Keep praying for Oprah.

Stalker unleashed.
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She is even starting to scare the Secret Service.

False alarm.

There is no new document on the discernment of apparitions forthcoming.

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Wasn't it just last week I posted about a soon-to-be-released-from-the-Vatican set of criteria for discerning visions, locutions, miraculous weeping images, and assorted phenomenon? So cancel that. I'm posting a note on top of my monitor, "Whenever anyone announces, 'The Vatican said this' or 'the Vatican is clamping down' or 'the Vatican is coming out with a document' - don't believe it until you see the actual documents with the authorized signatures and seals, and all of that."

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From National Catholic Register.

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"According to a Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith official who spoke with Register correspondent Edward Pentin, there is no truth to these reports. The official stated emphatically that no work is underway on a vademecum or on any other type of document regarding the question of how to handle claims of apparitions." - NCR

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No need.

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Doh! And that actually makes more sense, especially since criteria for the discernment of spirits and claims of supernatural phenomenon has really not changed much over the centuries. Scholarly theologians such as Garrigou-Lagrange, Fr. Marie Eugene, OCD, and untold others associated (or not) with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose names escape me right now, have pretty much codified such norms already. This is what the Church does. In fact, as recently as 1978, "Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations" was promulgated.

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Enough is never enough for some people.

Keep Oprah in your prayers.

Public stalker.

Catholic Schools

The heroism of women religious.
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This photo of nuns was taken at the funeral for the numerous victims who died in the tragic fire that consumed Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, December of 1958. The nuns proved heroic in rescuing the children who survived. Sadly, as I was told at the time, one entire class was found, dead from smoke inhalation; the trapped Sister and students seated in prayer. I read that another Sister repeatedly rolled down the flights of stairs with children clinging to her habit, to evacuate as many as possible beneath the heavy smoke.
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Those Sisters exemplified the heroic charity every School Sister in the United States daily exercised in their vocation to teach and guide Catholic students in the faith, arts, and sciences. People my age may claim all the nuns were mean or disgruntled, but that type of religious was really the exception. Most of the priests, nuns and brothers who taught school, though strict, were generous, loving, and devout men and women dedicated to their vocation and educating the young.
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Catholic schools in crises?
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That is what the NY Times says. Many are closing due to lack of enrollment. However, laity, clergy and religious alike are beginning to come together to correct that - as much as they are able to at this point. Yet I believe the bishops are the ones who really need to promote Catholic education, just as they did in the beginning. Up until a decade or so ago, the Catholic school system seemed to be an institution that was pretty much taken for granted - something that would always be there. Religious vocations may have diminished, but lay teachers took their place - albeit at much greater expense. Hence the increased cost of education - and the sad realization we may have taken the nuns for granted as well.
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A local priest reopens his school.
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I went to Mass at Holy Family parish this morning. It is a strong parish situated in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The pastor, Fr. Thomas Dufner is a very solid, spiritual, and dynamic priest. He seems to be an excellent administrator as well. I believe he made it his personal goal to reopen Holy Family Academy, which he did, and it is prospering. While the parish is growing, it is also very active, and they need to expand and build a parish center. Which points to the obvious fact, the care of souls is Fr. Dufner's number one priority.
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He also has a crowd of altar boys who serve Sunday Mass. A church full of young families with lots of kids - who kneel and follow Mass attentively, reverently, and quietly. It is so edifying to be there early on a Sunday morning and see Father in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament two hours before Mass, one hour before he hears confessions.
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Likewise, every Saturday morning Fr. Dufner stands outside an abortion facility in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, praying the rosary with a group of other pro-life people - he has done this for years. He is also very active with the youth in his parish, and nourishes his entire flock with solid spiritual instruction and direction, while providing for fun, wholesome recreation. He is one of the most dedicated priests I have ever seen, and I think the parish loves him and supports his initiatives.
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Bishops, priests, and religious like Fr. Dufner is what the Church in the United States needs to revive Catholic identity, Catholic education, and Catholic morality in our culture.
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Photo source: Life Magazine. When I came across the photo I thought it was a photo of rows of television sets. This particular photo demonstrates why habits needed to be modified.

Cardinal Cushing, chaplain to the Kennedy's.

Cardinal Cushing of Boston, praying at the John F. Kennedy Inaugural.
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Somehow I get the impression Obama is not a religious man. It seems to me that the clerics chosen to 'speak/pray' at his Inaugural may be more political choices than religious.

Pray for Oprah.

Stalking Obama.
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I hear she is beyond hysterical these days leading up to the inaugaration.

We both love soup.

Fr. Z has posted a great recipe for soup today.

Saturday story-time.

Terry and the Silver Skates...

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Betty Mae Brinker-Nelson earned scant support for her family working in an office by day, and waitressing at night. Once she had worked at a casino in Reno while she was waiting for her divorce to be finalized. But that was before Terry, sometimes known as Hans, was born.

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When Hans-Terry had grown strong and large, he had insisted on doing all the waitress work for his mom. Her husband Kenny, Terry's dad, had become so very helpless of late that he required her constant care. Although not having as much intelligence as a little child, (when he was drunk) he was yet strong of arm and very mean, and Betty Mae had sometimes great trouble in controlling him.

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"Ah! children, he was so good and steady in his youth," Mother would sometimes say about Father, "and as wise as a lawyer. Even the burger-meister from the Little Chef Cafe would stop to ask him directions to the bar with the best happy hour. But alas, now he's no damn good! He doesn't know his wife and little ones. You remember your father, don't you Hans-Terry, when he was himself--right after he was released from jail--don't you? Admit it!"

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"Oh yes, indeed, Mutar, he knew everything and could do anything under the sun--and how he would swear and beat the crap out of everyone! Why, you used to laugh and say it was enough to set the windmills a-dancing."
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"So I did. So I did, you little bastard. Bless me! how the boy remembers every little detail! Gretel-Beth, child, take that knitting needle from your father, quick; he's trying to stab your brother; and put the shoe back on him. His poor feet are like ice half the time because he spills his drink all over himself. I can't keep doing everything around here! G** d*** it! I can't take this s*** anymore, I've got all I can do--" And then, half wailing, half humming, Betty Mae would sit back down and top off her glass with bourbon; filling the low cottage with the whirr of her hair dryer.

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Nearly all the outdoor work, as well as the household labor, was performed by Hans-Terry and Gretel-Beth. At certain seasons of the year the children went out day after day to gather peat, which they would stow away in square, brick-like pieces, for fuel. At other times, when homework permitted, Hans-Terry rode the towing-horses on the canals, earning a few dollars a day, and Gretel-Beth tended geese for the neighboring animal shelter.

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Hans-Terry was clever at carving in wood, and both he and Gretel-Beth were good bartenders. Gretel couldn't sing or sew, but she could dance and loved to watch Bandstand. She could dance better than any other girl for miles around. She could learn a ballad in five minutes, but no one wanted her to sing it, and she dreaded books, and often the very sight of the figuring board in the old schoolhouse would set her eyes swimming. But she had a lot of fashion sense. Total strangers often complimented her on how immaculate she kept her tennis shoes. Hans-Terry always told her not to wear her scaf tied on her chin. He would say, "Gretel-Beth, hon, even though you think that is cool, it makes you look like a slut." She didn't like that - but Hans-Terry knew she had to be told, if only just to keep Father at bay.

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Hans-Terry, on the contrary, was slow and steady. The harder the task, whether in study or daily labor, the better he liked it. Boys who sneered at him out of school, on account of his cool shoes and scant leather breeches, were forced to yield him the post of honor in nearly every class - especially home-ec. It was not long before he was the only youngster in the school who had not stood at least ONCE in the corner of horrors, where hung a dreaded whip, and over it this motto: "Leer, leer! jouluigaart, of dit endje touw zal je leeren!" *{Learn! learn! you idler, or this rope's end shall teach you.} And because of that, Hans-Terry felt left out and so he developed some serious anti-social behaviours for awhile - but that is another story.

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Nevertheless, from his earliest youth, Hans-Terry secretly wanted to be a star hockey player and win the Stanley Cup to impress his older brother, Skip-Bert, although if that didn't work out, he had a plan "B". He always insisted he would settle for a starring role in the Ice Capades. His dream was on its way to reality after his younger brother Timlet was born - that is when Hans-Terry left home to skate and sing in the Olympics. The rest is history - although the actual documentation has been lost...

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The End

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Photo credit: When the canals freeze, the Dutch go skating. Read here why it is so unusual this year. It also eerily fits in with a very old prophecy: "When the canals in Europe freeze, a black man will lead the world." Freaky, huh?

Aren't we neat though.

I was always very careful about the ash as I smoked. Sometimes I miss smoking so much.

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Photo credit: Life

Passionately loving the world.

Passionately loving the world.

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This morning I was looking for St. JoseMaria Escriva's homily by that name and instead came across The Greatness of Ordinary Life. I very much like Opus Dei and the teachings of St JoseMaria, although I have heard a few good Catholics express their "doubts" concerning the organization. I don't really know why, especially since the founder has been declared a saint, yet some of the same people say he shouldn't have. (See what I mean when I suggest even devout Catholics can be dissident Catholics - especially when they dissent over innocuous matters such as the canonization of a saint. But I digress.)

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Ordinary life.

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It was providential that I found the little pamphlet this morning, and so I'll use it for meditation today. I just want to post a couple of sections here. The first one is what I really mean when I refer to things some people say as, "religious BS". (Well, kinda.) The following demonstrates that saints express similar thoughts so much more delicately than I can.

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Religiousness.

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"It pains me to hear of a Catholic, a child of God called by baptism to be another Christ, who tranquilizes his conscience by going through the motions. His religiousness leads him to pray now and then... when it is to his advantage. He attends Mass on the days obliged... but not all of them. Meanwhile he makes sure that his stomach suffers no uneasiness, never missing a meal. He is willing to make concessions in matters of faith, to exchange it for a dish of lentils, to do anything so as not to endanger his social or professional status. And then he displays his Catholic "credentials" to get ahead, oblivious or indifferent to the ensuing scandal. This cannot be! We cannot settle for a veneer. We must be Christian from top to bottom, through and through. To that end you must seek proper spiritual nourishment without any if's, and's or but's.

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"Your personal experience has taught you in order to ward off any discouragement, that interior life consists in beginning again and again each day. Our hearts tell us we must fight without letting up. You doubtlessly notice in your examination of conscience that you suffer repeated setbacks; at times they seem monumental because they reveal an obvious lack of love, of dedication, of abnegation, of refinement. Foster desires for reparation and sincere contrition, but do not lose your peace." - Ordinary Life: Christian Consistency, St. JoseMaria Escriva

Is there really something wrong with capitalism?

Apparently some people seem to think so.

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I was impressed by the following statement:

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"...something is wrong with capitalism. Or, to put it more aptly, something is wrong with the human person objectified by the modern, capitalist reduction of persons into objects -- human resources." - Source

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Doh! It just dawned on me too.

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(Interesting new group blog: RIMATARA. Found on my favorite group blog: Vox Nova.)

Fr. Robert's Art.

Stunning minatures.

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These wonderful little paintings are the work of Fr. Robert, a monk at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, Sparta, Wisconsin. Br. Stephen posted the work on his blog, Sub Tuum. The paintings are 2" square, apparently oil on copper. I love them.

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This spring, local bloggers maybe should get together and go on pilgrimage to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, and then make a visit to the Cistercians nearby.

Slumdog bloggers.

Bottom of the barrel Catholics and right-wingers.
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Doug Kmiec has accused Catholic bloggers of of being hate mongers. (I believe Dr. Kmiec voiced some theories during the presidential campaign on why it was okay for Catholics to vote for Obama.) Anyway, I never followed what was being said by either party. But now that Kmiec is complaining, I'm listening. Included in his self-defense he said:

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“A hate-filled blogosphere,” argued Kmiec, “feeds a politics of odium, misleading people of faith and good will, diminishing and at times obliterating our ability to know one another.” - Source

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Naturally, the leading Catholic bloggers have jumped to the podium in defense of their participation in the debate that ensued. Again, I never followed it. It seems to me that more than a few of the top Catholic bloggers have established themselves as a sort of magisterium for the blogosphere, and may consider themselves rather unassailable. I may be completely wrong of course, although delicate egos ride high, a fact often evidenced as blogger awards season draws nigh and the "vote for me" widgets go up. Not that it is a bad thing.

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And the award goes to...

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The most imperious comment I read in defense of the Catholic blogosphere, from the top bloggers who challenged or disagreed with Dr. Kmiec, came from Mark Shea. Now I often neglect to read him, although when I do, I very much like what he writes. (I corrected that today by linking to him.) I know some people dislike him, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it may have something to do with attitude, I don't know. Whatever, this is part of what he had to say concerning the latest Kmiec-driven tempest:

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“I'm not interested in hearing Kmiec moan about how mean people from the bottom of the barrel were to him,” Shea told CNA. “I’m interested in hearing his responses to the very intelligent critiques of his position that were offered by a number of very respectable and honorable Catholics.” - Source

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I'm sure Mr. Shea did not mean that the way it reads. However, and this may be totally off topic, I always wonder about those who identify themselves as respectable and honorable Catholics. I believe Nancy Pelosi meant the same thing when she described herself as an "ardent Catholic." If memory serves me, some of the top bloggers in the country ripped her a new as-----... Well they ridiculed the poor woman for that assertion.

Everyone is asking for prayers...

So I will too.

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A young man I see at adoration, named Tony, desperately needs our prayers. He has some major issues, he's probably mentally ill, and his mother is dying from cancer. His mom's name is Lisa.

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Tony is doing very poorly right now, much worse than a few months ago, because his mom has now been transferred to hospice.

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Tony lives on his own, but he is very much emotionally dependent upon his mother. His parents were divorced and his mom remarried. His natural father is a recovered alcoholic.

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Tony has been present at adoration every Wednesday afternoon for the past few months. He is there from about 1:30 PM until the close at 4:30 PM. He mostly paces around the Church, sometimes standing next to me in the aisle. We speak afterwards.

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The best I can do is assure him of my prayers, and try to empathize with him by discussing how it was when my mom died. But I mostly try to let him speak.

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He tells me he is looking for a sign - of what I'm not sure. I told him about St. Therese of Lisieux and said I'd ask her to give him a sign. He can be kind of scary to some people I suppose, he swings back and forth between anger and pain, confidence and despair. But he is mostly just scared.

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Please pray for him and his mom.

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Thanks.

Sister stories.

In the 1950's, the nuns disapproved of girls wearing make-up in grade school. They said it looked cheap; pierced ears were considered cheap too. And of course, scarves tied on the chin - they knew exactly what that meant Missie.

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Photo credit: Untouched photo of school girl being tortured by Sr. Rosie O'Donnell.

I'll have NUN of that, thank you.

The lack of vocations.

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Remember those scenes in the movie The Nun's Story? The chapter house and chapel filled to overflowing with nuns? The movie depicted pre-WWII convent life at a Mother house in Belgium. Years ago I was told by an older monk that after the wars, vocations to the religious life actually increased, especially contemplative life. On the other hand, a recent study suggests the decline in women's vocations was the result of the confusion in the aftermath of Vatican II, yet another expert believes the exodus actually began in the 1930's. I tend to agree with the later, thinking Audrey Hepburn's portrayal of Sr. Luke in The Nun's Story may be an example of that phenomenon. (Although, the intitial loss of contemplative vocations might have been more directly related to the confusion generated by the Council.)

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This is what the priests think happened.

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Italian Claretian Father Angelo Pardilla, author of "Religious Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," said the principal cause for the decline in women's vocations was that many religious misunderstood the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and lost a sense of their identity.

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Father Giancarlo Rocca, a scholar of the history of religious orders, questioned Father Pardilla's thesis in the review he wrote for the Vatican newspaper.

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Father Rocca agreed with Father Pardilla that factors contributing to the decline include materialism, secularism, the anti-authority movement of the late 1960s and declining family size.

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But he said a misreading of the Second Vatican Council could not be the prime culprit, because in many places the numbers began to drop in the 1930s, long before the council opened in 1962. For Father Rocca, the key is the emancipation of women. - CNS

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My thoughts.

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I think they are both right, although I tend to agree with Fr. Rocca that all of this started before the Council. Changes favoring modernization in the Church were well underway before there was even a thought for another Council - isn't that a major reason pre-Councilor popes wrote syllubi - to point out all the errors emerging from modernism and socialism and all the other isms encroaching upon the Church? Or maybe not.

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Nevertheless, I'm convinced the emancipation of women initiated the decline in vocations, although it seems to me there can be no doubt the Council opened wide the windows of the Roman Catholic Church to let in some "fresh air" as John XXIII said, and thus, with the doors wide open, quite a few went out and never came back... But a few came in as well. The younger vocations were women who had already been "emancipated" if you will. Women who entered the so-called active orders but who could no longer accept second class status in the Church, transferred here and there to do whatever they were told.

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What does obedience really mean today?

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I suspect what emancipation may have meant to many of "them", aside from not being obliged to walk around all bandaged up in heavy, constraining habits, and finally free to wear "the pants"; what it really meant is that they could put their academic degrees to work in diocesan and community administrative positions, rather than always being confined to the rather subservient role of school sister or nurse, subject to the discretion of men who ran the diocese, parishes, or institution. I honestly believe the perceived patriarchy in the Church became something of an affront to many women religious, whose counterparts in the world were breaking through all sorts of glass ceilings, while the sisters could sometimes be the subject of a 'lighthearted' ridicule, even by priests.

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Lay people and clergy alike will argue, "Obedience is part of the religious life, that is part of their vocation." True enough, but even the new sisters in the flourishing 'habited' congregations know obedience doesn't mean they are supposed to be a doormat. Contemplative vocations are a different matter, for both men or women I think. Without going into detail, I think that those who enter cloistered life and stay, have a different, much more profound, almost eschatological understanding of the vows and the purpose of the life.

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Independence.

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Yesterday, I watched a neighbor lady walking back from the grocery store in the heavy snow storm we were experiencing. She is in her early 60's, single - never married, and she is has a good career as a psychologist. She owns her house and car of course, she travels extensively, and she is athletic - in summer always off on bike trips, kayaking, rock climbing, and so on.

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As my neighbor walked by, I noticed she was wearing a long black coat with a knit, over sized black beret - she reminded me of a nun. I thought, 'Perhaps there goes a missed vocation?' She would have made a great nun - or sister in the world. Although in reality her life is not very different from the lives led by sisters from some of the established congregations that survived the Council. Some of whose members may live in private homes or apartments, have their own career, and are quite free to come and go as they please - as long as they check in, or get approval from someone. So what is the difference?

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Seeking God.

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I'm confident the big difference is that the religious, male or female, is seeking God - God alone - in a habit or out of a habit. Liberal or conservative. Why else would women become sisters if that were not the case? Religious life evolves and updates itself. Congregations come and go, yet in the Church there remain different charisms, different gifts. As St. Paul says, The body has different members, but all the members, though many, are one body - the body is not one member, but many. Indeed there is a hierarchy of members, yet all with their different gifts. Thus, I believe, for the most part, the religious who remained, and those coming in, recognize this and find freedom within these parameters.

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That said, I still believe the decline in vocations is rooted in the materialism and agnosticism of Western culture, and our pro-choice mentality. How else does one explain the growth of vocations from poorer regions of the world such as India, and Africa? The poor have great faith. This is just my opinion however. That said, I found a blog for nuns, with links to several other sister's blogs. I think the clergy and laity need to listen to all of the women religious who give their lives for the Church - then we may get to the bottom of this mystery.

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That aside, I thank God for all of the nuns we currently have and have had - we wouldn't be the Church we are without them. Perhaps we are a bit too late with all of this - only just now coming to fully appreciate a treasure we no longer have in such abundance.

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Link:

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A Nun's Life - a well connected blog about contemporary nuns.

If I hung out at a bar.

If I hung out at a bar day-in and night-out like my parents did, and I talked about the issues I blog about, I'd be in knock-down drag-out fights every day.

Apparitions, stigmata, revelations, oh my!

New guidelines.

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The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Holy Office) is expected to release updated instructions for bishops on the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena such as visions, mystical charismata involving stigmata, locutions - messages from heaven, and so on. What follows is a portion of the news report I found on Pewsitters:

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The Pope is said to be deeply concerned by the explosion in the number of pseudo-mystics who, claiming a direct line to God, set themselves against the bishops and lure the Catholic faithful out of the Church and into disobedient cults.

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When a claim of heavenly apparitions occurs, the local bishop will need to set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests who will investigate the claims systematically.

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The first step will be to impose silence on the alleged visionaries and if they refuse to obey then this will be taken as a sign that their claims are false.

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Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to help them to distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.

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In some cases exorcists will be used to determine if a credible apparition is of divine origin or whether it is demonic. - Telegraph

Bob Dylan - Ballad of a Thin Man

This is so my ballad... it always was.

Black Monday - the Stock Market is down again... among other things.

More photos from the Israeli war against Palestinians in Gaza.

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I assume it is rather obvious I find the photos I've been posting today to be rather upsetting, shattering my illusion concerning the war in Gaza. The sight of dead babies always gets to me. In fact, photos of aborted babies helped to convince me human life was being destroyed in abortion procedures. However, I doubt many people from countries where abortion is legal will be moved by the sight of dead Palestinian babies.

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My apologies - I get a little crazy when I see photos such as these - images that speak louder than words.

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That's all.

Re-examining my conscience: Israeli war crimes.

Click the photo to enlarge and read.
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O Lord rebuke me not in your anger
your arrows have sunk deep in me.
My guilt towers higher than my head;
it is a weight too heavy to bear.
I am bowed and brought to my knees.
I go mourning all day long.
I cry aloud in anguish of heart. - Ps. 37
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Words cannot save us now, the only way to peace is repentance. I have committed these atrocities; Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Photos from Gaza and documentation of possible war crimes committed by Israeli soldiers.

Please click on the last photo to enlarge, and read the story.

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In a message to participants in a special Mass for peace at St. Stephen Church in Jerusalem Jan. 4, Msgr. Manuel Musallam, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza City, wrote: "What you see on television cannot be compared to what is happening. The word love is choking in my throat. ... We are living like animals in Gaza. We cry and nobody hears us. I am asking God for mercy and pray that the light of Christianity continues to shine in Gaza." - Catholic News Service

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God have mercy on my Jewish heart.

Everyone is worried about Socialites these days.

No hon, the term is Socialists. Geez!

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Blonds can get their terms mixed up - but contrary to popular opinion, they most always know what they are talking about. Anyway - I think it's funny to call socialists socialites- because that is what it is becoming. The upper class, the intelligentsia, the elite, the American royalty (entertainers and talk show hosts), have pretty much all gone socialist on us.

Dumb.

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"I readily concede I chucked aside my free-market principles when I was told ... the situation we were facing could be worse than - the Great Depression," Bush said. "(But) we've taken extraordinary measures to deal with frozen credit markets (that) have helped thaw the credit market." - President Bush

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And Dumber.

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Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change. - Washington Times

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I find it curious. The term socialist pops up with greater frequency in connection with Obama and his policy of change. Accusations are made, the 'powers' either ignore them, or deny them; the press then focuses our attention elsewhere, and suddenly another socialist gets a key position in the Administration. While everyone watches football or the Golden Globes. I wonder when Bill Ayers will be appointed to something - you know, that Communist guy from Chicago Obama didn't know.

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"See how the wicked prowl on every side,

while the worthless are prized highly by the sons of men." - ps. 11:9

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Photo credit: Getty Images: Carol M. Browner

Dressed to kill... and it wasn't called cross-dressing then.

Fun fashion facts.
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1968 photo of a male model in a silk jersey leisure suit. The suit was part of a NYC fashion show featuring, "Clothing For The Emancipated Man." Prices ranged from $1000 to $3500 per ensemble. (I actually remember the press on this.) Though extreme for the time, the look may have been popular with some of the aging royalty from the Fire Island, P-Town, Bucks County set, otherwise it never really caught on - except in Minnesota of all places. I may be mistaken, but I am fairly certain the trend inspired the designers of Zubaz Pants. (Zubaz shown below.)
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Macho, macho man, I've got to be, a macho man...

Sic transit mundi... reflections on a snowy Sunday morning.

The irony of it all.

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The irony of it all. The Franken/Coleman hold-up... big expense. I can't say I like either one of these guys, although Coleman now looks better with his daVinci veneers, and I have to admit I did vote for him. Although I haven't been following the recount that closely, I listen to the coverage... like a faint voice in the background. At first I agreed with Coleman: Franken should have conceded - that was immediately after the elections and before the recount. After the recount - Franken it turns out, is the winner (voters are dumb, aren't we?) - so wouldn't you think Coleman would concede?

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But noooooo - even though he said in the beginning that if he were in Franken's shoes - he would have conceded. The tables are turned now, and the Republicans are insisting Franken stole the election. It is so 8 years ago when Bush beat Gore... and Dems complained for all those years how George stole the presidency. I'm not saying there shouldn't be contests and recounts and all that stuff - but there should be limits to the length of time spent in litigation, don't you think. Oh, oh, and when candidates are campaigning and embroiled in litigation, is that the work we elected them to do?

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Bless my Jewish heart.

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Call me crazy, but I will always side with Israel in the defense of their people against the chorus of Hamas terrorists, radical Islam, Persians and other Mohammedans whose main goal in life is to blow Israel off the face of the earth and impose their medieval religion upon the world. Of course I am not a hard-hearted Hannah when it comes to the Palestinians struggling for existence in Gaza either - it is terrible and horrible and awful. But I believe Israel when they insist that Hamas buries its defenses in civilian neighborhoods - in effect, holding Palestinian people as hostages. They do that stuff all of the time. Once in NYC Islamic terrorists targeted civilian office buildings and blew 'em up good. They tell me Islam is a religion of peace however.

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SNM - Saturday Night Mass.

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I can't leave this alone - I just have to comment on the music from the Mass of the Baptism of the Lord last evening. You like that heading? SNM - like SNL? I thought you would. So anyway, it was very entertaining. The cantor happens to have a magnificent voice - I'm not at all kidding - she sings as well as a young Julie Andrews, trouble is, she kind of looks like her too - from Sound of Music that is. You know the look, kind of nun-without-a-habit drab. But that girl can really hold her notes. The organist/pianist is also top-drawer-professional - his piano playing has a certain... flourish... think of Joanne Castle from Lawrence Welk. One of the hymns (I hate hymns - it sounds so churchy) was "Wade In the Water" and did they do it well. I really mean that - no sarcasm intended. When I was in high school, Ramsey Lewis Trio did the same song, I loved it and bought the album. As I listened to it, smoking my cigarette, sipping something. I day-dreamed I was in LA, watching sequined mini-skirted go-go dancers, writhing on the bar in Whiskey A-Go-Go, while I drank scotch and sodas looking all Steve McQueen like. But I am getting distracted. Anyway, the joint was rockin' last night. And I didn't even care - I decided it didn't matter.

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There is so much more I could reflect upon... but I've caused enough trouble this weekend, so I'll end it here.

Don't mention the truth.

Real life happens.

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Once upon a time there was a priest who drove to a convenience store while drunk. He drove into the store by accident. The police were called and the priest was ticketed and if I am not mistaken, arrested. The story made the local papers. Several Catholics protested and said publishing the story was inappropriate, that it was detraction, and so on. The priest made amends and went through treatment for alcoholism. I think the incident helped a great many others in ways many people may not understand.

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The End

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(No names or places were used in this story. No one's reputation was tarnished. So anyway, a priest and a rabbi and a minister were walking down the street... The priest said, did you hear the one about the nun and the bishop?)

Something I read...

On the economy.

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An older man, Moses Evans, who operates a few shoeshine stands in downtown Minneapolis, was questioned by a reporter from the Southwest Journal concerning his hopes and fears regarding the future. Mr. Evans made this observation:

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"In my business, people buy shoes. They're going to have to keep them up, and if they don't keep them up, they're just spending money. See, I'm not feeling any pressure because I'm a poor man, but I do make a living, and I trust God to look after me. I pay my tithes and try to abide by the law. See that's the only thing you can do. You just can't go through this world thinking that you own something... You don't own anything because when you came into this world, you didn't have nothing..."

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Photo credit: The Flowers of St. Francis; Directed by Roberto Rossellini, co-written by Federico Fellini. 1950

Checking the box...

On sexual orientation.

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When the United States still had the draft for military service, there happened to be a box on the questionnaire one could check regarding the candidate's sexual orientation. A classmate of mine checked it, he later became a woman and looked exactly like Doris Roberts, the actress from "Everybody Loves Raymond". Gosh! What if?

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So anyway, there was just one box. For homosexuality. In saner times, homosexuality was pretty much the only recognized variant in human sexuality that might present a problem in military service, as well as the intelligence service I might add. In the business of espionage it was believed a homosexual could be easily compromised by blackmail. I suppose it would have been the case for the FBI as well, even though it is rumored that Edgar wore cocktail dresses - but you see, that was in private.

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Other than these instances - which were always kept confidential, I have never heard of anyone in government asking people about their sexual orientation until today. I was reading a post on Fr. Blake's blog about how the Brighton City Council is demanding a health care facility to question its residents every 3 months about their sexuality. (These are rather old people BTW.) Anyway, what follows is Fr. Blake's report:

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Brighton and Hove City Council has pulled thousands of pounds worth of funding from a Christian care home because of its religious beliefs on homosexuality.The council withdrew £13,000 of funding when the care home refused the council’s request to ask the elderly Christian residents about their sexual orientation every three months. The home also refused demands from the council that it use images of homosexuals in its promotional literature and show staff a Stonewall presentation on ‘gay rights’. - Read the rest here.

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What possible purpose could such questioning serve? Perhaps there is a concern about discrimination against old homosexuals by health care staff or other residents. I suspect that is simply an exaggerated concern. The laws and protections against the abuse of vulnerable adults are quite adequate without requiring persons to disclose their sexual preferences. Unless of course, staying in the closet is now a crime.

More "Doubt"

Barbara Nicolosi has a very good review...

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The best I've read. An excerpt I particularly agreed with:

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"As a former nun, I admit I got a surge of sadistic thrill out of watching the self-sacrificing nuns prevail over the cigarette smoking, self-indulgent, priest. I had a bellyfull of patriarchy in my convent days. It's truly one of the proofs of sanctity in the Church that the women religious put up with so much petty arrogance from so many priests for so long. (NOT ALL! But there is definitely an old boys club in the Church that is infuriating if you are a woman with half a brain.) I was also intrigued by how the priest/forces of renewal in the Church ended up being the bad guy in the movie. Take that you Spirit of Vatican IIers! - Source

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I know what she means. BTW - I took my anecdote down.

YSL at Christie's

The Yves Saint Laurent/Pierre Burge Auction.

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As anyone in fashion and design, or ready to wear knows, the French couturier, Yves St. Laurent died last year. Since his death, an auction featuring original designs from YSL couture and costume jewelry was held in July of 2008. Towards the end of February of this year - the 23, 24, 25 to be exact - another grand auction of the art and antiques collected by St. Laurent and his companion, Pierre Burge, will be hosted by Christie's in Paris. It will be spectacular, I'm sure. Details here.
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Good quotes.
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“It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic, by fashion.” - Yves Saint Laurent (Actually, I find it amusing.)
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“We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.” - Yves Saint Laurent (Most do however.)
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Photo source: The Luxe Chronicles - Photo of St. Laurent during the period he was lead designer for the House of Dior.
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More on the life and work of Yves St. Laurent here.

Big buts... More random thoughts on the economy.

"Give to everyone who asks, do not turn your back on the borrower."

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"But people shouldn't ask strangers to help them pay off their debts, or help them pay for school, or ask others to shelter them when they go on a trip, or ask people to help them pay the exorbitant cost associated with giving birth or adopting children."

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Big But...

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I've actually criticized people who have done such things, believing people should be more responsible, and that they ought to work for what they get, and so on and so forth. While that may be true generally, who was I to determine anything about how others earned their living or asked for financial help? I was wrong... really wrong... and totally lacked charity. I was acting, thinking, talking-writing, very self-righteously... and I did not even realize it.

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But - I was wrong.

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Secret pride.

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There is a story from the desert fathers how one of the abbas, on his way to a chapter to pass judgement on an errant brother, before leaving his hermitage, took a large basket and filled it with sand. The brothers met him on his way and asked the meaning of the display. The abba explained that he was coming to pass judgement on a brother, while his own sins poured out unknown behind him like sand.

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Self-righteousness.

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The downturn in the economy has been a great lesson for me. Once upon a time, I had been so sure I had done everything right - paying off all my bills, never carrying credit card debt, saving a big chunk of my earnings, and so on. And then the market crashed. I soon understood I had placed my trust in the wrong place - money, not God. I was proud of my accomplishments, not realizing I too have been a borrower living on borrowed time. Without going into detail, I have realized the error of my ways, and apologize to those I criticized. Oh, and I'm okay financially - just not the "rich" man I thought I was.

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"He then told them a parable addressed to those who believed in their own self-righteousness while holding everyone else in contempt..."

Random thoughts on the economy and stuff.

The Global Agenda.

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I have trouble sleeping at night - it isn't my conscience keeping me awake, nor worries about the economy, it has more to do with some health problems. But that isn't my point here. I noticed during the night a neighbor's van being towed away - shortly after midnight. Why do you think that was? He couldn't afford his car payments any longer and the van was repossessed. I wonder when the house will be repossessed?

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I said it would happen, and it did today - Macy's announced the closing of nine of their stores - one of them in a north Minneapolis suburb. The Brookdale store has always been a D-list store anyway - meaning, it wasn't a huge money maker, and companies never spent much money renovating the complex, much less stocking it with anything fashionable or high end. Anyway, they are closing, and more store closings are sure to follow.

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Repossessing homes and cars, stores closing, people losing their investments and social security - perhaps these are simply metaphors for the "change" that has been promised...
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Of course everyone knows the economy is bad and getting worse and worse, as Obama keeps repeating. So the solution is to "spend" their way out of it by printing more money and bailing the banking and investment industries out. Sorry - they won't pay your credit bills or forgive your debts however. But will that even matter?

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Isn't printing more money just leading to greater debt? Isn't printing more money what deflates the value of the dollar and leads to skyrocketing inflation? What is really going on? Gorbachev, Sarkozy, Merkel, and Tony Blair? - Yeah, they are all calling for a new world order, a new global economy, a new global capitalism, a new international agenda - and why is Obama supposed to be the leader?

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Something is going on... I have a hunch the economic crises wasn't really an accident.

The sin of Ham

What a story.

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Imagine naming your son Ham - may as well call him Pig - I actually kind of like Pig better. Anyway, my friend Angela (pronounced in the United States: 'angle-ah'), who lives someplace in the Canadian wilderness, is reading the Bible and was perplexed by the sin of Ham as recorded in the book of Genesis. I added my two cents, attempting to explain what I thought the big deal was when he pulled his dad's pants down, but I held back a little. Why? Because I am going to paint it - the sin of Ham that is. I see it in my head - it so has to be painted. I can't show it here when it is finished because it will involve nudity - so I will have to re-open "Up Your Street" as my real art blog. I can show it there.

What father fixed for supper...

The minutia of a country curate's life.
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And don't forget to vote, and for heavens sake, vote often.

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Art: Michael Sowa

Catholic of the year awards.

What a novel idea.

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My dear friend Cathy has posted her choices for 2008 Catholic of the Year and Dissident Catholic of the Year awards. See her picks here.

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I decided to do my own choice/picks. Drumroll please...

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Catholic of the Year:

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- The shy old lady - I think her name is Mae - that comes to adoration every Wednesday and reads her prayers while kneeling as best she can despite her bad knees. She also attends daily Mass when her knees permit her to walk the few blocks to church. She smiles and nods to everyone she passes, but rarely speaks unless spoken to.

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Dissident Catholic of the Year:

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- The priest who uses his blog to criticize Roman Catholic bishops, clergy, and others who are not big fans of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Mrs. Rabitowitz

A surprising story.

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Before going out to remove snow this afternoon, I put out more food for Mrs. Rabbit. I don't know if I mentioned this, but she sits only a few yards away from the little table I feed her at while I cover the top with food. I always make sure some of it falls on the ground for the mice and the voles. The table is actually an upside-down plastic litter-box that has never been used. It suits her perfectly as she sits on her haunches and feeds herself like a little person seated at a dining table.

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Anyway, as I was putting out the trail mix and baguette crumbs, I heard a little voice say quietly, "Thank you. The food has been especially delicious this winter."

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I looked up, quite surprised to see the rabbit speaking, having moved closer to me, less than a foot away I'd say. "You're quite welcome... err... Mrs. Rabbit." I answered.

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She giggled slightly and proceeded to inform me that her name was Mrs. Rabitowitz. I asked if she was Polish or Jewish and she explained that her heritage was indeed Jewish, but she couldn't be certain about the Polish part. "You look surprised Mr. Nelson, but most rabbits are of Jewish ancestry, although we don't go to temple. That explains why we are often depicted in art bringing eggs to children at Easter. The Catholics are all at Church and we deliver the eggs and candy for their celebrations."

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"Why of course!" I exclaimed, "that makes perfect sense. I just never heard that explanation before."

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"Oh sure, few people know about these things now days," she remarked, tasting a raisin. "For instance, did you realize most dogs are Gentiles, as are cats - although some breeds of cats may be Jewish, especially the Asian cats."

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"Oh..." I muttered distracted by the thought of pets having a particular nationality other than breed, or even a specific religious heritage. "Well I s'pose that would explain the German Shepherds who worked in the concentration camps." I said quietly.

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Mrs. Rabitowitz looked at me somewhat sadly, gave me a slight smile and said, "Adieu Mr. Nelson, and thank you again for such delicious food." And then she hopped away, into the hedge.

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I then went out front and finished removing snow before I drove to the store for more food.

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The End

Spiritual direction and deception... some thoughts.

God told me...

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I noticed Pat Robertson came out with his predictions this weekend, not unlike psychics are wont to do, only Robertson claims God told him - implying he has his knowledge from a higher authority...

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I think the fact that religious men and women claim such personal communications and messages from God is a pretty good sign that "faith has dwindled among the sons of men, empty follies they talk, each one with his neighbor." (Ps. 11) Modern men and women have "itchy ears" looking for religious novelty and revelations, along with signs and wonders, while neglecting the good they ought to be doing for their neighbor.

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Presumption of assumption.

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St. John of the Cross writes about such people who have a high regard for supernatural communications as "testing God" by their efforts - even when their spiritual directors, persuaded by their personal attachment to extraordinary revelations, ask the person under their care to to request some sort of spiritual knowledge. St. John says that God is displeased with such entreaties and does not even desire them. He points out that these people often act in accord with their revelations, and because of their attachment to the so-called prophecies, their faith is more rooted in these things rather than God.

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St. John writes, These souls "find natural satisfaction in them (revelations) and fit them naturally into their own way of thinking." Although "they often err exceedingly, and are taken aback at the unexpected outcome. Then doubts come to the fore concerning the divine origin of these revelations, since events do not come to pass as they were led to believe. (This is especially true of those who listen to such mystics and who placed their trust in their pronouncements.) They presumed two factors; 1) That the revelations were from God, since from the beginning they firmly adhered to them. Yet this adherence was probably due to their natural inclination towards them. 2) That since the revelations were from God, events would unfold according to their anticipation."

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Such people are easily deluded because God's revelations or locutions are not dependant upon natural understanding and do not always come to fulfillment according to human expectations, much less in accord with their literal sense. St John warns; "Though they (such revelations) may in themselves contain certitude and truth, they do not always have it in their causes and in our way of understanding them."

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Seeking spiritual direction.

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I would never presume to discuss the issue of spiritual direction as regards a person discerning a religious vocation, or one living in the religious state. Indeed, I have no capacity other than experience to discuss the subject even for lay people. Therefore, what I say here is strictly personal opinion and should be taken as just that.

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That said, a person ought to avoid spiritual direction from someone who claims to be a mystic; that is, one who claims to obtain direct knowledge from God or some saint in their (the penitent) regard, no matter if the person is a priest, a religious, or a lay-person. Alsso, one ought to remember that spiritual direction is not a matter of telling a person what to do, nor of trying to convince them to do this or that, but it is rather a mutual listening process with the purpose of guiding the soul to holiness. It is not therapy or psychological counseling.

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In fact, though priests today happen to be better educated than any other time in history, I believe few are qualified to be authentic spiritual directors in the traditional understanding of the process. Even if they have their degrees saying they are. I believe many newly ordained, no matter how pious and faithful to the Holy Father and Magisterium - in other words, orthodox - are ready to be spiritual directors in the classic sense. Of course they ought to be available for counsel and direction concerning the keeping of the commandments and living the ordinary ascetic life expected of a Christian, but rarely are they qualified to deal with such issues associated with so-called spiritual communications, much less mental disturbances or illness and its cause. (In such cases, other than acting as a confessor, the priest should refer the penitent to a psychiatric professional.)

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Ordinary means of spiritual direction.

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What I am really getting at is this, the average Catholic who prays daily and frequents the sacraments, hardly needs or requires a spiritual director, simply because most direction is received through homilies, confession, spiritual friendships and spiritual associations, as well as good reading from approved sources.

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Many times, especially in the case of emotionally needy persons, and those who happen to be very impressionable - male or female, young or more mature - one can be attracted to a particular priest on account of his outward piety, attractiveness, and/or sensitivity in dealing with penitents. The penitent, albeit of good will, can easily deceive herself that their attraction is purely spiritual, and therefore harmless. I think younger priests need to be especially cautious here, as does the penitent.

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Mutual admiration.

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Many people who have grown accustomed to spending much time in prayer, reading many spiritual books, imagine themselves saints already and seek a spiritual director who suits their fantasy and taste, flattering their progress in the spiritual life, long before virtue is proven, or prayer is more than an occasional interior consolation, and so on. Many of us lay people imagine ourselves to be very holy if we spend a few hours a week in adoration, attend daily Mass, or recite the Liturgy of Hours on a more or less regular basis.

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If we happen to have led wicked lives in the past, or have come through some great temptation or trauma, and experience the least hint of a remarkable conversion, even an experienced priest can think we are holy and very special. That is unfortunate, because then spiritual direction can become a pretext for mutual admiration and approval - a sort of spiritual recreation, rather than helping the soul enter the narrow way that leads to life.

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Two things to think about.

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"Never take a man for your example in the tasks you have to perform, no matter how holy he may be, for the devil will set his imperfections before you." - John of the Cross

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"Perfection does not lie in the perfections the soul knows it has, but in the virtues our Lord sees in it. This is a closed book, hence one has no reason for presumption, but must remain prostrate on the ground with respect to self." - John of the Cross

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Note: All thoughts from John of the Cross are taken from his Collected Works. It should be remembered that St. John wrote primarily for contemplative cloistered religious, hence his counsel should be digested accordingly for lay-people, conscious of their completely different lifestyle and state in life. Try to imbibe the aroma or spirit of his writing, rather than drinking in the literal interpretation. And do not forget, I am not qualified to interpret his work, but I am simply writing from my personal understanding. The contemporary soul ought to be wise as a serpent even under the care of a spiritual director.

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I recommend reading, "Spiritual Direction and Meditation" by Thomas Merton, as well as anything by Fr. Dubay on spiritual direction, before searching for a director.