Happy New Year Revolution

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Susan Kehoe

Yup.  It is me; still breathing. Out of hiding at last. I hope that you and yours are prayer-on-my-knees4having a very blessed Christmas season.

This has been a challenging Christmas season in Casa Kehoe. My dear husband was and is the only deacon on board (for Christmas) at our parish for the 6th year in a row. The poor guy never really had a day off. To make matters worse, he was in charge of year end inventory (as per usual) at his day job.

So it has been over 6 years since we have been able to be with our children and grandchildren for Christmas. We will be going to Ireland to visit our daughter and her family in a few weeks, and we were with our son and his family for Thanksgiving. But it would be nice…

But I am not whining. Honest. I knew what I was getting into when I gave my permission to the bishop for my favorite deacon to be ordained.

At least it proved to be a fruitful time for me, as I had plenty of time for taking a self inventory.  The result? It is time to make some radical changes. Hence the reference to New Year Resolutions  Revolution.

Why Revolution. What I need is a radical change. A transformation of body, mind, and soul.  As John the Baptist said, He must increase; I must decrease. (Jn 3:30)

Since I am weak when it comes to staying the course, I am going to go public with my resolutions.  At the very least it will be a much needed lesson in humility.

Here goes. Gulp.

  1. Pray more. My prayer life is pathetic. I just have to make the time to sit in the presence of God, no matter how busy or tired I am, throughout the day. As St. Paul exhorts: pray without ceasing.

“All highest glorious God, cast your light in to the depths of my heart.
Give me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, profound humility, with wisdom and truth
so that I may do what is truly your holy will.” (Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)

  1. Surrender More. Turn myself—and all of my troubles, worries, and needs over to God. As the first antiphon from today’s Office of readings says, Surrender to God, and he will do everything for you. For a lovely reflection on surrendering to God read this post from Dr. Tom Neal.
  2.  Love others more. This means being a better wife, mother, daughter, friend, and yes, blogger. The plan is to blog at least once a day (Monday-Friday) starting now. It is so easy to become overwhelmed by work and illness. It makes for an easy excuse to retreat from the world. Heck even hermits have people over for dinner in their hermitage. We need to start offering hospitality to our friends again.
  3. Eat less. Since the body is as integral to being human as the soul, I am going to shed a few pounds this year. Think of it this way: losing weight is an outward sign that Jesus is increasing while I am decreasing. I hope. That is my story and I am sticking to it. Heh.

The bottom line is that I am going to work on, with God’s grace, being a true muscular disciple of Christ Jesus.

It is time to fix my gaze on the Cross, so that I do not lose sight of heaven.

Related: Be Afraid  by Thomas J. Neal, Ph.D.

Posted in Discipleship, Holiness, Prayer, Uncategorized | Tagged | 5 Comments

Reasons to Vote for the Not Obama Candidate

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

I am simply Catholic. Not a Democrat. Not a Republican. This election has my brain in a twist. On one hand, I can’t vote for Obama. He has jumped the shark on abortion and freedom of religion. On the other hand I am not comfortable with voting for the may be slightly better Romney.

So do I hold my nose, vote for Romney, and hope for the best? Or do I write in a candidate?

The Vice presidential debate was not helpful. Catholic Biden was condescending and patronizing. His “I am personally apposed to abortion but..” stance is as old as it is wrong. Ryan was not much better as a Catholic.  According to him Abortion is just fine in certain circumstances. So much for the inherent dignity of human life.

I have (maybe) decided to vote for Mr. Not Obama because:

1. If he ousts Obama, the press will without a doubt stop being cheerleaders for the president no matter what he does. Accountability Yea!  Oh and maybe somebody in the MSM will speak out about the administration’s  kill list and drones.

2. The war protesters will return. Yea I know they were really protesting Bush. Still someone needs to be questioning the war in Iraq.

3.  It is just down to voting for the guy who will do the least harm. The not Obama Candidate is, in my opinion, that guy.

But I am convinced neither candidate cares about ordinary Americans. They live in their own little elite bubble. Romney and Obama think that they are our betters.

That is why I put my trust in Jesus not earthly princes.

Lord have mercy.

Posted in Abortion, Culture of Death, Politics | Tagged , | 13 Comments

How to Fail as a Blogger

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Don’t blog for over a month. I don’t need 10 ways to fail.  Sigh. OK. I am going to try to be a faithful blogger. Frankly I thought of throwing in the keyboard, but the Holy Spirit keeps nudging me.

I might be a lazy/ overworked/ procrastinator, but I am a persistent one!

Posted in Blogging | 3 Comments

Can the Clock Be Turned Back on the Sexual Revolution?

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Kathleen Jean Lopex interviews Mary Eberstadt on her latest book Adam and Eve After the Pill . Excerpt:

Lopez:   Given the seminal event the introduction of the contraceptive pill was, and the ubiquitous nature of contraception in American lives, is turning back the clock, as they say, realistic?

Eberstadt:  The vehemence with which people say that the clock can never be turned back on the sexual revolution is pretty ironic.  Just think of all the times you heard that phrase during the debates over the HHS mandate — or the one about not putting the genie back in the bottle, or not ever returning to the 1950s, etc.

All these clichés are shorthand for one word: inevitability.  A lot of people for a lot of reasons want to claim that everything about this revolution is now a permanent fact of life, off-limits for contrarian interpretation.  And what’s really interesting about that embrace of the idea of inevitability is that history has shown time and again that human beings just don’t operate that way.

As Karl Popper showed in The Poverty of Historicism, history is not, in fact, on the side of movements claiming inevitability for themselves.  Just ask the Communists .  .  .  if you can find any.  No social movement gets a special dispensation from history, no matter how badly some people might want it to.  Human beings are not only moral creatures but also rational ones, at least collectively and over time, and the empirical record about the dark side of the sexual revolution will eventually make a dent. As mentioned, I think it already has made one.

Over time, many people do change their minds when faced with empirical evidence that something causes harm.  Anyone who doubts it should try lighting up a cigarette today in New York City.  All the talk in the world about genies and bottles won’t get you out of that ticket.  Read more…

Yes indeed. The real “war on women” has been going on for decades.

Posted in Catholic Moral Teaching, Culture Wars, Freedom of Religion | Tagged , | 1 Comment

It’s a Mad Mad World

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

This is just plain nuts (H/T New Advent:

Hunter Spanjer says his name with a certain special hand gesture, but at just three and a half years old, he may have to change it.

“He’s deaf, and his name sign, they say, is a violation of their weapons policy,” explained Hunter’s father, Brian Spanjer.

Grand Island’s “Weapons in Schools” Board Policy 8470 forbids “any instrument…that looks like a weapon,” But a three year-old’s hands?

“Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous. This is not threatening in any way,” said Hunter’s grandmother Janet Logue.

“It’s a symbol. It’s an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E.,” Brian Spanjer said.

S.E.E. stands for Signing Exact English, Hunter’s sign language. Hunter’s name gesture is modified with crossed-fingers to show it is uniquely his own.

“We are working with the parents to come to the best solution we can for the child,” said Jack Sheard, Grand Island Public Schools spokesperson. Continue Reading…

That this happened in conservative Nebraska in a rural area points to the fact that Political Correctness has gone viral.  I am just about speechless.

But I do have a question. Back when I was a progressive Catholic, I did not allow my son to have toy guns. It was futile. He used everything in sight as a pretend gun including his sister’s stuffed animals.

So what happens to a boy at this school who dares to use his hands as pretend pistols? Expulsion?  Sigh.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Father and Doctor of the Church: St. Augustine

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

From his Confessions:   

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. I entered, then, and with the vision of my spirit, such as it was, I saw the incommutable light far above my spiritual ken and transcending my mind: not this common light which every carnal eye can see, nor any light of the same order; but greater, as though this common light were shining much more powerfully, far more brightly, and so extensively as to fill the universe. The light I saw was not the common light at all, but something different, utterly different, from all those things. Nor was it higher than my mind in the sense that oil floats on water or the sky is above the earth; it was exalted because this very light made me, and I was below it because by it I was made. Anyone who knows truth knows this light.
O eternal Truth, true Love, and beloved Eternity, you are my God, and for you I sigh day and night. As I first began to know you, you lifted me up and showed me that, while that which I might see exists indeed, I was not yet capable of seeing it. Your rays beamed intensely on me, beating back my feeble gaze, and I trembled with love and dread. I knew myself to be far away from you in a region of unlikeness, and I seemed to hear your voice from on high: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me”. Continue Reading…

Posted in Catholic, Saints | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Time to Count Our Blessings

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

My favorite deacon and I have a lot to be thankful for, and August is a good reminder.

Dylan, our 1st grandchild was born ten years ago today on the feast of St. Augustine. It seems like yesterday that I was pacing in the lobby of the hospital waiting for his arrival.

Our granddaughter Rosalie will celebrate her birthday tomorrow. Her wonderful Mom, our daughter in law, Aileen celebrated her birthday earlier this month. My Mom celebrated 80 plus years of life on the 23rd.

August 19th marked the 6th anniversary of my favorite deacon’s ordination.

July had a few  Ad Multos Annos too.

My son Sean and his wife Aileen celebrated 15 years of  Holy Matrimony; and my favorite deacon and I celebrated our 39th anniversary. Our Daughter Cathleen celebrated a birthday on the 31st.

Praise God. Life is both wonderful and hard. It is good to remember to praise God always even after I have cried out, “you have got to be kidding me God”.

Posted in Family | Tagged | 2 Comments

Violence is Not the Answer

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Well unless you have been hiding in a cave in Afghanistan, I am sure that you have read about Todd Akin’s  lamer than lame comments on why he doesn’t support abortion in the case of rape.

That is what happens when you try to use non moral arguments to support a moral stance. It is a mistake that too many Catholic priests and lay apologist’s make. Statistics can be countered. Likewise with scientific studies.

That is why I love the approach taken by Feminist’s for Life.

“FFL answers the tough questions: We will not trade one form of violence for another.”

They work to end abortion because they are truly pro women.

Amen sisters.

Posted in Abortion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

To Vote or not to Vote, that is the Question.

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

As someone who identifies as “simply Catholic”, this election year is a real dilemma. On the one hand we have the President who is a cheerleader for abortion, has a disregard for freedom of religion, and has expanded the power of the presidency. The republican ticket is not an intrinsic evil free zone either. Romney’s record on abortion is not encouraging, and he supports torture.

So what is a trying to be a faithful Catholic girl to do? Since Christians are required to participate in the world and work toward the common good, I can’t just pull the covers over my head and sleep in on Election Day.

Mark Shea gets it:

“So I’m still between two stools. I may vote for Romney on the thin proportional argument that Obama’s war on religious liberty is a game changer (since a culture that have moved from mere passive hostility to an active war of legalized destruction of the Church is a much worse culture). But I won’t pretend that the way in which the GOP subverts and undermines Catholic obedience to the Church is not also a dangerous and sinister thing. With enemies, you know where you stand. With pretending friends such as Romney, there is always the danger that conscience will be subverted “for fellowship” (as, for instance. Ryan’s newfound approval for abortion in cases of rape). “

So do I vote none of  the above and write in St. Thomas Moore, or do I hold my nose and vote for the not Obama plastic man?

Talk about rocks and hard places.  Maybe I will just write in Rebecca Hamilton. She is a rare find indeed. She is a faithful Catholic a state, legislator, and, oh my, a Democrat. More like her in both parties please.

Posted in Catholic Identity, Church and the Public Square, Politics | Tagged | 6 Comments

Make no promises. Tell no lies

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

This blog has been AWOL for quite some time, and it is not the first time. But this

Botticelli Sleeping Apostles

time I am not going to promise to be a more faithful blogger. That, clearly, has been an epic fail. I don’t know what my problem is. It isn’t writer’s block. I have written hundreds and hundreds of articles. They just never made it out of my head. Of course they were profoundly perceptive. Heh.

I am not depressed—just suffering from inertia. Confession. I have always been a bit lazy. But now I am downright paralyzed.  Thankfully I can summon up the energy to do my job.

What worries me most is that I have, for lack of a better word, the Spiritual blahs. I don’t think that it is a case of acedia or spiritual sloth:

“Acedia is a word of Greek origin that means, literally, “without care.” In the Latin tradition of the seven deadly sins, it comes down to us as tristitia or otiositas, sadness or idleness. But citing synonyms and translations will not do. For the monastic tradition, acedia or sloth is a complex spiritual state that defies simple definition. It describes a lassitude and despair that overwhelms spiritual striving. Sloth is not mere idleness or laziness; it involves a torpor animi, a dullness of the soul that can stem from restlessness just as easily as from indolence. Bernard of Clairvaux speaks of a sterilitas animae, a sterility, dryness, and barrenness of his soul that makes the sweet honey of Psalm-singing seem tasteless and turns vigils into empty trials. Medieval English writers often speak of acedia as wanhope, a waning of confidence in the efficacy and importance of prayer. For Dante, on the fourth ledge of purgatory, those afflicted by acedia are described as suffering from lento amore, a slow love that cannot motivate and uplift, leaving the soul stagnant, unable to move under the heavy burden of sin.

Across these different descriptions, a common picture emerges. The noonday devil tempts us into a state of spiritual despair and sadness that drains us of our Christian hope. It makes the life of prayer and charity seems pointless and futile.” Go to this First things article to read more.

Whew. I care. I still have reason for my hope. Prayer is certainly not pointless and futile.

But I don’t think that I am experiencing a dark night of the soul either. I fall far too short of the glory of God. Darn.

But my prayer life is going downhill fast. It is a battle. Perhaps the noonday devil is making his preliminary attack, and I am on the edge of the cliff.

Of course I could just stop whining, get off my hind quarters, and with God’s grace..

 

Posted in Prayer | Tagged | 3 Comments