Not In The Bible, But ...

Jesus and John are sitting in the shade of a tree.

The other Apostles have gone into town to get some food.

“Can I ask you something, John,” Jesus said.

“Anything, Master,” John replied brightly.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about what might happen after I go.”

“GO?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? CAN I COME WITH YOU?”

“Be at peace. I’m not leaving now. But what if I, oh, got arrested or something like that.”

Tears streamed down John’s face.

“They…they couldn’t. They wouldn’t.”

“Of course. But just hypothetically, if I had to go for a while, what do you think of Andrew to run things for a while?”

“He’s just a follower, not a leader.”

“I suppose. Maybe I should put an X through his name. But Thomas, now he’s no follower.”

“Thomas? He’s so negative and cynical. He keeps saying things like “Prove it.”

“Hmm. You have a point. Of course, he is intelligent.”

“So is Matthew, but who’d listen to him.”

“Really?”

“Yes. He was a tax collector. I know he reformed and we’re supposed to forgive and all, but still, some don’t trust him.”

“Who doesn’t trust him?”

“Judas, for one.”

“Ah, yes, Judas. Sharp fellow.”

“Judas? Yes. Everyone respects him. You can count on him to get things done.”

“True, Judas has everyone’s trust.”

“I guess if you have to pick anyone, Judas would be a good one. He’s smart. He’s good with money. You get a sense he knows what he’s doing.”

Jesus chuckled.

“Not like Simon,” he said. “He means well, but …”

John laughed.

“Poor Simon. He keeps messing up. And there’s that mother-in-law of his. Oy! Oh, he tries hard, and everybody likes him, but he’s not the brightest fellow.”

“I like the fact that he acts with his heart and not just his head,” Jesus said.

“Head? Sometimes I think he has rocks in his head.”

Jesus nodded and smiled.

“Rocks? Interesting description.”

“If you want my advice, Judas is your man,” John said.

Jesus sighed. “Yes, I think Judas is capable of playing a bigger role.”

“As for Simon,” John added, “well, heaven only knows what he’ll end up doing.”

Pax et bonum

Sob, Snob, and Slob

The Lord has blessed me in so many ways, and so I try to share those blessings, including the financial ones.  

Over the years, in addition to my church, I have donated to a number of charities - religious orders and organizations, shelters, food pantries, health clinics, pro-life groups and centers, cultural groups, and so on. 

As a result, I have gotten on some mailing lists. Each week I get multiple appeals for my money. Sometimes they come from organizations to which I have already donated. I also regularly see appeals on television. I've noticed that the appeals generally fall into three categories: The Sob Appeal, The Snob  Appeal, and The Slob Appeal.

The Sob Appeal 

The Sob Appeal is the most traditional. In words or images the appeal tries to appeal to the potential giver's emotions and sympathy. Those words and images include sad-eyed children, shivering dogs, sobbing elderly women, and so on. One emotion they seem to be manipulating is guilt: If you don't give you must be uncaring. 

The Snob Appeal

In this kind of appeal, there is a stated or implied message  that somehow you are one of the informed, intelligent, insightful individuals who would of course support the cause. One of the tactics this appeal uses is to send a fake survey/census for the giver to fill out, and to return it with a donation.

The Slob Appeal

This form of appeal includes some sort of a "gift" - notepads, greeting cards, a calendar, pens, and so on. They ask you to enjoy the gift, than ask if you could reciprocate by sending them a donation. If you don't give, they hope seems to be that you will feel like a slob.

When I receive these appeals, especially when I receive multiple such appeals from the same organization, I begin to wonder how much of my donation will be wasted on paying for such appeals. I have even told some organizations to stop sending me multiple appeals, Those who have not are no longer on my donation list.

Pax et bonum

They Have Blood On Their Hands

I stopped by a local bookstore today. As I often do when I'm in a bookstore, I wander about looking at the books in particular sections. 

One of the sections I always check out is the new books one.

And what did I spot today?

Why Fascists Fear Teachers by Randi Weingarten. 

In the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination that title jumped out at me.

The alleged killed used that language in reference to Kirk - echoing the language used by people like Weingarten and various people on the left when talking about Kirk and the Trump administration.

Weingarten is, of course, president of the American Federation of Teachers. She has repeatedly used such intemperate, violent language.

In the wake of the shooting, so many teachers and school personnel have been suspended or fired for celebrating the killing of Kirk, and they frequently say or imply he was a fascist. Echoing Weingarten's  language and the language of various people on the left. 

The use of that term and similar language helped to create the climate and attitudes that engendered the kind of political violence that led to Kirk's killing.

Weingarten has blood on her hands.

On another shelf in the new books section I spotted the word "fascism," 

Lessons From Cats For Surviving Fascism by Stewart "Brittlestar" Reynolds.

It's supposed to be a humor book, but the references to "Maga" and "Mar-a-Lago," along with repeated use of "fascist" and "fascism," made what inspired this book clear. He is exploiting the language and attitudes that helped to create the climate of political violence that led to Kirk's killing. Exploiting it to make money. 

Reynolds has blood on his hands.

Pax et bonum

If I Had 1.8 Billion Dollars

The Powerball jackpot is up to 1.8 billion dollars. It may grow even bigger by the time of the drawing tonight. 1.9 Billion, or maybe even 2 billion.

I broke down and bought a ticket.

Now, given the fact that I would take the lump sum, and with taxes, the actually amount I could receive would decrease. One estimate for my state is about 450 million dollars.

What would I do if I won? After all, the odds are about 1 in 300 million, so you never know.

First, the prize would be divided five ways. My wife and my three daughters and I would each get a share. So my share would come to about 90 million.

One thing I’d do with my share is increase the amount I donate to the charities I currently donate to, places like my church, Focus Pregnancy Help Center, the Margaret Home (for women facing unexpected pregnancies), St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen, Saint Luke Productions, St. John Bosco Schools, Chesterton Academy, Restore Health and Wellness, Brightstar Community (women escaping human trafficking), and so on.

Given our ages and infirmities, I’d buy a house that better suits our needs and limitations - one floor (no hauling laundry to the basement!), a library/study for me so I can put all the books in boxes up on shelves, a music room where I can listen or play my instruments without disturbing anyone.

I’d get a new computer. I’m currently typing this on a 2010 laptop with Windows 7!

There are a few places I’d like to visit, especially Donegal and Scotland because of my roots, and Fatima and Lourdes (where some of those previously mentioned infirmities might find some help).

I’d buy a better Santa outfit.

I’d book time in a recording studio and record some of my songs while I can still sing and arthritis isn’t interfering with my guitar playing yet.

I’d self-publish a couple of my poetry books, and a collection of my Christmas stories. Christmas gifts!

That’s about it. I’d just bank the rest.

I wouldn’t buy an emu, a monkey, or John Merrick’s bones.

But I would still eat macaroni and cheese.

And I wouldn’t have to buy my wife’s love. Nor she mine.

So I’m already rich.

Pax et bonum

He Sure Liked To Read! (Part 2)

A couple of days ago I wrote about Dan Pelzer, who, when he died in July at age 92, was found to have kept a list of every book he's read between 1962 and 2023. In that span he read 3,599 books, a truly impressive total. He averaged 59 books a year.

The library from which he borrowed those books created a catalog listing books he'd read. It was heavy on nonfiction, especially history, biography, politics, and religion. I looked at a couple of the pages of the catalog and saw no fluff. I know of people who read lots of lighter works who could probably claim to have read more books than he did, but certainly not books of the level of those on his list.

I then noted that I had been keeping a tally of my own since 2013. In the past 13 years my total is 560 books. That works out to an average of 43 per year, but since I retired in 2020 my average per year has been 65 books a year.

My list is not as heavy as his, though. I do read histories, biographies, and religious works, but I also read lots of  fiction, including YA fiction from my teaching years. I read classics, but I'm also fond of mysteries, fantasy, and science fiction.

In my earlier post I observed that I had only begun keeping my yearly tally in 2013 when I was 57/58. Mr. Pelzer began his tally when he was about 30. So if I had started when he began I would have had a list that included books from 27 more years. That probably would have added about a thousand books to my tally. Moreover, I've been a voracious reader since I first learned to read, which probably could add many more titles to my list.

But I did not have a list of those books.

Then I remembered that in this blog before 2013, in a previous blog, and in a written journal I used to keep, I sometimes mentioned books that I had read. I did a quick look at my blog posts and the journal.

Yes, I am a bit obsessive at times!

I was surprised to see some books I'd forgotten I'd read. 

I've been able to identify an additional 161 books at this point. So my total increases to 721, though I may be able to add more to the list eventually. Still, even if I keep up my current rate, and if I live as long as Mr. Pelzer, I will not equal his remarkable total. 

Not that it's a competition. Mr. Pelzer's is in a class of his own! 

Pax et bonum

Blogging Limerick

There once was a blogging progressive
who judged conservatives too aggressive.
He went on the attack
and they fired back -
isn't Screwtape's scheming impressive?

Pax et bonum

He Sure Liked to Read!

CBS News reported about a man who liked to read.

"After the death in July of their father, Dan Pelzer, at the age of 92, John and Marci Pelzer discovered something extraordinary in his things — a very long list of every book he had ever read. In total, from 1962 to 2023, he read a staggering 3,599 books. The list of all the titles is a book in itself: 109 pages long, single-spaced.

Dan borrowed almost all his books from the Columbus Metropolitan Library. When the library staff heard about Dan’s list, they decided to share it on social media and made Dan’s title collection available as its own list that the library says people have been checking out."

I did check part of the list. He did not achieve his total by reading fluff! And he averaged just under 60 books a year. I salute him!

I started keeping a record of books I read each year beginning in 2013 - when I was 58. Since then, I've read 560 books. I'm up to 44 this year alone. 

I have been a voracious reader since I learned to read, and in my first 50 or so years of reading I suspect I've read several times that total from the last eight years. It helps that I was an English major (with a Philosophy minor) in college, earned a Master's degree in literature, and taught for 25 years.

Since retiring, I've been averaging 65 books a year. If I make it to 92, if my eyesight does not fail me, and I keep up my post retirement pace of 60-70 a year, I'll pass 2,000 since I began keeping records. And maybe a couple of thousand before I began keeping records. So I might come close to Mr. Pelzer's tally. 

Whatever my ultimate total, I applaud Mr. Pelzer.

Pax et bonum

Agatha Christi List

Five years ago, the editors of FORMA Journal selected what they deemed Agatha Christi's 20 best novels. 

And Then There Were None

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Death on the Nile
The Murder on the Orient Express
The ABC Murders
Sleeping Murder
Curtain
Five Little Pigs (or Murder in Retrospect)
A Murder is Announced
Endless Night
Ordeal by Innocence
Crooked House
4:50 from Paddington (aka What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw)
The Murder at the Vicarage
Evil Under the Sun
Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
The Hollow
The Body in the Library
They Do It With Mirrors
The Mystery of the Blue Train

I've read a number of them - I bolded the ones I've read. To be honest, I've never even heard of some of the others!

There are other lists out there that include some of the same titles. 

I'll use this one as a guide. I've already got some goals for this year - I'm currently rereading The Lord of the Rings, for example. But now that I've read all the Father Brown mysteries, the Lord Peter Wimsey novels of Dorothy Sayers, and the Navajo mysteries of Tony Hillerman, I might tackle this list. I'd also like to find more of the Cadfael mysteries of Ellis Peters. 

Goals for next year?

Pax et bonum

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Fight Back Against Letitia James Trying to Shut Them Down

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Fight Back Against Letitia James Trying to Shut Them Down

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Helped More Than 2.1 Million People Last Year

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Helped More Than 2.1 Million People Last Year

Why You Should Not Use Bad Language

Why You Should Not Use Bad Language

Remembering Getting Ready for the School Year

In 25 years of teaching, August 1 was always a significant date.

It marked the end of reading just for fun and pleasure, and writing whatever work had been my focus - a short story, play, that blasted novel I never seem ever to finish.

It was time to get ready for school.

My summer reading had already included new works I would be teaching, or rereading some that I would be teaching again. But now I would begin focusing on works I would be teaching.

Some teachers create detailed lesson plans. They would plot out the entire year. But that was not my style. I would plan what works I would be teaching, so I knew the order and about when I would be teaching them. But day-to-day plans - no.

What I would be doing is researching all the works and history surrounding the literature I would be teaching.

For example, if I know I would be teaching Uncle Tom’s Cabin that year, I’d try to find information about the slave trade, collections of slave songs, descriptions of the Underground Railroad, local links to the Railroad, the poems and essays of other writers dealing with the issue at that time, and so on.

August would also visits to my classroom, ordering needed supplies, making sure we had enough books available for my students, making photocopies, a least one faculty, a department meeting and in-service, and so on.

Later in the month I would go in to set up my classroom. At the last school where I taught, I built bookshelves to hold all the books I wanted to make available for my students. When I retired, I donated those shelves and many of those books to the school.

And now, in retirement, I read only what I want to read or think I should read. No lesson planning or background research, No school workshops and meetings.

I’m enjoying retirement, But part of me misses those days. I miss the students and the camaraderie of fellow teachers.

And I don’t have a handy excuse any more for not finishing that blasted novel!

Pax et bonum

U.S. bishops invite Catholics to pray for end to taxpayer-funded abortion

U.S. bishops invite Catholics to pray for end to taxpayer-funded abortion: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited Americans to participate in a daily prayer to St. Joseph to stop federal funding of the abortion industry.

Remembering a Visit to the Solanus Casey Center

Back in August 2009, the private school where I was teaching and serving as principal sent me to a conference in Detroit run by the network to which the school belonged. I knew that Detroit was also where the Franciscan monastery where Solanus Casey had lived for many years - St. Bonaventure Friary - and was the home of the Solanus Casey Center. I had read about him, and as I was at the time in formation with the Secular Franciscans, I wanted to learn more about him. At the time, his cause for sainthood was underway and he was “Venerable Solanus Casey,” having become the first U.S.-born male to be declare Venerable.S (He would be beatified in 2017.)


I planned to visit the friary and the center if I could get any free time. I was able to visit after the conference officially ended, and I stopped there for a short visit before leaving Detroit to drive home to Western New York.

Knowing my time was limited, I made a quick walk-through. Then I went back to a few spots and took some pictures.

The center had a nice exhibit about Father Solanus's life with lots of picture and artifacts. Among the items on display were his personal effects,

including the beloved violin he would play to entertain (well, by all accounts of his ability, not exactly "entertain"!) his fellow Franciscans, and in the chapel for the Lord.

The exhibit also included the vestment he wore for his last Mass, and his Chalice and Paten

...and the rubber stamp he used to sign the many letters he sent to people in response to their letters asking for his prayers and guidance. (He received so many letters that, as he got older and struggled with health, he would dictate letters to secretaries, then stamp them with his signature.)

His tomb had been moved into the church once the process had begun to investigate his sanctity - a first step toward him possibly being declared a saint.

The tomb of the long-time porter is located, appropriately, at one of the entrances to the church. There is a carving of a violin on it. 

It was also covered with slips of papers on which there were prayer requests. I wrote my own request, asking him to pray for something that is troubling my heart.

At the entrance to the Center, there is a garden with art reflecting lines from St. Francis of Assisi's "Canticle of Brother Sun."

I also got a lesson in Franciscan poverty. I'm a bibliophile (with a house jammed with far too many books). After my initial swing through the center and the chapel, I went to the bookstore/gift shop, hoping to find a book or two that I did not already have (or three or four!).

It closed at 4 - before I got to it. Ha!

In the years since that visit, Father Solanus has been beatified, and there is a miracle being currently investigated that could lead to his being officially declared a saint, though, in my mind he already is. I made my Secular Franciscan Profession in 2011, and took him as my patron saint.

Meanwhile, the center has undergone a major renovation since my visit. I believe the tomb has been moved.

I hope to get back there again some day.

Pax et bonum

Ozzy Was a Whiz Kid

Ozzy Osbourne
was by water borne
to the Alamo
where he was heard to mumble, "When ya gotta go, ya gotta go."

(According to the San Antonio Express News, on Feb. 19, 1982, an intoxicated Osbourne publicly urinated in Alamo Plaza, specifically on the Alamo Cenotaph, a 60-foot monument commemorating the men and women who chose to defend the Alamo in 1836.

He was arrested and paid a fine, and was banned from performing in San Antonio for 10 years. He apologized, and was eventually allowed to perform in that city again.

Then, in 2015, 33 years after the incident, he was finally welcomed back to the Alamo for a segment of the History Channel's series, Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour.

After his death July 22, the Alamo, on its Instagram account, issued a statement: 

We at the Alamo are saddened to hear of the passing of legendary musician Ozzy Osbourne. His relationship with the Alamo was marked initially by a deeply disrespectful incident in 1982. This act profoundly and rightfully upset many who hold this site sacred.

However, redemption and reconciliation eventually became part of his history as well. In 1992, Ozzy personally apologized to then-Mayor Nelson Wolff and expressed genuine remorse for his actions. Decades later, in 2015, he revisited the Alamo grounds to learn and appreciate the site's profound history, openly demonstrating humility and understanding. 

At the Alamo, we honor history in all its complexities. Today, we acknowledge Ozzy Osbourne's journey from regret to reconciliation at the historic site, and we extend our condolences to his family, friends, and fans around the world. May he rest in peace.)

Pax et bonum

The Real War On Women

A writer over on substack wrote about the "war on women."

She repeated all the usual talking points that deny nature and reality.

I wanted to respond directly, but only paid subscribers are allowed to respond to her posts.

So I'll respond here.

She is right that there is a "war on women." But she was wrong about how it is being waged.

The war involves the use of cultural propaganda to attack women, and, indeed, some folks have a hard time even defining what a woman is. 

Women are told that in order to achieve worldly success they have to essentially sterilize themselves.

Children are dehumanized and become disposable.

Pregnancy is a viewed as a kind of "disease."

Marriage is disparaged.

Femininity is belittled.

Sex is viewed only in a materialistic way, separated from commitment, and women are increasingly objectified.

Indeed, women become easily disposable, leading to all sort of emotional and mental issues, and when they make a mistake and have children, to increasing chances that they will live in poverty.

Some young women are convinced that they need to become men - because of confusion, immaturity, insecurity, and peer pressure - leading to mutilation of their bodies. 

Meanwhile it's gotten to the point that some folks claim a man who identifies as a woman has to be accepted as a woman in so many circumstances, including sports.

With all these attacks, women are dealing with higher rates of emotional and mental illness. 

Yes, there is a war on women. And women themselves are being manipulated to attack themselves.

Like that misguided writer to which this is a response.

 

Pax et bonum

Carter Clerihew

Good Jimmy Carter,
when it comes to presidents was one of the smarter.
Historians rank his presidency pretty low,
but it’s looking better these days thanks to “Scranton Joe.”

Pax et bonum

Sacramental Dates

The late Pope Francis once said that we should celebrate our Baptismal dates.

"It is like a birthday because baptism makes us reborn in Christian life," he said to parents. "That is why I advise you to teach your children the date of their baptism as a new birthday: that every year they will remember and thank God for this grace of becoming a Christian.“

I decided to dig out my Baptismal record, and the dates of my other Sacraments. 

I was Baptized on July 17, 1955, at St. Margaret Church in Brockton, Massachusetts.

It’s fitting it was at St. Margaret Church. My mother was a Scottish immigrant, and St. Margaret was not only a Queen of Scotland, but is also the patron saint of Scotland.

I was also please with the date when I realized it’s the feast of Saint Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic monk.

I had first become aware of Saint Charbel at the Fatima Shrine in Lewiston, N.Y. They have a statue of him there, and I was impressed by his beard!

And a couple of years ago, some local Lebanese Catholics donated a statue of him and some prayers to him to the Saint Padre Pio Chapel where I volunteer and where my Secular Franciscan Fraternity meets. I took information about a Novena to Saint Charbel, and I have been saying it every day since as part of my night prayers.

My baptismal names are “Lee” and “Francis.”

Lee comes from my father’s middle name, and is the name by which he was known; only his mother and siblings called him by his first name.

Francis comes from my great grandfather on my mother’s side. He lived in Scotland, and I only met him briefly when I was a child and my mother brought my brother and I to Scotland for a visit that lasted a couple of months. I cried when I first met him because he had a beard! Beards were not common in the U.S. in the 1950’s.

My First Communion took place May 27th, 1962, at Sacred Heart Church in Brockton, Massachusetts.

We attended that parish, and I went to the parish school for first and part of second grade. That I got into the school my mother considered a miracle. When she went to enroll me she was told the first grade classes were all full and there was no room for me. She left the school and walked across the parking lot to the church. She went in and prayed for a while. When she came out, the principal, a nun, called her over. Apparently she had been watching mom and saw her go into the church. The principal told her that they would make room for me.

I remained at the school long enough to be part of the First Penance and Communion classed. Alas, I don’t know the date of my First Penance. Then, part way through second grade, we moved because my father got a job in Western New York.

My Confirmation date was October 13, 1965, at St. Stephen's Church in Geneva, N.Y. When I looked it up that date it jumped out at me immediately.

On October 13, 1917, thousands of people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima.

The Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima has been declared worthy of belief by the Church. On the anniversary of that Marian day I chose as my Confirmation name Joseph. How appropriate.

I admit I chose that name for non-religious reasons. Joseph was my brother’s middle name, and that’s why I chose it. I have since come to appreciate who St. Joseph is, and to ask for his guidance as I raised my own children.

I married the good-looking one on August 22, 1992, at Corpus Christi Church in Rochester, New York. I had met her two years earlier at an abortion protest.

In 1990, she was part of a Catholic group staging a sit-in at a site where abortions were taking place. I was a reporter, covering the protest - I was pro-life, but as a reporter had to remain objective when covering it. I tried to interview one of the leaders of the protest, a woman I knew from church, but she suggested I talk to the woman who would become my wife. My future wife deferred, but the following Saturday, I spotted her at church; turns out we attended the same church and always went to the same Mass. We chatted after the Mass, then in subsequent weeks began sitting together, and, well, married two years later.

Since I was never ordained, I did not receive those sacraments. The closest I came it when I professed as a Secular Franciscan July 9, 2011.

I have not yet received Anointing of the Sick - which used to be called Extreme Unction or the Last Rites.

I hope it will be a while before I enjoy that Sacrament!

Thank you for the suggestion Pope Francis. May you rest in peace.

(This is an expanded version of an earlier post.)

Pax et bonum