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

Saints' Lives

When I looked at the works I'd read by midpoint this year, I saw three biographies/autobiographies of saints:  John Henry Newman: Snapdragon in the Wall by Joyce Sugg, Apologia Pro Vita Sua by St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, and St. Thomas More by E. E. Reynolds. That's a good start, but I thought it was not enough. Saints provide spiritual role models. Their lives inspire and challenge me.

So I decided I had to read more.

But which biographies/autobiographies?

When I look online for suggestions, I found a wide variety of recommendations. Some of them overlap.

Some of them also involve books that I had already read.

And some of them recommended novelized version of their lives. Again, some of which I had already read.

I started to pursue my goal by digging out my copy of the concise edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints. I now read the saint listed for each day - today was a Franciscan, St. Bonaventure.

Butler's original multi-volume set made several of the lists, by the way.

I also ordered a copy of Sigrid Undset's Catherine of Siena. It's next up on my list of books to read - it also made several of the recommended lists.

I just reread The Confessions by St. Augustine, another book that made a number of lists. As did Saint Thomas Aquinas by G. K. Chesterton, which I just reread in 2022.  

Among those showing up on the lists that I have read - but it's been a long time, so some rereading is in order: Journal of a Soul by Pope St. John XXIII, Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton, and St. Francis of Assisi: A Biography by Omer Engelert.

Among the novelized lives are several by Louis de Wohl. I actually have read several of them in recent years. But there are more!

Fortunately, I have many of these books on hand to pursue this goal.

Once I get through them, I will seek out more. 

Pax et bonum