Missouri Farms in the Autumn

This post is just to show pictures of Missouri in the fall. Enjoy!


Missouri Soybeans











Missouri Farm Road











Missouri Cattle













Missouri Stream

Bless and Protect This House

A very good friend and her husband were disturbed with the Catholic parishes and schools in their area. They recently moved to a new location and built a beautiful new house where the older children could attend a good Catholic school and the Novus Ordo Mass was more reverent. The new house is in the country, and all the children now have their own rooms. However, the husband told me of his family's several recent encounters with unknown forces that left me with concern.

The oldest daughter in bed said she was slapped twice on the face with a loud 'bang' or explosion each time. The youngest daughter lying on her stomach felt a large book fall on her back--but nothing was there. The husband/father was trying to get to sleep when he clearly heard children whispering; but when he shone his flashlight around the bedroom the door was closed and no one was there. He said he has felt uneasy for some time about the house he was building. Finally, his wife was reading a book late at night and heard what seemed like mice crawling and gnawing in the ceiling of the bedroom. She also heard a person breathing.

The husband is a convert to Catholicism--a very good man who takes his new faith very seriously. The family prays daily before statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. The children know all their standard prayers, including the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, but it is the children's heartfelt extemporaneous prayers that make this family seem exceptional. Another person who met and then stayed with them was also very impressed with the strong Catholic faith exhibited by this family.

The husband asked me a number of questions about the devil the last time we met. He believes the odd goings-on may be the result of demons, and he wonders how this could happen in a brand-new house. He has placed crucifixes in his daughters' rooms and no further problems have occurred. Now he is trying to find a priest to bless the home and a priest has agreed to meet with him this coming week. I suggest that the priest also consecrate the family and their new house to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the meantime, they should sprinkle each room in their house with holy water, especially Epiphany water.

My husband and I welcomed our old pastor to bless our new house over 45 years ago. We placed a picture of the Sacred Heart in our living room and consecrated ourselves and our home to His honor and protection. I'm convinced that this action of our early marriage has paid many dividends in protecting our family and home from assaults of all kinds.

Does God Hate the Devil?

Mrs. M called me the other day and asked the above question? She said God teaches us to love everybody, even our enemy, so He must love the devil. I wasn't quite prepared to answer this question, but I felt sure she was wrong and there was some contradiction involved.

The web provided several items on the subject, mostly from Protestants--even Billy Graham stated that God hated the devil. The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the devil did not answer the question, so it appeared to me that the answer was a matter of theological speculation. [Suarez, De Angelis was referenced as being the prime Catholic resource on the angels and Satan.]

So armed with a few printouts of interest, I took three grandchildren with me to visit Mrs. M in the nursing home. On the way, I explained to the 12-, 10-, and 3-year olds the question that Mrs. M had asked. The 10-year old immediately said, "But how can God hate his own creation?" What a question! The Bible is clear that the devil is our adversary and we must oppose him, but does God hate the devil with some divine perfection? My own answer follows, subject to immediate revision should the Church have already addressed this issue.

God and the devil exist outside of the dimension of time in our universe: God as creator of time and all else that exists, and the devil as a spiritual being created by God. God loves the devil because God loves His own handiwork. However, the devil has an unrestricted free will because he is not tempted by anything external to his own nature. God hates the devil for what the devil has freely chosen to become.

In contrast to our sins which can be forgiven in this world, the devil's sin is unforgivable. Even the sins of our enemies can be forgiven. Moreover, Christians are required to be part of God's plan to give His love to our enemies so they are not eternally damned. Not so for our enemy the devil. Once the devil sinned, he sinned forever.

A basic principle of Christianity is "Mercy in this world; justice in the next." God is unmerciful outside of time, because then His mercy would contradict His justice--and God is NOT contradictory! The devil's sin is unforgivable because he cannot change; change requires intelligent beings to exist within time.

When Satan rebelled, God may have constrained the devil to the straitjacket of time to suffer in hell and to tempt man, yet not to know the future. God foresaw the devil's arrogance, yet the devil's pride and his temptations of man are part of God's plan in time.

Cowboys at Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is owned by the Herschend Family and has always been a great place to enjoy a family vacation. The private owners are openly Christian and have spearheaded the successful defense of Branson, MO from people who would like to open types of sinful entertainment. The owners sponsor special gatherings of homeschoolers and Christian activists, including the American Family Association (Don Wildmon). Moreover, after the park closes each day, everyone is invited to an evening songfest of Gospel music and Christian friendship in a large open amphitheatre.

Silver Dollar City is a family place with women attendants in long dresses, no Halloween decorations, and children that were well-behaved. [Maybe this last observation was due to the preponderance of homeschooled children, their parents, and a lot of retired people--many thousands!] Anyway, you won't find much cleavage, even though the park hosts tens of thousands of people a day.

This past week, Silver Dollar City welcomed some of my homeschooled grandchildren and their families at a nicely reduced price. In addition to the many rides, this autumn's celebration let us observe and talk with oldtime craftsmen: women who turned wheat straw into beautiful ornaments, rugmakers, carpenters who made furniture, bladesmiths who made knives, candlemakers, soapmakers, basketmakers, etc. Musicians who made and played their own instruments were also there.

The festival this year salutes the Great American Cowboy. We saw Johnny Lonestar with his lasso tricks, the steer trainer, and many western musical groups. Many of them gave a little Christian lesson in their act. For example, Travis Loewen told about training his steers and how he expects more out of his steers--just like God expects us to act above the nature of mere animals. His two Texas longhorns had horns that stretched at least four feet to either side of the heads of the huge animals.

The best musician was Don Edwards. He sings cowboy songs--the kind that were my favorites as a kid. Each song tells a story--a good story. Edwards' guitar work is absolutely excellent, and his voice is very good--especially in the large opera house. Curmudgeon likes country rock; I like the folk music of cowboys, especially when performed by someone like Don Edwards. The weather was great, too.

Protect Us from All Anxiety?

Yesterday, my husband and I attended a Novus Ordo Mass on First Friday. The little side chapel was full, but with virtually all old people except for a couple of Oriental women and another woman with a chapel veil.

One of the Novus Ordo prayers recited after the Our Father made me quite uncomfortable because I remember what the prayer said before the 1960s.

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.--Novus Ordo

Now look at the 'same' Mass prayer before Vatican II and try to find the word anxiety:

Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present, and to come; and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, and of Andrew, and of all the Saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that through the assistance of Thy mercy we may always be free from sin, and secure from all disturbance.--Old Mass

Anxiety refers to "a state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties." Are Catholics who are worried about the future of the local church praying to be protected from feelings of uneasiness about the future? But these feelings of alarm make us work to change the future for the better!

If You Hear His Name taken in Vain....

I heard a young man take the Holy Name of Jesus in vain today. He was angry with himself and was drinking too. It's difficult to reason with someone like this.

I was taught to strike my breast and quietly exclaim, "Jesus, Mercy!" when I heard the Holy Name of God used as an expletive. But it never seemed enough or very effective. Now I quickly fall to one knee before asking Jesus for mercy. So far, it has stopped further insults to God.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

At an early time in my life I read a couple of books that used "statistically improbable terms" [results of Amazon's computer search] such as cosmic involution, tangential energy, zoological group, organised matter, radial energy, and omega point. The astute reader will know the books are The Phenomenon of Man and The Divine Milieu written by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. (1881-1955).

De Chardin was a wildly fictional theologian, arrogant and quirky philosopher, and costumely confused paleontologist who collaborated in the finding of the Piltdown Man and the mysterious Peking Man. The former is a notorious scientific hoax of the early 20th century, and the second is questionable because the original bones seem to have disappeared over 60 years ago as they were being transported to the U.S. for further study and safekeeping.

Teilhard's books had grandiose and sweeping ideas--French culinary masterpieces that looked sooo goooood! I was spellbound by de Chardin and his view of "A Globe, Clothing Itself with a Brain!"

Fortunately my adopted Godmother, Lucy, introduced me to the book Trojan Horse in the City of God that had just been published in 1967. I was so lucky to read that book and its appendix--they undoubtedly changed my life. The book is acknowledged to be a very important impetus to the traditional Catholic movement that began to grow following Vatican II.

Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand was the author of Trojan Horse in the City of God. This great Catholic philosopher of the 20th century had a tremendous reputation in the Catholic Church and explained in the introduction to his book:

... if we then turn to a number of articles by Catholic priest and laymen published in recent years, we cannot escape the impression that these writers not only have lost their Catholic faith, but also no longer understand the very nature of religion based on divine revelation.

Von Hildebrand continued:

We are convinced that the great majority of Catholics have not yet been confused by slogans, that they are not yet swimming in the typical pride that rests on the immature illusion that man has come of age.

The chapters of von Hildebrand's book are split into five sections:

• True and False Renewal
• Dangers of Our Time
• The Secularization of Christianity
• Sacred and Secular
• Appendix: Teilhard de Chardin: A False Prophet

The Appendix (pp. 227-253, plus 2 pages of references) enlightened me on the nature and implications of de Chardin's ideas. Von Hildebrand describes a private conversation he had with de Chardin in 1951 when de Chardin "exclaimed violently: 'Don't mention that unfortunate man; he spoiled everything by introducing the supernatural'." Who was de Chardin describing? None other than St. Augustine--the greatest of the Fathers of the Church!

Von Hildebrand noted that de Chardin's ideas represented or included:

• Utter philosophical confusion, especially in his conception of the human person
• Ignorance of the decisive difference between nature and supernature
• Incompatibility with Christian revelation and the doctrine of the Church
• Artfully jumping from one position to another contradictory one without even noticing it
• Failing to recognize the abyss separating a person from the entire impersonal world around him
• Focusing on human consciousness as merely an awareness of self, as distinct from the I-Thou relationship of being
  
• Ambiguity underlying objective truth and spiritual reality
  
• Etc., etc., etc.,

Von Hildebrand quotes favorably from Jacques Maritain's remarks in Le paysan de la Garonne on Teilhard's attempts to preserve Christ.

But, adds Maritain, "What a Christ!" Here indeed we find the most radical difference between the doctrine of the Church and Teilhard de Chardin's theology fiction. Teilhard's Christ is no longer Jesus, the God-man, the epiphany of God, the Redeemer; instead he is the initiator of a purely nature evolutionary process and, simultaneously, its end -- the Christ-Omega. An unprejudiced mind cannot but ask: Why should this "cosmic force be call Christ? .... Teilhard ... wrap[s] this pantheism in traditional Catholic terms.

In his basic conception of the world, which does not provide for original sin in the sense the Church gives to this term, there is no place for the Jesus Christ of the Gospels; for if there is no original sin, then the redemption of man through Christ loses its inner meaning.

An old book. A very good book. Save $6 to buy a used copy of von Hildebrand's book because it is no longer in print!

Will You be a Pollworker on November 7?

The only paying job that my Mother ever had was pollworking in an election back in the '30s. She is very proud of that, too! Citizens who love their country volunteer to be pollworkers once every two years and make sure their elections are well-run with no cheating. I've even done it a couple of times.

To register as a pollworker in Missouri, click on http://www.sos.mo.gov/pollworker/ or call (800)-669-8683. The pay is as much as $100 per day.

In Kansas, contact your local election office to volunteer. Students as young as 16 can become pollworkers in Kansas and are paid $110 per day in Johnson County. Find out more here.

Some counties in Kansas have a good system for voting. Marked paper ballots are slipped through the computer counting machine at each voting place. In case of challenges, there are always paper records to verify vote totals at each precinct recorded by the machine. DON'T EVER LET A COUNTY INSTALL A COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM THAT AVOIDS KEEPING A PAPER RECORD OF YOUR VOTE!

BTW, did you know that Kansas City, KS allows voter registration in Spanish? I worry that non-citizens will register and vote because all that one has to do is submit a photo id and something official (bill) with a name and address on it. It isn't even necessary to write the last four digits of your SSN or produce a driver's license ID. Just write 'none' in those two boxes! Talk about the potential for voter fraud !!#@!

People born in the U.S. learn English by the age of 18. Naturalized citizens must know English to be U.S. citizens. So why is voter registration in Spanish needed? Just another time when bad politicians did the wrong thing.

Levittown Psychology and Vatican II

When did I first know that things were not going to be good for the future of the Roman Catholic Church? It happened one evening in the mid 1960's when a visiting scholar from Rome came to Kansas City to discuss Vatican II, which I think was still in progress.

The priest's talk was presented at the Augustinian Monastery (now closed and sold to Protestants), and I remember the large crowd who were interested in learning about the anticipated changes in the Church because of Vatican II. The priest presented a glowing image of the vital Church of the future and the new simpler liturgy that would attract many new persons to the Catholic faith. He emphasized that the new Church would appeal to modern people who were living with many new things in their lives.

Why didn't I believe him? The reasons were identified in an old psychology book used as a text in the late 1950's that discussed Levittown, Long Island, NY, about 25 miles east of Manhattan.

One of my college roommates was a psychology major (I never touched the stuff!), yet one evening in the dorm I picked up one of her textbooks and began to read about a psychological evaluation of the people of Levittown, NY. This first of four Levittowns is the most famous and is a planned residential community of 17,500 houses that was built in 1947-1951. Building contractor William Levitt's objective was to provide inexpensive housing for returning World War II veterans and their families.

The author of the psychology textbook emphasized the young families who had settled Levittown. Residents of different cultures and religions were now living as strangers next door to one another--as contrasted with their prior lives living with their parents in neighborhoods of their own kind and where people all knew each other.

The author commented that religions which exemplified a solid and unchangeable nature could expect to gain adherents if they advertised that fact. The text said that people whose lives were so changeable in work and place of residence would be looking for something firm in their lives--something to hold onto--something that would not change. The author specifically commented that traditional churches such as the Catholic Church could expect many conversions from the rootless people of Levittown.

I remember telling the Roman priest in the Question & Answer session at the Augustinian Monastery why the Church always should appear to be constant, firm, and unchangeable, especially to modern Americans who were changing jobs more frequently, and moving from older stable communities to new suburban communities where their neighbors were strangers. I explained why apparent 'changes' in the Catholic religion would cause the Church to appear unstable and make Vatican II unsuccessful.

A psychology text instructed us in the 1950s that people living a modern life of continual change will ultimately desire to establish roots--and unchangeable Catholicism was in a perfect situation to capitalize on that psychological need. In contrast, the priest scholar from Rome was telling us in the mid-1960s that Catholicism must undergo radical changes to keep pace with modern life! That's the time when I knew Vatican II was going to lead to terrible consequences.

Guess Who Said This?

Nevertheless, the pope has taken a principled stand stressing that he is not going to apologize to anybody and has actually made it clear that the times of John Paul II, whose repentances turned the history of the Roman Catholic Church into a sheer black spot, are over.

The interesting answer is in the comments section.

Apples to Eat, Bake, and Dry

The last couple of days I've visited three liquor stores. No, not to partake of their bottled and canned beverages, but to get the heavy boxes. They are good for storing apples between sheets of newspaper and they don't cost anything.

The grandkids love apples. Yesterday I cut and peeled some for one of the littlest ones, and she came back for more. Even though she is little, she helped her two older sisters to make apple strudle. My Grandma taught me how to pull the dough made with flour, eggs, butter, and water. She used no recipe, so I had to find one on the web.

Once I added the word "rest" to "strudle" in my search, I came up with a suitable recipe. "Rest" refers to the minimum 30 minute period the dough has to sit undisturbed. Something important happens to the dough when it rests--it becomes very stretchable. The oldest granddaughter spent 10 minutes kneading the dough and said her hands were tired. We had forgotten the butter, so it was slowly added to the already kneaded dough and I had to knead ten minutes before the dough was allowed to rest.

The two oldest granddaughters and I peeled and sliced apples, and sugar, flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon were added. All three granddaughters and I rolled the dough on a floured cloth to as thin as we could we get it, but it wanted to shrink back to its former size. Fingers from eight hands were gently placed under the thinned dough to pull it slowly outward to make it large and thin. [It really helps to have four people stretch the dough!]

The first batch wasn't as good as the second batch when everyone knew they had to avoid holes in the paper-thin dough. The girls got the hang of it fairly quickly (even the 3-year old), and acted as if they were having fun!

The sliced apple mixture was added next. The girls arranged the apples so the slices were only one layer deep, and then the oldest girl helped me roll the dough and slide it into the pan greased by the 3-year old. The top of the strudle was painted with egg whipped by the middle granddaughter so the strudle would have a pretty glaze when baked. Then the strudle went into the oven. When it came out it was beautiful and the girls were proud of their work.

This morning I sliced another bowl of apples and placed them in the electric dryer. Six trays of apples should be dry by tomorrow, although I will leave them in the trays for a day. They may need a little more drying if they are too thick and additional moisture comes out of them.

Gagging the Pope

Alison said... [in response to my recent blog on Islam]

To me Christianity is about laying down my life not the life of others. I hope that I would die for my faith but not make others die for it.

Lucetta Scaraffia writes in Chiesa that the Pope is being gagged and blackmailed in his comments on Islam. She states:

the dramatic killing of sister Leonella Sgorbati in Somalia on Sunday, September 16, is, unfortunately, a symbolic action of great significance. This is so for two fundamental reasons. Because, in fact, even in the absence of precise assertions, this is a matter of blackmail. And because the one assassinated was a woman, and a religious woman.

Scaraffia continues:

... the memorable pages of the Japanese writer Shusaku Endo, which narrate the persecution of the Christians in Japan in the seventeenth century: some Jesuits, although they were ready to die to bear witness to their faith, were forced to commit apostasy by having the Christian country people subjected to torture before their eyes. A Christian can dispose of his own life, even to the point of martyrdom – and the countless Christian martyrs of the past century demonstrate this – but not of the lives of others: the killing and torture of other Christians paralyzes the real target of the aggressive action, it gags him, it prevents him from saying and doing what would be right for himself, until it impedes him from martyrdom.

Scaraffia believes the Muslims who kill Christians are trying to force Benedict XVI to say only what is acceptable to Islamic extremists. If not, the alternative is for Christians in Muslim countries to suffer and die.

Alison, what would you do if you were the Pope?

End of a Civilization

Interesting quotes from Bryan Ward-Perkins. Ward-Perkins is the author of The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (Oxford University Press, 2005) and winner of the 2006 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History.

... in every single area of the empire (except perhaps the Levantine provinces conquered by the Arabs) there was an extraordinary fall in what archaeologists term “material culture.” The scale and quality of buildings, even of churches, shrank dramatically—so that, for instance, tiled roofs, which were common in Roman times even in a peasant context, became a great rarity and luxury.

It was blindingly obvious to me, working on an archaeological site like ancient Luna—where all the great Roman buildings were abandoned and torn down in the 4th and 5th centuries, to be replaced by very simple wooden houses— that something very dramatic happened at the end of the Roman world, something which can reasonably be called the “end of a civilization.”

In the 6th and 7th-century West the vast majority of people lived in tiny houses with beaten earth floors, drafty wooden walls, and insect-infested thatch roofs; whereas, in Roman times, people from the same level of society might well have enjoyed the comfort of solid brick or stone floors, mortared walls, and tiled roofs.

What is so striking about the fall of Rome is the collapse of material sophistication that ensued. This happened, I believe, precisely because the Roman world was not entirely dissimilar to our own: complex economies are very fragile because they rely on hugely sophisticated networks of production and distribution. If these are seriously disrupted, widely and over a long period of time, the entire house of cards can collapse.

...sophistication in intellectual life generally requires solid economic underpinning.

The Romans, like us, enjoyed the fruits of a complex economy, both material and intellectual. And like us, they assumed their world would go on forever.

Archbishop Milingo

We have not heard the rest from Archbishop Milingo. A couple of weeks ago, he met with representatives of Dan Brown, the author of The DaVinci Code, about working on a new novel and a new movie. AllAfrica News reports from Zambia:

the Catholic newspapers reported that Milingo met with representatives of Dan Brown to discuss the possibilities of working with him on a new novel about exorcisms.

In addition to his work with Brown on the new novel, Milingo is also said to have reached an agreement to collaborate with Sony Pictures in the production of a film based on Brown's earlier novel entitled 'Angels and Demons'.

Milingo and Dan Brown are scheduled to have a meeting in late September or early October at Gatwick.

Does Dan Brown have money to give AB Milingo? Probably. Will Milingo with money be in he news again. Probably. BTW, the Canon Lawyer Ed Peters explains the status of AB Milingo and discusses whether the ordinations/consecrations of four new bishops are valid.

Vatican Chapel vs. Padre Pio's Chapel

Sean Cardinal O'Malley has a new blog with lots and lots of pictures. Two of the more interesting photos he took on his trip to Italy are of two rooms where Mass is offered. The first picture is of a room in the residence where Cardinal Sean stayed. Although it is set up for Mass, see how plain and unCatholic it appears to be.

There are no statues, no tabernacle, only one (presumably religious) painting on a side wall, and a simple white curtain to the back. The altar appears inconsequential, too. I had to look hard to see the very small crucifix on the table.

Now compare the photo of the room in the Vatican residence with the small room where Padre Pio offered Mass. Padre Pio's room is a much more beautiful place to offer Mass, don't you agree? The small altar used by Padre Pio looks like it was made for the Mass. Also observe the lovely backlit statue of Mary above the altar, the tabernacle, a wonderfully ornate altar cloth, and the slightly raised platform of the altar. (I still don't see a crucifix, however.)

Several photos also caught my attention because they appear to show Cardinal O'Malley distributed Holy Communion on the tongues of the communicants in all five cases.

Finally, I was afraid comments would not be enabled in his blog because it is not one of the 'canned' types--that it would be all one-sided from him to us. I'm glad to see that I was wrong, and I wish the Cardinal success on his worthy endeavor.

Allah--The Same God as of the Christians and Jews?

Is the God of the Muslims the same God as the God of the Christians and Jews? Many people and secular newspapers believe so because all three religions proclaim the God of Abraham.

I've come to a different conclusion. Here are some of the reasons that Allah cannot be the One True God of the Christians and the Jews:

1. Allah is a violent god and requires his religion to be spread by the sword.

2. Allah is capricious, vindictive, devious, and contradictory.

3. Allah's symbols are the moon and star, representing the Carthaginian goddess Tanit or the Greek goddess Diana.

4. Allah promotes polygamy and allows divorce.

5. Allah encourages wives to be beaten, allows daughters to be subject to incest, and recommends children to be ritually abused ('thighing').

6. Allah encourages hatred for the enemies of Islam.

7. Allah requires the killing of people who reject Islam.

8. Allah does not promote love, compassion, or mercy.

9. Allah has a bordello in heaven with 72 virgins for an Islamic martyr.

10. Allah instituted pedophilia starting with Mohammed's activities with Ayesha, his child sex-slave.

11. Allah encourages non-believers to be murdered, raped, and enslaved.

12. Allah promotes the extortion of money ('jizya') from Jews and Christians.

13. Allah does not require truthfulness, but promotes the breaking of agreements (Hudna) with nonbelievers as "the end justifies the means."

14. Allah requires the destruction or conversion of Christian churches to mosques (example: St. Sophia in Istanbul).

15. Allah's religion is a joyless series of endless wars.

16. Allah is the god of the seven deadly sins: superbia (hubris/pride), avaritia (avarice/greed), luxuria (extravagance/lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath), and acedia (sloth).

Does Allah remind you of someone else--perhaps the Adversary?

Catholics in the Military and the U.S.

The Defense Department has released new numbers of Catholics in the active Armed Services of the U.S. If you remember, a previous post dealt with whether Catholics were over- or under-represented in the military. Here is the new table from the DoD, and it differs from the Catholic military chaplaincy site that states "40% of those in the Navy, 28% in the Air Force, and 25% in the Army are Catholic." The new table indicates 19% of the Navy, 22% of the Air Force, and 20% of the Army are Catholic.

Because of the above discrepancies, it appears impossible to compare the approximate 20 to 21% Catholics in the active Armed Forces with the 26% baptized Catholics in the U.S., as reported by Adherents.com. However, it may be the 26% that is the suspect value--if it is used to quantify persons who identify themselves as Catholic. The actual percentage of people in the U.S. who identify themselves as Catholic is likely to be similar to the 20 to 21% in the active military. If so, this would represent an approximate 20% loss (from 26% to 20-21%) of baptized Catholics by their early adulthood when they no longer identify themselves as Catholic.

The American Forces Information Center notes the records include:

military members who have chosen Catholic as their religious preference ... received from Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). Also stated from DMDC is that Navy Officers & the Coast Guard don't report religious preference at all. For the most part it is up to the individual military person to decide if they want to select a religious preference or not.

Cartoons of Pope and Muslims

Jovan at The New Crusade has reprinted cartoons from secular newspapers that show the Pope and the Muslims. The cartoons say a lot about the Pope.

Funeral Saint

I listened to another eulogy today at a funeral Mass. The person was well known and loved so the eulogy was very complimentary. The officiating priest declared at least four times that the deceased person was in heaven and "sharing God's glory." No doubt the priest must have been present to hear the results of the particular judgement and was told the person had avoided purgatory and won heaven. If this is true, then the Masses to be offered for the repose of this poor soul are not needed. I really think this is presumption at its worse.

The Church forbids eulogies at the funeral Mass, and some of the reasons are described by Dr. James Hitchcock in an old issue of The Adoremus Bulletin. My own reason for getting queasy at hearing a eulogy is that I think some people may be like I am, a sinner who doesn't deserve a thing, especially heaven. If I get there, it won't be because I earned it--it will be because of the mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Here are the Church regulations on eulogies given at the Funeral Mass:

General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2000
382. At the funeral Mass there should, as a rule be a short homily, but never a eulogy of any kind....

Order of Christian Funerals
27. A brief homily based on the readings is always given after the gospel reading at the funeral liturgy and may also be given after the readings at the vigil service; but there is never to be a eulogy.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
1688. The liturgy of the Word during funerals demands very careful preparation.... The homily in particular must avoid the literary genre of funeral eulogy (OCF 41) and illumine the mystery of Christian death in the light of the risen Christ.

The Church does allow the deceased to be remembered at a Vigil service:

VIGIL AND RELATED RITES AND PRAYERS
62. ... After this prayer (Prayer of Intercession) and before the blessing or at some suitable time during the vigil, a member of the family or a friend of the deceased may speak in remembrance of the deceased.

How Many Toys?

How many toys should a kid have? Fox saw my last post and said she had 8-month old twins. She asked how a child's intelligence could be increased between 8 and 18 months. Rather than respond in the comments section, my answer is here.

I don't know what Ph.D.'s say to do to aid your baby's intelligence, but games and new toys seem to me to work. No, not the kind you buy in the toy department--the ones you get out of the kitchen, the closet, your junk drawer, or the wastebasket. Of course, nothing unsafe that babies can swallow or try to eat, or that will cut, burn, pinch, or hurt their eyes.

Last night, I babysat for one of my grandchildren who is between 8 and 18 months old. She played with an apple for a long time because it rolled sideways on the kitchen floor and had a stem to grab onto. She also played and laughed with one of the cats by holding a long weed we picked from her yard. That produced lots of fun and smiles because the cats normally do not come close to her because she pulls their fur. A rolling popcan (full) allowed her to crawl after it on the kitchen floor. We also played with the mailbox handle and red flag--opening and closing it and moving it up and down.

Last month, she played for almost a half hour with a bucket of water and a small rag and cup--that's a great set of toys! She only stopped playing when she slapped her hand down into the plastic bowl and splashed water all over her face.

A long thread or string is a toy. A throwaway DVD is a toy (perhaps not for older kids who might crack it, but a little one will simply put their finger in the hole and look at the shine and reflections). An old medicine bottle with a childproof cap can be used as a rattle. A shoe with buckles is a toy. Sandpaper is a toy, but keep your eye on the baby and take it away after a couple of minutes. A plastic sack with tied knots can be a toy. A hair brush is a toy. Toys are all over the house and you can use any that are safe and that won't fit into baby's mouth. [A big exception is dirt--kids love to play in dirt, but you need to stay by them to keep them from trying to eat it.]

At a young age, a toy is simply anything that will cause the child to investigate its appearance and feel, and how it works. Next time you start to throw something in the trash, think about whether it safe to give to your babies to play with for ten minutes. THEN throw it away.

Children's games are much the same way. Peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek always seems to bring a smile from the little ones. I tossed a light plastic ball back and forth last night with my little granddaughter, another game. A game might be to teach the child to somersault or to ride a pony on your knee. A game is really anything that two of you can play together.

Add the reading of books and dancing to music--and you'll have bright and winning children!

The Always Interesting Radical Mom

Radical Catholic Mom posts a lot of short commentaries on her blog from Alaska. She usually gives an unusual twist to her stories because of her background as a former Catholic volunteer in Costa Rica, and as a language instructor to Muslim students from the Balkans, West Africa, Nigeria, and Malasia. In particular, she has many pieces of good advice for other young mothers--such as traveling with babies.

Personally, I've determined that babies between the ages of about 8 and 18 months never travel well during the day, so my advice is:

1. Travel in the evening when they sleep
2. Leave them with Grandma and Grandpa while you travel (but don't stay away too long!)
   
3. Don't take a trip until the baby gets older.

BTW, the psychologists say (according to Dr. James Dobson) that the only time in a child's life that you can increase his/her intelligence is between the ages of 8 and 18 months!

Papal Support

I attended Mass this Sunday morning in a western state and the young priest began his sermon by firmly stating his support of Benedict XVI. The subject was the Papal address at the University of Regensburg that is resulting in violent Muslim reactions throughout the world, including the murder of an Italian nun and attacks on multiple Christian churches.

The priest's sermon was comprehensive and far-reaching. First of all, he quoted sufficient material from the Pope's address to show the thrust and reasonableness of the Papal speech. Second, he put the Pope's remarks into the context of the history of Islam. Third, he briefly recounted the multitude of recent acts of violence by Muslims. Fourth, he stressed the Mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and her rosary, as the answer to Islamic agression--as happened in the past and will happen in the future.

The histories of northern Africa, the Middle East, and Spain were summarized to show only the last area succeeded in repelling Islam, during the reign of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. The Virgin Mary's role in the 17th century victorious battles of Christian Europe against Islamic forces was described. The Virgin Mary (venerated by Muslims), especially in her appearance at Fatima (named for the daughter of Mohammed), was forecast as the hope for the future of Christianity.

The dynamic and information-full sermon ended with a comparison with the dead man that Jesus gave back to his mother. He said Islam is the dead man that Jesus wants to give to his Mother, Mary.

I wish all Catholics in the world could hear the young priest's remarks. Unfortunately, the young priest spoke in a church that is not yet in the good graces of Rome. I wonder how many NO priests will support the Pope as firmly as the young priest I heard this Sunday.

What did Benedict XVI Really Say?

The complete text of the Pope's address at Regensburg can be found on the Vatican website. Lots more there than just the comments that made the Muslims so wickedly angry.

The best understanding of Benedict XVI and Islam that I've seen is found at The Observer, where a short history of Manuel Palaiologos is also found. The author, John Hooper in Rome, states:

Under Benedict, the key issue, in Vatican-speak, is not 'dialogue' but 'reciprocity'. Even before his election, there was a growing feeling among Catholic prelates that dialogue with Islam consisted largely of Catholic initiatives.

What is more, endless discussion did not seem to be solving the biggest outstanding problem between the two religions: that while Muslims were free to build mosques, worship and proselytise in the West, Christians were often denied religious freedom in Islamic countries.

Also read the short post by Mary Alexander who notes that the flag of Saudi Arabia displays a sword--wonder where that came from?

Mohammed's Command

Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us of Mohammed's command to spread Islam by the sword. Hopefully, his next step will be to encourage Muslims to become Christians. Yes, it does happen. See the ex-Muslim site for stories of why Muslims converted to Christianity.

What a contrast with John Paul II who blindly (and I'm being charitable!) apologized for the Crusades, entered a mosque to pray, and kissed the Koran.

Spraying for Heretical Pests

One of our fruit trees is well loaded with delicious apples at this time of year. To control pests, I sprayed the tree twice in the dormant stage with oil spray, and then used a commercial spray from late April through June when spraying stopped.

Since then, the tree has been partially reinfected and a few apples have worms--but the apples are not nearly as badly infected as in previous years. [For those readers who do not believe in commercial sprays, I previously painted a ring of sticky material around the trunk to keep insects from crawling up the tree, but the sticky stuff also adheres to young grandchildren!]

It seems that a reasonable comparison can be made between the Church and an apple tree. The apples are Catholic members of the Church who are prime targets for hereretical pests. Should the Church be sprayed routinely to eliminate the pests and other infectious diseases? If sprayings [appropriate disciplinary actions in the Church] are done, then pests will be killed to leave unblemished Catholic apples without worms.

Has the Church been sprayed since Vatican II? I would say almost no spraying to kill heresies has been done since 1960. The pests have full access to the tree and devour the apples as they wish. That's why so many rotten apples lie on the ground never to produce edible fruit.

Wikipedia Articles on Abortion

The Global Family Life News is an articulate publication of the Population Research Institute, founded by Fr. (Dr.) Paul Marx and headed by Steven W. Mosher. The August-September issue contains a section, Global Monitor, that describes population control issues in countries around the world. A new book written by the parents of Terri Schiavo is reviewed. The indefatigable Fr. Paul Marx also contributes three full pages to the current issue of this glossy, color publication.

The most interesting fact in this issue is noted by a woman who has returned from teaching English in China. She states that she found some of the wealthy Chinese families had quite a few children. For 12,000 yuan (approximately $10,000 US), a Chinese family can purchase the privilege of having another child. The government pockets the profits of selling people their own children.

Steven Mosher, the President of POP, was a speaker at a pro-life conference in Kansas City that I attended many years ago, before he became a Catholic. He was the first to tell the world that Chinese women were being forced to have abortions. There was a second non-Catholic who gave a talk on abortion at this conference. Dr. Bernard Nathanson was a Jewish doctor who was a co-founder of the National Abortion Rights Action League but who had recently become pro-life.
After the conference, Steven Mosher and Dr. Nathanson retired to a hotel room to talk with other speakers, mostly Catholic. I was told the meeting lasted until about 3 AM. I've often wondered if their conversion stories did not have a beginning in Kansas City.

NOW TO THE POINT--
A sidebar in Mosher's magazine encourages

you and any of your pro-life associates to become active as Wikipedia contributors and editors. There is a big problem with bias in articles on some topics, and abortion is one of those--there are a number of pages about abortion and related topics. Wikipedia works pretty much by consensus and numbers and there tend to be more pro-choicers making determined efforts to control articles than pro-lifers. They often try to get away with bias, and in greater numbers, they can. More pro-lifers need to balance things out, remove the bias, etc.

Anyone with school-age children knows Wikipedia is the largest on-line encyclopedia. It is accessed countless times a day, especially by young people, who will be influenced by what they find there. You can help.

Three Kansas City Meetings

The First Meeting
Bishop Finn is inviting everyone to attend tomorrow night's Ecumenical Rally against the Cloning Amendment. Dr. Alan Keyes is a featured speaker, and he is one of the best I've ever heard--especially when he debated other candidates for President of the U.S. a few years ago.

If you are able, join me and many other Catholics, Christians, and other people of good will at the VisionAmerica Rally to pray and advocate for the defeat of the Amendment 2 ballot initiative.

On Nov. 7, voters will decide whether our Missouri Constitution will be amended to authorize a type of biological experimentation on frozen human embryos, and also clearly includes cloning to produce human embryos and destroy them for their stem cells. Adult stem cell research has been successful and is supported by the Church.

The rally will be held at 7 p.m., Sept. 11, at the First Baptist Church, 10500 E State Rte 350, Raytown, MO and is open to the public.

The Second Meeting
Right to Life of Kansas will host its annual convention, "Turning Back to God as Creator," in a few more weeks. The meetings will start at 8:30 AM, October 14, 2006, at St. Paul Catholic Church Activity Center in Olathe, KS. Speakers include Hugh Owen, Jim Sedlak, Fr. Phil Wolfe, FSSP, Elmer Feldkamp, and several representatives from local Kansas City groups that aid unwed mothers keep their babies.

The cost of banquet, lunch, and sessions is $25, and students need to pay only for the evening banquet ($15) where Fr. Wolfe is expected to give one of his dynamic talks. To make a reservation, call 1-800-833-6632, or mail your check with name, address, and phone number to Barbara Rew, 516 E. Grace Terr., Olathe, KS 66061.

The Third Meeting
The Fellowship of Catholic Scholars is meeting on September 22-24 at the Hilton Airport Hotel. Their convention, "Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Reform of the Liturgy," will feature such speakers as Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don (in absentia); Dr. James Hitchcock, Father Samuel Weber, OSB, Susan Treacy, Father Chrysoganus Waddell, OCSO; Denis McNamara and Duncan Stroik; Father Paul Mankowski; Kenneth Whitehead; Monsignor James Moroney; Helen Hull Hitchcock; Msgr. Stuart Swetland; and Russell Shaw. While I don't agree with all these speakers, it should be an interesting program that some of you might try to attend.

Of particular interest will be Archbishop Ranjith's address on "To the Heart of the Mystery," to be presented at 2:10 PM on Friday, September 22. It may be that his address will indicate the progress of the forthcoming papal exhortation that will finalize the proceedings of the synod of Bishops held in October 2005 on "The Eucharist, Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission.”

In June, Archbishop Ranjith was interviewed by "La Croix" and I-MEDIA on liturgical issues, as is described in Chiesa. Archbishop Ranjith criticized the "many tendencies that have banished from view the authentic meaning of the liturgy.” He stated there is "a necessary correction, a reform of the reform. We must return to the liturgy in the spirit of the Council.”

To I-MEDIA, he said that every day, the Congregation for Divine Worship receives new complaints about serious liturgical abuses, and complaints that local bishops have failed to correct them. If the Church fails to curb these abuses, he said, "people will attend the Tridentine Mass, and our churches will be empty... We cannot conceal this. It is of our responsibility to be vigilant. Because, in the end, people will attend the Tridentine Mass and our churches will be emptied. The Tridentine Mass does not belong to Lefebvristes." He followed up on July 13 with additional comments that he said clarified his June 2006 remarks.

Ambrosius of The Cornell Society for a Good Time has more background information on Archbishop Ranjith who is favorable to the old Latin Mass and met in 2001 with Bishop Fellay of the SSPX.

The Kansas City convention program and registration is available here.

If Not For Archbishop Lefebvre...

A number of times I have heard the comment that "If not for Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, then we would not have the indult Mass, the Fraternity of St. Peter, etc." In turn, I have heard several people respond that this is giving Archbishop Lefebvre credit for God's work.

An example of this repartee occurs on Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's web site where comments and responses are posted regarding the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI has authorized a new institute of priests to offer the old Latin Rite Mass.

Even with a sympathetic ear, I do take issue with the statement of “and if it were'nt for them and their founder of blessed memory, there would be no Ecclesia Dei commission nor indult mass.” We have those blessings because of the Lord Almighty and no one else. [corrections made to typos.]

It seems very difficult for some Catholics to acknowledge the contributions of Archbishop Lefebvre to the work of preserving critical elements of the Catholic Church. I'd like to provide a comparison to show the problem of not giving credit where credit is due. Remember, this is an illustration of what I believe to be a difficulty with those individuals who do not give Archbishop Lefebvre credit for his work.

Comment: If it weren't for the Blessed Virgin, there would be no salvation in Jesus Christ. Response: We have this blessing because of the Lord Almighty and no one else.

Religious vs. Civil Marriage

David R. Carlin is a former Senate Majority Leader of the Rhode Island Senate. He has written an article in the August/September 2006 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review advocating the separation of religious from civil weddings. Carlin proposes that Catholic priests abandon their practice of performing civil marriages because they conform to secularist ideas that allow same-sex weddings and divorce.

I thought of Carlin's recent article while talking to an elderly man at a luncheon held last week. He explained his wife had died about seven years ago and his next door neighbor's husband had died about the same time. The result was that the widower moved in with the widow without the benefit of marriage.

The elderly man explained that if they married, they would lose both medical and retirement benefits. His last comment was that they had discussed this situation with their family and friends and no one thought what they were doing was wrong. I suggested that perhaps they at least could have a small ceremony with family present. Frankly, I was thinking of the children and grandchildren who were seeing their parents and grandparents living together "in sin." Not a good example if you want to teach young people to avoid copying this lifestyle!

A civil marriage is authorized and recognized in the "eyes of the law," and a religious marriage is authorized and witnessed in the "eyes of God." Wikipedia has a fairly thorough discussion of the distinction between religious and civil weddings (that appears to have been partially written by a Catholic).

The Wikipedia article notes

there are examples of people who have a religious ceremony that is not recognized by the civil authorities. Examples include widows who stand to lose a pension if they remarry and so undergo a marriage only in the eyes of God and the community... retired couples who would lose pension benefits if legally married, ... and immigrants who do not wish to alert the immigration authorities that they are married either to a spouse they are leaving behind or because the complexity of immigration laws may make it difficult for spouses to visit on a tourist visa.

So, is it possible for a priest of the Catholic Church in the U.S. to witness a sacramental marriage between couples who do not want to be married civilly? Can a religious wedding occur independently of a civil marriage in U.S. states? Does anyone want to volunteer answers to these questions?

Tithing of Our Time

Tithing is returning to God 10 percent of what he gives us. Usually tithing is applied to money received, but it really applies to our whole life being a gift from God. We can learn something from one Catholic who is quite ill with MS who writes:

I began a daily prayer time. I prayed 2 hours every night after everyone else went to bed. I have a wonderful Buddhist friend, Veronica, who told me that she tithes her time to God daily, not her money. She reminded me that Jesus Himself said to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's." And money was not of God, it was of man. My soul is what belongs to God, and I should devote my life to Him, beginning with tithing 10% of my day every day to His glory and honor.

Veronica made a lot of sense. I tried it. While I wasn't Buddhist, it felt right for a Catholic to follow this very same practice. After all, it certainly couldn't hurt. And it worked miracles in my life! I began reading stories about the lives of the saints. I read about their devotion to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I saw Him through their eyes, and soon saw my own suffering in a different light as well. I began attending Mass again. I started to feel alive for the first time in years.

One of the most productive times in my spiritual life was when I belonged to the Legion of Mary. Only two hours of apostolic work was required each week, plus a meeting. Together with an active daily prayer life, the Legion of Mary is a good start on giving ten percent of your time to God.

China Sentences Chen Guangcheng

A young blind Chinese man is continuing Stephen Mosher's work--show how China forces women to have abortions. He has now been sentenced to prison for publicizing women who had been forced to undergo abortions or sterilizations as part of China's family-planning campaign. Even though coercive measures used in Shandong's Linyi region are stated to be illegal, local officials have continued their evil ways. See here.

The European parliament has adopted a report on EU-China relations that slams Beijing’s human rights record and its lack of respect for religious freedom. For the first time, European lawmakers expressed their support for Vatican-China dialogue. For more, see here.

Matches -- No. 4

I believe in falling in love after deciding on the one you want to marry. A good friend and I looked at many men. I think she dated over a hundred and I dated over thirty. We typically kept our dating to no more than two or three times per guy. We avoided steady dating because we were taught in Catholic school that steady dating was only for those intending to be married. Dating a guy only a couple of times meant you had an enjoyable experience in getting to know different men, but they were far less likely to try to take liberties.

I knew my husband for almost three years before we dated. After a year or so of knowing him in a Catholic organization, I told my sister that I had met a Catholic gentleman who would make an extra fine husband and great father. She asked if I was dating him or loved him and I said no, but he would be very easy to learn to love. Very true!

The same thing happened with my friend whose future husband wanted to marry her after they met in a work environment. She says she accepted his proposal before she fell in love with him because she knew him to be an outstanding Catholic man who would be easy to love. My friend married her husband with a love that was true and certain. What a wonderful advantage it was to know and choose someone for a spouse without the embellishments that typically cover the personality during dating.

Good people are easy to love, but a clear picture of a person's personality and behavior is only possible when you are not dating. That is why the peasant parents in The Third Match recommended their sons marry girls they knew.

Gov. Sebelius of Kanas

I'm glad Catholic Fire (of Wichita?) has published a post on the pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius who is supposed to be a Catholic. See here. Also see the Operation Rescue announcement that Gov. Sebelius rewarded her friends with appointments to the Board of Healing Arts and how she has protected the abortionist George Tiller.

Onward, Christian Soldiers!

My dad was a convert to Catholicism back in the 1930s who loved the song, Onward, Christian Soldiers! He taught it to us and we kids would march around the house singing this Protestant song, much to the dismay of my very Catholic mother. Actually, the words of the song did not offend against Catholicism, so mother held her peace.

Onward, Christian Soldiers! seems to exemplify militant Catholicism to which we are called by the sacrament of Confirmation. As defined in the Catholic Encyclopedia and Baltimore Catechism, Confirmation is a sacrament in which the Holy Ghost is given to those who are already baptized in order to make them strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.

In Scripture, several references refer to being a good soldier for Christ. For example Paul says to:

11 Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. 13 Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect...16 In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. 17 And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). (Ephesians 6)

Labour as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (Timothy II 2:3)

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. (Timothy II 4:7)

Fr. John Hardon, S.J., repeats the traditional definition of the Communion of Saints as consisting of three levels:

the Church Militant on earth, the Church Suffering in purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven. After the last day, there will be only the Church Triumphant in heavenly glory.

However, the new Catholic Catechism issued in 1992 obscures the definition of the Communion of Saints by referring to those alive in this world as "pilgrims on earth." No. 962 states

We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always [attentive] to our prayers" (Paul VI, CPG § 30).

Onward, Christian Soldiers! was published in 1865 by the Anglican clergyman and prolific writer, Sabine Baring-Gould, who prepared it for a group of schoolchildren who were to march to the next village. Baring-Gould is thought to be the man who inspired Pygmalion, a story later made into My Fair Lady. He fell in love with a simple mill girl and sent her away to be educated for two years before he married her. The couple were married for 48 years and had 15 children.

Here are the words to Onward, Christian Soldiers:

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!

Refrain
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Refrain

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Refrain

What the saints established that I hold for true.
What the saints believèd, that I believe too.
Long as earth endureth, men the faith will hold,
Kingdoms, nations, empires, in destruction rolled.

Refrain

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.

Refrain

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.

Refrain

Internet Pornography in the Schools

Mrs. M, my friend in the 'nut-house' (that what she calls her nursing home!), called a few minutes ago to tell me about an extended discussion she had with the room janitor. They discussed whether pornography could be accessed by students on public school computers, and the young man said, "yes." She then called a friend who said that internet pornography at public schools was not filtered. Moreover, a substitute teacher in a nearby public school was found to have pornography on his school computer and nothing was done.

Mrs. M. is going to call the public school office on Tuesday morning and also will call the local TV stations. She's brave and determined--and I wish people who were healthy were determined to do as much as Mrs. M does from a shared phone in nursing home.

You see, Mrs. M has a son who is in prison for a long time because he plead guilty to pedophilia. She knows when he comes out, he will be forever labeled a child molester and people won't want to live near him. Mrs. M believes her son's downfall was pornography.

The Last Steps of a Ladder to Heaven

Tomorrow is the First Saturday of September and we will honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. My Grandma had a special love of Mary and would say five rosaries each day until the day she died (almost 100 years after she was born). When things would go wrong, I always heard her exclaim, "Mary, Help me!" (in her native European language).

One time Grandma told me this story of an intense dream she had when she was young. In her dream, she was climbing a ladder to heaven. Others were climbing their own ladders--some with more strength than others, and some were falling to the ground only to begin again.

The climbing was very hard, especially as Grandma reached higher and higher in the sky. Several times, she had to stop because she had no strength to continue, but then she would resume climbing again. Finally, she could see heaven and God waiting for her, but as she climbed closer, her strength totally gave out. Not only was she unable to take another step upward, she felt her grip on the ladder slipping.

As she realized all of her prior efforts to climb to heaven were going to be for nought, suddenly a hand reached down and gently pulled her the rest of the way into heaven. She looked up and saw the face of Mary, the Mother of God.

Catholic Military Personnel -- New Data

Two young grandsons visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs this summer and were very, very impressed with the marching cadets and drums. The parachuting exhibition also helped to inspire them to ask how old they have to be to enter the Academy. Their parents answered '18' and said that they needed very good grades to be selected.

Since the boys' question, I've been curious about the percentage of Catholics in active military service. The recruiting site for Catholic chaplains states that:

40% of those in the Navy, 28% in the Air Force, and 25% in the Army are Catholic, currently, there are a little more than 140 priests in the Navy, 90 in the Air Force, and 105 in the Army.

The active military force is 1.4 million, including 366 thousand in the Navy, 178 thousand in the Marines, 359 thousand in the Air Force, and 512 thousand in the Army. If 40% of the Navy and Marines are Catholic, then there are 218 thousand Catholic sailors and Marines for 140 priests--approximately one priest for every 1,550 active duty personnel. If 28% of the Air Force is Catholic, then there are 101 thousand active duty military for 90 chaplains--approximately one priest for every 1,120 active duty military. If 25% of the 512 thousand Army members are Catholic, then there are 128 thousand Catholic soldiers for 105 chaplains--approximately 1,220 soldiers for each chaplain.

From the calculations above, the total number of Catholics in the active Armed Forces of the U.S. is approximately 447 thousand out of 1.4 million--32 percent. How does this figure compare with the percentage of Catholics in the U.S.? Adherents.com, which specializes in statistical data on religions in the world, says the U.S. has 61 million baptized Catholics for 26% of the population. Obviously, if the military services of the U.S. are composed of 32% Catholics, then Catholic military personnel are contributing more than their fair share--especially in the Navy and Marines.

[It should be noted that military chaplains serve more than just the active military force described above. Catholic chaplains are stated to serve a total of 1.4 million Catholics, including spouses and other family members, and other personnel.]

Actions in a Crisis--United Flight 93

I've often been fascinated by stories of people who exceed what is normal. Sometimes, a person wants to meet the high expectations of others and performs exceptionally well. Alternatively, excessively high expectations may lead a person to say, "What's the use" and fail to try. The most interesting situation is when persons perform great feats of bravery, strength, or endurance in a challenging crisis.

A very long time ago as a seven-year old, I used to walk over a mile home from Catholic grade school. The road led up and down over the hilly terrain above the Missouri River, finally ending up by a roadside creek. One afternoon, I decided to leave the road and take a short cut across our pasture. Bad choice! The milk cow that we had at time was not friendly. Once she saw me, she charged and I ran toward a fence on the upper edge of a deep ditch along the road. The ditch was filled with weeds and debris, and that was where I landed after jumping the fence.

Later when the cow was elsewhere, I went back to the fence to see how high it was. Amazingly, the top of the barb wire fence was above my waist. I remember setting up a rope to practice jumping the same height--and at that age I couldn't do it again. Conclusion: I could do very difficult things only when I had to.

On my first real job, I worked with a Chinese man who had immigrated to this country. He told me the Japanese bombed China during World War II, and thousands of Chinese took refuge in a large cave. Most of the people in the cave, except a few at the entrance, died because of inadequate oxygen. My co-worker also told of the lack of food during those times. I asked him how people survived in those terribly difficult situations and whether soft Americans would ever be able to withstand such suffering. His response was that any people who want to survive will endure whatever suffering is necessary and make extraordinary efforts to survive.

.

Now, the REAL story

Thomas Burnett, a passenger on United Flight 93 that crashed on 9-11, is an excellent example of how a strong person can become a hero in a crisis. His wife has published a book, Fighting Back: Living Life Beyond Ourselves, that tells the story of how her husband prepared for and responded to his moment in time. Deena Burnett writes about her four cell phone conversations with her husband during the hijacking, which culminated with her husband's assurance that he was "going to do something" to thwart the hijackers.

A year before 9-11 Jim Burnett told his wife he'd been attending Mass daily to try to understand a message from God that had "something to do with the White House." He told her he hadn't figured it out, "but I know it will impact a great number of people," she wrote in her book, "She writes "God must have had a good chuckle that day, because my response was, 'He wants you to run for president.'"

Tom Burnett died in the crash of the United Airlines flight in rural Pennsylvania. The plane went down 20 minutes short of the hijackers' presumed target, either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. His wife has established a foundation under his name.

A Good Day with Grandkids

We drove back to the rental house late this afternoon, my 6-year old grandson and I, while the other kids drove with their mother and the dad followed in a third vehicle. The picture we saw along the road seemed from an old Master's painting--many cows grazing in a green pasture with heads pointed west toward the setting sun. It was slightly cool with clear weather cirrus in the west providing various sunset colors. God had painted the entire landscape in a early evening hue that reminded me of my childhood. It's been a good day...

This morning, the three home-schooled kids and I joined their parents to work on finishing their house. After nine months, the new house is almost finished. So what do you give kids of 13, 10, and 6 to do? Today, they cleaned sinks, tubs, and showers into which a lot of carpentry dust and chips had fallen. They picked up trash and discarded brick pieces. Most importantly, they installed 13 doorknobs--plus they reversed a doorknob that the carpenter had installed backwards!

The kids remarkably improved on the time it took to install each doorknob. The oldest was responsible for installing the strike plate in the door jam. First, mark the centers of the two holes through the strike plate with a sharp point. Second, drill the holes using a battery-powered drill. Third, screw the strike plate to the door jam. The latch and latch plate were also installed by the oldest, using much the same process.

The 9-year old and I installed the two knobs in each door. She became quite adept at this, and we were going a lot faster after about 7 or 8 doorknobs. We came back to the rental house at noon, and the kids rested in the early afternoon. We returned about 4:00 PM and finished the last three doorknobs. I told the parents tonight that the two oldest kids were probably experienced enough to install the two remaining doorknobs by themselves. [Although I'll probably work with them tomorrow to finish this job.]

Kids can do a lot when you spend a little time working with them and praising them. Most importantly, they will take great pride in their work if it is reasonably challenging like installing a door knob. Kids that build things never become vandals, because they know the effort required to make something. Rather, they will have a great disgust for people who tear things up.

Last week, another grandson of age 7 asked to help me and he was given about 1 1/2 hour of work to earn a fair amount of money. I told him after he had scrubbed the tub and sink, and did some other things that he was probably the best 7-year old worker I had ever seen. Several days later, he asked me if I really meant that he was the best 7-year old worker, and I truthfully said, yes. My compliment was genuine and he knows it.

His mother remembers with pride the day when she was about ten years old and hoed corn for over eight hours and earned just as much as her two older siblings that day. Personally, I became quite worried because I thought she was going to be gone for only a few hours because she was so young. I guess the farmer neighbor in the Missouri River bottoms thought all of the kids were doing a good job, so he didn't bring the three of them home until supper. She says that day is a very good memory, and it will last as long as my memory of picking 26 pint boxes of black raspberries when I was ten.

If you've noticed my new sidebar, there is a picture of a tiny little girl talking with her hands to a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The caption says "Teach your children to pray," the first thing to teach a child.

The second thing to teach a child is, "Teach your child to work." When I find a suitable picture, this recomendation also will be added to the sidebar. The third thing will be to "Teach your child to help others." We'll get to that one in a later post.

Fire in the Crown -- Time for Regrowth

Compare the past forty years in the Church to a blazing forest fire that lasts only a few weeks, at most. Yellowstone's summer-long fire in 1988 is an exception. Yellowstone's former policy was to suppress all fires; unfortunately this created favorable conditions for huge infernos.

When an inferno reaches tree crowns in the upper reaches of the canopy, even trees hundreds of years old will die. How long does it take for new trees to germinate and grow so that you can see their green color again? Only a few years, yet when I visited Yellowstone two years ago (16 years after the fire), the new trees were less than 10 feet high. How long does it take to get marketable timber in a well-managed forest? Usually 40 to 80 years; less for some specialty woods. How long does it take to restore the really valuable old-growth trees--hundreds of years.

The fire in the Church reached the tree crowns. The old trees died in the terrible blaze, but even though dead, they still stand--yet without branches and no longer providing habitat for birds and animals, nor do they produce new offspring.

Certain religious orders are examples of the old-growth trees which have burned, but there are others. Do we see a small amount of green again? Yes, mostly in the Latin Mass communities. How long will it take to get marketable timber in large quantities--probably at least 80 years.

Missouri Stem Cells

Michael Cook, the Australian editor of MercatorNet, sees the importance of the Missouri Stem Cell Initiative to be voted on November 7. He is convinced that the decision that Missouri voters make will have far-reaching effects upon public health, science and law.

NFP Courses and My Apology

KCPriest at Sacerdos in Aeternum asked a question of his readers back on July 14 about teaching NFP to engaged persons and what constitutes "grave necessity." His short post received 66 comments, some of which seemed excessively argumentative. KCPriest stated in his post that he fully intends to post again on the subject of NFP.

I wrote a post saying some of the discussion at KCPriest's blog was overdone when compared to China's policy of one-child families. I received a comment recently that correctly asked:

You can't mean to imply that everyone should have just ignored the good Father's request for dialogue on the subject?

I attempted to answer that comment, but still feel my response was not very good. Well, I'm backtracking, and apologizing, too, to all the persons who argued from their heart and soul on a very important issue for Catholic families.

Why? Because of the last comment shown above and especially because of reading "NFP courses: Asking questions can be helpful," a new article by John F. Kippley in the August/September issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review. I hope all parties participating in the original post by KCPriest read this article that emphasizes NFP instruction must respect the norms of modesty and encourage chastity. The article asks priests

Do you want your engaged couples to attend a course that seeks to elicit a decision for marital chastity and Christian discipleship or a course that seeks to be only an anatomy-physiology course on human reproduction?

Kippley and his wife founded the Couple to Couple League for NFP in 1971 and they have recently formed NFP International to continue their work internationally, especially in Eastern Europe. They now have concerns about some of the NFP courses being taught, especially the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). FAM is stated to teach women how to monitor their fertility so they can use sinful contraceptive behaviors only during the fertile time.

Kippley states:

Catholic priests who want to promote and teach marital chastity through NFP instruction need to be aware of significant difference in NFP programs...Common sins [to avoid pregnancy in the fertile period] need to be addressed...it is clear that dioceses and NFP programs have to be more clear and explicit about the moral use of NFP.

In particular, Kippley says that priests who recommend NFP courses should ask questions of those persons teaching NFP.

With regard to comments on a prior article in HPR by Fr. Chad Ripperger, FSSP, on "Immodesty unrecognized--the problems with teaching NFP." Kippley says that

Fr. Ripperger is right: bishops, priests, deacons, and marriage preparation personnel may be sending engaged couples to NFP instructions in which the norms of modesty are ignored.

In the future, I expect to see and welcome more dialogue on "serious" vs. "grave" reasons to practice NFP.