Arts and crafts: If I were a rich man...

I would buy this statue of S. Diego de Alcala.

Isn't he handsome?  Polychromed wood, 25" tall.  Excellent condition, masterfully carved.  The little lay brother saint is shown with his garment lifted where he was carrying food for the poor, which miraculously changed into roses as another friar, annoyed with Diego checked to see what he was carrying.  The flowers are gone from the image, but the cord of St. Francis remains attached to the figure.

I can't afford him, but I inquired about the price nonetheless - I'll update when i find out.  If I could afford him, I'd like to run away to hermitage with him, and live the rest of my life - the hermitage would have to be attached to a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament of course, and another statue of Our Lady would have to accompany us.  See!  Too many necessities, conditions required.  It's not meant to be.

S. Diego, or Didicus is indeed the patron of San Diego in California, as well as the patron of a little friend of mine far, far away, whom I pray for all the time.

The saint's feast day moves about depending on which calendar one is using.  The OFM's have theirs, the Ordinary Form has it another day, and of course the old calendar has it another day.  I kept his feast yesterday, and late last night, when I couldn't sleep, S. Diego visited me with this image online.

Diego is one of those Franciscan lay brother saints who became very, very holy by living in fidelity to his state in life - ordinary life.

Source

 
So sad - I just found out the retail is $15,000.00.

So it is a business...

Catholic blogs.

Patheos is the best organization I have ever worked for — they’re great people who, much like Rome, really do want to do their best for everyone — but they are very much like Rome, too, in that everything takes longer than the world thinks it should. - The problem with Patheos


 

This is stunning. Archbishop Vigano at Notre Dame.

Not that Vigano was at Notre Dame, but what he said there.

I came across it at WDTPRS:

(CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has told the University of Notre Dame that there is a concrete “menace” to religious liberty in the U.S. that is advancing in part because some influential Catholic public figures and university professors are allied with those opposed to Church teaching.

“Evidence is emerging which demonstrates that the threat to religious freedom is not solely a concern for non-democratic and totalitarian regimes,” he said. “Unfortunately it is surfacing with greater regularity in what many consider the great democracies of the world.”

He discussed martyrdom, persecution, and religious freedom, with a particular focus on the United States.

“There is a divisive strategy at work here, an intentional dividing of the Church; through this strategy, the body of the Church is weakened, and thus the Church can be more easily persecuted,” the nuncio said. - WDTPRS
 

I say it is stunning not because I fear persecution and martyrdom so much - if God grants me the grace! - but because the hierarchy is acknowledging the threat publicly.  Most of my life I've been dismissed when I would talk about persecution and martyrdom coming to the United States.  As a kid, the nuns said it would never happen here - and over the years religious people have pretty much dismissed the 'likelihood' in our lifetime. 

Art:  Martyrs of Gorcum.  Imagine - they were killed simply for their faith in the Blessed Sacrament and their fidelity to the Pope.  Not all of them were all that holy either...

One of the secular priests killed was notorious for his unchastity. When accused of this by his captors, he offered his famous reply, “Fornicator I always was, but heretic I never was.” - Source

 

Dental hygiene

And latex-plastic gloves.

I think dentists and other health care workers began using gloves when the AIDS scare began.  Food service workers also use them to avoid cross contamination of food and utensils.

I was at a bagel shop ordering a sandwich a few years ago and watched the gloved worker make sandwiches, wiping the sandwich board with a damp rag - the same rag he used to wipe his gloves after ringing up customers and coming back to make the next person's sandwich - never washing his gloves nor bothering to change them between each activity.  Needless to say, he never sanitized the tools he was using either.

Likewise at the dentist's office.  Both the hygienist and the dentist wore gloves.  Both worked in my mouth - the dentist coming into the room from working on another patient had his hands in my moth to inject anesthesia.  The hygienist did paper work, dropped an instrument on the floor, picked it up, then went to retrieve an ex ray, came back in, worked on  cleaning my teeth....  never cleaned, changed, or removed her gloves at any point.  In fact, as I was paying at the desk, she wrote in my chart, invited the next patient in, and never washed her 'gloves'.

Yeah.  So I wonder where I picked up my infection?

I used to be a hypochondriac when I had health insurance, I went to the doctor all the time, mostly to get attention and pity.  Kidding - or am I?  Now however, since I've been uninsured for six years, I do not like to go at all.  I'm not and never have been a mysophobe, nor do I go to extremes to protect my health.  Of course I do things like get a flu shot and wash my hands frequently and do not use other people's chapstick - but that's about it.  I'm fine with getting sick - it is something to offer up.

But listen up health care workers, food service people, barbers and hairdressers* - remember your training.  Wash your hands, sanitize your instruments and workplace.  You can protect yourself - but it is your duty to protect your clients in the process.  That's why you wear the gloves.

*I go to a neighborhood guy to get my haircut - he has a shop - he never cleans his instruments, even after he drops them on the floor.  He used a towel to dry my hair before cutting it and was offended when I told his it smelled like mildew.  I know!  I sound like an old lady, but how hard is it to sanitize your tools and launder your towels?

Getting crafty...

S. Pascal Shrine

Painted by the blind.

I've been sick and cranky lately - I bet some readers may have noticed.  Add to that, my eyes are getting worse, so the surgery I keep putting off has to be done fairly soon.  I had to get my yearly physical and some dental work done first.  In the meantime, I've taken a break from serious painting to make my retablo stuff.  I've updated the art blog with a couple pieces that are somewhat presentable.  The one shown here is a wood panel I outlined with brass and added a tea-light votive holder to work as a kitchen shrine.

Religious Broadcaster News: Al Gore to launch 24 hour show.

Al

Signs... The Warning.

Al Gore, Climate Change* prophet on the "disturbing signs of things to come."

OTTAWA – Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore will try to make the case next week that "dirty energy" is contributing to what he calls "dirty weather" events around the world.

"Hurricane Sandy is a disturbing sign of things to come," Gore wrote in a recent opinion piece in the Huffington Post. "We must heed this warning and act quickly to solve the climate crisis. Dirty energy makes dirty weather."

Gore will deliver his message on Nov. 15 through a new presentation in New York as part of his Climate Reality Project, to be broadcast on the Internet. The initiative was launched last year as a 24-hour event with slide-show presentations from around the world, highlighting the latest news about human influence on global warming.

In his victory speech Tuesday, President Barack Obama said that Americans want their children to live in a country that "isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet." - Source
 

Sins... "vexatious litigant"

Greed and avarice and, and, luxury and deception?  There's money in religion - any religion.  Take your pick.

Amid the latest drama surrounding the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), should mainstream ministries seek reform or pull their programming?

Brittany Koper, the granddaughter of TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch and its chief financial officer until September 2011, has accused network directors of illegally distributing "charitable assets" worth more than $50 million for their personal use. In response, TBN has filed half a dozen lawsuits nationwide accusing Koper and her husband of engaging in a smear campaign to divert attention from their own financial sins.

The filings recently prompted a California federal judge to threaten to brand the network a "vexatious litigant" because its lawsuits seemed designed to "overwhelm the courts … so as to avoid a rational decision on the merits."

 

The Trinity Foundation, a group long critical of TBN, publicly called for ministries associated with evangelical icons such as Billy and Franklin Graham, Charles Stanley, Ron Luce, Jack Graham, and the late Adrian Rogers to withdraw from the network's airwaves.

 

"It's a spiritual and moral snake pit," said Trinity founder Ole Anthony. "TBN uses these legitimate preachers to justify [its] existence." - Source

 

""TBN uses these legitimate preachers to justify [its] existence."  Gee.  I wonder if bloggers ever thought about doing that in order to boost donations and ad revenue?

"We were just trying to make a living!

A minister has a family to feed, house, clothe,

and vacations to take ..."

Disclaimer:  BTW - I accept global warming theory - but I'm just not convinced man is entirely responsible for it.  It just might be part of Mother Earth's cycle - PMS maybe.

H/T Meryl Streep for the Jan Crouch photo/story.

Memento Morrie*: "Crackpot Bloggers"

"Crackpot bloggers"

Remember when Fr. Euteneuer coined that term?

That's all.

*BTW - did you realize that the film version of Tuesdays With Morrie was originally titled, Memento Morrie, but fans of the book thought it was too schmaltzie.

What?

Why would a guy in Government resign his position just because he had an affair?

Huh?

It is 2012.  CIA Director David Petraeus had an affair and he resigns?  Really?  They all have affairs.  They all screw around.

C'mon!

Story here.

Conspiracy theorists are going crazy!  With good reason.

There are many good things written since the election...

This is one of the best.

Reflection on the election.

Posted on 8 November 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Roman historian Livy wrote about the terminal decline of the Roman Republic that “Nec vitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus… We can bear neither our vices nor the remedies.”

Alas, I fear that our vices have called forth precisely the leaders that reflect those vices. The vices feed the leaders, and they the vices. 

We may no longer have the collective will to make the changes that must be made to change course.

The last couple days have prompted me to reflect on the Church’s primary job: to keep as many people out of hell as possible.

People will chose to sin, die in sin, no matter what we do to help them to a different course. We must strive to help save ourselves and as many others as possible.

St Augustine one day, in his basilica in Hippo, one day was preaching a tough message. He broke off his line of thought and explained that if he didn’t preach his tough message he could not be saved. If they listen or didn’t listen he was going to preach anyway and thus save his soul. “But” he concluded, “Nolo salvus esse sine vobis! … I don’t want to be saved without you!”

Now that we in the USA are, I think, are on a course toward the iceberg, we need to think soberly about how we will approach the time and resources we have left.

During this time when Benedict XVI has called us to revive the Faith where it has died or still just slumbers, get to work.

Will our shepherds be able to bear applying the remedies?

Augustine also said that the doctor doesn’t stop cutting just because the patient is screaming for him to stop.

Think frequent confession.

Think fallen away Catholics.

Think Four Last Things.

Sabeth...

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity.

Her memorial is November 8, or is it the 9th?  I'm not sure these days.  It doesn't matter since blesseds are usually only commemorated liturgically in their diocese or in the orders or institutes to which the belong. 

I was so in love with Therese of the Child Jesus and Carmelite spirituality, I wanted desperately to attach myself to Bl. Elizabeth.  I was disappointed however.  She wasn't Therese - nor was she that different from any fervent Carmelite... I thought.  Or was she?

Our Lady is honored as Decor Carmeli, Beauty of Carmel, her order 'blossom laden', if you will.  Carmel is an atmosphere of holiness - it is imbued with the odor of sanctity.  The Blessed Virgin's daughters are blossoms of virtue upon the vine of Carmel.  Each blossom, especially each saint, is completely unique.  Elizabeth is one of those very unique virgins imbued with doctrine, one who distilled the essential teachings of St. Teresa of Jesus and the Apostle St. Paul in a most 'ordinary' way.    I say ordinary, though in fact it be extraordinary, because her teaching is for ordinary souls.  Elizabeth understood her identity, her name in heaven, to be Praise of Glory.  She understood and experienced her entire being as the sanctuary, the tabernacle of the Most High, the dwelling place of the Blessed Trinity.  Her mission - yes - her very real 'mission' - her peculiar charism - was and remains so in heaven, to teach souls the mystery of the prayer of recollection - our heaven on earth.  Like Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection, Blessed Elizabeth understood the secret of sanctity, the secret of the indwelling of the Most Holy Trinity.   "God gives the lonely a place to live in..."  He in me, I in Him... on earth and in heaven for all eternity.

"I find Him everywhere while doing the wash as well as while praying."

"I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himself."

O my God, Trinity whom I adore; help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place. May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative Action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover You with glory; I wish to love You...even unto death! But I feel my weakness, and I ask You to "clothe me with Yourself," to identify my soul with all the movements of Your Soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your Life. Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior.

O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance.

O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, "come upon me," and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And You, O Father, bend lovingly over Your poor little crature; "cover her with Your shadow," seeing in her only the "Beloved in whom You are well pleased."

O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey. Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness. - Elizabeth of the Trinity

No lasting city...

Let the dead bury their dead.

Of course whenever I quote John of the Cross some readers who do not know me object because the counsel may not apply to them in their state in life. Nevertheless I believe there is something in John's precautions that is helpful for a soul's balance in ordering one's priorities.  So, let the dead bury their dead. That's pretty much my personal attitude about the election. When they ask for my shirt, I'll give them my coat as well.

As St. John says, "Take Lot's wife as an example, because she was troubled at the destruction of the Sodomites and turned her head to watch what was happening, God punished her by converting her into a pillar of salt. You are thus to understand God's will: that even though you live among devils you should not turn the head of your thoughts to their affairs, but forget these things entirely and strive to keep your soul occupied purely and entirely in God, and not let the thought of this thing or that hinder you from doing so."

If that doesn't work for you, maybe keep digging. 

How can you believe when you seek approval from men?

Christians are not approved by the world - indeed, Christians often do not approve of one another - all the snark online verifies that much. But how does that concern me when my job is to follow Christ? St. Seraphim Sarovsky assures us, "Keep yourself in peace and thousands around you will be saved." So there you have it - that is what I understand by the words, let the dead bury their dead. It is in reality a going out of sorts - outside the city gates, bearing the insult Christ bore. For here we have no lasting city; we are seeking one which is to come. Through him let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of lips which acknowledge his name. Our life is hidden with Christ in God and I need to fix my eyes on him, who inspires and perfects my faith.

Once again, that is what I need to do - let the dead bury their dead.

And have a drink on me ...

 

Post-Election Hangover.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Put no trust in princes,
In mortal men in whom there is no help. - Psalm 146

I smiled a bit last night when they announced Obama the winner.  How ironic, I thought.  Whose side is God on?

You have to marvel at God's providence.  I don't like to play 1930's Hollywood images of God in the clouds, but...

Imagine God as the big chief executive in the heavens, angels dressed in business suits running the 'operation'.  Reporting in, play by play, the prayers coming in, sometimes in fever pitch:  "God!  Don't let Obama get elected!"  "Make Romney our president!"  "Fix the economy!"  "Stop the storms!"  "Abolish poverty!"  "Amend our constitution!"  "Appoint for us judges who will rule according to ______ fill in the blank!"

Telling God what to do...

Sometimes it seems like that, don't you agree?  Especially when religious people of various stripes - predominately the self-appointed - tell you in minute detail what God expects of you... like 'save the planet and recycle your used toilet paper.'

Imagine half of the United States voters are probably all going to hell because they voted for Obama.  That's what some religious people have been saying - you're going to hell because of your politics.  Hell must be filled with Germans - the ones who voted for Hitler I mean - they will have to make room for U.S. citizens who voted for Obama.  (I'm just being sarcastic - don't get upset.  The ones who go to confession can got to purgatory.)

Evidently the Marriage Amendment didn't pass in Minnesota.  I'm against gay marriage - I say it all the time - and yes, I voted Yes on the ballot.  (A yes vote meant no gay marriage.)  Not because I am trying to avoid hell, but because I'm really against it and I am admittedly, an openly homophobic man.  Fact is - gay marriage is already illegal in Minnesota.  Of course the laws can be changed which is why the amendment was sought.  The vote was intended to anticipate the future... despite the notion "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."  That said, it looks like half of all Minnesota voters are on their way to perdition this morning.

And in Minnesota, where gay marriage is already not allowed, voters declined to back an initiative that would enshrine in the state's constitution a definition of marriage permitting only a union between a man and woman. - WSJ

Well I did the right thing - but I'm not trying to be smug about it.  I voted against some politicians I actually like and voted for a Mormon cult member whom I dislike.  Not for fear of going to hell  (although I am afraid of that), but because I am pro-life - I am against abortion - something not one righteous politician has been able to change for over 40 years, mind you.  I voted against SS marriage because - as I have said over and over - I'm honestly and truly against it and because homosexual acts are immoral and sinful, and that behavior really will get you a place in hell if you don't repent.  Abortion not so much though.  The women who get them aren't held accountable, and if they go to confession - it's all good - plus, if they do have the baby instead of aborting it, they in turn supply the market with adoptable children.

So what's my point with the cynical post-election day wrap-up? 

Nothing really.  Just venting.  Yesterday I was so crabby and cranky and angry.  So sick of the politics, the name calling, the condemnations, the mean-spiritedness - and that was just in my soul!  Imagine all of that cacophony hitting God's ears from the rest of the 'righteous' and those telling him what needs to be done, and or, what to do, when to do it, and how it should be done.

I'm sure when I click around to the online pundits, everything will be accounted for.  The blame will be passed around to this group of nuns or that governor or mayor - or on those people who just didn't get out on the campaign trail, and so on and so forth.  Don't even mention the bad Catholics and CINO's and the sacramentalized but unevangelized.

Then of course there is the more than 2 years of campaigning, more than 2 billion dollars spent on 'air-time' stuff to piss me off.  Air!  Air-time!  And still everything stays the same.  All the crap we went through!  Gingrich, Bachman, and all the other wanna be's!  We seem to elect people just for them to campaign to stay in office.  That is an annoying factoid of American life.  All the kings horses, all the kings men.  Today's Gospel comes to mind: "What king marching into battle would not first sit down and figure out if he could win..." 

On our money we print "In God we trust".

I wonder if we do?

 

 A king is not saved by his army,
nor a warrior preserved by his strength.
 A vain hope for safety is the horse;
despite its power it cannot save.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
 to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine. - Ps. 33

There's gonna be a fight...

Election Day: It's not funny.

The election is not funny.

It's no time for frivolity and clever remarks.

O Mary, conceived without sin, patroness of the United States, pray for us who have recourse to Thee, and for those who do not, especially the enemies of the Church and those most in need of Thy mercy.  Amen.
 

That's all.

Election judge...

Vote and do what you will...

Or wait.  Try this one:

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
 

Historical factoid:  All the bars and liquor stores used to be closed on election day in Minnesota.  Bars could serve liquor only after the polls had closed at 8PM.  It was tough in those days.

I forgot to post today.

I  haven't been online until this moment - or maybe I was on earlier?  Can't remember.

I was absorbed in a painting and completely forgot that I never did a post for today.  I never miss a daily post.

I'm so happy!  I do have a life!  I really do!

Prayers for the election.

My parish had Adoration and Benediction today for the election.  It was well attended and quite moving.

All will be well.

Photo credit.

Kat-Mart Special in Aisle 4

Maybe it's Maybelline...

Kat has a beauty post up!  Girly Blather...

It's about beauty cream.  I know!

Gosh!  Her posts make blogging fun again!

I keep hoping for a mud wrestling post.

Mass Chat: Reality check.

Marriage.


If I haven't made it clear before, I will do so now.

If only to watch my Followers app collapse and my stats hit zero.

I will vote Yes on the Marriage Amendment because I am all for protecting marriage and children.  I am also against same sex marriage.  Why?

• Same sex couples can not be married.  Though it is a sin, they can sleep together. They maybe can live together, love each other without sin - but their parts do not fit together to make a baby.  I once said to an abuser who tried to kiss me: "Men don't kiss each other!"  I found out they do.  They still can't be married.  Even if a civil law is changed, and they 'legally' marry - they still cannot be married in truth - it is still just a civil union - not a real marriage.  They can't redefine marriage to suit their preferences and circumstances. 
• Homosexual acts are gravely immoral.  Which is also why I am against same sex adoption - children are corrupted by immorality.
• Selfish self-indulgence and exaggerated self-love blind people into believing otherwise. 

Enough said.

On a lighter note.

Non-religious reasons why gays should not get married.

• Adds to the guilt.  If you choose to be monogamous that is.  One thing most gays cannot be is monogamous - unless they share.  One partner might be faithful, but it is very rare for gay men to remain faithful.  If they do manage to be 'faithful' then they probably use porn.  If, God forbid, they get kids, porn is like a gun in the house for kids - as well as their souls.
• Marriage can be a ball and chain after the wedding show and reception and the honeymoon period - especially without alcohol and anti-depressants.  The couple runs into performance issues, attractiveness issues, frequency issues - talking about sex here.
• Unequally yoked.  Big problem for men.  Don't couple down - one will always be 'less than'.  Outside of boredom, it is one of the main reasons men cheat.  All men encounter some level of feeling inadequate in their lives, but in same sex relationships the problem is pretty much always there under the radar.  Watch Modern Family.  Although a better example may be Hollywood/celebrity marriages - the successful actor and the less successful partner - the marriage often falls apart.  Even if you both are successful and rich - one of you wants to be king.  Gay pride has no room for humility - unless you're into discipline and bondage.
• Hollywood pretty much mirrors everything that most gay partnerships are.  Drama, glitz, glamour, unrealistic expectations, fantasy perfection, and anti-depressants... dramatic split-ups, multiple marriages, on and on.
• We can't redefine marriage to suit any groups preferences and circumstances.

Please don't hate me because I'm homophobic - Shirley, I don't hate you.

"Somethin's wrong with the plumbing, you say?"

 

Dozens of mentally disabled registered in stepped-up efforts by state...

Dozens more hold office.

Chapel Hill killer registered and voted from mental hospital.

Recent stepped-up voter registration efforts at state mental hospitals and facilities for the developmentally disabled resulted in the registration of Wendell Justin Williamson, who in 1995 killed two people in Chapel Hill and was judged not guilty by reason of insanity. - Source

I'm not sure anything illegal took place - except convicted felons aren't permitted to vote, right?  And they can't hold office.  So did the voters have to show ID?

Dozens.  Dozens isn't that many as far as votes are concerned.  Dozens in office pose the real poblem.

That said, the article made me wonder:  How many of these people have blogs? 

Novus Ordo watch...

Or rather: Celebrity priest watch.

SAO PAULO — One of Brazil's most famous priests has inaugurated a massive new Roman Catholic church that will hold about 20,000 worshippers when complete.

A mass was celebrated Friday in Sao Paulo to inaugurate the Mother of God sanctuary. It's been in construction for more than six years, and it will take several more to finish.

Father Marcelo Rossi is the driving force behind the project. He's a Latin Grammy-nominated Christian music singer and author of best-selling books in Brazil.

He tells the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper the church isn't meant as an answer to the rapid spread of evangelical churches in Brazil. Instead, the diocese served by the church badly needed a bigger structure.

Brazil has more Catholics than any other nation. - Source
 

Evangelical churches have made many converts in South American  countries - I hope the Catholic Church doesn't get too Protestant however.  I also hope the priests do not get caught up by pop culture and the cult of celebrity.

It will soon be over... the campaign and political phone calls.

I can't wait.

One call I answered by mistake was a woman sounding extremely desperate -  that if Obama is reelected the country will collapse into Socialism.  "Oh my gosh!" I said, "I heard that too!  Thanks for calling."  And I hung up.  I screen most of the calls and somehow don't make it to the door in time for the political volunteers.  One message left on my phone was for marriage - to protect it.  I already know that.  Even a local pastor stopped by - he wasn't Catholic - he left a card - which is how I found out he was a pastor.

I've also received emails asking me to make calls urging people to Vote Yes for the marriage amendment. 

Interestingly enough, both sides of the marriage issue are calling each other out for lying and exaggerating.  Both sides are getting desperate - if not contentious and contemptuous.

It will be over next Tuesday.  Kind of.  If the amendment passes, the repeal process will commence.  If it fails, we will go through this again.  No matter who wins the presidency - the winner will be disparaged for four more years. 

Despite what happens, the country is divided.  I doubt any kind of politics can fix that. 

Disaster preparedness and Sandy...

All your stored up goods... gone.

Fr. Z was right about one thing - go to confession because you never know the day or the hour - we all could die unexpectedly or from some disaster like Superstorm Sandy.  The death toll on the East Coast alone is at 109 and may continue to rise.  For those people who lost their lives, no disaster preparedness or stockpile of food and drink and warm clothes or fuel or ammunition could have helped them. 

The same with the folks on Staten Island and the Jersey Shore - especially Breezy Point.  Though many escaped with their lives, they lost their homes to the tidal waves as well as fire.  It is shocking to see the fottage of the neighborhood that was burned out - nothing survived save the foundations of the houses - everything else was consumed and reduced to rubble.  If these poor people had stockpiles of anything on the premises - it was gone - not just left behind, but gone.   No electricity, no water, no gas - no nothing.

I've been thinking of these things while praying for the victims.

So what can man do?  What can a man provide in exchange for his life? 

But God said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have prepared? - Luke 12:20

For no man buy his own ransom,
or pay a price to God for his life. - Ps. 49:8

Watch 'em grow...

Hot Blog

Seriously.  A star is born. 

I'll bet Patheos is panting... 

Hi Kat!

What?

St Martin de Porres - redux for his feast day

I loved St. Martin since a very young age.  At some point, I wrote to the Dominican friars to obtain a relic of the blessed when I was in 4th or 5th grade.  They sent me a 2nd class relic, a swatch of his tunic.  I now have a 1st class relic encased in a reliquary, along with his pals, St. Rose of Lima and St. John Macias.  I was attracted to St. Martin because he seemed to have garnered the very last place amongst Dominican saints.  He was a mulatto, a black, and 'only' a donate-brother.  Oddly enough, at that age I think I wanted to be black, since black people  seemed to be the poorest of the poor in our country at that time.  I had no comprehension that my family was also very poor for the times.  I often embarrassed my parents with sentiments like that.
.
Art:  Photography:  "Saint Martin de Porres"  -  Pierre et Gilles, 1990

Silver reliquary containing the relic of St. Martin, click to enlarge.

St. Rose and St. John Macias are also included.

St. Martin remains an indiscriminate wonder worker.  He is a helper for our animals and pets too.  Thank you St. Martin for Gabby's recovery.
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Adapting adoption... more thoughts.

We got kids.

I'm kind of glad I temporarily closed comments* on the blog - I actually feel free to really say what I want.  That said, some comments are getting through via email, and I liked one so much, I'll share it with you - bits and pieces, that is, respecting the anonymity of the author, since she/he did not give me permission to print what he/she had to say... as if that would stop me.  Anyway, she/he/it said stuff I should have said - the upshot being it/she/he completed my thoughts on some level.

Party of the first part:

Terry, there was a comment I wanted to leave last night under your previous post on adoption. I decided to sleep on it before I did, just in case it would be "too much." And then I woke up this morning, came to your blog again, and saw that you had anticipated it with this post anyway! =P

Or at least the blogger you have quoted did.
...
I used to be a huge champion of adoption, especially international adoption. What made me start changing my mind were the experiences of two friends, one of whom had mixed-race children in a country that is still overwhelmingly racially homogeneous (and proud of it) and the other of whom brought an Asian adoptee to a Western country.

The former loves his family very much, but the issues his children have had to face have made him a bit neurotic. He finally decided to move his family out of that country and to a home that's more of a "melting pot"--but before he did, he seriously considered finding a home near a Native American reservation. (I can't remember the specific tribe/nation, but apparently, his children could pass for members.) He just didn't want them to keep looking different from other kids their age. Now, his children are not adopted and were only 50% "other" to the rest of their original country, but they had issues so similar to those of the "foreign-born, mostly non-White kids" mentioned by the other blogger that their father is now a staunch opponent of international adoption.

As for my other friend, I will never forget her story of the day she brought her new daughter home from Indonesia, and her biological daughter said, "She's no longer Indonesian! She's Swedish now!" Granted, it was a beautiful expression of love from the older girl--a sign of her willingness to accept another child as a full-blooded sibling. But that's why the family will never understand how misguided it is. Yes, it's true that the baby will grow up Swedish, but it's wishful thinking to say that her Indonesian heritage will no longer be a factor in her life.

The debate over what makes a nuclear family is so focused on blood ties vs. love (as if the two are mutually exclusive) that one important point about the family is forgotten: a family is supposed to provide a connection to the past. Call it a living tradition, if you will--or even a hermeneutic of continuity! =P Parents who adopt will certainly be able to provide a lot of material resources and a lot of love . . . but they will not be able to provide that connection to the past.

Which reminds me. I totally oppose the adoption of orphans from predominantly Catholic countries by Protestant parents. Unless, of course, the children are raised Catholic. Hey, that's our condition for mixed marriages. Why not also for mixed families? =P And although I've just used a silly emoticon, I'm actually quite serious.
 

I agree.  However, even if the Protestants decided to raise the child Catholic - I would oppose it.  The Protestant influence would cause problems - in my opinion and experience.  My dad was Protestant and never converted until his death bed.  I was often harassed as a kid, and always threatened to be taken out of Catholic school, or kept home from Mass etc..  In a way that was a good thing because it prepared me for the opposition I encounter from gay people who oppose Church teaching on moral issues, such as homosexual behavior and gay marriage.

Party of the second part:

These days, I am deeply conflicted when it comes to adoption. On the one hand, I see all those children who need good homes--and they were already abandoned by their parents, so why shouldn't they be adopted by a couple that truly has a lot of love to give? But on the other hand, I've honestly yet to meet an adopted child who didn't need therapy of some kind.

The parents make me wonder, too . . . There is a lot of talk about adoption being a vocation, but I really think that for many infertile couples (or worse, couples with a messianic complex), this is just rationalisation using Christian terminology. There is exactly one case of interracial adoption that I think really involved a vocation from God: a white couple living in Jamaica (if I remember correctly) just kept getting black babies dropped off at their door. But I think they lost the plot when the whole family eventually moved to America (after the parents managed to find a town that would accept a family with ten or so black kids). The adoption mindset is that the children become what the parents are, but no one ever considers that it could go the other way around. It's not those kids who became American by adoption, but the couple that became Jamaican.

And if I hear one more person justifying this practice by quoting St. Paul, I will go a little nuts. Roman adoption was very different from our modern version. It was not about making some perfect family held together by love, but about the need for a male heir and a clear line of succession. It was political and very open. (Perhaps the truly damning thing about our own system is that records are sealed, as if parentage is a shameful secret.)

Oh, remember when I told you about a relatives best friend who had "two daddies"? Well, it's three daddies these days. =( Anyway, the "two daddies" adopted two boys, so this best friend has a brother. And that brother has been "acting gay" since he was little--to the delight of his adoptive fathers. I remember thinking, "Aren't they sad that their younger son won't have children of his own and will have to adopt like they did?" And then it hit me that their decision to adopt was never about having a family either. It was about having whatever they wanted because they could.
 

I'll just add that adoption has a pro-life hook to it these days.  We encourage it so that women who would otherwise abort or throw the newly born in the dumpster, will choose to offer their offspring for adoption.  It's not a bad thing, to be sure.  Although it's a little like a veterinarian opting to declaw/amputate a cat's toes, rather than have the owner euthanize it.  Likewise, it almost condones irresponsible sexual behavior and promiscuity, promoting a permissive mindset which is misunderstood as encouraging single parenthood.  Then there are the deeply disturbed Octo-mom types - but I digress.  Point is, human reproduction is really, really screwed up.  I blame it on the general decline and collapse of faith and morals - not to mention Franken-science; IVF, artificial insemination, contraception, fertility drugs, selective birthing, and so on.  Child abuse runs deep...

Links:

Quick shot: Gay dad sighting.

Reflections on the perils of adoption.

*Can't comment?  Got a blog?  Write your comment as a post and link to me.  I do it all the time for other bloggers.

Further reflections on the perils of adoption...

I did not know that.

From a blogger* I can't link to:

I have been following the murder case of Moses Alfredo Kamin, a 15 year old Hispanic adoptee who strangled his white adoptive parents in Oakland this past January. The reporting smelled to me of suppressed information, --no photo of the son exists anywhere online--I became curious. His lawyer is now asserting that the 5'9" 220 lb. boy with karate training has "Adopted Child Syndrome."

I discovered that adopted children have a significantly higher level of criminality than biological children. Including the rates at which they kill their parents. Apparently adopted kids are much overrepresented among serial killers, too. Ted Bundy, Son of Sam, Eileen Wuornos, Richard Speck and the Hillside Stranglers, for example. A study of foreign-born, mostly non-White, kids adopted by affluent Swedes showed them having significantly less success and more problems than biological Swede kids.

Adoption is seen by our culture as such a noble deed that it never really occurs to us to ask how the process actually turns out sometimes. It seem that telling a child that they are chosen does not deal with the internal sense of dislocation and rejection. 

The closing of adoption records to adoptees is understandable in some ways, but from the viewpoint of the child, to know that strangers know who his parents are but he cannot must make for a lot of frustration, if not rage.
[...]
In the ongoing battle about gay marriage, I wonder if studies about the outcomes of gay-raised kids, many of whom will be adopted, and a significant number of whom will be racially different from their new parents, will be compared to other adopted kids? - The author is gay and a former priest.
 

I question the findings as regards serial killers and criminality - I didn't see any stats on that.  I know couples who have a United Nations of adoptees - maybe I should call them and warn them.  If it's true, I'm surprised Mia Farrow is still alive.  Maybe Brad and Angelina should sleep with a gun. 

I have a friend whose parents adopted numerous children, in addition to their numerous natural born children.  Great Catholic family, quite wealthy too - deeply dysfunctional as well.  The adopted kids are resented by the natural children, and vice versa.  They are all well into their 40's by now and the issues remain.

People are so screwed up - why inflict more harm on kids?

*The site contains nudity and some of my readers are disturbed by that.  I might add that the author maintains anonymity. 

Blogging continues...

Just a slight reversal of fortune...

Splitting the Church, splitting the country, splitting friendships and families...

Something about marriage.

Deacon Kandra may be right:  "I have to wonder if same sex marriage will be the issue that finally and irrevocably rends the American church in two."

I think it is doing just that.

"We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-Gospel." - Blessed John Paul II as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in 1976.

Prayers for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Catholic bloggers devastated.

Due to Hurricane Sandy and the resulting widespread power outages on the Eastern Seaboard, blog stats and donations are way down around the blogosphere. 

Hopefully FEMA will have some storm relief funding to compensate their losses.

Prayers for Catholic Bloggers Online.

Another moving tribute: PETA seeks a commemorative sign...

Desperate search for survivor fish after the October 11 accident.

A commemorative sign to mark a tragic fish accident.

The heart breaking story:

An Irvine resident is requesting that the city install a sign to memorialize the hundreds of fish killed in a traffic crash in early October as they were being taken to Irvine Ranch Market.

The sign would read, "In memory of hundreds of fish who suffered and died at this spot," to remind tractor-trailer drivers of their responsibility to the animals who are "hauled to their deaths every day," according to the letter provided by PETA.

The crash occurred Oct. 11 when a truck, carrying 1,600 pounds of live fish and several tanks of pure oxygen, crashed with two other vehicles.

The oxygen was used to keep saltwater bass alive as the fish were being taken to market.
"Although such signs are traditionally reserved for human fatalities, I hope you'll make an exception because of the enormous suffering involved in this case," the letter read.

"Research tells us that fish use tools, tell time, sing, and have impressive long-term memories and complex social structures, yet fish used for food are routinely crushed, impaled, cut open, and gutted, all while still conscious. Sparing them from being tossed from a speeding truck and slowly dying from injuries and suffocation seems the least that we can do," the letter continued.  - Orange County Register
 

How many fish were injured, killed, tossed out of the ocean in Hurricane Sandy?

I don't know how much more I can take.  How many more fish have to die?!


 

Hurricane Sandy Update: Bergdorf's Still Closed!

I know!

Thankfully the store suffered no real damage.  What an apocalyptic, if not historic sight, the windows boarded up, the store closed.  I couldn't watch any more storm footage after seeing that.

Twitter Update:

 Bergdorf Goodman‏@Bergdorfs

Good to know! RT @MilEscal: Just saw that @Bergdorfs survived #Sandy! #goodnews

 

No word on Barney's or Tiffany's yet.  

NB: Bergdorf's boarded up for Irene last year as well.                  

Big Pulpit - raison d'être

 

 

Storm Warnings for the Eastern Seaboard.

Remember when it was just poor people in far away places like Bangladesh or Banda Aceh or Haiti or New Orleans that got all the bad storms?

Prayers.

The blog

“An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.” - Albert Camus

It is getting boring.  There is little left to say - as far as good things, things that could really help people.  Although that is presumptuous to say.  I can't help anyone.  I also seem to be repeating myself - year after year - writing pretty much the same stuff over and over.  Likewise, as I read other blogs, I notice the same pattern.  Repetitive blogging - until the next scandal or disaster.  But don't get excited - I won't stop blogging yet.  I know I'm a disappointment to you, but join the club.

It is difficult not to view most bloggers as meddlesome busybodies - not so much the professional sites and reputable bloggers, I'm thinking of many of the small wanna-bes.  I include myself in that category - I'm always self-critical about this stuff.

The blog interferes with daily life.  When I was working, it took over my job.  I never wanted to admit that.  I can't see how someone can actually write posts on a daily basis, sometimes posting several posts a day - as well as keeping up on news, blogs, and twitter, facebook, and all the rest without neglecting the duties of one's state in life.  When does one pray?

I've been asking myself:  Is your mind, your heart in your prayer, your duties - that is where Our Lord is?  Or do you experience everything as something to blog about - to discuss?  Do you watch yourself think, pray, act?  Do you focus your attention on the comments and links?  Are you checking your emails and com box all the time?  In other words, are you more interested in what people say and think - about you?  Do you spend time formulating responses?  Do you become upset that someone you don't even know said something that hurt your feelings?  Do you spend too much time defending yourself against the opinions of bloggers and commenters who do not even know you; those who have no power over you, nor ability to affect you or your salvation? 

Unless your job is to blog - and even then one can not only deceive oneself, one can also exploit the goodwill and generosity of others - I think there may be something wrong in your life - some responsibility you may be avoiding, some dissatisfaction you aren't recognizing.  Perhaps you are not being honest - at least with yourself. 

Maybe it's just me.

Gotta work on a painting.

Storms Predicted for the East Coast.

Who will Pat Robertson blame for this one?

Prayers for all suffering from the ravages of nature, evacuation, relocation, loss of property and possessions and life...

Mass Chat: Animal House

The Costume Mass.

It's for the kids, they just show up for Mass with their families and camera phones. Mass is reverent - no costumes for the priest or servers. At the end, before the blessing, all the kids land on the altar steps amidst great tumult, and Father speaks about the real meaning of Halloween - All Hallows Eve, saints and holiness, then everyone takes photos and videos on their cell phones, then the last blessing and then pandemonium.

It was stressful. I've been feeling stressed lately anyway - because of the elections and all the anti-Catholic nastiness and homo-hetro-phobia and personal health issues, and everyone knows I hate to complain - yet I had hoped for some recollection at church, but it wasn't to be found - in quiet, at least. After Mass was the pizza party, and before was the children's choir practice and the ushers were locked out of their room and there was a bit of commotion, and, and.

If one desires silence for recollection, one ought to join a monastery I suppose.

Of course we do not always need silence, but it would be nice at church sometimes. I was in the chapel before Mass to pray my rosary, and I suppose my eyes were closed when another man came in, sat beside me and got my attention by tapping his feet and clearing his throat. I think he just wanted to see if I was awake.

Christ walked in peace through the midst of them.

And the blind Bartimaeus prayed amidst the tumult.

We can too.

A Little Prince...

Please pray very much for my friend Wayne - he is a very good man - Catholic, and he works in social service, caring for the dying.  He's been ill and seems to have had a relapse.  (Mother Anne Marie, if you are reading...  Wayne needs prayers.)

Thank you.