Five golden rings!

Twelve Days of Christmas

The 29th of December is the 5th day of the 12 days of Christmas.  This would be the part in the popular carol where the pace slackens a bit and we belt out, FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!!!

It's been a festive week around here.  There were 11 of us together for the traditional Christmas Eve meal followed by midnight mass.  On Christmas Day we had a big dinner here at home and then on the 2nd day of Christmas we went over to in-laws for another big dinner.  Not long and it'll be New Year's Eve.

Television here is packed with light-hearted movies and concerts of traditional carols.  It's a great time to rejoice and also to relax and recharge our energy.

The 12 days of Christmas are meant as a time for celebrating.  However, the Church calendar contains a few stark reality checks during these 12 days.

After the school shooting in Newtown CT 2 weeks ago, I began to think of the Massacre of the Innocents from Matthew's Gospel (which we commemorate on December 28th).  That's the part where King Herod, alarmed at the news the Magi brought him of a newborn King of the Jews, ordered all boys aged 2 and under in the area of Bethlehem murdered.  I wasn't the only person to make the connection.  Please follow this link for Mark Steyn's thoughtful take.  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/336343/massacre-innocents-mark-steyn

 Here's a rundown of some of the major commemorations during the Christmas season.

December 26th - the Feast of Saint Stephen, Martyr.  He's the guy told of in Acts who was stirring up the people by preaching the good news of Jesus Christ.  He was eventually stoned to death.  The men stoning him "laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul." (Acts 7:58)  That same Saul would later be struck blind on the road to Damascus, would have his name changed to Paul, and be instrumental in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ through the eastern Mediterranean region as well as write a major part of the New Testament.  So, immediately following Christmas Day we get this story of the first Christian martyr - a reminder of what it means to follow Christ.

December 27th - the Feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.  John's Gospel begins like Genesis, but Genesis clarified in the light of Christ.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.  What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:1-5)  John's Gospel emphasises the Incarnation - that God took on human flesh in Jesus Christ and lived among us - and so this is a fitting feast for the Christmas season.



December 28th - the Feast of the Holy Innocents. "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." (Matthew 2:18)  Please continue to pray for the mothers and fathers grieving in Newtown CT.

December 30th - the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

January 1st - the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

January 6th - the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.  'Epiphany' means manifestation or appearance.  This day is also know as the Feast of the Three Kings (or wise men, or magi).  This ends the 12 days of Christmas and I'll have more on this day next week.


News Year's Day

All is quiet on New Years Day,
A world in white gets underway.

Thus begins the song 'New Year's Day' by U2 (that's for you, J.P.)  Those words were penned by the singer barely in his twenties.  Perhaps they seem naive.  But later in the song comes this line: Nothing changes on New Year's Day.

So, what's it to be for us?  Hopeful optimism or jaded pessimism?

There's an expression I've heard from time to time that goes, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

It's never too late for a new start.  If we stumble and fall on January 1st; if we lose our patience with loved ones, tell a lie to avoid discomfort, cut corners and not do our very best, hold back when the opportunity comes to give somebody our time or help; we can stand up, brush ourselves off and start again on January 2nd.  Here's another line from the U2 song: I will begin again.

Every day is New Year's Day.

Peace on earth

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.  This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was govenor of Syria.  So all went to be enrolled, each to his home town.  And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  Luke 2:1-7

Saint Luke sets the time and place when God broke into human history in a dramatic way.  Caesar Augustus, as emperor of the Roman Empire, was considered divine and the empire was in the midst of a (relatively) peaceful age, called Pax Romana, or sometimes Pax Augusta.  Rome was secure and at peace, thanks to the divine emperor.

At the edge of this great empire - practically at the edge of the known world - in a dusty provincial outpost, a little Jewish boy was born.  And this Jewish baby was God himself; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, as we profess in the Nicene Creed.  This true God, unlike the divine emperor sitting in Rome, would usher a wholly different kind of peace into the world.

This peace is not the kind of political or social peace we usually think of.  When the wise men came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king of the Jews, King Herod and all of Jerusalem became extremely agitated. (Matthew 2:1-3)  Herod would later order the slaughter of all the boys aged 2 and under in the area of Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate what he understood as a rival to this power.  Herod's son and successor would later be bewildered by the adult Jesus.  The Roman governor Pontius Pilate would become unsettled when confronted with Jesus the accused criminal.  Pilate's wife even had an ominous dream about this righteous man. (Matthew 27:19)

Jesus has continuously made the comfortable uncomfortable right up to the present day.  Try talking about Jesus anywhere in public outside of church. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)  The peace of Jesus Christ, the only true and lasting peace, is attained when we give our lives completely to Him, knowing that whatever happens to us in this world, Jesus is with us every step of the way and he will save us.  In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.  (John 16:33)

A place at the table

The word for 'Christmas Eve' in Polish is Wigilia.  Wigilia is a very important and special celebration in Poland.  Everyone wants to be with family on this day.  There are many traditions followed on Wigilia.  People fast during the day and then eat a traditional evening meal after the first star is spotted in the sky.  Before the meal there's the praying of the Lord's Prayer followed by family members going from person to person, sharing pieces of a blessed wafer (opłatek) and expressing wishes for the upcoming year (a very emotional moment with not a dry eye to be found afterwards). After the meal comes the exchanging of gifts and midnight mass.  One nice little custom is setting an extra place at the table.  This is done in case somebody in need comes to the door; that person would be invited to sit at the extra place prepared for them. 

A year ago a Polish film came out titled Listy do M (in English, Letters to S - 'S' as in Santa or Saint Nicholas, which is Mikołaj in Polish).  This film is one of those comedy-drama-romances.  In the beginning of the film we meet the various characters.  Their lives are intertwined or eventually will be.  There's a family of four: father, mother, disaffected teen daughter and grandpa.  The couple's marriage is an unhappy one.  The wife is cheating with a single guy who is currently working as a shopping mall Santa.  He's frustrated with his life.  There's a young woman, lonely and looking for romantic love, working alongside him as a shopping mall elf.  There's a popular radio DJ who's a widower raising a young son alone.  There's a childless couple whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a runaway orphan girl. 

By the end of the film, each of them will be surprised by love.

For example, take the unhappy family of four.  They apparently haven't celebrated a traditional Wigilia in many years.  In a fit of desperation, on Christmas Eve the father packs the family in the car to take them to visit some relatives.  He and his wife get into a loud argument.  The teenage daughter mopes and scowls in the backseat, next to grandpa who seems delighted at the prospect of a good old-fashioned Wigilia.  The wife orders her husband to turn the car around and take them all home.  When he refuses, she grabs the wheel, causing them to run off the road in a wooded area.  The car is hopelessly stuck in the snow.  After some more shouting at each other, they all tramp off together to find a house where they can ask for assistance. 

They find a house and knock at the door.  Naturally, it being Wigilia, there's a large family gathering in the house.  The man and woman of the house both press the unhappy family to stay for Wigilia.  The house is warm and dry, the people are happy and friendly.  After some hesitation, the new arrivals agree to stay.  They begin to warm up - physically and emotionally - and eventually laugh together about their predicament.  Love is reborn in that family. 

They were strangers in need, and there was plenty of room for them at the table.

Everlasting

There are a thousand things more I could write about Christmas.  For me as a Christian believer it never gets old.  Every year the splendid beauty of it overwhelms me.  I've sang the carols a thousand times and yet often they still make my heart flutter and cause me to lose my breath.

Because of that astonishing birth in Bethlehem 2,000 years, the living flame of this holiday continues to burn.  No amount of crass commercialisation, loss of faith or indifference can extinguish the true meaning of this day.  The vulnerable baby lying in the manger disarms us. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I wish you peace, joy and love this Christmas and always.

Rejoice!

Early in the morning of December 10th, 2005 - sometime around 3 a.m. - Renata nudged me awake.  "My water's broke," she informed me. 

This was the day we had been waiting for since we knew Renata was pregnant 8 months previously; the birth of our first child.

Somehow I managed to stay relatively calm as I quickly got out of bed and dressed.  We drove to the North Hills Hospital which was only 10 minutes from where we lived.  The nurse that examined Renata initially diagnosed it as a false alarm and was going to send us home.  But Renata insisted, "No, my water really has broke."  The nurse made us wait about 30 minutes before examining Renata again.  That time she confirmed what Renata already knew - this was for real.

Well, that was the beginning of a very long day.  We knew that we were having a girl and we'd already chosen her name, Emilia.  After they got Renata into a bed in a delivery room, another nurse began asking a list of questions.  I can't even remember now what most of them where, but one was "what is your religion?"  It only took me half a second to understand why they asked that.  If something goes terribly wrong, what type of clergy do they call?

Which reminds me that there was something of a little cloud hovering over this pregnancy from about the 5th month or so.  A sonogram had revealed that one of the 2 blood vessels in the umbilical cord that carries nutrients from the mother to the baby appeared to be underdeveloped.  Renata's doctor was upfront in explaining that this potentially could result in a birth defect.

Well, we prayed and a lot of people prayed for us and we put it all in God's hands.  None of the following sonograms had revealed anything abnormal in Emilia.

So, as I've already mentioned, that Saturday was a long, long day.  Renata would be in labor for about 22 hours.  Our little girl was in no hurry to be born! 

A nurse brought in a little snack-sack for me sometime that afternoon but I hardly touched it.  I should have.

By early evening Renata was in a lot pain and discomfort.  An anesthesiologist eventually came to give Renata an epideral shot.  He and a nurse asked me to support Renata while she leaned forward for the shot.  Since I had hardly eaten anything all day, I nearly blacked out.  The nurse gently chided me for not eating anything. 

The epidural did wonders for Renata's mood and I settled down to eat and get some energy.  It would be a long night yet.

So, to make a long story short, at 48 minutes past midnight on Sunday morning, December 11th, Emilia was born.  Renata's doctor looked Emilia over, smiled broadly and commented that she was a perfect baby girl - obviously referring to the question of the underdeveloped umbilical cord (which turned out not to be underdeveloped).  Shortly after, she handed me a pair of surgical scissors and I had the priviledge of cutting that umbilical cord.

Any parent reading this understands the joy and relief we experienced immediately following Emilia's birth.  She was absolutely beautiful.

Sunday, December 11th was the third Sunday in Advent that year.  As I noted in a previous post, the theme of the 3rd Sunday in Advent is joy.  I was aware of this and as the clock ticked toward midnight I thought how fitting it would be for Emilia to born on 'Gaudete Sunday.'  Gaudete is Latin for 'Rejoice.'

This year the 3rd Sunday of Advent is December 16th.

The first reading this Sunday really drives the theme home: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!  Sing joyfully, O Israel!  Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! from Zephaniah 3:14-18a.  The Psalm we sing this Sunday is actually from Isaiah 12, with the refrain being, Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.  Then we get Philippians 4:4-7 with the lines, Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again: rejoice!  The Lord is near.

Advent is a penitential season and we are to call this to mind in this Sunday's readings, particularly in the Gospel from Luke 3:10-18, in which our Advent prophet John the Baptist speaks: Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none . . . Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages . . .I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I am is coming.  I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.

Saying sorry

As I sat on the pew outside the confessional, waiting my turn, I was nervous to say the least.  I had recollected my failings, my sins, and was ready.  But my stomach was a ball of knots.  One by one the people sitting on the pew between me and the confessional room door got up to enter it as the person ahead of them exited.  One older man came out with tears in his eyes. 

Finally, it was my turn.  Ok, here I go, I thought.

I entered the room, closed the door behind me and knelt before the confessional screen.  I crossed myself and began, "Bless me father, for I have sinned."  At that point the penitent is supposed to say My last confession was . . .  However, I had only just entered the Catholic Church a few months previously.  "This is my first confession, father," I explained.  "I entered the Church this past Easter Vigil."  From the other side of the screen came Father John's cheerful voice, "Hey, welcome to Mother Church!"

Father John was our pastor at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish at that time.  He is a good and popular priest. 

The sound of his voice calmed me down a lot.  I won't divulge the tawdry sins I confessed or the counsel Father John gave me.  But it was wise counsel and I remember it to this day. 

What I also remember is the sense of joy and release I felt afterwards.  I feel this after every confession I make.  On another occasion after confession, while driving home from the church, I broke into tears of gratitude in the car.

My readers who are not Catholic may ask these valid questions: Why not just confess your sins directly to God?  Why go to a priest in confession?

The Church is the body of Christ.  When we commit sin it is an offense against God and against his body the Church and so we must be reconciled with the Church.  There are no victimless sins.  Our sins not only damage our relationship with God but, one way or another, damage our relationships with other people.  When we wish somebody would just drop dead; when we waste our time and talent on selfish pursuits; when we look at dirty pictures that portray women has mere sexual objects, etc., we tear the fabric that connects us to other people.  By doing these things we kill love.  No man is an island, goes the line from John Donne.

I mentioned the counsel that Father John gave me during my first confession.  We go to a doctor when something ails us physically.  Some go to psychologists when something ails them mentally or emotionally.  When we're spiritually ill, we also need to seek help. 

The priest, as a representative of Christ, grants the penitent absolution in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Whatever personal shortcomings the priest has - and hey, they're human - he is still a channel through which God pours his graces.  The knowledge that Jesus on the cross looked into the abyss of human sin, at my sin and yours, and emptied his veins in order to wash us clean by his most precious and holy blood; and that he instituted the sacrament of penance where we can be granted forgiveness, creates a light-heartedness in me after confession like nothing else can.

For Scripture verses supporting Jesus' conferring power upon the Apostles to forgive sins, see Matthew 16:19, Matthew 18:18, John 20:21-22.  The Catholic bishops are the successors of the Apostles through the laying on of hands.  The bishops in turn ordain priests through the laying on of hands to act with the bishop's authority.  (1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 2:2 and others)

                                     

John the Baptist, Advent prohpet



Second Sunday of Advent

Purple is the color of Advent because it is the color of penitence.  As a time of preparation for the coming of Christ, Advent is a penitential season.  The second Sunday of Advent focuses especially on the theme of repentence.  Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is Luke 3:1-6 which includes the words, John (the Baptist) went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentence for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptist is the Advent prophet.  His purpose was to prepare the way for the Christ. 

These lines from the Psalm this Sunday, Psalm 126, relate how I and many others feel after confession, Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the torrents in the southern desert.  Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.

The Greek Orthodox have given us the Jesus Prayer.  It's a short, simple prayer and is a good one to have constantly on our lips - not only during Advent but always:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

 

* * * * * * *

Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died this past week, on December 5th, one day before his 92nd birthday.  Most people know him from his piece 'Take Five'.  About 10 years ago I bought the CD Time Out which the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded back in 1959.  When we moved from Poland to Texas and then later back to Poland, that CD made both moves with me.  I've played that CD over and over through this past decade and I never grow tired of listening to it.  I only learned after his death that Brubeck had entered the Catholic Church in 1980 and had written a Mass. 

Rest in peace with the Father, Mr Brubeck.  Your music continues to give me immense pleasure.

 



 

 

He is coming

This past Sunday, on the feast of Christ the King, we had the following readings at mass: Daniel 7:13-14, which includes the words On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship; Psalm 92, where we sang the refrain The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed; Revelation 1:5-8, which includes the words Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth; concluding with the Gospel reading from John 18:33-37, where we see Jesus at his criminal trial before Pontius Pilate.  Are you the king of the Jews? Pilate asks.  Jesus answers, Yes, I am a king.  I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.

The first 3 readings reflect Jesus Christ the king in his spendor and majesty.  The Gospel reading shows Jesus seemingly powerless, standing before the Roman governor of Judea.  Remember that the Roman governors represented the Roman emperor.  The emperor held the power of life and death over all of his subjects.  His decrees were final.  The Roman people looked on the emperor as one divine; as a god.  The governors, as representatives of the divine emperor, likewise held the power of life and death over their local subjects. 

And so we see Jesus the Christ, creator of heaven and earth, standing meekly before a mere temporal power.  Thus ends the Church's liturgical year. 

Our King

Advent

On December 2nd we begin the season of Advent (which means arrival) where we contemplate on and prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ - both at the end of time and at his first coming, as a helpless infant in Bethlehem.

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot.  That begins the first reading this Sunday, from Jeremiah 33:14-16.  We continue with Psalm 25 with the refrain To you, O Lord, I lift my soul; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 - 4:2 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another . . . strengthen your hearts . . . be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones; and Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 Jesus said to his disciples: "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay . . . People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world . . . Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy . . . and that day catch you by surprise like a trap . . . Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

Advent is a beautiful season meant for quiet reflection and anticipation of the coming of Christ.  Hope and waiting are the overarching themes of the season, but each of the 4 Sundays of Advent has its own particular theme.  Hope and vigilance are the themes for the first Sunday, repentence for the second Sunday, joy for the third Sunday, while on the fourth Sunday we are nearly bursting with anticipation of the birth of Christ. 

There are some lovely Advent traditions.  One of my favorites is the lighting of the Advent wreath each Sunday at mass.  The green Advent wreath (green symbolizes hope) has four outer candles and one inner candle.  On the first Sunday of Advent the first candle is lit, on the second Sunday the first and second candles are lit and so on.  Typically 3 of the outer candles are purple (the color of penitence and fasting as well as the color of royalty to welcome the advent of the King) and one is rose or pink colored.  Rose is the color of joy and this candle is lit on the 3rd Sunday.  The center candle is white, representing Jesus Christ, and is lit during the midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

Christ the King

I gazed into the visions of the night.  And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man.  He came to the one of great age and was led into his presence.  On him was conferred sovereignty, glory, and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.  His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed.  Daniel 7:13-14

 

On Sunday the 25th of November, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast "Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe," or "Christ the King" for short.  This celebration occurs on the final Sunday before the begining of Advent.  It is the end of the Church's liturgical year.

 

Kingship

 

The system of government known as monarchy- that is, kings and queens - has for the most part gone from the world.  For all of the pomp and pageantry surrounding the British royal family, the Queen of England really has no power. 

Perhaps that's a good thing.  Contemporary wisdom has it that democracy is the best form of government. 

In Republic, Plato says that tyranny arises, as a rule, from democracy.  There are various reasons for this.  The main reason is due to a lack of equality among people.  The "have nots" increasingly vote to seize and redistribute the wealth of the "haves."  This requires a larger government bureaucracy with its attendant rules and regulations.  The great mass of people tend to prefer security over liberty and we end up with a nanny state that guides and manages a greater part of our lives.

It's interesting when reading the histories of the times of monarchies to see how little a role national governments played in people's daily lives.  Most of the rules and obligations people faced were at the local level.  Taxes were much lower under those systems as well.  The American colonists payed much less in taxes under King George than Americans pay in taxes today.  Hmm . . .

Christ the Judge, from Michelangelo's Final Judgement, Sistine Chapel

The End of Time

I can't imagine Jesus Christ being referred to as Christ the President, or Christ the Governor, or the CEO or mayor.  As Creator of all that is visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16), all power and authority are His.  Satan is allowed time to prowl the earth, "seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).  But Jesus promised to return at the end of time and put a final end to sin and death.

During these final 2 weeks of the Church's liturgical calendar, we get a healthy dose of daily mass readings from the books of Daniel and Revelations concerning the end of time.  We are asked to reflect on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Hell and Heaven.

Traditionally, human kings were lawgivers as well as final arbiters of justice.  In that sense, Jesus Christ is the perfect and ultimate King.

This anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ will carry over into the season of Advent.  Advent means "arrival" and during that season we will not only prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth, or arrival, at Bethlehem, but we look to his second and final coming at the end of time.

There's a lot of chatter about the end of the world occuring on December 21st 2012.  Apparently that date marks the end of the Mayan long calendar which signals the end of an age.  People should know that serious Mayan scholars dispute this.  (Also remember two things: the Mayans practised human sacrifice where their priests cut open the victim's chest and tore his heart out; and the Mayan civilisation collapsed.  How much authority should we credit them with?)  There's quite a bit of new age stuff about "galactic realignment" and "timewave zero" that also focus on the date December 21st.  Go to Wikipedia and take a wild ride through all that.

I think since Jesus Christ is the Universal King, He should have the final word on this: Jesus said, "In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.  Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates.  I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.  But as for that day and hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father."  Mark 13:24-32

The Holiday Racket

The two definitions that I have in mind for the word racket in this post's title are: confused clattering noise and a fraudulent scheme, enterprise, or activity. 

I'm referring to the holiday season now underway.  When I was a kid, the holiday commercials appeared on TV and many people put up their Christmas trees on or right after Thanksgiving.  Many people thought that was too soon.  Now at least part of Walmart is decked out for the holidays before Halloween. 

When Renata and I left Poland 9 years ago, the holiday season didn't kick off here until sometime in December.  But now in Poland it starts right after the 1st of November.

So, what's the problem?  A lot, in my opinion.  First of all it's ugly both visually and aurally.  I've not yet seen a large plastic inflatable Snowman, Santa and Grinch that I would consider beautiful.  I love Christmas carols and even the light-weight holiday songs like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, but the never-ending quest for the novel and the silly has resulted in some horrendous versions of the old classics.  Do we really need the Chipmunks, redneck, rap and pop diva versions?  And do we need to hear them over and over at the shopping centers and on the radio for nearly two months?

That takes care of my confused clattering noise definition.  Now for my fraudulent scheme, enterprise, or activity definition. 

The retailers want us to buy, buy and buy some more for the holidays.  No matter that our closets are crammed full of junk we don't need (a lot of which was stuff we received at previous Christmases).  No matter that we wear our nerves to a thread trying to think of something to buy for everyone on our list and dealing with crowded and hyperactive stores and endless lines in the bargain.  No matter that many of us are already in some serious debt and shouldn't really be spending money on an unwanted battery-operated foot massager for some relative we haven't spoken 20 words to all year.  Nevermind that our children are chronically dissatisfied with the mountain of stuff we buy for them.

Do we think that the landfills aren't full enough?

Happy Holidays

I used to be one of those people who got upset when stores and people would wish us "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas."  They're taking Christ out of Christmas! and all that. 

I've changed my tune on that.  As you can tell from my rant on the holiday season, I hold it in little regard.  I don't think the holiday monstrosity is worthy of the 'C' word. 

Advent begins on December 2nd this year. I'll have more to say on Advent on this blog in a few weeks, but suffice it to say it's meant to be a time of quiet, prayerful preparation for Christmas.  Actual Christmas begins on December 25th and traditionally was celebrated for 12 days after.  Those 12 days used to be the time for noisy merry-making.  Funny how now after the nearly 2 months of holiday season bedlam, the time between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve is a quiet, subdued period.

And then, of course, there's the matter of that troublesome Christ-child inconsiderately having a birthday in the middle of all this.

November

So, just ignore all the holiday season stuff if you don't like it, you old grump!  Believe me, I try to.  But it's not easy when everywhere you turn your senses are assaulted by it.

But anyway, it's November; a rather somber month in northern lattitudes.  Most of the trees are now bare and it hasn't yet snowed.  The days tend to be chilly, rainy and often foggy.

I've been looking for an excuse to include something in this blog by Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets.  So, here goes:

My November Guest
by Robert Frost

My sorrow, when she's here with me,
    Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
    She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
    She talks and I am fain to list;
She's glad the birds are gone away,
She's glad her simple worsted gray
    Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
    The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
    And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
    The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
    And they are better for her praise.

What now?

On November 6th a majority of the American voters decided they wanted 4 more years of President Obama.  So, what does this mean?  It means Obamacare kicks in next year, the national debt keeps increasing, it means taxes go up to try to pay for that debt, fuel prices continue to rise, unemployment remains high, religious freedom is attacked even more ferociously and America's standing in the world continues to erode.

The people who voted for Obama are either ok with that or they were incredibly ignorant when they cast their vote.  We're at a point where nearly half of the nation's adult population is either dependent on the government and/or thinks big government is the solution to all our problems.  Somehow a President who added more to the national debt in 4 years than any of his predecessors, lied continuously to the American people about what happened in the Benghazi attacks and invented the notion of a crisis in access to birth control in order to pick a fight with religious organizations was re-elected.  I see my country disappearing before my eyes.

America has been in decline for decades.  Obama is not the cause of this decline but a symptom of it.  I had hoped that maybe the 2012 election was our chance to slow down the decline; maybe even begin to turn the country around.  Some are saying we have passed a point of no return.  I'm afraid they may be right.

America's new Statue of Libertinism

* * * * * * *

"Going over the top" - World War I trench warfare

November 11th, Veterans' Day

November 11th, marking the end of the First World War in 1918, is celebrated in many countries.  In the USA it is Veterans' Day.  In Great Britain and other European nations involved in WWI it is Remembrance Day.  In Poland it is Independence Day, since the end of WWI meant the renewed independence of the country after 123 years of subjugation by foreign powers.

I remember when in school we used to have an assembly in the gymnasium to commemorate November 11th.  There were typically war veterans present, even some from WWI (those old guys have long since died).  At 11 a.m. we would all stand for a minute of silence since the First World War ended "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."  There were always a few kids who whispered or giggled during this moment of silence, but most of us were respectful.  I always felt a strong wave of emotion at this moment.  It's hard to describe what my emotions were exactly: a mixture of patriotism, gratitude and grief for the fallen soldiers, I suppose.  I always hoped the other kids wouldn't see that my eyes had moistened up and so after the minute of silence I'd keep my eyes lowered to the ground and clear my throat a few times until I was "back to normal."  Oh, the anxieties of school days!

I have a slim volume of First World War poetry that I've been reading through this past week.  Many of the poets were soldiers in the war - and a lot of them died in battle.  Rudyard Kipling, famous for his novels Kim, The Jungle Book and others, lost his only son in that war and there are a handful of his war poems included.  The poems in the book range from enthusiastic and patriotic to bitter and disillusioned (sometimes from the same poet!).  There's plenty of beauty, tenderness, black humor, sadness, anger and resignation in this volume.

Frederic Manning was an Australian who had settled in England before the war.  At the age of 33, though in poor health (he'd been sickly since childhood), he managed to enlist in the British army and saw combat in France as a private in the infantry.  He survived the war and died in a nursing home in 1937.  Two of his poems from this volume are particularly touching for me as they deal with both the personal and universal in a profound way.  Feel free to see the relevance of 'The Sign' to our present day turmoil.  I do.

The Face

Out of the smoke of men's wrath,
The red mist of anger,
Suddenly,
As a wraith of sleep,
A boy's face, white and tense,
Convulsed with terror and hate,
The lips trembling . . .

Then a red smear, falling . . .
I thrust aside the cloud, as it were tangible,
Blinded with a mist of blood.
The face cometh again
As a wraith of sleep:
A boy's face, delicate and blond,
The very mask of God,
Broken.


The Sign

We are here in a wood of little beeches:
And the leaves are like black lace
Against a sky of nacre.

One bough of clear promise
Across the moon.

It is in this wise that God speaketh unto me.
He layeth hands of healing upon my flesh,
Stilling it in an eternal peace,
Until my soul reaches out myriad and infinite hands
Toward Him,
And is eased of its hunger.

And I know that this passes:
This implacable fury and torment of men,
As a thing insensate and vain:
And the stillness hath said unto me,
Over the tumult of sounds and shaken flame,
Out of the terrible beauty of wrath,
I alone am eternal.

One bough of clear promise
Across the moon.

Democracy

The word democracy comes from a Greek word δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) meaning "rule of the people."  In a "pure democracy" every citizen would vote on all laws.  As this is impractical in the running of a modern government, especially in a nation of over 300 million people, democracies typically use a system of representation involving periodically held free elections.  The United States of America are technically a republic.  Per Webster's, a republic is a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.

In some ways the constitutional system of government in the United States is rather un-democratic.  Both California and Rhode Island each are represented by 2 senators.  Presidents are not elected by popular vote but by an electoral college.  One key to understanding the electoral college is to understand that United States is plural.  We are a nation of (more-or-less) sovereign states.  The individual states are not just administrative districts.  If they were we would not have such disparities in size and population as we do between California and Rhode Island. 

No system of government if perfect, but there is plenty of wisdom in how the American form of government was established.  Every American ought to try to understand how and why our system works the way it does.



Constitutional Convention, 1787

Election Day

In the Webster's definition I gave for republic, it mentions elected officers and representatives governing according to law.  That's important to remember this election day.  The current Obama administration has been negligent in governing according to law.  When Mr Barack Obama was inaugurated as President in January 2009, he swore to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States and to execute the laws of the nation. 

This administration has not upheld the Constitution and the laws, from its declared refusal to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, which was constitutionally passed by the United States congress, to its lawsuit against the state of Arizona when that state passed a law to try to curb illegal immigration (because Arizona and other border states feel the federal government isn't doing its job to defend our borders), to the administration's mandate that forces religious institutions to carry insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs (a direct violation of the first ammendment) with the accompanying mandate that forces private insurance companies to provide such services "for free."  Of course, nothing is free and the insurance companies will pass that cost on to their customers.  But since when does the government have the right to dictate that any private business provide anything for free?

There have been other presidential administrations less than squeaky clean (the LBJ, Nixon and the Bush Jr administrations come to mind) but the Obama administration takes lawlessness to a new level.  Sitting here in Poland and watching events in America from afar, I get the sense that the Benghazi horror has opened many more people's eyes to the disgusting deceitfulness and ineptitude of this administration.

American turkey

On a lighter note:  About a month ago I was driving through a nearby village when I saw a very striking spectacle.  I saw a big black tom turkey at the side of the road.  Many farmers here raise turkeys, but they are typically of the commercial white variety.  This was the first time I saw an example of what I think is the classic American black turkey.  The tom was all puffed up and strutting around amongst some black turkey hens.  A man and his sons were driving the turkeys across the road.  I had to stop and watch.  It was a beautiful sight that made my heart flutter.

In my opinion, the two greatest American poets are Robert Frost and Richard Wilbur.  I know a lot of people consider Walt Whitman to be the greatest, but I find his poetry too undisciplined and self-indulgent (which admittedly are very American traits).  Frost's and Wilbur's poetry include a wide range of metres and forms.  What's more, the poems of each are at the same time very profound and yet accessible to anyone with a reasonable level of education.  It's not esoteric stuff for professors sitting in ivory towers. 

So, without further ado . . .

Black November Turkey
by Richard Wilbur

     Nine white chickens come
     With haunchy walk and heads
Jabbing among the chips, the chaff, the stones
          And the cornhusk-shreds,

     And bit by bit infringe
     A pond of dusty light,
Spectral in shadow until they bobbingly one
          By one ignite.

     Neither pale nor bright,
     The turkey-cock parades
Through radiant squalors, darkly auspicious as
          The ace of spades,

     Himself his own cortege
     And puffed with the pomp of death,
Rehearsing over and over with strangled rale
          His latest breath.

     The vast black body floats
     Above the crossing knees
As a cloud over thrashed branches, a calm ship
          Over choppy seas,

     Shuddering its fan and feathers
     In fine soft clashes
With the cold sound that the wind makes, fondling
          Paper-ashes.

     The pale-blue boney head
     Set on its shepherd's-crook
Like a saint's death-mask, turns a vague, superb
          And timeless look

     Upon these clocking hens
     And the cocks that one by one,
Dawn after mortal dawn, with vulgar joy
          Acclaim the sun.

 

All Saints' Day

November 1st is All Saints' Day in the Roman Catholic Church.  This celebration goes back to the early 7th century.  (The Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate All Saints' Sunday on the first Sunday after Pentecost in May or June, depending on what day Easter falls.)

All Saints' Day is a national holiday in Poland.  Families get together to visit the graves of family members.  At the graves they light candles and pray. 

 

The effect of the lit candles on the gravestones in the dark evening is striking, as you can see in the photo above.  It may seem to some a depressing, somber event.  For those of us who hope in the resurrection it is not.  Furthermore, it is a time to meet family members, many of whom live far away and make a special trip for this occasion, and recollect past times and departed loved ones. 

 

What is a Saint?

 

A saint is primarily someone who has lived a life of heroic virtue and now enjoys the beatific vision of God our Father in heaven.  In other words, a saint is someone who died in the friendship of Jesus Christ and now spends eternity in heaven. 

 

In the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church there are canonized saints.  Those are individuals who the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has formally recognized as having died in love with Jesus and who are now in heaven.  The Church recognizes that the formally canonized saints do not include all the saints in heaven.  There are many unknown saints in heaven.  I will never have my picture on a stained glass window, but I am called to be a saint (see Leviticus 11:44). 

 

We can think of the canonized saints as the Church's Hall of Fame.  Their lives are meant to be models for our encouragement.  The saints struggled with the same things we do.  Some had short tempers.  Some struggled with gluttony.  Some with lust.  Some had debilitating physical ailments.  But each of them gave their life over completely to Jesus Christ.  Some sooner, some later, but all in the end submitted their wills to the will of God. 

 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven . . .

 

All Souls' Day and Purgatory

 

November 2nd is All Souls' Day.  Briefly, this celebration is associated with the doctrine that the souls of the faithful who at death were not without stain due to venial sins and from attachment to mortal sins cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven (nothing unclean can enter heaven, Revelations 21:27).  We may assist them through prayer and the sacrifice of the Mass.  Their full sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory.

 

Purgatory is a topic for a posting of its own, but here are some scriptural references used to support the doctrine: Luke 12:59; Matthew 12:32; 1 Corinthians 3:13-15; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 3:19.  There's also 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 but Protestants don't include this book in the Old Testament.

 

My patron saints

 

A patron saint is someone who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family or person.  Just as our family and friends on earth can pray for us, so can our family in heaven (see Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4).  For those of us with a Christian name like Mark, Philip, Mary, Elizabeth, etc., we could chose that saint as our patron.  There is no canonized saint with the name Randall.  There is a Saint Kevin (my second name), but I have chosen two other saints as my patrons.

 

Saint Joseph is referred to as the "silent saint."  Scripture records no spoken words of his.  Rather than speaking, Joseph is portrayed as acting on the word of God.  When he decided to quietly divorce Mary after discovering she was with child when they'd had no physical relations, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and explained what was happening and what Joseph must do.  Upon waking up, Joseph did as he was commanded.  Twice more the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, first commanding him to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt to flee from the murderous King Herod, and second commanding him to return the family to Israel after Herod's death.  Again, Joseph immediately obeyed.  (See Matthew's Gospel, chapters 1 - 2 for these examples)

 

I am a husband and father of two children.  Although they are my biological children, I understand that they are really God's.  My duty is to protect them, provide for them, instruct them and love them and to love, honor and serve my wife, just as Joseph did for Jesus and Mary.  For this reason and for his unfailing obedience to God, Saint Joseph if one of my patron saints.

 

 

 

Saint Joan of Arc (died 1431) is my other patron saint.  She was an illiterate peasant girl who at the age of 12 began to see visions of Saints Michael, Catherine and Margaret, who instructed her to drive the occupying English from France.  The story of Joan's struggle to convince the French authorities that her mission was legitimate, her leadership of the French army to a string of miraculous victories, her amazing verbal defense alone against a stacked court of highly learned men after her capture and finally her courage in the face of execution are an inspiration to me.  According to witnesses, Joan's final words as she burned at the stake were, "Jesus!  My Jesus!"  I can't help but believe that at that very same moment she cried those words as she ran into the arms of her beloved Jesus in heaven.

 

Sain Joan's humility, obedience to the voice of God and her courage are why she is one of my patron saints.

 

I wrote the following Prayer to Saint Joan of Arc:

 

To have the humble heart of a shepherdess,

Content to sleep upon the dewy sod;

The soldier's steely stare, the lion's nerve;

To keep the night watch through and never nod;

To keep the flame of faith in purity

And love and never break beneath the rod;

O purest lily, white as heaven's Lamb,

Saint Joan pray for us to the Lord our God.

 

 

Saint Joan enters Orleans in triumph.

 

 



Memento mori

I once read a novel by Muriel Spark titled Memento Mori.  That's Latin for "Remember your mortality" or "Remember you must die."  In the novel the elderly Dame Lettie Colston and her aquaintances receive a series of phone calls where a voice delivers the same message each time: "Remember you must die."  As a result the characters reflect on their past lives while they try to identify the culprit. 

What's remarkable is that even though many dark secrets are uncovered from the characters' past lives, they never change their shallow, selfish behaviour.  The phone calls unsettle them, but they never come to repentance.  It's as if the phone calls are a gift constantly offered but never accepted.

Muriel Spark converted to Roman Catholicism before she wrote her novels.  (Although she had written poetry and short stories before her conversion, she claimed she was unable to write novels until after her conversion.)  All of her novels that I've read are colored with her Christian faith without ever being preachy.  They're on average about 200 pages each with plenty of dialogue, so you could easily read one in an evening.

Life, Death and Time

Autumn Depression

The other evening they had an item on the Polish news about autumn depression.  A lot of people around the world suffer from this.  It's understandable, I suppose.  Fall is a beautiful season but it is tinged with some sadness.  Summer is over.  The days are getting shorter and colder and the trees begin to get bare.  Fall reminds us that the year is dying. 

How many of us remember those New Year resolutions we made 10 months ago?  How many of us have kept them?  We didn't lose weight or quit smoking or join a gym.  We're still stuck in the same dead-end job or haven't yet found a job.  We continue to get impatient with our spouse and children.  We haven't found that special someone and are still alone.  We still think evil thoughts.  We still don't make enough time for prayer.

The Kingdom of God is at hand

According to one account, the phrase "Kingdom of God" appears 122 times in the New Testament with 99 of these found in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke).  The Kingdom of God is not for some future time.  The Kingdom may be as a mustard seed or a buried pearl, but it is here and now among us.  And since that is true, it is therefore true that eternal life is now.  Our earthly lives will end but our eternal lives begin once God's Kingdom takes root in our hearts.

Christians ought to do everything to the best of their abilities.  Whether we're doctors, teachers, sales clerks or professional athletes; parents, spouses, children, siblings, etc., we should strive for excellence because all that we do should be for the greater glory of God (ad majorem Dei gloriam).

Yet we may lose our job, our health or our family.  We may lose everything we ever worked for.  But our friendship with Jesus Christ is what ultimately matters.  Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.  More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)

Our lives are not our own anyway, so why do we worry?  Your life belongs to God, so let him have it.  This earthly life is going to pass whatever you do, but Jesus has prepared a mansion for you.  He loves you and wishes for you to spend eternity with him.

This October 14th was the 15th anniversary of the death of Renata's father.  He died of a heart attack.  I never met him.

What is truth?

One of the most ironic passages in Scripture is from John's Gospel, 18:37-38, where Jesus is on trial, standing before the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate: So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?"  Jesus answered, "You say I am a king.  For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everybody who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."  Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

Pilate asks the very Truth standing in front of him, "What is truth?"

Jesus before Pilate

This past week I came across two separate articles on the internet that are actually related to one another.  One was about a recent Pew Research Center report showing that Protestants are no longer a majority in the United States.  According to this report, one in five Americans say they have no religious affiliation.  There are also a growing number of Americans who say they are "spiritual, but not religious" (whatever that means) or who identify themselves as atheist.

The other story related how at a current synod of bishops in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI is calling for a re-evangelisation of modern, secular culture.  As Protestants are no longer the majority religion in the United States, so has the Catholic Church lost ground in Europe, North America and Latin America.

Many online readers commented on both of these articles.  The typical comments ran like this: This only shows how humans have grown wiser and more intelligent; Good riddance to ignorance; The churches need to adapt to the modern world or disappear and so on.

G. K. Chesterton once wrote, What's true at 9 in the morning doesn't stop being true at 2 in the afternoon.

In other words, Truth is eternal.  Any half-way serious and reflective person can look around and see that the present day, secular culture is sick and dying.  When this worldly culture collapses into dust and ashes (and collapse it will) the Church will still be standing.  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

But I'm afraid we have a long, dark age before us; a time of great trial and tribulation.  This is the time for Christians to fortify themselves; for the Church to draw ever closer to her Spouse, Jesus Christ, the Source of all strength and comfort.

And if anyone thinks I make this dire prediction lightly or even with some perverse glee, remember that I'm a father of two young children.  The last thing I want for them on this earth is a future of darkness and trouble.

The Year of Faith

In regards to Christians fortifying themselves, Pope Benedict has declared that a "Year of Faith" will begin for Catholics on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013, the feast of Christ the King.  The pope has written that the "Year of Faith" is a "summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world."

There are many ways for Catholics (as well as our other Christian brothers and sisters) to renew our faith and dioceses and parishes around the world will encourage this renewal in a variety of ways: through spending more time with Scripture, the catechism and other Church writings; through the sacraments of the Church, particularly the Eucharist; and through prayer and striving daily to live out our Christian faith.

The following comes from an article in this month's Magnificat by Bishop Malcolm McMahon of the diocese of Nottingham, England.

My favorite definition of Faith is the one found in the old "penny" catechism.  In answer to the question, "What is Faith?", the reply is given that, "Faith is a supernatural gift of God which enables us to believe without doubting whatever God has revealed."  I like this because it reminds us that Faith is a gift or grace.  It is the way in which God, who is Truth itself, enables us to believe in him as our creator and in his Son Jesus, our Saviour.  There is a great freedom about faith because as a gift we can either take it or reject it.

The Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has interpreted the revelation of God in the holy scriptures through the ages.  Our faith has been passed down to us, and it is our responsibility to pass it on intact to the next generation.  In other words we don't make it up for ourselves.  Nowadays people often make up their religion, choosing a bit of spirituality from one tradition and customs from another; a kind of mix and match religion.  Furthermore, modern people will often only accept as true that which they can authenticate for themselves.  So unless something can be proved to one's own satisfaction then it cannot be believed.

However, Pope Benedict suggests a way of developing our personal faith.  We don't all have to become theologians and try to prove everything we believe, or develop a fantastic memory so that we can learn the catechism by heart.  He points out that, "Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy."

And that, of course, is the way that most of us deepen our faith: through a close relationship with Jesus.

Having a friendship with Jesus means discovering his love in other people who form his body, the Church.  It means reaching out to the people that Jesus cared for; listening to him in prayer, and shaping our lives to be his disciples.

Do we have such total trust in Jesus that we would follow him at all costs?  Could we, like the first disciples, leave behind our livelihood and follow him if he called us in this way?  I don't suppose Saint Peter was an expert theologian who knew every aspect of his faith, yet he followed Jesus when called.  He trusted him; he believed in him.

The Year of Faith calls us to deepen our faith and to live it more fully.  So let us open ourselves to receive the gift of faith anew.  God will help us to understand and believe in his revelation by the love he shows us, and by encouraging us to live our faith in new and exciting ways.

October

Here it is, October; one of the most beautiful months in the year.  It's a funny name, too, as 'oct' means eight as in octopus and octagon.  But October is the tenth month of the year!  It's because on the Roman calendar October was the eighth month of the year.  March, the beginning of spring, was the first month.

The leaves around here are starting to put on their autumnal display.

Emilia and Adam's school

For baseball fans October can be bitter-sweet.  It's the start of the playoffs, eventually culminating in the World Series.  For most fans the end of the regular season brings an end to their favorite team's season.  Their team didn't make it to the playoffs ("again!" in a lot of cases).  For most baseball fans, October is the time for watching somebody else's teams compete in the World Series.  As a life-long Milwaukee Brewers fan I know that feeling very well. 

When I was 13 years old my team did make it to the World Series in 1982.  I don't know how to describe the thrill of that.  Either you've experienced that or you haven't.  It was one of the better World Series; a back-and-forth series with Milwaukee eventually losing to the Saint Louis Cardinals in 7 games.  I'll admit I cried after Milwaukee lost that seventh game. 

I'll remember not only that World Series but that entire season for the rest of my life.  That was the year I went to my first ever major league baseball game: August 14th, Milwaukee County Stadium, the burly Brewer slugger Gorman Thomas hit a home run in a losing cause as Milwaukee fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2.  It was Richland County Night at the ballpark.  I think it was WRCO radio that organised tickets and chartered a school bus to take fans from Richland Center to Milwaukee and back.  I went with my Dad, step-mother and step-brother and I remember getting home at around 1 o'clock the next morning.



My favorite baseball player of all time, Robin Yount, #19.

The Battle of Lepanto

October 7th marks the anniversay of the Battle of Lepanto, which occured in 1571.  The significance of this battle is that the Muslim Ottoman Empire (centered in Turkey) was a dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea.  Christian Europe was in danger of falling under Islamic control.  A naval fleet made up of an alliance of Christain forces (Venice, Spain, the Papal States, Genoa, Savoy and Malta), led by the legendary Don Juan, met the Ottoman naval force in the Gulf of Patras near Greece.  The Christian forces were outnumbered.  Pope Pius V encouraged all Christians to pray the rosary, asking the Virgin Mary to intercede on behalf of the Christian forces.

During a meeting in Rome on October 7th, many hundreds of miles from the scene of the battle, the pope suddenly stood up and walked over to the window.  Looking out the window he said, "This is not a moment for business; make haste to thank God, because our fleet this moment has won a victory over the Turks."

When news of the Christian victory reached Rome days later, the city rejoiced.  The pope instituted a new feast day for October 7th, Our Lady of Victory.  The Church still celebrates this day as the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

On a literary note, the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, of Don Quixote fame, fought in that battle and lost the use of one arm.

Some poems

Back in 2000 I had the honor of having a poem accepted for publication for the first time.  A monthly magazine called The Villager, published by the Bronxville Women's Club of Bronxville NY, published the following in their October 2000 edition.

Three Views On October

"Oh, he's a fat one, sated on the fruits of summer.
But his days are numbered, he's nearing death.
Smell the sweet decay on his breath."

"No.  He's a harlequin, this jolly October.
An audacious fellow, dressed in florescent red and yellow.
Look at him laughing and dancing in the face of winter!"

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I must intervene.
Our October is a haughty Queen,
with a gold and scarlet cloak, and hair of amber.
Her eyes of evening blue look coolly to the future."


There were a total of five different poems by five poets included in that month's edition.  The other four are very good, so I'm flattered that my poem was considered worthy to be included with those.  My favorite of the five poems is this one by a William Beyer:

October

October moves

Like a proud peacock,

Gold

As wheat,

Red

As fire,

Passing up

The garden path

With great desire.

 



Angels

Vampires are currently the craze in popular culture, both here in Poland and in the United States (at least it was when I left the States a year ago).  It wasn't so long ago that angels were "the thing" in popular culture.  A lot of silliness has been written about angels, but they're a healthier topic of interest than vampires.

How the "living dead" who feed off the blood of live human beings have become sex symbols is beyond me.  When I think about it, that seems a Satanic inversion of the Eucharist, where Christians attain everlasting life through participation in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (see Gospel of John chapter 6; 1 Corinthians 10:16 & 11:23-29)

C. S. Lewis warned against a morbid fascination with Satan and devils and I'd counsel the same in regards to vampires. 

Today, however, I'd rather talk about angels.  September 29th is the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael on the Catholic calendar.



Tobias and the three Archangels

All three major world religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - teach the existence of angels.  The word angel comes from a Greek word meaning "messenger."  Angels are mentioned numerous times in both the Old and New Testaments, sometimes as "messenger of God".

Many people believe in guardian angels.  Do they exist?  Our Lord Jesus says this, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father." (Matthew 18:10) 

What about archangels?  Let's take them one by one.

Michael

In Hebrew, Michael means "Who is like God?"  It's a rhetorical question which expects an answer in the negative, "No one."  Michael is one who performs acts of justice and power.  In art he is typically portrayed holding a sword.

Michael is mentioned three times in Daniel:  . . . but the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. (10:13); No one supports me against all these except Michael, your prince, standing as a reinforcement and a bulwark for me. (10:21); At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time.  At that time your people shall escape, everyone found who is written in the book. (12:1).

Michael is mentioned in two places in the New Testament: Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgement upon him but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 1:9); Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.  The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.  The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. (Revelation 12:7-9)

Notice the mention of evil angels in the passage from Revelation.

Some believe this mention of an archangel refers to Michael: For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Gabriel

Gabriel means "the strength of God" and he serves as a messenger to humans from God.  He is typically portrayed in art holding a lily.

Gabriel is mentioned twice in Daniel: While I, Daniel, sought the meaning of the vision I had seen, a manlike figure stood before me, and on the Ulai I heard a human voice that cried out, "Gabriel, explain the vision to this man."  When he came near where I was standing, I fell prostrate in terror.  But he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the end of time." (8:15-17); I was still occupied with this prayer, when Gabriel, the one whom I had seen before in vision, came to me in rapid flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.  He instructed me in these words: "Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding . . . " (9:21-22)

In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel appears to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary to announce the births of John the Baptist and Jesus (Luke 1:11-38).  The passages are too long to include here entirely, but they're some of my favorite in all of Scripture: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard.  Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John."  To Mary: "Hail, favored one!  The Lord is with you."  "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus."  " . . . for nothing is impossible with God."

Raphael

Raphael means "God heals" and he brings God's healing to humans.  In art he is usually depicted holding a fish.

The angel Raphael is one of the main characters in the Book of Tobit.  (Tobit was declared canonical by the Council of Carthage in 397.  However, Protestants consider the book apocryphal since it was never considered canonical in Judaism.)  I'll quote Wikipedia to give a brief synopsis of Tobit: Raphael first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of Tobit's son, Tobiah, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". During the adventurous course of the journey the archangel's protective influence is shown in many ways including the binding of the demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After the return and the healing of the blindness of Tobit, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" Tobit 12:15 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_(archangel)  (See also Revelation 8:2 regarding the seven angels who stand before the Lord.)

 Song of the Angels by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

 

 

Some excerpts from a text by Father Adolphe Tanquerey: The angels show forth God's greatness and perfection.  It is God, then, whom we honour in the angels.  They are like mirrors reflecting the perfections of their infinite Creator.  They have at heart our sanctification.  They long for our salvation that we may join them in glorifying God.  Thus it is with joy that they accept those God-given missions to minister to our sanctification.  Victors over demons, they ask but to shield us from the perfidious enemies of our souls.  They present our prayers to the Most High by joining their own supplications to our requests.  It is, therefore, to our advantage to call upon them, especially in the hour of trial, and above all, at the hour of death, that they may defend us from the attacks of our enemies and conduct our souls to paradise.