Bigger and Better Things

Red in the red. Caps out.

Dirk hit the...dirt. Dallas out.

My teams are out.

Now I have to come up with more subject matter. Yikes.

…By a strange co-inky-dink, a priest friend of mine from the Pittsburgh area is visiting this week.

Soon, he will return to the land of gleeful Penguins people. He promised that he would speak to them about our pain.

Yes, the Penguins won the series fair-and-square. But it hurts. It hurts…

…Did you know that, back in the late 19th century, the borough of Brooklyn was thick with trolley cars?

There were so many trolley car lines in Brooklyn that Manhattanites called their Brooklyn neighbors ‘trolley dodgers.’

This is the origin of the name of Manny Ramirez’s team…

Another question I have is: Why does Notre Dame University hold its graduation ceremony on Sunday? I thought college graduations were customarily held on Saturday, Sunday being the sabbath and a holy day…

…Finally, let’s discuss:

Was St. Matthias the first to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders from someone other than Christ Himself?

Game Seven!!! Plus, Trekkies Rejoice

Caps had to get a win in Pittsburgh. It was a serious nailbiter. And they won it!

Now the series returns to Washington for the deciding game on Wednesday evening. Huge.

..The other thing I forgot to tell you is that the new Star Trek movie is delightful.

It will satisfy anyone with fond memories of the original series.

Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy is the most brilliant casting in recent memory.

The movie is not for everyone. There is one dumb racy scene–thankfully very brief. A little bit too much noise and special effects. And the plot gimmick that allows for a certain cameo–well, it’s not the most plausible thing ever. But the cameo is worth it, well worth it…(Close your eyes if you want to be surprised when you see the move–in other words, don’t click)

Karl Urban

Capsize

C’mon Caps! Another loss in Pittsburg. Now we have fallen to 2-2 in the series, after a 2-0 start.

Quick turnaround for the next game: tomorrow night. Yanni rules the roost in Pittsburgh.

…Click here to read the text of Archbishop Burke’s talk at this morning’s Catholic Prayer Breakfast. (My favorite part is when he cited the Baltimore Catechism in paragraph three.)

Forgive me for saying that overall I find his speech rather turgid.

I agree with everything he said, of course. But I do not think this speech advanced the pro-life, pro-family argument very much.

I wish he had given a speech focused exclusively on what he said in paragraph 24. In my opinion, this is the territory that needs to be covered: the relationship between morality, law, individual freedom, and disputed metaphysical questions.

In other words: Why is it legitimate for us to say that the law must bind even people who disagree with our positions? How can we answer the supposed ‘separation of Church and state’ objection?

When the Holy Father visited the U.N. last spring, he tried to address this problem. Unfortunately, I think few people paid attention and/or understood what he was talking about.

What we are up against is: What is obvious to God-fearing people is NOT obvious to everyone else. In fact, many people think that we are obviously wrong to insist that human law must harmonize with God’s law. This Pulitzer-prize winner is one of those people.

Archbishop Burke rallied the troops. But he did not say anything that we troops–and everyone else–have not already heard.

Short-Pants Era and other Reminiscences

Mount Tabor, seen from the north

One year ago today, we priest-pilgrims with were with Archbishop Burke at the top of Mt. Tabor.