Birthday Prayers

My mother and the Pope share the same birthday - 16 April.  The Holy Father is a few years older but in much better health.  However, he is under unprecendented attack by the media at this time.  This must weigh heavily on any pope, especially a man of 83.

In all likelihood, both of them are much closer to the day of their judgment than most of us are.  In certainty they will benefit by your prayers.  In your charity please pray for both of them.

Thank you.

The Dog Ate My Homework

"Bad blogger... baaad blogger!"

I am told, by those who know these things, that the cardinal sin of blogging is to deviate from one's regular routine of posting; such that a longer-than-normal gap between posts may create the impression that the blogger has abandoned his blog altogether.

I haven't.  I've just been too bloody busy.  I have about three half-written posts which - by now - are no longer timely.  I refuse to post stuff that I don't think anyone would read, if in fact anyone is reading this page at all, and so they have been deleted.  But I had a few moments after dinner on St. Patrick's Day and decided to share a few thoughts (lucky you!)

Anyway, I did resolve to eschew posting on politics and so forth during Lent, so this is not a post about political matters.  But if you are the type of person to read The Archlaic's blog you will probably find these links interesting:

• Why does the Census need to know my "race"?  And why is - to name one - "Pakistani" a "race"?  Mark Krikorian has an interesting suggestion for action on National Review Online.  "Ich bein ein American!"
• What is one to do if the Democrats in Congress succeed in "passing" the present "Health Care Reform" bill via extra-legislative tricks of dubious constitutionality?  Should one refuse to comply?  Quite a few people think so, and some of them have started a Facebook page.

OK, enough civil disobedience for now.  How about a few comments on the MSM?

• In the past week there have been headlines all over the world: "Pope Linked to Sex Abuse Case".  No need to let the facts get in the way of an opportunity to bash the Church.
• Let me get this straight - when a number of lawyers who've spent the previous eight years representing terrorists - pro bono - are hired by the Obama Administration to work in the D.O.J., the MSM is nowhere to be seen.  When Attorney General (for now) Eric Holder stonewalls on releasing their names, the MSM remains asleep at the switch.  When it becomes apparent that A.G. Holder was himself one of those lawyers, the MSM emits a collective yawn.  No conflicts, there, no sir-ee!  Not like there are when the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is reported to have started a "Tea Party group, which The L.A. Times fears will threaten the impartiality of the Supreme Court(!)

But there is a little bit of good news: we are not required to abstain from flesh meat this Friday as it is the Solemnity of St. Joseph!  Since there always seems to be confusion whenever any kind of a significant feast day falls on a Friday it might be useful to bookmark Canon 1251 in the 1983 C.I.C which reads:

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Also of note is the bit about "all Fridays" - many people believe that Friday abstinence was abolished by Vatican II but that's not so.  Pope Paul VI's 1966 Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini permitted national episcopal conferences to substitute "other forms of penitence and especially works of charity and the exercises of piety", that change is further codified in Canon 1253.  However, when was the last time you heard of the U.S.C.C.B. - or an individual bishop - reminding the faithful of this obligation or defining what "other forms of penitence" might be appropriate?  And how many Catholics do you think are aware that Friday penitence - if not abstinence - still binds?  A little something to consider while you're enjoying your cheeseburger this Friday!  Also, don't forget to say a prayer to St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, for the Pope and the Church...

Giving it up for Lent...

One year about a dozen years ago my wife and I gave up television for Lent.  A habit was well and truly broken, and to this day we watch very little t.v.  About the only thing I watch nowadays is the Red Sox, who are an obession a enduring pastime no matter how I follow them.

On the other hand, every year I give up drinking for Lent.  Of course I have a drink on Sunday, and a pint (or two) of Guinness on St. Patrick's Day - it's a feast day, for goodness sake - but nonetheless I look forward to a bottle of good wine with the Easter Lamb.  And thereafter...

This blogging venture is still a new game to me, and I'm someone who annually tries to curtail my Internet usage during The Great Fast.  So you can probably tell where I'm going here. Do I give this thing, this bloggin' thing, up until after Easter?

After some consideration I came to the decision that I will follow the same principles that I follow for other pleasures during Lent:

1.) Moderation is sometimes more realistic than unrealistic attempts at outright privation,
2.) Sundays are not really part of Lent (don't believe me?  Count the days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday... forty-six!  Now subtract the (six) Sundays to get... forty!)
3.) One shouldn't fast on a feast,

Thus, I shall limit my posting to matters spirtual and ecclesial, except on Sundays (Saturday night until Monday morning) and real feasts, e.g. St. Patrick, St. Joseph, The Annunciation... OTOH, it would probably be unseemly to post a rant about J. F. Kerry's botox treatments or Nancy Pelosi's windsurfing (or vice versa) on a solemn feast day in the midst of Lent, so I'll probably just save any meanderings regarding the Red Sox for those days.

My poor wife, the um, er, "Archduchess"?  "Archlaywoman"?  What does one call oneself, who is married to a man who has delusions of Archlaity? (Archlaicy?)  Perhaps I should just refer to her as I do at home: "she-who-must-be-obeyed"!  Anyway, poor girl, she'll have to deal with me for the next seven weeks without the mollifying influences of my Martini and the (full) outlet of my little blog.  Do pray for her!

In Principio...

Perhaps someone who doesn't know me will stumble upon this blog and read this initial post and wonder why the heck I'm here. (One who knows me might well have the same question!) I've often compared certain individuals' blogs to the diaries of exhibitionists, but mine is not meant to serve any such purpose. Nor will it become "a blog about nothing". At present this is merely an experiment to see whether a weblog might be a better alternative than writing dozens of emails to friends each day, sharing links and exchanging thoughts on various subjects both secular and ecclesiastical. So, here goes - duc in altum...