Lukewarm

I've been feeling lukewarm lately. Prayer life has been horrible and I've been neglecting anything spiritual.

I do read catholic literature and pray from time to time, but it feels dull and dry. I haven't had the energy to fight off any old habits or to improve in areas I know I must. I need a reboot or something to get me back on track.

I need to go to confession and pray.

School Board indoctrination

From:
California Resists Home School Ruling

I was smoking from the ears when I heard on the radio that the California school boards have been pushing to create laws that could make homeschooling illegal. For one, it gives one more reason to have fewer teachers on staff and secondly, (and most importantly) the powers to be fear losing control of the hearts and minds of our youth.

If they can’t indoctrinate our youth to worship Obama, be pro-choice, hate America, and make you love and save a granola eating polar bear, then by golly they will become the most intolerant bunch of folks you come across.

Not to mention there tactics of forcing psychotropic drugs on your children to make them submissive, going as far as bias interrogation with the hope of finding cause to remove your children from your care in order to receive federal funding to place your children in their foster care systems……bureaucracies at it’s finest.

Therefore, if you have a subconscious desire to lose your child to the liberal school boards, just send your child to public school and they will be more then happy to make him a drone and drug him up for you.

It’s like something from the twilight zone.

Joe vs. Fido

The possible return of former professional football player Michael Vick has people on an uproar. Justly so, since his torture of animals, but there is a dimension of it that bothers me immensely. I can't help but think that some of the very people getting so upset at him wouldn't react the same at the thought of an abortion, but get absolutely furious of the thought of toturing and killing an animal. There is something wrong with that picture. One should get upset at both, but now it seems there is a growing population that would murder an infant in a second, but protect an animal to the death.

Just thought of it scares me to death. How did Hitler see non-whites? How did Stalin see religious folks? How did Mao see people?

How you view and value the human person matters.

Family Drawing

New family portrait:


Drawn by Dominic with help from mommy.

Uninterested in School

I came down hard on Dominic yesterday. He’s been so uninterested with doing homework and no matter what I said to motivate him, he wasn’t interested. As a parent you start back peddling on what you have done to possibly have contributed to his lack of interest. Do I not read enough to him? Do my daily activities send him a message that school isn’t important?

Whatever it is, I plan to fix it and hopefully have him at least understand that he doesn’t have to like everything he does in school, but he does need to understand that sometimes we need to do things we don’t like in order to get to things we do.

To Mommy

Evelyn,

To simply thank you for all you have done as a mother just seems like it’s not enough. You’ve managed to raise four kids through all we have gone through. All those times they were sick, crying, or simply driving you crazy. You are amazing Evelyn.

Our kids are too small to realize what an amazing mommy they have, but if there is any indication that they are grateful of mommy, just look at how much they mirror you. It is your inner workings that have them saying “thank you”, “bless you”, “excuse me” and many more……that is work you have done……Whatever I have done to support it, is just that “support”. You are laying the foundation for their moral character and manners. They love you and need you…...You are so selfless, caring, and loving with them and I see you do this time and time again. I love you sooooooooooo much for that. You are planting seeds in them and the results will show in time.

The bond and unwavering tie you have with our children has been an absolute beauty and privilege to see. Every time you kiss and hug them I melt with happiness.

Thank you so much for fulfilling your calling as a mother and as I said above, a letter or a thank you simply doesn’t do it justice but I pray we have the time to show you as a family, just how much we love you.

Sincerely,

~Baby Gia
~Sonia
~Jojo
~Dominic
~Daddy

Fatherless Kids

I’ve come to truly appreciate the value of fatherhood. It’s not something I read or was handed down, but it came to me in forms of slaps in face. Not one big one, but many medium size slaps and I’m still growing in this area. The more I understand, the more I realize the damage done one is without one.

Just yesterday I went out to play baseball with the boys and neighboring kids came out like flies. One by one they asked “can I play?”…”Sure”…I’d respond. In a matter of minutes we had six kids on each team with me as pitcher. At that instant, I asked myself, “where is there dad’s?”…The irony is that I’ve seen this for as long as I can remember. Never once did I find it odd that fathers were missing from the picture.

I just hope I can be a good enough father to my kids to give them the tools to be the men they should be.

Catholic Liberty

Before my scholastic lapse I was posting in catholic forums topics that were either in the realm of catholic liberty or were controversial in today’s social standards. Now, I know certain topics have a tendency of raising brows and emotions, but I always [naively] thought if anyone was able to withstand such topics, it would be Catholics; I was dead wrong.

I started a thread on contraceptive use with the conditions set out in Humanae Vitae 15:

15. On the other hand, the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.

The starting post went as follows:

Is contraceptives ever justified?

Humanae Vitae 15 makes an exception in cases of disease. It doesn't clarify whether the disease has to be fatal or not but just that "the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means".

Granted, it does say only in cases where it "cures" and where there is no "motive whatsoever".

So this would seem to leave out AIDS on the grounds that it does not "cure" and not necessarily because it leaves out the possibility of procreation. As the same paragraph says "even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from".

So what if a form of contraceptive did cure AIDS? Would it then be allowed?

Essentially I was stuck on the fact that using condoms isn't always done with the intent to stop procreation or even because one lacks self control; maybe.....just maybe......they simply don't want to get AIDS and still fulfill the unitive aspect of catholic sexuality.

Unfortunately I wasn’t met with much charity. It’s like I wasn’t allowed to even dare ask such a question. It’s sad that some Catholics feel this way. The way I see it, it was dialogue and open inquiry that got the Church to clarify and grow in the first place. Hopefully that will change in the future.

Scholastic Life

I’ve been inept in all things scholastic as of late. Not really surfing the forums or reading articles, just busy with life as a husband, father, teacher, employee, and any other title I’ve missed. I don’t know how other fathers with a passion to lurk into history, science, theology, sports, etc. do it. Even when I do manage to slip in some time; it’s an hour at best.

But that’s what makes life interesting. I could be a hermit who reads all hours of the day and still end up thinking I don’t know enough. I’d probably slip into finding pottery or gardening interesting; who knows.

Tee Ball

Evelyn and I signed both the boys up for t-ball. Dominic’s desire to join was rather simple; Gabriel, a boy in his class was already part of the team and naturally Dominic wanted to join as well. Jojo’s desire was no different other then he wants to do whatever his older brother happens to get himself into. I was iffy about Jojo joining at first. He’s more animated, expressive, and emotional then Dominic and I wasn’t sure how that would translate into the field. That and he’s not used to be in a classroom type of environment where kids have rules to follow.

Fortunately, it seems to be turning out much better then I expected. The idea of being a part of something has really excited both of them to the point of them wanting to sleep with there baseball shoes and wear there game day outfits forever. Evelyn wasn’t too fond of them continuing to wear their outfits more then a day; I told her to let it go on this one. They are excited about being pirates and I didn’t think such a healthy feeling was something we wanted to interrupt. However, I could only hold back Evelyn for so many days. Besides, hygiene does eventually become a concern.

It’s been immensely fun and fulfilling to experience all this with my boys and family in general.