Happy Halloween!
Tip o' the old hat to Kathleen King.

Happy Halloween!
Tip o' the old hat to Kathleen King.
We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists—they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.Read the article and judge for yourself.

Meet Isaiah.
Isaiah was born this past Thursday in Riverside, California.
Karen in Riverside reported a baby saved within the first couple of hours on the first day of last spring’s 40 Days for Life campaign. That baby, of course, was Isaiah. The Riverside team found assistance for his mom through her pregnancy and recently held a baby shower for her.
THAT is the spirit of genuine, compassionate service that goes back generations and MUST remain alive. THAT is the story that must be told!

Surfing around, found this quote that I liked:Hope is a state of mind... not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation... An orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart, it transcends the world immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. ...Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
- Vaclav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia
Hat tip to Treasure lies where your heart belongs
Today, on Day 26 of this fall's 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion, a video from Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. It's not gory, just clinical. I've read Fr. Pavone's articles for years but never heard him speak. I quite like it-- and when he takes off his collar at the end, I got this little frisson of a jump into alternative realities. In this Year of the Priest, it's good to reflect on the meaning of the priesthood. What difference does it make?
I started this 40 days campaign determined to pray, fast, and read each day's report and spiritual reading. I've had my usual problems fasting. Fasting makes me cranky and sometimes crazy. And yeah, sometimes I see the daily email in my INBOX and cringe because I'm looking for something more Rae-centric, like news that I sold some more books or notice of a sale at Coldwater Creek.
But mostly I am faithful. It's like the 40 days of Lent. A cross between a root canal and a spiritual goosing.





From the Diocese of Wilmington's website:Bishop Saltarelli has passed away. With sadness, the Diocese of Wilmington announces the passing into Eternal Life of the Most Rev. Michael A. Saltarelli, Bishop Emeritus of the diocese. Bishop Saltarelli shepherded the Catholic community of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore as the Eighth Bishop of Wilmington from November 1995 until his retirement in July 2008. Click here for more information.He was a great bishop, a great priest, and a wonderful man.
Funeral arrangements have been announced. Click here.
----------------------------------------------
DAY 17 INTENTION
-----------------------------------------------------
May all understand more deeply that the pro-life
message is rooted in the two basic truths of life:
There is a God;
He isn't me.

-----------------------------------------------------DAY 6 INTENTION
-----------------------------------------------------
That knowing the shortness of life, all may value it
more deeply.
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
-----------------------------------------------------
Remember your Creator before the silver cord is
loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher
shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the
well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it
was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
-- Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Rev. Paul Stallsworth, Lifewatch
-----------------------------------------------------
God is giver of all life. Short lived or long lived,
human lives are lived out in this world. The
metaphors for death are many. But their meaning is
clear and singular: all will die. Even so, death is
not the absolute end. It is not the end of the story.
For as certainly as God gave life, at death the life
or spirit that God gave returns to God.
By God, we are created. For God, we live our given
days. To God, we return at the end of our earthly
days. And with God, we live through eternity.
Clearly, all along the way, this gracious, loving God
is with us. No human life is random or alone. No
human life was created without purpose. Not one human
life is without destiny.
All human lives, acknowledged or not, are related to
God -- from beginning, to end, throughout eternity.
Therefore, in this world, all human lives are to be
respected and protected, for their lives are signs of
God's sovereignty.
We get a kick out of making Baby Simon giggle - this is kick-X-4. It's only a minute long so go ahead and click!
Tip of the hat to Richard Chonak for sharing it in Facebook.

Dean: Where have you been?
Castiel: Jerusalem.
Dean: How was it?
Castiel: Arid.
I thought Fr. Barron's comments on Ted Kennedy in this video are about as expressive of my own thoughts as could be, except for the fact that I'm Italian Catholic and not Irish. What a very sad middle part where he reads Sen. Kennedy's 1971 reply to a letter asking him his position on abortion.


Wis 2:12, 17-20
The wicked say:
Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.
Let us see whether his words be true;
let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.
The wicked say:Seen in light of the truth that the just and the wicked are all sinners, I interpret this as a fair description of how we human beings treat one another on a day to day basis. Nobody wants to hear himself criticized. It is particularly annoying to be criticized by somebody whose criticisms are correct. So we lash out at our critics. We really ought to be kissing their feet -- our friends are not likely to point out our faults the way our critics are!
Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.
Let us see whether his words be true;This gets more personal and more involved in the war between good and evil that takes place on both the natural and supernatural level. Now we bring God into the mix. Now we want to put the pressure on our critics, see if their criticisms are valid or if we can prove that they are nothing but hot air. Will God back them up, if we turn on the animosity and the violence towards them?
let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the testNow we get to the point. "He trusted in God, let God take him down from that cross." From a description of how we lash out at our critics who tell the truth (for whatever motivation), we come to a description of how we sinners treated the truly Just One, the Christ. We tested both the Just Critic and his God, to see if our tormenting of the flesh and spirit of a perfectly just man could call forth a powerful act of defense on the part of the immortal, invisible, God only wise.
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.


Welcome to Confessions of a Cooperator.
A Pauline Cooperator is a layperson who follows Blessed James Alberione with his Pauline Family.
The Paulines are all about media.
We travel the world via airwaves and electrons telling stories of Christ to our wild, wounded world. A world that longs to find the Way, know the Truth and be given the Life.
I am wife & beloved to Bill Stabosz. We fell in love at 16, married at 19, and have traveled 37+ years through hell, high water, low water, no water, purgatory, clear water, and back to sweet Eden the garden of earthly delights.
I am the mother of nine fabulous offspring. Their names are David Ezekiel, Marguerite "Reetie" Louise, Gabriel Mary, Simon Andrew (of blessed memory), Michael Walter, Walter Andrew, Eric David (of blessed memory), Ishmael Matthew and Emily Rae. I adore my 7 grandkids: Ruth Olive Danyo, Wade Lewis Danyo, Ezekiel Crawford Norton, Owen Robert Stabosz Danyo, Amelia Thyme Norton, Donal David Stabosz and Simon Eric Gregg.
I have good friends, few enemies, and the coolest siblings, sons-in-laws, and daughters-in-laws around.
I have been a writer all my life, a published author now and then. I used to work a day job in computer support at the University of Delaware but I retired (REJOICE, O REJOICE!) in June of 2007.
Like Don McClean, the three Persons I admire the most are the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. They are maligned and misunderstood. I love them. The Trinity has never let me down. Ever. Or anyone else who trusts the Three-in-One. Anyone. You.
The Gospel Lives in Me (Pauline Cooperators)
Landenberg Muse (Reetie)
DreamStar Studios Blog
The Perfect Stock
American Papist
Amy Welborn on beliefnet (Via Media)
5' of Fury (was:Relapsed Catholic)
Anchor Rising
The Anchoress
Big Hollywood
The Black Informant
Blulow (greening tips)
Catholic & Enjoying It
The Catholic Investor
The Idyllist (Debra Murphy)
Catholic Fiction
Catholic Light
Catholic Media Review
Charlotte was Both(Amy Welborn)
Christian Fiction Review Blog
Christifideles
Church of the Masses
Contemplative Haven
Intentional Disciples (the two Sherries)
The Cranky Professor
The Curt Jester
The Dawn Patrol
Delaware Talk Radio
The Evangelical Outpost
Evangelization Space (Pauline)
feminine genius
FILMCHAT
Flos Carmeli
GodSpy
I'm Gordon Zaft, why isn't everyone?
Little Riddles Six
Media Splatters
Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Center
More News and Les Nessman (PS)
Practicing God's Presence
Pro-life on Campus CBR
Pro-life Vanguard
Recovering Sociopath
Revival of Love (Michael Rew's Poetry)
Some Have Hats
Strange Culture
Summa Minutiae (Bill White)
Two Sleepy Mommies
Ut Unum Sint
We Laugh Because We Believe
Windows to the Soul (Sr. Marie Paul)
Why Fret?


