Great American Christmas: Small Town Values

In my previous post I talked about the Great American Family Channel's Christmas Romance movies.

One aspect of those movies is that they are almost always set in small towns. These movies - and some other romances I've read (one of our parishioners writes Christian romance books) - celebrate small-town values, often putting them in direct contrast with big-city values (or lack thereof).

In the movies, the central character is either from a small town and returns there or never left, or is sent to a small town for some reason.  

Among the typical plot elements: The family farm/inn/business/store is in trouble, or someone dies, and the main character is struggling to keep it going, or eventually decides to keep it going; or the main character is sent to the small town to help buy up/shut down the involved venue to make way for development, such as building condos or a resort.

That's where the small-town values come into play.

The people know each other. They rally to help each other. They are concerned with family and faith, not profits or supposed progress. Community and church are important. They cherish small, family-owned businesses/operations/farms, etc. The natural world is respected.

In contrast, the big-city values focus on profits, development, merchandising, large-scale operations, and so on. Family and faith are downplayed, even mocked. Nature is to be exploited.

Although it is not a Great American movie, John Denver's The Christmas Gift, provides an example.

Denver plays an architect working for a corporation. He is a widower with a small daughter. He is ordered at Christmas time to visit a small mountain community to scope it out for development.

The town features a quirky cabbie who loves Christmas, a young postmistress (the romantic interest), a struggling family farm, and a day dedicated to mailing letters to Santa. Indeed, one of the initial conflicts is when Denver wants to mail a letter to his boss, but because it is Santa letter day the postmistress refuses.

After they arrive, the daughter becomes involved in a Christmas pageant at the church and befriends the son of the farmer who is in danger of losing his farm to Denver's boss, who, of course wants to build a big development on it, promising jobs and profits for the community.

Meanwhile, in getting to know the people of the town, Denver begins to have doubts about his boss's plans, and finally openly opposes them. He is fired. But the town rallies around the farm family, the pageant is a success, and Denver finds love and a new home in the town.

The movie would be perfect for the Great American Family channel!

Small-town values are appealing. And being a Chestertonian, I find they fit in with Chesterton's ideas. Small, family-owned businesses. Faith. A sense of community. People supporting each other. 

We need more of this.

Pax et bonum

Great American Family Christmas Romances

I'm a big fan of Christmas - that's a given what with my seasonal job. (Ho. Ho. Ho.)

I'm also a fan of Christmas movies. The classics, that is; most modern Christmas movies have issues, and I can't endorse them and rarely enjoy them.

But there is a subgenre of contemporary Christmas movies that I have to admit I sometimes enjoy.

The Great American Family Channel's Christmas romance movies.

Romances? Well, with a Christmas spin, sure.

Given the fare on most other channels, these are often the most tolerable offerings. I get sick of the morally questionable programming of those other channels, and the endless talking heads, so unless there's a good classic movie on, I either turn off the television and listen to music, or I switch to Great American for their Christmas movies.

Since it's July, the channel has been offering Christmas in July - back-to-back Christmas movies.

Like most romances, the movies tend to have similar premises, tropes, and characters.

Most often there is a young woman, in her 20's or 30's.

The movies frequently involve a small town. Either the woman is from there, or is thinking of living there, or has been sent there on some mission. One of the variations is the woman has to travel to another land - Scotland is quite popular, involving a castle or family estate.

In the small town there is a manly man - sometimes an ex-romantic interest.

In the small town there is also often some business or institution that is in some kind of danger - a farm, an inn, a bakery, a restaurant, the annual Christmas fair or pageant. The woman is frequently called upon to help save the situation, especially as it often involves family members.

Another common plot element is that some outside developer or corporation is threatening to buy up or tear down some beloved institution. Sometimes the woman is a representative of that outside interest sent to scope out the situation, but then, after discovering the nature of the small town or meeting the manly man, begins to have doubts.

In terms of doubts, the young woman sometimes has a romantic relationship which she is seeking to escape or about which she it trying to discover her true feelings. 

And a number of them involve a prince or princess, sometimes keeping his/her true identity a secret.

By the end, the young woman ends up with the manly man and decides to move to. return to, remain in the small town.

A few other common elements I observe. If the manly man is a prince, he will almost always have to wear the standard prince costume at some point. Indeed, they seem to recycle the costume in movie after movie.

The manly man sometimes has a slightly scruffy look, as if he hadn't shaved in a couple of days. Or even has a neat beard. Maybe the facial hair is proof of testosterone? 

All the homes and towns sport elaborate Christmas decorations. Even the bachelor pads are decorated. 

I've also noticed that while the movies are set at Christmas, the snow is almost always fake, and the actors, while supposedly outside in the cold, breathe without their breaths showing. I recently saw one of the movies where the snow was real, and you could see the breaths of the actors. it was a surprise.

Oh, there are variations. Occasionally it's a man who left town returning to find his old flame still there. Some of the movies involve a quest of some sort. or brings in a fantasy element, such as time travel.

The movies are not great art. And there are some silliness to them. But they are better than many of the alternatives. They are entertaining.

They also remind me of an old John Denver Christmas movie - The Christmas Gift. Many of the plot elements are the same. It's a fun movie we watch every year.

The network is Christian and family-oriented one. The characters are all basically moral. There is no sex or suggestion of sex. No one smokes cigarettes. No one reveals visible tattoos. There is no swearing. Many of the movies involve prayers or set some of the action in a church. 

There's a reason the very-Christian Candace Cameron Bure quit Hallmark - which was starting to stray into less moral and decidedly unchristian waters Great American and become not only an actor there, but to become the chief content officer there.

I am glad the channel exists, and I enjoy many of their movies. It's nice that there is moral fare on television. 

Their movies make me feel like saying, "Merry Christmas"

Pax et bonum

I want to be in that number

I recently attended a funeral for a 92-year-old woman. I did not know her personally; she was the mother of one of the members of our Secular Franciscan Fraternity. The only time I ever met her was last year when I attended the funeral of her husband.

As I listened to people talking about her I got a clearer picture of who she was. She had been a nurse, but when she married she devoted herself to her family, which eventually included four children. She was noted for her humor and her faith.

Over the years, she sadly saw two of her children die before her, and last year, her husband. She also battled cancer. Yet apparently, she remained cheerful and a source of strength to others.

Sound like a saint.

The thing is, she may indeed be in Heaven either now or soon and thus would be a saint. But she will not be recognized "officially" as a saint.

There are several people who may be canonized soon, Blessed Solanus Casey. Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I've heard a cause has begun for Sigrid Undset.

But they have orders or fans or governments backing their causes. I'm not saying they don't deserve to be canonized, but the 92-year-old mother has no such backers.

Nor is she alone. 

There are so many good and holy people I've met in my life. They may now be saints in Heaven, but they don't have the fame or the backing on earth to promote their canonization causes.

I'm glad we have generic mention of the saints in Heaven, asking them to pray for us.

As for all those uncanonized saints, they are enjoying the Beatific Vision and likely don't care about official recognition here on earth.

I pray some day i might be worthy to join them.

Pax et bonum

Some Outsider Art of Mine

Pax et bonum

Googling

Someone suggested Googling one's name to see what we are known for. I Googled my name. The initial entry cites me for being active in the community, especially politically, and cites a community blog I used to do for the Democrat and Chronicle 20 years ago, but nothing about my pro-life involvement, my poetry, or my religious activities. Interesting. Very outdated!

Here's that first entry:

Lee F. Strong is a prominent local figure and political candidate in Gates, New York. He is best known for his community involvement, which includes serving as a long-time commentator on local Gates-area issues and running for the Gates Town Council as an independent or community-focused candidate. Over the years, he has also maintained a popular local blog discussing town governance, infrastructure, and community happenings.

I then typed in just Lee Strong and my town I got:

Parish Council Member: Lee Strong serves on the Parish Council at The Parish of the Holy Family, which is located at 4100 Lyell Road in Gates, NY.

Local Musician: Lee Strong is also known in the regional arts and music scene, occasionally participating in local artist showcases and community events in the Greater Rochester area.

Hey - my religious involvement and my folk singing showed up. But it left out politics and my wider community involvement.

Lee F. Strong and Gates produced:

Lee Strong is ... best known in the Gates community for his active involvement at The Parish of the Holy Family (4100 Lyell Rd, Gates, NY). He serves on the Parish Council and is listed as an active member of the parish staff.

I'm not on the staff, by the way. I just volunteer with the food pantry and serve as a lector, in addition to being on the Parish Council.

I then typed in my full name and Rochester, my mailing address:

Lee F. Strong is a Rochester, N.Y. area political figure affiliated with the American Solidarity Party. He is known for running as a write-in candidate for the Gates Town Board. 

During his campaign, he positioned himself as a pro-life, environmental candidate who actively opposed the uses of the Dolomite donated land. The American Solidarity Party platform he aligns with is broadly characterized as socially conservative (favoring strong nuclear families and the right to life) and economically progressive or distributist.

Now my political party shows up, and my environmental and pro-life concerns get finally mentioned.

Finally, I just typed in my name without my middle initial, and Rochester, and I got:

In the Rochester, N.Y. area, "Lee Strong" is primarily known as a long-time educator, community leader, and local folk musician.

Lee Strong’s prominent roles and affiliations in the region include:

Educator: He is a teacher at St. John Bosco Schools / Chesterton Academy in East Rochester, teaching English. Prior to this, he taught English and Social Studies at Our Lady of Mercy High School and was an acting principal and teacher at Lakeside Learning Center. He has over two decades of experience as an educator and a background in print and radio media.


Parish Council Member: Lee Strong is a member of the Parish Council at The Parish of the Holy Family in Gates, NY (part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester). He also actively assists with parish communications, faith formation, and event registration.

Folk Musician: He is an active performer in the local folk music scene. He performs at regional showcases, such as those hosted by the Golden Link Folk Singing Society at the Greece Baptist Church.

Once again, the parish information inflates what I actually do. The entire last sentence of that part of the post is wrong.

At least that one alludes to my more than a decade as a print reporter/editor, and my more than 20 yeas on radio.

Curious, I then typed in my name and the city where I grew up, Geneva N.Y.: 

Public records and historical archives show multiple connections to the name Lee Strong in and around Geneva, New York:

Journalism: Lee Strong was a senior staff writer for the Catholic Courier (the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester) who covered the Geneva, N.Y. region in the 1990s.

Community & Faith: A Lee Strong served as the Minister (OFS, Order of Franciscans Secular) for a local fraternity based in Geneva, N.Y.

Historical Records: Historical newspaper archives from 1963 list a "Lee Strong" residing at 71 Lyceum St. in Geneva, N.Y.

Finally, the reporter/editor portion of my life gets mentioned, as does my involvement with the Secular Franciscan Order. As for my street address, I did live there, but only for a couple of years. I lived in a house on the outskirts of the city for most of my time in Geneva.

Bottom line: You need all of the entries to get a fuller picture of who I am, and even then there are inaccuracies and things left out - like my years as an actor/ director/playwright, and my many pro-life activities.

Pax et bonum

St. Bonaventure and Friends

Today is the Feast Day of St. Bonaventure. 

St. Bonaventure was a brilliant scholar, a mystic, a biographer of St. Francis of Assisi, and is a Doctor of the Church.

And he was a Franciscan.

The Franciscan family includes three orders - a Frist Order with priests like St. Bonaventure, a Second Order for women religious, and a Third Order (now called Secular Franciscan) for lay people. (The Seculars can also include diocesan priests and deacons.)

Like St. Bonaventure, Franciscan family has across the three orders produced many saints.

St. Francis and St. Clare are well known. So is another early Franciscan, St. Anthony of Padua.

The roll of Franciscan Saints over the centuries includes:

St. Joseph of Cupertino (noted for levitation!)

St. Elizabeth of Portugal (a queen noted for her service to the poor and sick)

St. Lawrence of Brindisi (another Doctor of the Church)

St. Benedict the Moor (a son of slaves)

St. Bernadine of Siena (a great preacher and reformer)

St. Thomas More (who remained faithful to the Church against King Henry VIII)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (a princess who was devoted to works of charity and who is a patroness of the Secular Franciscan Order)

St. Margaret of Cortona (a penitent who inspired us to name our home for pregnant women chose life, The Margaret Home)  

St. Junipero Serra (who founded missions in California and defended Native Americans against the Spanish colonists) 

St. Marianne Cope (who served the lepers of Molokai)

St. Maximilian Kolbe (who lost his life at Auschwitz)

Pope St. John XIII (who called for Vatican II)

 

St. Padre Pio (noted as a miracle worker and, like St. Francis, a Stigmatist) 

And so many more!

Pax et bonum

The Clearwater Banner Flap

I am a long-time fan of Pete Seeger. I applauded his environmental efforts to clean up the Hudson River, including the sloop Clearwater that he and his fellow activists used to promote cleaning up that river and fostering environmental awareness.

The Clearwater was in the news again July 4 when it was not allowed to take part in the tall ships procession in New York.

Procession organizers made the right decision.

The tall ships event was intended to be celebratory and non-political. Organizers had made it clear beforehand that the ships were not to include anything that might be political in nature. Despite that requirement, the Clearwater folks decided to include banners with messages.

Now while I agree with the messages on the banners, the rules were clear, and the Clearwater folks were violating them.

They were asked to remove the banners and were told if they did so they could participate in the procession. They refused. So, they were then informed they could not participate.

Note: They chose to violate the rules, and then they chose to refuse a reasonable request. They were "booted" - but more properly and accurately, they by their actions chose not to participate. 

When I heard about the flap, I thought of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. 

MERCUTIO
Thou art like one of those fellows that when he
enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword
upon the table and says 'God send me no need of
thee!' and by the operation of the second cup draws
it on the drawer, when indeed there is no need.

By their actions they created a controversy that could have been avoided. 

I hope none of their supporters try to play the victim card or start screaming "free speech>" Courts have consistently ruled even protected speech can be limited in time, place, or manner in some circumstances.

As I said, I agree with the messages on the banners. But there is a time and a place for such a display. 

This was not that time or place.

Pax et bonum

General Strong Vincent, a Hero of Gettysburg

The pivotal Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863. On July 2, the Confederates tried to take Little Round Top, and one of my distant relatives was a hero who helped to repulse their attack, suffering a mortal wound in the process.

Strong Vincent was the son of B.B. Vincent and Sarah Ann (Strong) Vincent. It is through her that he is related to me.  

At the start of the Civil War he enlisted with the Pennsylvania militia, rising to the rank of Colonel. At Gettysburg on July 2, he and the brigade he commanded were ordered to the top of Little Round Top to repulse a Confederate attack.  While urging his troops on, he was shot in the thigh. He died five days later. Before he died, in recognition of his heroism, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. 

Pax et bonum

Recent Pro-life Haiku

Some observations outside Planned Parenthood.


Yes, one pro-lifer did pick up broken glass from the clinic's driveway out of concern that people driving in or out might get a flat.


leaving the clinic
girl in the front seat
avoids making eye contact


clinic escort
answers pro-lifer's greeting
with an expletive


clinic driveway
pro-lifer stoops to pick up
some broken glass


passing cars' gestures
pro-lifers relabel them
as saying "One way"



healing Mass 

a woman weeps for the child 

that she never held

Pax et bonum

Reading Tally At Mid Year

As I have done for several years now, I set reading goals for 2026. The goals include total number of works, total number of pages, and some specific goals related to particular writers, books, and genres. At midpoint in the year, and not likely to finish another work before the end of June, it's time to see how I'm doing.

I wanted to read 60-70 works, and 15,000 pages. I'm up to 35 works and 7,800 pages so far, so I'm on target to meet those two goals.

As for other goals, I've met the vast majority of them already. Here's the list from the beginning of the year, with the ones I have not done yet bolded:

A biography/autobiography of a saint

A book about a saint

A secular biography

At least two documents of Vatican II

Several spiritual works

A book by G. K. Chesterton I have not yet read

A book about G. K. Chesterton

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J. R. R. Tolkien

A book by C. S. Lewis, possibly a reread.

A book by Charles Dickens I have not yet read (Our Mutual Friend?)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

A book by Michael O'Brien

A book by Dostoevsky (The Possessed?)

 At least one history book

 Several mysteries

 Several poetry collections

 Several plays

I'm currently reading Dostoevsky's The Possessed, so that goal will be completed in the coming weeks.

I'm still trying to decide which Chesterton book to read. though I'm leaning toward Tales of the Long Bow. I have read a couple of his short plays, but when I set this goal I was thinking one of his longer works.

In looking ahead, there are some books I want to read because they've been gathering dust, and some of which will end up being donated as I work on downsizing.

Here's what I have read so far:

Satan and the Saint (St. Jean Vianney) by Alex LaPerchi

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Vatican II)

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Vatican II)

A Man of Faith (Father Patrick Peyton) by Jeanne Gosselin Arnold

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Mission of Grace: The Story of Saint Marianne Cope by Fran Gangloff, OFS  

American Pontiff: Pope Leo XIV and the Plan to Heal the Church by Paul Kengor

The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church by Joseph Pearce

The Gift of Wonder: The Many Sides of G. K. Chesterton edited by Dale Ahlquist

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J.R.R. Tolkien

Letter to the Future by Michael D. O’Brien

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace by H. W. Brands

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman

The Point of It All by Charles Krauthammer

Missing, Presumed Lost by Fiorella De Maria

May Day!  by Fiorella De Maria

The Loch Ness Papers by Paige Shelton

Death at a Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly

Death of a Cad by M. C. Beaton

Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill

The Turkey and the Turk by G. K. Chesterton

What You Won’t by G. K. Chesterton

Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

The Frog Prince and Other Poems by Stevie Smith

Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake

My Heart’s in the Highlands: An Anthology of Verse by Robert Burns

Poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Selected by Babette Deutsch)

Highlights of the year so far?

The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace by H. W. Brands, The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, Missing, Presumed Lost by Fiorella De Maria, May Day!  by Fiorella De Maria, and Letter to the Future by Michael D. O’Brien.

As I mentioned, I am currently reading The Possessed, so I will meet that goal in July. I'm also reading a collection of talks by Pope Benedict, The Apostles, and will finish that fairly soon.

I'm saving Our Mutual Friend for August and our summer vacation at the cottage.

I have in the queue as possibilities: The Little Flowers of St. Francis, Dear and Glorious Physician: A Novel about Saint Luke by Taylor Caldwell, In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden, Citadel of God by Louis de Wohl, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and The Big Fisherman by Lloyd. C. Douglas. I don't know if I will read them all this year, though. There will also likely be a few mysteries just for fun, of course, and maybe something by Mark Twain, perhaps A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, or a collection of his short stories?

Who knows what else will draw my attention?

Pax et bonum

I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground

Heard this at a concert about Pete Seeger!

Pax et bonum

Love Notes

One of my Christmas gifts to my wife last year was a promise to write her a note a day throughout 2026. I gave her a box with Santa on the cover - naturally - for her to save the notes in. 

 

I have managed to write a love note every day. 167 so far. 

She has saved them all in the box.

It's beginning to run out of room.

The notes are sometimes short. Sometimes they fill a page.

Besides my wife and my love for her I find inspiration for the notes from various sources.

Sometimes whatever I am reading inspires a thought. Sometimes I'm inspired by a song - one entry was even a verse that I wrote about her in an original song. Sometimes I search online for inspiration. Sometimes thoughts just come to me.

I hide them on her dresser, though in spots that make them easy to find.

I did this before a couple times in the past. A note a day for an entire year. She still has all those notes!

She seems to appreciate them.

I always end then them with some variation of :

With Love,

Me X O

Because I do love her, and she inspires me in so many ways.

Pax et bonum

About Mormons

A popular local radio host who happens to be Mormon recently posted an article about how Mormons are Christians.

Strictly speaking, they are not.

Catholic Answers has an article that explains how Mormon teachings stray from Christian teachings. They certainly do a better job than I could!

....

“Good morning, sir. I’m Elder Lamb and this is Elder Sanders. We’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have an important message for you. May we come in?”

If you let them in, you’ve invited them to begin the process of “discussions,” six canned lessons they’ve been trained to deliver, leading, ideally, to your baptism into the Mormon Church.

They’ll begin by telling you the Heavenly Father has a plan for your eternal happiness. Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith are central figures in this plan of salvation. Both prophets, ancient and modern, reveal the purpose and will of God. The Book of Mormon is additional scripture testifying to the message.

The lessons last about an hour each and are spread over four to six weeks. On their second and subsequent visits, the young missionaries will urge you to repentance, faith in their doctrines, baptism into their church, and moral living. Only their church, they say, can lead you to true righteousness and ultimate salvation. All other so-called Christian churches profess creeds abominable to the Lord and offer only counterfeit holiness (Joseph Smith, History 1:19; found in the Mormon book of scripture The Pearl of Great Price). Shortly after the death of the apostles, Mormons claim, the pure Christian faith was overtaken by false doctrine and vanished totally from the earth. This “apostasy” was reversed and the true Church was restored in 1830 in upstate New York by the boy-prophet, Joseph Smith.

If you live a life obedient to LDS dictates, you can progress to the point of perfection. You will become like God and return to him in his highest heaven. Provided your spouse, children, and parents live equally dedicated lives, you will spend eternity with them as a family.

Requirements for this eventual “exaltation” include living the “Word of Wisdom,” or abstaining from coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco; tithing, or paying to the Church one-tenth of your income; fulfilling all Church responsibilities; and dedicating all your energy to spreading the Mormon gospel.

Not an unattractive message, on the face of it. Some spiritual seekers are drawn by the Mormon challenge of sacrificial living and giving. Ignorant of the orthodox Christian teaching on salvation and eternal life, many suffering the loss of a loved one find consolation in the Mormon teaching on eternal families. Culling an occasional spiritual kernel from the Book of Mormon, prospective converts conclude both it and its ecclesiastical publisher present divine truths.

But Mormons, whether missionaries, neighbors, or colleagues, are trained to present only the “milk” beliefs, the bland and less offensive teachings designed to hook the unsuspecting. The “meatier” doctrines are kept for later-much later. Indeed, many faithful members know little or nothing of their Church’s fundamental tenets.

Here are some of them.

1. God the Father is a glorified man, possessing a physical body.

That is, the Almighty Lord was once born of human parents in some other universe. He lived a Mormon way of life, repented of his sins, died, and was eventually raised by his God and installed as God of this world.

Mormons justify this belief by mishandling and misunderstanding such biblical texts as Genesis 1:26-27, Exodus 33:11, Deuteronomy 4:34, Psalms 33:18, and Nahum 1:3. Most of these passages, and others like them, refer to the “arm,” “eye,” and “feet” of the Lord. However, other passages speak of God’s “feathers” and “wings” (Ps. 91:4). Or they refer to him as a “consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24) or a “rock” (Deut. 32:4). In all these examples, the inspired writers simply try to communicate in human words and images the inexpressible power, presence, and love of the infinite God.

Latter-day Saints force the context of Genesis 1:26-27. Since man is made in God’s image, they argue, God must look like a man. Though the Genesis passage states God created man both male and female, Mormons insist that God the Father is a male. The fact is, “the image of God” refers not to some literal correlation of body parts but to the spiritual similarities shared by him with his rational creatures (angels and human beings). In other words, we are made in God’s image because we, like him, can choose and can love. We are endowed with the possibility of such moral and intellectual qualities as holiness, wisdom, and justice. By these, we enjoy spiritual fellowship, even sonship, with the Father and “pattern” of our spirits.

When confronted by Mormons with their belief in an almighty Heavenly Father, ask them about his origins. Was there ever a time he didn’t exist? Was he always God? Did he ever commit sin? (Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie taught that the Father “worked out his own salvation by obedience to the same laws” he has since given us. [A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 64]). If he has a body of flesh and bones, where is it? (On a planet near the star Kolob, Mormons maintain. See Abraham 3:3 in The Pearl of Great Price. )

Help Latter-day Saints to see the true nature of God: He is infinite Spirit (John 4:24). A spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). God is not a man, even an exalted one (Num. 23:19; Hos. 11:9). God was always God; he is immortal, and he is all-holy (1 Tim. 1:17). No one can see the “face” of God and live (Ex. 33:20, John 1:18).

2. There are many Gods.

Mormons will tell you they believe in one God whom they call the Heavenly Father. They worship and pray to him alone. But-referring to Genesis 1:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 8:5-Latter-day Saints insist the ancient Jewish patriarchs and prophets, along with Paul and the other apostles, believed in a plurality of Gods.

If you press them, they respond, “Look, God himself taught Mormon doctrine. See here, God says, ‘Let us make man in our image’ [Gen. 1:26]. He was talking to His Son, Jesus Christ, and the spirit-man, the Holy Ghost. Right there, then, you’ve got three Gods. Those three Gods oversee our universe. The Father is supreme, and the other two are his helpers.”

At first blush, the Mormon apologist has confused three distinct persons of the Trinity with three separate Gods. But it gets worse. Paul, they maintain, knew of other Gods when he wrote to the Corinthians: “For there be [those] that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many and lords many), but to us there is but one God” (1 Cor. 8:5-6). Therefore, Mormons assert, there are as many supreme Gods as there are worlds. Brigham Young taught that the number of Gods and worlds is uncountable (Discourses of Brigham Young, 22). The LDS Church occupies itself with only the one (or three?) Gods of this world and leave it to inhabitants of other universes to worship and obey their respective Gods.

As for the Genesis citation, no Jewish or Christian commentator sees the least hint of polytheism in the use of the plurals “us” and “our.” While the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is in plural form, and therefore must be replaced by plural pronouns, the rest of the passage is in the singular: “God created (singular verb) man in his own image.” Various interpretations are consistent with the biblical revelation of monotheism. For example, the Lord may have simply used the “plural of majesty”-rather like a monarch and, until recently, the pope, who often referred to himself as “we.” Or God may have been addressing his heavenly court of angels, who also possessed the image of God in that they were rational beings endowed with knowledge, will, and immortal life. Further, Christians may comfortably conclude the Father was indeed communicating with the Son and the Holy Spirit, who, as mighty God, exist dynamic and creative from all eternity.

Paul did not teach a plurality of Lords and Gods. He merely commented that there are entities that are called gods. Whether he was referring to the crass idols of Zeus or Hermes, or craftier masters such as greed and pride, he-and we-know that men have created and will continue to create other gods and lords, displacing the one true God. We do not merely limit our adoration and service to one God among millions; we don’t, in fact, know of any other God.

You can help the Mormon see the fallacy of multiple infinite beings. While not explicitly presented in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity is imbedded in Scripture’s insistence on one only God and its clear teaching that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are persons possessing equal majesty, power, and lordship. They are not united solely in purpose or will, as Mormons assert, but in very being. Read Isaiah 42-45 to find crystallized the ancient Hebrew belief in one God. Christ and his followers confirm monotheism in John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 8:4, Galatians 3:20, and Ephesians 4:6. The Son is called God throughout Christian scripture. See John 20:28 and Hebrews 1:8. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is confessed as God in Acts 5:3-4 and 2 Corinthians 3:17. If the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God, then only the truth revealed in the Blessed Trinity can explain Scripture’s doctrines.

3. A man can become God.

He can’t become God of this world, mind you, since that position is already filled. But a man who lives as a faithful Mormon in this life, fulfilling all obligations imposed on him by the LDS Church, may progress to godhood in the next life. He will be given his own world to populate and rule, together with his heavenly wife or wives (including, usually, his own earthly Mormon spouse).

Spencer W. Kimball, Mormon prophet during the 1980s, declared to a group of male college students: “Each one of you has it within the realm of possibility to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its king and God. You will need to develop yourself and grow in ability and power and worthiness to govern such a world with all of its people” (Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, 29). So, having achieved divinity, a man will do for his own creation all that the Heavenly Father has done for him. In turn, he will be worshiped as God by the children he procreates, just as he now adores and obeys God the Father.

Because Mormons see God as an advanced and perfected man, they conclude that their members enjoy a similar progression. They confuse Christ’s admonition to “be perfect” (Matt. 5:48) with “become a God.” In fact, since there is but one God, man’s perfection lies in becoming fully conformed to the divine image in which Adam was created. He is to become a perfect man, aided by the grace brought by the Second Adam, Jesus Christ.

Try to get Latter-day Saints to see that an earthly parent-child analogy cannot apply to our relationship with the Lord. An earthly father’s task is to raise his son to become self-supporting and independent, autonomous in his decisions. It is not so between God and us. We’ll never achieve his status; we’ll never grow apart from him; we’ll always need him. Yes, we shall enjoy fully his communicable attributes of eternal life, love, and goodness. Like a bar of iron, we’ll glow with divine fire (2 Pet. 1:4.) The boundaries between perfect humanity and divine glory may appear blurred. But they won’t be eliminated. We’ll always be his perfected children, never his equal.

When pushed, Mormons will say we can never achieve God’s status, and we’ll never be equal to him. But that’s just an attempt to soften the offense of this doctrine. What they mean is, since the present God has a long head start, we’ll never catch up to him in power and glory. He advances as we do. But a Mormon man, once on the path of progression, may one day arrive at the level God is at now. Then his own sons, becoming Gods in their turn, will push him even further along, into the eternities.

4. Jesus Christ: half-God, half-man.

According to a text published by the LDS Church for use by college-age students, Jesus Christ was “the only man born to this earth half-divine and half-mortal” (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, 10). Mormonism teaches that matter is eternal. That which we call “spirit” is really just highly refined matter. Therefore, God didn’t create from nothing; He merely “organized” pre-existent matter. This includes the “spirit” form of his Son, Jesus Christ, whom the Heavenly Father and one of his heavenly wives created as their first-born. (Lucifer and his minions, together with every other person, were similarly conceived in the heavens, thus making us all Christ’s junior brothers and sisters.)

Two thousand years ago, the Heavenly Father looked with favor upon his daughter, the Virgin Mary. He visited her in his flesh-and-bones male body and had sexual intercourse with her. The result was Jesus Christ in his mortal body. Since Mormons say they believe Mary was a virgin when she conceived her son, LDS theologians have had to redefine the definition of “virgin.” They say a virgin is a woman who has not had sex with a mortal man; since God the Father was by then an immortal man, no loss of virginity occurred, though “normal and natural” intercourse took place (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, vol. 1, 314; Mormon Doctrine, 546-547). An early Mormon apostle taught that God the Father and Mary were “associated together in the capacity of husband and wife” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, 158-159).

Many Latter-day Saints believe Christ was married and had children. Because marriage is the only way a man can become a God in the next life, should not the Lord have taken a wife (or wives) and shown us how to live worthily? Since the blessings of marriage are crowned by the birth of children, Christ is said to have had several. While such notions were taught openly during the Mormon presidencies of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the current membership is cautioned not to throw such spiritual pearls before scoffing swine. (See apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses2:210 and 4:259-260; also, president Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses 1:346.)

Latter-day Saints will not worship Christ. They are forbidden to pray to him. All prayer is directed to the Father only, in the name of the Son. Because they don’t understand the true nature and persons of God, Mormons confuse the divine and human natures of his Son. For them, Christ must be a lesser God, since he (and the Holy Ghost) were formed by the Father and are subjected to him in all things. Though now Gods, Christ and the Holy Spirit became Gods later than did Heavenly Father and are totally dependent upon him who created them.

Biblical verses supporting the Holy Trinity and the full deity of the three persons are also useful here, to establish that Christ is mighty God from all eternity. He accepted and expects adoration. He received Thomas’s worshipful phrase, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28) without demurral; see also Matthew 2:11 and 28:9, 17; John 9:38; and Revelation 5:14.

Keep in mind that Mormons maintain these doctrines are part of the truth revealed by God in every age to his Church. Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, and all the prophets knew and taught God had a physical body, knew and taught a plurality of Gods, knew and taught that men can evolve into Gods, and knew and taught a subordinate Christ. The same is true for the first apostles chosen by Christ two thousand years ago. Such glorious doctrines were lost, the Mormon Church declares, because the Catholic Church, after having replaced the true Church of Christ, removed many “plain and precious” truths from the scriptures. The world was thus enthralled in the blackness of apostasy until the Lord restored all these teachings to Joseph Smith in 1830.

5. In the Mormon Temple, God gives men all the secrets necessary for salvation.

It is in their temples, Latter-day Saints are told, where the full purity of these restored teachings is revealed. The temple ceremonies, written by Joseph Smith soon after he became a Freemason and containing many Masonic parallels, are said to replicate the rituals performed in the temples of Solomon and Herod.

Only those worthy to enter the temple may return to God after death. About twenty percent of Mormons hold “recommends,” cards permitting them entrance to the temple where the secret ceremonies are performed. The so-called “restored” gospel teachings presented above are emphasized visually in a video. I’ve been through the “endowment” ritual several times. It takes about ninety minutes. The words and actions never vary. The temple patron hears the Gods’ plan for creating the world and mankind. The patron makes “covenants” with the Lord to support the Mormon Church in every way he can. He promises not to speak critically of Mormon leaders and to avoid loud laughter. He promises to live a righteous and faithful life.

Throughout the presentation, the patrons are taught special “signs” and “tokens” consisting of various arm gestures and handc.asps, each having sacred names. Participants also don special clothing and head coverings during the endowment.

Temple attendance is obligatory for ultimate salvation. Even if you live a good, holy, Mormon life, assenting to its doctrines and participating in church activities, after death you cannot enter the presence of God without giving him the same signs and tokens and code names learned in the temple. Since to speak of these outside of the temple walls is forbidden, those who desire eternal life must pay the price to enter the temple. (“Pay the price” is not restricted to cash contributions, though to be temple-worthy you must give the church ten percent of your income, plus additional offerings.)

While a Mormon, I lived a life worthy of the temple. I tried hard to be prepared, praying and often fasting before attending an endowment session. But never did I “feel” the promised “Spirit of the Lord” within its walls or during its banal ceremonies. They were rote, repetitious, lifeless, and even silly. (Some Fundamentalist detractors pretend to uncover bizarre satanic or sexual overtones to the temple rituals. Nothing is further from the truth. Since being purged in 1990 of most anti-Catholic references and threats of disembowelment for revealing their secrets, the temple ordinances are now rather bland and-except for their theology-inoffensive.)

God doesn’t appear to be the focus of temple work. There is practically no prayer as such. Each patron is required to listen to the instructions, learn the signs and names, and repeat them accurately. Since the teachings, signs, and gestures never vary, the ceremony becomes quickly familiar. Those who attend do so in the belief that their performance here will enable those who were not Mormons on earth the chance to become saints in “spirit prison.” Some Mormons even boast of going through three or four sessions a day and thus “saving” three or four dead friends or relatives.

The Mormons who come knocking on your door need to know that God is Lord of all. He has revealed himself fully in his Son (Heb. 1:2), who himself charged his apostles to preach the gospel until the end of time (Luke 10:16; 2 Tim. 2:2; 4:2-4). He does not hide himself from his people, but desires they all be saved. He taught the truth openly (Matt. 26:55, John 8:2) and founded a Church to hand it down to every generation (2 Thes. 2:15, 3:16).

There’s no need for temples to teach us the secret way to salvation. That path was made clear by Christ, the light of the world, and is in every age illuminated by his body, the Catholic Church. Christ’s promises of power and permanence, once made, are irrevocable. (See Matthew 16:18, 28:20; John 14:16, 26; 16:13; Eph. 5:29.) The Church has preserved the purity of Christian faith and life. No “former” truths need be “restored” and secretly “revealed.”
Mormonism attracts largely by holding back its offensive doctrines and leading instead with its strong suit of family values and patriotic devotion. But “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Prov. 14:12). See also 2 Corinthians 11:14: “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” The “good fruit” of Mormonism is poisoned by counterfeit theology.

Pax et bonum

Moving on up ...

This past weekend I was at a regional Secular Franciscan meeting. It’s an annual meeting of the ministers from the region (which covers most of New York state), along with a few other people from each fraternity in the region. I’m the minister of my fraternity. At the regional meeting we were approving a regional budget, hearing talks, meeting with national officials, and voting for our new council to guide our region for the next three years.

I’m part of that new council - a councilor. 

I hadn’t planned on running for an office, though it had been on my mind. At our regional visitation back in May the councilor visiting my fraternity strongly suggested that a couple of us consider running for a regional office. Part of me was thinking that as a professed Secular Franciscan I need to serve the Order as best I can. I need to make use of any gifts I might have. I was aware that in almost every organization to which I have belonged I almost always end up in some kind of leadership position - president, editor, principal, minister, and so on.

When the nominations came out in the days before the regional meeting, I realized that there was just one candidate for each office. Hardly an election!

So, I decided to toss my hat in for one of the councilor positions. There are four of them, and there were four candidates. I figured if I submitted my name there would at least be a choice. I contacted the Regional Minister to say I was thinking about it, and she encouraged me. She even said she would be happy to nominate me at the meeting as I had not been on the initial approved list!

When we gathered for the regional meeting one of the other candidates for councilor approached me. She said she had decided to retire from her job and that she and her husband were planning to move back to her homeland, France, next year. Realizing she could not complete a three-year term, and knowing that I was now running, she had decided to withdraw her name. She thanked me.

Yikes.

I got elected. Today at Mass we were officially installed.

For the next three years I will be a councilor for the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Region of the Secular Franciscan Order. I will also continue as minister of my fraternity.

As a councilor I will be helping to make decisions for the region. The council will have monthly meetings - primarily by Zoom as we are scattered across New York. I will also be assigned as the councilor for several fraternities in the region. I will visit those fraternities, oversee their elections, do visitations of them, and be the contact person for them if they have questions or concerns.

All that is good. But I realized some other things about me in light of this new office.

Being in a position of authority, I am even more of a public representative of the Order. I have to be more careful about what I do, what I say, what I write. I know I have a tendency toward sarcasm and snarky comments. I tend to be somewhat critical and political as well. I need to work on all that.

I also realize I have to do more to increase my Franciscan knowledge. I need to focus more of my reading on Franciscan books - spiritual works, biographies, histories, official documents, and so on. People will be looking to me as a resource; I have a responsibility to prepare.

The next three years are going to be interesting. Lord, be with me!

Pax et bonum

That Pride Thing (and Sports)

During this Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, activists and people with disordered conditions have tried to turn it into a month to celebrate and promote those conditions. Businesses, local governments, organizations all jumped on the bandwagon.

The steam has begun to go out of that effort. But, alas, some sports teams persist, pledging their support and calling for celebrating.

Recently, my favorite Major League Baseball team and my favorite National Football League team posted their support on social media.

I don’t really believe for a minute that either team really cares about the issue or the people with those conditions. I suspect a majority of their fans also don’t care. What teams care about is public relations and avoiding being targeted by a small group of loud-mothered, confrontational activists and their supporters.

What they really care about is money.

Never mind that they are helping to support and to promote these disordered conditions, and to help the confused, the lost, and the young astray.

Alas, like sheep, fans are so caught up in supporting their teams they keep quiet. By their silence they are complicit.

This is also an instance in which a word that might be positive is twisted by the propagandists who seek to normalize what is wrong or abnormal. Look what’s happened to words like “choice” or “gay.”

So here are a few quotations that help to restore order.

“It was pride that changed angels into devils.…” - St. Augustine

“Pride makes us artificial.…” - Thomas Merton

“Pride, the first peer and president of Hell.” - Daniel Defoe

“Where pride begins, love ceases.” - Johan Kasper Lavater

“With pride, there are many curses.” - Ezra Taft Benson

“Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt.” - Benjamin Franklin

“Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.” - Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

“Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.” - William Hazlitt

“Pride and excess bring disaster for man.” - Xunzi

“When pride and presumption walk before, shame and loss follow very closely.” - King Louis XI of France

“Pride goes before destruction.” - Aesop

“Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” - Andrew Murray

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” - Sophocles

Maybe the fans need to consider what “pride” really means, and maybe they need to let their teams know they are just interested in watching and enjoying a game, and not in having propaganda shoved down their throats.

As for me, I notified the Mets and the Bills about my displeasure with them bringing woke nonsense into their marketing.

And maybe I’ll find better things to do with my time than watching or going to their games. Write. Practice guitar and sing. Take a walk with my wife. Read a book.

Pax et bonum

Some Recent Science Fiction and Horror Poetry

though in a coma
he was aware as doctors
harvested organs

Once,
twice,
and then
a third time
he heard the footsteps
of it circling his hiding place.

He
left
home to
travel to
Mars happy that he
might never see his wife again
not knowing she was
thinking the
exact
same
thing.

Two
robots
stood rusted
with batteries
dead.

The
dragon
hungrily
watched as the knight
neared.

First
arrest
for the clone
repeats source’s
crime.

we watched as the four
looped the dark side of the moon
so did other eyes

Cro-Magnon father
neanderthal mother
the story of us

they learned a diet
of garlic deters vampires
but not werewolves

the first warning sign
the shadows began moving
independently

he quickly learned
not all dreams are just dreams
teeth marks on his leg

how ironic -
we discover the werewolf
is Joe the barber

after a feasting
gave him a disease vampire
practices safe sucks

Pax et bonum

May 29 In Catholic History: Welcome G. K. Chesterton

On May 29, 1874, Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London.

A 1922 convert, Chesterton was a noted for his voluminous output of essays, poetry, plays, novels, debates, speeches, and spiritual works. He might be best known in the popular mind for creating Father Brown and the Father Brown mysteries. But his spiritual works include acclaimed biographies of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas, and two works often listed as spiritual classic of the 20th Century: Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. 

Chesterton, who died June 14, 1936, influenced later writers, including J. R. R. Tolkien, Dorothy Sayers, and, most famously, C. S. Lewis, who acknowledged that reading Chesterton helped to convert him from atheist to Christian. 

  

Pax et bonum

May 27 in Catholic History: The Future Cardinal O'Connor

On May 27, 1979, Pope St. John Paul II consecrated John O'Connor as a bishop. On May 19, 1984 he was installed as Archbishop of New York, and the following year, on May 25, he was elevated to Cardinal. He remained as Cardinal Archbishop of New York until his death on May 3, 2000.

Cardinal O'Connor was a staunch defender of life - opposing abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, human trafficking, and unjust war. He created what was to become the Sisters of Life. The Sisters take a vow to "protect and enhance the sacredness of human life."^[  

Pax et bonum

Are They Watching Us?

The U.S. government has been releasing UFO files. Okay, they now call them UAPs - “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena”. Seriously? I'll stick with UFOs.

I don't know if there are aliens out there sending those objects. It's an interesting idea.

The release comes weeks after Artemis 2 flew around the moon, and, in fact, flew further into space than any crewed mission before.  

Which got me to wondering: Besides the humans on earth watching, could some of those possible aliens been watching? And if so, what were they thinking?

I was reminded of a classic science fiction movie: The Day the Earth Stood Still. The 1951 one, not the terrible 2008 remake. Klaatu, the alien, arrives with a gift, but it gets destroyed because of a trigger-happy human. Klaatu later notes that his people have been watching us with growing concern. We were too warlike and violent, we had nuclear weapons, and we were beginning to move out into space. We were viewed as a potential threat, and the implication is that if we continue our warlike ways and we do move into out space they might have to take action against us for the sake of interplanetary peace.

Now they may have been monitoring us by sending down UFOs. Maybe they were also monitoring our radio and television signals. Which is one of the plot devices for another science fiction movie, a comedy: Galaxy Quest. In that 1999 movie, a favorite of mine, the aliens had been watching television signals from earth, believing what they depict is true. They particularly like a science fiction show, Galaxy Quest (a parody of Star Trek) and not only built a working version of the ship in the show but modeled their culture on the culture depicted in the show. They also felt pity for Gilligan and his fellow castaways. Faced with attack, they come to earth to recruit help from the crew depicted on the show, bringing the actors up to their ship. Naturally, the actors, using their characters to help guide them, save the day.

A third movie could be taken as a warning, but also a sign of hope: Enemy Mine.

The 1985 movie has humans going into space and encountering an alien race, the Dracs, and promptly going to war with them. A human fighter pilot, Willis, and a Drac fighter pilot, Jariba (Jerry), crash on a planet, and gradually overcome their mistrust and hostility. They become friends. Jerry teaches Willis his family line - in the Drac culture that is important, and in doing so he is bestowing an honor on Willis.  Then Jerry becomes become terminally ill, but not before revealing he is carrying a child. He asks Willis to promise that he will take the child back to the Drac home world and recite for him his Drac family line.  Jerry dies, and Willis delivers the Drac child, Zammis. Willis raises Zammis, who calls him "Uncle". Then evil humans arrive to mine on the planet using Drac slave labor, brutally mistreating the Dracs. Zammis is captured by them, and Willis is shot and left for dead by the evil humans. Instead, he is rescued by other members of the space force, and when he recovers, he seeks out Zammis to rescue him. He does so, and takes him back to the Drac world, reciting the family line, and is honored by having his name added to it.

That movie showed the dark side of humanity - the warlike ways, the prejudice, and the cruelty of those who enslave the Dracs. But it also shows that human and Dracs can live together as friends.

So, if there are any aliens out there watching us, I'm hoping that they will see what is good in the human race, and that we can find ways to live peacefully and as friends.

Maybe we can bond over concern for those poor folks marooned on Gilligan's island.

Pax et bonum