for my godfather

A man goes to the confessional. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."

"What is your sin, my child?" the priest asks. "Well," the man starts, "I used some horrible language this week, and I feel absolutely terrible."

"When did you do use this awful language?" asks the priest. "I was golfing and hit an incredible drive that looked like it was going to go over 250 yards, but it struck a phone line that was hanging over the fairway and fell straight down to the ground after going only about 100 yards."

"Is that when you swore?"

"No, Father," replies the man. "After that, a squirrel ran out of the bushes and grabbed my ball in his mouth and began to run away."

"Is THAT when you swore?" asks the priest again. "Well, no," says the man. "You see, as the squirrel was running, an eagle came down out of the sky, grabbed the squirrel in his talons, and began to fly away!"

"Is THAT when you swore?" asks the amazed priest. "No, not yet," the man replies. "As the eagle carried the squirrel away in his claws, it flew toward the green. And as it passed over a bit of forest near the green, the squirrel dropped my ball."

"Did you swear THEN?" asks the now impatient priest. "No, because as the ball fell, it struck a tree, bounced through some bushes, careened off a big rock, and rolled through a sand trap onto the green and stopped within six inches of the hole."

"You missed the putt, didn't you?" sighs the priest. - ArcaMax Jokes

you can't make up stuff like this

truth weirder than fiction

another blog on the coming changes in the Mass

http://platytera.blogspot.com/2010/08/more-new-translation.html

My Friend Joe

I had a friend named Joe,
to Iraq we had to go.
We fought together side by side,
until the day that my friend died.
We were in a town, the name unknown,
playing with some kids.
We gave them candy and MREs,
cause their lives had hit the skids.
When thru a window a gun got poked,
a finger on the trigger.
To kill an American GI,
would make the shooter bigger.
Joe had just given a little girl a hug,
when out of the gun there came a slug.
In Joes back a hole I could see,
the finger on the trigger moved...
then another round hit me.
The children ran off screaming,
as a second slug hit Joe.
My friend knew he was dying,
he didn't want to go.
The shooter he ran,
at the sight of a van,
a big red cross for a sign.
then a medic came by,
said you're gonna be fine,
I'm sorry your buddy's dead.

I had a friend named Joe,
now to Arlington I go,
to tell him of all the things in life,
that he no more will know.
I put a flag and a flower,
on the grave of a friend so dear,
and water his hallowed resting place,
with many a heartbroken tear.

- SSG Jack G. Simpson Jr US ARMY (RET) copyright 2008

Roger Staubach, Still Captain America

Recently, my brother was sitting in first class on a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Colorado Springs when a couple boarded and sat in front of him. He immediately recognized the man as Roger Staubach. They exchanged greetings, and Staubach said he was headed to Colorado Springs for the inaugural Warrior Games.

After 60 or 70 percent of the plane was boarded, a female Army soldier who had lost her leg boarded. Staubach insisted she sit in his seat; she said, "no, thanks," but he insisted. He took her place in a middle seat way in the back. After a few minutes, the young girl got tears in her eyes and said she wanted to go to her seat and have Staubach return to his. The flight attendant overheard, and, as the female soldier headed to retrieve Staubach, the attendant said she had a no-show and both could sit in first class.

The flight attendant returned with the female soldier, but Staubach sent a double amputee Army soldier to sit in his seat. Staubach remained in coach the entire flight and disembarked last. My brother waited and asked for an autograph for my birthday; Staubach said certainly. It's a great gift, but the greater gift is knowing Roger Staubach is still Captain America.

- Drew Werner, Addison TX q._Reader's Digest_America in Uniform_

a hissy fit as Ruby B would say

Albino Python on Cocaine Confronts Police - AFP headline

the wedding guest

guess why this guy is not married

response -- in re 9/11

Putting aside politics, if that is possible in this location (pun intended) and at this time, his idea has merit, though not as he saw it.

Too often when one is touched violence, the advice is “Forgive and get beyond it.” Many people find that difficult — witness the road side shrines maintained years after an event took place. On a small road in Cobb County GA, near Sope Creek, there is attached to a tree a memorial that is refreshed each season. I don’t know who or what happened there, but on the winding road in the hilly area of a well-to-do neighborhood, a reasonable assumption is an auto accident.

The politicization of 9/11 and the WTC may have been inevitable — it was a political act to begin with in a very political area/arena. But surely our faith background should direct us to examine the long-term affects of violence on victims, their loved ones and society as a whole.

As Catholics we should understand ritual — its purpose and place. Have we ritualized listening to the victims, their loved ones and society as a whole on the effects of violence on them?

As Catholics we should understand symbol — its purpose and place. Do we see the symbolic damage to the fabric of society by violence? Have we pondered how to remediate the tears in the warp and woof of that fabric by ritual action?

On 9/11/2001 I was the Grand Knight of a Knights of Columbus council. On 9/11/2006 I was the Navigator of a Knights of Columbus 4th degree assembly. I had meeting of each shortly after the events. I found myself at a loss for words to connect with my brothers on how I felt on these occasions. I have found clergy and laymen alike shrink from talking about these issues.

But like those shrines, the wounds are still there. We may question NG’s motive for his proposal. But I for one think he is on to something that will not go away.

stimulus -- in re 9/11

Newt Gingrich proposes that the WTC site be declared a national battlefield memorial. If he had been paying attention,he would have known that for the last nine years it’s been a true New York battlefield between the developer, the insurance companies, and the Port Authority. What a stew pot to memorialize.

Gingrich: “I think the Congress has the ability to declare the area a national battlefield memorial because I think we should think of the World Trade Center as a battlefield site; this is a war,” he said, apparently thinking that if Ground Zero was a national park, Park51 would be restricted from building near it.”

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/gingrich_make_ground_zero_a_national_battlefield_t.php?ref=fpblg

- Margaret O'Brien Steinfels 2010Sep3 11:47 am dotCommonweal