For America

On September 17, 2001, the late, great Jack Buck made one of his final apperarances at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Showing the signs of Parkinson's disease that he was fighting, that would take his life 9 months later, he fired up the crowd by reading the following poem. He concluded by silencing those who thought baseball was coming back too soon, saying: "I don't know about you, but as for me, the question has already been answered: Should we be here? Yes!"

For America

by Jack Buck

Since this nation was founded under
God, more than 200 years ago,
We've been the bastion of
Freedom...
The light which keeps the free world
Aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of
Others, we are blessed with the
Bounty we share.
We have rushed to help other
Nations...anything...anytime...
Anywhere.
War is just not our nature...we
Won't start, but we will end the fight.
If we are involved we shall be
Resolved to protect what we know is
Right.
We've been challenged by a
Cowardly foe, who strikes and then
Hides from our view.
With one voice we say there's no
Choice today, there is only one
Thing to do.
Everyone is saying the same thing
And praying that we end these
Senseless moments we are living.
As our fathers did before, we shall
Win this unwanted war.
And our children will enjoy the
Future, we'll be giving.

Following in His Footsteps

Up until about two years ago, we had a Catholic singles group here in Wichita. I was pretty active with the group. I served as the president, treasurer, and newsletter editor. We did some community service, a few religious, but mostly social activities. It was a way great for single Catholic adults to meet each other. It was part of my stewardship to the church. I was willing and able to donate the gift of my talent and time. Our only problem is that we had a difficult time getting new single adults to join, and become active. At the end of December 2007 we decided to call it quits. That was the end of our group.

At first I didn’t know what to do with my time. Then in the October of 2008, our parish had a stewardship fair after all the Masses one Sunday. I went in and looked around. There were a number of ways that I could get involved and donate my gift of time and talent. I thought about a few of them. Greeter, Usher, Social Committee, Welcoming Committee, Compassion Ministry, Respect Life Committee, Youth Ministry, Youth or Adult Education, RCIA, Parish Newsletter, Knights of Columbus, and SEAS Navy. The possibilities were endless and I had so much time and talent to give that I could fit into any one of these.

I put off making a decision, maybe hoping the singles group might get back together. Then when I went home to visit my family for Christmas, my parents had gotten from one of our relatives, a cd with lots of old family photos. Someone had taken the time to scan all of them and put them on a disc. One of the photos was from a newspaper clipping from August 4, 1965. It was of my grandfather accepting the gavel as the Grand Knight of the Martins Ferry, Ohio Knights of Columbus. He ended up passing away from colon cancer in December of that year.

My dad had never been a Knight, but he has gotten involved in the community and the church in other ways. He was and continues to be a Lector. He has served on parish committees, and he is very active with the local Kiwanis Club, and volunteers at the local senior center delivering meals on wheels.

I didn’t know much about the Knights other than what I had seen at church. Those were the guys who handed out tootsie rolls and had pancake breakfasts after Mass. Those were the guys who wore those funny looking hats (chapeau) and capes for special processions.

When I got back to Wichita, I did some research. I found out that the Knights were more than tootsie rolls and pancake breakfasts. I have a friend (Tom) who has been in the Knights for years and had invited me on many occasions to join. I called my friend Tom and followed in my grandpa’s footsteps. I joined the Knights of Columbus. Here’s why!

The Knights were founded by a Catholic priest, Fr Michael J. McGivney. Many Catholics who came to the United States in the 1800’s were Irish immigrants. His parents were among them. Michael was one of 13 children, 6 of whom died as infants or in childhood. He learned early about sorrow and the harsh grips of poverty. He also learned about powers of love and faith, and family fortitude. As he grew up and became a priest, he saw how the Irish immigrants were discriminated against and looked down upon as a lower social class. Many lived in unsanitary conditions and performed hazardous jobs for poor pay. As a result, many Catholic husbands and fathers lived short lives. He saw what could happen to a family when the breadwinner died. He also saw a need for a fraternal organization for Catholic men similar to the Freemasons. Freemasonry was condemned by the Catholic Church and Catholic men were prohibited from joining the organization because of their anti-Catholic and Christian beliefs.

On February 2, 1882, at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, Fr McGivney gathered 24 men from his parish to address these needs. That was the beginning of the Knights of Columbus.

Within the order, there are four “Degrees” of Knighthood, each one meant to exemplify one of the four principles. “Charity” and Unity were the first two in 1882. “Fraternity” and “Patriotism” would be added later.

Today the Knights have grown to more that 13,000 councils and 1.7 million members in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Cuba, Guatemala, Guam, and Saipan.

To this day the Knights of Columbus are still true to its founding principles of charity, unity, and fraternity. Charity is the foremost principle of the order. The order has been called “the strong right arm of the Church” for support of the Church programs of evangelization and Catholic education, civic involvement, and aid to the needy. During the year ending December 31, 2008, total charitable contributions reached $150,036,865 ---exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $5.1 million. The figure includes $32,295,376 donated by the Supreme Council and $117,741,489 in contribution from state and local councils, assemblies, and Squires circles.

The quantity of volunteer service hours to charitable causes grew to 68,783,653 in 2008. That’s 87,885 hours more than the year before.

Cumulative figures show that during the past decade the Knights of Columbus has donated more that $1.325 billion to charity and provided nearly 626 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.

Fr McGivney’s founding vision also includes a life insurance program that offers member, spouse, and children the opportunity to provide for their security and well-being. Rated AAA (Superior) by Standard & Poor’s and A++ (Superior) by A. M. Best.

If a Catholic man would like to get involved or learn more about the Knights of Columbus he should contact his local council or check out their web site at http://kofc.org/eb/en/index.html.

What Happens in Heaven

I have talked about this with a friend of mine. While we pray for need, how often do we actually pray in thanksgiving for the gifts that we receive?

I Love this...WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen, and it really puts things into perspective..

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.'

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section..

The angel then said to me, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.. 'I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of avery small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.

'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments .

''How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.

'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.

''What blessings should they acknowledge?' I asked..

'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overheadand a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy .

''And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity..

''If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day ..

''If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.

''If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.

''If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare .

''If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.

'Ok, what now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

ATTN: Acknowledge Dept.: 'Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and forgiving me so many wonderful people to share it with.

If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been blessed with, how can you not send it on????

I thank God especially for all my family and friends!!

Urgent: Pro-Life Action Needed!

It is getting serious. I have been receiving emails from sources that I trust (Knights of Columbus and Priests for Life) stressing the seriousness of the health care legislation that is currently before Congress. It seems that the health care reform bills now being finalized in Congress will result in federally mandated abortion coverage by nearly all health plans, recruitment of abortion doctors into local health networks, and the nullification of many state laws that place reasonable limits on abortion, unless Congress explicitly excludes abortion.

Just last week, a Senate panel voted to include abortion coverage. Check out the story here…
Senate Panel OKs Abortion Coverage in Health Care Bill, Senator Forced to Admit

And congress is trying to rush this through. Only we can stop them. They need to hear from each and every one of you! That’s why I am urging a grass roots effort to stop this. Please follow the link below and call or write your Senators and Congressmen, even if they are pro-life. Tell them that you want abortion to be explicitly excluded in any health care reform bill. It is important to let them know how you feel. Please do this today or it may be too late.

Did you see Fox News Sunday this past weekend? White House Budget Director Peter Orszag was a guest on the show. He said that he could not rule it out that no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions.

WALLACE: Are you prepared to say that in a government public-funded, taxpayer-funded public health insurance plan that no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions?
ORSZAG: I think that that will wind up being part of the debate. I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It's obviously a controversial issue, and it's one of the questions that is playing out in this debate.
WALLACE: So you're not prepared to rule out...
ORSZAG: I'm not prepared to rule it out.




Here’s what the Knights of Columbus said in an email that I received today.

Urgent Pro-Life Alert
July 22, 2009

Abortion mandate in health bill

The healthcare reform legislation currently before Congress contains an abortion mandate that is a grave threat to human life. The bill's language will result in federally mandated abortion coverage by nearly all health plans, recruitment of abortion doctors into local health networks, and the nullification of many state laws that place reasonable limits on abortion.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has called this legislation the "largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade."

We urge you to write to your senators and congressman today. Click here where you can learn more about the health legislation and send a message to your two senators and congressman.

To read a letter from 19 House Democrats who insist they will not support a health bill unless it explicitly excludes abortion, click here.

Time is of the essence as congressional leaders want to pass the bill in the Senate and House by the end of July.

A coalition of prominent pro-life leaders have arranged a Stop The Abortion Mandate live webcast for the public this Thursday, July 23rd, 2009, at 9 PM Eastern (8PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific).

Please go to www.stoptheabortionmandate.com to register.

Pujols: To Walk or Not to Walk?

Hey baseball fans, here’s a question for you. Most of you who know me know of my love of baseball, especially the St. Louis Cardinals. If you are a true baseball fan, you are aware of Albert Pujols and the great year he is having. My question is why do so many teams let him beat them? Why don’t more teams pitch around him and walk him intentionally? Take their game last night for instance. Pujols came to bat in the 8th inning with the Cardinals down 3-0. The bases where loaded and two out. The book says you pitch to him which is what the Reds did. The result was a grand slam home run and the Cards led 4-3. If you are the Reds, why not walk Pujols? Even though you walk in a run, you still have the lead, and then take your chance on the next hitter, in this case Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick isn’t near the hitter that Pujols is, and Ludwick hasn’t been hitting the ball well for the month of June, a weak .200 batting average with just 3 home runs. You get Ludwick out and you escape with a 3-1 lead. Will we ever see something like this, a team giving Pujols the free pass, even though it would mean walking in a run? I’m glad a team hasn’t done this yet because I really like seeing Albert bat with men on base. Oh, by the way, the Cardinals ended up winning the game 7-4.

A Question for Obama

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there!

While watching the news this morning I saw a clip of Barack Obama talking about Father's Day. In it, he said, “We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't just end at conception."

The line was from a Father's Day speech that he gave in 2008. But with Obama he has a tendency to say one thing and do something else. In another speech that Obama gave to Planned Parenthood while he was running for President, he said, "The first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act."

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has a question for Obama in a 30 second television ad that begins with a clip of Obama's Father's Day speech. In the ad, Perkins is holding his son, Samuel in his arms. He asks Obama, “If, as you say, fatherhood begins at conception, when does life begin?”

I would also like to hear his answer to the question because when I first heard the clip I had the same response as Perkins did. But I am afraid we already know the answer. Seems like actions speak louder than words. As a Senator, Obama has voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which would have protected from infanticide those children who survive abortion attempts. As a Senator and as President Obama has voted and authorized the spending of US taxpayer dollars here and overseas. Obama is right on his way to making good on his promise to Planned Parenthood. And if he has his way in the upcoming health care debate it wouldn't surprise me to see government mandate the Freedom of Choice Act calling it health care.

Sports Bits

NCAA Football – Florida was crowned National Champions based on their record and 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in the National Championship Game. Not to take anything away from Florida, but I am still not convinced that the system used is the best method to pick a National Champion. Who’s to say that Florida was any better than USC or Utah? USC had the same record and Utah was undefeated. I like many believed that both had legitimate claims at least to a share of the title. Wouldn’t a better way to choose a champion be through a playoff system such as an 8 or 12 team bracket. I would much rather see the argument be who’s number 8 and who the number 9 team is that didn’t get a chance to play for the championship………………National Signing day is past and according to Rivals.com the Ohio State Buckeyes had the third best recruiting class in the nation. Other Big Ten Teams: (7) Michigan, (16) Michigan State and (25) Penn State. In the Big 12: (5) Texas (13) Oklahoma (22) Texas A&M (28) Nebraska, (31) Kansas, and (95) Kansas State.

NFL Football – The Super Bowl this year was just that. Super! Although KC is my favorite team, I have enjoyed watching the Steelers since Terry Bradshaw and the days of the “Steel Curtin”. Those teams were good offensively but it was the defense that carried them. It looks like they have that formula back again. I was one of many that jumped on the Arizona Cardinals bandwagon during their playoff run. Warner, Fitzgerald and company and their high octane offense were fun to watch. But in the end they made too many mistakes and the Steelers defense prevailed……………….Speaking of the Cardinals, the Kansas City Chiefs should have a new look in 2009. The move to replace Carl Peterson was past due. One has to like the move to bring in Scott Pioli. Kansas City fans will be hoping that he can duplicate the successes he had in New England. I don’t know enough about Todd Haley other that what I saw during the NFC Playoffs and the Super Bowl, however his Cardinals were 4th in overall offense in the NFL last season. Maybe this will be just what the Chiefs offense needs to get well. It will be interesting to see who they bring in as assistant coaches and which players stay.

NCAA basketball – At the beginning of the season I said that KU at times would be fun the watch and at other times it would be difficult to watch them. This week we saw both. On Monday at Missouri, it was their game to win and they blew the lead. On Saturday, even though it wasn’t pretty, it was their game to lose and they managed to take advantage to some breaks and pull out the victory. This team is young and inexperienced. That being said they have some talent in the right spots, but don’t have the depth that they have had in the past. The last 6 games will be a good warm up going into the post-season. The game at Oklahoma will be the most difficult and an almost certain loss for the Jayhawks.
The games at home against Nebraska, Missouri and Texas won’t be easy. I could see KU going to the sweet 16 this year but not much further. A repeat of last year is definitely not in the works this year……….Sorry K-State fans but you will have to wait at least one more year to go dancing. Your strength of schedule is too weak. A win over the Jayhawks might have saved your season. I thought your season was finished after the embarrassing loss at Nebraska, but the Cats finally got it rolling with key wins at home against Missouri and on the road at Texas. The Purple could still salvage the season if they win out the remainder of their games including a home game with Missouri.…………..Wichita State is finally starting to show some hope and potential of what they might be under Greg Marshall. They could finish in 5th place in the Valley which is saying a lot with the start they had to the season. They have some good young talent and plenty to look forward to for next year……………….Have you noticed the emphasis on swinging elbows lately? One thing I noticed is that the defensive players tend to guard so close so when a player pivots or swings his body, the elbows follow making it look more violent than it really is.

Baseball – With just two returning starters and 14 lettermen, this will be the least experienced team that WSU fans have ever seen. If these guys can show some hope early, an attractive home schedule against Pepperdine and Long Beach State might be fun………….”Pitchers and catchers report” are the four words that a baseball fan looks forward to all winter long. Saturday, February 14th was that day. Forget the ground hog, for a baseball fan, it means that spring has sprung. The Cardinals have a lot of question marks. (1) The biggest is the health of Chris Carpenter. Carp has pitched only 21 innings over the last two seasons. There will be a lot of tests on his arm this spring. (2) Albert Pujols had off-season elbow surgery. Will he be ready for opening day? (3) Troy Glaus had off-season shoulder surgery. It has already been announced that he won’t be ready for opening day. Who will fill if for him till he’s ready to return? (4) The Cards released Adam Kennedy last week. Who will be the second baseman? (5) The team still hasn’t signed a closer. Who will be the man out of the bullpen in the 9th inning? Should be a fun spring keeping it all straightened out. Keep posted.