This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

Ecumenical Patriarchate

Since January there is a drive by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to re-open the Theological Seminary of Heybeliada (Halki) in Istanbul. This seminary has been closed by the Turkish government even though it promised to permit its re-opening up till 2004. Currently under Turkish law, the Ecumenical Patriarch must be a Turkish citizen. But since the seminary is closed, and through discriminatory practices by the Turkish government which has whittled away the Orthodox population down to about 2,000 in Turkey, it is incredibily difficult to select the Patriarch.

Moreover, since 1975 the Turkish government has confiscated 75% of the Patriarchate’s properties. They have also lodged retoractive taxes of 42% on Church hospitals and other facilities since 1999. Details regarding other human rights violations and discriminatory practies by the Turkish government can be accessed at

http://www.greece.org/themis/halki2/osce.html

http://www.archons.org/pdf/yalelawstudy.pdf

Citizens in free countries of the West are urged to contact their elected representatives to influence the Turkish government to make good on its past promise to permit the re-opening of the seminary and protect the freedom of its Christian minority. American citizens are urged to contact their U.S. senators. The influence of western citizens will be especially potent at this point when Turkey is petitioning for entrance into the European Union.

http://www.senate.gov/

Smart, Sassy and Unemployed

Chalk it up to "being quite full of oneself," but a would-be lawyerette lets fly and the poo-poo hits the Boston legal community fan.

Angry would-be employer sends young lawyer's email far and wide:

Two weeks ago, newly minted young Boston attorney Dianna Abdala e-mailed a prospective employer, William Korman. "The pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living," she wrote, turning down his job offer.

Korman was not happy. . . .

An ordinary office spat? Nope. Korman forwarded the exchange to a friend … and it spread throughout the Boston legal community -- and then to the Boston Globe, to the International Herald Tribune, to ABC News' "Nightline."

It was the "bla bla bla" heard round the world -- making Abdala the most famous, perhaps notorious, 24-year-old lawyer in America.

And here's the email exhange:

-----Original Message-----
From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:23 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Thank you
Dear Attorney Korman,

At this time, I am writing to inform you that I will not be accepting your offer.

After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living in light of the work I would be doing for you. I have decided instead to work for myself, and reap 100% of the benefits that I sow.

Thank you for the interviews.

Dianna L. Abdala, Esq.

-----Original Message-----
From: William A. Korman
To: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you

Dianna --

Given that you had two interviews, were offered and accepted the job (indeed, you had a definite start date), I am surprised that you chose an e-mail and a 9:30 PM voicemail message to convey this information to me. It smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional. Indeed, I did rely upon your acceptance by ordering stationary and business cards with your name, reformatting a computer and setting up both internal and external e-mails for you here at the office. While I do not quarrel with your reasoning, I am extremely disappointed in the way this played out. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Will Korman

-----Original Message-----
From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:01 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Re: Thank you

A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so.

Again, thank you.

-----Original Message-----
From: William A. Korman
To: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you

Thank you for the refresher course on contracts. This is not a bar exam question. You need to realize that this is a very small legal community, especially the criminal defense bar. Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?

-----Original Message-----
From: Dianna Abdala
To: William A. Korman
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: Thank you

bla bla bla

The Fatherhood Chronicles XCV

Sofie's "Our Father"

So, it's Saturday evening and we decide to eat supper while watching the Olympics. The TV is off, and we grab hands to say the prayer. Sofie begins, "Our Father, how are you today?"

Which . . .

If you think about it . . .

Does sound an awful lot like "hallowed be thy name."

I somehow kept it together to say a brief prayer. But once that was done, I couldn't hold back the chuckles.

I like Sofie's version of the "Our Father" quite a bit.

The Agoraphobic Cowboy

Rick Moranis has been a busy little bugger, transformin' hisself into a Grammy-nominated Country Western singer.

Ahyup, that's right. Moranis' The Agoraphobic Cowboy is now available. Ya'll ken listen to a couple o' them thar tracks righ' cheer (popup media player).

(And they's always Harry Shearer, that yella-bellied, side-windin', hilarious son-of-uh-gun!)

Moral Climate Change

Terry Mattingly hits a grandslam in his latest, Moral climate change in Britain:

. . . Have British citizens lost the ability to exercise their free speech rights in public defiance of demands by many Muslim clerics and politicians for limitations on the freedom of the press in the West?

It's hard to answer this kind of question right now because a "moral climate change" has destroyed England's certainty that some things are right and some things are wrong, said Bishop N.T. Wright of Durham, in a speech last week in the House of Lords. Thus, civic leaders cannot agree on the meaning of words such as "freedom" and "tolerance" and religious faith is seen as a threat instead of a virtue.

"The 1960s and 1970s swept away the old moral certainties, and anyone who tries to reassert them risks being mocked as an ignoramus or scorned as a hypocrite. But since then we've learned that you can't run the world as a hippy commune," said Wright, a former Oxford don who also has served as Westminster Abbey's canon theologian.

"Getting rid of the old moralities hasn't made us happier or safer. ... This uncertainty, my Lords, has produced our current nightmare, the invention of new quasi-moralities out of bits and pieces of moral rhetoric, the increasingly shrill and polymorphous language of 'rights', the glorification of victimhood which enables anyone with hurt feelings to claim moral high ground and the invention of various 'identities' which demand not only protection but immunity from critique." . . .

Thus, Birmingham University forced the Evangelical Christian Union off campus and seized the group's funds because it refused to amend its bylaws to allow non-Christians or atheists to become voting members. . . .

Public officials, said the bishop, are trying to control the beliefs that are in people's hearts and the thoughts that are in their heads. The tolerance police are becoming intolerant, which is a strange way to promote tolerance.

"People in my diocese have told me that they are now afraid to speak their minds in the pub on some major contemporary issues for fear of being reported, investigated, and perhaps charged," said Wright. "I did not think I would see such a thing in this country in my lifetime. ... The word for such a state of affairs is 'tyranny' -- sudden moral climate change, enforced by thought police."

American Public to the White House Press Corps and National News Media: "Shut Up! Please!"

If you take a look at this latest poll on Cheney's digits you'll find--no surprise--that most 'Murricans disapprove of his Darth Vaderness, think he's too secretive, and all that. Pretty much the Dowd-y phantom behind creaking doors (and doesn't that say so much more about her own neuroses than it does about the veep?!).

But when it comes to, as it's being called, "Fuddgate" the American public wishes the media would just shut up already.

Approve of way Cheney handled the situation: 52% (Dis: 42%)
Cheney being too secretive about it? No: 56% (Yes 39%)
Has the accident caused you to view Cheney more negatively? No effect: 69%
Should veep resign over the accident? No: 85%

Can we puhleeeze move on to more important stuff: Like Al Gore lying to the Saudis, Iran's nuclear buildup, and Johnny Weir's impotent namby-pamby trashtalking.

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Troparion Tone 8
The doors of repentance do Thou open to me, O Giver of life,
for my spirit waketh at dawn toward Thy holy temple,
bearing a temple of the body all defiled.
But in Thy compassion, cleanse it by the loving-kindness of Thy mercy.

Theotokion Tone 8
Guide me in the paths of salvation, O Theotokos,
for I have defiled my soul with shameful sins,
and have wasted all my life in slothfulness,
but by thine intercessions deliever me from all uncleanness.

Troparion Tone 6
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
And according to the multitude of Thy compassions, blot out my transgressions.
Both now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.
When I think of the multitude of evil things I have done, I, a wretched one,
I tremble at the fearful day of judgment;
but trusting in the mercy of Thy loving-kindness, like David do I cry unto Thee:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.

Kontakion of the Sunday of the Prodigal Son Tone 3
Having foolishly abandoned Thy paternal glory,
I squandered on vices the wealth which Thou gavest me.
Wherefore, I cry unto Thee with the voice of the prodigal:
I have sinned before Thee, O compassionate Father.
Receive me as one repentant,
and make me as one of Thy hired servants.

Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann writes:

Together with the hymns of this day, the parable reveals to us the time of repentance as man's return from exile. The prodigal son, we are told, went to a far country and there spent all that he had. A far country! It is this unique defintion of our human condition that we must assume and make ours as we begin our approach to God. A man who has never had that experience, be it only very briefly, who has never felt that he is exiled from God and from real life, will never understand what Christianity is about. And the one who is perfectly "at home" in this world and its life, who has ever been wounded by the nostalgic desire for another Reality, will not understand what is repentance. (Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, p. 21)

Schmemann goes on to talk about how this sense of exile is essential to confession and repentance. We can, surely, engage in "cool and 'objective' enumeration of our sins and transgressions," in repentance "as the act of 'pleading guilty' to a legal indictment." But, Schmemann writes,

something very essential is overlookd--without which neither confession nor absolution have any real meaning or power. This "something" is precisely the feeling of alienation from God, from the joy of communion with Him, from the real life as created and given by God. It is easy indeed to confess that I have not fasted on prescribed days, or missed my prayers, or become angry. It is quite a different thing, however, to realize suddenly that I have defiled and lost my spiritual beauty, that I am far away from my real home, my real life, and that something precious and pure and beautiful has been hopelessly broken in the very texture of my existence. Yet this, and only this, is repentance, and therefore it is also a deep desire to re[t]urn, to go back, to recover that lost home. (Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, pp. 21-22)

Luke 15:11-32:

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

"I'm livin' a dream. Not everyone can do what we do"

Stop everything yer doin' right now (unless it's prayin') and go watch . . .

THIS!!!!!!

Hamas Calls For 'Giant Summit' With All Israelis

I'm not sure the Israelis should accept this invitation from Hamas:

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK—After his militant Islamic party took the majority in Palestine's recent elections, Ismail Haniyeh called for a "giant summit with all living Israelis" Monday, rekindling international hopes for peace in the war-torn region.

Haniyeh characterized the one-day summit as "the final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute," and invited every Jewish citizen of the world to attend. Haniyeh said he expects more than 5 million participants from Israel alone.

"It was foolish of us to think that a satisfactory resolution could be reached through small-scale aggression," Haniyeh said. "It will take more than the sporadic deaths of small groups of Israeli civilians to achieve our ends."

"This summit is long overdue," he added.

Haniyeh, who once said that Palestinian independence could only be achieved through the destruction of Israel, has apparently reversed his stance.

"It is clear to us now that a positive outcome will not be possible unless many, many sacrifices are made," Haniyeh said. "I give my word that the Israeli people shall have their cries for peace heard for miles around."

Haniyeh did not disclose the issues that will be discussed at the summit, saying only that he "would be very surprised if the entire process took longer than a couple of hours."

Haniyeh also extended an invitation to any high-ranking American official who would like to moderate the proceedings.

"We will achieve our goals with or without foreign help," Haniyeh said. "However, if George W. Bush or other top-level U.S. officials wish to attend, it would certainly make those first, most difficult steps a lot easier to take."

In a public statement Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad endorsed the "Hamas-led peace process," and offered the use of Tehran's Azadi Stadium as an "impartial location away from the distracting glare of publicity."

"It is about time for a summit of this nature," Ahmadinejad said. "The people of Iran will do anything they can to help further this crucial process."

According to Haniyeh, Israelis need only arrive with an open mind, insisting that the summit can have a positive outcome only if traditional and long-standing prejudices "are left at the door, along with any weapons, gas masks, or bulletproof vests."

"Security is of the utmost importance, which is why the summit will be watched over by my most loyal and experienced men," Haniyeh said. "To this end, every Israeli will also be marked with a six-digit protection number."

Hamas has already gone to significant lengths to ensure that Israeli Jews will be able to attend the summit, including transportation via specially chartered freight trains.

"Very much like a cleansing fire, the summit will wipe the slate of Arab-Jewish relations utterly and irreversibly clean," Haniyeh said. "By the end of our negotiations, those who walk out of the summit will be very pleased."

"With the blessing of Allah, we will soon see every last obstacle standing in the path to harmony exterminated," Haniyeh added. "Like the filthy dogs they are."

No official response to Hamas' summit proposal has yet been made. However, it is widely believed that acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his cabinet will propose an alternative mass summit to which Hamas party officials and their Palestinian supporters will be similarly welcomed.

[From, where else: The Onion.]

St. Peter's Second Epistle and Heresy

The email daily devotions from Dynamis have been interesting this week. Here's a couple from Monday and yesterday.

The Struggle for Orthodoxy on 2 Peter 1:20-2:9:

Sin is the common denominator of all heresy, and the chief sin of every heretic is pride. Any study of heresies during the last two thousand years reveals that arrogant confidence in one's own ideas invariably draws one away from the "grace and truth"� which the Lord "declared"� (Jn. 1:17,18).

As the Apostle Peter says: "private interpretation"� of the Scriptures with its roots in the "will of man"� underlies heretical teaching (2 Pet.1:20,21). For example, in the early fourth century, the Priest Arius, a pastor in Alexandria and a skillful preacher, would not accept the counsel of his Bishop. Instead, he persisted in explaining the nature and Person of the Lord Jesus his own way. He declared that the Lord was a creature, and not God. His Bishop said, "Now when Arius and his fellows made these assertions, and shamelessly avowed them, we being assembled with the Bishops of Egypt and Libya, nearly a hundred in number, anathematized both them and their followers."� Arius remained unbending and forced the famous First Council to be convened at Nicaea in AD 325 to repudiate the false teachings he was promoting so aggressively.

The case of Arius also illustrates the Apostle Peter's second point about heresy: that, without fail, error will deny the nature and essence of the Lord (2:1). St. Athanasios, in striking back at the Arian heresy, said, "But the Fathers...were forced to express more distinctly the sense of the words, 'from God.' Accordingly, they wrote 'from the essence of God...that all others might be acknowledged as creatures and the Word alone as from the Father.'"

The proceedings of various local councils prior to Nicaea, the First General Council, and of several subsequent Councils reveal that it was prerogative, status, and political advantage that fueled Arianism's advance far beyond the appeal of the heresy itself. St. Peter's point was affirmed: "By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words..."� (2:3). Greed for power and position follow naturally in the footsteps of arrogant self-will and pride.

The Allure of Heresy on 2 Peter 2:9-22:

In yesterday's Epistle (2 Pet. 1:20-2:9), St. Peter revealed that heresy originates in the sins of pride and greed for power and position. False teachers prefer their own ideas and ways of presenting what they believe to be truth. Worse, when they are able to attract others to their beliefs, they become even more deluded by the admiration and recognition of followers. As St. Peter notes: while they think they are free, in fact, they are "...slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage" (vs.19). Such is the tragic state of those who teach heresy: "it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (vs. 21).

Having spoken about the sins and desires that motivate heretics, St. Peter continues in the present portion from his Second Epistle to teach what attracts followers to heretics and their ideas. From the Apostle's insights, we may consider the steps we should follow to maintain the struggle for Orthodoxy; for no one, while in this life, is wholly free from sin, nor has entirely "...escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (vs. 20). May we ever be alert not to be "entangled in them and [be] overcome" (vs. 20)! In verses 10-18, St. Peter speaks of people who "walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness," who "count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime," who have "eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin," and who are captivated "through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness." This is the common association between wrong theology and corrupt living. . . .

Such inverted teaching has arisen again in the present, with a host of rationalizations for the same lewdness, perversity, and indulgence plainly condemned in Scripture. The attraction of this approach for the unwary is a permissiveness that makes no demands for purity, holiness, or struggle. Orthodoxy teaches otherwise, as St. Thalassios describes: "the keeping of God's commandments generates dispassion. The soul's dispassion preserves spiritual knowledge."

In addition to blatant self-indulgence which attracts some into heresy, there is the further appeal of "self-will" and "freedom" which is promised by "despising authority" (vs. 10). If one chooses to be "free" of direction and authority, then the spiritual, moral, and reasonable safety provided by Holy Tradition and the Fathers is removed. Recall the current bumper stickers that call one to "Question Authority." Beloved Orthodox Christians, let us affirm and seek the godly protection and shelter of wise pastoral authority, following in the footsteps of the Holy Fathers.

Finally, St. Peter speaks to persons "who are barely escaping from those living in error" (vs. 18). He is referring to neophytes in the Faith - whether new converts or "cradle" Orthodox - those who have not assimilated the basics of the Faith and are not struggling to "put off the old man and put on the new man" (Eph. 4:22). These are vulnerable to being drawn into heresy.

Kansas Sacramentals

When God made Adam he didn't stop forming man out of the ground. That's still how he makes men, or in any case, still how he made me. When God saves a man, he saves him through humility, which is to say, through the finiteness, the earthiness, that makes a man what he is. God is the great conservationist. Nothing in our lives will ever be lost to him, and nothing is worthless to his ingenuity. He will save a man however he pleases and with whatever is ready to hand. It is the geography of the soul with which God is concerned. And he will plow a man with the very ground on which he stands.

I am a Kansan by birth and upbringing. I have Kansas prairie grass ground into my skin. I sweat the Kansas rain. And the whirling dust of the Kansas wheatfield speckles my eye and gives me a particular slanted gaze. I have sat in a winter field while my dad drilled wheat for my grandpa. I have melted in the heat of a Kansas summer. I have stood in awe as a springtime thunderstorm turned to whirling chaos. And I have trod a dozen football fields of autumn. My world was embraced by a wide expansive sky. You could feel God in that embrace, even if you never saw him. My very first personal encounters with God were in the crisp winter night skies with stars as pinpoints of light, and in the moon, brilliant and clear, chasing us down the highway home. If he called those stars by name, then he knew me. Time for me was marked by four distinct seasons, creation's gospels.

I have sat in tents praying for revival with the preacher's cadence ringing in my ears and the fear of hell filling my heart. I've slept in church on my mother's lap. And I've been swatted in church for not respecting God's house. Among the first of my books was a Bible, and some of the first saints I knew were gnarled old farmers. They knew how to call on God in faith, and for all their failings taught me the same.

It's been more than a decade since I could call a Kansas address my home. And I see it now only a couple of times a year. But I've consumed its earth. I've drunk its streams. I've breathed its air. It is in me. It is the way God chose long ago to save me. Kansas is God's grace to me. And because it is, it is my home.

Everything You Didn't Want to Know About St. Valentine and Didn't Care to Ask

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of the third century and to have been buried on the Flaminian Way, but at different distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time what was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name seems to have been taken from a small church dedicated to the saint which was in the immediate neighborhood. Of both these St. Valentines some sort of Acta are preserved but they are of relatively late date and of no historical value. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing further is known.

From a Carmelite community in Ireland:

The Roman Martyrology commemorates two martyrs named Valentine (or Valentinus) on February 14 which seems to indicate that both were beheaded on the Flaminian Way, one at Rome the other at Terni which is some 60 miles from Rome. Valentine of Rome was a priest who is said to have died about 269 during the persecution of Claudius the Goth (or Claudius II Gothicus). The other Valentine was allegedly Bishop of Terni, and his death is attested to in the Martyrology of St Jerome. Whether there were actually one or two Valentines is disputed. One possibility is that is two cults – one based in Rome, the other in Terni – may have sprung up to the same martyr but that in the mists of time his true identity became confused. . . .

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Claudius had also ordered all Romans to worship the state religion’s idols, and he had made it a crime punishable by death to associate with Christians. But Valentinus was dedicated to the ideals of Christ, and not even the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs. Valentine and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, in either 269 or 270.

This is one legend surrounding Valentine’s martyrdom. The second is that during the last weeks of his life a remarkable thing happened. One day a jailer for the Emperor of Rome knocked at Valentine’s door clutching his blind daughter in his arms. He had learned of Valentine’s medical and spiritual healing abilities, and appealed to Valentine to treat his daughter’s blindness. She had been blind since birth. Valentine knew that her condition would be difficult to treat but he gave the man his word he would do his best. The little girl was examined, given an ointment for her eyes and a series of re-visits were scheduled.

Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his daughter, Julia, might also be brought to Valentine for lessons. Julia was a pretty young girl with a quick mind. Valentine read stories of Rome’s history to her. He described the world of nature to her. He taught her arithmetic and told her about God. She saw the world through his eyes, trusted in his wisdom, and found comfort in his quiet strength.

One day she asked if God really existed and Valentine assured her that He did. She went on to tell him how she prayed morning and night that she might be able to see and Valentine told her that whatever happened would be God’s will and would be for the best. They sat and prayed together for a while.

Several weeks passed and the girl’s sight was not restored. Yet the man and his daughter never wavered in their faith and returned each week. Then one day, Valentine received a visit from the Roman soldiers who arrested him and who now destroyed his medicines and admonished him for his religious beliefs. When the little girl’s father learned of his arrest and imprisonment, he wanted to intervene but there was nothing he could do.

On the eve of his death, Valentine wrote a last note to Julia - knowing his execution was imminent. Valentine asked the jailer for a paper, pen and ink. He quickly jotted a farewell note and handed it to the jailer to give to his blind daughter. He urged her to stay close to God, and he signed it “From Your Valentine.” His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 269 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini (now Porta del Popolo) in his memory.

When the jailer went home, he was greeted by his little girl. The little girl opened the note and discovered a yellow crocus inside. The message said, “From your Valentine.” As the little girl looked down upon the crocus that spilled into her palm she saw brilliant colours for the first time in her life! The girl’s eyesight had been restored.

He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome, near the cemetery of St Hippolytus. It is said that Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. . . .

Compiled from various sources including The New Catholic Encyclopaedia (New York: McGraw Hill. 1967), Butler’s Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints, and from the Encyclopaedia Britannica (London. 1962).

From the same community, come the following liturgical texts:

Entrance Antiphon

Here is a true martyr who shed his blood for Christ.
His judges could not shake him by their menaces,
and so he won through to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Opening Prayer

All powerful, ever living God,

You gave St Valentine the courage to witness to the Gospel of Christ, even to the point of giving his life for it. By his prayers help us to endure all suffering for love of you and to seek you with all our hearts, for you alone are the source of life.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son . . . .

First Reading

A reading from the letter of St James.
James 1:2-4, 12

You will always have your trials, but when they come, try to treat them as a happy privilege; you understand that your faith is only put to the test to make you patient but patience too is to have its practical results so that you will become more fully developed, complete, with nothing missing. . . . Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proved himself and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

This is the word of the Lord.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
John 12:24-26

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learned from my Father. You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you, is to love one another.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Prayers of the Faithful

Lord, as we come to praise and worship you as Lord of our lives on this, the feast of St Valentine, help us to imitate his love for you and for each other. We ask you to listen and to grant our prayers:

We pray for all who have entered the Sacrament of Marriage: that they may be strengthened through prayer and the sacraments; that they may be a witness to the world of the joy of their lives together. Lord, . . .

For those who have recently become engaged: we thank God for them and pray for them that the Lord will help them in practical ways as they prepare for their lives together and that they will be blessed with good health and material blessings. Lord, . . .

We hear of many for whom marriage has broken down or where sickness or sadness seems to be their lot: Lord, you have promised we are never on our own, be with those who suffer and grant them your healing in their painful situation. Lord, . . .

We pray that the ideals of Christian Marriage may always be preserved: those ideals which value friendship, life, mutual help and love. May our homes be as that of the Holy Family – open to God and neighbour. Lord, . . .

Finally, let us pray that, like the seed that falls to the ground and dies, we may die daily to our own selfishness so that the true wheat of love may grow in our lives for others to see and take heart. Lord, . . .

Let us pray,

Lord, home is where love is meant to be and where you tell us you are present. Help us to make that presence real in our homes and communities by banishing evil and installing instead your grace. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord.

Blessing of Rings

Lord,
X bless these rings.
Grant that those who wear them
may always be faithful to each other.
May they do your will
and live in peace with you in mutual love.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Prayer over the gifts

God of love,
pour out your blessing on our gifts
and make us strong in faith,
the faith which St Valentine professed by the shedding of his blood.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord, we are renewed by the mystery of the Eucharist.
By imitating the fidelity of St Valentine,
and by our patience,
may we come to share the eternal life you have promised.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

The AFA Responds

Apparently I wasn't the only one to give the American Family Association what-for. Here's the latest email from the AFA:

Dear Clifton,

. . . I wanted you to know that we have received a significant number of complaints from AFA supporters about the graphic nature of the video clip from the NBC show Las Vegas, contained in a recent e-mail alert AFA sent out. We understand and share the feelings and sentiments of those who expressed concern. We have to make judgement calls from time to time on how much to say or show about the subject matter presented.

Forgive me, but there was no "judgment call" here. It's pretty damn straightforward: don't promote the viewing of soft porn for any dadgum reason! Politics doesn't save souls, and it may well damn them. We don't save people by merely changing their TV content. So whipping up a bunch of FCC complaints, while it's nothing to denigrate per se, is such a lower priority when it comes to the state of a person's soul.

How many husbands, having viewed that brief little clip, will now find it easier to succumb to those unsolicited emails enticing them on to more pornography. An alcoholic can become such in the very first drink. And a man's addiction to porn, the denigration of his wife, and the dissolution of a marriage may have started with one little click.

Provided courtesy of the AFA.

We receive about an equal number of complaints from those who get upset when we don't provide the actionable material. So we are caught in a bind. Provide the actional material and get complaints, or don't provide the actionable material and get complaints.

Aww, poor fella. Don't know which constituency to placate? Tough ain't it when we play politics.

Let me say it with 100% clarity: There is no bind here! You don't provide pornography for Christian viewing. Any time. Any where. Period. End of story. Go back and read the freakin' Sermon on the Mount, fer pity's sake.

We face a dilemma because in order to file an official complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, the agency requires that the person complaining provide as much information as possible.

Hmmm. Yes, I see. And the only way to get that was to have thousands of your Christian supporters view porn? A written description wouldn't do it, huh?

Right.

This is immoral C Y A talk. Here's a clue, AFA: There is a hierarchy of goods, and political action is way way way WAAAAAY down the list compared to keeping a brother from sin. You might want to refresh your memory of 1 John. I'm just sayin'.

But wait! There's more!

The good news is that 170,000 people responded to our e-mail alert and filed an official complaint with the FCC!

I see, so what sort of ratio of click-and-view does that work out to? Maybe a bit more than half, say 100K? You possibly enabled one hundred thousand Christians to view porn? And this is good news?

You have lost your Christian mind.

But don't say that the AFA hasn't learned its lesson:

In the future we will send pixilated shots along with a description of the objectionable scene.

Well, you can put lipstick on a pig . . . .

I will be posting my comments here in another email to the AFA.

So Many Books, So Little Time!

My benefactor, an upstanding member of All Saints parish, bequeathed me a bevy of books this past Sunday. Oh, my, how sweet!

Two of them, in particular, from the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series will not only fulfill my lusty philosophical Aristotelian desires, but will suffice to assist me in my dissertation.

Alexander of Aphrodisias' Quaestiones 1.1-2.15 and Quaestiones 2.16-3.15.

There was also:
Amazon.com: Topics in Stoic Philosophy by Katerina Ierodiakonou

and

Holy Fairs: Scotland and the Making of American Revivalism by Leigh Eric Schmidt

and a third one:

Christian Revelation and the Completion of the Aristotelian Revolution by Patrick Madigan

There were also some free books being given away at Church, and I scored a "little Liddel" for my backpack.

I wasn't wholly selfish, however. I saw a paperback of Brother Roger of Taize's journals and snatched it for my brother Tripp.

Glory to God for benefactors and friends!

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee

Troparion of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee Tone 8
The doors of repentance do Thou open to me, O Giver of life,
for my spirit waketh at dawn toward Thy holy temple,
bearing a temple of the body all defiled.
But in Thy compassion, cleanse it by the loving-kindness of Thy mercy.

Theotokion Tone 8
Guide me in the paths of salvation, O Theotokos,
for I have defiled my soul with shameful sins,
and have wasted all my life in slothfulness,
but by thine intercessions deliever me from all uncleanness.

Troparion Tone 6
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
And according to the multitude of Thy compassions, blot out my transgressions.
Both now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.
When I think of the multitude of evil things I have done, I, a wretched one,
I tremble at the fearful day of judgment;
but trusting in the mercy of Thy loving-kindness, like David do I cry unto Thee:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.

Kontakion of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee Tone 4
Let us flee the bragging of the Phraisee,
and learn the humility of the Publican,
while crying out unto the Savior with groanings:
Be gracious unto us, O Thou Who alone dost already forgive.

Luke 18:9-14:

And He spoke this parable also to some who had trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and made of no account the rest: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, having assumed a stance, was praying these things to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not as the rest of men--rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this one, the tax collector. I fast twice a week; I tithe all things, as much as I acquire.' And the tax collector, having stood afar off, was not willing even to life up his eyes to the heaven but kept beating upon his breast, saying, 'God, be gracious to me the sinner.' I say to you this one went down to his house having been justified rather than that one; for everyone who exalteth himself shall be humbed, and the one who humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Orthodox New Testament, © 2004 Holy Apostles Convent)

And so begins the preparation for the Lenten season. As Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann puts it:

[Great Lent] is indeed a school of repentance to which every Christian must go every year in order to deepen his faith, to re-evaluate, and, if possible, to change his life. It is a wonderful pilgrimage to the very sources of Orthodox faith--a rediscovery of the Orthodox way of life. (Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, p. 9)

Already, last week, the Sunday of Zachaeus, we have been pointed toward Great Lent, with Zachaeus' desire for Christ and repentance. Today's Gospel highlights the humility necessary for repentance. As Fr Schmemann writes:

The lenten season begins then by a quest, a prayer for humility which is the beginning of true repentance. For repentance, above everything else, is a return to the genuine order of things, the restoration of the right vision. (Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, p. 20)

It is not by coincidence that the Orthodox do not fast the week following the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. The Pharisee prided himself on his twice-weekly fasting. To guard against the danger of comparing ourselves to others (and favorably) the Church says "Don't fast." Instead on Wednesday and Friday recall this Gospel text and remember the humility of the Son of God who became man that we might become god.

"Brokeback to the Future"? "Top Gun 2: Brokeback Squadron"?

With the critical (though not box office) success of the controversial "Brokeback Mountain," it appears that other similarly themed movies are in the works. Check out these previews (video applet runs when webpage opens).

Brokeback to the Future

Top Gun 2: Brokeback Squadron

An Open Letter to the AFA

I posted this letter to the AFA as a response to their email to me (noted in yesterday's post).

Dear Sir or Madam:

I don't doubt that the AFA does some good. And I certainly don't begrudge you your mission.

In a recent email you sent to me, you made note of an offensive scene in a strip club broadcast on the NBC show "Las Vegas." You urged your readers to contact the FCC to complain. Well and good. If it had stopped there, I would have no complaint.

But you all royally screwed up and lost your Christian mind. By posting a link to the offensive scene, you have in actual fact aided and abetted in the viewing of soft porn.

The old canard that "if you haven't seen it" or "if you haven't experienced it" then you can't speak about it, is total bull caca. Do I have to commit adultery to be able to speak authoritatively on the evils of adultery? Must I kill someone to be able to make a moral judgment that killing is wrong? The answers are obvious. I don't need to view--and I did not view--what is clearly presented as soft porn to be able to speak with moral clarity about the issue.

Furthermore, I know that you would agree that lusting in one's heart is tantamount to adultery--since Jesus said it. So, how many husbands out there are going to be committing adultery of the mind simply because you lost your Christian common sense and broadcast a link to soft porn--video pornography no less--to thousands of Christian men?

You should be ashamed of yourselves and offer a blanket confession and apology for your actions.

You're also going to give your critics plenty of ammunition to go after you on the charge of hypocrisy. And more power to those critics. You would deserve it in this instance.

I'm disgusted.

Oblivious to the Irony?

Somehow I got on the Dobson-associated American Family Association's email list. I generally funnel the emails to the delete folder, but this one caught my eye. See if you can catch the irony (note: emphases added and html links have been, er, um, stripped from the original email):

Dear Clifton,

. . . The February 6 episode of NBC's Las Vegas contained a scene inside a strip club. The content of that scene was extremely graphic. We have provided a video of the scene below.

Now ain't that a kick in the spiritual groin. It's offensive. It's not fit for children. It will assault your moral convictions.

Go on and give a looksee?

If a Christian hasn't been watching "Las Vegas" (and more power to 'em) why insert the morally offensive material into their mind? Huh? Answer me that.

The irony continues.

NBC aired this scene during prime-time hours when they knew millions of children would likely be watching. But NBC didn't care if they exposed children to this kind of material. Please take action below and help us help our children.

But only after you pollute your own mind with the material first. Gotta set that good example for the kids, donchaknow. "Go 'way, kid, I'm watching soft porn on your behalf."

But no description will do. No, to get the full effect, you need to dive headfirst into the moral filth. Go on, water's warm.

Rather than trying to describe it to you, I would rather you watch it yourself.

Geez Louise. Let's raise a hue and a cry about the souls of our children, while we ourselves get some freebie titillation.

After watching the video . . .

Go confess to your priest? Oh, no, I guess not. File an FCC complaint. It will only take a few minutes.

After all . . .

Do it for your children and grandchildren.

But don't say we didn't incite, er, I mean, warn you:

WARNING: This scene taken from the NBC program Las Vegas is highly offensive.

Click here to watch the scene.

The AFA: aiding and abetting internet soft porn. For the sake of the children.

The Fatherhood Chronicles XCIV

The Faith of a Little Child

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "Let alone the little children to come to Me, and cease hindering them; for of such is the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:16)

I continue to be amazed at the evidences of my daughter Sofie's faith.

Saturday night, I was sitting at the computer and Anna was folding some laundry. Sofie was moving about playing and imagining all sorts of characters and stories. (She has a vivid imagination. Just this morning she pointed out to me, in our living room, no less, an apple tree with George the Monkey, aka Curious George, in it.) Anna and I were talking about daily stuff and hadn't noticed that Sofie had walked over, stood in front of the icons, and began singing and making the sign of the Cross over herself, and then bowing.

It sounded a bit like: "Jeeeeesus Cry [cross, bow] . . . Jeeeesus Cry [cross, bow]" and there were some "All-looo-yah's" and "Hoooooly's" (for the Trisagion) thrown in as well. She did this for something like five minutes as Anna and I watched. She was wholly absorbed in her prayers and singing, completely oblivious to Anna and me as we watched with ever-expanding grins. After a bit, she noticed the silence and our attention and turned to us and grinned self-consciously.

I told her how pretty that was and how proud we were of her saying prayers to Jesus.

I turned to my wife and said, "She knows how to praise Jesus. Yep. She's ready to be baptized."

I am amazed by all this, not because I have any skepticism (now) about Sofie and her ability to exercise faith according to her age and development, but because I come from a Restoration Movement background that equated faith with intellectual understanding. Such a view of faith is perfectly understandable if one starts with Enlightenment presuppositions. But then, those presuppositions are not exactly Gospel presuppositions. No, when it comes to faith, the example set by our Lord is that of a child.

Sofie, God's Wisdom to us, is revealing to me day by day why that is the case.

Google and God to Combine Services at Last Judgment

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA and HEAVEN--(8 Feb) In a joint press release Tuesday afternoon Google, Inc. and God agreed to jointly manage the Final Judgment.

Details of the merger were not clear during the question and answer period following the joint statement, but it was noted that information gleaned from personal web searches would be used in evaluating individual destinies.

Google's stock price (Nasdaq: GOOG) fell on this latest news to below $370 per share, as consumer anxiety over the revelation of individual internet habits and the consequences such revelations might have on a soul's final destination rose sharply. Google user, Eustace Bergendeiser, of Toad Suck, Arkansas, complained, "Will my search for 'nude women art classic' end up being equivalent to some schmoe's search for 'girls gone wild in art class'?"

A spokesman for St. Peter's office at the Pearly Gates grinned goodnaturedly. "We definitely undertand consumer concern over how this technology is going to be used. But believe me, even Onan would know the difference between how the images of Venus de Milo and those of Jenna Jameson are used by individual searchers."

"I might also remind consumers," the spokesman continued, "that this isn't just about internet porn. Our greed division is well aware that designer handbag searches are almost as problematic."

Both companies promised to answer specific public concerns in another joint statement to be issued later in the month. Among the clarifications they promised was whether Final Judgment determinations would follow a ranked categorization of evil, such as whether a search for internet porn images would be more evil than a search for illegal music download sites. Company spokesmen also indicated that they would address the concern over whether the weighting of evil quotients would focus on how many times porn searches were used or would focus on the magnitude of the evil of each search.

The religious right, normally a base expected to support anything the Almighty decides to do, were quietly alarmed on the news. "If God is using Google, does it mean he's not omniscient like we've always thought?" Publicists for Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson declined any comment on whether such news would have any impact on their respective constituents' personal faith.

A source speaking on background indicated that artists and writers at Chick Publications were already hard at work revising their well-known tract This Was Your Life, in light of the Google/God announcement. Company spokespersons for Chick could not be reached for comment.

In a late development early this morning, a segment of the Orthodox Christian population sought clarification as to what part the Google search information might play in a soul's ascent through the aerial toll houses.

The spokesman for St. Peter's office at the Pearly Gates declined to comment further on any of these issues.

Tacky

Well, been listening to the Coretta Scott King funeral. So far there's been critical comments about there being no WMDs in Iraq, about the NSA wiretapping, and about the Katrina fiasco.

Oh, did I mention that Bush 43 is sitting on the podium with the other speakers?

What is it about the political left that they insist on turning memorial services into political rallies?

Insulting and tacky. Ms. King deserves better. Shame on them.

Update:

Oh, good grief. Even in Ms. King's commemorative video is a dig on Bush's "war on terror." As though non-violence would have removed any bin Laden or the war in Iraq.

Worser and worser.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot--With a Number 8 Painted on the Side

Enjoyin' me a little Gretchen Wilson (Pocahontas, Illinois native), today on the ol' music playin' machine.

Lovin' the li'l ditty 'bout a certain sorta Chariot. Particularly like this verse:

We'll paint that number eight on the driver's side
That's how old I was when I gave Jesus my life
I stepped right up and got washed in the blood
Just a little kid singin' 'bout a chariot
A big gold eagle painted on the hood chariot

[You can check out the rest of the lyrics by clicking on the "Continue reading" link.]

You can listen to the song here (music begins when web page opens; quality dubious)

When it's all over but the shoutin'
When God the Father's done his final accounting
And I find out that I made the cut
Boys I'm gonna get me a chariot
Yeah a big gold eagle on the hood
Trans Am chariot

Gonna find my great great granddaddy
That peace pipe smokin' Cherokee
Gonna get him all schooled
In them mags and struts
Then we gonna drag us a chariot
Yeah a big gold eagle painted on the hood chariot

(Chorus)
Good Lord Wichita
Sure hope Samson ain't no law dog
Redneck you better outrun him
Damn sure don't wanna get caught
Crime, what crime
We was all hopped up on new wine
And Mama's gonna kill me if I get
Kicked out of the choir
But you just gotta run them chariots

(Rap)
Now here's a little story happened long ago
One day Ezekiel went out for a stroll
Walkin' by the river low and behold
Down came 4 angels in a Cadillac Gold
He said, "Swing down sweet chariot come on
And give me a ride"
So they scooped 'em up, the rig was souped up
Man it had TVs inside
Ol' Zeke was surprised 'cause his eyes had seen beyond
His wildest dreams, he'd go on to see a thousand times

We'll paint that number eight on the driver's side
That's how old I was when I gave Jesus my life
I stepped right up and got washed in the blood
Just a little kid singin' 'bout a chariot
A big gold eagle painted on the hood chariot

(Chorus 2x)

When it's all over but the shoutin'...

--Gretchen Wilson, "Chariot"

On the Cartoons

No, I don't need to explain that. And if it's unclear, just Google "danish cartoons" and you will be deluged. CaNN has extensive compendia of news and comment here and here

My punditry will not be unique, but it will be brief.

There are some really stupid comments being made out there about purported Christian hypocrisy over critizing the Muslim protests. Somehow these dim-watts think that simply because Christians quickly object to many offensive slights and slurs on our Faith, that somehow we have no reason to criticize the Muslim protests. These "brights" also aver that Christians who organize boycotts at the drop of a hat ought not also balk over the clear organization of these worldwide Muslim protests.

But they are extraordinarily blind to the obvious.

When Christians boycott Disney, they don't call for Mr. Eisner to be beheaded. When Christians object to the actions of gay activists, they don't kidnap their sisters, mothers or daughters and threaten to kill them. When Christians object to NBC's "Will and Grace" episode trivializing the Crucifixion they send emails. They don't set the Rockefeller Center on fire. In fact, when persons who claim the religion of Christianity go on and bomb abortion clinics, assassinate doctors, or blow up federal buildings, there is a concerted, united and prominent condemnation of these vicious and evil acts by Christians of all stripes, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox. Christians also reach out and aid the victims. But aside from a few scattered press releases from a few Muslim academic intellectuals (who live and work in the liberal West, I must point out), there is no such concerted and prominent condemnation of the kidnapping, beheading, bombing and destruction that go on around the world in the name of the Prophet and his religion.

For more than four years now we have heard that the actions of Islamic terrorists are the works of a radical few who are holding hostage their global faith. And that sounds fine, except when they play video of ululating women (mothers and sisters) rejoicing at death and destruction and proclamations of violence, except when they show small boys dressed in combat gear and carrying guns, except when infants are decked out in messages that proclaim bloodshed in the name of their religion. Check out the pictures. (Some are posted here and here and here and here and here.)

Don't get me wrong. Christians are deserving of criticisms of hypocrisy here in the U.S. We've allowed the public face of the Faith to be supplanted by capitalist consumerist feel-good-ism. We are also right to object to offenses against our Lord and the Faith of His Church.

But to equate the Muslim reaction to Christian boycotts, to claim that the Muslim protests, however much organized they are, are only a small segment of the religion, is to not be merely ignorant, but determinedly and devoutly blind to reality. Such blindness is and will continue to be lethal.

STEELERS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!

Gotta say, I am ecstatic at the Pittsburg Steelers 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks! I've been a Steelers fan since the first of their second back-to-back Super Bowl wins of the 70s. I was both thrilled and crushed at their appearance and loss ten years ago. But last night . . . . Wow. I'm a happy guy. They "got one for the thumb" for the Rooney family. And there were so many elements that make this story supersweet: Cowher's longevity as Steelers coach (longest tenure of current coaches), Jerome Bettis' final game in his hometown, Roethlisberger's win as the youngest winning QB in Super Bowl history, the three on-the-road playoff wins (never done before), and tying the record (with the Cowboys and Forty-niners) for most Super Bowl wins for a team (at five). I could go on. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

Of course, it wasn't the prettiest win, but winning ugly is still winning. Admittedly some controversial calls--like, say, the Roethlisberger TD. Big Ben's two thrown interceptions weren't very helpful at all. And it's also true that Seattle started well, but then ended up being their own worst enemy as they fell apart in the last quarter.

But in the end, ya gotta give it up for Coach Cowher. He deserves what he's got right here:

Of course, the ads were not bad this year. The Healy's and their guests thought the "Hide the Bud Light" ad was pretty funny. But unofficial consensus gave the nod to two Budweiser commercials: the classic Clydesdale football game . . . with a newly-shorn sheep running onto the field and shaking its money-maker. Sez the famer: Streaker. And: That I didn't need to see. Dang funny. And the cute factor went to the Cyldesdale colt getting into the harness of the wagon and pullling it out the barn . . . cutaway to two adult Clydesdales pushing the wagon from behind. Sez the farmer to the Dalmatian: I won't tell if you won't.

Much gratitude goes to the tolerance of our guests toward my Steelers-exuberence--since I was pretty close to as crazy as this guy:

I've Been Tagged

Well, ER has tagged me, so . . .

4 jobs you have had in your life:

Petroleum refinery ground crew
Supply preacher
Teleservices Center Manager
Teleservices Training Department Manager

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:

Dead Poets Society
LOTR Trilogy (counting as one choice0
The Matrix
Memento

4 Places You Have Lived:

Augusta, Kansas (hometown)
Bellingham, Washington
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Chicago, Illinois

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch:

Law & Order (the Jill Hennessy years)
The Dukes of Hazzard (the first few seasons)
The Office
The King of Queens (the Lou Ferrigno episodes)

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation:

Acadia National Forest
San Francisco
Sannibel Island, Florida
Seattle, Washington

4 Websites You Visit Daily:

Tripp
Touchstone's Mere Comments
my own website (hey, it's got most of my links bookmarked!)
National Review Online (okay, not daily, but I was out of choices)

4 Of Your Favorite Foods:

Steak (just about any kind, medium well)
Baked Potatoes (with butter, nothing else)
Green beans (with bacon and onions)
Omelettes (the works)

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:

A monastic library
My late grandpa's former farm near Eureka, Kansas
Wherever my wife and daugthers are
Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim's grave (I've never been)

4 Bloggers You Are Tagging (if'n ya'll have already done it, git 'er done again):

Tripp
Douglas
Skopos
Nathan

Sunday of the Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Another Reason the Pittsburgh Steelers are a Special Team

Pittsburgh Steeler Catholics’ Super Bowl Faith:

Perhaps more than any other professional sports team, the Steelers are known for Catholic ownership — “The Righteous Rooneys” — and major contributions to the Church. Steelers’ owner Dan Rooney attends daily Mass with his wife, Patricia, and is known throughout Pittsburgh for humility and generous contributions to Catholic endeavors. v “If you want a successful life, you have to put yourself in the hands of God,” Rooney said, as his team prepared for Super Bowl XL. “I’m not saying God runs the ball for us, but it’s tremendously helpful to be in relationship with him when striving to achieve.”

Though most NFL teams train during the off-season right outside their corporate headquarters, the Steelers train at the St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa. Rooney told the Register it’s “inspirational” to work in the presence of Catholic brothers, deacons and priests.

Archabbot Douglas Nowicki of Saint Vincent’s said Rooney inspires most everyone who knows him, because he’s fearless in his faith.

“In our American culture, it’s considered a sign of sophistication to have your religion on Sunday and then neatly separate it from your professional life the rest of the time,” Archabbot Nowicki said. With the Rooneys, he said, there is no split. “It’s that integrity and wholeness that has won them the respect of people in every walk of life.”

But not the respect of everyone, Rooney conceded.

“I’ve had people call us the ‘Righteous Rooneys’ in a condescending way, but I don’t care about that,” Rooney said.

Most in Pittsburgh know Rooney as an ordinary average guy who just happens to own the Steelers. Getting a moment with Rooney is no more difficult than making an appointment with Jesus — in the Eucharist, that is.

“He treats everyone he encounters with tremendous respect, and everyone in Pittsburgh knows that if you want to find Dan Rooney, go to morning Mass,” Archabbot Nowicki said.

Rooney says his lifestyle reflects the way he was brought up, and the way millions have grown up in Pittsburgh: Jesus first, football second. Friends say Rooney simply carries on the legacy started by his father — the late Art Rooney, who founded the Steelers as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933.

“Art Rooney Sr., known around town as ‘The Chief,’ would attend the funeral of any priest in the area who died,” recalled Father Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. “When I was 10 or 11, a friend and I saw him on the street outside of a priest’s funeral. We walked up to him and he just couldn’t have been nicer. He dropped everything and took time to get to know us. The whole Rooney family is that way. That’s why football is almost like a religion in Pittsburgh.”

Former offensive lineman Jim Sweeney grew up in Pittsburgh, and looked up to Art Rooney as a role model. Sweeney served as an altar boy until he was drafted by the New York Jets in 1984 — at age 21. As an altar boy, he often encountered Art Rooney — who attended daily Mass at a variety of parishes throughout town.

“He told me to attend Mass every day,” recalled Sweeney, who played for the Steelers the last four years of his 16-year career. “I’ve taken that advice as best I can.”

Sweeney said Art Rooney had such genuine respect for the children he met at Mass that he remembered their names and the details they shared with him.

“When I was drafted into the NFL by the Jets, Art Rooney sent me a letter wishing me well, and telling me that he had known my grandfather — who had been dead for 35 years,” Sweeney said.
. . .

Bishop Donald Wuerl said the Steelers and the Rooneys have quietly bolstered the morale and financial welfare of the Pittsburgh Diocese for more than 70 years.

“Dan Rooney, though a private man who does nothing to promote himself, is a fixture in the diocese,” Bishop Wuerl said. “The Holy Family Institute, the Cardinal Wright Regional School, Catholic Charities — the list goes on and on. His faith and his values permeate the Pittsburgh Steelers organization which is the real reason why, win or lose, the Steelers are so important to our city and region.” . . .

Dan Rooney says it’s undeniable that religion’s a hit in professional sports, and he hopes the sporting world may be a microcosm for what’s to come in other segments of society.

“You’re talking to me because my team’s in the Super Bowl,” Rooney said. “But I’m telling you that faith and religion are important to everyone, no matter what they’re doing, whether they know that or not. We must be in relationship with the Lord at all times to get the most out of life.”

Theologians Beginning with "Bon" for 500, Alex

In cased you missed it, front man for the greatest rock 'n roll band of all time, Bono gave a homily at the National Prayer Breakfast, the first-ever interfaith gathering of that institution.

GetReligion has a take on it, as does Christianity Today.

Continuing the theme, there's a great article on Bonhoeffer's Costly Theology over at CH&B.; Check it out.

Tripp, Before You View This, Put That Coffee Down!

You are a Social Moderate (41% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (61% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Okay, Didn't See This One Coming

Sports Dick You Are What You Are

Why can't you understand that the accomplishments of your state's sports teams have absolutely nothing to do with you? No matter whether your favorite team wins or loses, you're still a loser.

SBXL Half-time and My Role as Father

Well, everyone remembers the wardrobe malfunction from two years ago, which had the nipple effect of live tape delay. ABC, who's televising the game, is implementing a five-second delay. But, while I don't expect Mick to flash any nipplage at half-time, one never knows what sort of ads and half-time "entertainment" one is going to be, er, exposed to.

And Sofie is an observant little girl, who is at the imitation and repeating stage. Nor will she be the only little person there.

So, what's a parent to do? We'll have non-parental adults and other adult parents who will no doubt want to enjoy the game, the ads and the half-time show. Do I encroach on their fun for the sake of guarding my daughter's innocence? Well, of course, the answer's yes. But one also wants to be a good host. And what if it's all pretty tame anyway?

Luckily I have very empathetic friends--and chatty ones. We'll all be so busy yammerin' that we'll probably miss all that stuff anyway.

As I recall, I was discussing elements of the liturgy with a certain tall and beefy Anglo-Catholic priest during "the exposure" of two years ago. I missed the whole thing.

Yeah . . . So?

This member of a street preaching group, Citizens Against Super Bowl Idolatry, thinks badly of SBXL:

Mr. [James Leonard] Elsman, a Michigan lawyer, calls the Super Bowl "one big bacchanal--a Roman feast to the heathen god of football, an excuse to get drunk and carouse and gamble."

Yeah. I'd say that about sizes it up.

Gotta Give It Up Ta Thuh Lor'

As some of you will remember, back in the spring of 2005, I churned out five incomplete papers and finished the semi-final draft of a thesis. All my papers have now been graded (though I'm waiting on the final results on one of them). And today, I got word via email from the professor who stepped into the place vacated by my original thesis supervisor about the thesis:

Dear Clifton,

I write with what I hope is the satisfying news that Dr ______ and I agree that your thesis satisfies [the seminary's] expectations relative to an MTS -- provided you clean up some copy-editorial loose ends.

My friend, Tripp sent me gracious congratulations and lamented his own slow progress on his thesis. To which I replied:

You, too, can take six years, just like me, to get 'er done.

How, you ask, can I get an MTS program and thesis done in six years? Well, I tell you, it wasn't easy. It took a lot more goofing off than I thought. Really excruciating at times. Once I had to play thirty straight games of computer solitaire.

But I tell you this. I gotta give a shout out tuh thuh Lor'! I can do all things through him that strengtheneth me. It was all my peeps out there, prayin' it up to the Lord that got me through.

If I'm not mistaken, Tripp blew coffee out his nose at that.

The Meeting of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

Troparion of the Meeting Tone 1
Rejoice, thou who art full of grace,/ Mother of God and Virgin,/ for from thee arose the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God,/ to give light to those in darkness./ Rejoice thou also, righteous Elder, who didst take in thine arms the Redeemer of our souls,/ Who also gives us the grace of resurrection.

Kontakion of the Meeting Tone 1
Thou Who didst sanctify the Virgin's womb by Thy birth/ and bless Symeon's hands as was fitting/ hast now come to us and saved us, O Christ our God./ But grant peace in the midst of wars to Thy community,/ and strengthen the Church which Thou hast loved,/ O only Lover of mankind.

Hebrews 7:7-17

And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Luke 2:22-40

And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

From the OCA website:

The Meeting of the Lord -- Today the Church commemorates an important event in the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ (Lk 2:22-40). Forty days after His birth the God-Infant was taken to the Jerusalem Temple, the center of the nation's religious life. According to the Law of Moses (Lev 12:2-8), a woman who gave birth to a male child was forbidden to enter the Temple of God for forty days. At the end of this time the mother came to the Temple with the child, to offer a young lamb or pigeon to the Lord as a purification sacrifice. The Most Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, had no need of purification, since she had given birth to the Source of purity and sanctity without defilement. However, she humbly fulfilled the requirements of the Law.

At this time the righteous Elder Symeon (February 3) was living in Jerusalem. It had been revealed to him that he would not die until he should behold the promised Messiah. By inspiration from above, St. Symeon went to the Temple at the very moment when the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Joseph had brought the Infant Jesus to fulfill the Law.

The God-Receiver Symeon took the divine Child in his arms, and giving thanks to God, he spoke the words repeated by the Church each evening at Vespers: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel" (Lk 2:29-32). Righteous Symeon said to the Most Holy Virgin: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2:34-35).

At the Temple was the 84-year-old widow Anna the Prophetess, daughter of Phanuel (February 3), "who did not leave the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day. And she coming at that instant, also gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem" (Lk 2:37-38). In the icon of the Feast she holds a scroll which reads: "This Child has established Heaven and earth."

Before Christ was born, righteous men and women lived by faith in the promised Messiah, and awaited His coming. The Righteous Symeon and the Prophetess Anna, the last righteous ones of the Old Testament, were deemed worthy to meet the Savior in the Temple.

The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord is among the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church. We have sermons on the Feast by the holy bishops Methodios of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360), Gregory the Theologian (+ 389), Amphilokios of Iconium (+ 394), Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400), and John Chrysostom (+ 407). Despite its early origin, this Feast was not celebrated so splendidly until the sixth century.

In 528, during the reign of Justinian, an earthquake killed many people in Antioch. Other misfortunes followed this one. In 541 a terrible plague broke out in Constantinople, carrying off several thousand people each day. During this time of widespread suffering, a solemn prayer service (Litia) for deliverence from evils was celebrated on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the plague ceased. In thanksgiving to God, the Church established a more solemn celebration of this Feast.

Church hymnographers adorned this Feast with their hymns: St. Andrew of Crete in the seventh century; St. Cosmas Bishop of Maium, St. John of Damascus, and St. Germanos Patriarch of Constantinople in the eighth century; and St. Joseph, Archbishop of Thessalonika in the ninth century.

On this day we also commemorate the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos known as "the Softening of Evil Hearts" or "Symeon's Prophecy." The Mother of God is depicted without Her Child, with seven swords piercing her breast: three from the left side, three from the right, and one from below.

A similar icon, "Of the Seven Swords" (August 13) shows three swords on the left side and four from the right.

The icon "Symeon's Prophecy" symbolizes the fulfillment of the prophecy of the righteous Elder Symeon: "a sword shall pierce through your own soul" (Lk 2:35).

Is Blogodoxy Back? Skopos is!

The now-defunct blog Blogodoxy is in the process of being resurrected (or is that reincarnated?) over at The All Saints Orthodox/Catholic Forum. It is, however, a closed forum, with posting and commenting only by blog members. If'n ya'll wanna see the fireworks, though, take a look in a bit. Right now, it's in the testing stages.

It's nice to see that cparks is back as Skopos VI. He's having an interesting journey it appears. Godspeed my friend.

This Redneck to Mr. Judge: "Yer an Idiot"

Seems a certain Mark Gauvreau Judge has his designer boxer briefs in a bunch over "the so-called common-man culture celebrated by the Right."

Gauvreau?! Gimme a break! And what's with the three names, huh? How 'bout M. G. Judge.

But I digress.

Mr. Judge laments:

I fully realized I'm a conservative metrosexual -- let's call me a metrocon for short -- a few weeks ago. The Gretchen Wilson song "Redneck Woman" came on the radio. This tune, a hard-charging boogie-woogie number, is a celebration of crude behavior, a kind of red-state aria of defiance against the staid, snobby, and civilized. The woman in the song boasts about shopping at Wal-Mart, keeping the Christmas lights on the house all night long, and standing in the front yard barefoot "with a baby on my hip."

I had an immediate, visceral hatred of the song. It represented the one thing I truly cannot stand about modern conservatism: its defense of anything dumb, tacky, and second-rate, as long as it comes from "the people." The common man is deified by the right.

Mr. Judge goes on to lament the elevation of NASCAR ("a bunch of rednecks makin' left turns") and WWF ("a 'sport' even apes laugh at ") as sports. It's so--you must imagine an involuntary sniff here--mediocre. All those common folk just remain so, well, common.

What they need is a good dose of self-improvement.

I just wish that the attempts at self-improvement common among the masses up until the 1960s hadn't gone out of style. People once read Reader's Digest to keep up with the best books and thinkers. They felt guilty about not understanding classical music. They shamed those who dressed like pigs. In his masterpiece Transformation in Christ, the great theologian Dietrich von Hildebrand claimed that there are two phases of growth for the human person. The first is physical, and the second spiritual. After the physical growth stops, the human person starts to grow towards God. This, in Hildebrand's view, entails a growth in appreciation of, among other things, aesthetic beauty and the arts. It means going from pop music tunes to symphonies, from blue jeans to slacks, from Old Spice to Polo. It means trying to improve yourself.

So, when it gets right down to it, what amounts to self-improvement for Mr. Judge is based largely on the fabrics with which one drapes one's body and how that body smells.

Am I being too harsh? Here's Mr. Judge's account of his own self-improvement.

Yet when I sobered up and became a conservative -- which also meant a return to Christianity -- I began to experience the second growth that von Hildebrand speaks of. I went from Levis and punk rock to Saks and swing dancing. I poured out the Old Spice and went to Nordstrom's for a bottle of Truefitt and Hill of London (founded, the bottle reminds us, in 1805, when Lord Nelson won the great battle at Trafalgar). I stopped wearing sneakers and white socks. Like George Will -- a Hall of Fame metrocon -- I began to prefer baseball to football. And I never stopped liking Woody Allen films -- yes, I call them films. I didn't stop growing -- in fact, this was when I started growing. Soon, "Red Neck Woman" seemed like an embarrassing Bible Belt banshee wail.

So, for Mr. Judge, the Hildebrandian move from physical growth to spiritual growth is that from cheap cologne, socks and sneakers, football, and calling them "movies," to imported cologne, wingtips and baseball and "films."

Got it.

There is a large difference between an understanding of the best in music and literature and thought from throughout human history, and an affectation of style which uses such music, literature and thought as so much window dressing. And really, if the cultured enjoyment of a Bach fugue, or Ciceronian oration, or Plato's myth of the cave, does not result in a life of virtue, the cultured elitist is even more barbaric than the barbarian.

But of course, having been lured in by my post title and having now seen my exposure of Mr. Judge--did anyone notice that this came from The American Spectator?--you should at this point realize Mr. Judge's sniffing lament is satire. It is Mr. Judge's way, one supposes, of highlighting how the blue zip codes look at pretty much the rest of us.

I happen to think Mr. Judge captures this elitism quite well.

(And on the off chance this ain't satire, well, Mr. Judge, yer an idiot. Now where's my Jeff Foxworthy DVD?)

Health Update

First of all, thank you to everyone for prayers. I greatly appreciated them.

Now, in the immortal words of Arnold Scwarzenegger: "It ees naht a toomah." Nope. Just really bad sinus congestion and flu stuff that played havoc with my inner ear. By Monday I was sneezing and coughing out the gunk, and had no problems whatsoever.

If my face appears a bit red, it's the sheepishness I'm feeling for having freaked like I did at the mention of the acronym "MRI". But you have to understand, I've never had anything seriously wrong with me (physically, that is ) in my life. I've been in the hospital twice: once to have my tonsils out when I was five, and once right before eighth grade when they kept me overnight for observation after splitting my head open on the bottom of the public pool. (And by the way, that last shore do 'splain a lot, donit?!) Other than that it's been brief ER visits for football injuries like a sprained knee and a broken nose.

So, thanks for the prayers. And don't mind the hospital-phobic twitchy guy writing the posts.

Carry on.

POTUS' SOTUA

Let's all admit that the SOTUA is pomp and ceremony, sort of like Roman gladitorial contests: government is not advanced, but everyone debauches themselves on the punditry.

I will, now, myself join in the bacchanalia. I obviously did not watch it, but I've read over the speech and listened/seen clips.

First, can the Dems have not appeared more silly by cheering raucously at this:

Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security -- (applause)--

only to have the President follow with this:

yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away. (Applause.) And every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse.

Whoopsie. They just highlighted that really all they've done with Social Security is play obstructionism without offering anything productive to counter the President's admittedly controversial proposal.

But you just gotta know that President Bush loved, I mean absolutely one-hundred-freaking-percent LOVED, serving up the following two poopoo sandwiches to his opponents.

In recent years, America has become a more hopeful nation. Violent crime rates have fallen to their lowest levels since the 1970s. Welfare cases have dropped by more than half over the past decade. Drug use among youth is down 19 percent since 2001. There are fewer abortions in America than at any point in the last three decades, and the number of children born to teenage mothers has been falling for a dozen years in a row. (Applause.)

Cut to Dems sitting on their hands.

Want that with or without onions?

And here's seconds:

A hopeful society depends on courts that deliver equal justice under the law. The Supreme Court now has two superb new members -- new members on its bench: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito. (Applause.) I thank the Senate for confirming both of them. I will continue to nominate men and women who understand that judges must be servants of the law, and not legislate from the bench. (Applause.)

And I'm outta here! Thank you, D. C.! I love you! Rock on!

Our First House Blessing

The Healy's had their first house blessing last night. We kept the girls up past their normal bedtimes so they could take part in it. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, and neither was Anna. In fact, when Anna asked Father Patrick what would be going on, he replied that if he tried to explain it to her it would end up being insulting. It would be like trying to explain breakfast. She would know well enough what was going on.

Anna picked me up from work and we decided to splurge and eat out so as to reduce the clean up (of dishes and daughters) necessary prior to Father's arrival. On the way home from the restaurant, we told Sofie that Father Patrick was coming over. She squealed with delight, "Fadder Padig coming home!" A few moments later she made a comment about our "go to Church." To which we replied, that tonight the Church was coming to us.

When Father rang, I buzzed him in and Sofie and I opened the front door. She hollered down to him, "Hi, Fadder Padig!" Poor Father Patrick had to climb our three flights of stairs, and I felt like apologizing to him when he walked through the doorway. But he exercises daily on the treadmill, so it was not overly taxing for him.

After a few pleasantries, we gathered together in front of the icon "corner" (the mantle of our faux fireplace on the east wall), and the prayers began. Father was right. It was a very simple service. We prayed a litany, Father invoked the angelic hosts, led by St. Michael the Archangel, to our aid against all the hosts of darkness, and we were sprinkled with holy water and then processed through our entire apartment which was liberally sprinkled (doused rather!) with holy water. Father all the while prayed the psalms. We ended again before the icons and all venerated the cross.

Afterwards we stayed up late with Father Patrick having a most pleasant and enlightening conversation. Anna asked some "hard" questions about prayers for the dead, why non-Orthodox cannot take communion, and the baptism of infants. Being the brilliant woman that she is, she quickly grasped the rationale for each. She also spoke in terms of "when we become Orthodox," which was very heartening for me to hear. Having expressed my own pleasure at such an expression, let me hasten on to make sure I do not miscommunicate about her own relationship to Orthodoxy and her own inquiry. I do not want to give an impression that I am overdescribing my wife's place in her journey beyond her growing interest in Orthodoxy. She is on her own journey, and I must as her husband respectfully and patiently love her as she travels. When and if she becomes Orthodox will be her own decision. It is for me simply to love her no matter what she decides when she decides it.

May the Lord shower his grace on us in this coming year.