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March 26, 2005
Thanks, Bill White
Now I, too, have received the baton! Though I strongly (yet graciously) dispute the ever-kind Mr White’s statement regarding my being “smarter.” My apologies for failing to deal with this baton in a more timely fashion.
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
Alas, I, too, have never read F451, so I’m clueless.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Yes. Tom Swift’s girlfriend (circa 1968), but my memory fails me re the details.
The last book you bought was . . .
Abiding in the Indwelling Trinity, based on our Holy Father’s statement in Novo millennio ineunte (n. 43) that “A spirituality of communion indicates above all the heart's contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us...”
The last book you read was . . .
Praying the Bible, by the Benedictine Archbishop of Bari, Italy. It is an awe-inspiring book about lectio divina, largely due to the many quotations of the Fathers. Better (in my opinion) than Michael Casey’s worthy effort, and runs circles around Pennington.
What are you currently reading?
• On the Passion of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (for my Holy Week reading). I frankly didn’t expect it to be so fruitful. I sensed the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin or imperfection on almost every page. More importantly, it drew me, in a most heartfelt way, closer to Jesus.
• Pursuit of Happiness – God’s Way by Servais Pinckaers OP (mentor of Romanus Cessario OP, the “Magnificat” editor). An insightful treatment of the Beatitudes.
• Lost in Wonder: The Spiritual Art of Attentiveness by Esther de Waal. This was a highly unusual pick for me....and the reading is almost penitential (for me, perhaps not for you). Kinda loose and mushy, if you know what I mean. But I have a hard time remembering to ‘stop and smell the roses,’ and I want to change that. And I’m getting some good insights. (I had read her Seeking God (about the Holy Rule) years earlier, and enjoyed it, so I went with the inspiration.)
Five books you would take to a desert island:
• A Catholic Bible
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition, by Gabriel Bunge OSB.
• The Soul of the Apostolate by Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard OCSO (about the primacy of the interior life).
• Father, the Family Protector by James Stenson (if my family was with me on the island)
Posted by Walter Babetski at 1:19 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Whatsover you do ...
I have spent the last few weeks listening to the 10 CD set of Christopher West's talk on the Pope's Theology of the Body. One of the topics he covers is how people should be treated as "Subjects" rather than as "Objects". We all understand (and feel) on a deep internal level that when we are objectified it is against our diginity. It decreases our value. Two examples: As Men we understand that if we lust after someone we are not viewing her as a person with her own diginty. She is viewed as an object of our desire rather than the subject of our attention. The value of the person is disregarded. The other example is when we are used as a "stepping stone" for another person's promotion or agenda.
It is interesting that our legalistic / scientistic society has been placing a strong emphasis on "Objectivity". Yet as individuals we cannot help but have a subjective view of things. The Constitution of the United States speaks of and to individual rights.
I am horrified to see that Terri Schiavo has ceased to be an individual with her own value and has become an "Object" where the law is concerned. The approach of the courts has been " we must follow the law (the letter of the law)". The Law, it now appears, has become more important than the individual.
I could be wrong on this. It may simply be that the slavish adoration of precedent by the courts has overridden every other value in the law.
In my opinion the "Justice" of the congressionally passed law requiring a "de novo" (from the beginning) review of the case has been overridden by the belief of those in the legal system that it cannot possibly have been broken. "The precedents in the case are clear". I find myself cynical when I read that back in 2001 Judge Greer stated "That woman will die." Pride, arrogance, spitefullness. These are all things that I understand. I have been told so many times that "the Law is above all this".
I also understand that there is a difference in worldview between those trained in our system of Jurisprudence and the rest of us. Years ago a friend of ours went through law school. At the beginning of the first semester, the professor asked the class a question and she and everyone else in the class could answer it. It was "common sense". At the end of the third semester the same professor asked the same question and none of them could answer it. Why? They had started to think as members of the legal profession.
It was brought home to me during the readings at last night's service. John 19:7 "We have a law, and according to that law he should die ..."
"Whatsoever you do the least of my people, that you do unto me. " It brings it home to me that with Catholic views and beliefs that I will always remain "In the world but not of it".
It has been a strong incentive for me to contact our Congressmen & Senators. Above that I must continue to pray for Terri, for Michael, for all the Justices who are involved, for our legal system and the "justice" that has been left undone.
Below is a short quote from near the end of a LONG post on this topic from a legal standpoint.
Posted by John Huntley at 11:08 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 19, 2005
The suffering of an Innocent during Holy Week.
I have spent quite a bit of time lately praying for Bob Schindler in his fight to save his Daughter. He has been doing what any loving father would do.
There is a prayer for Terri that has been posted several places including fructusventris.stblogs.org/
I have posted the following prayer as a comment there but thought I would place it here also:
St. Maximilian Kolbe, Patron of Journalists, Patron of prisoners, you were imprisoned for your Christian witness in your secular society and for your Marian Devotion. You willingly took the place of another and suffered your Martyrdom from starvation.
Intercede with God our Father for our sister Terri. Intercede with God for the journalists who are reporting on the intended starvation of Terri, that their eyes may be opened to see this event as the murder of a disabled innoncent. May they also see beyond the lies of those who abused their authority in ordering her death. May they be granted the courage to speak their minds and the courage overcome the pressures of our Culture of Death on (and within) the media.
St. Kolbe, intercede with God to comfort Terri in her time of trial. While your martyrdom was by choice, hers is not. You and Terri are both victims of societies with distorted views of Perfection and a lack of value for the individual.
May God have mercy on the actions of those within the Legal system of the United States. May the legal system of this country be returned to the values of cherishing each individual. May we view with horror the parallels between the actions of the legal system of the United States of America and that of Nazi Germany. May the suffering of our Parents and Grandparents during "The Second World War" not have been in vain.
May God Bless those in the United States who hold and express Christian values and defend the lives of all those who are innocent and can not defend themselves.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen
I am not a Journalist, but I work with Broadcast Journalists. I perceive a bias in portions of what I hear. Inclusiveness and "cover all points of view" means that there is a hidden assumption that "normal" is just that and it does not need covered because it is... Well, NORMAL. "Everyone knows what it is".
It is a blind spot.
In defense of them, even in Public Radio there are still time pressures and "length pressures". I have seen a reporter agonizing over how to keep the context in a report. It was 8 minutes locally and NPR had asked that it be taken down to three to be carried on the Network. The context, the explanation of the background, is sometimes the most important part of the content.
I have spent some time lately explaining to my 16year old daughter why I have been complaining back at the radio about the coverage of the Terri Schaivo mercy killing in progress. She already knows that the world is an imperfect place. I explained to her that there are medical records and exams that show that Terri is not in a "Persistent Vegitative State". Terrisfight.org The report of Dr Hammesfahr is well worth reading. The court asked for his report and then chose to ignore it. He lists steps to be taken for her rehabilitation and recovery.
There is so much missing context to the coverage of the "removal of Terri's feeding tube". I heard on NPR that "Her husband is staying with her". Without prior context it is a "feel good", "loving husband" sound bite and was said in a tone of voice to present it in that fashion. Do I need to say that he is assuring that she is not fed.
I watched my late father make the difficult decision to take my mother off a respirator after a severe stroke. But that was extrordinary means of life support. It was not an easy decision.
How can one take away ordinary means (food and water) and still live with oneself?
It does appear that another innocent will be suffering, possibly to death, this holy week.
May God have mercy on us all.
Posted by John Huntley at 4:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack