There is a Moral Duty to Vote! Get Ye to the Polls!

Editor's note: Yesterday Archbishop Vigano released a letter to the voters of America. He was the papal nuncio of the United States from October 2011 until April 2016. Presumably he became very familiar with the situation here during that time. While I don't agree with everything the archbishop has done, I believe he is a Catholic prelate with a true love for the faith and a desire to clean up the mess caused by the influence of termites into the sanctuary of the Church.

Of Soap Operas, Duties, and Charity!

Is your life like a soap opera? What will happen next?

I've come to the conclusion that everybody on the planet lives in a soap opera. And, in fact, that's probably the reason soap operas are popular. Focusing on the problems of your favorite soap characters takes your mind off your own personal, homegrown drama for at least a little while.

Queen Elizabeth was a Woman of Strength and Discipline Who Gave Us an Example of Dignity....

...and dedication to duty. May she rest in peace. 

In this television broadcast Queen Elizabeth expressed appreciation for the "ageless ideals" that many were throwing  aside "as if they were old and outworn machinery." 

She also said, "I am not surprised that many people feel lost and unable to decide what to hold onto and what to discard." She warned that thoughtless people “would have religion thrown aside, morality in personal and public life made meaningless, honesty counted as foolishness and self-interest set up in place of self-restraint.” Those words are as timely today as when they were spoken. 

Embracing Duty and Honor to Make "Something Beautiful for God"

Thank you, St. Joseph, for
showing fathers how to be
dutiful dads!

Snippets of two poems are running through my head today. The first one is:

I could not love thee, dear, so much

Loved I not honor more.

Those lines come from Richard Lovelace's poem, To Lucasta, Going to the Warres (1649) Here's the whole thing, a lovely poem worth the trouble to memorize.

Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,

That from the nunnery

Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind

To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,

The first foe in the field;

And with a stronger faith embrace,

A sword, a horse, a shield.

What the H, E, Double L is the Pastoral Approach? Well, I'll Tell You

The definition of “pastoral” when used as a noun means, “a work of literature portraying an idealized version of country life.”  In other words it is romanticized and washed of things like drought, weeds, wolves, snakes, insect pests, and life threatening injuries that can occur in the course of performing the duties of life on a farm.