For Better and For Worse...Ode to West Point

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

FOR BETTER...

In the middle of our weekend mini-vacation with family, we ventured north from San Antonio to the historic town of Fredericksburg, TX. It was a blessed afternoon—bright blue skies, colored leaves falling to the street, temperature in the low 70's, joyful window shopping—perfection.

Before leaving town I just had to get a visit in to the Blessed Sacrament to give thanks. We trekked to the spire and found ourselves at St. Mary's Church. As usual, I ran to check the front doors—all locked. :(

I then asked the landscapers if there was a side door open and they pointed me to the parish hall main door. It was open so I went in. There is a connecting walkway between the two edifices and I tried the Church's side door and it opened. WOW... Glorious!  I hurried back to the van giving the thumbs up on the way and my wife got the kids going.  We were primed as we entered for everyone was basked with the streaming afternoon light.  My wife then directed me to the entrance and exclaimed "Mike... look!"

My jaw dropped and I gave a big "THANK YOU" heavenward.  The work of this blog was confirmed!!! This German settlement gets it right.  Seven colors on the rainbow, the Alpha and Omega and Our Lord and the Cross; it was all there.  Thank you Anton and Marianna Weinheimer for the gift of this stained glass classic.





The stained glass window over the right front door entrance...
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Fredericksburg, Texas, USA

Catholics are battling Catholics all over the blogsphere.   Reading the position points of the various comments twists my brain and quickly leads to mental overload. It also confirms for me that there is no turning back, no way out. It seems that for better and for worse we are really close to the point of ultimate resolution. 

It reminds me of an American baseball game—we are losing by 3; it's the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded, there are two outs and the count is three balls and two strikes. The tension is almost too much to take. We foul off one pitch after another in the hope that a grooved one will eventually lead to a grand slam walk off homer that wins the World Series. I might add to this extended metaphor the following: In the crowd of 60,000 only 1,000 are rooting for us; the rain is falling in buckets so that the bat is slipping in our hands and our feet are mired in the soggy batter's box. Oh, and let us not forget that even our own dugout has players who have placed heavy bets on our loss and that the runners on 1st and 3rd are on the take. Our one chance at victory is a gamer...wait...the batter is called back to the dugout...

Then the public address system booms the following: Ladies and Gentlemen, now batting for the New World's Catholic Yankees... Number 33, Jesus Christ, Number 33. One pitch is all it takes… THE VICTORY IS OURS!

+       +       +

FOR WORSE...

As I am assembling this blog entry I just chanced upon something really painful. It is news of an event that confirms for me, the fact that "The Corps has."  Any West Point grad  will know immediately what I am talking about.  It is a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment that the line had been crossed forever—that the wall of sacred tradition has been breached—that the Old Corps is no more.

They used to tell us (USMA '81) that West Point reflects the state of the society that keeps it in existence.  I was always leery of that premise, but in never hit four square until now.  Today, the day I witness to you the confirmation FOR BETTER above, is the same day that a shameful false witness happens in the vaulted Cadet Chapel.

Wikipedia is so on this...amazing, it hasn't even happened yet...

The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel at West Point was held December 1, 2012, between Brenda Sue Fulton and Penelope Dara Gnesin.^[7]

 

And Jesus wept...

LINK TO USATODAY STORY

Call me intolerant, call me hate-filled, call me whatever you like, for it just doesn't matter.  What I write comes from my heart and my heart 'ain't a changin.'

Today I am making my Alamo stand.  I offer my Ode to West Point...a poem that was a long time coming.

The shortest verse in Sacred Scripture is the three words of John 11:35...And Jesus wept...

Well today, December 1, 2012 is a day that will live in infamy for today, the Long Gray Line weeps.

Ode to West Point

The Long Gray Line of us weeps

For this time it's surely for keeps.

The lore and the glory

is now a shameful news story

"The Corps HAS" and restlessly sleeps.

A postscript:

From the blog at http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2007/10/corps-has.html comes the quote "West Point NEEDS someone to ROCK our stonewalled campus."

Well that someone is Jesus Christ,
coming in glory,

and sitting in judgment
on his rainbow throne.

Lord have mercy on us all.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael