Our groovy ghoulies

Finally had a chance to get the pictures uploaded from last night.

Everyone had a great time. The weather wasn't too cold, so the kids and parents didn't freeze. Kids made a haul of candy. I think I ate too much candy because I woke up this morning and felt hung over...and it wasn't the Martha Stewart drink that did it either.

Gospel of St. Matthew Bible Study - Lesson 7

Lecture today was from Chapter 7 of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Continuing with the Sermon on the Mount.

Father started out mentioning that Jesus telling us not to judge transcends former covenants. Previously, Mosaic Law operated on justice and there were prescribed ways of extracting justice (eye for an eye type thing). Sometimes, in the Old Testament, a person’s sins became manifested physically, as seen with leprosy. Now, Jesus is telling us how mercy is to be applied and it goes beyond justice. Only applying justice is not enough. If God only applied justice to us, things would’ve ended with Adam and Eve, or surely at Calvary when Jesus was crucified.

Father said St. Augustine wrote about how the devil was hoping this is what would happen at Calvary, but God “turned the tables” and what the devil thought was to become our condemnation actually became our redemption. (If anyone knows where this is in St. Augustine’s writings, please let me know).

We must temper our judgment with mercy, but we must also have the Christian charity to correct those in sin. Father cited St. Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 5), where St. Paul was harsh on the Christian community there for not correcting, and even excluding, a fellow member who was sinning and causing scandal. It was analogous to allowing a disease to affect the entire town, “leaven leavens the entire batch.” The community risked the spread of the behavior and corruption for not rooting it out.

We are to judge from charity and not pride. Our MOTIVE is what matters. To judge from pride (hypocrisy) is wrong, but to judge out of charity is right. And, the measure we use to measure others will be used on us.

Father went on to talk about prayer. He said that if we seek, knock and pray and seemingly don’t receive and answer even if our requests are “good,” even if daily prayers don’t get answered, if we are in the state of grace, there is always a response, but it may not be what we want (even Jesus asked for the chalice to be taken from Him and it wasn’t). We need to trust that God is a perfectly loving Father who wants the best for us and will bring this about. We need to continue to pray, but also understand that we should wish for God’s will be to done since there is good being brought about whether we know it or not. This is a mystery and we will not see God’s “big reveal” until Judgment Day.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Mat 7:13-14) Father stressed that Jesus wasn’t a touchy-feely guy. These are harsh words that Jesus said over and over and in many ways. Like everything else in life, there are standards and the bar to Heaven isn’t so low you can crawl over it.

“Not every one who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” (Mat 7:21-23). Father said the people in this passage had faith. They were Christians. But, here we see another passage that talks about the heresy of faith alone. Father briefly mentioned Martin Luther and how Romans got changed to say “by faith alone” and is now being corrected in many Protestant bibles. Father said these people had faith but are not sanctified by faith alone; you need to act out on faith since even the demons have faith (but not love) and their knees are compelled to bend too. Faith alone is not enough.

From the Catechism:
162: Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: "Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith." To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be "working through charity," abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.

God condemned, it is said, a third of the angels. Angels are superior to us in many ways. Who are we to think that we are above the angels and the same fate won’t happen to us? We have been given many, many chances.

Father talked about being given the grace of faith. This grace leads us to Christ. In baptism we are joined to Christ through additional grace. We can forfeit the grace of sanctification and still retain the grace of faith. You can still believe the Catholic Church is true and correct, but be in a state of mortal sin. You can believe in God, but still not get to heaven. Faith alone is not enough, but this grace of faith is what allows people to return to the Church or convert. You can also forfeit the grace of faith. You need to move from knowing things in the intellect to having the will act on them; it needs to be an act of will, not just intellect. Knowing is one thing, doing another.

From the Catechism:
2003: Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit.” Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.

2004 Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church:
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord's words "Thus you will know them by their fruits" - reflection on God's blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.
A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical judges: "Asked if she knew that she was in God's grace, she replied: 'If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.'"

There is more to this chapter, but time didn’t allow Father to talk about the Golden Rule, how the Christian faith rests on the authority of the risen Christ (see CCC 651) and how the disciples were chosen to pass on His ministry (see CCC 551).

We learned in our small group that there are five parts of the Sermon on the Mount:
The Beatitudes
The Six Antitheses
Principles of Piety
Care of this World
The Way to Life

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"Every one then who hears these words of mind and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." - (Mat 7:24)

As St. James says (James 1:22-25), “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”

Thanks Vincenzo!

The new header banner on my blog is courtesy of Vincenzo!

Thank you!! It is very cool, but now I don't have an excuse to plead with my husband for Photo Shop ;}

Hopefully, my blog isn't having problems since I edited the HTML code a bit. The pictures (left to right) are the St. Monica pic I had on my blog previously, surrounded by alpine pics from the small and very remote Swiss village my mother's family is from in Canton Graubunden. It is one of the few areas in Switzerland to remain (staunchly) Catholic when the Protestant Reformation griped this area of Europe. The church is from the 1600s, centered in the town square, with the village surrounding it. The other pics are from one of the towns my family is from in Ireland. These are from Burrishoole Abbey, Newport, in County Mayo. I did a prior post on the Abbey and you can read about it here.

Thanks very much, Vincenzo!! You do great work!

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween 2006

Since Sunday, my son hasn't taken off his costume. I thought it would be a good idea to try it on to make sure it fit so we didn't have any last minute crisis. Ah, now I know why I see kids out with their parents dressed in their costumes days before Halloween.

This year, my son is going to be Spiderman. My daughter will be a princess. I thought my son was a horse last year, but he was a beetle or something creepy like that. My daughter was a lady bug. She's about ready to cry in this photo for some reason. I think it is because my MIL was standing behind me when I took this photo. At this age (14 months), my daughter would cry if my MIL was anywhere around. In fact, when my MIL came in the house that Halloween, my daughter was sitting in her high chair eating dinner. My MIL yelled, "Hello," as she stopped on the porch to take off her shoes. My daughter just heard her voice and burst out crying!

Busy day today. Have to dig out the trick-or-treat bags, clean the house (PIL will be here), get the candy in the pumpkin candy bowl and still manage to get dinner on the table. I'm fixing dinner just so my PIL don't think I starve the kids, since the kids could probably survive on just candy and adrenaline for the next 24 hours.

We'll spend some time with the PIL, then go door-to-door for awhile, then run over to my aunt's and then run to another aunt's/uncle's.

Days like this make me wish I had developed a hankering for alcohol.



Ghost in the Graveyard (from Martha Stewart)
Serves 1
2 ounces black vodka
2 ounces creme de cacao or coffee-flavored liqueur
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
Pinch of finely grated nutmeg, for garnish

In a glass, combine vodka and creme de cacao, and set aside. Place a scoop of ice cream in a highball glass, and slowly pour vodka mixture over ice cream. Garnish with nutmeg; serve immediately.

Have a wonderful, safe and fun Halloween!!

Excavating Ostia

Ostia is where St. Monica died, supposedly in an inn. I wish I had thought about visiting the city when I was in Italy. Check out the Ostia-Antica website for oodles of information, a video, a quiz and some pics. The information below is from the site.



Ostia
The ancient Roman city of Ostia was in antiquity situated at the mouth of the river Tiber, some 30 kilometres to the west of Rome. The shoreline moved seawards, due to silting, from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. Therefore Ostia is today still lying next to the Tiber, but at a distance of some three kilometers from the beach. Ostia is Latin for "mouth", the mouth of the Tiber. The river was used as harbour, but in the Imperial period two harbour basins were added to the north, near Leonardo da Vinci airport. The harbour district was called Portus, Latin for "harbour".

The remains of St. Monica
The first church of Aurea may have been built in the fifth century. The orientation was precisely the opposite of that of the present church. In the floor and around the church many graves were found. The church was renovated c. 700 AD by pope Sergius I, c. 800 AD by Leo III, and c. 850 AD by Leo IV. In 1430 the relics (of St. Aurea) were removed from the urn and taken to Rome, together with those of Monica (Acta Sanctorum, May I, p. 490).

Maybe if I start saving now, I'll have enough money to go with hubby and the kids when they are a bit older.

Ladies and Gentlemen - The Coasters

This is a very short two-minute clip on the Coasters that Vincenzo alerted me to. It's the song, Along Came Jones.

Most of their music was written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Unfortunately, several of the members met with tragic ends.

If the Coasters don't put a goofy smile on your face, then you need to go take the pig personality profile on my previous post to find out why.

Check out their website here.



You can check out more of the Coasters on YouTube...thanks Vincenzo, for the links!

Pig Personality Profile

I'm not making this stuff up, folks!



My husband is taking two grad classes right now. Both are kind of heavy on psychology stuff and finding out what kind of person you really are through class exercises. I'd say he's becoming self-actualized, but I don't think he's learned about Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs yet.

No quiet moments of meditation required. No trips to the confessional.

I've always had an interest in this type of thing (personality tests), but outside of finding it novel and a fun momentary distraction, I haven't come across a real point or purpose. But, then whoever said we had to have a purpose driven life? The amount of time I spend on the computer is evidence enough of that.

Give this test a whirl. It won't tell you what kind of pig you are, but will tell you about your personality.

If you're not too embarrassed, let me hear your results.

Here's all there is to it:

Get a sheet of clean, white paper and draw a pig on it.

When you are finished, check the combox for your PPP analysis.

Don't peek!!

Draw a pig!!

Just do it.

No, I'm not joking!! Draw a pig!

A day at the museum

Blue II, Georgia O'Keefe, 1916

We took the kids to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I used to visit the museum a couple times a year, but hadn't gone since we had kids. There was a Georgia O'Keefe exhibit (runs until early January) that I wanted to see. It was a bit disappointing since there weren't any of her well-known works there, like the flowers and animal skulls, most of the exhibit was of her more obscure works. However, it was a good sampling of the various types of media she used. That's about all I could really say in favor of the exhibit. Kind of scant.

This painting is the one in the show that really made an impression on me. I was pushing my daughter in her stroller and came up around the side of this and it just struck me immediately as a baby in a womb. It really looks like a baby in utero, with a hand cradling its bottom and possibly one holding its head. The narrative next to this painting said critics panned it as being indicative of O'Keefe's gender and that it appeared to be a womb, but more recent "interpretations" had come up with other explanations.

What's wrong with it being a womb? Or a baby?

It's kind of a large painting, so it was striking and intimate. This was painted long before we had all the baby in-utero pictures that we do today. Pretty amazing. If I was pregnant, I think I might even get a poster of this for the baby's room.

Not too far away is the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Walker Arts Center. That runs until January 20, 2008. I don't know if we will go to that one; we are mulling it over.

Relics, we've got relics

I recently won two third-class relics from Divine Mercy's blog. She often times has give-aways on her site...check it out for a chance to win some nice Catholic items. The relics I won are St. Monica (how appropriate!) and the Divine Mercy.

Thank you Divine Mercy, for the wonderful relics!

At her suggestion, here are some of my other relics. Sorry, the picture isn't the greatest, but I only have a cheapy digital and poor lighting!



The relics are:
Top row: St. Francis (I don't have any authentics or bona fides on this relic to know if it is a first- or second-class relic)

Second row: Divine Mercy and St. Monica (third-class)

Third row: St. Therese (S. Teresiae a Jesu Infante, Virg) First-class - ex ligneo, pulvere, mixto pulveri corpis, quem residuum prima capsa funeralis ("From the remains of the wood, mixed with the dust of the body, the residue of which was contained in the first coffin.")
St. John of the Cross (S. Joannis a Cr. Doct) Second-class - don't have authentics, but have a letter from the priest that obtained it that "The one of St. John of the Cross is only 2nd class. It is a piece of wood from a table which he used. No first class relics of St. John were available."

Fourth row: St. Laurence (S. Laurentii a Brund. Pr.C.D.) First-class - ex ossibus ("from the bones")
St. Catherine of Siena (S. Catharinae Senen.) Second-class - ex indumentis ("from the clothing")

I scanned one of the authentics below for St. Therese.



May revise post later with more info...don't have any time right now!

Hoof marks on the roof

I almost forgot, it's Friday! With all the stuff going on in my family, being on the phone and relaying messages and such, it has started to wear me down.

Don't have anything really frivolous today, but a friend did send me a link to a cute webpage. It's called Santa Claus and Christmas at the North Pole. It was sent to me because it has oodles of Christmas cookie recipes. I've looked at some of them, but not too much of the rest of the site, so caveat emptor! There are lots of fun things on the site. Check it out if you're in the Christmas mood.

A hallowed eve

Being a parent is hard. Prior to having kids, things seemed so black and white. Things were right or they were wrong. The Church had spoken on just about everything that concerned me. I was going to say being a parent is hard mostly in trying to figure out the best course of action, but it's hard through and through.

The latest thing that is troubling me is Halloween. Some Catholic families don't celebrate it in the more secular way. Others only allow their children to dress up as saints. Still others go all out with decorations, parties and costumes.

I'm somewhere in the middle.

I understand the pagan connections to the holiday. I know about the horrible things that are done on this night by Satanists. I know of the Catholic connections to this day. But now that I'm a parent, knowing where to draw the line isn't so cut and dried. I am responsible for the souls of these little ones and I don't want to lower the bar, but I also don't want to cloister the kids from perceived spiritual dangers that I think can be dealt with if confronted head-on.

When I was a kid, Halloween was one of the great holidays. There weren't any decorations at our house other than the carved pumpkin, but the dressing up and going trick-or-treating kept us antsy all day in school until we were finally let out to run home and get ready. Back then, once the sun went down there were thousands of kids out in the neighborhood. My mom was the one who stayed home to hand out candy and never closed the door from dinner time until after 10pm, when several bags of candy would've been exhausted. Since my father was a closet artist, he would do the make-up for our costumes. The neighbors always wanted us to come by to see the "work" my father had done on us.

The neighborhood was alive with people and lights from the houses. Everyone had a good time, except the occasional curmudgeon who turned off his lights and pretended not to be home. Some neighbors would open their garages and serve hot chocolate or booya. The moms at friends' houses always had a special bag of goodies for us, often times they included home-made cookies. There was little of the "tricks" and a lot of the "treats." Except, of course, the time the "bad kid" in the neighborhood blew up my next-door neighbor's mail box with an M80. And, there were stories of psychopaths putting razors in apples and a host of other dangers, but none ever transpired. Back then, there was a sense of communal fun and camaraderie that we just don't have today.

Now that I'm a parent, a Catholic parent, where do I draw the line? My parish has a Saints Party and all the kids have to be dressed as saints to attend. We have not attended any of those parties since my kids have only ever dressed as animals, not saints.

So, as a parent, where do I begin? Do I celebrate Halloween at all? My answer is yes. There is a great deal I can do to keep this a Catholic-themed holiday in my home. Since both of my parents have passed away, there is a big emphasis on the month of November. This is a great time to talk about Purgatory, the Communion of Saints, Heaven, sin and charity (for the Poor Souls). To shy away from this holiday because our secular society has made everyone scared of their neighbor and the Satanists and pagans do all they can to insult our Lord, seems to be a little too "cut and run" for me. With all the abuses surrounding Christmas: secularism, materialism, modernism, PCism, etc., I certainly hope the Christians don't allow their holiday to be hi-jacked and turned into something that doesn't even resemble the birth of our Lord. This is kind of how I feel about Halloween. I plan to use it as a time for family, faith and education.

Dressing as saints. I certainly don't have a problem with parents dressing their kids as saints. I am sure I will do it one of these years. But, I also don't have a problem with dressing up as an animal or even a super hero or cartoon character. No witches, ghosts or things like that, but to be a horse, as my son was last year, shouldn't bar him from the parish party. When I was a kid, everyone dressed as a gypsy, but guess this is too un-PC to do any more. However, I don't think kids should be allowed to dress as politicians...just too scary for most folks.

Our Halloween night routine consists of my PIL coming down from Wisconsin. They spend some time with the kids and then they man the house and hand out candy while we go door-to-door at some of the neighbors. Then we pack the kids in the car and head over to my aunt's. They get some pictures taken and delight Auntie before we are off to another aunt and uncle's. By this time, it is usually getting kind of late and we head back home to relieve my PIL of their duties. Since my kids are still pretty little, I usually spend some time praying to combat the abuses going on this night on my own. Once the kids are old enough, I think we will make it a family thing to cap off the night with prayer.

Then November novenas will begin for the Poor Souls. I hope to keep Halloween alive in our home with a Catholic spirit and some candy.

Gospel of St. Matthew Bible Study - Lesson 6

This lesson is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount (chapter 6).

We find Jesus being critical of a certain manner of almsgiving, fasting and prayer. He is not critical of the practices themselves, but He is critical of the abuses and hypocritical way they are done. The scribes and Pharisees had multiplied the laws until it wasn’t even possible to observe them any longer. These Jews held themselves in high esteem and looked down on their fellow Jews as the “accursed.” In their pride and hypocrisy, they became critical and self-righteous and saw others as inferior.

Jesus is addressing our motivation, since motive makes all the difference. In Matthew 6:2-4, it say, “Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your lefthand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Father Echert mentioned that, in fact, they used to blast trumpets to draw attention to themselves. Their reward is the flattery of others. The motive shouldn’t be so that God rewards us now or in Heaven, but it should be flowing from charity and love.

This ties in to how Jesus acted when he prayed. He shows that our relationship to God should be an intimate and private matter in regard to piety. In Matthew 1:35 and in Luke 9:18, we see Jesus rising early to go to a “lonely place” or seclusion for prayer. It is also referred to as praying “in secret.” It indicates that Jesus made prayer a habit and a priority to go off in private. (See also CCC 2602 and 2655). From our study, it says, “Even when it is lived out “in secret,” prayer is always prayer of the Church; it is a communion with the Holy Trinity.”

The Church teaches that the spiritual works of mercy are: instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy are: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned and burying the dead.

Father Echert talked about fasting and Pope John Paul II had this to say (from our study):
Penitential fasting obviously is something very different from a therapeutic diet, but in its own way it can be considered therapy for the soul. In fact, practiced as a sign of conversion, it helps one in the interior effort of listening to God. Fasting is to reaffirm to oneself what Jesus answered Satan when he was tempted at the end of his 40 days of fasting in the wilderness: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Angelus, 10 March 1996

In Matthew 6:7 it says.”And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Father said this is the line many Protestants take to mean we shouldn’t say the Rosary since it is a repetitive form of prayer. In context, what Jesus is condemning is the Gentiles, who at the time, were using incantations to conjure up spirits and perform magic. This was a pagan practice. Jesus is NOT condemning the meditative form of prayer in the Rosary (as Father Corapi says, you are merely praying the Scriptures). Father Echert brought up the wonderfully humorous story of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal as an example (1 Kings 18:17-46).

Jesus then goes on to teach the Our Father. Luke’s gospel has a shorter version, but Matthew’s version was adopted early on by the Church. Like the Beatitudes, it is probably another example where Jesus taught this several times in slightly different ways. The Our Father is in two halves; the first half is glorifying God and the second half petitions God for our needs.

This idea of God as Father was not new to the Israelites, but the familiarity of calling God by name certainly was. Israel may have been God’s “son,” but to call God “Father” was too personal, so the Our Father was kind of an alien concept to them. Father did mention that Jews and Muslims do not call God by name unless it is in a religious context.

“Our daily bread,” has a two-fold aspect. One is the things we need on a daily basis (temporal), like food and shelter. The other is spiritual as in the Eucharist. Both are forms of sustenance and are connected, since Jesus wants us to trust in God for all things.

To forgive others’ trespasses is a CONDITION OF HEAVEN. The debt we have been forgiven is much greater than what we could ever forgive of another. We have sinned against an infinite God who is all good, others have sinned against us (and God), but we are called to imitate Christ, and to not forgive shows an incredible lack of charity.

“Lead us not into temptation,” means to not tempt us beyond our ability to resist or endure.

Interestingly, Father talked about the whole, “For thine is the kingdom, power and the glory…” part that is added (Doxology). This was never spoken by Jesus. It came from an early manuscript where it was written in the margin. The Our Father was being used in the liturgy and somehow this got added in. (Am sure there is much more to the story here, but Father didn’t have enough time.)

During the Reformation, many Protestants worked with faulty manuscripts written in Greek. At the time, the Church did not allow these early manuscripts to be used since they were translated poorly and ended up with errors. The Church only allowed translations of St. Jerome’s Vulgate. Later on, you could use the original Greek or Hebrew texts. Father mentioned that the Church was criticized at the time for this, but now has been proven wise.

Mammon is an Aramaic word that means “wealth” or “property.” You cannot serve both because if you love one you will despise the other. You will be led astray.

Father mentioned that there is a shifting away from the Old Covenant ideas of righteousness being rewarded now, showing God's approval and sinners being punished now, to a more mature idea of a spiritual need to trust God and store up treasures in Heaven.

The rest of this chapter talks about being anxious and how this can be avoided by trusting God (this reminds me of the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, “Jesus I trust in You"…one of my favorite prayers to say throughout the day.)

Our study has this quote:
Some sins rush to judgment in consciousness, while other remain hidden until the Last Day. We do well not to pass judgment on hidden things until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness.
-St. Augustine

If you have a moment

Seems like all heck is breaking loose in my family. The phone has been ringing all night.

My eldest aunt (83) who had recently had colon cancer, fell awhile back and then suffered a stroke. She has been recouperating from the stroke and now my uncle, her husband, has suffered a stroke too. There isn't word yet on how serious the stroke is, but I know one side is affected to the extent his hand is limp.

Several of their children (including their spouses and children) have been evacuated from their homes because of the fires in CA. One family near San Bernardino and one in Crestline, near Lake Arrowhead.

Back in WI, another aunt (81), is recouping from breast cancer and chemo. She is having a rough time of it. Now my uncle, her husband, is in the hospital with something seemingly very serious (stomach cancer or colon cancer). Last I heard, test results are not in yet.

I am very close to these folks. My mother died about 20 years ago and these are her siblings. They have pretty much tried to fill in for my mom in my life. They are saintly, saintly souls with a deep faith.

My other aunt (82), who I am especially close to, just found a lump in her breast.

Please keep them in your prayers.

May Our Lady comfort them and their families. St. Rita, my designated hitter, it's the bottom of the ninth...

Stopping for some beauty

The talk of artistic turtles had me thinking...

The Arnolfini Portrait or The Arnolfini Wedding
Jan van Eyck c.1434

This used to be my favorite painting, back when I was in my early 20s. I always found it amusing and liked the details and symbolism. It is in the National Gallery in London. When my husband, brother and I were in London, I told them I wanted to see this painting. It was around closing time and we ran across town, ran in the Gallery, up the stairs to where the painting was. It was nice to see it, but I was disappointed, once again, at how small all the famous paintings are.

The National Gallery describes the painting as:
This work is a portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, but is not intended as a record of their wedding. His wife is not pregnant, as is often thought, but holding up her full-skirted dress in the contemporary fashion. Arnolfini was a member of a merchant family from Lucca living in Bruges. The couple are shown in a well-appointed interior.

The ornate Latin signature translates as 'Jan van Eyck was here 1434'. The similarity to modern graffiti is not accidental. Van Eyck often inscribed his pictures in a witty way. The mirror reflects two figures in the doorway. One may be the painter himself. Arnolfini raises his right hand as he faces them, perhaps as a greeting.

Van Eyck was intensely interested in the effects of light: oil paint allowed him to depict it with great subtlety in this picture, notably on the gleaming brass chandelier.

For more on the work and to read about some of the symbolism, go here.


The Denial of Saint Peter, c. 1610
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Around the time my mother died, I really liked Caravaggio. I still do. His paintings remind me of a dark basement and all the feelings that invokes. I am sure some psychologist would find my liking the darkness of these paintings as some allegory to my mother's death, but really they are just great works that appeal to me no matter what is going on in life.

About Caravaggio from Wiki:
Caravaggio was considered enigmatic, fascinating, rebellious and dangerous. He burst upon the Rome art scene in 1600, and thereafter never lacked for commissions or patrons, yet handled his success atrociously. An early published notice on him, dating from 1604 and describing his lifestyle some three years previously, tells how "after a fortnight's work he will swagger about for a month or two with a sword at his side and a servant following him, from one ball-court to the next, ever ready to engage in a fight or an argument, so that it is most awkward to get along with him." In 1606, he killed a young man in a brawl and fled from Rome with a price on his head. In Malta in 1608 he was involved in another brawl, and yet another in Naples in 1609, possibly a deliberate attempt on his life by unidentified enemies. By the next year, after a career of little more than a decade, he was dead.



The School of Athens
Raphael, 1509–1510

One of my favorite artists is Raphael. This work is not tiny and is in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. I like the scale and perspective of the painting. Raphael is almost the opposite of Caravaggio with all the color and light that are in his paintings. However, sometimes they are too dreamy for me.

From Wiki:
Because it was positioned over the philosophical section of the library of Pope Julius II, The School of Athens shows the greatest philosophers, scientists and mathematicians of classical antiquity. Plato and Aristotle, the Greek philosophers that were considered most important, are standing in the center of the composition at the top of the steps. Plato is holding his Timaeus. Aristotle is carrying a copy of his Nichomachean Ethics. Their gestures correspond to their interests in the philosophical field — Plato is pointing upwards towards Heaven and Aristotle is gesturing towards the earth.

Diogenes is lying carefree on the steps before them to show his philosophical attitude: he despised all material wealth and the lifestyle associated with it. To the left, the man leaning on the block is Heraclites, meant to be Michelangelo. This figure was an afterthought: it was not in the original cartoon. In 1510, Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel to view Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling by candle light. He was so awed by the unfinished work that he added Michelangelo after the manner of his depiction of the Prophet Jeremiah, to show his respect for the artist.

Check out the Wiki link to see who all the philosophers are.

Back when I lived in Seattle, a co-worker and I dressed up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She was Michelangelo, and I was, of course, Raphael. I still have the costume...wonder if it would fit me.

Maybe it's time

My 82 year-old aunt just bought a Prius. A silver one. She goes to pick it up today. My husband and I, along with just about everyone else, told her not to buy it. She's not a Greenie or anything, just one of those people who likes to be different, staying out ahead of the power curve, always doing something new and novel. It think it's what's kept her going all these years.

On the other hand, I'm a contrarian. I've denied it for years, but have now decided to embrace it since there is so much to be contrary to.

Except maybe cell phones.

Since I quit working almost five years ago to stay home with my kids, I have really checked out of the world of technology. I don't own a cell phone, iPOD or big screen TV. We cancelled cable about the time I got pregnant. Our cabin has no TV or phone.

The only technological thing I have is my TI 48GX calculator that served me well for many years of school and work. It uses "reverse polish logic" which I sometimes forget nowadays and then it beeps at me in disgust. Back when I was using it, I couldn't think mathmatically in any other way, but now I have to mentally "switch gears" just to use my calculator.

But, I am getting so close to changing my mind on the cell phone. The other night I was sound asleep when a dream made me wake up. Since I was hot, I got up and put on something lighter. Out of habit, I looked out the bedroom window when I saw the dome light in my car turn on. My car was parked in front of our house. It was 2:30am. I threw the window open and yelled out, "HEY!!!!!!!!" The gentleman who was prowling my car ran.

This isn't the first time I've caught a car prowler. Shortly after we first moved in I caught a group of kids prowling cars. There were four of them acting like it was Halloween with their pillow cases full of their loot. We actually caught these punks. Turns out they lived a few blocks over. When we turned the one we caught into the cops, the cops said something to the effect that, "Oh, they come from a good home." Good home, my hiney. There is much more to this story, but let's just say I put the fear of God into the punk.

Not long after that our neighbor caught a kid car prowling in the alley. To be apprehended by this neighbor would be especially scarey. My neighbor is an ex-felon, missing some fingers as a result of getting on someone's bad side, taking methadone for his (past) heroin addiction, covered in tattoos, manic-depressive and a quick, hot temper. That kid was lucky my neighbor didn't hurt him. Seriously. (Those neighbors have moved away).

Earlier this summer, I was sleeping with the windows open upstairs in our bedroom. I was just getting to sleep when I thought I heard a car handle (my husband thinks this is remarkable since I have hearing loss and tinnitus!). I looked outside and didn't see anything. Got back in bed, when I had a feeling I should look outside again. Sure enough, another car prowler. Woke hubby and we went outside. The kid was just down the street still prowling cars. We followed him for awhile, all the way to his house. Turns out this kid just lives on the other side of the alley down on the other end of the block. Cops couldn't do anything since we didn't see him take anything. Rummaging through cars isn't enough probable cause or something stupid like that.

And, then the other night when I woke up and saw the most recent car prowler. Hubby and I went outside again to survey our domain. Of course, the punky perp was long gone. I went around back to the alley while hubby stayed out front. Just as I was coming back around the house, I hear my husband talking to someone. Here's another car prowler! I don't know if they were together or if there were just two guys out prowling cars within a half a block of each other. Punks.

This idiot was prowling cars and didn't see my husband standing there. My husband asked him what he thought he was doing and the idiot said that he went to a party over on Grand Avenue with a buddy and they couldn't remember where they parked their car. Yeah, right.

With all the meth problems lately and now that I'm a mom, I'm reluctant to "apprehend" these guys like the first car prowler we caught. So, I went inside to get my keys so I could follow the guy in my car while my husband called the cops.

I couldn't find the guy, but hubby talked to the cops and they said that a car a few blocks down had had its window broken. The cops were taking this very seriously this time. They had two squads cruising the neighborhood. Don't know if they ever found the prowlers.

If we weren't so technologically challenged and had a cell phone, one of us could've followed the jerk and let the cops know where he was. Then we could've found out that he was from another "good home" just a block away, stealing from cars to either support his habit or to get enough money to buy the technological goodies that his negligent parents hadn't already indulged him in.

Are you a jack-of-all-trades Catholic?

Thought I would do a little quiz. I'm not ambitious enough to think up questions of my own, so will use some questions from a game I have called, Catechic, The Catholic Trivia Game. This quiz isn't going to tell you if you are a trad or not, if you need remedial work or not, it's just is a smattering of questions. I couldn't pass this quiz myself. Answers in the combox. (FYI - Not that it matters, but the game doesn't have question categories, I just grouped some questions together.)

Grades are dished out as:
90% or better = A
80% - 89% = B
70% - 79% = C
worse than that and you can join me in revisiting our Catholic faith :)

Category: Music (for Ma Beck)
1. For what institution did Johann Sebastian Bach write his magnificent cantatas?
2. Who wrote the "Missa Solemnes?"

Category: Politics and world events (for Karen)
3. Which Catholic priest served on the House subcommittee investigating the Watergate affair?
4. Improvements in the plight of Catholics in Eastern Europe is a result of what policy initiated by Pope Paul VI?

Category: Philosophy (I got these two right!)
5. Which famous Austrian psychologist wrote Moses and Monotheism?
6. Who said: "God is dead?"

Category: Entertainment
7. Who directed the celebrated film, Seventh Seal?
8. In 1976, which Italian film maker produced Jesus of Nazareth?

Category: Scripture studies
9. What language was the first bible printed in the New World printed in?
10. What was the name of the sea upon which Christ walked?

Category: Miscellaneous
11. Father Louis, a Trappist monk who instructed the world with his writing from Gethsemani, was also known by what name?
12. Which Greek word describes the ongoing spiritual formation of newly baptized Christians?
13. What is the name for the official visit each diocesan bishop makes to the pope every five years?
14. What Iowa city has a name which means "of the monks" in French?
15. What city is called the "Rome of Protestantism?"

BONUS: Name four famous Catholic artists whose names have become associated with turtles.

If you got more than four right, you know WAY more than I do :) Give yourself a cookie.

Let them eat peanuts

Thanks, Vincenzo for the apropo pic!
Like I've said before, I don't usually venture into politics, but found this quote kind of interesting. It's from, "The Art of Victory," by Gregory R. Copley. I had never thought about it this way before. I was way too young to vote for Carter, but remember asking my father who he was going to vote for. I told him I liked Carter because he seemed like a nice guy...and he was a Navy man, so that had to count for something, right?

A military man without a plan, how dangerous is that?

It is often said of President James Earl Carter (1977-1981) that his only vision was the attainment of the presidency, and that he had no strategy for his country or his office beyond his election. Indeed, it seemed as though his only mission, having attained the presidency, was to continue to run for the next election. Having no comprehensive vision, no articulated posture other than self-righteousness, he squandered the strategic position which his country had already attained, so that a quarter-century later his failings still haunted his successors and the global strategic environment. Carter epitomized the leader who believes that his victory lies in the mere attainment of leadership and power, rather than believing that the attainment of leadership is merely a tool to attain victory for his people.

Then there are others, who believe that the attainment of power and authority is a tool to ensure control over a population, whose task is then to serve as the tool for the leader's own greater victory. German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, Iranian "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the USSR's Josef Stalin, and even the United States's president Bill Clinton were modern examples of such leaders, even if the actions of Clinton were nowhere near as barbarous as those of the others. But each saw victory as a solely personal thing, and their population as pawns to their own ambitions.

We are still dealing with the messes these gentlemen made. It does seem that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And we have an election coming up. Oy.

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“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”
P.J. O'Rourke

Another pesky quiz

It's frivolity Friday! Another quiz! I am weak!

What Kind of Cross are You?

You are the Celtic Cross: This cross was first made out of stone and is often found atop hills, in front of castles and in graveyards throughout Ireland and Scotland. The stone was carved with various symbols including a circle or halo (representing eternal life) and variations of the celtic knot.
Take this quiz!

The Dominican Rite

With all the interest in the Traditional Latin Mass, one wonders why the distinction of calling it the 1962 Mass or the Mass of Pope John XXIII. I think sometimes we Romans forget there are many rites within the Church and ours happens to be just one of them.

When we lived in Seattle, we spent a lot of time looking for a Mass that wasn't full of abuses. In my experience, the West Coast tends to do a lot of experimentation. Can you say Archbishop Hunthausen?

After spending some time at an incredible Byzantine Catholic Church (St. John Chrysostom), we found a church that offered the Dominican Rite. While we loved the Byzantine Church, Roman Catholics typically have a hard time adjusting to this rite, which is more a way of life than anything. Masses are much longer and there are many Holy Days of Obligation. Very rigorous if you are used to the once-a-week-for-just-an-hour obligation. While the people of the parish were very welcoming, the pastor was actually kind of hostile toward Romans. So, we finally found our way to Blessed Sacrament for the Dominican Rite Mass, which is said in Latin with all the bells and smells a girl could want. As the priest entered, they would sing the Asperges, which is my favorite part of the Mass aside from the Consecration.

Supposedly, the Dominicans were abandoning this ancient rite in favor of the Roman, and the Dominican Rite Mass was brought to an abrupt halt while we were attending in Seattle, but I did find that there are some Dominicans that have been given permission to continue on with the Rite.

Our Church is very rich and blessed in so many ways. Get out and attend some of the other rites to see that there is much the Church has to offer!


I looked at Wiki and found oodles of rites I had never heard of before. Below is a list of some variants of the Roman rite that are now defunct:

* The Sarum Rite (more properly Sarum Use), a defunct variant on the Roman Rite originating in the Salisbury diocese, which had come to be widely practiced in England and Scotland around the 1530s, while the Protestant Reformation swept across continental Europe; practiced alongside limited other variants such as the Use of York, Lincoln Use, Bangor Use, and Hereford Use.
* The Cologne Use, used in the diocese of Cologne (German: Köln) prior to 1570.
* The Lyonese Rite of the diocese of Lyon, France, which some consider to have been (rather than Milan) the centre of diffusion of the Gallican liturgy.
* The Nidaros Use, long defunct, based mainly on imported English liturgical books, used in pre-Reformation Norway.
* The Uppsala Use, suppressed during the Reformation, formerly the dominant variant of the Roman Rite used in northern Sweden.
*The Aquileian Rite, a defunct rite originating in the former patriarchate of Aquileia in northern Italy.
* The Benevento Rite, a defunct Latin rite originated in this city in Italy.
* The Durham Rite (defunct: Durham, England)

It also listed some rites said by religious orders:
The following previously existing rites of Mass, distinct from the Roman Rite, continue to be used on a limited basis by the permission of ecclesiastical superiors:
Carmelite Rite
Cistercian Rite
Dominican Rite
Premonstratensian or Norbertine Rite

The Catholic Encyclopedia applied the word "rite" also to the practices followed (to some extent even now, a century later) by certain Roman Catholic religious orders, while at the same time stating that they in fact followed the Roman Rite:
Franciscan Rite
Friars Minor Capuchin Rite
Servite Rite

For some info on the Dominican Rite, click here or here.

Distinctive marks of the Dominican Rite
Again, from Wiki
Only the most striking differences between the Dominican Rite and the Roman are mentioned here. The most important was in the manner of celebrating a low Mass. The celebrant in the Dominican Rite wore the amice over his head until the beginning of Mass, and prepared the chalice as soon as he reached the altar. The Psalm "Judica me Deus" was not said and the Confiteor, much shorter than the Roman, contained the name of St. Dominic. The Gloria and the Credo were begun at the centre of the altar and finished at the Missal. At the Offertory there was a simultaneous oblation of the Host and the chalice and only one prayer, the "Suscipe Sancta Trinitas". The Canon of the Mass was the same as the Canon of the Roman Rite, but after it were several noticeable differences. The Dominican celebrant said the "Agnus Dei" immediately after the "Pax Domini" and then recited the prayers "Hæc sacrosancta commixtio", "Domine Iesu Christe" and "Corpus et sanguis", then followed the Communion, the priest receiving the Host from his left hand. No prayers are said at the consumption of the Precious Blood, the first prayer after the "Corpus et Sanguis" being the Communion. These were the most noticeable differences in the celebration of a low Mass.

In a solemn Mass the chalice was brought in procession to the altar during the Gloria, and the corporal was unfolded by the deacon during the singing of the Epistle. The chalice was prepared just after the subdeacon had sung the Epistle, with the ministers seated at the Epistle side of the sanctuary. The chalice was brought from the altar to the place where the celebrant was seated by the subdeacon, who poured the wine and water into it and replaced it on the altar. The incensing of the ministers occurred during the singing of the Preface. Throughout the rite the ministers also stood or moved into various patterns rather different than those of the old Roman Liturgy.

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P: Asperges me
C: Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

Misere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen