Lucky Jack

 One of my fellow Scribblers in my writer's group, Sue Bavey has written a book about her grandfather, Lucky Jack.  Lucky, or rather blessed, was he.  Someone up there, looked out for him.  What a life!

He lived in three centuries.  1894-2000.  The chapters are short memories.  Sometimes, a chapter could be one paragraph.  No chapter was longer than a few pages.  There're pictures, too.  The book was so easy.

I'm jealous.  I want Jack as my grandfather.  He seemed to always land on his feet.  He was a shoemaker and it seemed to be a good occupation because he never seem to want anything.  He was one of the first to buy an automobile.  He took his family on vacations.  Everything he did seemed interesting, even his war stories.

He was trained to be a sniper.  He was buried twice, and dug out, of course.  He was even in a POW camp.  

His advocation was entertainment.  He was quite the comedian, which came in handy while in the German prison camp.  This upbeat comedic attitude probably helped him come home from the war, whole.  

His last home, the nursing home was the recipient of his entertaining habits.  His upbeat, happy attitude lasted until the very end.  That's why everyone who met him was "lucky."  The reader will be entertained by Lucky Jack, too.

 

The Bell Tolls for Each of Us

 For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway is my friend, Jeannette, favorite book, in the world.  I can see why.  It has something for everybody.  It is a thriller because you don't know how it will end. It has romance.  There's Robert Jordan and Maria's love affair. The reader learns history.   Lastly, there's plenty of action.  This is a war story.

The setting is the Spanish Civil War.  Robert Jordan is working for the Republican Army.  He is assigned to blow up a bridge.  That's the story of how the bridge is blown.  Jordan is with the guerilla fighters.  The guerillas have taken in, Maria, who was raped by the fascists.  There's another woman in the group, Pilar.  She's the wife of one of the guerilla's, but much more than that.  She holds the group together.  She has the most common sense, and she encourages everyone.  

Hemmingway's diction is exact.  The reader is involved.  The novel was made into a movie.  I understand that at first, the sex and violence raised a few eyebrows, but nowadays, that wouldn't be an objection.  Today, it is considered a classic.

I Found a Pearl

 I found this little book, A Christmas Story of Old Boston, in the rack where hymnals and missalettes are kept, in church. Who put it there and why I don’t know. It’s a cute Christmas story. The copyright says 1973 by Gauntlet Books. However, the cover says 1852 replica.

The author, Mrs. M. H. Maxwell has written a morality story emphasizing the spirit of Christmas.  It begins with a poor, little girl, shivering in the wintry air.  Enter two rich girls, Mary Morse and Milla More.  Milla wore a string of pearls as a necklace.  Her father let her choose her own Christmas gift, and that's what she chose.

As Mary and Milla walked and chatted, the poor little girl joined them, as they all entered a candy store.  The store was busy, but there was a bench to sit on.  There the girls sat.  The candy store was owned by a blind lady, and she did very well, business wise.  While the girls watched the people, the poor little girl told Mary and Milla her sad story.  Her father had died and her mother moved the family to live with her brother.  

The poor family never found that brother and the mother took ill and died.  The mother used to call her children, "her pearls," and Mary and Milla talking about Milla's Christmas pearls, reminded the poor girl of her mother.

The children walked the poor girl home.  She lived in squalid.  Three children were asleep in one bed.  Mary and Milla went home and told their parents about this poor family.  Their parents were proud of them for their compassionate and generous hearts.  

Milla's family took in the little brother and Mary's family took in the three girls.  Now Mary and Milla could see what genuine pearls looked like.

Our Lady of Fatima

 Father Jacques Jomier, OP, has written a very understandable explanation of the relationship between the Bible and the Qur'an.  He is understanding, sympathetic and critical.  I was surprised at the respect the Qur'an has for Mary and Jesus.

      Mary is considered the mother of the prophet, Jesus.  She was immaculately conceived and loved and respected by Muslims. The Qur'an also believes in the virgin birth of Jesus.  

     If there's any way Christianity and Muslims can solve their differences, it will be through Mary.  Isn't it interesting that Mohammed's beloved daughter was named Fatima and that Mary appeared in a vision in Fatima Portugal?  

Flip the Coin

 There's more to the story of Jesus telling his enemies to render to Caeser what was his, and to God what is His.  Let's start at the beginning.

This incident was right after Jesus went berserk and through the money changers out of the temple.  He went right back in the temple.  Would you?  Wouldn't you think Jesus would stay away?  

Look at it this way.  Those who were following Him, and expecting Him, to do to the Roman soldiers, what He did to the money changers in the temple were crowding around Him, now, thinking, "now the Romans are going to get it!"  In fact, Matthew 21:46 says, the temple authorities were looking for a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the crowd.

Jesus' enemies couldn't arrest Him, unless He did something egregiously wrong, that the Jewish crowd would be appalled by what He said.  Something that would justify His arrest.  Something that was obviously against Jewish religious laws.

What did they come up with?

A baited question.

"...You teach the way of God in accordance to the truth.  Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar?"

Jesus asked for a coin, a specific coin, a denarius.  A denarius had a picture of Caesar stamped on one side.  The other side had the inscription "Tiberius Caesar, son of the Divine Augustus with an image of a goddess." Religious Jews refused to use, or even carry this coin, because it effectively said that Caesar was god, the son of a goddess.  Jesus didn't have one (being an orthodox Jew), He had to ask for one.  And even then, He didn't touch it.

Those Jews who had a denarius just proved that they were hypocrites.  What are they doing with denarii?  And in the temple precincts!!

Jesus asks, "Whose image is on it?  Since the image was of Caesar, the son of the goddess of Peace, they answered, "Caesar."  Now the famous quote, "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

Remember this answer, when we Catholics are accused of worshipping images.  Ask for a quarter.  Ask if the questioner worships George Washington.  Why are they carrying IMAGES of presidents? 

From Ray Downing's Blog

Boston Accents

 LECTIO:   Psalm 95: 1-2 6-7, 8-9 (8)

Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord;
   let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;
   let us kneel before the Lord who made us
For he is our God,
   and we are the people he shepherds
The flock he guides.
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh that today you would hear his voice;
   "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
   as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
   they tested me though they had seen my works.
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

STUDIO:

I hate to read this psalm outloud because everyone will have a smirk on their face.  They're smirking about my Boston accent.  There's something about the way a Bostonian pronounces "ar" that is different from the rest of the world.  I'm told it sounds like "hahden not your hahts."  So instead of praying for purification and strength, which this psalm is doing, I'm trying not to pronounce "ah".

If this psalm sounds familiar it is probably because you use it as the invitatory to the Liturgy of the Hours. It calls for the people to be faithful and stronger than their ancestors. 

MEDITATIO:

Evidently, the Israelites didn't listen to God at Meribah.  I hope my heart is always open to hear the Lord.  And I hope God likes Boston accents.

ORATIO:

Lord, may I always be open to You.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Harden not my heart, Lord.

Please Help

 Can you take the time to help this Student Brother?  Brother John Paul Puschautz      jpuschautz@opwest.org               Happy Lent! 

"I would like to ask for a favor. I am working on finishing my STL (Sacred License in Theology) thesis on praying Visio Divina with the art of Fra Angelico. I have created a Youtube meditation, walking through the different steps and now I would like to hear from you if this method of prayer works. I am hoping to include some comments from the viewers in an ethnographic portion of the thesis. If you can take some time this week to pray with this video and respond to the questions attached, I would be VERY grateful. If you can help me out then you can fill out the questionnaire document as well as the consent form attached (I need this because the thesis will be published). As I am in a bit of a time crunch to graduate this year if you can get this back to me by next week 2/27 that would be amazing. 

 

I will be producing one more vision divina this week and can send that if you are interested in helping out with that one as well. Thank you so much!

Visio Divina with Fra Angelico:

                                                    INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM 

Thank you for participating in this research project entitled VISIO DIVINA WITH FRA ANGELICO. 

This is a study of the contemporary impact of the paintings of Fra Angelico. The principal investigator for this study is Br John Paul Puschautz, a Catholic religious Dominican Friar and STL student at the Jesuit School of Theology. The main benefit of participating in this study is that you will have the satisfaction of helping others understand the importance of art as an aide for prayer. Quotations from this interview may appear in published form in a thesis and eventually an article or book Br John Paul intends to write. You are free to leave any question blank. Participants will be identified by first name and city/state/country of origin (if applicable). A pseudonym can be used if preferred. If, after this interview, you have any questions, or would like to amend your transcript in any way, you are welcome to do so by contacting Br. John Paul Puschautz at jpuschautz@opwest.org 

I agree to participate in the Praying with Painting study. 

First name: ____________________________________________ 

Prefer to use pseudonym: YES/ NO 

City/State/Country of Origin:___________________________________ 

Signature: ______________________________________Date: _____________

Matthew 10:36

 A Great Reckoning is Louise Penny, at her best.  After cleaning out Quebec's Surete, Armand Gamache takes on the job of commander of the police academy, that feeds officers into the Surete.

He fires some of the teachers, but keeps on a very controversial one.  Gamache kept on the leader suspected of creating the cruel, biased, privileged tone, the cadets graduating have.  Serge Leduc was a controlling, mean man.  He chooses favorites.  He breaks them and then molds them to do his will, including entertaining him by playing Russian roulette.

Gamache also hires his former best friend, Michel Brebeuf.  Brebeuf betrayed the Surete.  He should have went to prison, but Gamache had mercy on him.  Now he's teaching with Brebeuf.

Of course, some of the action takes place at the village of Three Pines.  An old map is found in the wall.  It was once used as insulation.  It would have been tossed away except it was interesting.  Gamache has it framed.

When Leduc is found dead, Gamache takes the cadet suspects and hides them in Three Pines.  This was to watch them and also keep them safe.  To keep them busy he hands them the map.  They are to find out what the map depicts, what it was used for, or whatever else they can figure out.

BTW, a copy of the map was found in the murdered man's room.  Why?  Maybe the cadets will find that out.

The reader will never, never, be able to guess who did it, nor what a map found in a wall has to do with anything.  Enjoy.

Hide and Seek

 How do you hide a tank in the woods?  Louis Penny's latest book, The Nature of the Beast, hides a gun bigger than a tank. The first one to find it is nine year old Laurent.  But no one believes him.  He's always imagining fanciful stories. Then Laurent is found dead. At first, it looks like he fell off his bike and hit his head.  However, Inspector Gamache, now Monsieur Gamache because he's retired, sees that it doesn't make sense.  If Laurent was thrown off his bike, then he landed wrong.  Besides, where is his ever-trusty stick, that was his constant companion?  This was no accident; it was murder.

It turns out that the beast of the world's biggest gun, was really hidden in the woods.  Laurent was telling the truth and he was killed before he could lead people to it.

This is how the story begins.  There is another murder--the niece of the gun's creator. She didn't understand the how or where of the gun, but she held the secret blueprints.  

We also meet a convicted, sociopathic, killer, locked away for life, in a Canadian prison.  He hid the blueprints and wrote a play, full of hints about the gun.  

To add to the suspense, the press has learned of the hidden gun and is going to release the information.  That means that the quiet village of Three Pines will be overrun with curious seekers of the phenomenon.  Quickly, just in time, Gamache and Jean-Guy put the puzzle together.  

It's not as simple as I've related it.  It's much better.  

Bargaining With God

 Probably, the first prayer we all learn is the sign of the cross.  After that, something our mothers taught us.  Sunday School taught us more prayers.   But I remember the first time I really prayed.  I mean prayed from my heart, not a memorized prayer.

We were in the ninth inning of the annual softball game between Oakland Avenue School versus West Street School.  The fifth and sixth graders played.  I wanted to win, so I made a bargain with God.  If my school, Oakland Avenue won, I would pray every prayer I knew, every night, for the rest of my life.  This was no idle promise.  I was a sincere, albeit competitive, little girl, and meant every word of my promise.  

We won.  Dutifully, every night I prayed:

The Lord's Prayer

Hail Mary

Glory Be

Apostle Creed

Act of Contrition

Act of Faith

Act of Hope

Act of Love

Let me tell you.  This was a burden.  I hated it.  But I did it.  I forced myself, because a bargain is a bargain and I was going to honor it, especially a bargain with God.

Fast forward, a year. I'm in the sixth grade.  Again it's the ninth inning, and it's a tie.  I thought of my bargain.  It worked last year.  But it was such a burden.  Dare I, could I, should I...I couldn't help myself.  "O Lord, please don't let us lose.  I kept my promise of saying all those prayers during the year, and I promise to add to my list of prayers, the Salve Regina and the Memorare.  Please Jesus don't let us lose."

Just then, the bell rang.  Game was over.  We didn't win.  But we didn't lose.  Wait a minute.  What did I pray?  I prayed not to lose; I specifically asked for us not to lose.  But God knew I meant for us to win.  He is all knowing; He knows what I meant!

Gosh darn it.  "Jesus, you know what I meant."  But He did keep His part of the bargain.  We didn't lose.

Sigh.

Again, I prayed every night my list of eight prayers plus the new two.  I hated it.  But a promise is a promise.  I forced myself to get on my knees, beside my bed, and pray.  If I were sick, or too tired, I made up for skipping a night by doubling the prayers, the next night.  I was faithful to the point of stupidity.  

Finally, one afternoon when I went to confession, I told my confessor about the bargain I made with God.  The sin was my attitude towards prayer.  Surely, God doesn't want to listen to me praying through gritted teeth.  Prayer is talking to God.  Talking to God through my heart, not through my teeth is what God wants.  God knows what we want, what is good for us, I shouldn't bargain, just ask Him directly.  He always answers.  It may be no, not right now, it may be something better.  My confessor and I prayed and I felt released from my bargain.  I understood that God wants sincere talking from the heart prayers.  Bargaining with God is silly.  You can't win.  God always wins.  We can't even compete so forget about even trying.

Before I left the confessional, the priest asked if I were going to play in this year's softball game.   I explained that I graduated elementary school and was now in Middle School, so no more softball games.  "Good," he laughed, "I didn't want you promising to pray a rosary if you won."

No, I learned my lesson.  I never made a bargain with God, again.

Stop Complaining and Pray

 Lectionary: 28Reading I

LECTIO:                                          Ex 17:3-7

In those days, in their thirst for water,
the people grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst 
with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD, 
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people, 
along with some of the elders of Israel, 
holding in your hand, as you go, 
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it 
for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah, 
because the Israelites quarreled there
and tested the LORD, saying,
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

STUDIUM:

"Are we there yet?"  
Long trips are trying, especially for people who were enslaved.  This is an unfamiliar situation for them.  Moses had just freed them, thanks to God's use of Moses staff.  The Red Sea had parted--the staff, again.  And here, Moses uses his staff again to strike the rock.  Is it the staff?
It's a wonder, the people don't make an idol of Moses' staff.
Look deeper.
Moses prays.  It is prayer that the Lord listens, too.  The people should pray and not complain.

MEDITATIO:

I get it, Lord.  Pray.  Pray before I do anything, especially when I start complaining.  I should have done that when I was working on that excel spreadsheet.

ORATIO:

Yes, Lord, I know You are in the "midst."  May my Guardian Angel help me to remember to pray, always, especially in difficulties.

CONTEMPLATIO:

May I never doubt You.

Lenten Reading

 This is a free e-book.  I probably read it a long time ago, but thought I didn't because it's not even 30 pages!  I finally re-read it, again and saw that it is just a short and sweet instruction manual by St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux.  

   It consists of short maxims, e.i., The greater your trust, the greater your spiritual growth.  This would be a great meditation book for Lent.  One maxim a day, or even a week, to contemplate.

All Carmelite saints, pray for us.

Amen.

The Trial Separation

 Louise Penny's The Long Way Home, surprised me.  I can't tell you why because that would spoil the story.  In this book, Chief Inspector Gamache has just retired in Three Pines.  However, he is thrust back into the detective game by a request by his friend, Clara.

Clara and her husband agreed to a trial separation, for a year.  He didn't come back and that isn't like him.  If he didn't want to come back, he certainly would have--to tell her to her face.  

Gamache and his crew follow Peter's tracks, even into Europe, and accross Canada.  I will tell you, finding him wasn't easy, but I can't say more.

It's a fast pace, fun read.

Quiet Coyote

One of the most unattractive qualities of our human condition is our propensity to think the worst of the best of us.  When someone is extremely successful, some people accuse them of making a pact with the devil, or some other nefarious reason for their success.

  

Such is the example of Taylor Swift.  But I'm homing in on her friend Ice Spice, who was with her in a private box at the Super Bowl game.  Ice Spice is a rapper.  She was wearing a cross, but to some, it's an upside down Satanic cross.  She also is seen doing a "quiet coyote," sign.  Or is it?

The "quiet coyote" is a sign teachers of young children give to their students as a sign to be quiet. It's the same sign you may have used to make a shadow rabbit on the wall to entertain your children.

 It's similar to American Sign Language, I love you.

But it's also similar to the sign for White Power.

Good grief!!!  Look at all these hand gestures.  Maybe everybody is better off sitting on their hands.

Christian V. Jewish View of Forgiveness

 I've never read a book like The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal.  What a discussion ensued over forgiveness, with which the book struggles!  The book is 289 pages, 98  of which is the story.  All the rest are opinions.

The story is the autobiographical story of Simon Wiesenthal. As a victim of the holocaust, he is in a concentration camp.  His work team's job is the clean the waste out of a hospital. While there, he is ordered to follow a nurse.  The nurse takes him to the death bed of a dying Nazi.  He is ordered to sit beside the Nazi and listen to him.  The Nazi tells him his life story, including some atrocities he had a part in.  He obviously, wants Simon, as a Jew, to forgive him.  He couldn't.  He got up and left the dying man, without saying a word.

Back at the concentration camp, Simon tells a couple of close friends, what had happened.  Both say, "Never forgive him."  But one elaborates, fuller.  He tells Simon that he had no authority to forgive for the entire Jewish race.  The sin was against an entire people, not an individual, named Simon Wiesenthal.  So he had no authority to forgive what happened to entire people.

What do you think?

The rest of the book consists of other people's opinions.  I noticed that the Christians wrote the shortest opinions.  More or less they said, "Jesus said to love your enemies."  "You forgive seventy times seven."  Then the Jews mostly said, "no you don't forgive."  The difference is the Torah versus the New Testament.

Burls

 A "burl" is a knotty growth on a tree.  Artists make bowls and other art out of them.  Today, while walking, there was a sign that I thought was just an old broken down sign.  However, as I got closer to it, I realized that it was a burl that was beginning to grow over the sign.

Further along the walk, I thought I saw a sign very high up on a tree.  I thought it was a sign because it was perfectly round.  I also wondered who could read a sign that high up.  Again, as I approached, the sign turned into a burl, the largest I have ever seen.  

Palms or Pussy Willows

This is a pussy willow.  We were surprised to see it.  It's February, a little early for pussy willows.  Although, Father Lennie reminded me that some churches use pussy willows instead of palms, to celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.

It's a custom in Poland to gather pussy willows to decorate their churches during the Lenten season.

"The Pussy Willow is an Easter symbol.  One of the most prominent Easter symbols, because of the fact out of this dry, kind of twig all of a sudden bursts forth this beautiful flower of life, and it is the first bush that blooms," 

 

Willing the Good of the Other

 My next book in Louise Penny's Gamache series was A Trick of the Light. Gamache's friends, the artist couple, Clara and Peter play prominent roles in the story.  Clara is finally having her art show and Peter is jealous.  

Thomas Aquinas defines love as willing the good of the other.  Peter is torn.  He wants Clara to be recognized as the accomplished artist, that she is, yet he is jealous.  He can't help himself.  It wears on their marriage and the book ends with their separation.  

But that isn't the story.  Clara's childhood friend, Lillian, is murdered in her garden.  They had grown apart because Lillian's personality grew into a vicious bitch.  She destroyed two artists' careers, in her job as a reviewer.  Lillian became an alcoholic.  She tried to overcome her addiction and joined AA.  

Gamache finds that the entire art world consists of backbiting, competitive, mean-spirited, jealous, artists.  One of the artists that Lillian destroyed killed her.  Finding the exact one, is the story.  And it's a good one.