Stabat Mater- Still Standing Strong

Is Hitting the Road and you can help.
Pretty Please.



















Ann Slattery is a contemplative in the making. Currently based out of both Washington, DC and Texas she is on her way to establishing an international presence.
She co-founded an organization called Stabat Mater which means "mother standing" as in Standing at the Foot of the Cross
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/poetry/stbmat.html. She is on her way to Madrid.
An interview with Ann appears here:
http://thesacredarts.org/articles/interview_stabatmater.html

ANN is going to Fatima and other Shrines in Spain in February to pray for her community.
She needs some financial assistance to take along whom she wants to go with her on a prayer mission.

Ann's mother (who currently resides 89 years young in Texas) was one of the co-founders of the Women in the Arts Museum in Washington, DC and is on their Board.
Sacred Arts are in her blood.

If you feel inspired to be a benefactor, or want more information on the organization, please contact Ann at AHSLATTERY@JUNO.com
She leaves for Spain very soon.


Stabat Mater Prayer Apostolate "Advancing the Culture of Life through Prayer and Art" Contact Information:

PO Box 852132Richardson, TX 75085-2132(214) 613-8272

Washington, D.C. Office: 202-466-1838 info@stabatmater.org

Benedict XVI: Marriage is indissoluable

Benedict XVI: Marriage is indissoluable

A musical event not to miss for my fine musical friends

Musica Jesuitica

Please join us for an evening of music and poetry written by various Jesuits from the Baroque period to today. Performances will include excerpts from the 18th-century oratorio Trionfo per l’Assunzione della Santissima Vergine and a reading of Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J.'s poetry, with contributions by Dr. Anthony R. DelDonna, Rev. Howard Gray and the Catholic Music Ministry.

Friday, February 5, 7.30pm
Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Georgetown University

Timing is Everything

Babys take Nine Months to be Born and How Many to be Conceived?

What if Mary, the Blessed Mother said to the Angel Gabriel: "Tell the Boss thanks for the Offer, but check back with me in a few years after I am better prepared by more hardship and abuse." This is what some people would have you believe is necessary to answer the call- you must be humbled first to be of real use-which only takes place with a kick in the head or two. You are too head-strong and proud, so lets flatten it out a bit and reduce you to an unthreatening puddle of mush that challenges no one's presumptuous arrogance.
It is written-You must be like a child to enter the kingdom. I don't think he meant a child at the other end of a belt or baseball bat.
I think he meant a child who believes everything is possible by the love of the parent. Because with God everything is possible. Everything.

Ho Ho Ho-The Other Green Giant

Envy

There is a certain contingent of insecure persons who become extremely jealous and envious when in the presence of someone extremely excellent in all respects- in goodness, in kindness, in intelligence and in strength. It is this envy and jealousy that causes the talking head politicos to trash talk politicians into the ground sometimes. It is this envy and jealousy combined with a certain racism that has some white people compelled to trash talk anyone into the ground who is a successful black politician. I read in my rsv (revised standard version) bible last night that it was "ENVY" that caused the crowd to demand that Jesus be crucified. ENVY. People who are pathetically insecure try to kill off what they know they don't have in someone else. It is ENVY that causes people to want to destroy other people when they feel insecure around them. ENVY.
You know some of these people-they sometimes themselves have high position and masquarade as experts in this or that. Sometimes they hold positions of high esteem and resent anyone not giving them what they consider their high due regard. ENVY- people who try to make you feel like garbage because they will never be what you are or have what you have-so they try to level you into nothing to gloat over it. ENVY. Sometimes they just scheme to try to take what you have. But they can never get what you really have which is what caused you to get whatever they think they can take.

There is an accounting in Heaven- while these people get some traction here on earth- it doesn't last. Because God sees the heart- and man with the outward appearance.
God knows motives- and he knows when they parade as piety falsely.

It's A Family Affair

Zechariah Pray For Us

Did you know John the Baptist's father was a Priest. His name is Zechariah. Jesus' cousin, the one God chose to herald the coming Messiah, crying in the wilderness grew up in the home of a Priest-as his son.
Jesus could have chosen the sparrows, the rocks crying out or the old lady hanging out at tavern-but he chose the son of a Priest.

It always amazes me that the lengths that people go to in order to deny that Jesus wanted priests married to rebut the "marriage option" in the Priesthood. It amazes me because it is so obviously not scriptural and so obviously man created as a "discipline" and not something God ordained or mandated -ever.

Recall that after Jesus rose from the dead the woman who clung to him even after death, hanging out by his tomb who was first to see him rise was Mary Magdalene (not "JOHN" allegedly the 'disciple whom he loved.') Recall that the first thing he says to her is essentially- "don't touch me I haven't yet ascended." Why would he say such a thing? Obviously- because he knew that the first thing she would do once she recognized him would be run up to him and hug and kiss him all over. That's what you do when you are in love.

Recall also that there was a Mary who was so comfortable around Jesus that she washed his bare feet with her hair. She didn't just grab the hem of his garment on the fly, she was close enough to wash his feet, and wash them with her tears and her hair. Then recall the woman who rubbed perfume all over him- massaged his head with "nard"- which some have actually traced to a variety of "nard" common in Syria, referenced in the Songs of Solomon and known to be used for love-making. Judas expresses outrage- not that a woman is massaging his head with oil- (which should be shocking if she wasn't known to be in some sort of relationship- but because all the disciples were used to her hanging around and acting like this the act of massaging his head wasn't offensive)- Judas is offended because the perfume/oil is really expensive. Look at her! Look how expensive that perfume is! It should have been used to pay for the poor! That is what we are told Judas says-and further, we are told he said this because he was in charge of the treasury and was pilfering from it regularly, so this depletion of the treasury cut into his proceeds. That means, hello, that Mary was allowed use of the common Treasury for the apostles. Why? Because she was JESUS' significant other- who travelled with them, probably cooked for them, and was so close to Jesus she could bathe him -with her hair- and massage his head with oil in the presence of the apostles (when women in Jewish custom could never touch a man unless they were married to him.)

What if the church made you vow to never use your eyes and made up something like Jesus had a sixth sense so he didn't need to use his eyes ever so if you want to consecrate yourself to God you must keep your eyes closed for life? Would you consider such a vow valid? What if it had more harmful pernicious effect on someone else? What if you were made to vow to every morning get up and slam a bullfrog against a tree until it fell crippled to the ground because they made up that Jesus was mad at bullfrogs. This harms bullfrogs but there is some higher purpose to it (their consistent early morning croaking disturbed morning lauds). Would that be ridiculous. Of course. So why does no one ask whether the vow against married priesthood has any harmful effect on the women God created and ordained to be wives of priests?

Should there be a married priesthood option?
Should there be an option to open your eyes?

And isn't it possible, like about ten thousand times more likely than not, that the disciple "whom Jesus Loved" that he pointed to while on the cross indicating "Behold Your Mother" is actually his wife- because Mary WAS her mother (in law) and he was telling Mary Magdalene to look at her because she was falling apart and he was telling her to take care of her. Look at your mother over there, she is falling apart, please help her. She's your mother.

Jesus himself came from a priestly lineage. Joachim, his grandfather (father of Mary) was a priest and Ann(a) her mother was likely a priest's daughter. There just is no way that Jesus ever wanted a priesthood entirely composed of unmarried men. No Way. It's so off the heart of Jesus that it is heresy. It's a historical perversion that like most lies, breeds more sin and corruption.
Just ask the crippled croaking bull frogs.

http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/04/marys-priestly-lineage.html

Are You Lost in Translation

Or Just Lost?

Don't tell me you believed that gossipping slander. Did they translate into tagalog or did you take a crash refresher course in pidgeon spanish? Because I only speak English, French and enough Italian to order Pizza Al Funghi.

With twenty percent of the country speaking spanish as a first language now and eighty percent of the parish support staff spanish speaking as their first language SPANISH for English speakers should be a free class offered in every Parish in every East Coast City and everywhere in California and Texas.

Time to end the relational elocution electrocution . I'm against the death penalty on relationships for bad translations that miss the message.
FREE spanish classes to any gringo who wants them. Sign me up- or send me to Spain or the Dominican Republic for intensive classes if you don't want to teach it yourself. And for Heaven's sake- don't take their word for my word for it. Just ask me my word for it. For crying out loud, I'm crying out loud!

The Best Marriages Have the Best Communications

The Priest's Divorced Mother Confided to Me-because that is who you want Marriage Advice From.

So I note:
Consider the Source

"Where do you live?" she asked me in her heavy spanish accent-because her English was a bit off. "I live in a hell-hole crack-house" -it was a joke. So she reported to the local Priest "she is on crack!-she told me she lives in a crack house!" And here's another one: "Why were you yelling at her" "Because she is a crazy out of her mind restraining order waiting to happen and she kept poking me with lit candle lighter sticks"- gets translated in a bad Filipino accented spanish- "She told me she is going to light her with candle sticks and likes harassing her!" - WHAT?? (or something close I gather....)

Have you ever been just badly translated?

If you get your best advice from the local medicated homeless chick babysitting the flowers or someone whose command of the English language is slightly better than Ricky Riccardo- you might actually go ask the person on whom they are quoting yourself. Generally "did you really say ...xyz...". works fine.

Or you can live life in the Looking Glass and get all your information from the Cheshire Cat. But then don't blame them for sticking you in the kitty litter.

The Pope Fights Back

The OTHER Pope

There is a priest named POPE in Washington. He appears every now and again on talking head shows and news shows touching on religious topics-mostly Fox. I picked a fight with him (see below) and he is fighting back. He writes for the Washington, DC Archdiocese blog at
blog.adw.org.
In fact, its mostly all him- can't quite figure out why he features so prominently on the blog and wish some other priests would share thoughts. (Say a prayer to Saint Francis de Sales, see entry below)
This Pope calls people who end sentences with questions "vapid" and some other nasty names- which I take personally because -what? He actually doesn't read my blog?

I love it when people who never met me feel qualified to blast me on line. What? You think because someone gave you a square white dickey for a collar and a keyboard you are qualified to read character through the internet?

I love it when I strike such a chord I have a bona fide Priest blasting me for sounding "vapid." What? You forgot to ask yourself for absolution? I already have a mother, thank you (she's way cuter than you.)

Psalm 139

O LORD,
you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

How Furiously Mad is the Devil

That Jesus Was Ever Born.

Jesus, that Jew from Nazareth, is the Savior of all humankind who get it. How Pissed Off is the Devil he was ever born?

Please forgive the vernacular here- but I am going to use the term "Pissed off" and hope it doesn't earn me a sanction for incivility- because I think it expresses best what I am trying to say here.

The Devil, through King Herod at the time that Jesus was rumored to be born, sought to kill off all the male children under the age of 2. Just kill them off- all of them under the age of 2 in the entire town he was rumored to be born in to kill off this so called "King of the Jews"-who was a "first-born". First Borns in Jewish life have significance- they are pledged to the "Lord" and there is a procedure to present them to the Lord as a first fruit of the womb, then redeem them.

It didn't work. The devil lost. Jesus was born- and the rest, as they say, was history.
Jesus defeated the devil, he defeated death itself, he saved a people and secured their eternal life in heaven with God- a place the devil was cast out of and will never again see.

So how furiously pissed off is the devil that Jesus was ever born? Thoughout history, ever since, he has been trying to seek his revenge-
and now, by the cultural perversities and twisted justifications of cultural idolotries he is seeking to convince the world that it is OK- fine and normal to just kill off your pre-born children yourself-with a medical "procedure" in a "clinic", like they are nothing more than pesky moles to be removed or lazering a wart. It's just a "procedure"- Your children- inside you- chemically bombed then torturously dismembered and extracted. Who needs Herod's henchmen?

If the devil can't get a ruler to just send in the military and wipe out a town, he can do it a much more pernicious yet effective way- he can convince you that it's normal for you to do it to yourself- for the entire country to be allowed to do it to themselves- to wipe out a country sized population-with medical approval- and paid for "doctors" , federal legislation saying the government will even pay for it. Herod isn't sending out his henchmen, because that didn't work. Instead, the government will pay for you to kill off your children yourself. Because the devil has so distorted your thinking.

First the devil had to make us bedlam crazy mad-and then convince us it was normal.
Half of all abortions are done on First Borns to women before college graduation age- under the age of 25. Half. Teen-agers and college girls who are unprepared for a pregnancy. The devil is still slaughtering the first-borns- and still wiping out towns, villages, cities and countries of people before they are even born.

So that is why something that looked like close to a half a million people marched on Washington today.


"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"

God Is Pro Life-- Very.

And Other Signs of Life


Today, something absolutely amazing happened that you probably won't grasp from your evening news which will underplay its significance if it reports it at all. A crowd sized somewhere between the Edward Kennedy funeral procession and Obama's Inaugural crowd (closer to the Inaugural crowd) lined and paraded from the Washington Mall down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Supreme Court. There was dancing in the streets people--and a few guys from Pennsylvania in knee socks and plaid kilts playing the bagpipes. I asked them if they did weddings.



It was impressive even to the most hardened skeptics. The streets closer to the Court were lined with a police force that looked more cheerful than vigilant, and some even were singing or whistling along.


A thoroughly ecumenical outpouring of something mystically powerful kept everything in line, peacefully marching in step beneath banners from every conceivable Christian and Jewish pro life organization you ever and never heard of. There were the Lutherans for Life, the Anglicans Priests for Life, Order of the Holy Innocents, The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) beneath their banner, lots of Franciscans, the pro-life groups of Parishs from many States, every catholic college you ever heard of (except I didn't see Georgetown there) and catholic high schools from everywhere.


An Italian banner suggested a contingent came all the way from Italy to participate in this year's March for Life in Washington. Entire families came- babies were wheeled in strollers, priests from parishes and orders came with their brothers, and sisters in habit dangled rosaries from their belts.

The occassional wierdness was overlooked in the spirit of joy- like the chubby guy with a hand-written sign that said "free hugs" (was he a plant from candid camera or what?)-there were the usual kooks who purport to know how God is punishing America.

The signs are getting cleverer- and it's not all de-limbed fetuses, while there was a large standing exhibit of that as well. Some of my favorites were : "The Audacity of Love" "Let my People Grow" "A Person is A Person, No Matter How Small- Dr. Seus" and a tribute to the millions of fathers who either didn't want their girlfriends or wives to abort or regret encouraging it later in the plethora of signs stating "Men regret Lost Fatherhood." There were lots and lots of those. A tear or two they brought with their signs.

The big sign stating "God is Pro Life" stopped me in my tracks and reminded me of the morning homily of Monsignor Jameison at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle which was packed to standing room only with the overflow crowd from the packed Verizon Center Stadium. He noted that Jesus first came to the world as a Fetus/Embryo. Seems an obvious point but overlooked. In fact, we all did. Which reminds me of another favorite sign "Aren't you Glad Your Mother Was Pro-Life."

This in turn reminded me of a scene that I saw in Assisi, Italy. In a quiet green behind the Franciscan monastery portion at the lower end of the Saint Francis Basilica in Assisi there is a sculpture garden. In the sculpture garden there was, when I was last there, a very large gold ornate monstrance such as one sees holding the Blessed Sacrament exposed, and in it, instead of the Eucharist, was a curled fetus. It was heart-stoppingly poignant.


I found myself walking next to a Franciscan -the grey not brown robed kind, and said "You look like Father Groeschel!" to which he replied- "You are in good company because that is what Mother Theresa told me." She was surely looking on the day.


So what was the organizing principle of this ragtag lot from everywhere-even Italy? Not the DNC, the RNC, or any political action committee. I would have to say that it was the Holy Spirit itself.


And what do they think that they all were trying to prove by marching on the Supreme Court? I didn't see one sign that said "Overturn Roe" - There was a banner that said "Fr. Jenkins, Free the Notre Dame 88"- which is a reference to the folks arrested for trespassing during Obama's speech at Notre Dame. But that was the only remotely legal reference I saw walking on the whole walk.



Roe v. Wade essentially left the regulation of abortion up to the States (carving the famous tri-mester approach)-and some States have taken it seriously implementing things like parental notification laws, informed consent/counselling laws, late(r) term abortion laws and the like. There has been subsequent late term abortion federal legislation as well and opinions that followed Roe. So why march on Washington?



The March was meant to inspire one thought- Holy Moses, these people are a FORCE- and they are huge. They are serious, they are powerful and they mean business-not kidding-it's plain stupid to ignore this. The people who normally don't like over-federalization of anything from the right end of the spectrum (they hate federal bailouts and federalized universal health care, etc.) do want Federalization of strong anti-abortion measures. They don't necessarily know what shape they want that to look like, except they note that what we have now is insufficient as protection for the most vulnerable-the unborn, communicates a moral permissiveness that is culturally depraved and the States haven't succeeded in getting protections with their legislation because we have aborted over fifty million people now- a population larger than the size of Canada- an entire country within our borders.



The most recent election in Massachusetts might be read as a revolt against bank bail-outs or it might be read as a revolt against the abortion coverage double-speak in back-tracking in the health care agenda. There was more than one sign saying "Thank You Bart Stupack" But these were not "tea-baggers"- these are Rosary Warriers. They come from all economic strata, they are as diverse as an Oscar Meyer commercial (fat ones, skinny ones, kids who climb on rocks), and they are not out to make a name for themselves or get an interview with Glenn Beck or Rush. They are out to protect innocent unborn children - it is that pure. It is that simple.


Shouts from the high schools echoed back and forth to each other like a football cheer "We love babies, yes we do, we love Babies, how 'bout you!"



Why is Federalization of this particular area of regulation something that people think appropriate? There is a perception that the Supreme Court sets the culture by its precedent. It outlines and delivers a set of parameters of appropriateness in thinking about morality and it's boundaries. When an opinion issues from the Supreme Court speaking as the Supreme Court of the land it signals the morality of an issue in a way that state legislatures often do not. There is a perception that Roe stripped all protection from the unborn by decriminalizing the issue, and
so lowered the morality bar to make acceptable what was once unspeakable and horrific. This started the avalanche, it is believed toward the "culture of death" bemoaned of in the circles in which the folks marching today travel. Death became banal.

It might be academic whether the Court did this or the Court merely followed the culture.
The belief persists however, that the Court has a role in correcting it's course.

How that might flesh itself out is something that will take genius. And not a little more openness to that central organizing principle called the Holy Spirit.



One sign read "Sex In The City; Get Laid, Shred yourself and your child, Repeat."



When the Supreme Court said that it was just going to decriminalize abortion- because it is all just a private matter, it said something about the permissible morality of abortion that many people find shocking to the conscience. It said that, as a country, we think it's fine if people have differing opinions on whether it is permissible or not. Whether or not there may be practical reasons why criminalization is counter-productive to stopping an evil- there still has to be a way to still denounce evil as evil and still try to stop it. Obama himself has reminded us that "evil exists in the world." Surely, there can be fewer things more evil than nuking your own offspring.



This takes me to another favorite sign. It's one that is one of those "we hold these truths to be self-evident" signs that so states the obvious that it goes rarely stated- it simply said

"Thou Shall Not Kill."

President Still-Got-Game

Note to all my fine French friends:

CAN YOUR PRESIDENT DO THIS??

Obama catches big air - before going on the air for the State of the Union-

and I have to say-

He's Still Got Game.

Patron Saint of Journalists-

WHO KNEW!!

Another reason to like Saint Francis De Sales. (Aside from their awesome East Coast Provincial Promoter Fr. JG. who has his own i-phone)

The Pope invokes Saint Francis De Sales to tell priests to get with it and get on line. See, H20 News (link to right)
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22444592

You can send this H20 link with a quick click to facebook, your i-phone, your myspace page, and a bunch of other places some people never heard of that didn't exist ten years ago.

Email is something that comes in handy also- and is widely practiced most places in the world now. That's why it is called the World Wide Web. Billions of people aren't afraid of it.
BE NOT AFRAID.

Here's another cool thing I discovered. Have you ever seen those "Magic Jack" commercials on TV? I decided to check it out at the encouragement of a friend. It works! Like MAGIC!
All you do is plug in the little device which is just a bit bigger than your USB thumb drive into your laptop and you can make FREE, totally FREE phone calls anywhere in the US. (I haven't tried international yet.) It's under $40. for the device, at Radio Shack, and once you have that plugged in, you get FREE phone calls anywhere in the US for a whole year which saves you a fortune on cell phone bills. I am telling everyone to get it.

Or- you can stick to your old rotary phone (one ringey dingey, two ringey dingey)- and pretend you are a monk in the middle ages. But then I will have to come plant you an herb garden outside the rectory so you can pick what you eat from your yard.

An Idea With Legs

Send Our Prisoners To Haiti

We have 2-3 Million people sitting in US prisons. Ask anyone who wants to get full release and commutation of their sentences if they want a ticket to Haiti for the purpose of clearing out all the dead bodies, ridding the city of the rubble, physical manpower of rebuilding in construction trades, assisting the medical teams and the like.
Trust me- not everyone will volunteer. But in exchange for their freedom- a labor force of 2-3 Million people, boots on the ground, is better than pants on the ground in jail.

Don't Laugh. I'm Serious. They need healthy able bodied laborers for heavy lifting.
Who wants to go and bury thousands of dead bodies?

Start asking prisoners in Florida, Texas and California where the climate is hot enough not to shock them if they went to Haiti.

We are feeding and housing them here anyway- they probably don't mind sleeping in tents-on a tropical island as opposed to the hell "hole" that they currently live in.
Put them to real seriously necessary use. Then give them freedom- parts of this country were built on indentured servants sent from England from the penal system. If it's good enough for North Carolina, it's good enough for Haiti.

This one's for you know who.

I prefer the Cote Du Rhone.

BECAUSE WE NEED SOME COMIC RELIEF NOW.

Catholic Relief Service Update on Action in Haiti

What One Org. is Doing With Your Bucks: (keep them coming)

We wanted to update you on the situation in Haiti and how Catholic Relief Services is responding. Almost immediately following the earthquake, CRS began delivering lifesaving supplies, including food and water, to desperate survivors. The supplies were already in place in CRS' Port-au-Prince warehouse.

"We are fortunate to have had water in our warehouse," says Karel Zelenka, country representative for CRS Haiti. "We also trucked in family food kits from Les Cayes."

CRS has a staff of 313 on the ground, with more personnel arriving daily. CRS Haiti's headquarters building was damaged but did not collapse. Until its structural integrity is assured, aid workers are working and sleeping outside in tents or cars.

Additional food will arrive soon. "Fifteen hundred metric tons of wheat and oil will arrive in port shortly," says Schuyler Thorup, Regional Director for CRS Latin America. "We will distribute it immediately."

In the neighboring Dominican Republic, CRS is preparing food packages to feed 50,000 people. The packages are five-gallon buckets loaded with ready-to-eat foods that don’t need to be cooked. CRS is also readying water storage containers, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, cookware and plastic sheeting in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

But we can’t do this without your help. We are asking you to please support our efforts to feed and shelter the earthquake victims in Haiti.

Your help is urgently needed. Please donate now.

If you have already given, we thank you so much for your generosity and ask that you consider deepening your support for the people of Haiti.

God bless you,

Ken Hackett
President
Catholic Relief Services (see the link for CRS below)

Why Late Is sometimes Not Better Than Never

Update:

The little 11 year old Haitian girl buried alive under rubble next to dead bodies whose face appeared linked everywhere trying to drink water, including below didn't make it. They got her out, her leg was mangled, she didn't last but a few days.
Moral of the story: If you are trying to save someone- there is such a thing as being too late. Time matters. It is critical and of the essence in fact. Dilitoriness is Deadly.

http://www.sphere.com/world/article/11-year-old-haitian-girl-rescued-in-haiti-dies/19319226?icid=mainsearch3dl1link5http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fworld%2Farticle%2F11-year-old-haitian-girl-rescued-in-haiti-dies%2F19319226

Get Your Contributions In Today.
They are counting on you.

If you know someone is waiting on you to do something, stop gazing at your naval and get moving. No more excuses.

There once was an IRS Agent who took a cut of everything he aggressively collected--until he met a guy named JESUS.

AND MATTHEW HAD SOME GOOD NEWS FOR US


When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32
and all the nations 15 will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37
Then the righteous 16 will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40
And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41
17 Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
44
18 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
45
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
46
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Links to More Organizations That Are Helping In Haiti:

PLEASE GIVE THEM YOUR SUPPORT

Organizations Helping With Haiti Relief
American Red Cross
Doctors Without Borders
AmeriCares Disaster Relief
International Medical Corps
Mercy Corps
Catholic Relief Services
World Vision International
UNICEF
Oxfam
Save the Children
Partners in Health
The International Rescue Committee
Samaritan's Purse
Friends of WFP
Feed My Starving Children

The FBI has cautioned : Beware of spoof or spam fraud links that have been set up to snooker you into putting in your credit card info. The group Bloggers United for Haiti has verified these links but if they were cleverly rerouted thereafter to spoof links we don't know about it. You may wish to put in the names of these orgs into google so their links come up or call the orgs before donating. Their numbers should appear on their sites.

MADONNA likes this org:



Presbyterians like this one: Presbyterian Disaster Relief.
http://www.pcusa.org/pda/

(I don't care where you worship-time to clean out your purse and get out your checkbook)

Candlelight Vigil for Haiti at the Haitian Embassy

THIS TUESDAY. Come With A Candle.
WASHINGTON, DC.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 4:30 pm

Embassy of the Republic of Haiti
2311 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20008

One week after the catastrophic earthquake, TransAfrica Forum and the Hip Hop Caucus ask that we gather in front of the Haiti Embassy in Washington, D.C., to show our support for the millions of people who have either lost lives, been severely injured or are left in the midst of the rubble in Haiti. To date, more than 50,000 Haitians have died, millions more are without sufficient medical help, food and clean drinking water. Aid assistance is hindered by the destruction of the port, hospitals and roads. Let us join in a candlelight vigil and unite our hearts with our 'family' in Haiti and resolve that we will stand with them. Haitians need our spiritual support now more than ever. Please bring a candle and invite your friends. We are gathering at 4:30pm and will hold a moment of silence at 4:53pm the exact time the earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince.

For more information or to become a sponsoring organization contact Joia Nuri jnuri@transafricaforum.org or 202-223-1960 ext 131.

Peace!!

Thought You Should Know

What Roe Actually Does Hold.
AND THE MARCH GOES ON.....AND THE MARCH GOES ON.........

There is so much misunderstanding about what the Roe v. Wade opinion actually holds that I thought it important to at least provide a synopsis of the holding. It is easily googlable- it is all over the web-Justice Blackmun's Opinion, in whole and part.
You are going to hear shouts on the Mall of "overturn Roe" and the like- from people who never read the opinion and do not have the first clue what it actually holds.


First let me tell you what it does not hold: That the US Supreme Court has definitively in this opinion stripped all protections away from the unborn. Nonsense. That is not what the opinion says.

I know it gets better press to sound hysterical, but that is just not what it holds. Do yourself a favor and please read the opinion before the March, especially if you are sporting a megaphone-so you don't look like a total TOOL or illiterate.

Here is what it does hold:

(a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician. Pp. 163, 164.

(b) For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. Pp. 163, 164.

(c) For the stage subsequent to viability the State, in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life, may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe (e.g. PROHIBIT , abortion except where necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother. Pp. 163-164; 164-165.

Are you still hysterical? Do you still think your characterization is accurate, because I am here to tell you that it is not.
The concerns balanced were the concern of potentiality for human life to be born post viability balanced with the fact that if a woman's mental or physical health were so compromised by a pregnancy that the pregnancy jeopardized both the woman and the fetus (if the mother died so does automatically the child) there is a balancing permitted in State regulation and prohibition legislation post viability.
-----------------
So Should Federal Health Care pay for anyone who wants one? No. Is every abortion done on someone with valid health based reasons? No. Has there been a total abuse of the ability to get abortions? Yes. Have about as many abortions been done since Roe as are uninsured in America? Yes.

So should you still March? Yes. Bundle Up. It's freezing out there.

WE HAVE ABORTED A POPULATION LARGER THAN THE SIZE OF CANADA.

Canada has between 33 and 40 Million people, we have aborted in a generation over 45 Million AMERICANS. We have ABORTED a COUNTRY sized population within our borders.

We are smart enough to figure out how to make it stop.

PRAY, JUST STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, AND PRAY

Yeah YEAH YEAH!! The Navy Is Going

This US Navy Hospital Ship is being deployed from Baltimore headed to Port-Au-Prince.

Now send in the Marines to get people out from under the Rubble.

http://www.sphere.com/world/article/us-military-ramps-up-haiti-aid-by-sea-and-air/19316760

DOCTORS

WITHOUT BORDERS ASSIST HAITI AND NEED YOUR HELP NOW

MEDECINES SANS FRONTIERS (Docs without Borders)

http://www.msf.org/

Dear Marian Helper,
The Holy Father and leaders from around the world are urging people to come to the aid of the people of Haiti, the Caribbean nation devastated by an earthquake on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The Marians are asking you to pray — particularly to pray the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy for those trapped, injured, homeless, and dying — and to please give whatever financial assistance you can to relief efforts. The full 100% of Haiti relief donations made through the Marians will be sent to Catholic Relief Services, which has mobilized an immediate aid response to Haiti in the form of food and supplies. Thank you for your prayerful consideration of how you can help. Yours in the Merciful Savior, Father Joseph

Mobilizing the Dominican Republican Missions for Haiti.

Foundation for Peace Calls
Urgent Help for Victims in Haiti

WWW.FOUNDATIONFORPEACE.org

Our Friends are in Desperate Need and
We are Prepared to Help!
The Haitian government does not have the capacity to help them. Who will help them? They are counting on us!
Foundation for Peace (FFP) staff and partners left Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic this morning with food for 1,000 Haitians and a generator to power a water purification system for people in the southeastern region of Haiti. While not in the worst hit area where the US government and large NGO's are working, these people are cut off from food and other supplies, have damaged homes and because the Haitians are no longer allowed to cross the border into the Dominican Republic for work, food, water, banking and other needs, these are really suffering.

Our funds for this crisis are limited and we need your financial support to continue providing help. In addition, we hope to begin collecting needed items to ship there and are planning for special mission trips in March to provide expanded personalized assistance. Contact Ken at ken@foundationforpeace.org if you are interested in collecting items and/or joining a mission trip.

We will send updates and photos as the FFP staff begins to report back to us. PLEASE send this email to as many people as possble, we need their help too.

You can learn more about the work of the FFP in Haiti on our website at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102943233853&s=53&e=001N7xZrpwalvua_Kh5glxpkfrlzH6OwJXWO1bXTBLzcH5JQcJHfohH4hXD0kts_X-L7EZ9_5fNR5EAbUR37TRSYrBZb-N-w9VPOQicKYpmbaa35MsBOxZbuIIp2bjier5aand see our video on our 2009 work in Haiti at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102943233853&s=53&e=001N7xZrpwalvtLut60QlXN97pRQJu6iyd2YYbeXIXlnMerCdbXJPtHJUSD3xQ9Qp8EQwxjD4ORIJAU9l02WL93QE7tZ8pNCXADZDIwlXbQrtPVpun6BiXGwTRgy0kpGkY3
There is a critical need for food, water & medical care!
You can help by donating money now and it will be made immediately available for the purchase of these items for the Haitian people!
Mail a check payable to Foundation for Peace to: Foundation for Peace, P.O. Box 424, Ironia, NJ 07845

or

Click here to donate on-line now!



Forward email

This email was by ken@foundationforpeace.org.

How Tiger Woods Can Try to Redeem Himself

Put those BiCepts To Work Lifting Rubble in Haiti- People are Alive Under There.

Heavy Losses For the Church In Haiti Declares Vatican Radio

Depuis le séisme, les bilans tardent à arriver tant les moyens de communications sont endommagés en Haïti. Dans un entretien accordé à l’agence Fides, de la Congrégation pour l’évangélisation des peuples, le nonce apostolique en Haïti, Mgr Bernardito Auza confirme que Port-au-Prince a été entièrement dévasté. La cathédrale, l’archevêché, toutes les grandes églises, tous les séminaires sont réduits à un amas de gravats. Des centaines de séminaristes et de prêtres seraient sous les décombres. Le Cifor, l’institut d’études pour les religieux et les religieuses, s’est effondré. Des étudiants participaient à une conférence à l’intérieur de l’édifice. Tous les ministères, à l’exception du ministère de la culture sont détruits, tout comme le parlement, les écoles, les commerces et le quartier général de la Minustah, la mission de l’ONU. La nonciature est toujours debout. Personne n’a été blessé. Le nonce apostolique a fait part de ses condoléances et de sa solidarité au Président de la République. C’est quoiqu’il en soit une véritable catastrophe pour Haïti et pour l’Église haïtienne, c’est ce que nous a confié le père Jean Patrick de l’archidiocèse de Port au Prince, étudiant à Rome depuis deux ans. Propos recueillis par Marie Duhamel.

TRANSLATION
Since the earthquake, the assessments (tolling the damage) arrive late as means of communication are damaged in Haiti. In a communication from the Agency for the Faith and Evangelization of Peoples the Apostolic Nuncio of Haiti, Msgr. Bernadito Auza confirmed that Port-au-Prince is completely devastated. The Cathedral, the Archbishopry (Rectory), all the large churches, the seminaries are all reduced to a mass grave. Hundreds of seminarians and priests are under the rubble.
The "Cifor" the Institute for study for the men and women religious has completely crumbled. Students were participating in a conference inside the structure. All the government Ministries with the exception of the Ministry of Culture have been destroyed including the Parliament, the schools, the businesses and the general area of the Minustah, the UN Mission compound.
The Nunciature still stands. No one was hurt. The Apostolic Nuncio gave his condolences and expressed solidarity to the President of the Republic. It is what is considered truly a catastrophe for Haiti and the Haitian Church, confided Jean Patrick, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, student in Rome for ten years. (report by Marie Duhamel, translation by Cynthia Louise Butler, Esq.)

Don't Just Sit There

Do Something.http://www.jrsusa.org/

If you are looking for great organizations to give relief to the efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, consider giving to these two organizations:
THE JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE (JRS)
http://www.jrsusa.org/

And Bill Clinton's Foundation is also moving funds there because Bill is the
UN special Envoy/Ambassador to Haiti.
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/


Cynthia Louise, In the past 48 hours, we've heard the heartbreaking stories and seen the harrowing images of people who remain without shelter, water, food or basic medical supplies in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake off the shore of Haiti. But the outpouring of support is reason for hope. If you've already donated, I am deeply grateful. Please consider making another gift and encouraging your friends and family to do so as well. The most important thing you can do right now is to give money. Small donations add up to big amounts. To see how you can help, please visit: http://e.clintonfoundation.org/t?r=1925&c=1930670&l=56657&ctl=2D31F90:96EA00AC7E3FC604497E0C6913DB934F2DF81CE5191D20B0& Yesterday I met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations to discuss the current situation on the ground in Haiti and the need for sustained focus through and beyond the immediate crisis. We must ensure the coordination of the United Nations, world governments, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals like you. As UN Special Envoy for Haiti, I have been monitoring the situation very closely. What we need right now is to find survivors in the rubble, bury those who did not live, get medical care and supplies to the hurt, food for the hungry, and shelter for the homeless. And once the emergency is over, we can start to rebuild. Together, we can make a tremendous difference in saving lives and sustaining them through this crisis. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your generosity at this critical time
Bill Clinton
UN Special Envoy for Haiti

The Clinton Foundation seeks to address some of the world's more pressing challenges -- such as HIV/AIDS, global climate change, and extreme poverty -- through collaborative and systematic effort.
William J. Clinton Foundation • 55 West 125th St. • New York, NY 10027
.
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/node/21374

This is ugly;
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/world/americas/15haiti.html?nl=us&emc=politicsemailemb1

I Believe In God The Father Almighty

Except when I have to say I don't really mean it to borrow a classroom for a meeting in San Francisco.

This is essentially what the Hastings Law School is requiring of the officers, directors and board members of the Christian Legal Society chapter if they want to operate on campus. Allow me to explain.

Today in a standard nondescript large sparse conference room atop a luxury office building in Washington, DC in one of the nation's premier international law firms, the Washington Chapter of the Christian Legal Society met to discuss the latest case that was granted Cert. by the Supreme Court on the issue of Freedom of Religion/Assembly/Speech concerning a religious organization.

The case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, brings the culture war to legal fisticuffs.
A spry slight law student named Isaac Wong who looks of some Chinese Ancestry, shyly told the crowd how, as the Chapter President of CLS, he was required by the University to sign off on the statement of non-discrimination that the San Francisco law school has regarding membership in its organization. Mr. Wong signed it with a qualifier. We don't allow people involved in sex outside "Marriage" as the State of California now defines it to be officer, directors or board members, because we think sex outside marriage is against our creed- the Apostles Creed that everyone who is a member signs to become a member. It is considered fundamental and foundational to calling one "Christian." It is eceumenical, it is approved language in the catholic, protestant and evangelical worlds and there is no discrimination with regard to the christian world for officer/director/board status. If you are rustafarian, muslim, jewish or athiest, you probably don't want to lead our group anyway. Little did the the diminutive Isaac Wong think that he was raising a firestorm at the heart of the Church-State divide dialogue. As a result of his statements to the authorities at Hastings law School, that CLS Chapter found itself persona-non-grata on campus. They were effectively expelled. Lets all meet at Starbucks instead, because the school is denying us ability to use it's space, we can't use campus listservs or bulletin boards to advertise activities, we can't set up a table or participate in the school activities fair to introduce all the 1Ls to the group and we can't say we are an official student group anymore. All because we don't let people who have intimate sexual relations with persons when they are not married lead us as officers, directors or board members. They can come to any meetings they want and participate in any events, they just can't lead us, because we don't think that is consistent with our creed.

Can a public school- in this case a State funded Law School, discriminate against organizations that discriminate against individuals in this fashion without running afoul of "free exercise" principes of the First Amendment?
Can a public school kick out the Newman Society if they don't allow non-catholics to be board members, the Hillel House if "Jews for Jesus" or catholics can't run the organization, Campus Crusade for Christ or Christian Athletic organizations if Wiccans or Athiests can't run it, or Intervarsity Christian Fellowship if Intervarsity Devils and Dragons clubs want to run it?

The Amici on this case should be as far and wide as there are religious beliefs, because no religious organization should concede to their being run out of town or off campus because they adhere to their principles- even when state funding is involved. Somehow it runs afoul of at least the principles of Title VII when the "student activities" general fund is doled out discriminatorily only to groups that allow adultery and the casual screwing around indiscriminately across sexual boundries. Call me old-fashioned.

The issue of having to sign off on a statement that you comply with the alleged oestensible non-discrimination practices of a State Agency should resonate with a recent controvery. The District of Columbia in their same sex marriage legislation kerfuffle has revolved around the fact that for Catholic Churches to get DC funding for its social services that they must similarly sign off on a generic statement that says that they comply with DC laws. They interpret this to mean that they have to give equal consideration to a same sex couple seeking to use adoption services as a male/female husband/wife couple who wishes to adopt in spite of the fact that they believe children are best served in the latter household. It is a fundamental religious belief regarding the nature of the best psychological/emotional health of families.

I thus expect that the Archdiocese of Washington, DC should be Amici in this CLS case- because it is not unforseeable that an opinion could touch on issues of states forcing statements of alleged "Non-Discrimination" that actually compel discrimination- Against the beliefs of the religious organization. Discrimination is in the eyes of the beholder.

Sororities discriminate against men in their memberships. Crew teams discriminate against the not so althletically inclined. Men's ultimate Frisbee teams discriminate against women,
Football teams discriminate against women who weight 110 lbs. They still all get student funding even in public universitites. It's just religious organizations that get the short end of the stick- as if scripture isn't inscribed in government buildings, as if God wasn't invoked at the opening of Congressional sessions by chaplains, as if the military never hired chaplain staff, as if the Creator of the "Created" wasn't on everyone's mind who signed the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence- where all men are deemed created equal----- even the ones who know the Creator exists and take it seriously.

H2o PRESS RELEASE


Pius XII’s secret network to help save Jews discovered Today, an exclusive interview with Fr. Giancarlo Centioni, the last living witness of the secret network created by Pius XII during the Second World War to help Jews escape from the Nazis persecution, will be published by H2onews (www.h2onews.org)The personal story of Italian Fr. Centioni is full of details about the people and places connected to the network since he worked as a military chaplain in in the National Security Volunteer Militia in Rome from 1940 until 1945 , a position that permitted him to help many Jews. “This network gave passports and money to Jewish families so that they could escape,” explained Fr. Centioni, “the money and the passports were handed over to Father Anton Weber”, one of the chief coordinators of the network, and then directly “to the people”. The legal documents and the money came “directly from the His Holiness’ Secretary of State, in the name of and paid for by Pius XII.”In support of Fr. Centioni’s testimony, hundreds of people who were assisted knew exactly where the help was coming from: "Pius XII helped them through us and other priests, by means of the Society of St. Raphael, as well as the German 'Verbiti Society' in Rome."Fr. Giancarlo Centioni’s case was discovered and then later investigated, comparing it with other testimonies, by the Pave the Way Foundation (http://www.ptwf.org), created by Gary Krupp, a Jew from New York. The account was confirmed with a medal awarded by the Polish government to Fr. Centioni while he was in exile – a cross of gold with two swords, ‘for our freedom and yours’.

H2onews is a Catholic news service available in 9 different languages, which covers the Holy See and the Church on a worldwide scale. Every day, its news videos are offered free of charge to Catholic television, web sites and radio stations throughout the world.


Greetings from the H2onews staffThe Staff of H2Onews



Pius XII's secret network to help save Jews discovered


Pope Pius XII created a clandestine network to save the lives of Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis. One of the members of this group is still alive: an Italian priest, Giancarlo Centioni, who was born in 1912. Between 1940 and 1945, he served as a military chaplain for the National Security Volunteer Militia in Rome and lived in a house of German priests who become involved in the network in order to save lives. Read more

When Rhetoric Runs Over Reason

People Shout About What they Know Not


This week we will see another mob scene on the Mall as the "March for Life' folks brave the
storms and sub-below wind chill to march on the US Supreme Court parading signs of delimbed
infants in utero to convince the Justices that what it legalized in Roe v. Wade is actually a form of infanticide that they wouldn't permit if they really knew what they were doing- because no one should think murder of voiceless infants an acceptable practice in the world-least of all a country that believes itself to be at the forefront of Freedom in the First Western World.

As usual, the percentage of people who have actually read the entire Roe v. Wade opinion walking on the mall will be very small- because mostly these are students bussed in from the suburbs and around the country for first a rally at the Verizon/MCI Center and then marshalled around by Friars and erstwhile Priests, none of whom have ever (a) fathered natural children or (b) supported a significant other-wife or girlfriend-who had natural children (these would be disqualifying factors of such high church service in catholic circles).

So the March on Life, without the depth of thought concerning what any punishment or deterrent should actually look like for an accidental or unwanted pregnancy for making it illegal, will be little more than a big WE LOVE KIDS proclamation (and who doesn't). It might as well be called the "MOM, FLAG, APPLE PIE and KIDS rally" for it's lack of substantive appreciation or analysis for the difficulty in crafting an opinion that considers all factors in outlawing the procedure- like, for example the following issues.

- What about the fact that anyone can self-abort or jump off a bridge, inject themselves with vinegar or other more lethal toxins to lose a child without anyone knowing and back alley butcher abortions were widely practiced when it was officially not legal. Thus illegal abortions can result in two deaths not one- that of the mother also whose death automatically causes the death of a fetus because we haven't invented artificial wombs yet.

- The Roe v. Wade opinion actually overturned a Texas criminal statute criminalizing women and letting the guys off scott free who caused the unwanted pregnancy so how do you square wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade with the equal protection principles that women should not be discriminated against vis-a-vis men who are equal culprits in making a pregnancy unwanted (lots of men actually coerce abortions when the result of their out of control lust because they don't want to have to deal with the oppressive child support regime in this country which results in locking up deadbeat dads who can't afford the adjudicated support.) How is that fair- or do you propose another penal scheme than the archaic one that Roe overturned?

Chris Matthews recently asked the Archbishop of Rhode Island- so do you favor locking women up and throwing away the keys if they have an abortion? At which point the Archbishop had nothing to say for himself.-----because no one in their right mind would want to victimize women twice by an oppressive unfair unjust penal scheme---particularly when a good percentage of abortions are on women who were conned by deceptive emotionally manipulative men who lied to them about loving them in the first place.

So knock youselves out parading around signed of ripped apart fetuses- like the US Supreme Court Justices haven't seen it a thousand times before and don't know what they are dealing with- because none of them must have daughters, families, or their own history of periods-- shed blood for the forgiveness of the sins of the men in their lives.

Simon Says

X-Marks the Spot.

No, it's not my first X rated post. Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol to start the X Factor."" Why am I paying any attention to any of this? Because I am secretly hoping that they will start a show to entice the plethora of Susan Boyles of the world to surface and strut their stuff under the moldy mothballs. I am secretly hoping that curmudgeonly lovable grump-meister Simon will make the X Factor about persons who used to be X-this or that and now are singing sensations. Like that one- the X-BBQ queen from Mississippi, or that one, the X-suburban Amway saleslady or Avon chick driving a pink Cadillac who now belts Judy Garland tunes to put Judy under the table. How about that guy who parked cars for the night-club in Philly- he is a singing sensation now and you wouldn't recognize him. He's doing duets that sound like Dean Martin before Martini madness set in channelling Frank Sinatra. How about that check out lady at Wholefoods? Look at her now, she is a wearing something that looks like Project Runway took a Pageant gown to the shredder. Minimum Age: 40 plus. You had to actually do and be something in your real life before your vocal chords were released like a lifer whose DNA just exonerated him.

Now there's a Pilot. Send me the Royalty checks.

Twitter

Is Stalking Me

It's starting to get a little creepy. I keep getting messages on the email linked to this blog that says 'so and so' "IS FOLLOWING YOU ON TWITTER." This is the automatic message one gets when someone signs up with Twitter by clicking on the T to the right on the
Ikons. I of course have no idea who you all are but thanks folks for reading- unless you are the Mob following me in which case I prefer you follow the guy with the stash of something nefarious hidden in the pizza dough.
I am starting to look furtively over my shoulder to see if there is someone following me. Maybe that guy is the so and so -maybe she is one of those "following me." Is it you?
Every time I get one of these messages I want to email back "Why?" or "Are you finished all the American Idol episodes?" because were you me or I you, I would prefer watching those than following me.
What do you all think I look like? Are you following lots of people or is it just me? Is it something I wore? My fantastic legs? Should I get a body guard?
I might have to think about getting a restraining order or civil protection order against Twitter. Unless of course Twitter is a lot less stupid than the name sounds and suggests- maybe you are following me so you can find out which are my favorite restaurants so you can invite me there when I make it to your city next. Yes, that's what I shall imagine. That and my legs are irresistible.
Still, its a bit creepy, isn't it?

Living La Vida Loca

I think I am going to Throw Up.

Forgive me Father for I have a problem with you. Did you see that priest whose name is actually "Pope" attempt to explain in the Catholic Standard (Jan.7 edition) the standard line "my girlfriend and I broke up so I became a priest" drivel? Aren't you tired of hearing priests talk about how they found solace, comfort and free room and board attempting to make the rest of us "Holy" when it didn't quite work out that they didn't get their own family life together and might have been too selfish to even have a solid working relationship with a woman on any intimate level? Hasn't anyone had visions of angels or the voice of the Lord actually call them? That's who I want to take spiritual guidance from- some guy who couldn't make it work out with his own girlfriend and bailed for the free wine and room and board-and feels compelled now to keep proclaiming his subliminal heterosexuality in case you were wondering.

Then there are the types who want you to call them "Father" or something more elevated (call no man "father") while saying essentially, hey- it's not my job to be friendly or learned or intelligent about anything, I am just supposed to dispense "grace." And this being not friendly and unlearned is somehow supposed to get you there. Why- because it's your job maybe to be a mean nasty ignorant jerk? In fact it's a job qualification for dispensing Grace not to have the first clue what basic courtesy means or what Love means on a real practical level? Was the edited out sentence: We practice on the lonely hearts club of post-menapausal women and then derride and mock them when we all go to dinner as being delusional off their rocker rockettes who are "unbalanced" like the sister who jumped the Pope and manipulate them into buying annuities and writing us in their wills. Nice. Because that's where I want to give all my money- someone who says- I am so superior to you that I don't even have to be nice to you to consider myself holier and deserving of your adulation because I went to Seminary for a few years with a few guys who couldn't make it work out with their girlfriends.

And they want all Episcopalian priests to turn "celibate."
Does anyone have any Pepto Bismal?

See, we want "Priests" who are all arrogant full of themselves self lauditory A-holes who thrive on titles, prestigue and dispensing Grace with a flip snarl and the occassional act of insane nastiness such as might soon get someone locked up in France (they are working on a new law where psychological and verbal abuse in the home is criminally prosecutable) Call the cops- on all the women. All the women must be insane to insist that this is pathetically unchristian.

And you think these women are "unstable?"
I must have read this somewhere. Jesus loves men who only like themselves- Really. That's the message. I must have read that in the gospel or letters of Saint Peter somewhere before Peter's mother in law jumped up from her death bed and served Jesus for saving the matriarch of that Pope's extended family.

CHARACTER. CHARACTER CHARACTER.
It means you have the first friggin clue what Honor and Respect means.

THE YEAR OF THE "PRIEST"- OYE VEY. Call me when the party is over.

I am reminded.

Let love be genuine;
hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection;
outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

- Romans 12:9-13