7 Quick Takes...Random Chesterton Quotes

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“We have had no good comic operas of late, because the real world has been more comic than any possible opera.” – The Quotable Chesterton

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“Do not enjoy yourself. Enjoy dances and theaters and joy-rides and champagne and oysters; enjoy jazz and cocktails and night-clubs if you can enjoy nothing better; enjoy bigamy and burglary and any crime in the calendar, in preference to the other alternative; but never learn to enjoy yourself.” – The Common Man

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“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around.” – Orthodoxy, 1908

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“It is terrible to contemplete how few politicians are hanged.” – The Cleveland Press, 3/1/21

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“The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.” –Illustrated London News  1-3-20

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“Our materialistic masters could, and probably will, put Birth Control into an immediate practical programme while we are all discussing the dreadful danger of somebody else putting it into a distant Utopia.” – GK’s Weekly, 1/17/31

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7 Quick Takes Friday--1 to 4 from Susan, 5-7 from James

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1.       Maggie and I watched a movie a few weeks ago called The Perfect Family.  While the movie itself was far from perfect, I thought it did do a nice job of portraying what real families are up against when they try to live out their faith in a seriously fallen world.  

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1.       Apparently there is a new sort of Internet scam going around.  The other night, while Josh was watching a movie on a website, a page popped up telling him that the site he was watching had violated some copyright law and that the FBI was going to prosecute him.  He could, however, simply go ahead and pay a fine of $200 to a website they had set up for that very purpose.  Not surprisingly, he panicked, as did I when I saw it.  (James is always warning us to make sure that any site we use is a legal one).  Fortunately, we checked it out and found that it was just a scam. So, beware.

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1.       This has been the first week in many that I haven’t had any writing to do and I have to admit that I don’t like it.  I find that I get much more done and am even happier when I have a lot to do.  Rest assured, there are still plenty of things I ought to be doing, its just that I find I miss an intellectual outlet.

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1.       Maggie and Josh are now both baby-sitting every afternoon, which I find to be delightful.  They are both so good with kids and I find it very encouraging to hope that they will make excellent parents someday.

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I think I posted a while back about a new organization, Catholics Called to Witness.  The husband and wife founders, Dr. Manuel and Adriana Gonzalez, were on EWTN Live with Fr. Mitch Pacwa on Wednesday.  During the program they played the great video they have featured on the CC2W website, "Test of Fire."  If you haven't seen it, here it is.

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One of my favorite forms of music growing up was Broadway show tunes.  I may be the only heterosexual in America who can say that.  My favorite singer was Judy Garland.  Again, see previous sentence.  Simply because I like the song, here she is singing "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me In Saint Louis.

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Everyone have a good weekend.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes--Study Helps from St. Thomas Aquinas

The thing I love, love, LOVE to do most in the world (after prayer) is reading and studying.  I usually have one or two--or five--books in various stages of completion.  Usually, it's a theological or spiritual work, but occasionally I let loose as read something a little lighter (like Chesterton).  One of the great things about reverting to the Catholic Church is the almost limitless amount of reading to do.

Studying the faith is absolutely essential.  We cannot be dumb Catholics.  We must know our faith in order to be able to share it with others when they ask and defend ourselves when attacked.  Every Catholic should at least study Scripture and the Catechism on a regular basis.  With the Year of Faith fast approaching, and the Holy Father calling on us to re-familiarize ourselves with our Catholic faith through prayerful study, I thought it might be nice to review some advice on how to study from one of the great Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas.

LETTER OF THOMAS AQUINAS TO BROTHER JOHN

ON HOW TO STUDY

Since you asked me, my dearest in Christ Brother John, how you should study in order to acquire the treasure of knowledge, I offer you this advice on the matter: Do not wish to jump immediately from the streams to the sea, because one has to go through easier things to the more difficult. Therefore the following points are my warning and your instruction:

• I command you to be slow to speak, and slow to go to the conversation room.
• Embrace purity of conscience.
• Do not give up spending time in prayer.
• Love spending much time in your cell, if you want to be led into the wine cellar.
• Show yourself amiable to all.
• Do not query at all what others are doing.
• Do not be very familiar with anyone, because familiarity breeds contempt, and provides matter for distracting you from study.
• Do not get involved at all in the discussions and affairs of lay people.
• Avoid conversations about all any and every matter.
• Do not fail to imitate the example of good and holy men.
• Do not consider who the person is you are listening to, but whatever good he says commit to memory.
• Whatever you are doing and hearing try to understand. Resolve doubts, and put whatever you can in the storeroom of your mind, like someone wanting to fill a container.
• Do not spend time on things beyond your grasp.

Following such a path, you will bring forth flowers and produce useful fruit for the vinyard of the Lord of Power and Might, as long as you live. If you follow this, you can reach what you desire.

Just 7 Quick Takes Friday

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By this time next week, Susan and I will have scratched one thing off of our collective bucket list.

We will have met Cardinal Timothy Dolan!

Or at least have been in the same room with him.

Sometimes when I'm stuck in traffic or see snow on the ground (it doesn't have to be much, just a dusting) I rue the day I decided to relocate from sunny Florida to just outside Washington, DC 13 years ago.  But then I'm reminded why it's so cool to be living up here instead.

For those of you in the DC area, His Eminence will be giving a free lecture, sponsored by the John Carroll Society of the Archdiocese of Washington, at the Newseum downtown on Monday September 10 at 6:30.  The title of the lecture is "Let Religious Freedom Ring."  Doors open at 6:00.

If you cannot be there, I hopefully will be able to video the talk on my smartphone and post it on my blog next week.  Check back Tuesday!

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I've posted Cardinal Dolan's benediction to the Democratic National Convention here.  Go check it out.

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I'm treading on thin ice here, but am I the only conservative EWTN-loving Catholic in the country glad to see Fr. Benedict Groeschel being retired from Sunday Night Prime?  And what was the National Catholic Register thinking?  Anyone who has seen the show knows that Fr. Groeschel should have retired a long time ago.  There was a time, I'm sure, that he made an important contribution; I will say I have enjoyed his books.  But his physical and mental state have clearly not been up to the task of interviewing people on a weekly basis.  Too often, the show would consist of Fr. Groeschel introducing a guest on a specific topic, then spending most of the next hour with him talking (I know each week he told the same story about the Jewish man he knew who watched the program because it was the only thing good on TV).  He has worked long and hard for the Church; he now needs to take a good long rest.

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Because Susan has several freelance writing jobs for clients right now, I've taken over the cooking. Cooking is something I love to do;  I've been in a kitchen since I was 9 years old.  I'm not bad for a completely self-taught chef, but sometimes my meals look like something out of Chopped on Food Network.  I have come up with a great recipe for left over rice (you can use this with the rice from Chinese food deliveries, or from your own kitchen).  I call it Fried Rice Cakes.

2 cups white rice
Seasoning (at least salt and pepper; I tried Chinese 5 Spice and overdid it a little)
3-5 Eggs (depending on how much rice)
Breadcrumbs

Combine the rice, seasoning, and eggs.  Add breadcrumbs to the mixture until you can form a rather firm patty.  Then coat the patty in more breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown.

I've made a sauce of sour cream, half-and-half, salt and chives.

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Are there any other husband cooks out there?  If so, share your favorite recipies.

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If you are ever in Washington DC, when you've finished with the Capital, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian Museums, you need to go the the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land.  Susan and I went on Saturday, and it was way mega cool.  I posted already about the fossilized serpent in the marble of the Blessed Mother's chapel.  That's just one of the great things there.

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Everyone have a blessed Sunday and a good week.  And check back here for video of Cardinal Dolan!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!