Sacred Triduum

News blackout.

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I'll be offline. Despite the fact there is astonishing news out there, and much one could comment on: The atmosphere is much the same as it was in Jerusalem so many centuries ago, when Christ was betrayed and denied, mocked and scorned, and then crucified amidst so much clamor.

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"Take warning from the example of Lot's wife who, because she was disturbed at the destruction of Sodom, and all of those perishing, turned back to look. God punished her for this, and she was 'turned into a pillar of salt' (Genesis 19.26). This teaches you that it is the will of God, even if you were living among devils, you should so live as not to turn back in thought to consider what they are doing, but forget them utterly. You are to keep your soul wholly to God, and not to suffer the thought of this or that to disturb you." - John of the Cross

I forgot Jacques' birthday.

The Good Thief

April 3, 1930 was the birthday of Jacques Fesch. The Jewish-Catholic Archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger initiated the cause for his beatification in 1987; as a result, the process was formally opened in 1993. Jacques was guillotined in 1957 for the crime of murdering a police officer after a botched robbery. Through the influence of St. Therese of Lisieux, and the friendship of a Trappist monk, the Servant of God was converted and made great progress in the spiritual life during his imprisonment. Deeply sorry for his crime, he accepted his punishment in peace, and was reconciled to his wife the night before his execution, which he offered to Jesus. He has the infamous distinction of being the last person in France to be guillotined. His daughter is a Carmelite nun who promotes his cause as an example of the mercy of God to sinners. Jacques died on October 1, now the feast day of St. Therese in the revised calendar.

Praying for the victims of the Italian quake.

L'Aquila and surrounding towns in the Italian Apennines have been devastated by a strong earthquake early this morning. At least one village is reported to have been leveled. Praying for the dead and the living.

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Jesus, I trust in you.

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Photo: L'Aquila Abruzzo.

Happy Birthday Dodo.

April 6, 1901 is the birthday of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. When he was little he adopted the name Dodo for himself. The photos are of the "icon" I painted of him, as well as of my friend Ellen as she presented the panel to his niece Wanda. His niece placed the painting in the house at Pallone. I had based my version on the painting his mother did, which also hangs in the summer home.

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Now days I do not bother Pier Giorgio too much, as he is very busy working with youth.

30 Second Bunnies Minisode - Bunnies: The Shining

For Fr. Erik.

Emails

I'm not ignoring you.
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If you haven't heard from me for awhile - or received a response to an email, that is because I have been having problems with my email service - I will respond to your emails as soon as I get it together. Thanks.

More Little Murders... Binghamton.

The killing fields of America.

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This morning columnists and journalists are asking the thoughtful questions about mass murder in our society, why it happens at all, why does it seem to be happening with such increasing frequency, and why does it appear as if Americans are no longer shocked by such events? (Check out, "Has America become numb to tragedy?")

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Good questions, huh? Which only means that many are going to demand stricter gun control, government surveillance, along with other threats to our civil rights. Others will blame it on our self-absorbed, hedonistic, materialistic culture. There will be too many opinions and studies on the subject. But it has been happening since the 1960's, as the steep decline in moral values began to accelerate. Of course progressives will disagree on the issue of morality, as always. The more enlightened will insist one has to study the problem more extensively to determine what is actually going on. Ban guns and do research, and more research, and we'll have it all sorted out; while the disgruntled find new ways to kill their neighbors.

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I think it is much more simple than all of that however.

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As one old lady once put it:

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"...I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?

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How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even His life to love us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.

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By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion.

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Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want." - Blessed M. Teresa of Calcutta