Dr. Ray's 2021 Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Clients,

      It's been many years since we've sent out our family update. One thing that's become ever so obvious to me since then-- Each year I've gotten older. In fact, this is as old as I've ever been. I had a birthday last year-- I try to have one each year-- and there were well over 50 candles on the cake, and that was the piece I had. I couldn't blow them all out. The heat kept driving me back.

I had a recent epiphany about my age. I looked at my driver's license and thought, “You know, that's not a bad picture.” These days my pictures don't do me justice. They are looking more and more like me.
Nine of the kids are out of the house. Two are in Germany (Army) and one in Rhode Island (Navy contractor). How far do they think they have to go to put enough distance between them and mom and pop? Wouldn't Indiana be far enough?
When our last child leaves, Randi and I will be enrolled in a Parent Protection Program. Our identities will be altered, and we will be re-located off the grid somewhere in Northern Montana. It should take any child at least a week to find us.
Now that the kids are raised, Randi and I are having to learn to communicate with each other better. Not that it's been all that easy. She tells me that I need to listen more, or something like that. Last night, she asked, “Are you even listening to me?” I thought, “That's a funny way to start a conversation.”
I'll confess, I do need to be a more empathetic listener, even when I'm not getting paid to be. The other day I saw a note on the refrigerator from Randi that said, “This isn't working as well as I'd hoped. We need to make some changes.” So I opened the door, the light came on, the beer was cold; What was she talking about?
           I'm working at it. I was reading one of those “Spice Up Your Marriage” books, and it said to take time to re-live our very first date. So I took Randi horse back riding, and we had a ball until I ran out of quarters
           I'm moving toward semi-retirement and have decided to cut my workload in half. Starting January 1, I will nod sensitively with clients every eight minutes instead of every four. And any “I see. Tell me more” will be an extra charge.
My therapist just recently asked me, “Don't you think you might be getting a bit C.D.O?” Actually, he said O.C.D, but I had to put the letters in the right order.
Speaking of semi-retirement, it's about time Randi starts to work for a living. I always suspected she was hiding behind raising and homeschooling ten children, but what's her justification now? Just because she's getting Social Security doesn't mean she can't do a little more around here besides push mowing an acre lawn (It does take her longer, I've noticed), volunteering with old folks (not me), keeping up the house, yard, cars, roof, and snow removal. Still, she does have  more extra time, so I'm setting up interviews with Ben's Brickyard, Di Angelo's Cement Contractors, and the county's pavement crew. Work ethic is a virtue, I've reminded her.
Speaking of virtue, I'm back in training for the 2022 Catholic Radio's Rayaissance Humility Competition, (Yes, they changed the name for me) after dominating the award from 2010-2015. The secret to winning is not showing up to collect the trophy. If you do, you automatically lose it. Tricky stuff, this humility.
Here is the poem I'm entering for this year's virtue competition:

I want to be famous,
So I can be humble about being famous.
What good is my humility
When I'm stuck in this obscurity?

Piggybacking on this is the release of my latest book, “The Three Most Humble People I Know And How I Taught The Other Two.”
           I'm also working on sounding smarter on the radio show, so I'm using bigger words that I don't  always understand so I can sound more ambidextrous.
Perhaps the most exciting piece of career news for me is a chance for my dream job--a syndicated advice columnist. First I had to be screened by the syndicate. They sent me a sample letter so I could demonstrate my psychological chops. Here's the letter:
Dear Dr. Ray,
    The other day I set off for work. I hadn't gone more than a mile when my engine conked out and my car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home, only to find my husband sitting at the          kitchen table clearly enamored with our neighbor lady. I love him very much, but I don't know if I can trust him.
Sincerely,
Hurt and Insecure
My advice:

           Dear Hurt and Insecure,
                A car stalling can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Check that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it's clear, check the jubilee clips holding the vacuum pipes onto the inlet manifold. Or it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the carburetor float chamber .
Hope this helps,
Dr. Ray

I haven't heard back from them yet, and I sent this in 2019. I suspect they are still gathering interested papers. That takes time, I've heard.
Well, that's our update for this year. Once Randi types this, we'll send it out.
 Merry and Blessed Christmas to you all, or if you prefer, Jolly Winter Solstice.
Ray and Randi
 

The Great Struggle of Our Time: The Battle for Reality

Vasko Kohlmayer is an articulate conservative blogger who is published on various websites including his own. He is the author of The West in Crisis: Civilizations and Their Death Drives.  You can keep up to date with his writings by subscribing to his newsletter: Notes from the 'Twilight Zone' on Substack. 

To get you going I have copied the first part of one of his posts below with a link at the bottom to continue on his substack site.

October 17, 2021

The Great Struggle of Our Time: The Battle for Reality

by Vasko Kohlmayer

With societal turbulence all around us, many people feel that we are locked in some great and portentous struggle. But because it is so pervasive and multifaced, the nature of this struggle is not readily obvious. There are many fronts on which this struggle is being fought: racial relations, education, healthcare, popular culture, financial system, and freedom of speech, among others. It is not easy to make sense of it all, especially since the battles are highly pitched and emotions are running very high.

What characterizes these battles, besides their intensity, is deep polarization. The possibility of the warring camps coming together and meeting on some common ground seems to be growing more distant by the day. There is even talk that the two sides will either come to blows, or they will each go their own way in some form of secession.

Many have observed that the contenders seem to be separated by an unbridgeable gap, and yet no one has been able to explain the nature of this gap, or what exactly it is that separates the mindsets of the opposing sides.

In our view the great struggle in the grip of which we find ourselves cuts much deeper than the immediate issues we argue over. The real fight extends beyond any particular point of public friction.

The great battle of our time is a battle about the very nature of reality. More precisely, what the two sides war over on the most fundamental level is what constitutes truth and how it should be determined.

To shed light on this dynamic, let us take one of the heated controversies of the present time. For this we choose transgenderism. This is an especially suitable example for two reasons: this issue is highly divisive and polarizing, and it delineates the opposing camps sharply and clearly.

As you may know...

READ MORE AT SUBSTACK

Forget the virus. It's STUPIDITY stupid.

We need to take stupidity serious. As these videos explain the solution is not reason, but a conversion of heart.  Non-Stupid People always underestimate how dangerous stupid people are to themselves and to others.

This first one sounds just like today when dealing with liberals and radicals, not just in government, but in the Church as well.

The Five Laws of Stupidity. Stupid people are the most dangerous people in the world. A summary of Carlo M. Cipolla's article "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity." The whole article (with illustrations) is here: https://hendricks.com/links/06-24-09_Basic-Laws-of-Human-Stupidity.pdf 

Ed Wolfrum (1945-2021) - Funeral Mass and My Remembrances

Ed Wolfrum 1945–2021

Today I was happy to attend the funeral Mass for Ed Wolfrum, my friend, audio crew member, and sponsor for my entering the Catholic Church. He went quickly, over a week's time, due to an inoperative heart aneurysm. He passed peacefully on November 1, 2021—All Saints Day. It was an appropriate day for Ed.  A link to the Mass on YouTube Live is at the bottom of this post, along with a few comments of that moment.

I was an Evangelical-Protestant Christian when I met Ed in the 1970s. (He was always a Latin Catholic, who attended Assumption Grotto in Detroit.) I was a producer-director type at Ford WHQ at the time, and needed a very good freelance audio engineer for my on-location productions. Ed's name came up in my queries around town. I went to his very modest bungalow in Royal Oak, MI. Upon entering his quaint living room, still decorated as if it was the late 1950s, and before I even sat down to question him, he said to me, "Let's talk for a few minutes. If I like you, I'll be your sound engineer for this film of yours. If not. You can leave." 

That was Ed. I loved it. You always knew where you stood with him. Over the years I hired him many times to do sound for my productions. We have a saying on the set, "Waiting on sound," That's because the last thing ready before a take is the sound. Why? Because there's too much noise getting ready for the sound engineer to hear if the sound is good or bad. When everybody settles down, including the talent, it's only then that the sound guy can listen to see if the background noise is low enough, and that the audio equipment is working. You can only hope there's not an open or short in a mic cable, because you can't move forward until "Sound is rolling." 

One time, while I was still Protestant (and he knew from our first meeting that I was a practicing Christian, and I knew he was a devout Latin rite Catholic) he hired me (turn about is fair play) to record a promotional video for a television commercial for a Catholic Conference. The person we were to record on camera was the late Fr. John Hardon, S. J., now Servant of God. I would meet Fr. Hardon on many later occasions as did Pam, my wife once we became Catholic. But on this first meeting [Fr. Hardon was short compared to my towering 6'4" (at the time)] he looked up at me and said without much of an introduction or preface, "Who's your patron saint?" 

Ed arranged another meeting Fr. John Hardon
after I became Catholic

"I don't have a patron saint. I'm Protestant," I said.

"Doesn't matter," said he, "you need a patron saint." Whereupon Fr. Hardon turned to Ed and said, "Get him a patron saint. He's going to need one when he becomes Catholic."

I smiled at the time. But it was prophetic. I did become Catholic, and I asked Ed to be my sponsor. Ed came to many of our RCIA meetings where for 6 months I learned about the Catholic faith.  The once-a-week classes on Thursday evenings were held in a classroom with tables in a rectangle. Sixty or so attended, mostly by young people wanting to marry someone who was not Catholic. Fr. James Cronk (St. James Catholic Church in Novi, MI) taught the 2.5 hr class. I tell this story a lot better in my Growing Up Christian memoir.  But the short of it is that when Pam became concerned that I was attending a Catholic membership class, she started to attend to argue with the priest who she was convinced didn't know the Bible very well. Because, after all, Catholics are Biblically illiterate. Right? Well, she argued with Fr. Cronk. But he seemed to always have an answer. She sat on my left. On my right was Ed Wolfrum. Now, usually a sponsor (as Ed was to me) comes to answer MY questions which the teacher doesn't have time to parry. But I found out after a couple sessions that Ed was coming because he didn't think Fr. Cronk was Latin enough. So, Ed, too, argued with Fr. Cronk. Honestly, I rarely opened my mouth. Pam and Ed were doing such a smash up job, it was entertaining. Ed would say to Fr. Cronk, "That's not right because what Fr. Hardon says is...blah, blah, blah." Whereupon, Fr. Cronk retorted, "Who the hell is Fr. Hardon?" One time Pam and Ed got into it at the same time. Fr. Cronk stopped both and said, "Okay, next week, none of you can sit together."  (and we all laughed.)  So, Ed was there at my confirmation and provisional baptism.  I had been baptized three times before, and now was the fourth time. In every situation the reason was simple, I had no idea, and neither did the priests know, if my previous baptisms were valid, such was the record keeping of Evangelicalism. But that's another story.  Pictures of my baptism and Ed HERE..

Ed Wolfrum at the mixing console. Not sure where
this is. Could be Motown or United Sound.

There is much I could write about Ed. He was a genius at audio and acoustic engineering. I had first hand experience many times with him, on the set, on location, and in his tiny little studio in the attic of his bungalow where he had recorded orchestra tracks with live instruments (multi-tracked) for motion pictures. My last time in his cramped "master control" he doctored and improved some poorly recorded dialogue tracks for a motion picture I had produced and edited. As usual the theater audience heard every word clearly.

Ed's fame in the audio industry (as he tells it) is that he was the "token white" engineer at MoTown Records in the early 1960s. I've seen a photo of Ed at the Motown console with the Supremes standing behind him.  The picture above is of him mixing a record, but I think this is at Detroit's United Sound. Ed was one of the geniuses behind the Motown sound of hundreds of albums back then. It took years for other studios to figure out what they were doing not only in the Direct Input recording technology (below), but also in the deep groves of the master. 

Back then recording studios could not go out and buy a mixing console. The engineers had to build them from scratch. Ed did this several times. Perhaps his most memorable contribution to the industry was something very small....his Wolf Box. He invented this device when he was in high school, but later it swept the industry. It was a simple device, with a very rare transformer inside, that allowed instruments like electric guitars to connect directly to the studio's recording equipment rather than placing a microphone in front of a guitar amplifier's speaker.  Here's a video of Ed explaining this then revolutionary device. It was recorded in his cramped little attic studio in Royal Oak. 

Today, at Ed's Funeral Mass, Fr. Paul Czarnota celebrated and delivered the homily and some remembrances of Ed. I was surprised how a priest knew so much about Ed, the Wolf Box, and his career. I had a very hard time hearing the words. My hearing has degraded in recent years and St. Mary's Royal Oak (where Ed grew up) was very resonant, with all marble walls front and back. But they live-streamed the Mass, and had the audio hooked up right. So you can hear the homily and Fr. Paul's memories of Ed.  Fr. Paul includes a condolences message from Steve Wonder who sent his respects, calling Ed a good friend and man of faith.  Below is the YouTube link.  But they started the uplink too soon, so there is 40 minutes of "nothing" at the head. The Mass begins at 39:35. The homily begins at 56:00, but the comments about Ed, which are worthwhile begins at 1:02:30. 

After the Mass, while visiting with friends in the lobby, Fr. Paul came up to me and asked, "Are you Dr. Stan Williams?"  He looked familiar to me but I couldn't place him. He was with a younger man. Fr. Paul said, "My brother and I were Ed's audio assistants on two documentary shoots of yours about Deacon Alex Jones' journey into the Church. I was in seminary at the time." (Ed was a seminary student also but never followed though with ordination. Audio was his first love.) Suddenly I remembered. Ed was like that. You invited him to come work on a shoot, and he would bring additional help for free. Fr. Paul and his brother (I think Chris was the younger man's name) said they still talk about those shoots in Alex's Maranatha Church and in Alex's apartment where we staged an argument between Alex and his wife Donna about Mary. Below you can watch the excerpts from the Alex Jones documentary (that was never fully produced for lack of funds). Access to the full Alex Jones documentaries on Vimeo, that we did produce, are HERE.

The stories about Ed are wonderful, but voluminous. He was a genius, and all geniuses are eccentric. Ed's eccentricities were good. 

Ed is survived by his wonderful and graceful wife Susan, who made her career in graphic arts. Their company was Audio/Graphics  (Ed/Sue).

The Dancing Church

A professor of International Christian Missions at a Protestant University recommended this video to me. I was thrilled to see this. The video quality is poor, but the voice over by Fr. Thomas Kane who has made the study of liturgical practice his passion, was exciting. I think God is dancing with these parishes from Africa. I wish we here in the U.S. were more like these parishes. God bless them as he undoubtedly is.  

Shortly after watching this video I read a news report of how Christian congregations (Protestant and Catholic) in certain parts of Africa are being persecuted by gangs, kidnapping whole congregations and killing many. The irony of dancing one minute and sacrifice the next is staggering.  

Pray for all Christians. The murderous enemy of truth is real. 

The Dance Project

Although not part of formal worship, there is dancing in the American Church. This is ironic to Pam and I since we were raised in the Free Methodist Church where dancing was counted as a grave sin, unless it was The Sugar Plum Fairy ballet performed by others. 

Recently, however,  Pam and I chaperoned a masquerade swing dance for Christian Home High Schoolers from S.E. Michigan. It as the annual Dance Project staged at a ballroom in Howell, Michigan. About 300 teens and a few adults like us attended. It was a lot of fun. We drove three of our teen grand daughters, who brought three other friends in our van along (including two boys). One of our grand daughters (Annaliese) had invited others that drove themselves. Annaliese walked away with the prize of the night with a hand crafted mask. 

(L) Stan & Pam looking for violators but not very hard.
(R) Annaliese Nelson invited the most people and won a beautiful mask.

The organizers of this now 13-year tradition had very strict rules about behavior that we, as chaperones, were suppose to watch out for. We were instructed that if after our warnings their behavior was not adjusted we could report them for removal. But Pam and I saw nothing untoward all night long. It was good clean fun by all. I mean, how do you dance lewdly to Denver and the Mile High Orchestra's swing version of "Victory in Jesus."   This is the piece the D.J. played at the end of the dance. I shot video of it, but since the kids in it were minors and I don't have permission to make it public there is this from YouTube. Enjoy. (We did!)

Pam wearing Annaliese's prize.

Cardinal Burke Gives Framework to U.S. Bishops on "Catholic" Politicians that Support Abortion

 

Catholic legislator in St. Louis: “It is wrong. I know that it is wrong.”

November 2nd, 2021

• 

  Burke: "When I die, I will appear before the Lord to give an account of my service as bishop, not before the Conference of Bishops." (Tiziana FABI / AFP)

For the past several months, the intention of the Church in the United States of America has been very much in my prayers. At their coming November meeting, the Bishops of the United States will be considering the application of Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law…. I have, more and more, thought about the experience of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops over 17 years ago, at their summer meeting in Denver in June of 2004, in addressing the same issue. It is an experience which I lived intensely….

The context of the June 2004 meeting of the United States Bishops was the campaign of Senator John Kerry for President of the United States. Senator Kerry claimed to be a Catholic, while, at the same time, supporting and promoting abortion on demand in the nation. At the time, I was archbishop of Saint Louis (appointed on December 2, 2003, and installed on January 26, 2004). As had been my practice as bishop of La Crosse (appointed on December 10, 1994, and installed on February 22, 1995), I admonished Senator Kerry not to present himself to receive Holy Communion because, after having been duly admonished, he persisted in the objectively grave sin of promoting directly procured abortion. I was not the only bishop to admonish him thus….

Knowing my moral obligation in a matter of such serious consequences, defined in can. 915, I began to contact the legislators from the diocese of La Crosse, asking to meet with them to discuss the complete incoherence of their position regarding procured abortion with the Catholic faith they professed. Sadly, none of them was willing to meet with me. One carried out a certain correspondence with me, insisting that his position regarding abortion was consistent with the Catholic faith, following the erroneous counsel presented by certain dissident professors of moral theology, adherents of the heretical school of proportionalism, at a summit held at the Hyannisport compound of the Kennedy Family in the summer of 1964. Documentation of the meeting is found in a book of Albert R. Jonsen who accompanied one of the dissident European professors of moral theology and was present for the entire meeting….

When I was archbishop of Saint Louis, one Catholic legislator agreed to meet with me, even though, as his parish priest also attested, he was not presenting himself to receive Holy Communion. He began the meeting by showing me a picture of his family. As I recall, his wife and he had four children. As our conversation progressed, I asked him how, having so proudly shown me the picture of his children, he could regularly vote in favor of killing babies in the womb. He immediately lowered his head and said: “It is wrong. I know that it is wrong.” While I urged him to act according to his conscience, which he had just expressed, I had to admire the fact that, at least, he admitted the evil in which he was involved and did not try to present himself to me as a devout Catholic….

With the announcement of my transfer from the diocese of La Crosse to the archdiocese of Saint Louis on December 2, 2003, the secular press traveled to the diocese of La Crosse, in order to find material for the creation of a negative image of the new archbishop before his arrival in the archdiocese. Whereas, before my transfer, there was no public discussion of my pastoral interventions with the lawmakers in question, as is altogether appropriate, the matter now became public in December of 2003 and January of 2004.

In putting the question of the application of can. 915 before the body of bishops at its meeting in June of 2004, the pastoral action which I had taken in the diocese of La Crosse and was beginning to take in the archdiocese of Saint Louis was placed in serious question. To illustrate the fact, during a break in the meeting, I encountered, on a stairwell, one of the eminent members of the Conference of Bishops, who shook his finger at me, declaring: You cannot do what you have been doing without the approval of the Conference of Bishops. To be clear, other bishops were following a similar pastoral action. I responded to his declaration by pointing out that, when I die, I will appear before the Lord to give an account of my service as bishop, not before the Conference of Bishops….

The discussion during the meeting in June of 2004 was difficult and intense. Without going into the details of the discussion, there seemingly was no consensus among the bishops, even though there was among some of the most influential bishops the desire to avoid any intervention with Catholic politicians who, according to the discipline of can. 915, should not be admitted to receive Holy Communion. Ultimately, the president, the then Bishop Wilton Gregory of the diocese of Belleville, remanded the matter to a Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians under the chairmanship of the then Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who was clearly opposed to the application of can. 915 in the case of Catholic politicians supporting procured abortion and other practices which gravely violate the moral law. The task force was comprised of a group of bishops with mixed views on the subject. In any case, with time, the task force was forgotten, and the critical issue was left unaddressed by the Conference of Bishops. When Bishop Gregory announced the task force, the bishop sitting next to me observed that we could now be certain that the issue would not be addressed….

In the Spring of 2004, while I was in Washington, D.C., for pro-life activities, I met privately for forty-five minutes with one of the highest-placed officials in the federal government, a non-Catholic Christian who manifested great respect for the Catholic Church. In the course of our conversation, he asked me whether, in view of the serious health difficulties of Pope Saint John Paul II, the election of a new Pope could mean a change in the Church’s teaching regarding procured abortion. I expressed some surprise at his question, explaining that the Church can never change its teaching on the intrinsic evil of procured abortion because it is a precept of the natural law, the law written by God on every human heart. He responded that he asked the question because he had concluded that the Church’s teaching in the matter could not be that firm, since he could name for me 80 or more Catholics in the Senate and House of Representatives, who regularly support pro-abortion legislation….

The second event took place during my visit to Rome in late June and early July of 2004, in order to receive from Pope John Paul II the pallium of the metropolitan archbishop of Saint Louis. Given the difficult experience of the meeting in Denver, earlier in the month of June, I was counseled to visit the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in order to be certain that my pastoral practice was coherent with the Church’s teaching and practice. I was received in audience by the then Prefect of the Congregation, His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, and the then secretary of the congregation, Archbishop, now Cardinal, Angelo Amato, and an English-speaking official of the congregation. Cardinal Ratzinger assured me that the congregation had studied my practice and found nothing objectionable about it. He only cautioned me not to support publicly candidates for office, something which, in fact, I had never done. He expressed some surprise at my doubt in the matter, given a letter which he had written to the United States Bishops, which had addressed the question thoroughly. He asked whether I had read his letter. I told him that I had not received the letter and asked whether he could kindly provide a copy for me. He smiled and suggested that I read it on a popular blog, asking the English-speaking official to make a photocopy of the text as it appeared in its entirety on the blog.

The letter in question sets forth in an authoritative manner the Church’s constant teaching and practice. The failure to distribute it to the United States bishops certainly contributed to the failure of the bishops in June of 2004 to take appropriate action in the implementation of can. 915. Now, I am told that it is maintained that the letter was confidential and, therefore, cannot be published. The truth is that it was published, already in early July of 2004, and that clearly the Prefect of the Congregation, who authored it, was not at all disturbed about the fact….

I invite you to pray with me for the Church in the United States of America and in every nation, that, faithful to the mission of Christ, her Bridegroom, she will be faithful, limpid and uncompromising in the application of can. 915, defending the sanctity of the Holy Eucharist, safeguarding the souls of Catholic politicians who would grievously violate the moral law and still present themselves to receive Holy Communion, thereby committing sacrilege, and preventing the most serious scandal caused by the failure to observe the norm of can. 915.

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
28 October 2021
Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

A Fall, A Miracle, A Lesson

by Pam Williams

OCT. 16, 2021 Rosary Rally inside Old Novi, Michigan Town Hall.
Pam is upper right in pink.

On Noon, Saturday, October 16, 2021, I facilitated our annual Rosary Rally in the Old Novi, Michigan town hall building. We had planned to pray behind the building in the new amphitheater, but it was too cold and rain threatened. The Rally culminated weeks of local planning; it is a national program organized by America Needs Fatima.

Exactly 24  hours later, just past noon on Sunday, Oct. 17, I had a precarious fall outside my church, Holy Family Catholic Church of Novi, Michigan. This is how I applied the lesson of Fatima and how God protected me from an attack of the enemy.

Remember!!!  Pray the Rosary every day for the reparation of sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the Conversion of poor sinners if we want to achieve world peace.  

Here’s my story taken from emails sent to my pastor, Father Bob Lacroix, from that Sunday to the following Wednesday.

Sunday, 10/17/21: Dear Fr. Bob. Thank you for administering to me the anointing prayer for the sick today after I fell outside the church doors. I’d like to explain what happened and give you an update:

The Fall:  I was running to my car to get money for raffle tickets to support our Catholic schools. I was also wearing lengthy pants that were wide legged and suede shoes. My right foot caught the material of my left pant leg and stuck there in mid running-stride. Down I went on the concrete, smashing my leg, arm and face. I couldn’t even tell until I stood up that anything was wrong. 

Blood was dripping off my face. Several people came to my aid immediately. Herb James, trained as a first responder, applied a simple butterfly bandage with no gauze because the bleeding had suddenly stopped. In looking back that was a miracle. A few gentle ladies cleaned up the blood that had spilled.  What a mess I was. Friends drove me home, and brought the car along with another driver. 

At home Stan, who had gone to an earlier Mass, was surprised at my entourage. He could see I was hurt, but I was still walking, although I was dazed. Over the next hours, however, the pain increased to the point of being unable to bear any weight to my left leg or touch anywhere near my knee.

Stan took me to Urgent Care a few miles away where they took an x-ray. I had cracked my patella, the knee cap to my left leg. No wonder it hurt so badly. The technician told me I'd need an MRI because I may have ripped apart some tendons, and that I should see my doctor first thing Monday morning. There was no doubt I was headed for surgery and a long and painful recovery, possibly months.

My knee pain is constant now, even with meds.  Guess God is making sure I slow down. On the other hand, I have suffering now to offer up to God for reparation for sin and for the salvation of the whole world. Yeah!!  Just like Our Lady of Fatima told Francisco!!  We just reviewed this yesterday at the Rosary Rally at Fuerst Park in Novi.  Our Lady told Francisco, “When you suffer, offer up that suffering with that of My Son, Jesus, for the salvation of sinners and in reparation for sins against my Immaculate Heart.  This will bring peace to the world!”

I am very grateful for the immediate care I received at Holy Family.  Thank you for using anointing oil, too, Father. God is with me, I know, even if my senses tell me differently!

Monday, 10/18/21:  Stan could not get an appointment for our Orthopedic Surgeon until Tuesday at 2 PM. I could look forward to another day and night of intense pain. After a very sleepless last night of constant, terrible leg and back pain, in spite of taking maximum dosages of Extra Strength Tylenol, I thought that if I don’t die of pain, I’ll die of fatigue. I kept praying the Rosary over and over because I could not get to sleep. While I prayed I offered up my pain to God for salvation of the world. 

In the morning, I got a long nap and started to feel a little better.  I welcomed two visitors who cheered me up and then suddenly I was right back into the severe pain and extreme fatigue again. But, I knew how to face that pain. I grabbed my rosary and began to pray.  After the rosary, I read my Magnificat for the Scriptures of the day. Then I hobbled up onto my crutches and headed toward the bathroom. The Transport Chair, which we borrowed from my Dad’s apartment, was in the way, but I thought I could squeeze by. The first step should have clued me into the clear-and-present-danger of such a move. And yet, ignoring common sense, I took the second step through the narrow passage. Suddenly, I lost my balance, and fell backward onto the living room carpet!  SLAM! KABAM! THANK YOU MAM! I landed square on my rump. The shock went through my spine clear up to my head. I thought I was done for.

Yet, when I was finally able to stand up with my crutches to continue my journey, I noticed something remarkable.  I was free of pain in my leg and in my back from osteoporosis. (I used to have to lay flat on the floor for a half hour twice a day to get relief from the aging curvature of my spine that caused me daily pain).Father, I just got a healing!!! Not just for my leg, but for my back, as well. It was in spite of my fall here in the Living Room. It must have been the anointing oils and the prayer over the sick as well as the prayers of my friends and family. This was my second miracle.

Tomorrow, when I see Dr. Lennox, our orthopedic doctor, they will do their own set of X-rays.  Perhaps it will show my Patella whole again!!

Tuesday, 10/18/21:  The new X-ray showed significant fracture of the patella, so though the severe pain has ceased, pain still exists when I make a false move. Dr. Lennox gave me an Rx for a knee brace which we picked up right away from the medical supply. I don’t like it, because though it keeps my knee straight, I cannot sit up easily unless that left leg is on the same level as the chair seat and there is firm back support. I think I could sit in a church pew with my left leg on the pew and my back to the right side-end of the pew. I'll watch Mass on-line from home for the first week, due to fatigue. Healing requires lots of energy! 😅 And, I’ll be in this brace for 6 weeks. I’d better get used to it.

Miracles:  My back is like new, though. I’m so thankful. My knee will take much longer, but I’m thankful for no severe pain there!  I’m thankful for no stitches in my forehead and prompt first aid treatment by careful friends.  I’m thankful I had a sweatshirt draped over my right arm with fleece lining, which provided ample padding to prevent breaking my arm. I’m also thankful that no MRI was needed to determine whether ligaments and muscles around the patella were in good condition. (My cessation of pain and second set of X-rays were sufficient to determine no surgery needed!!!)  Yeah, God!!! AND, Thank You God, for the Blessed, Holy Mother of Our Lord, who gives us the weapon against the enemy through her holy rosary, whose mysteries relay the whole message of salvation.  

Lesson:  Offer all suffering up to Our Lord in union with His suffering!!! Pray many rosaries for peace in the world and salvation for sinners!!!

Update November 6, 2021: Pam was given permission by the doctor to use a leg brace that allows her to flex her knee 30 degrees and walk on it without crutches. In two weeks we will increase the flexion by 15 degrees every 3-4 days until she gets to 90 degrees and we see the doctor again. Yesterday, she drove her car to Mass and her tutoring of granddaughters.  There's a toll on her other extremities, but she's somewhat ambulatory with little pain. 

FAITH AND WORKS: Understanding Christian Equivocation Towards Unity

A short essay on

Faith and Works

Notes Toward Christian Unity

There has been a discussion since New Testament time when it appears that St. James (the author of James) and St. Paul (the author or Romans) appeared to disagree on the role of Faith vs. Works. The Relevant passages are James 2:24-26 and Romans 4:3f. I do not intend to contrast and compare those passages here, but attempt an overarching explanation with the help of Jesus's words and passages form the Catholic Catechism. 

1. DEFINING THE ARGUMENT

Some Christians claim that faith alone is all that is necessary for reception of God's salvation (redemption) and others claim the faith AND works are necessary. No Christian doctrine claims the works alone are sufficient. Some Protestants believe that some High-Church doctrines (e.g. Roman Catholicism) teach works alone, but this cannot be found in the catechisms of those faith traditions but only in the anti-Catholic rhetoric that falsely claim such things. The difference is between faith alone vs faith and works. 

2. ASSUMPTION

All of Scripture must agree with all other Scripture (where Scripture here is defined by what we find in the Bible, whether it be the Protestant Canon or one of the other 9 canons used by different Christian sects around the world). I do not claim that one canon of Scripture is more accurate than another or that one should be used over another when trying to understand God's work of Redemption. Pick any of the canons, they will all lead to the same place.

3. DIFFERENT APOLOGETIC PURPOSES OF ROMANS VS. JAMES

Assuming No. 2 is true, some commentators have explained the difference between James's and Paul's perspective as the consequence of the two authors arguing against the extreme and false beliefs of their audiences: Paul arguing against the works alone mentality of the Romans, and James arguing against the faith alone mentality of Jewish Christians. But to us today, these two key passages must agree on some level against if No. 2 is true. So, let's assume that if Paul and James were to debate the issue, they would not disagree once their terms and audiences were clearly defined. 

4. EQUIVOCATION: SALVATION (SAVED)

Perhaps a key stumbling block for Christian unity on this topic can be resolved by seeing a common equivocation between Evangelical understanding of salvation and a High-Church understanding of it. 

Let me propose that Evangelical understanding of "salvation" (or being "saved") is that moment in time when a person accepts Christ by faith into their life and their past sins are forgiven.

The Catholic understanding of "salvation" (as used in Scripture) is broader and more nuanced. Yet in every case "salvation" for both understandings means "deliverance from dire circumstances or oppression by some evil to a state of freedom and security." Biblically this can be achieved by:

a. way of preservation

b. offering the means for being delivered

c. removing the oppressive evil or difficulty

d. rewarding the effort spent in cooperating with grace in order to be delivered.

All of that includes the Evangelical spiritual understanding, but it also includes the many ways God saved his people in the O.T. temporally. It also includes a Christian's final entry into heaven. 

So, "salvation" is more than just personal spiritual redemption, at least in a Biblical sense. 

5. NO EQUIVOCATION: JUSTIFICATION

The terms that is used by both traditions equally is "justification." or "justification by faith." In both Evangelical and Catholic terminology "justification" refers to the instant a person comes to faith in Christ. (Romans 5:1) Here are three passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) that describe that moment, which I believe agrees well with most Evangelical uses. 

CCC 1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.

CCC 1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. "Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.

CCC 2018 Like conversion, justification has two aspects. Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and so accepts forgiveness and righteousness from on high.

Notice the term "salvation" is not used here because of its broad use in Scripture. 

6. FURTHER CLARIFICATION: SANCTIFICATION

A term used in both Evangelical and Catholic settings that is also generally understood the same is "sanctification." Both faith traditions understand this to mean "to be made holy." Both Evangelical and Catholic doctrines teach this as the process throughout one's life of achieving perfection in preparation for entering heaven. John Hardon divides sanctification in 3 stages:

1. The first sanctification takes place at justification. 

2. The second sanctification is a lifelong process by which a justified person grows closer to likeness in God through grace and obedience. (this is the primary Evangelical understanding)

3. The third sanctification takes place when a person enters heaven and becomes totally and irrevocably united with God. 

7. FAITH AND WORKS

Hopefully, this brings us to resolving the Faith vs. Works issue. 

To oversimplify the centuries old debate, but perhaps focus on a key misunderstanding, Evangelicalism is focused on "justification," that initial moment of the first sanctification or a most important definition of being "saved."  The Catholic focus is on getting into heaven, that third sanctification and being saved and secure for eternity without a chance of losing one's salvation. (c.f. Arminianism vs. Calvinism) 

That Catholic AND Evangelical focus is on that second stage of sanctification—the lifelong process of growing to be more like Christ. A good and extensive Biblical example of this the focus of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. The sermon is not about justification, but about the process of growing in holiness so one can enter heaven. It is about the Christian's obedience to Christ that playa a critical role if one is to enter heaven. It is here that "obedience" is equivalent to good "deeds" or good "works."  Here is a list from Matthew 5-7:

Be salt and light (5:13-16) — "your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."

Obey the Law (5:17-20) — "whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments...I tell you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." 

Anger and Murder (5:21-26) - You will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

Adultery (5:27-30) — Do not commit it in mind or body. 

Divorce (5:31-32) — Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths (5:33-37) — "Let your 'yes' mean 'yes' and your 'no' mean 'no.' Anything more is from the evil one."

And so-on about:

• Retaliation

• Love of Enemies

• Almsgiving

• Prayer

• Fasting

• Treasures

• What your eye sees

• Money

• Judging Others

• Pearls before swine

• The Golden Rule

• Behavior - The Narrow Gate

• Judging the works and fruit of others re: False Prophets

The Sermon is summarized at the end of Chapter 7:

• The True Disciple: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, BUT ONLY THE ONE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN. 

• Parable of the wise and foolish man — "And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be a like a fool who built his house on sand...and was completely ruined."

The Sermon on the Mount is not about justification but about that third stage of sanctification or securing our salvation in heaven. It is how the works that come about from justification are required for entry into heaven.  (Not discussed here, but neither forgotten, is the efficacy toward this end, of confession and forgiveness of sins.)

Finally, on the importance of our Christian witness and how the faith of others is dependent on our good works of passing on the faith.  This is another perspective of how faith (in others) is dead without the work (deeds) of our witness. 

CCC 166 Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.