Christmas Story?

It suddenly dawned on me that I had not started working on a Christmas story or poem as I normally do by this time of the year. Nor do I even have an idea for one.

I dug out one of the entries from my draft of "Santa's Diary." It's the story of one of the replacement reindeer almost causing an accident while in flight. It might just work, though I'll look at some o the other entries to see if one of them might work.

So unless I have aa sudden inspiration, a "Diary" entry might just be my offering this year.

Pax et bonum

Two Clerihews

Matthew Perry,
boarded Charon’s ferry.
As Charon pushed off, Perry was heard to crack.
“That parachute really WAS a knapsack.”


Taylor Swift
has an annoying gift
for always creating a hit song
out of yet another relationship gone wrong.

Pax et bonum

One Reading Goal Met

One of my goals for the year was to read 60-70  books.

I hit 60 yesterday when I finished The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells.

This book was not on any of my lists, though I did plan to read more Wells. But the Friends of the Gates Public Library had a fundraiser in which one donated some money to buy a mystery bag with candy and a book in it. The bag I chose happened to have The Invisible Man in it, so when I cast aside Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty (see previous post), I picked up the Wells book.

I was also curious to see how it compared with the classic 1933 movie. I've always enjoyed the movie - especially all the scene stealing the delightful Una O'Connor perpetrated.

Obviously, the movie left out some parts and characters. And being a movie in the 1930's, it added some romance. 

I enjoyed the book. There were a number of elements not included in the movie that helped to add some depth. The ending is similar, but handled differently. But still, the movie did do justice to the book.

Now starting The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany, a book for a reading group I'm joining.

At my current rate, it seems likely I'll finish 65-70 books this year. I might even beat last year's 66.

Pax et bonum

Lonesome Dove: Won't Finish

Lonesome Dove was a highly regraded miniseries. I did not watch it all, but I saw parts of it, and I've always appreciated the acting of Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. Then I spotted the novel by Larry McMurtry on a couple of lists of the best American novels of recent years. So I decided to give it a read.

I stopped part way through.

For me to read a book, I need to care about at least one character, or it has to have a really interesting plot or premise. It also has to avoid offending my prudish standards when it comes to content or language.

This book just seemed to drift along, and I really didn't warm up to any of the characters. It also offended my "prude" test. Not blatantly, but enough to turn me off. 

Oh, maybe if I gave it more time it might overcome my objections, but I have better things to do with my time.

It's now in the "Return To The Library" pile. 

I shifted to The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells instead. Enjoying that much more..

Pax et bonum

Britney Spears

Britney Spears
acknowledged her abortion with crocodile tears.
After all, she explained, she only killed her child for the sake
of the wishes of Justin Timberlake.

(Not pc, but she is making money off her memoirs, so ...)

Pax et bonum

Some Books to Read

A few weeks back I couldn't get to sleep. For some reason, I decided to compile a list of books I wanted to read or reread after finishing the ones I was currently reading (but not particularly enjoying), two Jane Austen books, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

Among the titles on that late-night list were:

The Name of the Rose by Umbero Eco

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

Eclipse of the Sun by Michael O'Brien

The Citadel by Louis deWohl

The Keys of the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden 

Some are heavier than others. Some I'll have to be in the right mood to read. 

But I've already knocked off Rose and Eden! Great reads. 

Just got Cannery and Lonesome out of the library. I have Brede, Citadel, Moby, and Grapes on my shelves.

Onward!

Pax et bonum

Oh those deplorable pro-lifers

This morning a group of us were praying in front of Planned Parenthood, as we do every Saturday morning.

As we pray, a few of us hold signs with messages like "Love Will End Abortion."  We greet everyone who walks by; we smile and wave to passing cars.

Among the people to whom we regularly smile and wave is State Senator Jeremy Cooney. My state senator. Who happens to live across from Planned Parenthood.

Yes, he's a pro-abortion Democrat, but we treat him with the same respect we do everyone. The men and women victimized by Planned Parenthood. The Planned Parenthood workers. The neighbors. The people who come to the nearby pregnancy center for food and help. The people passing by, including those giving us the finger or yelling swears at us.  

He and his wife seemed to be packing their car this morning for a trip. He drove off, perhaps to pick up something, then returned few minutes later. Both times, we smiled and waved.

He ignored us. As he has done every time I've seen him.

Finally, as he was about to leave he approached one of the police cars that are always there, smiled, and made a dismissive gesture toward us as he started to talk to the officer.

Hmm.

Maybe he thought we were deplorables. Maybe he thought we needed deprogramming. Maybe he thought people with ideas with which he disagrees are worthy only of disdain.

Still, when he and his wife started to drive away we smiled and waved.

As we will continue to do. We wish them well.

After all, Love Will End Abortion and Convert Hearts.

Pax et bonum

Transitus 2023

October 3, Glory of the Most High and Immaculate Heart of Mary fraternities held their annual Transitus Mass and celebration, this year at St. Leo’s Church in Hilton, where Father Joe Catanise was the celebrant. During the Mass, Father exorcised and blessed salt and oil, and blessed food items donated for the needy. The celebration included food and fellowship, There was also an opportunity to pray before relics of Saint Francis and Saint Clare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  

 

 

 

Pax et bonum

Litany of Light

Litany of Light
By Carrie Gress, Ph.D.

 

It has become something of a nightly routine for one of my children to wake me up between 2-4 a.m. I can often get back to sleep quickly, but on one of those nights I found it difficult. I started thinking about all of the things that need prayer and charity in this world. “If only I could bring some light to these places,” I thought, feeling limited by my humanity and vocation to the four tiny souls entrusted to my care. 

Over this last year, I have been studying beauty and the role of light in medieval thought. Through the likes of St. Hildegard of Bingen, Bishop Robert Grosseteste, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas and others, I have come to appreciate anew the role that Christ’s light plays here on Earth. Christ as the light of the world is a major theme of medieval thought. We have lost a sense of light’s importance in our own day largely because we can easily chase the dark away with the flip of a switch. This is, however, a relatively new development, even if most of us never experienced life any other way. But the medievals were fascinated by light, by the gift of it and by its transforming power physically, morally and spiritually. They spent copious amounts of precious ink trying to articulate the profound relationship between light and God, and what we can learn about the latter from the former.

So there in the darkness in the wee hours of the night, the thought hit me that even if I can’t go to these places and help, I could ask the Source of all light to go to them. I realized that I could send Christ to illuminate the very dark corners of the earth. The Litany of Light below is the fruit of these meager prayers. The saints included were all champions of sorts of Christ’s light. And the places of great darkness will be familiar to us all, in one form or another. Bishop Liam Cary, of the Diocese of Baker in Oregon, has graciously given it his imprimatur. 

As our world seems to descend into greater darkness, we can be confident that our Advocate and Savior is with us and that He is “the light that shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

 

V. Lord, have mercy on us.
R. Christ, have mercy on us. 
V. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. 
R. Christ, graciously hear us. 
V. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

 

Christ, Light of the World, hear us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Mother of the New Dawn, pray for us.

Holy Trinity, source of all light, illuminate the darkness in our world:
To the minds of those dimmed by sin, bring your light.
To the hearts of those gripped by pornography, bring your light.
To those suffering depression or mental illness, bring your light.
To the souls enslaved by substance abuse, bring your light.
To those burdened by same-sex attraction, bring your light.
To those gripped by anxiety and fear, bring your light.
To the hearts of those who mourn, bring your light.
To the souls and bodies of abusers and the abused, bring your light.
To those with no place to call home, bring your light.
To those intent on killing in the name of God, bring your light.
To abortion clinics, bring your light.
To brothels and human-trafficking locations, bring your light.
To hospitals, pharmacies and nursing homes, bring your light.
To classrooms of despair, confusion and falsehood, bring your light.
To violent and drug-infested streets, bring your light.
To war-torn territories, bring your light.
To lands darkened, flooded, or destroyed by natural disasters, bring your light.
Wherever there is confusion, despair, loneliness and anger, bring your light.

St. Joseph, pray for us.
St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us.
St. Lucy, pray for us.
St. Augustine, pray for us.
St. Hildegard of Bingen, pray for us.
St. Clare, pray for us.
St. Albert the Great, pray for us.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
St. Bonaventure, pray for us.
All the Choirs of Angels, pray for us.
Mary, Light in the Darkness, pray for us.

V. Light of the World, who take away the sins of the world,
R. spare us, O Lord.
V. Light of the World, who take away the sins of the world,
R. graciously hear us, O Lord.
V. Light of the World, who take away the sins of the world,
R. have mercy on us.

Amen.

Imprimatur: The Most Reverend Liam Cary, Bishop of Baker, Oregon

Wonderful prayer!

Pax et bonum