weather, ashes, plays, and books

Sunday night it got down to 27 (F)-but Monday during the day it was in the 70's. This morning is the first in a long time where I am not wrapped in blanket as I begin the work day. I think we may have seen our last below freezing temperatures in SC for the year. I know Mrs. Curley plans to be planting this weekend. (Her spinach, planted a few weeks ago, is coming up now.)

We got our ashes last night. Father had Mass during our regular CCD period so that all the students could go. The church was packed-overflowing out the doors. The Hispanic population was out in full force. And of course there were many, many children present.

We had our first rehearsal, a read-thru, on the play our CCD class is putting on yesterday evening. Mrs. Curley and I are directing the play. It is hard work (enjoyable, but hard work). I am starting to have new respect for directors. So much to keep track of...

We are in the final stages of preparing our next release. As mentioned in late January, this new book is a little different for us. It is a collection of family stories told by the youngest of 11 children. It is called: "Giving Up Stealing... for Lent!" by Brother Charles Madden OFM Conv. (You may recognize him from his popular book on Freemasonery published by TAN books.) The book is great fun to read. [One of our proof-readers told me that she was-as is sometimes her custom-reading the book at the back of Church. She was laughing so loud and often, she had to leave because others were trying to pray.] When you finish the book, you do get the sense that you have read more than just a collection of sometimes humorous, sometimes more serious stories. Together, these stories (which are told in only mildly chronoligical order) weave a tapistry about family life-the way it should be lived, even with the faults and failings of each member. It is hard to explain exactly, (although as chief marketeer of the book, I am going to have to find a way). So look for it in a few weeks. We will probably be taking pre-orders late next week.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Lent, penance, chickens, crafts, and more Lent

Ash Wednesday is here. If you are reading this, you know that I am not abstaining from my blog during Lent. I have always assumed that those who do abstain, do so in order to spend that time in more prayer or in some sacrificial endeavor. I commend them for it. At least three of the blogs on my blogroll over there will be blogfasting to some extent or another.

It is funny, for some time I thought that by doing enough penances I could catch up, or make up for my sinfulness and the damage my sinfulness had done to others. Of course this spirals into more and more severe penances (I think a heresy eventually comes out of this, but I can't remember the name of it). One day, in discouragement, I realized I was sinning faster than I could possibly do penance. At that moment of grace, I was shown how much I needed God's mercy. So from then on, I didn't view penance so much as a competition, but something more joyful. Penance became a way to open my heart, or to clean it out of all those things I am attached to - so as to make room for Christ.

The rooster is gone. For the first time in well over a year, no (live) chickens grace the grounds at Bethany. Yesterday we killed, plucked, and dressed 8 chickens (2 roosters and 6 hens), the last of our flock. It was done in record time. The four oldest paired off and had a plucking contest with the prize (staying up for a movie the last day before lent) hanging in the balance. The plucking (no dunking in boiling water required) went extremely well and the two teams ended in a photo finish! (Both stayed up for the movie, but the winning team ate cookies while other 'fasted'). While I helped them slaughter the first couple chickens, they did the rest, the first time for some of them. None of us enjoy it. I dressed the chickens in record time too (a couple new techniques I discovered greatly ease some of the more difficult parts, and I found that hens are easier than roosters). One of the hens had an egg ready to lay, the shell was even hard, which I took out while dressing - much to the young ones amazement. We will miss the rooster crowing in the mornings, but this will give us a chance to rejuvanate the chicken coop and run area. We will probably get some more in the summer sometime.

The Chicken Strut. Bethune has a festival every year named the 'Chicken Strut'. Last year it was scaled back quite a bit (a tractor pull and a car show only), but this year it is supposed to return to its former glory, with vendors and crafts and street dancing, parades, pony rides, etc. etc. The Curley's are planning to get a craft booth. Mrs. Curley and daughter have been gathering foliage and vines for wreaths. The boys and I will try our hands at making some more wooden guns and walking sticks, among other things. This should be fun and for all of us and a good way to get to know other people in the area. They say that 20,000 people come to this event. We will see.

Speaking of crafts, I came across an article here on crafting by Catherine Doherty. It is funny how a name you never heard of starts popping up everywhere. (See here for an explanation.) An excerpt:

Arts and crafts made by one's own hands, reflecting the ingenuity and creation of one's own mind, can bring beauty into the world and make God's presence more visible. For all creative effort is from God, and God is Beauty itself. Both crafts and the fine arts, such as painting and sculpture, can be a bond of tradition, bridging the old and the new. Unless there are such bridges, people are fragmented, each like an island unto himself or herself. We are unmoored and do not know where we came from or where we are going. Because of the rapid pace of our technological age, an artistic bridge with our roots is more needed than ever....

What today are called crafts, yesterday were simply all the things people needed to make in order to live: clothes, housing, tools and domestic utensils. So crafts were not just a pastime to keep occupied but rather one's creativeness at work, finding ways to fill real needs. As people became more skillful they crafted more beautifully the things they needed. Artists who are humble and are people of prayer realize that God is going to create through them. They bring a new dimension to human lives: they bring enthusiasm for art, for beauty, and creativity to everyone they meet.

Back to Lent. If you didn't check out RequiemPress' lenten specials yesterday at my other blog, Here's the spiel:

During lent you will be spending more time in prayer and sacrifice. What better way to offer these prayers and sacrifices than for the Holy Souls in Purgatory? Lent would be a good time to start a daily practice-a committment if you will-of praying for the holy souls.

"Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering" ($1.85) may just be the booklet to get you started. If features a short prayer every day of the week for a particular soul, followed by the recitation of Psalm 129 (130). The daily prayer follows Christ's passion through the week. [You may also want to spread this devotion by buying bulk quantities and distributing them-almsgiving for the Holy Souls. There are attractive discounts available at the Requiem Press website ]

If you plan to make extra visits and holy hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament this Lent, "Prayers in the Presence of the Holy Eucharist for the Church Suffering" ($2.50) may be another option. In this booklet by Fr. Xavier Lasance, a holy hour is mapped out (prayers for Adoration, Thanksgiving, Petition, and Reparation) as well as a meditation and prayers particular to the holy souls in Purgatory.

For your own spiritual reading during lent, "Witnesses to the Holy Mass and other sermons" by Dom Bede Camm OSB (regularily $8.95) is hard to beat. It is a book that can reinvigorate your spirit of sacrifice and most especially love of God. Dom Camm introduces us to some of the English martyrs under the persecutions of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. He shows how they can be an example to us today even if we are not under such a persecution. (It also makes a great gift to others who are looking for some Lenten reading.)

So here's the Lenten Special: Get all three books for just $7.95! When you order Witnesses to the Holy Mass at this discounted price, we will automatically include the two booklets for the holy souls.

May God bless your prayers and sacrifices during this holy season!

Quick Plug...

Just to note, I have posted the RequiemPress Lenten specials (as well as a unique 'almsgiving' idea) at my other blog (and of course the specials are listed at the website also). I only remind you here at Bethune Catholic because no one reads my other blog with any regualarity-granted I don't post there with any regularity either. So anyway, check it out. I'm sure I will post reminders on the specials here occasionally.

Family, Community, & Culture

Yesterday I pointed out 2 places (I didn't even mention, in this context, the Crunchy Con blog), where there was a discussion going on about the decision to move away from family and its ramifications. I have made my opinion known here for instance, in a discussion about 'Catholic re-settlement'.

My position is that the natural community is the family; their most natural support is the extended family. Family traditions become extended family traditions as the generations pass. Extended family traditions become neighborhood, then regional, then cultural traditions. It is hard to build meaningful culture away from your natural community.

So how to explain why the Curley's are 500 miles from the nearest family member and 900+ miles from our family base? (I think the discussion of hypocrsy came up in my comment box a few days ago. I was against it...)

First, I would say that when we moved 900 miles away, my thoughts on culture and community were not so well-developed and I hadn't the experience to understand their importance. Secondly, I needed a new job badly. Staying put didn't seem to be an option (they laid off half my department my last day at the job) and I had looked locally for a few years and nothing was shaking. And thirdly, I was resigned to the economics of the day which made this type of move the norm.

When we started RequiemPress we had the opportunity to move closer to family-and we almost did. I had actually put an offer in on a house in NH (really northern NH) which was about 4 hours away from our main family base. (Granted, 4 hours away is not living in the same community, but it is closer than 16 hours.) This deal fell through, there seemed to be no other optins, and so we settled for Bethune.

You must understand that SC is a low cost of living part of the country. A $150K house in Columbia, SC goes for $400K+ Norwood, MA where I grew up, and for $250 or more in southern NH. (And in a place like Bethune, the difference is even pronounced.) And while salaries are higher in MA and NH, they don't keep up with the housing. It is easer to build and rely on a family economy in a low cost area. And while it is easy (economically) to move from MA to SC, it is extremely difficult to move the other direction. So my goal is to get everyone to move HERE! (The house sitting in the cornfield next door is for sale!!!)

Mrs. Curley and I regret and discuss often that our children won't know their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins like they should. Of course many of our siblings don't live near the old family homesteads either: VA, KY, IL, NH, CA(nada), PA.

Now we are here. (In many ways, even if not ideal theoretically, we have felt the hand of Providence in the connections we have made.) We have some great Catholic friends, both in Columbia where we spent almost 10 years, and now too in our new parish, St. Catherine's in Lancaster, SC. And we (us and our friends) are conscioustly trying to build a Catholic community and culture even though almost all of us are displaced from our family bases. We don't live in the same neighborhoods even here, so it is a conscious effort to play and pray together as often as possible is there.

There is much more to say about this (and blessing we have received here), but there is also much work to do this morning. From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

PS: The last day before Lent: Drink some Guinness! (okay, I stole this line from Chesterton and friends - its a good one though).

Monday Morning

UPDATE: Now Monday Evening. Some updates on the topis discussed below:

An eventful weekend....First, that stomache thing is back-it is not as bad as the first go around (yet). Secondly, while Mrs. Curley was at the doctor's office on Saturday, I decided to fix (once and for all) our bathroom faucet leak. The faucet and I have been going at it since almost the day we moved in. I have changed stems, washers, handles, stems, and more washers. No more fooling around-Iwas going to get this right this time no matter what....Well it beat me. I got it to the point where it wouldn't leak-or turn on at all. That was the best I could do. I couldn't even get it back to the leaky state. (This certainly was to Mrs. Curley's liking as she had wanted a new faucet for some time. It's terrible when your wife cheers at your defeat...) Well, she got her new faucet. I am now the proud owner of more worthless plumbing parts. This is the kind of stuff yard sales are made of...

Interesting post here from "Stella" on the disconnection of family in today's culture. UPDATE: CeT Sunday night journal (here) discusses this very topic.

Several recent posts worth reading here and the follow-up here on the "V-monologues" and feminism.

Of course the Crunchy Con thing is still going on. A commentor on The Crunchy Con Blog said: "As someone who lives in a predominantly rural state, I can tell you that there is nothing romantic about farming. ...Farming involves a degree of uncertainty, stress, and physical labor that few of us could stand. If you mean small farms, that is even more work and would probably require that children engage in strenuous labor....So I find the idealization of rural life unrealistic. Who can say for sure what attracts people to the lost cause of rural life? Is it fear of the modern world? Frustration with its less appealing aspects? Naive idealism? I know one thing: We should all be glad that the industrial North defeated the rural South." Rod Dreher asks Caleb Stegall to respond....Can't wait to read it.

UPDATE: The Caleb Stegall response:

“Small communities are hell!” “You want to turn back the clock!” and
especially, “You romanticize the land!” To which I always want to ask, this is
the same America we’re talking about isn’t it? The America from the mountains to
the prairies; from the redwood forests to the Gulf Stream waters; the America of
purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain? The America that once carried
on a torrid love affair with its land, its nooks and crannies, its high places
and low places? Yeah, I’m a romantic all right. I don’t think I could be fully an
American if I weren’t.

But then comes the description of how hard life on the land really is, as if
this fact makes self-evident the folly of the romantic. In fact, it is the
difficulty that is at the heart of the romantic attraction Americans once had
for their land, their families, their communities, and even their country. It’s
putting oneself in service to something more than one’s own desires that is at
the core of every romantic impulse in man. This is what makes John Wayne a
conservative hero.

Note the words of the romantics: effort, pain, death, duty, discipline,
inconvenience, discomfort. The prospect that these words might carry the germ of
lasting satisfaction and happiness is a prospect American ears have a difficult
time hearing today. But as I said earlier, they are the true basis for finding
love, friendship, and a meaningful life. Master one’s passions, deny oneself,
and love others.

Things to think about...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Crunchy Cons-here, there, and everywhere

You are either for them or against them or have no opinion or just don't understand what they are. But the talk of Crunchy Cons are everywhere you go: here, and here and here and here and here and... And the Crunchy Con blog looks like it would be a full-time job to keep up with. I don't know much about it myself, but am a bit jealous, in a friendly sort of way (and congratulatory, by the way), of any book which garners so much attention and publicity among the St. Blogs parish (oh how do I get our message out like that?).

Seriously though, I haven't read the book so I don't know if I will ever really comment on it, but I will say that those who think Rob Dreher is restating the obvious in some of his 'manifesto' points may need to take a look again at those on the national scene who call themselves conservatives and also on a personal level among those whom you know. Do they really practice the conservatism they preach or that people associate with convervatism? OR are these conservatives really only concerned financial prosperity and only give those "Permanent Things" lip-service?

More Flannery O'Connor....Now that I've read a couple books, I just can't seem to get away from her. William Luse posts an essay analysis of one of her most disturbing short stories and explains the redemption enclosed therein. At the same time, in conversation with one of my sisters, she exclaimed, "Finally someone else who doesn't like reading Flannery O'Connor". This sister told me that either Plato or Aristotle said that reading should be both edifying and entertaining. My sister admits that you may make the case that Flannery O'Connor may be edifying, but much harder case for the entertainment aspect. Oh well, she (F.O.) may haunt me until I acquire that taste....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Our CCD class is going to perform a play called "The Best Deed". Story is fairly simple (see plot summary below). The original story I read as child from a book my mother had as a child- one of the series of books entitled "Medal Stories", some of which are currently reprinted by Neumann Press under the title "Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls". When scripting the play from the story, some revisions were necessary as it had been originally written for younger children, and it could stand a little updating to be more relevant to the experiences of today's youth. When I was young, my brothers and sisters performed this play for my parents. I had a bit part because I was so young at the time. So when searching around for something this year, I naturally gravitated to something I knew.

Plot Summary: Several weeks before receiving Confirmation, the CCD class is given the assignment to do something special to prepare their hearts for receiving the Holy Spirit. It can be a service project or some other act of charity, piety or sacrifice.

Catherine Duffy has a hard time deciding what to do, but finally settles on a service project-but she never really completes it. She is side-tracked because while visiting the hospital where her father works she encounters a sick, cantankerous, and dying man, Mr. Finn, who believes he has been too evil in life for God to forgive him. Catherine spends the next several weeks praying for and visiting Mr. Finn trying to convince him to accept God’s mercy before he dies.

Mr. Finn is finally worn down by Catherine’s kindness and (with a little help from the Blessed Virgin Mary) finally goes to confession and then dies.

Catherine receives her Confirmation but thinks she has failed in preparing her heart-until her teacher tells her that her cooperation with God in saving Mr. Finn’s soul was indeed 'the best deed'.

Death bed conversions always move me deeply. (I was even breaking up when revising this script .) There was death bed conversion in the book "Fr. Elijah" by Michael O'Brien and another moving one in the short story "Candle Beams" (from the book of the same name) by Fr. Francis Finn SJ. Perhaps I am moved so much because I feel that I will need my own deathbed conversion to completely accept God's love? I don't know. But I am hoping this story will help the CCD students and those parents and parishioners who watch the performance to revalue the sacrament of Penance and help them think about the 4 Last Things.

While we will rehearse for the play outside of class, we did do a quick read thru at the end of class last night. I think this will be fun. The kids seemed to enjoy it.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

I have updated or rewritten my "Request for Opinion" in yesterday's post regarding the story of Abraham and Isaac as reading it myself last night, I can see how one may be confused by what I was trying to say. So go at it again....

Several, (here and here ) beat me to this from the most recent Touchstone Magazine on liturgical hymns (available online.) [On a side note, one reason that you will find slight differences in the words to hymns from one edition to another, or from one publisher to another-other than for inclusive language and other nefarious purposes-is so that the new publisher can get a new copyright on the hymn. ]

Catholic World Report has an interesting article this month on the recent phenomenon of foreign priests staffing parishes in the USA (I don't the think the article is available online.) Of course in the Charleston, SC diocese, this is pretty common. The article comments that most of these foreign priests are African or Asian. We have an Irish priest at St. Catherines, but this is the exception. We have several priests from Nigeria and India in our diocese. Mostly they staff the more rural parishes here. I believe (at leat this is situation in two cases I know of), the foreign priest serves a year or so as a parochial vicar at a larger parish before heading out to the rural areas to staff their own parish. The two I have encountered have been holy men and great priests. Our diocese is truly mission country. Our 83 year old pastor says Mass at three parishes on the weekend. The priest in Cheraw does the same. But I also think the tide is turning. I believe we are starting to get consistency in our number of seminarians. (It used to be 3 ordinations one year, none the next. Now I think we are ordaining 3-4 every year. Not enough, but on the right path.) A spokeman for the USSB (in the article) explains that most foriegn priests come from more traditional cultures so that acculturation is important. (Coming from the traditional culture is big plus in my mind-we Americans need to experience this more.) Many of these priests participate in a series of classes "to acculturate foreign priests to the American concepts of individualism, multicutluralism, and egalitarianism." I hope the program just explains these things and doesn't corrupt the priest into accepting some of these American (Protestant) ideals (read: individualism) in conflict with true Catholicism....

Finally, a short note of self-promotion: we have extended the special offer at RequiemPress for a few more days and expect to have Lenten specials available in a few days.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Sunday (written on Monday) and other things...

Sunday afternoon: After returning from Mass yesterday we decided to have an day outdoors. It was in the mid-40's and the forecast was for a 'wintry mix' sometime in the evening or after nightfall, (I don't think it ever developed more than clouds.) One son built and lit a pyramid fire (his first) in our firepit (which had not been used this year yet). I got out our portable wind-up phonograph and played some old 78 rpm records. Mrs. Curley and I danced to a few songs and realized we are out of dancing shape. I also danced with my young daughters. The boys played badmitton with Mrs. Curley. We did not cook by the fire, but we did eat by it. Then we sang songs and said the rosary. The older ones told stories by the fire as Mrs. Curley and I put the younger ones to bed. Overall it was a very rewarding day from start to finish.

Sunday morning: Speaking of the the 'start', our pastor was in top form today. His wit is so understated-if you are not paying attention you will miss it, because he doesn't pause for a laugh. I thnk this is because he is not telling jokes-he has this habit of stating truth in humorous ways. For example, in speaking of Hell yesterday (yes, he speaks of Hell), Fr. John commented, (not a direct quote, but close enough), "I think one of the worst parts of Hell, other than the all the pain and the rotten company, is how it is eternal." (my emphasis).

Flannery O'Connor revisted: I have now read an entire book of Flannery O'Connor's short stories and one of her novels (Wise Blood). She is a good writer, no doubt, but I think I am through with her. I tend to read for information, inspiration, or entertainment. Her books do not provide any of these three things for me. Why do I feel compelled to share this? Maybe I feel guilty that I just can't understand her attraction to so many people I respect. Now reading this .

Request for opinions: (UPDATE: I have rewrittend this a little to undo the confusion I found reading it myself. Here we go again...)We have been using the Our Holy Faith religion text series (Neumann Press) at home for several years now. There are portions of these texts which need updating (some of the feasts and the Church calendar have changed), but overall they have been pretty good. The Baltimore Catechism questions are part of each chapter. However, we came across this in the Grade 7 book:

When Abraham and Sara were very old, God sent them a son, Isaac....Sometime
later-we don't know exactly when-a terribel fear seized Abraham. His Canaanite
neighbors offered human sacrifice. They thought they must sacrifice to the gods
the very best they had, so they would offer their eldest son in sacrifice. Even
though the clan of Thare did not offer such sacrifice, Abraham wondered if God
wanted him to prove his lover by sacrificing this long-awaited son. No he
thought, it could not be. And yet, must he not be glad to offer his beloved son
to God?

The clear implication in the text book (and it is not disppelled anywhere) is that the sole reason Abraham took Isaac up the mountain was because he thought that maybe God wanted him to copy his Canaanite neighbors. The text book does not present this as a test or trial of Abraham til a few pages later, and then does not clarify. Obviously the text book version is in clear contradiction to Genesis. The text book goes on to say that God revealed to Abraham that He did not want human sacrifices, etc. I had trusted this book, and series, (and the publisher for that matter) for its orthodoxy, but this account of Abraham seems to be pure speculation. The Haydock Bible does not give this interpretation. I don't have the Navarre Bible for Genesis. What say y'all?

A couple requests...

Not much time this morning for a proper post. I have a practically new dishwasher to install and a den re-arrange, trying to fit in some furniture we were given. These are remnants to remind us of some good friends who just moved back to Texas.

Mrs. Curley's brother (only in his mid-30's) had emergency heart surgery (a catheritization thing) a few days ago. Apparently he has had an untreated heart condition since he was born, and it could be ignored no longer. Prayers requested that he recovers to full health soon. He is married with three children.

Got some good, and almost unbelievable news yesterday. I used to be (see the 4 meme below) a patent agent. I still have my license to practice and occasionally take on a consulting job to earn extra cash. This summer I took on such a job. Anyone who knows the patent world will tell you that a patent application normally takes at least 9 months (usually over a year) before the first examination and usually somewhere between 18 months to 36 months to get the patent granted, (if indeed it is a novel invention). Well just before Christmas (4.5 months after filing) the inventor called me to say he needed a little more help as he got the result back from the first examination. I was surprised, but happy for him. I put in an hour or two and sent him on his way. I got a phone call yesterday, and he informed me that his patent application had been allowed. I couldn't believe it. This is only 7 months after filing! He told me I am in the wrong business (publishing) and I should be doing patent work-maybe he's right.

In that vein comes the second request. We run pretty close to the line here and the occasional extra work I get or the extra money we pick up doing various endeavors often makes the difference between remaining viable or not during slow times, (remember the $9.00 yard sale I reported some months back, ha! ha!). So the request is just to keep us in your prayers as we continue this experiment (or adventure, or insanity-depending on the day).

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

We ate one of our chickens last night. These Rhode Island Red roosters are big enough to feed the whole family on one bird. We actually slaughtered and dressed two birds. I taught my oldest at home how to do it-going through the whole process together in parallel. The bird was one of the best we'd had.

After doing a little research, as suggested somewhere below, we re-mated the rabbits. This time I think I know a little more about it. First, it may have been too cold in December. Secondly, while the buck certainly tried, I didn't look for the "sign" he gives when he has "succeeded". This time when we mated them, he gave the "sign". In two weeks we try again with the same doe. If she resists violently or persistently, then it is a good sign she is pregnant. Stay tuned....

I read Mrs. Curley this (see the story on extraordinary ministers) piece last night. I had her going for a couple minutes, then we both had a good laugh.

And a thought end on this morning:

As, sooner or later, you are bound to stumble upon the evidence of your own personal wretchedness, I wish to forewarn you about some of the temptations which the devil will suggest to you and which you should reject straight away. These include the thought that God has forgotten about you, that your call to the apostolate is in vain, and that the weight of sorrow and of the sins of the world are greater than your strength as an apostle. - None of this is true! (Furrow #141)

I hope some profit comes to you this morning from this little thought. From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Blessings and odds and ends

Blessings
Last night our kids gave Mrs. Curley and me a great gift. You must understand that until we moved to Bethune, virtually every week for over 2 years, Mrs. Curley and I went on a date-usually dancing to 30's and 40's era music, (as I may have mentioned before). Since moving to Bethune, we have not been 'on a date'. Last night the kids told us that we were invited to dinner for two at 7:30 PM-but we had to "get out of their way" for a couple hours. At 7:30PM one of my sons came upstairs to escort Mrs. Curley into the "restaurant". They had transformed our livingroom/dining room area into a candlelit dining area. The song we had danced to at our wedding was playing in the background (during dinner, a soft collection of classical music played). Dinner consisted of homemade bread (with homemade butter), appetizers of potato skins and homemade cheese sticks. The entrees were a scallop dish for me and shrimp stir-fry for Mrs. Curley. Dessert include brown sugar bars and lemon squares. The youngest children helped served the appetizers and then quietly went to bed. The older children stayed to serve, to clean-up (and to eat any left overs). Except for serving us, the kids stayed away from the dining area and let Mrs. Curley and I talk and enjoy ourselves. The food was excellent! Ironically, this was planned for last week, (we got invitations in the mail!), but the sickness postponed it til last night-which conicidentally was St. Valentine's Memorial. It is comforting to know that our children have enough awareness, even at their young ages, that their parents sometimes need to be taken care of. It is a comfort to me that I know my kids will take care of Mrs. Curley when I am no longer able to....

On a very light note, Mr. Riddle's comment below on Pope John Paul the Great's poetry reminded me of a very funny story I have been meaning to blog for over a month...On January 6th, we took the youth of our parish on a round of Christmas caroling to the parish shut-ins. We also stopped at Fr. John O'Holohan's (our paster) house to sing a few carols. He graciously invited us in. He figured not many of the kids had visited a priest's house before. Now Fr. John is famous for greeting people with "Shalom" as this is the greeting of Christ to us. At some point in time, someone gave Fr. John a little wall plaque which says, "Shalom, y'all!" (probably when they heard he was coming to SC). As he was giving the tour of his house, Fr. John pointed to the plaque and said that he likes to use that word because it is a greeting that Christ actually used. Mrs. Curley suddenly pipes up, asking, "Y'all?, Christ said 'Y'all'? I whispered to her: "Didn't you know, Christ was a southerner?" This is one we will laugh about for years and years.

Odds and ends: As it is quite apparent now, I have been robbed and cheated! Obviously some nefarious plot is afoot. My illustrious blog has been left off the nominations for the 2006 CatholicBlogAwards. Go and vote anyway. Besides I have made a more prestigious appearance, being included in this.

And a final thought: "Those problems which used to overwhelm you and seemed like enormous mountains, disappeared completely. They were solved in a divine way, as when Our Lord commanded the winds and the waters to be calmed. - And to think you still doubted! " [St.Josemaria Escriva-Furrow #119] (That's me the doubter who is continually blessed....)

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

tagged?

I guess I will play, having been tagged by Corpus Meum:

Four Jobs I’ve Had
Dishwasher
Gas Station Attendent
Patent Agent
Publisher

Four Movies I Watch Over and Over Again
Beau Geste (Gary Cooper version)
Casablanca
Adventures of Robin Hood
The Sound of Music

Four Places I’ve Lived
Norwood, MA
Cleveland, OH
Columbia, SC
Bethune, SC

Four TV Shows I Watch
Haven't watched TV shows in years....

Four Websites I Visit Daily
a bunch of blogs-see sidebar, plus
CatholicExchange
Google

Four Places I’d like to be right now (Besides Heaven)
Right here
Any place in Ireland
Anywhere surrounded by friends and song with a Guiness in hand
In the presence of our Lord, preferably in a beautiful chapel, - anywhere

I tag: The Wandering Moon and anyone else who is so inclined....

Pecan Pie

I forgot to mention the pecan pie my sons made on Sunday. We had got the pecans off the ground at the Camden (SC) Revolutionary War Park about 20 miles from here at least a month or more ago. There is a huge pecan tree and the pecans were literally covering the ground two to three nuts deep around the tree. We gathered as many as we could carry.

On Sunday one son (11) made the bottom crust and the other son (9)made the filling and baked it. (I helped shell pecans for a bit myself.) The pie was excellent. We still have plenty of pecans, but must go back for some more.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem! Sts. Cyril and Methodius-ora pro nobis!

Random Thoughts...

It is 42 (F) in my office this morning. TS, earlier in the winter, had recommended one of those portable heaters. A good suggestion, but I really don't mind the cold so much. I am just funny to look at in bundled in a blanket and my fingers protruding from a pair of gloves with cut-off fingers. (Besides, I don't think the electrical system can take any more appliances up here.) You see, only the downstairs was fixed for the central heat and AC in this house. The woodstove actually used to send up some good heat upstairs, but we had chimney fire last winter (another story) and we haven't got the chimney redone yet. Since the upstairs is basically an attic, we have window air conditioners for my office and (soon) the bedroom upstairs. When the printer in my office is going non-stop, you don't need heat up here. (Of course in the summer, the air conditioner can't keep up with the heat generated by the printer.)

Has anyone read "The Place Within-the poetry of Pope John Paul II"? Actually the title is misleading because all the poems in the collection were written before he became pope, that is, between 1939 and 1978. Some of the poems do not give the year written-which is unfortunate. I am not personally a great reader of poetry-I miss my days in college when for a short time (a semester or two) I learned how to read and appreciate good poetry. But as they say, if you don't use it.... In any event, early in this collection is a poem entitled: Shores of Silence. Here's are a couple pieces from it:

The distance shores of silence
begin at the door. You can not fly there
like a bird. You must stop, look deeper,
still deeper, until nothing
deflects the soul
from the utmost deep......

There, he is there. Only a tremor here,
only words retrieved from nothingness.
Oh-and a particle still remains
of that amazement which will become the essence
of eternity....

It seems to me, that he is talking about contemplative prayer-like that described in "The Cloud of Unkowing".

of Singing and Snow

There are a lot of songs which are not appropriate for use in the Liturgy, which may be, none-the-less, still fun to sing, (depending on your taste). Many of the old spirituals, many of which have Protestant theological undertones, are examples (Just a Closer Walk with Thee, Comin' for to Carry me home, etc, - even Amazing Grace). Unfortunately, all too often songs like these, and even worse, songs from the Glory & Praise book are played at Mass.

There are at least 2 problems with the G&P songs: 1) they are mostly about us and only secondarily, if at all, about praising God; and 2) most are written for piano and guitar-which unfortunately encourages use of the guitar; 3)many of the songs have ranges which half-octave range singers like me, (and I am not alone) can't hit (even if I wanted to), thus the songs turn into a performance by the musicians; 4) (Oh yes, I said only 2 problems...)

Yet one of my children this week made a probably very true observation about the G&P songs. It goes something like this: We are all at some deep level, drawn to sing, and drawn to sing to praise God. Since singing in groups is found so seldom in any place but at Church in this day and age, the songs selected and played by the musicians or 'music minister' become merely a matter of taste-because it is the only outlet for singing, and they sing and play what they know and like best. (Many are converts or group up in the liturgical mess that has been the last 30 or so years.) Many of these songs-while maybe nice around a campfire-have no place at Mass.

Finally, in the same "spirit", you have to read this!

This past weekend I was supposed to travel to NH for my newly born Godson's, (Brendon Christopher), Baptism. A family member was going to share frequent flyer miles and I was all set to go, looking forward to seeing family again and participating in this holy and crucial sacrament. Sickness in the family (as I blogged about all week) last week prevented the trip at the last minute. Turns out, if I had gone, it looks like I would have been snowed in, as New England got more than 2 feet of snow.

We actually had brief flurries here yesterday. Nothing landed-it was in the cooold 40's. In fact, two of the kids were playing tennis at the local courts during the brief "snowstorm".

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Saturday Evening

Well, it has been a week of sparse posting. It has been a tough week, with sickness and weather (we had snow flurries!!! yesterday). We decided to knock off our Saturday chores early today (it rained all day anyway) and have a mini-celebration as we are all finally well and together.

After lunch we spent some time rehearsing skits and songs and then met at 2:30 to perform. Two daughters did the "Who's on First"" Abbott and Costello routine. The boys and I sang "O Danny Boy". Mrs. Curley and I danced and sang "Pick a Bale of Cotton". Three sons on Trumpet, Baritone, and clarinet played "When the Saints Go Marching In", etc., etc. Then we took a break while some of the family made homemade pizza. We ate pizza while watching a "classic" Gene Autry western on video. Now we'll say the Rosary and hop in bed. All Saturdays should be such fun...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

It never stops. Daughter is home from hospital. Had to take son in as he had an allergic reaction to something he ate-we haven't figured out what yet.

When I did have some time earlier this morning, I happened to wander upon this new blog. The subject of silence, which I blogged about a little below, has many facets. Check it out. (Disclosure: I do know the blog owner, and I think "Stella" will be worth reading.)

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Little Things...

This article on CE today is quick reminder of some of those things that build a Catholic culture and a presence of God in your heart.

One last (I hope) post on the stomache bug. Last daughter to recover got dehydrated and is spending night in the hospital to get fluids. Looks like everything is okay-but I promised her that I would mention her on the 'blog'. When I left the hospital this evening she was playing with the controls on the bed and told me that the hospital was "so interesting".

We arise....

Well rested!

While we still have one not quite out of the woods, everyone slept through the night for the first time in a week! Deo Gratias!

Sorry to be pre-occupied with this bug the past few days, but lack of sleep can do that to you. Some religious orders fast from sleep. I think it is harder than fasting from food.

Here's a thought from Furrow by St. Josemaria Escriva:

Optimism? Yes always! Even when things seem to turn out badly: perhaps that is the time to break into song, with a Gloria, because you have sought refuge in Him, and nothing but good can come to you from Him.

I used not to think much of St. Augustine's words that singing was praying twice (do I have that right?). But over the years, I have found that there is something about singing which can direct your whole being to the object of the song in a way that mere words can't. This is why lovers put their words to music, so they can express more fully their feelings. Thus it is so in praying to God. (I am not talking "Say Hey to the Carpenter" here-but true hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God). One day, out of deep distress, I spontaneously broke into song as my words couldn't express either the depth of my distress, nor my thanksgiving to our Lord for His blessings. The problem didn't go away, but after my prayer, I knew the Lord was with me, and I was able to go on.

I have also learned that God wants not only our minds (because this is what I tend to give Him), but also our hearts. Song helps us to give our hearts. This also why the restoration of singing together-whether hymns or folk songs-is important to the restoration of a Christian culture. People need to know how to give their whole being. Music helps us do this. People resist. Singing makes them self-conscious. But this is exactly why it needs to be done-to thrust aside the self in order to give your entire self in song...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

After Mass on Sunday, I remarked to Mrs. Curley how the reading from Job had been particularily appropriate for our recent experiences with the stomache bug at Bethany:

Job spoke, saying:

Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?

Are not his days those of hirelings?

He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages.

So I have been assigned months of misery, and
troubled nights have been allotted to me.

If in bed I say, “When shall I arise?”then the night drags on;

I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;

they come to an end without hope.

Remember that my life is like the wind;

I shall not see happiness again.

We still have one down, but I think everyone else is through it...

Stomache bug in full force all night long. Rain all day so far. Am retreating to the office to catch up on work...

Feast of St. Blaise

As a child at St. Catherine of Sienna school in Norwood, MA the priests would go from classroom to classroom on the feast of St. Blaise blessing throats. They only came around for two occasions as I recall: to distribute report cards and on the feast of St. Blaise. For some reason it took me several years to get over my fear of having my throat blessed. I had this impression every year that the candles would be lit when placed around my throat, the priest would slip and I would be burnt. You would think that after the first year I would notice that the candles weren't lit. But the fear came back every year until at least the 4th grade.

Didn't get to Mass this morning (or the past two days for that matter) we still have the stomache thing going around in full force. We do have a couple partial recoveries, but some of the kids are in bad shape-keeping Mrs. Curley and I up at all hours with buckets and towels and changing sheets, etc. Finally we laid out the worst of them on the living room floor on sleeping bags, each with their own bucket. This centralizes the clean-up area. Enought about that....

Have been excerpted the past two days a little bit of John Meehan's "Two Towers" over at my other blog - where he discusses the circumstances surrounding the founding of Magdalen College in Warner, NH. Interesting reading....(and the book is 1/2 price when you buy Russell Shaw's "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" at RequiemPress.)

That's it for now-from Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

St. Blaise, ora pro nobis!

We have this stomache thing going on around here. Number 3 son had it last week and is fully recovered. Everyone else but Mrs. Curley and I are down with it now. I had to fetch an egg this morning-hazardous duty I was told as we have a rooster which attacks number 2 son everytime he goes to feed the chickens or fetch an egg. I think it was tooooo cold this morning for the rooster to care. I came away unscathed. As soon as the help gets healthy we're going to pluck some chickens and load up the freezer.

Found the missing 1099, so the taxes are essentially done.

I have been reading a collection of short stories by Flannery O'Connor. I had never read her before, but was finally convinced after reading several people I admire refer to her writing with esteem. After reading the first couple stories, I must confess, I came away thinking some disturbing thoughts about Flannery O'Connor. Having read a few more, I can say that everything she writes isn't so disturbing, but I can't say I understand the attraction to her. Maybe I am too obtuse to understand the point of her stories. I could use some help here....

UPDATE: re: flannery O'Connor, found this quote over at Amy Welborn's Openbook

''O'Connor is important to the way this movie is constructed," he continues. ''What you do is you consider some so-called religious thinking without the didacticism of the classical approach. You look for the allegorical intentions of what we're taught in the Bible, and then find some way to have it revealed or expressed by common experience. You'll find this happening over and over again in O'Connor, who was a rather classical Catholic thinker who wrote about nothing but backwoods north Georgia rednecks." (my emphasis).

Finally, while I did mention this book a few weeks ago, it has finally been released: I got my signed copy of this book in the mail today from my youngest sister, author Agnes Penny...Get a copy for the wife or mother in your life! (From TAN books)

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Silence...

I regularly take our oldest dog, Challenger, for a run through the cornfields and forests which abut our property. Since my knee has been acting up over these weeks, our runs have been walks. Challenger is part hound, and I have found to my surprise that he can be very patient at times. We will walk for a while in the forest, and then he will stop dead still and wait and sniff the air. One time he stopped for 15 minutes. He was looking intently in one spot. I saw nothing. Then I heard rustling in the forest. Finally, some 200 feet away, I spotted a squirrel which was slowly making its way over to us. Challenger didn't move until the squirrel was within 5 feet of us-then he pounced. Of course, being on a leash, he come up empty.

While walking through the forest, you notice the quiet. But when you stop and listen for 10 minutes, you suddenly realize it is not so quiet. (Ever notice that the longer you look at stars, the more stars you see?) There are many noises that even your quiet walking disguises. I wonder if this is like prayer....

In our prayer, how often are we paying attention? Just like in the forest, maybe a true silence will help us hear what God is trying to tell us-if we would only listen! He is speaking, but we are too busy with our distractions-and often don't even know it. Thomas More wrote (from The Sadness of Christ):

I wish that sometime we would make a special effort, right after finishing our prayers, to run over in our minds the whole sequence of time we spent praying. What follies will we see there?...Indeed we will be amzaed that it was at all possible for our minds to dissipate themselves in such a short time among so many places at such great distance from each other, among so many different affairs, such various, such manifold, such idle pursuits.

Our late Holy Father, John Paul the Great wrote about silence in prayer in NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE:

...we cannot come to the fullness of contemplation of the Lord's face by our own efforts alone, but by allowing grace to take us by the hand. Only the experience of silence and prayer offers the proper setting for the growth and development of a true, faithful and consistent knowledge of that mystery which finds its culminating expression in the solemn proclamation by the Evangelist Saint John: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (1:14). (emphasis in original)

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Okay, I have pretty much finished my Federal taxes (I misplaced an 1099-INT, but it won't make a measurable difference). No good news-but no bad news either, as expected. The state taxes should be a breeze from here on out.

I have not read Deus Caritas Est yet, and I have tried not to read too many of the commentaries appearing all over the place because I just want to form my own impressions.

We had a good weekend, some good friends were over on Saturday. I have been having alot of trouble with my knee (an old basketball injury which flares up occasionally) for several weeks. I have even used a cane for a few days. But Saturday we got a football game going with the boys, and although I was hobbled (this is my excuse for our team being slaughtered) I tried not to let my knee interfere too much with the game. Lo and behold, on Sunday (and continuing this morning) my knee is better than it has been in several weeks. Usually playing through my knee problems is countrer-productive, but not this time.

Got my Winter 2006 copy of Catholic Mens Quarterly this weekend. I have mentioned CMQ before as a good read. They are about to expand the magazine by about 50%, but are holding yearly subscription prices the same for a limited time...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

The lone hen left of the new batch laid her first egg. The hens from last year haven't started laying again yet-those who haven't hit the pot already.

33 days an no baby rabbits. I thought this was supposed to be easy...

No rabbits....Special offer at Requiem Press is up. Why they go together is discussed at my other blog.

Check out Mark Shea's discussion of 'Crunchy Cons' (That's a book I'd like to read). Also note at the top his request for prayers at CE experiences some financial speed-bumps.

Back to the taxes...

Taxes...

It is that time again. I have to do inventory, taxes, etc. I do them myself still at this point. Hopefully it won't take more than a day or so to get them completed, but you never know around here. I may be scarce, but then again, I may check in to maintain sanity...

No signs of baby rabbits yet-I'm beginning to wonder...

Look for a special buy at Requiem Press starting tomorrow through February, to get that cash flow going....

That's all for now folks!

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

'Leven cent cotton...

Here's a verse from a current favorite folk song we've been singing here at Bethany- from the "Fireside Book of American Folk Songs" a Christmas present to the kids....

'Leven cent cotton, forty cent meat
How in the world can a poor man eat?
Praying for the sunshine, cause it'll rain,
Things gettin worse, drivin all insane.

Built a nice barn, painted it brown

Lighten' come along an burnt it all down..

No use talkin' any man's beat

With 'leven cent cotton and forty cent meat.

Was loaned the book "Children of Winter-how the classroom is murdering the innocence of your child" by James Demers. It is not a new book (published in 1993). I am about half-way through. The first part is very confusing to me. It seemed the author was trying to say something, but seems unable to spit it out. It was often unclear how the examples he cites illustrate the point he seems to be trying to make. The second part is much more straightforward. While the author is making the case for all of North America, it is clear he writes mostly from his own experience in Canada during the Sixties and Seventies. Nothing new here: sex education-even in the Catholic schools. I'm not sure the sex-ed entered as many Catholic schools in the US during this time (we are doing it now in a nonsensical response to 'the scandal'). Another reason to homeschool...

My blog turning into a book review-first "Restoration..." and now this.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I thought I was a failure at breeding rabbits, but the jury is still out. For some reason I thought we mated the first doe on Christmas Eve and thus her pregnancy should have ended today or at least the signs of preparation (her pulling her fur out) should have started. But looking back in my blog entries this morning, I happily noted in early January that the mating took place on the 26th of December. Thus I have a couple more days to see....and found another benefit of blogging.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Good to see some more activity at Hallowed Ground -with the comments open!

Below somewhere in my post on Catholic Resettlement, Zach suggests I may enough thoughts to write a book. Certainly I think there are enough examples of (what I defined as) planned and unplanned "Catholic Resettlements" which are at least in the first generation, or failed in the first generation to do an interesting study. I think a Master's thesis may be the right venue for this.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Final note this morning, "Catholic Laity..." from Requiem Press is still getting media play here and there. This time at the National Center for the Laity-online here. Check it out.

Also, I may have mentioned this a few days ago, but we have announced a couple of our upcoming books over at my other blog. I will repeat it here because readership is steadier (and greater) here at Bethune Catholic.

We have started to set our schedule for book releases for 2006-07. Here is a partial preview, I expect to have a couple more surprises in the next week or so:

Spring Release: "Giving Up Stealing For Lent" by Brother Charles Madden OFM Conv. (You may recognize him from his popular book on Freemasonery published by TAN books.)

January 2007 Release: "America's Drug Deal-Abortion, Vaccines, & Corruption" by Jameson Taylor. Check out his website here.

That's all for now, from Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Columbia, SC ... Saturday

We took our CCD class and some of their younger siblings (along with our family) to the March for Life and Rally at the state capital on Saturday. Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo, sister of Terry Schiavo, was the keynote speaker at the rally. She was not overly emotional herself, nor did she try to incite the crowd of about 500 to emotion for emotions sake. She quietly told the facts, made proposals to protect ourselves and our family. She had some harsh words for Bishop Lynch and a few of the priests in her sister's diocese who either sided with Terry's husband or had a 'hands-off' policy. But she used the words of John Paul the Great to show the true teaching of the Church concerning food and hydration. She was the best speaker they have had in Columbia for several years at least.

For the first time in a few years also, it didn't feel like a President Bush rally. This aspect has upset me in the past, but this year no mention of the President at all. Last year for example, even the signs they were handing out said "Thank-you President Bush" on the back. This year, as I said, no mention of him. (Perhaps out of respect for Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo-while Gov. Bush and President Bush did some things initially to try to save Terry's life, when it came down to the end, they stood by and did nothing.)

The crowd was smaller this year than in the past, (it was overcast, and rained off-and-on during the morning-but not during the rally itself). We will talk to our CCD class on Wednesday to get their impressions and to discuss these issues some more.

On the homefront, we should have baby rabbits any day now, if we did everything properly....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Quick notes: forgot to mention yesterday that I have (finally) done a little updating on the blog links and the regular links. If you read my other blog yeterday, you may recognize the first link under "Other Sites" on the right-Americas Drug Deal. Now off to Columbia for the March for Life....

Catholic Re-settlement

As readers of Bethune Catholic know, I have just finished John Senior's classic-"The Restoration of Christian Culture". He says many things which are worthy of discussion: TV, music, reading, talking, community, family, the Eucharist, Our Lady.... and the list goes on.

In the past 10 years or so I have seen and been part of many discussions on forming Catholic communities. There are various names and models for this: Catholic re-settlement, Catholic ghetto's, agrarian communiites. etc. People have deliberately tried to make these work (with very mixed success) and in other cases, the community just happened (again with mixed success.)

A single post outlining all I have learned (or think I have) over the years on the subject would be too lengthy (to read and to time consuming to write). But here are a couple of thoughts for anyone planning such an endeavor:

1. If you somehow form a community of 'like-minded' people, the community needs to work towards some level of self-sufficiency. I mean that all the men can't be leaving the community every day for work. They need to find employment in or very near the community-or being working towards that goal. Part of the community that makes it so, is that everything is right there. It is not a suburb where all the men leave to work in the city everyday. This is how the culture started breaking the family down to begin with. (Note I am not talking specifically about self-sufficiency for its own sake)

2. If it is an agrarian community, note that the American model is flawed. In America we want to put our house right smack dab in the middle of our 40 acres (keep the neighbors at arms-length and stake out the property lines.). While good fences may make good neighbors, the neighbors should be close enough that community really exists-so culture can flourish. If you look at those places in Europe today and yesterday where Catholic culture flourished, you will note that often these farming families all lived in the village in close proximity. The fields they owned and worked were outside the village. They lived together.

3. One big problem with the "planned" community, is that it takes more than a generation, maybe 2-5 generations, to really make it work. This is because the natural community is the family, and their most natural support is the extended family (not simply a "like-minded" friend). These resettlements (whether planned or unplanned) don't usually include (at least initially) extended family. This makes the community growth rocky. (You can ditch a friend - even like-minded one, but it is hard to ditch Uncle Haryy). But I would imagine that if they can stick it out a few generations (which means that most of the children remain in the community as do their children), then there is a real shot at making this succeed as the extended family will now be there also.

Just like H. Belloc (am I quoting John Senior's quoting of Belloc correctly?) said that it takes a year to make a farmer into a city boy, but it takes several generations to make a city-boy into a farmer. (I am living proof that it certainly takes more than a year. I can't even keep my chickens safe from my own dogs.)

Just some thoughts...Some may ask how my choices for our family in the past few years correlate to these goals listed above. That is another long story....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

PS-Have some announcements concerning Requiem Press on my other blog today!

Restoration of Christian Culture can only come through personal devotion and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

Sorry for the lack of posts and lack of response to comments below. They are coming. I am just up against a couple critical deadlines.

Probably the last quote from "The Restoration... " as I am nearing the end.

"But the mystery of the incarnation resides in the hypostatic union of those two natures in one person, and it follows that every cell in Christ's body, each cell of the Eucharist, is a multiplied division of the original cell of hers (Our Lady-jc) still living on in these forms."

Something to meditate on....

I have noticed that Mr. Culbreath of Hallowed Ground has been making appearances in comment boxes around the parish. His posts have been fairly sparse of late, but his latest on "Conflict of Visions" is worth reading, although I might quibble with him on parts of the last paragraph. My real bone to pick with Mr. Culbreath is that due to his lack of posts, (and lack of comment box), my readership has suffered by a measureable amount.

I need to update my blog-link list on the sidebar. Several of the blogs listed have changed their location or their name, or both during the Christmas season necessitating an update on my part. Plus there may be some new ones to add and a few I don't visit much any more to take away...

I am up against the wall today with an editorial deadline, but I have some good things (in my opinion anyway) to post. Some exciting news concerning upcoming offerings from RequiemPress which I can finally speak about and some thoughts on 'Catholic re-setttlement' in light of my reading of "The Restoration... " Stay tuned if you have patience.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

More TV Smashing...

I am nearing the end of "The Restoration..." How about these gems:

"An agnostic university exactly imitates Lucifer in his fall... ", and

"Secular education is not only incomplete but contrary to both God and nature; it is sacrilegeous and unscientific. "

In a post some time ago, (oh yes, here it is), I expounded some of my thoughts about education.

Smash the TV, Toss the stereo, and ...

He saves "the best wine for last!-sell the car and learn to walk again." Yes I am still reading "The Restoration of Christian Culture" by John Senior.

I don't agree with everything in his book, but his thrust is something I wholeheartedly endorse. And he is not afraid of saying hard things, like 'smash the TV for instance' (and yes he says it more than once or twice), or:

The third degree (of prayer) is for those in the married state (or single life) who offer a tithe of their time for prayer-about two and one-half hours per day-with eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep the remaining five and a half for recreation with the family.

Everyone will say it can't be done. That is what I meant when I said that the first thing said about prayer is that we don't have time for it....Every layman owes his tithe of time-two and one-half hours per day. (emphasis added).

This recalls for me John Paul's passage in Novo Millennio Ineunte: “it would be wrong to think that ordinary Christians can be content with a shallow prayer that is unable to fill their whole life.”

I am well past the half-way point in "Restoration". I am certainly enjoying the read-because it sparks so many thoughts, and because it spawns so many ideas; it is almost like having a conversation with a like-minded friend. Although I know that there are a few in our house who are eyeing me with suspicion and concern as I go around chanting, "Smash the TV! Toss the stereo!". However, to get serious, the more things we have, the more time and money we have to spend maintaining and using them. And thus for each thing we have, we must at some level determine how this thing helps or hinders our pilgrimage. I have heard it said that the typical man in biblical and medieval times had more leisure time than we do today. Their needs were satisfied locally and their lives and holdings more simple. And leisure? The purpose of leisure is not to veg in front of the TV, but to spend time developing your spiritual life and relationships-to read, to sing, to talk about the eternal things. We are so tired from maintaining our materialistic lives that in our leisure we have only the energy to collapse on the couch...

Speaking of TV, we don't have cable or satellite, and we live so far out that it is a major production to get any meaningful picture on the tube normally. This is okay with us. Mostly we use the TV to watch videos. Friday night we watched one of my favorites and a classic, "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" starring Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone. It is a good drama with a balance of action, good dialog and humor. (One thing I noticed some years ago is that most recent dramas on the big screen don't think humor has a place in a drama, but this is so wrong as our human dramas always are laced with humor. The movie makers in the 30's knew this.) The main characters are fallen men, but they each learn lessons and act on them.

I have a bad knee which normally is just an occasional hazard, but occasionally is difficult to walk on and carries some small pain. Saturday my knee had been acting up, so I was trying to take it easy with my chores. I went out to simply board up a broken window in our feed house when a dead pine tree came down in the goat/dog pen due to the high winds. The tree broke off near the base and leaned into another tree, so it didn't come down all the way. So I got out the axe and took the tree down the rest of the way. Just as I was finishing up this, the beem which secures the roof (simply a heavy duty tarp) over our rabbits snapped in two (also wind related). S0 I had to replace this. By the time I finished this (oh yes, I spent a little time turning the compost which was long over due) I realized there was no taking it easy today.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Just noticed the excerpt from Russell Shaw's "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" (December issue of crisis Magazine) is now available online - here . Pass it around...

Mentioned this on my other blog a few days ago: here is one take on the crisis Magazine article.

More "Restoration" and other tidbits...

Others ... atempting to construct an artificial universe ... an earthly Paradise in which there are no death and taxes-and this is what technology has tried and bitterly failed to do; after five hundred years of spectacular success, it has reduced our lives to nothing but death and taxes!"

The poet chanted of the Grecian urn, "Thou still unravished bride of quietness..." For us there is neither quiet or bride; our girls are rendered unravishable by sex education in elementary school. If future generations exist and think of us at all, they will say, digging in our ruins, "This was a people who lived unconsummated lives."

...We can an must turn back the clock to the right time. The only way out of the current crisis of inflation, energy, and all the rest is to simplify....whether as freemen or slaves, we shall have to return to poverty. The choice is only whether it will be the desparate destitution of the slave state or the healthy frugality of what Chaucer called "glad poverty."

So many quotable gems like the ones above from John Senior's "Restoration of Christian Culture". Get used to them as I think the next week or so, this blog will sport one or more every day as I work through it.

Once again, my graduate school alma mater is making notorious news (at least for Catholics). This article lists the "Catholic" colleges hosting the V-monologues this year. Unfortunately, John Carroll U in Cleveland is there once again. Pray...

Van is in the shop once again, so will be sticking close to the small holding today.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

This just in: over at my other blog we have our first guest blogger talking about their vocation. Take a look...

Restoration...

Smash the TV; toss the stereo!

Buy a piano and restore music to your home. "Music is the food of love."

Okay, I am continuing to delve into The Restoration of Christian Culture by John Senior, so those who have read it already may want to stay away from here for a couple weeks as I report on my reading and add my own two cents...

At Bethany we are great believers in homegrown music (we haven't and probably won't throw out the stereo...at least yet.) I think C.S. Lewis one time said something about our life in eternity, whether it be in Heaven or Hell will be simply a continuation of our life on earth. In this vein, one of my thoughts (I am sure its not original) is that if we don't practice on earth what we will be doing in Heaven, then we won't get there. (We can't just listen to or watch others do it.) Primarily, in Heaven we will love and accept love. But another thing we will be doing is singing. Thus we must sing here as a warm-up you might say.

This past summer the kids checked out a book from the library called "The Fireside Book of Folk Songs". They renewed it several times. All summer we were learning and singing a variety of songs as a family. It was fun for everyone and brought us closer together. For Christmas, two of the few gifts Mrs. Curley and I actually bought for the family was a second hand copy of this book and its companion, "The Fireside Book of American Folk Songs". Both have proved to be great investments so far. We have had great fun singing some of the old-time spirituals and taking parts. Now while I don't recommend some of these old-time spirituals for the Liturgy, by themselves they can be great songs.

There is something deeply spritual about singing and singing together that draws people together and grows the love and harmony among those. Whatever strife the family may be struggling through, a good sing-along together inevitiably restores joy and peace to Bethany.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

A little update on our small holding...

We have planted some spinach and turnips in the winter garden. The soil in the garden looks and feels much richer this year. Last years' fertilizer, compost, and rabbit manure probably all contribute.

We mated our first rabbits on December 26th. So if successful, we should have some new livestock around the 26th of January. Stay tuned...

Not much to say...

Its not really that I don't have much to say, its just that I can't find the words-is this writer's cramp or blogger's cramp? For instance there has been some discussion at the new Corpus Meum and at Hallowed Ground on distributism and Catholic re-settlement. I have some comments to make on these and other topics, but just am having trouble translating my thoughts onto paper (screen as it were). Maybe I haven't had enough quiet time-or maybe this is why some bloggers take sabbaticals or blog-fasts as they say.

Here's something I found very interesting. An excerpt:

This has put Catholic laymen and laywomen in the awkward and unaccustomed position of simply begging. We are seeing the emergence of "lay mendicants." While there is a long tradition of mendicant religious orders, this is an odd experience for lay people, especially men, who have been in the business world. One could become a millionaire honorably manufacturing bottle caps, but one can work just as hard trying to explain or defend the Gospel of Salvation and barely stay above the poverty line. Perhaps this is as it should be, but it can be hard on the nerves of those with the strongest faith.

I must say that the generosity shown to my family by friends and strangers this past 6-9 months as we have struggled to get Requiem Press on its own feet has been inspiring-especially since this outpouring has been spontaneous. In Furrow (St. Josemaria Escriva) I have been reading recently about "generosity". I am humbled by the generosity shown to us these months and suddenly realize how much I have been lacking all these years.

There are two commentaries on the Liturgy I would like to excerpt or comment on. I haven't determined whether either are on-line yet. Maybe in a few days....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

Saturday notes...

Found out that I will not have jury duty next week. I got a call this morning saying I wouldn't be needed. I wonder if it had to do with how I answered the questionaire? Mixed blessing, I was looking forward to something perhaps interesting and a stipend. But I have plenty to do around here, so it is for the best.

Spent most of the day plumbing-clogged drains which were more complicated than draino. But we got the job done. Now for some fun...

First Friday Mass this morning, followed by breakfast in the parish hall and then back to the church for a "pro-life" rosary. I really enjoy First Fridays at St. Catherines. It is truly a blessing to be able to say the rosary with other families

I noticed that Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Epiphany today. I had thought the feast was moved to Sunday for the universal Church, not just for the United States.... (any info on this?)

Here's another gem, this time from the Curie d'Ars:

An undertaking to be pleasing to God must have three conditions: It must be sincere, selfless, and perservering.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

A Quick Thought...

"Those who are nearest are the first to be heard. That is why you must get close to God and be intent on becoming a saint." - St. Josemaria Escriva (#648 Furrow)

A friend loaned me their copy of "The Restoration of Christian Culture" by John Senior (Roman Catholic Books). I have heard of it, seen it quoted, and now am looking forward to reading it. (Actually I couldn't wait and started it last night...)

This interview with John Allen on his new book about Opus Dei is getting alot of play around St. Blogs. The particular section getting the most comments is this one:

At the same time, I think we're still far too divided. Perhaps the more sociologically accurate thing to say is that we've got multiple, co-existing "catholicisms". When you look around at the Catholic scene, you see that you've got your traditionalist-liturgical Catholics, your social justice Catholics, your charismatic Catholics, your neo-conservative, intellectual Catholics, your Church reform Catholics, and others. They all speak their own language, go to their own meetings, read their own publications, think their own thoughts. If they ever pop their head up above the walls to look at somebody in another circle, it's often not with a genuine interest in the thought of the other. It's with what you might call a "hermeneutic of suspicion". "I'm not really sure where this person is coming from and I'm not really sure if we're on the same team."

It's tragic that American Catholics spent the first part of the 20th century crawling out of the ghetto imposed on us by a hostile Protestant majority, but that now we've constructed our own ghettos. They're defined not by denominational boundaries, but by ideological ones. This isn't just distasteful on an aesthetic level, but ecclesiologically it's deeply unsatisfactory. We're supposed to be a community of communities—that's what communio ecclesiology is, to which John Paul II and Benedict XVI have been so valiantly trying to call us.

Caelum et Terra takes the view: "Now, I think there are in fact very good reasons underlying a lot of this, chiefly the presence of so many people, including people in authority, in the Church who pretty obviously don't believe some of the core teachings. But it's gotten way out of hand."

Over at Amy Welborn's site there are 130 comments and counting.

I could comment on all this, but to what end? I believe Caelum et Terra has a great point (both that there are good reasons and that it is out of hand). Hopefully with respect to Opus Dei, Mr. Allen's book will take away some of the bigotry and suspicion in this case.

Hopefully more to come later-I have an appointment with Someone important....

Stories & Laughter & Culture

At the past few meals here at Bethany, the kids have been begging for stories about themselves from when they are little. Of course this has spawned their own tales-some of which are already known to Mrs. Curley and myself, and some of which are new revelations. Any time now I expect one of the kids will reveal something they have done which is not quite past the statute of limitations.....

This family storytelling is one of the joys of being in a big family. Some of these stories will be told over and over again as the years pass. One of my favorites recalled this morning:

A few days ago I posted about how Mrs. Curley and I used to go dancing every Thursday night. One of these times Mrs. Curley put on some new perfume. The kids were sitting around the kitchen table when Mrs. Curley entered. "Phe-ew, what's that smell?" says one unnamed boy. Mrs. Curley answers that it is her perfume-"doesn't it smell nice?". "Better watch out Ma," cautions another unnamed son, "with that stuff, the dogs will be after you!"

I know when the family of my youth gets together (now-a-days usually only for weddings or funerals) the laughter from our own childhood stories practically lifts lifts the roof off.

Some humorists have made a living off of the material that comes from their own families. The trick to making these stories make sense (and bring laughter) to an outsider is to be able to set up the culture of the family and to adequately introduce the personalities. No small task or else all of us would be humorists.

By chance (or maybe not) Requiem Press' next major release will be the recollections of the youngest of a family of 11 children growing up in Baltimore in the middle part of the 2oth century. Reading the adventures of his Irish-Catholic family brought back many memories of my own family.

This book (which won't be released for a few more months) is the first in a series of books which celebrate Catholic culture (now and then) that Requiem Press is committing to. I feel that building a new Catholic subculture (see this post at my other blog) is an important endeavor. Part of the subculture is poetry, literature, music which celebrates and explains the Catholic worldview-but in such a way that it also reaches out to the others and brings them into or connects them to the Catholic subculture; thus the subculture begins to influence the larger culture in positive ways.

We haven't abandoned publishing books pertaining to history-but have simply added to the mission. This movement has almost happened by chance (or maybe not). If you look at our last three new releases, each touches on Catholic culture. Mr. Meehan's "Two Towers-the de-Christianization of America and a Plan for Renewal" talks about how the "American/Protestant culture" infiltrated and influenced the Church (and Catholic culture) in America. "The Chapel Veil" makes the case for the revival on one particular expression of Catholic culture. "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" has a long section on the need for a new Catholic subculture and its position at the service of evangelization. Each of these books has a historical aspect also (we are connected to the past). Thus it is fitting that Requiem Press move out in this direction.

There will be more about our plans here and on my other blog in the coming weeks.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!

I expect posts will be more regular in the next few days and weeks as I get back to my regular schedule. Yes, the formal Christmas season has still a week to go, (our tree will remain up for a few weeks yet, we go Christmas carolling with our CCD class on Friday night to parish shut-ins, and we have yet to send out a few Chrismas greetings), but school is resuming for Mrs. Curley and the kids, as is my work.

This past week or so I haven't spent much time checking the other blogs I regularly stop by. But I did read this post over at Hallowed Ground. I was a little bit jealous as I would have liked to be in on those conversations.

An article I originally wrote for Catholic Men's Quarterly is appearing today at CatholicExchange. For today and tomorrow only (as it pertains to the article), we are running a special on "Witnessess to the Holy Mass" and "The Maccabees-Forgotten Heroes of Israel" over at RequiemPress.

Update: One more link: This article captured my interest as I have a son named Thomas Becket.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...Oremus pro invicem!