Happy Halloween

Who are these fine-looking characters?

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Pumpkin Carving!

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Coincidence?

In an interview at Boston College, Peter Kreeft notes:

"I'm working on a novel that really isn't a novel, but a fictional set of documents that give you an angel's eye view of the connection between Jesus Christ, dead Vikings, the St. Michael statue in Gasson Hall, hopelessly Victorian romantics, sassy Black feminists, Dutch Calvinist seminarians, Jewish mother substitutes, Caribbean rubber dancers, Russian prophets, the disguises of angels, the Palestinian "intifadah," sea serpents, the fatal beauty of the sea, the Unified Field Theory, the Curse of the Bambino, armless nature mystics, two and a half popes, Islam in the art of body surfing, post-abortion trauma, the Great Blizzard of '78, the demon Hurricano, Jesuit philosophers, Nahant, the psychology of suicide, the ecumenical jihad, the victims of the Sexual Revolution, and the end of the world. I hope to get it done before that last item happens. Every September, I speed up if the Red Sox have any chance to get into the World Series, because that would be the apocalypse. Meanwhile, Socrates will meet Sartre, then Descartes, then Kant, then Freud (probably one a year)."

If the Red Sox victory and this evening's lunar portents are any indication, it appears that the apocalypse is indeed at hand. Thanks to Bernardo at Tremendous Trifles for the tip.

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Today in History

On this day four years ago the Blue Potato Movie premiered to crowded theaters and rave reviews at an Abbey near you.

"When an ambitious Latin teacher attempts to take over the school, students reach for their lightsabers in this heartwarming classic the whole family will enjoy. Remember to stay tuned after the credits for a special surprise!"

Download The Blue Potato.asx (18.6 MB)

25 minutes 53 seconds. Rated G for gratuitous lack of violence and profanity.

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He wore a shining star

If you've ever wondered about the nature of my secret identity, you need look no further than the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office. That's right- by day, I'm a mild-mannered college student, but by night I travel across the state, change my middle name, and assemble my posse to do battle with the enemies of justice. A tough job, to be sure, but somebody's got to do it.

Apropos of justice, I present the following Jack Handey quote for your enjoyment.

"If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink."

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This Week's Links

Tibetan Teen Getting into Western Philosophy (The Onion)

Father of Deconstructionism Dies, if "Death" means anything (Scrappleface)

Does the Cheese stand alone? (Shrine of the Holy Whapping)

Don't Hail Mary, Hail a Papal Cab (AtomFilms)

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Op-Ed in Williams Record

The issue of abortion has presented a stumbling block for many Catholics to giving their support to John Kerry in the upcoming presidential election. Even those who harbor little sympathy for our current president find themselves reluctant to vote for a candidate with such a poor record on abortion and other life issues. Kerry’s “personally opposed” defense has by now become a tired cliché of pro-choice Catholic politicians who try to have their cake and eat it too. In response to a question at the third presidential debate, he articulated his position as follows:

“I believe that I can’t legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith. What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn’t share that article of faith.”

Continue reading Keeping the Faith

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Today in History

On this day two years ago the tired but happy first-years of Willy F (and their JA) climbed the mountain after staying up all night writing their midterm papers for Religion 101.

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Year of the Eucharist

"Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening”. This was the insistent invitation that the two disciples journeying to Emmaus on the evening of the day of the resurrection addressed to the Wayfarer who had accompanied them on their journey. Weighed down with sadness, they never imagined that this stranger was none other than their Master, risen from the dead. Yet they felt their hearts burning within them as he spoke to them and “explained” the Scriptures. The light of the Word unlocked the hardness of their hearts and “opened their eyes”. Amid the shadows of the passing day and the darkness that clouded their spirit, the Wayfarer brought a ray of light which rekindled their hope and led their hearts to yearn for the fullness of light. “Stay with us”, they pleaded. And he agreed. Soon afterwards, Jesus' face would disappear, yet the Master would “stay” with them, hidden in the “breaking of the bread” which had opened their eyes to recognize him.

Continue reading Mane Nobiscum Domine
Apostolic Letter of John Paul II for the Year of the Eucharist (October 2004- October 2005)

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On A Mission From God

A hearty Sto Lat! to Pope John Paul II on the 26th anniversary of his pontificate.

Surf on over to the Vatican website to marvel at the achievements of quite possibly the greatest man of our time. George Weigel's papal biographyWitness to Hope is a great read and highly recommended, but if you're daunted by its epic scale you can try to get a hold of the comic book version of the Pope's life pictured at the left.

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A Godfather Reflects

Q. What do G.K. Chesterton, John Henry Cardinal Newman, and Surekha Gajria have in common?
A. As of today, they all are or were converts to the Catholic faith.

There are few things in life more beautiful and humbling than seeing the grace of conversion at work in the life of a friend. The road to faith is not an easy one, and "cradle Catholics" like myself take a lot for granted that perhaps we should not. Yet seeing the Faith through the eyes of a convert, and recognizing it as it were for the first time, we are granted a new and deeper understanding of its incomparable truth and beauty. Thank you, Surekha, for the long emails and late night conversations which changed my life as well as yours. And since you know by now that a Chesterton reference is obligatory on such an occasion, this one's for you:

After one moment when I bowed my head
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white,
I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead.

The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.

G.K. Chesterton, "The Convert"

Deo gratias.

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Chesterton Quote of the Day

One of many sparks of genius from The Napoleon of Notting Hill, the novel that opens with the incomparable words "The human race, to which so many of my readers belong..."

In a world without humour, the only thing to do is to eat. And how perfect an exception! How can these people strike dignified attitudes, and pretend that things matter, when the total ludicrousness of life is proved by the very method by which it is supported? A man strikes the lyre, and says, 'Life is real, life is earnest,' and then goes into a room and stuffs alien substances into a hole in his head.

via Chesterton Day by Day

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Good Pope John

Happy Feast Day to Bl. Pope John XXIII

"It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope. "

Upon being asked how many people worked in the Vatican: "About half."

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Hiking Panoramas

Route taken: RRR Brooks and Shepherd's Well Trail to Taconic Crest, south to Petersburg Pass, north to Birch Brook Trail and home via Hopkins Forest. Time elapsed: approx. 4.5 hours.


Shepherd's Meadow, NE to SE


Shepherd's Well Trail, SE to Mt. Greylock, W to Petersburg Pass

Compare pictures from last year's hike (9/21/03) posted on WSO's PhotoShare.

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Army of Words

Write as the wind blows and command all words like an army! See them how they stand in rank ready for assault, the jolly, swaggering fellows!

First come the Neologisms, that are afraid of no man; fresh, young, hearty, and for the most part very long-limbed, though some few short and strong. There also are the Misprints to confuse the enemy at his onrush. Then see upon the flank a company of picked Ambiguities covering what shall be a feint by the squadron of Anachronisms led by old Anachronos himself; a terrible chap with nigglers and a great murderer of fools.

But here see more deeply massed the ten thousand Egotisms shining in their armour and roaring for battle. They care for no one. They stormed Convention yesterday and looted the cellar of Good-Manners, who died of fear without a wound; so they drank his wine and are to-day as strong as lions and as careless (saving only their Captain, Monologue, who is lantern-jawed).

Here are the Aposiopaesian Auxiliaries, and Dithyramb that killed Punctuation in open fight; Parenthesis the giant and champion of the host, and Anacoluthon that never learned to read or write but is very handy with his sword; and Metathesis and Hendiadys, two Greeks. And last come the noble Gallicisms prancing about on their light horses: cavalry so sudden that the enemy sicken at the mere sight of them and are overcome without a blow. Come then my hearties, my lads, my indefatigable repetitions, seize you each his own trumpet that hangs at his side and blow the charge; we shall soon drive them all before us headlong, howling down together to the Picrocholian Sea.

So! That was an interlude. Forget the clamour.

Hilaire Belloc, The Path to Rome

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