The faith of Pope John Paul II

There are quite a few disgruntled Catholics out there who accuse our last pope, John Paul II, of being a heretic, a Muslim, a Buddhist, an animist, etc.
While it is true that the last Holy Father did engage in dialogue and prayer with those of other religions, let us examine what he said.
In his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope, he says, "It is therefore a revealed truth that there is salvation only and exclusively in Christ. The Church, inasmuch as it is the Body of Christ, is simply an instrument of this salvation...People are saved through the Church, they are saved in the Church, but they are always saved by the grace of Christ."
He approved of the document Dominus Jesus, which states, that while the Catholic Church accords other religions of the world "sincere respect," The truth that Christ founded the Catholic Church to be "the instrument for the salvation of all humanity...rules out in a radical way the mentality of  'indifferentism', characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that 'one religion is as good as another.'" This should put to rest the argument that he thought all religions were basically the same.
In not one instance did Pope John Paul II ever attempt to change any doctrine or belief of the Catholic Church.
Let's not be too hasty to jump to conclusions about anyone, especially someone as important as the Holy Father.

Fall

Here are a few thoughts on life as we enter fall and are getting closer to the end of the year.
I think it is kind of sad when the leaves start putting on their beautiful colors. I think this may be because I always feel like the family is closer in the summer. We travel together, go camping together, take long evening walks--now all of this is over. It is especially sad now that the two older ones have moved on in life. A tremendous longing for the days of my children's childhood strikes when I am alone or feeling lonely. And now that they are older I worry about them twice as much!
Then there is the political situation in America. So many people are unjustly imprisoned in this country. And Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize? Kind of makes it meaningless. Not to mention that there is no justice for the unborn. Hasn't been since 1973.
But there has to be some joy in life as well. Good friends, loving relatives, kind strangers, things to make, things to do.
Blessings on all as we draw near to the end of 2009!

Looking at the times

A news banner runs across the top of my screen about some policemen repeatedly tasering a 76 year old man driving an antique tractor in a parade. I believe this type of tyranny and bullying is going on more and more in this country by those who are supposed to be protecting us.
And what about those nit picky laws that are going to get us all someday, just because we can't keep track of them all? I could never go fishing because the fishing regs are far too complicated for me.
A freedom loving Christian may be tempted to despair.
But we have to remember that tyranny and cruelty have always been around, and we must do what we can to make this world a better place. We also have to remember that this world is not our permanent home, and that eternity lasts a lot longer than our sorrowful lifespans here.

Great

Wow, isn't it just great that the US is fast on the road to socialized medicine? I know our health care system is flawed. I know it is ridiculous that things like having a baby in the hospital, doctor visits for a sick child, routine surgeries, teeth cleaning, nursing home care, etc. are out of the financial reach of most people. But I do believe getting the government involved will make things far worse. What if our gov't won't allow a woman to have a c-section because she already has two children? What if it takes several months of waiting to get pain medication for an accident that happened yesterday? What if your lifesaving surgery is on a waiting list so long that you won't make it? What if someone over a certain age--say, 75--is ineligible for any kind of medical care, because some bureaucrat thinks they have lived long enough? What if it's actually against the law for medical personnel to care for people who somehow don't "qualify?"
Do we really want someone who is pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia back in Washington DC making our medical decisions for us? Someone who doesn't know anything about us or our medical conditions?

Torture?

I have read some opinions by sincere Christian folks who actually think it is OK to torture prisoners, with tortures like "water boarding," if it's done for the safety of our country!
One wonders what these folks would say if their own son was subjected to such things by an enemy country in the name of their own "national security."
If we don't want our children to undergo such things, why should our prisons be inflicting them on helpless "terrorist suspects?"
And speaking of safety and security, one must ask:
How many boys have we lost in political wars, wars fought supposedly for "national security?"
How many liberties have we lost in the name of "safety?"
How much government control and tyranny are we subjected to in the name of "safety?"
How long does it take before a government which sanctions torture starts torturing its own citizens who are considered "dangerous?"

Power

Here are some thoughts on power written by Guglielmo Ferrero (1871-1942). Taken from the Wanderer, May 14, 2009:
"Authority comes from above,...and legitimacy comes from below. (This)...explains why democracy cannot be legitimized without an internal spiritual unity if all the people are not in agreement both on the prinicple of legitimacy and on the great moral and religious principles of life. If that unity does not agree, the right of opposition becomes the battleground for a struggle to the death."
"The sure and certain characteristic of illegitimacy in government is this two-pronged terror--the ruler's fear of the people, and the people's fear of the ruler...
"On the other hand government devoid of fear--whatever the form, from a hereditary monarchy to a constitutional republic--is firmly embedded in the principle of legitimacy. When this prevails, confidence and unity, outward calm and inner peace, are reflected in the lives involved, whether subject or citizens."
One thing that should make us all afraid is when a government is able to use torture to keep people in check. Some Americans say we need torture to prevent terrorist attacks, but torture makes a government evil. And who is a terrorist? Some people think anyone who opposes or criticizes the government is a terrorist.

The Church and Farming

From the Wanderer:
In "The Church and Farming" (1953), Fr. (Dennis) Fahey quoted extensively from Sir Albert Howard's "An Agricultural Testament"...and this passage is particularly striking:"The invasion of economics into agricultural research naturally followed the quantitative methods. It was an imitation of the successful application of costings to the operations of the factory...Farming has come to be looked at as if it were a factory. Agriculture is regarded as a commercial enterprise; far too much emphasis has been laid on profit. But the purpose of agriculture is far different than that of a factory. It has to provide food in order that the race may flourish and persist. The best results are obtained if the food is fresh and the soil is fertile. Quality is more important than weight...The nation's food in the nature of things must always take the first place. The financial system, after all, is but a second matter. Economics, therefore, in failing to insist on these elementary truths, has been guilty of a grave error of judgment...."It was a grave mistake. Fr. Fahey quotes another pioneer in the organic farming movement, Oxford-educated Jorian Jenks (1899-1963), as saying that food production could endlessly increase through the use of industrial methods at the expense of "soil fertility, but also forests, mineral deposits, and oil-fields...The West has allowed this terrific food problem to creep upon it almost unaware, because its whole economic outlook for several generations has been based on the assumption that food would always be cheap and plentiful. Such an assumption could of course only be made by populations out of touch with the soils that feed them."

Corporation Farming

(Taken from the April 16th edition of The Wanderer:
"In 1940, Msgr. Luigi Ligutti and Fr. John Rawe, SJ, warned Americans in their book "Rural Roads to Security: America's Third Struggle for Freedom," that perhaps the greatest internal enemies of the American people were the giant corporations that were taking ownership of all the farmland in this country and were producing "food' that was not only bereft of nutritional value but was positively harmful.
'Corporation farming,' they warned,'will in time destroy itself with its mechanical methods in a field essentially biological, but before this stupidity will reap its empty harvest, our American families will be finally and completely uprooted from the soil...This last Octopus of Wall Street will drive the remaining families from the land.' And Pope Pius XII lamented in an address to Italian farmers, "Finance capital hastens to take over the deserted countryside, and the land then becomes not an object of loving concern but of cold, calculating exploitation...it no longer produces except for speculation.'"
Serious words to ponder in these days when most of us are so dependent on the goodwill of giant corporations and big government to be able to feed our families!

Higher Education

This morning I was reading a letter from a man about sending children to college.
He was writing in response to an article called "Is College Worth It?" Here are a few sentences:
"Thanks for the article on 'Is College Worth It?' I have four children, with two who have graduated. All four have loans. Your article does not mention those students who try to earn a college degree, and fail. My son attended an out-of-state school for about two years. He owes $65,000 without the degree. Something like buying a yacht and sinking it without insurance. Another daughter received a well-earned engineering degree from Virginia Tech. She has worked for two firms; both have closed the facility where she worked. Her current job prospects are bleak...Her loans must still be paid. Another daughter has earned a master's in occupational therapy. Her future is bright but she will need to start a private practice to truly free herself from student loans. The last daughter still owes me a little money from a Dad loan.

"The reason for these stories is to point out that the ROI (Return On Investment) for a college degree is variable and risky. I suspect many institutes of higher learning would close if we instituted a mandatory ROI calculation for students. College is worth it--for the tenured professors....Further compounding is the lack of culpability by the colleges. They offer no guarantees for jobs after graduation...We have sold our youth a perception that college is the golden path without teaching them the true cost to achieve that goal."

I think he makes some good points. Another point I would like to make is that I do not understand why parents would spend that kind of money to send their grown child to a place where their faith and values are constantly under attack. Why support such an institution?

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina Current mood:thoughtful
There has been a lot of hullaballoo about some bishop somewhere (Germany?) who made a statement that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for sin, or something to that effect. Of course people were up in arms--how dare this man have an opinion! Especially in America (the only country I know of that actually voted in their dictator, rather than making him put together a military coup) the cries of outrage went up.Now I do not believe people in New Orleans are any guiltier of sin than, say, people in Seattle or Boise. Rejecting God's laws is popular all across the good ol' US of A! And as my mom used to say, "The innocent suffer along with the guilty." (I have changed that to "the innocent usually suffer a lot more than the guilty," but that's just me.)I am of the mindset that ANY natural disaster, or even unnatural disaster, is a call to repentance for EVERYONE, regardless of whether one was affected or not.

The Lord's Prayer and greed

From a talk on the Lord's Prayer by Father Reginald Martin, O.P.:

"If we consider what we ask of God when we beg for our daily bread, we realize we are asking for very little. We are not asking God to supply all our wants, which can be infinite; we are asking Him to supply our needs, which are far more modest.

"St. John Chrysostom continually preached against the excesses he witnessed at the Byzantine court. In these words of the Lord's Prayer he took the opportunity to warn his listeners, once again, about the hazards of wealth. In a sermon on the gospel of Matthew he preached, '...it is neither for riches, nor for delicate living, nor for costly raiment, nor for any other such thing, but for bread only that He commanded us to make our prayer.'

"The Lord's Prayer, thus, encourages us to seek simplicity in our lives, and the virtue of Fortitude helps us trust that this simplicity will be sufficient for our needs. In this way, Fortitude enables us to avoid the sins that arise from too great a desire for temporal goods."

Problems to Fix at Home

From a speech delivered by Fr. John A. O'Brien, professor of the philosophy of religion in the graduate school at Notre Dame, published in the May 12, 1941 issue of Social Justice.

"The richest one-tenth of one percent of American families, according to the Brookings Institute, received in 1929, as large a share of the products of industry as the poorest 42%. This means that 36,000 families at the top of the income scale obtained as much as 11,650,000 families at the bottom. Is this the kind of democracy we are being asked to bring, as a gift from Mt. Olympus, to the peoples of Europe, Africa, Asia?
"How can we talk about democracy, the moral order, social justice and the supremacy of human rights, when in our midst are millions of (Americans) who do not have even a nodding acquaintance with those ideals? How can we impose them at a point of a bayonet upon other peoples when we have not been able to secure them for the majority of our own?
"War is a false path to that freedom. We do no supply [political freedom] by engaging in a gigantic campaign of destruction, by plowing under every fourth American, and by setting our own house on fire."

American economy

Here are a few quotes from an article in the Wanderer, which was quoting an article by Darrell Castle, entitled, "What should we do to save the American economy?" He says, "Yes, there are many things that we could do which collectively would bring economic recovery very quickly.
1) End the Fed. Monetary reform and economic recovery are not possible unless Congress is able to recover its constitutional authority over our monetary system. The growth of debt must be stopped and reversed, and the debt-based system of monetary creation through interest-bearing bank credit must be reversed if we are to recover. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 should be rescinded and the Fed banks liquidated and their assets truned over to the U.S. Treasury...Once Congress regains its constitutional aughority over money, it could issue money based on the full faith and credit of the United States or said another way, based on the labor and productive capacity of the American people. This money and credit would keep the economy functioning and prevent depression while we transitioned from our present debt-based system to the gold standard....
2)Withdraw from both wars immediately. Our nation has never been able to pay for these wars except through massive debt or massive inflation. Immediate withdrawal would save at least a trillion dollars."

Executive pay cap

I see in the news today that Obama is setting an executive pay cap to go along with his bailout. I have even better ideas to go along with this. How about a pay CUT for everyone in our national government? Obama could really set a fine example here by demanding that his salary be cut by at least 25% and his retirement by 50%. Then he could cut all senate and representative salaries, too! While he was on a roll, how about a HUGE cut in the department of defense? How about slicing and dicing all those monstrous government programs where all the money really goes to the bureaucrats instead of to the poor? If we just pulled out of the middle east we would probably come up with the 900 billion he wants for his stimulus package!

I read a couple of weeks ago that the size of the bailout is enough money to give every household in America $100,000. That would probably save the banks and car companies because people could pay off their loans! But that's too simple for the powers that be.

Neighbors

I am currently reading a pretty good book called "Outwitting the Neighbors" by Bill Adler, Jr. This book covers topics such as noise (music, fighting, barking, chain saws, etc) weeds, pets (roaming pets, dangerous pets, dealing with pet waste), rudeness, parking spaces, teenagers, and excessively fussy and complaining neighbors, among other things.
One of my favorite suggestions was his returning dog droppings to the yard where the dog really belongs!
I think generally speaking we should try not to be too fussy about our neighbors. Does a dog barking during the day really bother you that much? (Now nighttime is a different story!) It's much quieter than a chain saw running. If a kid wanders across corner of your yard, did he really damage your lawn? Can't we just learn to ignore a few weeds?

We had a next door neighbor who was Ok to get along with most of the time. I remember when he brought his rock band home to practice. Man, was it LOUD! The worst time was on a Sunday afternoon when we had company over and we had to shout to hear eachother, inside our own house, with doors and windows shut! It was pretty bad.
But Hubby and I decided not to say anything about it and shortly thereafter the band broke up. Looking back I am glad we waited and didn't make an issue out of it. By exercising a little patience we kept good neighbor relations.

Do you believe in love?

The other day the radio played the old '80's song, "Do you believe in love?" by Huey Lewis (I think that's the title).
It struck me as the ultimate argument with an atheist. "Do you believe in love?" If the answer is yes, then the atheist is not really an atheist at all, but actually believes in God. Scripture tells us "God is love." He is love personified. All the good qualities that every person, no matter what his religious beliefs, hopes to have-- patience, kindness, loyalty, generosity--all of these are reflections of God. These are all His qualities. They are a reflection of His very person. So if someone believes in love, then that person believes in God, no matter how he or she may protest!

Making kids happy

I heard a lady say once (and no doubt this was a wonderful mother, probably much better than I am), "Whenever my kids are unhappy, I tell them, 'It's my job to be a parent; it's not my job to make you happy.'"
While I kind of agree with this sentiment, I also must disagree with it. Parents cannot MAKE a child happy if that child is determined to be unhappy. However, parents can do a great deal to create an environment that makes children happy.
Are the children eating right? Are they getting enough exercise? Enough sleep? Are they sick? Are they getting some unstructured playtime? Are they doing a few simple chores? Are they being praised for a job well done?
Do you allow them to have playmates? Do you monitor this playtime without being too overbearing? Do you have patience? Do you keep your promises? Do you give them lots of attention, even when you are tired? Do you read to them, pray with them? Do you set limits?
Are you too easily critical? Are you expecting too much?

I think it is the job of the parents to create an environment where happiness is the norm, as much as possible!

Introduction to my blog

Hello! My name is Jackie and I like to blog. Not very often but sometimes. I used to blog on myspace and I had quite a few views, but then my myspace blocked my blog! I couldn't see or write or manage my blogs. I couldn't read other people's myspace blogs. I tried contacting myspace and it wouldn't let me send a message. Finally today I got a message from Tom (if you have myspace you know who Tom is) so I wrote him a reply about my problem. I do hope someone reads it and helps me. I had some pretty good stuff on there that I would like to keep.

Most of the time when I blog I am just quoting someone who is smarter or more knowledgable than I.
I do have a strange sense of humor and I like to read humorous things but most of my blogs are pretty serious.
Some of my blogs may be a bit tedious and boring: hence the name "Mundane." I have a good friend who really didn't like the name "Mundane" and perhaps I shouldn't have used it, but she told me that after I had already picked it.
I will be looking for something to muse over and then I will start posting.