Wondering

I am kind.

I am considerate.

I am compassionate.

I live by the rules.

I give people another chance.

I am a believer in the Cardinal Virtues.

I am a believer in the Theological Virtues.

I love you as a Child of God.

Should I buy a gun?

Pray for Fr. Corapi

His preaching and teaching have blessed and do bless me tremendously.

If I were Satan and wanted to bring down anyone in the Church more than anyone else, Id choose Benedict XVI, then Fr. Corapi. Getting either of them would destroy lots of folks faith.

Benedict would be too hard. He's so German, so smart, so focused. But Corapi wold be easier to destroy, even if I had no information. I could make it up. Even if he gets cleared in a couple of years, I could pull him down a peg or three. Also, it would get his Catechism Class off EWTN.

Calumny always has worked. Catholics rarely are interested in protecting their priests. Look how they acted after the scandals. Bishop will drop im for someone more manageable.

But we aren't Satan. We need to pray and pray and pray.

Live the Gospel

Fun is......fun.

Serious....wears me out.

Other people....can be a pain in the neck.

I....need to get over myself.

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rEJECTION sLIPS

I have enough rejection slips to paper the roof of a small building. In the past, the very recent past, that was prone to leave me cranky. What does Cranky want? Attention. Acceptance. Affirmation. Acknowledgment.

There may be more tomorrow. There may be less. But it won't be much different. And I will be Cranky to the extent I stay stuck on and with me. Francis could give up leadership and become just one of the troops.

What Blogger or Blogette has transcended ego enough to give up their very identity? Without Cranky, I am like interchangeable with everyone. With Cranky, I dance. People back away, not wanting to get surrounded and overwhelmed. This is so much more fun than Tommy's relentless propriety. Cranky has a much better time.

That's why Tommy watches him some. Amusement. But he guards his daughter. And doesn't pick up the phone when the caller id says it's Cranky. He's not certain why. It's just something to be done.

Bonnie's Mother Dies.

Bonnie's mother was in her 90's. Bonnie was ready. Her mother was ready. But it's hard. We know they are better off gone (if they are Christian). But we feel sorry for ourselves missing them.

Bonnie is a serious Catholic. But she just might appreciate an email to the address at the top of the page.

Bonnie is our fraternity minister, newsletter editor, mediator, and one mean momma.

Seriously, she's very good, and very busy. Very.

Cranky2.blogspot.com

Is this worth resurrecting? Or should I have it exorcised from my machine? It's been gone forever. Cranky gave it to me to cover some work I had done to help him.

I was being compassionate. Is there a time when compassion is no longer the best move? I want so much to be a "good" fellow. I want to take on the mind of Christ. I want to follow the Holy Spirit's lead and the Church's teaching.

I want to be a serious Franciscan-Catholic-Christian. Then I laugh at an off-color joke and realize I am mostly flesh after all.

How's it for you?

For Your Edification

I call your attention to two articles in March's edition of the New Wine Press. It's put out by the Precious Blood Fathers of Liberty MO. Reading them will hopefully bless you. They hopefully are saying something the Lord wants said. Bob McCray wrote them.

(I think he just likes to see his name in print.)

March 21--Another Day of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

I seem to operate well within the evangelical counsels whether I start out in that direction or not. I think it has something to do with trying to be serious about the whole business of humility and being submitted to God.

I either am going to give up my Ego or I am going to nurse and talk sweetly to it as I try to get what I want when I want it.

It was a bit easier when I was totally focused on me. Getting over me is harder for me to do than for others. Sin is real. It's not an issue or a problem. It stands between me and the Lord.

I am available for duty.

I thought I was in business on March 15. But I wasn't. Have you ever been that way? You knew everything was ready to go, but it wasn't. Well, now it is. I am thankful to Tommy and Bonnie for letting me come play at their house.

Note the Contributors' List

I belong! I am part of the group. I don't have to get ol' Tommy boy to "let" me write.

As my life drifts through the unceasing second - hand moral smoke of what now is passing as daily life on the planet, I see no good reason not to totally despair. Unless I follow Jesus. (John 6:60-71).

Note over there on yhe other side of the garden. Evil is gathering.

Pray for us Holy Mother. Pray for us Francis

Bonnie Venture Joins Circus

She ran away and joined the Circus. Don't be sad. It's a very nice circus.

Others and Me

I watched the news from Japan after we got home from Mass and ate dinner. Felt helpless. Really helpless. Then I got something else to snack on. Eating trumps compassion. That feels cold.

Confession

It was good. Cheaper than therapy. And more effective. It was a good confession. I believe I got rid of my Grave Sins. Not enough time to get to all my venial stuff. It feels good to confess. It's like finally getting out of a pair of jeans you've worn all day that were way too tight. You can breathe again.

I really am going to buy Benedict's book. It looks so good. I confess I am envious of his ability to write with such depth.

He has to be so incredibly smart.

Today is Ash Wednesday

May miss it. I am on a bad day. Tomorrow is confession. I can use it as an opener before I ge t ihe bigger stuff. It's not a day of obligation/

CATARACTS AND FEAR

I am having a cataract removed......mumble....snarl....hesitation....doubt.....fear. There's no reason to fear.......stew.......fret......frustration. Shows I'm not just putting it all in God's hand.....concern....what can happen....mistakes......the end of the world..a faith healing would be good......but I must not forget that

"God's in His Heaven. Praise God in all things." He said through clinched teeth.

Aunt Mary, the End of the World, and Lynda

Aunt Mary traveled to lots of places. She always came home with lots of photographs and lots of stories. One of the stories has never left me.

Never adverse to traveling alone, she would go with groups when it was convenient. One time she had been in Egypt to see the camels and the pyramids. This had been a side trip from a trip to the Holy Land. After seeing the Pyramids and riding a camel, she was slated to join a group flying from Cairo to Tunis. They then would take a flight from there to Lisbon. From Portugal, she was to go to Heathrow in London. Then New York and Kansas City.

No problem. Until she got to Tunis. They thought they had plenty of time, so they disembarked to go walk around in the airport. She met some of the other passengers. The time of the layover passed quickly, and they could see out on the tarmac, a plane taxi up to the gate they would soon be leaving through.

Mary and her group began to gather up their things when a truck rumbled up to the gate. Soldiers jumped down from the back with backpacks and AK47's. A jeep came alongside with a driver, a heavy machine gun and a officer of some kind. Sunglasses and a riding crop made him particularly noteworthy.

The solders boarded the plan. It pulled away, and in a few moments was gone. Mary was later to report the experience was unsettling. But clearly outside her control. She padded across the floor in her stocking feet to the ticket agent to inquire. Assured that another plane was coming, she returned to the bevy of tourists who now were quite a bit quieter than before.

Another truck with more men and guns. Guards now covered each doorway they could see in the terminal waiting area. They took the next plane.

Mary chose not to inquire again. But she knew one thing and one thing alone. She wanted to get out of there as soon as a plane for Lisbon would let her on.

The third plane finally let them on. When the pilot was finally airborne, everyone clapped and shouted.

I told this story to my wife Lynda because I liked the suspense aspect. Stuck in Tunis with a coup. It was the material of the thrillers I loved.

I had probably told the story several times when she connected it to the end of the world. I said some variant of "Huh?" when she explained.

"It's not a protestant rapture. For one thing the folks weren't left behind. What it was, was when a Catholic dies, he or she is taken to the next step on the way to Paradise. In this case, they had come to Tunis for a bit of purging before they go to Lisbon. The time in Tunis was to finish off any temporal pride and face the fact of how out of control they were. Mary had the right idea: Take the first flight available to get to Heaven (or Purgatory if need be). And don't get lost in trying to do any escathological second guessing. Doesn't help anyway.

"Love Jesus as Francis did. He'd probably been preaching to the soldiers."

I guess that's why Lynda is my favorite theologian.

Questions

Is there a difference between being hopeful and being optimistic?
Is there a difference between being hopeless and being pessimistic?

Should I pretend not to be frustrated when I am frustrated?

Do I change from where I am to where I want to be through application of consistent effort, or do I give it to God and wait?

Was Francis flighty? Or Free?

Was Francis an environmental wacko?
Was Francis unusual?

Should I want to "fit in"?
Or should I want to "stand out"?