Are Your Taxes Just?

My brother sent me a link to the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. Normally I am not enthralled by economics and public policy, but this article discusses Switzerland "which has become the target of angry protests by European Union officials and sundry European politicians." Why? Because Switzerland has lower tax rates than other European states.

The most interesting part of the article, to me, discusses the morality and justice of taxes. The author, Samuel Gregg, went back to 16th century Spain to find a

rigorous discussion of the morality of tax-rates. This was sparked by rising taxation, currency debasements, and official state bankruptcies initiated by King Philip II as he struggled to suppress rebellion in the Netherlands and ward off threats to Spain’s world-wide empire.

The article continues:

Reacting to Spain’s subsequent impoverishment, Spanish theologians such as Pedro de Navarra insisted that it was not enough for governments to legislate a tax for it to be considered just. Tax-laws, they argued, must meet other criteria of justice. Was there a genuine need for a new tax? Were the proposed taxes proportionate and equitable? Were they moderate or excessive? The same scholars claimed that imposing taxes to support wasteful government expenditures was immoral, even tyrannical. In some cases, they added, people could rightly refuse to pay, especially when taxes were taking nations to the edge of financial ruin.

I remember some years ago a discussion on whether it was right for a Italian citizen not to pay his full taxes if the average taxpayer in the nation paid only 40, 50, or 60 percent of their total taxes. One Church moralist concluded that if the truthful taxpayer paid 100 percent when most other citizens paid only 50 percent on the average, then the noble taxpayer was being unfairly assessed his share of the tax burden. I don't remember how the debate ended, but the argument seemed logical to me.

Some will note that two wrongs don't make a right, even when it means honest people pay an inordinate share of taxes because of others' lies about their actual incomes. However, I believe the burden should be on the state to justly assess and then rightfully enforce the collection of taxes, rather than allowing some people to avoid paying what is due.

Or much better, the state should first reduce the tax rates before beginning real enforcement. Recovering the annual tax gap of over 300 billion dollars in the U.S. would mean that everyone would be assessed a fair share and most if not all of the budget deficit would disappear. [Of course, that would never happen because Congress is notorious for always looking at new ways to spend more money!]

Some years ago I served on a jury that decided on the merits of a civil lawsuit. The jury determined the plaintiff had exaggerated his claims. Moreover, evidence showed that he made significantly more money than he reported on his income tax form--leaving jurors wondering how much they could trust him (that and a few other things he said!) The jury finally recommended a settlement equivalent to what the insurance company had previously offered the plaintiff. In this case, the man's lies did not create an advantage for him and a disadvantage to the insurance company (and to insurance holders who would have had to pay higher rates). But the man cheated on his tax return, meaning the rest of us paid an unfair share of the total tax burden.

Since that time a burgeoning underground economy has arisen in which workers do not pay income taxes, mostly because they are paid in cash and do not report their income which is estimated at 1 trillion dollars a year. A recent and thorough analysis of the size and characteristics of the underground economy is found in a New Jersey news article published here. The article recognizes that the underground economy is firmly rooted in illegal immigration, yet presents a sympathetic view of the immigrants themselves. My own sympathy is with taxpayers who pay their 100 percent when others cheat and pay nothing. The increasing rate of non-compliance is very bad news for the future of our country, especially when combined with immoral assessment of taxes--as was discussed by the Spanish moralists of the 16th century.

St. Mark's Church -- Independence, MO

[This is the second post in a series to describe Masses celebrated in Catholic churches in Kansas City (both dioceses). The purpose is to assess the state of the Church in a variety of parishes with respect to the liturgy as it will be revised in the early 21st century. I will hold most of my comments until a later post.]

The facilities of St. Mark's Catholic Church are new and the semi-circular church is attached to a long hallway with very nice and spacious meeting rooms. In the front of the church, a large crucifix is mounted on the stone wall behind a white covered table. The tabernacle is located to the right against another wall, and the microphones for the musicians are located to the left side of the Church. The ceiling is a mixture of high cross beams at various angles, and perhaps distracted me from noticing whether there were any religious statues or pictures. Along the rear wall were small stations of the cross.

I estimated the church to be about 60 percent full at the 8:00 a.m. Sunday Mass, with about 350 people in attendance. The parish consists of 2,200 families and is served by a single priest who celebrates four weekend Masses. The attendees were virtually all white at the Mass I attended, with over half the people over 50 years old. Less than 20 children (14 and under) were present, and no babies in arms (< 18 months) were seen. A single large family with five children was observed in a front pew, but was the exception because other families had only one or two children. Most women wore pants and two women were observed to wear head coverings. Among those who were less than 50, blue jeans were common.

The 8:00 a.m. Sunday Mass began with an elderly woman in a medium pink pant suit leading the singing of a song with multiple refrains of "Mercy" to piano accompaniment. Her fine voice was also to lead other parts of the sung liturgy. An elderly man read the Scriptures during Mass.

The older priest (I was later told he was a visitor) was assisted by two altar boys dressed in white cassocks, who sat to the right side of the white covered table but seemed to have few responsibilities. When the Mass began, the priest in his own words continued the call for mercy, but without saying the words "sin" or "God." The typical opening prayers appeared to be truncated, followed quickly by the prayer, "Lord, have mercy."

The devil's three temptations of Christ was the Gospel reading. The priest's homily began with a small joke, then quickly referred to temptation, sin, grace, and especially the need for repentance. The penances required by the old Church were mentioned, and were said not to get to the real meaning of Lent. The priest emphasized that it was REpentance that was needed. Except for necessary Catholic practices of becoming more generous and kind ("Ask your spouse what changes are needed!"), specific Catholic truths were not taught in the homily.

At the consecration of the wine into the Blood of Jesus, the priest used the words "for all," as the new revision to "for many" has yet to be implemented (to correspond with all extant translations of the Gospel). A very large circular white host was consecrated by the priest. A number of gold bowl-shaped vessels and chalices were on the table during the consecration, and were used by the lay distributors of communion.

People moved to shake hands with each other after the consecration, followed by nine people advancing to near the white covered table. These were the distributors of communion--six older women in pantsuits and three elderly men. After receiving communion from the priest, each lay distributor went to a planned station to distribute communion in the hand to the parishioners. Then a quiet time of about three minutes was provided to sit and meditate.

Following the meditation period, the pastor arrived in a black suit to make a significant number of announcements from the podium, including a request for new nominations to the parish council and to recruit more lectors and communion servers. New members of the parish council were asked to be "open-minded" and "listening" persons. The pastor was very personable and told a number of jokes during his announcements, including a story of having BBQ on the prior Friday during Lent (which made a fair number of parishioners gasp). The pastor continued and said he had been taught by another priest to bless the meat and convert it to fish. He ended by saying his meal was the best "fish" he had ever eaten (but the priest did not clarify whether this was a joke or not).

After Mass, almost all the people quickly left the church after Mass, but a few stayed to talk with each other, even though the outside hallway is very spacious. Two people appeared to stay to pray. The 8-page bulletin reveals that St. Mark's Catholic Church received contributions of $128K during the month of January 2007, with expenditures of $133K. These large collections indicate the older people in the parish are very generous. But when these people die, it appears collections will decline precipitously because there are so few children and young people who attend Sunday Mass.

The Principal is WRONG!

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A Catholic school principal has organized sensitivity training for students who shouted, ''We love Jesus,'' at a basketball game against a school with Jewish students.... See the rest of the story here.

When someone shouts "We love Jesus" to anyone but other Catholics, then confront them with their disordered minds and brainwash them into being silent by "sensitivity training." Religious free speech in the U.S.? It no longer exists.

FSSP Mass in Kansas City, KS

[This is the first post in a series of generally describing Masses celebrated in Catholic churches in Kansas City (both dioceses). Most of the time, I'll focus on unusual stuff and the homily. I'll start with the Latin Mass Community of St. Philippine Duchesne (SPD) where the "Saint of the Party Animals" [my title] was the sermon.]

The two SPD Community Masses are offered by two chaplains of the FSSP at 6:30 and 11:00 a.m. every Sunday morning. Last Sunday, one priest offered Mass and the other heard confessions before and during Mass, except when both chaplains were needed to distribute Holy Communion. The 6:30 a.m. Mass is a shorter liturgy called the Low Mass. A slightly longer High Mass is offered at 11:00 a.m., with special opening prayers, entrance/exit processions, organ music, singing, additional prayers, incense, etc. I decided to attend the Low Mass early last Sunday morning.

Those who wanted to follow the Low Mass could pick up red booklets with side-by-side English translations of the Latin prayers said by the priest and the altar servers. However, it seemed many, if not most, people had their own large prayer books which they read silently before, during, and after Mass.

It's hard to believe the 6:30 a.m. Low Mass for Quinquagesima Sunday attracted a total of 12 altar boys dressed in black robes with white surplices. [Note: the High Mass a week later had 26 altar boys.] Many genuflections to the Blessed Sacrament were made by the altar boys who crossed repeatedly in front of the tabernacle as they helped to make the sanctuary ready. When the opening bells were rung, the priest and his entourage of 12 young servers entered the sanctuary. Two boys then stood, knelt, and genuflected at the side of the priest and prayed in Latin--apparently memorizing the prayers. Most of the time, the other boys quietly stood and knelt on both sides of the sanctuary, sort of like praying angels, I thought.

Latin was used for all the Mass prayers except for the repeating of the Epistle and the Gospel in English from the priest's podium. The sermon "Saint of the Party Animals" was then given and I have since learned that it was taken from The Story of Hermann Cohen by Fr. Tadgh Tierney, OCD.

After the sermon, more Latin prayers were said by the priest while the people read from their prayer books, and then the bells were rung for the holiest part of the Mass where the priest consecrated the bread and wine. At the consecration, bells were rung three times when the bread became the Body of Jesus Christ, and three times for the consecration of His blood.

The consecration is a very notable and reverent ceremony because of the deep bow of the priest, the bells, the slow raising of the chalice, the reverent genuflections by the priest and altar boys, an impressive silence, and reverent attention of the people. Actually, there seemed to be almost complete silence during the entire time I was in church, except for the priest's prayers and the occasional noises made by a few of the good number of small children attending this very early Sunday Mass. Personally, I found the silence helpful in praying.

Holy Communion was distributed to kneeling parishioners by the two priests, except for a couple of older people with walkers who stood for Communion. It appeared almost everyone in church went to Holy Communion. People returned to their pews, knelt down, and appeared to be praying. They finally stood when the opening verses of St. John's Gospel were read at the end of Mass, in Latin. Everyone genuflected when the Gospel said Jesus descended to be born on earth. After the Mass concluded, the priest led more prayers at the foot of the altar, including "Hail, Holy Queen," another prayer asking God to protect the Church, the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, and three "Lord, have Mercy's".

What was most impressive was to see the priest leave the sanctuary with his altar boys after Mass was concluded--and almost no one in the church moved for a couple of minutes! Continuing to pray, the people individually left the church once they had finished praying. Finally, I did not observe any talking in the church, even after Mass ended.

What's the Best Thing....?

What's the best thing God ever did for you? I'd like to hear some stories from readers. Here are some of my answers--Yes, God has done so many things for me I shout for joy at his extreme generosity. He has given me:

• Wonderful parents, including a mother who continues to inspire me with her many examples of selflessness, patience, and strong faith
• Intelligence and good health, some of which I've used well and some not so well
• A small defect that kept me from becoming even more proud
• A great Catholic husband, who takes seriously his duty to get his wife to heaven!
• Children and grandchildren who are practicing Catholics
• Several traditional Catholic communities from which to choose in Kansas City

God has always answered my prayers, in His time and in His will. So many gifts God has given me that they are uncountable. Yet two stories need to be briefly told. Many years ago, some of us prolifers tried to battle the forces of Satan on their turf within the women's liberation movement. I remember praying very hard in a long car drive that we be allowed to succeed and in most ways, we did. It seemed almost impossible, but the women's liberation movement had a serious setback.

The second gift from God was much more personal and awe inspiring. A close relative had two serious diseases, one indicating certain death of the soul and the other indicating certain death of the body. Yet God permitted both diseases to progress to a very, very happy ending. I've written up the story in detail, but the person involved is still reluctant for me to tell it.

The story involves the devil, St. Therese of the Little Flower (yes, she sent roses just as she promised), and the special protection of a relic of the Cross of Jesus held in the most beautiful reliquary I've seen outside a museum. All kinds of God-sent blessings came during the events which resulted in the turning of a person who was the most selfish individual I've ever met to the most considerate and loving Catholic person less than six months later. And the miracles have lasted for over 20 years. Thanks be to God for all his blessings!

Back to the Church of the 60's

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! THE DAM IS BUSTED!

My husband found two small metal file cases in the 'dungeon' below and asked whether I wanted to review (and toss!?) the contents. One of the boxes contained a study outline for a course I attended at our Catholic parish in about 1964-65. "Dogma #101" was prepared by Rev. Richard Smith, S.J., with notes and edits by five nuns identified either as "O.P." or "Ad.PP.S." [O.P. refers to Dominicans, but I wonder if the second order wasn't a casualty of post Vatican II trauma. [See list of religious order abbreviations.]

Does the mid 1960's mimeographed course on Dogma show signs of the future weakening and undermining of Catholic beliefs in the next four decades? Here is what I found.

The first eight tightly spaced pages offer a rather detailed discussion of "Comparative Religions." I remember the course spent a lot of time on the "eleven great religions of the world," and this is confirmed because these pages have the most notes added while the course was being given in the mid 60's. The next three sections are entitled "Nature of Theology" (still lots of notes), "Revelation" (only a few notes), and "Supernatural Truths--Mysteries of Christianity (no notes).

The remaining sections of the 77-page course handout contain virtually none of my notes, except those surrounding a pictorial representation on page 24 of the locations of Sheol and the Bosom of Abraham. The diagram uses the following captions: earth, Sheol, water, firmament, sluice gates, snow, wind, and eternal mountains. Apparently we spent a lot of time discussing this clearly erroneous viewpoint of people who lived hundreds of year before Jesus Christ, just as we spent a lot of time reviewing the beliefs of the "eleven great religions of the world."

Apparently we never got to the section on the number of souls saved compared with those who are not saved. This section concludes that "the majority of Catholics will save their souls....in general Protestants, orthodox and etc,, they too will save their souls." [Perhaps the chances were a little better in the early 60's--I'd hate to hear the same statement today when so many Catholics miss Sunday/weekend Mass, rarely go to confession, don't understand basic principles of their faith, regularly fornicate before marriage, etc.]

As the course continued into a discussion of "Sin of the first man," various theological questions are brought up on original sin, concluding with :

So the total result of human nature being subject to original sin is that man is completely helpless. [yes] He still has the supernatural goal, yet no forces of personality in himself that can get him one single bit closer to it. This seems to be a strange position. A goal, yet helpless to achieve it. [Not quite. Even though this is the end of the discussion on original sin, where is a discussion of Baptism?]

My comment after finding this theology course outline in 2007: If we only had had foresight in the mid 60's, rather than the hindsight of today.

I VOTED !

HERE

Dominican Nuns on TV

I was pleasantly surprised this Sunday evening by the national NBC News report on the Dominican nuns of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Apparently this convent has grown from 4 nuns to over 70. They even play soccer dressed in traditional habits. Also take a look at their web site--the sisters are pretty good at proselytizing using modern media.

The Bunnies, the Fox, and the Circus

Here's a story I made up and told to some of my grandchildren about three weeks ago.....
{bunny drawing by Donald Brown}

Under a large oak tree lived a family of bunnies—Daddy Bunny, Mommy Bunny, and five little bunnies. Daddy had made sure that his family was safe by building their home under the tangled roots of the tree. Mommy Bunny had made it a very nice home, and the little bunnies lived there happily.

When the bunnies were hungry, Daddy Bunny stood outside the hole and watched for the fox while the little bunnies ate grass and other good things. If the fox came near, Daddy Bunny would quickly call for the little bunnies to run and go down the hole into their house.

Foxey, the fox, also had a home under a large rock on the next hill. He lived in the den with his Mother who was getting old, so Foxey had to find food and bring it home for her to eat. Recently Foxey had been able to bring home some fresh young chickens from Farmer Brown’s yard, but now Farmer Brown was carrying a shotgun during the day and Foxey was scared to get too close to Farmer Brown’s house and yard.

Foxey and his mother were getting very hungry, but the only food Foxey had been able to find were black beetles under a rotten log. He started grumbling about how his stomach hurt and his Mother said, “Foxey, why don’t you try to catch some bunnies? I know there are bunnies on the edge of the forest near the big oak tree and they would taste really good.”

Foxey sadly replied, “I’ve tried to catch them, but they run too fast and escape into their hole. I can’t dig them out because the tree roots get in the way.”

“You’ve got to be a smart fox and use your head, Foxey,” said Mother Fox. “Trick them into going further from their hole and you’ll bring us home a nice bunny dinner.”

So that evening, Foxey decided to go back to Farmer Brown’s place. He knew Farmer Brown’s chickens were locked in the chicken house for the night and Farmer Brown had gone to bed without his shotgun by his side. This time, Foxey did not want chickens, he wanted something else.

Farmer Brown had built a fence around his new garden that protected his new carrots and lettuce from bunnies who love vegetables. But Foxey was bigger and stronger than the bunnies and easily jumped over the garden fence. He began to gather dozens of new young carrots.

Then he went under the moonlight to the big oak tree where the bunnies were sleeping deep in the hole in the ground. Foxey put a few carrots around the hole—just enough to tantalize the young bunnies. He saved the nicest looking carrots to make a path of carrots away from the hole and down a path to some bushes.

The next morning, Foxey hid himself under a large green bush and close to the trail of carrots. Sure enough, the little bunnies came out of the hole and their Daddy watched them play and eat grass for breakfast. It took less than a minute before the little carrots were discovered. “Daddy, Daddy, it rained carrots last night!” said one of the little bunnies.”

“Oh, they taste so good!” said the oldest bunny. Even though his mouth was almost packed with carrots, he was eager to find more. Seeing the bright orange carrot trail leading down the path, the young bunny started picking up the wonderful food as he got further and further from his hole.

Then he heard his Daddy yell, “Run! Run! The fox! Hurry!”

All the little bunnies were good bunnies who knew they had to obey Daddy immediately, and they hopped quickly toward the hole, with Foxey right behind the young bunny who had followed the carrot trail. Foxey’s mouth was wide open to grab the bunny, but he hopped down the hole and disappeared right before Foxey’s mouth closed. That night the Bunny family was very thankful that all their children were alive. And the littlest bunny who was sometimes disobedient, now knew how important it was to obey his Daddy.

Foxey was tired and discouraged. He knew Mother Fox would be very unhappy that there was no food today. As he walked back to his den, he saw a piece of colored paper that had been blown by the wind and was now caught in the deep grass. Foxey read the advertisement, “Circus Comes to Town -- Clowns, Trapeze Artists, Elephants, Trick Horses, …” The piece of paper said the circus started tomorrow.

Foxey knew he would not be able to go to the circus. First of all, foxes were not welcome at the circus. Second, he didn’t have any money. But Foxey had what he thought was a smart idea. He took a few hairs off his long bushy tail and with some black oil found under an old car, he carefully printed new words at the top of the paper. Now the top of the advertisement said, “FREE TICKETS FOR BUNNIES.”

Later that night, Foxey took the circus advertisement and tacked it to a tree near the Bunny hole. Then he went home and told his Mother about his plans. Actually, Foxey had two plans. He would first try to catch the bunnies as they left their home to go to the circus, but if that plan failed, he would go to the circus and grab the bunnies there.

When Foxey told his mother his plans, she replied, “I’d better make you a special costume for you to use if you go to the circus. How would you like to be a clown?” So Foxey’s mother sewed all night long to make a clown outfit for Foxey to wear at the circus. It was a beautiful costume with pink and red and orange stripes. There was even a place in the back to hide Foxey’s long bushy tail and a giant green and yellow hat. Foxey decided to take some paint with him to paint his face, and some tape to hold his ears down. Then he went to the Bunny hole to wait until the sun came up.

Sure enough, the next morning, the bunnies came out of their hole and saw the sign. “Daddy, Daddy, Look! We can go to the circus for free! And the circus is today. Please take us, Daddy,” pleaded the little bunnies.

Daddy Bunny thought a little bit and decided that the circus was a really good idea because it would be fun for his children and besides, it didn’t cost any money for bunnies. He lined up all his children near the hole and told them, “Listen to your Mommy and me because we have to be careful not to be caught by the fox. We are going by a secret way to the circus.”

“Which way?” said the oldest bunny who had almost been caught and eaten by the fox while picking up carrots.

“Down by the railroad tracks, there is a tunnel into town and the fox can’t catch us there. The tunnel ends where the circus tents are located,” said Daddy Bunny. “Get ready, kids. We’re going to the circus today!” And all the bunnies jumped down their hole to get ready.

Mommy Bunny dressed all her little bunnies in nice clean clothes. Within a few minutes the bunnies hopped out of their secret second hole (which the fox did not know about). Down they hopped to the railroad tracks and the tunnel to go to the circus.

After the bunnies had seen the advertisement posted on the tree and gone down into their home to change clothes, Foxey continued to watch the hole to the Bunny home. He thought, “Now I’ll catch a bunny or two when they leave their home to go to the circus.” Foxey waited and waited and waited, but no bunnies came out again. Finally, Foxey began to look carefully on the back side of the old oak tree. When he saw the secret second hole to the Bunny home, he knew he had been fooled. Foxey took off running as fast as he could toward town and the circus tents because he knew that’s where the bunnies were going.

The little bunnies had a good time hopping through the tunnel by the railroad tracks. They quickly learned not to jump too high because their heads would hit the top of the tunnel. “Ouch,” said the oldest bunny who was also the tallest. Soon all the bunnies arrived at the end of the tunnel and saw the circus tents.

“Look, Daddy! See, Mommy! The elephants are going into the biggest tent. We’re going to be late!” The Bunny family quickly hopped to follow the elephants into the big tent. They found a place to sit below the front row seats and began to watch the circus.

Foxey ran very, very fast to reach the circus. He saw clowns come out of a small tent and walk over to the biggest tent where there was a lot of noise and cheering. “That must be where the circus is,” thought Foxey. “I’d better get dressed in my clown outfit before I go to the circus in the big tent.”

Foxey quickly put on the beautiful clown costume Mother Fox had made, hid his tail, painted his face, and taped his ears down. Foxey looked at a mirror and saw he looked like a real clown. “I’ve always wanted to be a clown,” thought Foxey. “But I’m so hungry, I’m going to get a bunny to eat first!”

Little children at the circus began to look at the new clown that had just entered the big tent. Foxey decided to dance on his hind legs. The children laughed, and Foxey picked up a ball and started to juggle and sing. Pretty soon, he found an old shoe and a rotten apple, and began to do all kinds of tricks to make the children laugh. The children applauded and laughed as Foxey used all of his imagination to be a funny clown.

But Foxey was hungry for those bunnies. He saw them sitting under the first row seats on the other side of the tent, so he began to do more tricks as he danced his way nearer and nearer the bunnies. All the children were laughing and clapping at Foxey as he twirled and juggled, getting closer and closer to the bunnies.

From high on the trapeze, two acrobats were swinging back and forth. One of them said to the other, “I don’t remember that clown, do you?”

“No,” said the second acrobat, “but he’s really good at making the kids laugh.”

Just then Foxey twirled in the air and caught the rotten apple in the old shoe. He put the old shoe on his foot and everybody laughed more as the apple got squashed. But all the twirling and dancing had caused Foxey’s costume to come apart in the back.

“Look,” said one of the acrobats. “That’s not a clown! That’s a fox! See his long bushy tail! And he’s moving closer to those bunnies. He’s going to eat them!”

“Let’s go!” said the other acrobat on the trapeze at the top of the tent. The two acrobats grabbed a trapeze bar and swung down from their trapeze. One of them grabbed Foxey by his legs and swung him up in the air.

Foxey screamed, and the children laughed more and more. The two trapeze acrobats began to toss Foxey back and forth between them and Foxey was as scared as he ever was in his whole life. Everyone in the circus tent thought this was a wonderful show. Finally, Foxey was tossed way up and turned several sommersaults in the air before he landed on the net. He was so dizzy, he could not think or run.

The audience clapped and clapped for Foxey the clown and the trapeze star. Even the little bunnies applauded, although Daddy Bunny said, “I’d think it’s time to go home.”

“Take a bow,” said the two trapeze acrobats who landed on the net next to Foxey. He bowed shakily and then they helped him out of the net where Foxey took another big bow and reeeived a lot more applause, especially from the children.

“You’re a very good clown,” said the Ringmaster who had walked over to meet Foxey. “I especially like your costume. Would you like a job working for my circus?” he asked Foxey.

Foxey saw the bunnies hopping out of the tent and realized his bunny dinner was gone again.

“Let’s talk about your salary over dinner,” said the Ringmaster. “I’m sure we can pay you enough to make you interested in becoming a clown with our circus.”

“Dinner! Yes, I’d love to talk with you at dinner,” said Foxey hungrily.

Foxey had a wonderful dinner with all kinds of great food, but he started thinking about his mother. “Mother Fox made my costume,” answered Foxey to the Ringmaster’s question.

“Well, we need a good seamstress to make and repair the costumes that are needed by people in our circus,” said the Ringmaster. “Do you think your mother would like to have a job sewing circus clothes?”

“Do you mind if I take the dinner leftovers home and ask her?” said Foxey.

“Go ahead, take all the extra food left on the table,” said the Ringmaster. “Just come back tomorrow and tell me if you and your mother want to work for the circus.”

When Foxey came home to his den, Mother Fox was waiting hungrily. She listened to Foxey’s story and saw all the good food he had brought. When she had eaten all of it, she realized that cooked dinners were far better than eating raw chickens and rabbits and (ugh!) beetles from under rotten logs.

The next morning, Foxey and his mother left their den for the last time to live with the circus. That is where you can find them today, in their own fancy tent. Foxey is now a great clown who loves to entertain children, and Mother Fox sews all the costumes for the circus. They eat better than they ever have in their whole lives.

By the way, the little bunnies play safely every day near their big oak tree without being scared of being eaten by Foxey. They now have a wonderful life.

Choosing a Good Choice

Most people like choice--whether it's to select the color of their clothes, the style of their hairdo, the type of food they eat, the time they wake up and go to sleep, or any of a hundred and one choices made during each day. It's too bad that those who want to be able to kill babies in the womb have chosen to identify themselves with the word, pro-choice.

Christianity is built on choice, as witness the beginning words of the Didache, the first Christian catechism.

There are two ways [to choose], one of life and one of death, but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you.

Jesus didn't force anyone to follow Him; rather He let people choose. Jesus' listeners could either believe him and follow him, or reject his teachings and walk away. The 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John is probably the best example of Jesus allowing his disciples to choose to reject His teaching when they couldn't understand how he could give them His body to eat. John 6:67 notes, "After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him."

As in the time of Jesus, the Church doesn't control our actions with a police state. The Church teaches us and tries to persuade us, giving us solid arguments why we should be moral and charitable individuals. The Church guides people by clearly explaining the laws of God, so that there is no question of which way is good and which way is bad.

Choice can lead to very bad things--like abortion or rejecting Jesus' teachings to fall into sin and ultimately into hell. On the other side, choice can result in much good including the reward of a clear conscience and ultimately heaven, especially when God's way of life is difficult and requires self-discipline and sacrifice.

Weigh all things and choose that which is good. Lastly, be aware that LOVE can be evil when we love the wrong thing. Misguided love is represented by love of someone else's wife and goods, love of money, love of sinful pleasures, etc. Anyone who is confused on what is love should review C.S. Lewis' "The Four Loves".

Lives of Wasted or Misspent Time

Each one of us has times in the past which we regret. I remember a good priest wistfully telling us that if only he had let the Blessed Virgin Mary have her way completely, that he could have accomplished so much more. He seemed quite sorry that it took most of his life to find this out.

Do you have a similar regret? My regret is that about twenty years ago, I believed God was telling me that I should quit paid work and do more as a volunteer for His causes. I didn't say 'no' to God, I just told him 'wait...' It was a wrong decision, because pretty soon He quit asking. At the time of my final judgment, I'm sure He will let me fully understand the consequences of not immediately saying 'yes'.

It's always good to ask God for His direction in our lives. But it is even more important to take it when He offers guidance.

Saint Martina of China

Perhaps the title is a bit premature, but the story of the mother of four Chinese Catholic priests is impressive. Here is her story as reprinted in the English edition of Chiesa by Sandro Magister.

There was a family by the last name of Zhu that was particularly well known to the Catholics of Shanghai and whose story has touched people all over the world. The mother, named Martina, was a widow with eight children, four of whom became Jesuit priests. With the exception of Michael, who was in Rome at the Jesuit Curia Generalizia, all of them were imprisoned on September 8. The oldest son, Francis Xavier, had already been at forced labor for two years. Martina, called “the afflicted one” by the Catholics of Shanghai, went for almost three years to visit each of her children in the various prisons where they were held. She went by foot, walking kilometers to save the few pennies that permitted her to bring them some little gift. Although she was insulted by the guards, she encouraged each of her children to move forward, to accept his suffering willingly, to preserve his faith in God. Finally her children were transferred to labor camps in faraway provinces. For more than twenty years, Martina did not see them. They were set free only at the beginning of the 1980’s – but not Francis Xavier, who died in prison in 1983.

Also see the more recent Chiesa article on the Catholic Church in the Far East--very important!

Letters to a Catholic Scientologist

Wolftracker made me remember these two letters I wrote to a Catholic Scientologist several years ago.

FIRST LETTER (June)

Dear _____,

Your comment that you were going to ______ for a Scientology retreat of six months duration troubled me greatly. You have always been a kind and generous man, a practicing Catholic, and I believe that many months in this hostile environment will remove you forever from the truths of Christianity.

You mentioned that there was really something to Scientology, which I assume means that they really can improve IQ, social skills, and problem solving abilities by controlling matter, energy, space, and time. Doesn’t this focal point on obtaining power and intelligence represent the perennial promises of Satan? A Christian knows that he is continually affected by the “sin of Adam,” and because of our sins Jesus Christ died on the cross. Otherwise, His sacrifice has no meaning.

Scientology teaches that there are "gods above other gods, and gods beyond the gods of the universes" (Scientology 8-8008, p. 72). Many other teachings of Scientology are anti-Christian, and are noted on many web sites.

Am I wrong to wonder whether you are doing this for your wife and children, perhaps with the best of intentions? If so, Scientology teaches that, after becoming a Scientologist, you will lose her if you disconnect from Scientology.

_____, I will continue to pray that you do not waver in your total reliance on Jesus Christ, our Saviour. The enclosed Prayer Against Satan and the Rebellious Angels is very powerful and seems appropriate at this time. I hope you will say it daily.

With affection, [dustiam]


SECOND LETTER (July)

Dear _____,

It’s taken a month to respond to your detailed letter of June __ because I really wanted to find out more about Scientology and its beliefs and practices. Because you are a confirmed Scientologist, you may not want to consider any specific adverse comments on Hubbard’s work. However, I still believe you are a thinking man and that certain queries may spark a better understanding of your life as a Scientologist. Your answers to the following eight rhetorical questions should be only for yourself.

Q1: Do you try to recruit more people into Scientology than you try to introduce people to Jesus in the Eucharist and the Catholic faith?

Q2: Are Hubbard's teachings ever wrong? Do you believe any criticism of Scientology is acceptable? Which teachings are wrong?

Q3: Has Scientology become your "way of life"?

Q4: Do you believe in reincarnation? Is reincarnation reconcilable with Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and St. Paul’s words in Hebrews 9:26?

Q5: Have you reviewed the original writings of Hubbard published before 1984? Is it possible different page numbers exist in different versions of 8-8008? [Scientology has been busy rewriting itself after it secured Hubbard's copyrights after his death.]

Q6: Are you aware that the Reactive Mind postulate has been disproven in controlled scientific experiments?

Q7: Isn't the context of the aforementioned 8-8008 quote by Hubbard even more disturbing about his view of religion? "There are gods above all other gods, and gods beyond the gods of universes, but it were better, far better, to be a raving madman in his cell than to be a thing with the ego, cruelty, and jealous lust that base religions have set up to make men grovel down."

Q8: Are you always being promised super-human abilities on the “next” level? Do these higher levels always cost more money?

_____, I hope the above questions do not offend you, but cause you to have a better understanding of your new life as a committed Scientologist. You, ___, and your ___ dear children remain in my prayers.

NO! to Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Kansas

I congratulate the Bishops of Kansas who have initiated a new video on immoral embryonic stem-cell research, as contrasted with good medical research involving adult stem cells. The Bishops have identified this issue as "their very top area of concern." The Kansas Knights of Columbus have been asked by the four Bishops to underwrite the costs of producing the video and the strongly pro-life Knights were quick to say "yes!" Deo Gratias!

The new 10-min video will clearly explain somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the scientific term used to deceptively pass the Missouri constitutional amendment that permits cloning. Even though SCNT is the procedure that was used to clone Dolly the sheep and other animals, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, MO spent tens of millions of dollars to persuade Missouri citizens that SCNT was not cloning. Missouri pro-life legislators are now trying to fix this obvious deception.

The Kansas video will be part of a grass-roots campaign to stop a similar legislative or constitutional effort in Kansas to promote embryonic stem-cell research. The term "grass-roots' means that individual citizens need to invite their legislators to meet with them in their homes where the video can be jointly viewed.

Back in the early 70's, my husband and I invited our state representative to view a slide show on abortion. That was one of the best 40 minutes we ever spent. We told our representative that he would be able to meet with other registered voters in his district when he came to our home, so it was easy to get him to come. The result was that we had an informed pro-life state representative in our district for the next 15+ years--a very good investment of our time. We need to do the same with the new video on embryonic stem cell research.

Senator Brownback for President

Lots of cheers and signs were seen at the March for Life for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas who announced his candidacy for President. He and his wife have five children, two of which are adopted and one is from China.

However, if you go to www.brownbackforpresident.org, you'll get the site for Sen. John Edwards for President. Dirty tricks identify dirty politicians who cannot be trusted with your vote. To go to the real Brownback for President site, click here.

China's Unabated Population Control

Occasionally I watch the China TV channel to see whether they is any hope or optimism for the future, especially regarding their devilish programs that include forced abortions and sterilizations, and enslavement of religion.

This evening (morning of January 23 in Peking) there is a live program of a meeting of Chinese population control leaders. The news is not good because China says it plans to continue its 33-year old program to control births. Shanghai Daily announced "Enhanced efforts will be centered on spending more time and money on family planning and levying heavier penalties against those who violate state strictures."

Heather Cayless writes in Journal Chretien that

China is the only country in the world where it is illegal to have a brother or sister. For more then 27 years, China has brutally enforced its compulsory “one child policy.” This vicious means of population control is also a perpetual source of contention between China and its Western allies. During diplomatic meetings and trade talks, China minimizes or denies forced sterilizations and forced abortions. In 2005 a young blind activist [Chen Guangcheng] highlighted the gravity of the situation to the world, refusing to let China deny it any longer.

China Daily now describes a new Chinese internet poll that found "More than 60 percent of Chinese netizens think it is unfair for rich and famous people to have more children than family planning policies allow..." The sidebar of the Chinese communist article, Related readings, is especially interesting. Methinks there may be an emerging debate behind the scenes on the wisdom of the one-child family. I can hope, can't I?

Related readings:
90m Chinese grow up as 'only' children
Are the rich challenging family planning policy?
China adheres to family planning policy: premier
Nation to continue with family planning policy
Only-children parents urged to have two kids
China cements family planning policy by offering financial support
New policy will offer cash instead of kids

The Most Cheers and Applause....

By far, the most cheers and applause given to a Bishop introduced at today's March for Life in Washington, DC went to Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri. He received louder and longer vocal approval than any of the other Catholic bishops that were in attendance. Of course Bishop Finn brought four bus loads of pro-lifers with him! See Bishop Finn's remarks on the annual January 22 March for Life reprinted at the Bishop Finn Fan Club.

Smart Women Have Fewer Smart Children

Forbes business magazine had an article on p. 58 of their November 2006 issue entitled, "The Smart Women Myth" written by Christine B. Whelan, the author of Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women. Whelan concludes in her book that "smart, successful women marry at the same rates as all other women, and once married, they have children at the same rates as well." She bases her conclusion on a survey that showed "there’s 75% chance that a never-married 30-year-old woman with an advanced degree will be a bride, compared with a 66% chance that a 30-year-old with a college degree or less will marry."

Whelan also discusses statistics that show 35 to 39-year old women living in medium-size cities who earn more than $75,000 a year and have a master's degree will marry at a 92 percent rate. She states this percentage is more than the 87 percent married for less educated, lower-earning women of the same age group and class. From these data, Whelan concludes smart women have bright futures for happy marriages (even though she presents conflicting data in her book that show the number of never-married people in their thirties has quadrupled in the last twenty-five years).

Why do I have a problem with Whelan's conclusions? First of all, the author selects only a five-year age group, 35 to 39-year old women. Second, only women living in medium-size cities are mentioned. Why did she not give statistics for all child-bearing women who earn more than $75,000 a year and have a master's degree--regardless of whether they live in medium-size cities. Third, she really doesn't give statistics on the total number of children of career women. Seems she might be using only the data that fit her hypothesis.

Whelan concedes that the 1980 census showed that educated, successful women were less likely to marry and much less likely to have children. Personally, I have observed in professional environments over the past 25 years that smart, educated, and successful women have fewer children than non-professional women. One woman that I know well now wonders if she should have traded her professional life for a marriage and children.

If smart women have fewer children, then the numbers of children with high intelligence are reduced in comparison with the total population. Both the genetic component and the environmental component of intelligence are decreased when smart women have fewer children. Children of intelligent mothers usually are exposed to an intellectually stimulating environment that has been proven to lead to high achievement.

The standardized SAT score was 'recentered' in 1995 because of declining scores. Some say that it was because more students are taking the exam. It seems more likely the declining SAT scores is a sign of declining average intelligence of students. Smart, high-achieving women have fewer children than other women, so fewer children are being born and nurtured in intelligence in relation to the total population.

Young Warriors

Wolftracker would like Mother Angelica and EWTN to develop movies that train our young men in chivalry to fight the battles that will recover our Church and society. The Endless Knot has been mentioned very favorably a couple of times in responses sent to Wolftracker's post. I picked up the novel and turned to a random page (p. 163) and this is what I read:

“These are bleak times,” said Arthur, filling his glass. “One wonders what our descendents will think, several centuries hence.”

“I should think,” said Father, “they will regard our century with astonishment. They will wonder at how the Church divested Herself of all that made Her precious and unique. They will marvel at the hedonism of our culture, and the resulting self-destruction of our society. And, I suspect, they will regard those of us who stand firm against the chaos with the same awe and fervor that we apply to, say King Arthur.”

Arthur stared at Father incredulously. “You're not serious.”

“But of course I am,” said Father. “Do you think King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table had any idea that they would some day be the object of legend?--that books, plays, and movies would be made about their adventures? Certainly not. They were just men of Good Will who saw a job that needed doing, who swore their allegiance to the Church first and their monarch second, and then went about doing what they could.”

“But they were heroes,” said Jonathan, “valiant soldiers, warriors.”

“They were young men,” said Father, “not a great deal different than you fine fellows. I suspect they decided to band together in a meeting, just as informal—and yet somehow as formal—as the ones you hold here in my rectory. They wore breastplates, carried shields, and fought with swords, for that was the tenor of their day. You dress formally, study the doctrines of the Church, and fight with words, for that is the raw material you have to work with in your century.”

Read the rest of The Endless Knot--it's a good story and you can buy it here. I've heard the sequel is even better.

Papal Address on Immigration

Pope Benedict XVI stated today that he favors "balanced management of migratory flows...," and concludes migrants must recognize "the values of the societies which host them."

I hope that soon there will be a balanced management of migratory flows and of human mobility in general, so benefits can reach the entire human family, beginning with concrete measures which favor legal emigration and the reuniting of families....Only respect for human dignity for all migrants, on one hand, and the recognition by the migrants themselves of the values of the societies which host them, will make possible the proper integration of families in the social, economic and political systems [of the countries that host the migrants.]

The above quote is particularly interesting because I believe the Pope may be "between a rock and a hard place" in speaking about immigration. The above address likely speaks primarily to Europeans about Muslim immigration, rather than about Latino Catholic immigration to the U.S.

[I may speak more about Latino immigration later, especially with regard to "recognition by the migrants themselves of the values of the societies which host them." My concerns relate to illegal immigrants to the U.S. being tempted to the sins of lying, graft, tax avoidance, and cover up of illegal activities, including not stopping for 'hit and run' accidents. Illegal immigration is not good training either for Catholics or for potential American citizens. Bad habits are hard to get rid of, you know.]

Rather, this post discusses the difficulties of Italy in trying to integrate Muslim immigrants and to insure their attachment to traditional Italian values. If not successful, the alternative is that Italy will have increasingly acrimonious political, social, and religious conflicts.

Italy has two choices: assimilation and multiculturalism, and neither appears workable. No where in Europe is there a universally recognised integration success story for Muslim minorities. Here is some recent background on Muslims in Italy.

• In comparison with other European countries, Italy's population of one million Muslims is small in comparison to 57 million total population
• "In Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, since the end of the 1970’s there has been a Tunisian community that obtained permission to preserve its identity in all respects, with Tunisian schools, teachers sent from Tunisia, Tunisian laws, etc. So although polygamy is illegal there, it is tolerated"--[Chiesa]
  
• "In recent years, the Islamic community [in Rome] has grown significantly, in great part due to immigration from North African and Middle Eastern countries into the city. As a consequence of this trend, the comune [sic] promoted the building of the largest mosque in Europe, which was designed by architect Paolo Portoghesi and inaugurated on June 21, 1995"--[Wikipedia]
• March 2006: Half a million people line up in Italy to apply for 170,000 work permits being offered by government to immigrants.
  
• August 11, 2006: A Pakistani immigrant kills his daughter in a so-called honour killing in northern Italy, and Italians are roiled by the murder
  
• Summer 2006: The Union of Italian Islamic Communities (UCOII) issues an anti-Israel statement comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. The UCOII demands a separate place for Islam in Italy with Koranic instruction, Islamic schools, Islamic banks, and clerical supervision of textbooks.
• Several former Italian ministers conclude Rome should disband, outlaw, or suspend UCOII, even though this controversial organization is by far the most important Muslim association in Italy and is emerging as an important political protagonist
  
• August 2006: Italian Minister of the Interior proposes that Muslim organizations in Italy will need to subscribe to a Charter of Values to signal their readiness to be fully integrated into Italian society and its political culture.
• Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government launches an ambitious plan to grant more access to citizenship for immigrants; in contrast, Spain has chosen to expel 800,000 "clandestine" immigrants.
• September 2006: A Finnish letter discusses possible joint European Union actions for controlling immigration.
  
• Late December 2006: Another 650 illegal Muslim immigrants arrive in Sicily by ship.

The best review of the Islamic problem in Europe, including Italy, is given here, and I believe the Pope has read it, too. A more current happening strongly related to Muslims in France is described here. The U.S. Veteran Dispatch has a very, very interesting article on the oath of office taken on the Quran owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Religious Affiliation in the U.S.

If you're interested in where to find lots of Christians, Jews, Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, etc. in the U.S., see the maps published here.

The Boy with the Green Face

[This past week as I was making lunch for some grandchildren, they begged several times, "Grandma, tell us a story." So I made up and told the tale of "The Boy with the Green Face." I hope you enjoy it, too.]

A long time ago in a far away country, a young boy with a green face lived in a small village. His hair was brown, his teeth were white, his eyes were blue, and his nose and features were quite handsome, but....his face was as green as fresh lettuce. He had tried to scrub off the green when he was younger, but his face always remained green. His parents had white faces, and his Dad told him that he thought one of his great great grandfathers had had a green face.

The other boys in the village did not have green faces, and frequently taunted and teased the boy with the green face. Sometimes they called him "lettuce head" or "Martian boy," and the lad was very sad when he was called those terrible names. His real name was Mack, but one day one of the other boys decided to call him McGreen, and the name stuck. McGreen had tried to make friends several times, but it seemed no one wanted to play with someone who looked so different.

Once the school had sponsored a contest to determine the smartest boy in the village. McGreen was determined to show that, in spite of his green face, he was as intelligent as the rest of his classmates. When McGreen won, he had expected to hear at least one person say "good job" or "congratulations", but instead, the other boys had walked away to play another game without him.

McGreen was a good worker and helped his parents with their crops and animals. When his parents said he could play, the boy usually headed over the hill to the nearby valley where deep woods surrounded a clear stream. He played by himself and pretended to be an early explorer or a famous knight on a pilgrimage. Occasionally, he found interesting things, such as an iron ring from an old horse harness, and pieces of broken pottery that had had beautiful pictures. Once he found some arrowheads and a spear head. A few times he was frightened by the noises of the forest, but he gradually learned to be at home in the woods and by the stream.

One day he went to the point where the valley stream joined the larger river from the north. As he searched for small flat stones to skip across the river, he saw a boat coming downstream. Five men pushed their oars against the river bottom to make the boat go against the current and approach the shore. McGreen watched as one man yelled, "Push hard, push us to the bank!"

The boat approached near where McGreen was standing. Two men stepped out of the boat into the shallow water, while the other three stayed in the boat and kept the boat from being carried further downstream.

"Do you live around here?" asked the taller man who came ashore.

"Yes, my parents have a farm over there," said McGreen, pointing over the hill. He noticed a roll of ivory paper under the man's arm.

"We're looking for a guide to this country," said the tall man. "Our map tells where we may find something that was lost and buried many years ago. Can you help us?"

"I'd like to help," said McGreen somewhat reluctantly, and he squirmed as the other men seemed to be staring at his green face.

"We need someone who is very familiar with this valley," continued the tall man. "Someone who is smart, and who can help us find what we need to know. What's your name?"

"I'm McGreen," said the boy. He added, " I know the woods, and where the hills have springs, and I have explored several miles up the valley stream." He added, "There's an old man in our village who knows this woods, too, but he can't walk very well."

"Then you're hired, McGreen!" said the tall man, who proceeded to pull a map from under his arm. "My name is Peverson. We're looking for an old church about two miles up your valley, and we need to find a very large tree and a cliff, too."

"There's no church, and no cliff, either, Mr. Peverson," said McGreen in puzzlement. "Perhaps this is the wrong valley."

"It's got to be the right valley," said the tall man. "Come, let's walk a ways up along the stream."

The boy walked ahead of the five men, and the men discussed their journey to reach McGreen's valley. One of the men who had stared earlier at McGreen's face suddenly said to his friend, "I didn't know there was anyone with a green face in this country."

"I didn't either," said the other man. "I thought this area had all white faces."

"What do you mean?" said McGreen, as he stopped walking and turned around to face the men.

"Well, you have a green face. That's sort on unusual in this area, but not in our villages. We live with both white faces and green faces. About half and half, I would suspect."

"Really? Even boys have green faces?" said McGreen, who could hardly control his excitement.

"Yes, we thought all the Greens lived with us. Are there any more like you? asked the man.

"No, I'm the only one," said McGreen sadly. And the boy began to think about how he could join the men and travel back with them to meet other boys with green faces.

McGreen and the five men had travelled about two miles up the path along the stream, when Peverson stopped and said, "The church has to be near. I'm sure of it."

Peverson talked further about the old church, a large tree, and a rock cliff that were shown on the map, but there were many questions. McGreen asked how old was the church, did it have a steeple, was it made of stone, was there a path from the church to the stream, and on what side of the stream were the church and cliff. By answering these questions, Peverson led McGreen to conclude that the church might be found on a slightly elevated knoll on which several large trees grew. "I think that is where the church is located," said McGreen.

The men and the boy with the green face approached the site and the boy told how he had once found parts of a rock foundation and a stone path when he had played in this area. The square stones of the path were located after soil and leaves were scraped away. The foundation was all that remained of the old church.

"We thought the walls of the old church would be still standing, but we were wrong," said Peverson. "Now where is the large tree?" He looked at his map again. "The tree should be to the southwest, but I'm not sure how far."

"What tree? There are lots of large trees near the church foundation," said McGreen. "May I see the map?" He looked and saw that no trees seemed large enough to correspond with the age of the obviously old map. McGreen walked to the southwest looking carefully for large stumps because he suspected the old tree had died many years before. No stumps were seen. Then he thought that perhaps another tree had grown up where the old tree had once stood. He began to examine the ground near the trees that he thought might have grown out of the stump of the very large old tree on the map. Sure enough, McGreen found one tree where at the base there appeared to be projecting stones. When he moved the leaves and sticks away, there was the rotting stump of the old tree and the stones that had been moved to the surface by the tree's large roots.

"The tree was here," said McGreen with a sureness in his voice that seemed unusual for a 12-year old. "Now let's find the cliff."

"It's in the same direction as a straight line drawn from the church through the large tree," said Peverson.

McGreen led the way up the side of the hill. The path was steep and covered with brush and McGreen knew this area well because he had played here many times before. He struggled to concentrate on finding his way but he was distracted by thoughts of other boys with green faces--just like him. A toad jumped out of the bushes onto a rock, as if to say, "catch me if you can." McGreen looked carefully at the rock. Cliffs fall down in rock pieces, he thought. So with the men's help, he broke through the tangled underbrush to climb further. Finally the cliff appeared, covered in moss. "This is the cliff," said McGreen.

"Look for a marker," said Peverson. "I don't know what kind of marker, but it should be obvious. We need to dig below the marker."

"Here's a flat rock," said McGreen.

"There's nothing unusual about a flat rock," said one of the men.

McGreen was insistent, "I'm sure there was something mounted on this flat stone." He looked intently at the stone and then scanned the cliff wall. Nothing seemed obvious. McGreen next gazed down the hill. Other stones appeared broken below. McGreen descended a few steps to the broken pieces of rock and examined several pieces that seemed different. "They've been painted, or at least once were."

Peverson was excited, "You've found it! It's a statue of our Lady that once stood on the flat stone. The statue is broken, but the flat stone seems undisturbed! He and another man tried to move the stone, but it was too heavy. "Help me move it out of the way," said Peverson. Three men were able to move the stone was out of the way, and one man used a shovel to dig. Within an hour, they had found the object of their search, a black iron box with length, breath, and height of a man's arm. The box was lifted to the surface and Peverson took a key out of his pocket to open the lock.

When the lid was opened, the men knelt. Peverson gently lifted a white linen-wrapped object out of the box and unwrapped it to reveal a gold chalice. "May Jesus Christ be praised that we found these sacred objects," he said slowly and reverently. He saw two other white-wrapped objects in the box, and immediately knew they were the ciborium and the monstrance. Peverson then rewrapped the chalice and replaced it in the box with the other two objects. After closing the lid, the men arose and Peverson told the story to the boy with the green face.

"McGreen, over two hundred years ago infidels invaded our land and sacked our villages. Before they burned the churches, the men of our village hid the sacred vessels below the statue of Our Lady in the Grotto by the cliff. Our great-great grandparents retreated to the mountains where we now live. We found this map recently and the sacred objects will now be restored to the new church we have built."

"May I please come with you, Sir?" asked McGreen. "I would love to see your land and your church."

"You'll be our guest of honor," said Peverson. "You'll also get to meet many of your own kind. There are lots of young men and boys who look like you. Let's go to your farm and tell your parents what has happened. I'm sure they will be glad to give you permission for your visit to our mountain village."

Of course, permission was granted by McGreen's parents but they did insist their son be returned within ten days. He had a wonderful time in Peverson's village and met many young boys with green faces. They listened intently as Peverson told them how McGreen had solved the great puzzle of where the sacred vessels were secretly stored. McGreen returned home to his parents after ten days, but as he grew older, he made other visits up the river to be with the people with green faces. Finally he met the girl who became his wife and decided to make the mountain village his new home. Naturally, all their children had green faces.

Planned Parenthood

I got my regular solicitation from PP yesterday, and it is similar to the last one. The enclosed SASE envelope is ready to be mailed with my donation of "Our Throwaway Society" for the person who opens the envelope. Since the mid 80's, that little color brochure is still the most powerful statement against abortion that I've ever seen. It may no longer be in print, but I have a few copies for anyone that requests one from dustiam@earthlink.net.

So what is PP's current agenda? To force pharmacists to prescribe abortifacients--the 'morning after' pill that PP says in their letter "can prevent a pregnancy if started within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse." PP especially fears the states of Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Dakota that lead the way in protecting pharmacists who refuse to fill certain prescriptions that would violate their conscience. [Incidentally, if you read PP's stuff you won't see any regard for conscience; the word just isn't used!]

PP notes that in the last legislative session, lawmakers in 22 states have introduced 54 bills that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill certain prescriptions, "based on their personal moral or religious objections." [Did you notice the word 'conscience' isn't used?]

The most laughable statement is when PP says some states are giving pharmacists an 'out' by allowing referral of a customer to another pharmacist. PP continues, "But we at Planned Parenthood see a hole in that 'out' a mile wide." Maybe PP will now accept the statement of pro-lifers who observe that the "health of the mother" to justify abortion is a REAL hole that is a mile wide!

The current big push of PP is to pressure Target and Winn-Dixie, to change their policy and force pharmacists to give "emergency contraceptives " [i.e., morning-after abortifacients] to customers. PP claims they have already scored "major victories with pharmacy chains including CVS, Costco, Walgreens, and RiteAid. If they succeed with Target and Winn-Dixie, they then plan to focus on Duane Reade, Giant, and Safeway.

To make things clear, people who oppose abortion shouldn't patronize Walgreens , CVS, Costco, and RiteAid (unless you want to buy ONLY their loss-leaders!). Prolifers also need to encourage other pharmacy chains, especially Target and Winn-Dixie, to resist PP's attempt to force pharmacists to act against their consciences. See my previous post for company contact names, especially read comment #2.

Euthanasia and Non-Personhood

To accept euthanasia (as well as many other moral evils), society must travel through the following phases: puzzlement, indecision, illusion, awakening, awareness, insecurity and anxiety, helplessness, indifference, toleration, loss of previously held convictions, and finally submission to and justification of the new moral order.

Based on U.S. and Nazi experience to date, some of the consequences of denying personhood to individual human beings include:

1. New dehumanizing words are used -- vegetables, lives devoid of value, subhumans, useless eaters, POCs;
2. Usable parts are harvested for organs, fertilizer, leather, soap and cosmetics;
3. “Non-persons” are used as test objects for experiments;
4. Compassion, love and mercy for "non-persons" are discouraged;
5. Bodies of "non-persons" are incinerated with dead dogs and cats, or are buried in mass graves;
6. Killing of "non-persons" becomes sanitized and tolerated;
7. Those who object to the killing of "non-persons" are persecuted by the state and the media.
   

“If the physician presumes to take into consideration in his work whether a life has value or not, the consequences are boundless and the physician becomes the most dangerous man in the state.”--Dr. Christoph Hufeland (1 762-1 836).

Hit from Beijing!

No one from China ever connects to this blog, even though my varied topics seem to get more than a few hits from all over the world through Google. I finally got a hit from Beijing from someone using Chinese Google with the search term "comment on chinese dog policy." Maybe someday the country will be free enough to search for "Jesus Christ", "St. Augustine", "Latin Mass," and "Apostle's Creed." I have hope.

Sacred Objects on Ebay

One of our daughters called me with concern and said altars and other sacred objects were being sold in quantity on ebay.com. I searched ebay using the word "altar" and found a lot of pagan altars (which was scary enough), but I also found a lot of old Church sacred objects for sale. I guess when churches are closed, the scavengers come in to take the good pieces for sale.

Jason's Church Salvage in New Jersey had this beautiful altar, described as "A GREAT CARRERA MARBLE ALTAR. TURN OF THE CENTURY OLD." Jason has lots more at his site--a monstrance, stained glass windows, candelabras, statues, processional crucifix, bronze church altar gates, etc. Most objects are offered at prices in the thousands of dollars.

Another ebay seller is Catholic Heritage that seems to specialize in small artifacts for the Tridentine Mass, including old altar cards and patterns to make a biretta and alb.

Westin Works also sells Catholic religious artifacts such as Bishops pectoral crosses, holy water fonts, icons, rosaries, and a pyx.

The view of religious offerings on ebay.com is not kind to the record of the Catholic Church during the past 40 years. I feel like 'weeping and gnashing my teeth' in a combination of sorrow, anger, and frustration.

The future financial condition of the American Church seems even bleaker than the present because older Catholics, who are currently the largest givers in the Church, are fast approaching death and their replacements are not nearly so generous. Yet this is the only time they will be given to preserve the most important and beautiful religious artifacts that are currently being sold on the web.

Yet which Bishop in the American Church has the foresight and dedication to preserve sacred objects rather than sell them? Or why doesn't the National Council of Catholic Bishops establish a (Vatican-like) museum with the best and most important pieces preserved for history under the name of the Catholic Church? The fees from such a museum would at least keep the operation going.

Frankly, the best option is for current churches to purchase many of these artifacts and USE THEM in sacred service to God. That is what is being done by churches dedicated to the preservation of the old Latin Mass. Fortunately, some special people in our area have acquired a beautiful old marble altar and are installing it in Old St. Patrick's Church, now being renovated in downtown Kansas City. If you're passing through KC, it's only a couple of blocks off I-70 and I-35.

Postscript--January 12, 2007: Coincidentally, the Cornell Society for a Good Time posted a similar column the day before mine and the writer describes meeting 'Jason' of Jason's Church Salvage.

Sightseeing and Praying on a Winter Afternoon

Mother was a little reluctant to go for a drive when I called her this afternoon because she said she was behind in her extensive daily prayers. So I promised her we would say two Chaplets of the Divine Mercy while driving. It is a prayer said with rosary beads, but is shorter than the rosary. The Hail Mary is replaced with "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." You can read more about the Chaplet here.

We drove through the large park where she and my Dad went on dates in the 30's and where they fished a lot after retirement. So far, it's been a mild winter and the many Canadian geese normally on the lake in this season are fewer. Mother wondered if the birds were staying at more northern locations until really cold weather arrives. A sign said that eagles could now be seen on the lake.

The water surface is not frozen but fishing has ended, except for the diving ducks we watched near the dam. Besides us, only a few other cars drove the meandering road around the many coves and hills. Mother saw about six deer and I counted about ten. She commented that the deer seemed skinny (I think some were small, and were likely born this year). She also noted a couple of coves have filled in with a lot of silt so that the water is now shallow.

When she and Dad fished from a small boat, they would troll their lines and try to avoid shallow water with bottom debris that would entangle the lines. One time she and Dad came home with their story of a really large fish. It was the biggest fish Mother had ever hooked and it took about half an hour to bring it close to the boat. Happily, she got to see it just before it got away. The lake is very deep in the area where she hooked the fish, and at the base of a steep hill.

Mother did catch a 20-pound catfish at another lake. Late one summer afternoon, she and Dad drove up our driveway in their pickup truck with the aluminum boat hanging out the back. Dad got the large fish out of the ice chest and Mother proudly showed their young grandchildren the impressive catch of the day!

Mother insisted my family should have the fish because it was big enough to feed all of us. So I fried it, but no one could eat more than a bite. Unfortunately, catfish taste just like what they have been eating on the bottom of the lake. We buried it in the garden where it served as good fertilizer and food for the worms! Mother learned that she should take pictures of her really large fishes in the future, then throw them back in the lake for someone else to catch! However, we urged her to continue giving us the smaller fish that provided our tasty Friday dinners.