Miracles???

One of my favorite bloggers commented to me a while back that miracles were quite logical because certainly God could suspend or overturn the laws of physics in regard to Padre Pio if He so desired. Theoretically a good answer, but not very convincing.

Suppose my son-in-law and my boys are fixing my patio. They unload a 80 pund bag of dry cement mix and drop it on the patio to get it ready to pour, and the bag goes UP not DOWN. Could an almighty God cause this to happen? Well, yes, but what would be the consequences? Should we be cautious everytime we put something down because it might go up? So when I try to lay my fork down, should I fear it might fly up and hit me in the eye?

Throughout history millions of people I am sure have reported strange occurrences that defy the laws of physics. How should we approach such incidents? I won't go as far as Hume and say the possibility that the unusual event not occurring must be greater than its occurring. That is the possibility of the fork not going down must be more improbable than it going down. So we need a criterion to deal with strange events, such as a person being in two places at one time or a person defying gravity and floating in the air. The rule of thumb that has come forward in recent years is: Events claiming to void natural laws requireEXTRAORDINARY proof. So God might implant the image of Mary or Jesus in my tortilla or pancake. But I need the extraordinary proof. And the same goes for Padre Pio being in Moscow and Atlanta at the same time. I' m waiting for the evidence. If we do not follow this criterion then we should be afraid to go outside. As we go down the steps we might just fly up to the roof. Jack

Open Letter to Chaput

An Open Letter to Archbishop Carles J Chaput.

I not sure exactly how to refer to you---the most exalted, your lordship or what---so for the sake of informality I will just, as I want to be personal, refer to you as "Chubby."

I noticed you have recently answered a hypothetical question as to "Is the church obsessed with sex?" Your answer was something to the affect that since society is sex-mad you need to speak out against this obsession.

May I suggest that YOU are the one almost totally obsessed with sex. In a negative manner, yes, but still obsessed. I have hundreds of friends over the years and I am not aware of any who said at a young age "My life is going to be devoted to sex actions and thoughts."

Now, Chubby, on the other hand, you said at one time that for the rest of your ("natural"--quotes intended) life you would completely refrain from any sex activity, indeed any sex thoughts, because only by doing so can anyone hope to reach the closest union with God. This is clearly shown in the catholic catechism. This refraining from ANYTHING even remotely related to sex is most clear in that only those who do so can be given any sacred powers by the Almighty. And as you also know, sex MUST always be open to having children; that no male orgasm can occur outside of the women's vagina, that the universal practice of masturbation by young men is "gravely disordered", if not a sin; that all unmarried persons must repress or sublimate any sexual thought, much less sexual action. You also insist, with no evidence whatsoever, that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a perpetual virgin, and you recognize that only the tiniest percentage of saints were married because I assume of their lust for sexual pleasure.

So you say 99.999 percent of the World's population is your probable inferior in that such a percentage probably reflects those who have, at least, sexual thoughts, if not sexual actions.

So my question to you, Chubby, is who has an obsession with sex?

Now as to controlling these vile sexual thoughts I would suspect you support our church's position on 'corporal mortification." As a person who has children what do you suggest as most effective in curbing the evil of sex actions and thoughts?

One, self flaggelation which the church does not condemn. As you know one of our earlier saints whipped himself over 70,000 times in three days. Would you recommend this?

Two. the wearing of chains and cords and ropes tightly binding body parts to the point of causing bleeding in some cases as Opus Dei recommends and whose founder is a saint.

Other painful or punishing acts such as sleeping on hard floors at least twice a week, denying yourself water on the hotest of days, as Our Lady praised the Fatima kids for doing. Do you have other suggestions? Remember they must be uncomfortable, and , at best, quite painful.

Leaving actual physical acts of inflicting pain on oneself, should I advise my sons to think of 'fecal matter' if they have a sexual thought as priests are so advised or should such thoughts arise while in the shower should they try as hard as they can to imagine worms crawling all over themselves, which some catholics recommend.

I know, Chubby, you are into heavy matters like how to make all people in our country follow your personal views (fears) on sex and almost all other matters, but any of your suggestions would be enlightening as you are a 'pastor' as well as the only legitimate voice in your area on moral matters as your good friend, the bishop of Scranton, Pa. has made quite clear. Jack

"Our Mother"

Off my "lists" for a couple of days, and back to religion/theology/philosophy.

I ,at times, tussle with a young catholic convert who loves the term "holy mother church." Now I have been around many catholics all my life and never heard that term except from yesterday's convert. Older catholics, cradle catholics, never use this term.

But there is some wisdom in the "holy mother church" moniker. The Catholic Church is huge--over a billion members. Included are some of the greatest minds in the world, the simplest minds, and, yes, the great middle group. And there's the rub.

This is the year of Darwin and his discovery of the fundamentals of evolution. The 'great' mind group has no trouble with this doctrine in relation to Catholicism. The 'simplest' really don't think about such things; but Oh, that middle group. They're read a few pages on evolution, listen to a few crank scientist ( apparently only two) and decide to make their own judgment. So the Church, with children of all levels of knowledge, and especially under B16, wants to satisfy every member to a degree. So what does the Church do. Well it affirms evolution as a scientific fact, but then to throw a few crumbs to the "I have an opinion, and it's just as good as yours based on my 2 pages of information" group the Church's representative says: "Each human person is the object of a singular creative act by God, who also inserts himself naturally in the homo sapiens species, and appears at the end as the culmination of an immense evolutionary process about which some secrets are now being discovered." WHAT???

In this century A.J. Ayer wrote "Language, Truth, and Logic". Basically it dealt with the three 'levels' of statements. First were statements of fact, that is things we can verify. E,G, Dallas is in the state of Texas. Second were 'emotive' statements, e,g, "I hate country music." Such emotive statements tell us something about what the speaker feels but not anything about country music. And third---look at the quote above beginning with "Each human person....."statements that are meaningless. 'Meaningless' does not mean false, nor true, but since such statements are not verifiable, they give us no real knowledge. They are just words; there is no way to test the statement's truth or falsity. Yes, we argue about them, but our arguments really go nowhere. The statement is not subject to any test that would show its truth or falsity.

So, maybe "mother church" is wise. Affirm what science shows and knows, but throw a meatless bone to the pompous, self important, group to keep them in the fold. The Church is our 'Mother' and sometimes we need to say yes to our 'youngest,' in knowledge and reason, ' children'.

Great Tenors

To continue a bit on my "lists." For about 55 years I have been particularly interest in tenor singing. I think I had a very large collection of recording of great tenors. I have listened to these year after year and in 2001 published my list of my favorites. Really more than my favorites, because I consulted every book I could find on these singers to check to see that others, much more qualified than I, might give me an insight I needed. One caveat: All of these men made recording in the "electrical" era. Many of them were also active in the "acoustic" era. But I do not include on my list singers who recorded ONLY in the acoustic era. Not in order of preference.

John McCormack
Tito Schipa
Richard Tauber
Jussi Bjoerling
Ferruccio Tagliavini
Carlo Bergonzi
Guiseppe de Stefano
Antonio Cortis
Frita Wunderlich

I heard in person Bjoerling,Tagliavini,Bergonzi,de Stefano

At Heavens Gate

I've had a great day!!! You know Newman and B16 said music was a way to touch the higher world. Today I was just fooling on the computer and found that some of my favorite music can be found on You/tube.

I usee to have about 5,000 records (LP's and Cd's and DVD's.) When I moved to my condo I had to get rid of most of them; just didn't have space. But playing on the computer I found many of my favorites. In my book, I mentioned 4 extended operatic excepts that I would HAVE to have on a desert island. I found video of all four.Here they are:

Act I of Madam Butterfly

Act III of La Boheme (outside the gates of Paris)

Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde from Act III of "Valkyrie"

Final trio from R.Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier"

Have to get back to looking.

Just a few of great works that move me as Newman and B16 say.

I hear these and others and say the catholic hierarchy is hardly worth my time.

B16 a dreadful Pope, but knows music. So I'd like him as a neighbor, but not as Pope!

Ten Best Movies. To Me.

In 1937, my mother began keeping a journal, not on a daily basis, but approximately weekly, about our family life and her other interests. She continued these until her death in 1984. These are now my possession. Some members of the family have suggested we publish them. But they would be a little general interest because she concentrated on family affairs and did very little on events of the day, such as the Second World War. Practically all members of our family, direct and extended, have read parts of these journals.

In 2001, I published a short book sumarizing my life and views. I did write a good deal about our family, but also wrote about my interests. I usually did this by making lists of what I thought were outstanding things I had read or heard about or concluded. On the lists I usually gave a reason for my preferences and choices. So I am going to rerun some of these lists for family members and friends that do not have access to the journals or the book. I will not give reasons for my choices, but just the lists.

First, a list of favorite movies. The first movie I saw was "The Little Colonel" in 1938. I can actually remember going to the movie, a vague memory to be sure, but still a little feel of the theater, the crowd, etc. I have been a fairly regular movie 'goer' since then. So here is my list of the best movies I have seen, with one update since the book. BTW not in order of preference.

Casablanca
Doctor Strangelove
E.T.
Psycho
Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner
The Third Man
The Last Picture Show
The Big Sleep
Bonnie and Clyde
Slumdog Milliionaire

My original list had about 8 others, but top tens is the tradition of lists.

My grandsons Jack,11 and Joe,5 Click on picture to enlarge