Thursday, March 31, 2005

Terri Martyred

Today, Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo, becomes a martyr for the mentally and cognitively disabled.

The Martyrdom of Theresa

Edith Stein was gassed by the Nazis on 9 August 1942. When she became a Carmelite nun of the Catholic Church, she became Teresa. The ages now know her as Saint Teresa Benedicta. Because of her Jewishness, the Nazis devalued her humanity and sent her to Auschwitz. American Daughter has a lovely illustrated post featuring others named Theresa.[Schiavo, martyr]

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Do Not Starve "The Least of These"

Michael Schiavo, Woodside Hospice and the Florida courts, during this Passion Week, have refused food and drink to the Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus taught:

"I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ..."

His followers asked, "... Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst .... and did not minister unto thee?"

Jesus said "Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."
~~Matthew 25:42-45, The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

Friday, March 25, 2005

Easter Blessings

Easter

Hot cross buns, white lilies too; Easter bunnies and colored eggs, are lovely reminders of the promise of Jesus, that we too will partake of resurrection.

Happy Easter from Neddy

Thursday, March 24, 2005

A Passion Play for 2005

A Play of Life and Death
The Passion Play which has been exhibiting on the pages of our newspapers and on the electronic screens of our world, during this Passion Week of 2005, has been truly extraordinary. Today is Maundy Thursday, the day of the Last Supper. Tomorrow comes Good Friday, the day of our Lord’s death. What has the judicial system of Caesar allowed to unravel before our eyes? What is to pass? An elderly mother is prevented by Caesar's armed officers, from placing a wet, cool cloth upon the parched lips of her dying daughter. What do our children learn? What price will we pay? Have we watched this scene before?

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

The Book of Matthew, Chapter 25, from the Holy Bible (KJV)
34: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37: Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38: When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39: Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40: And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44: Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45: Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Losing the Fight

Shakespeare Writes of Dying

"Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! he hates him much That would upon the rack of this tough world Stretch him out longer." ~~William Shakespeare, "King Lear", Act V, Scene 111, Kent speaking of the dying King Lear.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is a great book!


The author brings to life a forefather who left a more lasting legacy on American history than some of the men who attained the Presidency. The young Hamilton experienced a brutal childhood as an orphan in the West Indies, yet his inherent brilliance enabled him to become aide de camp to the great General George Washington, a battlefield hero, the primary author of the Federalist Papers, the catalyst for the two party political system, and the first Secretary of the Treasury. As the architect of our financial system, Hamilton's skill enabled our fledgling country to survive and prosper. Author Chernow masterfully writes the story of Alexander Hamilton as an entertaining and well-documented 700 plus page saga. Our forefathers were astonishing men, men of their times, and Ron Chernow tells us that Hamilton was one of them.

Editorials of Alexander Hamilton

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Always Choose Life

We laugh, we cry, we live, we die. That is our world of simple gifts and simple pleasures. Yet at times the simplicity becomes complicated by human interference. That seems to be the Terry Schiavo case in a nutshell. I may be wrong, as I have not followed the saga of the Schiavo/Schindler families as closely as have many bloggers, who are indeed having a profound effect on the fate of Mrs. Schiavo. There are many unanswered questions in my mind, such as why this woman was not given therapy if it could improve her life? If her husband had given up hope for her recovery and he wanted to remarry, why could he not divorce her? If her injuries had been caused by domestic violence, why was that not investigated fifteen years ago. There are always two sides to every story, and it may just be that neither side of this story is a "good" one. It may just be that the love of money is the root of the evil here.

In Terry's case, there are thousands, perhaps millions of people who would choose life for her. There are only a few people who want her to die. Why not let her live? It is simple; always choose life.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is the Sunday of the Passion:
It is right to praise you, Almighty God, for the acts of love by which you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. On this day he entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph, and was proclaimed as King of kings by those who spread their garments and branches of palm along his way. Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns in glory with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Almighty and everliving God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be make partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~~The Book of Common Prayer 1662

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

The Dolorous Passion

The Dolorous Passion of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, from the Meditations of ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH, was one of the key sources used by Mel Gibson in the film depiction of his vision of "The Passion of the Christ". The crucifixion as seen in the film, follows closely the visions of Sister Emmerich, recorded in the book "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ".



The Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich was an Augustian nun and mystic who lived in Germany between 1774 and 1824. Her visions of Biblical events were recorded by her secretary, the poet and writer Clemens Brentano. Never officially beautified or canonized by the Catholic Church, Emmerich remains a revered figure for her writings and for her alleged display of the stigmata, or bleeding from wounds in the hands and feet in the manner of Christ'’s suffering on the cross. Emmerich’'s visions included the events of the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, and detailed accounts of Jesus' arrest and crucifixion. Her disturbing, yet inspirational narrative of the crucifixion was more violent and detailed than the versions recorded in the Gospels, likely due to the influence of European medieval Passion Plays. Her writings have always been controversial. ~~from The Dolorous Passion

Learn About the Passion of Christ

Read it free! "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ" by Anna Catherine Emmerich, at Project Gutenberg

Friday, March 04, 2005

Are You Related To Everyone?

This is from StraightDope.com:
"If you go back far enough, however, pedigree collapse happens to everybody. Think of your personal family tree as a diamond-shaped array imposed on the ever-spreading fan of human generations. (I told you this was cosmic.) As you trace your pedigree back, the number of ancestors in each generation increases steadily up to a point, then slows, stops, and finally collapses. Go back far enough and no doubt you would find that you and all your ancestors were descended from the first human tribe in some remote Mesopotamian village. Or, if you like, from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

"These simple facts have given rise to some remarkable displays of statistical pyrotechnics. Demographer Kenneth Wachtel estimates that the typical English child born in 1947 would have had around 60,000 theoretical ancestors at the time of the discovery of America. Of this number, 95 percent would have been different individuals and 5 percent duplicates. (Sounds like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but you know what I mean.) Twenty generations back the kid would have 600,000 ancestors, one-third of which would be duplicates. At the time of the Black Death, he'd have had 3.5 million--30 percent real, 70 percent duplicates. The maximum number of "real" ancestors occurs around 1200 AD--2 million, some 80 percent of the population of England."
Are You Related to Yourself?

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Salted Peanuts

Someone I know very well loves to eat peanuts in the shell, but they must be "salted in the shell" peanuts. Since I know they don't grow in the peanut patch that way, I was wondering how do they salt peanuts while still in the shell? Here's the answer!