Chateau du Meau

Monkey versus Robot

2012-01-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

So many of today's problem boil down this fundamental conflict...

This blog decidedly stands with Monkey.

Tebow Mania

2012-01-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I shouldn't, but I'm going to indulge myself in a little Tebow Mania.

It's really funny how the football experts and analysts continue to insist that Tebow doesn't have a future.

Really? He's already clearly better than:

Matt Moore
Kevin Kolb
Tavaris Jackson
Christian Ponder
Blaine Gabbert

and he will get injured a lot less than:

Colt McCoy
Sam Bradford
& Michael Vick.

Tebow will definitely have a job in the NFL as a quarterback.

New Online Journal

2012-01-07T04:51:00.000-08:00

Humanum

Here's a new online journal dealing with Family, Culture and Science. The first issue deals with the child and has several interesting articles and book reviews.

Article Published in HPR

2012-01-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

A version of the talk I gave at a conference for diocesan and parish educators at Catholic University in 2010 was just published in Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

National debt now over GDP

2012-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Is this real? We owe more than the whole country can generate in a year?

Article

Your Tax Dollars

2012-01-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

Your tax dollars, almost $500 million, goes to Planned Parenthood.

Article

This is where public education is going

2011-12-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

K12 Inc, based in Virginia, is the largest virtual K to 12 school in the country. Here are a series of articles about how they are scamming states and the public:
Scamming States
Big Money in Virtual Ed
Rapid Rise of Virtual Ed

Cursive is key mental training

2011-12-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

As society quickly moves away from paper to screens and from pens and pencils to buttons and stylus', some people are realizing what we are losing.Here's an interesting Wall Street Journal article that links writing, especially cursive writing, with valuable mental abilities.

Many school systems are dropping cursive writing entirely.

Vension

2010-01-26T11:10:00.000-08:00

I butchered a deer for the first time a few weeks ago. One of the things that made it easy was that it was a good a clean kill. After gutting and skinning, I just cut the backstraps off and quartered the young doe.

I aged the cuts in a cooler for a week. Then I marinated a hindquarter in buttermilk for 4 days (froze the rest). Then we roasted it for 1 1/2 hrs, sliced it and panfried the slices in Montreal steak seasoning.

It was delicious--less gamy than lamb. My wife was very skeptical of the whole endeavor, but she was happily shocked with the result.

A Brand New Painting: Adding to Christopher West

2009-10-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

Christopher West and I both went to the John Paul II Institute and it has been a long time since I have seen him. I knew that he was doing a lot of great work in speaking and writing about the Theology of the Body, but last spring he caused a bit of a stir by appearing on Nightline and comparing Pope John Paul II to Hugh Hefner. Many people were scandalized that the two were even mentioned in the same sentence. Other people quickly came to Chris’ defense by pointing out that he was badly taken out of context. So when I heard that Chris was going to speak at Holy Trinity Parish in Gainesville, I was excited for the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend and hear Chris West in person.

When Chris began his talk I quickly remembered what a dynamic speaker he is. Chris was extremely engaging as he began to introduce the Theology of the Body and explain God’s beautiful plan for man and woman. The union between man and woman in marriage was meant from the beginning to be a small window into God’s infinite love for us. Chris is great at using images, stories and even song lyrics to illustrate his points. In one of his points he had us think about a painting of the creation of man and woman. He said that this painting might be the most beautiful painting in the world because it depicts one the original truths about man and woman. Before original sin, Adam and Eve were naked and yet maintained a purity of heart. They were able to form a nuptial union by giving themselves freely to each other in the way God intended.

Original sin causes a great disruption to the original unity of Adam and Eve. Lust enters the human heart and it becomes very difficult to understand the real purpose of sexuality let alone fulfill it. The beautiful painting of man and woman becomes distorted and twisted. Because there is so much confusion about God’s plan for man and woman, there has been a strong temptation throughout history to completely repress sex and sexuality. Chris calls this reaction Puritanism and says it’s like throwing the beautiful painting (albeit marred by original sin) into the trash basket.

Yet all men and women are hungry for the truth about God’s plan for sex and sexuality. Here is where Chris started to explain his comparison of Hugh Hefner and John Paul II that he used on Nightline. Hugh Hefner realized that there was an immense appetite for the truth, but people will gladly feed on the perverted truth. So Hefner pulled the twisted and marred painting from the trash and presented it for mass consumption. And for almost fifty years the feeding frenzy on the pornography has generated billions of dollars and has caused the destruction of countless lives.

Pope John Paul II also recognized that there was a burning desire for truth, but instead of recovering the distorted painting, he has been trying to draw our attention to the beauty of its original state. At this point, Chris did not continue the analogy and I became a little disappointed. By the end of his talk, I felt that the analogy of the painting was still incomplete. I realize that Chris’ presentation that night was just his introductory talk and it is impossible to do justice to Theology of the Body in one night. But Chris left out something crucial for the rest of Theology of the Body and how we talk about it.

If I had the chance I would have ask Chris if the redemption of the body brings about a restoration of the painting or a completely new painting. It is certainly true that in recovering the theological history of man and woman, John Paul II draws our attention to their original state of nakedness and purity. But instead of a restored painting, the redemption of the body brings about a completely new painting for the Cross of Christ makes us new creations (cf. Gal 6:15). In this painting man and woman are clothed, not in figs leaves trembling with fear, but they are covered in royal clothing like the famous painting of the betrothal. John Paul II spends the bulk of his Catechesis on Human Love drawing our attention to this new painting, which is more beautiful and greater than the original.

The fact that man and woman are clothed is an extremely pivotal point in the new painting. The clothed man and woman become the new paradigm in the Theology of the Body. Before original sin, man and woman not only see each other without lust, but they are also able to grasp the glorious mystery of sex and sexuality with purity. After the Fall, it becomes necessary to the guard the mystery from lust and exploitation. Christ makes it possible to glimpse the mystery of man and woman again thorough grace and virtue, but guarding the mystery is still a necessity.

Here it is important to understand that in the tradition of the Church, mystery is not something baffling and unknowable. Rather, the mysteries of the Church are great secrets that are gradually understood when they are lived. The mysteries are like precious pearls and Christ warned us to be cautious about throwing the pearls before swine (cf. Mt 7:6).

Modesty guarding mystery becomes the crucial paradigm for the rest of the Theology of the Body. In fact, John Paul II refers to it as the new “mode of communication” for man and woman after the Fall. This new mode of communication is even important for couples within marriage for lust and perversion easily enters married life. The significance of mystery and modesty is so important, it should even temper of how we discuss and promote Theology of the Body. Let me give an example.

During his presentation, Chris asked to see a show of hands of the people who grew up in a household where God’s glorious plan for man and woman was never talked about openly. Virtually everyone raised their hand. Chris characterized this as starvation. When people are starved there is a great tendency to gluttony when any kind of food finally comes along whether it be beauty or perversion. Chris said that the starvation diet is the primary reason for the perversion feeding frenzy. Rather than starvation or gluttony, Chris proposed that we should be feasting on God’s glorious plan for sex and sexuality.

I would offer that the alternative between starvation and gluttony is not necessarily feasting, but fasting. In this analogy, fasting is more in keeping with modesty; it is more along the lines on the new painting of man and woman clothed with dignity. Fasting is not the same as starvation; it cultivates self-mastery and steers us away from gluttony, which better prepares us for the feast. Not every household that doesn’t openly talk about the glorious mysteries of sex and sexuality is a case of starvation. They could be fasting; they could be guarding the mystery. It all depends on how the mystery is lived out by the parents and the family and sometimes non-verbal means are the most powerful ways of conveying mystery.

It is obvious that this current culture of death is saturated with the perverted notion of sex and sexuality. Building a Culture of Life does not necessarily mean we should saturate the world with an open presentation of the truth of sex and sexuality. In order to effectively build a Culture of Life, we have the much more difficult task of recovering a proper understanding of mystery and restoring modesty in all things.

Awesome Critiques of Chris West

2009-06-12T04:56:00.000-07:00

Chris West is a friend. In fact, we jammed together at the Cowboy Cafe some 10 years ago. But I have had disagreements with his interpretation and presentation of John Paul II's Theology of the Body for a long time.

One of the problems in general is that it really shouldn't even be called Theology of the Body. The official Italian publication of the Pope's Wednesday Audiences from 1979 to 1984 is titled Uomo e donna lo creo: Catechesi sull'amore umano.

It would be better if everyone knew it as the Catechesis on Human Love. Waldstein's new translation, which was much needed, does use the title Man and Women He created Them, but still retains Theology of the Body as subtitle.

Having John Paul II's teaching known as Theology of the Body seems to overstress the role of the body and shifts emphasis of the teaching to sex and sexuality, which was not the Pope's intent. While the body and sexuality are an essential, they are to be understood with in the context of the whole person still effected by original sin and the person's invitation to participate in the Divine Mystery.

David Schindler, Dean of the John Paul II Institute, has written two insightful critiques of Christ West that I think are much needed. With the rapid rise in the popularity of Theology of the Body, largely from Christ West presentations, there needs to be further discussion which takes into account other views on the Pope's teaching outside of the United States.

Schindler's Critiques One & Two

Hog Fathers

2008-07-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

If you are ever going though Washington, PA, you have to stop at Hog Fathers.

Great BBQ, hand-cut fries and homemade battered onion rings and they put onion rings on the pulled pork sandwich--AWWWESOME!

Hannah Coulter

2008-07-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

I just finished Hannah Coulter and it has impressed me enough to want to read more of Wendell Berry's Port William series. As far as contemporary writers, Wendell might be the most talented out there right now. His descriptions of relationships and personal dealings is superb.

His depiction of courtship between Hannah and Virgil is very cool even for guys.

His concept of Membership is intriguing. It's an obvious response to the personal alienation common in today's society. It is obviously not a Catholic answer though. Berry is obviously a religious man, but it seems to be a more privatized protestant religion that is pervasive in America. Life in the Membership does

include depictions of Religious activities or church attendance. In contrast, we just watched John Ford's (a Catholic) How Green is My Valley (one of his best) and religion (albeit Protestantism) is intertwined with life in the Welsh valley town.

I found Jayber Crow in the library. I'm told I need read Place on Earth, which is told from Virgil's dad 's perspective. I guess I'll have to look around on Amazon for a used copy.

Back in Full Force

2008-07-10T17:20:00.001-07:00

The FCC tried to block this signal, but there's no way they can keep this force down.

Review of Apocalypto

2007-03-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

I liked Apocalypto. Its depiction of true masculinity in the all-out, do or die imperative to protect wife and children was very obvious. Plus righteous violence is exhilarating.

Chris West has a good review of the movie along these same lines.

Interesting Article on Jeb

2007-02-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

What Would Jeb Do?

My Friend KK Gives Her Oscar Predictions

2007-02-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

The 78th Annual Academy Awards are upon us. Tune in Sunday, February 25th at 8pm ET to see if my following predictions are on the money.

Best picture nominees: Babel ; The Departed; Letters From Iwo Jima; Little Miss Sunshine; The QueenI have seen all but "Letters from Iwo Jima " (and while it might be a good film, it is 75% in Japanese and I cannot see it winning for that reason alone). The Departed was a great film that kept you on the edge of your seat and was very well written and performed, so I predict this as the winner because ever since "Goodfellas" lost to "Dance with Wolves", the Academy owes us! "Little Miss Susnshine" should get an honorable mention here though.

Best director nominees: Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima; Stephen Frears, The Queen; Paul Greengrass, United 93; Alejandro; Gonzales Inarritu, Babel ; Martin Scorsese, The DepartedScorsese really deserves it as he continues to get snubbed by The Academy all the time.

Best actor nominees:Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond; Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson; Peter O'Toole, Venus; Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness; Forest Whitaker, The Last King of ScotlandThis one is extremely hard for me, as I thought Will Smith did an incredible job in the film and played such an upstanding character. I do not think The Academy will choose him though. Forest Whitaker did an exceptional job portraying brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. It is hard to find an actor that can portray someone that was both loved and feared and Whitaker carries this off and at times just makes you want to laugh, while also wanting him dead.

Best actress nominees:Penelope Cruz, Volver; Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal; Helen Mirren, The Queen; Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada; Kate Winslet, Little Children; Meryl Streep is one of the greatest actresses of our time and while she played a fierce Miranda Priestl,y I do not think the Academy will choose her this time as she has gotten her share of Oscars in the past. I believe Helen Mirren will walk away with The Oscar this year for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II. She is able to hold true to the elegance and royal demeanor of her role as Queen while being set in a more modern day "Blairish" England.

Best supporting actress nominees:Adriana Barraza, Babel ; Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal; Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine; Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls; Rinko Kikucki, Babel ;I would LOVE to see Abigail Breslin win this award as she is such a young hard working actress and her relationship with Alan Arkin in this movie was one of the best childhood relationships we have seen since Harold and Maude. However, I think Jennifer Hudson will win this one as not only her vocal performance but her acting performance was superior. I cannot even believe what Jennifer has accomplished in her last couple of years since auditioning for American Idol.

Best supporting actor nominees: Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine; Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children; Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond; Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls; Mark Wahlberg, The Departed After Djimon Hounsou was overlooked by the Academy in 2002 for his role of Mateo in "In America"; I thought he should stop acting altogether. By much to my surprise he forged on and came back even stronger in "Blood Diamond". I would love to see him win this award, but I believe that Eddie Murphy will walk away with it because "Dreamgirls" was such a different movie for him and he played a rare role for a guy that is accustomed being Dr. Doolittle. It will be well deserved for either of these actors.

Best animated feature film nominees: Cars; Happy Feet; Monster HouseI hate the selection of nominees in this category. "Cars" deserves this, but Happy Feet will win because of the "politically correct" story it tells. ARGH!

Personally I thought the ending of the Departed was pathetic and so poorly written that it shouldn't get nominated for anything. Except DiCapprio was great and should get best actor.

Walker Texas Ranger

2007-02-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

Chuck Norris is so Cool...

Martial Arts and Film Legend Chuck Norris Now Fights Abortion
“Walker Texas Ranger” Star Now Gives a Roundhouse Kick to the Face of Abortion

Back!

2007-01-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

After a bit of a hiatus, I'm back and bloggin with Monster Truck Force!

Something Has To Go

2005-09-04T03:47:00.000-07:00

With a new baby coming, seven class preps, selling a house, building a house, and fantasy football there's no time to update the blog. Oh did I mention that I'm supposed to be writing a thesis too.

Chateau du Meau will be suspended indefinitely.

The Damaging Culture of Silence

2005-08-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

Fr. Jerry Pokorsky just wrote an outstanding article in the recent Catholic World Report. I wish I could get the whole article up, but here are a few choice quotes.

The priesthood has been made a suspect class, in need of criminal background checks and fingerprinting. As Martin Luther did in the 16th century, some activists today also use the undoubted presence of scandal as an opportunity to attack the Church herself: at argue that we must allow married priests, ordain women, promote gay rights, and so forth. The most predictable response has been from the bureaucracy of the American bishops, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. If Martin Luther taught "salvation by faith alone," it might be said that the bishops' approach is "salvation by policies, procedures, and protocols alone."

In the rush to receive gold stars from the auditors, many bishops introduced new bureaucratic procedures that filtered down into parishes: diocesan offices were established; sex education ("Good Touch, Bad Touch," "Talking about Touching") curricula disguised as "child safety" programs were devised; priests, employees and volunteers were fingerprinted; criminal background checks were demanded, thereby making not only priests but all Church employees a suspect class.

Irene

2005-08-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

Susan Torres' Husband and Parents Reveal Strange Happening on Night of Susan's Tragic Collapse

2005-08-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

"You and others will tell the world of a fight to save a precious life, not to change hardened hearts, but to give hope to those who believe, so that they know that there is more than what they see and hear. Let them come and see for themselves.”

Report

Good Mini-Series

2005-07-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

I liked this mini-series. It's over now, but I'm sure it will be out on DVD soon.

Sarah Scantlin's Miracle

2005-07-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

This could have happened to Terri... if someone hadn't killed her.

----

Sarah, lying in this bed nearly 20 years, brain-damaged, blank, speechless, immobile, staring out the same window. Couldn't talk to the people who came to talk to her. Couldn't say change the channel. Couldn't say shut up. Couldn't say scratch that itch . . .

Sarah, who 20 years ago was run down by a drunk driver, the impact throwing her into the path of a second car that slammed her forehead and left her so damaged nobody understood how her body survived, let alone her mind.

Sarah. They didn't know that as she lay in that bed, with her mouth gaping, face wretched in a silent agony, body atrophying, feet gnarling, fists clenched across her chest, tight, as if she were afraid, big, blue eyes staring out like she was trapped . . . They didn't know that as she lay there, something in her brain was mending.

People came and people went. Some grew up and some grew old. Some gave up and went away, guiltily diving into their own lives as Sarah Scantlin lay in that bed. Never believing she would do anything more than lie there and stare into oblivion, or wherever it is that brain-damaged people go, hovering between now and then, nowhere and somewhere, just out of reach.

Then six months ago, Sarah came back.

Sarah spoke.

Article

Church Cannot Baptize Babies of Same-Sex Couples Says Quebec Cardinal

2005-07-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

"If I take the example of the ceremony of baptism, according to our Canon law," said the Cardinal during his testimony at the Committee on Wednesday, "we cannot accept the signatures of two fathers or two mothers as parents of an infant. With a law that makes these unions official, situations of this will multiply and this threatens to disturb not just the use of our territory, but also our archives and other aspects of the life of our communities."

Ouelett's statement to the committee partially reflect the fact that there is little well-founded hope that a baby brought into a homosexual home, which homosexual 'parents' have no intention of altering their lifestyle, will be brought up in the Catholic religion, since homosexuality is so fundamentally contrary to Catholic teaching. The couple is demonstrating a public, persistent contempt for fundamental Catholic teaching by their relationship.

Article

Federal Money to Planned Parenthood Increases Again

2005-07-14T04:35:00.000-07:00

Feel good about paying your taxes?

Read about Title X funding

Fr. Brainerd Gets the Shaft

2005-07-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

Wash Times

Brainerd is a great priest and knows Latin like nobodys business. Some college is going to get a great Latinist/Chaplain.

An Intelligent Slogan for an Intelligent Campaign

2005-07-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

The only logic behind such gross stupidity has to be the unabated desire to profit from sexually transmitted diseases and abortions.

Look at the campaign.

Openly Gay Deacon

2005-07-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Article

Bush Tells Consevatives to Shut It

2005-07-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

I guess this is the sign that Bush is going to screw us over.

Article

Supreme Court Battle Written by a Friend of Mine

2005-07-05T04:18:00.000-07:00

Article

A Lot of Gay Companies Out There

2005-07-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

Article

Very Scary

2005-06-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

Scientists may Create Human Ova and Sperm from Embryonic Cells

Archbishop Chaput Weighs In On Illegals

2005-06-22T03:59:00.000-07:00

Americans have a right to secure borders, especially in a time of anti-American violence. We have a right to reasonably regulate our immigration policies. We have a right to exclude criminals and protect the health of our public institutions and services. We have a right to verify foreign visitors and guest workers, and to expect their compliance with the law.

But we can't have it both ways. The vast majority of undocumented Hispanic immigrants in the United States never commit a violent act, have no desire to undermine the common good and contribute vitally to American prosperity. Thousands of farmers and businessmen rely on their services. The life many of us enjoy depends, in part, on the labor of "illegals." Taking advantage of their work, and then blaming them for being here, is a uniquely unworthy form of hypocrisy.

Full Article

Great Summer Drink for the First Day of Summer

2005-06-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

Try chilled Beaujolais, one of the few reds that serve well cold. Who wants to drink warm wine in the summer?

Baggage?

2005-06-21T03:19:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this guy has a website and the nerve to talk about someone else's baggage?

We should recall the whole episode that cause Weakland to resign in shame.

Another Kind of Father's Day

2005-06-21T03:13:00.000-07:00

This all began for him a decade ago in a small locked room of the California Cryobank, where, amid soft-porn tapes and magazines, he produced semen that was sold around the world. Only in the late 1990s, about five years after he had made his first deposit, did he acquire any sense of his sperm's appeal, when he was lured out of donor retirement by the flattering news that at least two unidentified women had contacted the cryobank and requested that Donor 929 provide additional semen so that they could have more children by him. This was done successfully -- his final specimens enabling McGhee to bear her second child.

Article

* * *

I'm glad he was only surrounded by soft-porn tapes and magazines in that room. If it was hard-porn, it really would have sullied this whole story.

Susan Torres Story

2005-06-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

USA Today

Wash Times

The Susan Torres Fund
To Help with Their Med Bills

Arlington Diocese

2005-06-16T03:56:00.000-07:00

This year the Diocese ordained four men, but nine retired or left the Diocese--a "-5" net gain. This has been going on for a few years. It's a far cry 1996 (13 ordinations), 1995 (10 ordinations), or 1991 (8 ordinations). It's gotten to the point where a large parish like St. Andrew's in Clifton only get's two priests.

Check out all the new priest assignments for Arlington here.

And You Thought Those Guys Were Doing Mission Work

2005-06-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

Article

2005-06-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

This Horse Had A Lot of Power

2005-06-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

Afleet Alex Wins at the Belmont

Vatican Strategy Works on IVF Vote

2005-06-14T04:03:00.000-07:00

Italian IVF Referendum Ends with Half the Required Vote

Vikings: Still Raping and Pillaging?

2005-06-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

10,000 little Vikings Company in Denmark proliferates as demand for designer babies grows

Cool Story

2005-06-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this was printed in the Wash Post

Another Independent Catholic School

2005-06-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

New Catholic elementary school planned for Albany

Biffi Draws Attention to the Antichrist

2005-06-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, now 77, was archbishop of Bologna from 1984 to 2003. A theologian and a great scholar of Saint Ambrose, he has assembled some of his writings which are not strictly theological in a volume recently published by Cantagalli.

The title of the book: "Pinocchio, Peppone, l’Anticristo e altre divagazioni [Pinocchio, Peppone, the Antichrist, and other Meanderings].”

The Antichrist referred to in the title is the one described by Russian philosopher and theologian Vladimir Sergeyevich Soloviev in the last book he wrote before his death in 1900: "The Three Dialogues and the Story of the Antichrist."

In Soloviev's tale, the Antichrist is elected president of the United States of Europe, acclaimed as emperor in Rome, takes possession of the entire world, and finally imposes his command even over the life and organization of the Churches. But what Cardinal Biffi calls to attention is not this series of events, but rather the personal characteristics of the Antichrist. Here follow a few passages from his essay, which deserves to be read in its entirety, in which the cardinal summarizes these personal traits and explains what lesson they hold for the Church of today:

Full Article

-----

It's interesting that many people think that the Antichrist will be the head of some super-national organization like the UN or EU.

Who is widely touted as the next head of the UN?

This Seems Like a Sensible Tactic

2005-06-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

Bill requires ultrasound prior to an abortion

Get Ready for More Anglicans to Cross the Tiber

2005-05-31T03:18:00.000-07:00

Anglican Church of England Will Allow Gay Clergy to “Marry”

Good News For Moms

2005-05-31T03:15:00.000-07:00

Women who have Many Babies at Reduced Risk for Several Cancers

Farwell to the Saintly Salmagundi

2005-05-27T02:57:00.000-07:00

Friend and former class-mate, Fr. Bryce Sibley, has decided to hang up the keyboard and lay his blog, A Saintly Salmagundi, to rest. His reasons deserve respect. Ad multos annos!

Fr. Bryce has posted many memorable items. We will have to revisit some of the best from time to time.

Pro-Life Majority In The House -- NOT!

2005-05-25T03:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the roll call on the latest stem cell bill that passed the House. Fifty Republicans voted for killing human embryos with federal funds.

Close But No Cigar

2005-05-24T03:28:00.000-07:00

I had two Trifecta tickets with Afleet Alex to win and Giacomo in third, but failed to pick Scrappy T for second in either one at the Preakness. C'est le vie.

The Belmont will be interesting.

I Knew It

2005-05-24T03:22:00.000-07:00

Senate GOP Wimps Out Over Judicial Nominees

You can bet that the Dems will renege when a Supreme Court nominee comes around.

Decent Movie

2005-05-21T03:04:00.000-07:00

Besides the good basic values, this movie portrays a decent side of everyday old-school blue-collar Catholicism among young families. I wonder if this type Catholicism even exists any more.

Preakness Lineup

2005-05-19T03:55:00.000-07:00

The field for Saturday's 130th Preakness Stakes:PP. , Horse, Jockey, M/L Odds

1. Malibu Moonshine, Hamilton, 20-1
2. High Fly, Bailey, 9-2
3. Noble Causeway, Stevens, 10-1
4. Greeley's Galaxy, Flores, 15-1
5. Scrappy T, Dominguez, 20-1
6. Hal's Image, Santos, 50-1
7. Closing Argument, Velasquez, 5-1
8. Galloping Grocer, Bravo, 30-1
9. Wilko, Nakatani, 10-1
10. Sun King, Bejarano, 15-1
11. High Limit, Prado, 12-1
12. Afleet Alex, Rose, 5-2
13. Giacomo, Smith, 6-1
14. Going Wild, Albarado, 30-1

Full field.

Not Good

2005-05-19T03:48:00.000-07:00

NOAA hurricane forecasters are predicting another above-normal hurricane season on the heels of last year's destructive and historic hurricane season. "NOAA's prediction for the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season is for 12 to15 tropical storms, with seven to nine becoming hurricanes, of which three to five could become major hurricanes,"

Sick: New TV Show about a Fertility Clinic

2005-05-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

Inconceivable

Schindlers Received by the Vatican

2005-05-18T03:34:00.000-07:00

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace council, received the two today, who thanked the cardinal for mobilizing forces in an attempt to save their daughter's life, "practically condemned to death by United States courts at the request of the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo," explained a press statement published by the council.

Article

Stats on the Link Between Homosexuals and Child Sexual Abuse

2005-05-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

HOMILETIC & PASTORAL REVIEW

Was There Any Hope for Terri Schiavo

2005-05-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

Schiavo-like woman speaks after 2½ years
Doctor: 'I have never seen this happen in my career'

Who Said Judges Aren't Important

2005-05-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Will the GOP wimp out on the Nuclear Option?

Here's what's at stake:

Federal Judge Strikes Down Nebraska Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

Can this scruffy horse win the Trip?

2005-05-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

New Pro-Life/Pro-Family Slogan

2005-05-10T02:23:00.000-07:00

New Slogan (not for kids)

Superfecta!

2005-05-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

The Superfecta is when you bet on the top four places of a horse race.

Last Saturday's Kentucky Derby Superfecta paid $864,000 and some change. Seven people won!

Is Giacomo the Next Seabisquit?

2005-05-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

G-Man

2005-05-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

The G-Man was dropped by WTNT 570 AM. For those you in the DC area, you can get the G-Man on WMET 1160 AM 2pm to 4pm.

Ok, he might be a bit of a perv, but he's a lot more interesting than the pill-popping fat guy.

Firsthand Account of an Accident

2005-05-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Listen to this. It's very funny.

McCarrick turns 75 in July

2005-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Cardinal McCarrick turns 75 in July!

Wash Times

Who is on the short list to succeed McCarrick and become a cardinal?

Archbishop Raymond Burke

His sweet article on Communion to Pro-Abortion Policiticians

MS-13

2005-05-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Wash Post Article

Compromise Satisfies No One

2005-05-02T03:40:00.000-07:00

Washington Post Review 1 & Review 2.

Orlando Bloom as the lead?

1. Talk about "no gravitas" for a heroic lead role!
2. Was the main goal to attract teenage girls to a movie about the Crusades?

B-16's Car in Ebay

2005-05-02T03:34:00.000-07:00

Allzeit gute Fahrt haben Sie sicher in diesem Golf IV der ganz besonderen Art.Unglaublich, aber wahr: Bis vor wenigen Monaten gehörte dieses edle Stück keinem Geringeren als dem jetzigen Papst Benedict XVI. (Josef Kardinal Ratzinger).

Ebay

Very Interesting and Believable

2005-04-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

THE DE-HOMOSEXUALIZATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
By Dr. Jack Wheeler

A Vatican source has disclosed to To The Point a psychological trauma of John Paul II. Whenever Vatican investigators brought the results of their vetting process regarding an individual’s candidacy for bishop, cardinal, or other office, and they revealed he was a homosexual, John Paul II would refuse to believe it.

He did so because accusing someone of homosexuality was a standard practice of the Communist government in his native Poland regarding anyone it regarded as an enemy of the state. From his ordination as a Catholic priest in 1946 to elevation to Archbishop of Krakow in 1963 and Cardinal in 1967, the then Karol Wojtyla witnessed this personal destruction repeatedly. So traumatized, he summarily dismissed such accusations as Pope, and would approve the elevation of anyone so accused.

This is why the Catholic Church, from Bishops in Boston to the Vatican itself, is riddled with homosexuals today. As the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger learned who the homosexuals are in the Vatican and the almost 3,000 dioceses in the world. As Pope Benedict XVI, he will encourage their departure from the priesthood.
---
Unfortunately you have to pay for the rest of the article.

Thanks to Fr. Bryce.

This MIght Be A Challenge to Lawrence v Texas

2005-04-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

Because of a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, the Louisiana law is not being enforced as it applies to consensual, noncommercial sex between adults. But the law remains on Louisiana's books, and LEGAL wants the courts to toss it out.

Article

Egan Pulls Catholic Title From College

2005-04-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

The Archdiocese of New York has determined that Marymount Manhattan College is no longer a Catholic institution. The college has been under protest by the Cardinal Newman Society for inviting pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Clinton to give its commencement address and receive an honorary degree on May 20.

Article

This Should Make You Feel Good About Paying Your Taxes

2005-04-28T03:07:00.000-07:00

Soros Foundation Given $30 Million by US Government

The Open Society Institute, a private foundation controlled by liberal billionaire and political activist George Soros, received more than $30 million from U.S. government agencies between 1998 and 2003. Last year, Soros donated at least $20 million of his own money to such liberal groups as Moveon.org, in a failed attempt to block the re-election of President George W. Bush.

Records show that the Open Society Institute has in turn funded:

$4.41 million to the American Civil Liberties Union and its state affiliates,

$500,000 to the Pro-Choice Education Project to launch a (pro-abortion rights) "public education and media strategy,"

$100,000 to the Death Penalty Information Center, an organization that works against capital punishment,

$100,000 to Catholics for a Free Choice, a religious group that advocates for abortion rights,

$100,000 to the Pennsylvania Coalition to Save Lives Now "to support needle exchange programs,"

$80,000 over three years to the Gay Straight Alliance Network, to promote "a traveling photo documentary exhibit by lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and questioning youth,"

$45,000 to the Democracy Matters Institute "to bring the campaign finance reform movement to college campuses,"

$50,000 to the Coalition for an International Criminal Court "to promote education, awareness and acceptance of the International Criminal Court," and

$35,000 to the Abortion Access Project.

Full Article

Feel good?

Hadley Arkes Takes Bush To Task

2005-04-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

On the matter of abortion, however, the President did not seem to be seized with any comparable sense of moment, or any heightened awareness of possibilities now come into sight. And yet, in the case of abortion, the new possibilities had already been visible for more than two years. The President showed no keen awareness of these possibilities now, just as he had shown no awareness earlier. It was not that the facts were not there to be seen, or that the President had no means of knowing. For at least two years the White House staff, and the President it advises, had ample reason to conclude that America had reached a turning point, and that, with the slightest moves on the part of the administration—moves so slight that they did not require the exertion of an executive order—they could have produced some striking gains for the pro-life cause while fostering a deep crisis in the ranks of their adversaries. With moves modest by any measure, Mr. Bush could have advanced the pro-life cause and propelled the Democrats in Congress into an internecine war that would surely have torn them apart, and left them morally exhausted during the season of the campaign. That the President should have had no interest in inducing such strain among his adversaries, at virtually no cost to himself, must be ranked among the great political mysteries of our time. But apparently more pressing than any desire to sow confusion among his adversaries has been the President’s desire to preserve his reticence on the matter of abortion.

Full Article

Someone is going to make an easy $10,000

2005-04-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

"If a person's sexuality isn't important, what is?" asked William Percy, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and one of tonight's three panelists. He and other have focused on Lincoln's close friendships with men, including one with whom he shared the same bed for four years.

Percy said it would especially important in understanding Lincoln "because he was so strange and different from everybody else."

But Percy, who is gay, is not a Lincoln specialist, though he has long campaigned for "outing" public officials in high positions accused of denying rights to homosexuals. He even co-authored a book in 1994 called "Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence" and has said he'll pay $10,000 to anyone who outs an American Catholic bishop or a top-ranked general.

Article

This Is A Good Group

2005-04-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Call your senators for the Nuclear Option!

2005-04-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

Call or email your senators for the Nuclear Option!

Allen, George- (R - VA)
204 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4024
Web Form: allen.senate.gov/index.cfm?c=email

Warner, John- (R - VA)
225 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2023
Web Form: warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Senate List

A Decent Article Despite Its Source

2005-04-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

One cardinal said that two things about the way Ratzinger led these sessions impressed him.

First, he said, whenever conversation would bog down among cardinals trained as canon lawyers over what church law might permit, Ratzinger intervened, saying, “We know what canon law says, but what should our pastoral response be?” It was reassuring, the cardinal said, to those who worried that 24 years in Rome and only a couple of years as archbishop of Munich had equipped Ratzinger with little sense of pastoral realities.

Second, whenever Ratzinger called on a cardinal to speak, he did so by name, illustrating that he knew all the members of the College of Cardinals personally — reflecting decades of conversation with them about their problems and concerns. Whenever a cardinal approached him to speak, he responded in that cardinal’s language, exhibiting his mastery of languages and his cosmopolitan bearing.

Full article

It's a bit ironic that this publication that in the past has vilified the man several times now has a pretty fair assessment.

Up To 100 Votes!

2005-04-22T02:58:00.000-07:00

Up to 100 of the 115 electors may have cast ballots in favor of the Bavarian cardinal in Tuesday's decisive vote in the frescoed Sistine Chapel, said sources quoted by Marco Politi, the respected Vatican correspondent of La Repubblica newspaper.

Article

Fr. Fessio Interview

2005-04-20T03:58:00.000-07:00

In a discussion on "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS, Father Fessio, who studied under Cardinal Ratzinger, makes the following points:

You see one of the things which is important is his name; he took the name Benedict. St. Benedict was a saint of the 6th Century who, when the Roman Empire was invaded by barbarians, was declining, was corrupting from within.

Benedict left the city of Rome, went out into the countryside, Subiaco, and prayed. Others joined him, he founded a monastery, by 1200 there were 40,000 Benedictine monasteries throughout Europe.

The Benedictines, through prayer and worship and praise of God, through leaving a corrupting superpower, actually gave Europe its culture, created Christendom and I think that Ratzinger, just as Father just said, wants to go back to that root, that origin which made Europe great and gave it great art and great music and literature and history and philosophy and theology.

He wants to go back to that and re-evangelize Europe. Also very important: He didn't publish many books the last years because what he published was many collections of talks, collections of articles he'd written, but he did publish one book called "The Spirit of the Liturgy."

And that was his vision of what it member to worship God in a beautiful and profound and reverent way. And he believes the way to transform human society is to transform the heart, and that every heart is made for God, to worship God privately but also worship God publicly.

And so I believe that because Benedict founded monasteries whose work was the work of God, worship and prayer, that he is going to bring fruition to a great renewal of the liturgy, which the Second Vatican Council promised.

Read transcript of entire discussion here.

Viva Il Ratzinger

2005-04-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

Once again the Church has received another worthy successor to Peter. In so many ways the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, especially in just four ballots, is just amazing.

As the Prefect for the CDF for more than 20 years and a participant of Vatican II, everyone knew exactly what they were getting in voting for Ratzinger. The Cardinal even preached a forceful homily at the onset of the conclave to make his views clear.

Does this mean there is a lot more unity in the Church than I originally thought? And what about the dissidents and progressive activists? We can expect rage from their corners as they realize they are growing more ineffective in the Church.

I will try post a series of Roadmap items for the new Pontificate. I wouldn't claim to be a Ratzinger expert, but there is plenty of his thought available which should provide a good indicator for things to come.

Viva Benedict XVI

2005-04-20T03:17:00.000-07:00

Deo Gratias!

Is There a Link between Homosexuality and Abortion?

2005-04-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

Planned Parenthood should target "people of faith" to promote abortion rights and comprehensive sex education, the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop told a gathering in the District yesterday.

"In this last election we see what the ultimate result of divorce from communities of faith will do to us," New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson said during Planned Parenthood's fifth annual prayer breakfast.

Full Article

A Cardinal's Story

2005-04-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

By Peggy Noonan

And our modern cardinal walked home to the Vatican, met with his aides in the suite, lay down with his headache, which was now very bad, closed his eyes and thought: Now more than ever. He dragged himself up, and knelt by the bed.

Full Article

Idaho Legislature Has Important Things to Do

2005-04-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

WHEREAS, the State of Idaho recognizes the vision, talent and creativity of Jared and Jerusha Hess in the writing and production of "Napoleon Dynamite"; and

This is not a joke. Read on. It is hilarious!

Biffi or Scola

2005-04-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Here's my prediction:

If the cardinals want an older, experienced leader, it will be Giacomo Biffi. I have never met Biffi, but what I know about him is good. He's an accomplished scholar and a hardliner as well. He is the only Italian cardinal that has protested abortion mills as a cardinal.

If they want a younger leader ready undertake a longer pontificate, it will be Angelo Scola.

I haven't placed any bets. Maybe I should though. Scola has 33 to 1 odds. Biffi has 40 to 1 odds. I could make some sweet money.

Cardinal Angelo Scola

2005-04-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

Cardinal Scola was also one of my teachers in Rome. He is a very smart man, an able administrator, and a savvy leader. Scola has a certain gravitas, but he does not necessarily have the bearing of holiness. I'm sure he would be a great pope. It's just hard to picture him as pope right now.

Profile

More Info on Michael Schiavo

2005-04-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

Article

Ratzinger a Neocon? I Don't Think So

2005-04-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Sandro Magister has an interesting article on the coming conclave and Ratzinger's rising stock. I find it very plausible that many cardinals would look to Ratzinger as their mentor and one of the only links to a pre-conciliar Church. Ratzinger was also a participant at Vatican II and the architect for the 1985 Extraordinary Synod which set forth the hermeneutic key for the Council. However, I don't want to get my hopes to high.

The one thing I don't like about his article is the use of the term neocon with which he identifies Ratzinger and others.

Of course, Ratzinger has nothing to do with American political neocons like Kristol et al.

Ratzinger, also has nothing to do with so-called Catholic neocons--Novak, Neuhaus and Weigel--those who think that the American liberal democracy is the perfect seedbed for Catholicism.

The only think I can think of is that Rad Trads call folks who like JPII, folks who are generally content with the Novus Ordo as long as it is celebrated faithfully--Neocons. I don't think Ratzinger falls into this category either. If there was ever a cardinal who would move back to the Tridentine Mass or something close to it, it would Ratzinger. Afterall, if it wasn't for Ratzinger there would be no Ecclesia Dei Commission at all.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet

2005-04-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

It's time to profile the Cardinal I know the best. Cardinal Ouellet, before he catapulted up the hierarchy, was one of my teachers in Rome. He was going to be my thesis director before he was appointed Archbishop of Quebec City. Without a doubt, he was the most influential teacher I have ever had. He combines a briliant intellect with humility and holiness better than anybody.

There are a few reports talking about him as a serious candidate for next pope. Although well qualified, I don't think he would take the job. Just too humble.

Article

Article

High School Boys Sexually Assault Special Ed Girl

2005-04-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

If this doesn't send your rage gauge deep into the red zone, I don't know what will.

Article

Article

I'd like to hear what you think should be done to those boys. I think they should do some hard time in a maximum security prison. Give them some of their own medicine and have some of the incidents videotaped. Then make them watch it 100 times.

What should be done to the school officials? When confronted, they dismissed the incident as consensual.

Newsweek Poll

2005-04-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

You can cast your own vote for Pope here.

The results are interesting.

No Papal Election Necessary

2005-04-13T03:27:00.000-07:00

According to Pope Michael, there is no need for a Papal Election. He is the rightful pope, who was elected to end the 32 year interegnum.

I guess the throne of Peter has been updated to a sweet porch swing.

Thanks to Fr. Bryce.

Papal Challenges

2005-04-12T03:51:00.000-07:00

Of the challenges lists for the next pope, continuing JPII's New Evangelization rates at the top for most people. I agree. The Church has to continue to present the beauty of the faith in order to evangelize and re-evangelize a fast secularizing world.

As important as this ad extra challenge is, not many people have talked about the top ad intra challenge, which I think is the liturgy. Lex orandi, lex crendendi. If we don't have an meaningful and reverent liturgy, we simply won't be able to keep people in the Church.

So which cardinal is best suited for or at least aware of these two challenges?

Ratzinger is probably most aware of the liturgical cisis and the most willing to do someting about it. But if he is not a serious candidate, who else or who does he trust?

Well, he trusted Christoph Schoenborn for the Catechism.

Profile

Of course, there is another huge ad intra problem--homosexuals in the clergy.

Speculation Frenzy

2005-04-11T03:57:00.000-07:00

With the media speculation heating up, my own interest in papabile analysis is deflating somewhat.

Here are some links:

Papabile Blog
Massive collection of media speculation reports

Profiles
Profiles of some of the prominent candidates. Bear in mind that the descriptions are biased. NCR thinks that the majority of these cardinals are conservatives, which isn't the case.

Bookmakers
The bookies have odds on the next pope. Browse around, you can bet on just about anything.

Great Story

2005-04-08T04:05:00.000-07:00

During the summer of 1942, two women in Krakow, Poland, were denounced as Jews, taken to the city's prison, held there for a few months and then sent to the Belzec death camp, where in October they were killed in primitive Nazi gas chambers by carbon monoxide from diesel engines.

Their names were Frimeta Gelband and Salomea Zierer; they were sisters. As it happens, Frimeta was my wife's grandmother. Salomea - known as Salla - had two daughters, one of whom survived the war and one of whom did not.

The elder of these daughters was Edith Zierer. In January 1945, at age 13, she emerged from a Nazi labor camp in Czestochowa, Poland, a waif on the verge of death. Separated from her family, unaware that her mother had been killed by the Germans, she could scarcely walk.

But walk she did, to a train station, where she climbed onto a coal wagon. The train moved slowly, the wind cut through her. When the cold became too much to bear, she got down at a village called Jedrzejow. In a corner of the station, she sat. Nobody looked at her, a girl in the striped and numbered uniform of a prisoner, late in a terrible war. Unable to move, Edith waited.

Death was approaching, but a young man approached first, "very good looking," as she recalled, and vigorous. He wore a long robe and appeared to be a priest. "Why are you here?" he asked. "What are you doing?" Edith said she was trying to get to Krakow to find her parents.

The man disappeared. He came back with a cup of tea. Edith drank. He said he could help her get to Krakow. Again the mysterious benefactor went away, returning with bread and cheese. They talked about the advancing Soviet Army. Edith said she believed that her parents and younger sister, Judith, were alive.

"Try to stand," the man said. Edith tried and failed. He carried her to another village, where he put her in the cattle car of a train bound for Krakow. Another family was there. The man got in beside Edith, covered her with his cloak and made a small fire.

His name, he told Edith, was Karol Wojtyla. Although she took him for a priest, he was still a seminarian who would not be ordained until the next year. Thirty-three more years would pass before he became Pope John Paul II and embarked on a papacy that would help break the Communist hold on Central Europe and so transform the world.

What moved this young seminarian to save the life of a lost Jewish girl cannot be known. But it is clear that his was an act of humanity made as the two great mass movements of the 20th century, the twin totalitarianisms of Fascism and Communism, bore down on his nation, Poland.

Here were two people in a ravaged land, a 24-year-old Catholic and a 13-year-old Jew. The future pope had already lost his mother, father and brother. Edith, although she did not know it yet, had already lost her mother at Belzec, her father at Maidanek and her little sister at Auschwitz. They could not have been more alone.

Pope John Paul II is widely viewed as having been a man of unshakable convictions that some found old-fashioned or rigid. But perhaps he offered his truth with the same simplicity and directness he showed in proffering tea and bread and shelter from cold to an abandoned Jewish girl in 1945, when nobody was watching.

It was based in the belief that, as he once put it, "a degradation, indeed a pulverization, of the fundamental uniqueness of each human being" was at the root of the mass movements of the 20th century, Communism and Fascism.

Stalin once contemptuously asked, "How many divisions has the pope?" Starting with his 1979 visit to Poland, John Paul gave an answer.

Perhaps the strength that enabled him to play a central role in ending Communism and the strength that led him to save Edith Zierer did not differ fundamentally. Like his healing ecumenism, those acts required the courage born of a core certitude.

Edith fled from Karol Wojtyla when they arrived at Krakow in 1945. The family on the train, also Jews, had warned her that he might take her off to "the cloisters." She recalls him calling out, "Edyta, Edyta!" - the Polish form of her name - as she hid behind large containers of milk.

But hiding was not forgetting. She wrote his name in a diary, her savior, and in 1978, when she read in a copy of Paris-Match that he had become pope, she broke into tears. By then Edith Zierer was in Haifa, Israel, where she now lives.

Letters to him went unanswered. But at last, in 1997, she received a letter from the Vatican in which the pope recalled their meeting. A year later they met again at the Vatican. Edith thanked the pope for saving her. He put one hand on her head, another hand in hers, and blessed her. As she parted, he said, "Come back, my child."

New York Times