Bazzing!.......Tagged!

I've been tagged by my fellow blogger Jeniffer from the Catholic Path blog. Here are the rules:

List 5 things you wish to achieve during the week ahead and hopefully get motivated!

1) Go back to the gym [Oh is this going to stink! (see video below)]
2) Select my classes for summer session
3) Give the Critter a haircut (Actually, I don't have to, the groomer does. I just have to drive him there since his license got revoked. Long story).
4) Clean out my fridge of unhealthy crap and fill it back up with more unhealthy crap (D'oh!)
5) Start looking at hybrid cars, to heck with waiting for next year. My truck has a forty gallon gas tank and it's getting pretty annoying. I figure with a gas tank that big, if I filled it up completely then remained parked, I can dispense gas to other vehicles for a small profit.

If you read this, consider thyself tagged.

Pause music before playing video.

Pentecost and Mother's Day!

To all the blogger and non-blogger moms out there, this is your day, with special recognition to moms who had enough love in them to adopt and raise a child that was not biologically theirs.

I love you, Mom. I love your aliveness,
your joy in living, your understanding,
your giving. And what I love best of all
is that you love me.
God of all Mothers,
thank you for my mom!

- by Gaynell Bordes Cronin

And it's also Pentecost!! How appropriate that Mother's Day and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles be celebrated on the same day. In both cases we celebrate the filial gifts lovingly bestowed upon us by God.

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God's hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o'erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen

Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre

Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre is the patroness of Cuba. Many have prayed to her, and many still do for the liberation of the small Caribbean island just ninety miles from the Florida coast. She has a place near and dear to my heart. Perhaps she should also be the patron saint of "those who flee" or those "who leave behind." I was reading a book last night covering the poetry of Thomas Merton when I came across one specific composition that reminded me of both her and of our times.

To The Immaculate Virgin, On A Winter's Night

Lady, the night is falling and the dark
Steals all the blood from the scarred west.
The stars come out and freeze my heart
With drops of untouchable music, frail as ice
And bitter as the new year's cross.

Where in the world has any voice
Prayed to you, Lady, for the peace that's in your power?
In a day of blood and many beatings
I see the governments rise up, behind the steel horizon,
And take their weapons and begin to kill.

Where in the world has any city trusted you?
Out where the soldiers camp the guns begin to thump
And another winter time comes down
To seal our years in ice.
The last train cries out
And runs in terror from this farmer's valley
Where all the little birds are dead.

The roads are white, the fields are mute
There are no voices in the wood
And trees make gallows up against the sharp-eyed stars.
Oh where will Christ be killed again
In the land of these dead men?

Lady, the night has got us by the heart
And the whole world is tumbling down.
Words turn to ice in my dry throat
Praying for a land without prayer,

Walking to you on water all winter
In a year that wants more war.



Our Lady of Charity was declared the patroness of Cuba by Pope Benedict XV in 1916.

Father Damien's Cause for Canonization Advances

Vatican officials have ruled that a Hawaiian woman's spontaneous cure from cancer was due to the intercession of Father Damien De Veuster, a missionary priest who ministered to the lepers of Hawaii, and ultimately died after contracting the same decease from those he labored to protect.

Born on January 3, 1840 in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, Damien De Veuster traveled to Hawaii as a brother of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and was ordained a priest in Honolulu on May 21, 1964. For a few years, Father Damien - as he is commonly known - served as a perish priest to several perishes in Hawaii before a health epidemic erupted that demanded his immediate attention. He was taken to a village in the island of Molokai by Bishop Louis Desiré Maigret, and there he was introduced to the Kalaupapa leper colony. During his supervision of the village, he erected a Church, addressed the medical needs of the infirm, bettered the living conditions of the residents, and administered the sacraments. Sadly, in 1884, Father Damien contracted leprosy and died on April 15, 1889, when the disease fully matured.

Father Damien's case now moves on to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints for final review. If it's their opinion that Father Damien should be declared a saint, then they would pass their findings to Pope Benedict for final approval.

Obama wins Guam by 7 votes

Which means all seven people voted.

I thought I'd beat the late night pundits to that line.

The time is drawing near folks. Will it be McCain, who, by enlarge, offers a continuation of the present administration.

Will it be Hilary? If I start on Hilary I wont stop. It's too good and too easy.


Or will it be Barack Obama, with questionable political associations and a slightly suspicious personal past?

Who I would vote for

I say Vote for Cathy. This is one tough cookie who can put ANY dissident in his or her place by merely striking a few keys on her PC! Just imagine what she can do as commander-in-chief. Her temper, however, might be a major set back. Especially when she learns that - without consulting with her first - a group of Catholic nuns have been invited to the White House to perform an Easter liturgical dance. Can you say mushroom cloud? Or how about Terry Nelson from Abbey-Road, Abbey-Roads2, and Up Your Street. A man who can sustain so many blogs at one time would burn the midnight oil at the White House trying to get the the issues remedied. And since Cathy claims that Terry leads a relatively quiet life, I can guarantee you no scandals in a Terry Nelson administration! But if militant and stealthy is what you desire in the war on terrorism, then I recommend Adrienne at Adrienne's Catholic Corner. With full and absolute jurisdiction over the Soprano family and their cohorts, all she has to do is nod her head and someone gets it (can you imagine if she targeted Ted Kennedy and he turned up missing? People would think he was passed-out somewhere on a beach or on the kitchen floor. No one would ever suspect. How cunning. How evil. Ingenious!). Having said that, she is also generous in helping those who are in need and is all too willing to grant any favors to anyone who asks politely (VERY politely). But keep in mind that if she does any favors for you, she may one day call upon you to do a favor for her (gulp!). And in the political arena, that is all but a certainty.

Ah, you might ask, wouldn't Tom, the author responsible for the quackery that gets posted on this blog, make a good president? Well, first and foremost I'm flattered, but the answer is no. Because I live in Las Vegas, it would be a natural propensity, done unconsciously, to turn the White house into a go-go bar. And that, ladies and gentleman, would make Bill Clinton, a potential First Lady, very jealous. He would accuse me of getting all my ideas from his administration, followed by unsolicited helpful advice on how NOT to get caught (whatever he means by that).

And since I'm already politically binging, here's a nice little quote to remember former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld by:

"I don't do quagmires."

Karla Faye Tucker

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" or is it "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” Which of these two passages do you emphasize?

Houston, Texas, 1983. After spending an entire day getting high on drugs, Karla Faye Tucker, along with two other accomplices, broke into the home of Jerry Lynn Dean to settle a score. Their intent was to steal a motorcycle that belonged to Dean as a way of getting back at him for the abuse a female friend suffered while in a relationship with him. As they made their way into the premises, they were discovered by Dean, and one of Tucker's friends began striking him in the head with a hammer. As this attack unfolded, Dean's girlfriend, Deborah Thornton, hid from the assailers but was discovered by Karla Faye Tucker. Tucker then began hacking Thorton with a pickax, as one of her accomplices finished the job by embedding an axe in Thorton's chest. The gruesome scene was discovered the following day by the landlord of the premises.

In 1984, after having been indicted for the homicides the previous year, Karla Faye Tucker confessed and implicated her accomplices in the murders of Jerry Lynn Dean and Deborah Thorton. She was subsequently sentenced to death by lethal injection, which would have made her the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. During her incarceration, Tucker acquired a bible from the prison ministry program and began a profound process of conversion and repentance. She ultimately became a born-again Christian, and a model prisoner at the Mountain View Unit where she was incarcerated. Her transformation became palpable and evident not only to individuals at close proximity to her, but also to those following her story as it unfolded in the media and public eye.

Clemency
As her story evolved, many individuals - some from unlikely sources - came to intercede on her behalf. Pat Robertson and Newt Gingrich, conservative public figures, asked then Governor George Bush for clemency. Pope John Paul II, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, and officials from United Nations asked for her life to be spared and death sentence be commuted to life in prison. Even the warden of the prison housing Tucker testified that more than likely, after 14 years of incarceration, Tucker was a reformed prisoner. Governor Bush ignored the supplications for mercy, and on February 3, 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed by lethal injection.

For me, the Karla Faye Tucker story touches upon issues that deal directly with some of the most important Christian (Catholic) teachings and admonishments. Number one on this list is the respect for human life. Tucker recognized the full extent of the atrocity she and her accomplices carried out. She repented and converted with honesty and integrity, in plain view of those around her and others watching her story unfold. The politician(s) who could have saved her life felt otherwise, however. No amount of repentance, no amount of conversion, no amount of reform was enough for mercy. Caesar has his justice to dispense, and when it's time to collect you must render unto him what is his. This is especially true when Caesar is democratically elected, has his eyes set on a higher public office, and doesn't want to deal with the political fallout that comes from making an unpopular decision about executions (especially in Texas).

What would you do? Could you sign the death warrant of someone guilty of the atrocity Tucker and others are guilty of, or would you show mercy to someone who had manifestly made an intense transformation? What if you were the family of the victims? Could you spare the life of someone who took your loved ones away so barbarically? If you were the politician making this life-and-death decision, could you give up your own political advancement by making the unpopular decision of sparing the life of a murderer? You might save your own soul in the process.

Remember, we will be judged as we have judged others.

Memme

I've been tagged by Uncle Jim at A Second Chance. Here we go...

The rules of this game are as follow:

1 - Each player answers the questions about him or her self.
2 - At the end of the post, the player 'tags' five people and lists their names.
3 - The player then goes to their site and advises them they've been tagged.
4 - The player then asks the newly tagged to read tagger's blog.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Gosh, I can hardly remember what I was doing ten minutes ago. Well, ten years ago I was involved with my diocese' Discerning Group praying over the call to the priesthood. I've mentioned this story a number of times already to some of you, so I wont go into it in great detail. It was, however, a very positive experience and many of the men I attended with have, indeed, been ordained!


Name 5 things on your 'to-do' list today (Wednesday).

1) Go to work
2) Take my grandmother to the doctor
3) Go on-line to a buy a graphics card for my computer (I'm building a new one)
4) Go grocery shopping
5) Laundry


What things would I do if I were a billionaire?

1) Get out of Las Vegas
2) Buy a cottage AND a house somewhere in New England
3) Fly out to Europe and repeat answer 2
4) Better the lives of my friends and family
5) Realize I DON'T have to be a billionaire to live the life I want, so start giving the money away to people who really do need it (sounds as cliche as the answers at a Miss America pageant, I know, but that's exactly what I would do)


Name 3 bad habits or qualities.

1) Impatience
2) Sometimes pessimistic
3) Sometimes too idealistic


Name 5 places I've lived

I'm not as cosmopolitan as some of you folks, so my list is somewhat concise:
1) Las Vegas
2) Miami
3) San Diego
4) Key West (very briefly)



Name 5 jobs I've had.

Well, in my younger days I worked as a bus-boy, a waiter, clerk, and retail attendant.


Name 5 books I've read recently.

1) Ghost Story
2) The Eastern Catholic Churches
3) The Wisdom of the Saints
4) The Mist
5) Letter to a Man in the Fire


I tag any of you blogger-buddies of mine and any wayward soul that stumbles unto this blog.

Just a Matter of Time

I have thought about the following possibility extensively in the past, and after Pope Benedict's visit to the U.S. it resurfaced as a real and palpable, possible future scenario. Sooner or later - in my humble and unfortunate opinion - the Vatican will suffer a terrorist attack. Before you accuse me of being an alarmist or a "prophet of doom", think about some of the events that directly involve the Holy Father, as well as the geopolitical climate that we are faced with today. The Holy Father is under death threats by Osama bin Laden for his supposed support of the United States and for the Holy See's diplomatic ties to Israel. To illustrate the Vatican's unique relationship with Judaism, Pope Benedict visited a synagogue during his stay in New York - embracing and exchanging gifts with Rabbi Arthur Schneier - while, to the comdemnation of some, excluded from his hectic schedule a visit to a mosque. Vatican officials responded to the criticism by stating that historically, a special kinship exists between Christians and Jews that does not exist between Christians and Muslims. On September of 2006, while delivering a lecture at the University of Regendburg in Germany, Pope Benedict cited a passage by Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus which stated :

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

His comments touched-off a flurry of Muslim criticism around the world, and may have even led to the retaliatory murder of Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a missionary nun helping the impoverished people of Africa.

With its openness to the public, who's to say no one can walk into St. Peter's, heavily laden with hidden explosives, and carry out a suicide attack? It seems to me that the misanthropes comprising Al-Qaeda would argue that the Vatican is to Christianity what the Twin Towers were to robust, economic prosperity. Let's hope I'm wrong.

For You Bach Lovers

Known for his sacred works, choral music, and orchestral productions, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is considered the culmination of Baroque music standards. He was a mathematical genius who mastered better than anyone the contrapuntal music technique, while synthesizing non-German influences into his music. Outside the polyphonic genre of sacred music (pre-Baroque era), for me the Baroque period offers the most beautiful and inventive consonant expressions in all of musicology, without falling into the detrimental propensity of "mushy." And despite the temptation to characterize Bach's works as musically "stoic" for not having the romantic flare of a Tchaikovskian piece, this style of composition can exhibit appreciable melodic and emotional eloquence. With Bach's death in 1750, effectively came to an end the Baroque period.

But before I turn this post into a boring history lesson, let me get to the point by sharing with you one of Bach's most celebrated works: Concerto for Violin and Oboe in D Minor. It's quite beautiful, even by die hard romantic standards.

An Observation Poetically Expressed (Repost)

Musee des Beaux Arts

by W.H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood: They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

Musee des Beaux Arts, or Museum of Fine Arts, is a poem by famed twentieth century British writer Wystan Hugh Auden that succinctly and eloquently expresses what I call the "peripherals of suffering." By "peripherals of suffering" I mean the people, places, things, and conditions that envelope the individual who suffers, often unnoticeably to the rest of the world. Auden writes, "...how it takes place/ While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along..." Isn't this typically the case? Your world is crumbling and people go on with their lives like nothing ever happened.

The "Old Masters" Auden alludes to are the fourteenth through eighteenth century artists whose Renaissance pieces are also referred to as "old masters."

Auden sites the 16th century painting The Fall of Icarus by Netherlandish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, in which all of the characters in the painting, including a ship, carry on with their activities and fail to react to the drowning of a boy at close proximity to them. Not a single one of these subjects is disrupted or distracted from the focus of their interests by the drowning of Icarus.

Both poem and painting illustrate how at some point in time we all have found ourselves afflicted by the conditions of the small boy, or the apathetic tendencies of the indifferent.