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June 30, 2004
My 16-yr-old daughter, Juliana, has
My 16-yr-old daughter, Juliana, has a friend, Catherine, visiting us from Michigan this week. I guess they don’t have mountains in Michigan (at least not near Flint), because Catherine wanted to see some. So Monday afternoon I took them and two of my other children on an overnight trip to Wellsboro PA to see the Grand Canyon of PA. What?....you’ve never heard of it? Well feast your eyes on some of these photos. It probably doesn’t meet the geological definition of a canyon, but is just a very deep (and scenic!) river gorge. We spent the night at the Penn Wells Lodge, where they made good use of the swimming pool Monday evening. Wellsboro’s trademark is the old-fashioned gaslights that line the center of the main street. Tuesday’s sunny-but-cool summer weather was perfect for viewing the scenery at the Canyon. In town, we mailed some postcards to friends, and made a protracted stop at Peggy’s Candy shop. We also made a visit to St Peter’s Catholic Church. It’s open 24-hrs/day, even though there’s no perpetual adoration going on. That’s unusual in this day of locked-tight churches. On the return trip, we stopped at Ricketts Glen State Park for a bit. The kids had such a great time. I did too, even though I was just the tour guide and chauffeur. It’s very heartening to be driving along and have one of the kids suggest that we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. It gives me great hope.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 12:34 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
June 27, 2004
Parental wisdom
As I was mowing the lawn today, I remembered several items of wisdom from my late mother. While I realize that today is Sunday, I use the time pushing a power mower to pray and meditate.
I am the eldest of 6 children and the first to marry. I had been married only a few months when my mother took me aside. "If you ever enter my house complaining about your wife, I will throw you right back out the door. " She was all of 5' tall and usually weighed around 100#. But I had no doubt that she would have succeeded. "I am your mother, I can't help but be on your side. So you will NEVER put me in the position of taking sides in your marriage. You made your commitment. You will work things out. Do not bring your complaints to me!"
Many years ago, it must have been at a "difficult time" (probably a tight time financially), she told me that when I was small she had been told by her confessor "Who told you that life would be easy?" "Offer it up" She prayerfully took it to heart. She taught it to us. I remember hearing from her an endless number of times. "Offer it up" I also remember being chided for the time we all caused her to spend on her knees in prayer.
The older I get, the better I understand what she meant. I recognize just how powerful are the gifts and the tools she gave me.
Posted by John Huntley at 8:44 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 26, 2004
In the world but not of it.
Two links from Alicia's blog caught my attention . The first one has left me wondering if it is too late to try to steer our society back toward being Christian. Is the "contraceptive mentality" too deeply ingrained in our secular society? Will it simply be a matter of time until "Being in the world but not of it" will mean a time of trial? Will I be willing to stand up for my belief in Christian Marriage?
The second one is a wonderful set of quotes on marriage from St John Chrysostom. It is from the book On Marriage and Family Life which is a collection of his sermons. Even though celibate, he did truly understand the value of Marriage. Does this sound like Pope JP II?
"How foolish are those who belittle marriage! If marriage were something to be condemned , Paul would never call Christ a bridegroom and the Church a bride, and then say this is an illustration of a man leaving his father and his mother, and again refer to Christ and the Church. " "Remind one another that nothing in life is to be feared, except offending God. If your marriage is like this, your perfection will rival the holiest of monks. "
There are more excerpts from his wisdom found at this website. There is so much here in these excerpts for me strive for. This taste of his wisdom has led me to order the book.
Posted by John Huntley at 6:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wow! It feels strange to
Wow! It feels strange to be back at a keyboard. For the past week, we’ve been at our Covenant Community’s annual Re-Creation Week. It’s kind of like summer camp for our group. Where do we go? Well, some years ago, a retired couple in our group purchased an old convent that had a bit of land around it. They run it as a retreat house, called the Holy Family Spiritual Renewal Center. We used to rent an actual camp, but the cost eventually became too much to afford, especially for large families (it would have cost my family almost $900 this year for the camp; as it was, we paid $350). Our daily schedule included morning and evening prayer, and daily Mass. The Sacrament of Penance was also available, as were blessed to have Msgr Joseph Hudak spending the entire week with us. Each day, a different family was responsible for preparing the meals. The week is open to guests and friends of our Community, too. We had about 24 adults and 36 children. The age range was from 93 down to 2-months. Thursday evening’s cookout and campfire was open to even more guests, and five more families accepted that invitation. Our youth provided some skits for entertainment, and we all indulged in toasted marshmallows and Smores. Since our Lord provided wonderful weather (Tuesday was the only day it rained), we were all able to enjoy outdoor fun and games from volleyball to bocce ball. If y’all are curious about any other details, I’ll keep my eye on the Comments Box for your questions.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 4:26 PM | TrackBack
June 25, 2004
Employment ministry
A trusted friend passed this along to a homeschooling list: St. Joseph the Worker Employment Ministry. I haven't even had time to skim the site yet (hungry tummies await supper), but it may prove interesting and helpful.
Posted by Bill White at 7:25 PM | TrackBack
June 24, 2004
They are kind of chewey, you know.
During family prayer time tonight my wife noticed one of my sons chewing something. She told him that he shouldn't be chewing gum during prayers. He said, "I'm not chewing gum." My wife asked him that if it isn't gum, what is it?
Ready?
A toe nail.
I looked at my wife, and she looked at me. We were both trying to fight back the combined gross out reaction and laughter. I broke first, and then the whole family erupted.
Posted by Tom at 10:06 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
June 20, 2004
Papa-Lu is a new Daddy
I don't know if this is Papa-Lu's (Papa Familias) first, second or more, but congratulations nonetheless.
Just go to his blog since he has a few posts on this.
Posted by Tom at 7:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 18, 2004
Remember that today's Solemnity of
Remember that today's Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also has been designated as a Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 7:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 17, 2004
Kepha?
Has anyone heard of this new group, Kepha? Quoth their front page:
KEPHA is a growing brotherhood of Catholic fathers and sons in seven states. Faithful to the Holy Father, we promote the Culture of Life through monthly retreats and shared daily prayers and provoke each other to Heaven according to our motto, "Dynamic Orthodoxy, Infectious Joy." Ours is a high-octane Catholicism rejecting spiritual laziness and moral compromise. We are under the patronage of our "BIG 3": St. John Bosco, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati. KEPHA's anchors are our 5 commitments: apologetics, brotherhood, charity, mortification, and prayer.Join us and LIVE AND DIE CATHOLIC TO THE CORE!
This isn't an endorsement; on the contrary I find the rah-rah high-octane bit offputting (maybe because I'm low-octane or something :-).
Posted by Bill White at 9:10 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Trust in God and Human Participation
just to extend the topic of last week, and in light of the report from the 9/11 panel, which in my opinion focuses too much on miscommunication and not enough on response: would it have been appropriate to shoot down the planes before they hit their targets? Immediate killing of innocents (even as "collateral damage") for an hypothetic save (no one, except God, knows the future in its entirety)? What would have been the appropriate Catholic response to this horrific events?
Posted by Yann the Frenchman at 9:56 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 16, 2004
Thoughts for Father's Day
In anticipation of Father’s Day, I read this little gem from Pope John Paul II’s “On the Christian Family in the Modern World”:
25. Within the conjugal and family communion-community, the man is called upon to live his gift and role as husband and father......In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God, a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family: he will perform this task by exercising generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother, by a more solicitous commitment to education, a task he shares with his wife, by work which is never a cause of division in the family but promotes its unity and stability, and by means of the witness he gives of an adult Christian life which effectively introduces the children into the living experience of Christ and the Church.
This led me to ponder our high call as Christian fathers. First, as individuals, we are called to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Then, as husbands, we need to love our wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. Finally, our holy Father challenges us to reveal and relive on earth the very fatherhood of God to our children.
As I reflected on the task at hand, one of my favorite Desert Father stories came to mind. It goes something like this: Abba Poemen happened upon two young monks in an uproarious fit of laughter. When their laughter had subsided, Abba Poemen said “You will one day have to stand in judgment before the Almighty Lord of creation, answering for every one of your thoughts, words and actions, and you can laugh?”
Radical the Desert Fathers certainly were. Radical also is the level of self-giving, self-sacrificing love to which we are called as Catholic fathers.
Lord, send us your grace in the power of your Holy Spirit!
St Joseph, Pillar of Families, pray for us!
----------------------
UPDATE 6.17.2004: As I was Googling around, I stumbled upon this article by Prof William May. He uses the above papal quote as a starting point to delve into a deeper discussion of Catholic fatherhood.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 7:31 AM | TrackBack
June 14, 2004
Ahh, the Bachelor Life
I had all last week to myself as my wife and kids spent a week with my in-laws. I was pretty excited about having the week to myself. "Gee, what will I do with all the time? I'll go see a movie. I'll go watch the basketball game down at the local pub."
Ok, what really happened? My old computer crashed the week before and my new one arrived on my doorstep and was waiting for me when I got home Monday evening. I spent most of the rest of the week getting that puppy configured the way I like. I had to set it up so I could connect into my employer's network. I had to set up my financial software, etc., etc."
It really wasn't all that exciting. It only took until Wednesday before I started feeling like it was time to have the family back home. The house is too quiet. Wait!! Did I say "too quiet"? Yup, it was too quiet. You get used to being a family man, and when you don't have that family environment around, you feel kind of hollow inside.
I'm glad their back. Thank God for my family!!
Posted by Tom at 4:53 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Need info on the Diocese of Gary, IN
My wife and I are toying around with the idea of moving to Portage, IN which is part of the Diocese of Gary, IN. Does anyone have any information on this Diocese? Does it have a good reputation or a bad reputation as far as orthodoxy and obedience to the Holy Father?
The parish in that town is named Natvity of Our Savior. Does anyone know anything about this parish and it's reputation?
If the reputation of either of the above is not good, please be as charitable as you can in your reply. I'm not looking to launch a flame on either this diocese or the parish.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone may be able to offer.
Posted by Tom at 9:54 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 11, 2004
God Will Sort it All Out versus Being My Brother's Keeper
I left a comment today over at Mark Shea's blog on a post that has been running for several days. The debate is apparently about where to draw the line between interrogation and torture (full disclosure: I am of course completely opposed to torture for several reasons, not least because the end does not justify the means, etc. I am just trying to understand what was behing the statements and questions of the two debating groups). It seems the two groups debating the issue are talking past each other, because each seems to be grounded in their approach to Christian life. Here is what I said:
A lot of the comments seem to result from the tension between two christian views of life: maintaining life (be fruitful, pro-life, etc.) and sacrificing life (for Christ, a greater good, etc.). Is the role of Christians to maintain life of others (e.g., pro-life, defending one's own country from attacks, etc.) or to accept death for self and others who may not have made this choice ? ...
This tension is probably the common denominator of all these comments. One adopts the pacifist position, which could result in the death of others: what would be his responsibilty in these other deaths if his policy was applied? Is he completely innocent from these deaths (and therefore free from sin) because he is not the one who directly shed their blood?
The other position seems to stem from the principle that we are responsible for the life of other people as well (i.e., in a response to "am I my brother's keeper?" if you will). Is this what Christ asked us to do? Did Christ ask us to fight evil or concentrate on affirming the good and let the God judges (I am thinking of the field where both the wheat and the chafe grow and he asked that the chafe be not pulled for fear of tearing the wheat as well ...)?
It seems to me that this dilemma of competing christian principles could only be resolved in the specific context of this post if it is known that the possible lives lost would be so in Christ's name.
The answer is probably to move away from this "or" approach and embrace the catholic "and", but it's true that there may be situations when these two approaches appear to be in conflict. Please discuss ...
Posted by Yann the Frenchman at 11:57 AM | TrackBack
Chronicle of an Announced Death: Secular Marriage
The marriage woes the western civilization is going through were explained and prophesied by Leo XIII in 1880: http://www.familylifecenter.net/html/resources/churchdocs/arcanum.html
hat tip to Steve Wood from St Joseph Covenant Keepers
Posted by Yann the Frenchman at 8:23 AM | TrackBack
June 10, 2004
The online version of the
The online version of the May/June issue of "Lay Witness" magazine (from Catholics United for the Faith) has some nice articles on several aspects of Catholic family life.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 3:26 PM | TrackBack
June 9, 2004
The Vocation of Fatherhood
Brian at the Revolution of Love blog has some brief yet profound words about fatherhood.....
Posted by Walter Babetski at 10:32 PM | TrackBack
Listen to the original ROE V. WADE arguments on .mp3
The Oyez Project Releases Inaugural Set of Supreme Court MP3 Files
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you can download the actual roe v. wade oral arguments:
Roe v. Wade Oral Argument & Reargument (1973): Roe, a Texas resident, sought to terminate her pregancy by abortion. Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the pregnant woman's life. After granting certiorari, the Court heard arguments twice. The first time, Roe's attorney -- Sarah Weddington -- could not locate the constitutional hook of her argument for Justice Potter Stewart. Her opponent -- Jay Floyd -- misfired from the start. Weddington sharpened her constitutional argument in the second round. Her new opponent -- Robert Flowers -- came under strong questioning from Justices Potter Stewart and Thurgood Marshall. http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/334/argument.mp3 http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/334/reargument.mp3
The first mp3 is over an hour long. I haven't downloaded the second file yet, so I couldn't tell you the link. If you're interested in hearing the primary defense of life, it gets interesting around 48 minutes. When I listen to this I'm saddened by the lack of solid arguments coming the Texan laywer's statements. There were some great points in there though, but not a rock solid defense of life. It's hard to believe you can actually listen to this, knowing that these words caused the death of so many innocents. God help us.
Posted by Jayson Franklin at 8:54 PM | TrackBack
Papal Challenge
As he has gotten older, Pope John Paul II’s addresses to youth may have gotten a bit shorter, but they are certainly no less challenging. The Holy Father’s address to Swiss youth is a great example. I’ve paid special attention to these messages for the last two decades, as I’ve had children for over 19 years now. One of the brilliant themes that can usually be found is an encouragement to young people to find the meaning of their life. This theme is also present in this latest address:
n. 2 .....Christianity is a person, a presence, a face: Jesus, who gives meaning and fullness to man's life.
n. 3 .....I searched for meaning in my life. I found it in the following of the Lord Jesus.
As a parent, I try to lead my children to understand the meaning of life. My hope is that, as they grow up, they will discover the fullness of that meaning for themselves, and then embrace it with their whole heart, and make decisions accordingly.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 12:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 6, 2004
Listen, my son...
While unpacking books from our recent move, I rediscovered Dwight Longenecker's Listen, My Son: Saint Benedict for Fathers. It's borne remarkable fruit in the days since its rediscovery, and I recommend it warmly. You many find a lengthy excerpt from the book here. The basic idea is to present a daily reading from the Rule of Saint Benedict, followed by a commentary by Mr. Longenecker on its application to fatherhood. Fortunately for us, Mr. Longenecker, unlike many of his Benedictine confreres, is solidly orthodox.
You may also be interested in this collection of essays and writings on fatherhood that I put together a couple of years ago.
Posted by Bill White at 4:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 3, 2004
Cool Link
I heard about The Center on Alocohol Marketing and Youth on Morning Air with Jeff Cavins this morning. Their web site has a pretty neat tool for figuring out which advertisements will be aired during just about any show you can imagine. I'm going to add this link to our sidebar as well.
Posted by Tom at 8:44 AM | TrackBack
Trinity Sunday = Family Sunday
When asked what is the goal of their religion, or their faith, some Catholics would say heaven. Others would respond salvation. Yet others might answer eternal life. None of these is incorrect. But I think the best answer would be communion. Communion with God. Being inserted into that cycle of love which is the archetype of communion….the Blessed Trinity.
Consider these selections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
n. 260 The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.
n. 850 …..The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love.
n. 1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven."
So where do we learn how to do this ‘communion’ thing? We first learn to be in communion in the family, through our exercise of self-giving love.
CCC, n. 2205: The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.
Pope John Paul II’s “Letter to Families” n. 6: In the light of the New Testament it is possible to discern how the primordial model of the family is to be sought in God himself, in the Trinitarian mystery of his life. The divine "We" is the eternal pattern of the human "we", especially of that "we" formed by the man and the woman created in the divine image and likeness….. Hence one can discover, at the very origins of human society, the qualities of communion and of complementarity.
Thus, this Sunday, Trinity Sunday, is truly a celebration of the goal to which we are all called, but is also surely a reminder of the importance of the family, especially needed in these days when the family is under such intense attack.
Mary, Queen of the family, pray for us!
Posted by Walter Babetski at 6:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 2, 2004
Ordinary Family Life
The Theosis blog shares some profound words to help lead our families into Ordinary Time. I was especially drawn to this line: “….which is contented with little, and which seeks rather to diminish the number of its wants than to multiply the sources of its wealth.”