Papa Has a High Fever.

Pray it breaks.

Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest your weary ones.
Bless your dying ones.
Soothe your suffering ones.
Pity your afflicted ones.
Shield your joyous ones.
And for all your love's sake. Amen.

~Saint Augustine

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

My sister, Maggie, the erudite blogger of In Nomine Domini, is getting Confirmed! Yay!!! I'm going to take my camera, so you'll all have lots to see soon.

The girl has wisely (sarcasm) chosen me to be her sponsor, which means I have to stand up too. I'm not sure which bishop she's getting to do it; I do know she's chosen Veronica for her Confirmation name.

I'm leaving on Friday and I'm gonna be in Ohio all weekend, so blogging may or may not be light. Pray for her and for me (I'm flying on April Fool's Day, gulp!)

LEGO is Brilliant

Theresa Marie Schindler, Martyr of the Gospel of Life

May she rest in peace.

Why Does A Good, All-Loving, All-Powerful God Let His Children Suffer?

Suffering. Evil.
These are two big hang ups. Lots of people (quite naturally) reject the idea of an all-loving, all-powerful God, because how could such a God allow such things?

The answer is best illustrated by example. Consider the Cross. Father Richard John Neuhaus tells a tale of his neighbor, an agnostic, a very nice man. They got along great. One day, out of the blew, this neighbor told Father Neuhaus: "I just wanted you to know. I won't believe in a God who would let His own Son be brutally beaten, tortured, and executed" (or words to that effect.)

There was no greater sin than the Crucifixion of Christ. No greater crime. No greater evil. There was no greater suffering than what Christ bore on the Cross. No greater pain. No greater injustice.

And God allowed it. Why?
Because by this greatest of all defeats, the greatest victory was won. The gates of Heaven were re-opened. We were redeemed, in spite of ourselves. God took the worst thing that ever happened in the history of humanity, and turned it into the best thing that ever happened in the history of humanity.

That is what God does with each and every one of us. Whether we are guilty or innocent, whether we deserve our suffering or not. God doesn't make people suffer. Out of mercy, He changes the suffering we have chosen for ourselves from a meaningless, pointless exercise in despair into an efficacious, redemptive gift.

Human suffering is a mighty force. The weak, the sick, are the mightiest people on the face of the Earth! At this moment, John Paul II and Terri Schiavo look helpless. In fact, they are at the height of their power.

So don't waste a drop of blood, sweat or tears.

Redemptive Suffering and
Precious Suffering

Whatever happens, Whenever it Happens: This is going to hurt. A lot.

Excerpted from CWNews

On Easter Sunday, many of the faithful in St. Peter's Square wept openly as they saw the Holy Father, who trembled visibly during his appearance, and put his hand to his head several times in a gesture that clearly showed his suffering. Aides had brought a microphone when he first appeared, but after struggling and producing only a few unrecognizable noises, he resigned himself to the fact that he could not speak.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano (bio - news), the Vatican Secretary of State, was also clearly moved by strong emotions as he read the Pope's short Easter message. Cardinal Sodano added that the Pope was "closer to us than ever and blesses us with all his heart."

Some Hip-Hop Easter Bunny fun. Check out the Rascally Rapping Rabbit's bling-bling. Very funny.

Before you read the rest, read this

And if you want a defense of that, read this.

Good Friday is the day Catholics believe mankind was redeemed by Christ. Have you seen The Passion by Mel Gibson? It's based on a Catholic devotion know as the Way of the Cross, the Via Crucis. This relates scriptural events as well as traditions the Church has passed down about the Crucifixion: Jesus' three falls, Veronica's Veil, Jesus meeting His Mother, etc.

Christians can pray the Via Crucis every day, but its done especially during Lent, and especially today. You can even pray the Stations online! Here's a how-to-guide and a list of the Stations, complete with meditations.

It's kind of sparse on pictures, however. So here's some Good Friday pictures (Lots by Caravaggio. He's simply my favourite.)

It's Holy Thursday, and I Found Nifty Pictures

On this Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday as it is sometimes known, we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist (the Mass,) and the Holy Priesthood.



Also duing the Mass of Holy Thursday: The priest gets on his hands and knees, and washes and kisses the feet of twelve guys. Bishops and even Popes do it, too. This for their humility and, of course, in imitation of Christ (can anyone say alter Christus?)




Salvador Dali was estranged from the Church for a long time. But he was reconciled before he died, which is the important thing. Below is his really cool representation of the Sacrament of the Last Supper (the Mass) in the future Lasers-Phasers-And-Floating-Cars age of the Church.

Betsy Needs A Nap

Today is Day of Doom on the Road to Perdition #3. Over the past three days, I've gotten four hours of sleep. Only two more days to go. Anybody want to take bets on when exactly I'll crack?

Economics did not go well. Neither did English, really. Don't get me started about English. I'll tell you all about that fiasco as soon as "the story fully develops" as they say. This afternoon in French class I was so bewildered, I was about to cry, but fortunately Madame started saying a dictation and I was to busy deciphering her North African accent from her French one to bother. Can't do dictations and be weepy at the same time.

Tonight I have to stay up late all night and finish my geography project. I've got the statistics and the mapping parts done, now all I have to do is write a 3-5 page paper. Shouldn't be too bad. Then Thursday, I've got that English paper to write. I should be studying for my psych exam now too, but I've decided that tomorrow's test is going to be my "dropped grade" for that class.

In other news, Max, the littlest one at daycare, ate out of the sandbox again. One of these days I'm gonna end up calling poison control; he puts everything in his mouth! Good news: Mia, who is another little one, knows my name! Originally she called me "Patsy" ( the name of this other girl who works there,) and then she was calling me "Betty" (one of the teacher's has a dog named Betty,) but today she said "Bet-sy." Joy!

Professor, I'll Be Taking My Exam In the Form of Interpretive Dance

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself this morning. Seeing as how it's pouring rain, I stayed up studying all night, and I have an English presentation and an Economics midterm today. But then I found this horrible picture of some poor schlub whose friends took this shot and then posted it on the internet, where it will exist ignominiously, waiting for the day the poor schlub mounts a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.

Remember how there used to be an interpretive dance section of the Oscars? They cut it because it was long, boring, and a big fat target for Jay Leno. Me, my purple-swathed friends, and our elvish gym master were horribly disappointed when they did that.

It's Sunny Here in DC

"Hope in the Prison of Despair" by Evelyn De Morgan

Welcome to Spring, swamp style. My alarm didn't go off, and I slept in today. Missed work. They called. I told them the sad, sad, truth and they were good about it. I felt sooo yucky.

I met my English professor about our presentation tomorrow; she sure is a sweet lady. I can imagine her being the sugar-coated iron fist type, though.

Bad news: The Pope's recovery isn't going so well. Top Vatican officials are leaving news conferences abruptly, without giving a reason. Not a good sign.

More Bad news: It's been more than 90 hours since Theresa Schindler had a drop to drink. One of these mornings her Mother is going to lose it, and come out of that hopsital screaming: "My baby is hungry. My baby is hungry. Please let me give my baby something to eat."

Two innocent people are famously suffering a great deal. This is all going on during Holy Week, and that is no accident.

Cool Nuns, Right? Noooooo.

Oh look! Pretty Habits. And they teach!




Oh look! They do the whole Bride ceremony too! (Most Sisters nowadays settle for a wedding ring and that's it.)





Oh Look! Just look how many there are!

(The better to suck you into our fanatical cult, my pretty.)
Oops. Too bad all these Sisters are all complete wacko sedevacantists. Did you know that John Paul II is not the real Pope, just an incredibly realistic imposter? Click here to read their nut job manifesto.

It's a dangerous world out there. But as you can see, the good armies of the CMSWR are on the move, ready and willing to smack down sedevacantists, twitchy spawn crawling out of the LCWR, and all other forces of darkness which seek to corrupt a girl's religious vocation.


These non-nutty nuns are members of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, by the way.

Today is Palm Sunday. At Mass, we get plant strips blessed, and Father sees tons of faces he never has before. The hard part is when the Gospel reading comes. Ye Good Catholics out there will know, we all have to stand for the Gospel. And this Sunday, the Gospel reading was pretty much the entire Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. Matthew. It lasts a looong, looong time. Somebody actually collapsed in the middle of it and had to be taken away by the fire department. I kid you not.

It really was a moving Mass, though. What was especially great was that the priest celebrating the Mass was newly ordained; this was his first Palm Sunday Mass ever! So that was great for him and for us. I'm usually against clapping at Mass, but everyone knows you clap for new priests, especially when they "thank you for your patience."

In other news, during the General Intercessions, we prayed for Cardinal McCarrick to return to "vigorous health." And I thought -- Huh? Whats happened now? They're dropping like flies, my goodness!

So, I went home and looked it up, and apparently his Eminence has torn a rotator cuff. Prayers are in order for my dear Father in God, please. He's broken my heart so many times its not even funny, but some people you can't help but love. Below is a column his Eminence has written, he is really quite a funny guy.



Patience, patience, patience
THINKING OF YOU

By Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick

Here I am, with my arm and shoulder in a sling and a sheath - the latter describes the cloth that binds my right arm to the rest of my body so I won't move. Apparently, my shoulder was in worse shape than I thought, and the surgeon had to do a lot more work inside it to fix it up, so I'll have to wear these things for a while longer.

A lot of new experiences! I learned how clumsy I am. I just got permission to take a shower a few days ago. It was great except that I could only use my left arm (thank God, at least I'm a lefty), and that lets me very carefully wash my right arm and my shoulder, but I haven't figured out yet how to wash my left arm when it's the arm I'm washing with.

Thank God also for loafers (I don't mean lazy people, but the kind of shoes you wear). I confess that I still can't tie my shoelaces with one hand, and I'm embarrassed to call the priests who live with me and ask them to do it for me. Maybe I could offer them a reward each time, maybe one for each shoe?

And how about trying to sleep on the wrong side every night without moving. When I turn on my bandaged side, I get a sharp reminder not to do it again. And then there's the problem of sitting down to dinner and finding a delicious-looking piece of food that obviously needs to be cut into small pieces. When I think there is no one watching, I sneak my right hand out of my sling and cut it, even though I know it only makes the time in the sling last all the longer.

I pray for patience every day - and for speedy healing. I haven't even been able to start the therapy yet - since the shoulder has to heal first. I must be very hard to live with these days. Thank God, there are six of us in the building, so I don't get on everybody's nerves all at once.

Of course, the thing that I miss the most is offering Mass at the parishes. It seems awfully strange to be celebrating in my little Chapel on Sundays and with the great days of Holy Week coming up so close. The pain has truly not been bad at all. It's just the need to keep the shoulder quiet for the fastest healing possible to continue. Whatever the discomfort, physical or psychological, I offer it up in atonement for my sins and faults and for all your intentions. Thinking of you as I offer these prayers, I ask that you remind the Lord that it would be great to get me back in the saddle soon again.



From The Catholic Standard, the occasionally irritating newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who devote their lives to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in order thereby to atone for my many sins; to work conscientiously, setting devotion to duty in preference to my own whims; to work with thankfulness and joy, deeming it an honor to employ and to develop by my labor the gifts I have received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties; to work above all with a pure intention and with detachment from self, having always before my eyes the hour of death and the accounting which I must then render of time ill spent, of talents wasted, of good omitted, and of vain complacency in success, which is so fatal to the work of God.

All for Jesus, all through Mary, all in imitation of you, O Patriarch Joseph! This shall be my motto in life and in death, Amen.

~Prayer of Pope St. Pius X

Learn about Pope John Paul II's vital and popular leadership at a critical moment in history. This Sunday, Newt Gingrich hosts "Pope John Paul II: Pope of the People," Sunday, March 20 at 9pm / Midnight ET.

A Flamboyant, Flaming Problem

First, note the difference between the terms "homosexual" and "gay." Homosexuals have homosexual tendencies. That is their cross, and there are many saintly people who bear it bravely. "Gays" on the other hand, approach the issue with a "we're queer, we're here, get used to it" attitude. They make their sexual preferences a central part of their identity as a human being. During the 1960s through the 1980s, the Catholic Church ordained a lot of gay men to the priesthood. A terrible mistake, the reprecussions of which we're still dealing with now. The following was posted by the great Diogenes on CWN

Just the facts, ma'am.

Gay-partisan Jesuit Father James Martin gave a deeply dishonest address to the LA Religious Ed Congress, duly foregrounded in this week's Archdiocesan newspaper. Using the conventional jargon of gay agit-prop, he takes aim at Catholic fears and assumptions (ours, not his).

"Today there are hundreds, if not thousands, of celibate gay priests ministering to Catholics in parishes, schools, hospitals, high schools, colleges, retreat houses, soup kitchens, nursing homes and chanceries," said Jesuit Father James Martin."

"Celibate" is a weasel-word in the gay lexicon, capable of meaning either "unmarried" or "sexually chaste." Few would dispute the claim that most gay priests are bachelors. But are they chaste? Martin claims hundreds or thousands of them are. Yet he can't possibly know this. He can only speak with authority about the chastity of one priest, namely, Fr. James Martin. Can't he extrapolate from the seen to the unseen? Sure. But that means he's just another guy with a hunch -- like the folks he claims to refute.

Among the prejudices that (Martin says) hinder an honest discussion is the "assumption that being a gay priest means that one is, by definition, sexually active and incapable of chastity." I take "gay" to refer to a subset of persons with same-sex attraction, viz., those who have said Yes to their homosexual libido and ceased the struggle to rid themselves of it. Are such persons necessarily sexually active? No. Is it bigotry to believe that, in the aggregate, they are promiscuous? On the contrary, the empirical evidence for gay unchastity is so overwhelming that only a man demented by ideology can deny it.

Are gay priests an exception? The objective data proves beyond question they aren't. More than 400 U.S. priests (including one bishop and a Jesuit university president) have died of AIDS; they didn't get it from a drinking fountain. Nearly 80% of priest abusers targeted post-pubertal males. Three dioceses have already been buggered into bankruptcy -- they're not going broke paying child support, folks -- with another dozen on the brink.

Many Catholics in the U.S. have lost their parish churches and have no Catholic school in which to put their children precisely because their bishops gambled properties not their own on the wildly improbable chance that gays were good priests -- and lost. Far from being a myth generated by "prejudice" (in the sense of a judgment made in advance of the facts), the sexual anarchy of gay clergy is so obvious a truth that it's all but impossible to see how it's still an open question for the bishops whether to admit gays to the priesthood. Blackmail, of course, is the likeliest explanation -- and, thanks to the excruciatingly empirical data provided by Weakland and Marcoux, that's not a hypothetical either.

Yet the chief objection to gay clergy is one that Martin never touches. Dr. Joseph Nicolosi put it well: "To speak of a gay Catholic is a contradiction in terms, like calling someone a pro-abortion Catholic." It's that simple. We're not talking about generic homosexuals here, not about appetites, we're talking about convictions and decisions -- specifically, the conviction that the Church is in error in her sexual teaching, and the decision to shape one's own life on the belief that this teaching is false, irrelevant, or changeable. Gay priests aren't sexually active by definition; they're dissenters by definition. Gay priests are subversives. Even if, contrary to fact, they were universally and perfectly chaste, even if they outshone straight priests in every behavioral respect, their contempt for Catholic doctrine would disqualify them outright. It's not a question of what outstandingly talented players gay priests are; the problem is they're fighting for the other guys. They want the wrong team to win.

Today at School

Things were nuts. My boss called yesterday, asking if I could come in this morning and look after the bambinos. I said sure. Sure do need the money.

Thing is, they were planning on a field trip today. So we had twenty-five three, two, and one year olds running around. I'm most familiar with the 1-2 year olds, "the Ladybugs," because I usually work in their room. But today I got stuck in a grouping of "Caterpillars" (2-3 yrs) and "Butterflies" (3-4 yrs). I had Jeffrey in one hand, and Katie in the other. So, we all trekked off to the National Air and Space Museum. We saw some cool airplanes, sang a song about "the family of the sun" (the planets) and watched an IMAX movie about outer space.

The movie was a real fiasco. We had to wait an extra half hour because the kids decided they needed to use the bathroom, so we missed the showing we were planning to go to. Then the kids were a little afraid of the movie; the key was to tell them: if you get scared, just look at me. Then all that's necessary is that you stare at them the entire time, so if they get spooked they have a "safe place" to look and feel better.

The hardest part was carting the kids back and forth on the subway; it was a long ride and Washington DC Grownups are soooo pushy. When we finally got back to school, my boss' licenser was there, making her "apostolic visitation," you might say, checking to see that the boss was doing everything by the book. So there was much stress about that. But overall, things went rather nicely. Now I need 1. A snack and 2. A nap.

Happily, I've Been Robbed

How many times have I said it?

Whenever some rumour or report about one of our scandal-prone, left-leaning bishops leaks through the media, I sigh heavily and say "there ought to be a list." Seriously, you would be surprised what things can percolate in the brains of a Catholic Dorkess who has too much time on her hands.

I even thought of a cool acronym for a watch-dog group: "ARCO: Association of Roman Catholic Orthodox." I imagined it would be a smackdown organization along the lines of RCF, but with fewer histrionics. Perhaps there would be a logo-design contest, and the winning entry would involve a cute picture of a bottlenose dolphin.

But now, I find I have been more or less beaten to it, at least as far as the "list" is concerned. You must, and I mean you must, check out CardinalRating.com. We all know that Cardinals, being princes of the Church and all, can be the most slippery sort of all bishops. This website lists all the Cardinals in the current consistory. You can search for them by age, (over or under 80,) country, or whether or not they are members of the Roman Curia.

Each file has the Cardinal's mug shot (so to speak,) his vital information (birth date, elevation date, official title, etc.) and a link to the relevant listing in The Catholic Hierarchy Organization, which among other things, documents lines of apostolic succession (who consecrated who, etc.)

Most interesting, however, is the posting of articles and reports, in many different languages, of things individual Cardinals have written, said or done recently. Just reading the titles of these can indicate whether one should approach said Cardinal with a high-five (Arinze,) reticent caution (Kaspar,) or a ten-foot pole (Mahoney). Very interesting. Very useful. So useful and interesting, I don't mind that they stole my idea. Go look up your Cardinal. If you have one. If all you've got is a bishop, tough snookers for now.

By the way, I was turned on to this fabulous thing by Catholic and Loving It, a blog written by British university lad James Preece, and his brilliant finacee. I'm going to put up a link in my "Other Lovely Blogs" section, and I encourage all ye to visit early and often. In the future, I think I will be stealing much from this blog, as there is much worthy to be stolen.

Giovanni Montini, Pope Paul VI [1963-1978]

Pope Paul VI was good friends with Pope John XXIII, who affectionally called him "Our Hamlet," because of his famous indecisiveness. We complain today about our scandal-prone bishops, but Pope Paul had to deal with a few of his own. There was, for example, the American Cardinal Cody. Pope Paul never could decide what to do with him.

Pope Paul VI presided over the greater part of Vatican II. During the reform, there was much enthusiasm and optimism. But if there is one reason Pope Paul is hated around the world, its his encyclical, Humane Vitae, which upheld the Catholic Church's perennial teaching that birth control is morally wrong.

After the issuing of this encyclical, some of the Pope's friends abandoned him. A number of bishops openly rebelled against him. The Pope, terribly wounded by this betrayal, developed a deep sadness. Most nights he cried himself to sleep, "as though he were wearing a crown of thorns." In 1972 he gave an address, in which he famously said: "Through some crack, the smoke of Satan has entered the Sanctuary."

He died wearing a hair shirt, having wept that same day over the establishment of an abortion mill in Rome.

(On the left is Pope Paul. On the right is the future Pope John Paul II)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Albino Luciani, Pope John Paul I, [August-September, 1978]

Pope John Paul I, the current pontiff's immediate predecessor, was called "Il Papa del sorriso", or "the smiling Pope." But he did not like his job. On the day of his election, he told the electors: "May God forgive you for what you have done."

He did not like the Curia, and he was not strong enough to control them. Many have speculated that the College of Cardinals elected him Pope, simply because they knew they could manipulate him easily. One day he let the wind tear a pile of top secret papers from his hands, out an open window, and onto the Vatican rooftops. His secretary found him lying in bed, in the fetal position, frantically saying his Rosary.

He was best with the children. He was famously good with them. Perhaps because they were innocent, like he was. His official motto was "Humilitas" or "humility."

The huge responsibilities of the papacy overwhelmed him. The papal household remembers that “God, please take me away” was his daily prayer. One day he began coughing. There was a great deal of pain. A doctor was suggested, but the Pope refused. Later, in the afternoon, another coughing spell, more violent. The Pope again refused a doctor, and no one insisted on it. After dinner, a phone call came, and the Pope rushed down a hallway to take it.

This hurrying is what probably triggered a fatal embolism during the night. The next morning, a Sister Vincenza went into the Pope's bedroom to see why he hadn't touched the coffee she had poured for him. She found him dead in bed, his bedside lamp on, papers in his hand.

Some people speculated that John Paul I was murdered, because his reign was so short (33 days) and his health seemed fine before. But there was no murder; the Vatican's true sin was far worse: “John Paul wanted to die, [and] the spectators did not rush forward to prevent him” [...] “ the most obvious and shameful fact of all” was “that John Paul died scorned and neglected by the institution that existed to save him.”

(The quotes are from A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican by John Cornwell. The whole murder mystery question is discussed here in Crisis Magazine.)

There are efforts underway to begin the canonization process for John Paul I. Cardinal Ratzinger only met him a few times, but he is convinced that he was, and is a Saint.

"Unfortunately I can live and dispense love only in the small coin of everyday life -- but then there is that person whose television is too loud, who makes so much noise, or who is so uncouth; then I have to try to understand him, to keep calm and to smile, and this will be true love without all the rhetoric." ~ John Paul I, in a letter addressed to St. Therese of Lisieux, which he wrote wishing he could send it to Heaven.

The Da Vinci Smoke

Wow! This Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone guy sure knows how to preform an old fashioned clerical smackdown. The Cardinal pratically spits the Da Vinci novellette out of his mouth, saying it is "sad" that even so-called Catholic bookstores have peddled the "sack of cheap lies." Paging Customer Service, what aisle can we get more Cardinal Bertones from?

Drum Roll, Please ...

I found out about City Year! I waited a looong time, and I stepped out of my room for a little, and I missed their phone call by 20 minutes. My recruiter left a message on my answering machine, so I frantically tried getting her back, but she wasn't picking up her phone. So I was saying my prayers and whining that I had missed her for the day, but I decided to try her one more time.

I called her, Rachel Hodges. And she said: "I have good news, and bad news." At which point I was thinking:





She told me ... "You've been wait listed. That means we would have taken you if we had enough spots, but we've had more applications for this particular deadline than we've had in the organizations history. So here are your options: You could, and I want to personally encourage you to do this, have us push your application into the next deadline period where there are more spots available, or if you don't want to wait, we could "float" your application nationally and see if there are any other cities with open spots, or you could withdraw your application until next year."

I asked her "do you think I have a good chance ..." And she said, "I can't guarantee anything, I don't know what will come in. But you have a very good chance. It was a very tough decision this time."

I didn't know what to say, even though I planned it out ahead of time. If I was out-right rejected, I was going to say: "Oh that's okay, I understand. But how are you, I know this must be a rough day for you, having to make a lot of tough phone calls to people." Because if you think about it, poor Rachel Hodges has to call 2/3rds of everyone who applied and dissapoint them. So her day was probably gobs worse than mine.

What did I do? Well, I said: thank you very much, in my most cheerful voice. And then, I called Ma. She's upset, because now I have to wait until May 15th to find out if I'm in the program, which means I have to worry about class registration, rooming, for next year etc. My reaction was to numbly go buy a pint of Ben and Jerry's half-baked ice cream, a can of ravioli, a ham and cheese sandwhich, and eat it all. I'm a good Christian, huh. I only kinda felt like crying, but I haven't yet. (I probably will later tonight.)

It's been a big, saddish week for my family. Oy vey! Coraggio! It's not like I'm doomed or anything. Rachel Hodges said I have a good chance to get in, and even if I don't, its not like I'm condemned to Hell for all eternity.

Thank God for Easter, right? Or rather, thank God for Good Friday.

The Time Is Passing By

Still haven't heard. Tick tock, tick, tock. It's very stressful. On the other hand, I'm humbled by the fact that another clock is being allowed to run down too; and this one decides life or death. The Bishop of Tampa has been a real dissapointment, but here ye, here ye, all is not lost. The Archbishop St. Louis has made noise, Cardinal Justin Rigali (who came to Philadelphia via St. Louis; all good things seem to come from St. Louis,) just recently issued the following press release:

OFFICE FOR COMMUNICATIONS

News Release

March 14, 2005

CARDINAL RIGALI'S STATEMENT REGARDING THE CASE
OF TERRI SCHINDLER SCHIAVO

"Americans are watching with concern the plight of Terri Schindler Schiavo in Florida. It is a tragic situation that has grave implications for the future treatment of those who are vulnerable and reliant upon someone else to provide their sustenance and decide the level of medical care they receive. In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where Terri Schindler was a parishioner and a graduate of one of our high schools, we watch and pray with particular interest in her case. I urge most strongly that those charged with her care provide life-sustaining nutrition and hydration."

Excerpted.

Pins and Needles Pins and Needles

Ugh. Waited allll day for potentially death-dealing phone call from City Year! They were supposed to telephone today and say whether I made it into the program or not. What rot, they didn't! So I guess I'm in the "spill over" my recruiter talked about; we get informed tomorrow, Tuesday. Sigh. Another day of waiting. Ugh.

My little brother, Arthur, didn't get into Andover Prep. Oh well. He didn't want to go to boarding school anyway, and its not like we could have afforded it. The parental units were pushing him to do it, since this hoity toity school invited him to apply and all. Ma is really disappointed, but Arthur is more upset about not being able to play in the Middle School Talent show this year. (One of the members of his "rock band" is getting his braces off, so they can't practice.)

My other little brother, Andy, who really isn't little anymore, is having trouble college search-wise. Apparently his grades aren't good enough to get him in anywhere snazzier than Miami University of Ohio. Don't get me wrong, I think that's a dandy school. But my brother likes prestige + national football + sports management program, and that's a bill Miami doesn't completely fit.

Oy vey. Say a prayer I get into City Year. I told Ma I maybe wasn't going to be able to shill out for a third year straight of college, and she went ballistic. So pray, pray, pray, or else I might well be buried under a pile of debt at the age of 21.

It's That Time Again ...

Time for George and Company to yuck it up!



(By the way. Anyone else think that doll El Presidente is showing off there looks a lot like Norm Mineta, Secretary of Transportation?)

Time for the annual Gridiron Club press dinner! Their motto is "singe, but never burn," if you know what I mean. The best part, I think, must've been when some guy playing Sen. Kerry started singing a song about "why, oh why, oh why did I ever lose Ohio?"

The President, in addition to being roasted, offered up some zingers of his own:

"We have to fix it [Social Security] or Rumsfeld may never retire."

In light of the steroid scandal, evaluating the press corps' physical prowess: "Those are all natural bodies."

And just for you, Shannona:

Regarding President Clinton's recent surgery: "when he woke up he was surrounded by his loved ones" - his wife, daughter and "my dad."

The AP goes on to remark that "the former President Bush and Clinton have become something of an item despite their once fierce political rivalry."

The report + commentary from intrepid FreeRepublicans, commonly called "Freepers."

Game. Set. Match.

Christopher Blosser takes the euthanasia "mercy killing" argument apart piece by piece. The most compelling part of his post?:

"There is a memorable scene in The Thanatos Syndrome, by Walker Percy, involving a chapter-length conversation between the protagonist, Dr. Thomas More, and Father Smith, a somewhat off-kilter but perceptive priest holed up in a fire-tower:


[Fr. Smith] "You are an able psychiatrist, on the whole a decent, generous humanitarian person in the abstract sense of the word. You know what is going to happen to you?"

[Dr. More] "What?"

[Fr. Smith] "You are a member of the first generation of doctors in the history of medicine to turn their backs on the oath of Hippocrates an d kill millions of old useless people, unborn children, born malformed children, for the good of mankind -- and to do so without a single murmur from one of you. Not a single letter of protest in the august New England Journal of Medicine. And do you know what you're going to end up doing? You a graduate of Harvard and a reader of The New York Times and a member of the Ford Foundation's Program for the Third World? Do you know what's going to happen to you?"

[Dr. More] "What's going to happen to me, Father?"

[Fr. Smith] "You're going to end up killing Jews."

Dr. More shrugs off the priest's response. Readers may be inclined to do so as well [...] However, it is altogether likely that, barring [...] the vocal protest and opposition of fellow Americans, we will witness an increasing number of "mercy killings" such as those already happening in the Netherlands under the masque of compassion."

De Profundis Clamavi ad te Domine

This Sunday, the psalm at Mass is my most favoritest ever! (In case you were wondering "De Profundis Clamavi ad te Domine" is Latin for "Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord!"


Psalms 130: 1 - 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord!
2 Lord, hear my voice! Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
3 If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand it?
4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. -

My Handwriting Already Looks Like This Anyway

You are 'Gregg shorthand'. Originally designed to
enable people to write faster, it is also very
useful for writing things which one does not
want other people to read, inasmuch as almost
no one knows shorthand any more.

You know how important it is to do things
efficiently and on time. You also value your
privacy, and (unlike some people) you do not
pretend to be friends with just everyone; that
would be ridiculous. When you do make friends,
you take them seriously, and faithfully keep
what they confide in you to yourself.
Unfortunately, the work which you do (which is
very important, of course) sometimes keeps you
away from social activities, and you are often
lonely. Your problem is that Gregg shorthand
has been obsolete for a long time.


What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

A-Ha!

Everybody read the post I wrote earlier today, because then you'll know what I mean when I say that this is what I was referring to. Here's an excellent smackdown of that awful, tastless display in the New York Press recently.

"Nothing could be funnier about the Pope's eventual death than the election of a real right-wing African Pope who would make John Paul II look like a puppy in an Easter Basket rather that the Fascist you senseless liberals think he is. And things would keep getting funnier if he really went on the unquestionable offensive like this Pope has really never done on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, the role of faith in politics, the hegemony of the mass media, women's ordination, authentic liturgical renewal, and the discipline and deposition of clerics. Of course this would be funny for faithful Catholics, not for you brainless automatons in the media."
~ Fr. Bryce Sibley, my hero, over at A Saintly Salmagundi.

Could Father possibly be talking about Cardinal Francis Arinze? He's from Nigeria, regularly smacks down liturgical abuse, and is on everybody's "successors" list.

Hee-Haw

Funny Pants Mr. Jeff Miller over at The Curt Jester nearly made me pee myself this morning.

He writes about an article reporting the use of a single altar by both a Catholic priest and a congregation of Anglicans exiled from the Tinky-Winky Episcopagans. This, you probably all already know, is a big no-no, even though the Catholic Bishop of the diocese seems to be okay with it.

Then there's the Church of the Holy Apostles which deals with the situation "properly:" they have 2 separate altars.

What made me nearly wet meself? This Hilarious Parody of what a RC/Anglican Parish Bulletin might look like.

Cardinal Kaspar (irritating German who writes fast and loose regarding the historicity of the Ressurection,) heads up the Pontifical Council For Promoting Christian Unity.

(Yes, Margaret, there is a Santa Claus, and yes, Margaret, the PCPCU does indeed chit chat with both separated Valid-Order "Churches" [basically the Eastern Orthodox,] and Invalid-Order "Ecclesial Communities" [Protestants])

Cardinal Kaspar would probably not scream over sharing the same altar, but he is concerned about the cause of it all: the Gay Business. Long, long ago, the PCPCU was pulling hair out over Lambeth 1978, and the Gay Business is no different. Why so worried? Women's ordination, Gay's ordination, it all makes poor Cardinal Kaspar's job stickier. Poor Cardinal Kaspar. Ugh. Am scraping the bottom of the barrel to find sincere sympathy for a guy who's on Cardinal Ratzinger's "Enemies List."

His Eminence need not fret, however. It seems that the Anglican Communion is smacking down the Episcopagans in America and in Canadia. The Anglicans in Africa are to be congratulated in particular for having backbone. Apparently, there is something about Africa, because I also recently read something about a liberal Catholic bashing John Paul II, and a conservative replied to the basher: "Oh yeah? You just wait till we get an African Pope in there. Then it really will be Hammer Time" or something along those lines.

Coraggio!

So, tomorrow is the last day of class before springy break. I'm staying here, in the swamp, doing all the work I've put off over the last month. I have no idea how I'm going to get it all done.

Also, I've got to get my derriere over to Confession. It'll be 5 weeks this time, ugh. Not very well improved, either. And its Lent, egawsh! Lent is supposed to be a time for improvement! Speaking of which; we just made it past the 4th Sunday of Lent. The Archbishop of Miwaukee, Dolan I think his name is, tells his flock: "Coraggio!" As in: Courage, people. It's almost over!

Me, I'm not too happy about that. This is my favourite time of year, afterall, and after Easter things wrap up pretty fast, and we're back to Ordinary Time. Which is not, of course, "ordinary," as in "bland, oatmeal flavoured." But its not the Christmas cycle, you know?

Oy Vey. Coraggio, anyway!

Yay! Generally Good Day!

Good news!

1. I took my french oral exam. It went okay, I guess. I talked about how French women think American women are men-hating idiots, and about how "feminism" is generally stale. My partner did her part about domestic violence. Madame congratulated us for talking thirty minutes without reading our notes! Yay!

2. I got my paycheck from daycare! It comes to ... 115 bucks. Not much, for a months worth of work. But I really need it (to temporarily plug holes in leaking financial ship.)

Bad news!

1. Today at daycare, Ethan had a meltdown, because he missed his Mommy. I was reading him and Mia a story, and Caleigh was watching too; and he just went ballistic. He started banging his head into mine-- really hard! Ow ow ow! And then he was biting too! I guess I should be glad ... last time Caleigh kept eating sand out of the sandbox. Today she spent all her time petting my shirt (its soft polyester, and she says "that feels nice!")

Two year olds are precious. My head hurts.
But my cold's almost through torturing me! Yay!

Jaw. Drop.

This is Bishop Robert Lynch's neat idea. You know, Bishop Lynch, he of Lets-starve-helpless-women-to-death (Terri Schiavo) fame? Well looky here. I had to read this five times before I comprehended it. For those of you not familiar with Catholic practice, forbidding Eucharistic Adoration is unheard of. This is simply unbelievable, but it proves that if a Bishop is weak on life issues, he's probably weak on the faith in general.

15-September-2000 -- Catholic World News Brief

ST. PETERSBURG DIOCESE ENDS PERPETUAL EXPOSITION OF EUCHARIST
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, (CWNews.com)

The Diocese of St. Petersburg has issued new guidelines which, on September 1, ended the practice of perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in parishes, and only allows worship of the Eucharist reserved in tabernacles.

The guidelines, "Concerning Eucharistic Adoration, Exposition, and Benediction," survey Church history on the the theology of the Eucharist, noting that the current practice of worshiping the exposed Sacrament arose only in the 13th century. That contradicts other historians and theologians who trace the practice back to the sixth century in Spain. The guidelines, which were sent to priests of the diocese in a June 12 letter from Bishop Robert Lynch, also claim that the focus on the Real Presence in the Eucharist overshadows the presence of Christ in the minister, the Word proclaimed, other sacraments, and the participation of the faithful. [...]

For parishes that wish to inaugurate adoration of the Blessed Sacrament the Bishop says they should "reflect on... their commitment of time and money to social services." Among other reflections, they should ask, "Are they as respectful and reverent toward Christ's presence in the gathered Body, the Church, as they are to the presence of Christ in the Sacrament? .... Does the eucharistic bread look like bread? ... Do the eucharistic ministers reflect the parish, i.e., inclusive of age, ethnicity, and gender?"

No Need To Be Alarmed

Just a bunch of rich white kids getting pepper sprayed by bored, relatively under-worked police officers. Prayers are in order, however, because the situation seems to be hopelessly ridiculous. St. Jude is the patron Saint for hopeless cases, by the way.



Ah, these are the days to be a student at my old high school, Hudson High. The Hudson City School District is notorious for being real sticky wickets about calling off school for snow days. But the last time they were really famous was during the teacher strike of days gone yore, when my Social Studies teacher showed up on the strike lines wearing combat fatigues and various court/food battles ensued.

Seriously. Usually I would reserve judgement on these matters, until I "have all the facts." But apparently this superindentedent lady, Mary Ann Wolowiec, is not being very nice at all. She's trying to get the principal, Mr. Howard, laid off. (Incidentally, its principal, not principle, you know. Because the principal is your pal, get it? I learned that from Ramona Quimby, Age 8.)

Now I was principaled by Mr. Howard just whilst I was on my way out of Hudson High, but I really don't have a single bad thing to say about him. And then this Mary Ann Wolowiec gives him a "needs improvement" rating? Good grief, that sounds like some load of office-politics mish-mash.

That Darn Ethical Bug-a-boo

Inspiration for this comes from Shannona. We were discussing the recent Supreme Court ruling which declared the execution of minors unconstitutional. Shannona asked me point blank: "do you believe in capital punishment?" I responded: "I think it should be legal, but hardly ever used," and a moment later I realized: "that is a crappy explanation of my position." So here is a (hopefully) non-crappy one:

Good Catholics can and do disagree about the death penalty. But how could that be? Afterall, Pope John Paul II strongly disapproves of the death penalty. And his thinking is in line with universal contemporary Catholic teaching. If you visit the USCCB's website, you'll find that even America's more "free thinking" bishops agree with the Pope.

How can it be? Unlike abortion, the death penalty is not "intrinsically" evil. If the death penalty is applied because there is no other practical way to defend innocent life, then its use is justified. If for example, a heinous murder is committed in a jungle village. Obviously, there are no high security prisons in the jungle. An execution may be the only means possible to protect society from a murderer. However ... In these modern times, in our developed country, we have the ability to put our murderers into solitary confinement, behind locked cages and armed guards. The general thinking is, it is no longer necessary, here and now, to kill the guilty in order to protect the innocent. That is the Holy Father's, and the vast majority of bishops', personal assesment of current conditions.

So, lets bring things around to that Supreme Court ruling, which declared death sentences for juveniles null and void. I can tell you that here in the District, people are not at all amused that the famous DC Sniper, seventeen year old Lee Malvo, will now be "getting off." Nevertheless, even they can agree that it isn't the worst thing in the world, that now we won't be frying any kids, not even the manifestly evil ones. I agree with the immediate effect of the ruling, but the long term effects might be rather terrible.

First, the majority ruling references an international consensus. International feelings, international laws, etc. should not be part of interpreting the U.S. Constitution, which was written by people already irritated by international opinions. Second, the majority references a consensus among the states; a dead letter it seems, because in pointing to a supposed majority, it fails to distinguish between states which disallow any death penalty at all and those which do not. In short: bad, bad, bad precedent.

Constitutionally speaking, it would be a mistake to make the death penalty, (in general,) unconstitutional, and this ruling is a step towards that. Because, may God forbid it, the time may come when we are undone: a period of chaos, a disaster, a war, when we are unable to securely imprison murderers. If measures are abandoned as unconstitutional, then they must be so always (Abraham Lincoln's use of habeas corpus aside.)

Of course, politically speaking, there is the idea that local governments (ie; states,) should be deciding this sort of thing, not a federal entity composed of nine unelected people. I am not so moved. It was afterall, the most local of governments, a mob, (the whipped-up Jews) which sentenced the most Innocent of Men (Christ) to the death penalty (crucifixion.)

From a libertarian ( interesting indeed, because I usually am annoyed by libertarians,) perspective, I am nervous that the state should have the power to take a life. Clearly, from a Judeo/Christian point of view, the state does have that power and that right, and the question exists only in the application of that power, and the exercise of that right. Still, the power to take a life is an ultimate sort of power, and investing it in the hands of the state is troublesome.

The best solution, I suppose, is one which does not allow us to paint ourselves into a corner. If I had my druthers, I would make it the law of the land that the death penalty be a legal option reserved to the states, but only applicable to the certain criminal, in a certain time, at a certain place, where it is deemed sensible that there are no other means at all, by which innocent life may be protected from further offence by said criminal.

That opinion reflects, not surprisingly, Catholic teaching on the subject. So. Just how anti-death penalty am I?

Would I vote for a pro-death penalty political cadidate? Yes.
Could I serve on a jury on death penalty case? Probably not.
Could I work as a prosecutor for the state, persueing the death penalty? No.
Would I ever participate in a anti-death penalty protest? Maybe.

I Haven't Posted In Awhile

Because I am, in fact, as sick as a dog. What's worse is, I can't call Mommy and complain, because she'll sing "I told you so" at me. As in, "I told you working at that daycare center would give you plague."

I was supposed to have my french oral midterm today. But my partner never got in touch with me! I gave her my email and phone number, but nothing, nothing all weekend! Would she give me her contact info? Noooo. "Don't call me, I'll call you" was the gist of it. So this afternoon she comes sauntering into class, telling me she sent me an email at 10 pm last night, but that it didn't go through. She has a five minute speech prepared about contraception. Nevermind that another group is doing contraception, while we're doing women in general! Geeeesh!

Lucky thing, though, another group wanted to go today, so we lucked out. Or rather, she did. I was ready to go, except I would have been dripping snot the whole time. I'm in a terribly bad mood, and the weather is great. I mean it really feels like spring. Spring being my favourite time of year, I'd be happy, if I weren't so snot nosed.

So, I've decided the best way to counteract a truly crappy disposition is gratitude. For example: "boy am I grateful I wiggled out of that french midterm today, perhaps saving the one "A" I might get this semester." On non crappy days, being grateful makes an ordinary day fantastic. On crappy days, gratitude makes the day bearable!

So say thank you for everything! Thank you for letting me cross the street in one piece! Thank you for helping me catch the train! Thank you for getting me out of bed in time for class, even though my alarm wasn't set! See? And you'll feel less crappy all the time!

Another Reason Cardinal Ratzinger's the Best

He's for Ecumenism without the Ecumania:

"I hasten to assure you of my heartfelt prayers for all those taking part in this convocation. The significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond Plano, and even in this city from which Saint Augustine of Canterbury was sent to confirm and strengthen the preaching of Christ's Gospel in England. Nor can I fail to recall that barely 120 years later, Saint Boniface brought that same Christian faith from England to my own forebears in Germany.

The lives of these saints show us how in the Church of Christ there is a unity in truth and a communion of grace which transcend the borders of any nation. With this in mind, I pray in particular that God's will may be done by all those who seek that unity in the truth, the gift of Christ himself."

---Cardinal Ratzinger to members of the American Anglican Council, 10/09/03

Via Against the Grain
(The AAC, by the way are Anglican, as opposed to Episcopagans, who only say they are.)

Some Things You Never Knew About Me

... And perhaps some things you probably do know, because I never stop talking about them. In the footsteps of The Holy Whapping and a whole host of other bloggers (we copy, steal, and "share" with and from each other shamelessly, but always give credit,) here is my list of Ten Things I Have Done That Other Readers Probably Have Not


1. Testified, in court, against a grade-school classmate. She was acquitted, and we went to the same school for the next 5 years.

2. Ate mashed potatoes with barbecue sauce. Deliberately? Of course! Yummy.

3. Tried to move in on my sister, Maggie's, kindergarden boyfriend. Mason Bates, dreamy dumb blond, I remember him like it was yesterday. He picked her, but his Mom got into a car accident with Maggie in the car, so they "broke up."

4. Told random boy "I Could Kiss You!" He was a member of TFP, handing out anti-communist/abortion literature on campus. He looked pretty scared.

5. Read "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in one sitting. Started the morning it came out, and took 12 hours. Yes, my butt was sore afterwards.

6. Attended The International Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, 3 years in a row. Thousands of twins. We went because our Ma wanted me and my twin to win a contest for looking alike. Did we? Nooooo.

7. Spent a number of years, beginning during pre-school, wearing a patch over my right eye, every waking moment of the day. It was an attempt to cure a bad case of amblyopia. It didn't work, so I look forward to a lifetime of falling down stairs and walking in front of buses!

8. Had someone sincerely believe I was Amish. Yup. Junior year of high school, a kid came up to me and asked about my religious practices, which were of interest to him because he thought I was Amish. Who has the Prude Vibe? I do, I do.

9. Told class of nine year olds: Single File, Mouths Shut. Don't Mess With Me! (At work they tell us to lower our voices and "yell" at the kids. That's how their teachers talk to them, and they won't respect our authority otherwise. Rough, huh?)

10. Wrongly accused of being British. Apparently, Nervous New Jersey sounds like an English accent. (By the way. Gray is actually spelled "grey." And colour is supposed to have a "u" in it.)

Ever go a couple of days without eating?

What happens when a person dies of starvation? Read the answer below. This is basically what Michael Schiavo wants to do to Terri Schiavo. If someone were to suggest starving a retarded dog to death, that person would be thrown in prison. Mr. Schiavo proposes it for his wife, they call it "mercy."

Initially, fats and proteins are converted into glucose for energy. Second, the liver turns fatty acids into ketone bodies. In the last stage, which occurs once the fat reserves have depleted, proteins become the primary source of energy. Muscles quickly deplete. Eventually cell functions stop, organs shrink, and the body begins to eat itself until there is no way for it to sustain life.

As the body dehydrates, the skin loses its tone and dries out. Left untreated, this will lead to cracking and bleeding.

Dehydration causes the natural mucus secretions of the mouth, nose, and throat to thicken, as the body struggles to protect these delicate membranes. The lack of saliva exacerbates this problem, preventing the normal swallowing of these secretions.

In the last stages of starvation, the patient's breathing will become difficult and labored. The patient will writhe and become extremely agitated [because of a dehydration induced electrolyte imbalance.] In the final stages, the same electrolyte imbalances which can cause muscle spasm ... also lead to uncontrolled firing of neurons in the brain, according to a similar mechanism. This results in seizures.

more here and here

A Tale of Two Bishops

A True Knight, re: a public, "verbal fisticuffs" about the Church putting its nose into "secular" business, politics, and other things:




One questioner observed that the Catholic Church doesn't appear to care about protecting women hurt by unwanted pregnancies. His voice rising, Chaput replied, "That dear baby who gets aborted is who I'm protecting. Somebody doesn't just get hurt with abortion - they get killed."

"Who will take care of the unwanted children?" another asked. "I'll take any child that's unwanted and find them a home and take care of the mother," he said. "You have my personal pledge on that." Read the whole row right here.

A Coward, re: Terri Schiavo. Notice his Excellency speaks as if she were already doomed. How sensitive of him.



"I urge and pray that before the finality, one last effort be made for mediation. Normally, at the end of life, families of the person in extremis agree that it is time to allow the Lord to call a loved one to Himself, feeling that they have done all they possibly might to provide alternatives to death, every possible treatment protocol which might be helpful has been attempted. There is a peace. This will not happen in this instance because of the seeming intractability of both sides. I beg and pray that both sides might step back a little and allow some mediation in these final hours."

Read the whole mess, right here . If I were Terri Schiavo's parents, upstanding people trying to be good Catholics, and then stabbed in the back this way, I'd be doing loop-de-loops.

It's Midterm Season. That Means Fresh Meat For Rabid Red Pens

Oy oy oy oy oy vey. Egawsh. I just took my English midterm, and boy was that a doozie. I am so not going to keep my scholarship for next year. I am so Jell-O'd its not even funny. Oy. And tonight I have to work, and study for a Geography midterm. And then tomorrow, I have to actually take the Geography midterm, and study for French. And then Friday, I have to actually take French. And then Saturday, I have to go to Confession, because its been a whole month, and a rather damaging month indeed.

Anyway. I had a "you've been rejected from City Year, loser" dream last night. Well, kind of a dream, I was half awake. It was my recruiter calling me on the phone and telling me she was sorry. If you've ever applied for a job and been turned down, (Maggie, remember Summer 2003?) you know the attitude you get. "You have an excellent resume, we'll keep you on file, but for right now, we think we're going in a different direction." So in my dream, my recruiter told me something like that, at which point I begin sobbing and screaming into the phone, in my most unprofessional wail, "Whhhhhy? What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me?"

Yeah. Imagine me and Donald Trump, on The Apprentice. That would be a boardroom episode to remember, I tell you what. Jay Leno would be doing jokes for weeks.

On a positive note, I bought a copy of Schaum's French Grammar Outline from a friend of mine, Rachel. We got to blather for about an hour (I should have been studying English, but I needed the break,) and I told her about my troubles. So what did Rachel tell me? Right out of the blew, she said she'd pray for me! Now, Rachel is Jewish, which means she's got special connections up there with Adonai. Can anyone say: insider track?

The University of Notre Dame, Producing Youth With Brains Despite That Unpleasant Monologues Business

Of course, with architecture like this on campus, I half expect them to be churning out Saints like Twinkies

One of the folks over at The Shrine of the Holy Whapping, specifically, Matthew Aldernman, has written a new order, the Ordo Karolingianus for the Mass. It is an attempt to realize the "reform of the reform" Ratzinger and company frequently speak of, to deal with the banality which seeps into some parts of the Novus Ordo, ( the Novus Ordo being the current normative procedure of the Latin Rite Catholic Church.) I am no expert on such things, but at least from an aesthetic perspective, I think it does quite well.

Welcome March!

March means spring, right? Noooo. March means a two inch dusting, which of course means everyone goes and loots Safeway of bread and milk, cancels classes, and generally goes nuts. Today my work was cancelled for the second time in seven days, because DCPS heard rumours of five inches. The sterotype is true: DC people can't handle snow, they have a southern-city mentality.

Yesterday, in the midst of the blitz, I went out to Brookland to have my City Year interview. Rachel Hodges did the torturing, and she was pretty nice. I was panicky only a couple of times. I felt pretty good about it, until I got on the train going home and began thinking about all the stupid things I said.

Oy vey, they have three applicants for every one spot. How am I going to come in on top? I just don't know. St. Jude is the patron Saint of hopeless causes, in case anyone's interested in saying a few prayers. Although, I wouldn't say its hopeless, not yet anyway. I do have experience in the field, and I did get my application in for the "early action" deadline. I let Ms. Hodges know that I really wanted to do it, and if she picked me I'd definitely be onboard.

So maybe, maybe, maybe ... I find out March 15th. She's going to call everyone and say one way or the other. I could be 1. Accepted 2. Wait Listed 3. Transferred 4. Rejected. It feels like college applications all over again. The next two weeks are going to be liquid hell. Aye yah yah.