Pearl Harbor Pics 1 of 4

I received an email that had the following pictures taken on Dec 7, 1941. The pictures were apparently taken and stored for decades in a foot locker. They were taken by a sailor who was on the USS QUAPAW ATF-11O.

Pretty amazing pics... as always, click on pic for larger image:

A lone plane flies overhead.

The destruction is immense.

Sailors work to move a plane.

Smoke covers the remains of ships and lives.

Lenten Thoughts

As stated previously here, I've been reading a Vatican I daily missal (St. Joseph's to be exact) as part of my Lenten prayer process. Wednesday, there was a reading from Matthew 12 that included 43-45...

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a person it roams through arid regions searching for rest but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my home from which I came.' But upon returning, it finds it empty, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings back with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they move in and dwell there; and the last condition of that person is worse than the first. Thus it will be with this evil generation."

And for some reason, upon reading this, I thought of our country. As we sweep God out of our daily lives, that void will have to be replaced by something.

Another thought... Thursday's reading was from Matthew 15 tells of the story of the Canaanite woman asking for Jesus' help...

Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."

He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."

Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

It made me realize that we often ask for Jesus' assistance, expecting him to respond like Santa Claus and just give us what we want, with no strings attached. But, as shown here, Jesus will test us.

When the woman asks for his help he tests her resilience by pushing back, by calling her unworthy of his mercy, but she persists because of her faith and that persistence of belief is what shows him she is sincere.

In that respect, all of us should expect to be treated like that Canaanite woman.

Anyway, just some thoughts...

Veronica Mars - Season 2 (2005)

This season Veronica Mars, our modern day Nancy Drew, enters her last year at Neptune High trying to help solve the troubling mystery behind a school bus accident that causes the death of numerous students on the way back from a field trip. Mars is haunted by the accident as she was one of the people on the field trip, but joined a couple of friends in a limo to their return trip to the school and was spared dying in the accident. Her guilt is accentuated when someone who possibly participated in the cause of the crash is found washed up on the shore with Veronica Mars' name written on his hand.

Structurally, Season Two follows a similar path as Season One... the major mystery is solved over the course of the entire season, full of red herrings, false leads and hidden clues. Each episode also has its own mystery to solve, some of which are tied into the bus crash, some are just high school kids asking for Veronica's help. On the personal relationship side, the story goes a little Dynasty as we deal with rich kids behaving badly and tumultuous events unfolding in a way which seems acceptable, but when synopsized ends up sounding like a soap opera gone awry.

All that aside, however, Season Two is even more enjoyable than Season One. Kristen Bell as Mars is magnificant... charming, beautiful and fills each moment with so many layers that she's a joy to watch. And the work of Jason Dohring, as the troubled Logan Echolls, is really phenomenal. His performance is so three dimensional, his moments and gestures so effortless, that you may find yourself wondering just what is scripted and what is improvised.

This season's mystery was much more complex and the season finale was full of great surprises and suspense... my daughter had a solid idea on the person behind the crash, but I was completely convinced she was wrong. In the end, I was wrong and she was right. How many times does the father of a teen publicly announce that!

Veronica Mars continues to be top notch television for televisions target demographic (18-34)... and it's pretty darn good for those of us outside of the demographic as well.

The Departed (2006)

Just because a director travels over familiar ground does not necessarily make the journey less interesting. In fact, in very capable hands, such directors can take similar turf and make it unique in its own right. Hitchcock kept making "the innocent man on the run" movies over and over again and they were continually entertaining. Martin Scorcese has made the "gangster/crime family" films repeatedly, each with a relatively unique voice and, through his talented eye, each one effective.

The Departed, which just won for Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards, is based on a very successful and, some will argue, more effective Japanese film called Internal Affairs. The Departed is an intricate and intriguing plot about two moles, one Boston Irish gangster mole in the police force and one police mole in the Boston Irish crime family, each crossing paths, each trying to find out the others identity.

The Departed is filled with a cavalcade of A name stars... DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholson, Wahlberg, Sheen and Baldwin. They all work effortlessly together and the film is a great ride full of plot twists, surprises, suspense and violence.

I don't know if The Departed is actually the "best" picture of 2006, but it sure is a good one. And for Scorcese it's another link in his long chain of potent gangster dramas.

Matt Maher Rocks

To continue with our Lenten discussions, let me just say this...

Matt Maher rocks, plain and simple.

This musician is an amazing talent that delivers catchy, uplifting, spiritual and unabashedly Catholic music. My brother, Charles, introduced me to his music about a year ago. I have never before heard a musician able to capture the Catholic faith in adult contemporary style music before. His songs are rooted in scripture and tradition and are often meditative in their delivery.

If every Mass were a Lifeteen Mass, this guy would write the hymnal.

I'm certain if his music were secular he would be atop the music charts... he and his band are that talented. Seek this musician out and enjoy his music. I listen to his stuff daily and it fills me with a wonderful sense of joy and peace. Check him out, if you can. You won't be disappointed.

You can read more about him and their tour dates http://www.mattmahermusic.com and http://www.mattmahermusic.com/blog.

Vatican I Missal - Examples

My sister Mary asked for some examples of the language and reverence of which I was speaking of in my previous post about my Vatican I Missal.

Here are a few examples...

*********************

Let not the partaking of Your Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though unworthy, presume to receive, turn to my judgement and condemnation; but through Your goodness, may it become a safeguard and an effective remedy, both of soul and body. Who live and reign with God, the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Or

Accept, O Lord, the sacrifice by the immolation of which You have deigned to be appeased, and grant, we beseech You, that we may be cleansed through its virtue, and my offer You the acceptable affection of our love. Through our Lord.

Or

O Lord, we beseech You, grant that the sacrifice of our Lenten observance which we offer may both render our souls pleasing to You and give us the power of more ready continence. Through our Lord.

*********************

These examples show, first, vocabulary and sentence structure that is of higher education, using words most people wouldn't even know today because they are not expected to, and second, they are full of both humility and sincere appreciation for the separation between man and God... in my opinion.

Plus, the missal is full of great pictures which bring the Word of God to life and give us, as a community, a common visual reference to what we are hearing. I wish they would add pictures back into our missal today. I think it would add greatly to the Mass experience.