Heaven

Anyone spend time meditating on Revelation 21 lately? And why not?

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Easter season. Things we believe in. So far we have considered the following:

We believe in one thing, namely ______. God.

Two fundamental mysteries of faith: __________ and _______________. Trinity, Incarnation.

The articles we believe, spelled-out in the __________. Creed (not the band).

We see, hear, smell, taste, touch the external, material elements of the sacraments; we believe they give us invisible ________. Grace.

Ok. The next topic regarding our faith, appropriate for the Easter season: The triune God brought about the Incarnation, accomplished everything summarized in the Creed, and gives us grace in the sacraments, all for one ultimate reason: So that we can get to ______________.

Interesting Weekend

Ralph McInerny, 1929-2010

Ralph McInerny was a bright light.

He patiently shone the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas into the darkness of post-Vatican-II American Catholic life.

I had the privilege of taking Dr. McInerny to dinner when he visited Catholic University at my invitation in 2001.

His death is a great loss.  May he rest in peace.

…Federer won his Australian Open semifinal in straight sets. He did not face a single break point.

Can Andy Murray beat him in the Final–at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow on ESPN2?

Does the full moon sometimes appear twice in a month? Yes, but…(Next blue moon: August 31, 2012.)

Speaking of Blue: Do I want the Hoyas to beat Duke real bad? Do I want it never to snow again in the history of the world?

Do bees buzz? Does Spock beam up?

…If you are young, and want to learn how to find God’s will for you, check out this website and this Facebook group.

Not Much in Common

I do not think that “iPad” is a very good name for a computer.

…As you may recall, I really got a lot out of the George Clooney movie about frequent-flier miles. The movie hit me between the eyes.

Then I read a review that made me wonder: Was I imagining things? Or does Commonweal hire blind people to review movies?

…On January 28, we keep the feast of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Thomas was a theologian and teacher. He wrote countless books. He accomplished the greatest of all feats: He never over-stated his case.

Our knowledge of God remains in a certain darkness of ignorance–ignorance through which we are united to God in the best way, at least in the present life.

…Rock on, Tim Tebow!

Too bad about Delpo getting knocked out of the Australian Open.

Fig in Leaf

Just before the Lord Jesus embraced His bitter Passion, He sat on the Mount of Olives with His disciples and outlined the signs of the end of the world. Almost everything He said was utterly terrifying.

From where the Lord and the disciples were sitting, they could see the enormous Temple built by King Herod the Great.

“There will not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down,” Christ said.

And it got worse:

“Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes, famines…” “You will be beaten in synagogues…” “Brother will hand over brother to death…” “There will be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.” “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” “Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no living creature could be saved.”

(see Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)

It was a stunning, confusing discourse–more full of hellfire and brimstone than anything you have ever heard.

But then He concluded with a parable:

Consider the fig tree…When the buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near.

Consider the fig tree, budding. Consider the gentle warm air of the spring. Consider the prospect of a delicious fig, and of the shade under the tree.

So:

Fear the doom. Death and judgment are terrifying prospects. The Temple was in fact completely demolished. Strife and strain await.

But only fear so much as you can while you are meditating on the bud of a fig tree, and imagining the air of spring, and savoring the prospect of a juicy Fig Newton.

Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Nicholas Pouissin

P.S. Delpo rocked Federer again!

Just in Case…

…you were starting to worry that everyone in the world is rude and arrogant:

I.

It is worthwhile listening to the whole speech. You will weep when he talks to his family.

My favorite line: “Have you ever got on your knees and prayed really hard for something?”

II.

I had two dreams this week.

One was to win the U.S. Open and the other one is to be like Roger.

One is done, but I need to improve a lot to be like you. You fought until the final point; you are a great champion.

–Juan Martin del Potro

Being classy never goes out of style.

I am NOT making this up…

file photo

6′ 6″ Delpo just beat Roger Federer and won the U.S. Open.

The tall man has carried our banner into the stratosphere!!

100 Years of the Cathedral School for Boys

Andre Agassi, last to win U.S. Open in five-set Finals match

It has been a decade since a U.S.-Open Men’s Finals match went to five sets. Delpo just beat Federer in the fourth-set tiebreaker. The tall man is making Federer Federer. Very exciting…

My father, my brother, and I attended St. Albans School during some formative years of our lives. The school opened 100 years ago this fall.

I was pretty miserable at the time, but I thank God for my years at St. Albans.

I had more homework at St. Albans than I ever had in college or graduate school. The boys at the National Cathedral school were mean to each other, cruel. The cross-country coach made us run until we threw up.

But I came to understand four crucial things while I was a St.-Albans boy:

1. Being a gentleman is always its own reward.

2. The Church is as inevitable as the sun and/or moon.

3. Liberal Protestantism could not account for the truth of #1 and #2, so the discerning man looked to the Pope for clear teaching.

4. If you can write a clear sentence, you can make an impact in this world.

I wouldn’t be who I am without these precepts firmly entrenched in my mind. Therefore, I feel it is my duty to pray to God: “Vouchsafe thy blessing, we beseech Thee, O Lord, upon the School and upon all other works undertaken in thy fear and for thy glory,” as the St. Albans school prayer has it.

…More to come on Delpo and Roger…

Bizarre

Here is footage of the now-infamous episode:

Serena was penalized justly (and later fined). But let’s not judge anyone. In the heat of the moment, we can say things we regret.

The story does have a moral: If you are an athlete, never mouth-off at officials.

Leave it to somone else to complain. Let the fans boo. Let your coach console you later.

I remember losing a high-school basketball game that we should have won. After the game, the coach was not mad at us.

I was amazed. He loved to yell at us. He usually told us we should use rubber-bands and peanut shells for jockstraps. But this time he said, “You guys got a lot of bad calls.”

Never occurred to me during the game.

Why second guess officials? If you overcome bad officiating and win anyway, you are a hero. If you lose gracefully in the face of bad officiating, you are noble. But any player who yells at a referee looks like a spoiled child.

Forgive me for saying this…

…but, of all the sports action in greater NYC this weekend, I am actually more fired up for tennis than I am for the Redskins’ season opener.

(Click here for my predictions about opening the season against the Giants last year. I predict a similar outcome tomorrow.)

I know that American men are supposed to scoff at tennis and live and breathe football. Football is the more ‘manly’ game.

But:

First of all, I take Serena over Jason Campbell any day.

Secondly, these intriguing questions are swirling in the clouds over Queens:

Will Nadal rally and hobble his way to victory?

Will Federer Federer?

OR: Will Delpo carry the tall-man banner into the tennis stratosphere?

…There are not enough hours in the day to take in all the excitement, my friends.

From His celestial perch, high above the New York metropolitan area, the good Lord will watch all the tennis in Queens and all the football in north Jersey simultaneously.

The rest of us will have to be content with channel-flipping.

Labor of Love

Let’s say you are a defensive linebacker. Let’s say the other team just scored a touchdown. Then they try a two-point conversion.

Let’s say you intercept a pass on their conversion attempt. You run the ball back to the OTHER end-zone.

How many points does your team get?

Two points, chief. Two points.

Did you know that? I have been a football fan all my life, and I did not know it until yesterday.

John Isner

Speaking of college football, Florida beat Charleston Southern 62-3.

Impressive victory. But the Gators did not cover the spread, which was 63 points.

Yesterday was quite a day.

I was sorry to see Andy Roddick knocked out of the U.S. Open so quickly. On the other hand, we tall guys have to stick together. (John Isner is 6′ 9″.)

…It’s time for some new Bests.

The overwhelming winner of the First-Anniversary poll was: “This blog is best enjoyed with a cold one.”

…Happy Labor Day! The “labor of love” is your patient indulgence of this tedious blog, written by one of the worst priests ever ordained.

…Here is a mysterious saying of Christ: