Not a single person will vote for Obama or McCain this week

Think I'm kidding?

No.

I'm totally serious.

You will no doubt hear various folks in the news media talk for hours about voting in the next few days. You might even go somewhere and put your finger on a screen or mark a piece of paper with one of their names on it. But rest assured, you have will not have voted for either of them.

If you vote this week, you will really be casting a vote for a slate of delegates to the Electoral College. Only those delegates will actually cast votes for Obama or McCain - and not until next month. (Ok, there is a slim chance others might be able to vote, but only if the electoral college vote is tied and it goes to congress ... but lets not go there ;-)

No American under the age of 50...

...has ever voted in a presidential election without a Bush or Clinton on the ticket

1980 Bush for VP
1984 Bush for VP
1988 Bush for Pres
1992 Bush & Clinton for Pres
1996 Clinton for Pres
2000 Bush for Pres
2004 Bush for Pres

So the last election without a Bush or Clinton was 1976 (Ford/Dole vs Carter/Mondale) - and one had to be 18 to vote. Thus anyone born after 2 Nov 1958 has never voted in a US Presidential election without a Bush or Clinton on the ticket.

30 seconds can be a lifetime

How many TV commercials have you seen today?

How about in the last week?

Over the last year?

Over the last 35 years?

The average TV commercial in the United States is still 30 seconds long. Not much at all. Sometimes we barely even notice as they go by.

Now consider this ...

every 23 seconds ...

of every hour ...

of every day ...

of every year ...

for the last 35 years ...

a child has been slaughtered in the United States of America.

And what have I done?

Every half hour sit-com is the equivalent of two high school classrooms empty forever.

And what have I done?

During that hour of American Idle or Survivor or whatever

... the equivalent of every player of every team in the Sweet 16 is lost.

And what have I done?

We rightly mourn the loss of 3,000 souls on 9/11.

And yet more children die every single day
by the will of their very own mothers in their own womb.

And we do nothing.

117,000 Americans died during the Great War (World War I).

About the same number of kids die each and every month.

And yet no parades to honor the dead.

418,000 Americans gave their lives during World War II.

Three times more children die every year.

And we continue to sit and watch TV...

That is nearly 50 million children murdered in one otherwise great country.

God Bless America!

... and please forgive us.

For we know ... and yet do nothing.

So the next time you watch a TV commercial, pray for the poor soul that will never have a chance to watch TV ... or anything else.

Hexena - The Upside-Down Novena

I dislike the idea of moving "Holy Days of Obligation" (what a horrid term, but that's another topic) to the following Sunday for many reasons. But this week is perhaps the best argument against the practice.

When the Ascension of Our Lord is celebrated on Thursday, the origin of the Novena shines through. It is the 9 days the Apostles gathered in prayer after Our Lord ascended, culminating in the glorious Pentecost.

But now, in many dioceses, the 9 days of prayer have been turned upside down so that only 6 remain. And so we have the "modern" novena (perhaps "lazy novena" is a better term). I suppose "hexena" is an even better term.

Anyway, its just one more example of how seemingly minor liturgical fluidity is subtly obliterating our great Catholic heritage.

The truly sad part is that most don't even realize the treasures we are abandoning.

Three years ago ... right about now

Three years ago (Tuesday 19 April 2005), at about 5.50pm (Rome time; 10.50am US Central time), Catholics in Rome and around the world were surprized to see white smoke appearing from the chimney from the Sistine Chapel.

Just under an hour later, Pope Benedict XVI was introduced to the world.

Ad Multos Annos!

96 Years Ago ... Just About Now

The great and grand ocean liner called the Titanic, on her maiden voyage, struck an iceberg. A few hours she was gone ... taking with her more than 1,500 lives.

USA Anniversaries - April 2008

If folks are interested, I'll try to post these each month. All the birthdays are listed, but only "major" anniversaries (i.e., ends in 0 or 5) are included.
Birthdays:

• 92/5th - Bishop Albert Henry Ottenweller; Emeritus of Steubenville, OH
  
• 84/5th - Bishop Thaddeus Joseph Jakubowski; Auxiliary Emeritus of Chicago, IL
  
• 83/16th - Bishop Anthony Edward Pevec; Auxiliary Emeritus of Cleveland, OH
  
• 81/2nd - Archbishop Rembert George Weakland O.S.B.; Emeritus of Milwaukee, WI
  
• 81/13th - Bishop William Henry Bullock; Emeritus of Madison, WI
  
• 79/14th - Bishop Jude Speyrer; Emeritus of Lake Charles, LA
  
• 78/1st - Bishop Francis Joseph Gossman; Emeritus of Raleigh, NC
  
• 77/30th - Bishop Eugene John Gerber; Emeritus of Wichita, KS
  
• 76/2nd - Edward Michael Cardinal Egan; Archbishop of New York, NY
  
• 76/8th - Bishop Alexander James Quinn; Auxiliary of Cleveland, OH
  
• 76/29th - Bishop John Martin Dougherty; Auxiliary of Scranton, PA
  
• 75/25th - Bishop Philip Francis Straling; Emeritus of Reno, NV
  
• 73/19th - Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali; Archbishop of Philadelphia, PA
  
• 73/25th - Bishop John Kevin Boland; Savannah, GA
  
• 70/20th - Archbishop Daniel Mark Buechlein O.S.B.; Indianapolis, IN
  
• 69/8th - Archbishop Edwin Frederick O'Brien; Baltimore, MD
  
• 66/10th - Bishop John Stephen Knight; Auxiliary Emeritus of Toronto, ON
  
• 66/15th - Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo; Richmond, VA
  
• 66/22nd - Bishop Ronald Paul Herzog; Alexandria, LA
  
• 66/23rd - Bishop Ronald Michael Gilmore; Dodge City, KS
  
• 66/25th - Bishop Gerald Thomas Walsh; Auxiliary of New York, NY
  
• 65/3rd - Bishop Armando Xavier Ochoa; El Paso, TX
  
• 64/18th - Bishop Arthur Joseph Serratelli; Paterson, NJ
  
• 63/13th - Bishop Donald Edmond Pelotte S.S.S.; Gallup, NM
  
• 61/24th - Bishop Richard John Garcia; Monterey in California, CA
  
• 60/1st - Bishop Thomas Joseph Tobin; Providence, RI
  
• 60/18th - Bishop Joseph Nathaniel Perry; Auxiliary of Chicago, IL
  
• 57/10th - Bishop Earl Alfred Boyea, Jr.; Lansing, MI
  
• 56/20th - Bishop Robert Francis Hennessey; Auxiliary of Boston, MA
  
• 55/2nd - Bishop Robert William Finn; Kansas City-Saint Joseph, MO
  
• 54/13th - Bishop Michael Owen Jackels; Wichita, KS
  
• 44/27th - Bishop Daniel Fernandez Torres; Auxiliary of San Juan de Puerto Rico
  

Ordination to the Priesthood:

• 50 yrs/12th - Archbishop James Patrick Keleher; Emeritus of Kansas City in Kansas, KS
  
• 30 yrs/1st - Bishop Peter Anthony Libasci; Auxiliary of Rockville Centre, NY
  
• 30 yrs/29th - Bishop-elect Michael Gerard Duca; Bishop-elect of Shreveport, LA

Consecration as a Bishop:

• 35 yrs/3rd - Bishop Joseph Leopold Imesch; Emeritus of Joliet in Illinois, IL
  
• 35 yrs/27th - Bishop Raymond William Lessard; Emeritus of Savannah, GA
  
• 35 yrs/27th - Bishop Anthony Francis Mestice; Auxiliary Emeritus of New York, NY
  
• 30 yrs/20th - Archbishop Eusebius Joseph Beltran; Oklahoma City, OK
  
• 25 yrs/7th - Bishop David Arias P‚rez O.A.R.; Auxiliary Emeritus of Newark, NJ
  
• 20 yrs/11th - Bishop John Robert Gorman; Auxiliary Emeritus of Chicago, IL
  
• 20 yrs/11th - Bishop Thaddeus Joseph Jakubowski; Auxiliary Emeritus of Chicago, IL
  
• 20 yrs/12th - Bishop Paul Stephen Loverde; Arlington, VA
  
• 5 yrs/22th - Bishop Roger Paul Morin; Auxiliary of New Orleans, LA

Ad Multos Annos!