SUBJECT: RELIGION!!!

We have a new Archbishop!

Bishop Jerome Listecki, currently Bishop of the diocese of LaCrosse, Wisconson, and a former Auxiliary Bishop in Chicago, has been named as the successor to Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was transferred to New York in April.

A hundred thousand welcomes to Bishop Listecki! May your time in Milwaukee be most blessed!

Papa Z.

SUBJECT: SOCIETY!!!

Today is Veterans Day. On this day in 1918, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month -- the guns went silent in Europe, bringing the Great War to a close.

Under President Eisenhower, this day, formerly called Armistice Day, in remembrance of the conclusion of the First World War, was formally changed to Veterans Day -- to honor ALL our Veterans -- Past, Present, and Future.

So here's a heartfelt "Thank-You" to all our fine men and women who have served, are serving, and will continue to serve our nation to keep us free.

Here's to:

The Army

The Navy

The Air Force

The Marine Corps

The Coast Guard

The Merchant Marine

Your sacrifices will never, NEVER, be forgotten.

God Bless AMERICA!!!

Papa Z.

SUBJECT: POLITICS!!!

I'm not usually dreadfully political on this blog -- but this is a big deal to me.

20 years ago today -- the Berlin Wall fell.

On June 12th, 1987, President Ronald Reagan gave the following speech:

"Tear Down this Wall".

Do you remember?

He was mocked at the time by the press and by the pseudo-intelligentsia of the West. We were supposed to appease the Soviet Union. We were supposed to compromise. What about Detente? How dare this "warmonger" use such strong language against our "good friends" in the Eastern Bloc?!

Do you remember?

A little more than two years later, on November 8th, 1989, the Wall fell. Almost immediately, one by one, the nations of Eastern Europe began to break free. The "republics" comprising the USSR began to break free. (Ironically, the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize went, not to Ronald Reagan; not to Margaret Thatcher; not to the Servant of God Pope John Paul II (the Great) -- but to General Secretary Mikael Gorbachov!)

It began 20 years ago today.

And where is our President?

Where?

Why is he not in Berlin?

What are his priorities?

This is not a "Left vs. Right" issue. This is not a "Conservative vs. Liberal" issue. This is a day of rejoicing in freedom -- all throughout Europe.

And our President -- ostensibly the "Leader of the Free World" -- is absent.

What a shame.

Papa Z.

SUBJECT: RELIGION!!!

I've seen quite a few bloggers and commentators begin to refer to Pope Benedict XVI as "The Pope of Christian Unity", and I plan to begin using the same reference. The Holy Father, building on the foundation of the Servant of God Pope John Paul II (the Great) has done more to effect authentic Christian unity than any Pontiff since the Protestant Revolt.

May the words of Our Lord in the 17th Chapter of St. John's Gospel come quickly to fruition.

Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world."I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." (Revised Standard Version)

Blessings,

Papa Z.

SUBJECT: RELIGION!!!

I told you I'd have more on the subject!

The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus has officially been promulgated, "Providing for Personal Ordinatiates for Anglicans Entering into Full Communion with the Catholic Church."

Read it here:

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS

I would invite commentary.

Blessings,

Papa Z.

PS: BTW, for ongoing interesting commentary on this subject, please visit -- in addition to this blog -- "Per Christum" (to which I am an occasional contributor), "Whispers in the Loggia", "What Does The Prayer Really Say". I recommend them both.

SUBJECT: RELIGION!!!

There are VERY exciting things happening with regard to the relationship between traditional Anglicans and the Catholic Church.

I'll have extensive comments very shortly, but for the time being, please check out Per Christum and What Does The Prayer Really Say? for information.

Blessings,

Papa Z

SUBJECT: FOOD AND DRINK!!! AND LITERATURE!!!

Greetings to all my fellow hobbits!

Tomorrow is, as you know, the anniversary of the birthday of those most illustrious hobbits, Bilbo Baggins and his nephew Frodo Baggins! May you celebrate with food and drink with those you love, never forgetting to read the Account of the Eleventy First Birthday Party from the Red Book!

The Zampino hobbits of Delavan celebrated yesterday, as a dear friend has his birthday on the 22nd -- and his son and daughter-in-law could come yesterday.

We had:

Fresh bread with butter and cheese (really GOOD cheese!)

15 bean soup with ham

Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding

AND A MIGHTY DISH OF MUSHROOMS AND BACON!!!

My eldest daughter made fruit tarts (apple, cherry and blueberry) for dessert.

And there was Boddington's Pub Ale!

It was a most splendid occasion!

Blessings to all -- and may the hair on your toes never fall out!

Papa Z

SUBJECT: LIFE -- Lest We Forget . . .

Where were you, September 11th, 2001?

I was on an airplane, headed for the East Coast. I had been sent to Baltimore on a recruiting trip for the Marquette University Graduate School. The flight was routed from Milwaukee to Baltimore via Cincinnati, and it was while we were getting off the plane in Cincinnati that it was announced that there had been a hijacking in New York, and that we would be "temporarily delayed". Needless to say, I stayed in Cincinnati -- and there was no recruiting trip. I saw one of the Towers fall from a lounge in the Cincinnati airport.

I offer the following prayer. It was the prayer given by Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his visit to Ground Zero last year.

Blessings,

Papa Z.

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths
and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and
Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

SUBJECT: SOCIETY!!!

God bless you, Mayor Barrett!

Tom Barrett is the Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has been a political fixture in Southeastern Wisconsin for many years, having served previously in the State Senate and in the United States House of Representatives. On many, if not most issues, he and I would most likely find ourselves on opposite sides of the political aisle, but he has long been recognized, even by his political opponents, as a good and decent human being, with whom one could dialogue, and reasonably disagree.

Last Saturday evening, Mayor Barrett was attending the Wisconsin State Fair -- a tremendously fun annual event which draws hundreds of thousands of participants over its 11 day run. He was attending, not in his role of Mayor, but rather as a citizen out for an evening of family fun. He was accompanied by his sister, his niece, and two daughters.

As the family was leaving the Fair, about 10:45 last Saturday evening, the Mayor's attention was attracted by a woman screaming and crying for help. He sent his daughters off with his sister, while his niece called 911. Mayor Barrett rushed to assist the individual crying for help. When he arrived on the scene, he saw a grandmother, trying to protect an infant, while both were being menaced by a man who turned out to be the infant's father, estranged from the mother's family. When the Mayor tried to calm the situation down, he was punched in the gut, knocked to the ground, and when he arose, was severely beaten with a weapons-grade collapsible police baton. He had teeth smashed out, his hand was shattered, and he was hit so hard in the face and head, that he required plastic surgery.

The grandmother and the infant were unharmed. The Mayor took the beating instead. Greater love, etc.

Fortunately, the Mayor will be okay. The perpetrator is in custody. Not surprisingly, the thug had a history with the local police.

Today, the Mayor made his first public statement after the incident and after being released from the hospital. His comment?

"I can't think of a situation like this when people would not have responded as I did,"

I'd like to think that the Mayor is right.

The late Science Fiction author Robert A. Heinlein used to note that a society in which the basic rule "Women and Children First" was lost, was a society doomed to fail. I think that Heinlein would have been proud of Mayor Barrett.

I know that I am.

God bless you, Mr. Mayor, and may you make a full and speedy recovery.

Papa Z