Cardinal Sean Clerihew

Boston's Cardinal Sean
suddenly woke before dawn
and prayed, "Oh Lord, I hope
you don't want me to be the next pope.

this just in

Now on sale over at Dover which also has a most excellent collection of Chesterton books.

Ash Wednesday Thursday

Lent is underway. Even though the ashes on my forehead were washed away last night, I am still thinking of Ash Wednesday - and, oddly (or perhaps not so oddly), of Chesterton.

Dale Ahquist, in his essay, "Echoes: When G.K. came to Notre Dame," published in Notre Dame Magazine (Winter 2010-11), recounted incidents during Chesterton's 1930 visit to Notre Dame. One of them concerns T.S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday."

A long-time Notre Dame English professor, Rufus William Rauch, was only 26 when Chesterton came to campus. One night, Rauch brought a few students with him to discuss modern poetry with Chesterton at the home where the author was staying. Was Mr. Chesterton familiar with T.S. Eliot? the young instructor asked timidly. Chesterton proceeded to quote the long opening passage from “Ash Wednesday,” which had just been published. “Quite dizzying. I suppose that’s one way to conversion,” he mused.

Stumbling across that account, I sought out Eliot's poem, which I haven't read in years.

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn ...

And so on and so on. More of Eliot's dark ruminations, tinged with faith, but a faith that likely was strange to Chesterton's more joy-filled sensibilities - hence his comment about conversion. I imagine if Eliot and Chesterton were somehow thrown together chatting over matters of faith and literature, and were both presented with lemons, Eliot would suck his lemon and pucker out some observations, while Chesterton would make lemonade, likely spilling some and laughing.

Sorry if I offend any Eliot fans out there. But I think he would focus on the harsh reality of the suffering on the cross, while Chesterton would celebrate the salvation that suffering brought.

Bush Painting Clerihew

The folksy paintings of President Bush
Don’t show his tush.
But the subtlety and skill they lack
do help to explain Iraq.

I Am Thursday

Back when I was invited to join this blog, there were more of us involved, and each of us was assigned a day. We were free to post on other days, but our day was the one for which each one of us was responsible for providing content.

I was assigned Thursday.

I was delighted at that - having enjoyed Chesterton's novel, The Man Who Was Thursday.

Alas, some of our regular writers have drifted away, posting decreased, and the days were neglected. I have continued to post, but not as regularly as I should - and certainly with no concern for making sure Thursday had some content each week.

I was thinking about this this morning. I am home - my wife had surgery and I'm out of school for two days to make sure she is doing okay, to make her cups of tea, and to say comforting things as she deals with post-operative pain and queasiness. 

I brought school work with me. While she was in surgery yesterday, I was grading a set of student clerihews. As I made suggestions and comments, I thought of my own clerihews. I've been fortunate to have some of them published in Gilbert. One of my back-burner projects was to compile a collection of some of the better ones and to self-publish a chapbook. So this morning I went to a file where I had haphazardly compiled various poems - clerihews, limericks, and haiku mostly. I created a new file just for the clerihews and did some cutting and pasting. I then went through and culled some duplicates, weaker efforts, and those that are more topical in nature (about local elections, for example).

As I did so, I realized I was missing some. Since I'd posted a number of them on this blog, I went searching for them. I also read some posts by myself and others. There were some good, enjoyable pieces posted in the last 8 years. We had a good set of writers and Chestertonians contributing. I hope those who are no longer active here are doing well.

As I was searching, I thought of Chesterton and the efforts to compile his works. People keep finding essays, reviews, letters, and poems by him - sometimes long forgotten or published in obscure places. He likely forgot about them; he was not noted for his organization when it came to such matters. I share that trait with him.

I now have a file with most of my better clerihews. There may be others I haven't found yet. There's about 40 that I deem worthy of including in my little book. I also found some that I had intended to submit to Gilbert, but never got around to doing so: Watch out Gilbert editors!

In addition, I've resolved to renew my commitment to posting on Thursdays.

I'll work on my clerihew collection for publishing later this year. I'm also going to compile a collection of my slug haiku (they all begin "a slug among weeds") - more on that later. Maybe next Thursday!

Pope Benedict clerihew

Some folks feared Pope Benedict
would be too strict.
But I knew we had nothing to fear
when I saw him quaff a beer.

Cuomo clerihew

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
chose to forgo
any church rules and prohibitions
that interfere with his pleasure or ambitions.

Solanus Casey Clerihew

That holy doorman Solanus Casey
was someone that people flocked to see.
Folks say that his only sin
was the way he played the violin.

President Obama challenges pro-lifers to join March for Life! (sort of)

As the president said: “If there’s even one step we can take to save a child, then surely we have an obligation to try.

“Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?”

from LifeSiteNews

Chesterton Knew How to Make Merry at Christmas

Chesterton Knew How to Make Merry at Christmas

Christmas Swag

It's Christmas.

First, Mass. Joy to the World!

But then the carousel of food and gifts - and, of course books.

Among this year's bounty, some Chestertonian delights.

How Far Is It to Bethlehem: The Plays & Poetry of Frances Chesterton - appropriate for Christmas.

Then some works by familiar Chesterton fellow-travelers:

Dale Ahlquist's The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G. K. Chesterton.

and

Nancy Carpentier Brown's A Study Guide for G. K. Chesterton's Saint Francis of Assisi.

Finally, a daughter wandering through a used book store in Boston found a First American Edition of The Wisdom of Father Brown  in excellent condition.

Ah.

Delightful reading ahead!.  

St. Nicholas Clerihew

At Nicaea, St. Nicholas
slapped a naughty Arius.
Since then he's found a list does fine
to help keep those who stray in line.

Jack Passion's beard (clerihew)

The beard of Jack Passion
transcends conventional fashion.
But I doubt his hirsute ways
includes hair shirts these days.

Shaken not stired

I was wondering if i should go see the new Bond movie, Skyfall, or wait for the DVD. well... since the Vatican has given it's supernatural praise to this film I will go and see it on the BIG screen. Personally I can't remember such a glowing review of any secular movie from the "red hats".

My favorite review of the review was by Darren Franich

Can we get an 'Amen'? The Vatican loves 'Skyfall'

Providing further evidence that the modern Catholic Church ain’t your mama’s Catholic Church, the Vatican’s film critic has written a full-throated support of Skyfall, praising the film’s “adrenalin pumping action, amazing hyper-realistic chases, exotic locations, extremely beautiful Bond girls, the usual super villain, and the essential vodka martini” — all things much enjoyed by the population of the Vatican. (They took a vow of chastity… but nothing wrong with a little window-shopping, amiright boys?)

But it’s not all fun and games: Vatican film critic Gaetano Vallini praises how in Skyfall, James Bond is “less attracted to the pleasures of life, darker and more introspective… more human, even able to be moved and to cry.” You could say that Bond is experiencing a crushing sensation of guilt, which makes it impossible for him to experience joy in a meaningful way. If only there could be a whole belief system built on all-encompassing guilt!

The Skyfall review was actually just one of five Bond-related articles in this week’sL’Osservatore Romano, which also included a profile of Bond creator Ian Fleming, a retrospective of Bond music, and a think piece by Pope Benedict explaining that everyone is wrong about Timothy Dalton — he was just Daniel Craig 20 years before the world was ready for Daniel Craig. Just kidding, the Pope didn’t write that: He gave up on the series after You Only Live Twice.

The wrong side of history

"Speaking a few years ago to a group of priests, entirely outside of the current political debate, I was trying to express in overly dramatic fashion what the complete secularization of our society could bring. I was responding to a question and I never wrote down what I said, but the words were captured on somebody’s smart phone and have now gone viral on Wikipedia and elsewhere in the electronic communications world. I am (correctly) quoted as saying that I expected to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. What is omitted from the reports is a final phrase I added about the bishop who follows a possibly martyred bishop: “His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.” What I said is not “prophetic” but a way to force people to think outside of the usual categories that limit and sometimes poison both private and public discourse"
Francis Cardinal George

read the whole letter here

WORD

Public witness and Catholic citizenship

Archbishop Charles Chaput

Public witness on issues of public concern is natural for Catholics because we have a commitment to the common good and to the dignity of each human person. Those two pillars — the common good and the dignity of every human person — come right out of Scripture. They underpin all of Catholic social thought.

That includes politics. Politics is where the competing moral visions of a society meet and struggle. And since a large majority of American citizens are religious believers, it makes sense for people and communities of faith to bring their faith into the public square.

As a result, if we believe that a particular issue is gravely evil and damaging to society, then we have a duty, not just a religious duty but also a democratic duty, to hold accountable the candidates who want to allow that evil. Failing to do so is an abuse of responsibility on our part, because that’s where we exercise our power as citizens most directly — in the voting booth.

The “separation of Church and state” can never mean that religious believers should be silent about legislative issues, the appointment of judges or public policy. It’s not the job of the Church to sponsor political candidates. But it’s very much the job of the Church to guide Catholics to think and act in accord with their faith.

So since this is an election year, here are a few simple points to remember as we move toward November.

1. “Catholic” is a word that has real meaning. We don’t control or invent that meaning as individuals. We inherit it from the Gospel and the experience of the Church over the centuries. If we choose to call ourselves Catholic, then that word has consequences for what we believe and how we act.  We can’t truthfully call ourselves “Catholic” and then behave as if we’re not.

2. Being a Catholic is a bit like being married. We have a relationship with the Church and with Jesus Christ that’s similar to being a spouse. If a man says he loves his wife, his wife will want to see the evidence in his fidelity. The same applies to our relationship with God. If we say we’re Catholic, we need to show that by our love for the Church and our fidelity to what she teaches and believes. Otherwise we’re just fooling ourselves. God certainly won’t be fooled.

3. The Church is not a political organism. She has no interest in partisanship because getting power or running governments is not what she’s about, and the more closely she identifies herself with any single party, the fewer people she can effectively reach.

4. Scripture and Catholic teaching, however, do have public consequences because they guide us in how we should act in relation to one another. Again, Catholic social action, including political action, is a natural byproduct of the Church’s moral message. We can’t call ourselves Catholic, and then simply stand by while immigrants get mistreated, or the poor get robbed, or – even more fundamentally — unborn children get killed. If our faith is real, then it will bear fruit in our public decisions and behaviors, including our political choices.

5. Each of us needs to follow his or her own conscience. But conscience doesn’t emerge miraculously from a vacuum. The way we get a healthy conscience is by submitting it to God’s will; and the way we find God’s will is by listening to the counsel of the Church and trying honestly to live in accord with her guidance. If we find ourselves frequently disagreeing, as Catholics, with the teaching of our own Church on serious matters, then it’s probably not the Church that’s wrong. The problem is much more likely with us.

In the end, the heart of truly faithful citizenship is this: We’re better citizens when we’re more faithful Catholics. The more authentically Catholic we are in our lives, choices, actions and convictions, the more truly we will contribute to the moral and political life of our nation.

Another sign the apocalypse is upon us.

I like food. Boom!, there I said it. I am willing to try new foods - as a matter of fact I was one of the first to try pizza on a stick. So this seemed right in my wheelhouse PBJ in a can cool...I was wrong.
Every generation, sandwich convenience takes a leap forward. Our grandparents saw the first drive-thru restaurant; our children will be the first to try McDonald's McRib I V Bag. For us, it's the Candwich: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a can.


"Kids Love It!" it says so right there on the can. This just proves my long-running theory: that kids are dumb.

Frat Boys chug the whole sandwich in one gulp.

The world's gone topsy-turvy. Somewhere, someone is drinking a Miller Lite out of a Ziploc bag.

The flavor is somewhere on the continuum between Play-Doh and Taxicab Air Freshener. But if traditional sandwich packaging never took up enough landfill space for your liking, this is the sandwich for you.

The Persian look is back

Yes, I know that we as bearded Catholics did not get that way in a moment of passion but it is the passion for facial hair that keeps us here.

But to groom or not to groom that is the question whether 'tis nobler to let it grow outrageous and free or to take up scissors to trim it  and by grabbing the ends twist them. To comb, to sweep, to droop no more; and by a clip clip here and a dab dab there say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks our mother's subject us to?

Any way if you manscape a new start-up, the BrooklynGrooming Company, specializes in pomades, beard oils, facial serums and mustache wax all aimed at the tragically hip. The Red Hook Whiskers beard oil, for instance features "mineral rich oils and up lifting herbs in a non-comedgenic, vegan friendly formula".

The good news? economists have adjusted forecasts upward in light of this new product line lessening unemployment, streangthing the GDP and showing the country that the American hipster is willing to spend $50.00 on artistanal beard oil.

Doctor Doctor

It is the Feast day of Teresa of Avila one of my favorite ladies



I am now at an age where this prayer makes big sense my favorite line is: “Keep me reasonably sweet, for a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil”.



Lord,
Thou knowest better than I myself
that I am growing older and will someday be old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking
I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.

Release me from craving to
straighten out everybody’s affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody;
helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom,
it seems a pity not to use it all;
but Thou knowest, Lord,
that I want a few friends at the end.
Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details;
give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips on my aches and pains;
they are increasing, and love of rehearsing them
is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

I dare not ask for improved memory,
but for a growing humility and a lessening cock-sureness
when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet, for a sour old person
is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places
and talents in unexpected people;
and give, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.
Amen.

- – - prayer by St. Teresa of Avila

She embodies the Chesterton attitude: “He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head.”

Fluke Clerihew

The last name of Sandra Fluke
rhymes with ... stuck,
which is what she wanted to happen to us with her bills
for birth control pills.
.