From President Ronald Reagan . . .

President Ronald Reagan's quote:

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

Words to Silence a Room . . .

At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.

　
President Kennedy’s Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when  DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaulle said he wanted all US  Military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?"

DeGaulle  did not respond.

When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the  Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of  'empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of  its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom  beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for  in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers  were taking part, including French and American. During a break,  one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you  heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he  intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three  hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are  nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to  shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to  feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand  gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a  dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and  from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; How many does France have?"

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included  admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French  navies At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large  group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries.  Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a  French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many  languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that  we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than  speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the  Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't  have to speak German."

An elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked  sarcastically.

The man admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible.. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !"

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he  quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in  1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."

Easter Baking . . .

 I enjoy making cupcakes and use Easter as an excuse to bake a bunch to gift friends and neighbors. It is a win/win situation as I get the fun of making them and people get the eating enjoyment.

My husband and I just got back from distributing the treats and are looking forward to a quiet Holy Saturday evening at home with the two of my four children that are currently in residence. It is hard to believe that Lent has swept through the calendar already and we are heading into the warmer months of summer before we know it.

Who has the time to think up this stuff . . .?

I remember attending funeral Masses when I was little. I was always in awe of the somber, black vestments and the dignity of the Mass. It felt appropriate for the event. These days, white is the new black and funeral Masses are celebrated with white vestments to show the new life the decedent is facing with the onset of his/her eternity. I suppose that is a way to look at it but I always felt that black was a reminder to the people attending a funeral that life here on earth was temporary. Perhaps that is why people are often peeved when you say you are praying their loved one gets to Heaven as soon as possible. White takes the edge off our sinful mortality and might cause people to forget how important prayer is for our dearly departed.

Now, the new purple for Good Friday is red. It was off putting to me to see all the priests and altar boys attired in their red vestments. Even the crucifix was covered in red cloth. I'm sure there is a liturgical reason for this but, again, it takes away the somberness and reminders of the day.

Our parish also used a plain cross for the veneration. Why not a crucifix with a corpus? Isn't it more of a reminder of Good Friday to reverence a crucifix with the replica of the Body of Christ on it? For me, this took away a lot of the meaning of the action. Wouldn't a 'bare' cross be more in line with a resurrected Christ?

The Good Friday service did have a wonderful benefit - not many people showed up and there were only two people for the choir. Fortunately, it was two of our most talented young people. They often are dismayed by the hymn choices made by the choir director. Yesterday, however, they were on their own and chose two, beautiful hymns that their voices lent themselves to quite beautifully. Their singing pulled the gift of Good Friday back into place for me.

A Loss of Choice . . .

 The stray cat, who took up residence on our front step, lost his choice of a sleeping place this week.

We have been trying to befriend two other kittens for a month now and to avoid the usual cat 'smells' put out a litter box in the garden. The pictured cat decided he wanted it for his bed. He took it over the day it had been freshly cleaned out much to the dismay of the  two kittens.

Yesterday, the cat got a sad surprise. It seems that while he was about his own business, someone has used his litter box bed for the purpose it was intended. He looked sadly at the new contents of the litter box and wistfully went to sleep on our doormat.

Holy Saturday . . .

O God, Who makest this most sacred night bright with the glory of the resurrection of our Lord; preserve in the new offspring of Thy family the spirit of adoption which Thou hast given them; that, renewed in body and spirit, they may render Thee an exemplary service.

roman Missal, Easter Vigil, Collect.
(Gelasian, ca. 7th century)

Wise and Wise-guy words for the day . . .

"If not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled."
-- P. G. Wodehouse

"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them."
-- Isaac Asimov

"Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff."
-- Frank Zappa

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
-- Mark Twain