The Catholic Bubble

Ember days in Lent

2009-03-04T06:10:00.005-05:00

Bumped (and slightly revised) this from the last Ember days post:

But just the same as last time, I got up this morning and found a post-it note stuck to the microwave, left by husband:

"Ember Day!"

Observing the Ember Days:

Wednesday and Saturday ember days: fasting, with two smaller meals and one normal sized meal, like a Friday in Lent, but meat allowed at one meal only.

Friday ember days: just like a Friday in Lent, with two smaller meals and one normal sized meal, and no meat.

There's a Latin saying that helps us remember when the ember days fall, but I'm pretty sure my version is not quite right. Latin endings are probably botched. If you know it, please let me know.

Post crucem, post lucem, post cinis, post ignem.

Post crucem: after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Post lucem: after the feast of St. Lucy
Post cinis: after Ash Wednesday
Post ignem: after Pentecost

More here from the St. John Cantius website.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross).

The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. [Click on link at top for more.]

From Wikipedia:

In the liturgical calendar of the Western Christian churches, Ember days are four separate sets of three days within the same week—specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday—roughly equidistant in the circuit of the year, that were formerly set aside for fasting and prayer. These days set apart for special prayer and fasting were considered especially suitable for the ordination of clergy. The Ember Days were known in the medieval church as quatuor tempora (the "four seasons"), or jejunia quatuor temporum ("fasts of the four seasons").

The Ember Weeks—the weeks in which the Ember Days occur—are the week between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent, between the first and second Sundays of Lent, the week between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, and the calendar week after Holy Cross Day (September 14) (the liturgical Third Week of September).

Prior to the reforms instituted by the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church mandated fasting (only one full meal per day plus two partial, meatless meals) on all Ember Days (which meant both fasting and abstinence from meat on Ember Fridays), and the faithful were encouraged (though not required) to receive the sacrament of penance whenever possible. On February 17, 1966, Pope Paul VI's decree Paenitemini excluded the Ember Days as days of fast and abstinence for Roman Catholics.[1]

The revision of the liturgical calendar in 1969 laid down the following rules for Ember Days and Rogation days:

In order to adapt the rogation and ember days to various regions and the different needs of the people, the conferences of bishops should arrange the time and plan of their celebration.Consequently, the competent authority should lay down norms, in view of local conditions, on extending such celebrations over one or several days and on repeating them during the year.On each day of these celebrations the Mass should be one of the votive Masses for various needs and occasions that is best suited to the intentions of the petitioners.

They may appear in some calendars as "days of prayer for peace."

'Let them be little'

2009-02-17T06:12:00.003-05:00

Attachment parenting, Catholic-style

Excerpt:

"Attachment Parenting, on the other hand, provides us with proven successful means for preserving in our children a love for their littleness and their vulnerability by respectfully fostering their dependence on us until they are mature enough to depend on themselves and ultimately God, and demonstrating to them, in ways which they are able to understand, our love and acceptance of them exactly as they are right here in this moment--weak, ignorant, vulnerable, little."

Click on title above for entire post.

Related post here, with a few excerpts from Hold On to Your Kids.

Fahrenheit 451 made real

2009-02-14T05:56:00.004-05:00

The new law that is causing so much turmoil and harm in the thrift store business is having unexpected consequences, and the worst of them is that children's books printed before 1985 "may be unlawful to sell or distribute." The heavy, clumsy hand of Big Brother, in a panicked response to the influx of lead-contaminated Chinese goods, has come down hard on children's books and businesses that sell them.

In spite of the fact that no one knows of a single instance of a child being harmed by handling a pre-1985 book, used book providers will be punished for selling or even giving away older books.

Libraries are worried, too, but are assuming the new law doesn't apply to their collections until they are told otherwise. Legally there's no reason for them to believe this, but the alternative would have a catastrophic effect on their collections. I've noticed that libraries often don't value the older, often out-of-print books in their collections and are all too willing to jettison them to make space for two dozen copies of the latest "Twilight" book. This will only further encourage them to weed older gems from their shelves. It also seems likely that the children's portion of your local library book sale may already be a goner. Thanks for protecting us, Uncle Sam.

I've excerpted a few paragraphs but the entire piece is worth the time. It covers the fact that the media have been silent about this threat to this huge class of books. (And we thought they were the champions of free expression and the enemy of 'book-banning' and 'censorship.')

City Journal
The New Book Banning

It’s hard to believe, but true: under a law Congress passed last year aimed at regulating hazards in children’s products, the federal government has now advised that children’s books published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or distribute. Merchants, thrift stores, and booksellers may be at risk if they sell older volumes, or even give them away, without first subjecting them to testing—at prohibitive expense. Many used-book sellers, consignment stores, Goodwill outlets, and the like have accordingly begun to refuse new donations of pre-1985 volumes, yank existing ones off their shelves, and in some cases discard them en masse.

While lead poisoning from other sources, such as paint in old houses, remains a serious public health problem in some communities, no one seems to have been able to produce a single instance in which an American child has been made ill by the lead in old book illustrations—not surprisingly, since unlike poorly maintained wall paint, book pigments do not tend to flake off in large lead-laden chips for toddlers to put into their mouths.
A commenter at Etsy, the large handicrafts and vintage-goods site, observed how things worked at one store:

I just came back from my local thrift store with tears in my eyes! I watched as boxes and boxes of children’s books were thrown into the garbage! Today was the deadline and I just can’t believe it! Every book they had on the shelves prior to 1985 was destroyed! I managed to grab a 1967 edition of “The Outsiders” from the top of the box, but so many!

People who deal in children’s books for a livelihood now face unpleasant choices. Valerie Jacobsen of Clinton, Wisconsin, who owns a small used-book store and has sold over the Internet since 1995, commented at my blog, Overlawyered: “Our bookstore is the sole means of income for our family, and we currently have over 7,000 books catalogued. In our children’s department, 35 percent of our picture books and 65 percent of our chapter books were printed before 1985.” Jacobsen has contacted the CPSC and her congressional representatives for guidance, but to no avail. “We cannot simply discard a wealth of our culture’s nineteenth and twentieth children’s literature over this,” she writes. She remains defiant, if wary: “I was willing to resist the censorship of 1984 and the Fire Department of Fahrenheit 451 long before I became a bookseller, so I’d love to run a black market in quality children’s books—but at the same time it’s not like the CPSC has never destroyed a small, harmless company before.”
Whatever the future of new media may hold, ours will be a poorer world if we begin to lose (or “sequester” from children) the millions of books published before our own era. They serve as a path into history, literature, and imagination for kids everywhere. They link the generations by enabling parents to pass on the stories and discoveries in which they delighted as children. Their illustrations open up worlds far removed from what kids are likely to see on the video or TV screen. Could we really be on the verge of losing all of this? And if this is what government protection of our kids means, shouldn’t we be thinking instead about protecting our kids from the government?

This news is cause for grief among children, book lovers, entrepreneurs, and those who believe culture is worth preserving and passing on. Our large family loves to read and is devoted to children's literature. It's a kick in the stomach.

(cross posted here)

History lessons

2009-02-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

From Rick Santorum:

The gathering storm I have been warning of for years has now formed over the West. Yet instead of fighting the gradual incursion of Sharia and the demands of an intolerant, even militant Islam, Westerners are cowering and fatalistic. Last year, the Archbishop of Canterbury conceded that acceptance of some parts of Sharia in Britain seemed "unavoidable."

Read the whole thing. It's not long.

From Mark Steyn:

It is pathetic but unsurprising how ignorant all these brave "anti-fascists" are. But there is a lesson here not just for Britain but for the rest of us, too: When a society loses its memory, it descends inevitably into dementia. Allowing the cultural relativists to annex the education system ultimately destroys the grown-up world, too.

Autism and vaccines: data was falsified

2009-02-13T07:23:00.010-05:00

Science lesson:

Vaccine related to autism? Never mind.
MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism

THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.

Why would he do a thing like that? Three guesses.
From MedPageToday:

The allegations follow disclosures in 2004 that Dr. Wakefield's research was partially, and secretly, funded by plaintiffs' lawyers in suits against vaccine makers, and that he had cut procedural corners in the research.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The vaccine court's judges reviewed hundreds of hours of expert testimony and thousands of pages of medical records. They concluded that there was no evidence showing that autism was caused by the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and a preservative containing mercury once used in many childhood vaccines.

The judges used strong language to dismiss the claims.

"To conclude that [one of the claimant's] condition was the result of his MMR vaccine, an objective observer would have to emulate Lewis Carroll's White Queen and be able to believe six impossible (or, at least, highly improbable) things before breakfast," wrote one judge.

We need to teach our children to look at the studies behind the claims, the questions behind the poll numbers, the original sources behind the history texts.

The Anchoress on St. Bernadette

2009-02-11T16:52:00.003-05:00

From The Anchoress, video from Fr. Martin, author of My Life with the Saints, on St. Bernadette.

EagerReaders.com

2009-02-09T12:56:00.004-05:00

My friend Shellie posted about a great kids' book, Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers. I'll take this opportunity to plug my family's children's literature list, EagerReaders.com. It's a list of over 800 books that we've read and enjoyed. You can select genres and reading levels and print out a list to bring with you to the library. (Printing the entire list is not recommended.) There's a blog, too, that I haven't kept up with too well. Check it out and enjoy.

Here's the author list:

Septuagesima Sunday

2009-02-08T14:02:00.004-05:00

The Church's way of warning us: Lent is coming.
Before you know it, it will be Sexagesima, then Quinquagesima, then Quadragesima.

2009
Ash Wednesday: Feb. 25
Ember days: March 4, 6, 7
Begin St. Joseph novena: March 11
St. Patrick: March 17
St. Joseph: March 19
Annunciation: March 25
Passion Sunday (old school): March 29
Palm Sunday: April 5
Easter Sunday: April 12

Animal Collective Nouns

2009-02-01T07:23:00.003-05:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one fascinated by this list.

Animal Collective Nouns

I notice, though, that one of my favorites, an episode of sparrows, is not here. Instead, we have a 'host' of sparrows. Not nearly as colorful.

'He cannot ravish. He can only woo.'

2008-12-29T12:07:00.009-05:00

CS Lewis is brilliant when writing about human nature, free will, spiritual dryness, and sin. Background for those who may not have read The Screwtape Letters: the letters are written from a devil named Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood on the art and skill of winning souls for Hell. The patient is the mortal they are trying to lure from God. The Enemy refers to God. This excerpt is beautiful.

From The Screwtape Letters, Chapter 8

As long as he lives on earth, periods of emotional and bodily richness and liveliness will alternate with periods of numbness and poverty. The dryness and dullness through which your patient is now going are not, as you fondly suppose, your workmanship; they are merely a natural phenomenon which will do us no good unless you make a good use of it.

We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.

And that is where the trough comes in. You must have often wondered why the Enemy does not make more use of is power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to override a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo. For His ignoble idea is to eat the cake and have it; the creatures are to be one with Him, but yet themselves; merely to cancel them, or assimilate them, will not serve. He is prepared to do a little overriding at the beginning. He will set them off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs--to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best. We can drag our patients along by continual tempting, because we design them only for the table, and the more their will is interfered with, the better. He cannot "tempt" to virtue as we do to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles.

Something beautiful from today's Mass

2008-12-28T18:13:00.003-05:00

Introit from the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord

While all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her course, Thine almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven from Thy royal throne. (Psalm) The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded Himself.

Christmas yes, Santa no

2008-12-11T13:51:00.002-05:00

Santa Derangement Syndrome

20/20: "From Russia with Love -- Dealing with Difficult Adoptions"

2008-11-29T08:22:00.006-05:00

I have friends dealing with these terrible problems. "Difficult" is a gross understatement for families struggling with children who are suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome and the inability to attach to others, caused by early neglect.

ABC story about 20/20 episode

Analysis from About.com on what parents can learn from this. Two items in particular:

Understand the drug/alcohol effect on brain development and how it affects behavior. The Mulligans discovered that Slater suffers from brain damage and therefore will need lifelong care.
Understand abuse and neglect issues and the impact on brain development.

This second item means "attachment" to me.

Prospective adoptive parents need to know what they are getting into. This is especially important if they already have young children, whom they are already responsible for, and whose lives will be forever changed by their new siblings. Many parents in the 20/20 piece seemed unprepared to deal with their new children.

Hope was offered by Joyce Sterkel, who adopted three teens from Russia, and who runs the Ranch for Kids. She seems to have a lot of insight into what the different kids need. Her ranch isn't an option for most parents because of the cost, but there may be some things to be learned from her.
Oremus.

CHD collection a failure

2008-11-26T11:09:00.001-05:00

Catholics just say no to CHD collection.

The conversion of Stojan Adasevic

2008-11-25T09:34:00.004-05:00

Don't miss the last paragraph.

Another 'champion of abortion' becomes defender of life: the story of Stojan Adasevic

Madrid, Nov 12, 2008 / 09:21 pm (CNA).- The Spanish daily “La Razon” has published an article on the pro-life conversion of a former “champion of abortion.” Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.

“The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue,” the newspaper reported. “Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares.”

In describing his conversion, Adasevic “dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn’t recognize the name”

“Why don’t you ask me who these children are?” St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.

“They are the ones you killed with your abortions,’ St. Thomas told him.

“Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided not to perform any more abortions,” the article stated.

“That same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion—something quite frequent in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The doctor agreed. Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby’s heart came out still beating. Adasevic realized then that he had killed a human being,”

After this experience, Adasevic “told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”

After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, he had another dream about St. Thomas.

“You are my good friend, keep going,’ the man in black and white told him. Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav television to air the film ‘The Silent Scream,’ by Doctor Bernard Nathanson, two times.”

Adasevic has told his story in magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

“Influenced by Aristotle, Thomas wrote that human life begins forty days after fertilization,” Adasevic wrote in one article. La Razon commented that Adasevic “suggests that perhaps the saint wanted to make amends for that error.” Today the Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn.

Pray for Robert Novak

2008-11-24T09:08:00.003-05:00

Pray for Me
An interview with Robert Novak by Barbara Matusow

Robert Novak is a recent Catholic convert who is suffering with brain cancer.

Q: What's the most helpful thing someone can say to a person who's gravely ill?

A: There's not much you can say. A lot of people say: "You're a tough guy and a fighter. You're gonna beat this." Well, I don't know if I will beat it. Being tough and a fighter have nothing to do with it. I guess the most helpful thing they can say, if they're a man or woman of faith, is to tell me they're praying for me.

Collection for the notorious "Campaign for Human Development" this weekend

2008-11-22T12:00:00.001-05:00

http://mommylife.net/archives/2008/11/catholics_campa.html

Saint in Space

2008-11-21T10:56:00.001-05:00

St. Therese Relic Makes Space Flight

Astronaut Colonel Ron Garan, friend of the Carmelites in New Caney, TX, asked the sisters if they would like him to carry a small object into space for them. They gave him a St. Therese relic. Click on title for story.

h/t: pc

A young man facing terminal illness

2008-11-16T17:33:00.006-05:00

Let's all pray for him.

In Caritate Non Ficta
Philip Johnson's blog

On October 15, 2008, after two years as an officer in the Navy, my life changed when I was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Putting my concerns in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary and my trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that I may be faithful to the Holy Catholic Faith and serve the Church for the rest of my life.

More background here: What Does the Prayer Mean?

HLI: Choosing Barabbas Over Christ

2008-11-14T09:59:00.005-05:00

Election Part I: “We Have No King But Caesar”
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
President, Human Life International

The following is the first of a three-part series on the 2008 Elections.
In the next two weeks we will deal with issues of Culture and Conscience.

Now that the election is over, we can separate the real Catholics from those who just act the part. Those still reeling from the results of the election can rest assured that they are in good company with the saints. Those who have drawn a line in blood and made a decision to stand with the culture of death need a serious examination of conscience. Now look at what we’ve done to ourselves. America has made her “choice” for maximum leader and it is not pretty. In fact, it is one of the most devastating blows to American civilization that we have ever undergone, and I do not speak in hyperbole. Even such a saintly figure as Mother Theresa said that “a nation that kills its children has no future;” likewise, an authority like Fr. Benedict Groeschel recently commented that we have entered into “the beginning of the twilight” of our country—dire words that touch on the reality of electing the most extreme, pro-abortion candidate America has ever had the misfortune of occupying the highest office of our land.

This has happened before though. When the prophet Samuel complained to God that the people of Israel were asking for a king, the Lord God replied that they were not rejecting Samuel but were in actual fact rejecting God Himself, His sovereignty and His authority over them (cf. 1 Sam, ch. 8). He also told Samuel that the people would have to accept the consequences of their wicked desire, and as we know, the craven need to be like the surrounding pagan nations was a bitter pill for them to swallow. The people of Israel echoed that rejection of their God more than a thousand years later when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords stood before them in Herod’s derisive purple robe and the people shouted, this time with vehemence: “We have no king but Caesar!” In essence, we have chosen a Barabbas over Christ—again.

And choices have consequences they say. The consequences of this election will be imprinted upon our national conscience for years to come, one of which is that, by electing abortion extremists to rule over us, both in the Presidency and in the Congress, we have now lost the blessing promised in Psalm 41:1-4—“Happy those concerned for the lowly and the poor; when misfortune strikes, the Lord delivers them. The Lord keeps and preserves them, makes them happy in the land, and does not betray them to their enemies. The Lord sustains them on their sickbed.” It is hard for Americans to imagine that a land so consecrated could be shriven of that blessing. Yet, we have made our sickbed and we must lie in it.

This did not happen, though, without dire and prolonged warnings about the institutionalization of evil. We can’t say we were not warned. When moral persuasion about the killing of innocents did not work, rational science was our witness. When science was ignored and then co-opted for the works of death, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases came to awaken people’s consciences, but these did little better. God then had to allow such an onslaught of terrorism, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and tsunamis in the past decade that He surely thought we would wake up to the deadly reality of the culture of death and repent. When that didn’t happen, He hit us in the most sensitive spot on the human body: our wallets. The gas price hikes and the recent financial meltdown surely would do the trick, He thought, but apparently that did not work either because our people adamantly refused to be deterred at any price from our lust for abortion and put into office all those who would serve the interests of this unholy agenda for decades to come. Alas, we all need to get on our knees and repent from the very depths of our hearts for the plague that we have just invited onto our beloved nation.

At the same time, my friends, despite the dismal picture, this is a time to thank Almighty God for the gifts of life, love and family that we have been given. It is also the time to seriously engage in efforts to take the culture back so that eventually our politics will follow the growth of a new pro-life culture from the seeds we are planting today.

Stay tuned for next week’s segment on winning the culture wars.

The need for connection

2008-11-14T06:36:00.006-05:00

"It is not right that man should be alone."

Why Loneliness is Bad for You
US News

When all is said and done, the best guarantee of a long and healthy life may be the connections you have with other people. John Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago and coauthor of a new book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection (W. W. Norton, $25.95), talked with U.S. News about the latest research on how relationships affect physical health. Edited excerpts:
Why did you choose to study loneliness?
We want to understand what importance our social connections have to people's biology. Early in human history, our species's survival required the protection of families and tribes. Isolation meant death. The painful feeling known as loneliness is a prompt to reconnect to others.
* * * * *

People who go to church regularly live longer than nonchurchgoers. Why is that?
Churches can be very beneficial—one can feel connected to the group, the church, and to God. Those are actually different things, but both seem to have beneficial effect. God is like a supercharged friend.

Read the rest.

My spiritual home

2008-11-12T14:45:00.001-05:00

St. John Cantius in Chicago

Gorgeous photo from a friend's daughter's wedding.
Click here for a few more photos of the church. Don't miss the floors.

Join the Resistance

2008-11-11T19:29:00.002-05:00

Grassfire.org

Article: Trying to understand the abortion decision

2008-11-11T17:27:00.005-05:00

The Women Who Have Abortions, and the Love They Need

A convert's insights into the abortion culture, and the important role played by fathers.

A new little blessing

2008-11-09T18:01:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to the Foss family on their sweet new baby girl. I don't know Elizabeth personally but am so pleased with this happy ending, and beginning. Deo gratias.

Catholics In Name Only

2008-11-08T07:11:00.005-05:00

What's Wrong With Catholic Voters? What's Wrong With Catholics?

Yesterday, according to the exit polls, between 53 and 54% of American Catholic voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama, despite the Democratic candidate's enthusiastic support for unrestricted legal abortion.
Nationwide, Protestant voters supported John McCain, by a solid 54- 45% margin. But the Catholic vote broke for Obama. Why?

Please read the entire article. It's excellent. But I'll cut to the chase here with an important point:

Before answering that question, let me cite one more vitally important piece of polling information: Among Catholic voters who attend Mass weekly, McCain won majority support: 54- 45%. Among those who do not attend weekly Mass, the margin for Obama was an overwhelming 61- 37%. Thus Obama drew his support from inactive Catholics. And unfortunately, most American Catholics are inactive.

So we see that even among active Catholics, the I-never-met-an-abortion-I-didn't-like candidate got 45% of the vote. The CINO vote has dealt a death-blow, in the form of FOCA, to the unborn, the partially born, and the accidentally born-alive.

h/t: MW

Japanese man petitions to marry comic book wife

2008-10-31T07:42:00.003-04:00

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24576437-5014239,00.html

A JAPANESE man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world".

Comic books are immensely popular in Japan, with some fictional characters becoming celebrities or even sex symbols.

Marriage is meanwhile on the decline as many young Japanese find it difficult to find life partners.

Taichi Takashita launched an online petition aiming for one million signatures to present to the government to establish a law on marriages with cartoon characters.

Within a week he has gathered more than 1000 signatures through.

"I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world," he wrote.

"However, that seems impossible with present-day technology. Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorise marriage with a two-dimensional character?"
Befitting his desire to be two-dimensional, he listed no contact details, making it impossible to reach him for comment to explain if his campaign is serious or tongue-in-cheek.

But some people signing the petition are true believers.

"For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love," one person wrote.

"Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost," the person wrote.
Japan's fans of comic books, or "manga," sometimes go to extremes.

Earlier this month, a woman addicted to manga put out an online message seeking to kill her parents for asking her to throw away comic books that filled up three rooms.

Happy Free Candy Day

2008-10-30T06:24:00.004-04:00

I know we're supposed to celebrate Halloween by dressing up as saints and heading out to our parish All Saints Day party. It's not that we've never done that, but for us, Halloween is about the two c's: costumes and candy. Or maybe just candy.

The true meaning of Halloween for my kids was clearly expressed last month when my son said, "Free Candy Day is three weeks away." Dressing up is fun, but bringing home that gigantic haul of sugar and chocolate is what it's all about, at least for ds3.

He works at it with an entrepreneurial spirit. He covers a lot of ground, and stops off after the initial raid to lighten his load. Then he's out again.

One year he learned, accidentally, that hitting the slightly less-travelled cul-de-sacs toward the end of the trick-or-treat time-window with an empty bag can be very rewarding. The innocent neighbors, on the verge of getting stuck with dozens of Kit Kats and Reeses, see his empty bag as a win-win opportunity, and are all too happy to unload on him. (The neighbor in the cartoon is his worst nightmare.)

Just one little problem this year: Halloween falls on a Friday. For many years we've observed Fridays by giving up sweets. (Abstaining from meat isn't much of a sacrifice for us, but skipping dessert is.) The children haven't yet decided how to handle this. They could take on some other penance, and go ahead and indulge in the sweets. Or they could spend Friday night sorting and raking through the piles as usual, but refrain from eating any. That would be something to offer up.

Just Look

2008-10-24T13:30:00.002-04:00

From Cardinal Egan:

Just Look

The picture on this page is an untouched photograph of a being that has been within its mother for 20 weeks. Please do me the favor of looking at it carefully.
Have you any doubt that it is a human being?

If you do not have any such doubt, have you any doubt that it is an innocent human being?

If you have no doubt about this either, have you any doubt that the authorities in a civilized society are duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if anyone were to wish to kill it?

If your answer to this last query is negative, that is, if you have no doubt that the authorities in a civilized society would be duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if someone were to wish to kill it, I would suggest—even insist—that there is not a lot more to be said about the issue of abortion in our society. It is wrong, and it cannot—must not—be tolerated.

Please read on.

Baby birds

2008-10-19T19:27:00.005-04:00

When our family was younger, our children were enthusiastic birders. Those bird-lovers are older now, and of the three we're still homeschooling, only one is really enthusiastic about birds (but mom still is!).

This photo of a baby robin was taken by one of our older girls, who has a talent for getting good shots of birds.

It's nice to find other families who are interested in the birds in their back yards. :)

Here's a great post from another Catholic homeschooling blog, with some wonderful photos of baby birds.

Related post about Project FeederWatch

Joe Biden's Profession of Faith, August 2008

2008-10-19T18:50:00.003-04:00

From the Weekly Standard blog:

Biden's Caritas

"If I'm the nominee, Republicans will be sorry.... The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.... And we have played into the hands of the Republicans. We've allowed so-called social issues to be so divisive."--Joe Biden, October 22, 2005

If only Dick Cheney had threatened to rip out the fingernails of Democrats who suggest he condones torture. Perhaps the debate about Gitmo wouldn't have become so divisive.

Posted by John McCormack on August 23, 2008 05:51 AM | Permalink

Biden on the disconnect between his faith and his pro-abortion position

2008-10-19T06:34:00.003-04:00

Same old same old from the personally opposed libs.

ht: The Best of Times

The other half of the ticket couldn't possibly be more in favor of abortion.

Vote your conscience

2008-10-14T07:20:00.001-04:00

CatholicVote.com

St. Joan of Arc's France

2008-10-13T09:36:00.005-04:00

Life is full of little coincidences. Sunday's Post featured a travel article about a father and daughter's trip to France to visit scenes from the life and death of St. Joan of Arc.

One coincidence: My daughter, about the same age as the girl in the article, recently read the life of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain that inspired the trip. And though I haven't read it, I wrote a little blurb about it here.

Another coincidence: an attachment parenting connection. A subtle theme of the article is the relationship between father and daughter, which by the end has been strengthened by their time together, and the absence of all that technology that comes between teens and their parents. This trip is exactly the kind of thing recommended in the book Hold On to Your Kids, which I've written about here. (You might be disappointed if you read the article for the AP stuff, but it is certainly there.)

The article is secular, not religious. But it's interesting, and I for one was amazed to find out that Joan's house still stands, looking like "a half-carved hunk of cheese" (above), as it did almost 600 years ago.

It was also fun the read about the serene, unspoiled countryside and that mouth-watering French bread.

Video and text of Sarah Palin's pro-life manifesto

2008-10-12T19:21:00.002-04:00

“In this same spirit, as defenders of the culture of life, John McCain and I believe in the goodness and potential of every innocent life. I believe the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who are least able to defend and speak for themselves. And who is more vulnerable, or more innocent, than a child?

When I learned that my son Trig would have special needs, I had to prepare my heart for the challenges to come. At first I was scared, and Todd and I had to ask for strength and understanding. But I can tell you a few things I’ve learned already.

Yes, every innocent life matters. Everyone belongs in the circle of protection. Every child has something to contribute to the world, if we give them that chance. There are the world’s standards of perfection … and then there are God’s, and these are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for their own sake.

As for our beautiful baby boy, for Todd and me, he is only more precious because he is vulnerable. In some ways, I think we stand to learn more from him than he does from us. When we hold Trig and care for him, we don’t feel scared anymore. We feel blessed.

It’s hard to think of many issues that could possibly be more important than who is protected in law and who isn’t – who is granted life and who is denied it. So when our opponent, Senator Obama, speaks about questions of life, I listen very carefully.

I listened when he defended his unconditional support for unlimited abortions. He said that a woman shouldn’t have to be – quote – “punished with a baby.” He said that right here in Johnstown –“punished with a baby” – and it’s about time we called him on it. The more I hear from Senator Obama, the more I understand why he is so vague and evasive on the subject. Americans need to see his record for what it is. It’s not negative or mean-spirited to talk to about his record. Whatever party you belong to, there are facts you need to know.

Senator Obama has voted against bills to end partial-birth abortion. In the Illinois Senate, a bipartisan majority passed legislation against that practice. Senator Obama opposed that bill. He voted against it in committee, and voted “present” on the Senate floor. In that legislature, “present” is how you vote when you’re against something, but don’t want to be held to account.

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, described partial-birth abortion as “too close to infanticide.” Barack Obama thinks it’s a constitutional right, but he is wrong.

Most troubling, as a state senator, Barack Obama wouldn’t even stand up for the rights of infants born alive during an abortion. These infants – often babies with special needs – are simply left to die.

In 2002, Congress unanimously passed a federal law to require medical care for those babies who survive an abortion. They’re living, breathing babies, but Senator Obama describes them as “pre-viable.” This merciful law was called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Illinois had a version of the same law. Obama voted against it.

Asked about this vote, Senator Obama assured a reporter that he’d have voted “yes” on that bill if it had contained language similar to the federal version of the Born Alive Act. There’s just one little problem with that story: the language of both the state and federal bills was identical.

In short, Senator Obama is a politician who has long since left behind even the middle ground on the issue of life. He has sided with those who won’t even protect a child born alive. And this exposes the emptiness of his promises to move beyond the “old politics.”

In both parties, Americans have many concerns to be weighed in the votes they cast on November fourth. In times like these, with wars and a financial crisis, it’s easy to forget even as deep and abiding a concern as the right to life. And it seems our opponent hopes that you will forget. Like so much else in his agenda, he hopes you won’t notice how radical his ideas and record are until it’s too late.

But let there be no misunderstanding about the stakes.

A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for activist courts that will continue to smother the open and democratic debate we need on this issue, at both the state and federal level. A vote for Barack Obama would give the ultimate power over the issue of life to a politician who has never once done anything to protect the unborn. As Senator Obama told Pastor Rick Warren, it’s above his pay grade.

For a candidate who talks so often about “hope,” he offers no hope at all in meeting this great challenge to the conscience of America. There is a growing consensus in our country that we can overcome narrow partisanship on this issue, and bring all the resources of a generous country to the aid of both women in need and the child waiting to be born. We need more of the compassion and idealism that our opponent’s own party, at its best, once stood for. We need the clarity and conviction of leaders like the late Governor Bob Casey.

He represented a humanity that speaks to all of us – no matter what our party, our background, our faith, or our gender. And no matter your position on this sensitive subject, I hope that spirit will guide you on Election Day. I ask you to vote for McCain-Palin on the November fourth, and help us to bring this country together in the rational discussion of compassion and life.”

Gov. Sarah Palin greeted Pennsylvania voters at a Sheetz store in Altoona, cradling her son Trig in a baby carrier.

Related info:
Obama's commitment to FOCA and unrestricted abortion
Blessing or punishment?
Heartbreaking
Born Alive
Speaking of despicable lies . . .

The Alba Madonna

2008-10-12T19:08:00.003-04:00

The Washington Post did a special section on museums, and featured this painting, the Alba Madonna by Raphael. The painting is on permanent display at the National Gallery of Art in DC.

Excerpt:

Not many objects can hope to rival the Alba Madonna. By common consent it is one of the greatest paintings ever made. It's almost a calling card for all that art achieved in the High Renaissance in Italy. Everything -- everything-- that Western artists have produced since then looks back to that moment, and its perfections. You can buy into them or fight them, but you can't ignore them.

The Post printed three experts' critiques of this masterpiece. Below are links to each, along with links to "expanded interviews."

More on Mark Warner

2008-10-10T07:32:00.002-04:00

For the record:

This tape apparently dates from 1994, and Warner denies making these statements.

Election: Sacrifices for the unborn

2008-10-09T14:46:00.003-04:00

From now until November 4th:

http://www.sacrificesforlife.org/

The purpose of Sacrifices for Life is to rally Christians to make daily sacrifices to establish a culture of life in America, to help turn the tide against abortion and other anti-life practices that are threatening to destroy the family, and ultimately, society itself.

The upcoming elections are crucial for the pro-life movement in this country. Many of us are praying and working to elect pro-life candidates who will fight to uphold our family values. The Old and New Testaments and the lives of the saints teach us that work and prayer COMBINED WITH SACRIFICE is a powerful means of obtaining God's mercy. We are asking that individuals pledge to generously offer sacrifices from now until the elections on November 4th.

SUGGESTIONS FOR SACRIFICES

Abstain From:

* sweets and/or unhealthy snack food
* soft drinks/soda or coffee
* eating between meals or eating out
* video games, television, recreational Internet use
* complaining
* anything you can do without
* anger, bitterness, or resentment

Increase:

* prayer
* fasting
* quality time with family and friends
* walking or biking instead of driving
* patience while driving
* volunteering or charitable works
* generosity, kindness, mercy

When making your sacrifice, you may want to say a small prayer, such as "God please help us to elect pro-life candidates," or "Jesus save the unborn," or "God save America." Especially we implore OUR BLESSED MOTHER, OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE: may she end the killing of children in America today as she ended it in the Americas years ago!!

* I would like to pledge to offer up sacrifices until the elections on November 4th.

Please spread the word about this campaign and encourage others to participate. Now is the time to implore God to save his children and our nation! Print a copy of the flyer for yourself and to distribute to others. Letters are available to assist you in presenting it to churches and organization.

And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered holocausts and peace offerings: and the Lord became merciful to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. (2 Kings 24:25)

Mark Warner is threatened by us . . .

2008-10-09T09:24:00.003-04:00

. . . because we are "threatening to what it means to be an American." He includes

the Christian Coalition
the right to lifers
the NRA
the home schoolers

Link to the audio (by way of a video) from Home Sweet Heart.

Tag! You're it!

2008-10-09T07:10:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'll play. Got this from Robynn. Here's what I found. I can't remember what it is, but it's pretty cool, no? Definitely an action scene.

I'll tag Marilyn.

Obama's commitment to FOCA and unrestricted abortion

2008-10-04T09:35:00.004-04:00

Obama isn't just pro-choice. He's a pro-abortion extremist.

Through his support of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), Obama has made his commitment to unrestricted abortion clear:

"The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007

Video of Obama pledging his loyalty to Planned Parenthood (less than a minute long):

For specific information on what FOCA entails, refer to NOW's website, below. In short, it will attempt to do away with any and all limits on abortions, including partial birth abortion, age restrictions, parental consent and notification, and waiting periods.

http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/070430foca.html

Q. If passed, how would FOCA affect women's reproductive freedom?

A. Once enacted, FOCA will protect a woman's right to an abortion by federal statute. This means that if our worst fear comes to pass and a newly constituted anti-choice Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade, women in the United States will have the protection of federal law in the exercise of their right to choose abortion. In addition, FOCA would immediately restore reproductive freedom for the millions of women who already face interference with their reproductive rights as a result of onerous state and federal restrictions.

FOCA will supersede laws that restrict the right to abortion, including laws that prohibit the public funding of abortion care for poor women or counseling and referrals for abortion services. Additionally, FOCA will prohibit onerous restrictions on this right, such as mandated delays and medically unnecessary regulations. As a result, women will be freed from improper governmental interference with their right to choose a pre-viability abortion. Women who require a post-viability abortion in order to preserve their lives or health will also be protected by FOCA. (Viability, the time at which a fetus is capable of sustained survival outside the womb, is determined medically on a case by case basis and cannot legally be established as occurring at a particular time for all women.) FOCA applies to measures enacted or implemented before, on, or after the date of its enactment.
Q. What would be the impact of FOCA on abortion procedure bans (so-called "partial-birth" abortion bans)?

A. FOCA would supersede the federal ban and any state ban, to the extent those bans restrict pre-viability abortion procedures, or post-viability procedures necessary to preserve a woman's health or life.
Q. Does FOCA prohibit states from limiting access to abortion services for minors?

A. FOCA prohibits states from enacting laws intended to deny or interfere with a woman's fundamental right to choose abortion. Minors have long been included within the protections of Roe. Parental consent or notification statutes have been used as a tool to deny access to abortion services for minors. When such laws deny or interfere with the ability of minors to access abortion services, they would violate FOCA.

What's at stake in this election

2008-09-19T08:58:00.005-04:00

Click here for heartbreaking story of babies left to die.

Happy Birthday, US Air Force

2008-09-19T07:45:00.005-04:00

This is a wonderful rendition of the older version of Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder. Gather the children around, especially the boys. They'll want to run out and sign up today!

Today is an Ember Day

2008-09-17T08:34:00.007-04:00

Got up this morning and found a post-it note stuck to the microwave, left by husband:

"Ember Days Are Here Again!"

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross).
The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. [Click on link at top for more.]

From Wikipedia:

In the liturgical calendar of the Western Christian churches, Ember days are four separate sets of three days within the same week—specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday—roughly equidistant in the circuit of the year, that were formerly set aside for fasting and prayer. These days set apart for special prayer and fasting were considered especially suitable for the ordination of clergy. The Ember Days were known in the medieval church as quatuor tempora (the "four seasons"), or jejunia quatuor temporum ("fasts of the four seasons").

The Ember Weeks—the weeks in which the Ember Days occur—are the week between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent, between the first and second Sundays of Lent, the week between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, and the calendar week after Holy Cross Day (September 14) (the liturgical Third Week of September).

Prior to the reforms instituted by the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church mandated fasting (only one full meal per day plus two partial, meatless meals) on all Ember Days (which meant both fasting and abstinence from meat on Ember Fridays), and the faithful were encouraged (though not required) to receive the sacrament of penance whenever possible. On February 17, 1966, Pope Paul VI's decree Paenitemini excluded the Ember Days as days of fast and abstinence for Roman Catholics.^[1]

The revision of the liturgical calendar in 1969 laid down the following rules for Ember Days and Rogation days:

In order to adapt the rogation and ember days to various regions and the different needs of the people, the conferences of bishops should arrange the time and plan of their celebration.
Consequently, the competent authority should lay down norms, in view of local conditions, on extending such celebrations over one or several days and on repeating them during the year.
On each day of these celebrations the Mass should be one of the votive Masses for various needs and occasions that is best suited to the intentions of the petitioners.

They may appear in some calendars as "days of prayer for peace."

And more, here, from the St. John Cantius website.

Observing the Ember Days:

Wednesday and Saturday ember days: fasting, with two smaller meals and one normal sized meal, like a Friday in Lent, but meat allowed at one meal only.

Friday ember days: just like a Friday in Lent, with two smaller meals and one normal sized meal, and no meat.

Muy bien!

2008-09-16T16:20:00.005-04:00

Reviewing that bit of Spanish we learned last year:

Numbers
Me: Okay, let's try some counting.
#1 Son: Yes!
All three kids, together: One, two, three, four . . .
Me: I meant in Spanish.
All: Oh.

Telling time
Me, to #1 Son: Que hora es?
Other two kids: What is now? No, why is now.

Days of the week
Me: What's the word for Sunday?
Kids:
Me: domingo
#1 Son: I knew that, but you didn't give me a chance.
Me: Okay. Friday.
Kids:
Me: viernes
#2 son: I was just about to say that.

Seasons
Me: winter
Daughter: it's like Friday.
Me: Yes!

Irregular verbs
Me: Decir means "to tell." What is the first person singular?
#2 son: Docho?

[Just kidding. The kids remembered quite a bit of what we learned last year, but when we try to have a class at the table, things get very silly very quickly.]

Obama and Biden Support Taxpayer Funding for Abortion

2008-09-15T20:33:00.002-04:00

David Gibson wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Friday:

Mr. Biden, the Delaware senator and now Barack Obama's running mate, has a more sophisticated understanding of Catholic tradition, as well as a mixed record on abortion rights (opposing public funding and late-term abortion, for instance)

But in 2007, Biden voted in favor of taxpayer funding for abortions. According to the National Right to Life Committee, Biden has not voted to restrict funding for abortion since 1999. Barack Obama has said that that the Freedom of Choice Act is the first bill he would sign upon entering the White House. That bill would strike down all federal and state restrictions on abortion, including the Hyde Amendment which prevents federal tax dollars from paying for abortions.

In a 2004 Zogby poll commissioned by the NRLC, voters opposed taxpayer funding for abortion 74 percent to 22 percent. I'm willing to bet that most voters don't know that an Obama-Biden administration plans on spending their taxes on abortions. The McCain campaign might want to inform them.

from The Weekly Standard blog

Election night worksheet

2008-09-15T08:56:00.006-04:00

The presidential election is a ready-made unit study. Discussion topics and resources abound.

Here are a few topics older children can research:

How does a president get elected?
What are earmarks?
What is the Bush Doctrine?
What is ANWR?

To keep track of the current state-by-state poll numbers, Real Clear Politics' electoral map can't be beat.

And here's a worksheet we made for tracking the results on election night. You can use highlighters (blue for Dem, pink [for red] for Rep) to mark which state goes to which candidate. The battleground states are in bold, but that's a subjective list, and an interesting topic in itself.

Edited to add link to Marilyn's great unit study:
http://enjoythejourney-marilyn.blogspot.com/2008/03/unit-study-elections-2008-and-us.html

These kids, they're angels

2008-09-12T13:16:00.005-04:00

Family with Down Syndrome Child Meets John McCain and Sarah Palin

Father calls Rush and tells of exchange with candidates. Quote from the dad:

Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels.

More angels

Thanks to The Corner for directing us to another story of Palin and McCain meeting with a child with Down syndrome. If nothing more comes out of this campaign than a raised awareness of the value of every child, it will be a huge success.

Filial Fear

2008-09-06T22:19:00.003-04:00

from Divine Intimacy
The Gift of Fear
299
p. 895

Servile fear vs. filial fear:

To educate us in the fear of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, instead of placing before our eyes pictures of the punishment and pains due to sin, instead of representing God as a stern judge, shows Him to us as a most loving Father, infinitely desirous of our good, and He presents us the touching picture of God's favors and mercies. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore, have I drawn thee," whispers the Holy Spirit in the depths of our soul; "You are not servants, but my friends, my children" (cf. Jer 31, 3 - cf Jn 15, 15).

Captured by love for such a good Father, the soul has but one desire, to return Him love for love, to give Him pleasure and to be united with Him forever. Consequently, it fears nothing but sin, which offends God and alone can separate it from Him.

What a difference there is between this filial fear, which is the fruit of love, and servile fear, which arises from the dread of punishment! It is true that the fear of judgment and the divine punishment is salutary and in certain cases can serve greatly to hold a soul back from sin; but if it does not change gradually into filial fear, it will never be sufficient to impel the soul on to sanctity. Fear that is merely servile contracts the soul and makes it petty, whereas filial fear dilates it and spurs it on in the way of generosity and perfection.

Parenting: It's all about the relationship

2008-09-01T12:21:00.006-04:00

It's back-to-school time for many of us. Aside from planning our curriculum, organizing all those materials, and getting the house straightened before everything falls apart again, there's the issue we don't always want to talk about: the uncooperative child who is difficult, if not impossible, to teach. We can make all the plans in world, but it won't do our child a bit of good if he is not open to accepting guidance or instruction from us.

If you're having difficulties getting your children to listen, comply, or even be pleasant around you, I recommend Hold On to Your Kids. The authors, Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate, make a compelling case for taking a good look at our relationships with our children.

For a Catholic perspective on this, check out this blog.

Some excerpts from the book:

14 year old Cynthia has become "rude, secretive, and sometimes hostile." "The cause of Cynthia's puzzling behavior becomes self-evident only if we picture the same scenario in the adult realm. Imagine that your spouse or lover suddenly begins to act strangely: won't look you in the eye, rejects physical contact, speaks to you irritably in monosyllables, shuns your approaches, and avoids your company. Then imagine that you go to friends for advice. Would they say to you, 'Have you tried a time-out? Have you imposed limits and made clear what your expectations are?' " (p.2-3)

For the first time in history young people are turning for instruction, modeling, and guidance not to mothers, fathers, teachers, and other responsible adults but to people whom nature never intended to place in a parenting role - their own peers. They are not manageable, teachable, or maturing because they no longer take their cues from adults. Instead, children are being brought up by immature persons who cannot possibly guide them to maturity. They are being brought up by each other. (p. 7)

The attaching preschooler seeks ardently to please and to win approval. He is extremely sensitive to looks of displeasure and disapproval. Such children live for the happy face of those they are attached to.

A sensitive child can be easily crushed when the eyes he is scanning for signs of warmth and pleasure do not light up in his presence.

Parent-oriented children do not like to keep secrets from their parents because of the resulting loss of closeness. . . . One cannot get much more vulnerable than to expose oneself psychologically. To share oneself with another and then be misunderstood or rejected is, for many, a risk not worth taking. (pp. 22-23)

This desire to be good is one of the first things I look for in a child whose parents are encountering trouble in their parenting. There are a number of reasons for a child to not be good, but by far the most crucial is the absence of the desire itself. (p. 69)

Rewards and punishments:

A final warning. A child's desire to be good for the parent is a powerful motivation that makes parenting much easier. It requires careful nurturance and trust. It is a violation of the relationship not to believe in the child's desire when it actually exists, for example to accuse the child of harboring ill intentions when we disapprove of her behavior. Such accusations can easily trigger defenses in the child, harm the relationship, and make her feel like being bad. It is also too risky for the child to continue to want to be good for a parent of teacher who lacks faith in her intention to be good and thinks, therefore, that she, the child, must be tempted with bribes or threatened with sanctions. It's a vicious circle. External motivators for behavior such as rewards and punishments may destroy the precious internal motivation to be good, making leverage by such artificial means necessary by default. As an investment in easy parenting, trusting in a child's desire to be good for us is one of the best.

Many current methods of behavior management, by relying on externally imposed motivations, run roughshod over this delicate drive. The doctrine of so-called natural consequences is one example. This disciplining method is meant to impress upon the child that specific misbehaviors will incur specific sanctions selected by the parent, according to logic that makes sense in the mind of the parent but rarely in the child's. What the parent sees as natural is experienced by the child as arbitrary. If consequences are truly natural, why do they have to be imposed on the child?

Some parents perceive trust as having to do with the end result, not with the basic motivation. In their eyes trust is something to be earned rather than an investment to be made. "How can I trust you," they may say, "if you don't do what you said you would do or if you lied to me?" Even if a child was never able to measure up to our expectations or realize his own intentions, it would still be important to trust in his desire to be good for us. To withdraw that trust is to take the wind out of his sails and to hurt him deeply. If the desire to be good for us is not treasured and nurtured, the child will lose his motivation to keep trying to measure up. It is children's desire to be good for us that warrants our trust, not their ability to perform to our expectations. (72-73)

No matter what problem or issue we face in parenting, our relationship with our children should be the highest priority. Children do not experience our intentions, no matter how heartfelt. They experience what we manifest in tone and behavior. We cannot assume that children will know what our priorities our: we must live our priorities. Many a child for whom the parents feel unconditional love receives the message that this love is very conditional indeed. . . . Unconditional acceptance is the most difficult to convey exactly when it is most needed: when our children have disappointed us, violated our values, or made themselves odious to us. . . . (p. 196-7)

When Problems Occur, Work the Relationship, Not the Incident

When something goes wrong, the usual response is to confront the behavior in question as soon as possible. In psychology this is referred to as the immediacy principle and is based on the notion that if the behavior is not addressed forthwith, the opportunity for learning will be lost. The child will have "gotten away" with misbehaving. This concern is unfounded.

The immediacy principle has its roots in the study of animal learning where there is no consciousness to work with, nor any ability to communicate with the subjects. Working with our children as if they were creatures without consciousness conveys a deep distrust and discounts their humanity. Like adults, children are disinclined to hold dear those who misjudge their intentions and insult their abilities, especially when substitute attachments are readily available. (p. 220)

"Peers are not the answer to boredom," page 245-6.

. . . the hole that is usually experienced as boredom is the result of a double void of attachment and of emergence: the child is not with someone with whom he can attach and feel comfortable, and, on the other hand, he lacks sufficient curiosity and imagination to spend time creatively on his own. . . . Ideally, such a void comes to be filled with the child's emergent self: initiative, interests, creative solitude and play, original ideas, imagination, reflection, independent momentum. When this doesn't happen, there is an urgent impulse to fill this vacuum with something else. . . . Television, electronic games, or outside stimulation can cover up the void temporarily but never fill it. . . .

politics just got fun again

2008-08-29T13:59:00.011-04:00

Lo and behold: a REAL pro-life candidate

Family and personal background

Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Charles and Sally (Sheeran) Heath.^[50] Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.^[4] Charles Heath was a science teacher and track coach.^[4] The Heaths were avid outdoors enthusiasts; Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5k and 10k races.^[4]

Palin was the point guard and captain for the Wasilla High School Warriors, in Wasilla, Alaska, when they won the Alaska small-school basketball championship in 1982; she earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play.^[4] She played the championship game despite a stress fracture in her ankle, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds.^[4] Palin, who was also the head of the school Fellowship of Christian Athletes, would lead the team in prayer before games.^[4]

In 1984, after winning the Miss Wasilla contest earlier that year, Palin finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant which won her a scholarship to help pay her way through college.^[4] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality.

Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics.

Her husband, Todd, is a Native Yup'ik Eskimo.^[4] Outside the fishing season, Todd works for BP at an oil field on Alaska's North Slope^[51] and is a champion snowmobiler, winning the 2000-mile "Iron Dog" race four times.^[4] The two eloped shortly after Palin graduated from college; when they learned they needed witnesses for the civil ceremony, they recruited two residents from the old-age home down the street.^[4] The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.^[52]

She briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband, Todd, her high school sweetheart.^[4] One summer when she was working on Todd's fishing boat, the boat collided with a tender while she was holding onto the railing; Palin broke several fingers.^[4]

On September 11, 2007, the Palins' eighteen-year-old son Track, eldest of five, joined the Army.^[52] He now serves in an infantry brigade and will be deployed to Iraq in September 2008. She also has three daughters: Bristol, 17; Willow, 13; and Piper, 7.^[6] On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.^[53] She returned to the office three days after giving birth.^[10] Palin refused to let the results of prenatal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin said. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"^[10]

Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, eats moose hamburger, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane.^[12]^[54] Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. She admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska, but says that she did not like it.^[9]

Art or Math?

2008-08-28T18:32:00.021-04:00

Fun with Pattern Blocks

Fabre's Book of Insects

2008-08-28T17:45:00.010-04:00

Laura Berquist uses some Fabre books in her nature study curriculum. The artwork by E J Detmold is exquisite.

Title page:

Tissue-paper covers protect the color plates:

THE PSYCHES
"This is the secret of the walking bundle of sticks. It is a Faggot Caterpillar, belonging to the group known as the Psyches."

THE SACRED BEETLE
"Sometimes the Scarab seems to enter into partnership with a friend."

ITALIAN LOCUSTS
"I have buried underground," she says, "the treasure of the future."

American Literature course

2008-08-26T06:59:00.015-04:00

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams

Our 11th grade son will be studying American Lit this year. We'll definitely include the Williams poem above. It always provokes a response. Other possible readings:

Washington Irving: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
James Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans
Nathaniel Hawthorne: quite a few works to choose from; probably The Scarlet Letter and some of those beautiful stories
Edgar Allen Poe: stories: "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Cask of Amontillado"; a couple of poems
Ralph Waldo Emerson: essay: "Self-Reliance"
Henry David Thoreau: Walden
Herman Melville: "Bartleby the Scrivener," Moby Dick
Longfellow: Evangeline (maybe just the prelude, if it's very long and not very good)
Walt Whitman: selected poems
John Greenleaf Whittier: "Snowbound" or parts thereof
Mark Twain: he's read the biggies, so we'll do some stories
Emily Dickinson: selected poems
Stephen Crane: The Red Badge of Courage
O. Henry: selected stories
Jack London: he's already read some, will probably skip this; so brutal
Edith Wharton: Ethan Frome
Willa Cather: Death Comes for the Archbishop
Ring Lardner: You Know Me Al; selected stories
Robert Frost: selected poems
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (must preview)
Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea; selected stories
Flannery O'Connor: two or three of the less disturbing stories
e. e. cummings: selected poems

I'll have a look through some short story anthologies to cover a few more authors. He'll be writing briefly on each reading, and at greater length on a few of the longer readings.

A note about the Vision Book list

2008-08-24T16:17:00.007-04:00

The numbers given to the books were printed on the book jackets of the original hardcovers. I didn't realize this until today. Numbers 1 - 52 are "official," used by the publisher. Numbers 53 - 58 were "assigned" by me, and may or may not correspond to numbers used by the original publisher. My #53 - 57 are listed in a jacket as "Vision Books in Preparation."

Two of them, Mary's Journey through the World, and The Young Trappist, may not actually exist - I couldn't find them on Amazon, which is especially surprising in the case of The Young Trappist, which was to be written by Thomas Merton, a well-known author. Perhaps he wrote it and published it under another title, or more likely, never wrote it at all.

The last title in the list, Peter and Paul, is one my daughter happens to own, but it has no jacket, and therefore no number. It was published in 1964. I wouldn't know of its existence if she didn't own it.

There may be a few more titles out there. If you know of any not on this list, please let us all know.

I've added a link to a printable list at bottom of list post (and here, too).

List of Vision Books

2008-08-23T16:23:00.008-04:00

Here's the most complete list of titles I've found. Books with an asterisk are in print. Most of the out-of-print titles can be found from private sellers on Amazon or elsewhere.

1. *St. John Bosco and the Children's Saint, Dominic Savio by Catherine Beebe
2. *St. Therese and the Roses by Helen Walker Homan
3. *Father Marquette and the Great Rivers by August William Derleth
4. *St. Francis of the Seven Seas by Albert J Nevins
5. *Bernadette and the Lady (Bernadette, Our Lady's Little Servant) by by Hertha Pauli
6. *St. Isaac and the Indians by Milton Lomask
7. Fighting Father Duffy by Jim Bishop
8. *St. Pius X, the Farm Boy who became Pope by Walter Diethelm
9. *St. Ignatius and the Company of Jesus by August Derleth
10. John Carroll: Bishop and Patriot by Milton Lomask
11. *St. Dominic and the Rosary by Catherine Beebe
12. The Cross in the West by Mark Boesch
13. My Eskimos: A Priest in the Arctic by Roger Buliard, OMI
14. Champions in Sports and Spirit by Ed Fitzgerald
15. *Francis and Clare, Saints of Assisi by Helen Walker Homan
16. Christmas and the Saints by Hertha Pauli
17. *Edmund Campion, Hero of God's Underground by Harold C. Gardiner SJ
18. Modern Crusaders by John Travers Moore and Rosemarian V. Staudacher
19. *Our Lady Came to Fatima by Ruth Foxe Hume
20. The Bible Story by Catherine Beebe
21. St. Augustine and his Search for Faith by Milton Lomask
22. *St. Joan, the Girl Soldier by Louis de Wohl
23. *St. Thomas More of London by Elizabeth M. Ince
24. *Mother Seton and the Sisters of Charity by Alma Power-Waters
25. *St. Thomas Aquinas and the Preaching Beggars by Brendan Larnen, OP and Milton Lomask
26. *Father Damien and the Bells by Arthur and Elizabeth Sheehan
27. Columbus and the New World by August Derleth
28. *St. Phillip of the Joyous Heart by Francis X. Connolly
29. Lydia Longley, the First American Nun by Helen A. McCarthy
30. *St. Anthony and the Christ Child by Helen Walker Homan
31. *St. Elizabeth's Three Crowns by Blanche Jennings Thompson
32. *Katherine Drexel, Friend of the Neglected by Ellen Tarry
33. St. Louis and the Last Crusade by Margaret Ann Hubbard
34. *Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk Maid by Evelyn M. Brown
35. *St. Benedict, Hero of the Hills by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
36. *The Cure of Ars, the Priest who Out-Talked the Devil by Milton Lomask
37. Catholic Campuses: Stories of American Catholic Colleges by Rosemarian V. Staudacher
38. St. Helena and the True Cross by by Louis de Wohl
39. Governor Al Smith by Hon. James A. Farley and James C. G. Conniff
40. Kit Carson of the Old West by Mark Boesch
41. Rose Hawthorne: the Pilgrimage of Nathaniel's Daughter by Arthur and Elizabeth Odell Sheehan
42. The Ursulines, Nuns of Adventure by Harnett T. Kane
43. *Mother Cabrini, Missionary to the World by Francis Parkinson Keyes
44. More Champions in Sports and Spirit by Ed Fitzgerald
45. St. Margaret Mary, Apostle of the Sacred Heart by Ruth Foxe Hume
46. When Saints were Young by Blanche Jennings Thompson
47. Frances Warde and the First Sisters of Mercy by Sister Marie Christopher, RSM
48. *Vincent de Paul, Saint of Charity by Margaret Ann Hubbard
49. Florence Nightingale's Nuns by Emmeline Garnett
50. Pope Pius XII, the World's Shepherd by Louis De Wohl
51. St. Jerome and the Bible by George Sanderlin
52. Saints of the Byzantine World by Blanche Jennings Thompson and Donald Bolognese
53. Chaplains in Action by Rosemarian V. Staudacher
54. *St. Catherine Laboure and the Miraculous Medal by Alma Powers Waters
55. Mother Barat's Vineyard by Margaret Ann Hubbard
56. Mary's Journey Through the World by June A. Grimble
57. The Young Trappist by Thomas Merton
58. Peter and Paul: the Rock and the Sword by Blanche Jennings Thompson

printable list

DC Tries Cash as a Motivator in School

2008-08-22T13:24:00.006-04:00

Alfie Kohn, an independent researcher whose book, "Punished by Rewards," details the downside of such programs, said incentives "undermine the very thing you're trying to promote by getting them hooked on the rewards."

Initiative Is Aimed At Middle Grades

By V. Dion Haynes and Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 22, 2008; A01

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee announced plans yesterday to boost dismal achievement at half the city's middle schools by offering students an unusual incentive: cash.

For years, school officials have used detention, remedial classes, summer school and suspensions to turn around poorly behaved, underachieving middle school students, with little results. Now they are introducing a program that will pay students up to $100 per month for displaying good behavior.

Beginning in October, 3,000 students at 14 middle schools will be eligible to earn up to 50 points per month and be paid $2 per point for attending class regularly and on time, turning in homework, displaying manners and earning high marks. A maximum of $2.7 million has been set aside for the program, and the money students earn will be deposited every two weeks into bank accounts the system plans to open for them.

Full article

Memorizing Poetry

2008-08-22T08:50:00.014-04:00

There are so many reasons to include poetry memorization in your curriculum:

using the memory
experiencing the evocative power and beauty of words
understanding and interpreting abstract writing
preparing the ground for more advanced reading later on (Shakespeare, etc.)
having fun - most children enjoy this

Lots of good stuff in Favorite Poems Old and New.

Here are few favorites, ridiculous and sublime. The Frost poem is so perfectly crafted. Show your child the cool rhyme scheme: aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd. My kids have enjoyed memorizing this and the others. "Windy Nights" is especially fun because of the galloping rhythm and its mysteriousness: Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The Lamb
by William Blake

Little Lamb, who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee;
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

Windy Nights
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Whenever the moon and the stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.

The Worm
by Ralph Bergengren

When the earth is turned in spring
The worms are fat as anything.

And birds come flying all around
To eat the worms right off the ground.

They like the worms just as much as I
Like bread and milk and apple pie.

And once, when I was very young,
I put a worm right on my tongue.

I didn't like the taste a bit,
And so I didn't swallow it.

But oh, it makes my Mother squirm
Because she thinks I ate that worm!

Vision Books

2008-08-19T11:19:00.012-04:00

This series, partially reprinted by Ignatius Press, is an indispensable resource for Catholic families and homeschoolers. Ignatius has reprinted 27 of them thus far. It is possible to find the older hardcovers, too, from online sources, library sales, and used book sellers.

Quality varies from book to book and author to author. A few personal favorites:

St. Jean Vianney
The Cure of Ars: The Priest Who Out-Talked the Devil

Pope St. Pius X
St. Pius X: The Farm Boy Who Became Pope

St. Philip Neri
St. Philip of the Joyous Heart

Common themes in all the titles: humility, prayer, suffering.

Be aware that a few of the titles are very sad, especially the stories of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Mother Seton.

Music Masters Series

2008-08-18T20:19:00.011-04:00

These CD's offer a great way to introduce classical music to children. A narrator relates the life story of the composer, interspersed with bits of his music. Following the story is a longer example of the composer's work. Check out individual CD's on Amazon for a list of exactly what music is on each CD.

My favorite Music Masters CD's:

Bach
Mozart (sad)
Haydn
Beethoven (more for the story than the music)

My children enjoyed these audio-biographies. They're not dumbed-down or jazzed-up for kids. The narrator has a very dignified style, well-suited to the subject.

Amazon has these for only $2.98 right now.

Her First Nurse Works Early

2008-08-18T05:46:00.013-04:00

shows us the five ways of spelling the "er" sound in English.

Phonetically, English is a mess. It lacks that one-to-one correspondence between orthography and sound that some languages, e.g., Spanish, possess. This makes English difficult to spell, read, and pronounce.

But it isn't chaotic. There is a correspondence between spelling and pronunciation, just not a one-to-one correspondence. A student can indeed learn all the sounds that a particular letter or group of letters can produce in English.

What we're talking about here are phonograms. A phonogram is a letter or group of letters that makes a particular sound. English is based on 70 or so phonograms.

An excellent tool for learning to read and spell English are phonogram cards. One side shows the letter or letters, and the other gives all the sounds produced by that phonogram, with keywords to indicate the sound. For example, the letters ea produce a short e, as in head, a long e as in deal, and a long a, as in great. Some phonograms make just one sound, as do most of the consonants, and others make three, four, five, or even six sounds (ough is the king - producing the sounds found in rough, ought, through, though, bough, and cough).

There are various sources for phonogram cards. You can find a list in a book and make your own cards, even color-coding the index cards to identify like groups of phonograms. Or you can find cards on the internet. A few sources:

Our Father's House (Sound Beginnings program)
Scroll down to find the cards.

Wanda Sanseri's cards

The Riggs Institute

I'm sure there are others out there.

Caveat: Not all children need intensive phonics instruction. Some will pick up and internalize all the phonics rules without ever being taught them explicitly. They will figure out the system on their own, or almost on their own. This is the exception, but if your child is picking up the phonics on his own, making an intensive study of the phonograms could dampen his desire to read.

Other children will need intensive, explicit phonics study, following a plan like The Writing Road to Reading (notoriously un-mom-friendly), or the easier-to-use Sound Beginnings program.

Most children, however, will fall somewhere in the middle. They will need phonics instruction, but they won't need to memorize all the phonograms.

Once a child is reading, you can look to his spelling for a sign that he might need to study phonics in more depth. If it's shaky, his errors may reveal which phonograms he needs to work on. Practice in identifying the sounds made by a particular phonogram (reading), and the reverse, identifying the letters that make a particular sound (spelling), will improve his understanding.

Look around online for information on how to use the phonogram cards. Check out Wanda Sanseri's site for a phonogram game. I haven't used it but it sounds like a fun idea.

Other phonics resources: Explode the Code, an appealing set of workbooks that provide phonics practice; and the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (be sure to read the introduction, which teaches the parent how to "sound out" properly).

And once they're reading, keep their desire to read alive by providing them with books they enjoy, keeping their preferences in mind. You may want them to read historical fiction or a classic from your own childhood, but if it's not your child's cup of tea, find something that is. Our children's lit list has lots of choices.

Human Biology for Grades 4-8

2008-08-15T06:46:00.016-04:00

My Temple of the Holy Spirit

Author: Katherine Rode, R.N.
Copyright or printing year: 1998
Publisher: Catholic Heritage Curricula
Binding: Softcover
Number of pages: 109 pages
Subject: The Human Body
Grades 6-8

Review:
Subtitled a Catholic Science Hands On Program of the Human Body, this is a program best used with kids in grades 4 to 8. My Temple of the Holy Spirit is a very practical study of seven of the systems of the body from a Catholic and prolife perspective. It covers various systems of the body, but not the reproductive systems, the integumentary system, or all of the excretory system. It is thoroughly Catholic, with the Faith integrated throughout.

It is user-friendly for both parent and child and very nonthreatening, even for those who are frightened of teaching science. A typical lesson has a list of terms with definitions that will be used later, the material to be learned with the vocabulary words underlined, a page of comprehension questions, a diagram to label, a list of supplementary activities, and Fun Facts. The supplementary activities range from Bible reading to field trips to experiments to research papers. The wide range of activities make it easy to adapt this program for students of different ages. Patterns and directions for making a life-sized human body outline with cloth organs are in the back of the book. So are several activities covering all the systems studied, which can be used as a final exam if desired. To use this program properly, it is essential to have access to a library or lots of science books.

This is not a full-year study nor one for high school. Bearing those limitations in mind, this Catholic, prolife, easy-to-use, hands on, multi-level, and inexpensive study on systems of the human body is an excellent choice for science study.

Update: This is no longer sold as an individual title, but is available as a component to the 4th grade lesson plans from Catholic Heritage Curricula

Reviewed By: D.E.S.
Review Date: 1999

Review from love2learn.net

Sermons by Fr. John Fritz

2008-08-12T09:59:00.005-04:00

http://www.militiatempli.org/av.html

Just click on a link and turn on your speakers.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

2008-08-10T22:36:00.006-04:00

From the museum's website:

"In one immersive exhibit, visitors are briefed on their pending assault landing on the island of Iwo Jima before boarding a Higgins Boat for the perilous trip to the beach. Motion, sound and video provide a realistic experience. Close by is the flag raised on Iwo Jima and photographed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. In a poignant display, some 6,000 small Marine and US Navy insignias represent the cost in human lives to take that one island. The Uncommon Valor gallery honors the sacrifices and accomplishments of America’s “Greatest Generation.”

Our family was thrilled to find the actual Iwo Jima flag on display in this incredible museum.

The Catechism in Examples

2008-08-10T19:57:00.007-04:00

in Five Volumes by Rev. D. Chisholm

These books, first published in 1919, flesh out the Catholic catechism with anecdotes. Some are true or based on truth, from the Bible and lives of the saints, and others are fictional.

For example, under the heading, God Made You to Know Him, is a four-paragraph story entitled "The Little Boy in the Snow," which tells about a small Polish boy who endures bitter cold to attend Sunday school, though he knows he is not obligated: "My feet are very cold, it is true, but even if they were frozen I would still go to Sunday-school to learn something more about God and the way to Heaven."

The five volumes are entitled:

I Faith: The Creed
II Hope: Prayer
III Charity: The Commandments
IV Grace: The Sacraments
V Virtues and Vices

Each book is 400+ pages long.

One way to incorporate these books into your curriculum is to gather your children together in the morning or after lunch and read two or three of these little stories to them.

Roman Catholic Books (my copies, softcover) doesn't seem to be reprinting them at this time, but you can find used copies online.

Fraternal Charity

2008-08-08T12:21:00.002-04:00

Divine Intimacy (224, Fraternal Harmony, p. 669-70):

He [St. Peter] speaks to us in a very practical and realistic way. He realizes that with our weakness and frailty we cannot preserve peace if we have no compassion for the faults of others, if we do not know how to be kind to those who displease us, and if we cannot bear blame with humility. Anyone who pretends that in achieving a life of perfect harmony with others, he need never be contradicted or upset, has very little experience of the reality of life and forgets that, far from being pure spirits, we are limited by matter; he forgets that "we are mortal, frail, and weak, bearing about our bodies like vessels of clay, a source of friction for one another" (St. Augustine), even as clay jars carried in the same vehicle strike against and jostle each other. By reason of our limitations we have mentalities, tastes, desires, and interests that differ from those of others, and thus we do not always succeed in understanding one another. . . . The remedy for these inevitable failures, when the limitations of our nature are the cause of mutual distress, is that suggested by St. Augustine: "dilatentur spatia caritatis," let more room be given to charity. In other words, let us enlarge our hearts by greater love, in order that we may better understand and sympathize with one another. Let us likewise practice greater humility, in order to overcome the resentments of our self-love.

Divine Intimacy

2008-08-07T08:48:00.011-04:00

Highly recommended -

Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year
By: Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen O.C.D.
from TAN Books

Divine Intimacy. The beloved Carmelite classic on how to reach intimate union with God through prayer. About 3 pages per day. Covers the whole spiritual life. Based on the traditional liturgical calendar. Shows how to join prayer and action and put the Catholic doctrine on the spiritual life into practice daily. Gives a refreshingly Catholic view of life. Even a busy person can use this book to help maintain a good spiritual life. Great material for meditations. A lifetime book! Leatherbound. Impr. 1227 pgs; HB

(Our own copy is a softcover.)

TAN is currently out of stock, but Amazon has some new and used copies from private sellers.

Educating Boys

2008-08-07T08:28:00.008-04:00

Boys at a disadvantage

Single-gender education gains ground as boys lag
Experts worry that coed classrooms geared to girls put their counterparts at a disadvantage

Janine DeFao, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, June 18, 2007

For more than a decade, the conventional wisdom has been that schools have shortchanged girls, who were ignored in the classroom as they lagged behind in math and science.

But now a growing chorus of educators and advocates for boys is turning that notion upside down.

Boys are the ones in trouble, they say. They are trailing girls in reading and writing, are more likely to get in trouble or be labeled as learning disabled, and are less likely to go to college.

The educators, citing emerging brain research, say that the two sexes learn differently and that schools are more geared to girls than to their ants-in-the-pants counterparts. But they are adopting strategies to help boys succeed, from playing multiplication baseball to handing out stress balls and setting up boys-only schools.

"The public schools teach to girls. You have to be able to follow the rules and color in the lines," said Livermore parent Missy Davis, who moved her son, Collin, to the private, all-boys Pacific Boychoir Academy in Oakland after he struggled in coed public and parochial settings. "Boys get labeled immature and disrupting. (Teachers) don't know how to utilize the energy."

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

To read entire article, click on link at top.

The Pope on Harry Potter

2008-08-07T08:17:00.006-04:00

Pope Benedict's take on Harry Potter:

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Vatican City
March 7, 2003

Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby!

Many thanks for your kind letter of February 20th and the informative book which you sent me in the same mail. It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.

I would like to suggest that you write to Mr. Peter Fleetwood, (Pontifical Council of Culture, Piazza S. Calisto 16, I00153 Rome) directly and to send him your book.

Sincere Greetings and Blessings,

+ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Though I don't disagree with him, it seems that the Holy Father is responding more to the book by Mrs. Kuby than to the HP books. It's not clear that he's read them.

EagerReaders.com review of HP

Essential Parenting Books

2008-08-06T15:25:00.020-04:00

No matter what problem or issue we face in parenting, our relationship with our children should be the highest priority. Children do not experience our intentions, no matter how heartfelt. They experience what we manifest in tone and behavior. We cannot assume that children will know what our priorities our: we must live our priorities. Many a child for whom the parents feel unconditional love receives the message that this love is very conditional indeed. . . . Unconditional acceptance is the most difficult to convey exactly when it is most needed: when our children have disappointed us, violated our values, or made themselves odious to us. . . . (Hold On to Your Kids, p. 196-7)

The LIttle Flower

2008-08-06T15:13:00.007-04:00

One day, after Holy Communion, He made me understand these words of the Canticles: "Draw me: we will run after Thee to the odour of Thy ointments." O my Jesus, there is no need to say: "In drawing me, draw also the souls that I love": these words, "Draw me," suffice. When a soul has let herself be taken captive by the inebriating odour of Thy perfumes, she cannot run alone; as a natural consequence of her attraction towards Thee, the souls of all those she loves are drawn in her train. (The Story of a Soul)

Project Feeder Watch

2008-08-06T14:09:00.014-04:00

Bluebirds visiting our back yard

From the FeederWatch website:
PFW is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see at their feeders from November through early April. FeederWatch helps scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.

A great family learning activity. Children and parents identify and count birds that visit their yard and submit their findings to the PFW website. The program runs from November to April.

Little House in Quebec

2008-08-05T21:37:00.012-04:00

Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hemon

This jewel of a book is set in sparsely populated Quebec, land of Catholic pioneers, loggers, trappers, farmers, and long, long winters. Hemon visited this land, living and working with its people, and wrote the book in 1913.

Here are a couple of passages:

"Young Telesphore's depravities supplied this household with its only domestic tragedy. To satisfy her own mind and give him a proper conviction of besetting sin his mother had fashioned for herself a most involved kind of polytheism, had peopled the world with evil spirits and good who influenced him alternately to err or repent. The boy had come to regard himself as a mere battleground where devils who were very sly, and angels of excellent purpose but little experience, waged endless unequal warfare." (p. 28)

"Edwige Legare had worked for the Chapdelaines these eleven summers. That is to say, for wages of twenty dollars a month he was in harness each day from four in the morning till nine at night at any and every job that called for doing, bringing to it a sort of frenzied and inexhaustible enthusiasm; for he was one of those men incapable by his nature of working save at a full pitch of strength and energy, in a series of berserk rages. Short and broad, his eyes were the brightest blue--a thing rare in Quebec--at once piercing and guileless, set in a visage the colour of clay that always showed cruel traces of the razor, topped by hair of nearly the same shade. " (p. 46-47)

The depictions of the brutally cold climate and the back-breaking physical labor necessary to survive in it are impressive. But the simplicity of the Chapdelaines and their friends, their relationships, and their faith in God, are what gives the book its beauty.

The book was made into 3 movies between 1934 and 1983.

from The Messiah

2008-08-05T20:58:00.009-04:00

Handel's "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth"

sung by Sylvia McNair

Madonna and Child

2008-08-05T16:49:00.004-04:00

Madonna and Child with Cherubs, c. 1650
Giovanni Battista Salvi, called Il Sassoferrato (Italian, 1605-1685)
Oil on Canvas
Martin D'Arcy Collection
Loyola University, Chicago

Mother and Child

2008-08-05T16:26:00.006-04:00

the bath
by mary cassatt

Sacred Music

2008-08-05T15:07:00.010-04:00

sjc's sacred music schedule