Transparent C

Silent No More

2012-01-14T17:57:00.000-06:00

Such a nice relaxing day! I pretty much gave myself the day off. It started with our scheduled time at St. John's adoration, followed by Mass, then Sarah and I went to a pro-life breakfast at St. Madelene's where we saw old friends and met new ones. We heard Georgette Fornay speak who founded the Silent No More organization - the group behind the "I Regret My Abortion" signs that can be seen at rallies. I remember when abortion was being sold to the nation (literally - did you know that Hugh Hefner funded the lower court costs for Roe v. Wade? Sex without consequences is imperative for the Playboy philosophy to work.). The promise was that child abuse would decrease since every child would be a wanted child. Here are the national Child Abuse Report statistics since 1976 (Roe v. Wade was decided in 73):

In case you're wondering if it was reporting that increased and not the abuse, here are the statistics for the number of child deaths per day due to child abuse or neglect going back to 1995.

So could it be possible that "every child being a wanted child" was outweighed by the effect abortion had on how we view our "ownership" of that small life? If I am able to make a decision to terminate my pregnancy, what does that, on a deep level, tell me about my power over that life? Once born, do I suddenly view my power differently just because the law says I should?

I Love Families

2012-01-08T00:02:00.000-06:00

I love everything about families (OK, almost). It was one of God's most creative and sweet ideas. Here's a site with 50 outstanding family photos. Some of my favorites:

Talimena

2011-11-14T10:59:00.001-06:00

Chris and I spent the weekend on the Talimena Scenic Byway. It's only 3 hours from Tulsa and yet we said to each other a number of times, "I can't believe this is the first time we've come here!" The scenes were breathtaking. God's wonder, displayed as only the True Artist can. The pictures don't do it justice. Suffice to say we were ready to go again this weekend (and take Sarah with us), but thunderstorms are predicted for Southeast OK. BUT we may have my sis and her hubbie talked into coming down for it next year!! Right, mesc?

And we'll stay at Queen Wilhelmina Lodge:

Right, Mary Ellen?

Hmmm...

2011-11-05T18:44:00.001-05:00

It's funny how the people I introduced to blogging, like Mary Ellen and Lisa, blog all the time and yet I can't seem to get back into it. I used to love blogging. Anyway. Here I sit listening to George Winston, Enya and John Michael Talbot (playlist.com) while Sarah is baking a cake. She's trying out recipes and I get to be the delighted tester!! :) However! I just received this:

so I don't want to have happen what USUALLY happens when Sarah comes home and bakes things like this: .

This one was for her friend Amy - for her birthday.Here's one she baked for me:

Isn't she talented?Chris just sat down to watch the OU game he recorded and discovered that it didn't record. And guess whose fault it is!!! I saw it was recording on ESPN too so I removed the ABC recording......only to find out that ESPN was blocked out. I remember back in Steubenville I was doing child care at the Cowen's house and noticed their VCR (remember those?) was on. So I did them a favor and turned it off :). It was Super Bowl Sunday. And their team was in it.

Why I Am Catholic 2

2011-08-19T20:07:00.004-05:00

World Youth Day. What an inspired and brilliant idea JPII had - to bring young people together from all over the world to pray, learn, and meet with the Holy Father. My own WYD experience was life changing when I went to Rome in 2000 with Sarah and Elizabeth.

Each of our five children went to at least one: Theresa and David(Denver and Paris), Liz and Sarah (Rome) and Mary (Cologne). It was a mission of ours to make sure that each one had an opportunity to go. The strongest message that came across to them, I believe, was how much they, as young people, were loved by the Pope. I remember the air ringing with "JP2 we love you!!" and hearing him respond with "JP2 he loves you too!" The world finds this so difficult to believe. An 80+ year old man being treated like a rock star. The media said it was because JP was so charismatic. Then he died and in his place was a man the media portrayed as a vicious rotweiller, one who searched and destroyed heretics. How many will show for this man? Instead we found a humble, joyful, and loving Pope Benedict. He went to his native Germany (chosen as the location of the 2005 WYD long before he was elected) and greeted one of the largest gatherings - 1.2 million. Now how do we explain it?

There were more than a million at many of the WYDs (5 million in Manila) which take place every 2 (now 3) years. There were 2 million + in Rome - when I looked out over the University of Rome I could see young people as far as the eye could see. Young people singing and smiling. Such a contrast to what we saw in Britain this past month

And this year in Spain, a country where most people see their Catholicism as a long forgotten heritage - the crowds are huge again - 1.5 mm. Just when the world might have been convinced the church is dying - when the sins of its leaders seemed to overshadow all that is good and holy and profound. We see gathered the church's future - vibrant, joyful and in love - listening intently to the beautiful words of "Benedicto" meant just for them in times such as these:

We, on the other hand, know well that we have been created free, in the image of God, precisely so that we might be in the forefront of the search for truth and goodness, responsible for our actions, not mere blind executives, but creative co-workers in the task of cultivating and beautifying the work of creation. God is looking for a responsible interlocutor, someone who can dialogue with him and love him. Through Christ we can truly succeed and, established in him, we give wings to our freedom. Is this not the great reason for our joy? Isn’t this the firm ground upon which to build the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing all of us?

Beautiful Video

2011-07-23T23:42:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting here on the couch with Chris. He's watching Masterpiece Theater (!) and I'm surfing the web. I came across a video of a beautiful singer that Theresa told me about. Thought I would share:

Welcome Mary!

2011-06-30T23:46:00.003-05:00

Hopefully my dear friend, Mary, sees this (I just sent her a link to my blog). I don't tell many people about my blog - but she's special! I try to believe no one's looking at it (that's why I don't have a tracker) - that way I can share more from my heart.

And here is a gift.. a beautiful article about a saintly man.

The Holiest of Places

2011-06-12T21:09:00.002-05:00

I have returned from the most amazing experience of my life - a visit to the Holy Land. Chris, Theresa and I joined a group of people from our parish and from Denver plus 5 priests, 3 other nuns and about 3 seminarians. The first night we stayed in a beautiful hotel on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I woke up early the next morning and sat on the balcony watching the sun rise over the body of water that was the site of Jesus's walking on water, the call of Peter, and the calming of the storm. Fr. Kastl mentioned at the end of the trip that it was as if we were Thomas, placing our hands in the wounds of Jesus. Touching the places where Jesus was is a powerful way to elevate one's faith to an entirely new level. I wanted to kiss the ground wherever I went (and I see Theresa experienced the same thing). I'll blog more, but Theresa's blog is the one to watch - it looks like she's planning on blogging about each stop!

Wonderful Family Time

2011-05-17T22:42:00.005-05:00

What a week it's been. The kids started arriving on Tuesday - gathering for Mary's graduation from Rockhurst. We stayed in Kansas City from Friday to Sunday. I've been working this week and yesterday and today came home to Theresa showing me a home project that she completed :) Tonight Sarah, who just returned from Mexico, cooked a traditional Mexican dinner followed by Mexican hot chocolate and desserts. Then Theresa, Sarah and I played Rummikub while the rest of the family watched the OKC Thunder play in the tournament.

I've been reading the comments on a favorite blog. The author has just found out she's pregnant with number nine and she posted Snappy Answers to Stupid Comments about Large Families. They're hilarious! My favorite: "Don't you have a TV?" "Yes, and if you think TV is better than sex, you're doing it wrong!" Then there's: "Are you done now?" "Of course not! We're only half way through the Karma Sutra!" And one that I contributed: "Did you WANT five?" "No, we WANTED six or seven, but unfortunately we were only blessed with five." The blessings of a "large" family - I can't be more happy and content. And the kids couldn't be a bigger blessing - to us and to each other.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T12:34:00.004-05:00

It's been a beautiful day already. I'm blessed to have two of mine at home today (Sarah and Liz) - both of whom were cleaning the house and singing when I came downstairs! Then we sat and talked and talked - Sarah talking about how much she missed the beauty, pace, and community she found in Mexico - Liz remembering the same in Honduras and talking about how she intends to return there this summer to show them all how much she continues to love them. Then they went out shopping and I sit here browsing and blogging. They just returned with bagel sandwiches and ingredients for a Happy Mother's Day cake.

You know, we can so easily take motherhood for granted because there are so many mothers in the world. The very fact that I was able to have children and then was abundantly blessed with five and then that they are five of the people I would most like to share a deserted island with! From the bottom of my heart, Lord, thank you!!

Why I Am Catholic by G.K. Chesterton

2011-05-05T22:26:00.005-05:00

If I was as articulate as others I would write an essay of my own on Why I Am Catholic. One such person has an entire blog on the subject. Then there are those who rise above us all, like G.K., one of my all time favorites. With thanks to Lisa for posting this on FB, here are segments of his marvelous essay - read the entire article here. I've bolded my favorite part.

The difficulty of explaining "why I am a Catholic" is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. I could fill all my space with separate sentences each beginning with the words, "It is the only thing that. . . ." As, for instance, (1) it is the only thing that really prevents a sin from being a secret. (2) It is the only thing in which the superior cannot be superior in the sense of supercilious. (3) It is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. (4) It is the only thing that talks as if it were the truth, as if it were a real messenger refusing to tamper with a real message. (5) It is the only type of Christianity that really contains every type of man, even the respectable man. (6) It is the only large attempt to change the world from the inside, working through wills and not laws; and so on...

...The other day a well-known writer, otherwise quite well-informed, said that the Catholic Church is always the enemy of new ideas. It probably did not occur to him that his own remark was not exactly in the nature of a new idea. It is one of the notions that Catholics have to be continually refuting, because it is such a very old idea. Indeed, those who complain that Catholicism cannot say anything new seldom think it necessary to say anything new about Catholicism. As a matter of fact, a real study of history will show it to be curiously contrary to the fact. Insofar as the ideas really are ideas, and insofar as any such ideas can be new, Catholics have continually suffered through supporting them when they were really new—when they were much too new to find any other support. The Catholic was not only first in the field but alone in the field; and there was as yet nobody to understand what he had found there...

...There are passages in Pope Leo’s Encyclical on Labor [Rerum Novarum, 1891] that are only now beginning to be used as hints for social movements much newer than socialism. And when Mr. [Hilaire] Belloc wrote about the servile state, he advanced an economic theory so original that hardly anybody has yet realized what it is. A few centuries hence, other people will probably repeat it and repeat it wrong. And then, if Catholics object, their protest will be easily explained by the well-known fact that Catholics never care for new ideas...

...Nevertheless, the man who made that remark about Catholics meant something, and ..it is only fair to him to understand it rather more clearly than he stated it. What he meant was that, in the modern world, the Catholic Church is in fact the enemy of many influential fashions, most of which still claim to be new, though many of them are beginning to be a little stale. In other words, insofar as he meant that the Church often attacks what the world at any given moment supports, he was perfectly right. The Church does often set herself against the fashion of this world that passes away, and she has experience enough to know how very rapidly it does pass away. But to understand exactly what is involved, it is necessary to take a rather larger view and consider the ultimate nature of the ideas in question—to consider, so to speak, the idea of the idea...

...Nine out of ten of what we call new ideas are simply old mistakes. The Catholic Church has for one of her chief duties that of preventing people from making those old mistakes, from making them over and over again forever, as people always do if they are left to themselves. The truth about the Catholic attitude toward heresy—or, as some would say, toward liberty—can best be expressed perhaps by the metaphor of a map. The Catholic Church carries a sort of map of the mind that looks like the map of a maze but is in fact a guide to the maze. It has been compiled from knowledge that, even considered as human knowledge, is quite without any human parallel...

...There is no other case of one continuous, intelligent institution that has been thinking about thinking for two thousand years. Its experience naturally covers nearly all experiences and especially nearly all errors. The result is a map in which all the blind alleys and bad roads are clearly marked, all the ways that have been shown to be worthless by the best of all evidence: the evidence of those who have gone down them...

...On this map of the mind the errors are marked as exceptions. The greater part of it consists of playgrounds and happy hunting-fields where the mind may have as much liberty as it likes, not to mention any number of intellectual battlefields in which the battle is indefinitely open and undecided. But it does definitely take the responsibility of marking certain roads as leading nowhere or leading to destruction, to a blank wall, or to a sheer precipice. By this means it does prevent men from wasting their time or losing their lives upon paths that have been found futile or disastrous again and again in the past but might otherwise entrap travelers again and again in the future. The Church does make itself responsible for warning its people against these, and upon these the real issue of the case depends. It does dogmatically defend humanity from its worst foes: those hoary and horrible and devouring monsters of the old mistakes...

...There is no other corporate mind in the world that is thus on the watch to prevent minds from going wrong. The policeman comes too late when he tries to prevent men from going wrong. The doctor comes too late, for he comes only to lock up a madman, not to advise a sane man on how not to go mad. And all other sects and schools are inadequate for the purpose. This is not because each of them may not contain a truth, but precisely because each of them does contain a truth and is content to contain a truth. None of the others really pretends to contain the truth. None of the others, that is, really pretends to be looking out in all directions at once...

...Thus, for instance, Catholicism, in a sense little understood, stands outside a quarrel like that of Darwinism at Dayton. It stands outside it because it stands all around it, as a house stands all around two incongruous pieces of furniture. It is no sectarian boast to say it is before and after and beyond all these things in all directions. It is impartial in a fight between the Fundamentalist and the theory of the origin of species because it goes back to an Origin before that origin, because it is more fundamental than Fundamentalism. It knows where the Bible came from. It also knows where most of the theories of evolution go to. It knows there were many other gospels besides the four Gospels and that the others were eliminated only by the authority of the Catholic Church. It knows there are many other evolutionary theories besides the Darwinian theory and that the latter is quite likely to be eliminated by later science. It does not, in the conventional phrase, accept the conclusions of science, for the simple reason that science has not concluded. To conclude is to shut up, and the man of science is not at all likely to shut up...

...Every moment increases for us the moral necessity for such an immortal mind. We must have something that will hold the four corners of the world still while we make our social experiments or build our utopias. For instance, we must have a final agreement, if only on the truism of human brotherhood, that will resist some reaction of human brutality. Nothing is more likely just now than that the corruption of representative government will lead to the rich breaking loose altogether and trampling on all the traditions of equality with mere pagan pride...

My Dad

2011-05-04T12:14:00.007-05:00

On the 47th anniversary of my Dad's death, I'm sitting here with a big ol' grin on my face, listening to him sing! My darling sister digitally recorded a tape that we had of him singing at an Elks Event. I loved him dearly and don't have enough memories of him, so I am so grateful to my sister for this and listen to it often. He was a rock of security, a man who loved God, and a devoted, playful father to his five children. He laughed often and served much. What more could I ask for? Enjoy!

Happy Feast Day, Dad!

I just went to Mary Ellen's blog to get a picture of dad and she has posted his eulogy! Thanks again, sweetie!

UBL and Seder Wine

2011-05-03T16:17:00.008-05:00

I rejoiced with the rest of the country when I heard we no longer had to fear UBL and his terror campaigns (others, maybe, but not his). But the celebrations bothered me and I didn't know how to explain it. Then I read a comment on a work-related listserv I belong to and decided to post it here because it perfectly sums it up.

Those of you who have attended a seder may remember that one of our traditions is to dip our fingers into the wine glass & remove a drop of wine as each of the plagues is recited. The explanation given for this is that no matter how joyous our triumph may be, we must always remember that we cannot fully rejoice when it comes at the expense of the lives of others - no matter how well deserved that cost may be.

Just Walking By, And...

2011-04-28T21:18:00.002-05:00

I've worked on the 35th floor since October and walked by this framed poster every day without really looking at it. Then one day recently I turned and read it. I laughed out loud!

A Happy Easter Gift

2011-04-25T08:47:00.004-05:00

It doesn't get much better than this!

The Holy Land

2011-03-06T16:17:00.003-06:00

Chris, Theresa and I are going to the Holy Land! We're SO excited. It will be a pilgrimage led by a scripture scholar and Fr. Kastl from our parish. We attended our first preparation meeting today and came away convinced that this will be a beautiful, life-changing experience. Will tell you more as we progress...

Try Again

2011-03-06T15:52:00.008-06:00

I'm trying again, but this time will save every 30 seconds :)! We had a wonderful time last weekend when Theresa and her postulant friends, along with Sr. Rebecca, their formator, came to visit (the picture includes all + two other sisters who didn't visit - I really need to take and upload pics!!). They stayed on their way back to St. Louis from Texas and sold books at our parish.

They arrived very tired on Saturday and went to sell books at the 5:00 Mass, which we also attended. We got home pretty late and ate a wonderful meal that Chris had made. On Sunday they left to sell books at the 8 and 10:30 Masses. I went to hear Theresa speak at the end of the 10:30 - she called up all the postulants and very dynamically told us about the sacrifices they had made (one PhD, a nurse, a violist who played with Yo Yo Ma, a web developer). Then she said they weren't the only ones who were called to give their lives to God in a dramatic way - we all were. Hmmmm... When folks were talking later about the number of people buying books Fr. Kastl said it was due to Theresa making them all feel like slackers! :)

We ate a brunch of calzone (that's right, Shea family, and it's NOT Easter!) and fruit salad. In true family tradition, no one was allowed seconds unless they LOVED it! Later we went to see The King's Speech (save! - almost forgot!) that afternoon and then came home for an Oscar party. Dinner included Elizabeth Taylor's chicken simmered in wine, Ronald Reagan's macaroni and cheese, Robert Redford's olive salad, followed by brownies and ice cream with Jeff Bridges' (he was nominated!) hot fudge sauce. Then we watched the show while playing Oscar bingo, with cells marked off for things like "winner interrupted by music". Such Fun!!

Unfortunately, they left the next morning and we miss them all! BUT Fr. Kastl told them he would like them to return twice each year!

$%@#$!@

2011-03-05T16:34:00.002-06:00

SAVE BLOGS! I just lost a looonnnggg one when the site shut down. And now I'm heading to Mass, so will re-write later :).

Mom

2011-02-28T16:07:00.003-06:00

I have an almost tangible sense of solidity at my core – a sense of well-being and a knowledge that I’m loved. It’s been there all my life and I know it came from my mother.

She wasn’t a bake-you-cookies, give-me-hugs, what-can-I-do-for-you kind of mom (at least by the time I came around as the surprise! fifth of five, born when she was 40). She was a practical, I’m-always-here-for-you, let-me-at-anyone-who-hurts-you, you’re-more-than-OK kind of mom.

Despite losing my father to cancer at age 8, I know that life is good and I have that core – that unmistakable, irreplaceable core that only a parent’s unconditional love can give. Even though she struggled after his death and dealt with a lot of anxiety, her stability and commitment to us was So. Much. Greater.

I mourn for those poor children and former-children that do not have that core. They must search all their lives to find it. I had the blessing of being able to search for God instead. Today is Mom’s birthday – it is the 96th anniversary of her birth. Thank you, Mom. You were the best!

I'm Back Again!

2011-02-05T08:51:00.002-06:00

OK,OK,so I wasn't really back. I have no idea why I can't seem to get my blogging groove back, but oh well, here I am for another post and possibly not another one for who knows :). In looking back over the posts it looks like I went into seclusion after sending my daughter to the Daughters!

I'm sitting in my living room looking out over the close to 18 inches of snow out there. This kind of weather is so rare here! Liz had to go to work Thursday and she and I both ventured out to work yesterday. The expressways are fine, but the city roads are amazingly horrible, and this spoken as a Michigander! There were holes that we called snowholes instead of potholes where steam from a sewer hole maybe had melted away the ice, leaving about a foot deep hole in the packed snow. Liz and I got out of work at 2 (due to 4-6 more inches coming) - Chris came to get us - but we didn't get home til 4!

Sarah has been baking up a storm. Last night she and I made cookies with peanut butter centers, covered in chocolate dough. Yum! She's heading back to Mexico on Wednesday :( I will miss her a bunch!

Our Daughter is a Daughter

2010-09-04T23:06:00.004-05:00

The biggest news, though, is Theresa's entry into Daughters of St. Paul on Wednesday. We were so moved and Theresa was filled with joy. She needs prayers, though, because she's had some really strong allergic reactions since Wednesday. We talked to her today and she was more miserable than earlier in the week.
Theresa, we love you and we miss you! AND we're praying up a storm.

I'm Back!

2010-09-04T13:34:00.003-05:00

Who knows for how long... But I miss blogging. I think I will turn off the comments so I can't tell if anyone is "listening" for awhile. I like it better when I'm kind of inside my own head.

I have wonderful news, head! I have a new job! Through the grace of God and "Getting Low" as Robert Duvall would say, I have discovered a wonderful opportunity at my company (which I love) but in a department other than the one I am currently in (which I don't love). The Lord worked with me on it in an amazing way. An example - in prayer several months ago when praying about my current job I felt I should place two dates out there - September 1 2010 and April 1 2011 - by which time I would have another job. If not by the first date, by the second. After searching desperately for jobs and trying to get a plan for starting my own consulting business, I quickly realized the first date was not going to work. I've been so stressed in my current position that I didn't have the focus or the energy to work toward my goal.

I was mentoring a woman at work who got a job outside the company. I was so happy for her, but felt a bit envious since it had basically fallen in her lap. The week before she left she said, "Have you considered applying for my job, Jane?" I said I had in the past, but listed my concerns. She cleared those up and I remember where I was standing when I "heard" a thud in my lap! In a matter of weeks I could be freed from this ungodly environment of stress! Well, I had a few conversations and a few days later heard the hiring manager say, "You've got the job, we just have to work out the details." The date? September 1!

The Good Lord is faithful. I ran screaming to him several times during the storm while he was sleeping in the boat ("ye of little faith"), but every once in a while I sat and watched him sleep. That's progress!

Happy Birthday Part II

2010-04-17T14:36:00.002-05:00

An even better article from the National Catholic Reporter that reprints an article by an Italian sociologist:

“There are cases of sexual abuse that come to light every day against a large number of members of the Catholic clergy. Unfortunately it’s not a matter of individual cases, but a collective moral crisis that perhaps the cultural history of humanity has never before known with such a frightening and disconcerting dimension. Numerous priests and religious have confessed. There’s no doubt that the thousands of cases which have come to the attention of the justice system represent only a small fraction of the true total, given that many molesters have been covered and hidden by the hierarchy.”
An editorial from a great secular newspaper in 2010? No: It’s a speech of May 28, 1937, by Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich. This speech, which had a large international echo, was the apex of a campaign launched by the Nazi regime to discredit the Catholic Church by involving it in a scandal of pedophile priests....
The expression “moral panic” was only coined by sociologists in the 1970s to identify a social alarm created as a kind of art, accomplished by amplifying real facts and exaggerating their numbers through statistical folklore, as well as “discovering” and presenting as “new” events which in reality are already known and which date to the past. There are real events at the base of the panic, but their number is systematically distorted. Even without the benefit of modern sociology, Goebbels responded to the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge in 1937 with a textbook case of the creation of a moral panic.

Happy Birthday PBXVI

2010-04-17T10:24:00.004-05:00

The news about Pope Benedict has been relentless and filled with misleading statements. I came across an interesting article written by an "atheist libertarian" that included:

It's worth asking why otherwise fairly intelligent thinkers get so dementedly exercised over the Pope and the Catholic Church. What exactly is their beef? What are they objecting to?

Very few (if any) of the Pope-hunters were raised Catholic, so this isn't about personal vengeance for some perceived slight by a priest or nun. And despite their current lowdown, historically illiterate attempt to equate a priest fondling a child with a state's attempt to obliterate an entire people under the collective tag "crime against humanity", the truth is that some of these Pope-hunters don't really think child abuse is the worst crime in the world. In 2006, Dawkins criticised "hysteria about pedophilia" and said that, even though he was the victim of sexual abuse at boarding school, he would defend his abusive former teachers if "50 years on they had been hounded by vigilantes or lawyers as no better than child murderers". Yet now he wants to put abusive priests on a par with genocidaires.

And another article by PJPII's biographer, George Weigel, where he points out that we as Catholics can now speak our confidently and forcefully after having cleaned house of it's "filth", as PBXVI called it:

Reasonable people whose perceptions are not warped by the toxin of anti-Catholicism or who are not pursuing other (often financially-driven) agendas now recognize that the Church in the U.S. and Canada has bent enormous efforts towards cleaning up what Cardinal Ratzinger called in 2005 its “filth,” to the point where the Catholic Church today can be empirically shown to be the safest environment for young people and children in North America. The paralyzing drumbeat of one ghastly new story after another that went on all during 2002 has not been repeated. What we now have is, largely, the recycling of old material, usually provided to the press by contingent-fee attorneys whose strategic goal is to build a public “narrative” of conspiracy that will shape American courts’ decisions as to whether the Vatican and its resources can be brought within range of U.S. liability law.

The realization among serious Catholics that this is not 2002 and that things have changed dramatically since 2002, has led to a far more confident effort to fight back against misrepresentations such as those the Times perpetrated on March 25. There is a danger here: to recognize that this is not 2002 cannot blind us to the fact that there are wounds that remain to be healed, reforms of priestly formation that remain to be completed, bishops whose failures remain to be recognized and dealt with, new norms for the selection of bishops to be implemented, and accounts rendered as to why the Vatican, prior to Ratzinger’s taking control of the issue of clerical sexual abuse in the late 1990s, was sometimes sluggish in its response to scandalous behavior by priests and deficient leadership by bishops.

Assuming, however, that Benedict XVI has set in motion processes that will lead to all those lingering issues being forcefully addressed, a serious question can now be credibly posed: Are those most vigorously agitating these abuse/misgovernance issues today genuinely interested in the safety of young people and children, or are they using the failures of the past to cripple the moral credibility of the Catholic Church in the present and future? That question would have rightly struck many people as a dodge in 2002. It cannot be credibly regarded as a dodge today, because of what the Church has done since 2002 (and, indeed, since the 1990s, when the plague of abuse within the Church began to recede).

The Empty Tomb

2010-04-06T21:51:00.004-05:00

The most fantastic claim. Either the tomb was empty. Or it was not. Either I believe the 500 witnesses, the 11 apostles who died martyrs' deaths rather than deny it was true, and 2000 years of enduring good works... or I do not. I choose to believe. Hallelujah!

Christmas Beauty

2010-01-08T18:45:00.003-06:00

We had such a great Christmas! Four are still here! Theresa left for a week to go to Boston, but returned yesterday til Sunday. I took today off, took the tree down, we all went out to the Brook for lunch, then we came home and did our own home-made Dancercize in the living room for about an hour (well, OK, I didn't go the whole hour - but I think Sarah went for 1 1/2 hours!). Sarah spent some time creating a list of songs crescendoing from warming up easy listening to crazy African drum beats. Now we're going to play games followed by a trip to the dollar theater to watch Paranormal Activity (if we can talk T into it - she hates scary movies!).

Kissing the Face of God

2009-12-24T08:42:00.004-06:00

"God's sign is simplicity. God's sign is the baby. God's sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby - defenseless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will - we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him." Pope Benedict XVI

A Last Minute Gift...With Meaning

2009-12-16T08:46:00.005-06:00

An opportunity for a last minute Christmas Gift! Liz has set up a fund to help cover the cost of books and supplies for students in Agua Fria, the mountain town where she did her Peace Corps service. Click below to send a payment via PayPal!! She has a nice certificate that she can send you to use as a gift (co-workers, family members, neighbors, etc.) if you'd like. But since she's traveling back to the states this week, you'd better email me (janen7@cox.net). THANKS! (PS - if you use the link below, the shipping address may be confusing - just enter your own address - since you're not purchasing anything, shipping isn't needed, but something needs to be entered.)

O Come O Come Emmanuel

2009-12-02T00:17:00.000-06:00

Oh Holy Advent

2009-11-28T23:37:00.001-06:00

I wanted to share a beautiful Advent reflection on this Advent eve - from my favorite blog.

I shed tears of gratitude and joy that you have come round again, O Advent, to shake us from our torpor as early night comes, and the match is struck, and the message is brought home once more; that we are forever in the absence of light; it is beyond us and exterior until we make it welcome and bring it, like a lover, within. Welcome into our deepest void, welcome into the parts of us touched by human frost and stunted. Welcome, O Light, beaming glorious, into remotest apertures of our souls, rays aglow, warmth permeating where we have left old fires unattended and embers to wane, and our abysses to grow chill, and uninhabitable. Welcome light; dispelling illusion, and chasing old ghosts to rest.

With the sunset tonight, the promise is renewed; the story begins again. The beginning; quiescence, empty and void. Then movement; an annunciation; a Word -one boundless, vibrant “yes” that shakes creation; “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior!” Soon there will be dreams, and silent wondering, and a gathering, and a starry night rent with song. The Word Present penetrates lonely, lost humanity, and enters into the pain and fear, the tumult and whirlwind; and He sets His tent with us not merely dwelling among, but literally with us; with hunger, with the capacity for injury and doubt -with enough vulnerability to be broken- and within this espousal, everything is illuminated!

Technology Overload

2009-11-02T21:35:00.005-06:00

You know you're technologically overloaded when you finally get invited to create a Google telephone number, spend WAY TOO MUCH time trying different numerical combinations that spell memorable words, finally find the telephone number to rival the one you grew up with - PLeasant OH SHOOT I forgot!! - submit it, and then several weeks later when you realize you haven't used it once, you wonder why you ever got one in the first place because you don't see any purpose!!!

BUT I did just find out that when you forget your Google Voice number you can go find it on the website! 918-200-WIDE (I know, I know - all the interesting words were taken!).

Uh-oh...

2009-10-09T23:25:00.003-05:00

Prayers for Honduras

2009-10-06T22:57:00.005-05:00

The Wall Street Journal reports on Hondurans prayers for a miracle offered to "La Morenita". Let's join them!

I've copied most of it below (mostly for Liz's sake) since WSJ articles are hard to reach:

In the past three months, a slew of Latin American presidents, foreign ministers, ambassadors and even a Nobel Peace Prize winner, have failed to find a solution to the political standoff that has split Honduras. Now, many despairing Hondurans say, may be time for a little divine intervention...

So every day, more and more Hondurans are calling on the Virgin of Suyapa, a 3-inch statuette of the Virgin Mary, made of dark wood and nicknamed La Morenita, or the Little Dark One, for help. Over the centuries, La Morenita, which was found on a hillside in 1747 and now makes its home at a small whitewashed colonial church near the capital, has been credited with sundry miracles, from curing kidney stones to ending a brief war...

If anyone can put Honduras back on the right path, believers think, La Morenita is the one to do it. Over the centuries, she is said to have cured the blind and made cripples walk. It is said that she appeared in white robes to aid Honduran soldiers during a bloody conflict. The challenge now is to get Mr. Zelaya and his foe, Mr. Micheletti, to settle their political differences...

Legend has it that the statuette was discovered one February morning in 1747 by a laborer named Alejandro Colindres who was out clearing a corn field the day before. But darkness fell suddenly, and the farm worker went to sleep by the side of the road. When he rolled over, there was something poking at his side. Half asleep, he threw the object into the night -- only to find it poking at him yet again in the morning.

It was the tiny statue of La Morenita.

Her first supposed miracle took place in 1768, when Capt. José de Zelaya, perhaps an ancestor of the ousted president, was suddenly relieved of incurable kidney stones. Grateful, the captain had a church built to house the Virgin. Pilgrims -- some saying the Virgin had visited them in the night -- arrived from across the land. More miracles were reported.

By the 20th century, the Virgin of Suyapa was Honduras's most loved symbol. Songs were written to her, daughters named after her. In 1969, La Morenita was even given the battlefield commission "Captain of the Armed Forces" when Honduras went to war with neighboring El Salvador after violence broke out in the stands in a World Cup qualifying match. The brief, bloody war took four days and cost 2,000 lives. A draw, it went down in history as the "Soccer War." "We were outnumbered," said Ms. Díaz. "But the patroness appeared in a white gown to our soldiers, guiding them along, giving them food and water."

The pastor chimed in with an anecdote of his own. It was last February, and a family of three from near the Guatemalan border made the grueling journey across the mountains to visit the figurine. But the church had already closed that day. When he returned, "the church doors were open and they were all inside praying to her," said the priest who insists it was none other than the Virgin who let the pilgrims in. "I had locked the door myself."

Last Sunday, parishioners gathered for the first Sunday mass since Mr. Zelaya's surprise return to the country. Two policemen on motorcycles circled the basilica, their rifles pointing toward the heavens. Inside, the church was overflowing with worshipers. Many stood before the altar, waving framed portraits of the Virgin as an assistant sprinkled holy water. Father Ruiz led the services, dressed in long white robes and a green cloak. "With all of the uncertainty now in the country, we beg for your help," he said.

Honduras, Father Ruiz whispered, is like the baby held by King Solomon, in danger of being split in two by its current president and its ousted one. "Maybe the Virgin should be president. She is only 6 centimeters tall, but she has greatness," said the priest, gazing out the window of the church.

Best Listened to with Earphones

2009-09-27T19:52:00.003-05:00

Here is an amazing rendition of Spem in Alium a 40-part "motet" that was written in the 1570. The song itself is amazing enough. But once you know it's one person singing all 40 parts, well... take a listen:

Here is the English translation of the Latin text:

I have never put my hope in any other but in you,
O God of Israel
who can show both anger
and graciousness,
and who absolves all the sins of suffering man
Lord God,
Creator of Heaven and Earth
be mindful of our lowliness

According to Wikipedia, the normal method of performing this work is to place the audience at the center of the church and surround them with the performers. The effect "is that of inundation, or of being completely overwhelmed." The work "is not often performed, as it requires at least forty singers capable of meeting its technical demands."

OMG

2009-09-21T22:33:00.003-05:00

This picture (from Liz's Facebook) is hilarious! Liz and Sarah in a nutshell!

And this one so sweet... Love you guys! Can't wait til December.

Because of Luis and Maria

2009-09-19T22:29:00.002-05:00

I came across a wonderful blog the other day called Why I Am Catholic . Each post has a headline like "Because of Dorothy Day" or "Because of My Friend Ferde". Well, Chris and I just came home from our first Supper Club that we joined at church and I decided to enter a Why I Am Catholic blog.

Everyone who was interested signed up for Supper Club, then we were placed with 3 other couples (or a mix with singles). One of the couples in our group, Luis and Maria, is in their 70's (Luis will be 80 in Nov) and were born in Peru. What a delightful time we had with everyone! But we especially enjoyed Luis and Maria. At one point we asked Luis how he met Maria. He told a story about his "Maria Christina" and when he described the moment he met her, his eyes lit up and he looked upward and said, "It was as if an angel - truly an angel! - had come down from heaven!" And the whole time he told the story, Maria's cheeks were red and she had a beautiful, loving smile on her face. On the way home I said, "If I had a blog like Why I Am Catholic I would say Because of Luis and Maria."

So here it is - a tribute to a couple who has been married close to 60 years, energetic enough to join a Supper Club, proud of each of their five sons, and truly still in love after all these years.

The Fruit of the Culture of Life

2009-09-11T23:52:00.001-05:00

A Beautiful Quote for Mothers

2009-09-11T22:33:00.004-05:00

A mother is the most important person on earth. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any Cathedral -- a dwelling for an immortal soul...-- Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-07T20:07:00.007-05:00

I've had a delightful weekend. First of all, I decided that it must only be Americans who take time off to celebrate Labor and then feel guilty if they don't do major house projects all weekend. So, I decided just to relax and not feel pressured, structured, or scheduled.

On Saturday Chris and I drove Mary to Joplin MO to meet a friend (who then drove her to Kansas City to see fellow students before she takes off for a Junior Year Abroad). Chris and I had talked about taking a drive this weekend anyway, so we decided to take the doogies with us, stay at a dog-friendly hotel, and then visit the Precious Moments Chapel.

Good News first - the chapel was really beautiful. We've driven past it now for 17 years as we traveled to Michigan, but never stopped. I pre-judged it and decided it would be expensive and tacky. Well, it was neither. As a matter of fact it was free, and a beautiful, tasteful monument to God, built by a very loving and generous man (Sam Butcher, the man who designed the Prec Mom children).
On the way home we stopped at Grand Lake, looked around a bit, ate lunch, and decided to buy a camper (not yet, but soon doggone it!).
Today we went to see Julie and Julia. I usually only smile ear-to-ear non-stop when I watch really good Disney movies or pretty much every Pixar movie. But this one had me smiling like a kid in a candy store. Meryl Streep was a joy to watch and the marriages depicted were precious.
And now I'm relaxing for yet another evening because I took tomorrow off too!! (Oh, btw, the bad news was the dogs - they were a pain! They couldn't figure out how much of the hotel they needed to protect and thus were antsy and whining until the lights were out and we went to sleep - for THAT I probably should be grateful!).

The Culture of Life

2009-09-04T12:30:00.006-05:00

I haven't wanted to blog because I haven't wanted to distract from my previous entry. Is there a more beautiful depiction of love as the picture below, with the tear in the eye of the mother as she protects her tiny, dying child with her body's warmth and the look of tender, ever-committed love on the face of the father?

I wish I was a brilliant philosopher who could put just the right words together to express what is deep in my soul about the critical foundation to society that is being chipped away (and sometimes blasted with dynamite). Pope John Paul II called it the Culture of Life and expounded upon it with grace...

The first and most fundamental step towards...cultural transformation consists in forming consciences with regard to the incomparable and inviolable worth of every human life. It is of the greatest importance to re-establish the essential connection between life and freedom. ... There is no true freedom where life is not welcomed and loved; and there is no fullness of life except in freedom. ... Love, as a sincere gift of self, is what gives the life and freedom of the person their truest meaning.

It goes beyond defending life from conception to natural death to include respecting the dignity of others with a love that is grounded in truth. Remove the truth, as Pope Benedict recently stated, and we have "charity that degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word 'love' is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite."

What I can do is use my simple mind to communicate the little glimpses of truth that I find in the philosophy of the Culture of Life that make my heart sing. Glimpses that I hope are not shallow and trite, but instead are simplicity on the other side of complexity, as Einstein calls it. Like this picture...

Or this quote...

We must know that we have been created for greater things...-we have been created in order to love and be loved. Mother Teresa

Or this family...

Sarah, You'll Love This Story

2009-08-28T23:51:00.003-05:00

When Carolyn Isbister put her 20oz baby on her chest for a cuddle, she thought that it would be the only chance she would ever have to hold her.

Doctors had told the parents that baby Rachel only had only minutes to live because her heart was beating once every ten seconds and she was not breathing.

Isbister remembers:

I didn’t want her to die being cold. So I lifted her out of her blanket and put her against my skin to warm her up. Her feet were so cold.

It was the only cuddle I was going to have with her, so I wanted to remember the moment.” Then something remarkable happened. The warmth of her mother’s skin kick started Rachael’s heart into beating properly, which allowed her to take little breaths of her own.

We couldn’t believe it – and neither could the doctors. She let out a tiny cry.

The doctors came in and said there was still no hope – but I wasn’t letting go of her. We had her blessed by the hospital chaplain, and waited for her to slip away. But she still hung on.

And then amazingly the pink color began to return to her cheeks. She literally was turning from gray to pink before our eyes, and she began to warm up too.

The sad part is that when the baby was born, doctors took one look at her and said ‘no’.

They didn’t even try to help her with her breathing as they said it would just prolong her dying. Everyone just gave up on her,” her mom remembered.

At 24 weeks a womb infection had led to her premature labor and birth and Isbister (who also has two children Samuel, 10, and Kirsten, 8 ) said, “We were terrified we were going to lose her. I had suffered three miscarriages before, so we didn’t think there was much hope.” When Rachael was born she was grey and lifeless.

Ian Laing, a consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: “All the signs were that the little one was not going to make it and we took the decision to let mum have a cuddle as it was all we could do.

Two hours later the wee thing was crying. This is indeed a miracle baby and I have seen nothing like it in my 27 years of practice. I have not the slightest doubt that mother’s love saved her daughter.”

Rachael was moved onto a ventilator where she continued to make steady progress and was tube and syringe fed her mother’s pumped breastmilk.

Isbister said, “The doctors said that she had proved she was a fighter and that she now deserved some intensive care as there was some hope. She had done it all on her own – without any medical intervention or drugs. She had clung on to life – and it was all because of that cuddle. It had warmed up her body and regulated her heart and breathing enough for her to start fighting.

At 5 weeks she was taken off the ventilator and began breastfeeding on her own. At four months Rachel went home with her parents, weighing 8lbs – the same as any other healthy newborn. Because Rachel had suffered from a lack of oxygen doctors said there was a high risk of damage to her brain. But a scan showed no evidence of any problems and today Rachel is on par with her peers.

Rachel’s mom tells us, “She is doing so well. When we brought her home, the doctors told us that she was a remarkable little girl. And most of all, she just loves her cuddles. She will sleep for hours, just curled into my chest. It was that first cuddle which saved her life – and I’m just so glad I trusted my instinct and picked her up when I did. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here today.”

Sheas and Brandis!

2009-08-26T00:12:00.001-05:00

OK - this is fun. I googled Bernice (my aunt) because today is her birthday - got nothing. So I tried Dorothy and found this...

Hello,
I hope that you reply to this, I currently reside in Saginaw, MI and I own the house that Michael and Mary Brandi raised their daughters in, I eleive they were Bernice and Dorothy Brandi. I have paper work on the history of my hoem if you would like copies.

I'll try to respond and let you know.

Literacy

2009-08-21T13:55:00.004-05:00

I don't think this is any special day in the life of my dear Mom (it is 4 days away from her sister's birthday though!) - but I finally did it. I volunteered to be an adult literacy tutor in her memory. She volunteered in that way and so will I. I'm so excited. (Love you, Mom!)

(I decided, on a whim, to search for mom on Google. And I found Mary Ellen's St.Mary's Reunion website! And there was this picture, taken in 1962 when I was seven and she was serving on the Home and School committee. I don't have to point her out - everyone is looking her way!)

On True Love

2009-08-17T22:36:00.005-05:00

What a beautiful article written by an 87 year old philosopher who loved her late theologian husband (Dietrich von Hildebrand) deeply.

"...all I aim to do is offer some "signposts" that might be helpful when people ask the question: Am I or am I not in love?...When in love, we experience a deep, profound joy -- a joy that is both ardent and calm, like a burning bush; but this ardor is not destructive, and is marked by deep recollection. It springs from the very center of our being. How different from the loud excitement of those who experience violent emotions that do not come from their depths and, like a straw fire, shine brightly for a short while but are soon extinguished.

The heart is not only on fire, but this fire has a melting effect. We feel as if a goodness that does not come from within has taken hold of us. Dietrich von Hildebrand speaks of "fluid goodness" of a loving heart. True love makes the lover more beautiful; he irradiates joy. If this is not the case, we can raise doubts as to whether he is truly in love. One says in French: "Un saint triste est un triste saint" -- a sad saint is a pitiful saint. Similarly, a sad "lover" should question whether he truly loves. Small, modest duties are done joyfully, because either they are done "with him" or "with her," or because they become acts of loving service.

True love makes one humble. All of a sudden our weakness, misery, and imperfection flash up before our minds, but with no depressing effect. We see our mistakes with the wish to unveil them to the loved one, and this unveiling is coupled with the wish to beg for his or her help in order to overcome them. We wish to unveil ourselves spiritually in a chaste way, to be truly known by the person we love; we fear to cheat our beloved into believing that we are better than we truly are. We feel that the loved one is entitled to know both our "valid name" and its caricature."

Blacktop Creative

2009-08-14T22:26:00.002-05:00

This is the coolest website. It's for an ad agency in Kansas City.

Health Care - Where's the Nearest Town Hall?

2009-08-09T19:14:00.006-05:00

Detroit Town Hall

Peggy Noonan has written an article that sums up my frustration at how the recent town halls have been received in Washington. I would like to say, "Hey Mister Former Community Organizer, how would you have liked it if your Chicago residents had been treated this way when they came out en masse to speak their minds? How many folks could you have persuaded to come out and meet with city officials if they hadn't been passionate about the topic? What would you have said if the mayor asked that emails be forwarded to his office?"

And so the shock on the faces of Congressmen who’ve faced the grillings back home. And really, their shock is the first thing you see in the videos. They had no idea how people were feeling. Their 2008 win left them thinking an election that had been shaped by anti-Bush, anti-Republican, and pro-change feeling was really a mandate without context; they thought that in the middle of a historic recession featuring horrific deficits, they could assume support for the invention of a huge new entitlement carrying huge new costs.

The passions of the protesters, on the other hand, are not a surprise. They hired a man to represent them in Washington. They give him a big office, a huge staff and the power to tell people what to do. They give him a car and a driver, sometimes a security detail, and a special pin showing he’s a congressman. And all they ask in return is that he see to their interests and not terrify them too much. Really, that’s all people ask. Expectations are very low. What the protesters are saying is, “You are terrifying us.”

...What has been most unsettling is not the congressmen’s surprise but a hard new tone that emerged this week. The leftosphere and the liberal commentariat charged that the town-hall meetings weren’t authentic, the crowds were ginned up by insurance companies, lobbyists and the Republican National Committee.

And the Democratic response has been stunningly crude and aggressive. It has been to attack. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, accused the people at the meetings of “carrying swastikas and symbols like that.” (Apparently one protester held a hand-lettered sign with a “no” slash over a swastika.) But they are not Nazis, they’re Americans. Some of them looked like they’d actually spent some time fighting Nazis.

Then came the Democratic Party charge that the people at the meetings were suspiciously well-dressed, in jackets and ties from Brooks Brothers. They must be Republican rent-a-mobs. Sen. Barbara Boxer said on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that people are “storming these town-hall meetings,” that they were “well dressed,” that “this is all organized,” “all planned,” to “hurt our president.” Here she was projecting. For normal people, it’s not all about Barack Obama.

...But most damagingly to political civility, and even our political tradition, was the new White House email address to which citizens are asked to report instances of “disinformation” in the health-care debate: If you receive an email or see something on the Web about health-care reform that seems “fishy,” you can send it to flag@whitehouse.gov. The White House said it was merely trying to fight “intentionally misleading” information.

What a Kid Won't Do...

2009-07-31T23:33:00.003-05:00

to get out of going to church. This is a video, taken by a sheriff's video camera, of a 7-year old who took off in the family car to avoid going to church.

Community Blog

2009-07-26T18:45:00.003-05:00

I did it. Finally asked Chris to dig out the old letter that we sent the community leaders and created a blog to commemorate the 20 year anniversary. I had a link here, but removed it - not ready for prime time yet!

National Geographic Pics

2009-07-25T23:00:00.002-05:00

Here's one example - 30 more at this link.

Please Write

2009-07-23T21:28:00.004-05:00

In an interview this week with Katie Couric, President Obama said he would "rather not wade into" the issue of whether or not health care reform should include federal funding for abortions. He said he is trying not "to micro-manage what benefits are covered."

Please join me in contacting your Senators and Congressman to ask them to ensure that health care reform does not include federal funding for abortion. I am blessed to have two senators and a congressman who are pro-life, but I still wrote them in order to add to the flood of letters that are going out after the inter-denominational Stop the Abortion Mandate telephone conference tonight. I'm on the line right now - one of 36,000 callers!

Click here.

Gran Torino

2009-07-11T15:28:00.002-05:00

First an update on Honduras - Liz is doing fine and has blogged! We're hopeful that the facilitation by the President of Costa Rica will bring resolution.

Now for Gran Torino...
I thought it was a great movie. If you've seen it, this is a bit long, but very interesting analysis by a priest of Clint's character as a Christ figure.

More on Honduras

2009-06-29T21:43:00.007-05:00

I got home too late for the network news so I watched the Directv channel where you can see all the cable news channels at once - hoping to switch to whatever one was showing Latinos in camouflage. I waited, and waited, and waited. This was the one hour 6:00 news and ALL the stations had non-stop Michael Jackson for at least 20 minutes. Finally Fox moved on, and eventually MSNBC did, but CNN kept with it for so long I stopped tracking!! Good Lord!

I talked to Liz today and she had only heard the bit of news they are getting on the radio. But she was sure that someone had "gotten to" the media because they were reporting what surely HAD to be a lie - that countries throughout the world were condemning the coup! I hated to tell her - that it wasn't a lie. She was SO disappointed and had a hard time understanding why no one could see that if the military hadn't done what they did, Zelaya would have rigged the constitutional vote so that he could stay in power.

After reading a lot about the situation I've tentatively formed my opinion. I think they are an amazing, and courageous people who ignored warnings from the US State Dept and did what they thought needed to be done to protect their country's rule of law. When we hear the military was behind the coup we think of a non-populist violent force. But it was non-violent. And the military is in a unique position in Honduras because they deliver ballots in an election. AND the Congress and Supreme Court both supported the move!

Today the new President said something along the lines of "Please leave us alone and let us do what we have to do until November when we will democratically elect a president."

I just saw good news - Hilary Clinton declared that the U.S. will not label what occurred a "coup" since that would result in cutting off millions in aid to Honduras.

In my mind Obama got it all turned around. He should have come out loud and clear immediately in support of the protesters in Iran and thoughtful and restrained on any condemnation of Honduras. Hmmm...

Honduran Coup

2009-06-28T20:23:00.004-05:00

I've spent the last hour searching for analysis of the Honduran situation but have not been able to find much. When I talked to Liz today the electricity was off throughout the country and before that the television stations were out of commission.

The people Liz has talked to have been very concerned about the election that was supposed to take place this week. The president was attempting to change the constitution to allow him to run for a second, currently unconstitutional, term.

Unfortunately, the method chosen to prevent Pres. Zelaya from taking a page from Iran's history and rigging the vote, was a military coup. Now they have a newly appointed (by Congress) president that many of the people of Honduras may be recognizing, but an ousted president in exile in Costa Rica that the rest of the world recognizes (Cuba, Venezuela, U.S. - all on the same page on this).

A few minutes ago it was reported that Chavez is threatening to invade Honduras.

SO - the situation is much more unstable than I had thought, after talking with Liz, but she is only able to get information from short telephone calls she's been getting from the Peace Corps. I continue to be impressed with the quick response from the Peace Corps when it comes to safety. If things don't improve I'm sure they'll be sending all volunteers home.

Videos like this one are hard to watch. Fortunately, she is far away from Tegucigalpa, where most of the action is taking place.

Back to Blogging

2009-06-27T00:05:00.002-05:00

or not.. who knows? But I realized I've stopped blogging and I decided to change that. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm currently up way to late, playing on the computer and listening to Michael Jackson stuff on CNN. I can't believe I'm doing that! When he died and they interrupted radio and TV, I thought, "Good Lord! This guy is not the president!" But it is pretty fascinating to watch the videos that were popular while I was in a black hole called "early parenting"! He really was very gifted. What a sad life.

BUT it is Friday and I am looking forward to a 3 day week next week. Love ya'll!

What's Unusual About This Picture?

2009-06-19T21:49:00.002-05:00

Give up? Scroll down...

It's in color - even though taken around 1909. Read the photographers amazing story here.

A Smile for You

2009-06-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

The NY Times to the Rescue

2009-05-19T21:31:00.005-05:00

A great article about Brown's Angels and Demons...

Brown’s message has been called anti-Catholic, but that’s only part of the story. True, his depiction of the Roman Church’s past constitutes a greatest hits of anti-Catholicism, with slurs invented by 19th-century Protestants jostling for space alongside libels fabricated by 20th-century Wiccans. (If he targeted Judaism or Islam this way, one suspects that no publisher would touch him.)...

...both “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” end with a big anti-Catholic reveal (Jesus had kids with Mary Magdalene! That terrorist plot against the Vatican was actually launched by an archconservative priest!) followed by a big cover-up... Having dismissed Catholicism’s truth claims and demonized its most sincere defenders, Brown pats believers on the head and bids them go on fingering their rosary beads.

he serves up a Jesus who’s a thoroughly modern sort of messiah — sexy, worldly, and Goddess-worshiping, with a wife and kids, a house in the Galilean suburbs, and no delusions about his own divinity.

...The “secret” history of Christendom that unspools in “The Da Vinci Code” is false from start to finish. The lost gospels are real enough, but they neither confirm the portrait of Christ that Brown is peddling — they’re far, far weirder than that — nor provide a persuasive alternative to the New Testament account. The Jesus of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — jealous, demanding, apocalyptic — may not be congenial to contemporary sensibilities, but he’s the only historically-plausible Jesus there is.

For millions of readers, Brown’s novels have helped smooth over the tension between ancient Christianity and modern American faith. But the tension endures. You can have Jesus or Dan Brown. But you can’t have both.

Cool Video

2009-05-12T23:16:00.001-05:00

I saw this while on my trip to Fort Worth last week. So fun!

Another Quote!!

2009-05-12T21:33:00.002-05:00

“The important thing is that we do not let a single day go by in vain without putting it to good use for eternity.” Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, martyred by Nazis

Franz was quoted by Archbishop Chaput in this very inspiring article

Another Quote

2009-05-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

"When someone asks you 'think about what Jesus would do', remember that a valid option is to freak out and turn over tables" -- Unknown

Quote for the Day

2009-05-01T10:25:00.005-05:00

"You are my God. Every moment of my life is in your hands." Psalm 31:15

Two Posts in One Day!!

2009-04-24T23:31:00.001-05:00

Watch this wonderful 12 year old who was able to get across points that have been log-jammed in my brain for years!!

Waiting in Kansas City...

2009-04-24T22:08:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure why I'm not updating, but, well, I'm not. But I would like to say that I'm in Kansas City with my friend Mary Pat. She was the younger girls' Youth Group Leader (and an amazing one at that!). She's Liz and Sarah's confirmation sponsor. BUT, unfortunately, she had to return to her hometown in Minnesota in order to get health insurance for her husband who was facing a lung transplant. He has had the transplant and is well now.

Sooo - we decided to meet half way (although it's not, but she insisted) and have some fun. I've been here awhile and am now waiting for her to arrive. I got here 2 1/2 hours later than I should have (but we won't talk about that) and only got to see Mary for about 10 minutes before she left for the weekend!!!

Looking forward to a fun time with a great friend!

Phoenix with the Sibs

2009-03-07T16:34:00.002-06:00

I just returned from a lovely trip to visit my brothers and sisters (and in-laws and cousin Mary Lynn). We all congregated in Phoenix, where Larry lives. It was so great to see Larry - it's been SEVEN years since I saw him!!! That is too long and it won't be that long again, doggone it!

We stayed at Embassy Suites where the free "lubrication" assisted in relaxed, enjoyable time. We laughed heartily, shared warm (and not so warm!) memories, and had a lot of fun. They all ended up here on their way back to Michigan, which was great - we very rarely are able to have family with us. Once Mary Ellen posts her pics, I'll link.

Love y'all!

PBXVI On the Economy

2009-03-07T08:56:00.004-06:00

One thing I really like about Pope Benedict is his habit of gathering priests together for Q&A sessions. What a great contrast to the old days of the papacy where every word is parsed and formal. Recently, in answer to a question about the economy, he made this statement. Click on the "other Vatican officials" link to find a more detailed response from the Archbishop assigned to the U.N.

Earlier the Pope encouraged those who still have jobs to help those who have lost theirs. This helped us to get out of the fearful, clenching, spending less mentality which only engenders more fear. As the crisis continues, my prayer is that I and those I love will be able to remain right in the center of God - His will, His love, His compassion - so we can respond in a way that contributes to the good God is trying to do for us all.

An Oscar Day

2009-02-21T22:36:00.004-06:00

Since we hadn't seen any of the Best Picture nominees, Chris and I decided to go to two movies today. The first one:

we thought was a bit over-rated. We gave it 3 stars (our of 4). A good movie, but Best Picture-worthy? Uh-uh.

The next one:

we loved. 4 stars (and that's a RARE rating at the Noble house). What a beautiful story centered on a boy who overcomes a hellish life with his innocence and integrity intact. The kids who acted in the film were approved by their parents at the last minute to attend the awards. That will be fun to watch.

Take a Look...

2009-01-25T22:42:00.000-06:00

My Friend

2009-01-22T22:25:00.003-06:00

My friend lost his wife today. She died without notice, at 48, of an aneurysm. She was left on life support for a day to enable organ transplants. She left 3 high school girls whose lives were intimately connected with their mom. Things I learned over the last two days:

- loving and helping others after devastation is always good, I will never again question whether I should or shouldn't. I always will at least try and then get a sense of whether I'm needed.
- Williams is a wonderful company, at its best in these crises. The corporate jet was sent to pick up Kathy's family in Pittsburg, my boss gratefully allowed me to spend as much time at the hospital as I needed, just the right number of people came and provided all the support needed, all costs incurred could be expensed, the Board of Directors was meeting and someone who was there said she could actually feel a sense of love and care for the family - she said at her previous employer they would have been asking when he'd be back to work.
- most people in these situations need grandma sitters, mothers or in-laws of the deceased who are lost and alone and need someone to talk to most of the day
- mothers are SO crucial to a family; Kathy's service to her family will be utterly irreplaceable.
- God will provide, I'm sure of it.
- There are special graces at these times - Bryan isn't Catholic, but I felt like he needed something he can put in his pocket and hold when he needs help - something about St. Joseph; I found JUST the thing at the bookstore, a large coin that has St. J's pic with "Patron Saint of Fathers" and a prayer on it.
- My role in this was impressed upon my heart due to something quite amazing that happened the night she woke with the aneurysm. I couldn't sleep and was watching clips of the inaugural. While watching Obama and his wife dance I thought about Bryan and Kathy dancing for some reason - I very rarely think of either of them while at home - they reminded me of them. It was right around the time that she became brain dead. Some day I'll tell Bryan. I think he escorted her, dancing, into heaven.

Please pray for my friend and his daughters Meghan, Kristen and Lauren.

Obama and the Peace Corps

2009-01-20T16:31:00.006-06:00

During the short time I had at my desk today, I've been trying to get some time to watch the Inaugural activities. It's amazing to watch the impact on African Americans. No matter how I feel about the election, it is a historic leap in the right direction in the area of race relations.

Anyway, I've only been able to look at the livestream about 4 or 5 times for seconds at a time. And one of those times I saw the Peace Corps alums! I took a screen shot. How cool is that, Elizabeth???

Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T11:40:00.005-06:00

This is a pic of Christmas at our parish, St. Mary's in Tulsa. We had such a beautiful Christmas morning Mass, I sent a thank you note to the parish staff. We heard a rendition of Silent Night that moved most in the congregation to tears.

And below we have an amazing Christmas homily from the Holy Father.

We had a perfect Christmas at the Noble house. I'll upload pics soon.

Saint Luke’s account of the Christmas story, which we have just heard in the Gospel, tells us that God first raised the veil of his hiddenness to people of very lowly status, people who were looked down upon by society at large – to shepherds looking after their flocks in the fields around Bethlehem. Luke tells us that they were “keeping watch”. This phrase reminds us of a central theme of Jesus’s message, which insistently bids us to keep watch, even to the Agony in the Garden – the command to stay awake, to recognize the Lord’s coming, and to be prepared. Here too the expression seems to imply more than simply being physically awake during the night hour. The shepherds were truly “watchful” people, with a lively sense of God and of his closeness. They were waiting for God, and were not resigned to his apparent remoteness from their everyday lives. To a watchful heart, the news of great joy can be proclaimed: for you this night the Saviour is born. Only a watchful heart is able to believe the message. Only a watchful heart can instil the courage to set out to find God in the form of a baby in a stable. Let us ask the Lord to help us, too, to become a “watchful” people.

Saint Luke tells us, moreover, that the shepherds themselves were “surrounded” by the glory of God, by the cloud of light. They found themselves caught up in the glory that shone around them. Enveloped by the holy cloud, they heard the angels’ song of praise: “Glory to God in the highest heavens and peace on earth to people of his good will”. And who are these people of his good will if not the poor, the watchful, the expectant, those who hope in God’s goodness and seek him, looking to him from afar?

The Fathers of the Church offer a remarkable commentary on the song that the angels sang to greet the Redeemer. Until that moment – the Fathers say – the angels had known God in the grandeur of the universe, in the reason and the beauty of the cosmos that come from him and are a reflection of him. They had heard, so to speak, creation’s silent song of praise and had transformed it into celestial music. But now something new had happened, something that astounded them. The One of whom the universe speaks, the God who sustains all things and bears them in his hands – he himself had entered into human history, he had become someone who acts and suffers within history. From the joyful amazement that this unimaginable event called forth, from God’s new and further way of making himself known – say the Fathers – a new song was born, one verse of which the Christmas Gospel has preserved for us: “Glory to God in the highest heavens and peace to his people on earth”. We might say that, following the structure of Hebrew poetry, the two halves of this double verse say essentially the same thing, but from a different perspective. God’s glory is in the highest heavens, but his high state is now found in the stable – what was lowly has now become sublime. God’s glory is on the earth, it is the glory of humility and love. And even more: the glory of God is peace. Wherever he is, there is peace. He is present wherever human beings do not attempt, apart from him, and even violently, to turn earth into heaven. He is with those of watchful hearts; with the humble and those who meet him at the level of his own “height”, the height of humility and love. To these people he gives his peace, so that through them, peace can enter this world.

The medieval theologian William of Saint Thierry once said that God – from the time of Adam – saw that his grandeur provoked resistance in man, that we felt limited in our own being and threatened in our freedom. Therefore God chose a new way. He became a child. He made himself dependent and weak, in need of our love. Now – this God who has become a child says to us – you can no longer fear me, you can only love me.

With these thoughts, we draw near this night to the child of Bethlehem – to the God who for our sake chose to become a child. In every child we see something of the Child of Bethlehem. Every child asks for our love. This night, then, let us think especially of those children who are denied the love of their parents. Let us think of those street children who do not have the blessing of a family home, of those children who are brutally exploited as soldiers and made instruments of violence, instead of messengers of reconciliation and peace. Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatized in the depths of their soul. The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children; to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman. Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome, only thus can the power of the evil one be defeated. Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night.

And speaking of the Child of Bethlehem, let us think also of the place named Bethlehem, of the land in which Jesus lived, and which he loved so deeply. And let us pray that peace will be established there, that hatred and violence will cease. Let us pray for mutual understanding, that hearts will be opened, so that borders can be opened. Let us pray that peace will descend there, the peace of which the angels sang that night.
In Psalm 96 [95], Israel, and the Church, praises God’s grandeur manifested in creation. All creatures are called to join in this song of praise, and so the Psalm also contains the invitation: “Let all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes” (v. 12ff.). The Church reads this Psalm as a prophecy and also as a task. The coming of God to Bethlehem took place in silence. Only the shepherds keeping watch were, for a moment, surrounded by the light-filled radiance of his presence and could listen to something of that new song, born of the wonder and joy of the angels at God’s coming.

This silent coming of God’s glory continues throughout the centuries. Wherever there is faith, wherever his word is proclaimed and heard, there God gathers people together and gives himself to them in his Body; he makes them his Body. God “comes”. And in this way our hearts are awakened. The new song of the angels becomes the song of all those who, throughout the centuries, sing ever anew of God’s coming as a child – and rejoice deep in their hearts. And the trees of the wood go out to him and exult. The tree in Saint Peter’s Square speaks of him, it wants to reflect his splendour and to say: Yes, he has come, and the trees of the wood acclaim him. The trees in the cities and in our homes should be something more than a festive custom: they point to the One who is the reason for our joy – the God who for our sake became a child. In the end, this song of praise, at the deepest level, speaks of him who is the very tree of new-found life. Through faith in him we receive life. In the Sacrament of the Eucharist he gives himself to us – he gives us a life that reaches into eternity. At this hour we join in creation’s song of praise, and our praise is at the same time a prayer: Yes, Lord, help us to see something of the splendour of your glory. And grant peace on earth. Make us men and women of your peace. Amen.

He Gathers the Lambs in His Arms

2008-12-07T23:09:00.002-06:00

Thanks

2008-11-26T15:06:00.004-06:00

I'm feeling quite joyful lately - maybe it's the intoxication of existence that Chesterton refers to. Why? Because God's there always no matter my mood, my ability to sense His Presence, my circumstances, the economy, etc. That's wonderful.

Plus, Mary's home for Thanksgiving and I'm so enjoying having her home. AND all five kiddos are coming home for Christmas for about 2 weeks.

Love is what matters. And that's what I'm most thankful for.

Have a wonderful Turkey Day, all you readers out there. Remember Who to thank!

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God...

...No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands (LIZZY!), to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)

Mary and Vegetarian Vampires

2008-11-23T18:56:00.004-06:00

Mary's home. Last night we ate pizza and watched the OU football game (which was won handily by the Sooners). Today we went to church, then to TGIF's for lunch, then the three of us were going to go to the movie Twilight, but it was sold out. So Chris dropped Mary and I at Barnes and Noble til the next movie. That was fun - browsing the books til 4, then we went to the movie. It's good Chris didn't go because it was definitely a chick flick (with dark action). I wasn't a big fan of these books and movies for young teens until I heard that the books were written by a Mormon mom. The good vampires are "vegetarians" (they don't devour humans) and the teen couple can only go so far physically so that he doesn't, well, let's just say it takes a lot of discipline to be a vegetarian. It's a neat way to show a pure, selfless love.

I'm on vacation at work - even though I'm showing up for 3 days this week, I'm on vacation mode because lots of folks are off and no meetings are scheduled. Sarah said I should take a Pina Colada with me. Instead I took my little fuzzy pipe cleaner man-on-a-lawn-chair that I made during a very boring day-long meeting a few years ago. I'll post a picture if I can.

Sorry about the comments not being on the last post - hopefully they'll show up this time.

Love y'all!

Love and Not

2008-11-10T13:39:00.004-06:00

This is the SWEETEST article about an amazing Tulsa family.

Also, for any who may have thought it an exaggeration that Obama could make much difference regarding abortion, a quote from today's Tulsa World:

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said. "I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set."….Presidents long have used executive orders to impose policy and set priorities. One of Bush's first acts was to reinstate full abortion restrictions on U.S. overseas aid. The restrictions were first ordered by President Reagan and the first President Bush followed suit. President Clinton lifted them soon after he entered the Oval Office, and it wouldn't be surprising if Obama did the same.”

Stomach (and Emotions) Churning

2008-11-08T12:05:00.004-06:00

In looking for a picture to put on my last post, I came across a picture of an aborted baby. My God.

N.O.W. and the media have led us to believe that only radical (translate violent - what a paradox) pro-lifers would make people look at these pictures. Good Lord! No American of conscience should take a stand for abortion WITHOUT looking at these pictures. Don't look if you can't stand it.

A Message to Our President

2008-11-08T11:39:00.003-06:00

I don't know why I keep writing emails to people with my thoughts on things. Somehow it makes me feel better, even though I know they won't be read. In this case it helped me to sort out my strong and conflicting emotions about the election. SOOOO, here's what I posted on www.barackobama.com:

I was a strong McCain supporter. I've been drawn to your passion for social issues. But as a mother I cannot deny the urgency of the pro-life issues. I cried Tuesday night, first from sorrow and later from joy as I watched African Americans celebrating in the street.

We know now that abortion is not a good thing. Surveys indicate the innate revulsion by young people, demographics show the skewing of God-given balances, and devastated women cause us to wonder how removing a blob of cells can cause 30 years of pain.

More is required than working to reduce the number of abortions. Our legal and cultural foundations were radically changed when we ranked the right to privacy over the right to life.

What will you do to ensure future government actions are based upon today's reality of abortion rather than the fantasy that was created by radicals 35 years ago? With an enormous amount of political power in your hands, what will you do to ensure that your decisions reflect unvarnished, unadulterated facts? Are you willing to, for instance, look at data or pictures? Are you willing to be the one to answer Malia or Sasha when they ask, "What is abortion, daddy?" Are you willing to select Supreme Court justices without litmus tests?

As Archbishop Chaput said in explaining what we should consider in making decisions related to this critical topic, "And what would a proportionate reason look like? It would be a reason we could, with an honest heart, expect the unborn victims of abortion to accept when we meet them and need to explain our actions as we someday will."

VOTE!

2008-11-04T08:25:00.000-06:00

Chaput

2008-11-03T09:45:00.004-06:00

I tried to quote from Archbishop Chaput's (American Indian Bishop of Denver) book when I was talking to Sarah this morning and realized I mangled it quite a bit. Here's the accurate quote, which was his response to how we can morally justify a pro-choice vote.

"And what would a proportionate reason look like? It would be a reason we could, with an honest heart, expect the unborn victims of abortion to accept when we meet them and need to explain our actions as we someday will.”

I love this statement. It clarifies the gravity of abortion, indicating that these "blobs of tissue" are human souls that will exist in heaven. Yet it truly allows for another choice. We could justify another vote to them, but when looked at from this perspective, it would have to be major.

BXVI and Stephen Hawking

2008-11-02T14:04:00.003-06:00

Scientists were invited to the Vatican to discuss Evolution. The entire content of the Pope's speech is here

My favorite part:

To “evolve” literally means “to unroll a scroll”, that is, to read a book. The imagery of nature as a book has its roots in Christianity and has been held dear by many scientists. Galileo saw nature as a book whose author is God in the same way that Scripture has God as its author. It is a book whose history, whose evolution, whose “writing” and meaning, we “read” according to the different approaches of the sciences, while all the time presupposing the foundational presence of the author who has wished to reveal himself therein. This image also helps us to understand that the world, far from originating out of chaos, resembles an ordered book; it is a cosmos. Notwithstanding elements of the irrational, chaotic and the destructive in the long processes of change in the cosmos, matter as such is “legible”. It has an inbuilt “mathematics”. The human mind therefore can engage not only in a “cosmography” studying measurable phenomena but also in a “cosmology” discerning the visible inner logic of the cosmos. We may not at first be able to see the harmony both of the whole and of the relations of the individual parts, or their relationship to the whole. Yet, there always remains a broad range of intelligible events, and the process is rational in that it reveals an order of evident correspondences and undeniable finalities: in the inorganic world, between microstructure and macrostructure; in the organic and animal world, between structure and function; and in the spiritual world, between knowledge of the truth and the aspiration to freedom. Experimental and philosophical inquiry gradually discovers these orders; it perceives them working to maintain themselves in being, defending themselves against imbalances, and overcoming obstacles. And thanks to the natural sciences we have greatly increased our understanding of the uniqueness of humanity’s place in the cosmos.

2nd Experience I'd Like to Describe

2008-11-02T14:03:00.001-06:00

Damn - I forgot what it was!

Praying in the Cold

2008-10-25T12:59:00.003-05:00

Since I last blogged, I've had two experiences that I'd like to describe. First, I've been praying at the 40 Days of Life spot (which I described earlier) - quite an experience. Two people at a time pray in the location across from the abortion clinic 24 hours a day for 40 days.

The first night, when I arrived, the people before me said that the man in the parking lot of the clinic had been driving in and out of the lot and walking around in an agitated way, staring at the pray-ers. When I got there he was standing still and staring straight at us, then later, like they said, walked back and forth and then stopping to stare some more. I wonder, I thought, if I should be concerned about this. Then the next thought was, oh well, if he's violent or something, what a way to go! So I closed my eyes and kept praying. I heard his engine and saw him drive - away, I thought at first, but no - right into our parking lot.

I kept praying and pretty soon his face popped out around the side of the tent. Thank God I had decided it was a good way to go, because contrary to natural reaction, I had a welcoming smile on my face. I think he spoke only Spanish because he just kind of beckoned toward a prayer spot and I said, "Yes, please!" So he entered the tent, knelt to pray for about 20 minutes and then quietly left.

A few days earlier, a couple were praying during the day and a young man and woman drove into the clinic lot, walked into the building, then walked back out and came across the street to tell the pray-ers thank you - they had decided against the abortion. I'd love to meet that baby some day!

Some thoughts based on all this:
* The more I read about abortion and its aftermath the more I realize how many women end up getting abortions because they feel pressured by their mates or parents. How pro-woman is that? One of the pray-ers described talking to a couple in the clinic parking lot (we can only go so far on the grass near the street). There were two children in the back seat. The man was enraged and the woman was weeping uncontrollably.

*No one can deny the devastation many women feel following abortion. Here's a PBS summary of the pain. The most powerful witness against abortion are the women at the rally that I saw walking with "I Regret My Abortion" posters. Why would these women put themselves through this? In my mind, only if the devastation was total and the desire to help others was overwhelming. We heard from six of them. Every one of them still cry when they tell their stories, as far back as the 70's.

*I'm getting more involved. The greatest joy of my life would be to talk with a woman who would then decide against abortion. Some day I will blog about it!

(Gotta go finish Saturday chores - will blog about second experience later, hopefully not a month from now!)

An American Carol

2008-10-04T21:39:00.003-05:00

Twice in one day! I had to give a review of the movie we just saw - An American Carol. Even though it wasn't a great movie technically, I loved it. It was hilarious at points. Even if you don't agree with the politics, I think you might enjoy it. As a conservative who has been hit upside the head with liberal ranting in movies that I didn't know were going to be political, it was cathartic to watch. An interesting mix of "Airplane!"-like, irreverent, slap-stick-humor and a serious patriotic message. A blogger reviewed it thus:

Two tickets for “An American Carol” this evening - $16
Flipping the bird to the Hollywood Left - Priceless!

Shower of Roses

2008-10-04T21:15:00.007-05:00

When I spread the "Guardian Angel" feast day cheer, people asked me why I wasn't celebrating St. Therese's feast day (October 1). I was. More quietly. I came across this beautiful rose novena story, though, that I wanted to share. I've shared just a fraction of the Noble Family novena stories here.

I was ten years old when I first witnessed the power of St. Therese's novena, in the form of a literal shower of the roses she had promised. Named after the Little Flower myself, I could see my mother grasping for something that would heal the wound inside her when my father left. She went to prayer group once a week, said a rosary every morning, and hung an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our kitchen.

But I especially remember her novena prayer to St. Therese... Around the time my dad left, I knew my mom was particularly desperate and in need of a sign from heaven that she could raise her four daughters by herself, despite her hurt. On the fifth day of her novena, our neighbor Mr. Miller, who kept an impeccable garden, was pruning his rose bushes. As he trimmed off the fully blossomed flowers to make room for the tender buds, he noticed my twin sister playing soccer in the backyard.

"Give these to your mom," he said. There must have been eight dozen roses of all different shades. With the skill of an artist, my sister went back and forth, from his garden to our kitchen, arranging all the roses until she ran out of vases and counter space.

Later, my mom came into the kitchen exhausted from a long day's work to find what looked and smelled like a rose garden on our kitchen counter. Remembering it was the fifth day of her novena, she cried tears of hope.

Liz Update

2008-10-04T11:46:00.004-05:00

Elizabeth made it to Chuloteca yesterday. There are only two hospitals and one of them is approved by the Peace Corps. She went to the wrong one and when she inquired about the Peace Corps the doctor thought she was trying to get special treatment because she is an American and yelled at her (grrrrr).

She finally found the right one, the doctor didn't tell her what she had and gave her six prescriptions. She didn't get them all filled ("Did you get the one filled that ends in "cilin", Liz?", "I don't know - I can't look, I'm walking down the street, trying to catch the bus!")

I'm inserting a picture of one of the two hospitals.
I called her last night and woke her up and she sounded miserable. She was insisting on teaching her class today, so hopefully she's feeling better!!! Love you, Lizzie!!! Can't wait til Christmas!

Happy Feast Day, Guardian Angel!

2008-10-02T22:21:00.009-05:00

Today is your Guardian Angel’s Feast Day. Say a quick thank you for all the times your angel:

* Kept you out of trouble
* Helped you remember to turn off the iron
* Reminded you of God’s love
* Stayed up all night, pacing and praying, during the times when you thought you were all alone

Our angel, “brings us great help and consolation: they walk at our side and protect us in all circumstances, they defend us from danger, and to them we can turn at any moment. Many saints established bonds of real friendship with the angels, and numerous episodes testify to their assistance on particular occasions. Angels are sent by God 'to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation' as the Letter to the Hebrews says, hence they are a real help to us on the pilgrimage towards the heavenly homeland." Pope Benedict XVI

And may Elizabeth's guardian angel protect her tomorrow as she tries to find a way to the hospital in Chiloteca for what could be either dengue or bronchitis.

40 Days For Life

2008-09-23T23:34:00.004-05:00

I just came back from a rally with about 200 people on a vacant lot across from Tulsa's Planned Parenthood. The Diocese bought the lot and there will be people praying there around the clock for 40 days. I'm looking forward to spending time there. It felt great to be surrounded by people who support something I feel so passionately about.

Anyway, whether or not your city has joined the 40 Days for Life campaign, please join me if you are of the mind to in praying for the women and children who have and will be damaged by this hateful practice.

Argentina March

2008-09-20T22:41:00.005-05:00

A group of young adults in Argentina protect the Cathedral from protesters marching past as a part of a Pro-Abortion Rally. Really interesting and disturbing.

I love you guys, but I'm going to limit comments for awhile so I don't worry about starting a firestorm with my blog posts.

I'm So Excited!

2008-08-29T16:03:00.004-05:00

What a great move! Sarah Palin was a brilliant choice for Vice President. She's going to energize the Republicans, especially the pro-life base. I went to the McCain website and volunteered (I also sent emails to many of you - no, not you. You.) GO MCCAIN / PALIN!!!!!!!!!!! Here's a picture of her and her husband with her youngest. He was born in April (mom was 44). After finding he had Down's Syndrome during her pregnancy, her doctor recommended an abortion. She responded that every life has value. Also (but this isn't the ONLY reason I support her) - she HAS FIVE KIDS!

Beautiful Honduras

2008-08-12T13:26:00.006-05:00

Chris and I are in beautiful Honduras visiting Lizzy. It´s sooo wonderful to see her and to see exactly where she lives and the beautiful people she works with has been quite a blessing. We were here for 3 days "> it´s the city where Liz lives. People asked us often if we liked Honduras, they had a hard time understanding why we thought it was better than the US in many ways, a better place to raise children especially. The children amazed me. And so did the women. Getting there was a trip and a half and getting to some of the people´s homes was even more of a trip. I´ll write more later, right now I´m in an internet cafe with Chris, Liz and 2 American girls we gave a ride to. They´re waiting to go.
We´re now headed here
Love you, and I hope the St. Mary´s reunion was wonderful!!

Oh well, blogging with Spanish directions isn´t working (and the keyboard is different!). The pics screwed up, will fix later. Adios!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2008-07-04T02:47:00.004-05:00

I tell everyone that this is the best day of the year to have a birthday. I get the day off every year, so does everyone else, and I don't have to bake a turkey or buy presents for everyone either!
God has been so good to me - beginning with blessing me with two wonderful parents. And four siblings who loved me. What fraction of the population can even say that? And then to have a wonderful marriage puts me in a smaller fraction and to have amazing kids who love me and love each other - an even smaller fraction. Thank you, Lord for the gift of life.

:)

2008-06-25T23:37:00.008-05:00

I found this on a stumbled upon Chinese blog.

More Thoughts About Tim Russert

2008-06-16T23:03:00.009-05:00

I've been watching a lot of memorials. MSNBC is practically 24/7 Tim Russert. I watched the Tim-less Meet the Press, which started with an empty chair. This picture was taken after the show, Tim's son Luke near the chair. Matt Lauer's interview with Luke the next morning on Today was beautiful. And now I'm sitting in a Gillette WY hotel, traveling for work, listening to more on the MSNBC website. So you can gain some of the benefit from all this, here are some of the most interesting, poignant points and my thoughts:

**There was a lot of talk about his faith. He was a walking advertisement for the Catholic faith. And his friends' memorials were further inspirations for the faith.

**Of all the comments about his faith, there was only one mention of him going to daily Mass - here at Vanity Fair (where his wife writes), an article written by Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. He said, "Tim was much more than a “practicing” Catholic: he was a devout and highly serious one who attended church every day."

**One of his best friends, Mike Barnicle, was asked to substitute for Chris Matthews on Hard Ball on Friday. Chris hadn't taken a day off since Thanksgiving and Mike never goes to Washington ("a town that gives me hives"), so the fact that he was there and visited with Tim minutes before he died, was considered by all to be very providential.

**The Washington NBC News office was imbued with his personality and love - they were a close-knit, loving family, much of which shown through during the coverage. Andrea Mitchell said the best way to describe him was that he played the role of a parish priest at the Washington bureau.

**Some people thought it was cruel, I thought it was fitting and profound, that this lover of fatherhood died on Father's Day weekend.

**There were so many stories about how he would find out about someone, especially children or older parents of employees, who was suffering and he would follow up with them. One son of an employee who had cancer and lost his hair received a hat from Tim and then he kept sending new hats as he traveled to different locations. Several employees who had babies talked about receiving notes from him written to the baby, welcoming him to the world and telling him how wonderful life is.

**His son asked if he could have his famous Florida! Florida! Florida! white board and Tim was really touched, until Luke said, "You know what that thing will bring in on eBay?"

In Memory... (UPDATED with link)

2008-06-13T23:21:00.004-05:00

I can only hope that when I die I leave behind the love this man did. Love for his family, his God, his country, his co-workers and friends.

I left a message on www.nbcnews.com and there were already 574 pages of comments. Tim Russert was a devout Catholic and I saw him as a role model "for integrating one's faith and values with one's work in a secular environment that can often be hostile to what is sacred."

It's Been Awhile

2008-06-07T21:07:00.006-05:00

hasn't it? I've had nothing to say, actually. Which reminds me of a famous quote by someone I can't remember - "When you have nothing to say, it is better to keep one's mouth shut and look like an idiot than to open it and remove all doubt."

Sarah and I are sitting at the Cherry Street Coffee shop after hearing "George Wallace" speak at Chautauqua.
I love Chautauqua. I've gone every year since the year after it was established in Tulsa when we moved here in 1992. The most fascinating speaker this year was Malcolm X. It was so interesting to discover the people beneath the caricatures as they had been portrayed in the media. David always told me I should find out more about Malcolm X. Now that I have I want to find out more. I was especially interested in how God worked in the 1960's through both men who were believers with opposing world views. Did the U.S. culture need both to be able to effectively change? Did we need the compassion that surfaced as a result of seeing non-violent demonstrations with black men wearing sandwich boards reading: "I AM A MAN" as well as the fear that surfaced when we saw black separatists raising their fists and demanding "No More"?

In all, with a Chautauqua focused on the 60's, I'm amazed at the amount of social change that came about in such a short period of time without some sort of collapse - especially related to the civil rights movement. And now to see Barak Obama raising his hands in victory in the same state where Wallace's forces used hoses to keep back the demonstrators - pretty cool. I can't support him for numerous reasons, but pretty cool.

Nothing Special

2008-05-21T22:28:00.002-05:00

...today. Just a picture of one of my favorite things...

The Story of a Song

2008-05-19T10:40:00.004-05:00

The song had its beginnings in Chicago. Horatio G. Spafford was a successful attorney making his way in the rough-and-tumble world of a growing Chicago economy. He was a Christian who had no idea how soon his faith would be tested. In the late 1860's, tragedy struck Mr. Spafford with the death of his son. Then he was devastated by the great Chicago fire of 1871. He had invested heavily in real estate along the shores of Lake Michigan, and his holdings were wiped out by this disaster.

In 1873 Spafford was advised by doctors that his wife needed a change of location due to health problems. Spafford decided to sail over the Atlantic with his family, but a last-minute business emergency arose, and he was forced to send his wife and daughters ahead on schedule. His plan was to join them on another ocean crossing later. But on the fateful day of November 22nd, 1873, the ship his family had boarded was struck by an English ship and sank in 12 minutes. Mrs. Spafford survived, but all four daughters -- Tanetta, Maggie, Annie, and Bessie -- were among the 226 who drowned in the icy waters of the Atlantic. From Cardiff, Wales, his wife Anna sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.”

Who among us can imagine the grief that filled Horatio Spafford's soul when word of the disaster reached him? Perhaps even fewer of us can imagine what it was like for Spafford to board another ship to cross the swirling waters alone, knowing that he would pass right over the watery graves of his four daughters on the way to meet his grieving wife.

But on that ship, the light of faith illuminated the darkness of Spafford's life. Out of the depths of his despair arose the certainty that God was in control, and that he would see his daughters again. In response to that inspiration, he penned this song as his ship passed the spot where his daughters died:

"It is Well With My Soul.”
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control:
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed His own blood for my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Ironically (or should we say mercifully and providentially?), Bliss himself died in a tragic train wreck shortly after writing this music. He survived the initial impact, but died when he went back into the flames in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his wife. The Spafford family was together once again.

From Rap to Opera

2008-04-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

An angel.

A Great Pro-Life Rap Video

2008-04-29T16:53:00.002-05:00

This is really beautiful. And hits home to an entirely different population than most pro-life efforts. Thanks, Lisa!

Quote of the Day

2008-04-19T00:27:00.002-05:00

"Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, [and] each of us is necessary." Pope Benedict XVI (as quoted by Pres Bush at the 5th annual Catholic Prayer Breakfast)