I'm still not a rocket scientist....

So Newark's about to get $100 mil. from the CEO of Facebook. That's great. Really. I hope it helps more kids learn to read, to do math, and to stay away from the streets.

But I'm pretty sure he could give any failing school system a BILLION dollars and it would still do no good at all if those kids don't have stable homes and neighborhoods to return to after school. No amount of money will help if the kids don't have a parent or grandparent at home to take care of them and to make sure they stay on top of them.

Extending school hours is NOT the answer. Kids don't need to be brought up by the state. Kids need to be at home with mom or dad. Kids need to get outside and play and run around. Kids need to use their imaginations; to play ball in the street with their friends till the street lights come on. Kids need their dads not to be in prison. Kids need their moms not to have to work 3 jobs to keep food on the table.

Kids need the state to give their moms and dads their money back. That way, maybe mom or dad can stay home with them so they stay out of trouble. Kids need strong families so they don't feel like they have to turn to a gang to get the love and acceptance and discipline they crave.

Kids from stable homes do better in school. Throwing a billion dollars ($900 mil from NJ + Zuckerberg's $100 mil) into Newark's crappy schools won't fix this. Kids' families need fixing.

calling it like it is

We had a fight last week. Let us make no mistake: I was 100% wrong for being as thoughtless as I was. I was glad he told me about it because I need to know when I do things that hurt him so I can avoid it in the future.

My feelings were hurt in the exchange and I nursed this hurt that night and the next morning. It was hard for me to keep remembering that I was wrong. "He shouldn't have said it that way. He's restricting my freedom. I should be able to do and say what I want. He's being unreasonable." My conscience kept prodding me: "Remember that YOU were wrong. And you hurt him badly."

And as I drove in the car that morning, late to somewhere I really didn't want to be, the Lord blessed me with this realization: "This grudge that you so tenderly nurse is the evil one at work: undermining your relationship with your husband, your marriage, and your family. Your energy is misplaced."

With that, immediately, I said, "Get behind me, Satan. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to leave me alone," and the hurt I had taken care of so well for those past 12 hours evaporated.

I praise God for the grace to see the trickery of the devil for what it is. The temptation to nurse that grudge came back over the course of the day, but the temptation and the grudge were not as strong and with the same prayer the Lord dismissed them quickly.

When you have a grudge you're taking such good care of, or anger that flares within you, be quick to ask yourself where it comes from. Is it building up love? Is it advancing the Kingdom of God on earth, as all of us baptized Christians are called to do? If it is not, then call upon the Lord to deliver you from the evil one, who is tempting you.

Make no mistake, the root of your grudge, your anger, is the evil one calling you away from your work. Recognize him and call upon the Lord to put him right back in his place.

Everyone likes a smackdown

"What made you do this? You are flowers who shed no perfume, but stench that makes the whole world reek." St. Catherine of Siena, writing to three Italian cardinals who supported the anti-pope during the Great Western Schism.

Ah, St. Catherine of Siena. I love her. She knew when to let people have it, even the pope. And they asked for it. The pope and bishops of her time asked her for her advice and she didn't sugar-coat it. She just told you. Sometimes she told them, even when they didn't ask. She made change happen. She got the pope to come back to Rome after fleeing for France (of course, after she died, he left again. I guess he needed her to keep kicking him in the pants.)

I think of how I'd like to tell some bishops off. Especially with all of the horrible crimes that some priests and bishops have committed that are all over the press now. The temptation is to vent all of one's justified anger toward these weak, weak men in an email and to just hit "send."

The main difference between Catherine and me is this: she understood that she wasn't equal to God. She understood humility. She understood that she wasn't better than those foul-smelling Italian bishops to whom that quote above is addressed.

I don't understand humility. Other people's mistakes make me feel, even for a second, better than they are. Don't you try to say that you never feel the same way. "If I were a priest, this would never have happened. If I were a bishop, I would have defrocked that priest instead of covering the abuse up! If I were that child's mother, I would have just called the cops; the bishop would have found out from the DA, not from me!"

I try to give myself a pass, thinking, maybe Catherine understood it better because she had visions and personal, face-to-face conversations with God. I think to myself, if God showed up in my room when I was praying, I'd get it too.

Catherine recorded that in one of her visions God told her: "I am who am; you are she who is not."

"I am who am; you are she who is not."

I am she who is not.

Y'know, Lord, that really kind of takes the fun out of the whole righteous indignation thing. You're really busting my flow.

See, thing is, it's all over the Bible how we're supposed to behave, how we're supposed to treat one another and how we dare not play God. I don't get a pass because Jesus isn't tapping me on the shoulder, reminding me to be humble as He is. I have the Scriptures to do that, I have good preaching to remind me. I have Jesus in the Eucharist to remind me how I am supposed to be.

And I have the writings of St. Catherine of Siena to prick my conscience when it needs it, when I need to be reminded.

I am she who is not.

NBC has apologized

From The Catholic League:

NBC APOLOGIZES FOR MSNBC’S HIT ON POPE

March 30, 2010

NBC apologized today for an article on MSNBC’s website entitled, “Pope Describes Touching Boys: I Went Too Far.” The article that readers accessed after clicking on it actually had nothing to do with the pope.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue accepted the apology today:

NBC says the attributed quote was erroneous and they have corrected the error. An apology was also extended. The apology is accepted. We hope that whoever was responsible for this outrageous post is questioned about it and that appropriate measures are taken. We look forward to hearing the outcome.

This doesn't mean the fight is over. Don't tolerate slander and calumny. When good people fight back, good things happen.

Hat tip: Fr. Z at WDTPRS

Mad as hell, and I just can't take it anymore.

Before I start, let me say this:
1. Abusing anyone, anytime, is ALWAYS wrong.
2. Priests abusing their power to abuse children is sickening. May God have mercy on their souls.
3. Bishops covering it up and simply moving abusive priests from assignment to assignment or just covering it up and not taking it a. to civil authorities or b. to a canon trial is horrifying. May God have mercy on them for betraying all of the faithful that way.
4. Laypeople who know about it and do nothing sicken me also.

Those who make false accusations and who spread gossip and otherwise smear another's good name has a lot of apologizing to do. And may God have mercy on them as well.

There has been a lot in the press this week trying to link Pope Benedict XVI to abuse cover-ups in Munich, Germany and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The article in the New York Times is poorly researched and if I had tried to hand that in during my college journalism class, I would have gotten an F. The Times seems to have a real leftist agenda, which is why I cancelled my subscription two years ago. You can read good fisks of this story from people inside and outside the Church. Here are some links, but there are a lot more:

Andrew Brown, The London Daily Telegraph online
John Allen, The National Catholic Reporter
Sean Murphy, The Catholic Education Resource Center
Rev. Thomas Brundage, JCL, Canon judge in the Milwaukee case tells his side
George Weigel in First Things
Brendan O'Neill on why Atheists shouldn't join in on the Catholic Bashing
John Allen, again, in the New York Times
Father Raymond J. DeSousa, National Review Online

Today, MSNBC.com ran a headline that implied that Pope Benedict XVI molested children. Surely this was a mistake, but when you peruse the other headlines, well, it's not good for the Church. You can read more about it here at WDTPRS . I saw it first here at CMR.

I wrote an email to NBC News President Steve Capus:

Dear Mr. Capus,

I write to you to strongly object to MSNBC's characterization of Pope Benedict XVI in the headline which was up and running on msnbc.com this afternoon. It seems to me to be a horrible mistake, but taken together with the rest of the content on the page, there seems to be a real bias against the Catholic Church on your pages.

I would like to acknowledge the apology on your page for the misleading headline and I thank for that gesture, but given the fact that unknown thousands of people saw your headline and may never read the website's apology within the article, don't you think that a more prominent retraction and apology is due? Perhaps you might find a place for it on Brian Williams' broadcast tonight? Or maybe have Chris Matthews deliver an apology before he begins his program this evening?

Or, perhaps, you might direct some of the talented journalists you have on staff to fisk the New York Times article of last week. Many others, who seem to be unbiased toward or friendly to the Catholic Church, have taken it upon themselves to read the evidence the Times has presented on its website and found the claims in that article to be unsupported. The Judge in the canon case in Milwaukee has refuted much of what the Times has published. Has NBC sent anyone to talk to him?

I expect more of an organization like NBC News. And be assured that I will not watch MSNBC, NBC, its sister stations, or its web content (including Hulu) until a sufficiently prominent apology is issued and NBC takes it upon itself to try some real journalism as regards this story. Please also be assured that I will be writing next to your sponsors to tell them of my displeasure and to tell them that until your organization apologizes and begins to cover this story in a fair way I will not purchase their products. I will be posting this to my blog, to my Facebook account, and passing it on to my friends to encourage a boycott of your network and its sponsors until such a time that a satisfactory apology is made.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Amy Giglio

Linden, NJ

What you need to do is write to him, too. You need to write to their sponsors, and you need to get mad. Yes, when we are personally attacked, we are to turn the other cheek. But I do believe that as Catholics we are obliged to stand up for Holy Mother Church and for our Pope. How long are you going to tolerate being treated second-class, or having your faith mocked privately and in public? How long are you going to tolerate anti-Catholicism: the last acceptable prejudice in America?

It's Holy Week. Now is a good time to start.

Update: Thanks to Dr. Eric in the WDTPRS combox, here is a list of MSNBC advertisers:

LIST OF SPONSORS:
Toyota
Verizon
Nutrisystem
Avis
AIG Term Life
Coldwell Bankers
Venus Breeze
Geico
O’lay
Jimmy Dean Sausages
lawyers Weitz & Luxenburg, NY
Sudafed
Video Professor
Natural’s Cat Chow, Purina
Merneke Car Care Center
Am. Express
Travel Companion on CNN
Crystal Light
Infiniti Car
Vonage Phone
Dyson Vacuum
Eharmony
Cepacol
Hyundi Car
U.S. Buildings
Boeing
Progessive.Com
Direct TV
Colonial Penn Life Insurance
Indulg-a-Bath
Stop IRS Debt
HSBC Direct Financial Inst
U.S. Airforce
Aleve
Progresso Soup
Subaru
Spiriva
Cooking Lite
Steak-umns Burgers
Infiniti
Scalpcin
Mama Lucia Meat Balls
Sea Bond
Financial Freedom, reverse mortgage
eDiets Meal Delivery
Aqua Velvet
Citracal
Mr. Clean
Chemistry.com
Bayer Products
Old Mutual Investment
Rogaine
Verizon (Both)
Avis
Coldwell Bankers
Geico
Jimmy Dean Sausages
Sudafed
Natural’s Cat Chow, Purina
Am. Express
Crystal Light
Vontage Phon

Thank them, especially at this time of year.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

A day that will live in infamy...

"The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan. "
-"Attack on Pearl Harbor" from eyewitnesstohistory.com

Pray today for those who were lost on this day in 1941. Pray for all those who died in World War II. Pray for all those who fought in World War II. Pray for those who fight now that they may remain courageous in battle. Pray also for those who lead us now that the Lord might bless them with the ability to make peace.

Veterans Day

Thank you to all of the brave men and women who have fought for our country on any field of battle. If you, like I, have never served in the military, please take time today to think about the sacrifices these folks have made to serve us and keep us safe. Think of the doughboy who made his way overseas for the first time, digging trenches in France, shells exploding over his head. Think of the WACS and Joes who went back 30 years later to fight in WWII, arriving on the shores of France like in the photo above. Think of those who went to Korea to stop the spread of communism. Think of those who served in the steaming jungles of Vietnam and Central America, who sweated in the deserts of Iraq, who climbed in the mountains of Afghanistan, and all other places their President has sent them. They went willingly, bravely, to meet an uncertain future and they returned, asking nothing but for us to every once in a while to stop and say thank you. Ponder the sacrifices they and their families made and I dare you not to choke up a bit.

I love how Veterans Day falls on the feast of St. Martin of Tours. When Martin was 10 (326 AD), over his parents' objections, he wanted to be baptized and began to be taught. He eventually joined the Roman army and was stationed in Gaul (modern-day France) where he was born. One day, by the city gate, he saw a beggar with hardly any clothing. Without much thought, he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar (see picture at right). That night, he had a dream were he saw Jesus wearing his half cloak. He finished his religious training and became baptized. After he left the army, he became a priest, and eventually the bishop of Tours. As a bishop, he passionately defended the Church against the Arian heresy. He died in 397 AD.

St. Martin is the patron saint of soldiers, which makes Veterans Day on November 11 so very cool.

Heavenly Father, through the intercession of St. Martin of Tours, I beg your blessings for those men and women who are veterans of the wars the United States has fought. Please bless them and their families for the sacrifices they have made for our country. Please bless the United States. Please let us be a beacon for freedom and good for the whole world. Mary, the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Ecumenism

This week, the Holy Father made it easier for Anglicans who want to be united with Rome to, well, unite with Rome. There are many people more knowledgeable than I who wrote about it. Among them are: Father Z., Matthew Archbold, Rocco Palmo, Fr. Longenecker (who was once Anglican himself). I'm not going to try to dissect the pope's message. So many others are doing that, and I don't have the real energy it would take to do that well. I don't even have the energy to write down my navel-gazings for this blog, let alone take on a major project like that. I will just say not to believe everything you read in the papers, secular and otherwise. There are people who just don't like the pope. And I don't think he's poaching congregations from others. He's just responding to their request to come home. What good father wouldn't find a way for his child to come home (See the Prodigal Son)?

But today Father Z. posted this good bit about B16 being the Pope of Christian Unity and food for thinking about what Ecumenism truly is. And my brain took that food for thought and it satisfied something my brain has been trying to chew on for years.

I firmly believe, and was taught, that the Catholic Church is the only Church founded by Jesus Christ. Our popes and bishops trace their line (through ordination) all the way back, unbroken through history, to the Apostles, whom Jesus commissioned. Presbyterians can trace their lines back only so far as John Calvin, Anglicans to Henry VIII of England, etc..

By our baptism, we are called, among other things, to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We are all called to mission. Maybe some of us are called to go out and evangelize in extraordinary ways, by going to other countries and to proclaim the Good News to those who have never heard it. Maybe some of us are called by God to evangelize in our parishes, in catechetical ministry. Maybe some are called to evangelize by blog. But all of us are called to live as Jesus taught us, keeping the 10 Commandments: loving God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In this way, with the joy that comes from living as the Lord intends us to live, we draw others closer to God. They see how joyful we are and they draw closer to God by our example. This is how the ordinary person is an evangelist.

Not to get off track, but think on this: How full of joy are you? Are you feeling the joy that comes from life in Christ? Why or why not? Can other people tell? Are you giving anyone a reason to consider the Church?

So, if we can accept that the Catholic Church is historically the Church founded by Christ Himself (see third paragraph above), and we can accept that Christians are called to mission, what should the true purpose of ecumenism be? Should it be about fact-finding? ("Ah, I see that you believe in the Real Presence. So do we! But you really don't have it since your founder broke away from the Church and interrupted the line of Apostolic succession. Hmmm...what else have we got?")

And what of the "one, true Church" argument? The Catholic Church is the only Church founded by Christ Himself. In Lumen Gentium, the fathers of the Second Vatican Council said that other Christian churches are only true churches as far as they subsist in the Catholic Church, or are in union with the Catholic Church.

I read somewhere recently (and I cannot remember the source) that someone said that through interreligious dialogue should be like laying down a two way street so that we don't crash into each other. We learn about each other so we can stay out of one another's way. Consider: is this true to what we understand our mission as baptized Christians to be? Especially in light of Jesus' prayer that all are one in Him?

If we consider the highway analogy above, it works for us, to a point. After dialogue with those of other faiths, the example of the Catholic Christian should be so compelling, and his ways of explaining the Faith so good, that others are led to join the Catholic Church, not through any direct, coercive effort of the Catholic Christian, but through the work of the Holy Spirit, who draws us ever closer to the Lord.

So, can ecumenism truly be about fact finding? I don't think so. By being a true Christian, by loving God and others perfectly, those who belong to other faiths should want to join us. Father Z. used the analogy in his article about the members of the two faiths stretching, which is an image I find particularly apt. One person is about to fall off a cliff. The other, on top of the cliff, stretches his hand, scooting himself to the edge, reaching as far as he can to save his friend without falling over the edge himself. The other, clinging to the rock for life, stretches his hand as high as he can. Their fingertips brush, they stretch more, reaching, reaching, until they clasp hands, and the one at the top is able to pull his friend back to the safety of the solid rock, the Rock upon whom Jesus built His Church.

curiouser and curiouser

Back in April or May, I took Vinny the Race Van in for an oil change to the guys we've had fixing our cars for the last 10 years or so. So, I get a phone call that I need new front brakes (he checked them while the van was on the lift for the oil change-as he says he always does). So, my $45 oil change turned into a $200 repair bill. I am ok with this because I know and trust these guys. I must really have needed them (I didn't hear them squeaking, I said. "Sometimes you don't," is the reply.).

So, the rear shocks started squeaking really loud and we finally got the guy across the street, M., to replace them. M. runs his own garage and will do stuff for us when it's big and doesn't need to be done right away, since he is really busy fixing up car to ship and sell them overseas. M. does our repairs for way way cheap-almost at cost. (aside: this is how we got Scott's new car last summer. Scott and M. saw it on a salvage auction site and then Scott bought it and M. fixed it up and Scott paid for the labor and parts. Scott got a 2003 Dodge Stratus for about $6000.)

So, M's helper drives my car back home to me on Saturday and he says, in his accented English, "The shocks were very bad, very dangerous. I have them here."

So, M.'s helper goes to pick up the new shocks boxes with the old shocks in them and I hear something rattling around inside. And crumbs are spilling out. Because the shocks had completely rusted through!!!!! They were crumbling because they were made of rust!!!!

So now, my question is, if these shocks were so bad that they were rusted right through, and our regular mechanic was looking at the brakes on my car 4 months ago, which are right next to my shocks, why did he not notice my rusty shocks? Do you think I even needed new front brakes? Have I been taken for the proverbial ride?

Discuss.

The Fourth of July

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed....

Husband appreciation weekend

Hot on the heels of the last two posts, I am declaring June 5, 6, and 7 Husband Appreciation Weekend. This weekend, we will, through acts of love, through verbal thanks, and *ahem* whatever else you may think of, show our husbands that we love them; that we are grateful that they decided to marry us and put up with all of our crap until death do us part.

This weekend we will not nag. This weekend, we will be grateful that he folded the wash (even if it was not folded "the right way"). We will pray for him, that the Lord keeps him strong. At least one night this weekend, we will make him what he wants for dinner. We will let him rest in the hammock and keep the kids from jumping on him for at least 15 minutes. We will put aside the honey-do list (or at least thank him for getting to it). We will show him that we think he's the best guy in the world. We will cheerefully say yes when he initiates love. We will show our husbands that we are grateful for him being a man, MY MAN. We will show our husbands that we are grateful for him being here, for showing up.

Who's with me?

Pet peeve

You know what I just can't stand?

Man bashing.

Every time I hear some woman talking trash about her husband, I want to smack her upside her head.

Every time I hear some woman say, "Men and babies, same thing," I want to wring her neck.

Every time I have to endure a guy like Al Bundy on TV, I want to throw a brick through my TV.

Since when does a woman need to beat up on a man to feel good? Why in HELL would you say things like this in front of your children about their father?

Most husbands are good men, who sacrifice mightily for their wives and children. If your man is acting like an idiot, maybe you need to examine how you treat him. Do you act like you love him? Do you talk to him in ways that are emasculating? Do you treat him like a child? Do you thank him for what he does? Do you do kind things for him?

Yes, maybe you (like me) have to remind your husband about appointments. Maybe you have to take out the garbage sometimes (even though you agreed when you got married that it was his job). Do you never forget things? Do you remember that he told you he was working late?

Give him a break, hon.

Or don't sit next to me.

Just the ten of us...

I know that probably most of you are so done with Jon and Kate and their eight. I wish I could say that I am. The truth is that I have watched them for a while and I really enjoy the show.

Over Memorial Day weekend, TLC had a marathon of the show and I watched some of it. While I was ironing, I paid close attention to the Season 4 finale, where Jon is pretty clear that he is not happy with TLC filming their lives and that he needs a break from the cameras. Kate dismisses Jon's comments saying that of course they'll be back for season 5.

For all of the nonsense that they have been through in the last couple of months, I am sorry. Jon's behavior that was captured by the "press" is not excusable. Neither is the disdain Kate displays for her husband on national TV.

But to watch the two of them together last week was really painful for me. I see them spending time apart when they should be together. I found myself wishing repeatedly that they would send the cameras back to the network and work on being a normal family again; work on being a married woman and man again.

I'm not in their marriage. I know what they have let us all see of their marriage. And I don't know what we haven't seen. What I do see is a woman who is very happy to be on TV and is clearly enjoying the perks that come with celebrity and having money (such as trips to San Diego on the spur of the moment- that was tonight's episode). I see a woman who wants to give her children the chance for different experiences (Kate's words from the Season 4 finale). I see a man whose wife won't listen to him.

I understand wanting to give your children more than you had growing up. That is what all parents want to do for their kids. But at what cost? Your marriage, your children's strong foundation, breaking apart? In the season premiere, both Kate and Jon said that they don't know what the future holds, but that they love their kids. I just wanted them to say that they love each other. I want Jon and Kate to say "No matter what, I'll be there for my family. I'll be there for my spouse."

As much as I like their show, I want Kate to give her permission to darken the show until such a time that Jon wants it to continue. Kate said something like (I think in the season 4 finale) that she feels she owes it to America to watch her kids grow up.

Kate, you don't owe me or the rest of America sh*t. Tell them to turn off the cameras and take a good look at your husband, the man with whom you renewed your vows a year or so ago. Yes, he is not perfect. Yes, his judgment is poor. Maybe he betrayed you. Look at him. He wants to stop. Just stop. Listen to St. Paul:

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should
be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is
head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of
the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be
subordinate to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians
5:21-24)

Jon, man up. Stop fooling round on the ski slopes and in bars and get back to the business of being a Christian husband and father. Move back into your house (it seems like he has moved out) and work on your marriage. St. Paul has some words for you, too:

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed
himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water
with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without
blemish. So (also) husbands should love their wives as their own
bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own
flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the
church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man
shall leave (his) father and (his) mother and be joined to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh." (Ephesians 5:22-31)

And to the both of you: In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the
wife should respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:33)

It is my sincere hope that the network is heightening the drama to keep us watching and that Kate and Jon will be together again and working on it by the end of this season. It is my greater hope that they will just darken the show. Either way, I am praying for them and for their kids.

It's that time of year again.

Don't you love how the seasons change? I do. It's a comforting feeling, going through the seasonal cycles, knowing that when one season changes, another begins with new focuses, new activities.

I can see the appeal of living in a place like southern California where the weather rarely shifts out of a truly pleasant pattern. But I have to say that I would miss the snow. Although I would not miss being really really cold.

In parts of Florida, you have 3 months of nice and 9 months of jungle hot.

Anyways, here in New Jersey I am starting to feel like we're in a distinct Florida-like pattern, but not with the weather.

We just got out of a hotly contested Presidential race (though we didn't feel that as much here because NJ was a slam dunk for Obama) and we're getting into a hotly contested gubernatorial race. But first, we have to get through the hotly contested Republican Primary.

In this corner, we have the Republican Party organization's Favorite Son, "The Only One Who Can Beat Jon Corzine," Mr. Money himself, Former US Attorney, Chris Christie!

And in this corner, we have the Republican Underdog, Tough as Nails, Mr. Fought for Everything I Have, hardscrabble former mayor of Bogota, Tom Lonegan!

The primary is a few weeks away. Scott is registered as a Republican (formerly with no party affliation, my hubby voted in the Republican Presidential Primary, thereby registering himself as a Republican), so this means that Chris Christie 's automated voice has called our house 3 times in the last 2 days asking for his vote. I just got off the phone with him a few minutes ago. He's going to mail Scott an absentee ballot request form because voting by mail is convenient and easy!

Ugh.

I wish I could say that I hate this, but secretly, just among the 5 of you who read this page, I love it. I love to follow politics. I love to see what these yahoos that we voted for are doing. I love to watch them run for office and I love to scream at their TV commercials when I disagree with their asinine policies.

I really want to run for office myself. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be President. Sometimes I think I still do. Then I think that Harry Truman was right. Only a fool wants to be President. The weight of the world on your shoulders. If you do it for personal aggrandizement, you're a jackass. Whatever happened to the true public servant? I'm not sure how many of them there are. Do they still exist? If they exist, can they win?

I don't know.

But it's that time of year again. I can smell the smoke in the air; hear the fireworks. No, not summer. Primary season in NJ.

Pope Benedict's letter to the Bishops

As some of you know, the pope lifted the excommunications of the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (they were illicitly ordained by Abp. Marcel Lefebvre) and then there was this huge kerfluffle because one of those bishops, Bishop Williamson, is a holocaust denier.

So anyways, Pope Benedict XVI has written a letter to all of the bishops of the Catholic Church about all of this stuff and it is just wonderful. You can read it over at Fr. Z's website, translated into English. Here are some of my favorite parts:

The actual problem of our point in history is that God is disappearing out of humankind’s horizon and with the extinguishing of the from God-coming-light the lack/inability to of direction breaks into humanity, the destructive effects of which we are seeing ever more of.

Sometimes one has the impression that our society needs at least one group to which it needs to show no tolerance, which one is allowed to attack with hatred, unquestioned. And whoever dares to touch them—in this case the Pope— has also himself lost the right to tolerance and was allowed to be thought of with hatred, without shyness or restraint.

Dear brothers, in the days in which I bethought myself to write this letter, it so happened that I had to explain and comment on a section from Gal 5,13-15 in the seminary in Rome. I was surprised who directly the sections spoke of the present of that hour : “Do not take freedom as an excuse for the flesh, but serve one another in love. The whole law is summarized in the one world: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And when you bite and rip each other apart, then take care that you do not kill each other.” I was always inclined to see this sentence as one of those rhetorical hyperbole that occasionally appear in St Paul. In some ways it may well be. But unfortunately that “biting and ripping” is also present in the Church today as an expression of a badly understood notion of freedom.

Is it any wonder that we are not better than the Galatians? That we are at least threatened by the same temptations? That we need to learn the right uses of freedom anew? And that we always have to newly learn that highest priority: Love?

Go read the whole thing. It's just wonderful.

Ladies, Gentlemen, we're being persecuted

Update: As of yesterday afternoon, this committee hearing was cnacelled because the sponsors of the bill came to see that it was possibly unconsitutional. Be on your guard, ladies and gentlemen. It is said by some that anti-Catholicism is that last acceptable prejudice. I am inclined to agree. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your faith. Stand up for your Lord.

I would like to ask you to read this bill which up for a vote in a legislative committee in the state of Connecticut. This bill would remove all CATHOLIC pastors and bishops from any decisions regarding money and Church property in the state. Notice that this bill applies only to the Catholic Church.

You can read a rallying cry by Patrick Archbold of the Creative Minority Report here. You can read from Matthew Archbold of CMR here. You can read the call to action by Family Institute of Connecticut here. You can see the response by Bishop Lori of Bridgeport and what the Diocese of Bridgeport is doing here. Good stuff from the American Papist here.

This is an unacceptable violation of not only the US Constituion but the Constitution of the state of Connecticut (See Matthew's post above.).

What can you do? Email, call, PRAY!!!!!!
Following are the names and contact info for the sponsors of this terrible piece of legislation:

Senator Andrew McDonald: Capitol phone: (800) 842-1420; Home phone: (203) 348-7439 E-mail: McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov

Representative Michael Lawlor:Capitol phone: (800) 842-8267; Home phone: (203) 469-9725E-mail: MLawlor99@juno.com

Stand up for your faith. Stand up for your preists and bishops. Don't sit back and do nothing. This vote is tomorrow. Be heard!

Oh my Jesus, I trust in you!

A bone to pick

This time with "Time for Kids" magazine. This gets distributed in schools across America, including Primo's Catholic school.

Now, I understand that the inauguration of our country's first not-all-white president is a big deal. However, "Time for Kids" seems to be totally in love with Obama. We had the gushy, mushy inauguration edition where we found out everything an 8 year old would want to know about inauguration day except what the president ate for breakfast that morning (Do demi-gods even need to eat?). We found out that his inauguration day was the third coldest ever at 27 degrees (Ronald Reagan's second inauguration was the coldest at 7 degrees).

This week, in what ostensibly would be the Abraham Lincoln edition (he is featured prominently on the cover, like his whole face takes up the front of it), here reads the final paragraph: "Lincoln's Ideas Live On: On January 20, President Barack Obama called on Americans 'to carry forward...the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free.' Lincoln would have joined his call."

whaaaa?????

Silly me. I thought the cover story was about Abe Lincoln. Why does it have to go back to Barack? When I brought this up to my husband last night, Scott said, "I wonder how Lincoln would feel about the killing of unborn babies?"

I'm not ready to call this brainwashing or inculturation...yet, but don't you think that final paragraph is just weird?

You can sign the petition here.

Did you hear?

It's election day! You can thank me later for reminding you. I thought you might have forgotten.


It's also the feast of St. Charles Borromeo. I think that's it's pretty apt that Election day happened to fall on his feast this year. The only way it could have been better is if we had Election day on the feast of St. Thomas More.



St. Charles Borromeo

Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy on October 2. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.

In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Trent (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect, measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.

He died at Milan on the night of November 3-4, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church, of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times. His feast day is November 4th. I wish I weren't too lazy to take out all of those weird hyperlinks. I'll bet you do, too.


So, as you can see, St. Charles was an instrumental figure in the Counter-Reformation. He re-convened the Council of Trent and was a reformer. One order he tried to reform (and was eventually supressed) had 4 members that tried to assassinate him!


He led the Church in times of uncertainty and controversy. How excellent for us to have our election day fall on his feast day, when our country is going through a time of uncertainty and controversy! This is what my Magnificat says about him: "As both a civil and a canon lawyer, as well as a bishop, St. Charles understood the pastoral work of law-giving according to the model of Christ. His unflagging efforts to promote a Christian life and Church reform were prompted by a profoundly self-sacrificing love of Christ living in the Church."


Please pray that the people who are elected today also understand "the pastoral work of law-giving according to the model of Christ."


O, Blessed Mother! The United States is entrusted to you in your Immaculate Conception. Please intercede for us at the feet of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. May His Will be done in our elections today. May we as a nation be able to go forth walking in His Light. Heavenly Father, please send the Holy Spirit upon all of us who are voting that we may be inspired to vote according to Your Will. Please send the Spirit upon those who are elected that they may do Your Will while they hold office. Keep our nation in Your Protection. Amen.