The Gadfly Vol. XV, Iss. IV
“To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology
November 17, 2011
In Defense of Anne, the Lay Apostle* There are several unified reasons why I believe that Anne the lay apostle is definitely a true mystic and receiving legitimate locutions from Jesus, Mary, and many Saints. Ultimately, the main reason is because from the very beginning of my journey to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary through Anne, I knew instinctively that she really just embodies exactly what it means to say that "Catholicism is normal" - she is just a normal, regular, everyday person, a housewife precisely who has six children and is certainly not perfect and readily admits it - and she simultaneously - and paradoxically, lives a normal and pious, holy Catholic lifestyle of true union with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother Mary, and all of the Angels and Saints. There is absolutely no trace whatsoever in Anne of any sort of "strangeness" or "extremism", "fanaticism" or abnormalities - Anne is very normal in the true and best sense of the word. She shows us so beautifully, and what we so desperately
need in our world today, that Catholicism and holiness are for regular, ordinary, everyday people who all, regardless of how much we may or may not think so, inherently desire (consciously or however unconsciously it may seem/ be) the love and mercy of Jesus. It is only through a loving relationship with Jesus, most fully given to mankind through the Catholic Church, that we can truly be happy and joyful, truly set free to be the men and women that God created all of us - no exceptions - to be. Loving Jesus and Mary, all of the Angels and Saints, is what we were made for and Anne shows us this in such an authentically Catholic way that I would dare say she is one of the very few claimed "mystics" of a wide variety alive today - who most completely has this uniquely Catholic lifestyle. You will not find many alleged "mystics" - even amongst those which may indeed be at least partially legitimate - who embody and imbue this normalcy, this healthy
attitude towards the Faith. Anne believes completely and fully in the Catholic Faith, she firmly professes the Divinity of Jesus and all of the Truths of the Faith in all of their profoundness, not holding anything back from the fullness of Catholic teaching coming directly from the Magisterium, on all issues of faith and morals - and she does this in such a uniquely Catholic way - without any hint of condemnation/judgmentalism (sadly and tragically so common today, possibly even resulting in the loss of souls), but instead with only what I personally have experienced (as well as countless others) the inexhaustible mercy of Jesus and the compassion of our Heavenly Mother Mary. Mystics and Saints like Anne, devout Catholics like this true lay apostle, are SO sorely needed in this age of desperation and hopelessness, coupled with this age of on the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes wellintentioned, Continued on page 6
Our Education to Educate is More Useful than it Looks Franciscan, we have a problem, and I will admit that I have been part of it. We have had this problem for quite some time and it needs to be fixed! It concerns the Education Department and its members as a whole. The majority of Franciscan‟s student body has either experienced or heard of the utter confusion involved in receiving an Early Experience assignment or experiences with education classes that have been branded as boring, pointless, or just plain redundant. I can sympathize with the education majors who have taken such classes, being one of them. The complaints going around are unfortunately not without cause or ground. Many classes are seemingly monotonous, with no apparent value whatsoever. Class period after class
period drags by. Much of the content is familiar because you heard it in a class you took the previous semester. Your education major buddies compare notes after each exciting episode and the ruling is always the same: total deja-vu. Now, granted, some of our classes are fantastically interesting and fascinating. Those in the Education Department have an immense amount of excitement. We get to play games in class or create wacky and wonderful posters about the different fish of the sea for projects. We get a kick out of all the different and creative ties a professor will wear to class. But the general agenda is weary boredom. Some outside the department have developed the idea that the concept of
learning to teach is pointless like the classes they hear about. A usual question: “What‟s the big deal about learning how to teach kids what you know? Can„t you just tell them?” I can understand this perspective. In the beginning, the only reason I decided to become an Education major was that it was the fastest way I knew of to get a license and start teaching. For the most part, it is the fastest way. But before you go blessing your stars you‟re not in Education, or wish what under the sun got you into this department, take a look at the flipside! In our classes, we learn two major components of education. The first is content. Content is subject knowledge, or understanding what we will be teach Continued on page 4
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St. Moses the Black, pray for us!
Staff: Writers: Keith Michael Estrada (K.M.E.) Sarah Hartung (S.H.) Mary Kineke (M.K.) Jacob Popcak (J.P.) Alexander Pyles (A.S.P.) Joseph Stallings (J.S.) Anne Tulloch (A.T.)
Business Manager: Alexander Pyles (A.S.P.)
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Assistant Editor: Victoria Bonutti
Editor in Chief: Daniel Romeyn Davis (D.R.D.) Interested in joining our staff? Email us at notestothegadfly@gmail.com
~Mission Statement~ The Gadfly is an attempt to “bite the sleeping horse” in the spirit of Socrates. It is a student publication whose purpose is to facilitate discussion concerning campus and cultural issues as they pertain to students of Franciscan University. It aims to be a forum for open, well-thought out, and honest discussion towards the end of knowing and loving truth in its most robust sense.
Letter From the Editor: Dear Gadflyians, To begin, I would like to first apologize for the delay in this issue‟s publication. Due to Fall Break and other considerations, The Gadfly is running a week-or-so behind. C‟est la vie. Additionally, I would like to muse about life. I found myself recently perusing through some of the “Fossilized Gadflies” (franciscangadfly.org) when I came upon an article that was written by my sister, Emily Davis (Class of 2009, Spanish and Philosophy). In October of 2007 my sister wrote an article entitled Stereotyping 101 (The Gadfly, Vol. VII, Iss. III), in which she began by asserting that stereotypes and generalities are inappropriate descriptions because they ignore the uniqueness and individuality of the human person. However, around midway through the article, Emily changed her tone and made this statement: “Because I am from New England, certain experiences are uniquely and inextricably part of my character. In a way, I am apple picking in September. I am puritan work ethic. New England has impressed itself onto my character.” She then went on to say that: “It‟s ok that I am a New Englander, a Catholic, an American. Running away from stereotypes is just as conformist as consciously adhering to them.” I believe that Emily made valid points that are
relevant to my contemporary life. Essentially, we should not be forcibly defined by different stereotypes, although, stereotypes are not something that we should seek to run away from. They may very well be true, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is possible that I am including this in my letter because I miss New Hampshire, or that I do not see Emily enough. Either way, I believe that these words are true and relevant to all of us here at Franciscan University. We all come from unique backgrounds and different worldviews; however, there are things that we hold in common. You might call these stereotypes, and rightly so. But these things are inexorable to who we are as individual human beings. Even if my course in life takes me to the far corners of the globe, I can never divorce myself from my past. My past is a part of me. It may sound cliché, and maybe it is, however, I am and always will be a New Englander, a Catholic, and an American – even if someday I find myself far away from any one of these things. In Christ, ~ D.R.D. Postscript: My sister Emily is a novitiate of the Franciscan Sisters T.O.R. out of Toronto, Ohio. Her religious name is Sister Agnes Thérèse, bother her for me if you see her around campus! Now I have a sister-sister, pretty cool, I know.
Rhetorical question of the day: What if Plato were a neurobiologist? The human circadian rhythm in the absence of external light stimuli, called zeitgebers, will run strictly on biological queues and end up in a 25 hour cycle of free rhythm. A human being in the dark for a prolonged period of time, then, will function on a 25-hour day. Adjusting from a 25hour cycle back to a 24-hour cycle takes several days.
Advisor:
On that note, I can only suppose that the Allegory of the Cave would have had a significantly different ending had it taken place over the course of several days.
Dr. John White
~ M.K.
Advisor Extraordinaire
St. Felicity, pray for us!
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Letter to the Editor: Hello Gadfly, Someone needs to let ASP know that not everyone who reads The Gadfly is on FU’s campus. I’m here in lovely California; which is, I always hasten to point out, the most beautiful State in the Union! I’m not sure if ASP is trying to be cute or not, but does he really think that Catholic necessarily equals conservative? Take a look at Rick Santorum for example. That man is about as far as anyone can get from being a Catholic Christian. One of the weaknesses of being a “Catholic” conservative is that very often conservatives have more in common with Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians than they do with Roman Catholicism in the political arena. Santorum is a prime example of that. One of the gifts or Truths that Roman Catholicism holds is that the world is not a stumbling block, rather in its “good creation” it is an image of its Creator. The world is good because it was created by the source of all Goodness. Also, just for the record, to be fully Catholic one has to be fully human. In order to be holy it is imperative that we are fully human because our humanity is what we truly share with Jesus Christ, who was/ is fully human. One of the gifts God gave to
humanity is the gift of being political/ social beings, just like Jesus. Politics and society in their completeness or wholeness are reflections of love. So in order to be the truly holy and loving people that God has/is calling us to be, through our baptism, is to embrace and cooperate with the fact that we are, among other things, political/social beings. Being holy and being political are not mutually exclusive. What is not assumed is not saved. There is nothing that is truly human that is antithetical to God. Trying to deny or repress the fact that we are political/social beings is antithetical to God because it is a sinful and wholly willful act of refusing a grace -filled gift from God. Perhaps I might want to call my rebuttal of ASP’s article “Escaping the Evangelical/Fundamental Conservatism, Leaping into God’s gift of our holy and grace-filled political humanness.” I enjoyed Mary Kineke’s refresher lesson in anthropology!!
Don‟t be Squished.
Have your say.
Professor Quotes of the Week:
Peace, ~ Lawrence Goodwin
The Case for Capitalism: Why Jesus won’t Mind if you Make a Buck Unless you‟ve been living under a proverbial rock for the past few weeks (admittedly this is possible here at Franciscan) you will have heard something about the Occupy Wall Street movement that started in New York and is now making its way to other cities across the world. If, however, you have heard of Occupy Wall Street but still have no idea what it is, be not afraid: not even the people directly involved with Occupy Wall Street know exactly what it is. For your sake then, dear reader, I‟ll give a brief „Dummies‟ guide to the Occupy Wall Street movement and the problems with it. Way back before most of you were born, in the magical Brave New World of computers that was 1989, two successful documentary filmmakers, Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmaltz, founded a not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, proenvironment organization up in Vancouver, Canada called the „Adbusters Media Foundation‟. The organization was formed when the two men saw a pro-logging (what they would describe as “greenwashing”) advertisement on television. Enlightened hippies that they were,
Lasn and Schmaltz decided to make a counter-ad which they called an “uncommercial”. However, when they tried to get the ad aired on the same television station that had aired the pro-logging ad, they were denied on the grounds that their ad was too “controversial”. Shocked that regular-Joes such as themselves did not have the same access to information flows that corporations did, Lasn and Schmaltz founded Adbusters. The idea of the organization was to openly combat what they saw as pointed brainwashing from certain companies. Now this in and of itself is not a bad goal. Anyone who‟s taken a step into the pro-life movement knows how hard it is to get a prolife ad on the very same stations that air advertisements that go against our views. Often, TV stations will blame a pro-life ad‟s “political nature” as the reason for not being aired, while simultaneously the same station Continued on page 4 Continued from page 3
will be showing campaign ads for various
“Stupidity is not when you lack intelligence, but when think you are smart.” ~Dr. White
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ing. For example, a history teacher needs to know a general history of the United States in order to teach US history in a middle school. Can you imagine a student coming up to one of us in our first year of teaching and asking us a question we can„t explain. How horrible would that be? We will be the teachers - we should know the answers. So knowing our content area is extremely important. Pedagogy, on the other hand, includes the tools teachers will need to communicate their lessons to their students, make a place in the work force and, well, pretty much know how to work a career. Pedagogy also covers numerous teaching strategies, as well as theories on education and the biological, mental, social, and spiritual development of students. This is where the rubber hits the road and our education classes fail to meet our expectations. It is also here that we fail to understand the vitality of this knowledge. Very few of us have ever taught political candidates. Lasn and Schmaltz saw this injustice, albeit in the context of environmental issues, and made a major move to try and correct it by creating Adbusters. The problem with Adbusters, however, is not its initial goal, but what it has become. Since its creation, Adbusters has described itself as “a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.” Put simply, Adbusters is a group of selfproclaimed “enlightened” individuals who attack anything and everything they feel supports the “consumerist” society. Well what does all this have to do with Occupy Wall Street? Well, a few weeks ago, it seems Adbusters finally got fed up with what‟s been going on in the American economy, particularly on Wall Street. Because of this, they decided to launch the idea of a “peaceful protest” of the events surrounding the downfall of our economy, with a special emphasis on the problems with monetary influence on politics. Thus, the Occupy Wall Street movement was born. But here comes the question you
St. Raphael the Archangel, pray for us!
before. We have only ever been students and can truly understand their side of the teacher‟s desk. We have not yet acquired the skills and experience to appreciate the person sitting in the teacher‟s chair, doing the teaching. In my own experience, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work in public schools back home as a substitute. Working with the faculty, staff and students has given me an appreciation for the knowledge I have received in various education classes over the past two years at Franciscan. I will venture to predict that once we sit in that teacher‟s chair for the first time, our appreciation for the classes we so quickly wrote off as inconsequential will skyrocket. One last note before I sign off: We, as the education majors of today, are the force, we will find numerous problems facing our students and their education. It will be up to us to make the changes necessary to bring about a better life and learning experience for them. Our knowledge of content and pedagogy will be the language we use to accomplish and succeed! We will be fighting fire with fire and right now, today, in the classes we should be asking: Why did it take the Occupy Wall Street protesters two years after the implosion of Lehman Brothers to get fed up with our economic situation? When questioned on this topic, Adbusters‟ Kalle Lasn said, "When the financial meltdown happened, there was a feeling that, 'Wow, things are going to change. Obama is going to pass all kinds of laws, and we are going to have a different kind of banking system, and we are going to take these financial fraudsters and bring them to justice.' There was a feeling like, 'Hey, we just elected a guy who may actually do this.' In a way, there wasn't this desperate edge. Among the young people there was a very positive feeling. And then slowly this feeling that [Obama] is a bit of a gutless wonder slowly crept in, and now we're despondent again." Now, don‟t get me wrong, I'm just as angry about our current economic situation as the next guy and I have no problem with criticizing our current president, but there are several huge problems with the way people are going about this protest. The first is with how Occupy Wall Street actually is functioning. Based in
label so quickly, we are receiving the tools we will need to fight! Seeing how the redundancy will still be around for a while, we have a choice to make: either to continue the frustration and hard feelings or to look at it as an opportunity to change our attitudes and learn what we can while the information is still at our fingertips. I know it is going to take a great deal of patience and self control, but before we go and make a remark about these redundant lessons, which we will eventually need sooner or later, please, try to think of why you want to teach, what you want to accomplish through teaching and what you will need to accomplish it. Help me, and I‟ll help you, and together we will change the world one student at a time! ~A.T.
New York City‟s Zucotti Park, tremendously large groups of people have decided to “set up tents, kitchens, [and] peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street”. The problem with this is that it‟s doing so much more harm than good. In NYC, police overtime alone has cost the city $1.9 million and counting, and that‟s not even taking into account other costs such as portable toilets, trash pickup, and electricity being provided for the protesters‟ tent cities. The same is happening to other cities as the movement spreads. Boston is being slammed by the monthly cost of $2 million in police overtime required to protect the „Occupy Boston‟ protesters, a tab that the city simply can‟t afford. Secondly, as a protest, Occupy Wall Street makes no sense. If I go to the March for Life and protest abortion, I am doing so because another significant group of people is for abortion. If I protest whaling, it is because some other people somewhere are actually kind of fond of whaling (Oh Japan, you little rascal). The problem with protesting a general lack of ethics among certain Continued on page 5 Continued from page 4
head-honchos on Wall Street is that no-
St. Anthony, pray for us!
body is for it. Nobody is going to stand up one morning and say, “Hey everybody, not only am I ok with the fact that a few Wall Street execs stole all of our money, I fully support them in doing so!” To actually form a group protesting what‟s happened to our economy as of late is to imply that someone, somewhere, is ok with what‟s been going on, something that‟s blatantly moronic. Put simply, we’re all in the same boat on this issue. Thirdly, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, nobody knows exactly what this movement is trying to achieve. Nobody‟s offering a solution to our current economic situation, nor are the protesters asking for any concrete changes to be made. Occupy Wall Street is simply a “we‟re angry” festival, a culturally permissible way for people to air their personal grievances against the proverbial “man”. Summing up this point, The New York Times writer Ginia Bellafante said, "The group‟s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgeably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face – finding work, repaying student loans, figuring out ways to finish college when money has run out." Since the group has no feasible solutions or uniform goals other than to let everyone know that it‟s angry, the movement itself is quite literally pointless. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Occupy Wall Street represents a pinnacle in a generally anti-capitalistic mentality that‟s currently permeating this country. This point is also where the movement hits home for you, dear reader, as this mentality has infected our campus for longer than I personally care to remember. The idea that Capitalism is directly intertwined with greed and is therefore against everything we stand for as Christians is common among students and alumni alike. It seems as though I can‟t turn around without bumping into ten selfobsessed philosophy majors claiming to be “Christian Socialists”. Before I go any further in this article, however, I should probably admit to having a certain bias. I am, in fact, a business major, and I‟m constantly greeted by the notion that what I am studying is somehow in conflict with my religion. In the eyes of many students here, I‟m majoring in something so Capitalistic and self-aggrandizing that I‟m probably on the fast track to damnation. Heck, according to Dante Alighieri, I‟m going to be jousting with all of my
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money-grubbing ilk down in the fourth circle for the rest of eternity. Here‟s the thing you have to understand,, though: despite what the influence of the American neo-Christian model would tell us, making money, and desiring to make money, is not a bad thing. Capitalism is a system in which the little guy can have a dream and then, with enough work and prayer, achieve it and reap the subsequent benefits. Capitalism is the American dream, and I don‟t see what‟s un-Christian about that. Capitalism only becomes a problem when certain people run amuck with it, as obviously a few on Wall Street did. Its ability to be corrupted by a few individuals does not make Capitalism innately wrong, however. One could argue, of course, that if something has the capacity to be used sinfully it is sinful, but to severely paraphrase Willy Wonka, “That is called „Jansenism,‟ my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies”. If you recognize Occupy Wall Street for what it has become (that is, an attack on Capitalism), you have to realize that it is one humongous case of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Those who attack Capitalism for what‟s happened to our country are just the same as those who blame the Church for the “priest scandal”: they lump an inarguably horrible but nevertheless small group of people in with a vast and otherwise exemplary ideal. In the case of the Church scandal, it‟s forgetting the theology, history, and vast amounts of good clergy because of the crimes of a few bad men. In the case of our economic downturn, it‟s forgetting the meaning and individual promise that Capitalism provides us because of the crimes of a few bad men. I cannot stress enough that Capitalism and the wealth it can provide are good things. Many saints lived as perfect examples of this. St. Nicholas, for instance, was incredibly wealthy (he inherited a lot from his parents when they died during his childhood). Despite what some might think, however, he did not give away his wealth to the poor all at once. Instead he kept his money and gave it away little by little over the course of his life. His wealth, which lasted almost to his death, was what allowed for his famous generosity. Wealth was especially necessary in the early Church, which needed
wealthy benefactors to support it. In Romans 16, St. Paul writes, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.” This is one of a few times Paul makes mention of appreciation towards the wealthy women who supported the early church financially. The Church needed, and still needs, the donations of wealthy people in order to care for its people. Even Pope John Paul II, speaking on whether or not he agreed with Capitalism, said, “If by „capitalism‟ is meant an economic system which recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property and the resulting responsibility for the means of production, as well as free human creativity in the economic sector, then the answer is certainly in the affirmative.” So what‟s my point? Wealth, the desire to have wealth, and, by extension, Capitalism, are good and respectable things insofar as one does not care more about their wealth or their desire for wealth than they do God or others. It‟s alright, holy even, to work hard and pursue our dreams. Oftentimes, one needs wealth to do good, and there is nothing shameful in that. By this logic, we can safely surmise that Capitalism is a good thing, and certainly a better form of economy than any other currently available to us in a fallen world. So please, stop inappropriately blaming Capitalism for the world‟s problems. Stop hating on me and the other business majors for actually having financial prospects. And for heaven‟s sake, stop hanging out in Zucotti Park and go home. ~ The Angry Papist (The Angry Papist is solidly Catholic, politically unaligned, and really annoyed with a lot of things. Email him at: angrypapist@gmail.com)
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St. Idisdore the Farmer, pray for us!
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"extremist" Catholics who while having the knowledge of the True Faith are too puffed up with the Devil's pride and too negative and simply sad, lacking the joy that comes from the true love and passion for the Passion of Jesus and the Compassion of Mary. None of us are perfect - we are all sinners. Anne constantly reiterates and emphasizes this fact that comes with being fallen...and yet she reiterates this and reminds us of this, while at the same time constantly encouraging us, especially young people, to live the Catholic Faith with the true joy of Jesus and Mary, the joy of the Saints, the joy of the infinite splendor and beauty of the Holy Trinity. Of course there are many other contemporary Catholics very similar to Anne, embodying this same normal attitude which we need now if anything more than ever such beautiful Catholics alive today such as Fr. Robert Barron with his amazingly phenomenal Catholicism Project, Fr. Benedict Groeschel with his amazing weekly Sunday Night, Mother Angelica, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, among many other regulars on EWTN, Fr. Michael Scanlan, our late Holy Father Blessed Pope John Paul the Great, Pope Benedict XVI, Christopher West, and certainly not limited to this very short list. But as a locutionist, a legitimate mystic, I think that Anne is someone particularly special in her own unique way - as all of us are cherished in the Heart of God the Father...there are so many endlessly apocalyptic, sad "visionaries" and "mystics" some of which could be partially genuine, others of which could be downright diabolical or of purely human origin - nevertheless, Anne's messages are unique.
In every message I have read that Anne has received from Jesus, Mary, or any of the Saints, I have only seen radiate the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ, the awesome, inexhaustible mercy and love of our great God. Jesus shines through all of the messages, if not even more so in her own thoughts and reflections all of which are beautiful and manifest her humility, meekness, and childlikeness. I would compare her spirituality, from what I've read so far, to a combination between that of St. ThÊrèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower with her emphasis on childlikeness, how easy and simple it really is, deep down, to follow Jesus and please Jesus by making little acts of love in union with the Two Hearts, as well as St. Faustina, with her emphasis on these days in which the mercy of Jesus in all of its inexhaustibility and infinitude is so sorely needed to be emphasized and underlined as it has in all times...as well as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta with her emphasis as well on loving Jesus with the Heart of Mary, receiving Jesus in the Eucharist and then giving Him to souls in union with Mother Mary our perfect Mother and Model in praising, loving, and serving our Eucharistic Jesus, and last but not least, Pope John Paul the Great with the call for all of us to spread the New Evangelization with the fervor of the apostles and joy and love of Jesus and Mary. Anne is unique in her emphasis on how we are called to spread the JOY of Jesus and Mary - that's the foundational, central element to what we learn as lay apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King. Of course, as with all true
mystics, it's NOT about all of us necessarily becoming explicitly professed members of this lay group - it's about living as lay apostles, meaning devout Catholics, striving to live holy lives of love, peace, and joy, spreading the life of Jesus everywhere we go. Anne's spirituality, ultimately, is not at all anything "new" whatsoever - it's what we've been called to do ever since Jesus came and preached and suffered and loved us unto the Sorrowful Passion and Crucifixion in union with Mother Mary Co-Redemptrix. We don't need Anne as such - we need Jesus, Jesus, and more Jesus. But why not as Catholics, accept the both/and aspect and realize that through the special messages Anne is receiving, acknowledge and rejoice in the joy and love of Jesus manifested in a particularly unique way - as it is with every Saint - in our own contemporary times? We can oftentimes, especially us more traditional, orthodox Catholics, tend to gravitate unnecessarily albeit with good, pious, holy intentions - towards the "old-time" mystics and Saints - and unfairly neglect, avoid, or even deny/reject at times the authentic apostles and mystics and sincere lovers of Jesus and Mary in our own times. It's ever so important to read the lives of the Saints "of old" no doubt about that - that's our foundation - we are traditional by nature because our future is in our past - Jesus Christ Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - He alone is God. But by giving Jesus the chance to show us His beauty and radiant love in our own Continued on page 7 Continued from page 6
The Classics?! I doubt whether any girl would be satisfied with her lover's mind if she knew the whole of it. ~The Small House at Allington , by Anthony Trollope
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
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Pop Culture Quote: "Indeed, when I am in really great trouble, as any one who knows me intimately will tell you, I refuse everything except food and drink."
~The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde times is particularly vital, literally life-giving - because it is only by seeing Jesus alive in the here and now that we will truly gain the necessary grace to trust that He really is there for us in the Eucharist, that He really can change us from sinners into, hard as the Devil makes it for us poor sinners to believe, into the Saints that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit created all of us to be! It is only by giving ourselves to Jesus through Mary...in our own times, in our own age, that we will truly become Saints and fulfill our purpose in being created. There's no other reason for anything but love. It's because of Love that God created the universe, it's because of Love that God created us, it's because of Love that God saved us through the Holy Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, it's because of Love that God became Man in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, it is because of Love that Jesus so beautifully and lovingly gave us His Mother Mary as Co-Redemptrix to us at the foot of
the Cross, it's because of Love that Jesus gave us His Mother to be our Mother and our sole Mediatrix with Jesus who gives us all of His heavenly graces through Her maternal, motherly, personal mediation and motherly Heart, and it's because of Love that Jesus gives Himself to us in each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, coming to us through this un-bloody representation of His same exact redemptive act on Calvary in the Holy Eucharist, and it is because of Love that Jesus lives night and day in the Eucharist so that we may as Catholics, as members of His One True Church, give ourselves to Him as slaves of love through His beautiful Mother Mary...it is because of love that Jesus lets us lovingly adore Him in His Eucharistic Presence where He truly resides each and every day and night until the end of time, and it's because of Love that Jesus gives us the Holy Father, His Vicar as our infallible guide in faith and morals so we are never ever left in the dark on any real important issue, it's because of Love that Jesus
gives us the consolation of the Truth as being members of the One True Faith, the One True Church which is One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman. So if we have the time and are able, let us allow Jesus to show His love and mercy to us through the mediation of the beautiful Saints and mystics not just of yesterday but also of today such humble, lowly, utterly Marian souls as Anne the lay apostle. By imitating Mary's Heart and giving herself solely to Jesus, Anne with this Marylike joy and humility really does show forth the power and the love of Jesus! ~ Edward Abdallah * The views expressed in this article are solely those of Edward Abdallah and do not necessarily represent those of the Gadfly staff.
F i n d u s n ow O NL I N E ! @ fusgadflyon lin e.wordpress.c om
Wine, Wit and Waggery One Holy Apple-stolic Church I write this as a tribute to Steve Jobs. He was an intelligent and good man. Oremus, Oh high and glorious Steve Jobs, I thank you this day for the opportunity to sell my soul to you for another wondrous product. I thank you for capitalism, and the ability that it has given me to further my selfish greed. I thank you for sending us your holy servant Tim Cook, and all of the wonderful things that he has done for us, thus furthering your monopoly. I offer these prayers to you as you taught us to pray: Our Founder who art in office Hallowed be thy logo Thy products come, thy will be done In the city as in the country Give us this day, our daily apple And take from us our money As we take from those who do nothing to us And lead us into your stores But deliver us from Windows Amen. I am here before you today to profess my belief and complete trust in the church of Apple. Steve has taught us many lessons. He has taught us that if you buy all of your products from the same company, everything will work, and nothing bad will ever happen to you. He has promised us eternal customer service and everlasting entrapment in his system. Upon buying one Apple product you must buy more, and more, because they all work so perfectly together. I love my Apple products, and I am only one of the millions of people who worship the great Steve. Whenever he opens his mouth I swarm with all of my brethren to hear what he has to bring us next to his revolutionary company. All of his ideas have never been done before, and I am continually amazed at his sheer creativity. The great and powerful Steve has taught me these ten lessons: Thou shall not have any products besides mine. Thou shall not take the Apple in vain. Thou shall keep holy my presentation and honour my stores in your cities. Thou shall honour thy customer service representative.
Thou shall buy a new product every year. Thou shall make for thyself a company to steal money from others. Thou shall not break any Apple products. Thou shall support greed and selfishness. Thou shall not support those who need it. Thou shall give me your money for another product with some slightly better features instead of giving money to the poor. I personally love going to my local Apple Store to get life advice and advice on spending my money from my customer service representative. These representatives are the holy presence of Steve in his stores. Every city has an overruling manager who is beyond a normal representative and dictates all of those here. All of these are underneath our Holy CEO Tim Cook. Tim Cook is our current Holy leader and the Almighty Steve has chosen him among men to lead all of us closer to him and his dreams and visions for the world. This great capitalist leader is teaching us how to ignore the real issues in the world, and focus on how we can better ourselves. Apple products are universal amongst themselves, and are set apart from the rest of the world. When one joins the church one must spend all of their money to support the holy CEO and the Almighty Steve. In this Church we are taught the ways of the conservative capitalist. We are taught to spend our money on personal devices that cannot be shared and to carry on our bodies as a reminder. We carry our MacBooks as our bibles, our iPhones and iPods as our rosaries, and our iPads as our prayer books and prayer journals. All of this is to aid us in our worship of the Steve. We also venerate the symbol of the bitten apple. We have our publication companies, and our worship supplements found in the iHome company. Be not afraid to approach the church of apple, our stores are everywhere, trying to evangelize and bring others to the Truth. I and all of my fellow members are here to help enlighten you. We evangelize
through our Internet networks, sucking in people online. The Internet is our means of communication. The Internet is one of the Steveâ€&#x;s most powerful tools against the enemy. He distributes new apps for our worship through his mighty spirit on the internet. A favorite method of Praise and Worship used by members of the Church of Apple is that of Angry Birds. Meditating upon these angry birds allows us to learn more of Steve and how he wants us all to become the mindless drones of his capitalist system. These birds are the first followers who we are to imitate. We must be like the birds, attacking the swine that are those who cannot afford Apple products and those who have stolen our ideas and hide behind their Windows and in their boxes. We must eradicate these lowly swine trying to steal from the system. The pigs are our main enemies in this world. They represent: the liberals, the communists, the poor, the weak, the socialists, the gingers, and worst of all, the followers of the devil, Bill Gates, and all who use Windows or Android products. For the Gates of hell will not prevail against us! We are not an exclusive group though, even you, dear Windows user, can get help. I am here as a prophet of the Great Steve. If you would like to repent of your ways, I and my associates of Apple are here to help you. If you would like reference papers to learn more about our wonderful church, and to be born-again in the Internet and in the Apple, contact me at 666-1606. -The Q The above is an exercise in satire and is not intended to offend any readers. Any similarities between practices of the Church of Apple and of the Roman Catholic Church are used purely out of respect in order to highlight the cultlike nature of many Apple product users, your editor included. Please do not actually call the telephone number listed above.