Disney!

So, I’ve been listening to a lot of Disney music lately.

Don’t really know why. I guess I just forgot how fantastic it was. Primarily the stuff written for the movies in the 90s (all of which had music written by Alan Menken, sans “The Lion King” by Hans Zimmer.) Music geek that I am, I can’t help but marvel at the musical genius each and every one of these films represent.

As I listen to this music, I can’t help but discover a pattern though. Every Disney movie from the 90s has similar plot outlines, and the significant turning points in the plot are highlighted through the use of songs. I have outlined this pattern for you, (don’t worry. I’m going somewhere with this), and I would like you to think about any or all of the following movies as you read it:

The Little Mermaid

Beauty and the Beast

Aladdin

The Lion King

Pocahontas

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Hercules

Mulan

Tarzan

The pattern goes something like this:

The Prerequisite: This is how the movie opens, the first song, that sets the stage for the remainder of the film. Almost all of the above films have it, the exceptions being The Little Mermaid and Mulan. These prerequisite songs are important to give the viewer a feel for the rest of the movie. (Think “Circle of Life” or “Bells of Notre Dame,” my personal favorite.)

Ambitious Song: The protagonist sings some kind of song that discusses how he/she got to where they are or why they are the way they are. This song is featured in all of the above movies. Usually sad with some kind of happy, hopeful overtone, the song shows the viewer what the protagonist wants from life. (Think “Part of Your World” “Out There” or even “I Can Go the Distance,” just not the Michael Bolton version. Yikes!)

New Beginning Song: This is by the middle of the movie, and it can go one of two ways. This is the first way, in which a significant event happens to change the plot or the protagonist’s mission. (Think “Hakuna Matata” “Colors of the Wind” or “Strangers Like Me” from Tarzan.) However, these songs are not in every movie.

Love Song: Ah! This is the second of two ways, and is probably the more obvious/common of the two. Also, I think it should be quite obvious that this is the song where the protagonist meets the romantic interest and, as any good person would do, decides to sing about it in public. (Think “Beauty and the Beast” “A Whole New World” or “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”)

Bad Guy Song: Quite succinctly, the bad guy song is the song sung by the bad guy to illustrate his overall badguyness. Again, pretty obvious. (Think “Kill the Beast!” “Be Prepared” or “Savages. Note that the bad guy songs always have the coolest sounding voices.)

Conflict Song: Okay, this isn’t so much a song so much as a scene with lots of background music that makes the viewer feel as if the bad guy might win. (Think when the Beast lets Belle go back to her father or when Quasimodo is chained up to Notre Dame or, my personal favorite, when Simba sees Darth Vader in the sky.)

Renewal Song: Victory for the good guys! The song is often a reprise of the more musically thematic/best song in the movie, and ties up the rest of the movie so that the viewer has a satisfactory ending. (Basically, every movie has a reprise except for Mulan, Tarzan, and Hercules.)

Okay! Now that we’ve got that out of the way…where am I going with all this?

Stay tuned to find out. ; )

(And feel free to think that I have no idea what I'm doing.)

A Reflection on Mothers

Dear Reader,

You’re still here. I would’ve thought you’d learned better by now.

But, since you are here, I would like to propose a certain thought to you:

What is the purpose of mothers?

I was thinking about this today because it is the feast of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, a theologian and philosopher who is renowned in many different Christian denominations, as well as other faiths. In Augustine’s Confessions, an autobiography of his life, he describes his mother as having been a huge factor in his conversion experience. A devout Catholic, St. Monica prayed for his conversion with great frequency and fervent passion. Eventually, her prayers paid off, as Augustine turned away from his life of vice and decadence and became not only the Bishop of Hippo (what is modern day Algeria, then part of the Roman Empire), but one of the most esteemed saints of the Catholic faith and popular philosopher to many others.

I know my own mother has been an enormous influence in my conversion experience as well. Her prayers for me have helped me to do incredible things, and still do. Even knowing that she is praying for me gives me comfort, but the effects of these prayers mean even more. I don’t know the theological background following this, but I truly believe that the prayers of a mother have a certain grace inherent in them. Just as the Lord Himself would not reject His mother, Mary’s, request at the wedding in Cana, He understands the prayers of a mother, and they do not go unheeded.

This is just a thought I had and wanted to share with any one reading. Also, I want to take this opportunity to formally commend and thank my own mother for all her love and prayers over the years, as well as now, when it appears I need it most.

Thanks, Mom. I love you.

Home

Hi, all,

I recognize, of course, that it has been some time since my last blog post. Maybe you could say I took a summer break, maybe you could say I ran out of ideas, maybe you could say I just got busy (or you could say that I forgot about it for awhile and never got started back up again.)

Regardless of the circumstance of my hiatus, I am back, and with a passion.

You see, this week, I left my home.

Not in the dramatic fashion I’d always hoped it to be, though. I’m one of those diehard romantics that can’t help but entertain the thought of running away from home in my highschool years, backpacking and hitchhiking my way across these vast United States of Themerica, and ending up in Alaska, where I would reside beside a lake surrounded by mountains, dwelling in my humble log cabin with my pet Polar Bear and a practically limitless supply of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

A trek of 3,866 miles.

I didn’t get very far.

119 miles. That’s 0.03% of the necessary distance.

And now, here I am…

…in Indianapolis.

For those of you who don’t actually know me, I have entered the Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary and am discerning my possible vocation as a Roman Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

It is the first time I have ever been away from home for longer than a week.

And I have been quite homesick.

But out of my suffering, it appears the Lord has worked in His usual, mysterious way. In my prayer, desolate though it was at the beginning, I came to this remarkable conclusion.

My grandfather moved from Lima, Peru to come to the United States to work as a physician. Initially, he had not intended on staying. That was in 1961.

Having just married my grandmother weeks earlier, my grandfather left everything he knew in his home to come here. He had to accustom himself to a different culture, a different language, a different climate. Nothing felt the same, sounded the same, tasted the same, or was the same. My grandmother did not join him until another six months had passed. Aside of my great uncle, with whom my grandfather lived, he was alone.

But he stayed. He endured.

And his endeavor resulted in the birth of two of my aunts, an uncle, and my mother. By that time, he had bills to pay, and a family to care for. He could not leave. That was all by 1970.

Somewhere in that time, my grandfather had returned to Peru but once, to visit his father. My grandfather knew that would be the last time he would ever see him.One year later, he died.

Finally, in 1978, my grandfather, having lived as a legal resident for 17 years, became a citizen of the United States of America.

Several years later, my mother met my father, and for some strange reason, she decided to marry him.

And several years after that, five to be exact, their life was made complete with the birth of their third and most consistently difficult child (also, the most proud and likely to write a blog post such as this.)

So, you see, I am the result of destiny.

My grandfather never had to stay in Cincinnati. He could’ve returned to his home anytime he wanted to.

My mother never had to marry my father. She could’ve remained home awhile longer.

And I, myself, never had to come here. I could’ve gone to school back home in Cincinnati. And even now, I do not have to stay here.

But, I owe my existence to the fact that God made man and made man to endeavor and endure the sufferings that come only as blessings in disguise. I owe my existence to a brave, young Peruvian who loved his family too much to leave them and, as a result, brought about the chain reaction that would end in my birth.

And in that thought, I am comforted.

To know that God always has been watching over me, even before I was a thought in any mind but His, and to know that He will always watch over me until the end of days, and to know that He has blessed me with as strong a man as my grandfather and my father and my grandmother and my mother and all of my family who I know will always be here to do the work of His hands, His will…and in that, I am comforted.

So, you see, I year only for the material home I once knew. The home where I can rely on the weatherman to disappoint and the sports teams to do so even more. The home whose roads I know so well, whose every hill and river bring fond memories. The home where a mixture of Skyline chili and Graeter’s ice cream makes up the aroma that fills the Queen City air.

But is that really what home is? A location?

It’s something more. Much, much more than that. I guess I can’t explain it; I’m only beginning to find out for myself.

But, I think it has something to do not with what we leave behind, but what we take with us. Whether that’s the baby blanket your aunt made for you, or the stuffed cow your grandmother bought you, or the original Skyline 3-Way plate your grandparents gave you, or a hair scrunchy your mother left in your dorm room on accident.

It’s these people who embody the acts of love that give me life that make my home.

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Hatred

Osama bin Laden is dead.

This was announced from the White House just this week, Sunday, May 1. CIA Operatives found and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Ironically (or sadly may be a more fitting word), I first learnt about this on Facebook. The majority of my friends’ status updates had to do with this matter. But I was…disappointed, to say the least, to see that their words seemed to somehow celebrate his death.

Now, I am not going to say that Bin Laden did not deserve death, but simply because it is not for me to say. Whether or not he deserved to die is better left to better people. Personally, I can say that I am relieved to know that a man with such ferocious power is no longer a threat to the safety of good people around the world. I can say that I am proud to be of the same nation as the millions of good men around the world who fight and give their lives to protect good people.

But I cannot say that I would ever be proud of any one’s death, even a man such as Osama bin Laden.

I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for sometime: Hatred. What is hatred, and why is it wrong?

What is hatred?

Well, let’s start with the opposite of hatred. What is the opposite of hatred? You might say that it is love. And, to an extent, you’re right. But personally, I believe that the opposite of hatred is truth. See, truth is objectively good and verifiable to all people through objective and unbiased reasoning. But hatred is a disposition that disregards the truth so that one might act as one pleases without fear of the repercussions of truth. Hatred is a lie one tells oneself to convince oneself that he or she is not doing anything wrong.

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining him.” (1 John 3:15.)

Hatred can be a mortal sin. Just as a man who looks at a woman with lust commits adultery in his heart, so too does a man who looks at his fellow man with hatred commits murder in his heart. Many guided examinations of conscience include sins of anger and hatred under the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Another attack on truth via hatred would be a sin that often encompasses all other sins. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a lie, based in pride (as is all sin), and a man who hates is a hypocrite at best. Now I’m not condemning these people. I know that many of their intentions are good, and I know that I am often included among these people. But good intentions do not a good act make. Hatred against a man such as Osama bin Laden, for example:

Yes, he may have done very horrific things.

Yes, it can reasonably be stated that he was hateful as well.

But is that the best way to combat hatred? With more hatred? Hatred is like a fire or a disease; it is all-consuming and infectious. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” These words hold great truth.

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20.)

God calls us all to love one another. Any one who hates his fellow man can not love God. This is the Word of God calling out the hypocrites and telling them as it is. He who does not love his brother can not love his God.

Osama bin Laden is dead. Practically, this may be considered a beneficial event in the constant struggle for lasting peace, security, and freedom. But it is not something to celebrate like this; death never is. One should not rejoice in the death of man unless it is the shared rejoicing with Christ because of a soul’s completed journey to salvation.

In matters of life and death, no one of us can ever truly pass judgment on another. Unfortunately, sometimes we have no choice, and judgment must be passed based on reason. We can use our reason and come to a close approximation of what is just and execute it with appropriate action. But none of us can lie to ourselves and those around us and deem it justifiable to hate others. Especially to hate others for being hateful.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:43-44.)

Let us not hate our enemies. Let us not hate those who persecute us. Love and prayer are the only weapons to combat hatred. Christ Jesus Himself tells us this.

“I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”

–Booker T. Washington

What Now?

My apologies for having been absent from blogging for so long. The hype of Lent and then Holy Week and consequently Easter has been taking up a decent part of my time, as they should. But I am now ready to write about something that I have been wanting to write about for some time now.

What’s going on with the economy?

(Actually, we won’t be talking about that at all, for several reasons: A. I’m not allowed to talk about politics online. B. I don’t actually think it’s important. C. I don’t believe that any one really knows what’s going on with the economy.)

So perhaps the more important question is:

Why are we reacting so harshly to the economy situation?

And by that I mean, why do we consider this to be our nation’s greatest issue? Why do journalists and news programs and other media outlets spend the majority of their time talking about the American economy, as if it is the biggest issue with which we are currently faced? And finally, perhaps most importantly, why is the American economy currently considered to be a negative issue at all?

The first question I will answer simply. The American economy is sinking. That much is true. And yet the American people are sinking as well. We are sinking into a society with no regard for morality. And I’m not speaking from a religious standpoint; though the lack of religion and spirituality in America is disconcerting as well. Yet the fact that American society as a whole has little to no regard for morals or any higher good other than themselves is, indeed, an issue, and at present, our biggest and most concerning issue. Lack of morality feeds into every other evil: crime, be it murder, theft, rape, or any other form of violence including the practice of abortion, mistreatment of human persons, such as racism, sexism, ageism, and all other forms of disordered prejudice, and the ultimate act of selfishness being a complete and total disregard for the well-being of any other person besides oneself. This is the greatest evil in America today; the economy pales in comparison.

I am going to be completely honest with you. As terrible as an economic depression would be at this point, I genuinely believe that the current fear of economic depression is based solely on selfish, materialistic greed. Material poverty is not the worst thing in a world. Millions of people around the world survive without the luxuries we as a society have grown used to. What’s more, these people face much worse financial situations than we probably ever will, yet they endure it every day. Starvation is their lifestyle, for us it’s the exception. They use money as a means to an end, not the end itself. That’s another problem with American society; we all care too much about money. Money has become both a means and an end in American society. If this is how American society is going to be, then perhaps an economic depression will be good for the American soul. Perhaps we need to be humbled. Perhaps we need to rediscover the importance of family, friendship, and community living as opposed to the all-consuming selfishness that often comes with wealth. I am not saying that I want this to happen; I do and will continue to do everything I can to help our economy. But if worst comes to worst…well, it wouldn’t really be all that bad is all I’m saying. People will survive; people are like that. We will still live, and we will still be alright. We need to remove our heads from this toxic cloud of worry and see that the cloud is no higher than our chests. There are much darker things looming above, and we are lucky to be so low to the ground.

We are at war; yes, it is a war. Thousands of American soldiers risk their lives everyday; thousands have been killed. Thousands of Arab men and women are being tormented by political and military turmoil everyday; all are being affected by it. Japan is in ruin after a devastating tsunami caused by a devastating earthquake which consequently caused the most devastating nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl. Genocide and disease run rampant and freely throughout the darkest parts of Africa. And yet the American economy is the media’s highest prioritized concern.

Yet my quarrel is not with the media; I only quarrel against things which I believe I can change, and the American media is not something that can be changed. It is corrupt and useless and, in my opinion, should be completely disregarded. It has failed us, and we should no longer turn to it to serve its purpose.

My quarrel is with you, with us; the American people.

We can change all of this. We can change the way America perceives the world, and consequently the way the world perceives America. We can change the American economy, as well as all of the other evils of our time, nearly all of which are greater than something as simple as the economy. We are America. We should be the government, though currently, we are not, due to our own faults and failures. The government should work for us and by us; the media as well. It is not only our task, but it is our obligation and responsibility as free Americans. The American government could be destroyed in a single day, but America would live on through the spirit of the people. But if the American spirit were to be destroyed in a single day, then the American government would serve no purpose, no matter if it remains strong and standing.

And so, I challenge you: be better than the America of today. And be better than the America of yesterday, which was far greater than the America of today. Strive to be something more than just another idle speck in the mass of America society.

What’s wrong with the world? I am. You are. We are.

What can right the world? What will right the world?

I can. I will. We can. We will.