Pitching some Mystic Monk Coffee yesterday, in order to help fill the coffers didn’t result in much business for the monks, but some of you very kindly hit the paypal button, and I find myself about $372.00 richer, today. Thank you. I’m going to put it aside for Buster’s textbooks in the fall. You guys are the best, and I ask God’s blessings on your intentions! Read more
Vasco da Gama That question is a variation of one I have heard (or read) over the past 40-some days, as the crude continues to wreck havoc on the Gulf: “Is it possible to vacuum up and recover that oil from the surface of the water?” I am not mechanical and had not thought it a serious question. But take a look at this Modern Marvels Video which looks at hopper suction dredges. Yes, they’re meant to dredge up sand... Read more
The government does not seem capable of practicing simple reasoning, here. My 10 year old niece could tell you that this is madness. H/T All those “smart” people in Washington–that “idiotic cerebral meritocracy,”–they can’t figure this out, or they just don’t care? Of course, if the kind of federal paycheck you’re seeking is a social security check–you know, the thing you’ve paid into all your life in expectation that it will help to support you in your dotage–well, you might... Read more
What do you do when you go to open the oven door and the handle comes off in your hand because the kitchen is 40 years old and totally needs replacing, the “new” car is 9 years old, but you’ve still got one in college and every dime you make goes to his tuition? There is something you say. It’s a little song that you sing to yourself. Do you remember it? What do you do when the tuition bill... Read more
Abbey of St. Walburga Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB, in a conference to the nuns at St. Walburga’s Abbey, Colorado, gives a very tough message in the gentlest of voices: What makes things unstable? When things rock they are unstable. When you back and forth constantly you become unstable. When you have to vacillate too much between the world and the Christian life you’re unstable. Where is your allegiance? Where are you truly sealed? Who is the image within you? I... Read more
Or, perhaps, an Irish-Catholic Thing: We just had a huge college graduation party with all kinds of family and friends and everyone paused so Gwam (my Mom) could lead us in prayer before we started in on the Corned Beef Tacos and Jameson’s shooters. Sounds like something my Auntie Lillie might have written, if she had ever deigned to eat a taco. Read more
Just pray for her. Pelosi’s office did not respond to CNSNews.com’s follow-up questions regarding the speaker’s statement that she seeks to make policy in conformance with the values of the Word made flesh. It takes a special kind of cognitive dissonance to speak fervently of the Word Made Flesh, and to understand that by his Incarnation God has ennobled all mortal flesh with a sanctity and a holiness relative to his own, and yet to consistently vote–as Nancy Pelosi did... Read more
The motto of the Benedictines is ora et labora; pray and work. In his Holy Rule, our Father Benedict writes that prayer should preface all activity throughout the day, so that a meeting should not take place, a meal should not be eaten, a guest should not be greeted or a specific labor should not be performed, until one has taken a moment to place oneself in the presence of God, and ask his blessing, and for the strength to... Read more
Check this out, by Anthony Esolen, on The Soldier’s Rough Charity “. . .we look to the soldier, who may well make his career in or from the service, yet who endures privations we can hardly imagine, and puts his life on the line for his fellows. It is a kind of rough charity, and immensely appealing. All those faces upon the scoreboard were of people who had volunteered to enter the service, knowing that they might well be sent... Read more
Remembering the heroism of Staff Sgt. Martin Richburg , who did this in 2006: Staff Sgt. Martin Richburg byMonte Morin / S&S Here’s the thing about real heroes: they never think they’ve done anything heroic. AL KISIK, Iraq — The camp was still on edge from a suicide bomb attack that morning. The bomber had targeted an Iraqi army recruiting drive at the combined Iraqi and American forces base here in northwest Iraq. Although no U.S. soldiers were injured, soldiers... Read more
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