I’ve read the text. I’m no expert on the subject but I predict that if what’s at issue is what’s in the text, it falls short of directing the listener to vote or not vote for a particular candidate. You be the judge.

There is only one basic reason why Christianity exists and that is the fact that Jesus Christ truly rose from the grave.

The disciples never expected the resurrection. The unanimous testimony of all four Gospels is that the terrible death of Jesus on the cross entirely dashed all their hopes about Jesus and about his message. He was dead, and that was the end of it. They looked for nothing more, and they expected nothing more.

So as much as they had loved him, in their eyes Jesus was a failed messiah. His dying seemed to entirely rob both his teaching and even his miracles of any lasting significance.

And they were clearly terrified that his awful fate, at the hands of the Sanhedrin and the Romans, could easily become their awful fate. So they hid, trembling with terror, behind shuttered windows and locked doors.

When the Risen Christ suddenly appeared in their midst, their reaction was shocked incredulity. They simply could not believe their own eyes.

Reality only very slowly began to penetrate their consciousness when Jesus offers proof of his resurrection. He shows them the wounds on his hands, his feet, and his side. Jesus even allowed them to touch him. He breaks bread with them and eats with them. And only then could they admit to themselves what had seemed absolutely impossible – the one who had truly died had truly risen! The Crucified now stood before them as their Risen, glorious, triumphant Lord.

His rising from the grave was every bit as real as his dying on the cross. The resurrection was the manifest proof of the invincible power of Almighty God. The inescapable fact of the resurrection confirmed every word Jesus had ever spoken and every work Jesus had ever done.

The Gospel was the truth. Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel. Jesus was the Savior of the world. Jesus was the very Son of God.

There is no other explanation for Christianity. It should have died out and entirely disappeared when Christ died and was buried, except for the fact that Christ was truly risen, and that during the 40 days before his Ascension, he interacted with his Apostles and disciples, and on one occasion even with hundreds of his followers.

Today’s appointed Gospel reading for this Saturday in the Octave of Easter is taken from the 16th Chapter of Mark. It concludes with a command from the lips of Jesus, given to his disciples, given to the whole Church, given to you and me assembled here today: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

We heard in today’s Second Reading from the Acts of the Apostles that the same Sanhedrin that had condemned Jesus was amazed at the boldness of Peter and John. Perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they recognized them as companions of Jesus. They warned them never again to teach, or speak to anyone, in the name of Jesus.

But the elders and the scribes might as well have tried to turn back the tide, or hold back an avalanche. Peter and John had seen the Risen Christ with their own eyes. Peter and John were filled with the Holy Spirit. They asked whether it is right “in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

And Peter and John and all the Apostles, starting first in Jerusalem in Judea and Galilee and then to the very ends of the earth, announced the Resurrection and the Good News to everyone they encountered.

According to the clear testimony of the Scriptures, these Apostles had once been rather ordinary men – like you and me. Their faith hadn’t always been strong. They made mistakes. They committed sins. They were often afraid and confused.

But meeting the Risen Lord had changed everything about these first disciples, and knowing the Risen Lord should also change everything about us.

You know, it has never been easy to be a Christian and it’s not supposed to be easy! The world, the flesh, and the devil will always love their own, and will always hate us. As Jesus once predicted, they hated me, they will certainly hate you.

But our Faith, when it is fully lived, is a fighting faith and a fearless faith. Grounded in the power of the resurrection, there is nothing in this world, and nothing in hell, that can ultimately defeat God’s one, true, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

For 2,000 years the enemies of Christ have certainly tried their best. But think about it. The Church survived and even flourished during centuries of terrible persecution, during the days of the Roman Empire.

The Church survived barbarian invasions. The Church survived wave after wave of Jihads. The Church survived the age of revolution. The Church survived Nazism and Communism.

And in the power of the resurrection, the Church will survive the hatred of Hollywood, the malice of the media, and the mendacious wickedness of the abortion industry.

The Church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate.

May God have mercy on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ by how they vote and how they willingly cooperate with intrinsic evil.

As Christians we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, but as Christians we must also stand up for what we believe and always be ready to fight for the Faith. The days in which we live now require heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.

In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work – like that very first apostolic generation – we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.

Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like the first disciples locked up in the Upper Room.

In the late 19th century, Bismark waged his “Kultur Kamp,” a Culture War, against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany.

Clemenceau, nicknamed “the priest eater,” tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

Now things have come to such a pass in America that this is a battle that we could lose, but before the awesome judgement seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.

This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries — only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down. Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the instrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb.

No Catholic ministry – and yes, Mr. President, for Catholics our schools and hospitals are ministries – can remain faithful to the Lordship of the Risen Christ and to his glorious Gospel of Life if they are forced to pay for abortions.

Now remember what was the life-changing experience that utterly transformed those fearful and quaking disciples into fearless, heroic apostles. They encountered the Risen Christ. They reverenced his sacred wounds. They ate and drank with him.

Is that not what we do here together, this morning at this annual men’s march Mass?

This is the Saturday of the Octave of Easter, a solemnity so great and central to our Catholic faith that Easter Day is celebrated for eight full days, and the Easter season is joyously observed as the Great 50 Days of Easter. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ – risen from the grave – is in our midst. His Holy Word teaches us the truth. His Sacred Body and Blood becomes our food and drink.

The Risen Christ is our Eternal Lord; the Head of his Body, the Church; our High Priest; our Teacher; our Captain in the well-fought fight.

We have nothing to fear, but we have a world to win for him. We have nothing to fear, for we have an eternal destiny in heaven. We have nothing to fear, though the earth may quake, kingdoms may rise and fall, demons may rage, but St. Michael the Archangel, and all the hosts of heaven, fight on our behalf.

No matter what happens in this passing moment, at the end of time and history, our God is God and Jesus is Lord, forever and ever.

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Christ wins! Christ reigns! Christ commands!

Iowa History also used to be taught to Eighth Graders in Iowa. Maybe it still is. The curriculum used to require memorization of the names of the 99 counties in Iowa. By the time I hit Eighth Grade, it was no longer a requirement. I was disappointed.

Parenthetically, Nebraska, where I live now, still assigns a number to most of its counties. But the order it uses is more challenging: The counties are assigned a number from 1 to 93 based on the relative population of the county as of 1922, when the licensing system was begun. 

Here are the 99 counties of Iowa in alphabetical (and numerical) order.

1    Adair
2    Adams
3    Allamakee
4    Appanoose
5    Audubon
6    Benton
7    Black Hawk
8    Boone
9    Bremer
10  Buchanan
11  Buena Vista
12  Butler
13  Calhoun
14  Carroll
15  Cass
16  Cedar
17  Cerro Gordo
18  Cherokee
19  Chickasaw
20  Clarke
21  Clay
22  Clayton
23  Clinton
24  Crawford
25  Dallas
26  Davis
27  Decatur
28  Delaware
29  Des Moines
30  Dickinson
31  Dubuque
32  Emmet
33  Fayette
34  Floyd
35  Franklin
36  Fremont
37  Greene
38  Grundy
39  Guthrie
40  Hamilton
41  Hancock
42  Hardin
43  Harrison
44  Henry
45  Howard
46  Humboldt
47  Ida
48  Iowa
49  Jackson
50  Jasper
51  Jefferson
52  Johnson
53  Jones
54  Keokuk
55  Kossuth
56  Lee
57  Linn
58  Louisa
59  Lucas
60  Lyon
61  Madison
62  Mahaska
63  Marion
64  Marshall
65  Mills
66  Mitchell
67  Monona
68  Monroe
69  Montgomery
70  Muscatine
71  O’Brien
72  Osceola
73  Page
74  Palo Alto
75  Plymouth
76  Pocahontas
77  Polk
78  Pottawattamie
79  Poweshiek
80  Ringgold
81  Sac
82  Scott
83  Shelby
84  Sioux
85  Story
86  Tama
87  Taylor
88  Union
89  Van Buren
90  Wapello
91  Warren
92  Washington
93  Wayne
94  Webster
95  Winnebago
96  Winneshiek
97  Woodbury
98  Worth
99  Wright

Still, when I was a kid in the ’50s, dad’s store still sold boots and shoes, overalls, thread, needles and some bulk fabric. He didn’t have a cracker barrel, but customers would bring in their brown gallon jugs to have them refilled with vinegar for pickling, and we sold cookies in bulk (which meant I regularly helped myself to a Nabisco Devil’s Food Cake cookie). but I digress.

Red Ball Jets were manufactured in Mishawaka, Indiana, far away back East somewhere. They were high-top white canvas shoes that you just had to have for basketball and everything else. I went through several pairs during my youth, and they were great.

Skooldays.com describes them very well.

Red. Ball. Jets. To say the name was honorable, respectful. It evoked sport, basketball, and most of all speed. When you pulled the canvas sneakers out of the box, brand new and smelling of pungent rubber, it was almost a crime to put them on your feet. But you couldn’t wait to slip into your Red Balls.

Before Air Jordans infected youngsters with the hysteria for footwear, Red Ball Jets were there. These were the only canvas sneaker to put on your feet in the glorious carefree days of adolescence. Converse had All-Stars, Sears had Jeepers, and Keds had ProKeds, but kids only wanted one thing: Red Ball Jets. Produced from 1951 to 1971 by Red Ball Inc., Red Ball Jets had a fanatic following before the days of status symbols.

Uniroyal, the United States rubber company who made rubberized soles for Keds, bought the rights in 1971, but never produced any more of the shoes. Red Balls joined the ranks of Jeepers as long gone but not forgotten footwear.

The Mishawaka Rubber and Wollen Manufacturing Co. (”Ball Band”) produced some other superior boot products from slip-on galoshes (”rubbers”) to buckle (two, four and five), zippered, and waders. But my Red Ball Jets were the best!

President Barack Obama has suggested new ideas for excellence in the nation’s school system: a curriculum-based process that will include a variety of subjects ranging from literature to mathematics, science, arts and social studies, apparently no longer based on standardized tests. This sounds like an excellent idea, but it will be interesting to see it all explained.

The current system of financing schools based on test scores has done little to promote education beyond the mediocre level. Every child in the school was given the same test at “grade level,” but the pass-fail rate was based on all the children in the individual school, even those who may have been functionally impaired or fluent in a language other than English. Therefore, the schools that needed the most help with their student body got failing grades and help taken away, while schools in more stable neighborhoods reaped the rewards. One city went so far as to fire every teacher in the school, regardless of what the caliber of students — or teachers — may have been. It’s a good bet that the new teachers in that school won’t fare any better.

My wife, a former third-grade and high school teacher, got “hooked” on the TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? The whiz kids who supported the dopes trying to win money were usually far better at correctly answering the questions than the competitors. I can see why some would miss a math question, as current mathematics language is quite different than it was in the 40s and 50s when I was in school. However, some didn’t know east from west, couldn’t answer a simple geography or history question, and walked away looking dumber than a dodo bird, let alone a fifth grader.

Computer Literacy

In almost every European country, the kids are far ahead of the average American kid, university-ready the day they complete secondary education. This is not to say that our kids are dumb; most are far smarter than I could ever hope to be, especially when it comes to technology. While it is true that Americans are far behind in our average education — at least in many parts of the country — we are dealing with one noticeable disadvantage. The kids in any given American school may originate from 10 or more different places, each with a separate culture and achievement objective. One school in which my wife taught in Miami, Fla., had students from 27 different nations, speaking 10 or more different languages or dialects. Thus, how could they be expected to master a uniform test?At one time, I thought the difference between foreign schools and American schools was “individualism.” In America, one size does not fit all. It was “Theory Z” or some such nonsense that rewarded the group rather than the individual. It seemed, at the time (and there was at least one column on this topic) that the reason America was then ahead of the world was because of our rugged individualism. Then again, that was 20th century thinking. In the 21st century, it appears as though we’re all going to have to shape up and paddle the boat together. Our students need to become little cookie-cutter kids, all studying the same things in the same way and learning the same things all of the other kids in the world are learning, and doing it via computer.

Insurance Education

One item missing from the list of topics the Obama Administration considers to be essential for our students — a good list including art and music and science, and so on — was a course about how to deal with the real world. The United States, taking the rest of the world with us, found itself in a mess because we were led like sheep down a slippery path to the edge of a high cliff. Let’s reminisce for a moment: “For nothing down and an adjustable rate mortgage forever, you, too, can own a home. Look at those AAA-rated bonds. Hurry!”So over the cliff we fell. About 100 years ago, Phineas T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” How right he was! In an interview with the head of one of the big New York investment bankers, the interviewer asked whether buying, “default credit swaps” — basically bets that bonds the same firm peddled to customers would fail — wasn’t dishonest. “No,” he replied, “it was risk management.” Yes, “hedging” is a form of risk management; however, it usually refers to having alternatives available in the event of an unanticipated disaster. The investment bankers anticipated the bond failures.Quality education is never static. I was reminded of this while watching an old movie on TCM about a British school master. Even in America in the 19th century, every student in a good school was learning Greek, Latin, Shakespeare, philosophy, and the “classics.” Apparently Obama’s plan is to return to some of that, but not all of it, as other subjects have become much more important. One is grammar. On a recent trip, I was amazed to hear some college-educated people saying things like, “Me and him went fishing” or “Where’s he gone to?”

No matter whether high school students are headed for college or “blue collar” jobs, they need to know how to get along in the world. I had a nephew who didn’t know how to address an envelope — and he was a college grad. E-mail, text messaging, and now tweeting have virtually killed the art of writing a personal or business letter. Communication may be instant, but it often is unclear, which can lead to mistakes and confusion.

A neighbor who dealt in life insurance and I decided to see if we could write a textbook for high school students that explained insurance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 2.3 million people are employed in the industry, over 60 percent by insurers and the rest in related industries. That is down from what it was in the 1990s, when nearly 10 percent of the nation’s employees worked in some sort of insurance-related activity. One caveat is that the Bureau statistics probably didn’t include employment such as body shop repairmen, repair contractors, clerical workers in physicians’ offices and hospitals, or attorneys who work for or against insurers.

We thought our textbook idea would be a winner. We started with the fascinating topic of insurance history and then discussed the principles of risk and risk management. We progressed to the basics of the types of insurance everyone will purchase at some point in their lives: life, health, auto, or dwelling insurance. We then touched on some aspects of business insurance, simply outlining the options available.

There was no market for such a book. No publisher was interested. Admittedly, we did not try the Texas Textbook Commission, which has the power to set the standards for what goes into school textbooks nationwide. Even so, I doubt it would have made such a book marketable. Maybe the fact that it was a “book” was the problem. Many kids simply don’t read books anymore, at least in the traditional sense. They read computer screens.

As this is being written, the day after the House passed the Health Insurance Bill, it is still unclear as to whether the insurance reforms in the watered-down legislation will pass. It has to survive further battles in the Senate, and new bills to repeal it in both houses of Congress, plus a number of state challenges exist. Either way, it will impact high school and college students who know little more about insurance than that disability insurance is sold by a duck and auto insurance by a gecko.

While the kids may not be learning about insurance and risk, it seems that many of their parents are equally clueless. On a recent trip, we witnessed a number of auto wrecks. From what we could discern in most of these cases, drivers’ education was as lacking as insurance information. People went zooming by far in excess of speed limits, running red lights, turning left in front of oncoming vehicles whose drivers had to slam on the brakes, and rolled right through stop signs. As one can imagine, there will be a need for auto claim adjusters for the foreseeable future.

One of the aspects of the new insurance bill — provided that it survives the challenges — is a state-by-state pool of insurers for higher risk applicants, as purchasing health insurance will be mandatory. Apparently people are confused by such a process, and call it “socialism.” Why they are confused is a mystery to me. This has been around the auto industry for decades, and it is called financial responsibility laws and the “assigned risk pool.” If the 14 percent of Americans now uninsured for health insurance join the 86 percent of us who currently pay for their costs through our taxes and own insurance premiums, there should be some improvement in the system. Undoubtedly there will be further fiddling around with the system, so we can’t expect for things to get cheaper.

One thing is certain, though: like all new programs, it is bound to be more confusing. We all just may need a new textbook to understand it.

2011 was the year of the new house. We broke ground in April and moved in December 29. In our shirtsleeves. The warmest and dryest winter I can remember. I predict lots of cold and snow before next April.

We’re still finding our way around the house–what switches go where–and loving the quiet, after six months in the apartment.

The coming year, 2012, holds lots of promise. Lord willing, Elza will have a baby brother or sister, Mike will be an M.D. and Grace will have a basketball hoop somewhere at the new house.

May you all enjoy a blessed New Year!

It is refreshing to see all the comment in the news–on TV, in the newspapers and on the web on a topic other than, well, you know.

There was one surprise. I was surprised that last Sunday a close loved one remarked after mass, “I didn’t notice anything different.” Clearly, some folks just went along, reciting the same words they had been reciting since the 60s, paying no heed at all to the Church’s efforts to educate during the past year. So they didn’t notice anything different at all! This was my “aha” moment for the week. Clearly, the Holy Spirit (anyone for Holy Ghost?) has a sense of humor.

Most refreshing for me, however, is the NOET (new, old English translation) of Credo, as in  Credo in Unum Deum. For the past generation, this has been translated “We believe in one God…, We believe….” Now it is correctly translated “I believe in one God…, I believe…, etc. I haven’t researched the new translation of the Baptismal Rite, but expect and hope it will similarly place the responsibility on the individual (”I”) rather than on the group (”we”). For if “we” undertake to assure the proper catechesis of our friends and family, somebody else (nobody) will do it. But if I undertake to do so, maybe it will actually get done. At least responsibility will be squarely lodged where it belongs.

May you enjoy a Blessed Advent and Christmas!

Without further ado, here are the Seven Spiritual works of Mercy.
Not everyone is considered capable or obligated to perform the first three spiritual works of mercy if they do not have proper tact, knowledge or training to do so. The last four are considered to be the obligation of all people without condition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_Mercy

1. Instruct the uninformed
2. Counsel the doubtful
3. Admonish sinners
4. Bear wrongs patiently
5. Forgive offenses willingly
6. Comfort the afflicted
7. Pray for the living, the sick and the dead

It is indeed challenging to discuss these themes with our family and friends. Remember the old saw-never discuss religion or politics? Hogwash! Let’s not be afraid to express what we believe in.

From one of my favorite writers, Fr. Bill Breslin, on the readings for this weekend.

Homily for Sunday, September 4, 2011

Whenever I hear of tremendous conflicts that people are having with someone else I think of this selection from Matthew 18 as appropriate guidance: talk to the person directly but keep it between the two of you, maybe the problem can be solved by just an honest conversation.  If that doesn’t work, take one or two people with you to bring some objectivity into solving the problem.  If that doesn’t work, take it to the church, a larger group of believers, to seek their help.  If that doesn’t work, then treat that person as an outsider.  Stop fretting about it and move on with your life.  Very sound wisdom.

But!  But as I read this Gospel in the context of the rest of Chapter 18 of Matthew and see what Scripture the Church has given us from the Old Testament to match this Gospel, I see something far more important than a method to solve our squabbles.

What is going on in Matthew 18?  The movement is this: Jesus warns his disciples to be like children, be humble and don’t inflate your self-importance.

Then, speaking of children, Jesus warns his disciples to steer very clear of causing scandal to a child “for it would be better to have a great millstone fastened around your neck and be thrown into the sea” rather than you would ever cause a little one to sin.

Then comes the parable of the lost sheep and how the good shepherd would leave the 99 to go in search of one lost sheep.

Then comes today’s gospel account of Jesus’ guidance on how to go about reconciling in the church, along with the power of binding and loosing, a power given to the church that even heaven itself will heed.

So, can you see that this is about something far more important than our squabbles.  It’s about how we go about being church.  It’s about being humble and never giving cause to one of these little ones to sin so as to lose the redemption won at such a great cost as our Savior’s blood.  It’s about how important it is that we seek out and lead back anyone who goes astray.  And, in today’s gospel, it’s about the importance of giving fraternal correction.

And what exactly is fraternal correction?  One of the greatest teachers of the faith lived in the late 300’s AD.  St. John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, was one of the most effective preachers in the whole history of the church.  He describes this fraternal correction in this way:  “You will be doing everything for the glory of God if, when you leave this place, you make yourselves responsible for saving a brother or sister, not just by accusing and rebuking him or her, but also by advising and encouraging, and by pointing out the harm done by worldly amusements, and the profit and help that come from our instruction.”

Ah, so the context of fraternal correction has to be in loving our neighbor as ourself, for we don’t want to lose our own salvation, do we?

But alas, we are in danger of watching our society and our loved ones slide into hell without a word of admonition from us.  Perhaps we do not believe anymore that people can lose their salvation!  Or perhaps we do not love enough so as to risk rejection from speaking the truth to someone who has turned his or her back on Christ.

St. John Chrysostom talks about our willingness to care enough about others to help bring them back to the Lord.  He says,  “You will also be preparing for yourself a double reward, since as well as greatly furthering your own salvation, you will be endeavoring to heal a fellow member of Christ’s body. It is the Church’s pride, it is the Savior’s command, not to be concerned only about our own welfare, but about our neighbor’s also.

“Think to what high honor you raise yourself when you regard someone else’s salvation as a matter of extreme importance. As far as is humanly possible you imitate God himself, for listen to what he says through the prophet: “Whoever leads another from wrong to right will be as my own mouth.”

So, today’s reading from Ezekiel makes even more sense:  We, the church, all of us, are to be watchmen, sentinels, who have a vantage point on what is happening to our world and how much danger we are all in. Hear what the Lord says to the watchmen:  “If I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.

Is your love for your loved ones strong enough to take this risk?

I will have to look up Mark Twain’s biography of Joan of Arc which he regarded his best work.