Don Julian Carron: All Great Men Need Children

Don Carron, the Spanish priest at the head of the lay movement Comunione e Liberazione, is a man with the spirit of il Papa Benedetto. In a recent Italian interview for L'Avennire he praises the Holy Father as a giant in Christian optimism and realism saying that this great herald of the Gospel for our age needs "children" to carry on his legacy. Many people need to get into and carry on the mind of the Holy Father as a light of hope for our present world crises.

Great Books College in Maryland

You've probably heard of Thomas Aquinas College, the elite Great Books college on the West Coast. It is the best in it's class.

But there is another high caliber Great Books college on the East Coast: Saint John's, Annapolis. Though not Catholic, it might be worth a look for it's excellence in classical education.

"Taxes and Fees" Extortion!

Have you noticed the exorbitant "taxes and fees" on international flights over the past several years? For instance, here is a quote from expedia.com on a flight to Israel.

Summary
1 Ticket / Roundtrip
JFK New York to TLV Tel Aviv
Leave: Sun 27-May
Return: Fri 29-Jun
1 adult $590.00
Taxes & Fees $492.00
Total $1,082.00

The taxes and fees are $492.00! making a $590.00 flight $1,082.00. This is very excessive taxation: over 83%! I wonder why nobody is doing anything about this airway robbery!

Ticket prices have not gone up, it is the "taxes and fees" in many instances which artificially raise the bottom line price on travel. There should be a reasonable ceiling to these extra charges for air travel which is no longer a luxury for most people. The taxes and fees should never exceed 10% of the ticket price!

Fugite Fornicationem

Fly fornication. (1 Cor. 6:18). That would be a great bumper sticker or billboard for New York, taken from today's second reading. The new translation says "avoid immorality," changing the verb and the noun. Flight is the best fight in matters of licentiousness.

Just a Donkey

Someone gave me this poem today, this ninth day of Christmas, in response to the donkey on my desk (an Opus Dei mascot).

Just a Little Donkey (by Rita S. Beer)
Just a little donkey, but on my back I bore
The one and only Savior the world was waiting for.
Just a little donkey, but I was strong and proud--
I gladly carried Mary through the chaos of the crowd.
I brought her to a stable where she made a tiny bed...
A place for Baby Jesus to lay His little head.
I pray the world remembers that special Christmas night
When just a little donkey carried Heaven's Precious Light.


The Opus Dei mascot of the donkey is the borrico de noria which is mentioned in The Way 606 and 998.

998 "O blessed perseverance of the donkey that turns the waterwheel! Always the same pace. Always around the same circle. One day after another, every day the same.

"Without that, there would be no ripeness in the fruit, nor blossom in the orchard, nor scent of flowers in the garden.

"Carry this thought to your interior life."

"O Blessed perseverance, most fruitfulful, of the poor waterwheel donkey!: always the same, monotonously, hidden and despised, at his humble pace...,without wanting to know that his perspirations are the aroma of the flower, the beauty of the fruit in season, the cool shade of the trees in the summer heat: all the rich foilage of the orchard, and all of the charm of the garden." (Note from Camino: edicion critico-historico.)