To Avoid Dressing Like A Clown [Repost]

*Due to the recent comments dealing with blogging pseudo-names, I thought this old post may be of some value to the discussion. Some may use these names to "hide" behind, but to make that assumption about everyone may be painting a bit broadly.

The question of what “name” to use when blogging may not seem like something that would require much thought - until you have to choose one. I'd say that there are two general schools of thought here.

The first school’s thinking is to use the most natural option, their real name (or is some form of it). The second is to use a name that is not their real name, in a way hiding their identity from the world.

Many people see a certain cowardice in not using their real name. I can understand this, but I don't think I completely agree. A person using a pseudo name to hide their identity to be uncharitable and vicious would deserve the label of coward, but anonymity can serve another less shady purpose.

In the first chapter of Cardinal Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) book An Introduction to Christianity, he retells Soren Kierkegaard’s famous story of the clown and the burning village:

“According to this story a traveling circus in Denmark had caught fire. The manager thereupon sent the clown, who was already dressed and made-up for the performance, into the neighboring village to fetch help, especially as there was a danger that the fire would spread across the fields of dry stubble and engulf the village itself. The clown hurried into the village and requested the inhabitants to come as quickly as possible to the blazing circus and help to put the fire out. But the villagers took the clown’s shouts simply for an excellent piece of advertising, meant to attract as many people as possible to the performance; they applauded the clown and laughed till they cried. The clown felt more like weeping than laughing; he tried in vain to get people to be serious, to make it clear to them that it was no trick but bitter earnest, that there really was a fire. His supplications only increased the laughter; people thought he was playing his part splendidly – until finally the fire did engulf the village, it was too late for help and both circus and village were burned to the ground.”

Don’t read into everyone dying at the end because they didn’t listen to the clown part – that’s not the point of my post. My point is that anonymity can allow a person to write without having to worry about other’s perceptions clouding the message. Once others have formed an opinion of a person, that person’s words and thoughts will forever be shaped be those opinions.

If people see you “dressed like a clown”, they tend to see your actions and hear your words accordingly. It's unfortunate, but that’s just how it is. And when it happens, as the clown, you truly feel more like weeping than laughing.

Nota Bene Series - Gay Marriage: The Battle for the Wrong Right.

Time for round two.

The topic for the next Nota Bene Series will be "Gay Marriage: The Battle for the Wrong Right."

It will be held on June 15th, and will begin once again with a free meal staring at 6:30 PM. The evening will be held at the parish of St. Michael's Gathering Space in St Michael, Minnesota.

Follow this link to view a teaser video on the topic and more information on how to RSVP.

And as always, all men are invited.

Following the Moral Precepts of Liberals

The following is taken from a piece written by the every edgy, controversial, and witty Ann Coulter:

Tiller was protected not only by a praetorian guard of elected Democrats, but also by the protective coloration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- coincidentally, the same church belonged to by Tiller's fellow Wichita executioner, the BTK killer.

The official Web page of the ELCA instructs: "A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born." As long as we're deciding who does and doesn't have an "absolute right to be born," who's to say late-term abortionists have an "absolute right" to live?

I wouldn't kill an abortionist myself, but I wouldn't want to impose my moral values on others. No one is for shooting abortionists. But how will criminalizing men making difficult, often tragic, decisions be an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the shootings of abortionists?

Following the moral precepts of liberals, I believe the correct position is: If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot one.

And from the website of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America):

The topic of abortion evokes strong and varied convictions about the social order, the roles of women and men, human life and human responsibility, freedom and limits, sexual morality, and the significance of children in our lives. It involves powerful feelings that are based on different life experiences and interpretations of Christian faith and life in the world. If we are to take our differences seriously, we must learn how to talk about them in ways that do justice to our diversity.

The language used in discussing abortion should ignore neither the value of unborn life nor the value of the woman and her other relationships. It should either obscure the moral seriousness of the decision faced by the woman nor hide the moral value of the newly conceived life. Nor is it helpful to use the language of "rights" in absolute ways that imply that no other significant moral claims intrude. A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born, nor does a pregnant woman have an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy. The concern for both the life of the woman and the developing life in her womb expresses a common commitment to life. This requires that we move beyond the usual "pro-life" versus "pro-choice" language in discussing abortion.

Politics influencing Christian doctrine has become much more common than Christian doctrine influencing politics. And any creed who favors an adherence to the popular politics of the day is doomed to be caught in an eddy of irrelevance and incredibility; possibly allowed to speak with heartfelt conviction, but never again with any moral authority. Politics (whether right or left) influencing doctrine is a dangerous, and Christianity will always ultimately be the one who suffers.

Chesterton on Marriage and Fidelity

"Keeping to one woman is a small price for so much as seeing one woman. To complain that I could only be married once was like complaining that I had only been born once. It was incommensurate with the terrible excitement of which one was talking. It showed, not an exaggerated sensibility to sex, but a curious insensibility to it. A man is a fool who complains that he cannot enter Eden by five gates at once."

— G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Pray For America This Memorial Day

Remembering today the American soldiers who lost their lives fighting for us. Examples of combat deaths include:

American Revolution... 8,000
U.S. Civil War (Union)... 140,000
World War I... 53,000
World War II... 290,000
Korean War... 31,000
Vietnam War... 47,000
Gulf War... 148
Iraq/Afghanistan... 4,200

Without debating the just cause of any particular conflict, it is unmistakable that America has been blessed by wise founders and Providential success, and we remain humanity's best hope of democracy and freedom.

But, we have our problems. We are still wrestling with the aftermath of legalized human slavery, even after a civil war which claimed over 200,000 lives including a President. Those wounds in fact are not healed, and the scab is continuously scraped off thanks to a dysfunctional welfare state that has destroyed the Black family unit in America. It is obscene.

And, there is abortion.

Abortion (1973-present)... 50,000,000

Since Roe v Wade, the number of abortion deaths in the U.S. is nearly 90 times the number of wartime deaths cited above, and within the next decade it will top 100 X. According to the Guttmacher Institute (an arm of Planned Parenthood and thus no friend of the fetus), 22% of all pregancies in the U.S. end in abortion. This is horrific and disheartening.

I will tout the greatness of America with the slightest provocation. But, we are squandering this capital as we turn away from God and the Church. In a recent video publication, Father John Corapi asserts that America will "get nothing right" unless and until we eradicate abortion. I believe he is correct.

God, bless America.

Rest In Peace, John Kortuem

Last week a friend of many in St Michael passed away, John Kortuem. He was a huge man, 6'8" and three and a half bills. Father Michael gave a touching and poignant homily at the Funeral Mass, recounting John's life, faith, size, strength and his occasional foibles.

I was in John's CRHP group, and was honored to have been a pall bearer at his funeral. And, John's son is a key reason I finally took the Tiberian plunge and joined the Church. John's gentleness and faithfulness, and his devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin, were undoubtedly passed on to his children.

And so I know if it weren't for John Kortuem, I might still be lost.

Pray for John's soul, and for the comfort and consolation of his family.

Without swords, without guns, without conflict ...

If you listen carefully, you can hear what remains of the West strain under the weight of its own selfishness. No longer supported by a once solid foundation, its collapse seems all but certain. It would be a mistake to say this collapse is inevitable, but without something short of divine the writing is on the wall.

Today we in the West have for the most part built our lives on the beautiful value of selfishness. People now refuse children knowing that it would mean having to share what they have; home, money, future, time, life, etc. Parents today were born to parents who wanted – and did – give them everything they wanted, and they have no interest in giving that up.

The arguments are over where in the “game” you should be allowed to make sure the children are never born - contraception and abortion. The fact that they shouldn’t be born is a given. In our country the native population has a fertility rate of 1.8. It’s sick to think that with the acceptance of abortion and even late-term abortion that the .8 could be barbarically accurate. How much credibility can people with 1.8 kids possibly have when they speak out against abortion? Seriously.

In this climate, marriage fades away as husbands and wives see each other less as spouses and more and more as sexual playmates. They soon realize that when they’re not having fun, it’s easier to take your toys and go home than it is to actually make a home.

It’s not uncommon to hear people talk about how God is going to punish the United States. “If God does not judge America He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah” is a phrase attributed to just about every religious leader in the last 50 years. Will this great chastisement be a tsunami? An earthquake? A nuclear weapon detonated by a terrorist?!?! Maybe, and in the end something like that just might drive people back to God and to faith.

Unfortunately, I think the chastisement may come in a form not so easily recognized. An external catastrophe has a way of turning people’s eyes from themselves outward to others. Illuminated by the light of charity, the person now can see the world in a new light – the way it really is. But when the chastisement is for God to hand people “over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies”, people are allowed to continue in their selfishness to the point of death. The person who is themselves the object of their own desire is a truly vile and miserable creature. We in the West are loving ourselves to death.

Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes. Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 1:20-25

To borrow from T.S. Eliot (The Hollow Men):
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

The Western world that is.

Islam doesn't need swords, guns, or conflict - they can destroy the West with children.

Nota Bene Series

For those interested, the Knights of Columbus council #4174 will be starting a series called the Nota Bene Series. "Nota Bene" is Latin for “Take Notice!” because these meetings will consist of talks and presentations covering current issues Catholic men need to be informed about. It is the hope that these evenings will provide men not only information, but opportunities and suggestions for action.

The first topic will be on the dangers of Socialism. It will be held on April 29th, from 6:00-9:00pm in the Church of St. Michael's Gathering Space - St Michael, Minnesota. Follow this link for directions. The evening will start off with a meal. All men are invited.

Read Thou This ...

... and rejoice that thy brethren are as miserable as thou art:

Lamentations of the Father

Raises the question: Is Scriptural parody a sin?

Didn't Think You Were A Hater, Did You?

If any of you bloggers are military veterans, you might have read or heard of the furor over the recent release of a Department of Homeland Security intelligence assessment of "Rightwing Extremism," in which returning vets are identified as potential future terrorists. The assessment is meant to "facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the United States."

But if you're Catholic you might be surprised to fight this passage in the assessment as well:

"Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."

Pray for our country, our President and other leaders. And pray that watch lists will be limited to terrorists who genuinely want to tear down our nation and our freedom, rather than those holding legitimate dissenting, counter-cultural Catholic viewpoints.

http://wikileaks.org/leak/us-dhs-right-wing-extremism-2009.pdf

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Callings, Revisited

Blogger's Note: That last post on my other blog garnered some interesting comments, both on- and off-line. Hope this one does, too.

It occurred to me on my commute this morning that there is one aspect of the priestly vocation versus the married vocation that I failed to explore: The possibility of answering one calling, only to hear another years or even decades later.

I know of at least two former Catholic priests who have chosen to leave the priesthood and get married. To the best of my knowledge, one left the Catholic Church and may now be a Protestant minister; the other is the head of one of the most Catholic families I know back home in Michigan.

I know of precisely zero married men who have chosen to leave their marriage to become priests. In neither case do I know what the "rules" are — how one "undoes" one sacramental vow and undertakes a new one, or even if it's possible, within the Catholic Church. I suppose one might do it regardless and seek forgiveness in some way, perhaps.

What is of more interest to me is that it is easier for people to imagine a celibate priest discerning a call to marriage later in life than to imagine a married man discerning a call to the celibate life of a priest. The romantic-triangle buddy comedy Keeping the Faith includes a great scene between a young priest, played by Edward Norton, who is contemplating turning his back on his vows over a girl, and an old priest who declares that falling in love every so often is part of the gig — and just like in marriage, you make a choice to stay faithful to your vows. The scene seems funny, wise, and true.

But why not the other way? I can imagine the possibility of years or even decades of celibacy were I to outlive my wife. (Perhaps even celibacy by my own choice ...) But another calling now? While I'm here, with this other half of me? It's unfathomable.

The question becomes, why is it unfathomable for me to imagine falling so in love with the Church that I would want to leave my married vocation, but it's not unfathomable for me to imagine a priest falling so in love with a woman that he would want to leave the Church? If you knew a man in former situation, would you not think it strange, or even outrageous? But in the latter situation? I suspect most people might be sympathetic.

I wonder if it's not the case that have we been so immersed in popular understandings of sexuality — especially male sexuality — that continence seems unnatural and celibacy, next to impossible. In such a world, it's difficult to imagine anyone who had experienced marital intimacy ever choosing celibacy.

But the discussion returns to a question posed in the last post: Would you leave your spouse if a tragic accident made it necessary for you to spend the rest of your days celibate? Would you stay married and cheat?

If you can imagine one, you can imagine the other. And if you can't imagine a love for God deep enough to forsake all others, perhaps you simply aren't called.

If it can Raise the Dead Like a Duck ...

Stephen Colbert is still one of the funniest guys alive.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bart Ehrman
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage Commercial

You can read Mr. Erhman's sad "once a born-again Christian, now an agnostic" story here if you'd like.

Cross-Posting on Priests, Kids, and Vocations

Nothing too profound here: Just my thinking since last weekend on priests, aspiring priests, and one good priest in particular. As for me and my house, we're gonna miss him.

Sorry to keep cross-pollinating blogs, folks. Can't find time enough to write multiple posts for multiple sites right now!

Speech (Im)Pediment??

Earlier last week officials of Georgetown University converted the stage at Gaston Hall, into a presidential venue, at which the President gave a speech on the economy. In the midst of adding opaque backdrops and the obligatory phalanx of flags, they complied with a request to also cover a pediment (the triangular feature atop certain classical columns, and other facades) containing the traditional monogram of Jesus, "IHS." This was accomplished, it appears, with the aid of some painted plywood.

The debate and question: should Georgetown, the oldest Catholic University in the country, have covered the pediment containing the monogram IHS? And, perhaps in the context of the recent, legitimate uproar over Notre Dame's invitation to the President?

It appears to me to have been an effort to simplify the backdrop, and not necessarily a consciously insidious plan to strip the stage of its theological symbology. There are, after all, stained glass windows clearly visible behind the stage, and apparently the monogram appears in many other places in the Hall (and remained uncovered).

So, what do you think? Innocent and typical presidential stagecraft; concession to remove any distraction from the President; or yet another slap in the face to Catholics, by liberal Catholic "educators?"

A Renewed Easter Pledge

St. Michael welcomed 18 new members into the Church last night at the Easter Vigil, including six catechumens, praise God. And yes, all six went full immersion.

I assume most of these new Catholics will be part of our parish, but of course you're never sure how many will move or have come from another location. But, I continue to be amazed at the number of RCIA candidates we get each year.

I entered the Church three years ago, and last night during the Vigil as I looked around I noted how many great friends I've made in our parish. They were everywhere. I even got to talk to a
seminarian who was integral into my decision to finally "take the plunge" into RCIA; and I saw a friend who moved to Montana a couple of years ago, and happened to stop by just before the Vigil to connect with some of us.

Realizing the gifts I've received from the Church (a second chance at salvation, leadership of my family's faith life, role models in faith, to name a few), I am more determined than ever to help protect our precious faith. I might occasionally fail, and I might occasionally fall.

But I will never quit.

A blessed Easter to you.

This is the Night!

Missed the Vigil for the first time in 10 years tonight - I stayed home with some sick kids so my wife could attend. Her friend was being brought into the Church tonight so it was a pretty important night for her.

One of my favorite parts of the Vigil is when the Deacon sings the Exsultet (Easter Proclamation).


The Exsultet

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,

that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

Deacon: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Deacon: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

(For it is fed by the melting wax,
which the mother bee brought forth
to make this precious candle.)

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

Two Powerful Experiences

Tonight I finally watched the movie The Passion of the Christ. I know, I'm way behind most of you, and I'll admit I have been simply intimidated by the prospect of forcing myself to watch the film, after having heard how brutal and graphic it is.

And, those reviews are entirely accurate. The film is of course an unrelenting graphic portrayal of the Passion, and it hit me just about the way I thought it would. Afterwards, I was numb and drained, emotionally and almost physically. But, also spiritually inspiring; I wished I had watched it on Ash Wednesday, to steel myself to Lenten sacrifice.

Almost as powerful was a short passage I had read a few days ago, from a reflection on the second sorrowful Mystery of the Holy Rosary by Saint Josemaria Escriva:

"...Bound to the pillar. Covered with wounds. The blows of the lash sound upon his torn flesh, upon his undefiled flesh, which suffers for your sinful flesh. More blows. More fury. Still more... It is the last extreme of human cruelty. Finally, exhausted, they untie Jesus. And the body of Christ yields to pain and falls limp, broken and half-dead. You and I cannot speak. Words are not needed.

Look at him, look at him... slowly.

After this... can you ever fear penance?"

Leadership In Action

The letter from our Archbishop to Fr. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame. This happened under the radar, or at least under my radar, which probably isn't saying too much... At any rate, I thought his concise, strong message is a great example of how to take a position and communicate it.

"If your brother sins, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.


"If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector." Matthew 18:15-17



March 26, 2009
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.President, University of Notre Dame
400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556

Dear Father Jenkins:
I have just learned that you, as President of the University of Notre Dame, have invited President Barack Obama to be the graduation commencement speaker at the University’s exercises on May 17, 2009. I was also informed that you will confer on the president an honorary doctor of laws degree, one of the highest honors bestowed by your institution.

I write to protest this egregious decision on your part. President Obama has been a pro-abortion legislator. He has indicated, especially since he took office, his deliberate disregard of the unborn by lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research, by promoting the FOCA agenda and by his open support for gay rights throughout this country.

It is a travesty that the University of Notre Dame, considered by many to be a Catholic University, should give its public support to such an anti-Catholic politician.

I hope that you are able to reconsider this decision. If not, please do not expect me to support your University in the future.

Sincerely yours,
The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

School of Hard Knox?

The hits just keep on coming, as the saying goes...

In the midst of a whole heap of hope and change, we've seen a glimpse into the future. From the destruction of more innocent life...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188454
...to the effort to force American doctors to perform abortions, or refer women to abortion clinics, against their conscience...
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901614.htm

...we now get a look at how the Church will likely be treated from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, for at least the next three years. Harry Knox, a long time gay (not the happy kind) activist is a newly appointed member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. It's safe to say that Knox is not a fan of the Church, the Holy Father, or apparently the Knights of Columbus...

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15636
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3805

...in short, just the kind of guy you want heading a group that appears to be tasked with "advising" the Commander in Chief on faith, or neighborhoods, or... uh, well whatever it means to be on the ACFBNP.

To be honest, in the reading the Bay Area Reporter story in which Knox's comments are briefly quoted, I was heartened that the BAR decried the support the Church provided for California Proposition 8 which verifies marriage between opposite-sex partners only. We heard a lot about the Mormons supporting Prop 8 and not as much about Catholics doing so. This was a pleasant surprise for me.

What has been an unpleasant unsurprise, is the moral direction our new leadership is attempting to take our country. As Catholics begin to blink awake and wonder what they truly wrought in November, let's pray they get serious and earn their Hard Knocks diploma.

The "army of oppression" needs them!

Anyone Here Read French?

Is compulsive book-buying a sin? Has anyone here read Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales? Reading group? Father Michael confirms he's a giant — can't wait!

Pray For Our Leaders...

Do You Believe?

I've heard it said that the greatest deception that Satan perpetrates on humanity, is convincing it that he does not exist.

I think God's greatest Truth, and perhaps His greatest challenge, is convincing us that He DOES exist, in the Eucharist.

A Fox News poll reported in 2004 that 71% of Americans believe in "the devil." I guess that's not so bad considering Satan and his demons work tirelessly against us. Of course, belief in the devil's existence doesn't necessarily translate to belief in what he's all about. I suspect a lot of these folks picture the devil as a hapless Elmer Fudd in a red little-devil suit with a rubber pitchfork and fake horns, rather than a fallen archangel who hates God and whose ultimate goal is to turn us against Him.

Now for the not-so-good news. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, at Georgetown University, reports that only 57% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence. And since only 24% of Americans are Catholic, I suppose that works out to only about 14% of Americans believe in the Real Presence. Ouch.

Ironically, Satan desperately would like us to forget both him and God; and God both desires fervently that we believe and turn to him through the Source and Summit of our faith, and that we recognize the danger of the devil in our lives.

Kneeling during Mass, we recite the words that profoundly express this faith: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but ONLY SAY THE WORD and I shall be healed."

Nothing ... Except Three Books.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is one of my favorite books. This weekend I had the chance to watch the 1960 film version of the book. While the film started out promising, it moved steadily away from the book's story line and ended up a Hollywood love story. It was entirely unfortunate, but somewhat understandable. While the story makes a great book, it may not have the right qualities to make it big screen hit (not saying that’s a bad thing).

I do think a very disturbing parallel could be drawn between the Eloi and the Morlocks and certain elements in our society – but that’s another post.

In my opinion, the most interesting moment in the whole movie (which isn't found in the book) occurred at the very end. George, the inventor of the time machine, had left again for the future, this time to try and help humanity rebuild. George’s good friend David and George’s house keeper had just realized what George had done and had the following conversation:

David: It's not like Geogre to return empty handed. To try to rebuild civilization without a plan. He must have taken something with him.
House keeper: Nothing ... (turning to look at the book shelf) ... except three books.
David: Which three books?
House keeper: I don't know, is it important?
David: Oh, I suppose not. Only ... which three books whould have you taken?

After the conversation, the two paused and glanced slightly at the camera as if directing the question to the viewer (nice effect). And that’s where they left it - no supplied answers, just rolling credits. In my opinion it was a great way to end the movie. I thought it was a very interesting question and have spent the weekend thinking about it and haven't been able to come up with my "big three".

So, besides the classic How to Rebuild Human Civilization or Tastes Like Chicken: An Eloi-free Diet for the Busy Morlock, which three books would you bring along if you were ever needed to travel to the future and rebuild human civilization?