You may notice the new sidebar link to Amazon for their new "Kindle" which I mentioned in a post below somewhere. I used to have quite a few Amazon links on my sidebar, but they never amounted to much. However, they are paying a pretty good referral fee for the Kindle. We could use the extra dough this time of year, so I figured I'd put it up there.
I don't think I'd buy one myself if I had the money, but if you have a hankering for one, please buy it here!
Now back to our regular programming.
But God promised to send a Redeemer-for this reason. Man (Adam) had offended an Infinite Person, so the sin was infinite. But man is not infinite, so he can't make infinite atonement or reparation. He could do nothing to merit restitution, since he lost sanctifying grace; therefore the only Person who could make adequate restitution is an an Infinite Person. No creature (created) could do this. No creature can offer an infinite prayer to God.
So, God planned that the redeemer would be God the Son, who could offer infinite restitution for man. But now Redemption can't come to all men through Adam, but to each individually (emphasis in original - ed.) through God the Son.
The promise is duly recorded in the Old Testament.
The time for the coming of the Redeemer was chosen such that man would want a Redeemer and be prepared for Him-when man had learned from bitter experience that their nature is weak and their pride should be humbled.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost speaks through the inspired writers and prophets, "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and his name will be Emmanuel" (God with us or he who is to come). Christ is both God and man-perfect humanity, perfect human nature. His human nature is essentially like ours.
Stay tuned for the final installment next time.
Oremus pro invicem!
I spent yesterday putting books up on the internet. Boy, I hate it-it is the worst of sitting in front of a computer all day! At the same time, I found myself looking around the house for items to put on ebay when I came down for dinner. Not a good sign!
One thing I did come up with is some Rock 'n Roll era records in the 78 RPM format. I have alot of 78's from my father and from my old days of searching thrift shops. But I am not a collector. I only bought things I liked to listen to.
However, some years ago, I did buy a portable (as in wind-up) "picnic" 78 rpm phonograph which included 4 or5 78's by artists from the 50's: Johnny Mathis, Fats Domino, the Jive Bombers, etc. Played them once, then put them away. Hmmm.....
Enough about ebay and on-line selling-its driving me crazy after just two days. Can't wait til the junk is cleared out.
************************
But speaking of music, I think that we sing more now than we did when we lived in the city (Columbia), but we play less records and dance less. Part of this is a space thing, and part a time thing.
Our house in the city had a little more space and thus the record player was always sitting out just begging to be turned on. And, if it was turned on, more than likely dancing would take place.
We also have a few more chores here, with the livestock, etc., so getting out the records plays second fiddle. However, Mrs. Curley and I would like to do more dancing as we did in the past. But we do more singing. It is not as good physical exercise as dancing, but it is great spiritual exercise.
Oremus pro invicem!
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us!
November is winding down and thus you have only a day or so left to take advantage of the deep discounts on quantity purchases of the Holy Souls prayer booklets: Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering-a daily committment to praying for the holy souls in purgatory.At Requiem Press we have made it our apostolate to promote prayers for the holy souls in purgatory through the free distribution of this booklet with every order. Periodically we discount it so that others can share in this apostolate by purchasing it in quantity and giving them out or leaving them at train stations, or whereever one leaves them properly.
There is my final pitch for November....
May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. And may perpetual light shine upon them. Amen
I am starting a "new business" this morning: selling used books on the internet. We have some around here to get rid of, and we "inherited" some.
There are several sources for used books on the internet. I have always used http://www.abe.com/ for my used book searches and purchases. But ebay and Amazon Marketplace are two other places many people go.
Some of the books we have to sell are commonplace with little value, and some could be collector's items. I need to feel my way carefully as this is all new to me.
Hopefully this isn't a long term endeavor, just a way to get rid of some stuff.
We also have a 1989 Subaru with a shot body and a great engine. We want to disassemble the engine and sell the parts on ebay.
*****************
Speaking of books-since I am already in the business, I have doing a lot of thinking lately. The recent release of Amazon's Kindle, and the general change in how people are entertained and get their information has gotten me thinking about the future of books.
Now I am a book-lover, and I suspect there will always be a certain number of book-lovers. But we are getting rarer. As a publisher, should I start going to audio books?; e-books?; Kindle books (however that works?); Podcast books?
These are things to think about. I am not shy about learning things and new technology. Publishing was totally new to me in 2004 and I think I am getting the hang of it. Your opinions are welcome (via 'email me').
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
When God created Adam, among other things, He gave him sanctifying grace, which transforms man's nature to a higher order (not really in Adam's nature) and allows him a real participation into the nature of God, i.e. it enables him to perform supernatural acts to merit his supernatural reward-perfect happiness.
When Adam fell, he lost the sanctifying graces, as well as bodily immortality, freedom from concupiscence (integrity), and freedom from pain.
In Adam was contained all men-the father of all men. Just as all of us today, suffer or profit from the failures or success of our fathers, so, the human race with respect to Adam-like hot dog stand. So we lose all the gifts-not really in our nature since they're supernatural and preternatural-so we inherit the sin: Original sin, i.e. lack of grace = sin.
My comment: I don't have any idea what the "hot dog stand" referred to. I imagine he had an example in mind he was going to use. I am not editing, I am transcribing, so you get it all.
Oremus pro invicem!
It is a disappointment, but do look for it early in the new year.
In the meantime, we have other books which would make fine Christmas gifts....
Okay, so the Massuchusetts legislature is considering outlawing spanking for children under 18. (See story here):
If signed into law, parents would be prohibited from forcefully laying a hand on any child under age 18 unless it was to wrest them from danger, lest they be charged with abuse or neglect.
So we can spank our older children? Or is that just covered under a different law?
Now that the Massachusetts legislature had failed in its duty regarding the definition of marriage, they are poised to start micromanaging parenthood. Great! Do we need a Constitutional Amendment that allows parents to be parents?
Let's see, we can't outlaw killing babies, and we no longer define marriage as union between one man and one woman. (Why then is polygamy still against the law then? Oh that's a different subject entirely.) So, why is the anti-spanking legislation a surprise? It is the next logical step to break the family. Put the parents in jail and have the state raise the children.
The world is wacky. My kids are going to have a lot more obstacles in raising their children than we've had. Whew!
Everything is turned upside down. There is a tendency in the our society to celebrate youth and physical beauty over wisdom and charity. Or do I understate?
**************************
So every morning I access my email and get several emails (more like 50) with a subject line like this: ðÒÉÇÌÁÛÁÅÍ ÎÁ ËÕÒÓÙ. Now why would anyone open such an email-especially if you have 50 of them in your inbox? Yet they come overnight like clockwork.
**********************
Been reading another issue of Invention and Technology. The Fall 2006 issue (yes I am reading back issues-but because it is history, it stays current.) has an amazing article on how the Hoover (Boulder) Dam was built. I had really never seen pictures of it or realized how mamouth the structure was. And think of it, this project was completed ahead of schedule!!!
On to work....
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
From bits and pieces, one could come to the conclusion that it (the Church-ed) is unscientific, or unreasonable in its demands, irrational in its beliefs, or too rational (too good to be true), too militant-only men as priests, too soft-the many women who are religious, too humble-Christ's humility and that of the martyrs, to proud (pomp and ceremony), etc. But it is none of these. For example, the Church can't clash with science because God made the world, and the men of science can only find what god made; it can't clash (i.e. the Church and science-ed). The conclusions they draw may be different from the truth, but it is because they only see bits and pieces.
What I hope to do is to review, without much explanation, and without proof, God's plan for man.
God, perfect, infinite and limitless, created things in various orders of being. God, being God, is not a creature, was never created, but exists for all time, with no time dimension.
His highest order of creation is the angels, purely spiritual beings. The lowest order of being are the inorganic material things: non-life, stones, water, etc. The next highest order is life, not sensual life: plants, trees, flowers, etc. The next higher order are sensual beings: animals, fish, birds, etc. The next highest order are rational beings-men.
Each higher order of being possesses more perfect activity. All of the creatures mentioned fulfill necessarily their destinies without choice, except man.
Only man has both material body and immortal soul. He has intellect and will: intelligence or the ability to know God, and will or the ability to choose God and/or other things. His intellect is always seeking truth in one form or another. His will is always seeking good in one form or another. He seeks all truth and all good for(?) an infinite end. these things can never be completely satisfied in the world no matter how much he knows or how many things he chooses.
In essence, it is God's plan that these two desires be completely fulfilled in the next world, when they contemplate god, who is or contains all truth and all good. then will man's soul be completely happy. The measure of happiness obtainable by any soul will be determined by man's life on earth. All souls in heaven will be completely happy, but some will be capable of more happiness than others.
Nearly full male and female nudity, sexual references and innuendo, period bawdiness, adultery, implied non-marital encounters, intense violence with gore and a suicide. Possibly acceptable for older teens. (my emphasis-so you won't have to read it twice.)
putting up a picture of my Dad. My sister, when she came down this weekend, brought some notes of some talks my father was planning to give that my Mom must have dug in cleaning things out. It is unclear where and under what circumstances some of the talks were to be given. They were not connected to his work (he was a physicist employed by the government for most of his career.)
For instance, one of the papers seems to be written about 1964 (that date appears on the back of the page amongst other scribblings), yet the paper itself is letterhead from his graduate school and thus would date to several years earlier. The talk is entitled: "God's Plan for Man's Salvation" and opens thus:
Catholic doctrine is a very complex subject and involves all of eternity as well as all aspects of the human race from Adam, the first man, to the present and includes the future. Under various aspects and discussions, it is concerned with such things as history, physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, anthropology, psychology, etc., not just on the surface, but into the essential and basic truths which these subjects have discovered and will discover. Because of its complexity, it is possible to discuss Catholic doctrine under many aspects and come out with a totally wrong idea of what it is all about-its intentions, basic meanings, etc. However, actually when viewed totally, Catholic doctrine is one thing, completely organized, completely intelligible, essentially (in essence) all meaningful and continuous-i.e. completely reasonable to the human mind, when viewed in its entirety.
I haven't read further, but I can't wait to read the rest....
Oremus pro invicem!
Recall a week or so ago I posted a mother's comment about the "Talking about Touching" program the archdiocese of Boston is forcing on the first-graders as their response to the scandal (read: insurance companies). Well here is a new installment from my contact in Boston:
One mom just called me in tears because for the last few weeks her 6 year old son has been markedly less affectionate and when he again refused to kiss her goodbye yesterday she asked why. He told her repeatedly that "it is not appropriate". He also has been displaying a very strong fear of strangers of any kind even though his mom is close at hand. He has always been a very warm, outgoing, happy, trusting little guy.
This is sad and an outrage. But parents need to be aware of what's going on. If every parent in the Catholic schools (or if even 50%) opted out and protested, these programs would quickly die. Some parents are seeing results of these programs immediately, like this mom. Others will see the result down the road.
God have mercy on us!
Wow! lots of things happened here, as I am sure everywhere else. Before Thanksgiving, I spent a couple days finding places to build storage areas (one thing we lack an abundance of here at Bethany). I found two places: one in the upper stairwell where I put some shelves; and on the hearth in the den, where I put up shelves/bookcase. I need to put some closet spaces in the eves, but that is a more intense project which we didn't have time for. Every year it seems I have a Thanksgiving week project. It has become somewhat of a tradition.
My sister arrived for her annual Thanksgiving visit on Wednesday. She has come every year we have been in SC except the first, when we traveled. Once again, it was a wonderful visit.
Thanksgiving day, besides my sister we had 2 friends from our parish share the meal and the day with us. But before we get to that, I must mention our annual Turkey Bowl.
This year, we had a new full time player on our team: my youngest son. (I think he played a bit last year, but not much.) So the teams were: numbers 1 and 2 sons versus myself and number 3 and 4 sons. This gave us the advantage of an extra player, but in return, our quarterback couldn't run. So it evened things out a bit. We also narrowed the field a little for two reasons. The 'out of bounds' used to be the driveway on one side and the cedar trees on the other. This made the field almost as wide as long. Running into the cedar trees is no fun, and running into the driveway is a potential knee problem as there is a drop-off at some points. (Confidentially, narrowing the field also helps an aging player like myself to have a better shot at stopping a long run by a teenage boy.)
Let's review a little history on the Turkey Bowl. It is a timed game, and as such is usually shorter than most of our games (as there is usually plenty to do on Thanksgiving morning). Can't say how many years we have played it, but it has been quite a few. My team won the first few years. Then we had a few years of ties. When we moved to Bethany, my team returned to its former glory and sneaked out a win two years ago. Then last year we were blown out (57-28). We didn't want that to happen again and had been practicing some new plays.
We took the early lead, but couldn't capitalize (my fault on two plays) on what should have been an easy score on our third possession (which would have put us up by 2 TD's early.) So by halftime we were down by 2 scores.
With 2 minutes left in the game, we were down 7-5 (or 49-35), but we had the ball on our opponents 5 yard line (2nd and goal). They stopped us 3 times, and then went on to score once more as we played a gambling defense. It was a close game with some good moments. Number 2 son made some spectacular catches he wouldn't have made in the past. Number 3 and number 4 son made some good runs.
Now back to the weekend: We had our usual turkey fair, but six deserts this year. Apple pie via son Matthew (absolutely delicious), pistachio pudding, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, a devils food cake/chocolate pudding/Irish creme extravaganza, and yum-yum bars. What a feast!
Saturday after my sister left, we had more friends over. We weren't sure we'd have enough turkey, so we quickly slaughtered two chickens and popped them in the oven. (How convenient!)
Sunday after Mass, we finally spent some time alone together winding down. We watched a movie with popcorn and played a game as a family.
So this morning it is back to work. The first thing I did was to go through email-deleting thousands of spam messages.
I hope everyone had as great a weekend as we did.
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us ... Oremus pro invicem!
In case I stop back in, Happy Thanksgiving!
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
Interesting article this morning on Advent and Christmas on Catholic Exchange . Here's a piece:
Stand in contradiction to the premature revelry and the misguided festivities. Give the world over to the world. Go into your rooms, shut the doors and pray — pray for fidelity, pray for oblation, pray for true peace. Such an example to our children would be far more helpful than to demand that the world pay lip-service to a God it will not honor. It didn't receive Him upon His birth, and now it mocks Him on His annual feast. Branding the mockery as "Christmas" only heaps scorn on our Beloved.
I am not sure if I agree totally with this different perspective (read the whole thing)-but prayer always should be our first recourse; and she has this right. (Read the whole article here ).
I neglected to mention that the most recent issue of Catholic Men's Quarterly landed in my mailbox last week. It was a particularly good issue. Maybe my favorite was Thomas Storck's piece on the purpose of property:
As I noted above, when something has a purpose, that purpose acts a limit on its use. The purpose judges and controls the morality of the thing or action accoridng as it suse contributes to or detracts from its end.
Get yourself a subscription!
There was an article in the November Catholic World Report I wanted to comment on, but have not yet found the time.
And as for my next installment of the "The Ways of God" - for fathers: I missed my self-imposed Friday (last) deadline, and now with Thanksgiving looming it will probably be another week or so.
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us!....Oremus pro invicem!
We slaughtered, dressed and ate the first 2 chickens from our current flock on Thursday evening. The chickens being young made a world of difference in the tenderness. Number 3 son caught the chickens. I broke their necks. All the boys plucked And I dressed it. Mrs. Curley cooked it.
Picked our first crop of turnips and turnip greens on Thursday also. I don't know if it is because Mrs. Curley forgot they were on the stove and boiled them much longer than usual, or if there is another reason, but these were good. I usually can barely tolerate them.
Friday night we went to the premiere of The Spirit of Freedom. It was an extremely well-done and a very professional presentation. It did unsettle one a bit to see your own children playing dead or being killed on screen. But since they were with us in the arts center, you knew it was okay.
Saturday morning flea market: after the price of the table, gas, and two cups of coffee, we probably cleared $11.15-but we got rid of a whole lot of junk. Disappointing? Yes. but now we know.
Finally, Mr. Culbreath is back with some great news!
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us .... Oremus pro invicem!
for an announcement about ... Comments
As a reminder, I don't allow comments per se, but you can email me via the link above my name. I will respond and may refer to it or publish it in a subsequent post.
If you do email me, make sure you use subject line in the email which either mentions the blog or the particular entry. (If you the subject line says anything about replica watches or certain medical products, you can be sure I won't read it.) Somehow spammers have identified this email address, and I am getting a little spam-sure to grow. Some of the spam comes under a blank subject line.
Thanks. Now back to the regular programming already in progress.
Rain! Looks like we got some last night. And it is drizzling a bit today. We are supposed to slaughter a couple chickens today for dinner tonight. Can't believe I am saying this (cause we need the rain so badly), but I hope the rain stops for a while so we can pluck the chicken in dry weather. (Pic is my youngest with one of the future dinners taken a month or so ago.)
Plan on picking the first batch of turnips and turnip greens today also. Maybe we will have a totally homegrown dinner!!!
We have rented a table at the Camden Flea Market for Saturday. For a $10 investment (cheaper than an ad in the paper for a yard sale) I think it will be more successful than our past yard sales. Mostly we have junk-but that always seems to sell the best. And I will try to sell my walking sticks and our wreaths again-but I am not too hopeful. But it should be a fun day regardless.
Finally, my next installment of "The Ways of God" - for fathers is almost done. I would look for it tomorrow.
Oremus pro invicem!
I was looking through some notes the other day from years back and found some commentary on this:
Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light. - Matt 11: 29-30
There are so many agrarian references in Holy Scripture because it was an agrarian society. This isn't true for most of us today, so sometimes the full meaning of the reference slips by us-as was the case for me on this passage. 
I think we all know what a yoke is: it is a shaped wooden beam with means to bind or attach to the head of oxen (or horses). The purpose of the yoke is to direct the oxen in their field tasks. A beast in a yoke can not go their own way; their direction is controlled by their master
When Christ calls us to take up His yoke, I always viewed it as a cross, made "light" by Christ's help. But this forgets the purpose of a yoke-which is not of a burden, but of direction.
Christ's yoke is more of our willingness to be directed by Him-by the will of God. Taking on Christ's yoke is conforming our will to God's-opening ourselves to His action in our life; not going our own way, but being guided by His will. This is why the yoke is sweet and the burden light-because we are walking under God's direction, according to His will.
Another way to view all this may be what Fr. Lee Selzer (may his soul rest in peace) once told me (speaking of each of us): "My life is not about me; my life is about Christ."
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
Here is a group ensemble picture from our All Saints Day party a couple weeks ago.
Please pray for a gentleman in our parish and also a great friend of mine who had a heart attack two days ago. Procedures have been done and recovery is in the works, but at 81, every prayer helps.
Oremus pro invicem!
Several weeks ago Mrs. Curley borrowed the movie "Funny Farm" from the library. It is a Chevy Chase movie from the '80's. We are not big fans of his, but Mrs. Curley thought the plot had potential. (Viewer caution: a couple instances of crude language and implied sexulity, however within the the context of marriage.)
As we watched the previews of "upcoming" attractions, which included every stupid comedy made in 1988-9, I looked at Mrs. Curley and asked here if she really wanted to watch this. We decided to give it a try-after all, it was already 2 weeks overdue at the library.
It turned out to be very funny (at least for us) throughout-except a 10 minute really dead spell about 3/4's of the way through.
It may not strike the funny bone of everyone-but for Mrs. Curley and I, it was personal. Here's the deal. This couple decides to leave the city and buy a farm in the country. They buy a dog who eats their ducks and then runs off. (Our dog ate the chickens and ran off.)
Every time something goes wrong, husband talks about "the early settlers" and wife replies that the early settlers only lived to be 29. (Everytime we hit a setback here, I told Mrs. Curley that 100 years ago they didn't have .... and she would reply that this was why people didn't live as long 100 years ago.)
For us, it was hilarious. Several times we had to rewind to hear what we missed while laughing.
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us ... Oremus pro invicem!
As mentioned in my last post yesterday, Senator Brownback was to have conference call with SC supporters to explain his endorsement of John McCain yesterday. I did participate (at least by listening in) on the the call.
I won't record all the details, just my impressions.
Senator Brownback impressed me with his grasp and committment to life issues. For example, he understood that the time to pass a marriage amendment was when this first became an issue a couple years ago: then there was a public will and momentum (just as the best chance to pass a human life amendment was in 1973). If you don't act right away, people get used to the idea. Then it takes 20-30 years for people to see the consequences of these things. He understood these things well. (He commented we are now beginning to win the abortion issue, but are losing the marriage issue.)
Senator Brownback understood that there are problems with Senator McCain's positions on stem cell research and the marriage amendment, (and this is where I part company with Senator Brownback) but that he endorsed him as the most pro-life candidate who was electable. (This is essentially what NRLC said about Senator Thompson yesterday in their endorsement.)
Other topics and candidates were addressed, but I will leave my comments here. I'm glad I listened in.
Oremus pro invicem!
This subject has been on my list to blog about since the news last week. Reports from yesterday have moved it up on the list.
Today's (reported) National Right to Life (NRL) endorsement of Fred Thompson is one more sign that a fully pro-life president is a long way off, and maybe never achievable. Every one is a pragmatist it seems.
Let's take a look: Last week Sen. Brownback endorsed Sen. John McCain. Brownback was supposed to be the pro-life champion in the race. Yet 8 years ago NRL wouldn't endorse McCain because of suspect pro-life credentials, and these credentials have suffered since then: he supports embrionic stem cell research. (There is a conference call today for SC supporters of Sen. Brownback where he will explain his endorsement. If at all possible, I hope to be in "attendence".
Then Pat Robertson endorses Rudy Guiliani! Unthinkable. (No more comment necessary.)
Now, just a week after Fred Thompson proclaims that he doesn't think abortion should be made illegal, NRL endorses him.
Yet there are still at least 2 bonafide pro-life candidates in the Republican field. (Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee).
This isn't the general election where you might need to settle for the lesser of two evils. This is before the primaries have even started.
I think these endorsers are afraid that if they back a loser they will become irrelevant; they don't want to test their influence or power.
Yet, in my book, they become irrelevant when they fail to endorse based on principle-especially NRL.
Oremus pro invicem!
Today is the feast of St. Stanislaus Koska (on the traditional Roman calendar). St. Stanislaus Koska is also my father's name saint, and this is the day Dad was buried. So we do celebrate this day here at Bethany.
It's always been a mystery to us why my Irish father was named after a Polish saint. Some say the Doctor delivering him influenced the decision. We just don't know.
I couldn't find a picture of St. Stanilaus on the internet, and I am too lazy to go get the icon we have downstairs and scan it in. But if you want to know more about him, the best source is always theThe Catholic Encyclopedia. Read the article on St. Stanislaus Koska here.
St. Stanislaus Koska - Pray for us!
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-Pray for us!
Oremus pro invicem!
Recent Hollywood productions filmed in and around Rock Hill the past few years ... are all still waiting to be released in theaters. But (Zac) Brakefield, an 11th-grade Rock Hill homeschooled student, will debut the 30-minute feature film he wrote and directed Friday night at the Center for the Arts in downtown Rock Hill.
"The Spirit of Freedom" is a fictional tale set during the Revolutionary War, starring Zac and 22 other youths and adults from Rock Hill, Lancaster and other parts of South Carolina. All of the scenes were filmed in Rock Hill, at Andrew Jackson State Park and in the Kershaw County town of Bethune.
The story is focused on a small South Carolina town during the Revolutionary War. When British forces descend upon the colonial village, its citizens are faced with a choice: pack up and flee or stand strong to fight the enemy.
Read the whole thing here (you may have to register. I didn't have to register the first time, but the second time I looked for the story I had to register.)
Oremus pro invicem!
Sunday morning at Mass, Father John explained why there is no marriage in Heaven. There are two purposes to marriage: procreative and unitive. In Heaven, we are more intimately united to God and each other than we ever could have been on earth in a marriage, AND there is no longer any need for more procreation. For some reason I never thought of this before. Now it makes sense. (A piece on Catholic Exchange this morning makes the same point.)
************
This week: another busy one as usual. Of course I need to sell some books. We also have to start slaughtering chickens this week. We can't do them all in one day and freeze them because this is the week Mrs. Curley usually gets a bunch of turkeys on sale at the grocery store and stocks the freezer. So we will slaughter and eat; slaughter and eat, one day at a time.
Next year I think we may try to raise a couple turkeys so we can have our own.
Price of milk is so high we are thinking of getting goats. Now this won't actually save us any money, but at least we will spending our money in different places (i.e. the feed store instead of the cheapest grocery store.)
From the documentary's website a journalist has traveled with Fr. Linsky to a FOB in Afghanistan via Black Hawk:
There, in the center, Sergeant Robinson set up a table for the altar and two rows of chairs. Seven soldiers showed up and the chaplain took off his army shirt and slipped on his priestly garb – a white alb that covered him almost to his boots with a stole around his neck, a cross sewn at its center point. Linsky kissed the cross then lifted the stole over his head and settled it around his neck. In middle of nowhere, with a congregation of seven people who were thousands of miles away from their homes, Linksy intoned chants and the hymns as though he were in a cathedral.
What a picture this paints. God bless our chaplains. (This reminds me to look into the Chaplain's museum at Fort Jackson in Columbia as a possible field trip for the altar boys....)
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
Last week and before I detailed my progress on a rosary box I was making as a gift. I am quite proud of it (at the same time trying to remember that our successes are God's and our failures our own). It may be the best box I have ever made. So here are some pictures. (Unfortunately, I am better at making boxes than at taking pictures.)
The top and keys are cherry. The sides are maple. A miraculous medal is inset into the the front of the box, and a Franciscan crucifix is inset into the top.
Then there is a picture of me working on the box. I was clearing out the mortises for the hinges with number 2 son looking on, when our new kitten decided to take her resting place on my shoulders. She sat there until I got up. 
Final picture is the music/trinket box I made for my daughter last Christmas. The wood is poplar with the "T" inlaid (and the keys) in Philippine mahogany.
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
Today is the 8th anniversary of my father's passing from this world to the next. He was a good man and a good father. It is ironic, because his own father died when he was an infant. Yet he seem to have an instinct for fatherhood. 
DEUS, qui nos patrem et matrem honorare praecepisti: miserere clementer animae patris mei eiusque peccata dimitte : meque eum in aeternae claritatis gaudio fac videre. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
[O God, who hast commanded us to honor our father and mother: in Thy mercy have pity on the soul of my father and forgive him his trespasses; and make me to see him again in the joy of everlasting brightness. Amen.]
**************
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen. — Eternal rest grant to them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
The old website (http://www.requiempress.com/) and email addresses are finally back this morning. My new website has gone into hibernation until such time as it is needed again. While I lost of few days of valuable time, I did learn several things, both abstract and practical. - God's will be done!
I thank everyone for their patience. I am going to leave this notice on top for at least today. New posts will appear below.
I slowed as quickly as I could, but the 3rd deer was determined to get across even through my car. It ran into my front quarter just behind the headlight and then we hit it or ran over part of it towards the back end.
After stopping and acertaining everyone was okay (one son bumped his head on the window) we turned around to look for the deer. There was a pool of blood, but no deer either in the road or on the side. Maybe it went into the woods to die.
There is some damage. I don't know how major the damage is yet, but later today I will get underneath and see. The front driver's wheel is extremely close to the wheel well and I hear a clinking when I drive it. Plus the front quarter and driver's door is dented.
Thanks be to God everyone is okay!
As you may recall, Mrs. Curley hit a deer 3 years ago. That one totaled our mini-van (at least temporarily). Last night I was driving a mini-van. Maybe they are deer magnets.
Of course this is the "safety program" used by many dioceses including the archdiocese of Boston to satisfy the insurance companies and the secular media that they are "doing something" about sexual abuse by priests.
Here is what a mother told me was contained in the first grade program this year:
But the material she (the teacher) is supposed to cover is so graphic and alarming that I couldn't be at peace knowing what the intended lesson was. They had an uncle attempting to undress along with his nephew and you can guess his intentions, a child who comes into school beat up by her mother, and a little girl who is fondled by a friends big brother. It's almost like by presenting these scenarios to kids of this age they are almost inflicting abuse.
And here is the immediate result:
I have been approached by a few parents whose children have had backlash from the program, such as one little girl whose Mom didn't know about TAT and had two little boys pull down her pants shortly after having the class.
Judge for yourself. I don't believe I even have to comment.
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
The one who speaks is to deliver God's message. - 1 Peter 4: 11
or it is rendered in another tranlation:
If any man speak, let him speak, as the words of God. - 1 Peter 4:11
It reminded me of something St. Paul writes:
...but be ye filled with the holy Spirit, Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father - Ephesians 5:18-20
Seems there is a trend here. It's not just that we speak charitably and without malice, it is that we speak (and write) praising God and in the words of the psalms-to each other! This is really not part of our culture. It seems it was the culture of the early Christians. How do we make it part of ours?
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
Update: More progress-I have figured everything out, and now just need to finish implementation. There are a few books ready to purchase by paypal. The rest should be up by tomorrow noon.
The new website is in progress. You can view it by clicking here . The Requiem Press links on my side bar now direct you to the new site. And I have a gmail account now-so you can email me now by clicking the "email me" link above the "About Me" box.
Paypal isn't up yet on the new site, so you can't buy books yet-but hopefully I will have that resolved "soon".
Moving forward ... I know my old site will be back as soon as I complete this one!!!!
Oremus pro invicem!
Update: It's not only me. I came across this site this morning. They claim over 200,000 websites are down and wonder why the mainstream media has no stories on it.
I don't mean to keep harping on this website and email thing-but they're still down and no real time-frame to the fix. First it was "3-4 hours"; then it was "shortly"; last evening it was: "I can't tell you how long, but it will be soon." (Is "soon" more or less time than "shortly"?)
I am not sure how all these things work, but I got my domain name and website/email from a webhosting company. Apparently many, many webhosting companies get something from this larger company (Navisite) -I am not sure of the connection. But the problem is with Navisite. Last night I sneaked my way into a conference call meant for the webhosting companies-not website owners like me. Boy were the webhosting companies mad.
I didn't understand everything that was being said, but I could understand things like, "You guys need to find some expertise. You are running into problems and have no plan and have no idea what you are doing." and "I have over 2000 customers with websites down, and you have no idea what's going on or how to fix it." and "Every server you get running knocks one down that was already running. You are making no progress. There is a fundamental problem and you guys don't know what you are doing."
You see the trend. So I am taking some proactive steps before RP goes out of business.
First, by the end of the day, or tomorrow I will have a new "website" up. I started working on it last night. It is a blog, and will simply have one entry for each of our releases with the blurb and price etc., and a Paypal button. Simple, but at least it will put me back in business.
Secondly I will be getting a new email and putting it up in the corner where my old email is now. Of course I don't have a list of my old email addresses, so it will be slow.
In the long run though, at least I'll have a back up next time.
All this may mean I will be scarce today as I have my normal stuff to do also, and it is CCD night. I'll check in when I can as progress is made. (My next The Ways of God should post by weeks' end or "shortly", whichever comes first.)
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
Well, email and website are still down. I feel blind after a sorts.
I posted a few days ago that I had put up my 1,000th post. I am not sure this is accurate. When you look at the blogger dashboard, they count drafts also. I have a number of drafts never finished and some I never will. There are a handful that I posted and later retracted and have kept at draft status.
If I take all these drafts into account, then I have only posted 989 (this is 990) posts.
So if you had been celebrating, you get to do it again in a few days when I really hit 1000.
Oremus pro invicem!
First, email and my website are still down. Basically they have both been down since Friday. That means no book orders. I wonder what is happening to the hundreds of spam emails that come to me every night and weekend. Will they all get returned as 'undeliverable' or are they waiting in a que somewhere to be delivered? It is frustrating. I am told that all will be back to normal "shortly". Of course I was told that twice yesterday too. Oh well, I have other things to do than than to monitor my email and fill orders.... (But what if there's a book emergency and no email to troubleshoot?????)
Those waiting impatiently for my next installment of "The Ways of God" for fathers-never fear. The next article is coming along and should be up "shortly". I am a little late because of the next item.
My in-laws came on Friday and left last night. We had a good time-lots of laughter. On Sunday night we had a little campfire and sang a couple songs. Saturday was unusual; we went flea-marketing instead of our usual chores. It's getting cold down here at night-but even with visitors we have refrained from turning on the heat yet.
Garden is still looking good. Not all the spinach came up, but a good deal of my second planting did. The carrots are also looking well-but probably won't be ready for Thanksgiving-which was our original hope as the first planting was a failure. Our tomato plants finally died with the frost the other night.
It is about time to thin the chickens and fill the freezer. Mrs. Curley, who always buys several turkeys at the good sales prices in the week running up to Thanksgiving, is afraid that she won't have room for both turkeys and chickens in the freezer. We'll see.
Be back later. Oremus pro invicem!
CatholicExchange has an interesting mix of articles this morning. The first one is about Latin-but it starts by saying that Harry Potter's school with its 'classical' curriculum will encourage the study of Latin among young people and help with the revival. The next article is an anti-Harry Potter editorial. (Note that I have never weighed in here on HP and don't expect to anytime soon. I have an opinion, but I don't think it is a dogmatic issue as some on both sides see it. Of course without comment boxes-it is safer to say anything I like.)
The third article on CE this morning though was my favorite. Russell Shaw has a way of put things in a way everyone (even me) can understand. He is talking about prayer:
I'm no master of the interior life — just a slogger like everybody else. Lately, though, it's occurred to me that in the final analysis there are two, and only two, ways of praying for things. One is to pray that you'll get what you want. The other is to pray that you'll want what you get. There's a lot to be said for both, but, ideally, the second way strikes me as significantly better than the first.
..... Wanting what God gives rests upon a great act of trust. It is based on the recognition that God is our Father Who knows what we really need and can be counted on to give it to us. Our own powers of perception in these matters are clouded and distorted in many respects. Certainly we are entitled to ask for what we think will best suit our situation. But if we are truly wise, with a healthily childlike wisdom, we will receive whatever the Father sends us in the confident certainty that it really is best.
Often I think we can convince ourselves that what we want is God's will or at least should be God's will-as if we know better.
In CCD a few weeks ago we were reading in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that prayer and faith are intimately linked. Look at Abraham (our father in faith) who trusted God even preparing to sacrifice his son if it was God's will.
Praying that "you'll want what you get" - I like it.
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
still down. As reported on Friday, my website and email are down. They were up for a short while over the weekend I think, but are nowhere to be found this morning. Hard to get back to work when worrying about this.
Update: Still down-probably for most of the day I hear. Maybe this means I should take a day off?
Yesterday Mrs. Curley and I (and the family) were at a Baptism-we were the Godparents. I held the little baby boy for quite some time during the afternoon. I had forgotten how small they could be.
The Baptism took place during the 9:00 AM Mass at St. Martin de Porres Chuch. The pastor gave a moving sermon on how we needed to pray for our friends and relatives who had fallen away from the Faith so that they might not perish.
Although it was an inner-city parish, it had the feel of a small parish and close community. The music was joyous and always praising God.
After the infant one was baptized, the pastor took the baby from his mother and presented him to the congregation.
The party was great. Mrs. Curley and her mother (who is visiting) made the cake. We saw some old friends we hadn't seen in a while. Our kids picked up with our friend's kids as if we lived next door. It was a wonderful time. (One of our friend's boys asked if we sleeping over-I wish we could have.)
As I drove home, I could still smell the baptismal oils with which the young infant had been anointed. It brought back memories and helped me contemplate Baptism. I have 7 children-the young infant's parents have have 8. So many doesn't lesson or de-sensitize you to the sacrament-but heightens it, as it gives you more times to contemplate it.
A wonderful day of God's blessings! (Note: Holy Card image lifted from Holy Cards for your Inspiration blog)
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! .... Oremus pro invicem!
Didn't realize it, but yesterday I posted my 1000th entry on Bethune Catholic.
Yesterday's All Saints party was a great time as always. We had an inordinate amount of saints from the Diocletian persecution. Mrs. Curley and I did a presentation for the first time. We played Mr. & Mrs. Martin (parents of the Little Flower). Great food-great company! I'll try to get some pictures up in a week or two.
After the festivities, a few of us went to the local cemetary to get some plenary indulgences for the souls in purgatory. We went again today. Father had a long line for confession this morning-I assume people wanted to facilitate the plenary indulgences.
My email and the Requiem Press website has been up and down the past few days. It seems there have been server problems. I am a little concerned. I can't take orders; can't get email; and I don't really how concerned I should be. Sometimes it is working and sometimes not. The server (or the data) is supposed to be moved from Baltimore to Andover this weekend.
Now to Wal-Mart.... Has any of you ever bought soda or water out of the vending machines at Wal-Mart? It seems no matter which one we go to, we lose $0.25 to $0.50 every time. And we've seen other people lose money in the machines too. It happens so often, I am getting the feeling it is on purpose. The service desk is loathe to refund your money-and if you are a minor forget it. (My son lost a quarter-a BIG deal to him- and they told him to get lost.) Yet they must know-they must get loads of complaints. Although the lady Mrs. Curley talked to the other day (who had just lost a quarter) didn't bother trying to get her money-she didn't want the hassle for $0.25. I'll bet there are a lot of people like that. It would be interesting to find out if this is as widespread as it seems. (Like I don't have enough to keep track of already.)
I love this poem. Here's a clip:
Yes, I know November
The tolling of the bell,
The whispers of the suf'ring souls
From mountain top to dell .....
I think I have posted this before...it is the introduction to our book "Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering", which gives a background on praying for the Church Suffering-the holy souls in purgatory.
"It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." 2 Macc. 12:46
"There shall not enter into it anything defiled…" Apoc. 21:27
Praying for the souls of the dead is a tradition which goes back to our Jewish heritage. Judas Machebeus collected silver to send to Jerusalem to be offered for the sins of those fallen in battle. He understood that nothing unclean or defiled could stand before God and therefore provided for the offerings for the souls of those who had died so that they could see God. Reading of the Psalms bears out this understanding: "Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill? He that walketh without blemish …" (Ps. 14:1-2)
Our Catholic heritage is no less rich in the theology of praying for the souls of our beloved departed.
In the gospel of st. Matthew, in the parable of the unjust servant, our Lord tells us that our debts must be paid. ("And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt" - Mt. 18:34).
St. Paul says that we are saved only through fire (1 Cor. 3:15). St. Peter likens our trials to gold being tested by fire. (1 Peter 1:7).
The councils of Lyons II (1274 A.D.), Florence (1439 A.D.) and Trent (1563 A.D.) reaffirmed earlier traditions in the Church of the existence and purpose of purgatory – that place where those who have departed in the love of God but before complete satisfaction has been made for their sins may be purged in order that they can approach God unblemished. Further, the custom and tradition of the Church Militant – the faithful left here on earth – of praying, sacrificing, and giving alms on behalf of those souls in purgatory to make satisfaction for their sins and thus to shorten their time of purging, was reaffirmed by these councils also.
Purgatory is truly a grace of God because it is the nature of God which demands that those approaching be unblemished, and thus without purgatory, many would never reach Heaven. St. Catherine of Genoa wrote that the soul, upon death, finally free of worldly attachments, is able to see itself as it really is; seeing the stains from its sins and desiring God, the soul throws itself into the fires of purgatory to be cleansed in preparation for the audience with God.
These holy souls in purgatory, the Church Suffering, can not help themselves. The Church Triumphant, those who have entered into their Heavenly reward; the Church Suffering; and the Church Militant – these three are in reality one Communion of Saints. As the Church Militant we ask the Church Triumphant to intercede for us before God; we offer our prayers, fasting, and almsgiving to aid the Church Suffering. At every Mass during the Eucharistic Prayer, we pray for the souls of our departed loved ones, those gone before us "marked with the sign of faith."
With all this Catholic tradition, however, it seems that prayers for the holy souls in purgatory have waned as a private devotion in recent years. Funeral notices for Catholics rarely plead for Masses to be said for the departed. The Truth that God is all-merciful has been distorted to exclude the notion of purgatory – even though this exclusion distorts the true nature of God and the true nature of God’s mercy.
The prayers in this booklet are not new and are not an anthology of all the beautiful prayers written over the centuries for the holy souls. Herein are simple prayers, one for each day of the week. The prayers followChrist’s way of the cross in petitioning for the Holy Souls. Each daily prayer is followed by the recitation of Psalm 129. Psalm 129 is especially appropriate as a prayer for the Holy Souls and for us, as it calls on us to contemplate more deeply our need to trust in God and the mercy we must receive from Him for our salvation. Psalm 129 also expresses the deep longing the souls in purgatory have for God as they cry to Him "de profundis" – "out of the depths".
It is hoped that this simple exercise, taking less than two minutes every day, will become a habitual and devout practice among the Church Militant so that the Church Suffering may be aided and granted their deepest longings.
This practice too, will help us advance in our own spiritual life. These prayers will help us to contemplate more fully our own day of judgment, our own longing for God, and our devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the altar. The devout practice of prayer and sacrifice for the holy souls focuses our attention on our own sinfulness and on our own need for God’s mercy. This act of charity for our suffering brethern will help us to become less selfish and more detached from the worldliness around us. The more we love, the more we have the capacity to accept God’s love for us.
Since the practice of praying for the souls in purgatory has slowed - many, many souls are waiting and longing for God; with no help coming from us. We need to bemore prayerful. We need to pray for our priests and bishops - and for those priests and bishops suffering in purgatory. We need to pray for our family and friends – and for thosefamily and friends suffering in purgatory. We need to pray for the conversion of sinners – and for those suffering in purgatory who have no one praying for them.
By praying for these souls that long for God, may our own longing for God be increased.
Oremus pro invicem! – Let us pray for each other!
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us!
I was on the road for most of yesterday. And we will be out-celebrating-much of today. But there are a few things of interest out there before I go.
The first is this article on CatholicExchange by Paul Polito, CPA. Here is an excerpt:
Does living according to God's perfect will for us mean we will be poor? He may have a fantastic life planned for a person without material wealth; a life full of blessings, favors, friendships and miracles. It would require a beautiful humility to live that kind of life. His will may be for us to be extremely wealthy. "To each are given different gifts." We must not covet the gifts of our neighbors. Remember, God's plan for you, whatever it is, rich or poor, is just perfect for you. Don't fight it, enjoy it!
...Consider this alternative:
I depend on God to meet my needs. I do not spend money I do not have. I spend time with the Lord in prayer, among other things, laying out my needs as I perceive them. This practiced discipline helps me conform my life to God's will for me. When something I perceive as a need is not provided, it may be a sign that God has something better for me.
I think this article makes some powerful statements about materialism-but more about prayer and trust in God. In the past few years financial uncertainty has been part of our lives here. When we trusted in God, things worked out. When our trust failed, we got ourselves into trouble.
And in a somewhat related post, (seeing that money is part of the issue) Greencastle talks about the living wage.
Oremus pro invicem!
This print of Disputation about the Eucharist by (Raffaello Sanzio 1509) hangs on my office wall. I thought it was an appropriate display for All Saints Day.
In looking on the internet for some information on this painting, I found that an image of this fresco was in the background during the synod in Rome on the Eucharist in 2005. Fr. Timothy Verdon (a leading specialist in sacred art worldwide-who was invited to the synod by Pope Benedict) comments on this painting here. His commentary opens thus:
What did this image centered upon the Eucharist communicate to the people of its day? The dynamic assembly painted by Raphael in 1509, with the glorified Christ displaying his wounds in the center, was above all an iconographic reminder of the universal judgment: the day on which Christ will come "amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him" (Revelation 1:7).
For the sensibility of that time, the immediate impact, the primary message of the fresco, was of an eschatological character. It clearly showed the relationship between the Church militant upon the earth and the Church triumphant in heaven.
These are the themes we should be contemplating in November-along with praying for the Church Suffering in Purgatory. As in the fresco, we need to remember that devotion and reception of the Holy Eucharist needs to be at the center of our spiritual life.
Happy All Saints Day!
Our Lady of Joyful Hope-pray for us! ... Oremus pro invicem!
