Colin's Mom

The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. - G. K. Chesterton

I took a book out from the library the other day.

When I got home and opened it, I found a folded piece of paper sticking between two pages, like a bookmark.

On the front of the paper was:

To: Mom
From: Colin

Curious (okay, nosey), I opened it. Inside was the word “Mom” written in a childish scrawl, and in another hand, "Thank you for taking me to the splashpad."

Maybe Colin's mom had been reading the book that day and stuck the note in the book, promptly forgetting it. Maybe she put it in the book for safekeeping, then without thinking returned it to the library.

I have many such pieces of my daughters' childhood tucked away. Notes, drawings, puzzle-piece jewelry, painted bottles, and so on. I have many of them stored in boxes. I periodically rediscover others as I search in drawers for the mates of socks, or when rummaging though my old receipts and bills and papers.

Whenever I find such forgotten treasures, I smile. I try to guess when they were created. I think of the love that went into writing or making them.

That's the value of such things. They are little patches of love. Together with the hugs and smiles, and, yes, tears, they are part of the quilt of love stitched together by our family over the years.

And now that the girls are gone to their own homes, that loving memory quilt keeps me warm.

Perhaps Colin's mom also has a collection of such things.

I plan to stick the note back in the book. I like to imagine that maybe Colin's mom will take out the book again and rediscover it, feeling the same flash of remembered happiness I experience when I find one of the girls' forgotten little gifts (even if I never do find that missing sock).

And even if Colin's mom never sees it again, perhaps some other book borrower will, and will be similarly inspired to remember all the gifts of love he or she has received.

Pax et bonum

That Novel (Sigh)

Back in the late 1980's, I began a novel that mixed the supernatural, horror, and Christianity

It included murder, possession, Native American elements, Swedenborgian ideas, demons, a practicing witch, an evil government-sponsored agency seeking to control and use the supernatural, a rite of exorcism, and a character based on C. S. Lewis (!). 

Some of it was inspired by the horror and supernatural fiction I had been reading since adolescence. 

Some of it also made use of events and interests from my own life.

I did meet a practicing witch who tried to draw me into her world, and with whom I had a very weird supernatural experience. A character loosely based on her and that experience are in the book.

I had a friend who was heavily into the beliefs of the mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg - he called himself a Swedenborgian - and some of Swedenborg's ideas were incorporated into the novel. Indeed, one of the file titles for the novel was "Swedenborg."

I worked part-time at a public radio station, so I made one of the characters a radio reporter and talk show host.

I had gone to grad school, so the story is set at a university with the main character taking classes there.

A couple of the characters were based on people I knew, one an ally of the protagonist, the other, one of chief villains. 

The protagonist was from the Finger Lakes region of New York where I had grown up and where I had come into contact with some Native American legends. I modified one of those legends for the story.   

I was a big fan of C. S. Lewis at the time, and his science fiction trilogy was a big influence. So it was natural to have a character based on him. 

I scribbled away at that novel for a couple of years, but as a reporter at the time I had to do so in between all the writing I had to do for my newspaper. Plus, I was working a second job to help support my young family, and was actively involved in caring for three young children.

The novel was progressing well, and I began thinking about what would help to make it marketable, so I began to read some contemporary horror/supernatural/fiction for trends and ideas. Mind you, my previous reading and viewing had been classic supernatural/science fiction/horror literature and movies. 

I began to be influenced by the contemporary fiction, but after a while it began to make me uneasy. I began to sense it was too dark, graphic, and twisted. Moreover, I began to see some elements of it creeping into my story.

Just about that time, I found my focus shifting to a different writing genre. I had always told my daughters bedtime stories, including making up an ongoing tale that included them. At the same time, storytelling was popular, and I began to perform as a professional storyteller. I started adapting stories, and writing some original ones. I even briefly became a storytelling character on a local cable television program! 

To improve my storytelling, I began to act in local community theater. And along with that, I began writing plays. One about a local civil war hero actually got performed by our local professional theater as part of a regional playwrights festival. When I left journalism to return to teaching I began writing plays for my students to perform. And I also began blogging.

With all that, the novel remained on the back burner.

After neglecting it for years, I finally looked at it again. I began to remove or revise some of the troublesome sections. I began writing some new material, and adding characters, one of whom was based on G. K. Chesterton as I had become active in local Chesterton circles.

And then ... I became a Secular Franciscan. I wondered if writing a supernatural/horror story was really in keeping with being a Franciscan. So once again I stopped.

Around 2020, I began working on it again. I took out the last of the really dark material. I also realized I had too many characters and cut back on them. One of the things I also tried to do was to update it. The world of 2020 was very different from the world of 2020 - such as with the use of computers and cell phones. But as I did so I found it was altering the story too much. So I stopped again. 

Sigh.

What I decided in the end was to set the story in the 1980's. But that will mean going back and revising my revisions!

So where is that unfinished novel now? (Besides being kind of family joke.)

I'm 30 chapter and 40,000 word in. About half of how long I suspect it will be if I do finish it.

Will I?

I don't know yet. 

I hate leaving things unfinished. 

But I've always felt more comfortable with writing shorter pieces. Hence I tend to write clerihews and haiku, short stories, one-act plays, short essays, and blog posts. Heck, even in conversations I tend to get to the point quickly, and I get frustrated when other people don't.

But I hate leaving things unfinished.

It's a curse.

Like an unfinished novel malingering in the back of my mind.  

Pax et bonum

Step in mud, you get mud on your shoes

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 2272 reads:

Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

I’m not a canon lawyer, but I read this to mean that due to the seriousness of the offense, a number of people involved with an abortion face automatic excommunication (subject, of course to mitigating circumstances, such as knowledge of the seriousness of the offense and it’s canonical consequences, as outlined in canon law).

The woman who obtained the abortion.

The doctor who performed it

Any nurse or other medical personnel who assisted with the abortion.

Any person who knowingly drove the woman to the office to obtain the abortion.

Any person who knowingly provided money for the abortion

Any person who promotes the abortion services at the clinic/office.

All automatically excommunicated. The church doesn't have to do a thing. The excommunicated do it themsleves by their actions.

Beyond what this section says, I also suspect that any person who actively promotes abortion – activists and politicians – may also be subject to the same penalty.

So I think that anyone who works for Planned Parenthood is also automatically excommunicated.

And any politician who proposes any bill legalizing/expanding/funding abortions is also excommunicated. 

Basically, if you deliberately step in mud, you are going to get mud on your shoes – and it’s no use trying to put the blame on anyone else.

Pax et bonum

Three, three, three Gods in One!

One concept that often causes confusion among non-Christians – and among many Christians, for that matter – is the Trinity, which, of course, we mark in Catholic circles on Trinity Sunday.

Some folks say Trinitarians worship three gods, and that makes us non-Christians. But even fellow Trinitarians get confused about what it means when we talk about the Three Persons in One God.

I’ve heard three explanations of the Trinity that put the concept in more concrete terms.

The most famous is that of St. Patrick, who used the shamrock to help explain how something could have three aspects, yet still be one.

St. Ignatius Loyola used music. He likened the Trinity to a chord – three notes combining together to produce one harmonious tone.

Another explanation is that the Trinity is like H2O. You can have ice, water and steam, all with different attributes, yet all the same.

All explanations work fine for me. To be honest, this is not one of the theological debates I find particularly gripping. Give me the ordination of women or the people who sit in the pew behind me and talk throughout Mass to chew on!

Then again, I also refer to the three Persons in the Trinity as the Boss, the Kid, and the Bird.

Somehow I don't think my description will make it into too many theology textbooks. It might make for a nice allegorical piece some day, though.

Fortunately, God does have a sense of humor.

At least, I think the Kid does. How else do you explain the Apostles?

Pax et bonum

Is that a Fly in my Soup?

Every night before dinner, my family and I hold hands and pray.

We thank God for the good things that have happened, we pray for other people who might need strength and help, and we pray for our own needs. Sometimes we also make comments or even jokes.

Because we’ve had some tough times lately, the other night I prayed, “Lord, they say you never give us more than we can handle. I think you’re overestimating me.”

It got the desired effect of getting everyone around the table smiling and laughing.

But in thinking about it later I realized that I don’t agree with the saying as it is often understood.

First, I don’t believe God “gives” us everything that comes our way.

Oh, I believe that life and all that is in it is a gift from God. But I think some of the specific bad things in it come from other sources. We are all affected by the consequences of our own decisions and deeds, the choices and actions of other people, and sometimes just the arbitrary forces of nature.

The decision to eat that burrito with the nuclear hot sauce, the boss who treated me unfairly, the fly that landed in my soup can’t necessarily be blamed on God’s direct action. (Well, maybe the fly: God does have a sense of humor).

Remember that in the story of Job, while God gave Satan permission to afflict Job, God himself did not inflict the misfortunes.

This doesn’t mean that God might not for his own purposes send bad things my way (such as that fly in my soup), but I don’t believe he is directly involved in causing them all.

Second, I believe that we do sometimes face problems that we really can’t handle. There are times when people suffer nervous breakdowns or mental problems. There are people who are addicted in ways they can’t control.

It’s at that point that we have to turn to a “higher power,” as the 12-step programs describe it. We have to rely on God.

Of course, turning to God for help and strength is a choice, and in this sense we do “handle” the problem. But that’s the same thing as a person hanging from a cliff reaching out to take an outstretched hand from someone trying to save him. He could choose not to reach out, just as we can choose to ignore God’s help.

So if I wanted to be accurate, I could have prayed for God’s help and for the openness, courage and strength to accept that help.

Of course, that wouldn’t have gotten my family smiling.

Maybe I could have added St. Teresa of Avila’s quip: ““If this is the way you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few!"

But then, I might have ended up with a fly in my soup.

Pax et bonum

Easy Essay - Christianity Untried

1. Chesterton says, 

         “Christianity has not failed

         because it has not been tried.”


2. Christianity has not been tried 

         because people thought 

         it was impractical.

3. And men have tried everything 

         except Christianity.

4. And everything 

         that men have tried 

         has failed.

5. And to fail 

        in everything 

        that one tries 

        is not to be practical.

6. Men will be practical 

       when they try to practice 

       the Christianity 

       they profess 

       to believe in.

- Peter Maurin

Pax et bonum

Blessed Solanus Miracle?

Teen’s tumors vanish after prayers to Bl. Solanus Casey: A possible final miracle for canonization


CV NEWS FEED // A Michigan teenager’s unexplained healing after prayers to Blessed Solanus Casey could become the miracle the Church needs to declare the beloved Capuchin friar a saint.

Sixteen-year-old Mary Bartold from DeWitt was facing surgery after doctors discovered tumors on both her ovaries in May 2024, the Detroit Free Press reported. As she prepared for what could have been a life-changing operation, her parents, Susan and Rick Bartold, turned to prayer — making a pilgrimage to the Solanus Casey Center in Detroit and initiating a novena for his intercession.

Mary, a sophomore at Lansing Catholic High School, had first experienced sharp abdominal pain during school in late April.

“I was toppled over,” she recalled. “I couldn’t move at all… because it hurt so bad.”

When the pain persisted, concern deepened. A CT scan and ultrasound revealed alarming results: there was a 7.3 cm mass on Mary’s left ovary and a 1.5 cm mass on the right. Doctors feared ovarian torsion — an emergency that could result in the loss of her reproductive organs. The possibility devastated Mary.

“[A]ll she could say to us was, ‘I want to be a mom,’” Susan remembered. “And even though we understand that there are other ways to be a beautiful mother, for a 16-year-old … it was really, really hard.”

Physicians at the University of Michigan determined the masses were teratomas — tumors typically benign but still requiring surgical removal. The procedure was scheduled for Aug. 2, 2024.

Trusting in the power of prayer, the Bartolds visited the Solanus Casey Center July 6, asking not only for Mary’s healing, but also that she be granted the grace “to travel this road that the Lord had put before her,” Susan said.

Mary’s family also rallied others in the community to join them in a novena to Bl. Solanus.

Then came July 30 — Bl. Solanus’ feast day. Mary underwent an MRI early that morning. As Susan drove her to the appointment, she prayed aloud: “Solanus, this is your feast day … I know you have big news.”

That evening, Susan saw the results in Mary’s patient portal. It appeared the tumors were gone. The next day, Mary’s doctor called and confirmed it.

“She was just like, ‘There’s nothing there. It’s all gone,’” Susan recalled. The doctor apologized for the delay in calling, explaining she had consulted with multiple radiologists to be absolutely certain before sharing the news.

“I really wanted to make sure that I was telling you the correct news,” Mary’s doctor had said. “We are good to cancel the surgery.’”

“I thought it was a mistake,” Mary said. But when the reality sank in, her response was simple: “I was just grateful. I didn’t have to get surgery.”

On the day Mary was originally scheduled for surgery, the family returned to Casey’s tomb in thanksgiving and submitted documentation of her healing to the Solanus Casey Center for possible consideration by the Vatican.

Solanus was known for his deep faith, simplicity, and miraculous healings. Born in Wisconsin in 1870 and ordained a “simplex priest” due to academic struggles, the humble friar spent much of his ministry in Detroit as a porter — a doorkeeper — where he offered prayerful counsel to the suffering. He gained a reputation for holiness and became a beloved spiritual guide.

If the Vatican recognizes Mary’s healing as a miracle, it could fulfill the final requirement for canonization. Solanus, who died in 1957, was beatified in 2017 after the Church affirmed a Panamanian woman had been cured of a genetic skin condition following prayers at his tomb.Pax et bonum