Sex Party

Tonight my six week old pregnant daughter had a sex party.  Sometimes it's called a revealing party.  There was cake and balloons and fun.  Here are some pictures.

The cake had chocolate question marks on the top.  The candy was blue and pink.

six weeks gestation
her arm is covering her face.

It was only when the three year old, future big sister, cut the cake open, did we see the sex of the coming baby.

It's pink!  Thanks be to God.

Prayers are requested, for the health of the Mom during her pregnancy.

Once again I'm repeating this post.  I'm appealing for donations to help with Fr. MacRae's appeal.  Please read below and open your heart.

The National Center for Reason and Justice announces a new federal court appeal filed by Attorney Robert Rosenthal for wrongly convicted priest, Fr Gordon MacRae.

Editor’s Note: The following is a TSW guest post by Ryan A. MacDonald.

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

Fr. Gordon MacRae

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

 Continued thanks to TSW readers for their generosity in responding to Ryan MacDonald’s appeal to help with the legal costs, at the Federal level. We haven’t reached our goal yet, which is why Faith is repeating this post.

Book Reviewing

Finally, Catholic Fiction has their act together.  Or maybe it's me.  I've sent in a few reviews and I've never seen them posted.  They're up now.

I highly recommend their site.  I'm getting tired of reading and reviewing books by authors who obviously are sticking in sex and violence to sell their book.  Worse, are authors who have gay characters, only to appeal to a larger audience.  The story line has nothing whatsoever to do with the characters being gay, so there you are reading and waiting for that theme or some sort of prejudice to come into the story, but nothing comes of it.  Come on, develop the character's story or leave it out.  

That's why I enjoy the books at Catholic Fiction.  You can read the review, then go buy the book. There are classics that you've forgotten about, but should read, always have wanted to read, and now you're reminded of them.  Plus, plenty of new authors, you will want to try out. It's a reader's heaven.

Pope Leaves the Jesuits

For a long time now, Pope Francis has contemplated leaving the Jesuits.  When he was a young priest, it was fun, but now that he’s matured and more important, the pope has discerned a calling to the Mendicants.  After all, Francis has to be true to himself.  His new motto is Veritas.

He was never comfortable with all the money the Jesuits have.  It’s rumored that even God doesn’t know how much money the Jesuits have.  See-- the pope really is too humble to be a Jesuit. 

As pope, he’s also too busy to do a good Examen of Consciousness, every night.  He makes up for it by popping into confessionals, whenever he can.  (Jesuits give the easiest penances.)

Never mind going through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises!  Yes, in all good conscience, he just can’t do all that stuff that Jesuits are supposed to do. 

Besides, he’s such a social being.  He couldn't stand living all alone in the Vatican Apartments, trying to pray the Divine Office with nobody responding, no choir, no fraternal feeling.  His temperament and personality crave community.

Hence, the Holy Father looked into the Franciscans and the Dominicans.

At first, Francis thought the Franciscans would be a good fit.  He has always admired them; that’s why he chose the name Francis, after all.  The pope loves animals, even expressing a preference for the smell of sheep. 

Unfortunately, however, the pope’s feet are flat and he just can’t wear sandals.  Besides, he doesn’t look good in brown, or gray.  The habit isn’t becoming on him. Never mind the beards!  Itchy! Itchy!

Then there are the Dominicans.  Francis always admired Thomas Aquinas and has a bookcase full of Summa Theologica.  But the real attraction to the Dominicans was their family life.  They have nuns, sisters, and Laity.  Yes, they have WOMEN!!!!  How could he ever belong to an order that excluded women?   And the Jesuits have no Third Order, or Lay Oblates, or Lay Fraternities.  What’s the matter with those Jesuits?  Yes, the true reason (Veritas, again) the pope decided to become a Dominican is because he loves the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic.  He laughs at BrotherTonto and Cappa cartoons.  He reads eLumen.  He loves the laughter, singing, and wine, which can only be found in the LFSD.

Besides, now being a Dominican, Pope Francis is very conscious of holy poverty.  He doesn’t have to buy any new clothes.  He already wears a Dominican habit.

Ad majorem Dei glorian

*This satirical transition from the Jesuits to the Dominicans became official April 1, 2014.

Program to Blast Infinity

Actually it’s a shout out to herald the book, The Infinity Program, by Richard H. Hardy.  I’m calling attention to a new novel with a new idea.  Two friends go out for a walk.  One of them experiences an encounter that introduces him to an unfamiliar computer.  These two guys are computer programmers, and this alien computer speaks a new language.  It sings like a Greek Siren. 

The lure of the transcendent computer will get one of the friends fired.  In fact, havoc is wrecked upon the two programmers’ company and themselves.  Their world changes, and so will yours, when you open, The Infinity Program.

Format/Price: Paperback ($13.95)
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 250
Release: April 1, 2014
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603819336

About the Author:
Richard H. Hardy was born in Glasgow, Scotland, during a week of relentless bombing raids just before the close of World War II. The day he was born an incendiary bomb fell on the church across the street from where he lived, so he is fond of saying that he entered the world with a big adrenaline rush.

His family later moved to England and then on to America.

After college Richard bounced through a series of temporary jobs as he traveled around the country, wanting nothing more than to write fiction. A job driving a library van allowed him free time to write several short stories and work on a novel.

He and his wife moved to New Hampshire, where he took an entry level job at a software company. He was soon promoted to the technical writing department and ended up producing over 500,000 words of online documentation. After a few years he was promoted to the programming department and ended up as the Senior EDI Programmer, creating EDI maps and writing UNIX scripts and troubleshooting on AIX systems throughout the U.S. and Canada. 

After he retired, he started writing fiction again. The Infinity Program is his first published novel.

The Infinity Program Summary

Jon Graeme and Harry Sale are unlikely friends. Harry is a world-class programmer, but his abrasive personality alienates co-workers. In contrast, Jon is a handsome and easy-going technical writer, the low man on the IT totem pole.

Sharing a love of nature, the men set out together, planning to go their separate ways--Jon on a hike and Harry, fly fishing. Three days later, Jon arrives at the rendezvous point, but his friend is nowhere in sight. When Jon finds Harry unconscious on the floor of a cave, Harry claims to have been lying there the entire time. But he is neither cold nor hungry. What Jon doesn't know is that Harry fell into an underground cavern, where he came into contact with an alien quantum computer.

Back at work, Harry jettisons his regular tasks and concentrates exclusively on inventing new operating language to access the alien system. In the process he crashes his office's Super Computer and is fired. Jon convinces the company to give Harry a second chance, arguing that the system he has invented will make them millions.

Jon has no idea what havoc Harry is about to unleash.

An Excerpt

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Be Careful What You Ask For

Sister Mary Clare told us the story about her praying in the chapel.  She was praying Sister Fausina's prayer, when a sister came over to her and requested her help.

Sister Mary Clare felt like snapping at her "Can't you see I'm praying."

But she didn't.  She got up and helped the sister carry what she needed.

On the way back to chapel, Sister Mary Clare heard God say, "I answered your prayer."

Sister almost fell over.  "What?"

Then she remembered the prayer asks God to use her hands, eyes, ears, feet, etc.

The very next day, the exact same thing happened.  But Sister Mary Clare had a different attitude when she got up to help sister.

Here's the prayer:

I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.  

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors' souls and come to their rescue.  

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors' needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moaning.  

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.  

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.   

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.   

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me (...).

O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself , for you can do all things. 

Eating and Drinking

I’m still basking in the after-glow of yesterday’s CommunionBreakfast.  It seems that for a moment in time we were all “one.”  We ate the same food and drink, and listened to the same message, and we seemed to be “one.”  We helped each other to food and drink.  We shared our thoughts.  We were all invited to become a part of each other’s’ lives.

We were in communion with one another.  Strange as it may seem, we were just extending the Mass we just attended.  At the Holy Sacrifice, where Jesus shared His Body and Blood with us:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT,
FOR THIS IS MY BODY,
WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

…TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT,
FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,

…DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

With these thoughts in mind, every time we gather to eat is an opportunity for sharing in communion, with one another.  We are blessed, indeed.