A Valentine for You

                                My Dominican rosary will be prayed for all my readers, today.

The Valentine Bandit

Tomorrow will be Valentine’s Day and Spidey just had to break-into her apartment and steal back the TV she was holding.  She used to be Spidey’s  main squeeze, but their romance went down south.  Spidey owed her money.  He couldn’t pay her back.  And she wouldn’t give him back his TV until he paid up. 

Spidey was good at climbing into windows.  He had a rep for walking up buildings, like Spider Man.  Since tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, Spidey planned to steal the TV and leave a Valentine card.  He planned to sign it, “Guess Who”.

He planned to hit at night.  She worked as a night nurse, so she wouldn’t be home.  She’d come home Valentine’s Day to see no TV and the Valentine’s Day card.

He dressed all in black, including black water shoes (good grip for climbing), and a black ski mask.  He waited in the parking lot, for her to leave for work.  In fact, he waited half an hour longer.  The entire apartment building was quiet.  Spidey went around the back and with a running jump, leaped up to the fire escape.  He missed.  He tried again. And again.  He got it. 

Pulling himself up with all the upper body strength he had, until his elbows were on the fire escape landing.  Then leaning his chest against the edge, and bracing his hands on the edge, he hoisted up one knee.  Then the other knee.  Finally, he made it.  It just seemed excruciatingly slow.  But he was quiet.  There was no movement inside that apartment.

But he had to go up two more fire escapes.  There was a ladder that led to each one.  Spidey climbed up tenuously.  And quietly, don’t forget quiet.  Sh-sh-sh----

Ah, here’s the one.  Spidey managed to push up the screen.  He took out his knife and jimmied the lock on the window.  Good.  It went up.  He didn’t have to break the window.  So far…so good.

Once inside, he looked around.  He even felt safe enough to put the light on.  Everything looked just like the last time he was in this kitchen.  He went to the cookie jar and helped himself.  He went to the bathroom.

Then he went into the TV room.  He put on a lamp.  He looked around.  He didn’t see the TV in the entertainment center.  Instead was a large cardboard. 

Spidey went over to take a closer look.  It was a card.  He read: 

No money—No TV
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Guess Who.

Now versus To Come

My Lay Dominican study group discussed living in the moment.  Doc was facilitating and he was waxing poetic about the joys of living in the present.  Some of my "cloistered brethren" could see where he was coming from, and agreed with Doc.  However, some others, including myself,
disagreed.

My personal mantra has always been, "All is passing.  God alone abiding."  And if you're cloistered as by brothers are, I would think that would be the only hope you have.

I think, life has to be pretty good, in order for one to live in the present, to savor the present.  If your basic needs aren't met, how could anyone say, "Enjoy the moment."

Doc's life is too good.

Typical Book Club Meeting

As of four hours ago, I had nothing to post.  I would have posted something, according to my personal philosophy.  But nothing inspired me, then.  I also knew something would happen at Book Club.  It usually does.

The book club has been going on for years and years.  It's beyond ten years.  The name is Argonauta, because the first book we ever read was Anne Murrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, and in it she talked about the seashells, Argonaut.  They travel the seas, and that, to us, conveys adventure.  Hence, we chose Argonauta as our Book Club's name.

Hors D'oeuvres

Tonight, we discussed The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  Keeping with the flower theme, our hostess had flowers around her living room and dining room.  Her dining table was beautifully set with hydrangeas.  We all love hydrangeas, but in The Language of Flowers, they meant dispassion.

For hors d'oeuvres we had shrimp with two kinds of dips, a couple of cheeses, chili, etc.  Of course, the wine was whatever your little heart desired: white, red, or rose.

Desserts

We discussed the book and relished the food and wine.  We all loved the book.  We also planned to go to Nantucket or Block Island to see the daffodil festivals; but of course, we won't.  The fun is the planning.  "Getting our act together" is difficult.

Boston Cream and Carrot Cake

After the book discussion, we adjourned to the dining room.  Here our hostess outdid herself.  A big bouquet of hydrangeas was the centerpiece, with candles.  At each table setting was a little gift, for each of us--a ladybug planter.  In the ladybug was a tea rose.  The beverage was decaffeinated tea or coffee.  The wine was still available.  We had cupcakes to accompany our drinks.  We had two kinds of cupcakes.  One choice was Boston cream cupcakes.  The other was carrot cake with cream cheese.  I had both.  Don't think I'm a pig; I cut each one in half.  So it was really only one cupcake.

Ladybug Planters

Something happened while we were departing that made tonight different from all other book club nights.  As I was leaving, I heard "help," "help."  I looked at the direction the cries were coming from.  I thought I saw an animal running up and down beside the driveway.  One of us ran over to the "animal" and was talking to it.  Then the scene became clearer.  It wasn't an animal running back and forth; it was a hand waving help.  Someone, somehow, had fallen in the snow, right beside the driveway.  Then the one who was helping, got pulled down into the snow, trying to pull the other one out.  Now there were two in the snow.

Others ran to help and pull them out.

Not me; I was taking pictures to post on Facebook.  I only had my phone.  It was dark and the driveway didn't have enough light.  So what you are seeing is the backside of the one, trying to pull up the other.  I wish the picture had come out better.  They will never live this down.

As I said before, Argonauta conveys adventure.

What you are looking at is Monique trying to pull Linda out of the snow.
Don't ask how she fell into the snow bank.
What happens to Argonauta, stays with Argonauta.

My turn to host, next month.

Evangelizing the Complacent

My Lay Dominican Chapter, Our Lady of Mercy, is reading Evangelii Gaudium.  We were discussing paragraph 24, which exhorts the Church to "smell like sheep."  The pope visions a church reaching out to the people, particularly the marginalized.

Jesus got involved with the lowly, including washing the feet of his disciples.  An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people's daily lives...  Evangelizers thus take on the "smell of the sheep" and the sheep are willing to hear their voice.

Sheep in general became the topic.  One of the "cloistered brothers" said how stupid the sheep were.  They don't know enough to come in out of the rain.  One of my sisters, who is from Scotland, where she said there were more sheep than people, added," If they were crossing the road and decided to stop, they stayed there.  No horn blowing, revving your engine, yelling at them, shooing them, would work.  If you were in your car, there was nothing to do but wait.  You had to wait for the shepherd, or the sheep dog to come and lead them away from the road."

We people are as dumb as the sheep.  Certainly not dumb because of comparable intelligence.  But as Sister Amata labels it, "complacency."  Life is too good; we've become complacent.  We don't want to change.

Like the sheep happily blocking the road.  Why move?  They're happy where they are.

You move because if you don't, life will make you.  Imagine someone with road rage meeting up with those sheep blocking the road.  Lamb shish kabobs would be cheap.

It will rain and the sheep's wooly coat will get awfully cold, wet, and heavy.  How long would it take to blow dry lamb's wool?

The sheep will starve to death if they're not let to food.  Do you want that to happen?

What does spiritual death mean?  It means no God.  No God means no love.  No God means no hope.  No God means no divine life.

If you care about your fellow man, then lead them off the road of complacency, and into the warmth of the Christian barn, with good nutritious Catholic food, served with love.

Jesus asks you, "Feed my sheep." "Do this in remembrance of me."

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Today is Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival hosted by R'Ann from This And That And The Other Thing.  What?  I'm talking about R'Ann blog, where we Catholic bloggers link out weekly posts together in one spot--This and That And The Other Thing. Click over there and look around, yourself.

Before, I list what I posted about this week, R'Ann asked who my favorite Catholic author is.  That would be Michael D. O'Brien.  He is an artist extraordinaire.  Not only does he paint pictures, he paints redemption in his novels.  He's about the only novelist about whom I've read everything (novels) he's ever wrote, at least once.  My favorite is Island of the World.

The week's posts:

Monday -- Book Review, I Am Abraham by Jerome Charyn

Tuesday -- Matthew 5: 13-16

Wednesday -- Ignoring Pope John Paul II last wishes

Thursday -- How blogging is a ministry.

Friday -- A chance to win a trip to Rome for the canonizations of John XXIII and John Paul II

Saturday -- Prayers requested for the success of an appeal in the federal court for Father Gordon MacRae.

See you at This and That And the Other Thing.

Another Step for Father Gordon MacRae

Perhaps, you've read my posts regarding Father Gordon MacRae, before, here and here.  In short, he's a wrongly convicted priest, who's been in prison for 20 years, for something that never happened.  He could have been out, if he had pled guilty, but he's not.

Another turn of events has occurred.  The National Center for Reason and Justice has just announced a new federal court appeal, on behalf of Father MacRae.  This is a major step aimed towards freeing Father MacRae.

I can't explain it better than this excerpt from the post by Ryan MacDonald on These Stone Walls.

I am once again pleased to write about a major step in the effort to free Father Gordon MacRae, a priest of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire now in his twentieth year of unjust imprisonment. In a memorable quote in “The Trials of Father MacRae” in The Wall Street Journal last May, Pulitzer-prize winning author and columnist, Dorothy Rabinowitz summed up an appeal to state courts to overturn the unjust 1994 sexual assault convictions of this falsely accused priest.

“Those aware of the facts of this case find it hard to imagine that any court today would ignore the perversion of justice it represents.”

That “perversion of justice” continued when New Hampshire state courts rejected this appeal without a hearing on its merits, its new evidence, or its documentation of gross ineffective assistance of counsel in the 1994 MacRae trial. In an upcoming guest post onThese Stone Walls, I plan to write in more candid detail of that perversion of justice from documents I have recently obtained in this case.

But first, some hopeful news. The National Center for Reason and Justice, a Boston-based organization that reviews claims of wrongful conviction and now sponsors the appellate defense of Father Gordon MacRae, has announced a new federal court appeal. Attorney Robert Rosenthal, lead counsel for the defense, has written an extensive new habeas corpus petition filed in the United States District Court in Concord, New Hampshire seeking to overturn the conviction of Father MacRae. We urge readers to review this appeal brief published by the NCRJ and here at These Stone Walls.

Petition for Writ of Habeus Corpus

Memorandum

It was the readers of These Stone Walls that made this step possible. In my last guest post here last October I wrote, “For Fr Gordon MacRae’s Appeal to Move Forward, Help is Needed.” Readers stepped up admirably to help meet expenses to ensure the continuation of this case.

But now we must ask your help in expanding this effort to raise funds and to promote justice. The drafting of this extensive new appeal and its hundreds of pages of exhibits has exhausted all available resources and left the defense of Father MacRae in debt for the first time since it began. At the conclusion of this post, I will list once again the ways readers can help. We are deeply grateful to those who already have.

It may also help a good deal if readers would circulate a link to this post by sharing it on your social media networks, among your contacts, and in comments on other blogs and websites. We need to generate awareness of this case and the importance of justice not only for one falsely accused priest, but for the priesthood itself. We must together promote the mandate of the global Catholic Church to be a mirror of justice. Just two days before writing this post, I read the following in a weekly Catholic newspaper by a prominent Catholic writer:

“I hate to say it, but there really is no way to defend any of these guilty priests or their enablers anymore. The priest sex abuse scandal has been responsible for so much of the brutal criticism and fracturing of the modern day Catholic Church. We have been shamed. We have been put in a very difficult position as lay Catholics where we face scorn and ridicule…”

Who could disagree? I can’t! However I also happen to know first-hand that many accused priests are not guilty. The scorn and ridicule we face as Catholics will only be magnified – in this life and in the next – if the justice we see meted out is not marked by mercy, and especially by truth.

And the truth is that the Church is not just an easy target for the slurs of detractors, but she is also an easy target for lawyers and false claimants looking to score a windfall. This aspect of the scandal is seriously neglected – even by the Catholic press – because organized victim groups stand ready to trumpet their cause and demean the Church whenever the legitimacy of a decades-old claim is questioned.

As a result, bishops have been bullied into silence and unquestioned settlements. They have also been bullied into discarding our priests, ignoring their due process rights under Church and civil law, and into casting adrift the accused without due process. Justice itself has been the most abused victim in this tragedy for the Church.

By once again exposing the truth of “The Trials of Father MacRae,” Dorothy Rabinowitz and The Wall Street Journal presented compelling reasons to revisit this case, not only for the integrity of the justice system, but for the integrity of the Church as a mirror or justice.

To paraphrase a well known Gospel parable, Father Gordon MacRae was beaten by robbers and left on the side of the road in our Church. No amount of Catholic shame over the sex abuse scandal can justify passing him by on that road, not by us, not by his bishop and diocese, and not by the global Church. We of good conscience, with truth and justice in our hearts, cannot allow the injustices visited upon this priest to stand.

Please read at least the Introduction to Attorney Robert Rosenthal’s new brief, and please share this post with others.

Petition for Writ of Habeus Corpus

Memorandum

HOW TO HELP

As listed on the “Contact” page of These Stone Walls there are four ways you can be of help, and I urge you to spread word of this information by sharing this post with your social media and online contacts. Here’s how to help:

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: A legal fund has been established to accept gifts applied directly to legal costs that are ongoing in this case. As we now begin the process of preparing appeals to the federal courts, available funds have been seriously depleted, and continuance of this effort depends on assistance. Checks in any amount to this fund should be made out to Fr. Gordon MacRae and mailed as follows:



Friends of Fr. Gordon MacRae


P. O. Box 863


Hampton, NH 03842-0863


e-mail: TheseStoneWalls2@gmail.com

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS: The National Center for Reason & Justice (www.ncrj.org) has fully examined the case of Fr. Gordon MacRae. Its Board of Directors and wrongful conviction specialists voted unanimously to provide fiscal sponsorship of his ongoing legal defense. What this means is that this fine organization lends its name to this appeal for funds, and will accept tax deductible contributions earmarked for legal expenses in this appeal if they meet the criteria.

Please consult www.ncrj.org/donate/ for instructions on how to make a tax deductible donation earmarked for the Fr. Gordon MacRae case. If you wish to donate to the NCRJ, please indicate in the “memo” line on your check that you wish to apply the funds to the Fr. Gordon MacRae case. If you also wish to apply for a tax deduction, you should indicate so in a cover letter. That address is:

National Center for Reason & Justice


Re: Fr. Gordon MacRae Defense 



P.O. Box 191101 

Roxbury, MA 02119-1101



Website: (www.ncrj.org)

THE PAYPAL LINK available on the top right corner of These Stone Walls is active, and it provides an opportunity for online gifts in any amount. If you take advantage of the Pay Pal link, please include an e-mail instructing us on whether you prefer your gift to be used for legal expenses or the support of These Stone Walls.

A SUPPORT FUND is also established to accept assistance in support of These Stone Walls and the special circumstances in which Father MacRae must write and publish. This includes costs for domain and hosting fees, postage and typing supplies, and daily telephone costs from prison to edit and manage These Stone Walls and hear and respond to messages. Remember that as a prisoner, Father MacRae has no Internet access so all messages must be read to him by telephone. Checks to this support fund should be made out to Fr. Gordon MacRae and mailed as follows:

Fr. Gordon MacRae


P.O. Box 205
 Wilmington, MA. 01887-0205


Email: gjmacrae@gmail.com

And remember, you can also help enormously by posting links to These Stone Walls on other blogs, social networks, and to your own contacts. This is most important. (See Social Media Buttons Below)  And you can also pray, without doubt the most powerful intervention available to us.

Once again, please review Attorney Robert Rosenthal’s new federal appeal on behalf of Father Gordon MacRae. Let us hope together for justice.

Petition for Writ of Habeus Corpus

Memorandum