July, 1991, just before the outbreak of the war in Bosnia/Herzegovina, I made my pilgrimage to Medjugorje. I had heard about this little Yugoslavian village from a member of my parish and found her descriptions, especially of the little ten year old boy kneeling stock still for thirty minutes at a time, with his eyes riveted, to be compelling. Unless he was hypnotized, this was unusual behavior for a little boy. The happenings at Medjugorje were spread through the parish only by word of mouth. I heard about it quite by chance. My friend told me of her experience going...
1505/2017November 22, 2020
Today’s Rant
Every morning, I read the front pages of some of the major news media on-line. #CNN, #FOX, #BBC, #CBS, #NBC, #ABC, #CBC, #CTV. When a headline looking interesting, I pursue it. It is harder and harder to find a piece of news sandwiched in among all the anti-Trump articles. The BBC is more likely to mention something other than #Trump. This past week we have had major story headlines on the BBC that were not mentioned on American sources. The BBC reported a major cyber attack in the UK that shut down hospitals. American media headlined anti-Trump stories. Yet this...
1005/2017November 22, 2020
Church is a Hospital for Sinners
Church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints. All are welcome. Some of the greatest saints in church history were great sinners. If sinners cannot come to church, where can they go to be spiritually healed? Jail is not a solution. Therapy does not absolve sins or teach about God’s love. Without church, sinners are lost. Some say that they do not go to church because church is full of hypocrites. This may be so. Since hypocrisy is a sin, hypocrites are also welcome to come to church. Jesus said over and over again that he had...
0905/2017November 22, 2020
Dr Atkins and the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Every five years the US Department of Agriculture publishes its dietary guidelines for Americans. https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/ The guidelines, ostensibly directed toward reducing heart disease and obesity, have had no impact on these conditions. Although Americans have been following the guidelines, according to census records, they continue to die of heart disease at an alarming rate and are getting even fatter. What is wrong? When Dr. Robert Atkins published his first book on low carbohydrate dieting, he was vilified by the American medical community. He was going against the accepted norms of what constituted a healthy diet. His book, based upon the...
0805/2017November 22, 2020
The Atkins Diet Really Works
The Atkins Diet really Works Atkins got the idea for his diet from a man by the name of William Banting. Over one hundred years ago, William Banting struggled to lose his increasing weight. He sought medical advice and was told to cut back on his food and exercise. He exercised, got even hungrier, ate more and gained more weight. He decided that his problem lay in his over-indulgence on the foods we now call carbohydrates. So he experimented with his diet and came up with what we would call a low carbohydrate diet. He was so successful at losing...
0405/2017November 22, 2020
A Personal Statement of What it Means to Me to be a Catholic
I am a Catholic by choice. I made my choice at an early age after I attended Mass for the first time with my mother. We lived in a small tight-knit colonial community on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. My mother was the only Catholic in her social circle. We attended a non-denominational Protestant Sunday school taught, in turns, by our mothers – except my mother who was not allowed to teach Sunday School. I found Sunday school intensely boring. My only real memory was marching around the classroom singing Onward Christian Soldiers and dropping our pennies into...
0305/2017November 22, 2020
I Have a New Review on my Book “Patientology” on Amazon.
The review says: “Are some patients like victims of some crimes blamed for their illness? By an Amazon Customer on April 25, 2017 Format: Paperback A very interesting and thought provoking perspective. Provides a detailed exploration on the relationship of patients with the Health Care Delivery System from a victimology perspective. Draw parallels to identified classification of victims of crimes and patient classification based on specific characteristics and how they are perceived by health professionals and health care organizations. Explores how patient as victim classification influences how patients are perceived and treated by health professionals. Do patients victim status result...
0105/2017November 22, 2020
I Cried Yesterday
I cried yesterday. At church. Totally unexpected. Totally spontaneous. This is what happened. My church is large. It seats 1500 in the pews with room in the back for rows of folding chairs. There is a center aisle that leads toward the altar. At the Offertory, the time during Mass, when lay persons carry up the host and wine for consecration and the ushers follow with the collection. Yesterday, four children were to receive their first communion. They stood at the back of the church, the little girls in their white dresses, shoes and stockings and the boys in shirts...
2704/2017November 22, 2020
An Overview of Christology: The Study of Christ
Christology, as the word implies, is the study of Christ. Christology explores the questions: “Who was or is Jesus?” and, “What did or does Jesus do?” Unlike the other monotheistic religions, Christianity believes in a Trinitarian God composed of the Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit. Most Christians are radically Christo-centric or Christ centered. The two major issues dealt with in Christology are: The Incarnation and Redemption. The Incarnation or the nature of Jesus Who Jesus was has been the subject of discussion for centuries. Was Jesus completely human with a divine spark (The Arian view) or was Jesus both...
2404/2017November 22, 2020
Little Known WWII Facts: Death rates among Civilian POWs in the Philippines
The following statistics were provided by Angus Lorenzen bacepow@earthlink.net and Martin Meadows mmmeadows2@verizon.net (1) The number of internees fluctuated [at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp or STIC], but usually was around 4,000; people were constantly entering and leaving (e.g., missionaries for a time, the sick, and the elderly), and it has been estimated that, altogether, about 7,000 persons lived in STIC. When STIC got too crowded, the Japs opened another camp in May 1943 at Los Baños, about 40 or so miles south of Manila, and eventually they had about 2,100 (they were freed about three weeks after we were). ...