Here is a story about St. Joseph Moscati.

Joseph Moscati graduated from medical school in 1903. After his graduation he worked at a hospital for persons with incurable diseases. In 1908, while he was still working there, Mt Vesuvius erupted causing chaos and confusion. After assisting at the hospital Moscati quickly went to a nursing home located on the outskirts of town. There he stayed and assisted with the evacuation, taking out the last patient only minutes before the whole building collapsed. He sought no recognition for his brave deeds but instead petitioned the Board of Health to recognize those who assisted him.

Go on and vote on Milisande's blog. I think it will be open for the next six days.

Saint of the Week

I have decided to appoint St. Joseph Moscati as the saint of the week.

St. Joseph Moscati was born in late 19th century Italy. He was the seventh of nine children. Joseph was inspired to become a doctor upon watching his older brother suffer from a head injury. He received his doctorate of medicine in 1903. In 1913 he made a vow of celibacy and aspired toward the priesthood but was discouraged from this path by a Jesuit who encouraged him to devote his life to the practice of medicine.
Moscati gave himself completely to his patients. His special love was for the poor and elderly. Often he would see patients for free and even slip money into their prescriptions. He was ahead of his time in his practice and believed that one's physical health requires a balance of body, mind and soul. Joseph's love sprang from the simple fact that he saw all people as children of God and beloved by Him. He worked tirelessly for his patients, completely exhausting himself. He died at the age of 46. He was canonized in 1987 and his feast is November 16.

Fatigued

I'm really tired but I am going to post anyways. This week has been so insanely busy full of baseball practices, appointments, tons of yard work, errands and even a party. The whirlwind continues until Monday when hopefully I will be able to rest but as the old saying goes there is no rest for the weary.

The Week in Review

This week I ..

finished watching the extended edition of The Two Towers(thank you Elisabeth!)...

began reading Sun Slower, Sun Faster, a piece of historical fiction about the church in England and the Holy Mass...

studied for the ACT test(fun)...


went to mass at St. Florian's, an old polish church...



and went to my little brother's 1st baseball game of the season(Go White Soxs!).

Diminished but not Destroyed

J.R.R Tolkien’s novels, particularly The Lord of the Rings, give us a deeper understanding of good and evil. Good is always good and evil is always evil. The one ring is inherently evil. The good character of it’s bearers does not change it’s evil nature. It’s power is always black no matter what the intentions of those who wield it are. It’s power can only bring confusion, hatred and destruction. Our actions are the same. They are either good or evil separate of the outcome they produce.
The forces of good and evil daily clash in our world. Evil and hatred are the causes of war, genocide and terrorism. In his own time Tolkien saw the forces of evil at work in the world. The leaders of Communism and Nazism were empowered by darkness. They destroyed millions of lives and divided the country of Europe. They broke the bonds of peace and trust that existed between nations and set up in their place walls of suspicion and hate. Evil always seeks to destroy, to break apart. Saruman destroys what is beautiful and corrupts it breeding orcs from men and felling trees for factories. (Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print.) The one ring corrupts those who bear it, from the humble hobbit to the powerful wizard.
Tolkien loved the traditional culture of Great Britain. He was deeply troubled by those who were trying to change. The 20th century saw the modernization of society. Everything from government to education to family life was being redefined. Tolkien saw these as negative reformations and changes. He clung to his old way of life. Even the Catholic Church, which he loved so dearly, was undergoing changes in it’s liturgies and rites. Tolkien stubbornly refused to adhere to the adjustments and continued to recite the words from the old liturgies. (Collins, David. J.R.R Tolkien. First. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2005. Print.) Saruman tried to destroy the traditional way of life that existed in Hobbiton replacing Hobbitholes with apartments and gardens with work yards. (Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print.) The industrialization of Hobbiton reflected Tolkien’s feelings about the changes happening in his own country.
Tolkien offered to the world a solution to it’s troubles in the final chapters of Lord of the Rings. Strengthened by their quest and the peril they together endured, the hobbits returned to the Shire as leaders. They had grown in mind and body and were able to resist the oppression of Saruman and his men. They started a rebellion and drove him from the Shire. They then assisted in rebuilding the community and took on leadership roles. (Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print.) Tolkien thought that the peoples of Europe could be strengthened by the war. He hoped that a new age would begin and that leaders would rise up and drive the forces of evil form their homes. Then, like in Hobbitton, Europe could truly be rebuilt and have a chance of returning to normal life. He never saw the dawn of this new hope. He died in 1973 in the midst of the Cold War. He, like the protagonist Frodo, left Europe with a great gift, a legacy, and like Frodo was not able to enjoy the fruit of his labor. “I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.”(Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. J.RR. Tolkien, chp.9, pg.1029)

Rowlings Fans Beware!

J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series discuss the topic of good and evil. Tolkien unlike Rowlings portrayed good and evil as black and white, an action as being either intrinsically evil or intrinsically good. Evil actions in his tales have evil results. Saruman the wizard starts out good but his continual choice of evil corrupts him and all under his power. He is not able to achieve a good end by a bad means. In J.K. Rowlings novels the topics of good and evil are blurred. Although Harry and his friends are the good guys in the series they often do bad things to get what they want.
In the first book of J.R Tolkien’s trilogy two of the main characters are faced with a challenge. Aragorn, the heir of Ilsildor, and Boromir, son of Denethor, could easily have taken the ring from Frodo the bearer but neither do. Aragorn, from the beginning of the tale, chooses not to use the ring for himself but to safeguard it and Frodo. Boromir was tempted by the ring and at one point tried to wrest it from the ring bearer. Although he only wished to use it to help his people the power of the ring caused him to be filled with lust. The ring also tempted Boromir’s father, the steward of Gondor. He used a tool of the Dark Lord in an attempt to safe guard his realm but was corrupted by the dark forces of Sauron and as a result killed himself. The great wizard Saruman fell in the same way. He used an instrument of the enemy to try to gain power for himself and came under the spell of the Dark Lord. (Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print.) An evil means cannot be used to achieve a good end.
You reap what you sow. Author J.K. Rowling however doesn’t seem to think so. Her characters often do bad things with no negative consequences. They perform unjust acts in the name of justice. No matter what the circumstances good results don’t justify a bad way of getting them. Stealing ice cream for a sibling’s party does not justify the act of stealing even if that is the only way of getting the ice cream. In Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix both Harry and his friend Ron pass exams by cheating. Harry even cheats to win the Triwizard. Harry’s godfather, Sirius, encourages deterrent behavior and Harry and his friends break school rules often but are never punished.
J.K. Rowling’s series presents readers with an ideology known as moral relativity. Moral relativists believe that there are no moral absolutes, that good and evil are relative, and that the morality of an action changes with the circumstance and intentions of the person. It is true that if an individual is unaware that he is doing something wrong he himself is not guilty of the misdemeanor but the action itself remains immoral. Cheating is always wrong even if we do it for the good of another. An example is Hermoine doing Harry and Ron’s homework for them. Just because Harry and his friends stand for what is good doesn’t excuse deterrent behavior. Harry is never punished for his misconduct but is often encouraged to do it. In contrast Tolkien’s characters suffer the consequences of their wrong actions. For example to save the life of Faramir, the son of Gondor’s Steward, Bergond, one of the guards, leaves his post to save him. In Gondor this was punishable by death. Since he had left his post to save someone’s life he was spared this harsh sentence but was still forced to leave the city. Saruman the wizard and his cohort Grima Wormtongue are locked in the tower of Insengard for their traitorous deeds. Actions have consequences. No matter what the results of the action a good end never justifies a bad means. The protagonist Frodo is saved from the power of the ring by the creature Gollum. Although he saved Frodo’s life Gollum is punished by fate since in saving Frodo he took the forbidden ring for himself. Gollum’s lust destroys him and he dies in the fires of Mount Doom as a punishment. (Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print.)Tolkien’s tales teach us that no matter how noble the intention our evil actions will be punished someday.