Finding a Home, Finding an Identity

How does one describe being from New Orleans? Of the City's intrinsic beauty, its pride, its excitement, its devotion to a team and to a Faith? Can things such as this be quantified or measured? Can it be snuffed out, washed to sea, blown away? Can anyone defeat such a Joy in Life as well as in death, where death is no time for mourning but celebrating the Past? The answer is found in the embodiment of a team that isn't just a team, it's part of the intrinsic nature of New Orleans. The Saints are New Orleans. And New Orleans is the Saints. Summed up in so many words: WHO DAT!

And this is what is interesting above all about New Orleans: a paradoxical love and a faith that withstands every countenance of despair and attempt of shedding. It is found in a city that weaves in a faith not blind to life, but rather one lived inside of it. It is neighbor helping neighbor. It is the yearly Carnival celebrations beside one's fellow neighbor that, indeed, they've survived another hurricane season. It is celebrations of the Saints win or lose (but especially with the wins).

Places of childhood do not leave one's mind—not the good or the bad, not the ugly or the indifferent. So it is with me—yet the last thing New Orleans will leave you as is indifferent. Not even hurricanes, which wipe off many markers of the past, or man-made engineering disasters, which finish off where Mother Nature began her work, not even these disasters will tear from memory these mementos of days gone by. New Orleans is altogether different, another category altogether.

The place has a way of instilling both a pride of place and a sadness of when progress has been stopped, delayed, or hampered. It breeds la joie de vivre and disappointment. It is a city that is far from perfect, but it is one of distinctiveness that all who are associated with it take great pride in. It is an identity that no hurricane or distance can dissipate.

It is a city that has been, since its inception, a city to be documented, but not only documented but also lived. It is a city to live vicariously in, whether it is of the past, present, or the future. They are all contained within the ramparted streets of that unique leveed city. Once you are there, you never truly depart.

One always has a piece of the city whether you've been there a day, a year, or a lifetime. The only difference is that when you move away, you become an ambassador of that spirit of life shared. It speaks to the soul like no other place in world can. And sometimes, when the voices get to be too many, one cannot realize this until it is the only voice to remain from the sprawl and noise of another place, a place where all things are manufactured and not grown, a place where the façade is the only thing present.

Yet, one's ambassadorship remains, as though one is left in a second-rate hotel room waiting out the exile to return home. It is a strange love affair that New Orleans breeds. One that remains as thick as the humid air of that river city and remains despite all odds.

More now than ever does New Orleans and the Gulf Coast need its ambassadors. Love affairs do not end once the beloved is gone, they only grow stronger. And, in it, the bonds of those who traveled those hallowed streets, celebrated its unique joy, and lived in those homes now rebuilt but not forgotten can be remembered, renewed, and represented to others as a reminder of the ones who did not make it out of the surly floodwaters or the strong headwinds of the Gulf, of the ones who survived Katrina those five years ago this day if only as a memory to our hearts, to our Louisiana.



If any song will bring me back to Louisiana... if songs had the power to do such things... this one would be it. Louisiana will always be home to me with New Orleans as its heart, wrapped in a faith true.

God bless New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, and the whole Gulf Coast as we mark this fifth anniversary of the Storm that did not break the will of people of the Gulf Coast. It may have washed the shores of a challenged land, but its people will not waver. Its people will not retreat. Its people will prosper and rebuild and renew a place, a face of what is best about America. God bless Louisiana.

10 Do's (and Don'ts) of Being a Freshman at A&M

This is mostly for my two incoming freshmen cousins that are coming in as Class of 2011! Yes, I know...two in one year! Amazing, isn't it? Anyhow, I think it's good advice after being around the block for four years(!) and as I prepare for the final victory lap.

10 Do's (and Don'ts) of Being a Freshman at A&M

10. Do take advantage of any SI, review, or office hours offered.
9. Do read sections and print out notes (if applicable) before class.
8. Do not overload your schedule with too many hours (absolutely no more than 15 hours) or too many extraciricular activity organizations (two or three, with an emphasis on one).
7. Do keep a calendar of all events/appointments/deadlines for each semester.
6. Do avoid specific classes until you get accustom to college life, while do take a balanced load of reading (book/survey courses) and technical courses but err on the side of safety (with a more-reading-than-technical ratio).
5. Do expect and plan for things to fail or take longer than you plan. Budget accordingly.
4. Do live on campus but plan and budget wisely. Get smaller meal plans than you think you need. ALWAYS.
3. Do get involved with events and/or organizations related to your major and your classes.
2. Be Faith-oriented. Do not allow your spiritual life to falter.
1. Do listen to yourself when going about your first year, but always be open to new ideas and new approaches to learning even "old" topics.

The Catholic Mass

I have spent the majority of time the past few evenings viewing a rather assorted set of videos posted on YouTube concerning the Catholic Mass. With some I viewed some egregious liturgical abuses (from the incidental to the flagrant), the profane use of liturgical dance (why???), and even clowns during Mass. (YES, CLOWNS!!)

* HALLOWEEN/Barney-Giving-Final-Blessing Mass (Version 1, Version 2, Version 3)
* Clown Mass (Link)
* Teen-Giving Homily, Etc. Mass (Link)

I did however find a comforting video (broken into three parts) done by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (God bless his wondrous soul!). I viewed them a few evenings ago after running across those horrible liturgical abuses:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

It was a most excellent oratory presentation of the Mass and its significance of being much more than a "fuzzy warm" communal celebration. Heck, you find those anywhere, secular or religious for that matter. Archbishop Sheen's words on the Mass reminded me exactly why I'm Catholic. It's not because of the liturgical dancers (!!!) or the priests who dress up as Barney for the Ite missa est. It's not for the poor music at times at Mass. It is because of Our Lord, it is because of His Sacrifice and His Love. If you have not viewed the Sheen videos, please do. His words are timeless and always worth listening to. It's truly the next best thing to being at Mass.

I also viewed a Traditional Catholic video (Reform or Revolt: The Mass of Paul VI [Part 1 and Part 2) yesterday evening. I, at times, agreed with the presenter's arguments with regard to Church design, the significance of the Eucharist, and similar things. However, I had to take quite an exception to his treatment of the entirety of Vatican II and especially of Pope John Paul II. I think it is a new "Spring Time," and it is evident in how the Church is now in a counter-reform stage. We are realizing that a number of the interpretations by a select number of people went too far. We've started to realize the need for much better catechesis. The accusatory tone of some of this supposedly "unbiased" video is a bit unnerving. The author of the video clearly indicates his position, but fails to site specifically the works he consults. Furthermore, it borders on blurring the line between actual Dogma (which is unmovable—it is what it is) and mere practices.

For it is known that the Mass was celebrated at times facing the congregation before Vatican II because it simply wasn't possible because in some churches in, of all places, Rome itself. It should be noted that I do agree with the hard-line traditionalists in the call to show the utmost reverence to that of the Lord's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. I don't think many wish to degrade the Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, however the wolves in sheep's clothing should be noted when found (read: the flagrant liturgical abuses of the specified California dioceses, among others). The question is what are those abuses? What is the baseline for all things that we as Christians, let alone just us Roman Catholics, ought to be viewing in what is acceptable and what is not? This rests on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. This does not involve "outside help" of ecumenicalists and other non-Catholic "experts." Heaven help us if we decided to reform the Anglican (or better yet the Lutheran) worship service against their wishes.

I consider myself a Catholic who is striving with the utmost to follow Christ through his teachings, thus carried down through his Apostles and their successors. Fundamentally, we must get to the heart of why we are at Mass. It is to acknowledge, praise, and reverently worship our God: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Without end let praise ever be on our lips for the graces that He has bestowed on us. Vivat Jesus!

Ray Nagin and the "Chocolate City"

I've listened to the Martin Luther King Day comments and remarks made by Ray Nagin, current mayor of New Orleans, and his Democrat counterpart, Hillary Clinton, Senator from New York. Nagin has recently apologized for certain parts of his comments (which can be viewed here from the New Orleans' WDSU or read from transcript here). However, those parts of the speech were merely concerning the mentioning of God sending the Hurricanes, nothing more. His comments about a "Chocolate City" and how New Orleans will be "one again" has raised a serious uproar both in the city and across the Nation. As being from the area, born there and raised nearby, I find it to be rather disparaging for the kind of frenzy he worked himself into that day. Dr. King would not be proud.

Neither would Dr. King be proud of Senator Clinton's remarks comparing the House of Representatives to that of a plantation. It is just not right. It is a spit in the face to what Dr. King worked towards, that of equality. When remarks like that are accepted by a community at large when they are not the case (and clearly the House is NOT run like a plantation), then you actually take a step back for what Dr. King had accomplished in his life. What the African-American community must realize is that neither party is looking out for their interests and neither party is truly looking for equality. There must be eracism before racism can be wiped from the Earth. We not only should we be not racist but we should also be color-blind to race all together. Morgan Freeman put it best in a 60 Minutes interview about a month ago when posed the question, "How are we going to get rid of racism?" from Mike Wallace, and he responded by saying, "Stop talking about it."

All of these thoughts led me to write in to a specific PBS show, Washington Week, which I have been watching rather regularly as of late. They had a "What were they thinking?" segment that called for viewer comments, and well, I couldn't resist writing in. Apparently they had a shortage of comments this week because mine got in! So without further ado, my ten seconds of fame courtesy of who other than Hillary Clinton and Ray Nagin...

My comment read on on-air...

In response to Ms. Ifill's January 20, 2006 request for comment on her "What were they thinking?" segment:

As a native New Orleanian currently out-of-state, I was stunned to listen to Nagin's remarks. I thought he went off the deep end. However, Nagin and Clinton were doing the same thing. They were both playing to the crowd, which that day was predominantly African-Americans. They were caught up in the moment.

Saying the House is run like a plantation is a degrading statement. It's a far cry from being as repressive as the antebellum plantation system and thus is a slap in the face of the ancestors of many African-Americans these days, the slaves that were oppressed.

For all the talk of New Orleans as a melting pot, what it is and still has been a socio-economically divided city. What Nagin did was evoke a racial tone to an already brewing pot of trouble. From any other mouth such words would make many cry foul. What would have saved him face was not to call for the city to be a "chocolate" city but instead for it to be a "Neapolitan" city again. The city is a rich mix of cultures, and to include one race without the other is completely and utterly racist.

Both set of remarks, from Clinton and Nagin, were uncalled for and cheap allegories that have no place in today's society where we must get past race in order to actually defeat racism.

John Book
College Station, TX

Scuttle the Shuttle?

In remembering the Columbia tragedy of February 2003, I now reprint an op-ed piece I wrote for my high school paper, The Crusader, back in March 2003 in response to the tragedy and thus questioning of NASA's future. The title given above was that of what I originally wished to name the piece (and still do call it), but the newspaper moderator insisted that the word 'scuttle' wasn't proper for a spacecraft (despite the word having a definition in Webster's of "destroy, wreck; also scrap"). All of this coming from an English teacher, no less! Hmph! I personally like it better than that of her title "Shelf the Shuttle?" of which the article was printed as.

Without further ado, I give you my thoughts on the NASA program (circa 2003):

Scuttle the Shuttle?

Questions of NASA’s future are definitely not short in supply these days. The questions of the shuttle’s safety by those in NASA and elsewhere are not specifically on why the Columbia went down but on what happens next. The shuttle program is now in its twenty-first year since the first shuttle flight on April 12, 1981, and NASA is faced with a fleet of aging behemoth giants that the program must go on E-Bay to shop for shuttle replacement parts. What’s NASA’s recent solution? NASA wants to extend the life of the shuttle program for another ten to fifteen years past the original set retirement date of 2012.

In recent years, NASA has tried to develop various designs to phase out the shuttle but to no avail. The X-33 and X-34, eventually dumped by NASA for various reasons, were two possibilities for making space flight cheaper and phasing out the space shuttle. NASA’s solution for the moment is to stick with the aging, though remodeled, space shuttles that are becoming seriously outdated.

Funding for the agency has been top on the list of things that went wrong on and before February 1, 2003. Overall, each year for the past decade, funding for NASA has generally decreased with some exceptions, forcing NASA to go with the uncongenial slogan: “faster, better, cheaper.” The lack of funds for NASA has caused stumbling blocks for the agency notably in probe space exploration as well as development of new spacecrafts. The cause - the end of the Cold War. With no “enemy” to race against, NASA has been grasping for a new focus, which—for better or for worst—has ended up being the huge task that is the International Space Station (ISS). In light of the Columbia tragedy and the still incomplete construction of the ISS, NASA must focus their attention once more to the human element of space flight to stir interest and pride for the space program.

No matter what the cause of the Columbia disaster, NASA must keep a trained eye to detail, a detail that includes not only that of continuing manned space flight but doing so safely. Ironically, all of America’s space tragedies, NASA’s most catastrophic failures in manned space flight, have coincidentally occurred during Cape Canaveral’s coldest month, January. The first was the Apollo 1 pad fire on January 27, 1961, the second was the Challenger explosion on January 28, 1986, and the third was the Columbia crash on February 1, 2003, with its lift-off on January 16, 2003. The coincidences of the two shuttle accidents are abounding, but one must keep in mind the factors that caused them.

With the exception of the Apollo 1 pad fire, both of the shuttle accidents occurred in part as a result of freezing weather and mainly because of the duration of the orbiters left on the launch pad. For the Challenger accident, the launch date was originally set for January 22 but was pushed back a whole week because of an array of weather and hardware delays. Although the cause of the accident was linked to the faulty design of the rubber O-Rings holding the external fuel tanks together, the lengthy amount of time that the shuttle weathered in unusually freezing temperatures (as low as 8°F) was a contributing factor causing the cracking of the O-Rings and the subsequent loss of the Challenger, the first of the shuttle program’s two deadly failures.

Although without the significant delays of Challenger’s fateful 73-second flight, the more recent Columbia STS-107 had the similar cold weather of its foregone counterpart. Officials now wonder if ice forming on the shuttle and on the very debris, the iced filled chunk of insulation from the left external fuel tank that was determined to be “harmless,” was the actual cause of the loss of thermal tiles or the punctured hole of the craft’s skin and the subsequent loss of Columbia. For now we can only speculate, wonder, and think what might have been.

The failures of the shuttle cannot be pinned to exactly one reason but to a plethora of reasons: the appearance of ice in the insulation on the cold January morning, the notorious flaking of large chunks of insulation that has been a problem for the shuttle program from its inception, and the failure to adequately check the problem before reentering Earth’s atmosphere (the orbiter’s arm, capable of checking the problem on the underside, had been removed in order to do scientific experiments on this mission). Therefore, NASA must find a better way to get into space. This way needs not to be cheap but only safe and reliable for any new crews going up in knowing that they will safely return.

The tragedy that has beset the nation has hindered our dreams of space exploration, but it has not stopped the determination of many to keep expeditions and crews from touching the heavens and returning to Earth safely for all of us to benefit from. We must continue onward.

A Response to Daniel Bornstein's Comments

The Catholic Faith is a package deal and cannot be picked and chosen from, since to do this would inherently be heretical. The word, at its root, is heresy, which is taken from the Greek word ‘hairesis’ meaning “a taking or choosing.”

The Catholic Faith is not something to be arbitrarily toyed with. Rather, we Catholics are called to learn and grown in our knowledge of this great faith. Mr. Bornstein’s claim that “many Catholics” have a ‘liberal’ ideology is flawed because the Catholic Faith itself resoundingly calls for a definite Culture of Life in ALL respects. The Faith isn’t changed on political whims as the secular world is. John Paul II still is morally correct in erring on the side of Life.

It is a matter of sexual ethics that every person must be held responsible for their own actions, and we as a world have grown to treat sex as a trivial thing. This is the primary cause of the secular world’s Culture of Death, NOT John Paul’s stance on contraceptives and abortion.

The Battalion should have balanced Bornstein’s views with that of actual local Catholic leaders who are more knowledgeable in the Catholic Faith than he.

John Book
Class of 2007

Habemus papam! The Election of Pope Benedict XVI

So quickly the Papal Conclave comes to a close. In one of the quickest conclaves, they have elected the German, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as our next pope, Pope Benedict XVI. I had a pretty good feeling from the onset of the Conclave of two things:

1) The Conclave would be at least as long as John Paul II's one, 3 days, or quicker. Which in the end, it was...and in that it surprised me a little this afternoon.

2) It felt as if Cardinal Ratzinger was the natural choice to become the next pontiff. Like many have been saying, he was close to John Paul II and share many of his ideological stances on Church policy, which I am in total agreement with. Furthermore, his choice was logical after he gave the funeral homily for John Paul II. It at least cemented in my mind that he was my favorite. However, that being said, I would have accepted with full grace if it was to have been another person.

Many around the world are upset for one reason or another...liberal Catholics here in America because he is conservative, Latinos in South America and Africans in Africa because their regional favorite did not become pontiff, or secularists in Europe because his call for an end to relativism in the Church. Of the last, I am glad he came out in beginning swinging on this issue against the relativism in the world today...there are absolute truths and we as a world must see and accept them for what they are....ABSOLUTE.

In the end, we as Catholics, must not complain about our new pope because he hasn't even been given a chance to do any good yet. Time is needed and those dissenters should unite under our one catholic (universal) Church. As a prominent Nigerian priest in the capital Abuja, Matthew Hassan Kukah, said, "This is not the finals of the World Cup. The sentiments are understandable, but this is the Catholic Church. We give thanks to God."

Rightly so, Father. And I give thanks to God for our new pope, Benedict XVI. Viva Benedict XVI!

Why I Do What I Do

Life is full of twists and turns and is always too quick to stay the same for as much as a moment. Life is fleeting. Life is something ephemeral, something here today but can very well be gone tomorrow. Life is this way, and, justly so, we must ruefully accept such an agreement.

So what is my driving force to write here in blog? Ultimately, my impetus is in itself to be remembered not as a good writer, not as a good student, not as a good programmer, not as a good thinker, and not even as a good Aggie. Rather, I wish to be remembered as a good person.

If there is anything that is Aggie Bonfire Memorial dedication ceremony taught me, it is to live life to the fullest and to never take granted of your friends' existence with you, no matter the circumstances. May God grant repose to those who died in the Bonfire '99 Collapse and fill the voids of the hearts of those who miss them.

Miranda Denise Adams, Christopher David Breen, Michael Stephen Ebanks, Jeremy Richard Frampton, Jamie Lynn Hand, Christopher Lee Heard, Timothy Doran Kerlee, Lucas John Kimmel, Bryan Allen McClain, Chad Anthony Powell, Jerry Don Self, Nathan Scott West...

We remember your sacrifice. Always.

The Curt Jester: Catholic Comedy & Commentary

The problems with the current American Catholic state of mind are ever apparent in a site I stumbled upon after an interesting AIM consersation with a Aggie Catholic friend from Friendswood, TX. The conversation, which began innocently enough on the music of the mass and our preferences, led ultimately up to the question: is Marty Haugen, the composer of so much of the "modern" Catholic church music (most often sung by many choirs in the U.S.) , Catholic? Frankly, neither of us knew at the time, so I did a little internet research (which I'm beginning to do more and more often) and found a number of web pages after doing a search on Marty Haugen, and I came up with this web page: "Marty Haugen in Concert and Workshop at Monastery," from a Catholic web site, thedome.org, ran by the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana. Turns out he's Lutheran. Figures.

Anyhow, back to the humor part of this rave post. In the meantime of doing this search on Haugen, I stumbled on a tongue-in-cheek, Catholic blog web site, The Curt Jester, with a parody on the American Catholic liturgy called "Liturgy for Ignoramuses." I highly suggest you follow their suggestions for mass next Sunday! It really hits home to my previous post on the "Life Teen Craze" that's effecting a number of parishes here around Houston and elsewhere in America.

It's also worth sharing that that Jeff Miller (of The Curt Jester), another Catholic blogger like myself, has his own rant on this 'clappy,' 'feel-good' kind of Mass popping up more and more frequently nowadays. It's nearly identical to my couple encounters with this nerve-racking, mass-killing phenomenon that is supposed to bring the youth to Catholicism. Unfortunately, if these proponents want to do that, why not act CATHOLIC?! At any rate The Curt Jester is a wonderful blog on everything Catholic, including a more traditional mass stance. Be sure to check out The Curt Jester's Rant, too.

Forgive the slight ranting tonight, but it seems necessary whenever approaching a topic such as the "modernization" of the Catholic Mass in America.