Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhoration

In case you haven't yet heard, the recently released post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis, written by the Holy Father, is available on the Vatican website. Check it out. It's an excellent read, very comprehensive. Introduction:

The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ's act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us "to the end," even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!

Be warned that if you rely on the secular media to tell you what the exhortation says, you will probably receive very little benefit.

Global Warming Swindle?

Here's the video: The Great Global Warming Swindle

Article by Thomas Sowell, courtesy of Bill. (Note: Sowell is only a reporter, and to my knowledge he is not affiliated with the makers of the film.)

How much do CO2 concentrations really affect global climate change? How do we compare current warming trends with other warming trends in the earth's history? What role does the sun play in these observable climate patterns?

Not all top climate scientists agree with the current alleged consensus about human contributing factors to global climate change, and so it's clear that it's worth debate, in spite of what some folks (or politicians) may say to the contrary. Like the Global Cooling hysteria of past decades, it's important to keep some perspective.

Note: I am aware this program has its detractors -- as do other videos (like An Inconvenient Truth). But the film does raise issues that, in my opinion, do not yet have a successful or convincing response from proponents of anthropogenic global warming. So I mention it here as part of the international debate. Anybody who comes along and says that this immensely complicated issue should not debated is obviously not a scientist!

Early American Suffragist Sarah F. Norton and Abortion

Courtesy of Feminists For Life e-information list:

Little is known about the life of 19th century suffragist Sarah F. Norton beyond her writings. She was a public speaker, writer for feminist publications, and member of the Working Women's Association who advocated for the education of women and girls and equal opportunity in the workplace and equal pay for women.

Together, Sarah Norton and Susan B. Anthony agitated for the admission of women to Cornell University, "that stronghold of feminine prejudice," and won the support of the university's founder, Ezra Cornell. Norton wrote to Anthony's newspaper The Revolution:

After speeches by [Anthony] and myself, the house became noisy, at her suggestion, for a speech from Mr. Cornell. With inimitable grace he walked to the platform and turning so as to command a view of both the audience and ourselves as much as possible, said: “I would say in reply to Mrs. Norton's expressed wish to enter the University, that if she does not enter it, it will be her own fault.” Mr. Cornell assured us that women are to be admitted... how far his personal influence or wishes will avail against the power [of the trustees and directors], remains to be proved...

A year later, in 1870, Cornell became one of the first universities in the United States to admit women.

But equal education and employment opportunities were not Norton's only concerns. In another feminist newspaper, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, Sarah Norton harshly decried the "Tragedy—Social and Domestic" of infanticide and "the fast increasing crime of fœticide," or abortion.

[C]hild-murder is an easy and every-day affair... [C]hild murderers practice their profession without let or hinderance, and open infant butcheries unquestioned, establishing themselves with an impunity that is not allowed to the slaughterers of cattle... Scores of persons advertise their willingness to commit this form of murder, and with unblushing effrontery announce their names and residences in the daily papers. No one seems to be shocked by the fact... [C]irculars are distributed broadcast, recommending certain pills and potions for the very purpose, and by these means the names of these slayers of infants, and the methods by which they practice their life-destroying trade, have become "familiar in our mouths as household words." ...Is there no remedy for all this ante-natal child murder? ...Perhaps there will come a time when... an unmarried mother will not be despised because of her motherhood... and when the right of the unborn to be born will not be denied or interfered with.

Norton was particularly concerned that double standards regarding the sexes should be eliminated, and that men should be held responsible for the "instigating" role they so often played.

If you wish to learn more about the pro-life history of early American feminism, visit Feminists For Life, or sign up for their e-tutorials. Find out how early American feminists advocated for an end to abortion in this country, and everything NOW and Planned Parenthood don't want you to know about authentic feminism!

On Lent

Lent commemorates the forty days Jesus spent in the desert in preparation for his years of preaching, which culminated in the cross and in the triumph of Easter. Forty days of prayer and penance. At the end: the temptations of Christ, which the liturgy recalls for us in today's Gospel.

The whole episode is a mystery which man cannot hope to understand: God submitting to temptation, letting the evil one have his way. But we can meditate upon it, asking our Lord to help us understand the teaching it contains.

Jesus Christ being tempted... tradition likes to see Christ's trials in this way: our Lord, who came to be an example to us in all things, wants to suffer temptation as well. And so it is, for Christ was perfect man, like us in everything except sin. After forty days of fasting, with perhaps no food other than herbs and roots and a little water, he feels hungry — he is really hungry, as anyone would be. And when the devil suggests he turn stones into bread, our Lord not only declines the food which his body requires, but he also rejects a greater temptation: that of using his divine power to solve, if we can express it so, a personal problem.

You have noticed how, throughout the Gospels, Jesus doesn't work miracles for his own benefit. He turns water into wine for the wedding guests at Cana; he multiplies loaves and fish for the hungry crowd. But he earns his bread, for years, with his own work. And later, during his journeys through the land of Israel, he lives with the help of those who follow him.

St John tells how after a long journey when Jesus arrived at the well of Sichar, he sent his disciples into town to buy food. And when he sees the Samaritan woman coming, he asks her for water, since he has no way of getting it. His body, worn out from a long journey, feels weary. On other occasions he has to yield to sleep to regain his strength. How generous our Lord is in humbling himself and fully accepting his human condition! He does not use his divine power to escape from difficulties or effort. Let's pray that he will teach us to be tough, to love work, to appreciate the human and divine nobility of savouring the consequences of self-giving.

In the second temptation, when the devil suggests Jesus throw himself off the temple tower, Christ again rejects the suggestion to make use of his divine power. Christ isn't looking for vainglory, for show. He teaches us not to stage God as the backdrop for our own excellence. Jesus Christ wants to fulfil the will of his Father without anticipating God's plans, without advancing the time for miracles; he simply plods the hard path of men, the lovable way of the cross.

Something very similar happens in the third temptation: he is offered kingdoms, power and glory. The devil tries to extend to human ambitions that devotion which should be reserved wholly for God; he promises us an easy life if we fall down before him, before idols. Our Lord insists that the only true end of adoration is God; and he confirms his will to serve: "Away with you, Satan; it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and serve none but him."

-St. Josemaría Escrivá, from his sermon, The conversion of the children of God.

Martin & Weyrich Winery



Since we're talking about California wineries, I want to also take the time to mention the Martin & Weyrich Winery, just outside of Paso Robles, CA. My wife blogged about it back in January. The Martin & Weyrich winery is very supportive of healthy marriages and the Couple-to-Couple League; in fact, our class in Natural Family Planning was held in this winery's tasting room -- with complimentary wine, of course! It appears that they also operate a Bed and Breakfast outside of Paso Robles: Villa Toscana!

Cambria Winery



My wife and I often miss the beauty of California, being all the way out here in Houston. Last week, we were surprised to come across a fine Pinot Noir, produced by the Cambria Winery in our adopted home town of Santa Maria, California - in fact, the town in which we were married several months ago.

Once upon a time, Santa Maria was relatively small, compared to nearby Santa Barbara. Today, as people flock away from Santa Barbara, Santa Maria has grown to be the largest city in the county. Cambria is one of many, many wineries that have sprung up in the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys. If you're ever in the area, why not make a wine tasting trip? You won't regret it!

Archdiocesan Conference for Men and La Santísima Muerte

This morning I headed out to my parish for the first annual archdiocesan men's conference. I hear there were about 250 men there, quite a turn out! Heard some good speakers, including my archbishop, Daniel DiNardo, and the infamous Jim ("Mattress Mack") McIngvale. I also bumped into one of the chip design architects from work; I hadn't ever had the opportunity to talk with him at work, and I wasn't aware that he was Catholic until now. He's part of a rapidly growing posse of Catholics I now know at work... that's so cool :) Bill Cork was also there, and getting rather comfortable in the pulpit :)

Anyway, after the conference, I went and picked up the wife, and we headed out to hit some antique shops in the nearby olde towne of Rosenberg, Texas. While we were there, we happened in to a little shop on one of the old main roads in town, "Herberia La Esparanza", or some such. Noticing the Catholic iconography in the window, I was intrigued, and so we entered.

As soon as we walked through the door, we were overwhelmed by images and statues of "La Santísima Muerte", aka "Santa Muerte", or "St. Death", a somewhat unofficial Mexican folk saint, of sorts -- a devotion peculiar to certain regions of Mexico, largely derived from pre-Christian, Aztec deities that were later syncretized with Christian beliefs; definitely not the easiest Catholic cultural devotion to explain to your average non-Catholic. Here's more from the Seattle Times:

Over the past 20 years, her following has grown so large that in some parts of Mexico she is becoming a rival in popular affection to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the manifestation of the Virgin Mary that is the reigning symbol of Mexican national identity.

"She is a Virgin of Guadalupe in negative: That which one can't ask of the Virgin, one can ask of her," says Homero Aridjis, a poet, novelist and former Mexican diplomat who recently published a short-story collection about La Santa Muerte's mysterious and firm grip on the Mexican soul.

As you might've guessed, at this point my latent Protestant senses were tingling uncontrollably. Indeed, I have read a little about this particular devotion in the past, and coming from California, I had heard about it... Bloggers have blogged on it. However, I had never come face to face before with St. Death. None of my Mexican-American friends embraced this devotion, even though they observed other related customs, such as the Dia de los Muertos.

I believe the male form of "Holy Death" is usually depicted as a Grim Reaper looking character, complete with white skull, red eyes, scales, long, flowing robes, and a very large, raised scythe. Aside from this, there were fairly typical things in the store: holy cards, statues, candles, etc... Within the devotion to St. Death, one can certainly find solidly Christian folks. One can also find those folks who, well, lean pagan. So I wasn't too surprised to find other items further inside the store reflecting various aspects of pagan/catholic syncretism from south of the border: Potions, herbs, oils, love and good luck incense and sprays, and an assortment of gold talismans. To our amazement, we also saw Buddha statues.

Gloria Dei, homo vivens!

The well known words of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, "The Glory of God is the living man!", or more to the point, "The Glory of God is man, fully alive!" Being truly and really human, really alive.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the most powerful encounters a human being can have, and it is so that it is intricately linked with a Eucharistic faith. Yet, it is one of the most undervalued sacraments. Why? I suspect it's because of our pride, and a general loss of the sense of what sin is. But why are we so afraid of repentance? Given that we have a God who loves us so much, a God who has sacrificed everything for us, how is it so hard for us to look at ourselves, admit we're not at all perfect, and accept God's invitation to take away from us everything that keeps us from encountering and living with Him. Yet we prefer to walk with an obscured image of this great love, and we grow so used to needlessly carrying around this big bag of rocks we accumulate over time, out of some misguided sense of control and comfort, I suppose; and here God comes to us, asking us, pleading with us really, to give these darkest parts of our soul to Him, with the promise - the promise - of transformation, of grace. Reconciliation is the only place where we can stand before God, swallow our pride and confess, "I am guilty!", and embrace complete forgiveness.

Through more frequent confession, I am much more aware of my predominant faults -- those faults that I struggle with daily, that aren't overcome overnight. We all have them. And so I plead with all of you -- make this special season of Lent a true time of repentance and growth. If you haven't been to confession in years, why not swallow your pride and go? It will change your life. This is what makes the life as a Christian so radical. And God eagerly desires to make us fully alive through an encounter with all of the sacraments He has given us.

Devon Claire Flannery: Get a clue!

Last year, I meant to blog about this brain-dead article in the UCSB Daily Nexus newspaper, written last May by managing editor Devon Claire Flannery. It was written after a pro-life group called Justice for All came to the UCSB campus and displayed several photos of aborted children. First, let me say that this particularly strategy tends to work some times and fail other times primarily because it appeals more to shock value, which I am not sure actually changes as many minds as it ought to. Flannery's response to the demonstration, however, is completely asinine.

Fortunately, JivinJehoshaphat responds to Flannery's wild assertions much better than I could have. Read his response.

Just to highlight some things... Flannery asserts in her article that the pro-life group had a right to free speech, yet she ends the article by saying:

Well, I don't want to hear it. Get your medieval, ignorant and sexist posters, opinions and scare tactics out of my school, out of my country and away from my body.

She also asserts that the photos had been "photo-shopped" while offering no evidence to support it. Of course, they are difficult to look at, but one cannot pretend they don't exist. My favorite take-down in JivinJehoshaphat's response is when Flannery asserts this:

However, the demonstrators shouldn't hide behind their "Justice for All" and "free counseling for women" signs next to their photos of mutilated fetuses - which were probably mutilated because the abortion was performed illegally in a country where abortion has been outlawed by people like those present on campus today - and try to call it free speech.

JivinJehoshaphat responds:

One wonders if Flannery has any clue what she is talking about if she actually thinks that the fetuses are mutilated because the abortion was probably illegally. Does she not recognize that the goal of abortion (whether legal or illegal) is to destroy the fetus? How would an illegal abortion create a more mutilated fetus than a legal one?

Flannery goes on to assert the same old tired rhetoric about "sexist males". What would Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton say to that? I may be a male, but I can assure you that the feminism Flannery screams about is not the feminism these early American women fought for. Thank God the tide is finally turning toward authentic feminism and respect for all human life.

Masterpieces of French Art, from the Met



This afternoon, Christina and I ventured downtown to see this beautiful art exhibit at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston:

The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800-1920

It's an extraordinary sampling of many famous favorites! Degas, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Seurat, Matisse, and on and on! The exhibit will be here until May 6, 2007. Check it out! Beware that this is a popular exhibit!

Absinthe: La Fée Verte



Here's an interesting YouTube clip from Modern Marvels (10 minutes) on the current distillation of Absinthe at the Combier distillery in France and the modern revival of the drink. While it is still illegal to sell in the United States (though it is not considered a controlled substance), traditional Absinthe is no longer banned in Europe.



The ban in the United States has increased the popularity of some faux-Absinthe drinks, such as Herbsaint (from New Orleans) and Absente. Absente follows the traditional Absinthe recipe -- however, instead of using grande wormwood as an ingredient (resulting in a large concentration of the controversial chemical thujone, the primary reason for the ban), it uses southern wormwood, which has a slightly different composition.

If there's coffee talk, how about Absinthe talk?

Handy Household Tips

How many of these do you know?

Harpsichord Mania!



Our parish church recently acquired a harpsichord for use in our daily mass chapel (chapel pictured above). A perfect way to compliment the large pipe organ that will soon be installed in the sanctuary of the main church.

Before now, I had never even seen a harpsichord in person. Last sunday morning after mass, my wife and I made our way over to the chapel. There it was, covered-up, sitting innocently in the corner. We lifted off the cover, and behold! I pecked a few keys, filling the room with that classic sound... and we thought, "that's a harpsichord all right!" I suppose the cover was meant to keep away prying eyes and fingers such as ours... but we will treat it with the utmost respect it deserves!

Blog Awards?!

I appreciate those of you who read my thoughts on this blog. But please don't nominate this blog for the "Catholic Blog Awards". As I said last year, I'm not in competition with anyone. I don't blog for ratings or awards, and I don't need an award to know that some readers enjoy reading me and other readers don't.

I know the creators and participants are sincere and don't mean harm, but I believe the blog awards are meaningless. Blogs reflect the personalities of those who write for them, and they're all pretty different; folks have different reasons for reading them. Why must one be better (or "best") than another blog?

I can't let this go without a little social analysis. In my mind, this is only a reflection of the American "award culture" craze, where we feel we have to compete to earn recognition to give some extra value to our work. Is there no value in doing something just for the sake of doing it? And so these awards end up being little more than mere popularity contests. Perhaps it won't be long before there are awards for whomever has the most awards (or like the Awardies). I guess I'm in the minority, but I'll continue to read plenty awardless blogs. In fact, I get rather tired of all of the campaigning some blogs due to win favor.

Unexpected Result...

You know the Bible 98%!

 

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

As in, I had to make a few educated guesses... plus, it won't tell you which ones ya got wrong...

Katie Short refutes Cheryl Rollings in letter

From the California Catholic Daily:

On Jan. 22, the Ventura County Star published an opinion piece by Cheryl Rollings, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties Inc., entitled ?Reproductive rights must be protected.? Catherine Short, legal director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, responded to the item with a letter to the editor challenging Rollings? data. An edited version of Short?s letter was published by the Star on Jan. 25. California Catholic Daily has obtained a copy of Short?s original letter, and publishes it below in its entirety.

Read more.

Cheryl Rollings cites made up statistics and complains about Bush's appointment to oversee Title X, the federal family planning program. Katie Short responds to this:

Ms. Rollings says Bush?s pick opposes the wishes of voters who ?do not want lawmakers to intrude into our personal and private medical decisions.? Wait, hit the playback button. People don?t want government ?intrusion? in a taxpayer-financed program? Ms. Rollings, you?re right. The federal government should not be in the family planning business, intruding in people?s private medical decisions. So let?s eliminate the Title X program altogether, and pull the rug right out from under Bush and his interfering, ?anti-choice? appointee.

Brava!

Giant Holy Water Stoup?

In the comment boxes on a recent discussion on a popular Catholic blog, there was some reaction to a recently built church that included a rather large baptismal font. One of the folks responded that she believed the purpose of the large baptismal font was to act as a "giant holy water stoup", since it was also placed near the main entrance of the church. If you want to get technical, the font can be thought of as a "stoup", but the font itself has a very important meaning, being the location where baptism is actually celebrated. I recall the discussion from Built of Living Stones, emphasis mine:

The baptismal font and its location reflect the Christian's journey through the waters of baptism to the altar... Through the waters of baptism the faithful enter the life of Christ. For this reason the font should be visible and accessible to all who enter the church building...

Water is the key symbol of baptism and the focal point of the font. In this water believers die to sin and are reborn to new life in Christ. In designing the font and the iconography in the baptismal area, the parish will want to consider the traditional symbolism that has been the inspiration for the font's design throughout history. The font is a symbol of both tomb and womb; its power is the power of the triumphant cross; and baptism sets the Christian on the path to the life that will never end, the "eighth day" of eternity where Christ's reign of peace and justice is celebrated...

The font should be large enough to supply ample water for the baptism of both adults and infants. Since baptism in Catholic churches may take place by immersion in the water, or by infusion (pouring), fonts that permit all forms of baptismal practice are encouraged.

Preferences aside, large fonts like the one discussed probably enable easier baptism of adults by immersion or pouring, and also serve as prominent symbols, reminders of baptism for the faithful (of tomb and womb), which is why they are also typically (but not always) placed near the primary entrance of a church and oriented in the direction of the altar. The little stoups next to doors came much later!

Texas Rally for Life in Austin

We just got back from the Texas Rally for Life in Austin, TX. We went with a large group of folks from all walks and ages; We were late going due to bad weather in Houston, but we arrived just in time and in beautiful weather for the march, which led everyone to the capitol building for the rally. The rally was very good. Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life was there to speak, as was Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Diocese of Austin and a number of others. Our own Archbishop DiNardo was there as well from Houston! We were also happy to see Democrats For Life present in full force.

There were only a handful of counter protesters. One group of 3 or 4 people held up a homemade sign that read, "Abortion is neat". I kept thinking that I would've liked to have a discussion with them in greater depth about the implications of their sign, but nobody was in discussion mode. I do wish some pro-lifers would give more thought to their off-the-cuff responses and reactions to antagonisms like this, but we're human.

One of the speakers at the rally was an African American woman who talked of her experience of being forced to the abortion clinic at age 14 by her father and mother to undergo a partial-birth abortion. After labor was induced, everyone discovered she was pregnant with twins! What they gave her to induce labor made her very sick, and one nurse responded to her complaints by telling her, "You should've thought about that before you opened your legs!" The nurse held her down with a pillow through most of the procedure, but she was able to see her twins, recovered from her body and scooped into a trash bag. Thousands of women like this woman are finding one another and coming forward to tell folks -- Roe V Wade doesn't empower women. It destroys them.

March 3: Archdiocesan Men's Conference

If you're a Catholic man in the Houston area, you're invited to a Lenten day of spirituality for men at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. It's free! Details from the website:

Saturday, March 3

9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Starting in the Parish Hall

St. Theresa's Catholic Church
115 Seventh Street
Sugar Land, TX 77478

A time to reflect on who you are as a Christian man and what God is calling you to be. Catholic men will share their stories of how they seek to be faithful to God and to their responsibilities as husbands, fathers, friends and in the workplace....

Doors open at 8:15 a.m. We'll begin at 9:00 with speakers, have a time of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (with opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation) and conclude with the celebration of the Eucharist.

Speakers include Archbishop Daniel DiNardo and Houston's own Jim ("Mattress Mack") McIngvale. Did I mention it's free? Go here to register!

Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Texan Earthquake

So this morning a few minutes after midnight, we were greatly disturbed by what felt and sounded like an earthquake, which shook the house. Coming from California, this was a surprise to me -- an earthquake in Texas?! It's not impossible, however it is very unlikely. We weren't sure what it was; a bomb, maybe? Thunder? Well, this morning I discovered that my "earthquake" was actually caused by an exploding house 10-15 miles away in Missouri City! See Woman Survives House Explosion. Fortunately, it looks like nobody was seriously injured. If we felt it that far away, I can't even imagine what the house's next door neighbors experienced!

Poor Journalism from Santa Maria Times

The Santa Maria Times, of Santa Maria, California, ran an article today entitled, "Both sides of abortion rally support," written by Emily Welly. But does the article really examine "both sides"? Let me reproduce the article in two sections in case the article is lost. Here is the first part of the article:

Monday marked the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America, and in Santa Maria, the landmark ruling was remembered by supporters on both sides of the controversial debate.

One group marked the anniversary by holding a candlelight vigil Monday night in front of Planned Parenthood, 415 E. Chapel St.

?On this day we are out to remind people of the importance of Roe v. Wade,? said Nancy Jones of Planned Parenthood, noting that many women today - anyone under 34, in fact - has never known a world without abortion being a legally recognized choice.

?That's what gave women the choice over their reproductive care,? she said. ?It's extremely important that those of us who believe strongly (in choice) stand up.?

Such candlelight vigils have been held in this location on the anniversary of the ruling for at least the past 10 years, Jones said.

The group that gathered Monday night included Planned Parenthood employees and members of the Pro-Choice Coalition of Santa Barbara County. Also in attendance, according to Jones, were members of the American Association of University Women and members of the League of Women Voters. Participants included both Democrats and Republicans, she added.

A group of Santa Marians from the other side of the abortion debate took to the streets Sunday afternoon, the eve of the anniversary, to voice their views.

Marchers from several Santa Maria-area Catholic schools carried banners with right-to-life messages at a rally that began at Santa Maria City Hall and finished across the street from Planned Parenthood.

The first section is spent touting the strength of support for Planned Parenthood. Opponents at the rally aren't even granted an interview. But in a desperate attempt to balance things out, the article goes on:

Their message was echoed Monday in the nation's capital, where President Bush told thousands of abortion foes he shares their goal of seeing ?the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected into law.?

Bush also signaled his unchanged opposition to a key goal of the Democrats who now control Congress: broadening embryonic stem-cell research.

?Our challenge is to make sure that science serves the cause of humanity instead of the other way around,? the president said in a telephone call piped over loudspeakers to a Washington rally of abortion opponents.

?I have made clear to the Congress, we must pursue medical advances in the name of life, not at the expense of it.?

Bush calls the rally each year, usually from distant locations. This year, he extended his weekend stay at the Camp David presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains to phone the participants from there.

Bush last year vetoed a bill bolstering embryonic stem cell research that advocates say shows promise for numerous medical cures. Earlier this month, the House passed such a bill again, though by a margin short of what would be required to overturn another veto from the president.

With abortion foes in a more defensive posture now that Democrats have gained control of Capitol Hill, Bush urged them to do more than look toward legislative victories.

?We've all got to remember that a true culture of life cannot be built by changing laws alone. We've all got to work hard to change hearts,? he said.

?The sanctity of life is written in the life of all men and women. And so I think, go forth with confidence that a cause rooted in human dignity and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens cannot fail.?

Emily Welly can be reached at 739-2220 or ewelly@santamariatimes.com

There is one glaring problem with this second section. The text is lifted verbatim from an AP wire news story that ran yesterday. Here is the same AP article from CNN for comparison. Meanwhile 20,000 people marched in San Francisco over the weekend, as part of the West Coast March for Life, calling for an end to abortion and for society to meet the real needs of women. Yet the Santa Maria Times apparently just wants to run its token "Roe V. Wade anniversary" article of the year by interviewing one side and slapping that together with some other article. I wonder how much effort that took?

Abortion and African Americans

It's been no secret that Planned Parenthood has targeted minority communities, particularly African American communities, for decades. No question most clinics are located in more poverty stricken areas of town. PP's founder, eugenicist Margaret Sanger, referred to African Americans and other minorities as "human weeds" and "reckless breeders", and according to Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon, Sanger once said, "We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population... if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." That was back when PP was all about birth control, before they considered providing abortion.

But in fact, since the 1970's nothing has done more to harm African Americans than abortion. According to blackgenocide.com:

In America today, almost as many African-American children are aborted as are born [3 out of 5 pregnancies]. A black baby is three times more likely to be murdered in the womb than a white baby. Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent. Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined. Every three days, more African-Americans are killed by abortion than have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in its entire history. Planned Parenthood operates the nation's largest chain of abortion clinics and almost 80 percent of its facilities are located in minority neighborhoods. About 13 percent of American women are black, but they submit to over 35 percent of the abortions.

What exists now is a negative birthrate among African Americans. If this rate continues, there will be no way for the African American community to replenish itself in future years. Are you listening, Barack Obama?

Abortion, no more

Check out this article from the UCSB Daily Nexus. UCSB's campus Planned Parenthood club (aka "VOX") had a quaint little rally in Isla Vista over the weekend, apparently visited by "a few students scattered throughout the park." Apparently one of the signs read, "Not Every Ejaculation Deserves A Name". That's right, your unwanted child is really just the result of a wasted sperm. Speaking at the rally was the pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church from downtown Santa Barbara, the Rev. Mark Asman, who extolled the virtue of legal genocide. Rev. Asman represents "Clergy for Choice" and also sits on the board of Planned Parenthood in Santa Barbara.

Planned Parenthood doesn't get it. After so many years, they continue to spew the same euphemistic lies about "reproductive freedom" and "healthy choice", etc... Here is another example of the same tired rhetoric. It's silly because we know the lies already; we're intimately familiar with them now. We know better. There is nothing "safe" about abortion; abortion clinics aren't even medically regulated. Most abortionists don't even have hospital admitting privileges should they need to admit a woman for care. And there is nothing "pro-woman" about abortion. Asking a woman to cut out her own child from her womb and toss it aside like trash is a woman-centered solution? Asking a woman to destroy the fruit of her own natural gift of fertility. The early American feminists certainly never believed that lie. They fought against it. They knew that abortion did not help women; it destroyed them. Abortion was a sign that society had failed to meet their needs - that women were being wronged.

When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society - so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged.

Mattie Brinkerhoff, early feminist, writing in The Revolution, 4(9):138-9 September 2, 1869

Alice Paul, author of the original Equal Rights Amendment, referred to abortion as the "ultimate exploitation of women". Yet we're supposed to listen to modern feminists who say that abortion is the "ultimate emancipation of women"?

Of course, the answer does not only mean eliminating abortion. It means providing real options for women. Real opportunities, particularly in education and employment. No woman should ever have to feel that having a child and completing an education, or having a career, are mutually exclusive. We also need to be about challenging men to be responsible, honest men. It's a big job. But women deserve better than the BS solution society has given them.

Who am I to speak about abortion? My peers and I are survivors. We were born in the years since our mothers were granted the "right" by our national government to have us killed. Today, much of my own generation is dead. Over 47 million brothers and sisters since 1973. Yet, my mother chose life. Life liberates.

The Decameron Web

Speaking of Giovanni Boccaccio, check out the Decameron Web, "a growing hypermedia archive of materials dedicated to Boccaccio's masterpiece," courtesy of the Brown University Department of Italian Studies.

The Decameron has elicited throughout the centuries fundamental discussions on the nature of narrative art, on the tenets of medieval versus modern morality, on the social and educational value of any form of artistic and literary expression. A true encyclopedia of early modern life and a summa of late medieval culture, the Decameron is also a universal repertory of perennially human situations and dilemmas: it is the perfect subject for an experiment in a new form of scholarly and pedagogical communication aimed at renewing a living dialogue between a distant past and our present.

Pope Joan Movie??

Yes, my friends, it's coming in 2008. About.com says this:

There has never been any real evidence of a woman pope, but that hasn't stopped some folks from insisting it must have happened. Now a film is in the works, based on the novel Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. It may make for a great movie, especially if you pay no attention to historical errors and misrepresentations (which, in my view, is the only way to watch most historical films).

Apparently the failure of The DaVinci Code isn't enough to stop the anti-Catholic movie machine from churning out more... I'm not sure it surprises me, since the story of the mythical Joan makes for quite a tale of cover-up and conspiracy, and with a woman in the center of it all -- it must be true! But "It's only a movie!", other people will say.

I remember when I was a student at the university, I went into the sacristy of our university parish to prepare for mass that day (as a liturgical minister) only to come upon a copy of Cross' Pope Joan, just laying around. I don't know who put it there. One of the lectors said to me, "It's a pretty good book; a little on the heretical side, but really good!"

I think one of the best accounts of the story of Joan is handed down to us by the infamous Giovanni Boccaccio (of Decameron fame) from his Renaissance work, Famous Women, written in Latin. Boccaccio asserts that Joan was an Englishwoman, but I think Cross asserts she was German (at least in the movie). Boccaccio says many things about the story in his book, but I thought that this excerpt was most interesting (in both Latin and English)

Iohannes, esto vir nomine videatur, sexu tamen femina fuit... Que tamen non verita ascendere Piscatoris cathedram et sacra ministeria omnia, nulli mulierum a christiana religione concessum, tractare agere et aliis exhibere, apostolatus culmen aliquibus annis obtinuit Christique vicariatum femina gessit in terris. Sane ex alto Deus, plebi sue misertus, tam insignem locum teneri, tanto presideri populo tanque infausto errore decipi a femina passus non est et illam indebita audentem nec sinentem suis in manibus liquit.

Roughly translated (from Virginia Brown's translation),

From her name John would seem to be a man, but she was nevertheless a woman... She was not afraid to mount the Fisherman's throne, to perform all the sacred offices, and to administer them to others, something that the Christian religion does not permit any woman to do. For a few years she occupied the highest apostolate and a woman acted as Vicar of Christ on earth. Then from on high God took pity on his people. He did not suffer a woman to hold so eminent an office, govern so great a people, and deceive them with so inauspicious a misapprehension. He abandoned to her own devices [hands] this person who boldly persisted in doing what should not have been done.

Notice the point of view from which Boccaccio writes this. He writes it almost as though it were a biblical story, using biblical imagery to convey the wittiness of evil, the foolishness of man, and the justice of God. Virginia Brown's translation of the Latin doesn't emphasize this as much, but what I found interesting is right where he begins to describe the action God took. He starts by saying, in Latin,

Sane ex alto Deus... passus non est...
(Sensibly, God, from on high, did not suffer [allow]...)

In Boccaccio's account, Joan duped the Church and fooled the people, and it was God who essentially struck her down (God, ex alto, no less!). Later on, when He describes Joan becoming pregnant, Boccaccio exclaims,

O scelus indignum, o invicta patientia Dei!
(O shameful crime, o how invincible is God's patience!).

And after she gives birth in public, Boccaccio writes, using more biblical imagery,

Et hinc a patribus in tenebras exteriores abiecta, cum fetu misella abiit.
(And hence, she was cast into the outer darkness by the fathers, and the wretched woman went away with her child).

And how does Donna Woolfolk Cross write the tale? Is Joan turned into some sort of feminist heroine of her day, following her true vocation from God, all the while persecuted by an evil institution?

Harrius Potter Et Camera Secretorum



Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second Harry Potter book in the series, is now available in Latin. Check it out at amazon.com. The first book, Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis, was released a few years ago, along with the Ancient Greek and Irish Gaelic translations.

Peculiar...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Most Noble and Honourable Alan the Clement of Featherstonehaugh St Fanshaw Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Respect Life Mass

This morning, we headed to downtown Houston to participate in the annual diocesan Respect Life Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church, celebrated by our archbishop, Daniel DiNardo. Very good. Several other pro-life events will be taking place over the next couple of weeks surrounding the anniversary of the infamous Roe Vs. Wade decision. These events are necessary to renew our spirit and strengthen our resolve to fight for life and respect for human dignity, especially that of the unborn and of women.

Before mass began, we heard a very moving testimony from the father of two aborted children. It was a good message for men, in particular, to hear. Men aren't absent from the issue of abortion. To paraphrase his message, whenever there is an abortion, there's a man in the equation somewhere. A true man does not sit back or otherwise encourage the death of his own child, for whatever excuse. A true man loves and respects women and children and works to protect them and walk with them, as hard as it is. Therefore, to say that abortion is solely a women's issue is horribly wrong. That's fundamentally why the early feminists opposed abortion - abortion was the best way a man could cast aside responsibility for his actions at the expense of everyone around him, most especially the woman he impregnated and their child.

Home Wizard

Those of you who own homes, especially those who are new at this game, check out:

Home Wizard Interactive Home Maintenance Guide

Recommended by home inspectors. Useful information on basic home and yard maintenance, including an automatic email reminder service to remind you of the all of the various things that need to be done throughout the year. We'll try it and see how it goes!

Quincey P. Morris, an American from Texas

In the course of my reading of Bram Stoker's Dracula, I couldn't go without commenting on a character whom I feel is one of the most interesting in all literature: Mr. Quincey P. Morris, the great world traveler, loyal friend, suitor to Miss Lucy Westenra, and homegrown Texan. Okay, I'm sure many of you will immediately think of more interesting literary characters, but it's fascinating to me to find such a well polished, distinguished, and uniquely Texan gentleman in late 19th century England, whose sole pleasure was to seek the heart of the wildly flirtatious Lucy, only to find himself bound by loyalty to her and to his friends to battle the infamous vampire Count (with the aide of his trusty bowie knife); and, in so doing, ultimately to give his life.

In the novel, Lucy describes one of the more memorable scenes involving Quincey in a letter to Mina Murray. In particular, Lucy is describing how she received Quincey's marriage proposal, the 2nd marriage proposal received that day, which she of course refused in anticipation of the 3rd marriage proposal later that day, which was offered by Quincey's good friend, Arthur Holmwood.

He is such a nice fellow, an American from Texas, and he looks so young and so fresh that it seems almost impossible that he has been to so many places and has had such adventures... Mr. Quincey P. Morris found me alone... I must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always speak slang -- that is to say, he never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well educated and has exquisite manners -- but he found out that it amused me to hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there was no one to be shocked, he said such funny things... Well, Mr. Morris sat down beside me and looked as happy and jolly as he could, but I could see all the same that he was very nervous. He took my hand in his, and said ever so sweetly:

Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your little shoes, but I guess if you wait till you find a man that is you will go join them seven young women with the lamps when you quit. Won't you just hitch up alongside of me and let us go down the long road together, driving in double harness?

Well, he did look so good-humoured and so jolly that it didn't seem half so hard to refuse him as it did poor Dr. Seward, so I said, as lightly as I could, that I did not know anything of hitching, and that I wasn't broken to harness at all yet.

Poor Quincey, how could someone refuse such a marriage proposal as that? Well, in my opinion, he was better off without Lucy! I'm sure I'll write more about Quincey another time.

La Chapelle Royale

La Chapelle Royale du Château de Versailles, France

The Execution & other thoughts

I haven't had much time to collect my thoughts, but I want to jot some thoughts down. I support Church teaching regarding capital punishment, and in this context I also agree with the thoughts of our late holy father, Pope John Paul II, particularly in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. His thoughts concerning the prudence of the death penalty are also recorded in our current Catechism. The Catechism discusses the death penalty in the general context of the larger section: Respect for Human Life. Of course, this isn't accidental. Paragraph 2266-2267:

2266 The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. The primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.

The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor. [From Evangelium Vitae:]"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'"

I agree with all of this. Actually, there is a lot packed into those few lines, and much to consider. As a citizen of the United States, I want to mention that I oppose the modern application of the death penalty in this country and would like to see it abolished. Because of the apparently general decrease in the value of life, I tend toward the position that the modern use of the death penalty is more likely an offense to human dignity rather than an affirmation of it. This is not because I think there are no circumstances that warrant it in theory, but because I feel it may be of no practical use today. I am not sure I'm convinced that, as a punishment, it is necessarily "just" in every case, and I don't believe it is necessary to protect society or deter crime, as perhaps it once was. In most cases, at least to me, it seems overly anti-climactic for a society that has grown more adapted to it and perhaps takes it for granted. And of course, there are looming questions of misapplication. That being said, the Church clearly acknowledges the authority of civil authorities to impose it, that in some circumstances it may be considered "just", and I recognize that Catholics disagree with me in good conscience about abolishing it in this country.

I have struggled with my opinion regarding the Iraqi execution of Saddam. I think that executing Saddam may have been one of those rare cases that most likely did serve the best interests of the world and Iraq. He clearly had enormous influence among Iraqis and terrorists alike, both in Iraq and all over the world. However, I'm not ready to say that I know what Iraq should've done. It wasn't my decision to make; it was theirs. I recognize that. However, I can't rejoice in it. It was tragic, and why shouldn't it be? Perhaps not because it wasn't just, but tragic perhaps because it's sad that human beings, sinners, with limited understanding, have to be put in a situation to judge whether another sinner's death may be necessary for some "greater good" of society or for some punishment that appears "just". Just as in some cases, war may be necessary and even just - that doesn't mean war isn't any less hell.

So what about the Vatican's statement regarding the execution of Saddam? Their response seems perfectly consistent with what I would expect. Did nobody cringe when Pope John Paul II appealed to President Bush for the life of convicted mass murderer Timothy McVeigh, or when the pope publicly opposed the war in Iraq? I don't see any repudiation of the Church's actual teaching, but I do see a shift in the way the Church engages these important issues with the modern world, a world that seems to devalue basic human dignity in each succeeding generation. And so the Church has clearly taken a radical position on what constitutes prudence when seeking to apply the death penalty. It is radical to insist that even notorious murderers have a basic, innate human dignity. Of course, this means that human dignity is of immense value. What I see seems perfectly in line with what the Church said about its attempts to engage the modern world with the Gospel in Gaudium et Spes from the Second Vatican Council. I am quite frankly puzzled why a few bloggers find the Vatican's statement and leanings so troubling. What few answers I have received from these bloggers have been less than satisfactory, and the more I attempt to probe this question, the more questions I have. Again, from Gaudium et Spes:

Therefore, this sacred synod, proclaiming the noble destiny of man and championing the Godlike seed which has been sown in him, offers to mankind the honest assistance of the Church in fostering that brotherhood of all men which corresponds to this destiny of theirs. Inspired by no earthly ambition, the Church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ under the lead of the befriending Spirit...

To carry out such a task, the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics.

Man's questions about this present life and the life to come remaining perennial, and Church teaching remaining consistent, do we really expect the Church to engage the world in the same fashion it did 500 years ago?

Pray for grandmother

Tonight, I found out that my paternal grandmother suffered a massive stroke this morning near her home in Indiana, with internal bleeding in her brain. She's alive, but she's in grave condition. Please pray for her!

R.I.P. Gerald Ford

Happy New Year

We just returned home from spending the weekend with family in Abilene, TX. We chose to take a shortcut from Houston using Texas' many intersecting highways, passing through many interesting small towns. But what we thought was the most direct route turned out to be a fairly long, 7-hr drive, longer than we expected -- which is saying a lot since my family and I have crossed Texas end-to-end by car many, many times over the last 28 years. We had no illusions about the size of Texas, but next time, we'll contemplate taking the less direct, but still slightly faster and more efficient interstate system!

However, it was a fun trip. We spent the early evening of New Years Eve watching a showing of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on the original film at the restored 1930's Paramount Theater in downtown Abilene, and then we spent the rest of the night watching the Twilight Zone marathon with family. And yet, the trip was not without its frustrations... including a minor auto accident and an overflowing toilet in our hotel room. Grr... but such, at times, is life and sanctification. It was great to see family.