When you think of good American priests, think of men like Father Capodanno, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can read a book about his life by Father Daniel Mode (himself a Navy chaplain) if you want to learn more about him. It’s quite inspiring. There is also a foundation dedicated to him, with a short biography. Below is his Medal of Honor Citation:
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, Chaplain Corps, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF.
Place and date: Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam, 4 September 1967.
Entered service at: Staten Island, N.Y.
Born: 13 February 1929, Staten Island, N.Y.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3d Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces.
In response to reports that the 2d Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded.
When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead, he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines.
Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Capodanno rushed a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine gun fire. By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Author: Eric Johnson
“…espousals are a kind of sacramental annexed to matrimony, as exorcism to baptism.”
The above quotation is from St. Thomas, who in the Summa answers the question “Whether a betrothal is a promise of future marriage?”. That’s a most interesting phrase.
More to the point: in “Whether a betrothal can be dissolved?”, Thomas discusses many of the questions people brought up in the previous post about the Georgia man who intends to marry his troubled bride-to-be, despite ample evidence that she might be nuts. Fornication, fidelity to a promise, etc., were all discussed by Thomas eight centuries ago. Why would anyone need another theologian?
Defending Hillary
I want to like Hillary better, I really do. The Democratic Party has pretty much reduced its political agenda to government giveaway programs, unrestricted abortion, and the acceptance of buggery. They need to get serious about being a national party again, and Senator Clinton (D-Standbyourman) is one of the few leaders who can stand up to the shrill, narrow constituencies of her party.
So when I see her get tough on North Korea and their nukes, my heart is gladdened. During her time in the Senate, and especially with her work on the Armed Services Committee, she has tried to be a serious voice, and by all accounts she works hard to understand the issues under their purview. States are primarily about enforcing worldly justice, by enforcing the law internally and by defending against external aggressors, and anyone who wants to be president must take that seriously.
Yet through it all, she is a Clinton, and being a Clinton means that you have to get in a nasty cheap shot while ostensibly doing something for the public good. When Admiral Jacoby, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, delivered the assessment that North Korea has the capability to put nuclear warheads on missiles that can reach the U.S., Clinton called it
…the first confirmation, publicly, by the administration that the North Koreans have the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device that can reach the United States….Put simply, they couldn’t do that when George Bush became president, and now they can.
She apparently forgot that her husband was president when North Korea promised to stop its offensive nuclear program in 1994, in exchange for fuel and other goodies. Well, they took the fuel, continued the program, and that’s why we’re in this situation today: because her husband accepted the word of an insane tyrant. The problem didn’t start with President Bush (and, in fairness, it didn’t start under President Clinton, either), it was inherited by him.
Disagreeing about the best way to defend the nation is healthy and good, but using the subject primarily for political ammunition is a grave betrayal of public trust. Someday, there will be a nationally-known Democrat with some degree of intellectual honesty whose name is not Joe Lieberman. Maybe that person will be Senator Clinton. She’s got about three years to make it happen.
Marines 21, Thugs 0
With all the papal news, we have not recently said much on a subject near and dear to my heart: Marines administering earthly justice so murderous thugs can face the divine version.
To summarize: several dozen thugs commandeered three large suicide vehicles and tried to detonate them inside a base. The attacks were deflected by the quick thinking of three 21-year-old Marines, who repelled the vehicles with machine guns and grenades. The thugs tried to attack on foot, but again they failed. In the end, the Marines killed 21 of the thugs and wounded another 15. No Marines were killed, or even seriously hurt.
The herd of independent minds in the media are parroting the same line, about how the thugs’ attacks are “becoming more sophisticated” lately. While it’s true the attacks have more people involved, all of them have ended badly for the attackers. Seems to me that “sophisticated” ought to mean something more than using three car bombs instead of one, and 30 guys on foot instead of 8 or 10. Real sophistication would mean better effectiveness on the battlefield, not getting more thugs to show up to the party.
I regret that the thugs aligned themselves with thieves and oppressors, then threw their lives away by attacking a Marine post. I hope they somehow repented before their death. But how can I muster any sympathy for people whose operating principle is to maim and murder as many people as it takes, military or civilian, so they can overthrow the Iraqi government and take charge themselves?
Know of any good one-volume apologetics books?
A regular Catholic Light reader e-mailed me for some help picking a catechism:
…I am basically looking for a catechism that explains ‘What do Catholics believe, and why do they believe that?,’ and it has to be orthodox. I have already purchased and read Surprised by Canon Law.”
He seems to be looking for a good apologetics book, not just a good catechism. The difference is that a catechism will tell you what Catholics believe, but apologetics will tell you why.
I could name a dozen good apologetical books, but I really can’t think of a single, all-purpose volume — sort of like a “Mere Catholicism” for the general knowledge-seeker. I’m sure they’re out there, I just don’t know about them. Does anyone want to name any favorites?