Progressive AND Catholic???

The other day I received this article through my RSS feed to Catholic Online U.S. News. It was a good week because I also happened to pick up at the library A Dynamic God : living an unconventional Catholic faith by Nancy Mairs. I thought “Holy Cow or, I guess. Holy Jesus, Mary and Joseph I actually do exist. Because until now I thought Catholics were supposed to vote REPUBLICAN! Actually by getting on the Christian right bandwagon Christians of all denominations are doing themselves a real disservice. Have you ever noticed that in intellectual/progressive circles Christianity has developed a bad name? With so many Christians allying themselves with the Christian Right, Christianity has become synonymous in some peoples mind with right wing politics. Funny thing though, Jesus never actually had anything to do with either the Republican or the Democratic parties, despite what the Republican Party may claim. And I can’t believe that a God who believed in feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and helping the needy would support politicians who support greed. I know that the story is that the Republican Party has the upper hand in moral issues. I don’t buy it. To believe that you would have to reduce morality to issues of sexual plumbing. Even then these issues are much more complex than the pundits would have you believe. I am not saying that either party has a moral upper hand. Both parties are heavily indebted to lobbyists and at times it seems as if voters don’t even exist. The problem with a two party system is that neither choice is particularly wonderful. But I do support a progressive agenda and believe of the two parties that the Democratic Party is closest to progressiveness. A least hopefully they’ll get the troops out of Iraq, maybe institute universal health care, institute fair immigration policies, abolish the death penalty….Well a girl can always dream can’t she?

PJ and the Binky

PJ lately has a new love, other than the little girl at church.

We are a fellowship parish!

I am on the current womens team for Christ Renews his Parish at our parish in South Bend. Some of our talk has been around increasing fellowship in our parish. Happily 3 year old PJ is getting into the spirit. Yesterday at mass we asked him to turn around and face the front but he very loudly announced "NO, I'm talking to these guys". Later on I was surprised to see him scratching his head on the hand of the gentleman in the pew behind us, who blessedly didn't seem to mind. Later he grabbed the hand of the three year old girl also in the pew behind us and gazed fondly in her eyes and WOULD NOT LET GO. At the end of the mass Christina genuflected deeply before the host. Not PJ. He was out like a flash towards the parking lot, giving Mommy a chance just to give a nod as if to say "see you later Jesus". He stopped just long enough to take the obligatory slurp of the holy water.

Christina Ballerina

Four year old Christina is starting ballet in two weeks and she is totally psyched. For now she is "practicing" with Angelina!

A Trip to The Zoo

"I'm on my way to the zoo, the zoo, the zoo, the zoo, the zoo
The monkey cage is nearly full but I think there's still room for you!"
Robertson Davies
A Leaven of Malice

It was one of those ideas that seemed like a good idea at the time. Go to the Zoo member picnic, have supper with thousands of other Zoo supporters, see some animals, do some fun activities, ride the Zoo train and go home in time for bed, having had dinner. And the kids were so excited they are literally jumping up and down for joy. The first sign that it might go wrong appeared when we were walking to the zoo. It did seem as if there were a lot of cars parked along the street, by the way. Christina mentioned that the sun was going down. "No sweetie", I said, "its just cloudy outside". Did I remember the weather report mentioning rain???? No, I distinctly remember the weather report NOT mentioning rain. We turn into the parking lot. The line up seemed rather long. No as I look closer, the line up looks very very long. Christina and PJ attempt to bud in front of .....everyone. We wait in line for fifteen minutes, short considering the size. As we wait in line I am reminded again and again that the mosquito population in South Bend is the worst apparently in 18 years. We get to the front of the line and feel the first drops of rain. We decide to go into the reptiles and small mammals building and let the rain pass. It doesn't pass. We decide to take a trip on the zoo train and either go home and get pizza or get our zoo lunch. We get on the train and are told that the train is shutting down. We get off and go get our lunch. The kids are not happy to not be taking a trip on the zoo train. We stand in line for food. Now it is really pouring. Some children are running up and down the slippery hill and PJ and Christina join them. Darn it, where is Christina when I'm holding a bag, her doll, three lunches and three cups. There is an accident .....and....there goes supper. Pizza for dinner it is. All the way home Christina complains that she never wanted to go to the zoo......As I write this, its a quarter after nine and I'm still not sure when I'm geting the kids to bed.

A World of Temptation

Taking a preschooler and a toddler grocery shopping can be harrowing at times. It is me or is marketing junk food to kids becoming even more aggressive. Do "fruit" snacks really need to be shaped into every possible preschool marketing success story to make them more attractive to children? Isn't it enough that they are fruity flavored and loaded with sugar? Here is a partial list of the food that Christina tried with various levels of success to sneak into my grocery bask this morning:

1. Two boxes of sugar cookies
2. Muffins
3. A half watermelon cut in an interesting way
4. "jelly beans"
5. Post Honeycomb cereal
6. Fruit Loops
7. Nibs
8. Strawberry whoppers
9. Two packages of mini donuts, chocolate and crumb
10. Dora AND Blues Clues yogurt
11. Ice Cream
12. Ice Cream Treats
13. Ding Dongs
14. Pizza
and oh yes 15. Candy from the checkout strategically placed in prime "I want it territory"

Book Review - Tipperary by Frank Delaney

I was delighted to receive the Advance Reading Edition of Tipperary by Frank Delaney though LibraryThings Early Reviewers program, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Historical fiction is not a genre I usually gravitate towards, but I found the book beautifully written and was drawn in from the start. Charles O’Brien, the main character and an itinerant healer, issues a warning to “be careful of him” which was intriguing. O’Brien proved to be a likeable and fascinating main character. In fact it was hard to see why his love interest, April Burke, spurned him so!

What a life Charles O’Brien claims to have had! He inadvertently brought down Irish political hero Charles Parnell, is a healer at Oscar Wilde’s death bead, (this is where he meets Miss Burke and first hears the story of her claim on Tipperary castle) gives writing advice to the young James Joyce and become acquainted with George Bernard Shaw and William Butler Yeats. Finally he becomes involved in the Irish civil war and assists member of the Irish Republican Army.

Upon meeting April, O’Brien falls in love not only with her but with Tipperary Castle and tries to involve himself wherever he can in the upkeep and the restoration of this building that both he and April love so much. The descriptions of the Castle and of the Irish countryside are beautifully detailed.

A secondary narrator at first seemed intrusive, especially since I would have like to find out what was happening next, but as he gradually became more ingrained in the story and less dispassionate his insight became more and more important. This is especially true after the fourth chapter where he introduces himself and starts to give the reader some insight into his very personal interest into the story of Charles O’Brien and April Burke. Other narrators including Charles’ mother Amelia and Charles’ dear friend Joseph Harney add interesting perspectives on events as they unfold.

Delaney demonstrates in this book a great love of the Irish land and people and a tremendous grasp of Irish history. I found this book to be a very entertaining read and had no problem with the ambitious scope of this book. Even better the book held surprises right until the very end. I would definitely be interested in reading more by Frank Delaney.