All Hallowed Tide

 All Hallowed Tide refers to the three days: Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. It is a feast to remember the dead.  In fact, the month of November has an indulgence, at least for this year, that if you visit a cemetery and pray for the deceased, all month, you may gain an indulgence.

Due to the ongoing pandemic and related health and safety measures, the Apostolic Penitentiary – in response to requests from bishops around the world – is once again extending opportunities to gain indulgences for the benefit of the faithful departed.

By means of the decree, the Apostolic Penitentiary “confirms and extends for the entire month of November 2021 all the spiritual benefits already granted on 22 October 2020” – that is, it allows the faithful to gain plenary indulgences for the souls in purgatory by visiting a cemetery on every day in November and praying for those who have died; normally, the indulgence is limited to the first eight days of the month.

The Penitentiary notes in the decree that “from the renewed generosity of the Church, the faithful will certainly draw pious intentions and spiritual vigour to guide their lives according to the Gospel law, in filial communion and devotion to the Supreme Pontiff, the visible foundation and Pastor of the Catholic Church.”

The present Decree, like the one issued last year in the midst of the pandemic, is intended to meet the need to avoid gatherings, a potential cause of the spread of Covid-19, which still affects the world's population to varying degrees.

Tzadikim

 Tzadikim refers to 36 righteous people named in the Talmud.  If you google Tzadikim you might run across 36 named and 36 hidden names.  But they are righteous witnesses that exemplify what people should emulate.  When one gazes at a picture of say, Lubavitcher Rebbe, one senses what fear of heaven should be, love of God, and love of God's people.

I can't help but think of saints.  Tzadikim usually are images of rabbis or historical figures like Maimonides.

Let the Children Come to Me

 Jesus must have been kidding when He said that.  Maybe He meant it tongue in cheek--sarcastically.

Whenever my grandchildren go to Mass they are perfect.  However, whenever we go into an empty church, they behave like stampeding wild mustangs.  They take off and are all over.  I can't keep up.  One is in the sanctuary, the other ran up the choir loft, then in the sacristry, climbing up statues, playing the organ.  

I thought I'd teach them what Adoration was.  I took them to Adoration.  Thank goodness they listened to me and behaved appropriately.  That was a Eucharistic Chapel.  But once we left that room, they rocketed to outer space. 

They are impressed with the statue of Michael the Archangel, and that's how I got them outside before they wrecked the church.  While I showed the 11-year-old the large statue of Michael with his sword killing Satan, the 7-year-old went over to Mary and picked her beautiful hydrangeas.

Was I wrong to tell her to be sure to tell her Confessor, when she makes her First Confession, to tell the priest that she stole flowers from the church?  And if he yells, assure him that they weren't from his church, but the shrine across town.

Good grief!  Suffer the children.   

Tar and Feathered

                                                                  Father John Bapst, sj

Last night, hubby and I were watching Finding Your Roots with Professor Henry Gates.  The comedian Jim Gaffigan was the subject.  In the discussion, Jim expressed his desire to know why his family came to Maine, to settle, yet ended up in Indiana.  The answer was to escape persecution, as Catholics.  

Professor Gates, to give Jim an idea of the frightening environment, in Maine at that time, told the story of Father Bapst.  Father John Bapst was assigned to Maine.  He worked with the Indians and Catholics.  The Know Nothing political party was big, at that time.  the Know Nothings tried to scare Father Bapst away.  The Know Nothings were xenophobic, to the extreme.

The Know Nothings attacked Father Bapst, stole his money and watch, stripped him naked, tarred and feathered him and rode him out of town on a rail.  Through the grace of God, Father Bapst lived but the traumatic stress affected him mentally.  For the rest of his life, he had bouts of mental anguish where he thought the Know Nothings were coming to get him.

Even so, he managed to function.  He built St. John's Church in Bangor, Maine.  He served as superior in various Jesuit's houses and he was Boston College's first president.

I thank God for Father Bapst's witness.  May he finally find peace with Our Lord and Savior.  

Death Row Chaplain

 The Rev. Earl Smith has written a good picture of what it's like inside a prison, in his book "Death Row Chaplain."  I was surprised at the misspent youth of the reverend.  He's lucky he didn't end up in prison, himself.  As it is, he was almost killed by a rival gang.  But through the grace of God, he found himself being called by God.

    Smith is a good storyteller.  He tells us the bad--having feces thrown at him, and also the good--a lot more good.  He even came face to face to the man who shot him.  The good reverend tells how hard it was to forgive him.  A lot of explaining how we have to forgive to move in, is related in different stories.  

    I like the way the author switches easily from one story and/or topic, the varied length of sentences, and the empathetic conclusions. Smith is a master storyteller.

God is Up to Something

 Today is the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Gospel was about the blind man, Bartimaeus.  While Father Francis was reading, I couldn't help but think of when God blinded Saul.  Acts 9: 1-19

God used Saul's blindness to teach him.  Is it all part of God's plan?  Does give people infirmities to teach us something?  

Remember God hardened Pharoah's heart so he wouldn't let the Hebrews go.  Exodus 7: 3

And if God hadn't hardened the Jews, the apostles wouldn't have gone out to the Gentiles.  Romans 11: 25

After the Gospel, Father Carl spoke about his work with disaffiliated Catholics.  There are so many.  It seems that we've lost a whole generation.  Perhaps God is planning something.  I can't wait to see what He will do.

When I teach my grandchildren, (because their parents aren't interested), I am reminded of when Russia turned communist and banned religion.  The grandmothers, the Babushkas, taught their grandchildren.  If there is religion in Russian, now, it's because of the grandparents.

What is God doing?

Rosary Bracelet

 

 

The Trail Hikers meet at the usual place.  It takes awhile to get going; we're waiting for everyone to get organized--get directions, decide whether to take your own car or ride along with someone.

As this was going on, Don ran up to us.  He had run up from his house.  He's a marathon runner.  He ran up to tell us that his wife had a medical appointment and they wouldn't be coming.

While he was telling us this, I noticed that he was fingering a rosary bracelet.  I was impressed.  He runs every morning.  I bet that's when he prays his rosary.  God bless him.

The Third Try

Sunday didn't start as a good day.  I intended to go to Mass outside, at Fatima Shrine.  I arrived at 9:45 for a 10:00 Mass.  No one was there.  I looked at their sign and it read: Sunday Mass 11:00.  So I left and did some errands and arrived back at 10:45, only to see people leaving!

I stopped someone I knew to talk to and she said Mass was at 10:00 after all.  So the sign was wrong.

There was only a noon Mass to go to, so I went to my own parish church.  I was early and since I was running around all morning I had to go to the bathroom. So once in my own parish, I went to the basement floor.  When I was finished I decided to take the elevator.  On the way up the elevator stopped in the middle.  Father Frank got on. I hadn't seen him in about five years!  

So what turned out to be a terrible morning, turned out to be a blessing.
 

Seacoast Blvd.

 My favorite place in the world is at the end of Seacoast Blvd., in Falmouth, MA.  We have a summer place off of Seacoast Blvd.  Just about every evening, that we are down there, we walk out to the end of the Blvd., down the path, to the steps leading to the water. 

There before your eyes lies a panorama of nature that for me, packs a spiritual punch because it lifts me out of my ordinary life.  I usually sit on the steps and just contemplate the vista before me.

First, you see the boats, buoys, seagulls, terns, and maybe an osprey.  The water is clear so you might be able to pick up a crab, or even catch a fish swimming by if you’re quick or have a net.  Within swimming distance is Washburn Island.

Washburn Island is home to my family’s favorite beach.  It’s safe to say, that everyone who lives on this peninsula (Seacoast Blvd.) and has a boat, has their favorite beach spot planted on the island.

Observing Washburn Island is a lesson in theology because watching the weather and seasons caress and assault the isle reminds one of God’s care over His creation: clothing Adam and Eve in their nakedness, marking Cain to protect him, protecting David from King Saul’s wrath, freeing Peter from prison, etc. 

²⁶ Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?  Matt 6: 26

God has a plan and it’s not the one we planned.  What am I talking about?  I’m specifically thinking of hurricanes.  I love to rush down to the end of Seacoast Blvd. to see what Mother Nature has done after the Cape has been hit with a hurricane.  More often than not, Washburn Island is literally broken.  The crashing waves and relentless wind break through the land so there are two islands—a parent and a child.  But over time, we watch the parent reach over and pull her little one close and closer until the little one is hugged by its parent.  The ocean has brought sand, silt, and rocks to fill in the break.  The two islands and now one, again.

Sitting on those stone steps you forget where you are because you’re gradually placed in a different dimension of experience.  You are in a place of light—sunlight and light reflected off the gentle motion of the waves, the clanging of the ropes on the masts of the sailboats, the clanging of the buoy, the gleeful voices of the young, the slapping waves against the rocks, the crying of the seagulls, and the tender kiss of the wind caressing your sunburnt skin.  One can’t help but fall into transcendence.  You find yourself contemplating a Divine Presence and Divine Providence.

And that’s not all.  That’s only Washburn Island.  Beyond Washburn is Vineyard Sound., home to the largest flounder in Cape Cod Bay.  And Martha’s Vineyard, which in our little Boston Whaler, is two hours away.  But who wants to boat over to that tourist trap when we have our own slice of nirvana at the end of Seacoast Blvd.

Eventually, however, you become aware that other people have walked into your space.  Well, after all, we don’t own the venue.  The path and steps at the end of Seacoast Boulevard are actually only a public Right of Way.  

Well, it’s time for others to admire the scene and hopefully experience the majesty of the view.

The Poetry Project

 

Who Did It?

 A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines is a story that tells how it was in the South for Black People.

It begins with the killing of a white man.  Candy, a white lady who was brought up by Mathu, a black man has killed a white man.  To help Mathu, who is like a father to her, she confesses to the murder.  So do about 10-20 other black men.  Hence, the title, A Gathering of Old Men.  They're old and lived under the degrading rules of segregation for a long time.  

When each man is asked why he committed the murder, they tell stories of they have just had it with being treated as less than human.  Some of their stories are heartbreaking.  The author uses each story in their own chapter.  So there're many different points of view.

Besides expecting to go to prison, the men and Candy expected the murdered man's family to come and punish the black men.  They don't because the times have changed and the black men have earned respect.  The college-educated won't take revenge.

As a surprise, the man who really shot the victim finally walks on the scene and confesses that he did it and why he did it.  The ending is nicely tied up.  There's a shoot-out between the Klan types and the old man and there's a trial.  In the end, the judge administers justice.  You'll have to read it yourself to put flesh on the bones I've related. It's worth it.  I learned and enjoyed.

Mary of the Plague

 Tonight after the Rosary, the deacon explained that: 

Holy Mary, Mother of God
pray for us sinners,
now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen

was added during the Plague in Medieval times. Now during COVID-19, I think we should say this often, especially at the hour of our death. 

Spoiler Alert for Eifelheim

 There's no way I can write a review of Eifelheim by Michael Flynn without spoilers.  So if you read this, get the book to see how the author weaves everything together.

Cliologist (some kind of historian) noticed that a small town, Eifelheim, disappeared off the face of the earth.  We're in the Medieval Times.  The historian, Thomas, along with a research assistant, and his girlfriend, Sharon, pieced together the story.  It seems that a flying ship crash-landed in the nearby forest next to Eifelheim.  The aliens looked something like giant grasshoppers.

Everyone of course is afraid of these strange beings.  Since this is Medieval times, they were thought to be demons, except these demons were afraid of people.  

One thing I liked about this novel is that the priest is a good man.  He was not a pedophile.  In fact, this priest found a little girl and cared for her. He also helps with the sick, including disrobing and washing the sick women and the author treats the priest's caring as perfunctory.  The Black Plague hits the village and the priest works as nurse, and priest.

When the villagers gradually meet the aliens most of them help them with food and taking care of the wounded.  Of course, some stay away and call them demons.  The aliens weren't used to the cold so the villagers gave them warm clothing and took them in their homes to be near a warm hearth.

When the Black Death came, the aliens helped with the sick villagers.  The aliens weren't affected by the plague, at all.  But they gradually died off because they weren't getting the nutrition they needed.  So Tom and Sharon concluded that everyone died in Eifelheim and those that didn't, left and told the story about the demons that kept the town from ever being inhabited again.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

I know it's not yet Halloween, never mind November, but I'm in a thanksgiving kind of mood.  It happens this time of year because I'm reminded to celebrate food, and smells, and happy children.  I'm very grateful for everything the season has to offer.  These are some of the things that come to mind.

Starting with my husband of fifty years. That's an amazing amount of time.  It's been an adventure but we've somehow managed to land on our feet, still facing each other. 

Also on the top of my list are my three children, whom I love more than my life.  they are good, happy people, who have grown into independent and contributing members of society.  Isn't that the aim of all parents?  Dick and I are truly blessed.

I also put my friends on my list.  Friends are like family, and in certain circumstances better than family.  We've been to places, and been in trouble, and been in serene sanctuaries, but most of all we've come through closer than ever, and are still friends. 

I'm so thankful for everything and I realize it's all due to the grace of God, because I've done nothing to deserve my blessings, which by-the-way, is what I consider proof of a benevolent God. I certainly do not deserve God's largess, but somehow I've been graced.  

And I thank God, now, and every day, especially on Thanksgiving.

Use What's Useful

Why I chose this book.  First, the title attracted me, “The How Not to Diet Cookbook.”  Second, the author, Dr. Michael Greger lists the daily ingredients he wants us to eat and he gets complaints that it’s too much food and not enough calories.

Isn’t that a dieter’s dream?  Too much food/not enough calorie!   What do you think?   page xiv  

Dr. Greger explains that any long-term eating plan must be nutritionally complete, containing all essential vitamins and minerals.
          The healthiest diet is the most effective.  A whole food, plant based diet is the single most effective weight loss intervention ever published.  This was proven in a random control trial with no protein control, no calorie counting and no exercise component.  (Although you’ll see he does list exercise on his daily list.)

After I finished the book, I realized that he doesn’t have any meat at all.  Also, no eggs, nor milk.  What he posits is probably true but it’s impractical for me.  My husband has gout and can’t eat a lot of beans and greens.  So take what I say, and what he proposes in mind when you plan your meals.  A lot of things he mentions, I forgot or have forgotten. So this book got me back on track.

 Not all calories are the same.  Calories have different impacts on your body.  100 calories of chickpeas impacts you differently than 100 calories of chicken, depending on your bodies’ absorption, appetite, and microbiome.  It’s not WHAT we eat but HOW and WHEN.

 This is the whole plant food lifestyle.  It’s got to be a way of life.  It’s safe, inexpensive, and healthy.

BTW, Dr. Greger donates 100% of his profits to charity.

To decide how healthy a food is, he checks off how many attributes it has.  

The more checkmarks a food gets, the healthier it is. 

At each meal, Dr. Greger recommends to preload with water. Add apple cider vinegar to the water with your meal.  Eat an apple before each meal, or a salad, or soup, or some other negative calorie food.  The point is to fill yourself up before the meal, with good food. 

Use what you can.  I certainly am not going to go all plant-based meals.  My husband can’t.  Most of these recipes use chia seeds.  Some others use flaxseed and miso paste.  I don’t know what those are so certainly I’m not buying, nor using them. 

This book reminded me of the apple vinegar in the water trick. Eat soup and salad first. He has a salt substitute that uses yeast, so I added yeast and cumin to my own salt-free seasoning.  

 

What do you think?

What Has the Catholic Church Done for Me?

This is from Facebook, Sherry Weddell talking about evangelization.

From Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney comes some witty observations about the Fifth Plenary Council that is taking place in Australia right now.

"In Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Reg, a member of the People’s Liberation Front of Judea, asks rhetorically, ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ To his frustration his fellows respond with multiple examples of the benefits of Roman civilisation.

‘All right, all right,’ Reg concedes, ‘but apart from sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a freshwater system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?’

Something similar might be said about Australia’s indebtedness to Christianity generally and especially the Catholic Church.

“All right, all right, but apart from a few obvious saints, and many hidden ones; or inventing the university and providing primary and secondary schools worldwide; or running orphanages, aged care, feeding stations and other welfare; or creating and maintaining hospitals, hospices and clinics…

“Apart from contributions to language and law, conceptions of justice and human rights; to ending cannibalism, slavery, infanticide and the chattel conception of women and children; to the advent of the scientific method and much subsequent science, medicine and technology; to the heritage of Christian art, architecture, literature and music; and to the theological and philosophical ideas underpinning our democracy and so much else; and to the sublime moral code and vision of the person that still inspire so many…

“Apart from all that,” Secular Modernity asks, “what have the Catholics ever done for us?”

Snip.

"None of which makes the Catholic Church perfect. The child sexual abuse crisis, spotlighted by the Royal Commission, left young ones terribly damaged, others understandably disillusioned, the Church’s credibility shot. Try as it may to bring justice and healing to survivors and to ensure this terrible chapter is never repeated, the Church will not regain some people’s trust for years—if ever.

We could identify other failings . The ancient adage “Ecclesia semper reformanda”—the Church always needing renewal—highlights that however divine the founder, the message or the graces received, we can always do better."

Snip.

"Australia would be the poorer without the Catholic Church. So the Church must renew itself, recover its founding inspiration and purge itself of the causes of its failures. It must address people’s deepest needs, state with confidence its faith and morals, find a language that speaks today, and so build people up in faith, hope and love.

The Church will serve the culture best, as well as its own members, by being its best self, faithful to the mission given by Christ — not by re-inventing itself as a secular NGO."

FYI, Fisher's concluding sentence about survival as an NGO is a reference to a common assumption that the Catholic Church in Australia will survive primarily through its large, effective, and well-heeled-because-state-funded network of schools (attended by 20% of Aussie students), hospitals and other social services - while local parish communities which are small (by US standards), and relatively poor would disappear. Because the assumption of many high secularized Aussies is that believing Catholics are rather like dinosaurs and passing away.

Maybe He Doesn't Turn Away

 In Mark 10: 1-30, we see the rich, young man, turn his back to Jesus, he turns away from Jesus, he turns around and walks back to his riches.

But what if that's not what he's doing?  What if he is just doing what Jesus told him to do--"...go, sell what you own and give the money to the poor..."

I picture the young man going to sell everything and give to the poor. That's what Jesus told him to do.  

Of course, my nit-pikking isn't the point.  The only attachment we should have is to God. Certainly, material things are not more important than God.  But this incident showing the young man turning away from God because he can't leave his material wealth doesn't prove that's what he is doing.  Mark should have the young man arguing with Jesus and then turning away from Him in disgust.

Note that Jesus didn't say to the young man to give his money to Jesus; He's poor. I suppose then Jesus would have been accused of coercing the young man with a promise of inheriting eternal life.  Then rich people could buy their way into heaven and we can't have that.

The Regional Meeting

 Yesterday, wiped me out.  I went to a Regional Lay Dominican Meeting.  As usual, I got lost.  I was driving alone and I hate to drive.  I was following a GPS but there were no street names and I took the directed left too soon. Anyway, it was a one-way street, so I couldn't turn around.  This street took me to downtown Providence, Rhode Island.  This is the capital of the state!  Intuition told me to take a right, which could have taken me to Connecticut.  Thankfully, it didn't. In fact, it brought me where I wanted to go more easily than the GPS originally was taking me.  

That's why I arrived frazzled.  I met old friends, which is always nice.  I blew my diet plan because all they had to eat was donuts and cinnamon bread.  Lunch was potato and macaroni salads and sandwiches of cold cuts.  Dessert was cookies and brownies.

I love praying in community.  We prayed the Rosary and morning and evening prayers.  Of course, we had Mass.  These moments are golden.

The purpose of the meeting was to elect a new president and vice president.  We did.  However, the  Treasurer was the one who got elected president, which meant we now had to elect a new treasurer.  What a tedious procedure!  Dominicans can be terrible nit-pickers!  Thomas Aquinas started this Dominican proclivity by saying that "Distinctions are important."  

To top it all off, driving home took two hours more than usual because of a major accident on the highway. Typical of the day.

Grandma’s Religion Class

 God created our world. 

God is Love—sock puppet   God created man to love, and know God. The man was named Adam. Adam named all the animals and  everything around him. But Adam noticed that everything around him had friends. There were forests of trees, gardens with flowers, fish in schools, but he was alone. God always takes care of us so when He saw that Adam was sad, He made a woman as a friend to Adam. She was named Eve. 

This is Adam all alone. 

Adam and Eve were very happy in Paradise. One day Eve was talking to the snake and that slimy serpent taunted Eve because she wouldn’t eat any fruit from a certain tree. She wouldn’t eat anything from that tree because God said not to. God knew that the tree would be bad for people to eat. This is like a parent telling a young child not to touch a hot stove. The parent knows the hot stove would hurt the child. This tree was called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Up until this time, everything was good and wonderful. Why spoil this paradise?  But the snake sweet-talked Eve into picking an apple from the tree and eating it. She did as the snake said. It tasted good. Meanwhile, Adam was watching and listening to the conversation between the sneaky snake and Eve. Adam sees Eve pick the apple from the tree and nothing happened to her. Adam watched her eat the apple and she said it tasted good. Adam didn’t want to miss out so he picked and ate an apple too 

    But immediately Adam’s and Eve,s eyes were opened and they saw things differently. Before they disobeyed God, everything was good. After disobeying God, they saw bad. The snake was a slimy creepy creature and they were naked!  

When they saw that they were naked they covered their private parts with leaves.  They were embarrassed.

Suddenly, God called them.  They were scared.  What would God do when He found out that they disobeyed Him?

When God saw them hiding and embarrassed, He immediately knew what they had done.  He was disappointed in them.  He asked them why.  Why did they eat of the tree He said not to?  They explained that the snake talked them into it.  Why didn't Adam and/or Eve ask God first?  They had no answer.

    But God loves us.  He loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to become a human person like us.  And also, God forgave Adam and Eve.  God will always, always, take care of us and forgive us no matter what we do.  We go to confession to the priest, who is acting in God's place, and ask to be forgiven.  The priest gives us the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Then we can be sure that we are forgiven.

    And don't forget that God watches over us and takes care of us.  To show that He will always take care of us, God made Adam and Eve clothes to be warm when He sent them out into the world.

Just remember that God loves us no matter what we do.  God will always forgive us and take care of us.