St. John Bosco

Completely as an aside note, I need to vent my amazement and objection, wondering why in the world the editors of the recent publication Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints, by Church Publishing, has as its heading for today's commemoration "Juan Bosco (John Bosco)". It's quite clear that Bosco was a dyed-in-the-wool Italian. In fact, in their biographical section the Church Publishing editors refer to him as "Giovanni Bosco". Why they would use the Latino name "Juan" is totally beyond me!

Born to a peasant family, Giovanni Bosco spent most of his life in Turin, Italy. He lost his father at age two and was raised in poverty by his mother. Early on he showed signs of being different from the generally rough kids with whom he grew up. Giovanni was also intrigued by traveling circuses visiting the region where he lived, and learned to juggle, walk a tightrope, and perform magic tricks, all of which undoubtedly stood him in good stead later on.

With the help of some generous patrons who recognized his intelligence and abilities, he was able to attend seminary and was ordained a priest. He was first appointed as chaplain at a boarding school for wealthy young girls, which he soon found quite unsatisfactory. He tended to gather around himself the "ragamuffin boys" of the area, to whom he would teach catechism, give basic schooling, and oversee and channel their endless energy. Officials at the boarding school apparently weren't on the same wave-length, and they fired Don Bosco.

In 1846 he opened a boys' orphanage, under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales, whose feast we commemorated on January 29. He pioneered new educational methods, and gained begrudging respect even from anticlerical politicians for his work with homeless youth and his advocacy for vocational training, including evening classes and industrial schools. In 1859, with the help of another priest and some seminarians whom he had groomed from among "his boys", he founded the Pious Society of St. Francis de Sales, also known as the Salesians.

A flavor of his healthy educational approach to young people is apparent in this excerpt from a letter which Don Bosco wrote, apparently later in his life: "If we want to be thought of as those who have the real happiness of our pupils at heart, and who help each to fulfil his role in life, you must never forget that you are taking the place of parents who love their children. I have always worked, studied, and exercised my priesthood out of love for them. And not I alone, but the whole Salesian Order.

How often in my long career has this great truth come home to me! It is so much easier to get angry than to be patient, to threaten a boy rather than to persuade him. I would even say that usually it is so much more convenient for our own impatience and pride to punish them rather than to correct them patiently with firmness and gentleness...

...It is difficult to keep calm when administering punishment. But it is very necessary if you are not to give the impression that you are simply asserting your authority or giving vent to your anger. Let us look on those over whom we have a certain authority, as sons. Let us be determined to be at their service...We should be ashamed to give the least impression of domineering. We should only exercise authority in order the better to serve the boys...

Instead, like true parents, really intent on their children's welfare and growth, show them compassion now, and always hold out hope for the future."

Another Medevac

We had another medevac this week. That's already 3 since I've been here in two months. It's a good thing that Midway is here for all the people who get sick or injured in the middle of the ocean.

The group from Duke left last night, so it'll be kind of quiet around here for a month or so until the next group of visitors get here. If you haven't checked out their blog yet, look at the link in my post from last week. There's not a lot of other news around here, other than our short-tailed albatross chick is getting pretty big now. I don't have any pictures of it this week, but we've been using our remote camera to check up on it. No more big storms, but it has been cool and windy. Most people here have been calling it cold, but for someone who grew up in North Dakota, low 60's don't count as cold.

I built up a lot of vacation time on Tern Island so I'll be going on vacation next week for a month or so. I'll post a blog for next week though.

This is the fishing boat that dropped off the medevac patient.

Here's a Black-footed albatross and its chick.

Here's a pretty young Laysan albatross chick.

This chick was getting fed by both parents.

Sorry for the over exposure. The Duke students and volunteers were out filling sinkholes that formed when parts of the island got washed over during the big storm.

No story with this picture. It's just the old Harbor Office.

This picture is a few weeks old, but this is Sara, Nicole, Emily and Dasha, reading the bands in our albatross plots. This is about a 7 week project, to see how many of our adult albatrosses come back each year to breed.

The canaries like this tree, so do the mynah birds. It is a Tiger's claw or Coral tree.

Jesus' Great Instruction

In commenting St. Matthew’s narrative (5:1-12) on the Beatitudes or The Sermon on the Mount, perhaps a few preliminary observations will be helpful. First, though we’ve come to know these sayings of Jesus as “The Beatitudes”, from the introductory word most often translated as “blessed”, it seems that, for St. Matthew, a more accurate title might be “The Great Instruction”. Second, Jesus gives this Great Instruction to the inner circle of his disciples, NOT, as is so often taken for granted, to all the people: Jesus’ hearers and us who read it centuries later. Finally, there also seem to be a number of common misinterpretations abroad: one is that the writer had in mind a comparison between Jesus and Moses, because of “the mountain”/”the giving of the Law”. Matthew, however, seems to give no apparent indication of this. If anything, he might’ve seen more of a parallel between Jesus and Joshua, their names in Hebrew being virtually equivalent. Just as later rabbis contrasted the prophet Elisha with Elijah, with the advantage going to Elisha, so also with John the Baptizer and Jesus. John is more apt to be compared to Moses: neither lived to enter the Promised Land; and as Moses was rebuked for his lack of faith (Nm 20:12), so Jesus seems to have mildly rebuked John in his enquiry from prison in Mt 11:2-6. Jesus is the proclaimer of the reign of God and, therefore, of the true hope of Israel, even as Joshua was seen by later sources as keeping alive among the people the hope of the Messiah. The other misinterpretation is that Jesus, in The Great Instruction, was setting up some sort of new moral code with universal applicability. In fact, Matthew arranges Jesus’ instruction in an orderly grouping of material in order to make it easier for those who would be teaching it later. The Great Instruction is aimed at the Messianic community of Jesus’ disciples, and then to those whom they would teach.

If you compare Matthew’s narrative in this passage with Luke’s (6:17-22), it’s obvious that there is a difference. This is probably because they are two versions, spoken by Jesus on two different occasions. Matthew’s may have been a series of explanations in response to questions raised by Jesus’ disciples. Whereas in Luke, Jesus says in 6:24-26: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” It could be that here that Jesus was directly addressing his disciples.

What was it that Jesus conveyed to his disciples, as Matthew narrates it? First of all, Matthew uses the Greek word makarios, which bears a number of “flavors”. It can mean blessed/supremely blessed/fortunate/well-off/happy. In classical times it meant “the state of gods in contrast to humans”. The Hebrew word asher has the sense of “the good omens of…” In Matthew’s context, it’s a Messianic term because of its connection with the reign of God, of which Jesus, in his Person, is the bearer. Whoever’s life is characterized by these eight or nine qualities mentioned, is blessed, to the highest degree, by the salvation which only God can offer.

If we stick with the English term fortunate, what Jesus says is:
- Fortunate are the humble in spirit, i.e., those who live uprightly, in perfection. They’re virtually synonymous with the poor/afflicted/humble -- in Hebrew, the anawim -- the ones pushed out to the margins of society; those who, throughout Scripture, are the special, favored ones of God. God’s reign is made up of people “fully conscious of the poverty of all human resource, and knowing [their] need and desire for God…”
- Fortunate are those who mourn and grieve over humanity’s selfishness and disobedience to God. These are the souls who feel and lament over the “pain of the world”.
- Fortunate are the meek who, because they’re humble and poor will be welcomed and admitted to God’s realm, God’s presence.
- Fortunate are the ones who hunger and thirst, who desire and pray that God’s purposes for humanity will be vindicated. The Old Testament cites many examples of fasting as prayerful desire, which is the present state of these who hunger and thirst, even as they anticipate the great Messianic feast with which they’ll be fulfilled in God’s reign.
- Fortunate are the merciful who haven’t allowed their hearts to clench or to become blind to others’ need. And because of that they’re welcomed into the reign of that God whose tender mercies are always new every morning.
- Fortunate are the pure-minded, i.e., the spiritual equivalent of those who are ritually purified. To see God one is called to be single-minded in handing over to God one’s whole heart, mind, body, and soul. Those who live thus are promised life as daughters and sons of the Son of God in his reign.
- Fortunate are those who make peace, who pursue it throughout society, and who pay the price and suffer for it, sometimes greatly. They can look forward to being admitted to the reign, the realm of God’s shalom, God’s peace.

These sayings, known as The Great Instruction, constitute “the spiritual charter” of the reign of God. Earlier, in 4:23, Matthew speaks of Jesus going about the whole of Galilee, “teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Freedom of the Kingdom.” In today’s passage Matthew shows how Jesus proposes that his disciples bear this message as they proclaim the Good News to others. With Jesus’ coming among us, the long-awaited reign of God has already arrived, and the message has taken on new urgency. Jesus proclaims the demands of the Covenant for any who would share in God’s reign, though exactly how that plays out in each of our lives will depend on our vision and generosity.

The one thing which Jesus does promise is that, if we take God’s reign seriously and help others to do so, you and I must prepare to suffer for it, to endure push-back and opposition. Nevertheless, Jesus says that we’re to “rejoice and be glad, because your reward in heaven is great…” Now, please don’t misunderstand that statement! Jesus isn’t promising “pie in the sky, bye and bye”. This isn’t the “Be-Happy Attitudes” promised by one prominent TV evangelist, as if by doing these things, you’ll get the “Great Reward”. Yes, some sort of responsive action on our part is asked of us for God’s generosity. But it’s God’s generosity which is supremely far beyond anything which you and I can ask or possibly earn on our own strength. When Jesus speaks of a “reward in heaven”, he’s really saying “a reward in God, a reward with God”: indeed, a reward which is Godself.

You might want to check out Dylan’s Lectionary Blog online for another take on today’s Gospel. The blog is written by Sarah Dylan Breuer, who calls herself a “public theologian”. In place of the word “blessed”, she favors a translation by K.C. Hanson, viz., “honored”. She takes the same approach as Jesuit scholar, Fr. Jerome Neyrey, who thinks that the last “beatitude” should actually be the starting point for The Great Instruction: “Honored are you whenever men vilify you, persecute you, and falsely charge you with evil for my sake; rejoice and be glad, because your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.”

Breuer goes on to develop how “in the New Testament world, the esteem you commanded was in large part a function of how important your connections -- your family members, your patrons, and your clients -- were. If you were (whether by birth, adoption, or being a slave or freedperson) part of a very important family, you were important. If your family was less important, you were less important. If you weren't connected to others, that didn't make you ‘your own man’; it made you nobody...nobody wants to do business with a nobody; being pushed out of your network of social relationships could also mean being left with nothing to live on and no way to get out of that position…”

Putting the last “beatitude” first, she feels, makes Jesus’ listing of the qualities of those who qualify for the reign of God more plausible. Whether or not her thesis is valid, I don’t know. I saw nothing in commentaries which I consulted to confirm that, but it does make some sense. Nevertheless, her point is well taken, particularly in a society like ours, and at the end of her blog she challenges us with some valuable questions: “What does God require of us? Not sacrifices of blood, not impressive buildings, not achievement or respectability: just justice, and mercy, and humility…What would it mean if we honored those whom God honors? What would happen if we stopped playing all of our culture's games for status and power and privilege? What would it cost us if we lived more deeply into justice, and mercy, and humility? And more importantly, what blessings await us on that journey?…”

Another, and perhaps the main, reason why I mention Sarah Breuer, however, is to borrow from her and to share a prayer poem to which she alludes, written by The Very Rev. Jeffrey John, Dean of St. Alban’s in England. Dean John isn’t at all known for shying away from being outspoken. His prayer may or may not strike us as a bit harsh, but it certainly encourages us think seriously about Jesus’ Great Instruction:

Lord, do something about your Church.


It is so awful, it is hard not to feel ashamed of belonging to it.


Most of the time it seems to be all the things you condemned:
hierarchical, conventional, judgmental, hypocritical,
respectable, comfortable, moralising, compromising,
clinging to its privileges and worldly securities,
and when not positively objectionable, merely absurd.

Lord, we need your whip of cords.

Judge us and cleanse us,

challenge and change us,

break and remake us.

Help us to be what you called us to be.

Help us to embody you on earth.

Help us to make you real down here,

and to feed your people bread instead of stones.

And start with me.

THE B-MOVIE FILM VAULT AND FRIGHT-RAGS AID CANCER VICTIMS! HELP US IN OUR QUEST!

Before I go into detail here, let me just say that we here at The B-Movie Film Vault are on a separate crusade than our friends at Fright-Rags, but our goals are both very similar. We are trying to help friends and family whose lives have been forever altered by the ravages of cancer.

The battlecry that could save the world!

Currently the crew at FRIGHT-RAGS are having a charitable auction on E-BAY that is chock full of horror memorabilia, such as signed autographs, a latex mask (designed after the cake-craving zombie from "Creepshow"), a various art prints that kick all sorts of ass! There's two days left on this auction (which is currently up to $400.00! Awesome!) and all proceeds will be given to Leisha Davison-Yasol, a longtime Fright-Rags friend. She has been battling an aggressive form of breast cancer for some time now, and your generous bidding on this rather exciting collection of monstrous collectibles would definitely be a huge help to her and her family.

Now, if that's a bit too rich for your blood, but you're still hellbent on doing some good in this world, here's what we have going on at The B-Movie Film Vault. My cousin Ronald Cavalotti passed away earlier this week after losing his fight with cancer. (He won the first round years ago, but the Big-C came back with a vengeance late in 2010.) I never got to know Ron all that well, but now that he's gone, I really wish I did.

He was an insanely generous man to say the least, as he cosigned for my truck over five years ago, when I had next to no credit, and absolutely no one else to turn to. It was a big financial risk on his part, and because of him, I was able to replace my old junker with a decent vehicle. This isn't the only thing he's ever done to help me or my folks (or anyone else for that matter), but its the one thing I thank him for the most.

On the way back from the funeral yesterday, I shed some tears for this great man and his grieving wife and children. I also decided that I needed to do something to help out his family, if only to just pay back the kindness that Ron showed me when he was alive. Therefore I created a donation page HERE at the Vault, with all proceeds going to his family.

Donations will be accepted through PayPal from now until the end of March, and you don't have to get crazy here: A $1.00 donation is perfectly fine. Also, I will be donating any and all commission earnings from my online affiliates after the first quarter of this year (i.e. the end of March). So if you're not too keen on donating cash, you can at least help by shopping through the Vault at Amazon.com, Movies Unlimited, and AllPosters.com. Thanks in advance to and may God bless you for your generosity!

Rest in peace Ronnie... we'll all miss you.

Andrei Rublev (c. 1365-1430) - Monk & Iconographer

Andrei Rublev is considered by many to be Russia's greatest iconographer. He was born near Moscow, and, while very young, entered The Holy Trinity monastery. In 1405 he transferred to the Spaso-Andronikov monastery and studied iconography under Theophanes the Greek and the monk, Daniel. Some of his most admired works are in the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir.

Rublev was no exception to iconographers who consider writing an icon a truly spiritual exercise and experience. Repeatedly throughout the process he would recite the Jesus Prayer = Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. It was as if he were creating a window into the Divine Presence itself, though no human eye could see it. Yet he could experience the reality of himself being created in God's image.

His icon [shown above] of the Three Guests visiting Abraham at Mamre, symbols of the Holy Trinity, is one particularly meaningful in my own spiritual life. I've noticed that it has, at times, "followed" me around. I was baptized in Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Dayton, OH, in 1937; the Trappist monastery where I was briefly a novice was the Abbey of the Holy Trinity in Utah; when I made the first U. S. Taizé pilgrimage in 1992, also in my hometown of Dayton, OH, and where I was privileged to meet and speak with Brother Roger Schutz, the huge icon at the front of the hall was a copy of Rublev's Holy Trinity; I served for 11 years in the Episcopal parish of Holy Trinity, Ukiah, CA, where a copy of Rublev's icon had been placed as a memorial on the door of the tabernacle.

Holy God, we bless you for the gift of your monk and icon writer Andrei Rublev, who, inspired by the Holy Spirit provided a window into heaven for generations to come, revealing the majesty and mystery of the holy and blessed Trinity; who lives and reigns through the ages of ages. Amen.

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Francis de Sales was the Bishop of Geneva [Above right: his heraldric shield]. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, and was an accomplished preacher and teacher. Francis was also skilled in spiritual guidance and formation of others. His Introduction to the Devout Life is still a much loved and simple guide for many Christians. His writings on the perfections of the Heart of Mary as the model of love for God influenced St. Jean Eudes to develop the devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) On the Love of God

From the Summa Theologica: 

"...Bernard says (De Dilig. Deum 1) that 'God is the cause of our loving God; the measure is to love Him without measure.'


...As appears from the words of Augustine, mode signifies a determination of measure; which determination is to be found both in the measure and in the thing measured, but not in the same way. For it is found in the measure essentially, because a measure is of itself the determining and modifying rule of other things; whereas in the things measured, it is found relatively, that is in so far as they attain to the measure. Hence there can be nothing unmodified in the measure whereas the thing measured is unmodified if it fails to attain to the measure, whether by deficiency or by excess.


Now in all matters of appetite and action the measure is the end, because the proper reason for all that we desire or do should be taken from the end, as the Philosopher proves (Phys. ii, 9). Therefore the end has a mode by itself, while the means take their mode from being proportionate to the end. Hence, according to the Philosopher (Polit. i, 3), 'in every art, the desire for the end is endless and unlimited,' whereas there is a limit to the means: thus the physician does not put limits to health, but makes it as perfect as he possibly can; but he puts a limit to medicine, for he does not give as much medicine as he can, but according as health demands so that if he give too much or too little, the medicine would be immoderate.


Again, the end of all human actions and affections is the love of God, whereby principally we attain to our last end...wherefore the mode in the love of God, must not be taken as in a thing measured where we find too much or too little, but as in the measure itself, where there cannot be excess, and where the more the rule is attained the better it is, so that the more we love God the better our love is.


...That which is so by its essence takes precedence of that which is so through another, wherefore the goodness of the measure which has the mode essentially, takes precedence of the goodness of the thing measured, which has its mode through something else; and so too, charity, which has a mode as a measure has, stands before the other virtues, which have a mode through being measured.


...Augustine adds...'the measure of our love for God is to love Him with our whole heart,' that is to love Him as much as He can be loved, and this belongs to the mode which is proper to the measure.

...An affection, whose object is subject to reason's judgment, should be measured by reason. But the object of the Divine love which is God surpasses the judgment of reason, wherefore it is not measured by reason but transcends it. Nor is there parity between the interior act and external acts of charity. For the interior act of charity has the character of an end, since man's ultimate good consists in his soul cleaving to God, according to Psalm 72:28: 'It is good for me to adhere to my God'; whereas the exterior acts are as means to the end, and so have to be measured both according to charity and according to reason."

Holy Women: Lydia of Thyatira/Phoebe of Cenchrae/Dorcas

Filled with your Holy Spirit, gracious God,

your earliest disciples served you with the gifts each had been given:

Lydia [left] in business and stewardship,

Dorcas [right] in a life of charity

and Phoebe [center] as a deacon who served many.

Inspire us today to build up your Church with our gifts

in hospitality, charity and bold witness to the Gospel of Christ;

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

These holy women are a reminder to us that, though the 1st century was a patriarchal time and women had virtually no voice, nevertheless it was the women who provided the resources, protection and support for the early Church. 

Lydia, "a dealer in purple cloth" and apparently a woman of means, though marginalized by her own Jewish community, "opened her heart to listen eagerly" to St. Paul's message, was baptized along with her household, and graciously gave lodging to Paul and his companions.

Phoebe, a proto-deacon, "a benefactor of many" in the community at Cenchrae, the port city of Corinth, and of St. Paul himself, gets a glowing recommendation by Paul to the church at Rome.

Dorcas, or Tabitha, was a woman of Joppa, on the seashore of Palestine WNW of Jerusalem. The writer of Acts describes her as  "devoted to good works and acts of charity". She fell gravely ill and died. They washed her and laid her out in an upstairs room, while some disciples ran to get St. Peter, who was staying at Lydda, a short distance away. They take Peter up to the room when he arrives, as all the widows stand beside him, "weeping and showing tunics and other clothing which Dorcas had made". Peter sends everyone outside, and kneels to pray. After a time, he stands and says "Tabitha, get up." Dorcas opens her eyes, sits up, and, with Peter's assistance, stands and is reunited with her widows' group.

We all know many holy women, young and old, in our own day who quietly go about ministering to people in many ways. In giving thanks for the lives and witness of our three Holy Women today, let's also give special thanks for the holy women in our acquaintance and lives, faithful servants of the Church and the community, women who have, like Lydia, opened their hearts to the compassionate and loving Christ.

"ALIEN 2: SULLA TERRA" COMING TO REGION 1 BLU-RAY IN MARCH!

On March 22nd, MIDNIGHT LEGACY will be releasing a long lost cult "classic" to DVD and Blu-ray, namely "Alien 2: Sulla Terra" (a.k.a. "Alien 2: On Earth"). This Italian sequel/rip-off of Ridley Scott's "Alien," has deadly alien organisms reaching our home planet and killing off some scientists in a cave. While it isn't exactly a good movie, I'm super stoked that this cult rarity is finally getting some TLC. Here is what Midnight Legacy promises us for this limited edition release:

• Brand new 1.85:1 high definition transfer from the original 35mm negative featuring significant additional footage not seen anywhere in the world.
  
  
  
• English language audio fully restored from the original audio masters, and respectful of the original sound design.
  
  
  
• Special features include the only surviving trailer from the mega rare Dutch VHS, and effects outtakes transferred directly from the negative B-roll in full HD.
  
  
  
• Limited Collector's Edition designed as a true collector's item. Both Blu-ray and DVD come in a Collector's slipcase! Limited to 30,000 copies worldwide!
  

The release date once again is March 22, and you can already pre-order "Alien 2: On Earth" on Amazon! Get the DVD HERE; get the Blu-ray HERE! Check out the (Dutch) trailer for "Alien 2: On Earth" below and rejoice!

A big thanks to the folks over at HIGH-DEF DIGEST for bringing us this great news!

Conclusion: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity / The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle

God of Peace, we thank you that you sent your Son Jesus, so that we might be reconciled to yourself in him. Give us the grace to be effective servants of reconciliation within our churches. Fill us with love for one another and may our unity serve the reconciliation that you desire for all creation. We pray in the power of the Spirit. Amen.

We've been praying this week in the spirit of the ancient Church of Jerusalem with its long-standing devotion to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. Has anything changed in world during the past seven days? or in the Church? or in each of our local situations? Honestly, though our efforts and prayer are certainly not wasted, yet the realities of division, discontent, disappointment and injustice still remain to challenge us. The question now is: to what are you and I called, here and now?

Prayer for Christian unity is not a one-time, or simply an annual, observance. It must be our aim to "Pray always", so that the Church may truly become a sign and instrument for healing divisions and injustices, for growth in understanding between people of all faiths and those with no faith. We're called, both in our personal and family lives, as well as in our corporate life together, to be "ambassadors of reconciliation".

God in Christ is continually reconciling all people to Godself. St. Paul, whose feast we commemorate today, refers to this as "a new creation." Our vocation as ambassadors of reconciliation is a call to allow the power of the Holy One in us to make all things new. This is the Good News which we're called to proclaim by the way we live, not just during one week of the year, but every day of our lives.

Day 7: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity / Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi (1907-1992)

  
God, you raised your Son Jesus to give hope for humanity and renewal to the earth. Continue to strengthen and unify your Church in its struggles that obscure the hope of the new life you offer. This we pray in the name of the Risen Lord, in the power of his Spirit. Amen.

"The first Christians' devotion to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of the bread and the prayers was made possible, above all, by the living power of the Risen Jesus. This power is still living and today's Christians witness to this. The light and hope of the Resurrection changes everything...

...The central Christian experience is that of passing from death to life. This is the abiding sign of God's steadfast love. It is the defining reality of all Christians...in baptism...we have died with Christ, and live to share his risen life..." (Week of Prayer Daily Scripture and Prayer Guide)

If ever there was a witness to the power of the living Risen Christ at work in a baptized Christian, it was Florence Li Tim-Oi! Named Tim Oi = Much-beloved Daughter by her father, Florence later chose her first name in honor of Florence Nightingale. At age 21, she wanted "to be a selfless lady like her", to serve. And serve she did in a lay capacity for the next 13 years. She really hadn't set out to be a deacon or a priest, but God led her, by successive steps, and through the tremendous upheavals of war, poverty, and uncertainty in her native land of China. She was ordained deacon in 1941, and in 1944, under unusual circumstances and with the concurrence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, she was ordained the first woman priest in the Anglican Communion.

At the conclusion of World War II, because her ordination was a matter of great controversy, she made the personal decision not to exercise her priesthood until it was acknowledged by the Anglican Communion. That took some 36 years, during which she was also persecuted by the Communist Red Guard in China! Nevertheless, she continued to labor as a servant of the Gospel in Macao, China, and in the Diocese of Montreal, Canada, where she eventually settled. Florence Li Tim-Oi lived firsthand in the spirit of Paul's words and in the spirit of all her forebears in the Communion of Saints, from the Church in Jerusalem onward: "For the love of God urges us on...So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us..."

Reiki I Certification Class in Champaign Urbana

Reiki I - Receive Reiki 1^st  degree.   Reiki is a beautiful "laying on of hands" healing art that harmonizes the body's energies. Reiki works on all levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. 

              Anyone can learn Reiki regardless of health, age or belief.  All that is required to receive Reiki training is an open heart and a willingness to do so.  Reiki is passed from Master to student during an attunement process in levels or degrees, each building on the previous. Reiki Master Marlita will teach this Reiki I class. Pre-registration with payment, please, to reserve your space. 

Cost: $150, if pre-registered by February 5^th with payment. $175 if payment received later.

Saturday, February 12, 10am to 6pm

Visitors

This week wasn't quite as busy as last week, but there was still plenty going on. There's been a lot of press about our short-tailed albatross chick, so I've been answering a lot of questions and trying to supply some better pictures. You can click on the Flickr link I put up last week to see a couple more photos. The Laysan and Black-footed albatross chicks are hatching everywhere now too. We've had a lot more wind and more trees are falling, but it seems to be getting a little nicer.
A new visitor group came in on Thursday. Students from the Nicholas School for the Environment at Duke University are here for a visit. They've been coming here for a few years now and as usual, are posting a daily blog. Here's the link: http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/hawaii/
The students take turns with the entries and they do a great job, so check it out.

Here's a picture of the short-tailed albatross chick. This picture is only a few days old and the chick is already about twice as big as this.

Here's one of the new Laysan albatross chicks. I'll put up a black-footed alb. picture next week.

I took this photo of the spinner dolphins from the harbor wall today.

The Duke group got a tour of Eastern Island today. This monument has 3 plaques that discuss the importance of Eastern Island during WWII, that's where the runway was during the battles.

The Chugach Band played at the All Hands Club last night so there was some dancing going on.

The shuffleboard table is in good shape at the All Hands Club.

This is Dan and our current volunteers, Nikki, Emily, and Sarah at the gun on Eastern Island. Dan was the acting refuge manager for the last month, but he left on the last plane.

Day 6: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity / Epiphany 3

 

From Week of Prayer for Christian Unity booklet:
Suggested readings: Jonah 2:1-9; Psalm 67:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Matthew 6:5-15

"It is prayer that empowers Christians for our mission together...The Psalm calls us to pray that God's face will shine upon us -- not only for our own benefit, but for the spread of His rule 'among all the nations.'"

Prayer is a part of the strength and power of mission and prophecy for the world. Paul instructs us to pray especially for those with power in the world so that we may live together in peace and dignity. Our own prayer for unity in Christ reaches out to the whole world.

In Matthew's Gospel we hear of prayer as a 'secret' power, born not from display or performance, but from a humble coming before the Lord. Jesus' teaching is summed up in the Lord's Prayer. Praying this together forms us as a united people who seek the Father's will, and the building up of His Kingdom here on earth, and calls us to a life of forgiveness and reconciliation."

Lord God our Father, we rejoice that in all times, places and cultures, there are people who reach out to you in prayer. Teach us to pray better as Christians together, so that we may always be aware of your guidance and encouragement through all our joys and distress, through the power your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 5: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity / St. Vincent of Saragossa (d. 304)

God of Hope, we praise you for your gift to us of the Lord's Supper, where, in the Spirit, we continue to meet your Son, the living bread from heaven. We pray that you will hasten the day when your whole church together shares the breaking of the bread. As we wait for that day may we learn more deeply to be a people formed by the Eucharist for service to the world. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

What better way to be at one with one another than to share a meal, to bread break together. That is our renewed pledge today as we near the conclusion of this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In some sense we, as Jesus, become seed for making into the bread of our lives to be shared with one another. He told us that a seed needs first to fall into the ground and die, else it remains alone. Also, bread, if it's to give nourishment and strength, needs first to be chewed up and broken down, and consumed. In the One who modelled this for us, we become, as it were, bread for the world.

St. Vincent, deacon and martyr, who died in the same year as Agnes of Rome, entered into this process of being broken down in a very real and graphic way. As the eloquent spokesman of his bishop, Valerian, who had a speech impediment, Vincent boldly and truthfully gave witness to his faith in Jesus before the Roman officials. The price he paid was in being beaten, flayed, boiled, and stretched on a rack before he finally died. Never were Tertullian's words more true: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians."

Hand Prosthetics in Film poster!

I discovered this amazing poster while surfing around CHUD.com today:

Did your favorite prosthetic hand make the cut?!

This limited edition poster comes in 11 x 17 inch prints and is selling for $25.00! If you have your heart set on getting one, you can pick it up at the Fro Design Co Blog right now! But hurry, because this poster design is limited to only FIFTY prints! Check out the rest of this artist's unique prints HERE. (Ooooohh.... that "Walking Dead" print is so cool!)

Day 4: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity / St. Agnes of Rome (c. 292-305)

God of Justice, your giving is without bounds. We thank you that you have given what we need. Inspire us to be instruments of love, sharing all that you give us, as a witness to your generosity and justice. As followers of Christ, lead us to act together in places of want. We pray in the name of Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today we reflect on the fellowship (koinonia) of the community of faith. Fellowship is an oft-used, sometimes overworked, word among church folks, and can have many meanings. Episcopalians' first thoughts probably turn to the ample spread of good food at Sunday coffee hours or at potlucks! But there are many other kinds of fellowship: the frequent coming together of the church community; the act of a church's members reaching out to people of other faiths or to people in the surrounding community for activities, projects, concerns, etc.; the oneness that we feel in sharing Christ's Body and Blood in the Eucharist; acts of visiting the sick, working in a food line for the needy, ministering to people in prison or their families. Jesus' reminder rings loud in our memory: "As you did it for one of these, the least of my sisters and brothers, you did if for me."

I was thinking of St. Agnes this morning and marvelling at and trying to figure out how a 13 year old girl came to have the courage and fearlessness to give her young life for Jesus. In his treatise On Virginity, the great Bishop Ambrose of Milan, writing only about 70 years after Agnes' martyrdom, also wonders about this. "The cruelty which did not spare even so young a child serves only to demonstrate more clearly the power of faith which found witness in one so young. There was not even room in her little body for a wound. Though she could barely receive the sword's point, she could overcome. Girls of her age tend to wilt under the slightest frown from a parent...But Agnes showed no fear...Too young to have any acquaintanceship with death, she nevertheless stood ready for it...Is this a new kind of martyrdom? The girl was too young to be punished, yet old enough to wear a martyr's crown...Everyone was weeping, but she herself shed no tears. The crowds marvelled at her spendthrift attitude to life, discarding it untasted, but as if she had lived it to the full. All were astonished that one not yet of legal age could give testimony to God..." We have no way of knowing how Agnes arrived at such spiritual maturity. Her fellowship with sister and brother Christians in Rome was the fellowship, the sharing of courageous example, of witnessing, literally martyria, to the One on whom she'd set her heart and her life.

Fright-Rags presents... The King Collection! + R.I.P - The Frames Version of the Vault.

Good morning world! I can't stay too long, got about four inches of snow to shovel off the driveway and front porch before I have to head out to work, so I'll jump right into things.

Firstly, I would like to announce (a few days late, my bad) that FRIGHT-RAGS has just released four new shirt designs based off of four classic Stephen King novels. This "KING COLLECTION" boasts awesome designs for "The Skeleton Crew," "Night Shift," "The Dark Half," and best of all, "Pet Sematary." Check out the designs, then order them, because to not order these would be uncivilized.

THE SKELETON CREW

NIGHT SHIFT

THE DARK HALF

PET SEMATARY

Each shirt is $21.95 and comes in all sizes, from Small to 5XL! Also, if you spend $60.00, the shipping is free, and if you're a first-time customer, you can get 10% your order when you sign up for the Fright-Rags Newsletter! I've dealt with this company for some time now and I guarantee you won't find anyone that is friendlier or more reliable! (A good chunk of my wardrobe is made up of Fright-Rags tees for a reason!) So head on over to their site now to get a better look at the King Collection, as well as the rest of their impressive catalog of awesome shirts, and start ordering!

That was the main announcement for today, but I have other news for all of you regarding the Vault. After thinking about it long and hard, last night I decided to remove the Frames Version of The B-Movie Film Vault. I did not come to this decision lightly as I always found it useful to have two versions of the site, but lately I've noticed that I was just making more work for myself and that no matter what I tried, I never could quite get the Frames version to look right on monitors with higher resolutions. So yesterday, I wiped it off the web (after four hours of scouring the site and removing navigational links on every webpage) and I haven't looked back since. For anyone that utilized the frames version of the site, I apologize, but fear not, for this is just the beginning of a newer and greater Vault!

Well I must go battle the elements and head off to work, so I bid you all adieu! Be sure to keep an eye on the Vault over the next few months because I've got a lot of cool stuff planned and stay tuned for a double dose of "The Green Hornet" next week!

Day 3: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity / St. Fabian (d. c. 253)

God of Light, we give you thanks for the revelation of your truth in Jesus Christ which we have received through the apostles' teaching. May your Holy Spirit continue to sanctify us in the truth of your Son, so that united in him we may grow in devotion to the Word, and together serve your Kingdom in humility and love. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

As I was watching the opening of the new season of American Idol last evening, I was struck by not only the talent, but by the rich stories which many of the young women and men brought to their interviews: a great mixture of hopes and dreams, challenges, sorrows, and determination. That really is what the Scriptures are all about. They're a collection of many kinds of human stories about a diversity of people, from the beginning of time onward, couched in all sorts of styles and genres. The one thing they have in common, however, the common thread which ties them altogether, is the story of God's redemption, of God's working in the lives of God's creation, of God's loving each of us to life. The stories continue with each new generation of the Church, down to the present. Our lives and stories are inextricably bound up with the people who've gone before us and with the people in the world who surround us at this moment, particularly those of the community of faith in Jesus the Christ. Perhaps we're far closer than six degrees of separation! Central to our lives together is the teaching which Jesus' apostles have handed down to us through each generation. The great Anglican preacher, Herbert O'Driscoll, once described it is a chain of outwardly extended hands through the centuries, reaching out with the Word of salvation, and traceable all the way back to "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith", the One bearing the nail-prints of death and resurrection. A goodly heritage, indeed!

As your story develops, and mine, ever notice how God has the knack of nudging us into the wrong place at the right time? Fabianus or Fabian, a lay person, certainly did one day in 236 as he was "just" visiting Rome. So happens that the bishop of Rome [the Pope], Antherus, had died, and on this day the people and clergy of Rome had gathered to select a new bishop. As Fabian stood looking on in the crowd, a pesky dove flew into the scene, circling above Fabian and eventually landing on his shoulder. Well, for highly excitable Italians, in the midst of an election, this could only have been a clear sign from God that the person on whom the dove landed was the person whom they were looking forward! After a shocked pause, the cry, which couldn't have been better scripted even on a Wayne's World episode, went up: "He is worthy! He is worthy!" Before Fabian could say "Party on!" he was whisked off to be ordained to the successive degrees of Holy Orders, consecrated, and began a 17 year reign as the 21st successor of St. Peter! Pope Fabian, among the many accomplishments of his pontificate, stood out as a defender of the apostolic teaching, confronting even one of the Numidian bishops of the Church, Privatus.  He understood that the apostles' teaching, the Good News, is, as Paul calls it, "the power of God for salvation", and in Isaiah's words, "a lamp to [our] feet and a light to [our] path".  May we, as the early Church of Jerusalem, as Fabian and our other forbears in the faith, be enthusiastically devoted to the apostolic teaching.