I've been invited to join a group blog called Alexandria: Crossroads of Civilization. Disregarding the words of a wise man, I accepted the offer. I don't know what I have in common with the folks over there except approximate body temperature, but that's probably enough for a blog whose founding post waxed amusedly on blogging as the "entropic heat death of thinking".
We'll see what happens.
There are two Tonys1 in the news right now due to that wretched Supreme court decision. But there is only one Tony you need to know about, and that is St. Anthony.
St. Anthony is trying to get my ass (i.e., soul) to heaven and helps me find things all the time on earth. Maybe you should be praying to him also; if you are like me, you lose things all the time. Yep, we're losers.
Now that I've insulted you, check out a passage from one of my favorite saint stories, the "Sermon to the Fishes". I first read this little story in a book called "Flowers of Saint Francis", but here's my source for the electronic version:
At last St Anthony, inspired by God, went down to the sea-shore, where the river runs into the sea, and having placed himself on a bank between the river and the sea, he began to speak to the fishes as if the Lord had sent him to preach to them, and said: "Listen to the word of God, O ye fishes of the sea and of the river, seeing that the faithless heretics refuse to do so."
No sooner had he spoken these words than suddenly so great a multitude of fishes, both small and great, approached the bank on which he stood, that never before had so many been seen in the sea or the river. All kept their heads out of the water, and seemed to be looking attentively on St Anthony's face; all were ranged in perfect order and most peacefully, the smaller ones in front near the bank, after them came those a little bigger, and last of all, were the water was deeper, the largest.
When they had placed themselves in this order, St Anthony began to preach to them most solemnly, saying: "My brothers the fishes, you are bound, as much as is in your power, to return thanks to your Creator, who has given you so noble an element for your dwelling; for you have at your choice both sweet water and salt; you have many places of refuge from the tempest; you have likewise a pure and transparent element for your nourishment. God, your bountiful and kind Creator, when he made you, ordered you to increase and multiply, and gave you his blessing. In the universal deluge, all other creatures perished; you alone did God preserve from all harm. He has given you fins to enable you to go where you will. To you was it granted, according to the commandment of God, to keep the prophet Jonas, and after three days to throw him safe and sound on dry land. You it was who gave the tribute-money to our Saviour Jesus Christ, when, through his poverty, he had not wherewith to pay. By a singular mystery you were the nourishment of the eternal King, Jesus Christ, before and after his resurrection. Because of all these things you are bound to praise and bless the Lord, who has given you blessings so many and so much greater than to other creatures."
At these words the fish began to open their mouths, and bow their heads, endeavouring as much as was in their power to express their reverence and show forth their praise. St Anthony, seeing the reverence of the fish towards their Creator, rejoiced greatly in spirit, and said with a loud voice: "Blessed be the eternal God; for the fishes of the sea honour him more than men without faith, and animals without reason listen to his word with greater attention than sinful heretics."
It turns out Bush didn't lie after all. The Anchoress has the full story with all the links, etc.
I hope you know that this isn't going to turn any of your "Bush lied products" into collectors items. There are too many of them.
From the Vatican Information Service:
VATICAN CITY, 6 JUN 2008 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father received prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, who have just completed their "ad limina" visit.
In his English-language remarks to the prelates, the Pope pointed out that their visit to Rome coincides with preparations for the Pauline Year, and he invited them to follow the example of that Apostle, "outstanding teacher and courageous witness to the truth of the Gospel".
"The Church's faith in Jesus is a gift received and a gift to be shared; it is the greatest gift which the Church can offer to Asia", said the Pope quoting the Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia". And he went on: "Happily, the peoples of Asia display an intense yearning for God. In handing on to them the message that you also received, you are sowing the seeds of evangelization in fertile ground.
"If the faith is to flourish, however", he added, "it needs to strike deep roots in Asian soil, lest it be perceived as a foreign import, alien to the culture and traditions of your people. Mindful of the manner in which St. Paul preached the Good News to the Athenians, you are called to present the Christian faith in ways that resonate with the 'innate spiritual insight and moral wisdom in the Asian soul', so that people will welcome it and make it their own".
The Holy Father proceeded with his discourse to the bishops: "In particular, you need to ensure that the Christian Gospel is in no way confused in their minds with secular principles associated with the Enlightenment. On the contrary, by 'speaking the truth in love' you can help your fellow citizens to distinguish the wheat of the Gospel from the chaff of materialism and relativism. You can help them to respond to the urgent challenges posed by the Enlightenment, familiar to Western Christianity for over two centuries, but only now beginning to have a significant impact upon other parts of the world. While resisting the 'dictatorship of positivist reason' that tries to exclude God from public discourse, we should welcome the 'true conquests of the Enlightenment' - especially the stress on human rights and the freedom of religion and its practice".
"This Pauline apostolate", said Pope Benedict, "requires a commitment to inter-religious dialogue, and I encourage you to carry forward this important work, exploring every avenue open to you. I realise that not all the territories you represent offer the same degree of religious liberty, and many of you, for example, encounter serious difficulties in promoting Christian religious instruction in schools".
"In the context of open and honest dialogue with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and the followers of other religions present in your respective countries, you assist your fellow citizens to recognise and observe the law 'written on their hearts' by clearly articulating the truth of the Gospel.
"In this way, your teaching can reach a wide audience and help to promote a unified vision of the common good. This in turn", the Pope concluded, "should help to foster growth in religious freedom and greater social cohesion between members of different ethnic groups, which can only be conducive to the peace and well-being of the entire community".
AL/.../MALAYSIA:SINGAPORE:BRUNEI - VIS 080606 (550)
Finally finished Jonah's book Liberal Fascism yesterday, which worked out perfectly since I just received another book, What I'd Say to the Martians by Jack Handey, for my birthday. Much lighter I have to say, and if you are a fan of Handey's "deep thoughts", this is a must read. He has extended his parody from short quips into essay-length pieces so it's sort of like reading Dave Barry only much funnier. I was literally crying with laughter at the chapter entitled "The Animals All Around us", but that's a-whole-nuther topic. Obviously if you hate Jack Handey and deep thoughts you'll hate his new book and you probably hate this blog, so maybe you should go stick pins in your eyeballs or something.
Anyway, found this to be very insightful from one of Jonah's astute readers:
Finally, you connect fascism with some version of nationalism. I have thought long about this connection, first suggested perhaps by the notion of "socialism in one country". And there is a tight connection, stemming from the fact that socialism doesn't work. So a state which adopts fascism will find itself slowly falling behind other states. In commerce, science, and culture, it will eventually become a laggard. What will be the defense against unflattering comparisons, not to mention increasing poverty as it loses in economic competition? Nationalism: restraints on trade and other exposure to wicked competitors. So fascism and nationalism really are siblings. But here is a major difference between today's liberal fascism and earlier varieties. Liberal fascism despises its own country. This one variation is a major departure from the fascisms of the twentieth century. Also, it will probably be the undoing of today's liberal movement.
