Danger Danger! In Your Pocket!

     

This Saturday I have the privilege of giving three talks to a group of middle school and high school students. One of the topics for a breakout session talk is addictions. As I've been praying for the Holy Spirit's guidance and reflecting and thinking about addictions I've been struck by the huge variety of addictions we have in our society. Some are obviously destructive, others more subtle, and others even more cunning and sneaking than the rest, so much so that as a society we don't even realize the addiction. From the cliche addictions of drugs and alcohol which although cliche are very much prevalent, to pornography, entertainment, food, sports, and technology especially phones. I hope to write on all of these topics, but first I want to focus on addictions to technology because I believe that smartphones and tablets have opened a whole pandora's box that most parents are unaware of. There is a clear and present danger that is inexplicably missed, ignored, or simply embraced and we are placing the most vulnerable in our society, the most precious right in the claws of this danger without educating or preparing the young to navigate these treacherous waters.

There and back again

       

Well, since it has been about a year since I've last done anything with this blog, I figured it was about time I write again. As much as I would like to say that I put my time into the highest pursuits of life, my time is often taken up with the demands and responsibilities of a job, a home, and the million little things that pop up right as soon as I think I am about to have some leisure time. I glanced at posts from the long distant past of last year and noticed that in just one week from tomorrow it will have been a whole year, can you imagine, a whole year since I have written anything of substance; well anything at all really and there was so much fodder for conversation this past year! Sporting events, political scandals, record breaking weather, entering into engagement with the love of my life, family gatherings,   world travels and much more were packed into the last year or so, yet it is gone and time to start fresh I think, since my memory will certainly fail me if I try and recount the many adventures the year of our Lord, two thousand thirteen held. So it's onward and upward, I hope you will join me for the ride!

Six Years

      

Six Years

      Over the New Year's holiday, I had the opportunity to visit Newtown, CT and to offer humble prayer for the people who continue to suffer so immensely at the sudden, tragic loss of life of those twenty precious children and six others. I was only in Newtown for about forty-five minutes and spent all of it inside St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in prayer for the victims, their families, and for healing. It is hard for me to imagine the enormity of the suffering those parents, teachers, brothers, sisters, neighbors, and friends are enduring yet the outpouring of support, prayers, and compassion from all across the world is truly astounding. Even in legal circles and in Congress, the impact has been felt with arguments and propositions for improving the safety of children in their schools and in their communities. Even the President of the United States gave a stirring speech about the first duty of our society being to protect the most innocent, our children. So even in the midst of tragedy, there has been a response of love; the light surely shines in the darkness.
      However, I have recently stopped to wonder why the outpouring of support, the national and even international response to this tragedy has been so great? Sadly, there have been countless school shootings throughout the years, and countless attacks, murders, and massacres in our country against innocent people. So I have to ask, “Why has this mass killing elicited so much more of a response than others?” I assume that most will answer that this shooting took place at an elementary school and the victims were good, beautiful, innocent children no more than six or seven years old who have never harmed a soul in their lives. They were utterly and completely undeserving of the violence committed against them which cut short their so tender, so young lives. They had everything still ahead of them, laughter, learning, dances, college, weddings, jobs, families, countless adventures, joys, blessings, and experiences that can make like so full and so good. However, because of one young man's disturbed and deeply troubled existence, all of these dreams, all of these good things, these children’s lives were suddenly and harshly cut short. Truly, this makes the Newtown massacre one of great sorrow; indeed an indescribable sorrow.
       If I may be so bold, the massacre could have been even worse. What if the death toll was thirty or even fifty children? Would that not have increased the pain and sorrow? Surely it would have! What if the death toll was not one school but an attack on elementary schools across the country, with the rampage increasing the carnage to hundreds of children? Please be patient as I get to my point for I truly hope and pray that such scenarios as I am describing never do happen, but for the sake of understanding, I will go on. What, if instead of the shooting being at an elementary school, it took place at a pre-school daycare? Would that have made the shocking nature of such an evil even worse? What if there were shootings in every state on the same day each killing fifty innocent children? If I may be even more severe, what if these massacres were not the work of a man with a gun, but rather accomplished by the same man by means of a knife, or suffocation, or strangulation? I'm sure that some might be repulsed by these words and this description, but please at least consider how much worse that might make the killings? Just stop! Stop and imagine twenty five hundred children killed by such means in one day across our nation. How horrifying that would be, could we even comprehend how human beings could wreak such tragic death on the most innocent of our society? Would our nation ever recover?

       Even now, those in Newtown are still reeling from the blow of the tragedy they experienced and there will never be a ‘normal’ for them ever again. As I was praying at the Catholic parish, I met the Pastor of the Church, Monsignor Weiss, and the deep pain and sadness was so palpable in his bearing, and in his eyes that it broke my heart. Even while I was still there in the Church, several from the community approached him for consolation, with tears running down their cheeks and their faces drawn and haggard from the ever-present sorrow. How much worse and with what greater intensity would our nation be suffering if the massacre reached the proportions I described? While my heart goes out to the victims, their families, and their community and I will be criticized for using their sorrow and grief as the basis of making any point, it seems so clear to me, the injustice that is being done in our nation. I am convinced my point is necessary.

       I'm sure some would label the scenarios I described as sickening, and the product of a troubled mind and perhaps I'll even be labeled as disturbed for describing such evil. However, I propose to you that those scenarios are not of my own invention, but rather they are lighter, less gory, less horrifying versions of a shocking tragedy that occurred in our country and in fact is still in process. For some reason I cannot comprehend, our society, our nation, and yes, our world, is so shocked and so saddened by this tragedy and yet, we are almost entirely untouched, and unmoved by the death of over three thousand children every single day in the United States of America. Our country has made acceptable, and even supported through law, finance, and marketing, the wholesale killing of children in the womb, if I daresay, children, human beings who are even more vulnerable, even more innocent than the twenty children who were so tragically murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary school. Many will claim, "But that's different!" or "How could you use the poor children from Sandy Hook to make a point!?" "It was the parent's choice... etc." However, to me the difference is little. In fact, isn’t it worse that parents are given the ‘right’ to decide to have their child killed? What is the difference? Some may try and claim that the child in the womb is not a human person, yet the most modern scientific advances beg to differ.
                        So, I ask you again, what is the difference?           Six years.

            Six years of living outside the womb somehow makes the murder of these twenty children, worse than the murder of three thousand several-week-old children that happens each and every day. Six years is somehow the difference between making murder legal and illegal. Six years is the difference between good and evil. Six years is the arbitrary age that makes it so wrong and so evil to kill a child, while if those children had been aborted six years prior there would be no problem, no issue, no outrage. There would be nothing. America, where is your heart? America, where is your sorrow? My dear friends, what are you going to do? Do you still think it is radical to pray outside of an abortion clinic? Is it radical to March for Life in Washington D.C. once a year? Is it radical to adopt? Is it radical to fight with every ounce of strength and energy for those children who are so innocent and so vulnerable waiting for the time to be welcomed into this world with love? Let us follow the example of those heroic teachers who gave their very lives to defend their innocent, precious students. Dare to love! Dare to fight! Six years is the difference between life and death. Six years.

Ave Maria

I know I've posted this poem before... but it's just that good!

 

Ave Maria - John Jerome Rooney

Lady thy soldier I would be
This day I choose thy shield
And go thrice-armored for the fight
Forth to the world's wide field.


There I shall meet the dark allies,
the flesh, the fiend, the world,
and fiercely shall their darts of fire
upon my heart be hurled.

But I will raise my buckler strong
Betwixt me and the foe,
and with the Spirit's flaming sword,
shall give them blow for blow.

Lady, thy sailor I would be,
This day I sign my name
to sail the high seas of the earth
for glory of thy fame.

The tempest may besiege my bark
the pirate life in wait:
The perils of the monstrous deep
may tempt oerwhelming fate.

Yet wheresoe-er my ship may steer
Upon the waters wide
Thy name shall be my compass sure,
Thy star my midnight guide.

Thy poet lady I would be,
to sing thy peerless praise;
Thy loyal bard, I'd bring to thee,
Heart-music from all lays.

Soft melody outpoured in June
by God's dear feathered throng,
Would mingle with the organ's roll
to glorify my song

And Dante's voice and Petrarch's strain
And Milton's matchless line
Would lend to my poor minstrel note
A harmony divine

Lady, I choose to be thy son;
for Mother thee I choose,
O, for thy sweet and holy Child
do not my claim refuse.

Alone and motherless am I
Tho' strong, I long for rest
The thunder of the world's applause
is not a Mother's breast.

Ave maria! Shield us all.
Thy sons we choose to be.
Mother of grace, we raise our hearts,
Our hearts, our love to thee.

Value in summer

      (published about two months late...)


       For all of the sweat, work, and tears that go into the work of a teacher during the year, summertime comes as a welcome respite. As my summer is just beginning, I wanted to take some time to write about leisure both for my own benefit as I begin a season of leisure of sorts as well as for you as some food for thought.
      It seems to me that for most, leisure is kicking back and flipping through the channels to see what's on, or perhaps clicking through friends' facebook profiles looking to see what they have been up to, or maybe even browsing through catalogs or stores looking for the next thing to buy in order to satisfy the restlessness of a heart not at work. Do these count as leisure or as true relaxation?
      As my time off from teaching begins I have realized that I want to spend my time well, even during the summertime. Rather than sit for hours watching television, movies, or surfing the net I want to use my time to grow as a person by developing my talents or discovering new ones. Almost every house in America you enter, the central point of the family room and perhaps bedroom, living room, and kitchen is a television. How many hours a month, week or day do we spend on such useless, mind-numbing pursuits as this? This summer I hope to spend my time, being open to adventures, developing my intellect, and pursuing dreams and goals. If we simply spent our free time on more fulfilling things such as music, reading, writing, hiking, or exploring, these things would not simply be 'pastimes'. Our time would be filled with satisfying some of the desires of our heart and opening us to more fully experiencing the world around us. Indeed, I think through leisure we can begin to live life as we're meant to live it... life to the fullest. Cheers!

98% of Catholic women use contraception? See the lie brought to light below.

98% of Obama Supporters Do Not Understand Statistics

The Lie: The Obama administration said, “…most women, including 98 percent of Catholic women, have used contraception.”

The Truth: According to their own study it can only legitimately claim: “at least 24 percent of Catholic women have used contraception”.

Ever since President Obama came out with his HHS Mandate “compromise” I’ve seen the “98% of Catholics use contraception” statistic everywhere. Here are some of my favorites:

“Nearly 99 percent of all women have relied on contraception at some point in their lives –- 99 percent.”  - President Obama (source)
“According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, most women, including 98 percent of Catholic women, have used contraception.”- Cecilia Muñoz,  director of the White House Domestic Policy Council (source)
“In fact, 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control at some point in their lifetimes.” – NPR (source)

And this one from “ghoti” is very typical of what you will find in the comments section of Facebook, YouTube and random news articles:

“Who gives a rats %$$ what the church says. 98% of Catholics don’t… they use contraception. #@*% those child molesters. Their time has passed… irrelevant.” (source)

This lie has spread rapidly. It is a blatant misrepresentation of Catholic women.

Revelation #1

The study that the Obama administration is citing is from the Guttmacher Institute (source). The Guttmacher Institute was founded by Planned Parenthood, and takes it’s name from a former Planned Parenthood president (source). Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of contraception and abortion in this country. They have a vested interest in making the HHS Mandate come to fruition.
Using statistics from the Guttmacher Institute when trying to increase access to contraception, is like using statistics from the tobacco industry when trying to increase access to cigarettes.

Revelation #2

The term “Catholic” is loosely applied in the study. Only 30% of the Catholic women interviewed attended mass on a weekly basis. What is more revealing though, is that the study only includes:

• Women between the ages of 15 and 44
• Women who had sex within 3 months of the survey
• Women who did not want to get pregnant <–read that one again

So, the study which, according to the Obama administration, speaks for “all Catholic women” does not include:

• Women who were abstaining from sex until they were married
• Women who were married and wanted children
• Women who were pregnant or post-partum
• Women who were open to the possibility of getting pregnant

I think Lydia McGrew said it best: “A statistic based on a study that explicitly excluded those who have no use for contraception is obviously irrelevant to a question about the percentage of Catholic women who have a use for contraception.”

Nevertheless, the study is being used by The Obama administration as a study that represents all Catholic women.  In reality, less than 28% of Catholic women would actually qualify for this study to begin with(see the footnote data).

Revelation #3

The study doesn’t actually say 98%. That number was arrived at by subtracting the 2% of women who use Natural Family Planning, a method approved by the Church. The 98% number completely ignores the 11% of respondents who answered “no method of sterilization”. So, if we subtract the 2% and the 11%, it equals only 87% of the women studied actually used a form of contraception.
Finally, it comes down to simple math. 87 percent of the 28 percent of Catholic women this study actually applies to, equals only 24 percent of all Catholic women.

From www.phatmass.com

The Lie:

The Obama administration said, “…most women, including 98 percent of Catholic women, have used contraception.”

The Truth:

According to their own study they can only legitimately claim: “at least 24 percent of Catholic women have used contraception”.

How we arrived at the “less than 28% of Catholic women would actually qualify”:

• According to the 2010 U.S. Census (source), only about 41% of females are between the ages of 15 and 44.
• Using the birth rate of the U.S. (source) we can assume that about 4% of women are pregnant at any one time.
• According to Indiana University’s  2010 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (source), about 27% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 did not have sex within that past year (this percentage would be much higher if we had data from only the last 3 months).

The absurdity of the question: "Who is Jesus Christ to you?"

      What an absolutely absurd question. Does my opinion of you change who you are? Does my perception or interpretation of another's words or actions change the actuality of those words or actions? The plain answer is of course not! One's view or opinion of the world around him does not impinge itself on the object or person observed changing the fundamental essence of the observed. To say so would be to give an incredible and unbelievable power to humans. It would be to say that one's opinion has the power to change reality. Let's experiment.

The New Racism

     The presidential election of 2008 was perhaps one of the most disturbing manifestations of a racism that is still deeply rooted and widespread in the United States of America. I say this not because more people did not vote for the African American candidate, but rather because so many did. Now before consigning me to forever burn with the likes of the Ku Klux Klan, I ask that you  put aside that initial emotional response and read what I have to say. I hope that you come to understand and at least respect my point of view... which of course is the true understanding of the situation at hand.

State of the Dis-Union

       Political pundits and the news anchors on the various media outlets have been having a field day as the Republican Presidential candidates duke it out in the political ring, reaching for their party's nomination. All of the candidates have different backgrounds, a variety of experiences, and at times conflicting personalities yet they all agree that the direction in which the United States is headed is not favorable and needs to be stopped. While the plans of action to right the sinking ship vary from one candidate to another, they all basically agree that the national economy is in dire straits and the current administration's dealing with the outside world is frightening if not downright dangerous.
       It seems to me however, that all of these theories about what is wrong with our country and how it ought to be fixed are quite lacking.

The God debate

       So as we approach Christmas (only three days away now!) I wanted to share with you all concerning a conversation over that wonderful social networking tool, Facebook, I had with a self-professed atheist.

Wisdom of Chesterton

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
-Gilbert Keith Chesterton

"Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously."
-Gilbert Keith Chesterton

      It seems to me Mr. Chesterton hit the nail on the head in the brief line I quoted above. In short I think it can be said that fairy tales are often more real than the reality in which we live. Of course this sounds a preposterous claim but if for a moment you leave off being an adult and thinking as an adult it might appear more reasonable. So let us co

"I wanna talk about.... you?"

       Relaxing with a couple friends and a glass of beer the other night, someone started humming a Toby Keith tune (which in my convoluted mind brought back into that part of the brain that continually retains the lyrics and tunes to songs for indefinite periods of time) the words to another Toby Keith song; "I Wanna Talk about Me". Bascially, if you have not experienced this ditty, the basic gist is a man frustrated with talking about the, shopping, gossip, and clothes of, dare we presume his wife, and he wants to talk about me, my, number one. While the song is truly catchy, humorous even, it seems to me that it gives a particular insight into perhaps the single most disturbing issue of our modern era. It is not that people are selfish, that is news almost as old as human existence, but rather that this selfishness is glorified in our culture.

       In the first year or so of our current President's term of office his wife was asked about motherhood and what is most important. Her response at first glance might strike some as deeply profound yet a closer look might reveal something quite disturbing just as the formerly mentioned song. She answered the question, if my memory serves me well, that it is most important for a mother to take care of herself first, take time off, pamper herself, so that she does not end up being another burnout mother like the painted character of a pre-feminism movement woman of America. 

       If one's first inclination is to look inward, it shows a certain prioritization. Usually that which is most important is addressed first and everything else follows after. Those things both important and urgent are generally given the highest priority and dealt with prior to those necessities of lesser importance. Both the President's wife and Toby Keith illustrate albeit unintentionally this theme I find so disturbing; the public affirmation and even glorification of selfishness. The world today says what is important is that we give ourselves first priority... just a thought, but it does not seem to me like Toby Keith, Michelle Obama, or Patrick Jacobeen at the center of the universe is a good idea. In fact, I am fairly certain that any human at the center of things is a bad idea if only because of our frail, limited natures. I imagine that the center of life, the heart of culture ought to be found outside of an individual and that individuals in fact exist not for their own good but for something outside themselves. Perhaps I ought to write a song titled, "I wanna talk about you" to change the focus from a self interest or self obsession to an attitude of giving. I think within everyone there is a sense, and inkling whether understood or not, that it is best to give of one's self rather than to take.