The occasional, often ill-considered thoughts of a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who is ever grateful to God for his existence. Despite the strangeness we encounter in this life, all the suffering we witness and endure, being is good, so good I am sometimes unable to contain my joy. Deo gratias!


Although I am an ordained deacon of the Catholic Church, the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions. In offering these personal opinions I am not acting as a representative of the Church or any Church organization.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Storms, Papal Fur...

Imagine being stuck in a relatively modest retirement home with four grandchildren aged 1 to 7 awaiting the arrival of a tropical storm (and possible hurricane). Well, that's exactly the position I'm in. The youngest (Eduardo) is taking a nap while the other three watch some strange cartoon DVD. Mom and Grandma are out shopping for the staples needed to replenish the larder before the storm arrives. And I'm sitting in my comfortable overstuffed chair typing away while listening to Handel on my noise-canceling headphones. Somehow I can't picture our ancestors doing anything similar with a storm bearing down on them. Of course our ancestors wouldn't have known a storm was approaching until it was almost upon them. Which is worse, suffering through the week-long Weather Channel hype as the forecasters salivate over the possibility of reporting on another destructive storm, or being blindsided by a hurricane that seemingly comes out of the blue? Obviously the latter, but all the TV hype still irritates. And naturally we hope and pray that Fay changes course and either blows harmlessly out to sea or just peters out and simply provides our southern states with some needed rainfall. The photo shows the four little ones, obviously very nervous about the upcoming storm, gathered in that same comfortable, overstuffed chair.

Here's an interesting one that just reinforces the conviction that insanity reigns among a vocal if insignificant portion of the population. The animal "rights" folks in Italy petitioned Pope Benedict asking him to stop wearing any of the traditional papal fur-lined garments. Doing so would, they believe, be a sign of "love and peace to give a strong signal towards the protection of animals and the environment through a small but very significant personal sacrifice." (See CNS story.) But the best part is a response by Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Italy) : "There are human beings who merit more urgent assistance that no one is taking care of. And if we eat animals, we can wear them." Well said, Eminence.

Brief post today. Grandchildren call and hatches must be battened down.

Love the Lord and pray for His people.

4 comments:

  1. My parents are near you in Apopka and having grown up in Florida, I know the sense of anxiousness you're feeling with regard to the approaching storm. By all accounts, though, it shouldn't be too bad.

    You and yours are in my family's prayers.

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  2. Thanks, James. Yes, we’ve been through a few hurricanes that I’m sure were worse than Fay looks to be. Indeed, I was born in the middle of one…many years ago. And my wife, Diane, is a 5th generation Floridian who fortunately knows how to prepare for these things. I simply do what I’m told.

    Blessings,

    Deacon Dana

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  3. On the fur: a survey a few months ago said that more Americans think that it's immoral to wear fur (something like 70%) than think it's immoral to get a divorce or an abortion.

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  4. Hmmm..well then, maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps this vocal portion of society isn't so insignificant after all. How very sad that we've allowed our society's moral sense to become so skewed. And to think that today's materialists have the gall to call Christianity irrational! I believe that correcting the problem is now well beyond our mere human capabilities, and that only God can bring us back to sanity. Oremus!

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