This is a test. This is only a test.

Til next time, all the best. Joe

"Duty, Honor, Country"

"Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man at arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefields many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the world's noblest figures; not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless."

"His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy from me, or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast.
But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements."

"In twenty campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people.
From one end of the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice of courage. As I listened to those songs of the glee club, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle deep through mire of shell-pocked roads; to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God."

"I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always for them: Duty, Honor, Country. Always their blood, and sweat, and tears, as they saw the way and the light."

"And twenty years after, on the other side of the globe, against the filth of dirty foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts, those boiling suns of the relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms, the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails, the bitterness of long separation of those they loved and cherished, the deadly pestilence of tropic disease, the horror of stricken areas of war."

"Their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory - always victory, always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men, reverently following your password of Duty, Honor, Country."

Thus, General Douglas MacArthur's recollection of the American soldier from his famous address at West Point. I've always thought it a masterpiece of American oratory, and arguably the finest spoken tributes to fallen comrades ever.

My prayers today for those who have fallen in the defense of freedom. Set a place today for "absent friends", raise a toast to their memory. God grant them rest and May God bless the United States of America.

Til next time, all the best. Joe

ND Response Transcripts

Transcripts of speeches and videos of the ND Response demonstration at Notre Dame University last Sunday are now available at http://johenz-topmeadow.blogspot.com/ . Espcially interesting, in my opinion, is Father Raphael's speech.

Til next time...all the best. Joe

A Thunderous Silence

The day before President Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame, TIME Magazine ran the following story by Amy Sullivan stating that the Vatican had remained completely silent on the issue.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599189875600

This is not the case. At least two American members of the Roman Curia, the body of cardinals and bishops which functions as the Pope's cabinet, have spoken out on the issue. I fact, Sullivan quotes one, James Francis Cardinal Stafford, in her article.

Sullivan totally ignored the remarks of Archbishop Raymond Burke on the matter. Archbishop Burke is the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, an office roughly corresponding to a combination of Chief Justice and Attorney General for matters pertaining to Canon Law. In remarks to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC on May 2, Archbishop Burke said:


"In a culture marked by widespread and grave confusion and error about the most fundamental teachings of the moral law, our Catholic schools and universities must be beacons of truth and right conduct. Clearly, the same is true of our Catholic charitable, missionary and healthcare institutions. There can be no place in them for teaching or activities which offend the moral law. Dialogue and respect for differences are not promoted by the compromise and even violation of the natural moral law. The profound granting of an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame University to our President who is as aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda is a source of the gravest scandal. Catholic institutions cannot offer any platform to, let alone honor, those who teach and act publicly against the moral law. In a culture which embraces an agenda of death, Catholics and Catholic institutions are necessarily counter-cultural. If we as individuals or our Catholic institutions are not willing to accept the burdens and the suffering necessarily involved in calling our culture to reform, then we are not worthy of the name Catholic. "

Archbishop Burke reiterated his position on the EWTN news program The World Over in a taped interview conducted by Raymond Arroyo, which was broadcast on Sunday.

If that is silence, it is a most thunderous silence indeed.

So-called "liberal" Catholics and the toady media outlets are currently gloating over Monday's editorial in L'Osservatore Romano applauding the President's words at Notre Dame encouraging dialogue on the abortion issue, but have totally ignored the statements made by these prelates of the Church. They fail to notice that the Vatican newspaper and its editorial staff are not part of the Curia. If we compare the relationship of newspapers to members of the cabinet to the Vatican newspaper and members of the Curia, we must ask an important question, "Is an editorial in the New York Times as authoritative as the statements of the Attorney General made in an open forum?"

Further evidence of the Vatican's displeasure with the views of the Obama administration lies in the fact that the Holy See has rejected three candidates proposed thus far for the post of ambassador to the Holy See based upon the "pro-choice" views of the candidates. (BTW, Mr President, if you're reading this, I'm available). This would seem to me to underscore the Vatican's viewpoint that there is no room for "dialogue" on life issues.

If Ms Sullivan thinks that this is silence she would do well to think again. The Pope himself does not need to address this issue individually, it has been addressed in such Church documents as Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which outlines the role of Catholic institutions in the world, and those documents remain in force.

Til next time, all the best. Joe

A Day Spent in the Company of Heroes

I spent yesterday at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN attending the ND Response rally countering the University's invitation to President Obama to be the commencement speaker and receive an honorary law degree. The demonstration was thoughtful, well planned and organized, and, above all, deeply Catholic.

As with all Catholic demonstrations, this one was centered on Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, providing overnight Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament (which packed the tiny chapel in Alumni Hall to overflowing), and Mass on the South Quad.

The event was well attended by a well behaved crowd of several thousand including such Catholic heavyweights as Bishop John D'Arcy, Father Frank Pavone, Father John Corapi and Dr Charles Rice. The speakers for the event were thoughtfully chosen. Especially touching was the address of Lacy Dodd, who took the stage accompanied by her nine year old daughter, Mary. Lacy is a 1999 graduate of the University who found herself pregnant three months before her graduation and rejected the abortion option favored by her child's father. Most inspiring, though, was the address of Fr John J. Raphael SSJ, the black principal of St Augustine High School in New Orleans, LA, who took the podium to refute the ridiculous charges of racism levelled at the organizers of this demonstration. Father Raphael laid the racist charges back at the feet of the Presidential Administration, pointing out that nearly a quarter of all abortions take place among the black community which comprises on 13% of the US population. His address brought the crowd to its feet and left them there for the duration. Keep checking http://www.ndresponse.com/ for transcripts of the speeches.

The Rosary in the Grotto was a beautiful event, with meditations on the Glorious Mysteries provided by Father Frank Pavone, president of Priests for Life.

Father Jenkins, since you have an spare Laetare Medal laying around around gathering dust, why not present it to ND Response for putting the Catholic principles they learned at Notre Dame into action?

I spent yesterday in the company of true Catholic heroes. My congratulations and best wishes to the Class of 2009. God bless you all, you are the hope of the American Church!

More thoughts on this event to follow. Til next time, all the best. Joe

Christianity: Narcotic or Cure?

My friend, my very old friend, wrote a while back to me after noticing some of the posts to my Face Book account asking "Have you lost your mind? I just can't believe in this overly simplified, pre-packaged narcotic for reality...while I remain basically spiritual in my outlook on life, I can't buy the myth of organized Christianity...to quote Jimmy Buffet 'the god's honest truth is it ain't that simple'..."

Perhaps I have lost my mind. But, if that is so, then the disease, to borrow a phrase from Edgar Allen Poe, has "sharpened my senses, not dulled them or destroyed them". Then again, perhaps the illness is not mine. I think that for the first time in years I now see more clearly. Perhaps, just perhaps, the medication is a cure and not a narcotic. Does the possibility exist that the medication, the "pre-packaged" therapy, which my friend so decries is a cure for my ills? Is it possible that the places where I have sought solace before, that the cures of the world, are what induces narcosis?

I think it not only likely, but highly probable. I've tried finding solace in the things of the world, and they availed me nought. My drinking didn't work, my sexual escapades got me nowhere. You know about that. Talk about pre-packaged. Whatever makes me feel better. Forget the common good. Forget the intrinsic dignity of every human being. There's no need to worry about others. Self-restraint, self-discipline, self-control count for nothing. There's your narcotic, my friend. Numbness.

Now I feel, and what I feel is something quite different from narcosis. It's not pre-packaged in the sense that you think, it's more a regimen, and as part of that regimen, I'm required to feel outside myself. My spirituality requires me to feel faith and hope and love. Faith in a God who has made and keeps His promises; hope for the world He has made and redeemed; love for Him and for those He has put into this world with me.

Most of those with whom I argue see Christianity as anything but simple, and I'm inclined to agree. Greater minds than mine have grappled with its truths and been left stuttering. St Thomas Aquinas, the capo Di tutti capo of Catholic thinkers, after a lifetime of thought and writing of Christianity admitted at the end that his writings were as but straw compared to the Truth. Take a read of Augustine, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, John Paul II and tell me then that you don't begin to see the marvelous and beautiful tapestry that is Christianity. If this is a drug, then I implore you to pump my veins full of it and more! Let me pop some Chesterton and snort some Faustina Kowlaska, pour me a long draft of CS Lewis and let me drink it to its dregs, then perhaps a blunt of Richard J Neuhaus spiked with JRR Tolkien for good measure. And still I'd not be sated.

Now I see, my friend. Dimly, though, as through a glass and darkly. I see that though I suffer, others suffer more. It is through that suffering I see that all this is real, for no man would wish suffering to be if he could will it not to be so. But I see a God who suffers with us to bring about the redemption of those whom He loves. In my suffering, in our suffering, we can unite ourselves to Him in pursuit of that goal. There is no deadening of the pain; in fact, it is felt more acutely. There is hope, though, and in the end "he who has hope lives differently."

Let me know what you think, my friend, and til next time, all the best. Joe