Diaspora Digest #42

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Editor: Gael Stahl

Webmeister: Jack Brennan

 

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6 Aug 08 Clyde Ebenreck: Philosophers who know it all, don't know it at all.

 

"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." (Niels Bohr)

 

Many thanks. [I am] soon to be married - on the feast of St. Francis!!

 

19 Aug 08 Vince Zimmerman: Hi, Jack, I'm noticing that I'm not getting my e-mail from several sources. My cable company was bought out so the address changed as of Aug. 1. It is now Vzimmy of comcast.net. Would you see if that change was made?

 

Probably Gael has told you about our gathering at Mooney's in June. We missed you.

 

Thanks. [Email corrected. I missed you too. JB]

 

19 Aug 08 Gael Stahl: [To Jim Sexton and Jack Brennan.] I just read the provincial newsletter for the week. I have been enjoying the 150th anniversary of the province through their weekly visits to our history since the beginning, and now very much in our era. I'd forgotten how much Germain changed the province. The write up calls him the most controversial of provincials. Interesting.

 

You certainly remember those days, Jim. The only thing I hold against Germain is his letting me revert to my birth name. From Ernie back to Gael. I'd fought for it and felt I should reap the benefit. "Sometimes you get the curse you hoped for.”

 

19 Aug 08 Jim Sexton: The only thing controversial about Germain was his being a Franciscan and driving all "around the province" to help others recall that they were too.

 

19 Aug 08 Gael Stahl: That is the most succinct, perfectly apt thing I've ever heard about Germain!!!!!

 

[Gael had asked me how I came up with “zeke66” for a password for our locked pages. His nickname - given by our beloved classmate, Anton Braun, in the mid ‘50s - was “Zeke.” Here is what I told him: “Be sure you are sitting down. 66 was the year we were ordained. A fairly big marker in my life.” JB]

 

And, in the month of June, like Bloomsday. 42 years ago.

 

Did I tell you that on James Joyce Birthday 2008, the second day of my semi retirement, I started a small e-group to read and discuss on line JJ's book, Ulysses? We all felt we'd not read it on our own, but together a page or two a day, we might. Well, the other four have finished it already. I'm almost there. Of course, I got all the scholarly books, DVD lectures, movie cassettes, CDs and many books, so that I'll have read it/listened to it three or four times by the time I finish, probably not before I leave for Mongolia Sept. 2. But when I get back after Sept 23, I'll continue - and probably start over. I've been rather immersed in Dublin, the Irish, the Catholic Church, and the sublime English language that Joyce and Shakespeare best fed and exploited and made ring.

 

On the other hand, I'm 'duh' about remembering 66 with out the asterisk. Thanks. I don't think I'll ever forget the password again.

 

20 Aug 08 Gael Stahl: [To Jim Sexton.] I just forwarded you this week's issue of around the province which describes Germain's death, the delayed provincial chapter that changed all our lives when Callistus Smith came in and took over until the delayed election of Vitus Duschinsky, Vince's classmate and turned around Germain's plan to get rid of Vince and put Mooney and me in charge. We both exited Chicago, and within months, Mooney and Judy were headed to San Francisco.

 

Your memories of those days were not only astute but also evocative of things I'd been forgetting about. Thanks for the memories and the compass you provide about such things. Always fun to read even though I'd want to discuss at further length some flashes of your acerbic wit. Keep it coming.

 

22 Aug 08 Jack Brennan: [Out of sync for continuity.] Who is Vince? Not Elsen? 

 

There is a story about Chicago that needs to be written by one of you...

22 Aug 08 Gael Stahl: [Out of sync for continuity.] Yes, Vince Elsen. Jim Sexton is on a roll. So long out of contact, he writes more than once every day. Reminds me of the Tanna, Mazar et al gang when they get going.

20 Aug 08 Jim Sexton: Well, Puff [Our affectionate nickname for Germain. JB] the magic dragon... Now that we're all on memory's lane why not prepare ourselves for the 81st edition of DDigest. So here goes...

 

You 2 [Stahl and Mooney] would have had a hell of a time if it hadn't been for Germain. Medard-ism had taken hold of your spirits while at T-town and nobody without more faith in faith, hope and charity than the Holy Roman Church musters up could possibly have understood or appreciated the likes of you.

 

So in comes Germain and Francis Leo and puff the magic dragon... This wasn't simply a breath of fresh air or beloved John XXIII opening up some more stuffy windows and thoughts, but an actual hurricane from the center of the universe. In other words, how many angels sat on a pin-head's theology was blown out the door and scripture came marching in. It was even an earthquake. And both Germain and Francis Leo knew and felt the ground was doing "A whole lot of Shaking".

 

I was a novice at the time and there was a lot of discussion flying back and forth of what the future might hold in store for us. If it hadn't been for Ansgar (Bob Hankey, Leonard's assistant that Germain stacked into the novitiate’s deck of cards) we might have all come out cloned in cement and cob webs to the past. So we (class 1966) were lucky in a sense. Those before us had been less lucky. Those after us - a curious and complicated species, their type of DNA unknown to me.

 

But you 2 were very original, since you'd been through the old school of thought and got wind of the "Times Are A Changing." Your luck came with Germain, who prized Medard. Medard "around the province" was probably one of the most famous (or in-famous) Franciscans ever since Ockham. You either loved or hated Medard. Isn't there mention of being "lukewarm" in the Book of the Apocalypse?

 

Anyway I doubt many of us would have stayed on board the good ship Friars Minor without Germain at the helm in the mid 60s. Most of us probably would have been quarantined as so happened in the 70s.

 

Look at Michael Mooney for example. Without Puff, an "around the province" goon squad probably would have been sent out to break in on him somewhere in the early morning while he was sitting on the john, reading his Chicago newspaper, and coughing his head off smoking a Lucky Strike. Then package him up and ship him off to some island where there were more rosary beads than faithful to preach the gospel and relearn how to say an Ave Maria.

 

Today, I don't really recall the name of "around the province's" successor to Germain or Francis Leo, but I can still see him. He was tall, looked like LBJ, but didn't have enough southern common sense to know that "Houston, we got a problem". And so began the exodus. Later on even Dismas Bonner couldn't stop it.

 

Yet, on the brighter side of things, the Diaspora Digest was born and you two helped lots of us get over our hangovers.

 

So thank you, Gael and Jack. See you in heaven or hell for the 81st Diaspora Digest. Until then. [At the rate of our publishing – do the math – you have given me a much longer life span than I was expecting. JB]

 

22 Aug 08 Gael Stahl: [Out of sync for continuity.] Vitus Duschinsky succeeded Germain and sent Mooney to Cleveland and me to Nashville. Worked out well for us in the end. I drove over to Memphis to counsel with Vitus about taking a leave of absence in 1973. I said I was thinking about it and hoped we’d discuss the cons and pros of that, but his immediate and only counsel was: enjoy it. Kind of wished I’d just called him or written him and saved two long trips.

 

20 Aug 08 Jim Sexton: [I explained to Jim that the Kalispell Indians in Spokane raise buffaloes implying that they are replacing the buffaloes slaughtered by the early white immigrants. JB] Seems more natural to me than ironic: buffaloes in Spokane. Most Indians and tribes do have communal lands and lots of traditions, like hunting, herding, fishing, etc... So raising buffaloes to them might be like us going back to Ireland to look up our roots, sources or drink a Guinness, kind of natural.

 

Then to buffalo steaks, especially when grazed are a luxury, lean and tasty. Now I'm not saying your Indians are into the slaughter house business, but after all, buffaloes "ca mange" as we say in French. The phrase "ca mange" comes from the French "manger", which means to eat. I learned the word in France when we were living out in the country over there, raising rabbits and cutting down trees for a living. We had lots of other animals, like chickens, roosters, geese, horses etc.

 

The one turkey we had got sick one day so we called up the veterinarian like we often did for the horses or rabbits. As soon as the vet saw our turkey, which was having a hard time of it, he looked at Cathy (my wife) and me as if we just landed from another planet and said in so many words, "you know, ca mange..."

 

I'm sure you've seen "Giant" and heard "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Do you remember the movie's Thanksgiving dinner.

 

Our two little girls (Caroline and Pascale) at the time called our turkey, Hector. Seems natural enough to me. So don't get too wound up in irony and the "Ugly American" syndrome.

 

21 Aug 08 Jim Sexton: You two don't have to waste any more time with me and my nonsense. Just go ahead and do what you think is best and don't worry about me. I'm hopeless; while the objective of your DDigest is hope, hope that everybody gets a chance to read it someday.

 

Gael, just make sure if you print any of my comments about Medard and his "famous or in-famous" around the province reputation that it be crystal clear that Medard was a grace sent to us from out of the sky, and may God bless that beautiful man's heart and soul.

 

I am busy working on getting my nephew out of jail. Chicago's Mayor Daley sent him up for 10 years firm, because he ran a racket cleaning up the city's stadiums with bus loads of Mexicans even though he kicked back about 1/4 of what he made under city hall's table to Daley's machine. Richard J was by far more honest than his kids...

 

21 Aug 08 Jim Sexton: Could you believe it? Those two [Gael and Susan Stahl when they visited Jim in France] rode all the way from Burgundy to Germany on 2 French bicycles that we found in the garage, probably dating all the way back to WWI or WWII. I don't know what the Germans thought of them when they arrived, but the French thought they had both just landed from the moon.

 

22 Aug 08 Jim Sexton: [I thanked Jim for helping me make the DD more secure. JB] And I appreciate you, Jack. But you are up way too late at night working on the DDigest. Me, I usually go to sleep around 21:30 and wake up at 03:00. Most of my good ideas come between 3 and 3:30 in the morning when I drink a cup of Maxwell Coffee (my father was in the coffee business) and smoke a cigarette. Do you remember the Camels we used to smoke at T-Town? [I was a sissy - I smoked Lucky Strikes. JB]

 

22 Aug 08 Gael Stahl: I'm going to Mongolia along with my godson Caleb Wray, about 31, an adventuresome type if ever there was one. This week, he and buddies are fishing in canoes on Yukon rivers. He'll get back with one day free before flying off to meet me in Beijing to Mongolia. Caleb is about the most universally admired fellow I know. I, his godfather, am proudest of all.

 

22 Aug 08 Scott Kuhle: John, John, John, [My alias. JB] oh, ye of little faith. I read in the Diaspora that you boldly proclaimed that you are an agnostic. How shameful of you to admit so publicly this truth about yourself. I'm not sure which is more concerning: the implication that you have lost your faith, or that you are thinking critically. Oh, yes, I must remember that faith is a gift, and I can only suppose that you have some how squandered your gift, John, by asking questions that a good believing Catholic boy should not be indulging himself in.

 

Rather than asking questions about one of most profound aspects of life, is it not better to have blind faith? Is it not better to simply say "I believe" rather than being a critical thinker that brings you to some unanswerable dead ends? Aren't clichés better than "I don't knows”? They certainly seem to offer great solace to many.

 

A confrere wrote in the Diaspora: “Walk down the avenue and look at the trees, flowers, bushes, and little children and know they all had a Creator and did not come about by pure chance.” Unfortunately, when I walk down the street and see magnificent flora, I wonder how a Creator permits people, who have been created in His image and likeness, to ravage not only the plant life, but the planet. When I walk down the street and see a little child who I know is being sexually and emotionally abused, I have a lot of questions about his or her Creator. 

 

To admit in religious circles that you are an agnostic, John, is much like admitting that you are a masturbator. Most every one with a penis or clitoris does it, but only in private, and yet rarely admits to doing so in public. In a conversation about masturbating, everyone has this not me look on their face - that's why I usually look at peoples hands to see if they have pimples on them (isn't that what we were taught as children would happen if we masturbated?).

 

Just as not everyone with a penis or clitoris masturbates, not everyone with a brain thinks critically. A well-balanced person does both - well maybe not both, but definitely the latter. I'm not sure where I'm going with this masturbation theme - except that I like it (referring to the theme), so I'll move on.

 

A number of persons in the past have written an Apologia of their journey from their darkness of not knowing God to finding Him (often within the structure of the Catholic Church). I think, John, that you may need to write an Apologia that describes your journey from blind faith to critical thinking. In it you might remind others that a gnosis and a theos are completely different. (Ye gads, John, as poor as I was in Greek, even I know that gnosis refers to knowledge and theos refers to - good god, John, I'm not sure what theos refers to.)

 

John, I know that believers find it difficult to understand that some of us have come to the point of being comfortable in our end point of not having the answers that people of faith have. I understand and appreciate their concern about our eternal salvation. However, I can assure them that I still have faith that the Plenary Indulgences that I earned on All Saints Day and by going to confession and mass for 9 consecutive first Fridays will have some redeeming value at the Gate.

 

You were exhorted to: “in humility ask Jesus to come into your life and give you enlightenment.” The greatest irony that I can think of at this moment, John is: wouldn't it be wild if it were actually the enlightenment of His divine presence in you that has led you to your agnosticism?

 

23 Aug 08 Paul Langan: [From the DD Blog] I understand that approximately 16 or 17% of the North American population are in the "non-believing" category.

 

16 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: [From the DD Blog and out of sync for continuity.] I think I should respond to your question that has been on the DD blog ever since I invaded it. You mentioned: "... that approximately 16 or 17% of the North American population are in the "non-believing" category." The problem here is one of numbers 16% to 17%, which are clearly defined, and the concept or word: "non-believing", which is not so clearly defined. Of course, "non-believing" means absence of "belief". But then again, what does "belief" mean.

 

Sincerely, I doubt anyone could give you a very clear or universal meaning to such a word as "belief", least of all a Franciscan who has read Ockham and learned how to shave. Words such as faith are deemed as nominalisms, which means they don't really have a universal, well defined range, meaning or sense like numbers do. In other words, you can't pin them down to something concrete, like an object, potato or plumb.

 

True, you could stand in front of a church all day on Sunday and ask everybody going in or out "do you believe in God...?" and probably get "yes", "no" or "maybe" for an answer. But what you've really done is simply put one nominalism ("God") inside another ("belief") and tried to come up with a well-defined number (16% or 17%).

 

I'm sorry for being such a "pain in the ass", Paul, but I've lived too long in other places in the world to fall into the trap again of mixing up numbers and indefinable names or opinions. So I don't think I answered your question, since I don't think there is an answer to it.

 

Maybe, best leave the faithful to their beliefs and stay away from numbers, or simply count the number of people who go to church on Sunday without asking them any questions.

 

26 Aug 08 Paul Langan: Just finished reading #41. I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sending it! Am I missing some current emailing/blogging as I had not read about 95% of any of the updates. Perhaps lots of it is strictly email to the editors and not put to the blog until more is gathered. Among the many articles I really want to respond to is from my favorite writer, Tony Lutz, preparing for eternity. 

 

When I was being set up for the open heart surgery I had to fill out my religious preference. It was a no-brainer for me to check off "none". However, if Mike Mooney were in the area I would have OK'd him. Thankfully I did not have a Dan Mazar experience. My preparation as I was wheeled into the operating room would have done the Buddha proud as my meditation/relaxation was great.

 

26 Aug 08 Jack Brennan: Glad you enjoyed the DD. You are right, most of the DD is letters to the editors. We pull stuff from the blog in a rather arbitrary way. In other words, what interests us from the Blog we put in the DD. We have attempted to note that we are quoting from the blog when we do it. Often there is a dialogue going on in both places on the same topic at the same time, so we try to weave it together. Your open-heart surgery is a good example where we did that. I think it worked well? 

 

I'm with you on the religion stuff. I am very comfortable with it if someone I respect is doing the priestly thing, but I run like hell if it is someone who is trying to convert me. For example, I recently attended the funeral of my cardiologist and I actually went to communion with a protestant friend of mine because it seemed the community thing to do. Go figure. I also meditate at the local zendo on a regular basis and find it really an important part of my life. I don't make a big deal out of it, I just do it. However, my mind is just as blasphemous with meditation as it is with Catholicism. The other morning on the way to meditation I was thinking: "Bow to the Buddha and swing your partner." 

 

Thanks for your support. Hope your heart is mending well.

 

27 Aug 08 Joan Gorman Porche: Thanks for your work, men! I always enjoy reading about the coming and goings of the Friars and company. When I don't know the recently deceased, I always say a prayer for each one. Please keep me on the list.

 

It was great seeing Fr. Mike, newly elected Provincial at Corpus Christi on August 24, attending the liturgy with Sr. Marilyn Freking (50 years a nun) and Fr. Art (25 years, priest). Saw Andy Knoell and Earl Summers, as well as nuns from Dubuque. Great day!

 

28 Aug 08 Paul Langan: No doubt you have weaved the blog with the digest well. In my selfish interest of keeping up with Tony L is there a way to unite/weave the blog portion with the email to the DD editors thus keeping all more concurrent?

 

28 Aug 08 Jack Brennan: Yes, Paul, I think Zeke and I would pounce on anything like that on the Blog and bring it to the DD. However, the DD is a periodical and the Blog is instant, so there will be a lag of at a least month. (Our goal is to publish once a month. And we are getting closer!) To bring DD letters into the Blog would get the result you are looking for, but we don't always feel free to publish from the DD to the Blog. The Blog is open to the world whereas the DD is a much narrower audience. And it would take a lot more of our time to accomplish that. 

 

One last idea, you might write to Tony and encourage him to engage you on the Blog. I don't think he is on there yet.

 

28 Aug 08 Paul Langan: Whoa now’ Tony is on the WEB???? Not even Ray Konrath is connected.

 

28 Aug 08 Jack Brennan: Whoa yourself. I said I don't think Tony is on the web - I checked, he is NOT. However, you could drop him a line and invite him to join. tony01312003 at yahoo.com

 

Ray does not even have a computer. I thought your class was going to buy him one; at least Tanna was talking about that.

28 Aug 08 Paul Langan: I think Tanna was wishfully thinking about a computer for the coach. You mentioned that Tony is not on the WEB yet he has an email address? Perhaps you meant that he is not signed onto the Blog. I will email him. 

 

Truth be known the blog alone without the DD periodical seems too limiting and I am not sure it will catch on in its present format as is evidenced by its present participation. Perhaps my vision was overly grand as an email-DD/blog combination. I was envisioning the Topic arrangement of the blog format as more coherent and current than the time/date email/letter-periodical format. For example, on August 1 someone like Tony sends a letter/email to the editors. Comments on his suggestion for overcoming agnosticism may or may not show up in the DD format till maybe August 20. Between these dates several topics may have been submitted by date on other ideas not relating to how I can know if you have overcome agnosticism by a walk in the park as Tony suggested. With the blog all subjects/topics are sub headed in order so that the flow continues seemingly in current time. Although I do see the need for the hopeful security with a narrower audience of the periodical format, I have always looked on any WEB activity, email, blog, DD on a web page as relatively out there in the public domain and available to the whole web-world.

 

On another topic Geri and I are leaving 9/02/08 on an RV adventure to the EAST. We plan a 6-week journey to Nebraska via the Grand Canyon and/or Yellowstone. Geri wants to ride some real steam trains so we have found a couple en route.

 

28 Aug 08 Dan Tanna: Jack, greetings from the Gem City. Sharon and I had a great time at the Krull’s last Saturday night celebrating Pat and Jerry’s several milestones: his retirement, Pat’s 60th b’day, their 40th wedding anniversary, his sister Shirley’s 50th anniversary as an OSF nun (Wheaton). John Behl and his wife, Candy, were there; they live in nearby Kirkwood (you probably know that), and Ray Konrath drove down from Chicago. We covered all 14 years in about two and a half hours (before repeating some.) Anyway, would you put this photo on the Blog gallery? And if it is not too complicated, tell me how to do it for future pics. Thanks, Jack! Talk to you soon. [Click here to see the photo. You will need to join the DD Blog and get your Yahoo ID and password to see the photo.]

 

29 Aug 08 Jack Brennan: [To Langan, above.] Yes, I meant Lutz was not on the Blog.

 

I get your frustration about the delayed gratification of our communications on the DD. When I am retired, I will endeavor to make it more timely.

 

I predict that the Blog will pick up in September when folks are done traveling to the Grand Canyon and such. The utilization history on the Blog is a neat feature and you can see the spike where we re-introduced the Blog.

 

You are right about the relative public nature of even the DD. We have locked the two pages with and demographics and we can lock the entire site if we choose to do so. I am not aware of any abuses on the DD site, and I have been keeping the Blog "clean" of occasional spam.

 

Have a great trip. I envy you guys. Gayle and I haven't been anywhere in years. Too tied up with kids' weddings etc.

 

29 Aug 08 Paul Langan: In all fairness to Tony I was very much a part of his belief structure. It was this same tradition that led me to the seminary and helped me endure to ordination. Even though I cringe with flashbacks of some of my ignorant thoughts and actions - for good or bad - it will always be part of me no matter where I stand today. I have never been wise enough to understand my entire past Polish Catholic upbringing. This tradition stays somewhere embedded in my psyche but I do know that for the past 38 years I have experienced a major Gestalt change from what I was then. I have found atheism very appealing to this day.

 

A couple years ago I was traveling in England with a good friend who just happens to be my brother-in-law. It was during the week of Palm Sunday. The people we were visiting were members of the Church of England. The church located in York proper pre-dated Henry VIII. We were invited. I chose to attend. The experience was very memorable. I participated in the entire celebration. The liturgy was intriguing. It was almost a direct translation from the Latin text and liturgy of our past. I was glad to have had the opportunity to experience all of this.

 

To make a long story short my brother-in-law chose not to go so I met him at a nearby coffee shop later. He was never raised within any religious tradition, a blessing. In fact I have always referred to Geri, my wife, and her brother as "tabula rasas"/(Blank Tablets). Pardon my Greek spelling please! He asked me why or how someone arrived at believing in all this. As a firm supporter of atheistic ideas there was no possible way for me to answer without prejudice.

 

I did remember what one of my math teachers told me about a simple ratio equation, i.e., both sides of the equal sign are the same. When it comes to mathematics I definitely am no Johnny Behl or Jerry Krull so I told him the formula simply did not make any sense to me. His response has stayed with me to this day: "you have to accept the basic principle or formula, then, all falls into place."

 

I looked my brother-in-law sincerely in the eye and said, "it is like a basic equation in Math, you have to accept the basic principle or formula, then, all falls into place."

 

Sometimes I feel there is such a fine line between the extremes. It is probably just the "ghost response" of my heart valve job.

 

29 Aug 08 Paul Langan: [To Tony Lutz.] My name is Paul Langan and I realize you could not possibly know me but I worked in San Francisco at United Airlines as Mechanic on the 747s and 777s after the company released the DC8s and DC10s. I was also part of the ordination class of 1967 in Teutopolis. I have been retired since 2000. I miss reading your intriguing articles in the DD mainly because the DD journal aspect is old news by the time it had been able to be published. Would you consider joining the DD blog? Jack Brennan can give you the details.

 

31 Aug 08 Tony Lutz: [Responding to an article on the International Aids Conference from the Province.] The only real solution to the AID's problem is to introduce people to Christ's way of thinking. Years ago I heard that people who drank the vegetable juice, Aloe Vera, extended their life span better than artificial drugs. This is a natural help and we have been trained to think that unless a pharmaceutical company produces it, it must not be effective.

 

31 Aug 08 Tony Lutz: [Responding to an article on the Franciscan Vocations from the Province.] The secret of priestly/religious vocations is threefold: Developing a non-contraceptive mentality, praying for vocations, and the example of priests/religious leading holy lives and being the best examples of the Christian way of life.

 

03 Sep 08 John Miller: [Sends us a letter to Garrison Keillor (guest writer for the Chicago Tribune) from Dennis Newman.]

Sept. 3, 2008

Dear Garrison,

I just finished reading your editorial on the inside back page of today's Chicago Tribune--and I had to take a moment and get online (which, with our old AOL dial-up service, takes a while...) to say, Thank-you.

I may be wrong, but I don't believe your thoughts were featured in the Trib back in the early days of the Current Occupant's first administration. Back then, I remember reading another columnist (forgive me, I forget her name--was it Anna Quindlen), who often seemed to be the lone voice of dissent with the goings-on in Washington.

With the retirement of this columnist to pursue a career as a novelist full-time, there seemed for a time to be no one speaking up for the cast-aside liberal viewpoint in the face of the triumphal Shock and Awe beloved by our leaders.

Until I began to come across your columns.

What a relief to once again hear a voice of Reason.

Years ago, when I was working for a parish in Berwyn, I recall driving home on a Saturday night, after having played the 5:30 pm Mass, and feeling grateful that I still had a few minutes to catch the last half-hour of Prairie Home Companion on the car radio. I still smile, remembering the folksy wisdom of your monologues about Lake Wobegone.

So today I read your column, "A Misdirection in Minnesota," and said a little prayer that at least some unsure voters in the country might come across it, and understand your reference to "one of the biggest heists in history." From the get-go, that's what I've suspected has been one of the prime catalysts for Bush-Cheney's move into Iraq. Always nice to know one's old buddies at KBR/Halliburton will be taken care of. And maybe one's own financial interests as well...

It is staggering. Thanks for reminding me once again of why we must not, as a nation, allow ourselves to endure another four years of a Republican administration. Even though Joe Lieberman at the St. Paul convention almost made a credible case for McCain's abilities as a unifier vis a vis Obama's, (with Lieberman trying to portray Obama as having made little effort to work with those on the "other side of the aisle" ). And even tho I continue to have some doubts about Obama (How willing is he to say merely What The People Want to Hear, for the sake of getting elected--e.g., NAFTA; and how susceptible is he to the temptations of power--e.g., allowing Tony Rezko into his inner circle).

I'm 62: I'm too old to put blind faith in anyone. And anyone trying to seek wisdom, when it comes to politics, must remain something of a skeptic. Yet when I heard Michelle Obama come to the end of her talk last week, I found myself with a tear in my eye, and saying to our 26-year old youngest child, "Bridget, she just may be the 'real deal.'"

This great country so desperately needs great leadership. Someone who will re-establish America's presence on the world stage as a nation founded on principle; a nation which values human rights for all--not merely for its own people. A nation pledged to not only combat terrorism, but also to end the suffering and injustice that so often is its breeding ground. A nation pledged to not only protect its borders, but also to once again affirm those values enshrined at the base of the Statue of Liberty, treating its immigrants with compassion.

Thank-you, Garrison, for giving voice to so many of us, who believe that on this planet there must be no "us and them,” but only "us."

Sincerely,

Dennis J. Newman
(Dir. of Music, St. Fabian Church, Bridgeview IL 60455)
809 Rivers Edge Dr., Minooka, IL, 60447-4600

This letter is from a classmate and good friend. I didn't read Garrison's article, but will look for it on the Internet. I'm in full agreement with Dennis.

03 Sep 08 Tony Lutz: I looked up from my lunch at the American Legion Hall and saw a sign "No Profanity." The DD should have a rule "No Vulgarity." You'll see what I mean in DD41. One of the older Friars in Teutopolis told me he was disgusted at a sarcastic and unbelieving remark to my mention of the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He immediately erased that issue from his computer. Let me refer to ideas from Philosophy. In a debate define your terms (liberal, progressive, extreme right are too imprecise). Then make distinctions (qui bene distinguit, bene docet). Then "Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur." Also it is good to note, "Quidquid accipitur, ad modum recipientis accipitur." Did Jesus talk about homosexuality? He certainly did. I refer to Genesis (the Divinity of Jesus is the uncreated Word). Then Christ refers to the 10 Commandments and St. Paul clearly talks about the sin of homosexuality. Jesus taught him. All honest seekers can read books on homosexuality. I have a dozen in my library.

07 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: I don't want to appear to you as sporadic contributor to DDigest. I'm concerned, especially about its evolution and future now that we're all getting up there in age. Lots of people who were in the Franciscans inspired me to do a little better in my life than I was programmed to do, like Father Phil Pavich of Chicago's Saint Peter's, Medard Buvala, Luke Tupper, Michael Mooney, Gael Stahl, Henry Piorkowski, Billy Stachura, Andy Knoell et al.

 

There's one OFM that I'm having a hard time finding, John Joe Lakers. He was my mentor; he opened the Pandora's box of philosophy for me the day he got back from Saint John's at Oxford. I'd been severely brain washed by scholasticism at Fordham, Loyola and Saint Joseph’s College and John Joe liberated me with Hegel and Karl Popper.

 

So I think today that with a little more baggage from Copernicus, Darwin, Einstein, Pierce of Pragmatism, Wittgenstein, Eric Hoffer, (et al... to be continued) that I ought to attempt to resolve the place of religion in society. You know my adoption of three languages and countries has been spinning my head and thoughts around in circles for years. So it is time I put my brain in order, and maybe share some ideas or thoughts with the DDigest before Lutz sends us all to hell.

 

Jack, can you verify where John Joe Lakers is, or what happened to him. He taught philosophy at the College and pre-theology seminary at Quincy in the late 60's and probably during the 70's. Thanks.

 

I joined the DD Blog. There is a way for bloggers to avoid all Yahoo's ads, pubs and e-mailings. It's in everyone's "My Account" configuration. Yahoo, (the little devils) set up a long list of check boxes and naturally set default as checked. If you un-check all of them then you're freed from Yahoo's commercial efforts to make a buck off a hit, and don't get spammed to death anymore with gadgets and junk to buy.

 

07 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: I looked around a little bit, as you suggested. John Joe Lakers, OFM was in Dismas Bonner's class, 1958. He spent 30 years teaching philosophy at Quincy College after returning from Oxford, then retired. I imagine that puts him well up into his 70's or over into his 80's. There are very few references to him on the Internet. Appears that he spent much more time counseling married couples at Quincy than writing books or articles, which doesn't surprise me, because he was 1st of all a Franciscan and 2nd a scholar. He was (and hopefully still is) a very delicate person and I doubt many Franciscans really knew who was among them.

 

I sincerely regret having lost contact with him due to my escapades elsewhere in the world.

 

07 Sep 08 Jack Hardesty: [As usual, my man in Quincy has provided this rapid response. JB]

 

JJ doesn't have e-mail; however, his address is: Holy Cross Friary, 724 N. 20th Street, Quincy IL 62301.

 

We are having the friary chapter today to discern who our next guardian and vicar will be.

 

08 Sep 08 Dan Dolesh: I challenge you to a quiz game at BrainGainers.com! Try it, you'll like it. Then click over to the medieval headline quiz. And for the grand prize, who taught us history in the minor sem. and the history of philosophy in Cleveland? My guesses: Blase Hackman and in minor sem.; I say Clyde Ebenreck and Zach Hayes in Philosophy. I really should be working today and I said, as (? - you name him) "Nuts" at the Battle of the Bulge (Bastogne) when the Germans told him to surrender.

 

I'll be in Ft. Myers Beach, Oct. 8-15, Nov. 5-15, Dec. 10-17. Haven't set out the 2009 schedule yet, but closer to every other week in Jan, Feb, March. You guys are missing out on a great freebie: beach, boat, pool, and your own bathroom, and I'll even pick you up at the airport. Would be nice if you could coordinate a "group thing," (How about it, Dan? And include computer-troglodyte-Ray.
 

The offer is out there. Yes, Dan, I definitely would like to try to get Charlie to get us to go together to visit the Holy Land, but he seems to have cast aside his poor bothers.

 

08 Sep 08 Jack Brennan: Didn't GK teach us history; or was it Ed Lutz or maybe Egbert? Hell, I don't remember. Blase was strictly science (smoke in the bell jar) and Clyde was too young. Zach is a theologian and a student of the current pope.

 

08 Sep 08 Gael Stahl: I'm back from Mongolia three-week trek. My class was taught history in junior year high school by Edward Lutz and Gentil Katoski in fifth year. We were taught the history of philosophy by Camillus Vahl.

          I'll see what I can do about Ft. Meyers invitation. Would be a treat. I'm a bit behind on things at the moment, having returned Wednesday 9-24-08 from a September traveling to and enjoying Mongolia treks to the Altai mountains in far west and down to the Gobi sand dunes and back through various Buddhist monasteries to the capital, Ulan Bator. Never thought I'd see the day but my godson Caleb Wray offered me a chance to spend three weeks with him – a chance of a lifetime. He skied one of the four highest mountains in the Altai. He usually does these wild trips alone or with his college buddies, but godfather got to do this one!

 

Glorious country. Still as nomadic as when Chinggis Khan mobilized the troops and empire of 1206. St Francis was alive at the time, and about to start an order of nomads in about 1209 if memory serves.

 

Really, Dan, Blase never taught anything but science or Zach anything but dogmatic theology to us.


11 Sep 08 Dan Tanna: [From the DD Blog.] Did anybody catch Joe Biden's reference to St. Thomas Aquinas last Sunday on Meet the Press? Joe said there has been a debate in the church vis-a-vis when human life begins. He said Aquinas had expressed a point of view that human life did not begin at union of egg and sperm but 40 days after that, at what he called – “a quickening.” What's that all about? Tom (Shannon) please weigh in on this. Dan (Dolesh) you've probably read TA more time than any of us. Does this resonate with you? I don't remember anything like that being bounced off the walls in T-Town. But then again, I moved my lips and pointed to the text when I read. I am curious if others saw it too?

 

In the meantime.... still enjoying the tranquility of Quincy. Golf game is slowly resuscitating.

 

Paul (Langan) how about a few lines telling us of your and Geri's adventure to Nebraska. Have you passed Appaloosa, Co. yet?

 

11 Sep 08 Tony Lutz: [Responding to the Franciscan Vocation email from the Province.] We want the Friars to prosper and live and spread Christ's message. To help this along I would recommend that the Friars appear in the brown habit in public as much as possible. I was attracted to the Franciscans by the habit and behavior of great Friars. God works through the senses and experiences.

 

11 Sep 08 Jack Brennan: [From the DD Blog.] I seem to remember something like that about the early human embryo in Nick Meyer's class or maybe Agatho's? However, if you would have studied DD38, you would have seen a very scholarly treatise on this issue by Allan Wolter and Thomas Shannon: http://www.diasporadigest.org/articles/moralstatus.html The DD is dedicated to bringing you the very latest in theological and philosophical thinking!

 

11 Sep 08 Father John Hogan: [Response to an email about the Franciscan organization “Justice Peace & the Integrity of Creation” from the Province.] When you people think you are in a position to say when a war or armed intervention is necessary, then get yourself elected and show what your reasons are... Until then, you are false prophets and using your religious habit to strew your venomous and traitorous attitudes in the guise of religious peace keeping.

 

12 Sep 08 Damien Isabell: Dear brothers, I received the news of the Jubilee and from my room in Bruxelles I want to congratulate you all. Personally, even though I now belong to the Congolese Province, I am aware that the spiritual wealth that I have received from Sacred Heart Province is what keeps me going as I serve around the world. Never, never have I forgotten the example of the spiritual giants that we had the privilege of living with. Praise the Lord! During the celebrations, please pray for us in the diaspora for we are never really separated from you. Congratulations.

 

12 Sep 08 Paul Langan: [From the DD Blog.] Daniel, I did not catch Joe Biden on the tube, as we were out there RV-ing and camping in the mountains. Good question on Aquinas (TA). Thanks to the quick response of our editor I was able to read the Tom and Allan article since we are currently holed up in Sidney, Nebraska to wait out a major weather front. We have a great WIFI set up here!

 

Tomorrow under sunny skies we continue east to Grand Island then Omaha. There are a couple college footballs games I must watch; thus the stop in Grand Island.

 

13 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: [From the DD Blog.] Dan, Now I don't know if I have the right to respond to your blogging, so bear with me and forgive me if I bore you.

 

Aquinas’s thoughts were mainly based on 11th century's Avicenna, whose major ideas came from Aristotle and Plato (two very contradictory sources to say the least). Anyway, the big deal in philosophy at the time was essence and existence and which came first, the chicken or the egg. Avicenna opted for essence. Averroes, Avicenna's avid competitor, opted for existence. And so began the long saga of thought and thinking that probably wasted more time and brains than counting beans and pennies all the way up to 20th century existentialism.

 

Today overloaded words like "essence" and "existence" could be translated into matter (mass) and energy, and as you might imagine lots of problems and/or questions still exist there. But, let's get down to business and Senator Joe Biden.

 

Biden attended a Norbertine college, a preparatory high school in Delaware. I don't know much about Norbertines or Delaware, but I imagine Senator Biden got a full dose of Thomas Aquinas and classical scholasticism, while not screwing around as kids often do.

 

Biden's "Meet The Press" reference to Thomas Aquinas and Holy Roman Catholic Church's confusion over when life really begins (prior to when some Pope decided) may have been based on something in Avicenna that Aquinas swallowed, lock stock and barrel. It's called "tabula rasa", which means we're born with nothing in our beanies, empty, void, brainless, babies, one and all. Avicenna was an empiricist. You learn as you go or grow, he thought. No nature, nurture dilemmas haunted Avicenna or Aquinas. Genes, chromosomes and DNA were well hidden in either the chicken or its egg at the time, yet to be discovered by philosophers.

 

So, we "met...The Press" and some more of Biden's "malarkey". Now, I don't want to appear too down on Avicenna, Aquinas or VP Biden, but I guess I am. Yet there's room for some democratic discussion.

 

Whatever, we who had the rare opportunity of being Franciscans might appreciate a little better one of our ancestors called Ockham, though nobody really paid very much attention to his "razor" until B. Russell and L. Wittgenstein in the 20th century. It is a shame Ockam's, Russell's and Wittgenstein's thoughts remain on many obscure American library shelves accumulating dust for the most part, especially given America's sane origin in pragmatism as a way of thought and life.

 

Who knows when life begins? But best we respect it because it's a gift, maybe not to the Papa or Mama Bear, but to the Baby Bear.

 

13 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: [From the DD Blog.] I couldn't find DD38, so I "blogged" from my memory about Senator Biden's Meet The Press's 40 days (he probably mixed up Lent or the Ascension) and Thomas Aquinas. I also got in a couple of footnotes that John Joe Lakers taught me.

 

I still want to answer Paul Langan's question about percentages of believing, church-going Americans, but I'm afraid I'm becoming a bore.

 

13 Sep 08 Jack Brennan: [From the DD Blog.] Your summary of scholastic thinking on essence vs. existence is truly excellent. No kidding, I used Ockam's Razor the other day in a discussion with a friend. It is a great tool and seems to be useful in every branch of science.

 

I put the link to Tom Shannon's and Allan Wolter's article in my blog: http://www.diasporadigest.org/articles/moralstatus.html It doesn't actually appear in DD38, but is linked to a note Tom Shannon or I wrote in DD38.

 

16 Sep 08 Frank Wildt: [From the DD Blog.] Actually Aquinas believed that life began at 40 days for a male and 80 to 90 days for a female!!! Of course, Aquinas believed a lot of other stuff too. If interested in the abortion issue in more detail, I suggest "Loyal Dissent" by Charles Curran.

 

19 Sep 08 Fr. John Joe Lakers: [From the DD Blog.] Since Jim Sexton mentioned me in his entry into the discussion, Jack Hardesty has supplied me with printouts of a dialogue concerning abortion, unbelief, and assorted other asides.

 

Jim, as an empiricist, I emphasized that the way a question is formulated determines, to a large extent, what counts as an answer and what counts as evidence for the answer. In that vein, I offer a few remarks on the way that I now formulate moral issues.

 

(1) I begin with the way that the foundational stories in the Hebrew narrative tradition encode a rupture with nature. E.G., Yahweh's words send Abram, son of Terah, on a journey into the unknown as Abraham of Yahweh. These words require that he abandon his previous identity and security within a tribe. (This provides the biblical basis for my philosophical critique of the natural law theory of ethics.)

 

(2) At the time of the Exiles, Hosea and Second and Third Isaiah inscribed this narrative structure in poignant metaphors depicting God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants as a marriage-union. When they applied this metaphor to everyday life in a community, they insisted that the moral will of God can be heard in the cries of the dispossessed, oppressed, abused, marginalized, lost and silenced.

 

(3) To this day, these cries give voice to the universal longing for a fully human and uniquely personal existence. Note, then, that what the prophets stand for determines what they stand against. Intriguingly, what they stand for also calls them to stand with the oppressor as well as the oppressed.

 

(4) In effect, the prophets insisted that tangled moral issues lie, inextricably, at the core of every human action and assertion. (The postmodernist movement attempts to recover this insight, but its adherents can only speak in a hollow voice of prophetic protest.)

 

(5) When I apply this approach to the way that the abortion issue is formulated in political discourse, I must conclude that efforts to address abortion as a single issue are plainly immoral. E.G., it allows all of us to ignore the call to create a community in which young people learn to interact in ways conducive to intimate involvements, provide a support system for children at risk, aid unwed mothers who want to keep their offspring, etc., etc. (as I argue in my philosophical analysis of moral discourse, responses to moral issues must be dictated by the personal rather than the political dimensions of human existence.) - An added point: Those who want a law defining abortion as a criminal offense target the providers. In this regard, Fr. Joe Z. notes that he has never found anyone who wants to put the woman who has an abortion in prison. But from a legal perspective, the women are at least accomplices.

 

21 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: [To John Joe - from the DD Blog.] How in the name of heavens do you just pop up like Karl Popper after 40 years? I doubt you remember me after 30 years of teaching philosophy at Quincy. I was one of your 1st students when you returned from Oxford. They called me "little diz", the bigger one, Dismas Bonner, your classmate was my warden when the Franciscans moved T-Town to Chicago. I only lasted a couple of years at Chicago before running off to become a California dreamer. Then came the draft, Iran, Afghanistan and 20 years of forestry in France until returning to the US in 2000 to vote for President Bush. So I'm really messed up as far as contemporary American thought and opinions go.

 

I don't know how or why I got involved in this Senator Biden's "when life begins dispute", except that in general I don't trust many Irish Catholics, being one myself and having spent some time in Ireland digging up my Sexton family's roots and grave stones, which revealed lots of myths.

 

Anyway, down to business: (following your points 1 to 5)

 

1) I never thought of the rich meaning you give to Yahweh telling Abraham to go forth and form a new "people" or nation, leaving his past, tribe, rules and social environment; an adventure to say the least. That this becomes a "critique of the natural law of ethics" is curious. I think what you mean is that there is no "natural law of ethics", but that there is something called "common" or "social" sense. (i.e. Darwin or simple human goodness)

 

2) The books of Hosea and Isaiah, two beautiful books. I was lucky to study scripture under Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP who opened up my eyes and heart. Here again, with the "dispossessed" aren't we really talking about common sense? What does it profit a society, community, tribe, clan or whatever to have poor and oppressed among them? Furthermore, in a much larger sense, what does it profit the world...?

 

3) Prophets: Carroll Stuhlmueller maintained biblical prophets were not predictors, but commentators. So, if they really wanted to do something about the poor and oppressed, best stand amidst the society's oppressors and work for the oppressed, as you say. Otherwise, societies suffer revolts and revolutions. I can recall a few, like the inhuman and bleak side of Iran's 1979's revolution or Afghanistan's. But the DD Blog is way too small for me to start lamenting the past.

 

4) Tangled moral issues... You're too good, John Joe. I call them cacophony or sophism or how many angels you can put on a pin's head.

 

5) conclusion: "...efforts to address abortion in political discourse, as a single issue are ...etc". Everyone should read your original words. They are amazingly precise and excellent.

 

Thank you for popping up again. Do keep popping up. Lots of the diaspora is in need of a little faith, humility and common sense when it comes down to the universe.

 

Thank you, Jack Hardesty, for not wasting any of John Joe's time with screens and keyboards.

 

21 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: I don't know how you did it, but getting John Joe Lakers out of retirement is a true "fait accompli". This could put some new flavor and "out of the box" thought onto the DD, along side all the folksy stuff, which is of interest. But it might well silence and question all the right-left wing whackos, like me.

 

It's an important accomplishment, Jack. If he keeps going you might even revive the DD and put it back on the Diaspora’s best reading list again. Just look at number (5) again. His conclusion about abortion in political discussions is powerful stuff that can knock anybody off their feet who doesn't think and feel like a real human being.

 

Bravo.

 

21 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: I just thought of something, the gift of free will. Gael's going to like this one.

 

Thanks to the gift of free will we as a species are capable of doing the best or worst, but usually do nothing, like building boats that'll float on tsunamis or houses and homes that withstand earthquakes.

 

Sundays are rather prolific days for me, probably because I'm a heathen and miss going to mass and praying to somebody somewhere

 

25 Sep 08 John Joe Lakers: I was surprised by the quick response of John Brennan and Jim Sexton to my entry. John, I am not used to having people want to hear from me in more detail. John, I confess that I don't remember you. [Gael and I were ordained in June 1966 and we missed you. We did not attend the clericates in Quincy nor in Chicago. Jim Lyke was our classmate. JB] Jim, I remember you as immensely bright and hopelessly idealistic. If you remember, I visited you in your home once.

Jim, since you dared to tell me what I must have meant in my sketchy development, I can't resist a few comments. First, in an early entry, you targeted the vagueness encoded in references to belief and unbelief. Your reference to "common sense" is equally suspect. To resituate my approach: (1) Since I locate moral discourse in a framework depicting human existence as a perpetual journey into the unknown, I fear anyone who pretends to offer an authoritative definition of what it is to be human or to be uniquely oneself. (2) We find our way on that journey by acquiring an everyday language which, in turn, becomes formative on our longings, passions, desires, perceptions, imagination, motives, intentions, judgments and agendas. Thus, even Israel's great prophets could not entirely escape from the formative power of the traditional depiction of God as Lord, Lawgiver and Judge. But the narrative structure of the early stories by the Yahwist and the Eloist nonetheless enabled those with powerful sympathetic imaginations to project metaphors whose reach initially exceeded their grasp. To this day, these metaphors enable prophets to show that the formative power of distinctions and differentiations enshrined in everyday language is full of both promise and peril. I.e., this language can be used to promote person-to-person involvements or to disguise the violence inflicted on those who have no voice in the on-going dialogue. In this context, a sympathetic imagination is far more fruitful than appeals to reason or to common sense.

To situate the above in my personal history: Though I have always dwelt happily in the realm of ideas, I have also let people into my life in intensely personal ways. Willy nilly, I discovered that, without these involvements, I would have gone through life without awareness of the depth of my own longing for intimacy with the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and loved ones. In each of these involvements, events tapped tangled feelings in me that would otherwise have remained deeply buried. (A favorite metaphor: "We are tangles".)

In that vein, since I have been involved in the charismatic movement for years, I am often asked when I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. Though motivated by irritation, my reply is also honest: I don't think I have. As long as I can remember, Jesus and I have been locked in tangled struggles. I now understand the dynamics of the struggle. Since He is fully human, he longs for fully human and uniquely personal responses from me. On my part, though there is much about being human that I enjoy, there is much that I am still uncomfortable with. And though I am often obnoxiously myself, I also lie to protect my backside. So I can only hope that we both remain faithful to our commitment to one another. Through this commitment, I am constantly made aware that his passionate longing for intimate involvement with me assures me that I am never alone in my pain, fear, anger, shame, care, compassion, joy or playfulness. And this realization reminds me that he also hurts with those I hurt in this same way. ("Whatever you do....")

 

25 Sep 08 Jack Hardesty: Sorry, I forgot to identify the last message as coming from Fr. JJ Lakers. In case you want to see more of his writings, go to: http://www.qufriary.org/Lakers/

 

25 Sep 08 Paul L. Meyers: I have been talking much with Dan Mazar in recent 3 or 4 months, and swapping photos & info. I would like to know if anyone could please send me a copy of the "Tower" from 1959, since I was part of that class? My address: 4440 Myrtle Hill Road, NE, Kennesaw, Georgia 30144-1519

 

I would wonder for DD42 if Dan Mazar's “friarcremains” would be located in a Maxwell House Can (for freshness) or Tasters Choice (to keep an eternal caffeine-buzz)?

 

25 Sep 08 Jim Sexton (To Jack Hardesty) [From the DD Blog.]: It will take me a little while to read up on what John Joe has been thinking and writing over these past years, so do ask him to bear with me. I have a lot of catching up to do, since I've been out in the woods with trees for a long time. My razor's edge has gotten a bit rusty and I'll have to sharpen it up if we want to keep a coherent discussion up and running on Gael Stahl's and Jack Brennan's diaspora digest. Whatever, welcome to the wonderful world of words made of pixels packed with meaning.

 

30 Sep 08 Dan Tanna: [Out of sequence for continuity; from the DD Blog.] "Pixels packed with meaning!" I love it, Jim!!! Keep it coming. As you and JJ share exchanges, I will be in the gallery with my dictionary of terms to keep up with the dialogue.

Thanks again to the "geek brothers" (terms of endearment for our brothers Zeke and Jack) for making it possible to share those "pixels packed with meaning."

Has anybody heard form Mazar this morning? That Sox victory last night impacted him for sure I am sure, may have catapulted him into Lake Michigan? Danny, holler back!!! Blog us!!! Save some for the Cub-Sox series.

26 Sep 08 Paul Meyers: Heartfelt-Thanx for the invite to the DD Blog !

 

I have tried to do it for several months; however cannot get "In" as it will not take my password. I am too much of a novice in "Pewters" to know why? If you are able to do anything on your "End" would be most grateful! I tried using "Old Sandals" as password.

 

I have found Diaspora Digest to be a real lifeline to the past! It has allowed me to re-connect with: Dan Mazar, Bob Willford (fellow gymnast), Charlie Struckhoff, Paul Van Der Linde, George Vaughan and Stan Banaszak.

 

My Life Partner (Jay Mitchell) and I build and maintain about 60 pipe organs in Georgia/Alabama and a few in Florida. Jay is a die-hard stubborn-hard-headed Scotsman Missouri-Synod Lutheran...who has not been to church since he played Lutheran-services back in the 1960's. This coming October 31, we will have been together for 31 years.

 

I have truly enjoyed hearing from Dan concerning his 2-year stint in Australia after the Novitiate. I also treasure the photos he sent of "Tars" in civvies, and the photos of Francis Leo Madsen's gravesite with martini.

 

I am hopeful that the photos I sent you have helped DD, and have been enjoyed by some. [We put them to music; music to which Tars introduced us: http://www.diasporadigest.org/meyers.wmv Thanks again. JB]

 

I have tried to find anyone who recalls (1959/1960) Ken Maynar. Ken was slim, blond, and from East Gary, Indiana (constructed a lot of rosaries during study-hall). He stopped here in Georgia [briefly] en route to Florida with his sister, about 20 years ago, and he still held his boyish-looks and quick-grin. I know he graduated from a Catholic High School in Gary in 1963, but no word on him since, and most do not seem to recall him at all. (Then, he was not one of the "Jocks" in 59/60.)

 

I was partially remembered by most as I was a better-than-average gymnast, especially in climbing-the-rope in the gym, and becoming proficient on the pommel-horse [until seminary, I had never seen one before.)

 

Let me know if anyone has any old Gleaners/Towers from 59/60, I would greatly appreciate it.

  

Thanx

 

27 Sep 08 Caleb Wray: [Caleb is a 30-year-old adventurer, godson and friend of Gael Stahl. This piece is a great description of Gael’s and Caleb’s trek through Mongolia in September 08. JB]

 

Sain Bain Na Uu (How are you?),
 
Well I am back. Got in a day late due to a flight delay to Beijing. State run airlines don't seem to be any better than our privately run ones. As Warren Buffett says, airlines are just a bad business. The western world certainly changed while I was gone. I got off the plane at midnight Monday [Sept. 22 during the bank meltdowns – Caleb has been head of the Charles Schwab New Jersey and Colorado offices for years] and was at work by 2am. I don't really feel like I left until today [Sept. 27]. For perspective though, what happens to our investment banks has no affect at all on the Mongolian Steppes. It will pass like everything else, me and my teammates will just be on the border of insanity until then.
 
The trip was great! Mongolia is a special place. Ranks up there with Antarctica, Nepal, Peru, and Canada as the last magical places on the planet. The people there are as friendly, genuine, and welcoming as I have ever met. Our selection of remote locales and Khongor Expeditions as an agent to find good drivers and translators allowed Gael and I to immerse ourselves into the culture deeper than in any previous country I have visited. My Mongolian is definitely better than Jeff's Spanish.
 
I have broken the pictures into two albums. The links are below. There are a lot of them so if you really want to take this on, grab a beverage.
 
The first part of our trip took us to the far western region of Mongolia, near the borders with China, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The Altai Mountains are the highest and most remote in Mongolia. The weather was pretty bad, blowing snow much of the time, but I got a climb and ski descent in. Could be a first descent according to the local guide I spoke with. Haven't found any record of a previous descent in the alpine journals either. Climbed the Mongolian side of the peak in mixed conditions and skied off into Russia in thigh deep powder and a whiteout.
 
Western Mongolia is primarily Kazakh, meaning they are jack-Muslim, stoic, and very hard workers. They have a strong sense of community and no sense of privacy. Most of them speak Russian, Kazakh and Mongolian. They are well known for their eagle hunting prowess, using the birds to hunt animals as large as wolves. They also drink warm goat milk like water.
 
Our driver was Dagys, one of the most well known and experienced in the region. He proved that with a 10 mile hike over a pass in the snow to get his Jeep when our horses didn't show up to transport us out of the mountains. He did the walk in 2.5 hours, leather dress shoes and jeans, the temp was in the mid 20's. He returned at 7pm and I suggested we wait until morning to make the Jeep trip back over the pass. He said “No! Snow tonight.” The sky was clear but I deferred to his experience and sure enough a snow storm blew in that night that would have likely stranded us for a few days. Bota was our translator, it was her first trip and though she was very eager, her English was a little rough.
 
We headed south to the Altai lakes region, spent another day on the famed Mongolian horses exploring waterfalls near the Chinese border, and then back to Olgii to catch a flight to Ulaan Baatar. Mongolia is a huge country, the size of Alaska, with only 2.6 million people, half of which live in the capital city.
 
Part 2 of our trip took us south to the Gobi Desert. Jaga, another one of the most experienced drivers around, was superb. Flat tires, missing tires, overheating, it didn't matter, nothing delayed us more than about an hour. At one point he replaced the entire wheel mount, disassembling the axle, in 70 minutes. Laughing the whole time. Unoroo was our translator, a young international relations graduate with a bubbly personality. Her English was excellent and our conversations about international politics were quite a surprise. The majority in Mongolia are favorable to Socialism and like George Bush. Figure that out. The Kazakhs like Obama and pure capitalism.
 
The people in the south and central of Mongolia are the original Mongolian Nomads. Speaking Russian and Mongolian, very playful, friendly, inquisitive, and always up for a glass of vodka or fermented mare's milk (better than it sounds). We spent many nights sleeping in Gers (Yurts) during this part of the trip. There are almost no paved roads and the Jeep tracks wear on you to say the least.

 

The landscapes are big and untouched. The climate is dry and the history runs deep. Mongolians take a tremendous amount of pride in their ability to fight. They won their first two gold medals in Judo and Boxing this year. When you look back at history they fought most of their battles at a greater than 5:1 disadvantage and rarely lost.

 

Mongolians practice Mahayana Buddhism, the same as in Tibet and India. In fact, the Mongolians invented a lot of the tradition currently practiced in Tibetan Buddhism. One of the Mongolian Khaans invented the term Dalai Lama in the 1500s. Dalai comes from the Mongol word for "Ocean." Mongolians have put a Shamanistic spin on their version of Buddhism and hence all of the blue you will see in my pictures. For them it represents the sky, you won't find it as prominent in any other forms of the religion. Unfortunately the Stalinists wiped out almost all of the Khiids (monasteries) and monks in 1937. Most of what is seen has been built since the fall of communism in 1989. The religion holds strong in the people's minds though and what has been rebuilt evidences this.

 

Trip stats:

 

Miles off road - ~2,100

 

Modes of transport: 10 - plane, train, bus, jeep, car, motorcycle, horse, camel, ski, foot.

 

Temp extremes - 13F to 88F

 

Adult beverages - 7 - vodka, mare's milk, beer, camel wine, zag berry liqueur, Armenian funk, and some other desert wine I still haven't identified.

 

Lastly, I want to say Gael was a hell of a travel partner! Those that have rolled with me know I like to go minimal, flexible, and on the road less traveled. We put in some long days and tough miles. Gael made friends across the whole country, it was amazing to watch. The Mongolians prize white hair which gave him immediate fame. I heard the words Santa Claus on several occasions. We celebrated Gael's 69th birthday in the Altai and I believe the wind-chill was around 0 degrees that night. Gael, with his jacket purchased in 1983, cotton gardener gloves, and 30 year old sleeping bag never complained once, remarkable. I recommend his company. He comes with a wealth of religious, philosophical, and historical knowledge and great book recommendations, though you will have to keep track of his glasses.

 

Enjoy the pics: [Photos take a while to load; but worth the wait.]

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/caleb.wray/MongoliaPart1AltaiSept2008#

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/caleb.wray/MongoliaPart2GobiAndKhaangaiSept2008#

 

[Gael: I didn't have my camera with me the first half of our trip, but Caleb more than made up for it. His photos are on two web sites that you can click on at the bottom of his message. Since then, I learned to get my photos up on a Picasa web site too. You'll see a lot more photos of my godson in my collection, of course. The primary reason I went to Mongolia was the chance to spend three weeks with Caleb. And then, ten thousand more reasons cropped up. But that much time alone with Caleb was and is my favorite thing about spending September in Mongolia.

   I also really really really dug the Buddhist monasteries, the ruins of one, the rebuilding of one and its delightful monk, the big ones and the huge famous ones that survived the Stalinist purges as museums (six of many thousands of monasteries. The thousands of monks weren’t so lucky: killed, deported, put in the army or labor markets, etc.

  You can see my pictures (sorry, mostly unedited, and I’ve just started adding captions to explain the setting of the pictures. Here are the web sites:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/gael.stahl/Mongolia1#

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/gael.stahl/Mongolia2#

 

   I’m sorry there are so many. When edited, there won’t be. If you tire, skip to the end to see the kinds of dells (deels) Caleb and I bought. Most Mongolian men and women wear them, including horseback, camel back, and motor bike herdsmen and shepherds. Gael]

 

29 Sep 08 Dan Tanna: [Responds to Sexton above - 13 Sep 08 from the DD Blog.] Jim, you can respond to my blogging anytime -24/7 - if so inclined!!! Thanks for scribing the carefully considered distinctions. I remembered two out of four - Plato and Aristotle and our guy Ockham ( although not too familiar with the razor after all these years.) Be assured - not boring!!!

And did I not see a comment from Frank Wildt? Frank, good to have you blogging too!

 

29 Sep 08 Jack Hardesty: [From the DD Blog.] Was great to see Dan Tanna and "Cowboy" Mazar again. Fr. JJ Lakers and I enjoyed the little time with them at QU Friary.

 

29 Sep 08 Dan Tanna: [From the DD Blog.] Jack, the Gem City toastmasters are meeting in the Hall of Fame room on 10/1 to celebrate its charter. I am giving one of the speeches. Come on down!!!! The meeting is from noon to 1 pm. I am hoping to make the open house on 10/7 too!

 

29 Sep 08 Carroll Mizicko, OFM: I can’t believe it has been July since I sent you an up-date. It has indeed been a busy couple of months. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! That sums up well the last couple of months.

 

Our Vacation Bible School was a great success even though the Lord decided to send some showers on Sunday when we were planning to have a picnic on our church grounds with rides and games for the kids. Every one still enjoyed the hot dogs and chips even though inside.

 

On August 24th we held our 3rd Annual Parish Banquet and Silent Auction at the Shrine of Our Lady of Snows. It was a great celebration at which we honored five members of Religious Communities who have ministered to people for over fifty years. Because of the generosity of so many people we realized over $5,000.00 to support our ministry to the people of East St. Louis. I want to thank especially my Franciscan Brothers who sent donations for ads, which contributed greatly to our success.

 

At the end of August I did manage to get away for about ten days for a little vacation. I spent a couple of days at Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee just relaxing and doing some bird watching. From there I traveled to Monroe, La., to visit my family at Little Flower Church and attend the birthday party of my friend Faye Bess. Fr. Adrian graciously allowed me to be the Celebrant and preach at the Masses on the weekend, which I greatly appreciated. I left Monroe on Sunday, August 31st ahead of hurricane Gustav. I took the back route to Memphis so I did not encounter a lot of traffic. However, I heard that all the motels were filled and that some service stations had run out of gas. On Sunday night I was delighted that I was able to attend a Birthday Celebration for Pat Perry at which many of my family from St. Augustine Parish in Memphis were present. It was a most enjoyable evening. I left Memphis Sunday night and headed to Joliet where I made contact with my cousins. Unfortunately some were out of town but I still enjoyed my visits while relishing in the hospitality of the Franciscan community at St. Johns. From Joliet I headed to Teutopolis, Il where I visited my long time friends Clete and Karen Waldoff. I was back in East St. Louis in time to be celebrant for the opening school Mass for Sr. Thea Bowman School on Friday. While it was a short vacation that covered a lot of miles, I was refreshed by being able to make contact with so many people that have been and are an important part of my life.

 

Once I got back life did not exactly stop. Under Fr. Ferd’s leadership we have initiated a Community Youth and Young Adult choir. This choir is open to any one between sixth grade and young adult. You do not have to be Catholic to participate. This is an effort to reach out to the many young people in the Church and in the community who may be looking for some more meaningful involvement. Fr. Ferd’s Choir sang for our first Youth Mass on Saturday, Sept. 20 and sounded great.

 

On Monday, September 15 our Sacred Heart Province of the Franciscans celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the arrival of Friars from Germany in 1858 who founded our Province. The celebration included a gathering of Friars and friends on Sunday night for a celebration of our history. On Monday morning Brother Jose Rodriguez Carballo, our Minister General from Rome addressed those gathered. A fantastic Mass at St. Anthony Church in St. Louis, our headquarters, was celebrated at 3 PM followed by a sumptuous banquet. What made the whole celebration especially important is that we had a busload and several cars of people from East St. Louis attend the Mass and the banquet. Our newly elected Minister Provincial even gave special recognition to the African American delegation and a Hispanic delegation from Indianapolis. It was just a great celebration. Several people from St. Augustine commented: “You Franciscans really know how to throw a party!” That comment was usually followed by “When is the next one?” From my perspective I was very honored and overwhelmed by the numbers from East St. Louis that made the sacrifice to join us in our celebrations, especially since we have only been in the area for six years.

 

The “high” experienced in our Province celebration was followed by my participation in the Diocesan Priests Convocation which was also held in St. Louis. The meeting was completely devoted to trying to bring some reconciliation and healing between the priests and Bishop of the Diocese. Needless to say it was somewhat tense at times. However, I think there is reason for hope and I believe some positive steps have been taken. Please keep our Diocese in your prayers.

 

Frs. Ferd and Chris are both doing well. We are adjusting to the demands of Ferd’s new job as director of the Office of Friar Life. Just like in a family, what affects one member has its effects on the rest of the members. We are also anticipating the arrival this week of a Franciscan Friar, a transitional Deacon, from England who will be spending three months with us. We are looking forward to his arrival as, I am sure, it will also be a learning and growing experience for us.

 

Well those are some of the highlights from the East Side. I do enjoy and appreciate the many contacts from all of you whether by E-mail or otherwise. If you are passing by on I55, I255, I40 or I64 please give me a call. We are only a few minutes from those highways. It is always good to hear from friends.

 

Peace and everything that is good!

 

30 Sep 08 Jim Sexton: [From the DD Blog.] Now that John Joe Lakers has surfaced everybody is going to have to do some serious reading and catching up to stay in the conversation ...

No more political "malarkey" or Cartesian philosophy, that's for sure.

While you are at it, "Charlie Wilson's War" was a "must" as far as films go.


30 Sep 08 Dan Tanna: [From the DD Blog.] Jim, I remember the hot tub scenes best!!! Of almost equal recall are Charlie’s denied efforts to address the Afghan conditions vis-a-vis schools, health, infrastructure in general, etc. Same movie, right?

 

30 Sep 08 Dan Tanna: [From the DD Blog to Sexton.]Yes, the JJ factor in this discussion (any discussion for that matter) is lightening-like isn't it? Ah, another benefit moving back to Quincy - sitting on the patio at the friary listening to him.

When Dan Mazar visited Sharon and me in May, we paid a visit to JJ and the friars at QU. (Great to see Bro. Jack Hardesty too.) Our class didn't have JJ in class as he was just returning from Oxford when we hipped to T-Town. Our charismatic neighbors have fond memories of his exuberance too! So I have printed out his comments for further deliberation. It is great being able to knock on his door and ask him to explain.

04 Oct 08 Vince Zimmerman: Just thought of you [Jack Brennan] on this day. It was 50 years ago they had the big 100-year provincial celebration in Teutopolis and Alban let us got over to the Theology House. I remember because my parents were standing by the railroad and told Alban that they were waiting for the train and didn't realize that I might walk by. Of course, he sshhed them. Peace.

 

04 Oct 08 Jack Brennan: I only vaguely remember that day. (A euphemism for "I don't remember at all.") Alban was so busy making sure that the Novitiate was as unnatural as possible that I bet he didn't believe your parents.

Thanks for thinking of me. I think of you and the other guys a lot these days. Probably part of getting old. I just turned 73 last week. When life gets rough around the edges I threaten (not anyone in particular) that I am going back to the monastery where life was easy. Midnight choir was a piece of cake compared to wrestling mentally with one of my kids.

Pax et bonum. And have a good St. Francis Day.

 

08 Oct 08 Paul Meyers: I am hopeful that someone in one of the Classes from St. Joseph's Seraphic Seminary, might recall the small prayer book called "Oremus" used on a daily basis for morning/evening prayers ?

 

On each Thursday we also would sing the famous responsory [supposedly by St. Bonaventure] to St. Anthony, which started:

 

"Si quaeris miracula, - mors, error, calamitas, daemon, lepra fugiunt, - aegri surgunt sani."

 

In "Modern" times, it seems that neither the friars in Sacred Heart [or any other] Province, sing the Responsory.

 

I am hopeful that someone may know of a CD/tape of this famous-song being sung by a soloist/choir or schola?

 

Please let me know? [Paul’s demographics are on our email roster and our address book.]

 

12 Oct 08 Chuck Faso: I am pleased to announce I have created a Blog called Peace and Everything Good.

 

Please join the conversation as we move along this journey of life…

 

15 Oct 08 Gael Stahl: …That letter of Jim Sexton clarifying the Avicenna/Averroes, Aquinas, Plato and Aristotle essence as matter and existence as energy blew me away. I've never quite thought of it that way, but in my William James pragmatism way of thinking, had come to think of essence as an idea (a notion, nothing real, just a word as in nominalism) and existence as process. It may come down to the same thing. Then you throw in substance and form and I'm all confused again.  I finally have time now that I'm more settled in after my long absence to get into the mix. I've really enjoyed reading the dialog but didn't have time to participate while preparing to go to Asia for my first and probably only time.    

 

15 Oct 08 Chuck Faso: On June 28, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed this year the Year of St. Paul. Fr. Bill Burton OFM and I are offering a pilgrimage to Turkey and to Greece, May 24 – June 4, 2009. We will visit the cities where St Paul preached and lived. We will pray in those places, and listen to and read the Scriptures that speak of each place. We will enjoy the beautiful scenery, the delicious food, the intriguing history of these two fascinating countries.

 

We will visit these places: Ismiz, Ephesus, Pergamum Troy, Canakkale, Kavala, Phillippi, Thessaloniki, Monastery of Meteora, Kalambaka, Athens, Corinth, and Istanbul.

 

To view the brochure for this pilgrimage, click onto this website of AMI Travel, our agents for many years: http://www.amitravel.com/sitePage.aspx?pageID=336 - Any questions, call AMI Travel (773-777-4900) or me. May the Lord give you peace!

 

15 Oct 08 Gael Stahl: Jack, I've long credited your crossword puzzling for your enormous brain activity, but now I wonder if surfing the Internet should not get some credit too. Thanks to my favorite living theologian, Ron Kritter, we both know it, now.

 

15 Oct 08 Jack Brennan: It's time I asked you for a bio of Ron Kritter. He is like some of your other incredible friends - e.g. Dalton - who simply appear in your stream of writings. Like characters out of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Professor Moriarty, for example.

 

16 Oct 08 Gael Stahl: Like you, Ron is a long-time resource and indispensable connector for things technical, literary, theological (e.g., he lit my fire about the Rahner-Heidegger connection), new books, old books, writes magical, snappy, apt thoughts and descriptions.

 

I met him through our Sherlock Holmes web site and list group where he was the best moderator ever for a discussion he led us for one of our trips through the 60-story S Holmes stories over two or three years). He was one of the five members of my James Joyce e-reading group that began reading Ulysses the day after I retired, on Feb. 2, 2008, James Joyce's birthday, ground hog day, blessing of the throat day, etc.

 

When some of us Nashville Sherlockians were attending a conference in Chicago, he and his wife drove down to visit with us despite ice and snowy road conditions. He's been to Nashville twice for the Southern Festival of Books. Susan and I stopped to visit him and his wife in Milwaukee on our way back home from Door County not too long ago.

 

He's become the essential mind-spirit-intellectual connection in my daily life. I really got into him and all he is when he and Claudia Rilke of Wurzburg let me join their literary discussions about 10 years ago. We three would write each other every day all day. I panted to keep up with them. Couldn't. Enjoyed every minute. Still do. Far-ranging electricity. When Claudi got health problems and too busy with her web site biz and dropped out, Ron continued to my mentor. He's a bit younger than I, became a Catholic when he married, lives in Milwaukee, went to University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. He's my favorite Catholic dialoguer too. We're both big fans of Garry Wills, GK Chesterton, writings of Dorothy Day, you name it. We're into it.

 

Of course, Jack, you go back further and have been my constant companion since 1956 and enabler in getting Diaspora Digest out all these years. Ron was long on our DD mailing list, and so knows you from the distance, as you have known him from my constant referencing him on just about everything.

 

So, while I have more than one love in my life, you, Krit, and Mooney seem to be my ongoing trinity, even if there are seven of us in it at times. Y'all are the german chocolate frosting that paves the ice hallways I skate on to paradise with you guys serenading me all the way. (In paradisum deducant me angeli.) And funny, I am called Gael by Ron, Ernie by Mooney and his friends, Zeke by you, Jack. By whatever name I answer to, you are my three godfathers for quite a while and I hope for a long time in a long spiritual level of life called retirement in the retiros and retreat houses of today.

 

PS: I may have some particulars wrong about Ron. His descriptions tend to be as Whitmanesque as Mooney's or illusive as a Emily Dickinson poem. But we're all on the same page, whatever the words say. Our fingers may, like our lives, make typos. Let the reader beware and understand. That's friendship.

 

16 Oct 08 Gael Stahl: Here is a recent example of Ron Kritter correspondence: “I know that as we correspond in the future your thoughts will flit back occasionally to Mongolia: look forward to reading each of those thoughts! It must have been an incredible journey especially when experienced by such a well-read man seasoned by the years.

 

“The reviews of 'Home' that I have read mirror those you comment on. It's was described in the local paper as an uneven book, powerful at times, 'watery soup' at other times. Any new novel would pale when compared to a contemporary masterpiece like 'Gilead'. When you write a great book readers unrealistically expect your next creation to match or surpass it, or maybe we just hope to experience that spiritual beauty again. [Gael: I just finished listening to Home. For me it only got better as it developed. Some reviewers thought it lagged. It was nominated for the National Book Award; Gilead won it two years ago. Both have great Calvinist thinking and reflecting on life in the Iowa town of Gilead.]

 

“…I have been reading passages over the last few weeks from Dorothy Day's 'Diaries' edited by Robert Ellsberg; 'Selected Writings' edited, also, by Ellsberg; and once more dipping into 'The Long Loneliness'. Whether or not 'God' exists Day gets this world right.

 

“Our friend Dave Schultz is an editor of technical books as well as writer and editor of literary ones. He is a gentle soul, but can really scorch a writer's style. He asserts that 'The Long Loneliness' is absolutely magnificent, written in a style that penetrates the reader, not because it's self-consciously literary, but because the words are put to work to reveal authentic human despair and hope.

“I find this also to be true of Day. Maybe when writing comes from the crucible of experience, from suffering the empathy of others' suffering, it seeps into our own (the reader's) being. That it enters us as all the silly frothy books that flood the hurting world cannot. The writer who is burned by suffering -- as in a war or in a rich land that blinds itself from the poor -- cannot help but write with a pen that's afire.”

 

26 Oct 08 Dan Tanna: Confreres Old and New!!!

 

I can't hold this in any longer!! I had the distinct privilege of being photographed holding one of Tommy's scholarly works on Duns Scotus. Although the cover's glare shrouds Tom's name and the boldness it deserves, it depicts surely and without doubt the brilliance and quality of its content. Great job, Dr. Shannon! I hear there are many more academic writings you have penned in your career at Worcester Polytech.

 

Chuck (aka Chuck Faso from Chicago) was in Quincy for a couple of days two weeks ago (the first in a number of years) and we had a great visit. Tom’s book was on the shelf in his room at the Holy Cross friary (QU). Hence, the photo. Quincy is a good place!!! [Click here to see the photo. You will need to join the DD Blog and get your Yahoo ID and password to see the photo.]

 

Tom’s daughter, Ashley, also published a great coffee table book many years ago now entitled; “Irish Blessings.” Click here to see the book on Amazon. – That’s where I got my copies.

 

02 Nov 08 Luis Runde: My new location... come see… is suburban FT WORTH -- short distance to the DFW airport, Bedford TX, 3713 Harwood Dr, 76021.

I just have a bit of news of an older brother of parishioner here -- was in sem and I believe came together with Scott Kuhle (whose email is lost momentarily in my mess).... ART VOGEL, age about 71… died of diabetes, a somewhat long illness. Older bro of TOM, old St. Louis boys.

My good wishes, love and all PEACE & GOOD.

 

02 Nov 08 Scott Kuhle:  I, of course, remember Art well; I remember vividly when he came up from St. Louis to St. Joe's in Westmont. He joined our table in the refectory (our table was at the southwest end of the refectory - close to the kitchen - near the window that looked out at a gorgeous Magnolia [or Tulip] tree in the courtyard). Besides for his good appetite, I especially remember Art for his fine baseball skills. He was easy going except when he got on the field, and then his competitiveness came out.

 

If anyone has a picture of Art, I would sure enjoy seeing him in his later years. Also an obit would be welcome.

 

I did not know Tom well, but certainly remember him. My heartfelt sympathy to him.

 

Peace and Joy.

 

02 Nov 08 Ted Bracco: Art Vogel was in my class. He joined us late. He had a brilliant mind and was an outstanding athlete. He went to the Novitiate with us but had to drop out because of a very bad speech impediment, which showed up when he had to read out loud in front of the whole group. He really wanted to be a Friar and a Priest, but God had other plans for him. At the Field Day we had at St. Joe's my 6th year, Art won first place in every event. I really felt bad when he had to leave the Novitiate. He was brilliant in Math. Thanks for the email. 

 

07 Nov 08 Scott Kuhle: Great visiting with you, Jack. [Scott lives about 80 miles from me and his daughter’s landscape business is in my neighborhood in Spokane. So we see each other some – not enough – and call each other – not enough. JB]

Below is a brief account of a recent accident. All's well that ends well.

On Tuesday, October 21, 2008, I had a close brush with death. As I was driving home from a day on our challenge course, I fell asleep. I awoke as soon as I heard the wheels on the gravel edge, but too late to try steering safely back on to the highway. The next few seconds were surreal as I watched the weeds separating under the Honda as I traveled into the field.

Not knowing where I was in the field, I had no choice except to go straight and in another second or two I was airborne as I flew across a country road. Realizing that at this point I was only along for the ride, because the car and elements (the laws of physics) were in charge, I remember thinking, "Oh my God, Mary Ann is going to kill me for damaging - at this point I was still mistakenly thinking damaging rather than totaling - her Element."

When the car came down on the other side of the road, - I'm told that there were no tire marks on the road - the air bags deployed, and for a brief second I thought that I had died. Since the air bags deflated as quickly as they had exploded, I was aware of the car plowing through the ground before coming to a stop as it did a 160 degree turn in the field.

The motor, which was still running, sounded like a thrashing machine, and for a moment I couldn't figure out what the awful smell was. Then I saw smoke emitting from the steering wheel, and realized that the air bags had deployed.

Fortunately, a lady turning onto the road that I had flown over, saw the whole accident and called 911. Within a few minutes a deputy arrived and within 10-15 minutes the EMS was on the scene attending to me. I was taken to the emergency department at the local hospital. Since I do much of my work there, it was different being the patient on the gurney, rather than the one attending to the patient.

The ED physician asked if I wanted him to set my shoulder back in place or call in the orthopedic specialist; I told him that I trusted his decision whether or not he could do it as well; his smile told me that he could, and he did it. Once the arm was back where it belonged, I had immediate pain relief.

After determining that I didn't have any internal injuries - I had a CT scan, the physician with whom I work with a lot, came into to the bay and very seriously announced, “We going to have to Foley you.” My response was, as you can readily understand if you have ever been catheterized, “No you're not.” I am convinced that humor is the best ointment for healing.

I took the 5 days off that the physician strongly recommended, and returned to work Monday morning. Aside from not biking, I'm nearly back to normal – as normal as I ever get - activities.

Peace and Joy.

 

08 Nov 08 Dismas Bonner: As of November 10, 2008 the address from which this e-mail comes to you (dbon of nightowl.net) will be discontinued. You may contact me at either <dbon of wildblue.net> or at <dbon29 of gmail.com>. Thank you.

 

10 Nov 08 Tom Higgs: I am an obscure graduate of St. Joe’s, Class of ’69, who spent one semester at OLA before finally bowing out of the seminary system. I realize that most on this blog graduated long before me and don’t know me but I do recognize many of the same friars and former friars mentioned here, as some were my teachers at St. Joe’s.

 

I still have old copies of “The Tower” and some pictures from both Oak Brook and OLA. It is interesting to go back and look over the last 39 years and wonder what life would’ve been like had I stayed the course and become a friar. All I can say is “there but for the grace of God….”!

 

When I read Girard Etzkorn’s ridiculous diatribe against George Bush I knew the name triggered a memory and, sure enough, there was a picture of Etzkorn with the faculty of OLA in one of the seminary’s publications from 1969. So this PhD has been in education for over 39 years? It shows! It shows in his never-never land references to long ago “ethicians” such as Cicero and Isidore – as if their criteria for war have anything at all to do with America! If Mr. Etzkorn had spent any time in the real world instead of spending his life in the insulated world of academia, he might, might understand that the real world does not give a rat’s ass about Cicero’s rules of war.

 

Mr. Etzkorn speaks of Mr. Bush’s “ignorance” of history. Oh really? History shows that a fellow named Adolph Hitler was not taken seriously back in the 30’s and the free world appeased him. We all know the results of that mistake. Leading up to 9/11, America continuously appeased terrorists and did nothing about their attacks. After 9/11 America could no longer take that chance by appeasing terrorists or America-hating tyrants, such as Sadaam Hussein. As President Bush correctly stated shortly after 9/11, his job, first and foremost, is to protect the American people. Without security in America, all of Etzkorn’s noble ideas for how American taxpayers’ money should be spent are moot. Say what you want about anything else President Bush has done, but you cannot argue that he has kept America safe and taken the fight to where the enemy resides. Perhaps Mr. Etzkorn would prefer more planes crashing into our towers? How about roadside bombs along our interstates?

 

Of course, Mr. Etzkorn is a man of the cloth and has never fathered a child so he can be somewhat excused for not understanding the morality of protecting one’s child. But if he had children, as I have, he would instinctively understand the need to protect one’s children from outside dangers. Any dad will tell you that you’d better not mess with my kids or I’ll mess with you – and I WON’T be interested in knowing about the attacker’s disturbed past!

 

So it is with America. Freedom must be protected just like my child’s life must be protected; And THAT is the primary responsibility of our president toward the citizens of America. And please, spare me the argument about defending the Constitution. Without security from outside enemies there will be no Constitution to defend! And, in this regard, George W. Bush has done a magnificent job! The proof is that we have not been attacked on our soil since 9/11, even though every person in the world expected another attack within months if not days of 9/11. The further proof is that Mr. Etzkorn still has the freedom to write his naïve nonsense because President Bush has protected his freedom (and mine) to do so.

 

Years from now history will exonerate George Bush and recognize his great contribution to keeping America free while Mr. Etzkorn will be simply forgotten as just another man who never left college. In the words of James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams: “Kumbaya ! Peace, love, dove!”. I wonder how has THAT philosophy worked for Mr. Etzkorn all these years. It sure worked well in the years leading up to 9/11. Contrary to Etzkorn’s assertion that the war against terrorism is immoral, Mr. Bush did the exact moral thing he had to do – he protected the citizens he was supposed to protect.

 

Finally, the true “sad commentary” on our spiritual leaders is not that they were “silent” leading up to the war in Iraq, but that they choose to worry more about the fate of America’s attackers while doing precious little to overturn Roe vs. Wade, resulting in the murder of millions of innocent babies. Methinks Etzkorn’s diatribe has more to do with his obvious hate of George W. Bush than any higher interest in “justice”. Just like our newly elected president, Etzkorn believes the answer lies in “education”. No surprise there since his life has been spent in education. But with some students, the best education comes when they learn that America will no longer put up with their terrorist behavior and that lesson is learned best when you speak in the language the enemy can most understand – taught to them by an American G.I.!

          [Editorial comment by Gael Stahl: Since Tom doesn’t know Jerry Etzkorn, I feel obliged to set a couple of mis-flung comments straight. Jerry was an American G.I. before he became a Franciscan student, friar, and priest.

As to Jerry never having “fathered a child so he can be somewhat excused for not understanding the morality of protecting one’s child. But if he had children, as I have, he would instinctively understand the need to protect one’s children from outside dangers,” I know his children well enough to know that they would agree with their father, who has probably had a lot more real life experience in his 80 years than most. – That said, we promote and urge more critiques like this of any political prose whether of a secular or churchy stripe.]

 

11 Nov 08 Scott Kuhle: It's a day to transcend politics and honor those who have sacrificed so much. I know that I owe them much.

This past week, I had the privilege of spending two hours with a soldier and his wife; he was finishing a 10-day visit with his wife and two children - a 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter - before returning to Iraq for his second deployment there. According to current plans, he will not be reunited with his loved ones for nearly a year.

They were both beautiful individuals with so many strengths to share with each other and their children. Their relationship, which they both cherished, was suffering from the vicissitudes of being apart for more than 2 years of their 4-year marriage.

On this Veterans Day, I want to share with you my profound appreciation to the men and women who serve(d) our nation, as well are recommit myself to working toward peaceful solutions that enhance and bring our the member of our species together rather than war which devastates lives and separates us.

Peace and Joy.

 

11 Nov 08 John Miller: Sandy and I were looking forward to our weeklong trip to Beaver Creek in Colorado during the Thanksgiving week. Somehow I managed to screw it up by hurting my left hip area (the one that was replaced) with a fall in the hay loft, crashing against some rafters, and doing some heavy lifting of horse food or a combination thereof. Except for some bruising, nothing seemed wrong even 5-6 days later, but I have not been able to walk without a cane since last Thursday and can't get in to see the Orthopedic surgeon until Nov. 18, as he is out of town. We hope it's just a muscle pull and bruising, but they won't be able to really tell without some x-rays and an MRI. It hasn't got that much better with time and pain meds, but we hope it's nothing serious and another operation. Nice way to start the holidays, eh!?! Pax.

 

13 Nov 08 Dennis Griffin: Jack, last summer you asked me for a DD contribution telling about my interest in automobiles. Finally, here goes.

From somewhere around the age of four or five I have been interested in cars, trucks, tractors, road graders, airplanes -- almost anything with wheels, engines, wings, noise and so forth. I entered St. Joe's Westmont after high school at Joliet Catholic High School. While in high school a friend and I found a 1929 Model A Ford coupe and installed an Oldsmobile V8 engine with automatic transmission. The end result was the ugliest car in Will County, but also the fastest car in the county. At about the same time I got involved with motorcycles, a WWII Army training airplane with open cockpits, and other vehicles. I don't think the faculty at St. Joe's knew of any of this.

After six years with Franciscans I went on in college and career and marriage and kids and didn't have much to do with the recreational part of automobiles.

By my sixtieth birthday the kids were grown and out of the house. That is when I got into racing school. The one itch that I had never been able to scratch was the need to know how control a car at high speed. The Skip Barber Racing School is the best racing school in the country. "Skippy" has a school at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Road America is a "road course" racetrack. One complete lap of the track is four miles. There are fourteen turns. So far I have taken the introductory course, the three-day course, a car control clinic and a lapping day. My speeds have been about 135 mph. It is impossible to describe the thrill of driving a racecar.

In the past couple of years I have been involved with restoring and racing a 1959 Italian racecar. The car is a Bandini Formula Junior with the engine in the front. We race in the "vintage races." 

 

You are invited to view Dennis's photo album: Vintage Races

 

21 Nov 08 Carroll Mizicko: Can you believe it? We are already deep into fall heading quickly to winter. The fall colors were spectacular. In October I took a little time off to drive up the Old River Road along the Mississippi to Pere Marquette State Park near Alton. The leaves were not at their peak but it was still a wonderful drive and you could not help but reflect on the marvels God has created in nature. I hope to travel that way again in December to try and spot a few Bald Eagles who winter along the cliffs.

 

Life continues to be good at St. Augustine. Of course one of the big recent events has been the election of Barack Obama as president. You cannot imagine the excitement and pride of our people as the first African American is elected as leader of this country. While I certainly don’t agree with Barack Obama’s position on all issues, I believe he does embody potential for moving our country and world towards a more just and peaceful community. I remind people that we need to pray for Barack Obama for his safety and that he will find a way to work with people of differing views to arrive at decisions that will benefit not only the people of the US but the people of all the world. A daunting challenge faces Barack Obama, Joe Biden and all elected officials. It is not just about our President but all of our elected officials working together for the welfare not only of this country but for all people of the world. May God bless America!

 

In September we began our Religious Ed program, which meets once a month on Saturdays from 1-4 and ends with a special children’s Mass. This seems to work the best for us in getting parents to bring their children to the classes.

 

We have two Adult Bible Study groups that meet once a week. We are using the Loyola Press series called “Six Weeks with the Bible” studying 1st Corinthians. The people like the format and enjoy the faith sharing. With the morning group I alternate the Bible Discussion with viewing the DVD, an “Introduction to the Bible” by Fr. Bill Burton, OFM of our Province. The people find the video, while challenging, also fascinating and very informative.

 

Other Church activities have included: an Ice Cream Social after Mass in Sept. to celebrate the beginning of the school year; a pet-food collection for the local humane society for St. Francis Day; a “Coat and Blanket Give Away” for homeless and needy in our community and, finally, our annual “Hot Diggity Dog” event. After Mass people were invited to get a hot dog and “fix it the way they like it” to celebrate Fall and Halloween.

 

In November, as part of our celebration of All Saints and All Souls Day, we asked people to write the names and dates of death of their departed loved ones in our Book of the Dead. At each Mass the Book is brought forward with the gifts as a sign of our gratitude to God for the gift of those persons even as we return them to Him. In November we also held our Annual Family and Friends Day when we ask parishioners to invite family and friends to join us for Mass, which is followed, by one of our famous potluck meals. Our regular choir was wonderful as usual and our youth, the Praise Dancers, also helped us praise our God. We had an almost SRO (Standing Room Only) crowd for church.

 

In November I participated in our Interfaith Book Study group. We discussed the book “Acts of Faith” by Eboo Patel. It is the story of an American Muslim’s search for faith and meaning and the effort to find a way to turn youth from radicalism and terrorism to a more constructive approach to life that embraces all religions. The author also spoke at McKendree University and I had a chance to meet him personally. I highly recommend the book. It has some important helps for youth ministry.

 

A notable addition to our community has been Brother Antony Jukes, OFM who arrived in October. He is a Franciscan transitional-deacon from England who is spending three months with us to get an experience in another country and culture. He is a delight and has a wonderful English accent. He is working at Sr. Thea Bowman School and helping around the parish in various ways. Fr. Chris has also arranged for him to go to one of the prisons he visits to have an experience of prison ministry.

 

Fr. Chris has had a recent addition to his family, a new grand nephew. Fr. Ferd, with his required travels in connection with his service to our province, is frequently out of town. We do miss him since we are a small community but when he is present we rejoice.

 

Fr. Ferd has initiated a new project for East St. Louis. In September he started a Community Youth Gospel Choir. Our hope is to attract youth from the community who are not affiliated with any church to join us in praising God and finding some more direction for their lives. The choir sang at our Sunday mass on Nov. 9th. They were outstanding.

 

Sr. Thea Bowman School rejoices in an increase of enrollment this year. However, the future is a concern in light of the economy and so many people finding it hard to afford the tuition cost. It will indeed be unfortunate if the school is not able to help students from this area as it is making such a difference in their lives. Please keep us in your prayers.

 

The family is all doing well. I even had e-mail from Fr. Bob in Brazil. He is, of course, very busy but in good spirits. I talk to Joan somewhat regularly. They are doing well and looking forward to their granddaughter’s wedding next June. That is Catie, John and Karen’s daughter. If you are ever in the area, please be sure to give me a call.

 

Peace and everything that is good!

 

22 Nov 08 Jim Sexton: I'm sorry for not being very active blogging back with John Joe Lakers. I'm still working on a forestry program that's taken too long to write. And every time I wind up my mind to think of something else, I lose every thread of concentration in my little brain. Maybe I'll be done before Thanksgiving and back to thinking.

 

22 Nov 22 08 John Miller: I'm still on crutches. . . and unable to do anything except sit around. The last doctor we saw thinks I have all the symptoms of fracture somewhere in the pelvis area, but the x-rays have revealed nothing. They say my titanium hip interferes with the clarity of x-rays. I'm due for a bone scan on Monday, and they hope this will spot what it is. If not, an MRI would be next. The Vicodin and muscle relaxant are keeping the pain tolerable, but I can't lay flat and have to sit in a chair to sleep. We'll get through this, but it can't be soon enough for me.

 

Cheers!

 

24 Nov 08 Tony Lutz: I would like to have a Sunday in which all the sermons are on the nature of homosexuality and the sinfulness of homosexual acts. There is no use weeping over AID's if you are not willing to go to the sources of AID's. Among many of our clergy there is confusion about homosexuality because they never had an objectively truthful teaching on it. Something is wrong with a moral theology course if homosexuality in not thoroughly treated. There seems to be confusion on this subject, at least among the Friars of the Sacred Heart Province.

 

27 Nov 08 John Miller: It now appears that they think they found what is causing my problems: excess fluid in the joint of my prosthesis. On Monday, they plan to aspirate, check for infection, and give me a shot in the joint. They hope this will solve the problem. I hope so too!

 

Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

15 Dec 08 Chuck Faso:  Announcing a pilgrimage “In the Footsteps of St. Paul” to Turkey and Greece, May 24-June 4, 2009.

 

Come with Fr. Bill Burton OFM and Fr. Chuck Faso, OFM to see where St. Paul preached and established Communities of Faith.  Learn the message St. Paul in the places he taught, preached, and wrote.

 

Tell you family, friends, and fellow parishioners about this trip. Click on links below for brochure and information on the trip.

 

Merry Christmas!  Blessings of health and peace in 2009!

 

Fr. Chuck (http://www.frchuckofm.org/ ) and Fr. Bill (http://www.biblicist.net/)

 

18 Dec 08 Dan Mazar:  I happened to see in the morning papers an obituary for Fred Konrath.  Funeral is Saturday morning.  Ray is mentioned as a surviving brother.  I am assuming it is the same Ray Konrath from the Westmont Days.
An online condolence is available at: Guestbook at www. suntimes.com

You guys might want to forward this to others in the Diaspora or classmates.
Pax.

 

8 Dec 08 Dan Tanna:  Dan, thanks for the notice. I googled Fred’s obit in the Tribune. Ray and Fred could have passed for twins don’t you think?

 

21 Dec 08 John Miller: [The latest on Hans’ “Saga of the Hip”.  We saw the doctors on Thursday.  All indications are that the strep bacteria is being eliminated by the last "CLEAN OUT" and antibiotics.  The blood tests look good and the cultures seem to show that the fluid no longer has bacteria.  The surgery site seems to be healing nicely, and I no longer have the pain I once had.  I also seem to be getting stronger and can now walk with a cane.  We have to be patient, and I still have a month of antibiotic treatments to go.  Thanks for you encouraging words and support.

 

23 Dec 08 Jerry and Linda Etzkorn:  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May Christ’s peace and joy be with you and yours always.  Know that we are thinking about you and loving the Christmas letters that you send, whether by email or snail mail.

 

We have had another busy year, but we did spend most of it at home this year.  Jerry continues to work on critical editions of medieval manuscripts either on his own or with various other scholars, ranging from North Carolina and Kentucky to Cyprus and Switzerland.  Linda is even helping at times now.  He has had two more critical editions published this year and another is at the publisher’s now and will be out in early 2009.  There’s always more to do!

 

2008 has been a good year for spending time with family, in all its parts.

In February we spent a week in Virginia with Kierin and John and their two girls, Melia and Joy. 

 

Nana and Grandpa tried to get Kierin and John out and away as much as possible. to give them some time alone we told them, but we all knew it was so we could spend more time with the girls.  Joy was just 2 at the time and Melia 5 ½.  We had great fun.

 

Then in September Jerry got his best birthday present ever – the birth of Kevin and Sandy’s first child, Sean Gerard – right on his 81st birthday. So we just HAD to take a trip to Rochester to see our new grandson and while we were traveling, we just made the circuit – Kevin and Sandy’s in Rochester, John and Kierin’s just north of New York City, Alan and Mandy’s in Lafayette IN, then to St. Louis to see Jerry’s siblings and for a cousins’ reunion, then on to Quincy IL to see Linda’s Mom and siblings.  We put about 3600 miles on the car and had a great time doing it.  We’ll be heading up to Alan and Mandy’s for Christmas and to spend a bit more time with grandsons Kurt (11) and Evan (4).  Looking forward to painting Christmas cookies with the boys, a tradition started many years ago with our own kids.

 

Jerry shot his age for a couple of rounds of golf after moving up to the ‘senior’ tees. It has been more fun that way.

 

We are healthy and happy and hope the same is true for all of you.  Please keep in touch and keep your letters coming.

 

Peace.

 

23 Dec 08 Carroll Mizicko:  Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!

 

Our holiday plans include Christmas Eve Mass with Fr. Joseph Brown, SJ, an African American priest from East St. Louis and native son of the parish.  He will be the celebrant and homilist for the Mass.  He always brings an interesting and challenging message.  Fr. Brown is head of the Black Studies Program at SIU Carbondale. 

 

Our Friar Community will have our meal at the Friary prepared by some parishioners.  We will have several guests with us including Br. Antony Jukes from England, Seminarian Anthony Onyango from Kenya (Studying for the Diocese of Belleville) and some other Friars and African American seminarians.  I am looking forward to the gathering.

 

Br. Antony will be heading back to England on Dec. 29th.  He has truly been a joy and a wonderful addition to our Friar community and ministry in East St. Louis.  We will miss him.  He is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood the end of June and we are looking into the possibility of attending his ordination.

 

Speaking of future plans.....  I got word this week from my cousin, Fr. Don Gross that he is planning to celebrate his 50th Anniversary of Priesthood on June 14th in Fowler, IN, and June 28th in Dunnington, IN.  You may want to mark those dates on your calendar.  I will send more information later.

 

Also in June, I am scheduled to officiate at the wedding of my grand niece,  Catie Piehl, the daughter of John and Karen Piehl, and granddaughter of Joan and Herman Piehl.  The  event is to take place in New Jersey on June 20th.  Again I will share more details with you later.

 

As you can see June is going to be a rather busy month especially if it includes a trip to England. 

 

As I think of Christmas and the blessings of God, I am overwhelmed with all of you and how you all have been such a blessing to me.  Just as the Blessed Mother brought Christ to all of us, I hope that I have, in some small way brought Christ to you.  As St. Francis said: “It is in giving that we receive!”  May this Christmas you receive 100 fold for all that you give.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

24 Dec 08 Tony Lutz: [Responding to Fr. Benet’s interpretation of the Peace Prayer in ATP.]  The greatest word of peace and reconciliation is to bring the Gospel and convert minds and hearts. That is the real reason why Christ came into His creation. God bless all!

 

25 Dec 08 Francis Roetheli:  Some 50 years ago I can remember that everyone had the custom at Christmas time to go around and visit friends and relatives.  These visits were always very animated and happy, and it was a pleasure to have your relatives and friends come to the house and you go to their houses.  It seems that Christmas was a time to get together with your friends and relatives, have some nice warm conversations and enjoy the presence of others.  In this same spirit we want to visit you and your homes today and wish you all a Merry Christmas, even though we are a long way apart.

 

This year we are having problems.  Elisia came down with the flu and all day yesterday she was in bed with fever and not feeling very good at all.  Today she is up and around still feeling a little weak, but feeling a lot better.  We had prepared our annual Christmas letter and were going to send it to all of you today with this e-mail but this morning our computer decided to go on strike and we could not even turn it on, so I had to come to the office to send this e-mail out.  When we get it fixed we will send another e-mail with the letter for you.

 

Anyway, we just want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and you can be assured that each and every one of you will be in our thoughts and prayers this day.

 

Till we get the computer fixed and send the letter...

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!

 

26 Dec 08 Gael Stahl:  I am so impressed with Dennis Griffin’s description of his long interest in anything with wheels. It brought back memories to St. Joe’s in Westmont. I was his little brother’s dining table prefect and their family befriended me enough to  mention the fascination with vehicles. It was more than I could fathom then, and almost is now!  Some of this was new to me.

 

I always wished I’d known John Joe Lakers. And, now, I’m entranced by him. –

 

I agree with those who say we need to tend more to a blog service than a yearly, monthly or weekly DD service if we could only figure out how to do it. Maybe, just go cold turkey, with both feet hitting the ground of being (or not) at the same time?