Quick Update

We took Andrew and two other boys to the Burlington airport yesterday to catch their flight back to school . They are now safe and sound in Illinois and as ready as they can be for the next ten weeks leading up to the end of the school year. Leslie also drove over with us yesterday so that she could pop into Fletcher Allen to see if they could figure out what is going on with some vision problems and occasional numbness in her face. (The ex-English major in me has a terrible time leaving the preceeding sentence in such a wordy state, but unfortunately I have no time for wordsmithing, so forgive me :)) She did well on a neurological exam, but they wanted to keep her overnight to do an M.R.I. The Neurologist thinks that the problem is likely "painless migranes" as she terms them. We certainly pray that that is the case. I write this in haste just before departing once again for VT after coming home late last night. I will post more as I have time.

-Albert

Passion Sunday

I ran out of time for blog posting today since it is Andrew's last day home and we are enjoying a good Sunday with all of the family together. I will post today's sermon for Passion Sunday within the next couple of days. Leslie's grandfather is seriously ill and is in our thoughts and prayers; may he be remembered in the prayers of our readers.

Judica Me

Sung at the Introit of Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Passion Sunday, the day after tomorrow:

St. John Damascene

Today we celebrate St. John Damascene (676-749), Confessor and Doctor of the Church. Some of John's greatest contributions to the Eastern and Western Church are his defenses of the veneration of sacred images against the Iconoclasts (Iconoclasts means 'breakers of icons'). As one commentary on his life states, "His example provides us an opportunity to honor images of God everywhere." His eloquent defence of images has also earned him the title of "The Doctor of Christian Art." John was the last of the Greek Fathers.

Of old they who did not know God, worshipped false gods. But now, knowing God, or rather being known by Him, how can we [27] return to bare and naked rudiments? (Gal. 4.8-9) I have looked upon the human form of God, and my soul has been saved. I gaze upon the image of God, as Jacob did, (Gen. 32.30) though in a different way. Jacob sounded the note of the future, seeing with immaterial sight, whilst the image of Him who is visible to flesh is burnt into my soul. The shadow and winding sheet and relics of the apostles cured sickness, and put demons to flight. (Acts 5.15) How, then, shall not the shadow and the statues of the saints be glorified? Either do away with the worship of all matter, or be not an innovator. Do not disturb the boundaries of centuries, put up by your fathers. (Prov. 22.28)

It is not in writing only that they have bequeathed to us the tradition of the Church, but also in certain unwritten examples. In the twenty-seventh book of his work, in thirty chapters addressed to Amphilochios concerning the Holy Spirit, St Basil says, "In the cherished teaching and dogmas of the Church, we hold some things by written documents; others we have received in mystery from the apostolical tradition." Both are of equal value for the soul's growth. No one will dispute this who has considered even a little the discipline of the Church. For if we neglect unwritten customs, as not having much weight we bury in oblivion the most pertinent facts connected with the Gospel. These are the great Basil's words. How do we know the Holy place of Calvary, or the Holy Sepulchre? Does it not rest on a tradition handed down from father to son? It is written that our Lord was crucified on Calvary, and buried in a tomb, which Joseph hewed out of the rock; (Mt. 27.60) but it is unwritten tradition which identifies these spots, and does more things of the same kind. Whence come the three immersions at baptism, praying with face turned towards the east, and the tradition of the mysteries? Hence St Paul says, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned either by word, or by our epistle." (II Thess. 2.15) As, then, so much has been handed down in the Church, and is observed down to the present day, why disparage images?

If you bring forward certain practices, they do not inculpate our worship of images, but the worship of heathens who make them idols. Because heathens do it foolishly, this is no reason for objecting to our pious practice. If the same magicians and sorcerers use supplication, so does the Church with catechumens; the former invoke devils, but the Church calls upon God against devils. Heathens have raised up images to demons, whom they call gods. Now we have raised them to the one Incarnate God, to His servants and friends, who are proof against the diabolical hosts.

Accept, therefore, the teaching of Scripture and spiritual writers. If the Scripture does call "the idols of heathens silver and gold, and the works of man's hand," (Ps. 135.15) it does not forbid the adoration of inanimate things, or man's handiwork, but the adoration of demons.

We have seen that prophets worshipped angels, and men, and kings, and the impious, and even a staff. David says, "And you adore His footstool." (Ps. 99.5) Isaias, speaking in God's name, says, "The heavens are my throne, and the earth my footstool." (Is. 66.1) Now, it is evident to everyone that the heavens and the earth are created things. Moses, too, and Aaron with all the people adored the work of hands. St Paul, the golden grasshopper* of the Church, says in his Epistle to the Hebrews, "But Christ being come, a high priest of the good [31] things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hand," that is "not of this creation." And, again, "For Jesus is not entered into the Holies made by hands, the patterns of the true; but into heaven itself." (Heb. 9.11, 24) Thus the former holy things, the tabernacle, and everything within it, were made by hands, and no one denies that they were adored.

Excerpts from Apologia of St. John Damascene's Against Those Who Decry Holy Images

Dire Economic Predictions by Economist Gerald Celente

Feast of the Annunciation

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. St. Luke 1:26-28, 38

...as death had befallen us through a woman, Life should be born to us through a woman. - St. Augustine

The feast of this day is called the Annunciation of our Lady, for on this day the angel Gabriel showed to the glorious Virgin Mary the coming of the Blessed Son of God. That is to wit, how he ought to come into the glorious Virgin, and take on her nature and human flesh to save the world. It was reasonable that the angel should come to the glorious Virgin Mary, for like as Eve by the exhorting of the devil gave her consent to commit the sin of disobedience to our perdition, right so by the greeting of the angel Gabriel and by the exhortation, the glorious Virgin Mary gave her consent to his message by obedience, to our salvation. Wherefore, like as the first woman was cause of our damnation, so was the blessed Virgin Mary the beginning of our redemption. When that the angel Gabriel was sent to show the incarnation of our Saviour Jesus Christ, he found her alone, enclosed in her chamber, like as S. Bernard saith, in which the maidens and virgins ought to abide in their houses, without running abroad out openly, and they ought also to flee the words of men, of which their honour and good name might be lessened or hurt.

And the angel said to the glorious Virgin Mary: I salute thee, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. There is not found in Scripture, in any part, a comparable salution. And it was brought from heaven unto the glorious Virgin Mary, who was the first woman that ever in the world offered to God her virginity. And the angel said to her after: Thou shalt be blessed above all other women, for thou shalt escape the malediction that all other women have by childbearing in sin and in sorrow; and thou shalt be mother of God, and shalt abide a pure virgin and clean.

Excerpts from The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine

Fr. Rutler on Notre Dame Obama Flap

For those who have not heard, Notre Dame University has invited President Barack Hussein Obama to be the commencement speaker this year. The school will also present him with an honorary degree. The treachery and scandal of such an action taken by an institution that claims to be "Catholic" is immense given that our sitting president has declared open war on the most vulnurable of human beings and is proving to be the most radically anti-life politician in U.S. history. It also leaves one to wonder just what sort of provocation it will take before the slumbering U.S. Bishops will do their duty and either reign in these wayward institutions and bring their conduct in line with Church teaching, or officially remove their Catholic identity. A poignant remark from Fr. George Rutler concerning this topic follows:

"This is a highly cynical act, contemptuous of the Church's prophetic voice in civil society and wagering that there will be no retribution. If a midwestern school seeks attention by granting Mr. Obama an honorary doctorate in law, the next logical step would be to grant Judas Iscariot posthumously an honorary doctorate in business administration."

Visit http://www.notredamescandal.com/ and sign the petition to stop this madness. The Notre Dame Cardinal Newman Society has attracted over 100,000 signatures to date.

Sermon for Laetare Sunday Posted

Ite Ad Joseph

Happy Feast of St. Joseph
and our Joseph's name day!

No Room For The King

Christ's Truth is all-present, all-applicable, permanent, like the source of daylight, the sun. It is everywhere or nowhere. It is exclusively and completely sun, or it is nonexistent. It is for everyone or no one. One lives through it or dies without it. Christ the King needs too much room, in other words, all of it. That is His "misfortune"! His Truth wants not only to live, but to reign absolutely and alone. Here is the reason why Christ would be born today, as then, in a stable.

Certainly He would not be born in City Hall. The government has to tread very softly on the parquetry of non-denomenationalism. It may not place itself one-sidedly in the service of a particular "party," especially one which is extreme besides! If only Christ had been just plain "Christian!" But he was Roman Catholic: He believed in miracles, in the Holy Trinity, in the primacy of the pope, and even defined in Matthew (16:18) the Ultramontanism dogma of infallibility! For constitutional reasons, therefore, the application of the heavenly Father for making room for Bethlehem in City Hall must be turned down. Of course no one denies the cultural value of Christianity. However, the project of the so-called Redemption absolutely must be carried out on the basis of the existing state law. "Because there is no room there for a king."

Fr. Mader, Excerpt from Cross and Crown

St. Patrick

I am a day late with my St. Patrick's Day post. Joseph was in the hospital Monday night and yesterday with what looked like appendicitis but turned out to be a really nasty stomach virus. We have other children in the house who have it at various intensities.

A few words about the great bishop St. Patrick:

St. Patrick (ca. A.D. 385-461) was born -- in Scotland! He was the son of a high-ranking Roman family, but was carried off into slavery by Irish marauders when he was 16 and forced into shepherding. While in captivity in Ireland, though, he learned Celtic and the ways of Druidism, as his master was a Druid High Priest, two bits of knowledge that would help him later in evangelizing Irish pagans. He escaped his master, travelled about a bit -- but desired to return to Ireland to evangelize, a task he was entrusted with by Pope Celestine I, and a task he was most successful at (legend says that he even drove the snakes from that land with a sermon).

Needless to say, St. Patrick is very dear to the Irish people, including --- maybe especially -- Irish Americans. The symbol of this day is the shamrock because St. Patrick used the plant as a visual aid in describing the Trinity -- three leaves, one stem -- and the Cross, which is evoked by its general shape.

A musical rendition of St. Patrick's Breastplate prayer follows:



Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday Sermon Posted

I had another technical failure today, but was able to recover the sermon. You will find it in the Sermon links section.

Well, no kitchen floods yet today or other catastrophies. It is actually a beautiful day, blue skies, approaching fifty degrees, and the sap running strong. The children and I enjoyed a nice walk this afternoon down to the brook. It felt as though I was coming out of hibernation. May it continue, please God, as it has been a long winter.

We have a couple of big feast days approaching celebrating St. Patrick and St. Joseph. Andrew will also be returning at the end of the week for his break and we look forward to having him back. We spoke to him yesterday as he was coming home from the big Catholic Cup Rugby Match. He sounded much more relaxed than he has lately, so hopefully that is a good sign. He has been under a good deal of pressure with rigorous academics and some personal challenges.

Oh, did I mention the fifth round of stomach flu is hitting us?

Racist Margaret Sanger Alive and Well in Her Insidious Planned Parenthood

What is behind the contraception/abortion industry? Power and money for sure, but how about Nazi-style Eugenics? Hitler wanted to create the "Master Race". Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, was no different, a racist to her core. Please listen to Sanger in her own words:


And now, thanks to our newly elected radical leftist government, millions of our tax dollars are getting poured into Planned Parenthood and other odious organizations like them. Our president cannot seem to do anything to turn the economy around, but when it comes to fulfilling his radical promises to liberalize abortion, contraception, the killing of human embryos to harvest their stem cells and laws to enshrine perversion as a "human right", he is moving with lighting speed. Anything goes in a godless nation. One need only look to the history of Rome to see what happens when a nation turns to such decadence.

Combat Evil. Protect Life -- All Life.

John Vennari Talk

Our local chapter of The League of the Kingship of Christ will be hosting Catholic author and lecturer Mr. John Vennari for what will be an edifying talk on the current presidency and the need for the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ over all nations. Pass it on.

Crimes Against Humanity

Everyone Against Abortion, Please Raise Your Hand

For some perspective, the child mentioned in this video segment was a few weeks older than our Thomas Henry (pictured below) when he was killed. When will this madness end?

I Believe in the Catholic Church...

I believe in the Catholic Church not only because I believe in the Gospel--and the Gospel, I am convinced, is Catholic. I believe in the Catholic Church not only because it goes back to the time of the apostles and extends to the ends of the earth. I believe in the Catholic Church not only because miracles bear witness to it.

I believe in the Catholic Church also because she is the Church that sweats blood, is scourged and crowned with thorns, carries her cross and is nailed upon it and thus must be the Bride of Christ Who sweats blood, is scourged and crowned with thorns, carries His cross and is nailed upon it. If it is true that the Western world is headed for a fresh persecution of Christians, then there will be fresh martyrs to show that this must be the true Church, for whom not only do the greatest minds write the finest books, but also for whom the noblest spirits joyfully and repeatedly shed their blood.

Fr. Mader, Excerpt from Cross and Crown

Father John Broderick, Vindicated

The irresponsible, vile media has once again worked its magic. About a year ago, a good Catholic priest we know was falsely accused by a family with an axe to grind of a horrific crime. Because he was a priest, it became open hunting season, with the media conducting an all out front page smear campaign against Father and declaring him guilty and worthy of life in prison long before his hearing and trial. The lynch mob, with its herd mentallity, crawled out of the woodwork in full force as well, filling blogs and commentaries with hate-filled malice and lies. They cried, "he's Catholic, he's a priest, so therefore he must be guilty!"

Father fought back and went to trial, refusing settlement, to clear his name and send a message that priests cannot be made targets by opportunists looking for large diocesan settlements. Father was found innocent by a jury of his peers a couple of weeks ago. So now after crushing his reputation and compromising his priestly office, do you think the media will use their front pages to declare his innocence and apologize for their defamation? I think you know the answer. Father is another victim of a media system that is more about spin and deception than about facts and truth. Pray for Father Broderick, a poor priest who has fallen victim to a real hate crime, as he works to pick up the pieces. St. Joseph, ora pro nobis.

Thomas Henry and Sunday Lenten Antics

Meet Thomas Henry above at about 20 weeks old. He is endowed with all of his talents and potential and everything that will make him uniquely Thomas Henry Hickman. Those will all be discovered, please God, in good time.

Well, it is Lent and as usual, the typical Lenten nuisances continue to creep up to disturb our recollection and test our resolve. Our big expensive, super capacity Kenmore washing machine that we bought four years ago bit the onion (that is a South Jersey term). The appliance repairman is presently playing a game of trial and error to get the thing repaired. The mountains of laundry in the meantime continue to grow. Skiing anyone?

Just a couple of hours ago, I was tightening the kitchen faucet to stop a drip and the handle broke off spewing water all over the kitchen. Now there is a new kitchen faucet to purchase along with the repair to make. These are not complaints, mind you. Well, at least not big ones.

This all sounds a good deal like a lyric from a song in H.M.S. Pinafore. Allow me to take some artistic license:

I carefully employ my agency,
a complaint I do not make,
though it right for pity's sake,
no matter what the new emergency.
What, never?
No, never!
What, never?
Well, hardly ever!

Anyway, looking around and seeing real trials that befall families, such as health maladies and financial disasters, prove a humbling reminder of how small my crosses are, especially when I feel the boiling point rapidly approaching. I have no desire to exchange my little crosses. God knows best and obviously I need to work on my patience.

Along with these mishaps, unfortunately I do not have a sermon to post this Sunday due to a computer failure this morning. I hope to have next Sunday's up right on schedule.

-Albert
+Second Sunday of Lent, St. John of God

Feast of the Angelic Doctor

Today is the feast of one of the greatest intellects in history, St. Thomas Aquinas. Pope Leo XIII in Aeterni Patris of 1879states: "Among the Scholastic Doctors, the chief and master of all towers Thomas Aquinas, who, as Cajetan observes, because "he most venerated the ancient doctors of the Church, in a certain way seems to have inherited the intellect of all."(34) The doctrines of those illustrious men, like the scattered members of a body, Thomas collected together and cemented, distributed in wonderful order, and so increased with important additions that he is rightly and deservedly esteemed the special bulwark and glory of the Catholic faith. With his spirit at once humble and swift, his memory ready and tenacious, his life spotless throughout, a lover of truth for its own sake, richly endowed with human and divine science, like the sun he heated the world with the warmth of his virtues and filled it with the splendor of his teaching. Philosophy has no part which he did not touch finely at once and thoroughly; on the laws of reasoning, on God and incorporeal substances, on man and other sensible things, on human actions and their principles, he reasoned in such a manner that in him there is wanting neither a full array of questions, nor an apt disposal of the various parts, nor the best method of proceeding, nor soundness of principles or strength of argument, nor clearness and elegance of style, nor a facility for explaining what is abstruse."

It is a grey day today, but at least the snow is melting. Now it is time to solidify the spring/summer task list. It looks like we are doing chickens this year for laying, so there is a chicken coup to build. Raised bedding needs to be constructed for the vegetable garden along with mending the deer fence, that is, unless we want to feed the deer this season instead of the family. Then there is all the cleanup, yard cleanup and house cleanup, along with painting, wallpaper and minor maintenance. So far, I have only listed the lighter tasks. The big task is firewood. I would like to be self-sufficient for wood this year which means it is time to get out in the woods and get some work done. While I am out there, I will scout out a few maples so that we can try our hands at a little maple syrup this year. So how much of this is it humanly possible to get done while holding down a day job? I guess time will tell. I could get a lot done around here if I didn't have bills to pay. Time and money are forever the usual challenges. Kyrie Eleison.

There are a few good feast days approaching that we pay particular attention to in our family. The great philosopher, theologian and doctor of the Church St. Thomas Aquinas is tomorrow. The Feast of St. Joseph and St. Patrick are in a couple of weeks.

We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves. - St. Thomas Aquinas

-Albert

John Cleese Spoofs Scientists Ignorant of Their Limits

First Sunday of Lent

And Jesus saith to them: Can the children of the marriage fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them; and then they shall fast in those days. (St. Mark 2:19)

Today's sermon by Fr. Hewko posted. Blessed first week of Lent, everyone.