“Why so Serious?” (or Sarcastic)?

People online, often myself included, can be rather uptight. I discovered tonight that it’s been months since I checked my GMail, and after deleting a bunch of mailing lists I never read, I went through old Disqus notifications, and found a response to a question I asked. Someone had made what was apparently a wise-crack, which I (I’ll admit) took seriously but asked a perfectly innocent question to clarify a term. “I lean towards Montanism,” and I asked what he meant by “Montanism,” since people confuse “Montanism” with “Ultra-Montanism,” and he replied the former, but that he was being facetious,” which would have been a sufficient reply, but then he went on. It’s like people always assume the worst intent with a comment.

Sometimes a question is just a question, and sometimes a joke is just a joke. Things don’t always have to have deeper meanings and ulterior motives.

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Funny . . .

For 8 years, certain publications were saying, “Pope Ratzinger” (if they even called him “Pope” or even “Ratzi”), and are now adoringly talking of “Pope” Francis.
Now, other publications which used to say “Pope Benedict” are saying “Bergoglio”.

“I was actually outraged”: Secular Couple Discovers NFP

Here is the key passage from an interview with William and Kati Sacks, creators of the Kindara App:

We actually founded the company because we were looking for effective birth control that wasn’t the pill. Kati had been on the pill for 10 years and she didn’t like the side effects. She introduced me to the fertility awareness method and I was blown away by how little I understood about female fertility. I was actually outraged that I had never been taught how reproduction actually works.

Once we started tracking her fertility signs I learned all about how her body worked and also discovered an added intimacy in our relationship. We wanted to share this with other couples, so we started Kindara out of our own desire to give women and men tools that help them take control of their health, understand what’s happening with their bodies and meet their fertility goals.

Imagine that: “I was actually outraged.”   For all that liberals say about the importance of “sex education,” including exposing young children to pornography (it’s so disgusting I don’t want to link but there have been several recent controversies about pornographic lessons in public elementary schools), they don’t actually teach anything about fertility.  They make a big deal about kids knowing the “mechanics” and so-called “options” and how to use a condom, but not about fertility or how the purpose of the “mechanics” is to make babies.

Now, as apps go, Kindara is apparently only based upon the Sympto-Thermal Method and I believe costs money.  Also, it should be noted that “fertility awareness” is technically distinct from NFP in terms of the moral aspects of marital relations, but it’s still a huge step forward.

If you use Marquette Model, I recommend http://www.myfertilitycharts.com/ and its “Cycle Plus” App.  It’s mostly free (if you want to get the info on the “Maximum Fertility Window,” they charge a monthly fee for that, and whether you can see Ovulation dates on the app or have to go the website is a feature that comes and goes.  However, so long as you understand the basics, you can get by without the fee.  It’s a great app, and all the Apps we’ve tried have had options for charting all sorts of other info, as well.  So, for example, a woman with chronic migraines, digestive problems, etc., can charge how they relate to her cycle.

Things I Don’t Understand

Things I don’t understand:
1) Why “George Zimmerman,” who is half Hispanic and half German, was an Obama supporter, etc., is considered a “white racist,” but Barack Obama is considered “black.” Could that not itself be racism regarding their names?
2)  Why, when one party calls 911 and says, “There’s a suspicious looking teenager,” and 911 asks for a description, and he says he can’t be sure but the kid may be black, that’s racism, but the other party calls a friend on his cell phone and says that “some white guy” is following him, and his friend on the other end suggests the guy might be gay and trying to rape him, the latter party is not accused of “hate.”  If Martin had killed Zimmerman, would the media have accused him of homophobia?  Or would the whole case have been ignored?
4) Why is the “Stand your ground” concept being judged based upon one specific but very ambiguous case, one way or the other, and not on its own merits in terms legitimate self-defense?
5) Why are people using this one case as the epitome of “everything wrong with America”?  Ironically, it is, but not in the way people mean.  News is news because it’s rare.  Yes, minority youth are sadly the victims of more gun violence than other socioeconomic classes–just as minority babies are statistically the victims of more abortions, but if you point out a connection there, regarding the cheapening of life, you’re accused of racism and/or cheapening the deaths of gun violence.  However, minorities are also the *perpetrators* of most gun violence, usually against each other, and rarely using “legal” firearms.
My dad once observed how his high school students, even in the 90s, had such a cheap evaluation of life that it was difficult for them to even appreciate the moral dilemmas at work in literature: they were more baffled than “scholars” about the age-old question of Hamlet’s procrastination.  It was perfectly logical to them that if someone kills your dad, you kill them.  They didn’t understand what the big deal was.   I don’t like guns myself, but I really do not understand why people blame guns but balk at blaming the media, and abortion and contraception, for creating the “Culture of Death.”

Are you being Saved?

The person or persons who write “Coffee With Jesus,” the popular webcomic, hit another one out of the ballpark (much like Casting Crowns, they’re pretty Catholic in their thought, even though they insist they’re non-denominational).

I “got saved” almost every week in sixth grade at “Chapel” at Thomas Sumter. Almost every week, some speaker or Christian rock group or something would come with often truly inspiring and sometimes superficial cheesy, “testimonies” (or performances, as the case may be) and finish by saying, “Now, I want you all to bow your heads and give your life to Jesus,” and they would always have us recite the same words in unison, and my thought was always, “And these people would take issue with liturgical prayer. . . .”

Me, circa sixth grade

Almost every week, that is, except the two times my dad, the school’s first Catholic teacher, had his turn (each week a different faculty member would plan the program for Chapel). The first time, he had Fr. Anthony Rigoli, OMI, come, and the second time, he had a panel of students, myself included, speak about treating each other with love and respect (and speaking against bullying). This was inspired by one of his students unwittingly writing a paper about me. She wrote of this thin boy in sixth grade with glasses who was always being picked on and never seemed to notice when everyone laughed at him in the halls (I did), knocked his books out of his hands (I thought I was just clumsy), etc., and yet always seemed happy.

Interestingly, our headmaster once made the same comment.  He passed me in the hall and said, “That’s what I admire about you, John: you’re always smiling.”

I was honored that Mr. Owens, known for his very strict personality, took the time to say that–though at the time I was actually squinting.   This gets to any interesting side note about body language, Asperger syndrome and Marfan syndrome, since a) I have a hard time understanding other people’s expressions, and b) people have a hard time understanding mine.  Even after 14 years, Mary can’t read most of my expressions since they rarely indicate emotion and usually indicate some sort of pain, eye strain, trying to see, etc., though I do try to make a point of smiling.

Anyway, it’s interesting to me how people constantly want to engage in “institutional reform” of things that are just human nature.  As Joe Sobran put it regarding attempts to legislate against “hate,” “some people are just jerks.”  The Reformation supposedly started about “sale of indulgences” and yet many Protestant denominations require their members to tithe.   They criticize Catholics who seem to live a superficial religion but aren’t “Christians,” and yet so many Protestants seem to live the same way.

Salvation is always a process.  The greatest Saints refused to say they had achieved spiritual perfection, even if they had.  The only times in the Bible when Jesus makes definitive statements about people’s salvation are a) to Dismas on the Cross and b) to Zacchaeus at his house, when Zacchaeus promises to give just about everything away (and even then He doesn’t say “You are saved,” just “salvation has come to this house,” which is still an indication of process).

“Work out your salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

Celebrating the Ordinary; Celebrating in the Ordinary

One of the great puzzlements of “holidays” and “holy days” is the extent to which we take time out to put extra emphasis on what we should already emphasize. People will say, “I wish it could be Christmas every day,” and it can: pray the Rosary. Be generous. Remember every day that the Word became flesh and dwells among us, and we have seen his glory. So, too, “Valentine’s Day,” aside from commercialism (which itself gets a bit repetitious in our culture–it’s one thing in cultures that aren’t so accustomed to luxury where a monthly day of splurging means something). Don’t get me wrong: I’m a “romantic,” but that’s precisely why Valentine’s Day has come to be a bit ho-hum. I was tempted to write something along the lines of “Spent Valentine’s Day the ‘old married couple’ way: we took alternating naps,” which was true, but that got me thinking about whether Mary and I have *ever* really “celebrated” Valentine’s Day.
We always commemorate our Engagement Anniversary on January 15, so there’s that. Our first Valentine’s Day was long distance, and we celebrated it on President’s Day weekend. Our first “regular date,” as it were, was a trip to a McDonald’s in Valdosta, GA, that President’s Day weekend in 2000. We have had the movie _She’s All That_ sitting in our Amazon Instant Video queue for a while now–not sure which of us put it there, but mainly because of the _Psych_ connections (didn’t even realize Dule Hill was in it). Something in me said there was a significance to watching it the night before Valentine’s Day, besides just looking for a romantic comedy to watch, and I realized it this evening: Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” was playing at that McDonald’s 14 years ago.
So, that’s about it for Valentine’s Day here. I learned early on that flowers and cards work better when they have extra impact, when they’re unexpected or can be shown off. I randomly bought Mary flowers once before Allie was born, and when I came to pick her up from school, I left them in the front office and went back out to the car. The office paged her after school and said, “There’s a message for you in the office.” She got up there, and they were like, “That kind of thing stops after the baby’s born.” I took that as a challenge. I’d regularly buy cards and mail them to her at school, and at least once a year on an “ordinary day,” I’d buy flowers and bring them to school.
I firmly believe that keeping gestures like that as part of the routine of marriage is as important as ritual prayer is in the spiritual life, but it also makes it a bit harder to get all worked up about something like Valentine’s Day.

Would you be my martyr?

Seasonal things you can expect in the Catholic online world:
1) “Real meaning of Christmas”
2) “Real meaning of Easter”
3) “Real meaning of Halloween”
4) “Real meaning St. Nicholas,” etc.
Including
The cool thing about Catholicism is that this is not the paradox it first seems.
There are many reasons given for the connection between St. Valentine and love.  One is supposedly the letters he wrote from prison (then why not Ignatios of Antioch or another of the Fathers?)  Another is that supposedly he wrote specifically about marriage (again).  Then there is the issue of *which* “St. Valentine” we’re talking about.  Supposedly, the first historical reference associating St. Valentine’s Day with “romance” is in Chaucer.
Regardless of the seemingly arbitrary association, we celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection by eating candy, so why not a Saint’s?  “The pain now is part of the happiness then,” as Joy Davidman says in _Shadowlands_ (forget if she actually said said that in real life).  To borrow from _VeggieTales_, the “hope of Easter” allows us to see the joy and humor in death. 
“[54] And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. [55] O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55, Douay).
If you can’t joke about something as silly and trivial as death, what *can* you joke about?
The paradox was best phrased by a cartoon I saw today that said, “Will you be my Christian martyr? Now you see why I find this holiday confusing.”
Actually, it shouldn’t be.  Christian love is supposed to be about martyrdom.

Love is supposed to be about self-sacrifice.  Gifts we give in love are symbolic of the greater sacrifices we are supposed to make for others.

The Wisdom of Bishop Myriel: Welcoming Valjean

The Bishop, who was sitting close to him, gently touched his hand. “You could not help telling me who you were. This is not my house; it is the house of Jesus Christ. This door does not demand of him who enters whether he has a name, but whether he has a grief. You suffer, you are hungry and thirsty; you are welcome. And do not thank me; do not say that I receive you in my house. No one is at home here, except the man who needs a refuge. I say to you, who are passing by, that you are much more at home here than I am myself. Everything here is yours. What need have I to know your name? Besides, before you told me you had one which I knew.” The man opened his eyes in astonishment. “Really? You knew what I was called?” “Yes,” replied the Bishop, “you are called my brother.”

Hugo, Victor (2010-12-16). Les Misérables (English language) (p. 67). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Wisdom of Bishop Myriel: Carmelite Spirituality

He did not attempt to impart to his chasuble the folds of Elijah’s mantle; he projected no ray of future upon the dark groundswell of events; he did not see to condense in flame the light of things; he had nothing of the prophet and nothing of the magician about him. This humble soul loved, and that was all. That he carried prayer to the pitch of a superhuman aspiration is probable: but one can no more pray too much than one can love too much; and if it is a heresy to pray beyond the texts, Saint Theresa and Saint Jerome would be heretics.

Hugo, Victor (2010-12-16). Les Misérables (English language) (p. 54). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

I’m finally trying out Twitter with a Campaign to Pray for Celebrities

I have had a Twitter account for several years but could never figure out how or why to use it.  I’m way too verbose for blogging and Facebook, much less Twitter’s 140-character maximum, which is impossible to conform to without engaging in an overabundance of “text speech.”  Therefore, I’ve only ever used it to promote my blog.  That’s changing, though, with a suggestion my wife made the other day.

“Pop Star” Katy Perry, who is the daughter of a minister and started out as a “Christian singer,” has given a couple interviews recently proclaiming herself “not a Christian.”  Then there’s her Satanic performance at the Grammy’s.  This should come as no surprise regarding someone whose major claim to fame was “I Kissed a Girl.”  I really know nothing of her work, except that it represents no real talent.  However, she has been a big supporter of Make-a-Wish, and we have a sentimental value for her song “Firework,” which Allie sang at the Give Kids the World “Village Idol” event.

Then there’s Justin Bieber, who seemed until the past year to be a fairly positive role model, was outspokenly Christian and pro-life, and also was a big supporter of Make a Wish and GKTW.  And while his “music” isn’t exactly of high quality even by popular music standards, he seemed to have decent lyrics. Before I get off into the repeated disappointments with “this [person/show] seems to be OK for the kids,” we were talking about the recent scandals involving both of them, and it struck me that their names are the two patron saints of apologists.

Therefore, Mary suggested I should try promoting a Twitter campaign to pray for different saints’ intercessions for the conversions of celebrities, by “hash-tagging” them and the saints, and inviting people to “retweet.”

Wisdom of Bishop Myriel: The role of a bishop

The apostle may be daring, but the bishop must be timid.

Hugo, Victor (2010-12-16). Les Misérables (English language) (p. 53). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

What do we have to fear?

Supposedly, there are 50 Reasons Why We Should Fear the Worst from Fukushima.

Bankers keep committing suicide.

We keep hearing about dangers of nukes, ships, and EMPs from Iran, China and North Korea.

IRS.  NSA.  TSA.  DHS.

Obamacare.

Monsanto.

Cancer.

We are constantly being told to worry about the future: about money, health, property, “safety” and “security.”

41 The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. 42 There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:41-42, NAB).

Do we live “according to the flesh” or “according to the spirit”?

5 For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. . . . 35What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? (Romans 8:5,35, NAB)

It just when we say “peace and security” that the “Day of the Lord” will come on us like a “thief in the night.” (1 Thess 5:2-3).

7  “When you hear of wars and reports of wars do not be alarmed; such things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.  8 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes from place to place and there will be famines. These are the beginnings of the labor pains.  9 Watch out for yourselves. They will hand you over to the courts. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will be arraigned before governors and kings because of me, as a witness before them. . . . 11 When they lead you away and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say. But say whatever will be given to you at that hour. For it will not be you who are speaking but the holy Spirit. . . . 14 When you see the desolating abomination standing where he should not (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, . . . 15 [and] a person on a housetop must not go down or enter to get anything out of his house. . . . 35 Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. 36 May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. (Mark 13, NAB)

We should only fear one thing: offending Jesus. That’s it.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. (Matthew 10:28, NAB)

If we put as much effort into frequent Confession and daily examination of conscience that we do into worldly matters, we would certainly have nothing to fear from those, and things might indeed go far better for us as a society.

Trust God for the rest.

Have a Heart for Marfan Month

You can’t know what it meant to me to see this description ca. 1995 when I first read this.  It is exactly what I used to feel/hear all the time.

<blockquote>“I’ve got a good deal to say,” our prisoner said slowly. “I want to tell you gentlemen all about it.”
“Hadn’t you better reserve that for your trial?” asked the inspector.
“I may never be tried,” he answered. “You needn’t look startled. It isn’t suicide I am thinking of. Are you a doctor?” He turned his fierce dark eyes upon me as he asked this last question.
“Yes, I am,” I answered.
“Then put your hand here,” he said, with a smile, motioning with his manacled wrists towards his chest.
I did so; and became at once conscious of an extraordinary throbbing and commotion which was going on inside. The walls of his chest seemed to thrill and quiver as a frail building would do inside when some powerful engine was at work. In the silence of the room I could hear a dull humming and buzzing noise which proceeded from the same source.
“Why,” I cried, “you have an aortic aneurism!”</blockquote>
–Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, _A Study in Scarlet_, Chapter 6 (emphasis added)