Unity of Life: Daily Life and Prayer

Personal practices of piety cannot be isolated from the rest of our daily concerns. Rather they should be moments when our constant turning to God is made more intense and more profound; the whole tone of our daily activity is then raised. It is clear that to seek sanctity in the middle of this world does not simply consist in simply doing or in multiplying devotions or pious practices. It lies in an effective union with the Lord with such actions promote and to which they are ordained. And when there is an effective union with the lord, this affects the whole of one's activity. These practices will lead you, almost without your realizing it, to contemplative prayer. Your soul will pour forth more acts of love, aspirations, acts of thanksgiving, acts of atonement, spiritual communions and this will happen while you go about your ordinary duties, when you answer the telephone, get on a bus, open or close a door, pass in front of a church, when you begin a new task, during it and when you have finished it ... (J. Escriva, Friends of God)

Thus we will try to live, with Christ and in Christ, at each and every moment of our existence at work, in the family, among friends. This is unity of life. It is then that personal piety is directed to action, giving it both encouragement and content, converting every task into another act of love for God. And in their turn, work and the tasks of each day make it easier to relate to God; they are the field where all the virtues are exercised. If we try to work well and to give our actions the transcendental dimension of the love of God, our deeds will be of use for the salvation of men and we will make the world more human. for it is not possible for man to be respected -- and even less to be loved -- if God is neglected or opposed, for man is only man when he is the true image of God. ...

In Conversation With God Vol 2: Lent and Eastertide

I have been finding this to be very true as I have been more vigilant about forcing myself to take time for prayer before beginning the day. It all comes together in a flow back and forth with God's presence wound through everything ...

It Was the Lord Who Turned

This reflection on Peter's denial of Christ three times before cock crow resonates all the more after last Sunday's reading of the parable of the prodigal son. I especially like the commentary on the two kinds of sorrow for sin.

... But the real lesson in Peter's life is one of repentance. his fall is a lesson in sin that requires no teacher, but his repentance is a great lesson in salvation. And it is this great lesson that contains the only true spiritual meaning to those who have personally made Peter's discovery -- that they have betrayed our God.

What then can we learn from Peter's turning around? First, it was not Peter who turned. It was the Lord who turned and looked at Pater. When the cock crew, that might have kept Peter from falling further. But he was just in the very act of sin. And when a person is in the thick of his sin his last thought is to throw down his arms and repent. So Peter never thought of turning, but the Lord turned. And when Peter would rather have looked anywhere else than at the Lord, the Lord looked at Peter. This scarce-noticed fact is the only sermon needed to anyone who sins -- that the Lord turns first.

For this reason it is important to distinguish between two kinds of sorrow for sin. The one has to do with feeling sorry over some wrong or sin we have committed. This feeling seems to provide a sort of guarantee that we are not disposed to do the same wrong again, and that our better self is still alive enough to enter its protest against the sin our lower self has done. And we count this feeling of reproach which treads so closely upon the act, as a sort of compensation or atonement for the wrong.

In this kind of sorrow, however, there is no real repentance, no true sorrow for sin. It is merely wounded self-love. It is a sorrow over weakness,over the fact that when we were put to the test we found to our chagrin we had failed. But this chagrin is what we are apt to mistake for repentance. This is nothing but wounded price -- sorrow that we did not do better, that we were not so good as we and others thought. It is just as if Peter turned and looked upon Peter. ...

All this is to say that there is a vast difference between divine and human sorrow. Human sorrow is us turning and looking upon ourselves. True, there is nothing wrong in turning and looking at oneself -- only there is a danger. We can miss the most authentic experience of life in the imitation. For genuine repentance consists of feeling deeply our human helplessness, of knowing how God comes to us when we are completely broken.

In the end, it is God looking into the sinner's face that matters. ...

Bread and Wine: Readings For Lent And Easter

Good Humored, Spiritual and Packed with Common Sense

Mom to Mom, Day to Day by Danielle Bean

The subtitle of this book is "Advice & Support for Catholic Living" but I think that I'd call it "Down to Earth Advice for Mothers." This is a collection of short essays grouped under such subjects as How Can I Survive the Preschool Years Without Losing My Mind?, How Can I Fill My Marriage with More of "The Better" and Less of "The Worse?", and How Can I Get on Top of the Housework When It Feels Like I'm Smothering Under It?

I am long past the point of having little ones around the house but this is the sort of book that I certainly could have used back in those days. Bean combines practical advice with humorous anecdotes so that we know she's been there (in fact is there as her family is still young) with us on those days when just one more little detail is going to send a usually rational and loving mother screaming out into the yard. (Yes, I've been there too.)

She also puts the spiritual aspect into her advice so that a mother can remember the higher purpose behind the chaos of everyday life with small children. This is a book that not only a Catholic mother can use but one that any mother will find useful. True, in my days with toddlers, I was agnostic, but Bean's deft touch with proffering advice on any subject is that which most young mothers these days can use ... and I would have been no exception to that. In fact, as I was searching for the Truth, it might have made me think twice about Christianity in general.

Regardless, this is an excellent book. I am going to give my copy to a good friend and am planning on buying another for another young mother I know. It would make a wonderful gift for a baby shower if it comes to that. Bean's reassuring advice is just what any young wife and mother can use to make their life a little lighter, easier, and more loving on the days when nothing seems to go right.

Rosetta Stone's review is one that prospective buyers may find more informative than mine. Check it out.

The Weekend

I MISS HANNAH
Spring break is over.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY
In honor of the day, Rose mentioned that she had learned in U.S. History that the Irish were dreaded as immigrants because of the quantity of their drinking. "Oh, dear God, not more Irish!" is how she reported the town fathers reacting when the boats would come in. The only immigrants worse were the Scots because they enjoyed nothing more than a good fight to go along with their drinking, although they tended to live in the back country so that kept involvement with the towns to a minimum. Did I mention that Tom and I have a lot of Irish ancestry? We are a sad tribute to our hard drinking forebears.

Also, when at the grocery store the next day (note to self, avoid any contact with Greenville avenue for the entire length of St. Patrick's day), a Sudanese checker asked with a wide smile if I had been at "the celebration" yesterday. (The store is on Greenville where the parade goes.) I told him that although we had a lot of Irish in our backgrounds, we tended to avoid the parade. He then said with evident delight, "Oh, I was here at work but I enjoyed so much seeing all the happy people at their celebration. It was so much fun to watch! Why is it for the Irish?" Whereupon I gave him the quick story of St. Patrick and his day. He then said again, "It is a good day. I love to see everyone so happy and cheerful." I liked to get this completely neutral take on the "celebration."

LENTEN WATCHING AND READING
Rose began watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended version, of course!) on Saturday. As soon as I saw it I couldn't pull away. It has been a long time since I've seen it and I had forgotten how much Peter Jackson had retained of the original themes. Good and evil, free will and choices, temptations, what constitutes a heroic effort ... what fantastic contemplation this has provided me for the weekend. We progressed through the second movie yesterday and halfway through the last one. I also began rereading the trilogy and am about halfway through the first book. Again, I am amazed at Tolkien's masterpiece. (Note to self: use this for future Lenten reading and watching. Note to others: see the sidebar for any links.)

HOLY TOAST

A late Christmas gift given to me by one of Hannah's friends ... Holy Toast. We were cracking up.

Owl and Shrew

Today's photos by this talented Estonian are so amazing that I called Hannah to make sure she saw them.

Poetry Thursday

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His mouth can hold more than his belly can,
He can hold in his beak,
Enough food for a week!
I'm damned if I know how the hell he can!

Dixon Lanier Merritt

I Keep Telling Y'all, Georgette Heyer is the Best!

This is no bodice-ripper, but it is wonderfully romantic in a madcap sort of way. In fact, Heyer wrote it in 1934, and it’s a Georgian, not Regency period, if that matters (I believe it does, to some) but reading this thing was like watching one of my favorite screwball comedies of that era. The heroine is a humorous scamp, the hero - Gad, I fell in love with him! He only shows up in about a third of the book, but he is so well drawn, so clever and funny and wry, that he steals every chapter he’s in. The rest of the book is dominated by secondary characters who kept me in stitches, particularly the overindulging brother, Pel and his drinking/gambling buddy, Pom.

I picked it up yesterday and couldn’t put it down - read it right through the night...

I said, “no, it’s not sexy at all - but it IS romantic, but just tantalizingly so. What it is, is freaking hilarious.”

Now you don't just have to take my word for it (or even Mama T's word), you can see what The Anchoress has to say. And then get thee to a library or bookstore and pick up a Georgette Heyer book!

Conversion Stories Alert

HISTORICAL CHRISTIAN

At the end of the second day, in a Protestant store, I came across a book written by a Protestant pastor on the Holy Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit had worked in his life. As I read it, I got this eerie feeling. I recognized what he was saying, because I had already experienced it. What he was describing was the same thing that I had been experiencing all those years, beginning with my experience of the moon, which had led me on this journey to the very point where I was right then, reading that book.

My mind was in a jumble. He was talking about the Holy Spirit. The HOLY SPIRIT. Of GOD. Of the TRINITY, that thing I had heard about as a child in the Episcopalian church, the BIG Holy Spirit that was one of the three Persons of God, Father, Son, and HOLY SPIRIT.

Wait a minute. You mean, that thing, that “interior guidance system,” that little “spirit” that had been guiding me all those years, was no less than the real HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, of which Jesus was also a part, that distant figure from my childhood that had meant so little to me before that I had abandoned and rejected it?

I felt like I was being electrified. I looked at my arm, and the hairs were standing straight out.

I bought the book, took it home, and read the whole thing cover-to-cover that night, my mind reeling the whole time: could it be true? Is this the real Holy Spirit that’s been guiding me all this time? Is Jesus the one I’ve been looking for all these years?

The short version of why Aimee became Catholic is good but for the really indepth stuff follow the links contained in that post, as I did, and read her dual series of "how I first came to encounter Christ" (where the excerpt above is found) and "how my experience of Christ has changed during my journey from Evangelicalism to Catholicism." Very good testimony and it personally touched me ... I wasn't exactly electrified as she describes but it definitely was being used by Jesus to get a specific point across to me.

JOHN C. WRIGHT
One of my favorite bloggers, whose books I am just beginning to explore, John C. Wright was interviewed by SCI FI Weekly. As fascinating as his thoughts from an author's perspective are, I was much more taken with his conversion story which is contained about halfway through the interview. For those who don't want to have to hunt down the story, I have taken the liberty of excerpting it in entirety below, although I encourage any sci-fi fans to read the whole interview. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

At some point after your first three epics were completed, you converted to Christianity, having been a resolute humanist before. How did this come about?

Wright: Now, this is a difficult question to answer, because to talk of these deep matters automatically provokes half the audience, and bores the other half. I will try to be as brief and delicate as I can.

Humanist is too weak a word. I was an atheist, zealous and absolute, one who held that the nonexistence of God was a fact as easily proved as the inequality of five and twice two.

However, my disbelief began to erode as fatherhood and war pressed upon me the realities of the world. I was a Stoic, a disciple of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, Cicero and Seneca, who say the ground of morality is duty; but I was also a liberal of the classical Enlightenment, which says toleration is the ground of morals. Both these strands in my philosophy were naïve: Humans cannot live by the strictness of the Stoics; humans ought not live by the laxness of the liberals, libertarians or libertines. The two strands did not match. Modern philosophy, which is based on self-interest or utilitarianism, is unsuited both for war and for fatherhood. Growing aware of the defects in my system, I sought something with more experience and wisdom.

Where is wisdom found? I read the deep thoughts of the most highly regarded thinkers of the modern age, and found them vain and shallow. The insights of Nietzsche, Freud, Sartre, Marx, Wittgenstein and other luminaries of the modern world contained simple errors in logic a schoolboy can dismiss with a laugh. Each in his own way asserted that man was irrational, and the truth unknowable: But if so, how did they prove this unreason? Using reason, or otherwise? And how exactly did they come to know the truth that truth was unknowable?

In popular culture, the books influencing the morals and values of the current age, such as Stranger in a Strange Land or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, read like they were written by a Man from Mars, or a mental patient. They know nothing of real life.

The salient characteristic of modern philosophy is a speculative disconnection from reality. Michael the Martian and Karl Marx expect the super-humans to live together without jealousy or scarcity of resources. Money will simply overflow the collection plate, and anyone can take as much or as little as he likes. But what if someone is dishonest or selfish, comrade? Ah, but the theory does not allow for that.

In contrast, the writings of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, all read like things written by mature men. The ancients, Aristotle, Plato, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Cicero, Aquinas and even Augustine, solidly prepared the ground from which a sane, mighty and just civilization could be grown.

I reached a point in my life where on all divisive questions of morals and manners, I agreed with no one other than my hated enemies, the Christians. I knew in my cool atheist heart they must be wrong in theory; I could not explain how they were correct in practice.

I began to read history. The modernists are right to fear it. Once a man knows the context and origins of the ideas of modern times, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain faith in them. It becomes impossible to condemn Western civilization for shortcomings that fall short only of ideals unique to Western civilization. It becomes impossible not to notice Western civilization is nothing other than Christendom.

The conclusion pressed on me was that modern thought is a parasite on Christianity, and has no intellectual life outside her. The basic motif of the modern intellectual, one endlessly repeated, is of a man sawing off the branch on which he sits. The moderns delight in assertions that, if taken seriously, would disprove the axiom used to make the assertion.

The profoundly unserious nature of modern thought astonished me, and still does. I stump my secular friends by asking them to explain to me why cannibalism is wrong. Their humanist doctrines are insufficient to give a reason for humane humanity.

History told me that everything I admired about the noble and great-souled pagans still survived in Christianity: Aristotle was still alive in Aquinas, and nowhere else. The cool rationality of Athens had been preserved by Rome. Everything in paganism from which the civilized mind recoils, as slavery, infanticide, polygamy, sodomy, had been defeated by Christianity, and made a recurrence only when and where Christianity retreats.

I reached a point in my studies of history where I was forced to grit my teeth and conclude that the progress and enlightenment of Europe was due to Christianity, not despite it; and that when Europe departed from Christian roots, barbarism and darkness unique to the ideologies of the modern age descended. The crowning achievement of the rejection of Christian norms in modern times was communism: Its crowning achievement was death in such large numbers that only astronomers can grasp them.

I knew the Christians were evil in theory; I could not explain how so much unique good came from them.

Greatly daring, I attempted an experiment in prayer, addressing a Supreme Being I knew with deep certainty did not and could not exist. My prayer was quickly and awfully answered.

A miracle occurred. I suffered a supernatural experience and found all the foundations of my carefully examined and rigidly logical philosophy swept away as if by a tidal wave of blazing and supernal light. A great and powerful spirit visited me.

The whole thing was as simple and astonishing, as easy to explain and as hard to explain, as falling in love.

I am one of those rare creatures whose belief in the supernatural is due to empirical considerations. My mysticism is entirely scientific. Alas, the second step in the experiment, when the miracle occurs, cannot be reproduced before the eyes of skeptics.

Worse yet, the experiment was like toying with radium: I was mutated and changed by the exposure.

Being still a creature of pure logic, logic requires me to conclude either that I am mad as a March Hare or that my memory and perceptions were veridical.

There is insufficient evidence for the first theory, and Occam's razor cuts against it: Assuming everything was actually coincidence or an act of the subconscious mind, would be merely to assume that these things, coincidences and the subconscious, act with more power and foresight than empiricism can confirm. It is what Karl Popper called a non-disprovable assumption. Not science: an article of faith.

I am left with the second explanation, a simpler one, postulating fewer entities: I saw whom I saw and He is that He is. My integrity as a philosopher, not to mention my pride as a man, will not allow me the evasion of a return to my former beliefs, much as I might respect them. The world is far odder than I would have believed. The oddest thing of all is joy.

Sharing the Mirth

Too, too funny. Find more at Inherit the Mirth.

Trinitarian Beauty

In the Trinity God loves himself without any shadow of egotism and admires himself without any shadow of narcissism.

Trinitarian beauty is a wide area to explore. It is, like the Persons themselves, a beauty of relationship. It consists in beautiful relationships; it is the synthesis between unity and diversity. The least inadequate images of this beauty are from music and dance. In musical harmony, every note derives from its beauty from its relationship to the other notes. When a man and woman dance together, every movement derives its beauty through each partner's coordination with the movement of the other. Beauty is the three divine Persons facing each other from the beginning with a joyful and silent gaze.

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

Something for us to meditate upon.

A Blogger a Day, Makes The Catholic Guy Happy

I'm going to be interviewed on "The Catholic Guy," hosted by Lino Rulli, to discuss Happy Catholic live around 4:40 ET (which is 3:40 to me). It airs on The Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, 159. They have a blogger a day on there ... now if only I had it so I could hear what some of my favorite bloggers sound like!

He's gotten rid of the Fu Manchu (good move!). Looks as if his Lenten penances are giving up pizza and rooting for the Yankees. Poor guy, no wonder he looks so sad!

What Great Writers Those Guys Are!

There are two great posts up at Sigmund, Carl and Alfred (and you thought they could only shrink your head!).

Of Burning Bushes, Places, and Time looks at suffering. I know he isn't Catholic but (and, of course, this is a compliment) he could be with this meditation on what we learn from suffering.

First, we learn the easy lessons. To find God in nature, and beauty and music requires only minimal insight. As we progress through life, we learn to see God in the challenges and heartbreak that we all experience. That requires a more sophisticated set of skills. Finally, we learn to see God through loss and pain and suffering. That requires yet another set of skills- and that also requires the kind of humility learned from lessons of life.

In our times of pain, suffering and loss, God is not abandoning us. In fact, He is closer to us than ever, because pain and loss are the other side of the Creation coin. In the same way God oversaw Creation, He oversees loss.

We cannot claim to know God until we have experienced real fear, pain, loss and suffering. We cannot claim to be secure in our faith until the strength of that faith is tested and reaffirmed. We cannot claim to know God until we are comfortable in knowing that we are not all knowing.

The Milkman shows us the life of a good man and loving father whose impact goes far beyond what some would call his humble place in life. Which Siggy shows us is not humble at all.

Mr. Smith dutifully completed his rounds, everyday, delivering milk and eggs, cheese and butter, to those who felt sorry enough for him to pay the extra few cents so he could make a living and raise his daughters. My parents were among the clients who got to know him and appreciate his ever happy disposition.

The milkman would regale his clients with his weather predictions, warnings of traffic safety and stories of his growing daughters. He would beam with pride as he recounted every prize and spelling bee won, every report card and every milestone passed. I thought that kind of pride was silly and believed my mother or father only feigned interest in Mr Smith's stories, because they felt sorry for him.

When I became an uncle and then a parent and began to watch the children of my closest friends take their first tentative steps in life, I understood that my parents weren't feigning interest at all in the well being of Mr Smith's daughters...

Do yourself a favor and go read both stories in their entirety.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

Wow.

Want to know who some of the people are who don't agree that global warming is caused by human activity? Scientists go on the record in this documentary. Go watch.

Note that we're not saying that we shouldn't still be conservationists ... just that we need to take a closer look at this issue, who is pushing it, and why. And, in those immortal words, follow the money. Via Wittingshire.

Orson Scott Card also has a column on this.

What can I say? Beware the hockey stick chart, my child ...

Quick Reviews

Wrong About Japan by Peter Carey
Peter Carey tells the story of how he and his twelve-year-old son become fascinated by manga and anime. In an attempt to see how these reveal the Japanese psyche they go to Japan to meet some of the creators of various famous works. In the process, they discover that it is practically impossible to really discover the REAL Japan (or the real Japanese psyche). However, this is a completely charming and light read, fascinating for anyone who is interested in either anime or manga, even fairly peripherally as I am. The most interesting part of the book for me was when Carey and a Japanese friend begin watching My Neighbor Totoro. The friend's conversation showed in a fascinating way just how many unspoken Japanese cultural markers are in even the beginning of that seemingly open children's tale. Recommended.

Little Miss Sunshine
I was completely disinterested in this tale of beauty pageants for children until Hannah, a friend, and my mother all recommended it. As all three appreciate very different styles of movies, I was intrigued. No one told me that this actually was an indie movie (with a Hollywood advertising budget) about a road trip taken by a dysfunctional family to get the youngest (and most normal) family member to a beauty pageant that she has qualified for by a fluke. Not as complete as it could be (as is the case with many indie movies) this is still a charming movie with many funny moments that become even funnier when discussed later (much the same as The Castle in my experience). Recommended.

The Devil in a Forest by Gene Wolfe
I have been defeated several times trying to read Gene Wolfe books. His style is not easy, as you can hear in a recent Starship Sofa discussion. However, so very many St. Blog's Parish readers have recommended him that I keep trying, feeling that it is my problem. Finally, victory! This is a deceptively simple tale of a simple village long ago that has a peaceful life torn apart by a ruthless bandit and a band of king's men. The reader is kept wondering who the "good guys" really are. This is a story whose focus spins into a completely different viewpoint with the last line of the story.

I realize that this is one of Wolfe's older works and that is probably the answer to my problem ... to go back and start towards the beginning, working my way forward. This may also be the answer to my Tim Powers problem, which is similar, although it is not that I don't get Powers books. It is that I lose interest about halfway through them. Enough with the teasing, let's get to the meat of the story. Based on Amazon comments about "simpler than usual" stories, I am going try earlier Powers' works also to see if that helps.

Talk Tax Code to Me, Baby

STRANGER THAN FICTION
Most people have heard of the interesting premise of this movie. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an IRS auditor with an incredibly dull life. One day he begins hearing a woman's voice narrating his every action. Unbeknownst to Crick, he actually is the protagonist in author Karen Effiel's (Emma Thompson) latest novel. We are shown dual realities as Ferrell tries to discover why he is hearing the voice and Effiel investigates method after method of killing off her character. When Ferrell hears the voice mention his impending death the search takes on a new urgency. He then enlists the aid of a literary professor (Dustin Hoffman) and Crick's life takes new turns as he begins to incorporate the professor's advice into his life. I am loathe to say more about the plot as this is about as much as I knew when watching the movie and I don't want to ruin it for anyone. (I will discuss some of my other thoughts in the spoilers below.)

What I can say is that this movie is an unexpected delight, as unique and original in its own way as About a Boy was, and that is high praise indeed. One of the charms is that although it was loaded with big talent no particular actor took precedence over another.

The biggest unexpected delight were the last few minutes of the movie which suddenly refocused our eyes on life in an entirely different way. It then becomes redemptive and life affirming in a way that not only affects every character in the movie but allows us to see the world in a new way as well. Intrigued? Good. Go see this movie.

(HC rating: Nine thumbs up!

SPOILER ALERT!

• I found the little counting/measuring device that overlay many of the scenes to be distracting and of no value whatsoever. It was clever but we got the point without it.
• I was really bothered by the way that practically every living space was sterile and sparsely furnished, with no decorations. The only exceptions were the baker's home and bakery, and the professor's office which all had a warm, homey feel. These characters are the only ones with fairly fulfilled lives and this shows in their environments as well.
  
• I really enjoyed the way that we were shown the author's imagined methods of death by using the little boy on a bike and the job seeker every time. I also enjoyed the fact that, as time went on, the job seeker's life obviously did also as she became employed.
• I liked seeing the author's agony as she realized that if Harold was real then there was the possibility that she had killed eight other "real" people. This was not just in the service of her art. There were real lives who had been ruined.
  
• As we got closer to the end of the movie and it became increasingly clear that Harold's death was inevitable, accepted even by him, I became angrier and angrier. Also fairly obvious was the idea that he'd have to save someone's life to make his own death necessary. However, that didn't help much, considering that the main proponent for his death was the professor who claimed it would be necessary for a great piece of literature. Is this the cost of art? No, indeed. So I just got angrier. Then when I saw the death scene ... what a cliche! This, to me was one of the weakest points. If this book was a great piece of art, then the death scene should have been a tad more original, n'est ce pas?
• Of course, the brilliant, final author's narration pulls the entire story together and spins the focus around in such a way that you see that self-sacrifice, freely offered, is an action that cannot be denied and that changes everyone who sees it. Not only is Harold redeemed but the professor stops just lifeguarding and enters the water himself. The writer also is transformed. She looks terrible throughout the movie, as if she's about to die herself, chain smoking, red eyed, hasn't published a novel in ten years, and is suffering from writer's block so severe that the publisher sends her an "assistant" to push progress along on time. When we see her at the end of the movie, she looks healthy and peaceful, even when contemplating rewriting the rest of the book, and thereby undertaking a complete departure from her usual methodology. Harold's willing sacrifice shook her our of her rut and made her see that there could be a better story, a more worthy story, to tell. That the little things like a warm cookie, the touch of a hand, a hug, a little act of kindness are truly the things that can transform our lives and make them worth living. It is also part of the genius of this movie, that such hackneyed phrases can take on a new and redemptive life when the viewer is seeing them ... and that is because they are true.
  

The Reason Jesus Told the Parable of the Prodigal Son

The parable of the prodigal son is my very favorite parable. It is one of those with so many layers of meaning and also one to which we all can relate, whether it is with the prodigal or elder son.

It is easy to understand the prodigal son's story. Sadly, it took me a very long time to even understand what the problem was with the elder son's complaints. They seemed pretty reasonable to me. Which says a lot about my basic personality. However, be that as it may, it wasn't until I was reading it in one of the Mass readings last week that I suddenly saw that this parable is not really equally about the two sons. Although the struggles of both are important, Jesus is telling this parable to the Pharisees in response to their complaints about the time he spends with sinners. The whole point of this parable is the complaints of the elder son and the father's pleading with him. That may not be news to anyone else but it sure hit me like a ton of bricks.

Often I will hear complaints about the way that Scripture is edited to fit into the Mass readings. I must admit that I also often wish we could have the whole passage. However, this is one case where I am grateful for the editing because otherwise, I would have missed this point. What is cut out is several other parables that Jesus tells first to make His point. All this time, those other parables, good as they also are, have distracted me from really getting the point.

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

So to them he addressed this parable.

Then he said, "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.

Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."'

So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.'

But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'

He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"

Luke 15: 1-3; 11-32

We Have a Word For It ... And Here's Why

Parasite

In the first use of this word in its original form in Greek -- parasitos -- it referred to someone who was given a free room or meal in return for flattery. It comes form the Greek prefix para-, meaning "beside" and sitos, meaning "food." It was used with the same meaning in English until the 1700s, when the meaning shifted to refer to plant and animal life forms that live off of other life forms.

The Word Origin Day Calendar

"And yes, the Spartans were creatures of honor, willing to fight and die to the last. By God, sir, they were almost man enough to be Virginians."

John C. Wright.

Making me want to see 300 ... thanks to this and this.

Hearing the Truth

Or maybe it was not his [Judas'] own safety that motivated him. Maybe he just fell out of love with Jesus. That happens sometimes. One day you think someone is wonderful and the next day he says or does something that makes you think twice. He reminds you of the difference between the two of you and you start hating him for that -- for the difference -- enough to being thinking of some way to hurt him back.

I remember being at a retreat once where the leader asked us to think of someone who represented Christ in our lives. When it came time to share our answers, one woman stood up and said, "I had to think hard about that one. I kept thinking, 'Who is it who told me the truth about myself so clearly that I wanted to kill him for it?'" According to John, Jesus died because he told the truth to everyone he met. He was the truth, a perfect mirror in which people saw themselves in God's own light.

Bread and Wine: Readings For Lent And Easter

Now that is truly a different way to think about Jesus and how he shows the truth. Although I knew that he was killed by people who didn't want to know what Jesus was saying, I really never thought about applying it to my own life. Of course, it isn't in the nature of most of us to want to kill someone for telling the unflinching truth. However, I would venture to say that most of us know people (if not ourselves) who avoid God or various aspects of faith because they just can't handle the real, honest-to-goodness truth. Something to ponder over and apply to my own life, I think.

Is That One or Two Degrees of Separation?

A printing rep of ours, who has become a friend over many years of doing business together, has a talented son who has a band in Austin (for those who may not know, Austin is a big music center).

Tom just found out yesterday that the son will have a song in Spiderman 3. We have heard of the many hopes that this band has had during our friendship so I am very pleased for both the proud father and his talented son.

There is a chance that the song will be in one of the trailers. If so, once I know, I'll clue y'all in to which one.

Attachment to Sin

We all have them, however much we may not like to think about it. Recently, having read the first four chapters of St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle, my friend Marcia and I have had frequent conversations about Teresa's insistence that our souls are so glorious and immense that if we could see them clearly then we would understand just what damage sin does to us.

Cathy from Recovering Dissident Catholic and I have been having a little chat via comments boxes about the need to be aware of the damage done by venial sin. Indeed, this is often a problem for me. I attribute it to my entirely secular background, perhaps wrongly. I know venial sins are a problem but have trouble getting all worked up over them. When it is time for confession I am usually brought to it by having to ask the Holy Spirit to show me what is a problem. Thankfully (though I always regret it), He always comes through, usually immediately. I then have one problem after another with a hasty temper or some other thing I have managed to forget about. And off I go to the confessional ...

God seems to have been working on me lately through books (no surprise there, right?). Having read Inferno (a Dante-lite of sorts) I was brought to a new awareness of venial sin in my own life. Darwin's Lenten series on Dante's Divine Comedy has also been of immense help in keeping these sins before my eyes. Unlike some friends who have a problem with feeling guilty and letting go of sins, I suffer (and I use "suffer" advisedly) from the opposite problem of feeling as if my sins are so small that they seem as if they don't really matter. I know intellectually that this is not the case, however, knowing is not the same as feeling which is often what sends me to confession. Hence, these constant reminders are very good indeed for me.

This post was prompted by reading Adoro te Devote's recounting of a dream. Reading it from the outside the meaning seemed crystal clear and I again was sent back to considering my own soul. The images are vivid and disturbing (though not gory or unnecessarily disturbing) and just what I need to keep in mind. Her comments about complacency hit home as if she'd been aiming for a target on my forehead.

I woke up then, shuddering, wondering why I had been so complacent in that dream?

I often pray the rosary on my way to work, and that morning, as I prayed, the images from that dream pulverized me...and so I let the images come, praying all the while, asking God what I was supposed to gain from this?

And He answered.

Go read the whole thing at Adoro te Devote. Confession anyone? I'll be in line next Saturday for sure.

Amazing Nature Photography

Y'all have simply got to go check out the photos on pildiblog. I'd feature some here but I'm afraid of his copyright statement. Do go take a look.

Poetry Thursday: Screwtape V

Rose's summary of The Screwtape Letters in five poems. Today, the fifth and final poem.

Oh my dear Wormwood, my poppet, my pigsnie
The patient is dead and down here we agree,

You’ve screwed it all up, you’re finished, you’re done.
And punishment for you has barely begun.

You thought it was bad when he saw the great light
And realized that you were what never felt right.

You thought it was worse when he ascended the stairs
Confirming the fact that he was now theirs.

But, oh, do not come calling on me.
Our family bond’s not what it should be.

You’ve wanted me like I’ve wanted you
But you must know I’m the stronger of the two.

Now you’re place is on the dinner plate.
Your ravenously affectionate uncle, Screwtape

Meat or Vegetables?

... "One man's faith allows him to eat everything," the apostle Paul said in Romans 14:2, "but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables." The responsibility lies with the diners to attend to their conscience, know their weaknesses and steer clear of damaging choices.

Similarly, each of us must be sensitive to our fellow diners. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!" (18:7) Sadly, there are some little ones and weaker brothers who fancy themselves to be the strong ones, readily denouncing rather than just cautioning those interested in meat. Imagine a child lecturing an adult about matters requiring maturity and you might understand why some moviegoers roll their eyes when self-righteous Christians confront them on what they choose to watch. Their selections may be complicated and even dangerous, but that does not always mean that the viewers are spiritually ignorant or rebellious.

It's a challenge for me as a film critic to help weaker brothers avoid films that might pose a threat to them. I need to be extremely cautious, taking care to educate readers about what dangers they might encounter. But it would be an equally damaging response if I were to condemn all films that contain potentially offensive elements or to burden my examination and appreciation with catalogues of things that could trouble someone else.

If your friend has a peanut allergy, don't serve him or her a peanut butter sandwich. At the same time, don't protest stores that sell peanut butter. If we decide that the best way to avoid being a stumbling block is to insist on abstinence from anything that could possibly be a temptation, we bind up the body, confining everyone to the limitations of the weaker brothers. The goal should be growth and strength, not mere safety.

Through a Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet

Indeed yes. I couldn't have said it better myself. Which is why I posted this excerpt.

Children and Prayer

Christ was very clear about letting the little children come to Him and if we are offering little giggles and smirks when our kids express their spirituality... we are inadvertantly giving them the message that there's something "abnormal" or out of the way about it. OURS is the "right way" to worship: lofty, serious, and composed. But the little ones are closer to Christ than we are!!! And in their minds, they are trying to make sense of the spiritual world in ways that they can understand. This is beautiful and noble!

Coffee and Diapers has a good post about a subject I never thought about much. (Scroll down to March 6, The Purity of a Child's Prayer ... there doesn't seem to be any permalink on this blog.)

I especially appreciated this viewpoint when viewing Stevie's video of her daughter, Grace, saying the Hail Mary. As Stevie says, "I know it makes all of Heaven smile when they hear it."

Our Daily Work and Little Mortifications, Part II

Now for the active mortifications ... the ones that we visit upon ourselves, so to speak. This is not exactly how I think of active mortifications but he definitely has a good point. I am better at dealing with these for some reason. Perhaps it is because I was quite tortured by a vivid imagination and memory and so was thrilled to be given this help in getting them under control.

As well as those mortifications known as "passive" -- mortifications which present themselves to us without our looking for them -- the mortifications that we propose to ourselves (and seek out) are called active mortifications. Amongst these, the mortifications which refer to the control of our internal senses are especially important for our interior progress and for enabling us to achieve purity of heart. These are:

• Mortification of the imagination -- avoiding that interior monologue in which fantasy runs wild, by trying to turn it into a dialogue with God, present in our soul in grace. We try to put a restraining check on that tendency of ours to go over and over some little happening in the course of which we have come off badly. No doubt we have felt slighted, and have made much of an injury to our self-esteem, caused to us quite unintentionally. If we don't apply the brake in time, our conceit and pride will cause us to overbalance until we lose our peace and presence of God.
• Mortification of the memory -- avoiding useless recollections which make us waste time and which could lead us into more serious temptations.
• Mortification of the intelligence -- so as to put it squarely to the business of concentrating on our duty at this moment and, also, on many occasions of surrendering our own judgment so as to live humility and charity with others in a better way. To sum up, we try ot get rid of those internal habits that we know we would not like to see in a man or a woman of God.

In Conversation With God Vol 2: Lent and Eastertide

Let the Joyful News Be Spread ...

The Vatican named Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell as the new bishop of Dallas Tuesday. The new man replaces Bishop Charles Grahmann, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 last July.

Dallas Morning News

Bishop Farrell's biography can be found here. I see that the Dallas diocese site is down right now, either because they are rearranging thing or it has had too many hits.

I'm cautiously optimistic. I'd say that no one could be worse than Grahmann (Lord, how we have suffered) but all we have to do is look at Los Angeles to know that's not true. However, a friend mentioned that she was trusting Pope Benedict on this and I will do the same. She also liked that he doesn't have ties to the area (Grahmann surely does) and that we haven't heard of him before. I also tend to think it is fairly healthy that we haven't heard of him before. Hopefully that means he's been busy doing what he was supposed to and not hotdogging for glory (ahem, we'll let any comparisons just drop right there, I think).

Let's pray for our new bishop and also for the old one. Bp. Grahmann surely needs our prayers.

UPDATE

• Wick Allison sez:

  The reason we’ve waited six months, I heard, is that Archbishop Wurhl asked that his auxiliary be given more time to finish up some important projects. I also hear that he’s a real good man.

• A quick summary of Bp. Grahmann's history in Dallas which may help enlighten some who do not understand local opinions.

Our Daily Work and Little Mortifications, Part I

First the passive mortifications ... the ones that are visited upon us just through daily living. I am mortified (you should pardon the expression!) to see just how many of these I am so bad at every day.

The source of the mortifications God asks of us is almost always to be found in our daily work. Mortifications right from the start of the day: getting up promptly at the time we have fixed for rising, overcoming laziness from the first moment; punctuality; our work finished down to the last detail; the discomfort of too much heat or cold; a smile even though we are tired or do not feel like smiling; sobriety in eating and drinking; order and care for our personal belongings and for the things we use; giving up our own opinion ... But for this we need above all to follow a particular piece of advice: If you really want to be a penitent soul -- both penitent and cheerful -- you must above all stick to your daily periods of prayer, which should be fervent, generous and not cut short. And you must make sure that these minutes of prayer are not engaged in only when you feel the need, but at fixed times, whenever it is possible.Don't neglect these details. If you subject yourself to this daily worship of God, I can assure you that you will be always happy. (Furrow, St. Escriva).

In Conversation With God Vol 2: Lent and Eastertide

All the Rumors Fit to Print: Farrell Named New Dallas Bishop?

I got a call this evening from a friend who'd heard a new bishop mentioned on Channel 11 News. I hadn't heard this buzz yet, but I knew who would have if it was out there at all.

Lo and behold, I was right ... trust Rocco Palmo to be whispering about Bishop Kevin Farrell, the 59 year-old auxiliary of Washington.

Dublin-born and a former member of the Legionaries of Christ -- for which he was ordained in 1978 -- both the administrative and demographic situations on-the-ground play to Farrell's strengths, making him the clear front-runner for Dallas since speculation began at Grahmann's 75th birthday last summer.

In 1986, after years of ministry in the Legion's home-base of Mexico, he was named the second director of Washington's Centro Catolico after its founder, Fr. Sean O'Malley was made bishop of St Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Since 2001, he has served as DC's moderator of the curia and chief vicar-general after 12 years as the capital see's top financial overseer. He's the brother of Bishop Brian Farrell LC, the Stato veteran currently serving as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

A runner and workaholic, Farrell's colleagues in Washington frequently cite their ability to trust him as the first of his standout qualities. Known for his uniquely personal outreach to victim-survivors of clergy sex abuse, he's said to be affable and gentle with a keen sense of humor, but "clear," "tough," and a straight-shooter when the task calls for it...

The Dallas Morning News also has heard the rumors and has a story on their website. As to whether it's true or not? We'll have to wait and see.

Wheelbarrow Manor

A new blog written by my dear friend Stevie.

She has lots to say and can answer all your questions ... such as what does a wheelbarrow have to do with anything ... and how come a girl is named Stevie?

I'm not just sending you there because she's my friend. She's got some good insights and an easy conversational style such as when a quote in O magazine (yes, Oprah's magazine) starts a commentary about Catholic tradition.

"So much of what we know about the world comes from oral histories, shared experiences - so I write about science in the first person, as if I'm telling a story," says Rebecca Skloot.

Okay, so she's not talking about tradition in Catholicism - but it really got me thinking.

Tradition is a hard concept for non-Catholics to understand. I never realized this until my husband and I started having discussions about it when we first started dating. He would be shocked at things I believed in that he had never heard of before in his Bible church - the Assumption of Mary for one. I was naive enough in my faith at that time (not that I'm much better now, mind you) that I couldn't explain it to him so we'd have to go have a good old apologetics lesson from my deacon dad. It took him a while to get it. Of all the things that he started out questioning, I'd say tradition was the hardest of all for him to come around on. He may still struggle with it for all I know...

Go welcome her to St. Blog's Parish!

So. Very. Difficult. To. Let. Go!

But as I listened to this internal dialogue something jumped out at me: it's all about me being in control, about my plans. And as I thought back over the past couple of years, I realized that, in general, I have always expected to grow closer to God on my terms. I want a sign that fits my requirements at the time and place of my choosing; I want my first Adoration experience to be powerful so that I'm easily motivated to go more often; I want this final Lent before I enter the Church to deepen my faith according to the schedule laid out on my calendar, starting with a stirring Ash Wednesday Mass and ending with a movie-quality Easter Vigil experience. And when things don't happen in the manner, time and place of my choosing, I promptly resign myself to frustration and despair.

I have never, I realized, been able to let go and trust in God.

Et Tu, Jen has a really good post about the way that we would all like to control our destinies ... even the parts that we already know we should let God run for us.

Darwin-mania

First of all, I didn't even know Dallas had an Irish Fest going on but we're sure glad it was since it brought Darwins large and small to our house.

Those girls are adorable! Cutest kids I've ever seen (except, of course, for the world's most adorable children ... Hannah and Rose). We really were put in mind of when Hannah and Rose were that small. Full of energy and interest in everything around them, delighted by the smallest details like our kitty napkin rings and ready to play with the dogs at the drop of a hat. The cat heard the initial excited screaming and wisely spent most of the weekend under the bed.

For a bit of contrast, Baby cruised serenely underfoot, bestowing enchanting five-tooth smiles at any who caught her eye, giggling when sisters dragged her around to "play," and glorying in times when she got all the attention because the older girls were gone watching Kiki's Delivery Service (we were glad to see that they are being given the requisite classical video training).

Needless to say this was all quite intriguing to the dogs who were much more active than usual and promptly collapsed in place, exhausted, when the car pulled away the next day.

In the meantime, around the fringes we grown-ups got to talk ... about authors, movies,and many things: "Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--Of cabbages--and kings--And why the sea is boiling hot--And whether pigs have wings." What a clever set those Darwins are ... and how very interesting to talk with!

Oh, I almost forgot. Kudos indeed to the Darwins for the way their girls behaved at Mass, As one would expect, there was wriggling, squirming, and a bit of pouting (they had been away from home for a bit after all and were tired from running with the dogs). But it never got to a level that anyone else could hear and they did us proud. The gentleman on the other side of me who was giving dubious looks when we piled into the pew next to him was smiling kindly on them by the end of the Mass. And that took a bit of doing to convert him, I can tell you. Excellent training in public behavior! Such a thing is all too rare these days. Darwins, I salute you!

Great Firewall of China, Batman!

My URL is blocked from being read in China. Of course, with "Catholic" in the name, I'd kind of expect it.

Here is where you can test your URL.

Via WardWideWeb where Ma and Pa Beck are head-over-heels in love with their new baby who is a real cutie.

"It's bad enough those folks outside are praying for me!"

Attending the controversial Pope and the Witch at the University of Minnesota, Cathy of Recovering Dissident Catholic found a protest vigil being held in the way that only Catholics can do.

Drifting on the wind on this snowy evening, I thought I heard "O Sanctissima". Huh? I rounded the corner and there's a whole big crowd of 70-80 people in front of Rarig. Mostly men. 2 of them in surplices and holding a banner: "Men of Christ", with the insignia of St. John Vianney, the college seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Ray of Stella Borealis was also there and has this further description.

The cloudy sky obscured any possible view of airborne transportation, but 60 Men in Black were seen in formation, led by four men wearing three-quarter length white over-garments (not down-filled by the way, in the 20 degree temperature), with some lacy garnishes and embroidered edges and a large white tab at the neck on their black collarless undergarments. (And these leaders were not wearing gloves when they held out their identifying signs.) Definitely not what the cool UofMN students is normally seen wearing.

These 60 aliens (alien, at least to students of the University of Minnesota leaning out of their dorm, office and library carrel windows and accosting visitors as to what was going on) seemed to be alternately singing and reciting verses with musical chants and poems that seemed to be in some dead language.

I especially liked Cathy's description of one woman's reaction.

n the restroom before the show (you hear the best stuff in the loo!), I overheard a older lady in a dyed red fur jacket (Terry, you would have hated it! It was ugly.) saying: "It's bad enough those folks outside are praying for me!"

Oh, and so many more, that you can't even imagine, my dear woman.

Word is that St. Blog's Parish members will be gathering again this evening in support of St. John Vianney seminarians' continuing prayer vigil protest. Please accompany them with your prayers.

Penance and Reconciliation: The Tender Mercy of Our God

Tender mercy isn't the phrase that most people think of when they think of confessing sins, even if it does wind up with reconciliation with God. They are more worried about having to tell their sins to the priest.

Rarely have I read a more beautiful piece on penance and reconciliation than this Lenten pastoral letter by San Antonio Archbishop Gomez. It is comprehensive and yet has such a tender tone. I especially liked seeing his instructions to the priests that came at the end ... which should set anyone's fears at rest when coming to confession. This letter is in a pdf in your choice of Spanish or English here. Here is a sample but do go read it all.

14. I realize that such language about sin and judgment is rarely heard anymore. Under the influence of our highly secularized society, we have lost that lively awareness of what the Church’s tradition calls the “four last things”: death, judgment, hell, and heaven.14

But we are called to a mature faith, my brothers and sisters. We want to stand confidently before our Lord, with full assurance that we know his will for our lives (1 Cor. 14:20; Eph. 4:13; Col. 4:12). We must not let ourselves be confused or led astray by a culture that would have us avoid truths of the Gospel we might find challenging or uncomfortable.

15. It is true that our merciful Father has created each of us out of love and that he desires to make us holy and to live in communion and friendship with us, beginning in this world and continuing for all eternity in the world to come. This is the beautiful hope of our faith.

But our Lord made clear that evil and sin could thwart our path to heaven. He described sin as a kind of voluntary slavery (John 8:34) and warned that it could ruin us if we do not open ourselves to his Gospel (Luke 13:3, 5). He taught that we could freely choose to say “no” to God and to exclude ourselves from communion with him—even for all eternity.15 At the end of our lives, we will be judged by our love for God and for our neighbor.16

16. However, let us not reduce the Gospel to something negative. Jesus did not come only to warn us about the wages of sin. He came not to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:16–17). He wants every one to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). That is why he left us this powerful sacrament by which we are reconciled to God—so that none of us would be lost, so that all of us would come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).

Much thanks to David for putting me onto this letter.

What's Going On ...

... around our house.

HANNAH
Spring break begins next Friday and she'll be home! Woohoo! She recently went rock climbing outside on real rocks with some friends who were experienced climbers. And she survived. Which was my main concern. And she loved it so I guess I'd better get used to nagging her guardian angel to keep a closer eye on her when she's climbing.

ROSE
This has been tech week for the spring musical, L'il Abner. That means that anyone working on the musical makes it home at around 11:00 at the earliest. Add to that her U.S. history timeline due today and it makes one tired kid. Not to mention that Tom and I have been waiting up for her to get home (as is our custom until the kid is going to college) and so we're all rather tired.

We went to dress rehearsal on Wednesday and it confirmed my belief that comic strips shouldn't be made into musicals. It had some very funny parts and the kids all did a great job ... but the musical as a whole just doesn't hang together well.

Rose being gone all week resulted in me watching no television whatsoever since she'll want to see everything too. Good thing I didn't give it up for Lent. I didn't miss it a bit. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I realized that. So there's at least one thing that I'm detached from. Woohoo!

DARWIN-MANIA COMING TO DALLAS
I've been working and reworking the menu mentally for our visit from The Darwins! Not that I'm excited about it or anything .... so far I'm thinking Oven Fried Catfish, Mashed Potatoes, Jalapeno Spinach, Coleslaw, Potato Rolls and Chocolate Pie. The only part of that set in stone are the Potato Rolls because I made them earlier this week. Mmmm, Potato Rolls...

ALSO DROPPING IN
Rose will have a couple of friends spending the night on Friday so they can work on a group project all day Saturday ... before they all go off to work on Saturday night's musical. I'm the catering crew for that project.

As well, there is the likely possibility that our house will be overrun with various musical-working acquaintances next Thursday and Friday during the gap between when school ends and they have to show up for the evenings' performances. So many kids live far away that it is easier for them to find a friend's house to stay at ... and then they get fed also. We're close enough that we've provided the crash pad and catering in past years. Occasionally, they'll come by to sleep too. The only thing I have to know at this point is ... how many?

QUICK REVIEWS

• Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
  One of the more boring end-of-the-world stories I've read. Stewart was all caught up in the ecology of what happens if mankind succumbs to a disease that wipes out practically everyone. He writes about mankind as if they were animals with no real urges for religion, no creative spark if not pushed, and no incentive to better themselves. I found it especially unrealistic in the way that everyone responded to the emergency ... with good manners and leaving all the trappings of civilization in place to provide a living for the survivors.


• The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
  A real swashbuckler with lots of adventure, a lively sense of humor, and an intriguing love story. Englishman Rudolf Rassendyll has a practically identical resemblance to the king of Ruritania which he discovers when accidentally meeting the king the day before his coronation. The King is kidnapped by Black Michael and Rassendyll must impersonate the King in the coronation ceremony in his romance with Princess Flavia. Highly enjoyable.


• Bumping into God in the Kitchen by Fr. Dominic Grassi
  A friend recently was suffering from a terrible sinus headache and asked her husband to get her a "sweet book" about the faith. I provided him with some gentle fiction only to discover later that her real desire was for nonfiction. If only I had received this book at the time. Grassi's book is a delightful blend of stories about growing up, food, friends and life ... and the lessons we can learn about our faith and God if we pay attention to little details along the way. It is simple and sweet but nevertheless kept me up until midnight last night as I just couldn't put it down until I finished it. Highly recommended.


• Not One Less
  This is a simple movie about a 13-year-old substitute teacher in a rural Chinese village. She is not the brightest teacher or even the most dedicated, however she definitely is the most determined. She is promised a bonus if none of the students leave the class by the time that the real teacher returns. When one boy steals away to the big city to support his starving family, she determinedly heads off after him. Watching this we know in advance that it is a hopeless task to find one unattached individual in a city, but the teacher has never been to the city and we see her working pluckily through every alternative she can find to get her student back. In the meantime, we are shown the plight of the young boy who is reduced to begging for food to survive. This is a simple and straight forward story and, yet, unexpectedly moving and insightful by the end. As an extra note: we were amazed to see in the credits that no actors were used. If someone portrayed a restaurant owner that is because they actually were a restaurant owner. It added another dimension to the movie when thinking back over it. Highly recommended.

Inherit the Mirth

These cards are hilarious ... check out Inherit the Mirth's store.

Poetry Thursday: Screwtape IV

Rose's summary of The Screwtape Letters in five poems. Today, the fourth poem.

Oh my dear Wormwood, you cretin, you fool!
Now he’s in love with the Enemy’s tool!

All is not lost you stumbling buffoon,
Though you must act quickly, no minute’s too soon.

Slumtrimpet tells me the girl’s got a side
That could give the patient spiritual pride.

Now that he’s chums with her family and friends
Make him think that he really blends.

He’s met his equals, the finest elite.
Around anyone else he feels incomplete.

He’ll feel that now he’s been born anew
Even though what they say he can barely construe.

So just do what I say and you’ll be in great shape.
Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape

Our Hunger for Unity

All human beings want unity and desire it from the bottom of their hearts. The need for unity is a hunger for the fullness of being. There is a need for unity at the heart not only of marriage, in which two people unite themselves to become one flesh, but also, in a different way, at the heart of the quest for material goods and new knowledge.

Why, then, is it so difficult to achieve unity, if everyone desires it so much? It is because we want unity, of course, but ... unity around our point of view. Our view seems so obvious, so reasonable, that we are astounded that others do not agree and instead insist on their point of view. We even carefully lay out the path for others to come where we are and join us. The problem is that the person in front of me is doing exactly the same thing to me. No unity will ever be achieved if we go about it this way; unity takes the opposite path.

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

Zombies, Zombies Everywhere ...

... and not a brain in sight!

I've never been a real zombie fan. Too much blood and guts everywhere (literally). However, these two examples are too good to pass up.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Shaun and his best friend are a couple of slackers. A good evening is one that ends at the pub and every evening ends at the pub. Shaun's girlfriend is less than pleased with this lack of initiative, especially after celebrating their third anniversary ... at the pub. She breaks up with Shaun who is so distraught that he doesn't notice all there is a zombie epidemic all around them. This leads to some hilarious scenes, such as when Shaun and his friend first encounter zombies and think they are drunks. Shaun takes the lead in rescuing his mum and ex-girlfriend to take them to the safest place he can think of ... the pub. I was anxious to see this from the first moment I heard the premise, yet put it off for fear of the "R" rating (for zombie violence ... yes, that's actually what it says). There is plenty of warning for any such scenes and much of it is so fake that it doesn't matter. The directors are really good at combining our awareness that this is a zombie movie with Shaun's general cluelessness to provide many very funny jump scenes as well. HC rating: nine thumbs up!

WORLD WAR Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

It goes by many names: “The Crisis,” “The Dark Years,” “The WalkingPlague,” as well as newer and more “hip” titles such as “World War Z” or “Z War One.” I personally dislike this last moniker as it implies an inevitable “Z War Two.” For me, it will always be “The Zombie War,” and while many may protest the scientific accuracy of the word zombie, they will be hard-pressed to discover a more globally accepted term for the creatures that almost caused our extinction. Zombie remains a devastating word, unrivaled in its power to conjure up so many memories or emotions, and it is these memories, and emotions, that are the subject of this book.

This record of the greatest conflict in human history owes its genesis to a much smaller, much more personal conflict between me and the chairperson of the United Nation’s Postwar Commission Report. My initialwork for the Commission could be described as nothing short of a labor of love. My travel stipend, my security access, my battery of translators, both human and electronic, as well as my small, but nearly priceless voice-activated transcription “pal” (the greatest gift the world’s slowest typist could ask for), all spoke to the respect and value my work was afforded on this project. So, needless to say, it came as a shock when I found almost half of that work deleted from the report’s final edition. ...

World War Z (WWZ) is the book that began the zombie invasion of publishing. You may thank or curse Max Brooks, depending on your feeling about the genre. Actually, WWZ is the follow-up to Brooks' 2003 book, The Zombie Survival Guide. Where that book was a twist on more practical manuals, however, WWZ is a much more serious novel than one might expect.

In this "future history" a reporter travels the world to interview key individuals who fought in the zombie wars after a virus surfaces that sweeps over populations in an epidemic, leaving huge numbers of zombies roaming the earth. The clever premise provides much food for thought about how individuals and governments respond to unexpected emergencies ... or fail to respond. Brooks uses this vehicle not only to tell an excellent story but to skewer both governmental policies and lambast the powerful who take advantage of any situation for their own gain. This is a real page turner that resulted in many late nights as I watched civilization collapse and wondered what was found that allowed victory over the zombie hordes.

First Friday is This Week

Just a reminder for anyone who is joining us in our prayer and fasting for an end to abortion.

Rafting the Tiber has a First Friday introduction and First Friday Devotional Prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for anyone who is interested. A great resource whether or not you are joining in this effort so check it out.

New Blogs

I was saddened by the news that Catholic Ragemonkey is closing up shop.

Obviously they can never be replaced, but to help salve the pain here are a few new blogs.

• Catholic Art
• Under the Poetree
• RECONnecting to the TRUTH

Also, here's a worthwhile looking charity ... check it out.

I am a fellow Catholic living in Southern California and I recently came upon your blog. I'm writing to you because over the past year or so I have created and now manage a not-for-profit website that helps people find local charities that accept clothing donations. Here is a link to the site... Make sure to read the "About Us" section as it describes the inspiration behind the site.

"The cross is not negotiable, sweetheart..."

Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality by Raymond Arroyo

The apostles were dodos, dummies. But all the smart people in the world at the time wouldn't take chances. That is the same problem we have today. The world is looking for intellectuals and the Lord is looking for dummies. That's why I'm here.

Mother Angelica is known for her down-to-earth common sense. Flipping through this little book of excerpts and sayings I was not immediately taken with what I saw. Frankly, it seemed too basic, too ordinary, to be of much interest.

When I turned to the beginning and began to read it as a regular book, however, all the quotes began to hang together and a surprisingly coherent message arose that was not at all ordinary. Partially, this is due to Raymond Arroyo's groupings of these various sayings and insights into categories such as Eternal Perspectives, Living in the Present Moment, Everyday Holiness, Overcoming Faults, and so on. Most of the message, naturally, comes from Mother Angelica's single mindedness in understanding of how to find God's will and live it in everyday life.

As I read quote after quote, I was drawn into a great appreciation for the concept of living in the present moment which is one of the main themes of Mother Angelica's teachings. Drawn from the work of Brother Lawrence, this has become a central way that she practices living God's will ...

We have to ask God: What are You calling me to do now, in this Present Moment? Not yesterday or tomorrow, but right now. God's will is manifested to us in the duties and experiences of the Present Moment. We have only to accept them and try to be like Jesus in them.

I have seen this concept before but never in such practical applications as given in this book. It is something that I found myself remembering throughout the weekend as I was caught up in an angry memory or dreaming of something that I needed to do in a day or two. The present moment would pop into my mind and I'd shake myself and move on. It is rare to find quotations that can help improve my life at all, much less so quickly.

Naturally, there is more in this little book than the concept of the present moment and most readers will find something of value. Part of Mother Angelica's charm is the afore mentioned practicality. I appreciated knowing that despite her faith in God (and all she has accomplished as a result), Mother Angelica is never far from the Maalox bottle that soothes her nervous stomach. Reading about her impatient nature and quick temper, I felt more than a twinge of recognition as well as reinforcement that we can reach for the highest goals if we step out on faith.

This week's daily quotes will be coming from this book.

Highly recommended.

Radio Days

I'm going to be interviewed on "The Catholic Guy," hosted by Lino Rulli, to discuss Happy Catholic live around 5:00 ET (which is 4:00 to me). It airs on The Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, 159.

I think they have a blogger a day on there ... now if only I had it so I could hear what some of my favorite bloggers sound like!

However, I ask you ladies ... he bemoans his lack of a girl friend and then grows a Fu Manchu mustache. So which is cuter? Hmmm?



I vote for ... pre Fu Manchu. But I'm not in the market ... eligible girls, speak up!

What is Better Than Prayer and Fasting?

Of the three marks of Lent — prayer, fasting and almsgiving — almsgiving is surely the most neglected.

And yet, in the only place where the Bible brings all three together, the inspired author puts the emphasis firmly on the last: “Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness … It is better to give alms than to store up gold; for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin. Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life” (Tob 12:8-9).

Why is almsgiving better than prayer and fasting? Because it is prayer, and it involves fasting. Almsgiving is a form of prayer because it is “giving to God” — and not mere philanthropy. It is a form of fasting because it demands sacrificial giving — not just giving something, but giving up something, giving till it hurts.

Ouch.

Busted.

By Mike Aquilina of all people.

I give a lot of time. Does that count?

Go read it all. Excellent as is everything that Mike writes.

Love for Sinners

A new blog dedicated exclusively to finding ways to live out Christ's command:

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you....If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same." - Luke 6:27-33:

Excellent timing I'd say. Jeremy is looking for others who would like to contribute posts. His email is on the blog. Check it out.

DarwinCatholic + Dallas = One Very Happy Catholic

Woohoo!

The Darwins are planning a trip to Dallas for the weekend after next ... and we get to meet them ... and feed them ... and ply them with Tom's margaritas!

This is gonna be so much fun!

Giving Up, Adding On, ... or Both?

Catholic School Student: Sister Hill? I really like going to church. Does that mean I can give it up for Lent?

Peggy: Well, now... I don't think God would like that very much, but you've caught him in a loophole. Good for you!

King of the Hill

Ok, time to 'fess up. Who's doing what for Lent? I'll go first ... like St. Therese of Lisieux, I want it all (though, let's face it, this all isn't exactly like when she reached into that toy basket).

Giving up: sweets. (As Laura H. said, "Does it sting?" Yes, thanks for asking, it does and it certainly will.)

Adding on: Regular prayer times using Magnificat. So we're talkin' 4 times a day. Once upon a time, I used to do this and it was quite fruitful. Why did I quit? I don't know ... but it's time to get back into the habit of making time for those regular conversations with God.

A Little of Both: More silence in my life. Which involves pulling back from some things (not so many podcasts maybe, no using the computer on the weekends and less in the evenings) and deliberately adding times with less noise.

Prayer: The Basics

In prayer we talk to God, and He talks to us. As in any relationship, this conversation takes many forms. Think of all the ways a husband and wife communicate: formal marriage vows, casual chat, winks across a crowded room, affectionate caresses, and phrases they never tire of repeating ...

... When we look at all prayer as conversation, it can change the way we go about it. Thinking of prayer as conversation can help us also to overcome obstacles — such as distractions, dryness, inability to focus — because all these things also come up in human conversation.

A simply fantastic article about prayer by Mike Aquilina. He approaches everything so clearly that, whatever our individual problems may be in approaching this conversation with God, we can see our way clearly (or at least I can see the path better now!).

We Have a Word For It ... and Thank Goodness

St. Paul, Minnesota

Before it acquired its present name, this city was called Pig's Eye, after a well-known local trader named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant. It was later named St. Paul after the church of the same name, erected onthe site by Father Lucian Galtier in 1841.

The Word Origin Calendar

Talk about dodging a bullet. Thank heavens Fr. Galtier came along and gave the proud Pig's Eye-ians a new name to call home...

Are We Ready for The Year of the Pig?

From Shanghai Daily Photo.

Slashfood offers this quick recap for this Chinese year.

Everyone knows it's the Year of the Pig, but did you also know that it's the year of the golden pig? The Pig (sometimes referred to as "boar") is a symbol of sincerity, honesty, and patience -- an all around "nice" person. We won't go into all the deep details behind Chinese astrology, but we will say that because the year of the Golden Pig only comes every 600 years, it's pretty special -- we're talking about the difference between plain old pork and Nueske bacon! People are expecting prosperity in Year 4704, and anyone born this year is sure to be wealthy in the future.