Hungry

Little Alfie Evans has gone 36 hours without being fed. Think how you would feel if you skipped two meals and imagine what this is doing to him. In England they'll arrest you for harsh language towards certain groups or for having a pocket knife but the government will starve a sick baby to death. People are calling on Queen Elizabeth to say something but there's no point in that. It's widely rumored that her father was euthanized  and so was one of her uncles who was a child at the time. England is said to be the mother country of the euthanasia movement and committing suicide in some circumstances has long been looked upon with approval. It's part of the upper class culture. One of he saddest things about this whole tragedy is that the archbishop of Liverpool where the Evans family is from has not offered even a weak word of comfort to them. There is an Italian priest with the family but apparently no  priest from their own diocese dares come say a prayer in front of the hospital much less attempt to visit the sick.  Archbishop McMahon may not realize but I suspect that he's scandalized many people both Catholic and those who might have become Catholic.

Rude questions

Is it really necessary for the pope to have Q&A sessions? Is there something in Church law that says when the pope visits a parish it has to be filmed? Doesn't anybody find these stage managed manipulative shows to be distasteful? Did anyone in the Vatican blush with shame or anger at seeing this child being used like this? 

Eternal Rest grant unto him

Today is the anniversary of my father's death. He was 42 years old. Mama was 40. I was 13.  There is nothing on earth like the moment when you realize that you have nowhere to run, nothing to distract you from the pain and you can't go back because it's the end of your world. All you can do is press on and cling to God. 

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,

et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon

• The death of Brother Anthony Freeman made me quite sad. He was born in the same year as my marriage and was young enough to be my son. Some people are saying that since he died in Rome and was a Legionnaire of Christ his death must be suspicious. I would say the non violent, non obviously accidental unattended death of a 29 year old must be checked out, period. Considering that there are evil men in the Vatican and the fact that many a seminarian has come back home with tales of sexual advances* being made to them by rectors, bishops and cardinals it's legitimate to raise an eyebrow about this death but be careful. Brother Anthony was presumably not an orphan and his parents are in great pain right now. If you are going to write certain things about him at least have the decency to offer some circumstantial evidence to back it up please.
  
• The asinine claim that Latin American Catholics are going to save the Church in America because they are so much more devout that we are has pretty much died. Too many people have seen abominations like this to be fooled anymore. 

• Here is a palate cleanser. This homily from a solid priest asks why it is that the media always comes up with crap during Holy Week or before Christmas?

*A childhood friend of mine left the seminary because he couldn't take the sexual shenanigans he was witness too and it broke his heart to see that nobody in the order was doing anything about it. 

How was your Triduum?

Rocky and I discovered something new this year: naps. Taking one before Mass on Holy Thursday and before going to the Easter Vigil was a huge help. On Holy Thursday Rocky ushered at our parish. It went pretty well.

On Good Friday we went to the Franciscan Monastery for the Burial of Christ and saw two people from our parish. We saw Dominicans, Franciscans of course, Sister Servants of the Virgin, Missionaries of Charity and a couple of orders we couldn't identify as well as worshipers from all over the world. We went to a parish in DC  for the Easter Vigil because they have the earliest one on the area and we couldn't make it to St. Alphonsus in Baltimore.  I won't name the parish because they have a kind priest and really nice people. The Exultet and the Litany of the Saints  were done in a funky blues style. Yes. You did read that correctly. I've looked on Youtube and can't find anything remotely like what we heard.  Rocky looked stunned and gave me the fish eye a couple of times. The Communion Hymn was Nothing But the Blood of Jesus. The recessional hymn was Celebrate Jesus.

He is risen

Good Friday

Thursday

The Protestations of St. Peter

Can Ye Not Watch With Me One Hour?

Peter Went Out and Wept Bitterly