I'm back from Golgotha
I have just viewed "The Passion of the Christ." Almost all I can say is sometimes silence is best. So much of the significance of what the film portrays is told without words, in subtlety, with eyes, face, and hands. I don't know why I didn't expect that given that I knew beforehand the film's language is almost nobody's spoken language. And it is such a CATHOLIC film! I almost wonder if our separated brethren can fully participate in the film; I wonder if they might be likely to miss some of the subtlety of which I write.

The theme that opened the flood gate of my tears time and again, and the one thing I really want to post here, is that the interaction between Jesus and his mother, Mary, is almost unbearable. Odd, given the physical violence displayed all over the screen. And then again, not so odd. Ave Domine Iesu! Ave Crux, Spes Unica! Ave Maria!

And the award for most obsessed fan goes to...

these guys.

I mean I loved the Green Lantern comic books, but seriously...





Gentlemen, it's called human interaction. Yes, I know that the three dimensions are a little scary at first and yes, it is hard to follow a conversation when there isn't a dialogue balloon, but you'll like it. I promise.

I can say things like this because I love comics...just not that much.

You're The Guns of August!

by Barbara Tuchman

Though you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what
causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they
really are. Nevertheless, you're always living in the past and have a hard time dealing
with what's going on today. You're also far more focused on Europe than anywhere else in
the world. A fitting motto for you might be "Guns do kill, but so can
diplomats."


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Thanks to Fr. Tucker over at Dappled Things for this really excellent quiz. Blue Pyramid, the origin for this quiz, has some other really interesting looking ones. But the level of self-actualization I am gaining from these it a little excessive. How can I be a book I have never read?

Techmonkey Dave here. There are a couple issues with the comments box.

Issue the first: The last template had a link to a website that had a objectionable word visible when clicked. My bad. I've fixed that.

Issue the second: sometimes, after you've typed your comment and hit the "add comment" box, you'll see a series of error messages. Fear not, your comment has been accepted. Just close that box with the error messages. The website responsible for the comment boxes assures us that this is a temporary problem. We'll see.

I now return you to the erudition, wit and depth of our brave ragemonkeys.

Let him rest peacefully with you, O Lord

I saw in the news that one of the victims of clergy sex abuse died under strange circumstances. His name was Patrick McSorley and was 29 at the time of death.

It was a hard life made more difficult because of the actions of Fr. John Geoghan. May he rest in peace and may all his loved ones know the comfort of Christ.

Nobody asked but it's just cluttering my brain...

I met Fr. Benedict when I was on the spiritual year which would have been 1995 or 1996. I can't recall if it was fall or spring. I had looked forward to his visit for some time. I had heard all sorts of good things about him. I had powered through a couple of his books. As part of the retreat he conducted he offered time for one-on-one conversations. I signed up as soon as I could.

We walked around the spacious grounds of the seminary and I told him about myself and about the struggles I had had thus far in the seminary. He was very compassionate and unlike anyone to that point in the seminary "system," he understood the pain and evil I had experienced. At the same time, did not act as though it couldn't be talked about or was some kind of secret. He called my parents' divorce evil, a deprivation of a good that should have been present. I just cannont express my joy at my encounter with him.

So as our time together neared an end, he looked at me and said, "If you are going to make it through the seminary, it is going to take a lot of courage on your part." Courage was necessary if I could both confront the past and discern what God was calling for. As I progressed through the seminary in Philly, our paths crossed from time to time. He even conducted my retreat in preparation for priestly ordination.

And for all these things, but most especially that commitment to courage, I thank him. I wouldn't be a priest for this one brief encounter. Courage is now one of my watchwords. It takes courage to reform one's life. It takes courage to proclaim the Resurrection. It takes courage to live the Gospel.

I thank God that he has not taken Fr. Benedict back yet. I still want to let Teresa, my sister, spend time with him. She loves Fr. B, I suspect, because of everything he has given to me. I still want to go on a retreat with him again.

It's a full time job...
...reading and then editing Fr. Tharp's posts for grammar and consistency. His "Making the Most of the Holy Fast" post is a good case in point. Under that post, #1 in his list doesn't read clearly and then at #4 he switches into using letters for the numeration. Since he messed around with my barber shop post, placing the bold heading under the bumper sticker, I am going to leave this on the blog until (1) Fr. Tharp edits his aforementioned post; or, (b) Fr. Tharp removes this post of mine himself. Of course, both would be fine too. Unless there is some space wrinkle tonight, I will see "The Passoin" FIRST! And, yes, my errors were intentional.

Where are they now?

Since we are linking to actors who portray characters we are allegedly most like, I thought you might want to know what is happening with them.

Fr. Tharp = Sejanus = Patrick Stewart ("Make It So!")

Fr. Hamilton = Augustus = Brian Blessed ("and you are who?")

This is just my juvenille way to say, "I want to see the Passion of the Christ first."

Making the Most of the Holy Fast
There is one downside to Lent. I can have difficulty 1.) making up my mind what I am giving this up, 2.) why I am giving up a particular thing, 3.) how to remind myself what I committed to give up, and D.) consciously choosing the good from which this attachment has kept me.

But not any more. Using the powerful computer on my desk, I have devised a way to improve Lent for everyone. It’s called the Penance Grid. Here’s how it works.

On a piece of paper, draw a 3 X 3 box. Then above the horizontal line of the top three boxes write Body, Mind, and Spirit. Then next to the line of the vertical, left-side line write Pray, Fast, Give Alms. It will look something like this:
Body Mind Spirit
Pray

Fast

Give Alms


(Ah, isn’t it cute. It’s like the Hollywood Squares without dealing with Paul Lynde’s comments. Sorry, the computer displays the grid; Blogger doesn't)

Now, look at the first box. How does one pray with one’s body? It might lead you to be more regular about your prayer time and duration. Or look at the intersection of “Mind” and “Give Alms.” Perhaps you could give your mind a break and give up TV for the whole season of Lent. Think about how much solid spiritual reading and just plain interacting with others you would get in.

The point is NOT to fill in every square. The idea is to reflect upon what might be out of whack and attack those places. Then when you are done, tape it up prominently or put it a favorite prayer book/Breviary/Magnificat. Now you can encourage yourself and stay strong the entire season.

Hope this helps.

The Spirit works in mysterious ways?

I just spoke with the Archbishop. In the course of the conversation he mentioned his tough task at this time of year: making priestly assignments. In describing the complications of this task he used the word "monkey-wrench". So soon into the life of this blog, could this be the Spirit's prompting of local ecclesiastical approbation for this site? I guess it could go the other way too. I'm so confused! Whatever it ultimately means, I don't think he meant this. And I hope he wasn't referring to this group of "environmental warriors". Of course, we do have some religious orders in the area with interesting charisms. Hhhmmm.

Perspective from the Barber Shop

With hairs freshly cut, I thought I would share some of the wisdom, perspective, and humor from my barber shop. It is run by two brothers and as tax time approaches their government waste observations are free for the taking! This is the bumper sticker one brother has on his truck.

YYYYYEEEEESSSSS!!!!!

I just learned that our local movie theatre is having a special showing tonight of "The Passion of the Christ" for ministers!

Preparation for Lent [Part Two]

Nothing like a different author picking up where one left off. Just call us "Scripture-rific" or the "Johannine Community". Here are a couple of my suggestions for the spiritual life.

Prayer for Beginners by Peter Kreeft. I read this a few months ago. It is a good little treatise and not very demanding (as regards length). After so many fine apologetic works, I found it neat to catch a glimpse of the soul of Peter Kreeft.


Prayer Primer: Igniting A Fire Within by Thomas Dubay. I am currently reading this one. As with Dubay's other works I have encountered, it is well done and worth it.

This is a bit ironic

Which Founding Father Are You?

There is no relation between Alexander Hamilton and myself of which I am aware, though I share his last name. Thanks to Bob at Republic of Virtue for the link.

There'll Be No Coups on Captain Picard's Watch!

Yes, Yes, I know he is a talented Shakespearean actor, but he will always be my favorite captain...or Gurney Haleck. It's a toss-up.

SEJANVS You worked as Tiberius' most trusted advisor, but when that lazy coward fled Rome to shack up in his house near the beach, you basically took over as ruler. You are ambitious and righteous, and not above killing to get what you want. But, as with every other leader in Rome, you must keep an eye out for anyone who might thwart your plans. Don't trust anyone, no matter who they might be. You were portrayed by Patrick Stewart.

Which I, Claudius Character are You? created by
Shiny Objects

Preparation for Lent [Part One]

Since all or most of us live lives that are busy and loud, a good way to take advantage of Lent is with renewed spiritual reading. There are lots of profitable books and I wanted to suggest just a couple.

One that I have read:
Transformation in Christ by Dietrich Von Hildebrand


This classic of the spiritual life was an unknown to me until I read VH's biography. This book worked on my mind and possibly improved my hearing of confessions. The biggest asset to the book was it helped me to take my actions more consciously and more seriously.

I have provided the link to Amazon for those who would like to order it now. But I would recommend hitting your local Catholic Book Shoppe. That way, the money "stays in the family." Or get a Sophia Institute Catalog. Unfortunately, the website was hard to use.

Two I am reading for Lent:

And You are Christ's by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.



I was browsing this book after meeting the author in Wichita at the Family Life Conference. For someone who writes on the spiritual life, this was someone very present to those around him. So this one is to strengthen my commitment to celibacy. No, I don't mean like that. Celibacy and virginity should be a source of spiritual strength and power but usually it sits in the garage of the soul like a tricked out Corvette.

The link will take you directly to Ignatius Press.

The School of Prayer by John Brook
This one is a re-read. And No, it has nothing to do with this bozo. I read it on the Spiritual Year at Saint Charles. It was most helpful and given that a big part of my life as a priest is praying the Divine Office, I would like to pray it better at the end of Lent. It is also a very useful book for those who are starting out praying the office.

My apologies for linking to Amazon again. Please see the suggestion above.

Anyone else got some suggestions?

Blog coup? And National Guard is going to Haiti

AVGVSTVS You were the adopted son of Julius Caesar. Destined to become first Emperor of Rome, you are responsible for laying down the foundations of the most powerful civilization in history. However, as good as you are in leadership, you aren't so good at paying attention to your family. You don't pay attention to any mischief they might get into. When you do find out about the evils of your family, you're shocked and horrified. You just don't get why they turned out the way they did. You were portrayed by Brian Blessed.

Which I, Claudius Character are You? created by
Shiny Objects
Thanks to Fr. Jim Tucker, whose Dappled Things blog is where I found the link.

Hey, hey...

We look nothing like this. But considering the many kind visits and endorsements of our new blog, we are pursuing the idea of randomly visiting the cities of those who endorse us in this car. Maybe we need a sidebar link entitled "Monkey Like Car"?

It's Not Easy Being Green...So Quit!



From the Delusions of Electability Files, Ralph Nader throws his hat into the ring. This is the guy who ran as a Green Party member the last two elections and got a tiny percentage of the vote. Technically it was a statistical dead heat between Ralph, myself, and the martyrs of the Mexican Revolution.

For this election, Ralph has abandoned his verdant party past and embraced the Independent Party. Typical of American politics. When your personal position doesn't work, dump it! I personally don't think that Nader will make much of a difference in the election now. If he has any support, he lost it the instant he changed affiliation.

Most laughably, he claims that he will be more effective against GWB in the upcoming election. Who is he kidding? This guy wouldn't be effective against an aggressive slice of pizza.

I need a parish school

I have been so fortunate in my first two parish assignments to have a parish school. And I miss that now in my third assignment. At the first school I made sure to be very involved. I would regularly visit the classrooms to check up on the classes and allow them to ask me questions. Man, do the kids have good (and surprising!) questions. I would come and speak to certain classes at a teacher's request, telling the kids about respect and charity toward one another or why their pets probably weren't going to heaven. I would read to the pre-Kindergarten children and enjoy their snack with them (Green Eggs and Ham taken with forced smile and prior arrangement with the teacher for a SMALL portion!). I always made sure to come during Catholic Schools Week and bless each classroom together with the traditional Epiphany inscription over each class door. You want to get kids' attention? Walk into a classroom in cassock, surplice, and cope! And I would preside at the May Crowning. At the second school I continued these practices and I took on an even more formal role. I taught both the seventh and eighth grade religion classes (shameless plug here for the Faith & Life Series by Ignatius Press!). Oh, how I loved that. It was there (and about a year ago today) I developed something I will continue wherever I am blessed enough to have a parish school. I called it "Fr. Hamilton's 2003 Lent Challenge." I invited each student of the school to formally sign an agreement with me listing their lenten practices and/or sacrifices. I became party one to the contract and the students were collectively party two. I challenged them to be faithful to their lenten practices as I would be to mine. If one party was faithful, they then could impose something upon the other party. We agreed ahead of time that if even one child was faithful (I should have thought this one out more!) they would impose on me a flat top haircut; if I was faithful, all student participants had to join me for the four Sunday's after Easter at the parish church to pray the Rosary together. It was wonderful! It got the kids excited and serious about naming some lenten practice and striving to be faithful to it. Of course, it helped me too. So, at the end, I had a flat top and they came to pray the Rosary -- a challenge where we all "won". I hope to have that again some day.