Viva Espana!

In honor of Spain’s recent victory, here’s a story from Saint Gregory’s senior class pilgrimage on the Camino di Santiago.

The senior class of St. Gregory’s Academy biked into Alba Franca, a town just before one of the steepest climbs through the mountains. Tired, wet, hungry, and penniless, Luke Culley led the lads to a hostel where he had previously found one of the five good faces of the earth. This was a privately-owned hostel, owned by a true Christian. This man had not only allowed the students to use the kitchen and sleep under a roof, for the customary fee of a juggling show; he had been so taken with the Saint Gregory’s spirit that also gave the boys food and good company for a night the year before. With the prospects of an old friend, warm food, and a dry place to sleep in front of them, the band arrived at the door of the hostel.

There, they met not the owner of the hostel, but two of his friends, workers at the hostel. One of them spoke English; the other didn’t. As Luke attempted to explain the situation (that they were poor pilgrims on the Camino, that he knew the owner, what they had been allowed in the past), it became apparent that the workers were uncomfortable at the prospect of allowing the ragged bunch into the hostel. ‘The owner can't see you,’ they protested. ‘Just let me have a word with your boss,’ Luke said, ‘and that will clear everything up.’

But, the workers were obstinate. They even resorted to an old trick, hiding behind the language barrier. The English-speaking worker pretended that the Spanish speaker was really the one in charge, and thus neatly sidestepped any possibility of understanding the situation. ‘We cannot disturb the owner; he is too busy,’ he said, ‘you must go:’ and left the conversation. Meanwhile, the Spanish speaker side-stepped as well, insisting that he could understand nothing. He did, however, understand the words “Leave now!” and was surprised that the Americans had trouble with that order.

Disappointed, if only because of their high hopes, the students turned out into the wet. Luckily, they found a place to sleep just outside of Alba Franca. This wasn’t the nicest place. It was an abandoned nunnery, filled with old bones (at least one of which was human), old papers (there was a letter from the 19th century), and … yesterday’s newspaper? Fresh food in the kitchen? What was going on? Needless to say, the students bunched together in one room for the night, not wishing to spread themselves out, though the convent was very large. Luke asked, jesting, the next morning, whether anyone had been too afraid to leave the communal room to go to the bathroom late at night; a few students admitted ruefully their fear.

So, after a hearty breakfast of water, a vitamin pill, and doughnuts that were found in the convent kitchen (they weren’t from the 19th century), the students, colder, hungrier, and more down in spirits than the night before, climbed their steeds/bikes and began the arduous path up the steepest climb of their trip.

About ten kilometers out of town, a truck came up behind the stretched-out convoy of bikers. It is common (though rather impolite) for drivers to harass the convoy with their horns as they try to pass the large group of bikers on the narrow mountain roads. The man in this truck, however, outdid the others. Honking, waving his arms, shouting at them--really annoying. Everyone arrived at an overlook where they could pull over, take a break, and find out what the problem was with their follower.

The driver, as you might have guessed, was the owner of the hostel. After hearing from his workers how a group of jugglers had harassed the hostel the night before, the owner, distraught at his workers’ inhospitality, left the next morning, driving around town for an hour trying to find the students and apologize to them. I mentioned before that the hostel was privately owned, not involved with the tourism bureau. The owner took pride in the fact that he, being the owner, could extend hospitality to those who needed it, and was literally in tears from anger at his workers for having failed to practice the beatitudes. He personally spoke with and apologized to everyone in the group; Luke and co. assured him that they were not angry or put out at all; the students sang a few songs and juggled for a bit; the owner left; and the Camino continued.

The owner was not done with them, however. He had driven ahead to the nearest rest stop and bought the pilgrims plates of food--and not just the fare that characterizes the pilgrimage, the old standards bread and cheese: but plates of deli meats and hot quiches.

Considering that the owner’s name was Jesus, haven’t we heard this story before?

And they brought to him young children, that he might touch them. And the disciples rebuked them that brought them.
Whom when Jesus saw, he was much displeased and said to them: Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Amen I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter into it.
And embracing them and laying his hands upon them, he blessed them. (Mk 10:13-16)

And, the Scripture passage that guided the pilgrims’ reflections:
Be not solicitous therefore, saying: What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knows that you have need of all these things.
Seek therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Mt 6:31-33)

These things added included good food, camaraderie, wine, cigarettes, candy, and café a leches on the Camino. It happened just like that, time and again. “Beauty will save the world,” says Elder Zossima; we are lucky to have so many beautiful people like Jesus (or, like Peter Kane) and beautiful places like Spain and SGA (or, like Old Mill).

Summer Plans! What are yours?

To whom it may concern:

Thus it begins, a Summer Road-Trip of limited sorts.

I am going to be driving from Phoenix to D.C. starting this
Tuesday morning (6.08).

I will be in Dallas on Tuesday night and will leave Thursday (6.10).

I will be arriving in D.C. on Friday or Saturday at the latest (6.11/12).

I will be in D.C. taking an art class and visiting old haunts (Prospect Hill is top o' the list; and I want Sponge-Bob back.  You know who you are).

I will be attending the wedding of one MP[3] Jones and Sam.  I will be in Dallas for a week for that, and then back to D.C.

I will be in D.C. until around July 15th or so.  This would be a good time to get everyone together as I will be free and not taking classes.  Maybe some of your norther NY & PA folk can come down for something?

On my way back to Phoenix I was thinking of hitting up Raleigh, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and anything else in the way if you invite me.

Let me know if you are going to be around in these places and would like to grab lunch or hang out for a more extended time.  I have a pretty loose schedule as much as things go.  

Leave a comment on here with your summer plans so that we can figure something out!  

Latest Creative Endeavor

(Sorry boys by the way...)
So I recently made this jewelry pendant. I am pretty excited and feel I have a new obsession coming on... the clear glassy like finish is called "diamond glaze dimensional adhesive" which is code for awesome.
The flowered paper is from this stationary that Anne & Laura got for me from the National Art Museum in DC (is that what the art museum in DC is called?)
Anyway, I hope that everyone has a great Memorial Day and if you have an exceptionally exciting adventure, be sure to share. Actually. Let's be real, even if it's only moderately exciting, share.

Until the Pequod Stellas,
Cheltz-dog

The Essential Belloc: A Prophet for Our Times

Ladies and Gentlemen!  

Here it is at last the book that my father wrote along with Fr. John McCloskey and Brian Robertson, and which I helped to edit and research for.  Pre-order your copy today!

Cheers,

Peter Hilaire Bloch

Dear Friends of Belloc:

On behalf of my fellow editors, Fr. C. John McCloskey, Brian Robertson, and the Faith and Reason Institute under the leadership of Robert Royal – we would like to invite you to pre-order your copy of the collection of Hilaire Belloc’s best writings. 

We thank you for considering purchasing it on preorder.  Perhaps it would also be suitable for gifts for others, and to circulate this notice to friends and relatives and others who may be interested.  The timing is good for a reordering of our minds to culture and Christian civilization.  Belloc is the paladin of that effort, and a kindly guide through life’s measureless wonder and warfare.  

Here is the link to Saint Benedict/Tan Press for pre-order of The Essential Belloc: a Prophet for Our Times.

http://www.saintbenedictpress.com/Catholic-Classics/The-Essential-Belloc.cfm?ID=15520

It’s also on Amazon.com - http://www.wholesalecatholicgoods.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7996

Below is the book jacket copy.   I will be doing a book signing at the Catholic Information Center on April 21, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. followed by wine and cheese reception.  Fr. James Schall who wrote the Preface to this book, will be in attendance and will introduce a short talk.

Your scrivenous scribe, 

Scott  Bloch, Secretary of Belloc Society of Washington, DC

“More than any other man, Hilaire Belloc made the English-speaking Catholic world in which we all live”
-Frank Sheed

He was a poet, a polemicist, and a prose stylist without peer, but Hilaire Belloc (1870-1954) was first and above all a mighty champion of the Catholic faith. With his brave (and sometimes brash) defenses of Catholic civilization, he taught an entire generation of Catholics never to stand for being treated as second-class citizens in the predominantly Protestant Anglosphere.

Today, with the Faith once again suffering scorn and contempt from all sides, it is time to re-discover this Catholic champion.

The Essential Belloc draws upon the prolific writer's works (he authored more than 140 books, plus countless articles, pamphlets, and letters) to provide a comprehensive overview of his ideas, style, and personality. More than just a collection of quotes, these pages offer rich samplings from Belloc's writings, affording you a solid introduction to his thoughts on:

• The foundational link between European culture and the Catholic faith
• The anti-Catholic historical myths that the English-speaking world has come to accept as fact
• The limits—and dangers—of science that has abandoned faith in God
• The latent power and future menace of militant Islam
• The characteristic faults of political and economic systems that deviate from Catholic principles
• The particular charms of places throughout the world: their towns and roads, their churches and inns
• The love of good food, wine, and ale, and the songs of camaraderie that go with them

And more—plus delightful examples of Belloc's poetry and wit.

Belloc himself once remarked that “genius is the ability to think in a very large number of categories.” In The Essential Belloc you will marvel at how well he fits that very definition, and be edified by the breadth of his brilliance—and its continuing relevance for the modern world.

SOME BLURBS:

“Hilaire Belloc’s superb portrait of England’s ill-starred cardinal, Wolsey, would crown any normal writer’s career.  But with Belloc, this is just the tip of an iceberg; his range and brilliance as a writer have been matched by very few moderns.  Father McCloskey has done a marvelous service by collecting many of Belloc’s most insightful passages into one volume.  The Essential Belloc is an invaluable resource and hugely enjoyable reading.”

 

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Archbishop of Denver

 

At a time when Catholicism is again vilified, Fr.C John McCloskey, Scott Bloch, and Brian Robertson have done a timely service to us all by bringing forth this affectoinate and appreciative study of Hilaire Belloc, that spendlid writer, modern prophet, and morally courageous defender of the Faith.
                                                                                                    --- Pat Buchanan

 “From graceful depths to bumptious joy, Belloc’s prose deserves an audience literate, allergic to cant, and wise. Nevertheless, it will have to make do with us.”

                --David Whalen, Associate Provost, Hillsdale College

 

Hilaire Belloc should be essential reading for any serious Catholic wishing to get to grips with the modern world and the evils it promotes and fosters. And if Belloc is essential reading what better than a book that brings together the "essential Belloc" into one power-punching volume?

                    -- Joseph Pearce, author of Old Thunder: a Life of Hilaire Belloc

 

Belloc believed that party and the state are not all powerful, that the Church and Family have primacy of place.  He married an American and was fond of saying that our Declaration of Independence was a master work of freedom in the world’s history.   As such, we need him more than ever to reestablish our religious liberties, the rights of the family, of marriage, and the sacred right of property.  

                --Senator Rick Santorum, author of It Takes a Family

 

Economics and competition never happen in a moral-free zone.  Hilaire Belloc offers us a roadmap for a healthy economy and a healthy culture.  Read this book and you will see how Belloc was among the few in the last hundred years who advocated for better business principles that are not predatory but just, not given over to big government but ordered to free people in a free economy.

     -- Dr. Andrew Abela,  Chair of Department of Business and Economics, Catholic University of America

"They called Hilaire Belloc "Old Thunder." After Bellocian Thunder will come first the rain and then the fruit of truth for those able readers of The Essential Belloc who dare to wrestle with the master's muscular prose."

 

     -- Robert K. Carlson, Academic Dean, Wyoming Catholic College

"In the pantheon of English literature the bust of Hilaire Belloc has been relegated to a dusty corner, frequented only by the convivial cognoscenti who gather to drink claret beneath its shade.  The great man deserves to be better known, the conviviality should be spread, and I hope The Essential Belloc finds the wide readership it deserves."

-- H. W.Crocker III, author of Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church, A 2,000-Year History

There is no one like Hilaire Belloc, no one who could describe a battlefield or a heresy with such penetrating insight, no one who saw the future as clearly (eg, Islam’s rise; Calvinism’s vitality among the Protestants); no one who could conjure so invitingly and vividly the pleasures of hearth and home and friendship and walking and roaring.  I thank Father Schall for pressing me to read him, and I thank Scott Bloch, Brian Robertson and Father McCloskey for taking the (no doubt bracing and wonderful) time to draw his insights and his splendid writing together for us and future generations to read, to savor, and to exhult in, and I hope it leads us all to give thanks to the good God who gave us Hilaire Belloc.

         --William Saunders, Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, Americans United for Life

I don't have anything brilliant or insightful to share with you early this Tuesday morning. Rather, I just wanted to say hello and give thanks to you all. As I sit here, watching my 5th period honors students look up vocabulary words, I have been glancing through everyone's recent posts and I just feel grateful. Grateful to have such wise, caring, cynical friends, who are willing to share their 2 cents about life, bringing a bit of joy into what is sure to be a heck of a week. I consistently come to Peter's blog, looking for a bit of refreshment and rejuvenation, which I almost always find. So, thank you, for being you, for sharing your view of the world (or just who you think is the hottest literary figure), and for letting us silent viewers *until now* keep a slightly stalkerish tab on your life and the adventures it brings.

Club Schmitz Review Website

I felt that we have been mysteriously silent on the subject of an oldie but a goodie, Club Schmitz.



If you are or were a student at University of Dallas and you haven't been to the "(pre-)historic" Club Schmitz, then you are missing out on a big UD tradition and committing a double bad naughty.  This place has been around since before the school and the only thing that is different is that they put in a TV and kickass Golf Arcade Game.  Here's a good website that puts it all in perspective for you.

Make sure that you go with friends, lots of friends; or maybe you just want a beer by yourself; either way, Club Schmitz is a great place to:

have a birthday party
film a movie about love, intrigue, drinking, and a vampire pimp and Socrates (John Sercer)
eat delicious fried bar food and drink pitchers of beer
meet babes
go to for a unintended but badly needed study break
take a girl on a first date
go to with Fr. McGuire

All of these are things that I have either done myself or Misko has done.

Get thee to Schmitz!

Sweetly,

Peter

p.s. - Click on the photo to enlarge it

Israel

Hello friends,

I'm leaving for Israel on June 23 and will return on July 3. It's a ten-day trip with Father Mitch Pacwa--pretty legit. In fact, you can read Itinerarium corporis in Israel if you want to see where I'm going. So, if there's something that you want me to pray for, maybe at a specific place that I'm going, let me know. Other than that, I'm going to bring back a bunch of sacramentals from different places that I'll give out until I run out. If you are likely to see me sometime soon, and there is something particular that you'd like, let me know. It would have to be small, and I can't promise anything. So if you have something you want me to do, email me or just respond to this I guess. Oh yeah, I'll pray for you so you should pray for me. Thanks.

God bless, Mary keep,
Joshua Neu

An adventure for a poem

I came across this poem a while back, but it should remind us to always have adventures. It is by Mark Van Doren, a devout Catholic and legendary professor of English at Columbia back in the day. He taught Dr. John Senior, and (I believe) Paul Spring's father. I respect this man as a poet, teacher, and critic. This poem falls under "Adventure" poems; Van Doren has the muse in him, and it permeates his poetry

A Dream of Trains
Mark Van Doren

As long ago they raced,
Last night they raced again;
I heard them inside me,
I felt the roll of the land.
I looked out of a window
And I was moving too;
The moon above Nebraska,
Lonely and cold.

Mourned for all of the autumns
I had forgotten this:
The low hills that tilted,
The barrenness, the vast.
I think I will remember now
Until the end of the world
How lordly were the straightaways,
How lyrical the curves.