Sorry for the Delay

I've had trouble accessing my blogger account the last couple of days, so I haven't been able to post anything.  The problem seems to have resolved itself,  so I'll have something up in the next day or two.

Bill Gallo (1922-2011)

It was with more than a touch of sadness that I read of the passing of New York Daily News sports cartoonist and columnist Bill Gallo this week.  His unique take on the contemporary sports scene was often humorous, sometimes biting and occasionally touching, as the situation warranted.  Whatever the case, he always hit the right note.

For me his iconic image will always be the cartoon he did when Thurman Munson, the Yankee captain, died in a plane crash in 1979; just two silhouetted boys walking away from home plate, downcast and despondent, not having the heart to play ball that particular day. Over head Munson is looking down behind the veil, gone but not forgotten.  That particular piece helped me, as a twelve year old, come to know that there is a time for everything; a time to morn as well as a time to play, and we shouldn't deny ourselves either one.  This and other Gallo favorites can be seen on the Daily News site.

Mr. Gallo, who lived in Yonkers, was an occasional visitor to my father's fruit and vegetable store in Bronxville.  I wish I could tell some great story of pearls of wisdom he imparted on me, but I was too shy as a kid and stuck to the business of weighing his tomatoes and making change.  My father, more naturally outgoing, was the one for small talk, and Mr. Gallo was always gracious. 

So, our prayers go out for a true New York original, and his family.  Sports in this town will never be the same.

Somethin' Stupid, but Cute: Thor

Thor
PG-13 (Action Violence)
OOO

I walked into the new movie Thor expecting to hate it.  I had a couple of hours to kill and it was the only movie starting at that time.  I'm not a comic book superhero freak, and know next to nothing about the ancient god Thor, be it through traditional Norse mythology or the Marvel Comics version the movie is based on. As the movie started I was given no reason to alter my initial expectation.  I came in after the trailers started, which is unusual for me.  I usually get there way ahead of time to stake out my seat in the last row, right under the projectionist.  This being the number one movie of the weekend, a fact I was completely oblivious to, my tardiness meant that I had to sit in the second row with my nose up against the screen.  Fortunately for me this was a 2D presentation rather than the much hyped 3D version showing on the screen next door. Nonetheless I could feel the headache coming on by the second preview.

The first twenty minutes or so of the movie did nothing to alleviate the budding migraine percolating in my temples or my feelings of doom heading into the theater. The film starts off with the usual mindless action, pretentious comic book mythology and shallow mellow drama.  Then a funny thing, quite literally, happened; this comic book action adventure showed a self deprecating sense of humor that took me by surprise and saved the movie from being a run of the mill, live action cartoon.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is heir to the thrown of Asgard, a realm beyond the stars.  His father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the king, strips him of his powers and exiles him to Earth after he defies the king and begins a war with a neighboring world.  The proud and arrogant boy must learn humility, and the small New Mexico town where he lands is just the place.  While the earthbound Thor is still stronger than your average Joe, he's no match for a taser gun or a speeding RV.  The team of scientists he runs into (pun intended), led by Natalie Portman and Stellen Skarsgard don't know what to make of this overly pretentious bore either.  The government starts poking around, the town's people gawk, especially when four friends from Asgard show up, and the mocking one liners begin to fly.

At the heart to of the story we get mix of  Grail legend, palace intrigue and Thor as Christ figure (no joke).  While the action is what you would expect, it's the humor and real character development that sets this move apart.  Not that this is Shakespeare or anything, but Thor is a different person at the end of the movie than he is at the beginning.  And it makes sense because this first of the summer block busters was directed by Kenneth Branagh, he of the four plus hour Hamlet (1996) and various other Shakespearean and Gothic productions.  Under his guidance the movie doesn't take itself too seriously while being careful not to fall into out and out parody.

This is not a must see, but you could do worse if you find yourself with a couple of hours to kill.  But take my advise.  Try to get there a few minutes early and get a seat a couple of rows back: your temples will thank you later.

Reflections on the Death of OBL

It's been over a week since Osama bin Laden was killed, and its taken me that long to reflect on the event.  Not that I've been struggling over whether the world is a better place without him; it clearly is.  But it is the manner of his death that has preoccupied me.  There have been some Catholic clerics weighing in on bin Laden's death, and most have in some way echoed a Vatican official's comments that, while the action was justified considering the evil this man had perpetrated in the past and the threat to world peace he still posed, it shouldn't be taken as an opportunity to gloat, but rather to reflect.  There has been some debate over the justification for killing bin Laden, considering conflicting reports that have him unarmed when the SEALs came charging into the house.  Couldn't we have captured him?  Some ask, though admittedly not many: was this really a just use of lethal force?

My gut reaction was not not very theological to be honest; I simply didn't care how it was done, I was just content that it was finished.  Osama bin Laden was a man of violence, an apostle of the the culture of death who got caught up in his own whirlwind of hate.  It wasn't that he got what was coming to him, so much as he got what was going to get to him sooner or later.  When Jesus told Peter that those who live by the sword die by the sword I don't believe he was making a sweeping pacifist statement, as many theologians today would claim.  There is a legitimate right to self defense which the Church has always acknowledged in word and action (let's remember that the Swiss Guards don't carry water pistols).  We live in a fallen world where not everyone wants to live in peace, and where some see those who do as weak and contemptuous.  So we have guns and fighter planes and bombs while working for the day we never have to use them again.  A perfect world? Not by a long shot, and all the protests and binding resolutions won't make it so.

So what does Jesus mean by warning Peter not to live by the sword?  I believe Jesus was speaking of those who make violence a way of life, who have adopted the ways of war and terror as their primary option when faced with conflict and injustice.  They unleash powers beyond their control, because once the cycle of violence has been started no one knows where it will end.  War can make good people do evil things because nothing ever goes by plan once the bullets start flying.  While we were justified in going to war with the Axis Powers in World War II, and I don't believe there is a moral equivalency between the two sides, we shouldn't think atrocities weren't committed all around.

I met a man recently who was in Vietnam who told a story I shall not repeat in detail here.  Even though it wasn't a confession; the man didn't know I was a priest when he told me the story, I'm not sure I can get myself to type the words.  It was a story of revenge and murder on a large scale.  By the time he came home after his tour of duty he had already lost God, abandoning himself to a life of dissolute living.  It was years before he could come to grips with what had happened on that dark night half a world away.  He eventually found Christ again, and now dedicates his time and money to helping at risk youth.  Even though he didn't say it, I knew it was his way of trying to make amends for the sins of his past life.  This is a good, decent man who willingly participated in a horrendous thing.  If but for the scourge of war this nightmarish detour in his life wouldn't have happened.

War destroys and perverts innocent lives, but for those who are the masters of war the end often comes swiftly and unprovided for.  Whether it's Hitler in his bunker, Mussolini being hung upside down in the city square or bin Laden in his hideout last Sunday, there is usually no trial, no due process, no peace.  In these cases we have the forces that were unleashed by their hatred eventually coming back to visit them.  Is this God's vengeance?  I would say it's closer to what Eastern religions call karma. More precisely it's natures way; the type of end that comes to a person who makes living by the sword his defining habit. 

Does this mean we shouldn't question the means used to bring bin Laden to his final end?  No it doesn't.  We should never lower ourselves to the level of the unjust aggressor, and always strive for greater justice.  I must admit that my initial reaction was not the right one. But I still can't say that I lament this man's passing either.  He set upon a course long ago that only had one logical conclusion; the question was only from what direction the bullet was going to come from.