Christ is Risen

Let all Pious men and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward; let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled since the first: yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort.

Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness.

Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh.

When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: "O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world." Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible.

O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and life is freed, Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

---Easter homily of St. John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407)

Celebrate His Death!

Why do we do this every year? Why do we celebrate betrayal, abandonment, and brutality. Why do we attend this Good Friday’s party of violence?

Our celebration of Christ’s Passion on Good Friday is as perverse an event as any we might conjure. Or, it would be if we were to settle for watching from the crowd, coolly watching events as they unfold. It is not enough to observe. Not enough to stand behind the crowd not caring. Our apathy, our lack of passion for Christ’s suffering and death for us, that will make today’s celebration truly perverse.

Rejoice then with each rip in His flesh. Rejoice with each drop of blood. Rejoice at the anguish of his betrayal, at the sting of his abandonment. Rejoice that He freely accepted this pain for you, instead of you. Rejoice! Or, cry. Or laugh. Or love Him more. But do not fall into the loneliness of not caring—that Pit is a Darkness older than humanity, and It is desperately hungry for your soul.

Read the rest.

Darth Sebelius Appointed to Lead HHS

President Obama has appointed yet another leading abortion advocate to be Secretary of Health and Human Services: Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. His first nominee for the post, former Senator Tom Daschle, withdrew due to tax problems.

That Obama would put an abortion advocate in this post is no great surprise. Gov. Sebelius has a particularly ghastly record, however, having vetoed even the mildest of proposed restrictions on abortion. More important, she is a friend of, and beneficiary of campaign contributions from, the notorious late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller. Watch the video at the link to learn more.

Catholics are doubly dismayed since Gov. Sebelius is - or at least calls herself - a Catholic. Last year Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City asked the governor, after several conversations in which he explained to her the error of her ways, to stop receiving communion in the Church. She ignored his initial private request and complied only after the Archbishop made his request publicly. She did finally comply, however, which is more than most pro-abortion Catholic politicians do.

Whatever her religious affiliation, Gov. Sebelius should not be head of HHS. I got into a discussion about this on another web site, which is unfortunately password-protected so I can't link to it here. Someone was arguing that Gov. Sebelius had actually reduced the number of abortions in Kansas, but still thought women should have a choice in the matter. Here is what I said:

All this talk of whether Sebelius has/will increase or decrease the number of abortions misses the point. Consider an example.

Suppose a person who is being considered for high office believes that it should be legal to kill, say, people with red hair. He has never personally killed any red-headed people. The office for which he is being considered is not related to criminal law and he will have no power to influence the laws against murder either way. Nonetheless, he holds very firmly that everyone should have the right to kill any redheads whom they deem annoying and inconvenient, without fear of prosecution. Should this person be appointed?

I say no. He should not be made dogcatcher, much less cabinet secretary. Why? Because it is obvious that something is deeply wrong with his moral compass. He does not comprehend that people with red hair are human and deserve the full protection of the law. That being the case, he cannot be trusted to make decisions that serve the common good. There is a strong chance he will use whatever power he is given toward evil ends. This is why Gov. Sebelius is unfit to lead HHS.

You can, of course, apply this logic to President Obama himself along with most of the people in his administration - and not a few Republicans, by the way. It is not a pleasant position in which we find ourselves, but here we are. Now is a good time to start praying for mercy. I think we're going to need it.

That's All The Lumber You Sent

The lyrics of this Ceili Rain song make an excellent Ash Wednesday reflection.

Welcome to Lent. Make it a good one.


Said a friend to a friend one day:
Was a man who passed away
St. Peter met him at the gate
Pete said: "Walk with me if you will
I'll take you to the house you built"
Man said: "I can't wait!

Passed a mansion made of stone
But with each new house he's shown
They get smaller by degrees
Stopped in front of a two-room shack
Pete said: "Hope you're happy with that"
Man said: "How can this be?" -- Pete said:

"That's all the lumber -- that's all the lumber
That's all the lumber you sent.
Looks like the builder --
man, he's got your number
That's all the lumber you sent."

Man didn't know what to say
Poor guy was blown away
Said: "You mean this is what I deserve?
Pete said: "I'm afraid it's so
It's too late but now you know
Shoulda done better work

Man said: "You mean not lie and cheat
And helpin' old ladies 'cross the street?
Pete says: "Well, that's a start
Remember that man back in that great big house?
He found out early what it's all about
Built that place with his heart
-- as for you...

That's all the lumber -- that's all the lumber
That's all the lumber you sent
Looks like the builder --
man, he's got your number
That's all the lumber you sent

What if that man was me
And I failed that miserably
You're showin' me things I don't wanna see!

St. Peter if you can
Send me back to earth again
Is that somethin' you can do?
Pete said: "It ain't up to me
If it was I'd like to see
How you plan to improve.

Said "I'd love God and fellow man
Take a wife and make a stand
Be the given'est guy I can be
And when I get back to this neighborhood
There'd be a gigantic pile o' wood!
And I'd say: "What's this I see?" --
and you'll tell me

"All that's your lumber -- all that's your lumber
That's all the lumber you sent
Now the Big Boss will help you
hammer it all together --
That's all the lumber you sent."

Calm Down, He's Only Human

During the presidential campaign, many conservatives laughed at the seemingly supernatural powers that Obama supporters saw in their candidate. Now those folks are doing essentially the same thing - working themselves into a frenzy over the massive, monstrous Change that Obama is about to unleash on us all.

For instance, a very intelligent and very conservative friend of mine is circulating this Dick Morris column to everyone he knows. Obama, according to Morris, is bent on nothing less than imposing "socialism" on America. We are going to become like Germany, France, the U.K. and even Sweden!

My response to this is simple: Chill out, people. Obama is only human. A very talented, intelligent, rhetorically gifted human, yes. A politically and theologically liberal human, yes. But still human. He cannot simply snap his fingers and force his will upon the rest of us.

Obama is, above all, a pragmatist. He will do many things we won't like, but nothing so dramatic as to risk his chance at re-election. To the extent he does the evil things some conservatives predict, it will be because he knows those policies have broad public support.

You can, of course, debate why the public supports leftist policies. A good part of the blame has to land on the backs of conservatives who failed to articulate a clear, consistent political philosophy. Over a period of years - and most especially in the last eight years under Bush - we gave Obama the ammunition he is about to use against us.

Rather than whine about it, I suggest we all examine the reasons we are in the predicament and consider how we can bring about the kind of change we want.

Imagine the Potential

Click here if you don't see the video above.