Cast The Net, Tend My Sheep

Today is the third Sunday of Easter. The Gospel at Mass brings the Risen Christ and the disciples back to the seashore.

From John Chapter 21:

At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

They said to him, “We also will come with you.”

So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”

They answered him, “No.”

So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.”

So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.

When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”

So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”

And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

Jesus said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

The image above is a photo of Vincent van Gogh's "The Stevedores in the Arles" or "Men Unloading a Boat at Arles" (1888). The painting lives at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain.

The English Department

Today's New York Times carries an important story by Marc Santora and Christine Hauser about how students and faculty of the Virginia Tech English Department had interacted with the student who Monday carried out the mass murder on that campus.

Please read the whole story but there's one part that sticks with you:

Ross Alameddine sat a few feet from Mr. Cho for months in a class examining contemporary horror films and literature. Both students were required to keep what were known as “fear journals,” where they chronicled both their reaction to the material covered in class and their own fears.

Mr. Alameddine, according to classmates, made an effort to speak to Mr. Cho on several occasions, trying to draw him out of his closed world and his refusal to interact with other students.

On Monday, Mr. Cho shot and killed Mr. Alameddine.

There is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Cho targeted his classmate, but it is the first time one of the victims has been connected to Mr. Cho before the shootings.

Into Great Silence

On Sunday, I ventured out into the Nor'easter to see "Into Great Silence" at the Film Forum.

The nearly three-hour documentary film, with no voice-over or added music, follows the lives of the Carthusian monks (hermits?) at la Grande Chartreuse, a monastery in the French Alps.

The filmmaker, Philip Gröning, lived with the brothers for the six months he made the documentary (with no artificial lighting or extra cameras).

He shows them at prayer, in choir, eating solitary meals and one common meal. He also shows their rare occasions of social interaction, including enjoying the snow of the Alps.

The only thing omitted was the making of the Chartreuse liqueur.

It was difficult sitting through almost three hours of near silence -- made you wonder how these unique men spend nearly their entire lives practicing it in the hope of achieving such great intimacy with God.

Peace Be With You

I've been remiss this week in posting one of the readings from the Sunday Mass. The Gospel was a good one -- "Doubting Thomas." From Chapter 20 of the Gospel of John:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Catholics now call the second Sunday of Easter "Divine Mercy Sunday."

Blacksburg

I'm finding it difficult to concentrate today, attempting to focus on work while mentally processing the mass murder that occurred yesterday at Virginia Tech. I once attended a conference on that campus and the building names being repeated in the news reports are familiar to me.

This morning, while on the train to Yonkers, I read this reflection by Lucinda Roy that appeared on The New York Times commentary page. A quote:

"But Blacksburg isn’t a place of massacres — Blacksburg is my home in southwest Virginia. It’s boring — that’s why I like it. We are Virginia Tech, the fighting gobblers, the ones who wear the funny turkey hats and plant tasteless turkey sculptures all over town. We are not the stuff of massacres."

The NYT photo above is by Todd Heisler.

Main Street Plans

Mike Jones wrote in Friday's O-R about a meeting tomorrow night at the Midway Fire Hall on a way the boroughs of McDonald and Burgettstown could work together to improve their business districts.

While I'll be out-of-state tomorrow, I hope many local residents attend this important community meeting!

From Mike's article:

Two northern Washington County boroughs are working together to take advantage of a state program designed to spruce up small-town business districts.

The Pennsylvania Regional Main Street Program provides funding assistance for hiring a manager to plan economic development and revitalize smaller communities. While most Main Street managers oversee development in just one town, borough officials from McDonald and Burgettstown are discussing sharing a manager because of their size.

On Tuesday, officials from both boroughs will meet with state and county redevelopment planners to learn more about the program. The public and representatives of other area municipalities are also invited to attend and discuss the plans during the 6:30 p.m. meeting at the Midway fire hall.

“Surviving the Blitz”

A few days back, Catholic Online posted a story on the remarks of Tom Brady, Sr., at a recent Catholic men's conference in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The father of the Superbowl-winning quarterback of the same name, he spoke about how prayer and faith can help with "blitz-like pressures we all encounter in everyday life."

Good quotes:

"There’s no Pollyanna in the Brady family,” he said. “We have in our family experienced the pain of divorce, the anguish of family feuds. We’ve been addicted with the Irish flu - or perhaps that’s alcoholism. And other addictions as well.” He added that he himself was abused as a child.

Brady, 62, did not speak specifically about the well-publicized news that son Tom and his former girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynihan, are expecting a child outside of marriage. But Brady did note that this isn’t the first time this has happened in his family.

“When it comes to grandchildren being born outside of wedlock, we’re three for three,” he said. “There’s disappointment there because that’s not really kind of the way it’s done. But I love the fact that they’re here with us - rather than the alternative that so often happens in society today.”

They Remembered His Words

From Luke Chapter 24:

At daybreak on the first day of the week the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.

They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”

And they remembered his words.

Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others.

The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.

But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.

The image above is Maurice Denis' 1894 oil on canvas "Holy Women Near the Tomb/Saintes Femmes au tombeau."

The Triduum

For Catholics, the Season of Lent ended Thursday evening at dusk and the "Easter Triduum" began -- our three-day commemoration of Jesus Christ's Last Supper, Agony in the Garden, Suffering, Death, Entombment and Resurrection.

These days have been Spirit-filled for me. On Thursday evening, I attended a tremendous Holy Thursday Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church, a few blocks west of Union Square in Manhattan. For Good Friday, I spent about six hours at St. Patrick's Cathedral -- for the solemn "Three-Hour Meditation on Christ's Seven Last Words" and for the traditional Good Friday service.

At last year's Easter Vigil, Pope Benedict XVI spoke these words about what all this means for our world:

"If we may borrow the language of the theory of evolution," Benedict said, "it [the Resurrection] is the greatest 'mutation,' absolutely the most crucial leap into a totally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its development. … It is a qualitative leap … towards a new future life, towards a new world which, starting from Christ, already continuously permeates this world of ours, transforms it and draws it to itself."

A blessed Easter to all!

Decent

Yesterday evening, we saw "Reign Over Me," which stars Don Cheadle as a Manhattan dentist who tries to help his old dental school roommate, played by Adam Sandler, come to grips with the death of his wife and daughters.

Overall, "Reign Over Me" was a decent film despite seeming to drag at times. Cheadle was quite good. Sandler's performance was passable but I can't help thinking that perhaps stronger actor could have been found for the role.

A.O. Scott's somewhat critical review of "Reign Over Me" in the New York Times was deserved, I think -- although I appreciated Liv Tyler's small role more than he did.

The Stones Will Cry Out!

Yesterday was Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, the first day of Holy Week. From the Gospel of Luke Chapter 19, we recall Christ's entry into Jerusalem:

Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. He said, “Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone should ask you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will answer, ‘The Master has need of it.’”

So those who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying this colt?”

They answered, “The Master has need of it.”

So they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount.

As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen.

They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

Fulfilling A Responsibility

Michael Luo has an interesting article in today's New York Times about life post-Speakership for U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert.

From Michael's article:

Mr. Hastert, 65, of Illinois, who at eight years was the longest-serving Republican speaker in history, is getting used to life among the proletariat in the “People’s House.” He is one of the few speakers, and the first since Joseph W. Martin Jr. in the 1950s, to rejoin the rank and file.

“You miss being in the fight every day,” Mr. Hastert said in a rare interview. “That’s part of human nature. I’m an old coach. You like the competition, but, you know, things change.” ...

There has been talk of an ambassadorship in Mr. Hastert’s future, but he all but ruled that out, saying his wife was reluctant to leave Illinois. They also have a new grandson. His plan for now, he said, is to serve the rest of his term. He hinted he might run again, pointing out that he was raising money.

“People elected me in my district to run and to be a congressman, whether I was speaker or not,” Mr. Hastert said. “I’m going to fulfill that responsibility.”

(New York Times photo above by Doug Mills.)

In Memoriam: Don Tayor: 1927 - 2007

During my State House campaigns, I came to really like a group of the old-timers from the Burgettstown area -- many of whom I met through the Burgettstown Knights of Columbus and Our Lady of Lourdes Church. On Monday, we lost one of these old-timers -- Don Taylor.

Don's obituary is in today's O-R. It makes note of his service as a Mt. Pleasant Township supervisor and his work with the Knights and the Burgettstown Senior Center.

In 2006, Don attended some of my campaign events and spent time on my behalf outside the polls. But more important to me was his advice about changes in the local political scene. His instincts were nearly always on-target. I'll miss him.

From the prayers at the end of the funeral Mass:

Don,

May the angels lead you into paradise,
may the martyrs come to welcome you,
and take you to the holy city,
the new and eternal Jerusalem.

They Went Away

We are now in the fifth week of Lent. Sunday's Gospel at Mass, the story of the woman caught in adultery, shows us Christ's wisdom and mercy. From John Chapter 8:

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.

They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.

So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

She replied, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Good News for the 33F

Reporter Mike Jones brought us some great news in Saturday's O-R: It looks like the Port Authority of Allegheny County's 33F bus will keep on rolling through McDonald!

From Mike's article:

The Port Authority of Allegheny County announced Friday it plans to cancel some of its proposed route cuts, including one of the two weekday routes through McDonald.

The 33F, which runs from the borough to Carnegie, where riders can catch a transfer bus into Pittsburgh, will remain on the schedule, albeit only during rush hour in the morning and afternoon.

PAT spokeswoman Carmen Bray said there will be "some level of service" before 9:30 a.m. and after 3 p.m. She said there may need to be some changes during those times to accommodate other routes and schedules.

"A lot of those details haven't been decided and we're still working on those plans," Bray said. "There will be rush hour service, but how those trips will be adjusted - when they begin and end, and the frequency of service - we're still working out."

The 28G route is still slated for elimination. The 31E, which departs from Gladden and connects through Bridgeville, will remain on a limited schedule. The transit authority's Consumer Relations and Operations Committee approved the recommendations Friday and sent the revisions to the board of directors. A final decision will be made March 30.

108 Lives

In May 1999, I spent about two weeks participating in a journalist exchange program in the City of Novokuznetsk in Sibera, Russia (about 200 miles from the Chinese and Mongolian borders).

This week, the world learned about Novokuznetsk after an explosion at a coal mine there killed 108 miners and other workers -- making it one of the worst mining accidents in recent history.

There's an AP story at CNN.com with details from funerals.

O-R Editor Park Burroughs also has coverage at his blog. Park organized our trip to Novokuznetsk back in '99.

Pathetic

Yesterday, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto pulled out of the race for Mayor of Pittsburgh, seemingly giving Luke Ravenstahl a free pass to a win in November. Pathetic.

There is no longer democracy in the City of Pittsburgh. The City government is an oligarchy controlled by the Democrat Committee and the handful of dominant Democrat families and their loyalists. Communist China and the ghosts of Soviet Russia would be proud.

Can any city thrive or any region grow without political competition pushing its leaders?

The “leaders” of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh Republican Committee should resign. They have shown themselves incapable of sustaining the two-party system.

Today's P-G has an excellent editorial also lamenting this sad state of affairs.

(P-G photo above by Rebecca Droke. Rebecca's caption: Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto announces he will withdraw from the Democratic primary for mayor at a news conference at his campaign headquarters in East Liberty yesterday.)

Crashing in Queens

Today's P-G includes a story about Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's recent acceptance of some perks.

I found it most interesting that, after taking that flight on a billionaire's private jet, the Mayor of Pittsburgh crashed at the apartment of a friend of a friend in Queens. (No specification provided on whether he slept on a couch or an air mattress.)

To my mind, this shows Mayor Opie wasn't looking for any hand-outs. If he had, he would have spent the night in Manhattan.

Coffee Runs, Celebs & Carol

My cousin, Casey Colby, objected in an e-mail today to the fact that I had not yet done a blog post about my time in New York. So, to satisfy the person who may be my most international reader (Casey lives in Holzwickede, Germany), I hereby tender a few New York stories.

I arrived here late last week to start my new gig, which I can report is going pretty well. (Observant readers may have noticed that, on Friday morning, the job title in my Blogger profile changed from "Political & Media Consultant" to "Marketing & Communications Professional.") The folks at my new workplace have a standard a.m. coffee run to a deli across the street -- which is usually a pretty good sign.

Having already lived in NYC for four years during college, I know that one of the ways you can mark time is in the sightings of celebrities and quasi-celebrities. My first occurred on Saturday at the Barnes & Nobles on Union Square when I was standing next to Morgan Spurlock, the guy from the documentary "Supersize Me." It's not surprising Spurlock was the first -- I think he lives in Lower Manhattan and he's a fellow NYU grad.

And, not an actual sighting but close: Tonight, Chris Daughtry, last year's runner-up on American Idol, played at Irving Plaza, the club next to the little hotel where I am staying (also at Union Square). I didn't get to catch the sold-out show, though. A scalper tried to sell me a ticket but I balked at his $100 asking-price for the $20 ticket.

Another interesting story -- even if it will sound rather self-righteous: On Saturday afternoon, I bought a meal for a homeless person. I was inside St. Francis Xavier Church waiting for the 12:05 p.m. Mass to start when a homeless woman (maybe 45 or 50 years old with shoulder-length stringy blond hair) walked up to me in the pew and loudly asked, "Will you help me get some food?"

Being one of those flashing-neon-sign "WWJD" moments, I walked with her to the nearby deli on the corner of 5th Avenue and 16th Street. "Carol" got a ham and cheese sandwich on a hoagie bun with a bottle of Coca-Cola and two yellow apples. Walking back to church, Carol told me she was "a domestic violence case from Pennsylvania." Hearing this, I told her I was from Pittsburgh and she said she was as well. She exclaimed she was happy to meet another Pittsburgher.

When I got out of Mass, Carol was already gone. She said she was staying at a shelter on 96th Street with her 16-year-old son.

Tonight, just after the interaction with the above-mentioned scalper, another homeless person (this time a grumpy little man) also asked me to help him get some food. But, the New Yorker in me kicking in, I just responded, "Sorry, man" and kept on walking. Guess I'm not so holy after all.

To close, here's a prayer by Thomas Merton that I've been carrying around with me the last few days. The ending is very grim, but you'll get the point:

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Prodigal Son

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent. The Gospel at Mass today included the Parable of the Prodigal Son. From Luke Chapter 15:

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So to them Jesus addressed this parable:

“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’

So the father divided the property between them.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need.

So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.

Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’

So he got up and went back to his father.

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.

He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’

But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’

Then the celebration began.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.

The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.

He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’

He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”