I invite you to sign The Manhattan Declaration

The Manhattan Declaration

Theodore's Memorial Video

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Infertility

Our prayers never go unanswered. Too often, though, the answer from God is not what we want; 'no' is seen as a reason to continue asking and praying for whatever we desire.

Such is our case with having more children. Our youngest living child is two and a half years old, and we lost Therese in October of 2007. This should have been the point in our lives where wifeofdadwithnoisykids would be very uncomfortable, but instead we feel a sense of loss and emptiness. A few grams of 'product of conception' still have the strength to break a mother and father's hearts - even months after leaving us.

Words of consolation are hard to find, especially when people remind us of the blessings we do have in our living children. But like the lost sheep out of one hundred, we feel the loss of each child who has left us. I try to help my wife as well. I remind her that I did not marry her to have a whole bunch children; that the fruit of our union was just an added blessing to our marriage. She replied that WAS why she married me, and I seem to be failing her. She was kidding, of course. She married me for my charm and my qualities as excellent 'arm candy.'

Even our children's prayers cry out to God. Recently, Noisykid #8 prayed for Mom to 'get that pregnancy test right.'

At this point, actions must be joined with our prayers. No, I am not suggesting anything which would go against the law of God. No animal husbandry techniques for humans here! And no need for the 'little blue pill' which was approved by the FDA ten years ago today.

No, there are other things which can be done to get God's attention. Let me elaborate.

1. From now on, I'm going to live as if there were no more children coming down the pike.

2. I'm going to buy a two-seat sports car - just room for me and my wife.

3. It's time we travel a bit. There are cruises put on by Catholic apologetics groups, and we would love to go on a cruise - once again, just the two of us.

4. Rome. Need I say more?

5. Time to buy a big tract of woodland in East Texas and start that ranch I've always wanted.

6. Take up some expensive hobby.

7. Write the book 'Cheaper by the Dozen - Not!'

8. In short, I shall try to become the most self-centered son-of-a-gun possible; where only the Grace of God and a set of twins could save me from this road to perdition.

*****

Speaking of roads, right now I am traveling toward Houston to visit friends.

When I am not tapping away at my Blackberry's little keyboard, I am praying for the repose of the soul of a young woman I never met who died on a highway up in Michigan last night. The loss that her family is experiencing is one I can't imagine.

Yes, I have MOST of the Noisykids and my wife with me.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Chicken Dance Chicken Encore

People Love the Chicken Dance Chicken!

What says 'Happy Easter' more than a Chicken Dance Chicken?

This year, make someone happy with his or her own Chicken Dance Chicken. Kids who are otherwise sweet little darlings will come to blows over a Chicken Dance Chicken.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Another Priest Gone


On Easter Sunday, Fr. Mary Philip Wurth, OCD, died.


We knew him from our time in San Antonio, Texas, where Fr. Mary Philip was at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine and Basilica.
He was a good priest, a good confessor, and gave great homilies. He had a condition which caused his neck to be bent all the time - ankylosing spondylitis is my guess - but it did not keep him from fulfilling his duties. I think the picture above is him washing feet on some Holy Thursday long ago.
The past few years he was confined to a wheelchair. That is where he was the last time we saw him. He used to be in charge of cleaning up garbage around the Basilica, and used to use a weed-eater expertly, but all that work is ended for him.
Please pray for the repose of this good priest.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Wood Chips, Smoke, Diesel, and Sweat


Add to that a little bit of incense.

Happy and Blessed Easter!

Jesus is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

Now that I have celebrated the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I can tell some of the adventures over the past weeks of dadwithnoisykids, and explain the title of this blog entry.

On March 14-16, I went on a retreat of sorts with three of the boy Noisykids. I call it a 'retreat of sorts' because the weekend was more of a service retreat than a spiritual retreat. Still, God works in mysterious ways, and a memorable weekend doing cool boy stuff at a monastery could be the beginnings of a call to the priesthood or religious life.

I still recall participating in a Eucharistic Procession in Visp, Switzerland back in 1973. I think it was the first procession I ever was in. Of course, I recall that as a wonderful experience which certainly did not lead to a religious vocation - unless you consider being the head of a domestic church a religious vocation.

We went to Our Lady of the Annunciation Monastery of Clear Creek by Hulbert, Oklahoma. We went to see how the monks live, and to contribute some of our time as service to the monastery. We were part of a group of fathers and sons from our local home school group who traveled from the Dallas area, and the monk in charge of the property told us to bring tools for clearing brush. We spent Saturday clearing brush, piling it in big piles, and setting it on fire. Hog heaven for boys and men alike! I went to bed smelling of wood chips, smoke, diesel, and sweat.

We worked on a wooded slope, turning it into a smooth area to be seeded to make it pasture. We left some of the larger and healthier trees to give it some cover. It reminded me of a book I read about forests, fires and slopes - especially slopes where the fire outran the firefighters.




Young Men and Fire is a book by Norman MacLean about the Mann Gulch Fire in Helena National Forest, Montana. But I don't want to talk about THAT book right now; someday I shall review it.


No, on this retreat weekend, I took the Rule of St. Benedict with me. The Rule of St. Benedict is a list of rules drawn up by the saint on how to run a monastery. It included sections on the characteristics of an abbot(the head of the abbey), material needs of the monks(including a knife), discipline, and rules for when to say the various prayers that fill the day. Along the way, St. Benedict includes good advice for getting along with our peers or superiors - even for those who live in the world.


On Saturday night, we joined the monks for dinner. The dinner began with a tradition which is extended to all guests of the monastery: the abbot, or in this case, the prior, washes the hands of the guests before the meal. I had just read that in the Rule of St. Benedict!


I was also warned that the meal would be very,very brief.


After washing our hands, dinner began with a prayer(Latin) and a reading from the Rule of St. Benedict. Once again, I had just read the chapter on the care for sick monks. After the reading, we sat, and as the monk who was doing the reading began a sermon from Pope Benedict XVI(from L'Osservatore Romano), dinner began.


The first course was a soup which I thought had lentils in it, but my sons told me later there were pieces of potato in it. I guess I did not stir it enough before trying it. Along with the soup we got whole wheat bread - rather plain, but still very good. I love wheat bread.


The second course was a large omelet rolled up and smothered with BARBECUE SAUCE! Now, for a transplanted Texan, everything goes better with either barbecue sauce or salsa. But I couldn't imagine what the predominantly French monks must have thought of the combination. It was delicious.


Dessert consisted of rice pudding and prunes. Yes, I ate prunes.


All of the food was good, and if I were inclined I could have eaten more. As I drank some of the water poured for me by the guest sitting across from me, I suddenly realized what all the banging and clattering was that started with the beginning of the meal. The monks had metal plates, and were eating faster than we were - only they were not enjoying the same three courses that we had. As I finished my prunes, I realized that the monks seemed to be wiping their plates clean. After dinner grace was chanted in Latin, and we were escorted out of the refectory. As we left, my sons saw some monks sitting back down to eat. I explained to them that those were the monks who served while the rest were at table, and I told them how St. Benedict's rule stipulated that the reader during meals was to drink some dilute wine before dinner to sustain him.


One of the priests showed us around parts of the monastery, and showed us the model for completed monastery. It was sitting on the floor, and I almost backed up and stepped on it. Perhaps my boot heel mark would have been incorporated into the final design of the church.


The Masses - Low and High


Saving the best for last, I must describe the Mass. On Saturday morning, we attended the Low Mass - all 8 of them. With six side altars, and two altars in the Crypt Chapel(the rest of the church is still under construction), the monks split up and celebrated Mass at all of these locations. Beautiful. Mass was in Latin, and I followed along in the Mass books which were provided. There were some times when I was not sure what to do, such as when the priest to my immediate left elevated the Precious Body while the priest at the main altar was still saying the prayers of consecration. I ended up acknowledging Our Lord each time He was elevated.


Palm Sunday High Mass was 2.5 hours long - something to consider when bringing the whole Noisykid gang to the monastery. Even I, stoic dadwithnoisykids, was whining around the end of Mass. But it was a beautiful Mass, complete with the Passion of Our Lord chanted in Latin. Once again, the books provided by the monks helped those of us who 'no habla Latin' to follow.






I could go on describing the good time we had on this weekend - the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours were wonderful - but your time would be better served looking at the website they have. I hope to take the whole family up to Our Lady of the Annunciation Monastery of Clear Creek soon, and I recommend it to you, also.

I wrote a note to the Prior, and I mentioned that I hope that this weekend started the seed of a religious vocation. I figure that God used a burning bush to call Moses, so perhaps a pile of brush burning in the hills of Oklahoma may have the same effect on some of my children.

Now, lets see what I got in my Easter basket:


Monday, March 17, 2008

Holy Week Music

Agnus Dei(Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings):




The past two weeks have been very busy - including a weekend retreat at a monastery in Oklahoma - obviously too busy to blog about. Someday I shall get more posts on this blog....

Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

Friday, March 07, 2008

I am Really 100% Irish...

...born of parents who were 100% Irish(both families settled in Philadelphia)

But after reading some of questions, I couldn't say yes to all of them.






You're 85% Irish



Congratulations, you're a shining example of an Irish lass (or lad).

There's hardly anyone more Irish than you!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Wednesday Thoughts

Electoral Fun

Life in Texas has been very busy. I have spent most of my nights for the past week fielding calls from various political personalities. Just last night, I spoke to Barack Obama, Cindy McCain, and Governor Rick Perry. Last week I spoke for quite a while with Hilary.

I was touched, humbled, to know that my vote was important enough to warrant a personal phone call from the 'movers and shakers' in both parties. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that my blog is read inside the 'Beltway' by someone, and that the political bosses see me as an influential force to be reckoned with in the blogosphere. In short, someone is trying to 'influence' me.

Today the phones are quiet. I feel neglected.

I got the feeling that I was witnessing the start of a whole lot of new friendships, and perhaps a new career as a political consultant - a breath of fresh air for Washington; a change from politics as usual. Of course I would miss the medical practice, but when called to serve one must answer in the affirmative. It is a thankless, lonely calling, but I would be ready to answer the call in the only way any of us would answer it: YES WE CAN!

Classified Section: Infirmarians Wanted

At a recent funeral for our dearly departed Fr. James Downey, I got to thinking about the medical care the monks up in Atchinson, Kansas must get. What prompted this distraction from prayer was seeing one of the monks in a wheelchair. This monk reminded me of another priest we know who is also wheelchair-bound. I suddenly got the idea for certain medical types who seem to be wrestling with a religious calling: why not combine primary care with the monastic life? I have suggested this to some people, and they all think it is a great idea. The only problem is that all of them are married, and could not leave the world without leaving behind some very upset families.

Death and the Miser:


This painting, by H. Bosch,was featured on last Sunday's notes at Mass. Fr. W. pointed out how this painting shows a man, a miser, who is seen at two stages in life. In the foreground, he is up and putting coins into a strongbox. The armor suggests that he was a knight at one time, and must have made quite a bit of money in the process. In the background, we see the miser on his deathbed, with Death himself entering the room. Note how his guardian angel is trying to make him look at the Crucifix in the window above - to turn his thoughts toward God. Unfortunately the miser seems more interested in the money one of the many demons is handing to him....




This painting shows the problems of an unprovided death, along with the hand of Mercy that God will always extend to us. There is a lot to think about in this painting, but I was drawn toward the demon with the bag of gold.

To me, it looks as if Bosch spent some time watching Saturday monster movies in his childhood. I think he took the Creature from the Black Lagoon as his model for the demon with the gold.

I leave this up to you, the reader to decide.

Dangerous Stuffed Animals

And you thought Scorpions stalking ducks were bad, look at these stuffed animals at this website: Giant Microbes(dot)com . Check out my favorite, the Ebola virus.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

A Short Film



From May, 2006

REPORT OF A BIRD STRIKE

We regret to inform you....

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL REPORT OF A BIRD STRIKE

APPROXIMATELY 0745 ON 1 MARCH 2008

EASTBOUND ON FM 664 OVILLA ROAD IN RED OAK TEXAS

WEATHER OVERCAST WITH VISBILITY 1 MILE CEILING OF 500 FEET AND 54 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT TEMPERATURE

VEHICLE 2006 FORD 7 PERSON EXPLORER VICTOR DELTA CHARLIE WITH V-6 ENGINE

OWNER OPERATED

TWO ADDITIONAL SOULS ON BOARD SPOUSE AND YOUNGEST CHILD

SPEED APPROXIMATELY 45 MILES PER HOUR

DRIVER NOTED BIRD FLYING SOUTH AT LEVEL OF GRILL OF VICTOR DELTA CHARLIE

NOTED BIRD AT APPROXIMATELY 1 YARDS OUT FROM COLLISION

COLLISION FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY AFTER VISUALIZATION

NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS

DRIVER INDICATES THAT BIRD MOVED OUT OF VISUAL FIELD OF OWNER

BIRD NOT VISUALIZED IN REAR VIEW MIRROR ASSUMED TO HAVE SUSTAINED LETHAL INJURIES

NO LOSS OF CONTROL OF VEHICLE

NO DAMAGE TO VICTOR DELTA CHARLIE UPON INSPECTION AT COMPLETION OF FIRST LEG OF MISSION

THIS REPORT HAS BEEN GENERATED AS A SAFETY MESSAGE TO ALL WHO MAY BE DRIVING EXPLORERS

THIS IS THE FIRST BIRD STRIKE FOR THE VEHICLE VICTOR DELTA CHARLIE

THERE WERE PREVIOUS REPORTED BIRD STRIKES FOR THE 2005 FORD VAN SIXTY ONE PAPA BIG BLUE MIRACLE

THERE WERE MULTIPLE REPORTED BIRD STRIKES WITH THE 1997 FORD VAN YANKEE HOTEL JOLIET GREAT WHITE

THERE WERE NO REPORTS OF BIRD STRIKES WITH THE 1998 EXPLORER NOVEMBER VICTOR DELTA THE AARDVARK

NOVEMBER VICTOR DELTA WAS FORMERLY BRAVO SEVENTY SIX ALWAYS KNOWN AS THE AARDVARK

WE WILL CONTINUE MONITORING THESE INCIDENTS

DAD WITH NOISY KIDS

Our Lady of the Mysterious Decapitation

Our Lady of the Mysterious Decapitation
Now restored with the help of some cement!

Prayer to Our Lady of the Mysterious Decapitation

Mary my mother, take my hand today, and all days.
Lead me away from all occasions of sin.
Guide me in fulfilling your last words in the Gospel,
"Do whatever He tells you."
Amen.

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