The town of Princeville, where I was proud to serve for 10 years, has had migrant workers from Texas since the 1930’s, mostly to harvest and process pumpkins. I quickly learned, upon arrival, that these good people and their children were often neglected when they returned home for Winter. I would make the point, at […]
I admit there were times growing up when us kids rolled our eyes at the strange ways of Mom and Dad. The Old Coots (as they are sometimes known) could just be so out-of-step with the times. Granted, this was partly due to circumstances. My folks raised eight kids in the seventies, which were decidedly […]
I cut our dog this past weekend. I mean, I literally cut her! I was grooming her and intended to cut her hair but caught her skin instead, making a painful gash in her back leg. She yelped and jumped, whirling her head around and looking back at me in complete bewilderment. The tears came […]
“Two Romes have fallen, but the third stands, and a fourth there will not be.” —The Russian Monk Philotheus, c. 1520, referring to Rome, Constantinople (“New Rome”) and Moscow “In the afternoon Tatiana stayed indoors and read from the prophets Amos and Obadiah… “Commandant Yurovsky got up from his chair, went out on to the […]
Will the Vatican soon issue a document calling for some restrictions on the use of the old rite of the Mass? The internet, especially in traditional Catholic circles, is abuzz with reports that this may be about to happen. But for the moment, these reports are based only on rumors. Officially, no one yet knows […]
I do a weekly adoration hour. If you are familiar with the devotion of Eucharistic Adoration, skip the next paragraph. If not, allow me to explain. In formal settings, when a Catholic church sets up a weekly or daily schedule of Adoration or “Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament,” volunteers (like me) sign up to pray […]
The other day while I was at the YMCA, a group of mentally disabled adults and their caregivers joined us in the fitness room. It was obvious to me that this was a routine visit for them, because they knew exactly what to do. They found “their” machines, positioned themselves exactly right and waited patiently […]
“It takes no great military expert to predict the results of a war in which large numbers of the solders do not fight, do not even know there is a war on. The officers are essential, and obedience to them is essential. But an army in which only the officers fights is likely to have […]
The other day, I was sorting through some of the kid’s toys and ran across the “Mouse Trap” game that John had received for his sixth birthday. If you’ve never played it before, you’re really missing something. “Mouse Trap” is an intriguing array of rickety old stairs, suspended bathtubs, winding chutes, wheels, cranks, and even […]
