Respect for the Living

Last weekend I attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Together with tens of thousands of other people, I marched to the Supreme Court building and to the Capitol Building and as I did so I had one thought: it is no wonder nobody listens to us.

As I marched along with the delegation from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois - some two hundred youth and adults - I watched with surprise as various groups pushed right through our group, separating and dividing us. My ankles were continually hit by the bottom pole of a banner held by a group coming along behind us who apparently could not see me. Time and again I asked them to stop walking into me, pointing out the thousands of people in front of me who prevented me from moving any faster, and still they nearly ran me down.

I was quite appalled at the lack of respect given by the marchers to fellow marchers. Here we were touting and crying out for respect and life for the unborn and we could not even show common decency and respect to those already living. Is it any wonder then that our message is not heeded or heard? How very sad this is!

And yet, it is for just this reason that Christ Jesus came among us and calls us to himself. It is for this reason that he gave his life on the cross.

If we hope to convert those who support abortion; if we hope to convert those who do not yet believe; if we hope to bring the love of Christ to a hurting world, we must first humble ourselves among our brothers and sisters in Christ and deomonstrate to them all that we ask of the world. Then they may see our good deeds and glorify the heavenly Father.

Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing . . .

- William Shakespeare

The Deacon Detective

This afternoon, shortly before Cardinal George spoke to the seminary community, I realized that my flag of Great Britain which sits atop my television, was missing. My immediate thought was, "The swine!"

I then quickly thought through all of my visitors and realized that it could only be one man and that the theft must have occured last evening since I had not received any visitors until that point today.

He visited me last evening about 9:15 for only a few moments. As we chatted, I watched him playing with the flag and I thought then to myself, "He's going to take my flag." But when he left my room I thought that I saw my flag on my television. I clearly was mistaken last night.

I paid a visit to the thief-suspect about 8:45 this evening. He did not deny having knowledge of the flag and told me that if a piece of Irish paraphernalia appeared in its place by the feast of St. Patrick, the flag would be returned.

I simply told him that I would instead place a large flag of the Sceptered Isle outside of my door. He laughed and then explained to me how he took the flag lastnight and that I must have mentally placed the flag in my sight.

He then returned the flag and told me he was surprised that I had figured it out so quickly, and on the first try. I then explained to him how I arrived at my conclusion. I was the last person he expected to see this evening, he said.

The flag is now happily in its rightful place in my room.

Peace and Joy!

In the Bleak Midwinter

George Herbert once said, "Every mile is two in winter." How right he is! In addition to our twelve inches of snow, last night and today we are to receive one to four more inches of snow, with sleet and snow throughout the day as well. The attempts at writing papers and finishing other course work are proving a bit difficult lately, due in large part to the bleakness of this winter. Although the length of the day has been increasing since late December, we have not seen much of the sun in recent days to verify this scientific fact with our own eyes. The sun is supposed to return to us on Thursday, but the price to pay for the sunlight is temperatures below ten degrees.

Today I shall remove myself to the library in a drastic attempt to force myself to complete several papers that are due tomorrow and Thursday. They shall be completed on time and well!

In addition, I think I am going to have a bit of "liquid sunshine": DrPepper :) Toward the close of the day, those of us who took part in the forty-second annual Diocese of "Madison Caroling Tour" will be going out to dinner at local Italian restaurant to celebrate. Although today will be one largely devoted to work, it will not be without its amusements and enjoyments.

Peace and Joy!

Let It Commence

This evening I have decided to have a go at the growing popular means of expression and communication in the modern world and have thus begun this "blog," as they are called. I am not entirely sure what the excitement and attraction of blogs is, but I am at least willing to give them a try and see if I discover the draw of blogs today.

If you find this blog and would like to link to it, please let me know. If you want me to link to your blog, also please let me know.

Today has been a day of relaxation and laziness up to this point and now it is time to get at least a small amount of work completed. My goal is to finish reading St. Ambrose of Milan's, On Naboth. In this work, Ambrose reflects on the account from I Kings of the vineyard of Naboth stolen by King Ahaz. I am about half-way through the saint's reflections and am very much enjoying them. After I finish reading his reflections I will have to write a brief reflection on his work myself. And so, here I go!