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Bro. Bubba's Journal
Friday, May 02, 2008
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Senator Obama is a Disgrace 9:17 AM
Senator Barack Obama recently announced the formation of a Catholic National Advisory Council for his campaign. He said that he was “deeply honored to have the support and counsel of these committed Catholic leaders, scholars and advocates.”
But how can a group of dissidents who claim to be Catholic yet disagree with the Catholic Church on the most fundamental public policy issues (abortion, embryonic stem cell research and school vouchers) possibly "advise" Obama about Catholic issues?
This so-called "Catholic Advisory" group includes the following people (with their approval rating from NARAL (one of the most radical pro-abortion groups in the country):
National Co-Chairs of Obama's group with a NARAL record:
Sen. Robert Casey: 65% Rep. Patrick Murphy: 100%
National Leadership Committee with a NARAL record:
Former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle: 50% Sen. Richard Durbin: 100% Sen. Edward Kennedy: 100% Sen. John Kerry: 100% Sen. Patrick Leahy: 100% Rep. Xavier Becerra: 100% Rep. Mike Capuano: 100% Rep. Lacy Clay: 100% Rep. Jerry Costello: 0% Rep. Bill Delahunt: 100% Rep. Rosa DeLauro: 100% Rep. Anna Eshoo: 100% Rep. Raul Grijalva: 100% Rep. Patrick Kennedy: 100% Rep. John Larson: 100% Rep. George Miller: 100% Rep. James Oberstar: 0% Rep. Linda Sanchez: 100% Rep. Carol Shea Porter: 100% Rep. Peter Welch: 100%
There are only two "advisors" to Obama that are not supported by NARAL.
Former Senator Daschle was told by his bishop to stop calling himself Catholic in his brochures due to his errant views in violation of Catholic teaching.
This shows that Obama is utterly out-of-touch with and completely insensitive to Catholics.
Any Catholic voting for Obama should be ashamed of themselves in the first place, but with this bit of idiocy they need to be doubly ashamed.
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Computers will be the death of me 2:31 PM
I haven't been able to post any blogs this last week, though I wanted to. I was going to talk about the cockroaches that are coming out of the woodwork with the visit of Pope Benedict to the United States. These bigots and hate-mongers are like cockroaches. They are vermin, carry disease, and scamper in the light (of truth).
Anyway, I will get to that later.
This last week I had a major computer crash in which I still have not fully recovered. I think that the computer is toast.
The stress of this, coupled with the growing pile up of work, plus the recent events of Grand Wizards of bigots like Bill Maher, I nearly had a cardiac event. Not kidding. I spent most of the last two days in bed.
I have not suffered through this much stress in about 10 years, but this time it was double the danger since I am in less health today than I was then.
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Catholic Answers Arrogance-Again 7:16 AM
THURSDAY OF THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
I just found out about a new project at Catholic Answers called the "Original Catholic Encyclopedia". There is without question great kudos deserved to Catholic Answers to placing this important Catholic work on the Internet, but...
rarely have I seen such legal maneuvering to protect one's turf especially since this Catholic Encyclopedia published between 1907 and 1914 is in PUBLIC DOMAIN. That means that the copyright on the work is no longer in force and the work is available and thus belongs to the general public -- not to Catholic Answers.
Any special coding that Catholic Answers uses in placing this document on the Internet they may copyright, but the words and illustrations of the encyclopedia are PUBLIC DOMAIN and do not belong to Catholic Answers. Reading their website one would not know that.
I have never seen such "in-your-face" notification of claimed copyright. On their home page for the encyclopedia is a BIG RED BOX and essentially says, "hey, don't touch this, this is ours". To the scanned plates of the book they have book HUGH and intrusive watermark, SCANNED BY CATHOLIC ANSWERS. The watermark covers the whole page and at times makes it difficult to read the document. Most publishers who use watermarks create marks that are smaller and less intrusive.
Their extensive LEGAL statement has a User License seven pages long that would make Inspector Javert (a very legalistic policeman) in Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserable want to kill himself (which he did do when he realized the foolishness of his legalism).
Basically, we can use their website containing this PUBLIC DOMAIN encyclopedia but only if we agree to a blood test, sacrifice of our first born, get written permission to read any of it, and give up our citizenship if we dare to copy any of the PUBLIC DOMAIN material onto our own websites.
If we had the volunteers to produce this encyclopedia on the Internet we would, but we would make it available to the public without the extensive legalism and attempt to claim as ours what is not ours since it is a PUBLIC DOMAIN book after all.
There is a very ugly, and I believe unChristian, trend to be very proprietary with writings that ought to be readily available to everyone without such paranoid copyright claims. The Gospel, or important documents on the faith, should not be under the control of any person or company.
PUBLIC DOMAIN material can be used by anyone and permission is not required from anyone. I will continue to copy and publish Public Domain material at my pleasure and will not be bullied by those who wish to keep it to themselves.
On our site even for original writings that really do belong to the author are not under such extensive user agreements and copyrights. Our website uses the Common License which avoids the egotism and arrogance seen by many publishers and allows for a more free exchange of information. This applies to ORIGINAL works on our website. We claim no control over other people's copyrighted works and certainly not for PUBLIC DOMAIN works.
Catholic Answers ought to be ashamed of themselves for such a in-your-face extensive display of attempted control and ownership to dissuade anyone from copying or using Public Domain material that does not belong to them.
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Life is Almost Complete 5:49 PM
TUESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER
Well, life is almost back to normal. After three years of turmoil, illness, and moving around I now have a cat back in the house.
It has been rare for me to not be without at least one cat in the house at least since I was 3 years old. The only times a car has been absent from my life has been when I was in situations where a pet was not allowed or possible.
Now, today, St. Michael House Hermitage has been blessed with a 9 month old black Siamese mix (Siamese are the only cats to have). I would insert a picture here, but as the cat has only been in the house for less than one hour, she is still hiding. I don't even have a name for her yet.
I truly am lost without a cat. I have a little glass cat that sits on my desk. It has been on my desk no matter where in the world I have wondered since at least 1965.
As a kid I had fantasies of being a cat. I even wrote a Poem about it when I was at the University of Iowa writing workshops.
The smell of bacon and eggs Thomas O’Malley at the door scratching to get in a bowl of milk laps it up purrs washes his face rubs against my leg slowly lops onto his favorite couch My favorite couch I don’t want cat hairs on he kneads the upholstery with sharp claws didn’t I tell him five times already to stop that curls and sleeps He’s had a hard night
With eyes that reflect devilish red he streaks through the night on cat’s paw unnoticed nothing escapes his cunning
FideiDefensor*
defending the family honor you see from trespassers mice sundry nocturnal inhabitants ghostly creatures
As if from a far universe the wizard’s companion and spy he returns at morning’s rays
Oh how it would be to change places
* FideiDefensor = Defender of the Faith
I will probably get another cat when I can but it must be Siamese -- a Seal Point preferably -- A kitty should have a companion other than his human pet.
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I Have a Dream: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. 6:01 PM
FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER Feast of St. Isidore, bishop and doctor
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."
These words are burned into my soul as much as the Preamble to the Constitution, the first sentence of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, or the Gettysburg Address.
Martin Luther King Jr. lived out the full meaning of his destiny. He said once, "If a man has not found something worth dying for, he is not fit to live." I had that quote on my personal letterhead for years.
Forty years ago today the 39 year old Martin Luther King Jr., the hope and dream of a generation, was brutally shot down and killed by an assassins bullet. We were all in shock; we could not believe this was happening. We had just a few years ago buried a president. We had lived through the WATTS riots and other race riots. We watched thousands of body bags returning from Vietnam. And now this. Why? Why? was what many of us asked over and over again. This couldn't be happening. Was he really gone?
As the old saying goes, you can kill the dreamer but you cannot kill the dream. The leader of the Civil Rights Movement was gone, but his dream was not dead. I must admit that many of us thought that the dream might be dead, but it wasn't. The dream was bigger than Martin. It was and is a dream born in the heart of God
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline...
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
No, a dream cannot be killed. Martin knew that his time was coming to an end, but the dream would live after him. We all watched that night that was to become his last night when he said:
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!
Our Lord and Savior who went to the Cross for our sins Rose from the Dead to conquer death and sin. He is Risen! We are no more slaves to death and Satan. We are freed to Eternal Life.
This day is also a most amazing day for me. That our Lord loves us so much, loves me so much, that he would suffer for me, for me, for this miserable sinner who deserves nothing but hell.
Truly Lord I am not worthy, but say the word and I shall be healed.
Listen to the words of our great doctor of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, fifth century, and one of the greatest preachers of all time.
Let all Pious men and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward; let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled since the first: yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort.
Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness.
Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh.
When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: "O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world." Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible.
O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and life is freed, Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
O how great are those words For God so Loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Because of that Love we may proclaim with St. Chrysostom:
O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and life is freed, Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
I can never listen to this song without weeping. I can barely type this.
We begin Holy Week in celebration of the great amazing grace granted to us by the voluntary sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on the Cross and His resurrection that allows us to defeat death and spend eternity in God's friendship.
Recall the famous verse, "For God so Loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
John Newton, an Anglican priest, wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace. It is an amazing song especially when one know how it was written. The words of the hymn are:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed.
When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we'd first begun.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found Was blind, but now I see.
John Newton was a slave trader, a most evil trade. On a homeward voyage, while he was attempting to steer the ship through a violent storm, he experienced what he was to refer to later as his “great deliverance.” He recorded in his journal that when all seemed lost and the ship would surely sink, he exclaimed, “Lord, have mercy upon us.” Later in his cabin he reflected on what he had said and began to believe that God had addressed him through the storm and that grace had begun to work for him.
For the rest of his life he observed the anniversary of May 10, 1748 as the day of his conversion, a day of humiliation in which he subjected his will to a higher power. “Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace has bro’t me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” He continued in the slave trade for a time after his conversion; however, he saw to it that the slaves under his care were treated humanely.
He repented of his evil trade and in such regret and penance for his sins wrote this amazing hymn of the amazing Grace offered by God to him, a mighty sinner. I can relate in that I have been a mighty sinner, a chief of sinners, lost and dead. That God could or would reach down to me and save me from myself, through a miracle save my life, and to give me a vision of hell and the death of my own soul is so humbling as to be beyond words.
When I go to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament I cannot help but to lay prostrate on the floor before my Lord. It is the only place I belong when before my Lord God, the God of the Universe and my Creator. It is only by His grace that I am alive; it is only by His Grace that I may someday embrace Him in paradise.
This is the week that we celebrate this great grace, this Amazing Grace, oh how sweet the sound of those words. I was deeply lost into darkness, but now I am found by a loving and merciful God. Oh God, my God, my love, help me to not disappoint you and to live out my Love for You. Forgive me when I fail, which is most of the time.
