Waiting

Like everyone else on the East Coast, I am preparing for Irene.  As I write she is hovering over the Outer Banks and we should start feeling the effects of the outer bands in a few hours.  Right now we are experiencing the "calm before the storm"with occasional light showers and a lot of humidity and an erie feeling that something is coming.

Waiting for Irene

Everything battened down

The yard cleared

This has been quite a week. Tuesday an earthquake, Thursday the news that I have to have surgery and now Irene.  The earthquake was unexpected but with regard to the latter two there has been sufficient warning to get ready.  As far as Irene goes, the boat is out of the water and "safe" in the driveway, the lawn furniture is tucked away as is anything outside that can blow around. We have water, propane for the grill  and lots of ice in the freezer along with food that can be cooked as it defrosts if and when we loose electricity. The cars gas tanks are filled along with two five gallon portable tanks.  We live on the cusp of the voluntary evacuation zone but our home is high enough in elevation (23 feet above sea level) that I don't think we will have a problem staying. It is calm right now and aside from getting out to the anticipated Mass at 5:00 there is nothing much we can do. So now we just wait it out.

The surgery is something that I have been anticipating ever since a sonogram revealed something last month.  I needed to wait for an appointment with the doctor to talk about what needs to be done.  In the meantime I looked up on the internet everything I could about the condition and spoke to quite a number of people. When I went to see the doctor I was a wealth of information and well prepared to speak to him. The surgery is a must and now I have three weeks time to get things organized at work and home in preparation for the surgery and my two week recovery, with a possibility of 6 weeks if it is found laparoscopic surgery can't be done. So, I wait this out as well.

Surprisingly I am quite calm, and I think that being well prepared has much to do with it.  Also it has to do with being spiritually prepared.  I believe those who have faith know that God will be with them though any storm.  Waiting can be a spiritual exercise.  It is a time for prayer, for reflection, for setting one's priorities and getting things right with God.  We wait, prepared and ready to greet the Bridegroom. As I have said many times, it is a matter of trust.  Also, what comes with all this is the knowledge that you can weather anything that comes your way and that you'll never walk alone. (YouTube wouldn't allow imbedding for this one so you'll have to click the link).

Lessons from my Grandfather



Grandma & Grandpa at my wedding in 1977,
11 months before he died.



Today's readings speak of accepting foreigners.  I am not going to write about the political rights and wrongs regarding immigration and protecting our borders as that is too political an issue for me to deal with.  I first want to write about my grandfather.  Sergio DiTerlizzi was born  in 1908 in  Bisceglie, Italy, a farming town on the Adriatic in the provence of Bari. Unlike many immigrants who came to our shores via Ellis Island, Grandpa came here illegally. He arrived in Brooklyn, NY and found work delivering ice with men from his home town who were already established there. He met my grandmother, Josephine, a first generation Italian American whose father was also from  Bisceglie. He married her, eloping since her family did not approve of him, maybe because of his illegal status, maybe because they didn't think he would make anything of himself having harldly any formal education.  Eventually, years later, he had to go to Canada so he could legally enter the United States and become a citizen.

He came here to find a better life, and his was one of the great American success stories.  Grandpa went from delivering ice to delivering coal, and eventually started his own home fuel oil business in Brooklyn. The business was so successful that in his early 50's he and Grandma retired and became "snow birds" with homes in Florida and New York.  He also dabbled in real estate and even owned a race horse. My Dad took over the business until he sold it  in his early 50's when he and Mom also retired to Florida.



Jeus and the Canaanite Woman 
Annibale Carracci



In today's first reading the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah (56:6-7) that He will bring foreigners to His Holy Mountain and that their offerings to Him will be acceptable.  God's Love and Mercy even extends to the pagans who seek Him with a sincere heart.  These had to be difficult words for the Isralites to accept.  In Matthew's Gospel (15:21-28), Jesus heals the daughter of a Canaanite woman.  The Canaanties were despised by the Jews, and even the disciples of our Lord wanted to send her away.  Yet, Jesus praises her for her faith. This too must have upset His followers. They were the Chosen People. Why should they accept these foreigners who didn't follow their laws and live the way they did? Some things don't change. Even those immigrants who came to our shores legally in the late 1800's and early 1900's, those from Italy and Ireland and the European Jews among others, were looked down upon by those of "American" birth.  But we are a nation of immigrants, whether our family came over on the Mayflower to escape religious persecution, from Europe to escape poverty, forced against their will from Africa, as refugees from Vietnam or Korea in times of war, or for hundreds of other reasons.

Today we have other foreigners whom many look down upon and are suspicious of, wishing they were not here. Yes, it is true that in a world plagued by terrorism and financial upheval, we need to be cautious as to who we allow to cross our borders. Yet we also must remain aware that they are also children of God and we must not look upon all who are different with suspicion. Many come to our country, as did the early immigrants, looking for a better life for themselves and their children. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angelas, in an address at the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus last week, said, "The Church’s perspective on these issues is rooted in Jesus Christ’s teaching that every human person is created in God’s image and has God-given dignity and rights."

Someone gave my grandfather a chance. Someone didn't look upon  him as someone to be despised and rejected despite how he entered our country. He made a good life for his family and for the generatios that followed. Whatever our political views on the issue of immigration one thing is clear to me, people deserve to be treated with kindness and respect and without prejudice, no matter where they come from, their race or their creed, and we need always remember that we should love all as God Loves all. 

The verdict is in

I usually do not follow criminal trials and I don't like shows like Law and Order or CSI, but the trial in Florida that ended today caught my attention over six weeks ago when I was visiting my parents in Florida. I knew nothing of the case, but they were watching it and I soon got drawn in. Perhaps it was because it involved a young child.  Cases about the murder of children always touched a nerve in me.  How could anyone murder their own child?  I watched the proceedings daily, if not the actual trial, I watched the commentaries that were on in the evening.  I was convinced of her guilt. Needles to say I was greatly disappointed with the verdict of not guilty on all counts except for lying to the police.  

Three things came to me as a result of this trial, that I feel are good for personal reflection. First is the consequences of lying.  "Everybody lies," as Dr. House would say.  But lying, as we have seen in this trial, leads to other lies and deceptions, and after a time it may be impossible for the truth to be known. The pursuit of truth, whether in the secular or spiritual realm, should be a goal that we all strive for.  I admit, that one of my weaknesses, one of my sins, has been lying.  Although my lies were no where near the outrageous fabrications of the young woman on trial, my lies were brought on, like hers and other witnesses, by a need to protect myself or others, and to avoid unwanted actions and consequences.  However, I came to discover that lies, no matter how small, just delay the inevitable and don't really protect anyone.  The truth is always the best course to take.

The second thing I am coming away with is the power of the media. How much of our lives are controlled by the secular and even religious media.  Most of the media had this woman guilty and did much to convince their viewers of her guilt as well. How much of our religious beliefs are swayed by what I read and see on the news and the internet. Yes, the media is necessary to make people aware of what is going on in the world, but when it dictates what we think, or when we allow it to, then it becomes dangerous.  We need to be able to discern the truth.

The third thing that gives me something to reflect on is the number of children who are basically "thrown away" by parents who do not care for them.  There are probably thousands if not millions of unwanted and uncared for children throughout the world, children who need homes, medical care, food and most of all love. In addition are the thousands of children who are abused by their parents or other adults.  What do we do about it? What can we do about it?  If we do nothing, are we basically allowing it to continue?  I don't know if there is an answer.

Finally, and this is what probably bothers me most, is the fact that there are the millions of unborn children who are aborted simply because it would be inconvenient for them to be born.  I wonder how many people who are outraged at the not guilty verdict in the killing of this one two year old child, think nothing about the killing of thousands of unborn children.  

This evening I am taking a few things to prayer.  I am praying for this young woman, who will have to live with herself, if indeed she is guilty.  We may not know the truth, but God knows, and if justice was not done today, then it will be in the next life. I pray for her family, who I believe have basically been destroyed by this trial and by the lies.  I hope they can rebuild their lives.  I pray for the beautiful child, and for all children who are murdered, abused, or abandoned by those who should love them the most.  I pray too for all those women who feel that their unborn children would be an inconvenience, would cramp their style, disrupt their lives, or feel they have no other choice. I pray that they will have a change of heart, bring their child to term, and offer that child in adoption to a loving mom and dad who will love them for the rest of their lives.  I pray for the children.

"A voice was heard in Ramah: wailing and great mourning. Rachel was crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because they no longer existed."