THE TRUTH ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND WELFARE

Hispanic men at a homeless shelter in Los Angeles

ABC News report

2446  "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is 

to steal from them and deprive them of life.  The goods 

we possess are not ours, but theirs.  The demands of 

justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already 

due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity."...

"when we attend to the needs of those in want, we give 

them what is theirs, not ours.  More than performing 

works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice"  

Catechism of the Catholic Church

It never fails when I prove someone wrong in this never-ending slander against the poor, I am told that I am "entitled to my opinion," when I have actually demolished someone's lies with facts.  It has become obvious to me that a great number of people do not know the difference between opinion and fact, so I start my post with a short tutorial:

The primary definition of "opinion," at least the one with which I am dealing here, is:

"A view or judgment formed about something, 

not necessarily based on fact or knowledge."

The definition of a "fact," for the purposes herein, is:

"1.  a thing that is indisputably the case; and,    

2.  a piece of information used as evidence or 

as part of a report or news article"          

The peculiar North American definition of "Welfare" is:

"financial support given to people in need."

Notice that "opinion" isn't necessarily based on the truth of a thing, while a "fact" IS. Therefore, if someone says:

"I am tired of illegals getting welfare,"

they are expressing an opinion (being "tired of it") based upon the supposed fact that "illegals get money from the government."

This opinion is based on a lie and is promoting that lie to other people, whether in social media, mass media or private conversations.  I am going to make yet another stab at providing the factual information about undocumented immigrants in our country.  

"Undocumented immigrants do not qualify 

for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and most 

other public benefits.  Most of these programs 

require proof of legal immigration status and, 

under the 1996 welfare law, even legal immigrants 

cannot receive these benefits until they have been 

in the United States for more than 5 years."  

CNN Money Article (1)

[Emphasis added.]

The above quote presents the factual circumstances of this issue, which facts are repeated by countless credible sources that can easily be found on the internet, yet scores of people have argued with me incessantly, vigorously and loudly, claiming that undocumented immigrants are given welfare as soon as they enter the country. 

I suspect that something that confuses these people is the fact that, if a person is born in this country, they are American, which means that, if the illegal aliens have babies in our country, then those babies are Americans and they are entitled to a small amount of government assistance.  These children are sometimes referred to as "anchor babies" that serve to allow the foreigners a tenuous foothold in this country.  Even so, the amount of money given to these children is so small (about $550 each, plus food stamps), it is a marvel to me how much certain people begrudge the food that goes into the mouths of these little ones.

What I hear continually from angry Americans, is that they resent their taxes being spent on the poor because of this false impression that illegal aliens are raking in big bucks.  They also accuse the disabled of faking their injuries, but that is another topic for another day.  The angry Americans are widely under the mistaken impression that they are spending huge amounts of money on "welfare" for illegals and other poor people.

As of 2012, a person who earns $50,000 a year only pays $36.82 in taxes for food stamps and $6.96 in taxes for welfare per year.  It seems like an awful lot of squawking for $43.78 PER YEAR IN TAXES EARMARKED FOR WELFARE AND FOOD STAMPS, especially when you compare that figure to the $4,000.00 a year they spend on corporate subsidies.  Below is a tax breakdown using $50,000 per year income for one tax payer. These tax figures are provided by the White House and government agencies, collected by commondreams.org. (3)

If we step back and look where all of the entitlement monies are spent after you have paid your taxes, the elderly, the disabled and the working poor account for the majority of it. Using the above model of the tax payer who earns $50,000 a year, his taxes for unemployment insurance, food stamps, welfare, retirement and disability to government workers and Medicare amount to $346.25, per year, added to which would be approximately $3,500 per year of Social Security taxes, making a grand total of $3846.25 paid into so-called "entitlement programs."  These monies are spent out in the following percentages:

These figures were obtained from the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the 

US. Dept of Labor, and the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [February 2012] "more than 90 percent of the benefit dollars that entitlement and other mandatory programs spend go to assist people who are elderly, seriously disabled, or members of working households - not to able-bodied, working-age Americans who choose not to work.  This figure has changed little in the past few years."

"Federal budget and census data show that, in 2010, 91 percent of the benefit dollars from entitlement and other mandatory programs went to the elderly (people 65 and over), the seriously disabled, and members of working households.  People who are neither elderly nor disabled - and do not live in a working household - received only 9 percent of the benefits.

"Moreover, the vast bulk of that 9 percent goes for medical care, unemployment insurance benefits (which individuals must have a significant work history to receive), Social Security survivor benefits for the children and spouses of deceased workers, and Social Security benefits for retirees between ages 62 and 64.  Seven out of the 9 percentage points go for one of these four purposes."

The remaining 2% include able-bodied people who "choose" not to work (many of whom are suffering from undiagnosed and/or untreated mental and emotional illnesses): hardly the vast conspiracy of fraud and corruption that uninformed and angry Americans claim are bankrupting our country.

In the past, I have heard the angry Americans discount facts by falsely labeling them "statistics," rather than raw data, and claiming that statistics can be skewed to suit the situation.  While that perception of statistics could be true, I would point out that I am not providing "statistics," but raw data instead.  The definition of statistics is:

"The practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical 

data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring 

proportions in a whole from those in a representative sample."

The definition of "raw data" is:

"Raw data (also known as primary data) is a term for data

collected from a source.  Raw data has not been subjected 

to processing or any other manipulation."

The information I have provided consists of raw figures provided by primary sources from which no inferences of proportions have been made.  No manipulation of the data has been done.  These are simply the facts of the law and the direct numerical (monetary) figures of the matters discussed.

I present these facts in an effort to curtail the cruel myths that are circulating throughout the internet and to begin to direct the attention of the angry Americans to the truth of this portion of the discussion about welfare in America.

Helpful sources:

(1)  CNN Money Article

(2)  LIFE BEFORE SOCIAL SECURITY
(3)  COMMON DREAMS
(4)  CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES

God bless us all,

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

MYSTERIOUS SAINTS OF OLD

Saint Erfyl's Church, Llanerfyl

geograph.org.uk - by Richard Law

Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

I have long loved the little-known saints for whom we have perhaps only a name and some scanty information.  These holy people, lost in the mists of time, are a reminder to me that I am on this earth but a short while and, by the time 100 years have passed, no one will remember me! In fact, it will likely be a much shorter time before I fade into obscurity.  This is a wonderful meditation to promote humility and a proper perspective on my role in the world.  Just a little cog in a big machine...and not an essential one, at that!

3-bedroom cottage in Llanerfyl

Picking out the forgotten saints from the list of saints for each day, researching them, and featuring them on a blog post, is something I love to do.  We can all learn together in this process.

So, one of today's saints is a woman name "Erfyl."  Alternate spellings include "Eurfyl" and "Euerfyl." Very little remains of the story of her life, except that she was a "holy virgin who founded the church Llanerfyl in Montgomeryshire, Wales."

The website called Saints of Great Britain and Ireland  reports that "400 yards west of the church are the remains of an ancient yew tree and a holy well beneath it."   Our saint is buried under an inscribed stone near the remnants of the well.

Llanerfyl is a community that includes a town by the same name.  The church was rebuilt in 1870, which is why is looks so lovely and sturdy!  There are wide tracts of marshland in that area, and several farms.  The village of Llanerfyl itself sits on the river Banw near the sarns Sws Roman Way. Combined with the mention of a "holy well" near the church, a romantic and enticing picture emerges in my imagination.  I would love to see it!

At first, I was unable to find a birth year reference for Saint Erfyl, but I did note some records of baptisms in the early 1600's, then I found a page about her on The Self-ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian diocese of North America.  It reports that our saint of the day lived in the third century, so it would be no wonder that there is so little information about her, however, other sources point to the sixth century, which seems much more likely.

Notice in the icon of her, above, she is holding a model of a church, the sign that she a foundress.  (I apologize for the crookedness of the photo.  I could find no other of this particular saint.  One day, if I can ever get myself to start painting again, I will try to make one of her.)

I am fond of the female saints who have founded convents and churches.  Until very recently, I had thought to start a contemplative convent geared toward accepting nuns that are disabled, but my health has rapidly deteriorated in such a way as to make this dream an unlikely one, barring any miracle with which the Lord decides to bless me!  Being both disabled AND poor, it is difficult to accomplish anything.  At least I can PRAY, thanks be to God!

Farm near Llanerfyl

I hope all of you have had a joyous and celebratory weekend and that you have experienced gratitude for the great gift of living in this country where, although we do have a large percentage of our population that lives in poverty, we are better off than many other countries of the world, particularly with regard to the African continent, where even clean drinking water cannot be had in numerous villages.  Likewise, in China, where the horror of forced abortions and infanticides are brutally thrust upon the families there.

While we do live in a beautiful country where our material standard of living is high, our religious freedoms are under attack from a spiritually bankrupt culture.  I ask you all to join with me in prayer for the strengthening of the Christian religion throughout the world, and for the grace of great courage in the face of persecutions which are sure to come.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

LINKS TO SOURCES:
CATHOLIC SAINTS INFO WEBSITE
CATHOLIC ONLINE WEBSITE
THE SAINTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
WIKIPEDIA
A VISION OF BRITAIN THROUGH TIME
THE SELF RULED ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA

BODY AND SOUL

It makes me sad that all one ever hears about in the media with regard to Catholicism is but a small portion of the social manifestations of an incredibly loving, deeply meaningful and positive model gifted to us by a loving Creator who, in love, has tied his own hands, so to speak, so that, with free will, we may choose to follow his prescription that purifies us, aligns us with His will, and allows us to return to him and dwell with Him forever in a beatific vision.

I have asked myself, if God made each one of us and knew our name before our birth, and if the whole of Christianity is purposed so we would return to Him at the end of our lives, why didn't he just create us and then keep us in heaven where we are intended to be for all eternity?  Why bother making this detour to earth?  Why?

Obviously, there is something valuable that happens here on earth, something that cannot be duplicated in heaven or in a strictly spiritual persona.  We need these bodies and these earthly experiences for some type of development and/or learning process.  On judgment day, He will resurrect us with our glorified bodies, and we will go to heaven, which is a place and not just some abstract 'spiritual' realm.  We will commune with Lord, as glorified body and soul, in the exquisitely beautiful realm of heaven.

We are body and soul.  We are not a soul trapped in a body.  (That was a very early heresy that is being repeated now by New Agey types of people whose views are similar to the gnostics that existed before Jesus was born and who tried to change His message to jive with their own.)

This is why it is tremendously important to harmonize our body's activities with the will of Our Father Who Art In Heaven.  We are called to "be perfect" as our "Father in Heaven is Perfect."  Many people do not understand that the sins that one does with one's body have a profound affect on one's entire being.  It is difficult for many people to understand how the sexual sins can be harmful, for instance, when it feels so great and there is no appearance of harm.  It is doubly difficult to comprehend the damage when other people join you in your assertions that "no harm is done."  When the government approves it, such as the legalization of abortion and the weddings of same-sex couples, it is harder still to see clearly, especially since the nature of what is being done is being hidden in deliberately obscuring language.

Abortion, which is murder of an unborn human being, is characterized as "pro-choice."  Same-sex marriage is enshrined in the Constitution, of all things, and is labeled as an issue of "human rights."

Because the general public is mostly ignorant of Christian faith, they are easily inculcated with the misleading language and phony labels generated by people who are committed to certain types of sins.  Without bothering to study the faith before making their decision, they opt for the thing that is easiest and feels the best.  Sex feels great.  Reading books and studying is too much trouble.  Let's just have the sexual sin and forget about studying both sides of an issue before we make a decision! Let's just discount the Christian faith by repeating the sound-bite cliches we have heard from other people.

I will sheepishly raise my hand at this point when the question is asked if I have ever behaved like that?  You betcha.  When I was young, I repeated what other people said about Jesus and His Church and kept sinning, secure in the knowledge that it was OK.  Everyone said so, after all.  I am grateful for the forgiveness of God.  He doesn't want to punish us.  He just wants us to get it right.  "Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more," Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery.

Sins accomplished with the body are important, not because I think so but because Jesus said so.  "Go and sin no more." In addition to sexual sins, gluttony is also a physical sin, as is alcoholism and abusing drugs.  We are told that the body is the temple of the spirit.  Something important is being accomplished there.  We do not need to know every reason why it is important.  God doesn't owe us that.  He is accomplishing His work in us as He sees fit.

If we didn't need our bodies for some special purpose, they would not have been created.  We wouldn't have them.  There is a divine purpose to humans possessing body and soul.  I don't pretend to know the whole story behind this, just that I need to be more cognizant of what I am doing with my body. I have my issue, which is food.  Other people will struggle with other crosses in regard to what they allow within the temple of their soul.  We must remember that it is important and not discount it, though.

What we should not do is pretend that bodily sins do not hurt us and others.  We should aim for the highest, instead of legislating the lowest.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

YEARLY APPEAL

Me and my son, when I was about 22 years old

My life started with some promise as an artist and writer.  Thanks to my father's position as a writer/producer for the television show "Charlie's Angels," I had a lucky connection that enabled me to work in the television industry in various capacities, selling 9 stories to that TV show in the process.

Eventually, I was turned off by the gross superficiality and loose morals of the business and I moved on to other pursuits, mostly a search for God amid the chaos of this world.

I did not imagine that the back problems that began when I was about the age I was in this photo were going to increase in scope and severity, collecting other illnesses along the way, and that some day I would be disabled and poor.

Every year I become more poor because the Social Security "cost of living increase" doesn't cover the increased costs of living at all.  I am receiving $27 a month more than last year, but my bills have increased more than $200 per month!  For example, last year my co-pays for medicine cost me $20. This year, I've been told they will cost me $107.00.  My rent went up $9.  I won't bore you with the rest of it.  Everything went up, and for a person on a limited income, it is a substantial amount.

I do not have any family that is able to help in any meaningful way.  I have a friend who has been very kind to me and even had my car repaired when it broke down, but she has a large family, and there are limits to what she can do.  I was not "lucky in love" and there is no husband.

Consequently, a lot of my needs are not met, and I am reduced to asking for help.  My Social Security is "too high" to receive any government aid, though I was told by the Medicaid people that if my income was derived from employment, rather than Social Security, they would pay some of my medical expenses, which exceed $300 a month.  This is a blatant case of handicap discrimination, and I did appeal the decision, but there is no recourse.

Because of my physical issues, there isn't much I can do to improve my situation in the way of work, though I have tried.  I am writing a book, which is a long-term proposition.  I am also an expert genealogist, but there aren't many people willing to pay for expert family research.  If you would like to have a family tree researched, please note that I am the only researcher that creates the database for you, as far as I know.  Most researchers just give you notes of what they have found.  When I was on Ancestry.com's "expert panel" I charged about $44 an hour.  These days, I charge $25 an hour, with a 3-hour minimum.

Please note, there is a "Donation" button on this page, at the upper left quadrant.  Paypal takes a percentage of every donation, however, and the arrangement is less than ideal for me.  Alternately, I have several wish lists that cover the gamut of food, household goods, service dog supplies, and research materials.  Amazon.com has my address and will ship to me direct.  All you have to do is go to my wish list, put the items in the shopping bag, and pay for them.  The wish lists are in the column to the right of this blog post.

FURTHER NOTE:  With regard to the food items, you will note that many of them are organic.  I have allergy-induced asthma, and I am allergic to many things, especially pesticides used on our produce.  In addition, I have a stomach condition that makes it difficult for me to digest many items. My asthma is not well managed because I can't get the medicine I need, due to cost.  For these reasons, I eat as much whole grain and organic food as possible, staying with simple unrefined ingredients and cooking all my meals "from scratch."  When I am feeling up to it, I even make my own bread.

If you would like to see a copy of a sample budget that I have worked up on an Excel spreadsheet before you donate, please contact me and I will email you a copy.  It is loosely based on July's expected expenditures but reflects the customary situation.

With regard to my habits and my standard of living, I should say that I do not smoke, drink or take drugs.  I don't have tattoos, eat at restaurants, travel or get my hair cut professionally.  My telephone does nothing but talk and text.  No internet.  I don't own a television and do not pay for cable, though I do have a laptop that was donated to me and I pay about $30 a month for internet access.

You should know that, despite the various privations, I am a very happy person because the Lord is always with me.  I am able to spend much more time in the presence of Jesus, Mary, the saints and angels than one would typically expect because of the situation in which I find myself.  In this way, I consider my disability and poverty a blessing...but that doesn't keep it from being a major obstacle to my survival.

If you are not able to help, I would be most grateful for prayers.

In the meantime, God bless us all.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

THE POPE'S NEW ENCYCLICAL - IT IS NOT JUST GLOBAL WARMING

"The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely.  Hence,

there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain

trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person's face.  The ideal is not only

to pass from the exterior to the interior to discover the action of

God in the soul, but also to discover God in all things.  Saint 

Bonaventure teaches us that 'contemplation deepens the more

we feel the working of God's grace within our hearts, and the

better we learn to encounter God in creatures outside ourselves.'"

Pope Francis, Laudato si', paragraph 233

Some of the day's talking heads are dismissing the Pope's Encyclical, Laudato si', without even reading it, apparently, because they seem to think that it is all about global warming and, because he isn't a scientist, they claim he has no business speaking about ecology.  According to Rush Limbaugh, the Pope's encyclical confirms that he is a "Marxist."  This isn't the first time that Limbaugh has labeled the Pope thusly.  I wonder if the man has ever looked up the term in a dictionary.

Hear what Limbaugh has to say about "this global warming encyclical" HERE where he attempts to reduce this beautiful, multi-faceted document into a "rant" against the rich.  He also discounts the Pope's "assertions" about climate change because the Pope isn't a scientist.  The Pope doesn't have to be a scientist to comment upon a spiritual orientation that is reflected in the world around it.  He does mention some scientific facts, but he relies upon the findings of scientists for those.

I would hope that, just because Limbaugh and people like him are calling this the Pope's "global warming encyclical," the public will not dismiss it as such, because Pope Francis covers a lot of territory in this elegantly crafted but easily accessible document.  All one has to do is read the document to see the Truth.

On the other hand, Ryan T. Anderson, of the Heritage Foundation, gives a more than credible overview of the encyclical, which surprises me because I do not typically agree with much of anything the Heritage Foundation has to say.  It has always seemed to me that they were hostile toward the poor, but there wasn't much of that sort of thing in Anderson's article, which is titled POPE FRANCIS' ENCYCLICAL IS ABOUT MORE THAN CLIMATE CHANGE. IT'S ABOUT CULTURE.

It seems to me that, here in America at least, the culture has a grim view of life that denies the majority of Americans the right to be connected with the beauty of nature and with cultural symbols, architecture and art that feed the soul.  Francis talks about how it is not healthy for people to be surrounded by concrete, asphalt and glass, such as in most large cities.  The poor, especially, are subject to a gritty version of bare survival that does not take into account the quality of life, the need for beauty and nature, the hunger of the human soul for the experience of God through the rest of God's creation.

Under the heading DECLINE IN THE QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE AND THE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY, paragraphs 43 through 45, the Pope says:

"43.  Human beings too are creatures of this world, 

enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed 

with unique dignity.  So we cannot fail to consider the 

effects on people's lives of environmental deterioration, 

current models of development and the throwaway 

culture."

"44.  Nowadays, for example, we are conscious of 

the disproportionate and unruly growth of many 

cities, which have become unhealthy to live in, not 

only because of pollution caused by toxic emissions 

but also as a result of urban chaos, poor transporta-

tion, and visual pollution and noise.  Many cities are 

huge, inefficient structures, excessively wasteful of 

energy and water.  neighbourhoods, even those 

recently built, are congested, chaotic and lacking in 

sufficient green space.  We were not meant to be 

inundated by cement, asphalt, glass and metal, and 

deprived of physical contact with nature."

"45.  In some places, rural and urban alike, the 

privatization of certain spaces has restricted 

people's access to places of particular beauty.  

In others,"ecological" neighbourhoods have been 

created which are closed to outsiders in order to 

ensure an artificial tranquility.  Frequently, we 

find beautiful and carefully manicured green space in 

so-called "safer areas of cities, but not in the more hidden 

areas where the disposable of society live."

Paragraph number 45 spoke to me very strongly because my living situation exactly mirrors what the Pope is referring to therein.

When I moved into my apartment complex ten years ago as a disabled lady on limited income, it was a fairly pretty place, especially since it is a property that, though originally built as condominiums, had become partially occupied by disabled, elderly and the working poor on a low income program provided by the city.  There was a dense line of tall, beautiful trees lining the ditch that runs the back side of the property.  Along that line was a nice old wrought iron fence, punctuated now and then with a softly lit globe light on a matching black post.  There was a dirt path that ran the full line of the property, from one end all the way to the fenced-in pool, and I often saw residents strolling the fence line at night, chatting quietly and enjoying the natural ambiance.

Honesuckle and rosemary bushes dotted the landscape, and a few giant cotton wood trees complemented them.  Each downstairs apartment had a patch of grass and a patch of dirt in which to plant flowers.  A peacock had somehow found its way to the property and was living here.  There was a family of beavers, presided over by a giant, silver-backed female who studiously ignored me when she marched the path, preferring, occasionally, to walk from one end of the ditch to the other.  In the spring time, large red-tailed hawks were in abundance, and I often was treated to the sight of them, clinging to the fence, searching for their next meal or teaching their young ones to fly and hunt.

Canadian geese and their chicks, guarded by an inexplicable giant white domestic goose, were plentiful, as were gorgeous little wood ducks and their tiny chicks.  Mallards were in no short supply, and white herons of some variety were often seen hunting from the banks or, with particularly tall individuals, right in the middle of the ditch!  At night, the black crested night herons would perch in those trees on the ditch line.  I was lucky enough to catch sight of a few green herons, which are pretty shy. It was a rich ecological smorgasbord that attracted a giant whitish owl who flew straight down the middle of the ditch at dusk, swiveling its head to look at me with its wide-set eyes as it passed me.

There were plentiful bass, trout and catfish in the ditch, along with the ubiquitous carp that no one wanted to eat, except the really desperate fisherman, but unless you trespassed on our property, you couldn't fish our excellent fishing holes because the dense treeline at the bank wouldn't permit it.  The maintenance man would occasionally fish during his lunch hour, and I shared recipes with him for the catfish that were quite large at the time.

We couldn't really see the golf course on the other side of the ditch, except for a glimpse here and there between the thicket.  Occasionally, we could hear a loud conversation of some golfers that had driven their balls too close to the fence or, which often happened, into the water.

One day, someone in power decided to kill all the grass and bushes.  They turned off the sprinklers for good and just waited for everything to die, which it did in short order.  The grass, the honeysuckle, the rosemary.  A tiny patch of grass was left at the driveway, just below the sign for the apartment complex, false advertising if you ask me!  Another patch of grass near the mailboxes was allowed to live - just barely.  It never really looks like grass any more, but a collection of clipped weeds of one variety or another.  In front of my garage, one of the two small trees that bore a profusion of beautiful flowers every spring, was allowed to die of thirst and was eventually removed by the "gardeners."  I notice that a nearby neighbor started watering the other one to try and keep it alive.  So far, it is hanging on.

Then someone decided to remove ALL the trees from the banks of the ditch, which I used to call "our creek" because it was so charming.  No more.  It took no time for giant machines to come and rip out the trees and carry them away.  Then the banks of the ditch were laid over with a giant netting of huge cement blocks, the purpose of which, I imagine, was to delay the erosion that the trees were preventing by their presence at the water line.  Then the quaint light globes that had dotted the fence line were also ripped out.

Huge machines came in and ripped up the back yards.  They placed some kind of tubing under the soil, which they then topped with heavy weed screen, over which they piled loads of crushed up cement, which is called "crusher fines" in the construction trades.  On the walking path that was previously dirt, they laid a thick carpet of gravel that is almost impossible to walk upon, chunks of gravel finding their way into any kind of shoe you might wear.  Walking the back fence was no longer practical, anyway, because there was no light and most of the line was pitch black at night, except for the occasional harsh light from one of the lamps that was placed on select walls of the buildings.

This is when my childhood asthma came back like a lion into the Colosseum, and I have had terrible trouble breathing every day.  The wind whips up, picking up the dust, dirt, cement and sand choking my sinuses and windpipe.  The back of my throat feels as if it's been sandblasted and, I suppose, it has.

I rarely see a hawk any more.  A young beaver has taken up residence where the old lady used to live. We have very few fish and almost no turtles since the trees were removed because people could (and did) wander up and down the property just outside our fence line.  I watched them as they took large nets and scooped absolutely everything edible out of our "creek."  Carp, turtles, frogs, bass, trout: they took everything.  Soon, the ditch was barren of life.  It is struggling to regain its footing.  The elm trees are making another appearance all along the ditch line and, if left alone, will be tall enough to screen out our view of the golf course one day.

As for the country club, they seem to have an unlimited supply of water for their lush greens and big cottonwoods.  We can look at it from across two fence lines; the wrought iron one on our side and the wire one on theirs.  At about 9:00 at night, I can hear their sprinklers coming on, with a rhythmic splash into the water of the ditch because at least one of them has a swing that is too wide.

I fought the decimation of our natural world on this side of the fence, but in America it is assumed that only the rich can have access to the beauty of living things, and it was a losing battle from the start.  I have tried (unsuccessfully) to grow various things in pots in my back yard, but I don't have the money I would need to fix the ugliness outside my window.  I often tell people how ironic it is that my "view" from the living room is disturbing: the artificially dyed approximation of dirt on my side, and lush greenery on the rich folks' side.  They tell me I should shut up and be thankful that I can see the pretty place where the rich folks play.  "How many people in your position could have a view like that?" they ask me.

I would say that city planners should be required to read The Pope's encyclical before dooming people to living and working in vast expanses of man-made structures, cement plazas, and artificial dirt substitute in favor of integrated green space where the movement of nature can be witnessed and with which we can freely interact.

Quality of life is not something I read about or something I hear on news programs discussing what to do about the poor, for instance.  There is an underlying presupposition in America that only people with money have the right to a decent quality of life, to beauty and to a life lived within the harmony of natural space.  Clearly, the Pope does not agree.  Neither do I.

The Pope's vision is vast and comprehensive, which is why he spent almost 200 pages discussing ecology and related issues.  It deals with global warming, to be sure, but it is much more than that.  Do yourself a favor and read the document and you will see what I mean.

SAINT LUTGARDIS AND LOVE OF ENEMY

Saint Lutgardis in prayer

Today marks the death anniversary of Saint Lutgardis, who was a nun who died on this date (June 16) in 1246.  I admit that this lovely saint has little to do with the topic of loving one's enemies, but she is the saint I've chosen for the day, while the Gospel Reading of the day deals with loving one's enemies and praying for those who persecute us.

There is a whole long list of saints who are honored today.  That's the way it is for most days of the calendar year.  There are far more than 365 saints, so they all have to share.  I picked St. Lutgardis (sometimes Lutgarda or Luthgard, depending on the language of the country in which you live.) I had not heard of her before, and I am making an effort to broaden my knowledge of the saints, so she was my choice.  She was also a nun from the age of about 12.  I love to learn about other nuns, as it inspires me to cling more fervently to my own unique vocation.

The holy people we remember today are:

St. Benno
Bl. Guy Vignotelli
St. Aurelian
St. Berthaldus
St. Tychon
St. Colman McRhoi
St. Felix & Maurus
St. Luthgard (Lutgardis, Lutgarda)
St. John Francis Regis
St. Aureus
Bl. William Greenwood
St. Cettin
St. Curig
St. Ferreolus & Ferrutio
St. Quiriacus and Julitta

If you have some curiosity about the other saints, Catholic.org has a wonderful website with extensive information and a great search feature that allows you to find the saints either by date or by name.  The link for that page is HERE.

There was a time in history when ladies had only two choices in life.  You either married or you joined a convent.  Generally speaking, it was rather shameful to be a spinster living at home, but, as with all generalizations, this was not always true.  Lutgardis's father had managed to squander her dowry in a bad investment scheme which meant she could not marry.  At the age of 12, he sent her off to a convent, despite her having no monastic vocation to speak of. In fact, she came and went as she pleased and entertained all visitors she wanted, both male and female.  Then something happened in the way of a vision which set her firmly on the path to heaven.  She grew more and more devout, had visions, a type of stigmata, and levitated during prayer.

You will find her entire story HERE.

The thing I found most inspiring was that she began with no interest in God whatsoever, but ended up becoming a great mystic and saint, which speaks to the importance of teaching one's children the faith.  Often times, a child will express disinterest in a topic, skill, or way of life, but they have no way of knowing if they are interested until and unless you introduce them to it.  Exposure to a thing is necessary.  I think it very odd when someone says that they are not going to teach their child about God but will "let them choose" when they're 18.  Let them choose based on WHAT information, I want to know!

Saint Lutgardis gives me hope that, even if we start out as vain, superficial people, we can grow and improve and "become perfect" as our "father in heaven is perfect," which brings me to today's Gospel reading.

Matthew 5:43-48

(43)  You have heard how it was said, you will love your neighbor and hate your enemy,

(44)  But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;

(45)  so that that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.

(46)  For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Do not even the tax collectors do as much?

(47)  And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional?

(48)  Do not even the gentiles do as much?  You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It occurred to me that I have, in the past, prayed for people who have done me grave harm in one way or the other, but it has been quite a while since I prayed for those people.  I have forgiven them and I did pray for them for some time, at least until it was fixed in my brain that those people had been forgiven, but I wonder if Jesus intended that we continue to pray for our enemies, over and over again?  How much is enough?  I am unsure about this aspect of things.  I am grateful that this reading came to me today so that I would have that little nudge that would inspire me to examine an important aspect of my prayer life.  I'll have to ponder this one a bit.

In the meantime, I offer this translation of St. Lutgardis's Heavenly Court: ST. LUTGARDIS'S "HEAVENLY COUR"

The doctor called today.  The latest tests reveal that my illness is still a mystery.  He will call again tomorrow with information about the next steps to take.

Despite being in the middle of an intense pain episode, I made a big pot of vegetarian soup today, with organic tomatoes, kidney beans, red onion, garlic, olive oil, celery, new spring potatoes, and just enough cayenne to warm the mouth.  I put a little brown sugar in there also, to put a damper on the tang of the tomatoes.  I fed a couple neighbors in an impromptu, casual supper: me with my legs propped up on a big box with a pillow on top (my recliner is broken), one neighbor on my couch with a tray and another at the tiny white table in the middle of the living room.  I've lost the ability to socialize in a group, for the most part.  Having spent the last 11 years as a solitary, with very little company, silence has become my friend.  I do enjoy a conversation of substance, but those are sometimes very hard to find or generate.

Now that there is a dog in the house again, I am forced into a walking schedule, which I am assuming is good for anything that ails me.  I have yet to hear of an illness in which they tell you NOT to walk, even if walking makes you feel like someone is sticking hot pokers up your spine and in your kneecaps.  Anyway, it is time to walk the cutest dog in the world.  I'll pray for you while we stroll.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

SAINT EDBURGA OF WINCHESTER

Stained glass window depicting

Saint Edburga of Winchester

holding chalice and patten

I like to think that, even though I was raised by people who hated religion, and the Catholic religion in particular, it was the many Catholic saints to whom I am related who have been praying for me and the rest of their relations, whose intercession I can thank for eventually leading me to the beautiful Catholic faith.

In gratitude for their prayers, and out of love for them, I am attempting to learn as much as I can about all the family saints.  Saint Edburga of Winchester is one of them, as she is my 31st Great Grandaunt, and her feast day is today, June 15, as it is the anniversary date of her death.

Often, when I make reference to this type of relationship, people will express some skepticism, until I explain that, with regard to the nobility of the British Isles, we have quite a bit of historical information.  Those folks couldn't sneeze without someone noticing.  The lines of descent are easy to trace from this wealth of information, particularly those of us whose family lines date back to the earliest settlers of America.

Edward I, King of England

Father of Saint Edburga

Edburga was born to King Edward I of England and his third wife, Eadgifu of Kent, in about 920.  It is said that her father divined her future vocation when, at her tender age of 3, he laid before her a small chalice and paten on one side, and gold and jewelry on the other.  She took up the chalice and paten (items used in the Catholic liturgy) and King Edward took this to mean that his daughter would be attracted to holy things and therefore had a vocation as a religious.  Not long after this, the King put her under the care of the Nunnaminster Monastery, where she was educated by Abbess Ethelthritha, in exchange for which the King provided yearly endowments of money and other presents.

Edburga's reputation became one of gentleness and humility.  In one story, she is reputed to have washed the socks of the other nuns while they slept.  She was widely revered and loved as a very holy woman.

She died in 951 and was buried at the Monastery.  In 972, she was declared a saint, though she was already considered such during her lifetime.  At the time of her official designation as a saint, a large amount of her relics were translated to Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire, which is dedicated to her. Only a very small portion of the Abbey remains today.

Pershore Abbey, Dedicated to St. Edburga

Both Pershore and Nunnaminster fell prey to the suppression of the monasteries by Henry the VIII. Nothing remains of Nunnaminster, save a few waterways.  Parishioners managed to purchase the monk's quire of Pershore, and this small portion remains as the parish church, though it has been destroyed and rebuilt.  As late as 2001, it was being repaired and/or refurbished.  Contemporary photographs of the Abbey can be seen on its official web page:  http://www.pershoreabbey.org.uk/g-aerialcam.html

Although history has not left us with a lot of personal details about my great aunt, I find her life inspiring nonetheless, as an example of someone who steadfastly maintained a holy life, dedicated to God, from the time of her youth and that she attained such sanctity that it was recognized during her lifetime.

God bless,

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2105

THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI

I was about to write some comments about the Feast of the Holy Trinity when I was reminded by one of my friends that Holy Trinity was LAST weekend and that this weekend we celebrate Corpus Christi!  Just in the nick of time.  Technically, the feast day was actually Thursday the 4th, but in America we generally celebrate it on Sunday.  It became a feast day in about 1247, at the urging of St. Juliana of Mont Cornillon in Belgium.

"Corpus Christi" is translated as the body of Christ, and it refers to the Holy Eucharist which Catholics receive at every mass (with one exception during Lent.)  Saint Juliana was exceedingly devoted to this sacrament and worked hard to influence the Catholic authorities to make a feast day for it.

Why the Eucharist is a central aspect of our faith goes back to Christ himself. In fact, every doctrine in the Catholic Church goes back to Christ and the Bible.  Those unfamiliar with the Catholic Church often claim that men in The Church made up a bunch of rules that have nothing to do with Jesus or the Bible.  If you read the Catechism, each and every teaching refers back to the precepts originally found in the Bible.  Don't believe me, though.  Pick up a copy and read it. You'll see for yourself.

The Eucharist in the Catholic Church is definitely not the same thing that one may receive in a Protestant Church. First of all, the Protestant Churches do not have the apostolic succession by which the power to confect the Eucharist is conveyed.  So, it is a good thing that most of the thousands of Protestant offshoots view communion as a symbolic gesture and not Jesus Himself.  Churchgoers are being cheated by this, because it is no small matter.  The Eucharist goes to the heart of what Jesus came to earth to do.

Protestant communion plates with grape juice

and pieces of bread

Jesus did not wander around giving intellectual treatises to the intelligentsia of his day.  Nor did he come as a king or a high priest, something he could easily do, given that He was God.  He chose to be born in a poor family.  He was lowly, humble.  The popular story is that he worked as a carpenter with Joseph, his foster father.  But a "tekton," which is what he was called, simply meant someone who worked with his hands, whether it was with wood, stone or mud.  It was a gritty, earthy job, in any case.  His closest friends were fishermen, hard working, physical laborers who worked up a sweat with the stink of fish and sea in their nostrils.  Theirs was a primitive job, the most basic.

When giving talks, Jesus took care to feed the people real food in addition to the spiritual food he spoke to them.  There was the miracle of the 5,000 people and the miracle of the 3,000 people.  Small amounts of fish and bread miraculously fed them all, with some left over.

He came to us physically, engaged with us physically, baptized people not only with words but with water. In addition to the fish and the bread, he miraculously produced wine for the wedding at Canna.  He walked on the waters of Gallilee.  He touched earth and sea.  He touched us and healed us.  He gave us his breath when he breathed on the disciples, just as God had breathed life into Adam.  He was a hands-on guy.  So, when he said that this bread is my body and this wine is my blood, he wasn't giving the disciples some intellectual symbol.  He was showing them how He planned to come to all his disciples after His ascension into heaven; in a real way, a physical way, a nourishing and earthy way.  He was announcing that He was going to come to us in the guise of bread and wine.

He admonished us that anyone who did not eat of his body and drink of his blood had "no life in him."

Jesus gave his disciples authority and power, saying that whoever listened to them thereby listened to Jesus and the Father who sent Him.  He told them that the sins they forgave on earth would be forgiven in heaven, something only God could do, according to the Jewish understanding of the day. The apostles were the agents of God, with the authority of God.  With that authority, they could transmit the power that Jesus had given them to each succeeding generation of priests in the Church. This is apostolic succession, and this is how Jesus ensured that His commandments would be kept inviolate, and The Church would remain a place that was in harmony with Him.  This is how he ensured that his presence as bread and wine would continue to be given to the faithful, down through the ages.

What Jesus transmitted to them was not some intellectual idea or symbol or philosophy.  He transmitted an actual thing of some substance to them, and He gave them the power to transmit that substance to others.  Remember, he was a hands-on man, fully engaged with the physical world.  He smeared spit on the eyes of one man to cure his blindness.  You can't get any earthier than that.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he re-entered the timeless world of God.  While we are conscious of almost 2,000 years passing since his ascension, Jesus is equally present at all times.  No time has passed for Him.  His Church is not an old, desiccated relic, dissolving into the sands of a middle-Eastern country.  It is still fresh and alive because He is still with us as much as He ever was, and perhaps more.

When we consume the Eucharist, the timelessness of God intersects with our puny, time-shackled world in this miracle that is Jesus, by the power of Jesus, by the express wish of Jesus, and by the specific intention and direction of Jesus.  That is what today is all about.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

AUTHORITY

When I was in my early 20's, and despite having no education in Christianity whatsoever, I used to say the stupidest things, in a very authoritative tone.

"Christ was just a good man who said beautiful things."

"The Catholic Church is just a bunch of misogynistic men parading around in dresses and tall hats."

"What about the Spanish Inquisition?!!!"

I was repeating sentiments I had heard elsewhere by folks that were hostile to Christianity.  They reflected an anti-Christian worldview that sought to justify a promiscuous, hedonistic and materialistic lifestyle that was gaining momentum in the 1970's.

Later, when I actually began to learn the Truth about Catholicism, and Christianity in general, I was mortified by the previous breezy and condescending myths I had helped to spread about the Faith arising from my abundance of ignorance.

Oddly enough, it was in the Hindu convent where I first read the works and lives of the mystics and doctors of the Catholic faith that I began to get a clue about the beautiful Truth at the heart of it.  That was the beginning of a gradual dawning of understanding that took many years to shine into the recesses of my heart and fully illuminate it.  Finally, I was accepted into the church and the real work began.

Fortunately, I had several decades of experience in genealogy research that contributed to my understanding that, in order to know the Truth about a thing, one has to rely upon authoritative source data.  I learned to identify the relative credibility of source materials and to seek out the most authoritative.

Authority.  It is an unpopular word, culturally speaking.  American culture, with its hyper-emphasis on the individual, encourages the individual person to "speak his mind," "stand up for what he believes in," and freely express his "opinion" as if it were a sacred fact.  These opinions spring from a person's attitudes toward life, rather than having been arrived at through an examination of facts, what to speak of authoritative sources!  I myself was guilty of this travesty until I matured as a person and learned that I am not the center of the universe and that Truth does not originate with me and my inclinations.

It is significant to me that Jesus created the Catholic Church.  He gave clear instructions about its mission.  He "staffed" it with the apostles and gave them their marching orders, after having spent several years instructing them in the faith.  He breathed upon them and bestowed his power and authority to forgive sins and to do a host of other things.  He announced that whoever listened to them listened to Jesus and listened to the Father who sent Him, thereby establishing their authority for all time.  He assigned a leader to whom he gave a name never used for a human being before this time: Peter, the rock.  Upon that rock, Jesus established his Church, which would stand forever.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to further enliven and empower all of them, not just the apostles but Mary his mother, and Mary Magdalene also.  None of the female disciples were named as apostles.  Many modern people complain about women getting short shrift in the Catholic Church because they can't be priests.  If Jesus had intended them to have that sort of job, He would have included at least ONE among the Apostles that he charged with going out into the world and baptizing all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  I doubt it was an oversight on his part or that he was such a wimp that He was afraid to buck the paternalistic culture of the time by installing a woman or two.  It doesn't make sense.  God is not a slave of time as we humans are, and this "modern" time in which we are enmeshed is seen by God at all times.  If women were intended to occupy the jobs that Christ assigned to the men, He would have instructed it.  He didn't.

The reason why the Catholic Church does not change its doctrines is that Truth does not change.  Ultimate Truth was the same then as it is now.  We are aware of a great deal of time having gone by, but God is outside of time.  The Catholic Church was given Christ's power and authority.  While it is true that some people within the church have failed it, and failed it spectacularly, it is not because the Truths were wrong or the Church was no longer the highest authority, but because the individual failed to live the Truth and fell away from the teachings of the faith.

I do not judge the Catholic faith by the people that fail to live up to its precepts.  I judge it by what Jesus said about it.  His authority is unimpeachable.  These days, I continue to study and learn as much as I can about the faith while doing the best I can to live up to its commandments.  It does not occur to me to replace any part of the faith with a "modern" perspective.  Truth never goes out of style.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015