God Came So Close We Could Touch Him

I have been meditating on this image of God coming close to us in the incarnation. I have been parsing out how this worked itself out in the grand scheme of things. The Transcendent and all loving force that holds us into being wanted to be even closer to us, even more apparent to us than that, so he stooped down and humbled himself to be born of a woman, in human form. He became a little baby, with fingers and toes, breathing and crying and grasping and wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger so that He could be a God that we could touch.

He became like us in all things except sin, so that we could learn to be like Him. He wanted to teach us how to be in relationship, so He showed us the way to live, and pray, and treat each other in the way He lived His life here on earth with us.

But then, when it was apparent that He wouldn't be able to stay here with us, He gave us an even greater gift. He gave us Himself in the Eucharist, so that even after He had died, been resurrected and ascended, we would still be able to touch Him, and become one with Him and have Him become a part of us.

When I sit in Eucharistic Adoration I think about how amazing it is that God is so close that I can reach out and touch Him. I am filled with awe in His presence.

I just wanted to share my thoughts with you all.

Pax

Yes Aquinas There is a Santa Claus

Or maybe someone went a little crazy at the end of term this semester over at

The Peeping Thomists. either way it is a fun read.

Pax

My Favorite Chritmas Gift

has to be a DVD of the movie Millions.

It is the sweet story of a young boy who is dealing with the death of his mother by living in the world of his imagination which is populated by the saints and martyrs that he loves to read about. He and his father and brother move to a new house and he comes into posession of a bag of money which he thinks has been sent to him by God. He tells his brother, and the rest of the movie is a wonderful tale of how the money complicates their lives.

The acting is really great, the story is charming and the entire experience was just a lot of fun.

But you don't have to take my word for it, here is Sr Rose's review as well.

Pax

SNL's Chronic-What?-cles of Narnia!!

With a great big kiss to mrangelmeg who saw this on SNL (way past my bed time) and then found it on the internet for me. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did.

Pax

Video code provided by NarniaFans.com

Another Reason Why I Love B16

From his Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas:

men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart." "That is why it is so important for us to open our minds and hearts to the Birth of Christ, this event of salvation which can give new hope to the life of each human being," he explained. . . .

"May the birth of the Prince of Peace remind the world where its true happiness lies; and may our hearts be filled with hope and joy, for the Savior has been born for us." ZE05122505

Merry Christmas to you all, from an ailing angelmeg,

Pax

The Gift no one Wants at Christmas

I can't deny it any longer, I am getting a cold. I can feel the little viral invaders running amok in my system as I try to barrel through all the things I need to do to get the Christmas plans organized so that I can make dinner for mrangelmeg's mom, sister, brother-in-law, nephews and niece-in-law, and our angelkids tomorrow. I am fighting a losing battle with these little buggers.

I am so tired I can barely stay awake and I haven't even begun to make tonight's dinner, let alone prep stuff for tomorrow night's meal. I think the more prudent thing for me to do at this point is to admit defeat and call out the reserves. I may have to ask for help from the kids to get things in order.

Luckily my oldest two already took the angelbaby out to do the last bit of her Christmas shopping, so I could stay home and medicate myself. Mrangelmeg came home and started right in on the dishes (I love a man who isn't afraid to pitch in around the house). I have been trying to pick up here and there the last few days, so we are really in not bad shape.

Who am I kidding, it will take a minor miracle to get everything done on time. I may have to call in the:

white tornado

(otherwise known as my sainted mother-in-law) to come over early tomorrow and help out with the dinner preparation. I know she won't mind at all. She shows her love by cleaning and I have learned after all these years to humbly accept her love by letting her do it.

To think back in the old days I used to get offended when she cleaned my house. Now I pray that it happens more often. Tomorrow it will be the greatest Christmas gift she could give me, and may just save the feast.

Pax

Maggie's Papal Wardrobe Lesson for the day

Now, just so those of you who aren't in the know, don't go thinking B16 went all Santa for the holidays, have you ever heard of a Camauro? That would be the natty hat that B16 is sporting in this Reuters News Service picture (Vatican December 21, 2005. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico)

This is an old traditional papal garment. It hasn't been worn in a while, but I must say he looks resplendent in it.

What do you suppose we will be seeing next? I for one can't wait to find out.


Thanks to Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia for the heads up, pardon the pun on this one.

Pax

Joke for the day

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Christmas and says,"I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this'"

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then,don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says,"they're coming for Christmas and paying their own way."

Pax

Comment problem should be all fixed.

Thanks to all two of my loyal readers I have been made aware of a problem with the settings on the comments section of my blog that was blocking everyone's ability to leave witty comments.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone was bothering to read my blog anymore, since I hadn't had a comment in weeks. Now I think I have it fixed, so you should be able to comment away.

So, just to make sure, if you read this let's do a little experiment. I have always wanted to try this:


In the comment box type the letters that show up in the word verification section: it will be just like a mini typing test, and should be a lot of fun.

I have often gotten some that looked like words in foreign languages. I will do the first one as an example.

Pax

Christmas Blessings

I am so blessed. I have a patient and loving husband who has been supportive of everything I have had to endure both physically and emotionally in the past 23 years. I have five of the most wonderful children who amaze me every day with their compassion and love for their fellow man.

I have many friends that I have known for years, and co workers who truly care about me. These people really enrich my life and remind me that God never intended me to be alone in this world.

I have very challenging work that allows me to share my love for God and my love of my Catholic faith every day. While I may have to leave this position in the next year I feel as sense of peace, that whatever the outcome, wherever I eventually go I will be doing it because it is God's will and not my own, or someone else's. That feeling is a great blessing as well. I know that as much as I will miss the work I am doing now, the future will be filled with great things if I am doing them with great joy for God.

I had parents who gave me a great start in life. While now I am experiencing the end of my mother's life, I am blessed that her faith sustained me in some of the darkest times, and now I can give back to her by sharing my faith to sustain her on this her final journey.

I have a large and scattered family of five sisters and three brothers who are, by the grace of God all still alive. While I complain, as recently as a few weeks ago about my relationship with them, I have very fond memories of growing up in this large loud family. I know that I am the person I am because of my brothers and sisters. I am saddened sometimes that we aren't closer, but that is as much my own fault as it is theirs.

I have a wonderful community that God has placed me in at St. Meinrad for Gradual School that at times is closer than family (and more annoying) and at times I need as much. I count on them for support and prayers and counsel.

I have bonded with a wonderful community of friends through the internet and blogging, that serve some of the same purposes. I know that they are praying for and with me as I make the big decisions in my life and as I navigate the changes ahead, and I count on their advise and support and love, and wisdom even when it isn't exactly what I want to hear.

I am blessed beyond comprehension, and I have peace in the face of what might be a very uncertain and very terrifying future, but because I have all of these blessings, I have a peace that surpasses all understanding that comes from God, who gave all these blessings to me.

Pax

Bai MacFarlane writes:

I copied this verbatim from Mark Shea but I don't think he will mind:


Would ask your readers to do something to help protect children and dedicated spouses from routine no-fault divorce?

I need to find publishers and writers who want to inform readers about our current civil court challenge. We are working to protect marriage from no-fault divorce. I also need to find organizations who regularly invite speakers to address attendees, and radio/TV broadcasters whose listeners are displeased with the current divorce situation in this country. If you know anyone who fits this description, please contact me.

Law Professor, Steve Safranek, is challenging the constitutionality of no-fault divorce for those who had agreed to be married for life, in accordance with the guidelines of their church. For those who agreed to be seriously married, the civil courts don't have the authority to force a dedicated spouse to accept no-fault divorce. Many people agree to be married for life, and they understood they were not to separate, simply because one feels like it if he or she is unhappy. Seriously married people expect protection for those who are abandoned. If no-fault divorce was not a legal option, abandoners could be required to repair damage they cause by abandonment, and children could at least retain their home with the dedicated parent. Such abandoners might also consider reconciling, if divorce were not so easy and rewarding.

In the present no-fault divorce system, children are ordered to live on a rigid schedule visiting the abandoner - away from home. They are forced to live life going between two broken homes. In no-fault divorce, civil courts routinely prevent children from having day-to- day interaction with the dedicated, innocent spouse. Civil courts also routinely force stay-at-home moms to get work, putting children in day care, or force the dedicated parent to pay support, though he or she is no longer integrally involved with the upbringing of his or her children.

With his project TrueMarriage.net, Safranek is appealing a no-fault divorce in Ohio.
It is my case. I was a dedicated, stay-at-home mom, and my husband abandoned me and petitioned the civil court for a no-fault divorce. The civil judge removed my children from me, and gave my husband full custody, and ordered me to pay him child support. No one testified that I had been a bad mother. Professor Safranek observed that the judge took my children away because I was a homeschooler and because I refused to teach my children that divorce didn't break our family. I also didn't want a court psychologist making parenting decisions for my children; so the judge took my children away altogether.

Please help us 'get the word out' regarding this important opportunity to protect children and dedicated spouses from no-fault divorce. Help us find more news media to cover this story.

Bai Macfarlanemailto:Macfarlanema.defending@marysadvocate.org

Law Professor Safranek's website is http://www.truemarriage.net/Content.jsp?page=About_Us

Safranek also founded Ave Maria Law School in Ann Arbor MI.To listen to excerpts from a recent interview, visit http://www.marysadvocates.org/radioshow.html

To see existing news coverage, visit http://www.marysadvocates.org/newsfavorites.html

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Maggie here,

I have been watching this case and it saddens me to see a woman being torn apart by the court system for doing exatcly what she felt called to do by her faith and her heart. I have so much compassion for Bai, she is constantly in my prayers now.

Pax

St Mike of Chicago,

The unofficial feast day of St. Mike of Chicago is today, December 15th: my dad's birthday. My dad was a big man, who loved his kids and his wife and loved his job. He lived life so fully that even though we struggled with very little money growing up, we kids never knew how lean things really were.

My dad came from the mean streets of Chicago. He and his two younger brothers grew up and could have just as easily become hoodlums as college kids (in fact one of my uncles was pretty lawless there for a while). But dad found a way to channel his energy, get a good education and go to college: he played football. He played football for De la Salle High School in Chicago, a very prestigious Catholic prep school. They gave him a full scholarship. After high school and a stint in the Coast Guard during World War II he played College football for St. Ambrose. He told me once that football was the gift God gave him to show him a way to get an education.

In College, he was studying to be a priest until in his words " I found out just how soft women really were." I think actually it was until he saw my mom across an all male college campus. Mom worked in the registrar's office there, her father was a French and Spanish professor.

My dad and mom got married the fall of dad's Senior year in college, and he quit playing football, much to the dismay of his coaches. He was afraid that he might injure himself and not be able to support my mom and their future children. He took his Philosophy degree and went into teaching.

Speaking of future children, there were nine of us in 13 years. But sadly, ten years after my younger brother was born dad died of a brain tumor. The last three years of his life were a horrible roller coaster ride of misdiagnoses and misunderstandings and humbling experiences, as he was told that he had everything from emotional problems to thyroid disorders. His hearty healthy frame wasted away, and he died a mere shell of a man.

I loved my father. He gave me the gift of my faith. A love for old movies, and good literature. He told the greatest corny jokes, and could whistle so loud you could hear it blocks away. We couldn't go anywhere in town without running into someone that he knew, or had taught, or had coached. He was just so well liked.

Even now, 35 years after he died, I still talk to him. I wish he had been around to meet mrangelmeg. I think he would have approved, they are a lot alike, they both like to watch football on television, they both love to play golf, and they both love the Catholic faith more than anything in this world.

So, today is the day to raise a glass of beer to St. Mike, the German Irish Saint of the half-time nap.

We miss you down here, but we know you are still keeping an eye on us.

Pax

I Have Lived Down Here Too Long

Gashwin had a link to this quiz which says that my dialect is


gasp, I can't believe it



60% Dixie, (barely in the southern range, but Dixie nonetheless)



What happened to my Northern Illinois born and bred childhood dialect? Swept away by nearly 30 years of living in Southern Indiana.

Sigh

Soon I'll be saying Y'all

Pax

I got tagged by Mark Mossa. Go to this website and type in: top 100 Songs,and the year you graduated from high school and a list of the top 100 from that year will come up. Then you bold the ones you loved, and italics the ones you hated. It brings back memories, and makes you feel old, because they play them on the classic stations. Hey Thanks a lot Mark!

Well, here goes nothing:

Top 100 Songs of 1978
1.Shadow Dancing, Andy Gibb
2. Night Fever, Bee Gees didn’t like the bee gees or Saturday Night Fever
3. You Light Up My Life, Debby Boone
4. Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees
5. Kiss You All Over, Exile
6. How Deep Is Your Love, Bee Gees
7. Baby Come Back, Player
8. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water, Andy Gibb (BIG Andy Gibb fan)
9. Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste Of Honey
10. Three Times A Lady, Commodores
11. Grease, Frankie Valli amazingly this is the only song from Grease that I like
12. I Go Crazy, Paul Davis
13. You're The One That I Want, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
14. Emotion, Samantha Sang
15. Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton
16. Miss You, Rolling Stones
17. Just The Way You Are, Billy Joel (BIG Billy Joel fan too)
18. With A Little Luck, Wings
19. If I Can't Have You, Yvonne Elliman (we used to change the lyric to say If I can’t have you I’’ take anybody baby)
20. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah), Chic
21. Feels So Good, Chuck Mangione ( loved jazz, even then)
22. Hot Child In The City, Nick Gilder
23. Love Is Like Oxygen, Sweet
24. It's A Heartache, Bonnie Tyler
25. We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You, Queen (Queen was a right of passage,)
26. Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty
27. Can't Smile Without You, Barry Manilow
28. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (Loved Jonny Mathis but this title said it all, )
29. Dance With Me, Peter Brown
30. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad, Meat Loaf
31. Jack And Jill, Raydio
32. Take A Chance On Me, Abba
33. Sometimes When We Touch, Dan Hill
34. Last Dance, Donna Summer
35. Hopelessly Devoted To You, Olivia Newton-John
36. Hot Blooded, Foreigner
37. You're In My Heart, Rod Stewart
38. The Closer I Get To You, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
39. Dust In The Wind, Kansas (still have bad flashbacks from the retreat where this was the communion reflection song, some poor liturgist is still spinning in his/her grave)
40. Magnet And Steel, Walter Egan
41. Short People, Randy Newman
42. Use Ta Be My Girl, O'Jays
43. Our Love, Natalie Cole
44. Love Will Find A Way, Pablo Cruise
45. An Everlasting Love, Andy Gibb
46. Love Is In The Air, John Paul Young
47. Goodbye Girl, David Gates
48. Slip Slidin' Away, Paul Simon
49. The Groove Line, Heatwave
50. Thunder Island, Jay Ferguson
51. Imaginary Lover, Atlanta Rhythm Section
52. Still The Same, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band (my freshman roommate at college fell asleep every night to Bob Seger, I learned to hate his music after about a month)
53. My Angel Baby, Toby Beau
54. Disco Inferno, Trammps
55. On Broadway, George Benson
56. Come Sail Away, Styx
57. Back In Love Again, L.T.D.
58. This Time I'm In It For Love, Player
59. You Belong To Me, Carly Simon
60. Here You Come Again, Dolly Parton
61. Blue Bayou, Linda Ronstadt
62. Peg, Steely Dan
63. You Needed Me, Anne Murray
64. Shame, Evelyn "Champagne" King
65. Reminiscing, Little River Band
66. Count On Me, Jefferson Starship
67. Baby Hold On, Eddie Money
68. Hey Deanie, Shaun Cassidy
69. Summer Nights, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-john still love to sing this one at karaoke nights
70. What's Your Name, Lynyrd Skynyrd
71. Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, Crystal Gayle
72. Because The Night, Patti Smith
73. Every Kinda People, Robert Palmer
74. Copacabana, Barry Manilow
75. Always And Forever, Heatwave
76. You And I, Rick James
77. Serpentine Fire, Earth, Wind and Fire
78. Sentimental Lady, Bob Welch
79. Falling, LeBlanc and Carr
80. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Santa Esmeralda
81. Bluer Than Blue, Michael Johnson
82. Running On Empty, Jackson Browne
83. Whenever I Call You "Friend", Kenny Loggins
84. Fool (If You Think It's Over), Chris Rea
85. Get Off, Foxy
86. Sweet Talking Woman, Electric Light Orchestra
87. Life's Been Good, Joe Walsh
88. I Love The Night Life, Alicia Bridges
89. You Can't Turn Me Off (In The Middle Of Turning Me On), High Inergy
90. It's So Easy, Linda Ronstadt
91. Native New Yorker, Odyssey
92. Flashlight, Parliament
93. Don't Look Back, Boston
94. Turn To Stone, Electric Light Orchestra
95. I Can't Stand The Rain, Eruption
96. Ebony Eyes, Bob Welch
97. The Name Of The Game, Abba
98. We're All Alone, Rita Coolidge
99. Hollywood Nights, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band see # 52
100. Deacon Blues, Steely Dan

Pax

What He Said!

Mark Mossa SJ has a post of my favorite prayer of all time:

Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.
- Pedro Arupe SJ

Go here to see his beautiful graphic, and read the comments from his faithful readers.

Pax

Narnia Roars!

Three of my children and I spent the afternoon yesterday in marina with Lucy, Susan Edmund and Peter. What a magical experience it was. From the first visual of the movie we were in the world we had anticipated so anxiously.

Everything about this movie was so beautifully and lovingly set upon the screen. From the anxiety of the London air raids to the tension between Edmund and Peter.

The Christian imagery was carefully preserved, and I will admit that I was in tears for most of the scenes between Aslan and the children. The battle sequences were masterfully filmed, and the character development was very carefully fleshed out.

If you loved the books you will love the movie. If you haven't yet read the books, go ahead and see the movie. I would warn you to bring tissue though, because if you are anything like me, you will cry.

Pax

This is So Cool!

Click here for a way cool Advent Calendar.

I know I am a bit late sharing this, but better late than never. Thanks St Margaret Mary's Parish in Naperville Illinois.


BTW: My real name is Margaret Mary. A little known fact about me is that until I was ten I believed that the Church had named a Saint after me. I was crushed to learn that she had actually lived centuries before I was even born.


Pax

Thanks for the Reminder

I was having a very bad day today. I didn't get much sleep last night and the workshop I was in wasn't going as well as I would have liked. I was really getting pretty down when I took a trip to the bathroom.

What I saw just made my day.

There is a tag in my underwear that is there to remind me that I shouldn't try to iron them. Whew, I can cross that little task off of my to-do list.


I am not sure why, but seeing that tag just gave me the giggles and broke my mood and reminded me that God can bring joy into my life in the most unexpected ways.

God is good, all the time.

Pax

I Confess . . .

I never get tagged with the cool meme's. so I am going to steal this one from The Anchoress because I feel the need to confess at least twice a year anyway.

I confess that I haven't been eating as well as my Dr. Would like for me to, but I have been losing weight. Which is a really nice trade off, but has more to do with the silly medicine than it does with my diet. And exercise? Forget about it. I really do need to start taking better care of myself.

I confess that I wish I were better at keeping my house in order than I am. It seems as though my excuse of being so busy isn't fair to mrangelmeg and the kids. Just once I would like to have all the laundry caught up and a nice meal on the table instead of hamburger helper and piles of unmatched socks.

I confess I would rather get sick over Christmas, than have to spend time with my siblings. I hate to say this, but I really do prefer the two state buffer rule when it comes to most of my family of origin.

I confess that as much as I love hearing Latin sung in church, I really do like some of the stuff from the 70's and 80's better than I do chant.

I confess that I actually cry at those sappy Christmas commercials, you know, like the Folgers one where the kid comes home from college and he and his little sister make coffee to wake up the rest of the family. I cry even harder at the Hallmark ones.

I confess that my biggest fear is that I will never be as good a writer as I would like to be be.

I confess that I am still so shy that even now, three years into Gradual School I get sick to my stomach every new semester at the thought of having to start a new class and meet new people and new teachers.

I confess that I am so paranoid about going to confession to a priest who knows me that I almost never go in my own deanery. I take advantage of the opportunity to go to confession every time I go out of town for work or school or any reason where they offer private confessions, so that I won't have to go back home. How silly is that?

I confess that I am much more purposeful at the thought of organized prayer than I am at the practice of it. I have the Liturgy of the Hours books, but I get around to reading them about once a week. I carry a rosary with me all the time, but say the rosary about once a month. I much prefer just talking to God than doing anything with structure.

I confess that I am head over heals in love with my kids. I don't pretend to understand them in the slightest, and they drive me batty. And yet, just when I think I have had all I can take, they will do something that will remind me what special creatures God made them to be, and I stand in awe of each one of them. I suppose that is a good thing since it appears as though we will have them living with us until the third millennium at the rate they are maturing.

As for passing this on, since I stole it, anyone who wants it can have it.

Pax

WOW! You have to experience

THIS!



Thanks Tony for the awesome link.


Pax

Musical Meditation

There have been some feathers flying at Catholic Pillow Fight over the appropriateness of certain styles of liturgical music, and specific songs in particular. One specific song that someone in the com box mentioned has always held a very special place in my heart, and I have been thinking about it a lot today, because they were supposed to sing it for the Rite of Welcome at my parish this morning, but more on that in a minute.

I have been pregnant seven times. The first five times I had what could only be termed near death experiences with hyper emesis (which means that I up-chucked all day every day for the first four months of every pregnancy). I spent over two weeks in the hospital during two of my pregnancies trying to keep from getting dehydrated, and find a way to keep some food and water down, so that I could maintain pregnancies.

Two of those first five pregnancies ended in miscarriage, which had nothing to do with the hyper emesis, but still added to my tension around being in the early stages of pregnancy.

I was always trying to find ways to get any kind of food to stay down in those early months without being sick. I finally had to give in and take anti nausea drugs, but even getting those down was a struggle. I came up with a solution when I found that if I took them with Country Time Lemonade, for some reason they seemed to stay down. So I would get up every morning and take an anti nausea pill with a glass of Country Time Lemonade and then go back to bed for a half hour, praying to St. Gerard that it would stay down, so that I could get up and live a sort of normal life for the rest of the day.

After the pill began to work, I could eat a little bit, and food tasted wonderful. I began to understand what the Israelites must have felt like in the wilderness when they ate the manna that God sent them. They could taste and see that the Lord was good.

After those experiences, when I would hear that song in Church it always had a special place in my heart because I had been without food, and knew what the psalmist meant.

I suppose that what I am trying to say is that just because you don't like a particular song, doesn't mean that it doesn't have some very deeply spiritual meaning for someone else. Only a real snob would say that her or his type or style of music is the only one that is suitable with which one can praise God.

We are many parts, but we are all one body. We all have gifts to share, if you don't like a particular song, don't sing along.

Pax

St. Blog's Population Explosion

I love babies.

Christine of Hot Carmel Sundae is awaiting the birth of a child, Maureen Martin recently let us all know that she and her husband are expecting, and now Der Tommissar and his wife are expecting. It appears that St. Blog's Parish will need to expand it's cry room really soon.

Considering that our "baby' is now 9 years old, and out second youngest will be 16 on the 6th of this month, I am beginning to get a little nostalgic at the thought of having a newborn around. I was thinking just the other day that I would love to have another baby. And, to be honest, if I looked deeply into my heart, I would have another baby in a heartbeat. Unfortunately for me, that heartbeat would most assuredly be mrangelmeg's last one, because when I told him of the blessed event, he would keel over of a heart attack.

No, I am only kidding. I am much, much too old to even consider something as foolish as having another baby of my own. I suppose I will have to be content to wait patiently until the (many years from now when my children are old enough and married to their soulmates and have ) grandchildren.

Sigh.

Pax

Lark Alert

The New Issue of Lark is out.

Get ready to laugh at ourselves.


Pax

Supreme Court's Abortion Case

The Supreme Court is hearing a case on Abortion Rights. Really what the Supreme Court is hearing is a case which is going to determine if anyone has the right to do invasive surgery on an underage female child without notifying her parents. This is ridiculous for two reasons.

1) a girl at this age can't even get her ears pierced without parental consent, and yet abortion providers want permission to do surgery without telling her parents

2) if a child of this age is pregnant someone abused her, and that person should be at least investigated by the police.

NOW says this is all about keeping abortion safe and legal. I say this is all about keeping children safe from unnecessary harm. Some crime has already been committed, don't compound that crime by forcing her into an abortion which will leave her with emotional scars that will never heal.

As a parent this case has me screaming inside. Some women's organization wants to tell my daughter that they know what is right for her, without my knowledge or consent. I am praying so hard on this one. Please join me in storming heaven so that the judges will see the hypocrisy of the argument in the NOW case.

Pax

Statehouse Prayers

Only in Indiana does the Statehouse have the guts to pass a rule telling the visiting chaplains that when they come to pray in front of the houses of government here that they should refrain from speaking of Jesus, or other specifically religious persons by name.

Next they will ask them to refrain from praying to God. Let's hope it will be okay to pray to the great transcendent Other. But Other forbid they should mention a specific deity by name, because that might offend someone.

Lordy, Lordy, where are we headed? We will not be free to worship, we will be banned from worshiping. There is a difference.

Pax