges got to do with the human soul?"

"Everything," said the bishop flatly. "You can't cut a man in two and polish up his soul while you throw his body in the trash heap. If the Almighty had designed him that way, he would have made him a biped who carried his soul in a bag round his neck. If reason and revelation mean anything they mean that a man works out his salvation in the body by the use of material things. A neglected tree, a second-rate fruit are defects in the divine scheme of things. Unnecessary misery is an even greater defect because it is an impediment to salvation. When you don't know where your next meal is coming from, how can you think or care about the state of your soul? Hunger has no morals, my friend."

The Devil's Advocate by Morris L. West

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

What is Adoration?

Now that's a good question and one that I didn't think to explain when mentioning that I'd take prayer requests this weekend when I go to Adoration.

Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic and some Anglican Churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful. When this exposure and adoration is constant (that is, twenty-four hours a day), it is called perpetual adoration. In a parish, this is usually done by volunteer parishioners; in a monastery or convent, it is done by the resident monks or nuns...

The host is displayed in a monstrance, typically placed on an altar. The Blessed Sacrament may not actually be exposed, but left in a ciborium, which is likewise placed on an altar. This exposition usually occurs in the context of a service of Benediction or similar service of devotions to the Blessed Sacrament. In services of perpetual adoration, parishioners volunteer to attend for a certain period of time, typically an hour, around the clock. Because of the difficulty of maintaining twenty-four hour attendance, many parishes no longer provide perpetual adoration. In many parishes, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in an enclosed tabernacle so that the faithful may pray in its presence without the need for volunteers to be in constant attendance (as must be the case when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed).

Wikipedia

This is all based around the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. So when you sit with the Eucharist, you are sitting with Jesus Himself. (Much more information can be found here.)

I remember being intensely curious about this practice about three years ago. I ordered and read No Wonder They Call It the Real Presence: Lives Changed by Christ In Eucharistic Adoration which just fueled my curiosity. (I highly recommend that book, by the way. You can read an excerpted chapter here.)

About three weeks after I finished reading the book I had an opportunity for Adoration and the result was ... nothing. Oh, it was peaceful and nice but that was all.

Upon subsequent occasions I have had much more of a connection, words popping into the back of my mind, answers to questions about a course of action to take, the sort of thing that leave my husband shaking his head. He is not exactly disbelieving but just ... shakes his head. He's used to my crazy ways. I don't need adoration for that. It happens quite frequently in front of the tabernacle during Mass.

You can simply sit peacefully with Jesus the entire time, read a devotional book, write in a journal, that sort of thing. It depends on the person. No matter what, the experience is one of peace. That is pretty much a universal result. And if you mention that to my husband he won't move his head at all ... except to nod in agreement!

All Those Initials

A reader asks:

Could you explain all the initials some of the Catholic groups use. I know SJ is for Jesuits, and OSB is for the order of St Francis but what is OP and are there others??

I, myself, have wondered that same thing from time to time. It is like a secret code.

Gradually I picked up on the fact that SJ does not stand for Social Justice as one might think from many Jesuits' writing but is for Society of Jesus (aka Jesuits).

On Wikipedia I found OSB means Order of Saint Benedict.

However, I was unable to find a source that has a list of all those various initials that orders string behind their names. Granted I did not put tons of time into it but did look around Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia and Google.

Anyone know of a good spot to find those? Or perhaps we should compile a list here and I'll stow it away for future reference?

UPDATE
Ask and you shall receive ... what knowledgable commenters we have here!

• Fish Eaters' Abbreviations of Religious Orders and Priestly Fraternities
• Catholic Door Ministry's Religious/Orders Abbreviations
• Catholic Hierarchy - Religious Orders
  

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Living in the Present Moment

... We can waste our time by doing whatever we want instead of what God wants. For example, we might spend time at our place of work when we are needed at home. Conversely, we might choose to read the newspaper when we should be working. The life of each man and woman exists in the present moment. these are the only moments which we can truly sanctify. The past and the future only exist in our imagination. The memory of our past can inspire us to acts of contrition or thanksgiving, yet even these prayers take place in the reality of the present.

We should not become overwrought by future events because they may not come to pass. In any event, we will have the grace of God when we need it. The secret to building the city of God within us is this: we have to build on a brick by brick basis in the reality of the present moment. (Ch. Lubich, Meditations) This is the only time which God gives us to sanctify. Hodie, nunc. We must live the present moment with love, with full concentration. What a wonderful offering this will be to the Lord! Let us not miss this opportunity.

In Conversation With God Vol 5

This was a big hurdle for me to overcome. I have a vivid imagination and could bring myself to tears quite easily by imaging a future where Tom and the girls were gone, etc. So silly of me but there you go. By keeping the above precepts in mind my life has been much simpler ... and it gets easier with time and practice, y'all.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

I Don't Know About Y'All But We're Ready for Lost

A little something for everyone in that photo, eh? Also, Kate is supposed to be finally choosing between Jack and Sawyer. Word is that she chooses Sawyer since a mystery woman is going to take up all of Jack's time. Let me think, Jack or Sawyer? No contest, even if Sawyer is a frog squasher ... I'd take that bad boy any time over boring Jack.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Baby's Father? Uhhh ... Zeus! That's It, Zeus!

Listening to History According to Bob, it turns out that was a common claim in the Greek days for unwed mothers who became pregnant. This seems to me to be a little tough on the child as far as the great expectations that would surely accompany a god's son later in life, but what a clever story for the unwed mother to produce!

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

St. Francis is So Holy ...

... he intercedes for us with God when we've done something to his beloved animals like this ...

and this...

and this ...

For the scoop on St. Francis on his feast day, and tributes from those who are more reverent than I, check out Georgette who has four really good posts about St. Francis.

UPDATE
Also swing by Laura H's to see some more good posts about St. Francis. Especially of note are the avatars Laura made of this much loved saint.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

2 Corinthians Study: Our Union With Jesus' Sufferings

2 Corinthians 1:8-11
I always have meant to study one of the books of the New Testament besides the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles but never have. Luckily I was given 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness (Six Weeks With the Bible) and that gave me the impetus to dig out my other reference books to start going through 2 Corinthians. How interesting that this is Paul's most personal book and that it focuses so much on suffering.

As always, I'll be sharing those bits and pieces that hit me between the eyes such as the commentary below which is from the above mentioned book. I especially like the point it makes about our feelings. I think sometimes that we think that feeling bad about something is like a lack of faith and trust in God. Paul is our example that such thinking is not right.

It may be easier to see God's kingdom advancing in the world through Paul's suffering than through ours. Constantly making missionary journeys and enduring persecution, Paul labors and suffers in his apostolic efforts to bring the good news about Jesus to people. Very few of us have Paul's focused sense of Christian mission. Our hardships and pains tend to be more ordinary, less "apostolic" than Paul's. Rather than being arrested and beaten for preaching the gospel, we lose a job or a loved one, or suffer rejection by a spouse or child, or develop a debilitating disease. Can these sufferings be a sharing in Jesus' suffering? They can, because Jesus has united us with himself. Because we are united with him by faith and baptism, we are members of his body. Thus he shares the sufferings encounter, and our sufferings become ways of sharing in his sufferings -- and opportunities to experience his encouragement.

Often, when things go wrong, we do not feel close to the Lord. But notice that Paul does not say that in his recent troubles he felt a powerful sense of connection with Jesus. Actually, he says that he felt "utterly, unbearably crushed" (1:8). It does not sound as if he had a sense of close attachment to Jesus then -- or, if he did, it does not seem to have given him serenity. For Paul, as for us, suffering is suffering. Sometimes what is most painful for us is the apparent absence of the kind God who previously showered us with blessings. In some cases -- the sickness of infants, for example -- we may simply be incapable of imagining how God might ever use such suffering for good. But again, Paul does not suggest that we can always grasp how our sufferings are a sharing in Christ's or how they will serve the coming of his kingdom.

It may be worth reflecting that, if our union with Jesus' sufferings is unseen and deeply mysterious, that does not make it different in principle from every other aspect of our relationship with him. In the Christian life, we always proceed on the basis of faith...

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Lord Has Done Great Things for Me

Lately there is so much to pull us down. International news tells us of wars, starvation, the powerful victimizing the poor and helpless. National news is as bad, maybe even worse because it is so close to home where we should know better ... or so we think. Innocent schoolchildren gunned down in two different places so recently, murders, again the brutal making victims of the helpless. Our leaders squabble and we deal with our daily problems, thankfully not as tragic as those of many but still the problems that we must face and overcome one way or another.

And yet, what should we expect? Jesus called Satan "the Prince of the world." The Enemy is not going to make this easy for us. Worse yet, as our priest often reminds us, we so often don't even need the Enemy to make the wrong choices, often tragically, often repeatedly in spite of what we know to be true.

I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect "history" to be anything but a long defeat -- though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Thinking all of that over this morning, I also was thinking of things closer to home ... a loved one seeking a job, a good friend struggling with a crucial test she must pass, those I know who have had children die.

In spite of all that, I found myself infused with joy and thanksgiving. Because I also was thinking of the email that reminded me the men's Christ Renews His Parish retreat will be this weekend. Attending that two day retreat over two years ago allowed the Holy Spirit to blow through my soul and life has never been the same. I suddenly got excited thinking of what those men (and the women on the following weekend) will experience. How God will touch them and also the ones giving the retreat. How, in the midst of all that seems so sad and bad, God is always with us, giving us love and hope ... and joy.

I thought of how He has fundamentally changed me from a negative, cynical person to essentially the opposite. Now that was a true miracle. He is still at work within me, helping me to turn more to prayer and away from distractions. Yes, I have struggles and frustrations and I fail repeatedly. But how good God is to never give up, to always be with me. What a difference that makes to facing each day with joy instead of as a chore to be gotten through.

It makes me think of Mary. She lived in a conquered land and undoubtedly there was violence all around. She lived in a tiny village and doubtless had times when juggling the household resources was a severe challenge, not to mention dealing with the local gossip at the well. Not only that, through Simeon's prophecy she was promised sorrow and hardship and suffering for herself and her precious son, Jesus (Luke 2:25-35). Her Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) was said to Elizabeth before Simeon's prophecy, yet I think that she always had the Magnificat in her heart. After all, not only was she close to God in daily life, but she had Jesus living with her in the flesh for 30 years.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.

May we all hold God's promises and mercy and love and joy as close to our hearts in these troubled times. For we have not only the examples from times of old, we have not only his comforting words, but we also have his promise for today and all the days yet to come. He is waiting to calm our fears and bring us to joy.

It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness;

He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you;

He is the beauty to which you are so attracted;

it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise;

it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life;

it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

Pope John Paul II

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Most Fun Way to Practice French?

Watch The Simpsons dvds with French selected. That way, on season 8, when Hank Scorpio asks Homer which country he likes better (Italy or France) ... you can see that instead of the original version with Homer choosing Italy and Hank responding, "No one ever chooses France" it is reversed for the French viewers. So in the French version Hank Scorpio blows up Italy instead.

I love it.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Feast of the Guardian Angels

Devotion to the Guardian Angels goes back to the beginnings of Christianity. Pope Clement X proclaimed the feast a universal celebration in the seventeenth century. The Guardian Angels serve as the messengers of God. The Almighty has allocated a Guardian Angel to each one of us for our protection and for the good of our apostolate...

We have to deal with our Guardian Angels in a familiar way, while at the same time recognizing their superior nature and grace. Though less palpable in their presence than human friends are, their efficacy for our benefit is far greater. Their counsel and suggestions come from God, and penetrate more deeply than any human voice. To reiterate, their capacity for hearing and understanding us is much superior even to that of our most faithful human friend, since their attendance at our side is continuous; they can enter more deeply into our intentions, desires and petitions than can any human being, since angels can reach our imagination directly without recourse to the comprehension of words. They are able to incite images, provoke memories, and make impressions in order to give us direction.

In Conversation With God : Feast Days July - December

As devoted as I am to the Archangels, I am especially fond of my Guardian Angel. He is always there when I need him and has a wicked sense of humor. Perhaps wicked is not the right word. He must, therefore, have an angelic sense of humor! This is one of my favorite feast days.

For my personal angel stories, as well as some general information, you can read more here, here, and here.

Prayer to One's Guardian Angel

Dear Angel,
in his goodness God gave you to me to
guide, protect and enlighten me,
and to being me back to the right way when I go astray.
Encourage me when I am disheartened,
and instruct me when I err in my judgment.
Help me to become more Christlike,
and so some day to be accepted into
the company of Angels and Saints in heaven.
Amen.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Pro-LIfe Blogburst: The Living Sign from God

If I had written the greatest book, composed the greatest symphony, painted the most beautiful painting or carved the most exquisite figure, I could not have felt more the exalted creator than I did when they placed my child in my arms. To think that this thing of beauty, sighing gently in my arms, reaching her little mouth for my breast, clutching at me with her tiny beautiful hands, had come from my flesh was my own child! Such a great feeling of happiness and joy filled me that I was hungry for Someone to thank, to love, even to worship, for so great a good that had been bestowed upon me. [Dorothy Day]

Every child is a "sacrament" -- a living sign that the creator of the universe entered the world by way of a human mother, that he called us to be "born from above" in baptism and to enter his kingdom as his little children.

Catholic Passion by David Scott

Dorothy Day had an abortion earlier in her life and it was a great source of sorrow for the rest of her life, to the point where she could barely bring herself to refer to it. Surely that contributed all the more to her realization of the wonder and joy that her daughter brought ... and her link through creation to God Himself.

Sadly this is a reality that all too few mothers realize before they make that fatal decision for so many other reasons to end their child's life through abortion. We must pray for these mothers and fathers and children who are at risk, those who have made the fatally bad decision to kill their children, and those who willingly participate in this murder. They all have been lied to by and mislead by the Father of Lies. May God have mercy on us and bless them.

The Pro-Life Blogburst is thanks to Big Blue Wave as support for LifeChain, an hour-long prayerful protest denouncing abortion in the United States and Canada. Check there for other pro-life posts or to join in the blogburst yourself.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Like a Rock

Peter is the only apostle who received his name directly from Jesus. In Scripture, when God changes a person's name -- as when he changed Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, and Jacob to Israel -- he is revealing that person's pivotal place in his plan of salvation. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter (Petros in Greek, Cephas in the Aramaic dialect that Jesus spoke). The name means "rock." "You are Peter," Jesus said, "and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."

Catholic Passion by David Scott

I knew this. I did. But I forgot it. This reminder is a powerful one that Jesus' commission to Peter was serious and meant to last forever.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Texas State Fair Opens Today

Big Tex

And it's also Private School Day at the fair, which means Rose and her friends get in free.

This necessitates me picking up and driving them down when school gets out at 12:30 (yes, the state fair is that big a deal around here), picking them up at 6:30 to take to someone's birthday party at Snuffers (a local burger joint, y'all), and ... most importantly ... an intensive effort in trading cell phone numbers and making sure phones are charged up!

Whew! Wish me luck 'cuz I'm gonna need it!

The Feast of the Archangels

ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

ST. GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL

ST. RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

The liturgy for today celebrates the feast of the three archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church, Michael (from the Hebrew Who is like God?) is the archangel who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels. Gabriel, (the Power of God), is chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation. Raphael, (the Medicine of God), is the archangel who takes care of Tobias on his journey.

In Conversation With God : Feast Days July - December

I have a special fondness for angels and it is a sign of my Catholic geekiness, I suppose, that I got an excited "Christmas morning" sort of thrill when I realized today's feast.

I read for the first time about angels when we were in the hospital with my father-in-law after his stroke. That made a big impression on me at the time. I always attribute the miracle that happened to the Holy Family but the angels are divine messengers and so have their place in it as well. Because of that I always have remembered that we can call not only on our friends for intercessory prayer, but also on angels for intercession and help. The prayer to St. Michael is one of my favorites.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Some more on angels.

You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

From a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great.

Sadly, I don't have any angel food cake (it really is not that sad an occurrence as I abhor angel food cake), however I may stop by and pick up some heavenly, cloud-like meringues on the way home so we can celebrate properly!

Other good places to read about angels today:

• Images taken from this post by Mama T which you should go read also.
• The Anchoress has a really wonderful reflection about all three angels and a link to a great piece about the book of Tobit (and if you haven't read the book of Tobit then stop reading these blogs and get thee to thy Bible! It is one of the best books in the Old Testament for my money ... so once again The Anchoress and I agree wholeheartedly)
  
• Georgette shares one of the best excerpts I've ever seen about these angels (I'm printing this one out for repeated reading)
  
• Mike Aquilina keeps us grounded in the fathers of the church as well as providing useful links to other good resources.
  
• On the practical level, Elena has a good idea for an angelic feast
  

Here are some things I have written about angels which include facts as well as personal experiences (although these tend more toward guardian angels):

• An Experience of Angels
• Let's Talk Angels
• More Angel Talk
• Just One More Angel Story

Three Good Banners ...

Source

Source

Source

TWO GREAT LINKS ...

• My new hero speaks about global warming and the media. Don't miss this. Via Thoughts of a Regular Guy.
• The Crusades 101 at Insight Scoop. News to some and a good refresher course for the rest of us.

ONE FUNNY JOKE ...
Customer Service From Heaven ... it's funny because it's true.

AND A DOGGIE IN A COSTUME!

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Kiss of Christ

Russians call this sacrament [confession] "the kiss of Christ." The Russian-born writer Catherine de Hueck Doherty said that her mother taught her to talk to Jesus in confession as if she were talking to her own father:

I would ... tell him how sorry I was for having done something he didn't like. In my imagination, Christ hugged me and said something like, "That's all right, little girl. I know it's not easy to always do the right thing." Then he would kiss me and bless me and say, "Now go and play."

Catholic Passion by David Scott

Beautiful, isn't it? Maybe that helps explain to others why so many of us see Confession as a beautiful sacrament.

And, here is a really wonderful testimony in real life where confession was an answer to prayer. Don't miss reading about how the Holy Spirit moves us and those around us to give us what we really need.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Poetry Thursday

Second in our limited series by the house poet (there's nothing like a Creative Writing class for a regular output of poetry): Rose.

You Can

You can tear it down, wall by wall
You can take my home from me

You can rip them away, one and all
You can take my family from me

You can make me face learn to glare
You can take my love from me

You can make me no longer care
You can take my hate from me

You can drag me through the driving rain
You can take my pride from me

You can taunt, jeer, laugh at my pain
You can take my joy from me

You can tell me it could be worse
You can take my pain from me

You can turn each day into a curse
You can take my hope from me

You can force me into iron chains
You can take my freedom from me

You can spill the blood in my veins
You can take my life from me

You can laugh at belief, tear downs my ideals
You can take my faith from me

But with me, you can make no deals
You can’t take my soul from me

Why Dogs Bite People - 4

Discernment on TV

God or the Girl

I remember reading reviews from various bloggers lucky enough to have cable and see God or the Girl, a reality show that tracked four young Catholic men discerning for the priesthood. Luckily I don't remember many details except for the fact that most people thought it a fairly good show.

Luckily I was given the DVD. It has some very interesting sounding extras which I'm not going to watch until I get through the show itself for fear of ruining some of the revelations. ("Bonus features are equally substantial, including a half-episode featuring a fifth participant, deleted scenes, and a richly informative 14-minute offering of "priestly wisdom from Father Mark," in which the series' priestly consultant explains the Catholic perspective on calling & discernment, celibacy, faith, family, and sacrifice.")

I also was pleased to see that the Amazon reviewer gave it a glowing review for all the right reasons. Go read the entire thing for a better perspective but here's a bit.

... this remarkable five-part miniseries bears more resemblance to a legitimate documentary, in which four young men face the permanent and life-altering decision between celibacy in the Roman Catholic priesthood or a sexually active life of faith, marriage, and family. Although the veteran reality TV producers of this A&E series (which premiered amidst mild and short-lived controversy on Easter Sunday 2006) had originally intended a more populist MTV-like approach to their exploration of religious fervor, what they ultimately captured (largely due to the integrity of the participants) is a remarkably revealing and spiritually uplifting study of Catholic faith in modern America. While acknowledging the scandals that tarnished the Catholic Church in recent years, God or the Girl offers a refreshing and surprisingly balanced perspective on serious issues of faith rarely addressed in mainstream entertainment.

My main struggle in watching has been to get the time. Unfortunately my receipt of it coincided with the beginning of the new television season so I've had to wait until Rose is out of taped options to slide one in.

However, she and I were quite pleased after watching the first show, which we did a couple of days ago. For one thing it was odd but nice to see all the "environment" shots so extremely familiar, what with the focus being Catholicism instead of general Christianity. Secondly, we quickly got caught up in these young men's quest for discernment. At the risk of repeating what others said when the show was in progress, our initial reactions are:

• Dan impressed us with his skills when intervening between a brewing fight between two women while praying outside an abortion clinic
• Joe seems to be pressured by his mother and would have done well to listen to his older brother about how to deal with Anna when at World Youth Day in Germany
• Steve's adviser impressed us by making him confide to his old frat brothers that he is considering the priesthood. As if that would be a huge surprise since they knew that he spent time in Guatamala doing missionary work.
• And Mike. Hmmm. Mike's situation was quite troubling. For one thing he's obviously got a case of hero worship for his priest, which the priest has done nothing to stop. Quite the contrary, it is as if the priest has decided that Mike must be a priest and is putting on the pressure for it to happen. Seems like an unhealthy relationship. Add that to the things that Mike said about kissing and lust and ... well, we were uneasy about the whole thing.

So far, highly recommended and I'll keep y'all apprised when we view future episodes.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Answering Back to God

An ancient characteristic of Catholic worship is the antiphon, a word that means "answering back." It is the pattern of liturgical call-and-response, as when the priest prays, "The Lord be with you," and the worshipers answer back, "And also with your spirit." This prayerful dialogue reflects a fundamental Catholic understanding of what it means to be human. We are "antiphonal" beings in conversation with our Creator -- listening for God's call and answering him with our lives.

Catholic Passion by David Scott

You know, that has never occurred to me in all the times I have joined in responsorial liturgy. How fascinating to consider that it is a reflection of that larger reality of our relationship with God.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

It's True, It's True ... This is Why My Hair is Short and Spiked

The Last Knit.

Much thanks to Hey Jules for spotting the resemblance.

Thar's Unexpected Depths Beneath That Craggy Surface

You Are an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

On the surface, you're a little plain - but you have many subtle dimensions to your personality. Sometimes you're down to earth and crunchy. Other times, you're sweet and a little gooey.

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Via Quoth the Maven

Oscar Wilde, Cloudspotting

Nobody of any real culture ... ever talks nowadays about the beauty of a sunset. Sunsets are quite old-fashioned. They belong to the time when Turner was the last note in art. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on. Yesterday evening Mrs. Arundel insisted on my going to the window, and looking at the glorious sky, as she called it. Of course I had to look at it ... And what was it? It was simply a very second-rate Turner, a Turner of a bad period, with all the painter's worst faults exaggerated and over-emphasized.

Oscar Wilde, as quoted in The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

Oh, Oscar Wilde ... how did you manage to be so very funny?

This is an Amazing Clip

Tom found this on Digg. Take note of the name How to Put on a Bra ... there is nothing here that wouldn't be seen in a regular action movie to a James Bond movie so use your own judgment.

Jesus and Children

This reflects something that Fr. L. reminded us of in last week's Scripture study. Children had absolutely no legal rights in the ancient world. That is why taking care of widows and orphans was so praiseworthy. One would do it for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. There was absolutely nothing in it for the person helping out. Once again, I read about what life was like back then and I am struck with how similar many of our current ways are in the secular West.

In his tender affection for children Jesus stood in radical contradiction to the attitudes and practices of the empire of his day. The Romans and Greeks held that children were inferior beings, something less than fully human. Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers of the ancient world approved the killing of unwanted children through abortion and infanticide, and they saw nothing wrong with using children for sexual gratification.

Jesus said it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be plunged into the depths of the sea than to suffer God's judgment for scandalizing one of his little ones. From the beginning, the church fiercely defended children, even the unborn. The Didache ("Teaching"), the oldest surviving manual of church life, written in the mid-first century, warns: "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish." The Christian philosopher Athenagoras, in a plea to Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 175, explained: "We regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being and therefore an object of God's care."

Catholic Passion by David Scott

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Oh, frabjous day! Calloo callay!

Dwight Longenecker is going to start standing things on their head in the blogosphere!

Now maybe only The Curt Jester (his other biggest fan, read why he's excited to see this blog beginning) and I see this as a cause for celebration because Longenecker isn't nearly well known enough for his wonderful books, which all are good at helping us see by standing things on their head.

I only have reviewed (and that briefly) Adventures in Orthodoxy. However, I also really loved St. Benedict & St. Therese: The Little Rule and the Little Way which I still use as inspiration for adhering to discipline in my personal life (too bad about all the backsliding but that's for another post), and More Christianity, which pushes the envelope on Mere Christianity by showing why Catholicism is wonderful.

Haven't read them? What are you waiting for?

As a bonus to see why I am such a fan, here's a link to an excerpt I posted back in the olden days when I had just begun blogging myself.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

A Gaggle of Quick Book Reviews

111. Guardian Angels: True Stories of Answered Prayers by Joan Wester Anderson
Like Anderson's other books about angels, this consists of anecdotes of miracles that real people have experienced in modern times. I'm a sucker for these and loved it. This really is more of a book about prayer than guardian angels although angels do figure largely in many of the anecdotes. In fact, partway through I actually forgot the book had "angels" in the title. No matter, real answers to prayer are wonderful to read, no matter how God chooses to do it.

109. Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? (Loyola Classics) by John Powers
110. The Lat Catholic in America by John Powers
I was stunned to read this book and find that it was full of mean-spirited stories about the Catholic Church. Now, before you even tell me, I know, I know, if you were raised Catholic before a certain time these stories are hilariously true. All I can say is that, to me as a convert of today, if those stories ring true then thank the Lord for Vatican II. Honestly, if one strips the veil of memory off and reads what Powers writes about the Church in these two books there is no way that one would find these stories original or amusing (yes, I actually suffered through a second to make sure that I was being fair to Powers). I am put in mind of Bill Bryson's books about traveling around America. I eagerly picked one up, having thoroughly enjoyed "English, Our Mother Tongue and How It Got That Way" and found that the reason Bryson must live in England is because he hates America ... or just wants to tell mean stories about Americans to make a buck. Powers is in the same category for me. Steer clear of this book.

108. Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions by William Storey
A delightful, small volume of prayers, readings, and devotions to use through the seasons and feasts of the liturgical year. I got this in ordinary time but am looking forward to using it to deepen my devotions during Advent.

107. The Devil's Advocate by Morris L. West from My Autumn Reading Challenge
Monsignor Blaise Meredith, who is dying of cancer, is sent to a small, isolated Italian town to be a Devil's Advocate for beautification of Giacomo Nerone. We see the story, told largely in flashbacks, of a controversial character in an isolated peasant village. A vivid portrait is painted of the people who knew Nerone and how their actions resulted in good and evil. All are in need of spiritual healing or guidance, and West clearly shows us the changes that are still being wrought in their lives by their memories of Nerone. The question of whether Nerone is actually a saint is left for us to decide and I, myself, am undecided on that particular question. However, in this book it is the journey that is important along with actions taken on the way ... as it is in our own lives. There is no question about that. Highly recommended.

106. The Essential Thomas Eakins by Alice A. Carter
It is continually amazing to me how much essential information is conveyed by these small but complete books. The entire series is highly recommended and this book in particular, if only for a look at this under appreciated artist whose highly scandalous life contributed to his lack of popularity.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

In the Midst of the Storm

Ten minutes into his descent, Rankin should have been reaching the ground, but the enormous draughts of air that surged up the core of the cloud were retarding his fall. Soon the turbulence became much more severe. He had no visual point of reference in the gloomy depths but he sense that, rather than falling, he was being shot upwards with successive violent gusts of rising air -- blasts that were becoming increasingly violent. And then for the first time he felt the full force of the cloud.

"It came with incredible suddenness -- and fury. It hit me like a tidal wave of air, a massive blast, fired at me with the savagery of a cannon ... I went soaring up and up and up as though there would be no end to its force." ...

The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

Pretor-Pinney certainly knows how to get my attention. Frankly, I am not that interested in the science of clouds which makes up about half of each chapter. Possibly anticipating this, he has been quite generous with attractive lures, such as the story of Lieutenant-Colonel William Rankin, a pilot in the US Air Force, who, in 1959, became the only man to fall through the heart of a cumulonimbus and live to tell the tale. Riveting stuff, y'all!

A Few More Memoirs and Family History

This is a continuation of the memories my mother has about her childhood times spent with her grandfather Charles J. Finger. I love these stories all the more for thinking of the book he wrote featuring my mother (Bobbie and Jock and the Mailman) because Jock was a Scottie ... illustrated by my Great Aunt Helen. I thought that I already had posted these but, better late than never, eh?

You all know the big table we have in the living room; that was the dining table in my grandfather's day. It came from his railroad days, as mentioned in the biography and he had it sent from (Cleveland?). People as famous as Carl Sand and Sinclair Lewis ate at it. I seem to remember fried chicken every Sunday, but I was only allowed boiled - how I craved that delicious fried, but it wasn't considered healthy for children. But what wonderful biscuits my grandmother made, and I scarfed them down loaded with her homemade srawberry jam. My grandfather would order a cup of maraschino cherries for me if we went to a restaurant ... my mother always thought they caused boils on my back. Oh well, what did they know.

There were double doors to the living room, and one year my Grandfather dressed up like Santa Claus and flung them open with drama. It was to be a great surprise, but I burst into tears, ran away, and hid. What a flop to a grand enterprise!

At the bottom of the hill was a true country store, selling cattle salt blocks, flour in print bags intended to be dresses, etc., and with gas pumps. I remember driving down there with my aunt; I thought she was the most wonderful person I had ever known. She SMOKED, she was very small, and she was so peppy and had a wonderful accent. Of course, she wasn't married and had no children so it was easy for her.

I actually remember hired hands squirting milk at cats during milking. Yes, trite as it sounds, they actually did that !

As I said before, hired help must have been really cheap. They mowed the grass, did laundry, but unfortunately never were hired to cook to help out my grandmother and mother. Charlie provided chickens, and Helen never had to do anything because she was an artist (my mother said). Don't know what the other two boys did ... one ran away from home and probably with good reason considering my grandfather's autocratic disposition. He was a wonderful grandfather, though.

There were screened porches around three sides of the house, and I seem to remember living out there most of the time. Since we usually visited only in the summer that would be natural. One morning I got up and found one of my shoes filled with cherry pits, apparently tucked in there by a mouse.

My aunt Helen raised Scotties, and Airdales. I loved the dogs, but was especially fascinated by seeing them eat rabbits, always head first. There was a fish pond in the middle of the front yard, and I remember one of the puppies drowning there; Beverly also fell in once but was quickly retrieved. The pond was surrounded by old fashioned petunias, and their fragrance always takes me back to those days and reminds me of my sweet grandmother who loved them.

OK, now you have the best of my very young childhood memories, for better or worse. You might want to compile some of yours for your own children. Old age comes quicker than you think! I have regretted many times not sitting down with my parents and talking with them about earlier years.

Islam Vs. Christianity: Finding Common Ground

Oy veh! Talk about funny ... and insightful. Via The Anchoress.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Flesh of Jesus

Oh Saint Augustine ... how perfectly put is this elegant phrase that so thoroughly sums up Jesus' example for us as a perfect human, God among us, showing us how to live. I shouldn't be surprised but that was the "twist" that made me sit up and think again.

St. Augustine, the fifth-century African who was the church's seminal teacher, penned a striking phrase to describe the example of Jesus: Caro quasi vox ("Christ's flesh is like a voice"). What he meant is that at every state of Jesus' earthy life -- his life in the flesh -- he is calling to us, inviting us personally to live in the mystery of divine love that he reveals...

Catholic Passion by David Scott

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Poetry Thursday

A limited series by the house poet (there's nothing like a Creative Writing class for a regular output of poetry): Rose.

Nightmare

Faded picture in my mind
Of nightmares from the past
Of the present, I am blind

Twenty monsters of a kind
As my heart beats fast
Faded pictures in my mind

I open doors I cannot find
The traps have all been cast
Of the present, I am blind

The roads, the walls, the trees wind
I stumble off the path
Faded picture in my mind

My arms, my legs, my tongue, they bind
I fall, the abyss is vast
Of the present, I am blind

My face is now old and lined
Many years have past
Faded picture in my mind
Of the present, I am blind

Notes from College

Thanks to all who have kindly asked after Hannah's progress at A&M. She seems to be having a great time and has most of her classes under control. Except perhaps ... math.

Why can't Farmer Johnson solve his own problems? Every time he needs to know how many acres of soy beans, corn and wheat to plant with 80,000 dollars and 600 hours of labor to spare if the cost of seeds is $4 for soy and $6 for wheat or corn and labor is 6 hours per acre for soy, 2 for wheat, and 7 for corn, I have to calculate this bumpkin's assets and tell him how to run a farm.

There's pretty much no denying that logic. Obviously the answer is that Farmer Johnson shouldn't have a farm ... or won't for much longer if he can't start figuring these things out for himself.

Avast There, D'Ye Know What Day It Is?

How quickly the holidays roll around ... 'tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day. (Which was significantly funnier before Tom and Rose watched Wife Swap last night, one family of which was the Talk Like a Pirate Family who ... ready for this? ... actually live like pirates year 'round. Evidently with fleas and all. *shudder*)

Maybe you need help with pirate talk (Warning: there are some potions that are mildly off color and guaranteed to offend some, but we're talking about pirates here. Much thanks to DL for this which he found in yesterday's issue of the daily--Good Morning Silicon Valley.)

Or maybe you just need to listen to a good pirate story to get in the mood (nothing objectionable here, just hilarious). 'Tis a fearful tale indeed, of the sea, serving wenches, and fragmented hard drives. Only the brave should rally round.

There be chicken pirates as well, if ye take the time to look.

And then take the time to pity this poor lad who fell afoul of a scurvey bunch of rogues in a raiding party.

Why Dogs Bite People - 3

God's Confession

Our Deliverer and God came by the quietest of signs, in the everyday miracle of a baby being born -- the same way that you and I came into the world. He was born amid tears of joy, swaddled in a blanket, and held in the gentle arms of his father. On the first night of his life, he likely fell asleep nursing, his head nestled against his mother's warm breast -- like countless babies before him and countless babies since.

Why this way? Why not in power and glory, in fire that swept down from the mountaintops, in the upheaval of nations, or in the blood red stars falling from the sky? Because in coming to us as a child, God was making what amounts to an "autobiographical" statement. The Incarnation was God's confession, his full disclosure. In the baby conceived at Nazareth and later born in a stable in Bethlehem, God revealed himself as a God of love and mercy -- a Father who seeks us in the wilderness of our fallen world. ...

Catholic Passion by David Scott

The thing I like about reading this book is that David Scott takes something that I already know, such as the idea that Jesus came to show us what God is like, and then twists it. Adds that phrase or two that makes me rethink what I "already knew" and realize that I do not know it as well as I thought. In this case, talking about God's "autobiographical statement," "full disclosure," and "confession" made me take a fresh look.

Scott's entire book has been doing that so as I go through it I will be sharing bits along the way (as always). I think the overall thing that I can say about it right now, about a third of the way through, is that it adds the poetry, imagery, and turn of phrase to more fully communicate the true, inner beauty of our faith. Even when you think you know where he is going, he adds a extra fillip of insight to make you take another look. A rare accomplishment indeed. I have seen rave reviews for this book and I understand why.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Encountering Opposition

... Christianity has too often been in what appeared at the time to be fatal danger for us now to be frightened by yet another such test. The ways by which Providence ransoms and saves its elect are unforeseeable. At times, our enemy becomes a friend; at times he is despoiled of the capacity for evil that made him fearsome; at times he auto-destructs, or, without desiring it, produces beneficial effects and simply vanishes without leaving a trace. Generally, the Church does not have to do anything but persevere with peace and confidence in the fulfillment of its tasks, remain serene, and await salvation from God. (Cardinal J.H. Newman)

The moments in which we encounter opposition and difficulties without exaggerating them are particularly propitious for exercising a whole range of virtues: we should pray for those who do evil to us even without our knowing it, so that they may leave off offending God; we can strive to make amends to the Lord, to be even more apostolic, and to protect with exquisite charity those weaker brothers in the faith who on account of their age, their lack of formation, or the special situations they find themselves in, could sustain a greater harm to their souls.

In Conversation With God Vol 4

I especially like the point that Cardinal Newman made about how many times Christianity has seemed to be in danger and how it always has been saved. It seems that too often we hear Christians bemoaning the fate of the faith's existence in the modern world without remembering that point.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Why Dogs Bite People - 2

Why Dogs Bite People - 1

From my inbox ... thanks Marcia!


For some reason I'm already starting to look forward to Halloween ... and it isn't even October!

America Gets "F" for End of the World Preparedness

WASHINGTON, DC—Over 87 percent of Americans are unprepared to protect themselves from even the most basic world-ending scenarios, according to a study released Monday by the nonpartisan doomsday think-tank The Malthusian Institute....

... The study found that many apocalypse-preparedness measures are cost-prohibitive. With virtually no tax incentives in place, many Americans share the "dangerous perception" that only the richest few can afford to survive the extinction of humanity.

"I just renovated my house with cantilevered leaden cofferdams for increased earthquake and radiation protection, and I'm working on a pantheistic altar to appease the god or gods most likely to return to this world with an insatiable wrath," said Seattle resident Tim Hanson, whose actions were praised in the study as a "highly rare display of prescience and vigilance."

"I installed solar panels and a generator so I could live off the grid for a while," Hanson added. "But it cost so much that now I might not be able to have the altar properly gilded. At least not in time." ...

Oh, The Onion ... how do they manage to be so funny? Read the whole hilarious story.