The Reading Tally - Midyear

I began the year with  goal of reading at least 80 books.

At midpoint in the year, I've already read 53 books. That projects to 106 books for the year.

My goals included at least 12 Shakespeare plays - I'm up to 8 - and 12 mysteries - the total so far is 16.

By way of comparison, last year I read 55 books for the entire year.

Here's the 2021 list so far:

Haiku: A Poet’s Guide by Lee Gurga

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance - collected, with original poems, by Nikki Grimes

Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Verses

The Essence of Modern Haiku: 300 Poems by Seishi Yamaguchi

Adelaide Crapsey by Mary Elizabeth Osborn

Times Three by Phyllis McGinley

Haiku Inspirations by Tom Lowenstein

The Complete Nonsense Books of Edward Lear

Love Poems for the Very Married by Lois Wyse

New Hampshire by Robert Frost

Mountain Interval by Robert Frost

Outlaws of Ravenhurst by Sister M Imelda Wallace, S.L.

The Amulet of Power (Will Wilder #3) by Raymond Arroyo

Assisi: Three Guided Itineraries to the Town by Adriano Cioci and Rizia Guarnieri

Laudato Si by Pope Francis

Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton

The Soul’s Journey into God by Saint Bonaventure

Everyday Epiphanies: Seeing the Sacred in Every Thing by Sister Melannie Svoboda, SND

Lord of the World by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson

The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton

The Ghost Walker by Margaret Coel

The Incredulity of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

Trent’s Last Case by E. C. Bentley

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (Elizabeth MacKintosh)

The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman

Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman

The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman

The Wailing Wind  by Tony Hillerman

Hunting Badger by Tony Hillerman

The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman

Before She Dies by Steven F. Havill

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Curtain by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change in a Wounded World by Lila Rose

Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America by David Horowitz
Our Only Home by the Dalai Lama and Franz Alt

40 Days for Life by David Bereit and Shawn Carney
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
Henry IV Part II by William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

The Life and Death of King John by William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Richard II by William Shakespeare

The Happily Ever After by Avi Steinberg

Onward!

Pax et bonum

Shakespeare Tally at Midpoint in the Year

I set a goal of 12 Shakespeare plays this year. With Troilus and Cressida, I'm up to 8.

It was not a great play - though the Trojan War setting was appealing. This play was almost like an anti-Romeo and Juliet! The leads are unlikable, as are many of the  other characters. And though it's often listed as a Comedy, I disagree. It does not end happily with marriage, just fornication and infidelity and miserable characters. But it's not really a History, or a Tragedy (unless you count the horrible death of Hector at the hands of a really despicable Achilles and the Myrmidons). So I'm not sure what to call it, other than a Shakespeare play! 

I'm now up to 22 of Shakespeare's credited 38 plays.

Troilus and Cressida

Henry VIII

Henry IV Part II

Antony and Cleopatra

The Life and Death of King John

Twelfth Night

The Tragedy of Richard II

As You Like It

Richard III
The Taming of the Shrew
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Merchant of Venice
Henry IV Part I
Henry V
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
The Winter’s Tale

The Tempest.     . 

Pax et bonum

How to Drive Away Church Volunteers

I play in a volunteer church band that leads music at Masses about once a month - though with the pandemic we have not played in more than a year. I also play Santa for our parish Christmas celebration

This summer, the parish notified volunteers that if they are involved with any ministries that involve young people the volunteers must undergo some CASE (Creating A Safe Environment) training and sign a code of conduct, and undergo a background check. 

By way of background, our diocese was sued by a number of people for alleged sexual abuse committed decades ago. The diocese really cleaned out the misbehaving priests 20 years ago, and there have not been any offenses committed in years, but the state dropped the statute of limitations for a spell allowing massive numbers of lawsuits against dioceses across the state. Our diocese ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection. 

So the diocese is paranoid about future lawsuits. Hence even volunteers have to be cleared. I understand that caution. I did a form of the CASE training a few years back, so I contacted the person in charge of it at our parish to find out what I needed to do. This was her response:

"Attached is the information for doing the online training along with the code of conduct and background check form. 

 

For the background check: You can complete the form and our office submits the information, or it can be done electronically where I send the company your email and they contact you or if you have an enhanced license or passport, you can make a copy, complete the form but do not need to give your SS#.

Once you complete the training, you will need to give me the completion certificate, code of conduct form and let me know how you would like to do the background check."

Wait? Background check with photocopies of documents, or even my Social Security number???

I responded: "Hmmm. What a pain! Is this required to play with Rock of Faith?"  

She responded to that with: 

"Per the Diocese:

All volunteers need to be CASE trained. They have provided an exemption for Money Counters and Committee members IF there are no youths/children on the committee and the committee meets when no youths/children around. Additionally, women and men’s groups that meet when no youths/children around and no youths/children in the group. Additionally, the exemption goes away if a vulnerable adult is a part of the committee."

And I responded: 

"I know, it's not your fault. It's kind of a sad state! 

Heck, I had to do this sort of thing to work full-time as a teacher, but this is just to volunteer, and in my case, just to play at Mass about once a month. I understand the diocese is paranoid about potential future lawsuits, but it's almost like they are making it harder for people to volunteer. In my case, I've got 25 years of teaching, about 15 years as a professional Santa, and years in human services behind me. 

So I take it no one can volunteer to play Santa at the parish unless they do this?" 

She replied: "Yes, whoever is Santa will need the training as well."

At that point, I wrote a lengthier reflection:

"Just by way of explanation - 

This is more than just me being cranky - though, of course, I do tend to be cranky!

If it was just a matter of the training - which I have done before - I would not have had a problem. Even the volunteer statement would be fine.

It's the background check, requiring photocopies of documents like my passport, or my Social Security number, that crossed the line.  That seems intrusive.

I'm a very private person by nature. I don't like people sticking their noses in my business if I don't see it as absolutely necessary.  Moreover, I like to keep things simple. For a paying job I need and really want, okay, if I have to jump through hoops I will. But to volunteer? 

And I've just spent weeks correcting an instance of fraud in which someone used my name and Social Security number to open a checking account and apply for unemployment insurance. I got it stopped before any harm was done, but I'm leery of letting out my information. I don't shop online and try to avoid doing business online, so they must have gotten my number from one of the places where I had to supply it. One of those possible places was the diocese, where I applied for my pension last year! Was it from there they got it? Probably not, but I don't know. So I'm cautious.

Plus, I see potential problems with this policy. Some folks like me don't like to make things complicated, so they might decide volunteering is not worth the hassles. And I just got a message from a friend whose grandchild, a teen who sang well and even had some vocal training, was stopped from joining a choir at church because it would have forced all the members of the choir to get the CASE training. I hate to see young people, the future of the church, discouraged.  Will there be other instances like this?

Further, having been around for a while, I've seen too often instances when authorities mandated something, or some fad policy was put into effect, and everyone tried to comply, then the mandate or fad gradually faded away. (Don't get me started on educational fads!) Who knows what a new pastor or a new bishop might say in a few months. And I suspect that not all places will interpret in exactly the same way how to apply the mandate - as happened with the inoculated people/mask policy just recently."

She responded to that with:

"You are not the first person who has expressed their opinion regarding this new policy.  I don't know about other parishes but since I am the CASE coordinator and responsible for our volunteers and records on each volunteer, I will be adhering to the mandated policy at the present time.  All parishes do have to complete an annual CASE report for the diocese."  

The thing is, the training is okay - it does identify some actions that even though innocent might be viewed as inappropriate. But the background check and the documents, for volunteers seems to me to go too far. Moreover, individuals who prey on young people are often deceptive and clever, and have not been caught previously, so all this is not likely to achieve much more than providing legal cover for the diocese. 

In addition, the parish has been excessive in its safety measures during the pandemic. Our Franciscan Fraternity used to meet at the parish, but all the facilities there got locked down last March, and have not reopened for meetings. We shifted our Fraternity to a nearby private chapel, and have been able to meet since last September. If we were still based at the parish, we STILL would not have met. And when the diocese relaxed the mask rules in early June, allowing people who had been vaccinated to attend Mass without masks, many parishes did allow this, but my parish kept the mask requirement in place for several more weeks. I ended up going to church elsewhere. It seems as if my parish is too rigid to the point of being irrational.

I say "my parish," but to be honest, my wife has been agitating to move to a different one for a while, but I held out because of the band. With the possibility I will not be able to play at the parish with the band again - or at least not for the near future - that tie is gone. We've decided to explore other parishes for a while and may ultimately register elsewhere.

(I had written about parish concerns previously.)

Pax et bonum

A Father's Day Post - Secular Franciscan Fathers

In light of today being Father’s Day, we honor all Secular Franciscans over the centuries who have been fathers. Some of those Secular Franciscan fathers have also been recognized by the Catholic Church as Saints and Blesseds. Among those are Saint. Ferdinand III of Castile, Saint Thomas More (whose feast day is this Tuesday). Saint Louis IX (a Patron of the Secular Franciscan Order), and Saint Louis Martin (the father of Saint Therese of Lisieux).

 

Ferdinand and his first wife Beatrice had 10 children. When she died, he married again and he and his second wife Jane had three children. As a king, he was a great administrator and a man of deep faith, with a strong devotion to Mary. He founded hospitals, and bishoprics, monasteries, churches and cathedrals during his reign. Her also compiled and reformed a code of laws which were used until the modern era. Ferdinand fought to free parts of Spain from the Moors, and rebuilt the Cathedral of Burgos and changed the mosque in Seville into a Cathedral. He was a just ruler, frequently pardoning former offenders to his throne. 

 

More is famous for his support of the Catholic Church and his refusal to accept Henry VIII’s break with the Church – for which More was later executed, becoming a martyr.

 

But long before his death, he was a man of deep faith. Early in life he considered a religious vocation, but chose instead to marry and become a Secular Franciscan. He and his first wife had four children, and family life included daily prayer, and, unusual for the time, education for his daughters.

 

While imprisoned shortly before his death, More wrote a letter to his daughter Margaret, concluding it with, “And, therefore, my own good daughter, do not let your mind be troubled over anything that shall happen to me in this world. Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that be, however bad it may seem, it shall indeed be the best.”

 

King Louis IX is a Patron of the Secular Franciscan Order. He and his wife Margaret had 11 children. He reformed the legal system in France, and was a leader in two Crusades, the Seventh and the Eighth, dying of disease during the latter.

 

King Louis was noted for his holiness, He was also known for his charity. Beggars were fed from his table, he ate their leavings, washed their feet, ministered to the wants of the lepers, and daily fed over one hundred poor. He founded many hospitals, a home for reformed prostitutes; a home for blind men, and supported the construction of a number of churches.

 

In a famous letter he reportedly wrote to his son, the future King Philip III, he said “…the first thing I advise is that you fix your whole heart upon God, and love Him with all your strength, for without this no one can be saved or be of any worth.

 

You should, with all your strength, shun everything which you believe to be displeasing to Him. And you ought especially to be resolved not to commit mortal sin, no matter what may happen and should permit all your limbs to be hewn off, and suffer every manner of torment, rather than fall knowingly into mortal sin.

 

 If our Lord send you any adversity, whether illness or other in good patience, and thank Him for it, thing, you should receive it in good patience and be thankful for it, for you ought to believe that He will cause everything to turn out for your good; …”

 

Louis Martin and his wife and fellow saint Zelie Martin had nine children, five of whom lived to adulthood and became women religious – including Saint Therese of Lisieux.

 

Both Louis and Zelie were drawn to religious life, but were frustrated in their attempts, and instead met and married. The two Secular Franciscans created a family life rooted in faith – as evidence by their daughters all entering religious life. They never worked on Sunday. They carried out various works of mercy, and were generous with time and money towards the poor in the community. They always prayed for the souls of those who had died, and went out of their way to help dying people receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and Last Rites. They followed the Church’s guidelines of fasting and abstinence, supplementing them with further voluntary mortifications. As a couple, they attended 5:30 a.m. daily Mass. Saint Louis was very devoted to making pilgrimages and participating in all-night vigils in reparation for the loss of the Catholic faith in France at his time.

 

Saints Ferdinand, Thomas, King Louis, Louis Martin, and all Secular Franciscan father saints, pray for us.  

Pax et bonum

"Marriage Coherence" (satire from Jeff Miler)

From: Conference of the School of Prophets

To: John the Baptist

Dear John,

Having heard your preaching on the topic of marriage worthiness and other issues, we request that further dialog with Herod Antipas be postponed until we can all meet together in person. The serious nature of these issues - especially the imperative to forge substantive unity - makes it impossible to address them productively in the fractured and isolated current setting. The high standard of consensus among ourselves, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and others is far from being achieved in the present moment.

We are concerned that your weaponizing marriage does not follow sound theological and pastoral advice or create a new path for moving forward. We take this opportunity to re-envision the best collegial structure for achieving that. We are concerned that you have lost your head and are acting rashly. We consider this a breach of rules and customs with this lack of collegial consultation before addressing governing bodies and tetrarchs.

We look forward to dialoguing on "Marriage Coherence" and assure you of our prayerful and fraternal best wishes.

Signed,

Blaise bar Cupich

Pax et bonum

The Cracked Spine (Paige Shelton)

I read The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton for several reasons.

First, it's a mystery, and I want to see what some contemporary mystery writers are doing.

Second, it's set in Scotland, and I'm currently exploring my Scottish roots.

Third, it's the first book in a series, and I wanted to see how a writer establishes characters and situations as I consider writing my own mystery story that could be part of a series.

Fourth, it's set in a bookstore, and I obviously have a thing for book! 

Finally, I compiled a list of Scottish-based mysteries and this one was one of the few on the list that were at my local library.

So I took it out. As I read, I kept thinking this was like a weak Aurora Teagarden mystery, melded with Outlander - the protagonist is certainly fixated on a manly-man wearing a kilt who will obviously appear in the series as a manly-man love interest who wears kilts.

Did I mention there's a manly-man wearing a kilt? The author certainly makes a point of mentioning it several times.

Now being like an Aurora Teagarden mystery is not all that bad. There are some good one in that series.

But this book has too many plot holes, poor character development, and situations and actions that are not credible. Overall, it's a pretty weak mystery story.

And what's with the protagonist hearing books talk???

But worst of all, the book violates one of the major fair-play for readers rules. I won't elaborate, but I found myself at the end thinking, "Oh, come on." 

Was it worth reading? Yes, especially for reasons 2 and 3. And it wasn't awful; I've certainly read worse books. But it's not a book that inspires me to run out and read more in the series. Maybe eventually I will, but I have other mystery irons in the fire.

Pax et bonum

St. Clare in action!

Pax et bonum

Hey, you!

Pax et bonum

Reading - Mostly On Target

I recently read Outlaws of Ravenhurst by Sister M. Imelda Wallace, S. I, a YA novel from 1923!

I enjoyed it, and it also marked my 50th book for the year. With a goal of 80 books, I'm already well on my way to surpassing that total - and I still haven't reached the mid point of the year.

I've read 7 Shakespeare plays. My goal is 12 or more for the year, so I'm doing fine there.

I set a goal of 12 mystery novels/books for the year. I've already read 15!

Where I'm falling short is with my Bible goal. I began March 29 with a goal of reading the entire Bible in a year. That required read three pages a day. By this point I should have read about 240 pages. Alas, I've fallen far short. Leviticus proved tough sledding! I need to pick up the pace.

As for current reading, I'm working through The Pickwick Papers, part of my unofficial goal to read more  Charles Dickens. For spiritual reading, I'm working my way through From the Angel's Blackboard: The Best of Fulton J. Sheen. And combining Scottish and mystery interests, I'm reading The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton. The book is the first in a series, so it is for me also research about how to introduce a series and characters.

On the waiting pile are:

Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare)

Thistles and Thieves by Molly MacRae (mystery and Scotland)

The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman (the mystery that introduced his Navajo series)

The Quiet Light by Louis de Wohl (I've enjoyed his novelized saints' lives, and this will prepare me for Chesterton's biography of St. Thomas Aquinas I'll be reading this fall as part of the Rochester Chesterton Society group reading)

At my current pace, I may have 52 books read by the end of June, and, projected over a full year, more than 100 books. 

Pax et bonum

Saint Joseph Cafasso

Saint Joseph Cafasso

Even as a young man, Joseph loved to attend Mass and was known for his humility and fervor in prayer. After his ordination, he was assigned to a seminary in Turin. There he worked especially against the spirit of Jansenism—an excessive preoccupation with sin and damnation. He used the works of Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Alphonsus Liguori to moderate the rigorism popular at the seminary.

Joseph recommended membership in the Secular Franciscan Order to priests. He urged devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and encouraged daily Communion. In addition to his teaching duties, Joseph was an excellent preacher, confessor, and retreat master. Noted for his work with condemned prisoners, he helped many of them die at peace with God.

Joseph urged one of his former pupils—Saint John Bosco—to establish the Salesians congregation to work with the youth of Turin. Joseph Cafasso died in 1860, and was canonized in 1947. His liturgical feast is celebrated on June 23.

Pax et bonum

Venerable Matt Talbot

Venerable Matt Talbot

Matt can be considered the patron of men and women struggling with alcoholism. He was born in Dublin, where his father worked on the docks and had a difficult time supporting his family. After a few years of schooling, Matt obtained work as a messenger for some liquor merchants; there he began to drink excessively. For 15 years—until he was almost 30—Matt was an active alcoholic.

One day he decided to take “the pledge” for three months, make a general confession and begin to attend daily Mass. There is evidence that Matt’s first seven years after taking the pledge were especially difficult. Avoiding his former drinking places was hard. He began to pray as intensely as he used to drink. He also tried to pay back people from whom he had borrowed or stolen money while he was drinking.

Most of his life Matt worked as a builder’s laborer. He joined the Secular Franciscan Order and began a life of strict penance; he abstained from meat nine months a year. Matt spent hours every night avidly reading Scripture and the lives of the saints. He prayed the rosary conscientiously. Though his job did not make him rich, Matt contributed generously to the missions.

After 1923, Matt's health failed, and he was forced to quit work. He died on his way to church on Trinity Sunday. Fifty years later, Pope Paul VI gave Matt Talbot the title venerable. His liturgical feast is celebrated on June 19.

Pax et bonum

Scottish Writers

As I explore my Scottish roots, I am looking for books by Scottish writers, or books that are set in Scotland.

In terms of Scottish writers, I've actually read some, though in some cases I forgot they were Scottish.

Some that I knew (and have read) are Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, George MacDonald, and  

Josephine Tey.

I knew, and plan to read some Walter Scott.

I forgot or did not know that Arthur Conan Doyle and A. J. Cronin were Scottish.

I've recently read some MacDonald (The Princes and the Goblin), Tey (The Daughter of Time), and Doyle (A Study in Scarlet), and planned to read more of them. I need to check out some of the others.

Pax et bonum

Putin Clerihew

There are rumors that Vladimir Putin
somehow has ties to Rasputin.
So it makes sense his followers shiver
when Vlad takes a dip in a river.

(In light of the news of the day)

Pax et bonum

Whippety Stourie - Scottish folktale

Whippety Stourie

Scottish Folktale

There was once a gentleman that lived in a very grand house, and he married a young lady that had been delicately brought up.  In her husband’s house she found everything that was fine—fine tables and chairs, fine looking-glasses, and fine curtains; but then her husband expected her to be able to spin twelve hanks o’ thread every day, besides attending to her house; and, to tell the even-down truth, the lady could not spin a bit.  This made her husband glunchy with her, and, before a month had passed, she found hersel’ very unhappy.

One day the husband gaed away upon a journey, after telling her that he expected her, before his return, to have not only learned to spin, but to have spun a hundred hanks o’ thread.  Quite downcast, she took a walk along the hillside, till she cam’ to a big flat stane, and there she sat down and grat.  By and by she heard a strain o’ fine sma’ music, coming as it were frae aneath the stane, and, on turning it up, she saw a cave below, where there were sitting six wee ladies in green gowns, ilk ane o’ them spinning on a little wheel, and singing, 

“Little kens my dame at hame
That Whippety Stourie is my name.”

 The lady walked into the cave, and was kindly asked by the wee bodies to take a chair and sit down, while they still continued their spinning.  She observed that ilk ane’s mouth was thrawn away to ae side, but she didna venture to speer the reason.  They asked why she looked so unhappy, and she telt them that it was she was expected by her husband to be a good spinner, when the plain truth was that she could not spin at all, and found herself quite unable for it, having been so delicately brought up; neither was there any need for it, as her husband was a rich man.

“Oh, is that a’?” said the little wifies, speaking out of their cheeks alike.

“Yes, and is it not a very good a’ too?” said the lady, her heart like to burst wi’ distress. 

“We could easily quit ye o’ that trouble,” said the wee women.  “Just ask us a’ to dinner for the day when your husband is to come back.  We’ll then let you see how we’ll manage him.”

 So the lady asked them all to dine with herself and her husband, on the day when he was to come back.

When the gudeman came hame, he found the house so occupied with preparations for dinner, that he had nae time to ask his wife about her thread; and, before ever he had ance spoken to her on the subject, the company was announced at the hall door.  The six ladies all came in a coach-and-six, and were as fine as princesses, but still wore their gowns of green.  The gentleman was very polite, and showed them up the stair with a pair of wax candles in his hand.  And so they all sat down to dinner, and conversation went on very pleasantly, till at length the husband, becoming familiar with them, said—

“Ladies, if it be not an uncivil question, I should like to know how it happens that all your mouths are turned away to one side?”

“Oh,” said ilk ane at ance, “it’s with our constant spin-spin-spinning.”

“Is that the case?” cried the gentleman; “then, John, Tam, and Dick, fie, go haste and burn every rock, and reel, and spinning-wheel in the house, for I’ll not have my wife to spoil her bonnie face with spin-spin-spinning.”

And so the lady lived happily with her gudeman all the rest of her days.

from - https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Scottish_folktale_6.html#gsc.tab=0

Pax et bonum

Outlaws of Ravenhurst (Sister Wallace)

Several people had praised Outlaws of Ravenhurst by Sister M. Imelda Wallace, S.L., so I got a copy of the Neumann Press 2015 republication of the book and added it to my pile of works to read.

I decided to dig it out a couple of days ago, realizing it was about Scotland, and I was going to attend a Celtic Faire over the weekend. Serendipity!

I enjoyed the book. It was an interesting story, I found the protagonist likable. And as a descendant of Scottish Catholics, I found the religious nature of the book and its exploration of Catholic persecution in Scotland (and Great Britain) intriguing.

The writing was not always smooth, and some plot elements seemed a stretch, but it was certainly much better as a story and morally than a lot of contemporary YA books.

I fear that because it is an older book - published in 1923 - with an older book style, and was very Catholic in nature, it will have only a limited audience. That's a shame. 

I'm thinking of passing it on to a middle school student I know who loves to read and is from a solid Catholic family.

I give this book a thumbs up.

Pax et bonum

Scottish Heritage - Stories and Music

The Good Looking One and I attended the one Celtic Faire at the Genesee Country Museum yesterday. Plenty of good music - Scottish and Irish - some storytelling, some Irish dancing, and so on. We had a grand time. 

One of the groups with a table was the Rochester Scottish Heritage Society. I didn't know the group existed, so we stopped by and had a lovely chat with one of the men at the table. He actually knew what I was talking about when I mentioned a Burns poem that provided a cat I had long ago (Seamus T. Ferlie - James the Wonder).

There's only a nominal fee to join. Hmmm.

My mother was from Scotland, and I know the clan to which we belong - MacMillan. According to Ancestry (at least according to their latest assessment of the DNA sample I submitted, I'm 54% Scottish and 29% Irish. I did make that vegetarian haggis, after all!

I had been part of the Irish Singers Sessions (pre-Covid) and had been doing Irish songs, but why not Scottish ones? And I was a professional storyteller - why not Scottish tales? I certainly would not make it as a bagpiper, but why not a Scottish folk singer and storyteller? A bard and a seanchaidh.

Certainly worth mulling over.

Pax et bonum

Saint Anthony of Padua

Saint Anthony of Padua (June 13)

 

The gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ was the rule of Saint Anthony of Padua’s life. Over and over again, God called him to something new in his plan. Every time Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more completely.

 

His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus himself: those who die for the Good News.

 

So Anthony entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Moors. But an illness prevented him from achieving that goal. He went to Italy and was stationed in a small hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.

 

The call of God came again at an ordination where no one was prepared to speak. The humble and obedient Anthony hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving him in poverty, chastity, and obedience had prepared Anthony to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.

 

Recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure those who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the sacraments..

 

After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made his headquarters in the city of Padua. He resumed his preaching and began writing sermon notes to help other preachers. In the spring of 1231 Anthony withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he had a sort of treehouse built as a hermitage. There he prayed and prepared for death.

 

On June 13, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua, where he died after receiving the last sacraments. Anthony was canonized less than a year later and named a Doctor of the Church in 1946.

Pax et bonum

Blessed Jolenta

Blessed Jolenta of Poland (June 12)

Jolenta was the daughter of Bela IV, King of Hungary. Her sister, St. Kunigunde, was married to the Duke of Poland. Jolenta was sent to Poland where her sister was to supervise her education. Eventually married to Boleslaus, the Duke of Greater Poland, Jolenta was able to use her material means to assist the poor, the sick, widows, and orphans. Her husband joined her in building hospitals, convents, and churches so that he was surnamed “the Pious.”

 

Upon the death of her husband and the marriage of two of her daughters, Jolenta and her third daughter entered the convent of the Poor Clares. War forced Jolenta to move to another convent where despite her reluctance, she was made abbess.

 

So well did Jolenta serve her Franciscan sisters by word and example, that her fame and good works continued to spread beyond the walls of the cloister. Her favorite devotion was the Passion of Christ. Indeed, Jesus appeared to her, telling her of her coming death. Many miracles, down to our own day, are said to have occurred at her grave.

 

Pax et bonum

Saint Joachima

Saint Joachima (June10?)

Born into an aristocratic family in Barcelona, Spain, Joachima was 12 when she expressed a desire to become a Carmelite nun. But her life took an altogether different turn at 16 with her marriage to a young lawyer, Theodore de Mas. Both deeply devout, they became secular Franciscans. During their 17 years of married life they raised eight children.

The normalcy of their family life was interrupted when Napoleon invaded Spain. Joachima had to flee with the children; Theodore remained behind and died. Though Joachima re-experienced a desire to enter a religious community, she attended to her duties as a mother. At the same time, the young widow led a life of austerity and chose to wear the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis as her ordinary dress. She spent much time in prayer and visiting the sick.

Four years later, with some of her children now married and younger ones under their care, Joachima confessed her desire to a priest to join a religious order. With his encouragement, she established the Carmelite Sisters of Charity. In the midst of the fratricidal wars occurring at the time, Joachima was briefly imprisoned and later exiled to France for several years.

 

Sickness ultimately compelled her to resign as superior of her order. Over the next four years she slowly succumbed to paralysis, which caused her to die by inches. At her death at the age of 71 in 1854, Joachima was known and admired for her high degree of prayer, deep trust in God, and selfless charity. Joachima was beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1940, and canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1959.

Pax et bonum

Coel and Shakespeare and Christie

I finished three books recently - bringing my total for the year up to 49!

First up was The Ghost Walker by Margaret Coel. 

I had read one of the other books in this series a few years back, and liked it. I was reminded of that while I was compiling a list of mystery works I'd read in recent years, and so decided to read another one of hers.

It was a solid mystery.  The main characters were likable - I have a hard time if I don't like the heroes. The premise was plausible. It had some good dialogue. 

I did find myself wondering if some of the characters would really do what she had them doing, though. And the writing, while good, was not sensational. It was just the second book in the series, though, so maybe they get better. The other book of hers that I read, The Shadow Dancer, was later in the series and was indeed a better book.   

While not of the quality of a Hillerman or a Ellis Peters mystery, it was still a decent novel. I'll definitely look for more of her books at the library.

The second work was Henry VIII by Shakespeare - the 7th Shakespeare I've read this year en route to trying to read all of his play. (Up to 21 of the 38 acknowledged plays now.)

I'd seen some raters of Shakespeare putting this one far down on their lists. I don't agree. While it was not a top-tier Shakespeare (and there are indications he only wrote part of it) it was still a decent play. It read more like something he (and his partner?) turned out to produce something new that would draw an audience. 

Given the time period - and the potential danger of writing anything the royals would not like - the play treats Henry far better than he deserved, and Anne "Bullen" as far more innocent and maidenly that she likely really was. St. Thomas More is mentioned in passing, but the crimes against him were not brought up. I find it interesting that the most heroic character in the play is the Catholic Queen Katherine. 

The third book was another mystery and another Agatha Christie, Curtain, the last Hercule Poirot book and a book that appears on many "best of" lists of Christie's books. 

It was a good, well-crafted book. There were a couple of twists at the end that surprised me - though she had been fair and had given clues along the way! 

I'll be honest, though: I found the narrator annoying at times, and I was troubled that a "good" character did something really morally wrong, and basically got away with it.

Maybe there's a reason I like by novels a Catholic vision!

Still, I enjoyed the book, and will certainly read more Christie.

Indeed, I will happily read more works by all three writers.

Pax et bonum

Catholic League - Ways Biden Strays from Catholic Teachings

PRESIDENT BIDEN'S POLICIES: DEPARTURES FROM CATHOLIC TEACHINGS CATHOLIC LEAGUE FOR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS JUNE 7, 2021

January 20, 2021 – Biden signed an executive order affirming that "children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports," affirming his campaign promise to allow minors to use facilities and participate in high school sports opposite their biological sex. While campaigning, in response to a question from a parent of a transgender child, Biden said that there would be "zero discrimination" when it came to minors seeking to change their gender. 

 January 20, 2021 – Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal agencies to implement the ruling in the Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, which treats sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. This is a grave injustice that erases the differences and complementary relationship between man and woman. 

January 22, 2021 – Biden issued a statement on the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade describing the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision as a "foundational precedent" to which all judicial nominees should commit. Biden called for Roe’s codification. 

January 23, 2021 – The Department of Justice announced that it would repeal a Trump administration memo that blocked the enforcement of the Bostock ruling in federal law. 

January 25, 2021 – Biden signed an order that would allow transgender persons to serve in the Armed Forces. As part of the order, Biden urged the Defense Department to create a process that would allow individuals to change sexes while serving. 

January 28, 2021 – Biden issued the "Memorandum on Protecting Women's Health at Home and Abroad." This memorandum revokes the Mexico City Policy, which is a U.S. government policy that requires foreign non-governmental organizations to certify that they will not "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning." 

January 28, 2021 – Biden instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to immediately move to consider rescinding the Trump administration rule blocking health care providers in the federally funded Title X family planning program from referring patients for abortions. 

January 28, 2021 –Biden ordered that the necessary steps be taken to resume funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which promotes family planning through the abortion. 

January 28, 2021 – Biden directed United States Agency for International Development and other United States government foreign assistance programs to ensure that adequate funds are being directed to support abortion rights. 

February 4, 2021 – Biden issued a "Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Persons Around the World." This will limit the ability of faith-based organizations to assist in foreign aid. 

February 4, 2021 –Biden signed an executive order allowing for nonmarried couples to be treated as married for the purposes of the refugee system in certain circumstances. 

February 25, 2021 – The House passed the Equality Act. Biden on the campaign trail had made enacting this legislation within his first 100 days in office a top legislative priority. o The act would effectively gut the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, eviscerating important religious rights. o State laws that protect religious liberty would be gutted. 

- Freedom of speech, belief, and thought, as the U.S. Bishops have said, would be put "at risk." Conscience rights are the most important of all rights. When they are attacked, all liberties are jeopardized. 

- Taxpayer-funded abortions would become a reality. 

- The bishops stress that "Houses of worship and other religious spaces will be turned into places of 'public accommodation.'" 

- Adoption and foster care providers would have their rights stripped. 

- Catholic hospitals would no longer be allowed to govern as Catholic facilities, threatening healthcare for everyone, especially the poor. 

- Starting in kindergarten, students would be indoctrinated in the LGBT agenda. 

- Parental rights would be decimated. 

- Men who transition to female could compete in women’s sports, effectively working against the rights of women. 

- Privacy rights would be a thing of the past. As has already happened, a man who thinks of himself as a woman would be allowed to use the women’s locker room. 

February 25, 2021 – Rachel Levine, a transgender born a biological male, was Biden's nomination for Assistant Secretary for HHS. When questioned about sex transitioning of minors during his confirmation hearing, Levine did not oppose the idea of allowing minors to receive hormone therapy and puberty blockers. 

March 4, 2021 – Biden supports the For the People Act (H.R. 1), a bill that calls into question the impartiality of those who have religious affiliations. The objectionable provision is directed at a person's suitability serving on a state's redistricting commission. It assumes that people of faith – but not atheists – are inclined to be partisan observers, thus coming dangerously close to invoking a "religious test." 

March 8, 2021 – Biden issued a statement on the introduction of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), voicing his support for VAWA’s reauthorization. Unfortunately, the reauthorization includes gender identity language that undermines the intended purpose of VAWA and thereby harms the very women it seeks to protect. 

March 11, 2021 – As part of Biden's American Rescue Plan Act, there was no language that reflects the longstanding, bi-partisan consensus policy to prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding abortions domestically and internationally. The policy was needed because this bill includes many general references to healthcare that, absent the express exclusion of abortion, have consistently been interpreted by federal courts not only to allow, but to compel, the provision of abortion without meaningful limit. 

March 17, 2021 – Biden's White House issued a statement in support of the House resolution to remove the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA would mandate federal funding for abortion and eliminate sex distinctions in the law, thus eliminating the existing legal protections for biological women. 

March 18, 2021 – The Office of Population Affairs at HHS announced the Biden administration’s plan to repeal the Trumpera Protect Life Rule governing Title X by the end of the year. This announcement was in direct response to President Biden’s executive order issued on January 28. 

March 30, 2021 – Secretary of State Antony Blinken disbanded the "Commission on Unalienable Rights," because it overemphasized religious liberty. This was commissioned by Secretary Pompeo to "provide...advice and recommendations concerning international human rights matters...[and] fresh thinking about human rights discourse where such discourse has departed from our nation’s founding principles of natural law and natural rights." Instead, Blinken would rather treat religious liberty as a coequal right, diminishing its status freeing the State Department to promote LGBT and abortion rights. 

March 31, 2021 – The Department of Defense released a statement affirming Biden's executive order on transgender persons in the military stating that the Department will "provide a path for those in service for medical treatment, gender transition, and recognition in one’s self-identified gender." 

April 13, 2021 – Under Biden, the Food and Drug Administration is no longer enforcing the "in-person dispensing requirement" for the chemical abortion pills. 

April 13, 2021 – Under Biden, the USAID Middle East Bureau renamed the "Religious and Ethnic Communities Office" to the "Equity and Diverse Communities in the Middle East and North Africa Office" to shift the Bureau's focus away from protecting the rights of religious minorities in the Middle East and emphasize other groups such as LGBT. 

April 14, 2021 – HHS introduced the Title X changes outlined by Biden's "Memorandum on Protecting Women's Health at Home and Abroad." Under these new rules, grantees would be required to refer for abortions, despite moral or religious objections, effectively banning otherwise pro-life grantees from participating. 

April 16, 2021 – Under Biden, the National Institute of Health removed restrictions on human fetal tissue research. 

April 20, 2021 – After a group of Catholic doctors and hospitals won a case over an HHS rule that would compel them to provide gender- transition surgeries, regardless of their conscientious beliefs, the Biden administration appealed to keep this mandate in place. 

April 22, 2021 – The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced changes to the Equal Access Rule, which would require participants in the Department’s Office of Community Planning and Development programs to accommodate transgender persons based on their gender identity. This would compel Catholic shelters to house individuals of the opposite sex. 

April 25, 2021 – The DOJ issued a statement of interest in favor of a Georgia transgender prisoner who is suing the Georgia Department of Corrections for failing to house him based on his gender identity because Georgia does not want to house people of one biological sex with those of the other. 

May 10, 2021 – The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would reinstate an Obama-era rule that would remove exemptions for religious and Catholic hospitals that refused to provide transgender services and procedures that go against their religious beliefs. The rule interpreted "sex discrimination" under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to include "gender identity." This is a major blow to the religious liberty rights of Catholic doctors and hospitals. It would force doctors and hospitals to provide sex reassignment surgeries, even if these surgeries go against their religious beliefs, as well as cover these surgeries and procedures in their insurance policies. 

May 12, 2021 – HHS Secretary Xavier Beccera, who voted against a law that banned partial-birth abortion when he was a congressman, was asked if he would respect this law. He made it clear he would not. He justified this stance by falsely claiming that there is no such law. In 2003 Congress passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and President George W. Bush signed it. 

May 14, 2021 – The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships met with leaders of six secular organizations: Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Humanist Association, American Atheists, Center for Inquiry, ExMuslims of North America and the Secular Coalition for America. They expressed their displeasure with the pro-religious liberty policies of the previous administration, accusing it of fomenting “Christian nationalism.” 

May 17, 2021 – After the Supreme Court said it would take up a case involving Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks, White House press secretary Jen Psaki informed reports that Biden was "committed to codifying" Roe v. Wade no matter what the Court decides. 

May 28, 2021 – Biden released his budget proposal for FY2022, and it allocates money for abortions since it has no Hyde Amendment language. This is the first budget proposal since 1993 that does not include conscience protections to ensure federal funds are not used for abortions. 

Pax et bonum

Two Franciscan Martyrs

JUNE 7

BLESSED MICHAL TOMASZEK and

BLESSED ZBIGNIEW STARZALKOWSKI

Martyrs, I Order

The Blessed Three Martyrs of Chimbote were a group of two Polish Conventual Franciscan priests and one Italian missionary priest murdered in Peru in 1991 by the Shining Path communist guerillas. The Franciscans are Fr. Michał Tomaszek and Fr. Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski were murdered on 9 August 1991.

Blessed Michał Tomaszek was born on 23 September 1960 and was a professed member of the Conventual Franciscans; he received the Franciscan habit on 4 October 1980 on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Tomaszek was baptized a month after his birth in Saint Michael's parish in his home town and was an altar boy at the time he received his First Communion in 1969 at the same time his father died. He graduated from high school in 1975 and continued his studies in a Franciscan seminary, professing his temporary vows in 1981. He commenced his novitiate after five years of study and studied theology from 1981 to 1987. He studied both philosophy and theology and defended his thesis on moral theology

He was ordained to the priesthood on 23 May 1987.

On 24 July 1989, he was dispatched to Peru and despite threats against him, he continued his missionary activities alongside fellow Franciscan Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski. In 1991, he was abducted and murdered by the Shining Path Communist guerilla faction.

Blessed Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski was born on 3 July 1958 and was a professed member of the Conventual Franciscans. He was baptized a week following his birth and made his First Communion in 1967.

He graduated from secondary schooling in 1978 and he joined the Franciscan order the following year. He studied both philosophy and theology while in the seminary and after this was ordained as a priest on 7 June 1986 by Henryk Gulbinowicz. He served as the assistant rector at the minor seminary in Legnica for two years.

He professed his solemn vows on 8 December 1984 prior to his ordination.

He commenced missionary work in Peru from November 1988. He tended to the ill who often referred to him as "our little doctor" since he helped the ill to get better through words of comfort or providing them with the Eucharist. It was during the course of his work in Peru that he met Michał Tomaszek. Both were abducted in 1991 and were murdered by a Communist guerilla group.

Both Polish Franciscans dedicated their work to the faithful of Peru in charitable and merciful acts that appealed to their Franciscan charism, taking as their models for their work both Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Maximilian Kolbe. In response to a drought in 1989, the two friars brought with them food from Caritas to cater to the immediate needs of the people. Yet the two also catechized the faithful and preached on various saints, in the process, revitalizing the faith of the Peruvian people.

Pope Francis approved the beatification in 2015 which occurred on 5 December 2015; Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the mass.

The pope venerated the relics of the two Poles at a Franciscan convent on the occasion of his visit to Poland for World Youth Day 2016.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the request of the Franciscans - on 26 February 2016 - that the liturgical feast for the two Poles be moved from 9 August to 7 June.

Let us pray.

Almighty God,

by whose grace and power your holy martyr, Blessed Michał and Blessed Zbigniew triumphed over suffering and was faithful unto death:

strengthen us with your grace,

that we may endure reproach and persecution and faithfully bear witness to the name of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Pax et bonum