Wake Up and Wonder

Wake Up and Wonder

By Rev. Joseph L. Di Gregorio


Plato said philosophy begins in wonder. I would like to paraphrase that and say, Religion begins in wonder. As we grow older our vision is clouded with the film of familiarity. Spiritual cataracts blind us to the beauty and wonder of the world and God.

Rachel Carson, author of The Sea Around Us, found her sense of wonder had eroded as she proceeded to write her book. So she brought young children to the beach with her. She watched them play in the water, gather shells and see what familiarity had hidden from her eyes. She became again as a little child with the sense of amazement that revealed to her the beauty and life of the sea.

Sometimes WE need a striking event to awaken our slumbering sense of wonder. Thomas Carlyle once wrote, “the person who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder and worship is but a pair of glasses behind which there are no eyes.” Einstein said very much the same: “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead. His eyes are closed.” King David urges us to seek the face of God continually. This demands of us a wide-eyed sense of wonder every day. This is what is behind the advice of the spiritual writers who ask us to practice the presence of God.

Why don’t we do this? Why do we lose our childlike sense of wonder? Because we are too preoccupied with facts. We want canned theories and miles of data. We want everything measured. We insist on being in control to the point where we refuse to let anything surprise us. We can’t even have a ‘surprise party’ anymore.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with getting the facts. Nor can we argue the value of a reasonable control of the environment. We are rightly angry at oil spills that kill millions of fish and ruin beaches. We are correct in fighting the sulphur emissions from smokestacks that redden our eyes and rasp our throats. We are on target when we rail against cancer producing elements in our food and atmosphere.

At the same time we must go beyond the facts and let go of our fist at the culture switch. We must learn how to see facts as an echo of God. A tree stands for more than lumber for a house. Snow exceeds its use for skiing. The world is a hint of God. Its back is to us. Its face is to God. In Psalm 19 we hear, “The heavens tell us about the glory of God. Day pours forth speech. Night declares knowledge. Their VOICE goes through all the earth.”

Such wonder helps us to see the holiness in life. By wonder we gain respect for the real world, so that we do not exploit it, but enjoy it as it refers to God. A miracle hits us over the head. “Wake up and wonder.”

Thus we would move from loving communion with the world to a loving communion with God. Our world is a window onto the sacred. God loves this world, which echoes His love. Stir up your sense of wonder and see the beauty that surrounds you. God Bless You.

Decisions Tell the World Who We Are

Decisions Tell the World Who We are

Father Joseph L. Di Gregorio


Napoleon believed it took five minutes to decide the outcome of a battle. All war plans and maneuvers crest at the moment of crisis. In one battle his troops were stopped at a bridge. His soldiers feared to advance because Austrian firepower swept the bridge. But to win the battle they had to cross that bridge. Napoleon seized the flag from the standard bearer and rushed on to the bridge, shouting, “Forward to save your general!” He electrified his men and won the battle in that five-minute decision.

Shakespeare believed that decisions lead to greatness and good fortune. “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and miseries.”

Joshua believed that courageous decisions would lead Israel into the Promised Land. “Decide today whom you will serve.” They failed him before at Kadesh Barnea, a campsite close to the Promised Land. Then, they had dispatched twelve men to scout the possibility of entry. Ten of them returned with a negative report: “The people are taller than we are. The cities are large and fortified. We haven’t a chance.” Caleb and Joshua came back with baskets of fruit and lots of hope. They urged the people to advance. “The Lord God will fight for you as He did in Egypt. Don’t be afraid.” They faltered. They did not love God enough to trust Him. They stood on the plains of hesitation where lay the bones of countless millions, who on the eve of victory waited – and waiting died.

Perennial wisdom says, ‘He who hesitates is lost.” This time at Shechem, Israel realizes it must decide for God. “ Far be it from us to forsake the Lord for service to other Gods.”

Paul tells the couples of Ephesus. “Decide to stay married. Rediscover the love that will bind you.” In today’s marriages crises, the spouses too often retreat and worry about “where we went wrong.” Perhaps they should decide to do the loving thing for each other. Then instead of a defeated marriage there is a victorious new phase to the relationship.

Decision is like doing. Someone has said, “I don’t know what I think until I speak.” This is like declaring, “I don’t know who I am until I act.” Strong Christian identity today means tough decision-making. Worried Christians in Roman arenas made courageous decisions and became martyrs for Christ.

President Lincoln wrestled with the slavery issue until he made the right decision and became the Great Emancipator. Mary struggled with the message of the angel until she decided to say Amen and became the Mother of Jesus.
Those today that are tempted to doubt and despair should decide to believe and love. It is in the doing that love and faith will overtake them. God Bless You.

It's nice to turn the tables and have a laugh

For everyone who has ever been annoyed by tele-marketers who call at suppertime.
Father Joseph L. Di Gregorio

One thing that has always bugged me, and I'm sure it does most of
you, is to sit down at the dinner table only to be interrupted by a phone call
from a telemarketer. I decided, on one such occasion, to try to be as
irritating as they were to me. The call was from AT&T and it went something
like this:

Me: Hello
AT&T: Hello, this is AT&T...
Me: Is this AT&T?
AT&T: Yes, this is AT&T...
Me: Is this AT&T?
AT&T: YES! This is AT&T, may I speak to Mr. Byron please?
Me: May I ask who is calling?
AT&T: This is AT&T.
Me: OK, hold on.

At this point I put the phone down for a solid 5 minutes thinking
that, surely, this person would have hung up the phone. Much to my surprise, when
I picked up the receiver, they were still waiting.

Me: Hello?
AT&T: Is this Mr. Byron?
Me: May I ask who is calling please?
AT&T: Yes this is AT&T...
Me: This is AT&T?
AT&T: Yes, is this Mr. Byron?
Me: Yes, is this AT&T?
AT&T: Yes sir.
Me: The phone company?
AT&T: Yes sir.
Me: I thought you said this was AT&T.
AT&T: Yes sir, we are a phone company.
Me: I already have a phone.
AT&T: We aren't selling phones today Mr. Byron.
Me: Well whatever it is, I'm really not interested but thanks for
calling.

When you are not interested in something, I don't think you can
express yourself any plainer than by saying "I'm really not interested," but this
lady was persistent.

AT&T: Mr. Byron we would like to offer you 10 cents a minute, 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Now, I am sure she meant she was offering a "rate" of 10 cents a
minute but she at no time used the word rate. I could clearly see that it was time
to whip out the trusty old calculator and do a little ciphering.

Me: Now, that's 10 cents a minute 24 hours a day?
AT&T: (getting a little excited at this point by my interest) Yes sir
that's right! 24 hours a day!
Me: 7 days a week?
AT&T: That's right.
Me: 365 days a year?
AT&T: Yes sir.
Me: I am definitely interested in that! Wow!!! That's amazing!
AT&T: We think so!
Me: That's quite a sum of money!
AT&T: Yes sir, it's amazing how it ads up.

Me: OK, so will you send me checks weekly, monthly or just one big one
at the end of the year for the full $52,560, and if you send an annual check, can I get a cash advance?

AT&T: Excuse me?
Me: You know, the 10 cents a minute.
AT&T: What are you talking about?
Me: You said you'd give me 10 cents a minute, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year. That comes to $144 per day, $1008 per week and
$52,560 per year. I'm just interested in knowing how you will be making
payment.

AT&T: Oh no sir I didn't mean we'd be paying you. You pay us 10
cents a minute.

Me: Wait a minute here!!! Didn't you say you'd give me 10 cents a
minute. Are you sure this is AT&T?
AT&T: Well, yes this is AT&T sir but......
Me: But nothing, how do you figure that by saying that you'll give
me 10 cents a minute that I'll give you 10 cents a minute? Is this some kind
of subliminal telemarketing scheme? I've read about things like this
in the Enquirer you know. Don't use your alien brainwashing techniques on
me.

AT&T: No sir we are offering 10 cents a minute for.....
Me: THERE YOU GO AGAIN! Can I speak to a supervisor please!
AT&T: Sir I don't think that is necessary.
Me: Sure! You say that now! What happens later?
AT&T: What?
Me: I insist on speaking to a supervisor!
AT&T: Yes Mr. Byron. Please hold on.

So now AT&T has me on hold and my supper is getting cold. I begin
to eat while I'm waiting for a supervisor. After a wait of a few minutes and
while I have a mouth full of food:

Supervisor: Mr. Byron?
Me: Yes?
Supervisor: I understand you do not quite understand our 10
cents a minute program.
Me: Is this AT&T?
Supervisor: Yes sir, it sure is.

Me: No, actually I was just waiting for someone to get back to me
so that I could sign up for the plan.

Supervisor: OK, no problem, I'll transfer you back to the person
who was helping you.
Me: Thank you.

Suddenly, there was an irritated but polite voice at the other end of the phone.

AT&T: Hello Mr. Byron, I understand that you are interested in
signing up for our plan?
Me: Do you have that friends and family thing because you can never
have enough friends and I'm an only child and I'd really like to have
a little brother...
AT&T: (click)

Changing Times

“Changing Times…Unchanging Morality”

Father Joseph L. Di Gregorio


• A teenager gives birth in a motel room. Her boyfriend discards the baby in a dumpster.
• At her prom a teenager gives birth in the ladies room. She discards the baby in a trash can, goes back to the dance and requests the band to play her boyfriend’s favorite song.
• A baby three-fourths out of its mother’s womb has its head stabbed and its brains suctioned out. The process, which is legal, is called a “Partial Birth Abortion”.
• In a Michigan courthouse, Dr. Jack Kavorkian is acquitted for participating in his 100th ‘doctor assisted suicide’.

These items may not seem familiar to you but not too long ago they were the headlines in newspapers across the nation. October is ‘Respect Life Month’. It seems a sad commentary, don’t you think on today’s society and the value it places on human life? And yet, people gasp in amazement at how this could happen in our ‘enlightened age’. Like the proverbial ostrich their heads are buried in the sand believing that if they see no evil, it doesn’t exist. What a wonderful way to experience life. Just like the Kiplingesque ‘Priests’ who walk the earth with their eyes shut and only open them when they reach the beauty of Seculda Gould. How much longer can we continue to be morally in dept and expect our great nation to grow and prosper? Not very long I suspect.

Have you ever read the lives of the prophets? Do you recall how many of them were tasked by God to preach to the erring generations about the necessity to reform their morally depraved style of living? And what happened to them. They were ostracized, banished and even killed. Should today’s prophets expect better treatment? When Patrick Henry delivered his memorable address at the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, he urged the delegates to read the signs of the times. We recall his famous conclusion, “As for me, give me liberty or give me death.” But how many recall the most significant part of that address? Towards the middle of his speech he said, “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past…”

Our society today is becoming soft and weak. Recently Air Force General Joseph Ralston took himself out of the race to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ‘simply’ because of an isolated indiscretion committed ten years ago. LT Kelly Flynn opted to take a General Discharge instead of going through the ordeal of a Court Martial ‘simply’ because she fell in love with a married man. And SSG Delmar Simpson is now enjoying the hospitality of the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas ‘simply’ because he happened to have sex with eighteen female trainees at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Let’s face it, eighteen sexual encounters is not pushing the envelope on sexual promiscuity, at least not by today’s standards. What’s the big deal, society says. What’s the big deal? Simply that immoral behavior is wrong. It’s wrong in the civilian sector and it’s wrong in the military. Immoral behavior is wrong everywhere and always.

In his book, “The Tempting of America”, Robert Bork states, “What passes for constitutional theory in much of our liberal society is not legal theory at all, but an egalitarian political agenda which no elected legislature will enact, thereby prompting an elite intellectual and political minority to use the courts as a means of displaying democratic choice by the imposition of their (my italics) moral principles.” In other words, if we don’t watch what’s happening in America, we just might lose everything America stands for.
The bottom line in all of this is simply that we have to face ‘head on’ the challenges of our times. There are, in fact, absolutes in moral behavior. What was wrong a week ago, a year ago or twenty years ago is wrong today. The more we give in to the vocal minority who would permit whatever immorality our libido desires the more we surrender our future and the future of our Nation.

God Bless You…

Why are so many people reactive

Sorry I haven't written something for a while. There were so many things that I could have expressed my opinion on but did not. However, this really annoys me.

Recently the Archdiocese of Philadelphia made a difficult decision to close Cardinal Dougherty and North Catholic High Schools. Of course there was a lot of belly-aching about the decision and everyone wanted to put their two cents into the ring. What I don't understand is that for years these two schools have been losing students for a number of reasons; tuition and the fact that catholic families have been moving out of the area for a while. There just wasn't enough funds to keep these schools open.

Now, didn't the families who send their children to these schools see that things were continually going down? Weren't they aware that the continual decline in enrollment was leading to the decision that the Archdiocese was forced to make? Were these parents blind to what was happening? I don't think so. Like most people, these parents refused to do anything until they were forced to. Until the situation became so critical that an unpopular decision had to be made.

Why weren't these parents pro-active in trying to stem the decline that was occuring in their neighborhoods? Why weren't they pro-active in trying to help increase the enrollment to these two schools. No, they didn't do anything and when the inevitable decision was made they RE-ACTED. If they were PRO-ACTIVE perhaps something could have been done to avoid this unfortunate decision.

People always wait until situations come to a point when there are no alternatives and then they scream why or how did this happened. Unless we begin to read the writing on the wall we're going to keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

What's Happening in America

I've been reading parts of the new proposed Health Care Plan that Congress would like us to vote into legislation. For the life of me, I can't understand who can possibly accept it. There are a number of issues that defy the dignity of mankind as moral and spiritual beings. I can't believe our leaders actually want us to accept this Bill as proposed.

When I think of our Founding Fathers I think of men with character, integrity and honesty. "Give me Liberty or give me Death." Where are we today when we allow others to lead us down the road to perdition? This Bill as written would allow 'abortion on demand'. And who will pay for it? You and me and every other American who pays taxes. Why can't we elect leaders who truly want to serve the greater good of humanity? Is everyone out for themselves? Are we to believe that there are no men or women of integrity any more who don't mind being led by politicians who only have one concern, namely their own material wealth and power?

It seems to me that we really need to be aware of what is happening. If not we're going to get ourselves involved in a Health Care package that will, in my opinion, destroy the very fabric of our society. We cannot allow our leaders to do this to us. They are our elected leaders. They work for us. They need to be aware of what We want.

We respect all life and the dignity of every man, woman and child. We want our leaders to know that we will not tolerate any compromise that will negate that dignity. We need to let our leaders know that this time we will not stand by and let everything our Founding Fathers fought for be lost because of THEIR inability to govern with honesty.

Power of the Media

I'm constantly amazed at how powerful the news media (TV, Radio and Papers) is in our society and culture today. As we approach the holiday season, we'll hear so much about to celebrate this time with gifts, trips, and parties. We'll hear statements like, "if you want to have the best (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years), buy this or do that. It's as if you can buy the happiness you're seeking. How easily are we deceived. People will sit outside of department stores for hours waiting for them to open so they can get first choice of items the news media will designate the gift to get or have this season. People will put themselves in debt for articles they don't need simply because they are convinced they do need them. How silly.

Can you imagine what it would be like to open the doors of any Church, Temple or Mosque and actually see people waiting to get in? The greatest gift imagineable, Jesus, is waiting and no one seems to care.

I wonder what would happen if the media announced "The greatest gift you could ever want is waiting and free; it's at your place of worship...NOW".

Warriors for Justice

I wrote this some time ago after emailing with some priests and protestant clergy I served with while on active duty...Just a thought...Fr. Di

It has not escaped the notice of men and women in uniform that quite a number of religious leaders in civilian life have been outspoken opponents of war against Saddam Hussein. None of the Chaplains I know or have spoken to would directly criticize their anti-war civilian colleagues. Yet some did say the clerical pacifism leaves many soldiers angry, confused, betrayed and even spiteful toward faith. These pronouncements tend to reinforce the notion that religion is for wimps, for frilly suited morons and those are among the more gentle statements, one hears.

As men and women of faith deliberate the morality of war with Iraq, it is a travesty that more of them haven’t had the perspective of military chaplains, that virtually the only religious voices heard in the public square are coming from the anti-war corner.

The divide between military and civilian clergy over the Iraq war is philosophically very deep. It cuts to the core of one’s belief in evil and the nature of human beings. Military chaplains who have been with American troops in war zones have seen a side of humanity that bishops in well-appointed chanceries and pastors sitting in suburban middle-class comfort, pondering therapeutic approaches to the mystery of iniquity, never see. This is what Philip M. Hannan, the retired Catholic archbishop of new Orleans and a World War II military chaplain, was getting at last fall when he criticized his fellow bishops for their pacifist pronouncements on the Iraq war. Hannan, 89, who was with G.I.’s when they liberated two concentration camps, remarked at the time that the bishops had no experience with tyranny and had no idea how to cope with it.

“I’ve stared into the face of evil, says Chaplain Vince Inghilterra, who will soon take over as chief chaplain for the U.S. armed forces in Europe and the Middle East. “We chaplains have actually seen the oppression, the devastation, the hopelessness, the absolute inexplicable, irrational hatred a person can have against another human being. It astounds me. But evil definitely exists, and what we are dealing with in this Middle East situation is evil. There’s only one-way to deal with that kind of evil, and that’s to confront it, with force if necessary”.

Some chaplains say the failure of contemporary American society to grasp the true nature of the evil we face means the country is spiritually unprepared for war and its sacrifices. The civilian clergy is not particularly helpful on this point. “There are a lot of people living in denial, even though right now there are Humvees with Stinger missiles patrolling Washington, ‘says one experienced chaplain’. “The battlefront is now here at home. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Military clergy have been dealing with this chasm in understanding with their civilian counterparts since at least the Vietnam era. When Father Vince Capodanno, a Maryknoll priest, returned from a year spent ministering on the battlefields of Southeast Asia, his fellow Maryknollers greeted him with indifference at best and scorn at worst. “They didn’t want to hear about it. They didn’t know and they didn’t want to know because they were anti-war,” says Chaplain Mode, Capodanno’s biographer. Father Capodanno immediately wanted to go back and be with his men. Father Capodanno did go back. He died on the battlefield serving the needs of his men. For that he received the Medal of Honor.

God Bless America? Why

I wrote this a few years ago while stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. I thought it worth repeating.

Something happened to me the other day that I’m having trouble with. I was driving on the boulevard and I noticed a car that passed me had a sign taped inside the back window. The sign simply said, God Bless America. Now I’ve seen, God knows, hundreds of such signs over the last few years. I’m sure you have too. No doubt the tragic events of September 11 have caused a lot of Americans to consider their own mortality and think perhaps a little more about God. As I drove behind that car the thought would not leave my mind. God Bless America. And then it hit me. Why should God Bless America? What have we done to deserve His blessing? A court in Indiana is trying their hardest to make it illegal to have a plaque with the ‘Ten Commandments’ posted in a Federal Court House, we already voted to take prayer out of public schools, our Supreme Court now permits ‘Abortion on Demand’ which has resulted in over a million abortions a year (over thirty million) since Roe vs. Wade. We have pornography rampant in movies and television. Americans don’t seem to care if their leaders have moral values, character or integrity (that has already been proven, twice). And now we have the audacity to ask, ‘God Bless America’.

If I were God I’d be rolling on some soft cloud laughing my sides out. As I continued to drive I thought about another incident. In Genesis, chapter 18, we read the account of how displeased God was with Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham begged the Lord not to destroy both towns. He said, “Lord, Are you going to destroy both the good and the evil”? And God said, “If you find just fifty good people, I will not destroy those towns”. You know what? Abraham could not find even fifty good people. He went back and brokered with the Lord; how about forty? He couldn’t find forty or thirty or ten. You know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you think Sodom and Gomorrah were worse off in their day than we are today?

God Bless America? Is there any Nation more blessed by God than America. And yet here we are, the strongest and richest nation in the world which also happens to have the highest divorce rate of any other nation in the world, where solemn vows and promises are made a joke of, where we spend more than four billion dollars a year on pets while forty thousand children and poor go to bed hungry every night. God Bless America? Why?

God Bless America? Where more children are born out of wedlock every year than anywhere else in the world. Where we spend over ten billion dollars on athletes and entertainers who lack moral convictions and are the saddest examples for our children and yet teachers, counselors, nurses and so many other professions that truly help our families are paid the most pitiful wages imaginable. God Bless America? Why?

God Bless America? Where homosexuality is accepted as an ‘alternate life style’ and where some states are enacting legislation that will allow same sex marriages. Well, I hope God does bless America. But for the life of me, I can’t understand why He would want to.

Learning From Experience

One of this Nation's greatest patriots, Patrick Henry, addressed the Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond Virginia on March 23, 1775. His address was powerful and full of determination that America would see the build-up of British weapons and realize that war was near. Most of us remember his closing statement, "As for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

I wonder, however, how many recall another famous part of that address. Towards the middle of his speech, Patrick Henry said; "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future except by the past." The philosopher Nietzsche said, "We study the past so as not to repeat its mistakes."

It seems to me that we have not learned the important lessons of the past. I say that simply because we are repeating so many of them again. To me the important lessons of the past are those which reflect our need and dependence on God. If we can only turn back to God and ask His guidance, I believe this great Nation can once again live out its mission to teach Liberty, Justice and Equality as the gifts, given not by man, but by God.

God Bless You...