The Father's Vocation

Every Saturday night when we do Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, we read:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

It occurred to me that this is surely a prescription for the vocation of father. First, there is the universal call to holiness: Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

 

Then there is the call of the father on how to raise his children: Drill them into your children.

 

Then the father as spiritual head of the family: Speak of them at home ...

 

And finally, the father as the domestic church's face to the world: and abroad ...

 

Of course there is nothing here specific about a father's vocation as husband, but we can go to St. Paul for that ....

Oremus pro invicem!

Work

Work done:

Work to do:

(I think my brother and family are coming at the end of this week - maybe they can help!)

Oremus pro invicem!

Garden

We got a late start this year because of my work schedule and 4-5 weeks without a drop of rain. The chickens kept eating my corn so I found a new place to plant. But the lack of rain means we may get little if any. However, finally okra, cantaloupe, zucchini, and pumpkins are up, but way behind (except the pumpkins which are right on time.)

We are however getting green beans.

And I found the first Roma Tomatoes on our vines.

God is always good!

Oremus pro invicem!

read it!

how-to-identify-a-healthy-culture

We try to do some of this in our own humble way. - Oremus pro invicem!

My dad would have been 95 today had he not passed in 1999. I can't believe it has been 16 years. I still miss him. Here he is with my mother (still going strong) back in the late 50's.

 

May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.

 

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Prep for the hog roast/graduation

Here some pictures from last nights' hog roast prep. Matthew graduates today. He is headed for Holy Trinity Seminary and University of Dallas for the diocese of Charleston. In order, we have Matthew dispatching the hog and then Connor and Thomas who wanted to pose with it. Oremus pro invicem!

I was in New England picking up my son after he completed his sophomore year at Northeast Catholic College two weekends ago. My youngest daughter made the trip with me. She hadn't been north in 8 years, and, I discovered, had some misconceptions about the Northeast. For example, she didn't think there were ANY rural areas-just congestion and city. We both found the rural East coast very beautiful. Sometimes it makes me long for the region of my youth.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

End of School, Graduation, Work, Plans, Vacation

Mrs. Curley and I had a unique opportunity to spend the weekend at Surfside (near Myrtle Beach). Although it was the last weekend of Biker Rally Week and therefore VERY NOISY and trafficy, we had a great time on the beach, talking, playing cribbage and all that stuff. Once again going to Mass away from home is always a tricky business, but we survive. Back home I have work, and wood, and planting to do.

Stuck in traffic on the way home, we fell to technology and took a "selfie", sort of reminiscent of the photo booth we went to on our honeymoon at Cocoa Beach-although I have many more grays now.

Number 3 son, Matthew is graduating from high school (our school) this weekend. We are very proud of him. You can catch is music on YouTube. He is a talented farmer and (I think) songwriter. But as of now, these things are on hold. He will be attending University of Dallas in the Fall majoring in Philosophy (do you know what that means?-if you don't, I will tell in a future post.)

Glad the Technical College semester is over, but am teaching 2 classes in the summer semester. I am enjoying my 2 weeks off. This morning cutting and splitting wood. This afternoon, some planting (albeit late.)

 

Oremus pro invicem!

A job with the pigs

Warning-pictures below may be upsetting to some people .....

That's my Thomas with his handiwork. Friday evening we went over to help a friend slaughter their hogs. After the first was knocked unconscious, I was about to climb over the short fence to stick the pig, but my friend warned the electric fence was still on! Thomas didn't hesitate, he hopped the fence, sat right on the pig, which though knocked out was thrashing, and stuck that pig. Then he repeated it a few minutes later for the second.

We had these pigs skinned and butchered in 3 hours and 45 minutes-and that included a 30 minute dinner break. Thomas did a great job.

Oremus pro invicem!

Books, CD's, and worms (not bookworms!)

My family came back from a library sale last week with a couple items for me. One was a book The Accidental Pope by Ray Flynn (Catholic, former mayor of Boston and ex-Ambassador to the Holy See.) The other was a book on CD for my long commutes entitled The Third Secret.

 

Both books have similarities: the prominence of the apparitions at Fatima; a Vatican secretary of state who has papal aspirations and is rigid; the promise of "big" changes in the Church, and the issue of priestly celibacy plays strongly in both.

 

I haven't finished The Accidental Pope, so I don't know what "big" changes might be in store. So far it simply a good-natured, but unlikely tale. But I have finished The Third Secret and have a few things to say about it.

 

First, The Third Secret gets some information about the Church very wrong. First the author continually confuses doctrine, dogma, Tradition, and Church discipline. For example, priestly celibacy is presented repeatedly as dogma. Papal infallibility is constantly presented to go much further than reality (at one point the fictional pope remarks that anything he says is infallible.)

 

Even with these faults, the book goes along as a thriller without too much doctrinal controversy for at least the first 3/4's or even more-although towards the climax there are hints that I won't be pleased when all is said and done-what an understatement.

 

The plot is that part of the Third Secret of Fatima was stolen out of the Papal reserva by an aid of Paul VI, who is now the Vatican secretary of state. The book centers around what the secret is. Finally at the very end we find out and also discover that the 10th secret of Medjugorje is identical to the missing part of the Third Secret of Fatima. And what is this secret?

 

The missing "Third Secret" is that it is God's wish, expressed directly by the Blessed Virgin Mary (I hesitate to write this as it is so scandalous) that priestly celibacy is wrong, papal infallibility is not true, that abortion is okay and the choice only of a woman, and that homosexual marriage and relations are pleasing to God ("any kind of love is good if it makes you happy").

 

I can't believe I wasted my time with such rubbish!

*************************

Now to the worms. I was asked below how I worm my pigs. Here is the brief tale. I try to worm my pigs as naturally as possible. This consists of putting garlic powder in their food every few months unless I see a real lack of weight gain, and then I do it more often. In the fall I give them every raw pumpkin seed I am not saving for replanting. Both garlic powder and raw pumpkin seeds are great natural wormers. If I see a real problem after worming naturally, I will use some fenbendazole in the form of pellets mixed with their feed. Since starting with natural wormers a few years ago, I don't think I have chemically wormed more than once or twice.

So now you know.

Oremus pro invicem!

Really?

I got a catalog in the mail today from "The Catholic Company". I couldn't believe this:



 
The plush First Communion bear is a cuddly way to commemorate a young child's reception of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The small bear comes with a miniature bible containing the scripture quote from John 14:6, “I am the way and truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

 

 

Did you get that? It could be interpreted that the BEAR is "the way, the truth and the life". Obviously, most (99.99%) seeing this won't take it this way, but either way, this is just silly!

 

Oremus pro invicem!

New pigs!

Woke up yesterday morning to find that Sam had farrowed her litter. It looks like 8, which is a low for her, but not to worry. We aren't a high production operation! They are big, almost equal the length of the 3-week old pigs of Betsy's litter. Here is the first picture-better ones should come later. (some are under that hay.)

 

 

A comment below about what I am (economically/politically) is too long to answer in a comment box, so I give below a brief (and incomplete) outline. Here goes (most of this has been posted here at sometime in the last 10+ years) ....

I guess you could call me a Distributist, however the name is misleading to some-thinking that it is some kind of socialism, which if most definitely isn’t. Distributism condemns both socialism and unfettered capitalism, in that both big government and big business are ultimately bad for families, local communities, and traditional values, and argues for an economic structure based on the widespread ownership of wealth via strong local economies.

If you ever have a chance to read Catholicism Protestantism and Capitalism by Anmintore Fanfani you may come away with the idea (as I did) that Capitalism has to eventually become Socialism in the final analysis, as the Government has to eventually highly regulate everything to protect the interests of big business. The regulations become so burdensome that the government is the only entity which has the resources to support such a regulated structure. Thus the government has to begin consolidating industries under itself. (Eventually this too will collapse under its own weight.) This is trending in America today-slowly but surely. 

In America we value the ownership of private property. This has become to mean that we own our own home. But few of us really do, as many have found out in recent years (and with property taxes and inheritance taxes, even if you “own” your home, really you are leasing it from the government). 

Ownership of private property also should mean that we own the means to production. The goal should be that as many as possible of the citizens should be owners of property-real property, that is, the means of production: ownership in land, in buildings and equipment, in farms, factories, mines, in commercial enterprises, and in machinery. Workers themselves (Note Well, NOT a socialist or communist government “in the name of workers”)  should own the means of production instead being the tools of production.

Our economic system has come to a point where workers are merely tools for greater profit, to be acquired or discarded as the quarterly numbers dictate. Workers have a dignity which is not respected by too many corporations. Corporations must remember that they exist not just for profits but to provide fulfilling work and wages for their workers.

Increasingly big companies simply use their employees as commodities (even professionals) to be used up and tossed out. Workers often don’t have dignity and respect. Large companies often squeeze and squeeze the benefits and continually do more with less workers. Some of these large companies (effectively subsidized by government policies) only offer part time work so they don’t even have to give benefits.

Politically, I believe in subsidiarity; that is governance should be done at the most local level possible. The role of the government should be in service of man, or if you will, in service of the family. Increasingly central control, whether it be in business, education, or government, robs man of freedom and self-determination. Government in recent years acts more in the service of commerce than in the service of man.

Both major parties favor entitlements: Democrats for the poor; Republicans for the rich in the form of tax breaks and corporate deals and subsidies (think agriculture and roads)-the latter which enrich the owners of the means to production. Government handouts insult the dignity of man, at both ends of the spectrum. 

So we need a system which encourages family unity and encourages the widest distribution of the means of production. These are complementary goals. 

Much more to flesh out, but this is a starting point.

Oremus pro invicem!

Reading ....

Tractatus de Societate by Nathan Freeman.

Quotes to come .....

Update: Just to clarify, the title is in Latin, but the book is in English!

Oremus pro invicem!

Roads in SC

So everyone agrees that the roads in SC are in a state of major disrepair. Governor Nikki Haley proposes that we raise money for the roads by raising the gasoline tax (Of course no one will notice because gas prices are so low!). But Governor Haley insists that any tax increase is offset by a tax cut of the income tax.

Two questions for the Governor:

1. Doesn't it mean we already have $$$ for roads if you are offsetting taxes?

2. Doesn't a raise in the gas tax affect everyone equally, but cutting the income tax help everyone EXCEPT the working poor, who drive to work, but pay little in income tax?

Just asking ......

Oremus pro invicem! 

Those boys!

This morning I had a lot to prepare for class and I had a car with a broken upper radiator hose and needing a new thermostat.

 

I started working on it, but was frustrated that this car with 243K miles on it had never had its thermostat replaced, and thus the original thermostat was staked in.

 

With much to do, I called my boys to finish taking out the hose and then grinding off the stakes.

 

When this was done, I went back out and guided them in replacing the thermostat; they did the hose.

I am proud of them. What responsible and skilled young men I have.

Oremus pro invicem!

Now reading ...

... Paul Thigpen's Final Thoughts of Catholic Saints & Sinners.

This one struck me:

Sir Everard Digby(1578-1606) was an English Catholic convert who was hung, drawn and quartered for his part in a plot to blow up Parliament and overthrow King James I, who persecuted Catholics. When the executioner cut out his heart, and held it up saying, "Here is the heart of a traitor", Digby managed to summon up the strength to respond "Thou liest"

God's Training for us

I am into the last book I got for Christmas: Finding God's Will for You by St. Francis DeSales (Sophia).

Many good quotes, but here is this mornings:

Although the difficulties, temptations, and different events that occur in the course of carrying out our plan may cause us some uncertainty as to whether we have chosen well, still we must remain firm and not consider all such things. ... furthermore we do not know if God wills us to be trained in consolation or in desolation .....

On this feast of St. Joseph, Oremus pro invicem!

Spring Break

It has been a busy few weeks. Last week Connor was on Spring Break from Northeast Catholic College. We also had friends visiting for a few days. We took the opportunity to put our bull down (hoping he had already bred both Mabel and the heifer). We had steaks last Saturday night and it felt distinctly like a non-Lenten meal. (We aged the loin in our refrigerator and hung the rest of the beef in a friend's walk-in refrigerator.)

 

Usually by March I have most of the wood we need for the next winter at least on the property, if not cut, split, and stacked. This year I hadn't even started. But on February 28th, [again with the help of visiting friends-quite possibly they won't be back as we worked them the whole time they were here :)] we cut 4 truckloads of wood from a neighbor's downed trees.

 

This week I am on spring break from my 4-day a week teaching job at the local technical college. More cutting firewood from another neighbor, a little splitting, fence-building (we have a sow due to farrow and needed a new farrowing pen), and some garden tilling. I am hoping to put at least part of the spring garden in today.

 

We also finished butchering the beef yesterday in our friend's cold room.

 

I haven't done this much physical work since the semester started. It makes me yearn for more physical work and less teaching/desk time. But at the same time I have just agreed to teach 2 summer courses.

 

My body is sore with muscles not used to all this activity. But it feels so good.

 

God has provided us another winter with free firewood, beautiful weather this week, great friends, and everything else we need.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Requiem Press

I haven't mentioned Requiem Press in some time - mostly because we are no longer publishing. I still get author inquiries from time to time - more query letters in a year than books sold these days, however.

 

The only reason I mention it at all is because we still have inventory left on a few titles. I haven't pushed them much, but a couple times a year someone finds the website and orders a book or inquires about a book which we've sold out of.

 

The remaining books in inventory each sell and ship for a combined price of $5 - no hidden costs. And if you want a whole bunch of any one title, I will work out a better deal.

 

Titles left are available at the link above or on the sidebar. (The image is of one of our first books - we have plenty of these!)

 

Readers of this blog have been extremely supportive of this effort when we were an ongoing business, roughly from 2004 to about 2008-2010. I still have a few books I'd love to publish in print or electronically, but the family, the homestead and paying work take up so much time.

 

I am working sporadically on two of my own titles-one dealing with the slaughter and butcher of hogs, and the other stories from our life on the homestead (many of these related or alluded to in the archives of this blog.) No doubt I will announce it here first if either comes to fruition.  

 

Now back to regular programming .....

Oremus pro invicem!

The Yield of the Land

Last night I came home to this:

This loin came from a 145 pig we put down on the feast of Cyril and Methodius. So the loin isn't as big as usual. It was sliced open and stuffed with sausage. On the outside (being bacon-poor this week), Mrs. Curley took a couple slices off a ham we had just finished brining and dressed the loin with them.

It was delicious. One shouldn't enjoy such meals during Lent. (Of course if I was a Melkite, I couldn't.)

Oremus pro invicem!

Today's Present

This morning "Betsy" gave birth to 10 piglets. This was her first litter and a mistake. She wasn't supposed to be bred, but the boar scaled fences and defied my wishes. In any event, here she is with her pigs.

Constant stories in the news about self-indulgence in America and the West: legalizing marijuana the the businessmen licking their lips, LBGT...xylmnop.... everywhere, recent movie releases which celebrate exploitation of women and gratuitous pleasure.

 

On the other side of the world, Christians being martyred and kidnapped. War ravages.

 

Nero fiddles as Rome burns?

 

A not so modest proposal: Christians are fleeing the Middle East, the Holy Land. What if 10,000 or 20,000 Western Christians sold their belongings and moved enmass to formerly or presently Christian-occupied areas in the Holy Land. We wouldn't be an army, except an spiritual army bringing prayers, hope, and solidarity.

 

Yes I know there are problems (which I can enumerate) with such a proposal, but how can we personally (at personal sacrifice) show solidarity with these Christians who are suffering?

 

Lord have mercy on us!

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Nap time

Sunday when we got home from Mass, inside the house was in the 50's. I wasn't feeling real well. Someone started a fire in the stove, but I just needed a nap. So I bundled up on the living room couch and the kids did their part and gave me more insulation - see below.

Apparently someone thought is worth recording. It was a goooood nap!

Since then we have all been down with some kind of bug. Due to the freezing rain Monday night, fortunately my Technical college canceled my evening classes on Monday and all classes on Tuesday. Much needed down time here. Back to work today as we begin Lent.

Oremus pro invicem!

Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching

As indicated in a previous post, most reviews I have seen of Anthony Esolen's book Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching (Sophia Institute Press ) have been extremely positive. There was one exception which I also noted. After finishing the book, I am convinced that the negative reviewer either didn't read the entire book or was so looking for certain information outside the scope of the book, that he missed the point.

 

Many who write about Catholic Social Teaching (CST) are seeking to promote a specific interpretation of CST, i.e. Distributism, agrarianism, relief of the poor, criticism of (or justification of) capitalism, or justification of the welfare state.

 

But Dr. Esolen is starting back at the beginning. He draws heavily not just from Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, but many of his other writings on marriage, the family, and the Eucharist. This is not to say that Pope Leo XIII's writings are the beginning of CST. Dr. Esolen argues that CST has a long tradition-going back to Christ in the Church. Pope Leo is taking the time to restate it and flesh it out in the light of a world in political and industrial revolution.

 

Dr. Esolen does not propose an economic "third way" between Capitalism and Socialism, but defines the right relations between man and God, the family, community, employer/employee, and the State.

 

Thus, the economy (in the right sense) is concerned with the family not industry and investors. The State (in right relation) is in service to the family, not a policeman of the family.

 

Before I began reading the book, the word in the title "Reclaiming" misled me to think I was going to read a detailed plan to apply CST. Instead, I got a better understanding what CST actually is. Thus the "Reclaiming" is a reclaiming of our understanding of CST. It is not a political or economic (in the commonly understood sense) agenda. However, it is a plan in the sense that a true understanding of CST should inform our response. 

And in the final analysis, Dr. Esolen does give a plan-the same plan which is the solution to all our individual and world problems-Christ, especially Christ in the most Holy Eucharist.

 

Highly recommended! Thanks Dr. Esolen for this effort.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

 

 

 

So what did I do ....

 .... on this feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (and of course St. Valentine)?

 

The same thing I did on my last wedding anniversary - butchered a hog!

 

I also cooked up a bunch of sausage, made some head cheese, and worked on taxes.

Oremus pro invicem!

Manalive!

Just finished listening to Chesterton's Manalive. I was telling Mrs. Curley about it, but she thought the man who broke all conventions but kept the Commandments was silly. Yet......

 

I could see the profit of leaving on a journey East (or West) around the world just to find my home again. And I could see the profit of recourting my wife over and over.

 

May be I am a romantic, or may be Manalive is a man's book?

Oremus pro invicem!

Unresistable grace

For Christmas, my wife and daughter downloaded a bunch of books and stories from Libra Vox for me to listen to on my travels. (Each day have at least a 60+ mile commute each way.) Right now I am listening to Chesterton's Manalive. So, I decided I would pray the rosary on my last leg home. Usually I start it at the blinking light in Kershaw. However I was enjoying the book so much, I was seriously contemplating skipping the rosary (just this once-right!) for Chesterton. But he (Chesterton) would have none of it.

Just as I approached the blinking light and eased to a stop, came the words out of the speaker from Manalive:

Then he sat staring rather foolishly at the rude lantern of lead and coloured glass that hangs over my door. It is old, but of no value; my grandmother gave it to me long ago: she was devout, and it happens that the glass is painted with a crude picture of Bethlehem and the Wise Men and the Star. He seemed so mesmerized with the transparent glow of Our Lady's blue gown and the big gold star behind, that he led me also to look at the thing, which I had not done for fourteen years.  (emphasis added)

I couldn't resist the grace, turned off the CD, and began the rosary.

 

Oremus pro invicem! 

Even more from EBW

"There is no doubt about it, the basic satisfaction in farming is manure ...."

More from EB White

E.B. White tells another truth (paraphrased): Farming is 20% agriculture and 80% fixing things that break!

Mr. Austin Ruse has an article at Crisis Magazine last week where he tries to make the case for pro-life Catholics not just continuing to support the GOP vs. switching to the Democratic party, but that we have a home in the GOP. However, given only those two choices, GOP seems to have diminishing returns for pro-lifers. For years many have suspected the GOP (in general) keeps with the pro-life rhetoric in order to garner votes and then does nothing to change to the light of the unborn. Witness two weeks ago when the Republicans couldn’t gather enough votes in a Congress they control to pass a pro-life bill outlawing most abortions after 20 weeks if pregnancy.

I have read Mr. Ruse’s argument over and over by others, and while I don’t agree with it, I can understand why many Catholics will continue to support the GOP for the reasons Mr. Ruse gives.

However, what I don’t understand is Mr. Ruse’s attack on Distributists who (in general) do not advocate supporting the Democratic Party. Mr. Ruse starts his close with the following diatribe:

As for Catholic Social Teaching, the cudgel this group likes to beat us with, who says Catholic Social Teaching requires us to follow the policy prescriptions of the hard left? ……

This makes no sense to me. Most of the people I know who are concerned by the GOP’s lack of understanding of Catholic Social teaching would definitely not support the Democratic party no matter the failings of the GOP, and would also argue that the  policy proscriptions of the hard left don’t follow the Catholic prescription of subsidiarity.

Finally, he decides to start throwing insults instead of making a coherent conclusion:

While we’re at it, let’s get the Federal government out of the land business. The Feds own a third of all US land, up to half and more of many western states. Let’s have a modern day land-rush for all those Distributists out there who are just itching to fish, farm or make cheese—though one suspects they’ll stay exactly where they are, blogging and adjunct teaching.

As a Distributist, a blogger, and an Adjunct for a technical college who doesn’t just itch to work a homestead but actually does, I suppose I could take offense, as could many others.  May be Mr. Ruse has someone in particular in mind, but he uses a broad brush – exactly what he criticizes in those who criticize the GOP’s commitment to life issues. (I suppose the adjunct remark is to imply the adjuncts are just not good/smart/etc enough to get another job?)

Perhaps it isn’t the time for a third party to rise and take the place of the GOP or the Democratic Party as many of my ilk would like, but it is clear that increasingly neither party has a coherent vision compatible with primary life issues (abortion, contraception, euthanasia) or secondary life issues (subsidiarity, economy, poverty, social teaching, war, etc.)

From my view, both major parties seem more interested in staying in power than anything else. That is why they won’t vote on controversial issues near an election. This is why they come out against policies they supported previously based on the support or opposition of the opposing party. It is about power.

A case could be made to continue to support the GOP, but saying that Catholics have a HOME in the GOP, as Mr. Ruse trues to argue, seems to be stretching it. Mr. Ruse becomes even less convincing when he decides to take broadsides at people he clearly knows very little about. (And Mr. Ruse should recall that the likely biggest 2-3 contributors to the next GOP presidential nominee will likely be pro-same sex marriage as they were in the last election.) I would argue that a stronger case could be made to support neither party. The GOP would either have to re-evaluate and re-up their pro-life commitment or be regulated to a secondary party. (Of course the argument that we then would be stuck with very a majority of anti-life Democrats until the GOP decided to change would be a compelling argument against this course.)

I guess this is why it is said that politics makes strange bedfellows. This is why, I suspect, many want to stay out of the bed these days!

Oremus pro invicem!

From "One Man's Meat"

I don't know whether I came to the country to live the simple life; but I am now engaged in a life vastly more complex than anything the city has to offer. -E.B. White

Horseshoes

Took some time Saturday afternoon to break out the horseshoes we got for Christmas. After a couple days of rain, it was a welcome sunny afternoon.

Many of our kids had never tossed horseshoes, or had tossed rarely. It was interesting to see the amazing progress in an hour of tossing them. Only three ringers in the hour, but I think we all had fun.

 

Finally, for supper Saturday we had one of my favorites: slow-cooked (albeit not on the grill) pork shoulder with Boston baked beans and hot brown bread-smothered in butter (and milk.) It doesn't get much better. Mrs. Curley was out of town (she doesn't like the beans or bread-the more for the rest of us!)

 

 

 

Oremus pro invicem!

All the stuff I have been reading

I mentioned I have been reading Anthony Esolen's excellent book: Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching. What I didn't know is that Mr. Esolen relies almost exclusively on many of Pope Leo XIII's writings-not just Rerum Novarum. Although I haven't finished yet (I got sidetracked on some other books), I have read 2 reviews of the book. One positive: at Front Porch Republic. This one in fact mentions one of my other all-time favorites: John Senior's Restoration of Christian Culture.

The second: at Solidarity Hall is critical saying:

Unfortunately, Esolen’s reclaiming of what we call now the life issues, including marriage, under the heading of CST includes practically no discussion of the issues of justice, equity and the guidelines for a political economy. In the somewhat maddening fashion of many culture warriors on the right, Esolen recuses himself from these “technical” issues, as though an ignorance of credit default swaps meant we laypeople simply could not comment on structural inequality or its role in creating a permanent underclass. As a result, this book on CST contains almost no consideration of the very issues on which most readers turn to CST for guidance—for example, human solidarity, the nature of work, the living wage or the common good.

I am about 80% through the book and don't agree with the critical assessment. Certainly Mr. Esolen does not present a comprehensive economic plan or so-called "Third Way", but a careful reading will reveal why. Mr. Esolen does (as the reviewer states) claim ignorance of detailed economics, but more importantly Mr. Esolen defines economy in terms of the family, not in terms of capitalism, socialism, distributism or the like.

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I was also given the novel Christopher by David Athley (Sophia Institute Press) for Christmas. After reading some many chapters I looked up some reviews of the book. It is either loved (enthusiastically) or hated. (4-5 stars or 1 stars.) Unfortunately I am of the latter and don't know if I will finish it. Perhaps I am unsophisticated. I could never understand Flannery O'Connor, but liked Edwin O'Connor (The Last Hurrah). I also  usually tend toward thrillers or mysteries in my fiction likes. Coming of age stories and the like usually can't hold my interest.

 

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Finally, my sister just sent me a used copy of E.B. White's One Man's Meat, which is a collection of magazine articles he wrote over a three to four year period. This is just after he quit the New Yorker and moved to a seaside farm in Maine. I have never read anything by White (although I have seen a movie rendition of Charlotte's Web.) It is interesting in that it gives one a glimpse of life during the pre-war years (I am at 1939 now, only 25% in.)

 

 

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Finally, (and having nothing to do with books-well may be the Great Books), have you heard of the new Catholic college: Northeast Catholic College in New Hampshire. It is an outgrowth of the College of St. Mary Magdalen. My son is there and is happy with the changes. Check it out!

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Some thoughts on marriage and culture which need more editting

An avid hiker and adventurer decides to hike the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME. This is not a journey for the faint of heart. There are many days of fatigue, sore muscles, blisters, rain, and cold. There are also moments and days of breathtaking beauty, accomplishment, excitement and ultimately triumph at the end of the trail. The excitement is sustained because of the goal and the commitment to the goal. This excitement is sustained through the fatigue and the rain and the cold. And note, the excitement comes not just at the triumph at the end, but also before and during the journey.

There are certain things you can’t measure based on any given instant in time. Happiness (or excitement) in marriage is such a thing. Yet present culture only measures the instant, as in, instant gratification. (You can't compare marriage to a long hike, but the analogy has some merit.)

For example, I heard a promo for a radio show a few months ago which promised to discuss why the rate of infidelity in marriage increases the longer couples are together. The stated premise of the radio guest was that a marriage cannot sustain excitement as the marriage progresses in time.

Mostly what we read about infidelity concentrates on the means and opportunity. Unfortunately, the means and opportunities have become more frequent and advanced with technology and culture.

But regardless of the means and opportunity, this doesn’t address the question of marriage. We can’t sustain happiness or excitement in marriage if we don’t understand what marriage is and what the purpose and ends of marriage are.  Of course these things are exactly what our present culture is confused about and struggling with.

Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Casti Connubii wrote about marriage: Thus amongst the blessings of marriage, the child holds the first place. And: The second blessing of matrimony which We said was mentioned by St. Augustine, is the blessing of conjugal honor which consists in the mutual fidelity of the spouses in fulfilling the marriage contract, so that what belongs to one of the parties by reason of this contract sanctioned by divine law, may not be denied to him or permitted to any third person…

The Church teaches marriage has a procreative and unitive purpose as described as blessings by Pope Pius XI above.

Our present culture believes that everything boils down to sex. And I guess if that were true (or held to be true), most marriages would be doomed. The fact is, that marriage has a unitive purpose which is not all about sex, and a procreative purpose, which is also not all about sex.

One of Dietrich Von Hildebrand's theses in his book on marriage (Marriage - the mystery of Faithful Love [Sophia Institute Press]) is that the primary end of marriage is procreation, but the primary meaning of is love. But what is love?

Love is an act of the will-desiring the good for the object of our love. It is obvious from this definition that love does not have a time period. For if one desires the good for another, does one desire this good only for two years, or fifteen years? When you fall in love, do you put this time limit on how long you will love? Do our marriage vows have a time limit? What do the vows mean if they have a time limit? The answers to these questions, whether they concern love for a spouse, a child, or a friend demonstrate the willful aspect of love and the nonsense of the phrase “I have fallen out of love.”

Marital love has a special character in that it imitates God’s creative love. God’s love is so great He wants to share His life, so He creates Man. Man and woman love each other so much that they want to share their lives, so they procreate. But just as God’s love doesn’t end in the act of creating man, man and wife’s love can’t end in the marital act. God nurtures and cares for his creation. Man and wife must nurture and care for their creation. Caring for their creation involves both nurturing their offspring and, importantly, each other. Note that love again does not have limits and is not stingy, something to be kept between one or two people. By nature love shares and multiplies.

So what about this excitement! If the goal of the family is to journey together to Heaven, than the journey is one of both fatigue in daily tasks and tribulations, but also excitement at the daily fatigue and tribulations. The journey also has moments of intense beauty and enjoyment. There are always new challenges, some of them painful, but with perseverance for the goal, God helps us melt these challenges. Gold is purified by fire, the gold we seek with excitement

So what of the spouse seeks excitement elsewhere? He or she is doomed to failure because the excitement they really seek is not momentary-but that is all they get, a moment. Thus they will go on seeking, but never finding. Our hearts are truly restless until they rest in our Lord.

I end with words from Humanae Vitae:

Then, this love is total, that is to say, it is a very special form of personal friendship, in which husband and wife generously share everything, without undue reservations or selfish calculations. Whoever truly loves his marriage partner loves not only for what he receives, but for the partner's self, rejoicing that he can enrich his partner with the gift of himself.

Again, this love is faithful and exclusive until death. Thus in fact do bride and groom conceive it to be on the day when they freely and in full awareness assume the duty of the marriage bond. A fidelity, this, which can sometimes be difficult, but is always possible, always noble and meritorious, as no one can deny. The example of so many married persons down through the centuries shows, not only that fidelity is according to the nature of marriage, but also that it is a source of profound and lasting happiness.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

 

Received and Reading ...

Anthony Esolen seems to be everywhere. I read him at Crisis, see him in the Magnificat, and now am reading this wonderful book Mrs. Curley got me for Christmas. I will write more about is once I am further in. (I am still reading the Thomas More book, but I can handle both!)

Merry Christmas!

Oremus pro invicem!

Another book purchased and being read about Thomas More, by Peter Berglar (Scepter). I have read many books about More (notably, somehow I have missed Ackroyd's rendition.) So far so good. My favorites are by James Monti (Ignatius) and Gerard Wegemer (Scepter).

I finished Warren Carroll's final volume in his history of Christendom series a couple weeks ago. It took a year, but that was because it was interrupted by other book several times.

 

Oremus pro invicem!

Started the week on December 8th at St. Ann's in Charlotte at a traditional Latin Mass. It was beautiful; a wonderful way to celebrate this great feast of our Lady. My son Matthew and I ended the week going to an Opus Dei men's evening of recollection, again in Charlotte, this time at St. Matthew's. If only every week could have such bookends!

Oremus pro invicem!

Many Republicans want to claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan, but few are qualified. These Republicans are usually hawks (always seeing use of the armed forces as the solution to foreign policy crises). But Reagan was no hawk. Sure he built up the armed forces capability, and he sent an occupying force to Lebanon (disastrously), and he raided Granada, but the greatest foreign policy conflict of his presidency was won without a shot fired by the US armed forces.

Let us look at some instances. First consider “star wars”, the program Reagan championed, intended to prevent Soviet warheads from reaching our shores. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was criticized from the beginning as being unrealistic and even unscientific. Without going into the merits of SDI and the success of some of the program (or failures), look at the rationale. Our foreign policy to prevent nuclear war had been mutually assured destruction (MAD) for many years; that is, that because both sides could destroy the other, neither the US nor the Soviet Union would dare launch a nuclear attack. I’ll bet most of us know of games of “chicken” which have gone bad. MAD was another game of “chicken” waiting to blow up. Reagan recognized this and thought there must be a better way, a defensive way while other avenues were pursued.

Reagan partnered with Saint Pope John Paul II, English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and others to bring down the Soviet Empire peacefully, through moral and economic pressure.

Reagan was patient. He wasn’t concerned about his legacy-that the Cold War would end during his presidency. He was content that the Iron Curtain would crumble someday, even on someone else’s watch.

Today’s politicians and so-called statesman should learn some lessons as we throw ourselves into more and more armed conflicts around the world which spawn even more conflicts. Just because we have the biggest and best fighting force in the world, not all the battles and wars can be won with them. (I recall what Saint Pope John Paul II said about war always being “a defeat for humanity”, and “Peace is not just the absence of war. Like a cathedral, peace must be constructed patiently and with unshakable faith.”

How many of our foreign military interventions in the past 20 years have built peace?

The anti-Federalists warned us over 200 years ago that a strong central government with a standing army was more likely to fight wars to settle disputes than any other way. Our history has borne this out repeatedly, and especially in the last 20+ years.
I am not strictly a pacifist; I believe there are times a country and a people must go to war. But I also believe fervently that often we use our armed forces simply because we have them. (I am not implying that we use them to justify large defense budgets, but perhaps the case could be made ….) It seems to me that our government (both the Administration and Congress for many years) lacks creativity in foreign policy.

As a nation and as a people, we suffer.

Oremus pro invicem!