Hifreakinlarious Catholic site

We Catholics have an inordinate amount of humor about ourselves, so I urge you to check out Mary is My Homegirl, a GIF blog done by a theology graduate student at Notre Dame.

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THAT

THEY ARE SPIRITUAL BUT

NOT RELIGIOUS

                                      I'M LIKE

All or Nothing

Expect a libtard to be posting this in the post-Sandy days as proof of why Big Government is needed.

Actually, no.  During Hurricane Sandy, Washington DC was shut down - and Americans all around the nation were able to survive and make decisions for themselves.

Government does have a role in people's lives, and responding to disasters that overwhelm local resources is one of them.  However, deciding what I can eat, or using my monies to subsidize others' sex lives, or any other attempt to co-opt my personal life is NOT the role of government.  It is not an "all or nothing" deal - you can have limitations on government's role in the lives of its people.

Just as the Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the US Constitution.

Liberals are nuance-challenged.

I don't have a good feeling about this . . .

Future branding in film

Hannah Montana will be doing the soundtrack

Okay, stahp!

Sorry, Disney has lost the magic for me and I think it will bastardize Star Wars to death.

Putting his money where his mouth is

This man is worth $4.6 billion that he earned from a brokerage firm he built.  He paid for this commercial, he bought the air time on television, and he is not running for office.

I am proud to be a fellow American with him.

Happy Halloween!

Wanna play a game?

Sorry I cannot get a dog picture this year, as I am very busy.  But how about a new character for the game of Clue?

Martin Luther was right . . .

You can't buy your way out of Purgatory.

Which is why he's probably still there.

Happy 95 Theses Day!

The zombie Apocalypse is here!

The president today said in an interview that the campaign has enlisted an army of lawyers to clear hurdles away for his supporters, telling American Urban Radio Networks, "If people have problems voting, we can solve those problems. We've got lawyers all across the country."

Get the guns ready!

Crass

Within the past week, the Obama campaign has released two videos that serve to demonstrate that the current President of the United States has no problem playing to low comedy involving stereotypes of "all young women f**k around" and "old people using profanities."

First, we have voting for Obama being likened to a woman losing her virginity:



 Is it cute?  Is it funny?  Well, no - it's skanky.  It reduces a woman's first sexual experience to a smarmy innuendo of a joke, and in doing so sexually objectifies her.  Because young women only think about romance and Harlequin dime novels and living like Carrie in Sex and the City, where eventually the Sandra Flukes will demand both free contraceptives and Jimmy Choos.

By the way, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act only resets a statute of limitation in existing law.  In short, big whoop-de-doo.

And why not take The Greatest Generation - which, by the way, was my father's generation, hose who fought and survived WWII - and strip the of dignity as well?



Careful, old people getting all hip and gangsta, and dropping f-bombs for the sake of comedy and the President.

The similarity between the two is crassness.  They are meant to be funny and engaging, but miss the mark by a long shot and are instead somewhat embarrassing.  Unless, of course, you are the type that "thinks this shit be funny!" and the more low the humor, the better.

But if this is the common denominator that Obama is aiming for in votes . . . he needs to go.  Let's lift up people, let's strive to preserve a person's dignity - and not make at joke at its expense.

Wet and Cold

Mudder, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

Woman crosses the water course at FlipFest's inaugural mud run, Mudsanity, in Crossville, TN, on October 13, 2012.

Obama wants to destroy humanity

Well, what other conclusion can you reach when he is willing to hand out free contraceptives but won't do the same for insulin for diabetics or AZT for AIDS victims?

Courting

Courting, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

Mexican folk dance allowed men and women to court chastely, back in the day.

Taken October 21, 2012 at St. Joseph Church's annual fiesta, in Santa Ana, CA.

Humans are worth more than ox and ass, but not as much as a bird

Today's Gospel reading:


Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
"Woman, you are set free of your infirmity."
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
"There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day."
The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?"
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

    --  Luke 10:13-17

So many people might say "stories" from this "long ago past" are irrelevant in today's times.

Really?

The bald eagle will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act even though it has been delisted under the Endangered Species Act. This law, originally passed in 1940, provides for the protection of the bald eagle and the golden eagle (as amended in 1962) by prohibiting the take, possession, sale, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, of any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg, unless allowed by permit (16 U.S.C. 668(a); 50 CFR 22). "Take" includes pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb (16 U.S.C. 668c; 50 CFR 22.3). 

So, a bald eagle - an animal like the oxen and asses of the Biblical detractors of Jesus - is protected in utero since its eggs cannot be taken or harmed.  Heck, even its nest cannot be disturbed.

But . . . it remains perfectly legal to kill a human being in utero.  In fact, given that some 10 million Black children alone  have been aborted since 1973 and the legalization of abortion, I might suggest that they are, unlike the American Bald Eagle, an "endangered species."

Because of honor . . .

The Tomb of the Unknown Solder remains guarded, even as Hurricane Sandy approaches.  This picture brought tears to my eyes and pride to my heart - Army strong!

If I was in NYC tonight . . .

. . . I'd meet Sandy like a boss.

(But I'm nuts - the rest of you stay safe, guys!)

Play that funky music, White Boy . . .

"Play That Funky Music, White Boy" always reminds me of someone.  And if that White Boy sees this, I hope this is on your death certificate after a long life, and a happy one at that, even if the joy only came in the last five minutes of it,

Ron Kobayashi, Jazz Pianist

Ron Kobayashi, Jazz Pianist, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

October 20, 2012 in Santa Ana, California.  At St. Joseph Chuch's annual fiesta.

Boo!

SAtG Halloween-25, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

My parish - St. Albert the Great Church in Knoxville, TN - had its annual Halloween party tonight, complete with truck-or-treating and a haunted hayride (in which I sat in the presumably "abandoned" pickup truck, that came "alive" when the hay wagon went by).

This little witch did not know quite what was going on, but she had a lot to look at - and you can, too! See more pictures here!

Rachel in Crossville

I spent the day in Crossville, TN, at a beautiful location on Frances Lake, helping Bryan Allen with his location photography workshop.  One of my favorite models, Rachel Villanueva, was among those modeling clothes for a local shop.  I love shooting Rachel - she is sweet as pie and she makes it easy.  Plus, she is one of those women about whom people try to guess - is she Italian?  Indian?  Navajo?  Hispanic?  I am not saying - all I know is that I enjoy photographing such a lovely creation of God!

By the way, and I say this having been one of his workshop students, if you want to hone your craft in photography, take one of Bryan Allen's workshops.  It's an intensive, hands on experience.  It's also exhausting - you're shooting, shooting, and shooting some more, and then editing.  Bryan provides useful critique to your work.  

Home Again

Back home on Dog Hill. Regular blogging to resume.

Yeah, that was my view off my back porch this morning ...

Choice for good ...

I woke up this morning and realized I needed to do something that would not be welcomed but would be done out of love and charity.

Stand Up for Religious Freedom in Orange County

I was asked by one of the organizers of the Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally in Orange County to come and lend my photography skills to the event.  Always happy to help the cause.

See more pictures here.  Please note that the pictures are copyrighted.  Although I encourage their use, I ask that if you do so, please provide the byline "Photo by Stephanie A. Richer Photography."

This is not an issue that is solely a "Catholic" one.  The HHS mandates demand that we shed one of the first rights guaranteed by the US Constitution, the freedom to exercise our chosen religion.  Perhaps those of a more secular mindset believe that acting in a way contrary to one's faith is somehow "absolved" by the fact that the person has no choice, that is, the government has made it a requirement and therefore no culpability attaches in following the government's mandate.  But we have seen this before, yes?  At the Nuremburg Trials?  The fact is, every man is responsible for how he chooses to act.  And to try to force someone to act in a way contrary to a moral belief is tantamount to government interference in the practice of the faith.  As is often said and bears remembering, the "separation of church and state" about which Thomas Jefferson wrote - and not in the US Constitution but his own writings - was not to shield society from religion but to protect religion from the state.

Still Funny

Homecoming at St. Joseph Church

Catholic hip-hop/rap artist Th0t performing

I am currently on a business trip to Southern California (today I can be seen performing in court in San Bernardino), but this past weekend was a sort of homecoming for me, if you will. 

For many years, I was a faithful parishioner at St. Joseph Church in Santa Ana, CA.  No, I should say I still am, despite having relocated my family out of state.  And I know this because of the reception I received when I spent some time this weekend at its annual fiesta.

Oh, I know the fiesta well.  I had been an active member of the fiesta committee for many years, and for five days out of the year, I pretty much lived in the Parish Hall, as La Reina de la Segunda (the Queen of the Rummage Sale).  My spot was Information Central, and during the days of set-up, fiesta, and clean-up, I was kept busy answering questions, collecting tickets and cash, and organizing people.

But, a homecoming - for a while, due to the actions of two people at the parish after I left, I felt as though I was pronounced anathema.  Now, I realize that is a pretty strong word, especially when used as a Catholic, but that was the punch to the heart I got.  Let the past lie.  It is overcome by the number of people who greeted me as family when I walked into the fiesta.  I really was overwhelmed by the hugs and handshakes that came my way.  It was a step back to the happy times I spent at St. Joseph.

Fr. Ed Becker and Th0t

Ha!  At one point, a pair of hands was needed in a booth and when the Parish Manager, Betty Spanel, asked me to step in, I did so happily.  I had a couple of opportunities to catch up with the parish administrator, Fr. Ed Becker, who is an old friend and anyone who knows us would not be surprised to hear that our conversations went loooong (hey, we're both lawyers, and we had a lot to cover, from the new Bishop for the diocese to what is going on with mutual acquaintances to Prop 30 to the relevance of Humane Vitae today).  I sang karaoke with Trish Schack and Connie Linnert (I'd like to think our rendition of Me and Bobby McGee could land us on "The Voice", but alas . . .).  I specifically was there to photograph my friend, Alfonso Pedroza (aka Th0t), who was performing his dynamic brand of Catholic hip-hop and rap (and he was outstanding and on fire for Christ, let me tell you).  I thought the bear hug from the chief of the Samoan community, Nive Brown, would crush my ribs.  Jose Luis Padilla and I spent some time, engaging in s**t photographers say.  Doug Bostrom - "Mr. Fiesta" - just laughed to see me working.  And Rocio Perez' chilaquiles were as fantastic as ever.

St. Joseph Church, and its school, is facing some tough financial times.  As Fr. Ed said, we cannot afford to be complacent and we have to work towards pulling ourselves up.  I will continue to tithe to my Santa Ana church, where I and my family received the Sacraments for years.  I do not want to see a chain link fence around the property as the diocese sells off the assets, and unfortunately that is not a far-fetched notion for the parish.

Tithing . . . and prayer.  Because this is still my family.

JP the Deuce

From those funny minds at Catholic Memes, some humor for today's memorial of Blessed Pope John Paul II.

Sto lat, y'all!

Simon

Simon, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

My best friend, the Dude, and her husband recently adopted two kittens after she had to put down her elderly Akita. Simon (and, not pictured, his sister Tabby) are wearing their cones of shame after getting - *ahem* - fixed.

I grabbed this shot this morning.

Traffic

Traffic, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

Yesterday I arrived back in Southern California on a business trip. I spent about three hours trying to get from Santa Ana to Ontario, due to a horrific accident. Two big rigs and a box truck collided - sadly, the driver of the box truck did not make it. I thought, "You know, I bet his family and friends wished all he was experiencing was being stuck in traffic . . ." so I used the time to pray for his soul and the patience of all those around me.

I also found out how God works things out.  Although I am here on "lawyer" business, I brought my gear to do a special photography session for a friend.  Today is the Rally for Religious Freedom and Aly Baker, who is Orange County's pro-life voice, contacted me because . . . she needs a photographer to cover it, and by chance, could I?

Serviam.

Gone Hunting

Actually, getting on a plane tomorrow to go play lawyer for a week.  So blogging will be light.  It has been, I know - too damn busy.

Pray for me.  Thanks.

Sounds like someone I know . . .

Well, if you're going to put it like that . . .

Candy Crowley is an embarrassment

So Romney was right on Obama's remarks in the Rose Garden. 

It is not enough that she was wrong. It is the fact that she inserted herself int the debate as a presumed "neutral" moderator, to take sides with Obama.  That is akin to a judge turning to an attorney during a trial and saying, "I'd raise a hearsay objection to that last question if I were you."

I guess he felt her hero could not win without her.

Media bias?  What media bias?

Felix lands like a cat . . .

Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner landed gracefully on Earth after a 24-mile jump Sunday from the stratosphere in a daring, dramatic feat that officials said made him the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound. 

Baumgartner came down safely in the eastern New Mexico desert about nine minutes after jumping from his capsule 128,100 feet, or roughly 24 miles, above Earth. He lifted his arms in victory, sending off loud cheers from jubilant onlookers and friends inside the mission's control center in Roswell, N.M.

I watched it, despite the slight feeling of nausea I had from seeing the view at 128,000 feet, with my vertigo.

Red Bull - they funded that.

The people whom they hired - they built that.

This was a private endeavor that was done not simply "because it's there" but to test the pressurized suit Felix was wearing and use it to avoid the tragedies of losing astronauts re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, as happened with the USS Columbia.

I predict this marks the day when private companies take over the space race.  I would have preferred to see the United States remain the vanguard in that, but as NASA's mission has become an outreach to the Muslim world, I am quite happy to see an Austrian soft drink edge towards China and Russia.

And will Felix become an international celebrity?


Baumgartner has said he plans to settle down with his girlfriend and fly helicopters on mountain rescue and firefighting missions in the U.S. and Austria.

I would love to sit down to lunch with him and Captain Sully.  Two guys who should never - ever - have to buy their own drinks in a bar.

We need heroes.

St. Joseph School Fall Festival

2012 Fall Festival-18, originally uploaded by Stephanie A. Richer.

That is the pastor of my church, Fr. Chris Michelson, once again baking and selling cookies to help raise money for St. Joseph School (in addition to being pastor of St. Albert the Great, he is also the President of St. Joseph School, and whatever else the Bishop tells him to do, which I suspect is a lot because he is one of the senior priests in the diocese, is highly competent, and never seems to have a day off).

I covered the school festival for both the school and the East Tennessee Catholic.

 Does that make me a Cathographer?

See more pictures here.

Dog Day Afternoon - a short video

My Canon 7D allows me to shoot video with it, but I confess, I have not really messed around with it. So when the photography certificate course at the University of Tennessee extension offered an introductory class in it, what the heck, I signed up.

This week's homework was to shoot with varying focal lengths.  Not knowing what to do, I decided to take my dogs out for a walk in my woods.



If you are wondering where is the Corgi . . . I bought a new bag of dog food yesterday and she stayed home to guard it!

She Devils in Argentina

What you are seeing is a news clip from Argentina.  During their annual parade for the Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres de la Argentina (National Meeting of the Women of Argentina), the parishioners of the Cathedral of Posadas stood as a group to try to protect the cathedral from destruction.  For their faith, they were spray painted, spat upon, a mocked by the paraders.  You can see these brave people standing arm-in-arm, praying the Rosary, as they are attacked.

Tolerance, indeed.

It takes two to reconcile . . .

Thoughts come at the oddest moments, like this morning as I was washing dishes.

I know people who are hurt by others and, when asked if they forgive the ones who did them wrong, will say, "No, they haven't asked for my forgiveness."

I do not agree with this.  Forgiving someone is a mediation session with God in the middle.  If I forgive someone, I know what they have done to me, and in reviewing that, I may discover - realize, actually - what I have done to them.  And so I forgive them.

But the reconciliation that we so often equate with forgiveness cannot be obtained until that person gives name to what they have done and then asks for forgiveness.  Because if I say, "I forgive you" and leave it at that, the other person is off the hook, so to speak, without having to scrutinize their own actions.  What if you told someone whom you forgave, "I forgive you for what you did," and they say, "Wow, thanks - that's great!" And then you ask, "Do you know what I have forgiven you for?"  And then answer, blankly, "No, not really."

In law, we say that one of the essential elements in the formation of a contract is mutual assent.  The parties must be of "like minds."  In a classic example, if you and I are joking over drinks about me selling you my mansion for $1, and I "write it up" on a cocktail napkin, the chances of you succeeding in court to enforce that napkin as a valid contract are slim.  I did not mean it, I was joking, and the context in which it was written up should have clued you into that.

Likewise with reconciliation.  The two persons have to be of "like mind" and it is not simply Hurt Person saying to Hurtful Person, "I forgive you," and Hurtful Person saying, "Thank you."  Hurtful Person needs to say what they know they have done to hurt - and seek forgiveness for that.  The two persons may be surprised to find that they have very different views and more work is needed before reconciliation can be accomplished.

This is why the Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation necessarily forces you not simply to enter the Confessional, and start and end with "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned."  You have to give voice to what you have done.  Uncomfortable, to be sure.

So forgive those who have hurt you.  Do it for you.  And then pray for reconciliation and/or what it will take for the other person to seek forgiveness.  You can forgive - but that is only one step towards reconciliation.

Who is your favorite comedian?

The other day the DgiSon asked me, "Mom, who is your favorite comedian?"  I thought for awhile and realized.

It's Mitch.




Rest in peace, Mitch.

Once while driving with my brother, he and I were talking about Hedberg and I came up with a joke he might have written:

I once went into the woods.  I met an elk.  But it was cool, because he was both benevolent and protective.

Saturday shooting . . .

Okay, just got back from shooting Mudsanity, which was a mud run in an absolutely gorgeous setting on Lake Frances in Crossville, TN.  Friggin' awesome - if you consider yourself an extreme athlete, and you want to see some of the damn prettiest countryside around, come next year and do the course.

But . . . just enough time to change because now it is on to St. Joseph School's Fall Festival.  Cathojournalism powers, ignite!

(Pictures later?  Of course!)

Aquatherapy

It works for me.

I had this t-shirt made up for me (thank you, Cafepress) because my daily routine has really helped me.

To do what?  Well, feel better physically, for one.  I have been building muscle, such that now I have the stamina to go 1.5 miles a day and feel great doing so.  I notice that much like a "runner's high" that I would experience when I was younger and ran, there is a "swimmer's high" that occurs when suddenly it seems legs, arms, torso and breathing all synch and you get a comfortable zen feeling.  Those are the times you think, hell yeah, the English Channel, why not?

Well . . . shipping lanes, sea creatures, bad weather and cold water, that's why not.

But the psychological benefits are great.  My mind drifts as I swim and when I let myself go and just feel the water, that is, instead of worrying whether my arms are at the proper angle, I check in to see if I have a sense of easy movement through the water, I am a mermaid.  I am graceful.  I don't feel like a water buffalo hulking along.  When I finish, I am fatigued but not sore - the only person I have to prove anything to is me, and I feel accomplished when I hit the hot shower afterward.  I use my time swimming to plan my day, solve problems, and pray.  And there is nothing to distract me as I get into my rhythm.

The other day, a woman stopped me in the locker room.  "I watched you swim," she said.  "You make it look effortless!"  I thanked her. That gave me a glow.

Except . . . they can, Joe

"Now they're going to defund Planned Parenthood which under law cannot perform any abortion."

Liar or ignoramus?

Planned Parenthood does, in fact, perform abortions.  I have done my time outside of the Planned Parenthood in Orange, CA by the intersection of Tustin Avenue and the 22 Freeway, where abortions - terminations of pregnancies - are performed.  In fact, on several occasions, the paramedics had to be summoned to the facility when a procedure has gone wrong.  The paramedics?  What do you think they are coming for, a nose bleed?

Who's ready?

H/T to Time Magazine

Legal Advice as to your Last Will and Testament

Because I'm a giver . . .



I, ____________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/doctors/hospitals interested in simply running up the bills.

If after a reasonable amount of time passes, and I fail to ask for: (Check appropriate items) ______a Martini ______a Margarita ____ a Scotch and soda ______a Bloody Mary or a beer ______a Gin and Tonic _______a Glass of Chardonnay ______a Steak ______Lobster or crab legs ______the TV remote control ______a bowl of ice cream ______the sports page______ Sex Or______Chocolate . . .

It should be presumed that I won't ever get any better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, and call it a day. At this point, it is time to call the New Orleans Jazz Funeral Band to come and do their thing at my funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise their glasses to toast the good times we have had.

Signature:__________________________ Date: _________________

*P.S.: I hear that in Ireland there is a Nursing Home with a Pub. The patients are happier, and they have a lot more visitors. Some of them don't even need embalming when their time comes. If anyone knows the name of this happy place, PLEASE pass it on.

Amendment #1:
Should I become incapacitated as described above, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PULL THE PLUG until after I have voted against Barack Obama by absentee ballot in the November 2012 election.

Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________

Amendment #2:
If Barack Obama accidentally gets re- elected just KINDLY PULL THE PLUG AS SOON AS POSSIBLE !!!

Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________


True Story:  during the election campaign of 2008, my mother was dying of terminal cancer.  A staunch, lifelong Republican, she said to me one day, "Listen, I'm dying . . . so I'm gonna take one for the team."  When I asked her what she meant, she said that if Obama won, she was going to pack her senior mobility scooter with C4 explosives and drive it (it had a maximum speed of 3 MPH) to Washington D.C., and "blow him up" during the inauguration.  Mom died November 30, 2008.

Live to ride, ride to live, Ma!

"I’ve been kissed by dogs, I’ve been bit by dogs" - the alternate reality of pedophiles

A defiant Sandusky gave a rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.

“I’ve forgiven, I’ve been forgiven. I’ve comforted others, I’ve been comforted. I’ve been kissed by dogs, I’ve been bit by dogs,” he said. “I’ve conformed, I’ve also been different. I’ve been me. I’ve been loved, I’ve been hated.”


His statement also included numerous sports references: He said he once told his wife “we’re definitely in the fourth quarter” and he referenced the movie “Seabiscuit.”

He also spoke of instances in which he said he helped children.


Recently, my cousin, Officer JK, visited us here on Dog Hill.  He is a veteran police officer and one who has been involved in complex investigations.  Officer JK is also from Pennsylvania, and so the Penn State scandal came up in conversation.

My cousin has had a significant number of cases involving pedophiles.  He mentioned that a factor often seen is the lack of remorse of many offenders because they simply do not believe they have done anything wrong.  It is the world that fails to understand that they were not hurting their victims, in fact, could not hurt them because they, the offenders, loved the children so much.  You will recall that in his trial, it was shown that Sandusky even wrote love letters to his victims.  How could the world brand them as monsters?  Their hearts were for these children.  I am reminded about my conversation with Officer JK when I read Sandusky's statement at his sentencing.

And, what about the children?

“I am troubled with flashbacks of his naked body, something that will never be erased from my memory,” he said. “Jerry has harmed children, of which I am one of them.”

I discussed with my cousin a case I know of, where a man, now grown, was sexually abused by his father as a boy, but had never had therapy for it and had never talked about it with any family members, afraid to hurt them.  My cousin had seen such cases like that and said there could never be peace for that person until he talked about it with a professional.

And so, too, with the family; even if unspoken, as my cousin has seen, such abuse occurring in the household is known by the other parent and therapy restores peace to them for the years of denial they have lived with.  A woman whose husband leaves the marital bed to go into a child's room on a regular basis knows (and when the mother treats her child's problems that likely stem from the abuse - extreme shyness, stuttering, problems with bed wetting and urination during the day - by adopting some self-help methods rather than take the child to a professional, it is likely she was hiding dark facts or suspicions).

In the case of child abuse, silence is deadly.  I have no sympathy for the "tarnish" on Joe Paterno's record - those who would harbor or excuse evil share in the culpability.  How often have you heard someone say, "Oh, don't bring that up - it will just cause 'trouble?'"  Speak the truth; uncover the darkness.

A child could be depending on you.  Even if you have been the victim, your story might prevent another.

“Being tepid is the greatest danger for Christians.  We pray that faith becomes like a fire in us and that it will set alight others.”

        -- Pope Benedict XVI

A Glorious Anniversary - Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Che, Goodbye!

Forty-five years ago today . . . Ernesto "Che" Guevara assumed room temperature.

I say, let's all have a drink!

"When you saw the beaming look on Che's face as his victims were tied to the stake and blasted apart by the firing squad," said a former Cuban political prisoner to this writer, "you saw there was something seriously, seriously wrong with Che Guevara."

As commander of the La Cabana execution yard, Che often shattered the skull of the condemned man (or boy) by firing the coup de grace himself. When other duties tore him away from his beloved execution yard, he consoled himself by viewing the slaughter. Che's second-story office in La Cabana had a section of wall torn out so he could watch his darling firing-squads at work.

A Rumanian journalist named Stefan Bacie visited Cuba in early 1959 and was fortunate enough to get an audience with the already quasi-famous "Che" Guevara. Upon entering Castro's chief executioner's office, Bacie noticed Che motioning him over to the office's newly constructed window. Bacie got there just in time to hear the command of FUEGO! hear the blast from the firing squad and see a condemned prisoner crumple and convulse.

The stricken journalist immediately left and composed a poem, titled, "I No Longer Sing of Che." ("I no longer sing of Che any more than I would of Stalin," go the first lines.)

This hero of Hollywood, the Occupy movement, and uneducated college youth - especially those of Hispanic heritage who want to hold this man as some Roberto Hood for themselves - was naught but a murderous thug.  As the article points out, Robert Redford was quite selective in which parts of Che's motorcycle diaries' he chose to include, omitting the entries evidencing a sociopath.

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How stupid are people?  When actor Benicio Del Toro was interviewed about his role playing Che, he had this to say about the man:

"So I went to a library and I was looking at books, and I came across a picture by René Burri of Che, smiling, in fatigues, I thought, 'Dammit, this guy is cool-looking!'"

"He was killed like a war criminal, man, and he was not a war criminal. He should have been given a fair trial." He puffs on his cigar. "Ah oh! Here we go. Bring it on! Cha-cha-cha," he says, like a boxer psyching himself up before a fight. "It reminds me of a mafia hit, the way he was killed, because nobody wanted to take the blame. I think the fact that he was killed like that gave me a bit of extra drive to say, 'This story has to be told.' There was something about the way he was killed that really put the flame up my asssssss." 

I wonder if Del Toro knows how many people did not get a fair trial from Che - and how many would like their story to be told.   But they simply cannot be merchandised; no useful idiot will buy a simple straw hat whn they can get a cool black beret with a STAR on it.  Fierce!

So, I say, let's celebrate la revolucion, but the real one - the one that liberated this Earth of a pitiful man such as Che through his extermination at the hands of the CIA.  The man who once shot a pregnant woman in the stomach because her father refused to give him information.  The man who said, "It is better to die standing up than live on your knees," and yet at his moment of death, cried and begged the men who found him not to kill him, trying to convince them he was more valuable alive to them than dead - meaning he would betray his comrades to save his own neck.  

I cannot say where Che is currently, but I am hoping it's warm.  Very, very warm.

Hipster Virgin Mary is reminding you . . .

Last night, I was talking to a former Baptist who mentioned how when he was growing up, at his church the mere mention of the Virgin Mary would get people angry and children hushed.

With that still on my mind, I posted this on Facebook today:

Hmmm ... why do some Protestants give much honor to St. Paul - not that it is undeserved - who did not even know Christ personally while He was on Earth . . . but go out of their way to ignore Christ's own Mother?

One of the answers I got from a lapsed Catholic who now considers himself to be a "diehard Calvinist" was this:

I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean in a biblical sense, Paul did author a significant portion of the New Testament, so naturally he plays a prominent role. We have few words of Mary recorded in Scripture, apart from the magnificat. And while Paul only met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, his authority as an apostle was recognized by the other apostles who did walk with Jesus during his earthly life, including Peter.

Mary shouldn't be ignored. She plays a significant role in bringing the Savior into the world. But as a Protestant, I only give her the honor due to her in Scripture. Neither Jesus nor the apostles elevate her to a different role. Only later tradition assigns her a higher role. Think about it this way: When is the last time you heard a reading at Mass from, say, the Second Letter of Mary to the Corinthians? Or, for that matter, where do Paul or Peter exhort the churches to pay special honor to Mary?

I give her the same honor I would grant to any other servant of God in Scripture, excluding the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus, in his earthly life, didn't write a book either. That's not my point. My point is that she doesn't play as central a role in the New Testament as has been assigned to her via tradition over the centuries.

I cannot agree - it is not a case of word count, since some words count more than others.  So in the spirit of both evangelization and levity, I made this friend these and tagged him on it.

BTW, when I pointed out that his self-imposed excommunication does not undo the seal of Baptism (nor, for that matter, a proper Bull of Excommunication), he shot back with:

So do you consider Martin Luther and John Calvin Roman Catholic?

My answer?

Of course.  They're in a shared category with you and Madonna.  And Tom Cruise.

No response yet to my memes.