St. Joseph's Day right around the corner

Ah...alas some current situations prevent me from doing a full St. Joseph's day celebration this year as I have before. But I'll still make some bread and food and have a prayerful weekend from the 17-19. What will I make, well...Caponata for one. Although not traditonal for all St. Joseph tables it is a nice lenten dish that I make all year round. The recipe I usually use is one modified from the book Cooking With the Saints.

I use more sauce, I like the taste and the look with a little extra sauce. But there are many ways to make caponata. Some include pine nuts some don't. Some have rasins, though I've never had it that way.

Here is a recipe from Italian food forever since I don't have mine on me right now:

3 Small Eggplants
2 Teaspoons Salt
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
3 Small Onions, Chopped (I only use one Onion and Add peppers, as below)
2 to 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Stalks Of Celery, Chopped
1 (28oz.) Can Chopped Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Olives, Green or Black, Chopped (I use both Green and Black)
1/4 Cup Capers
1/4 Cup Fresh Chopped Parsley
1/4 Cup Wine Vinegar (I use Basalmic Vinegar instead)
Salt & Pepper

(I also Add one red, Yellow and green pepper, nice taste and very attractive.)

(I also add A tablespoon of brown sugar or Coco powder. Gives a nice touch of sweet)

To Serve:

Garlic Toast (I use any nice thick bread)

Peel the eggplants, and cut into 1 inch pieces. Put in a colander, sprinkle with the salt and leave 30 minutes. In a large pan, add a few tablespoons of the oil, and when hot add the onions, and cook until soft. Add the celery and garlic, (At this point I add the sliced up peppers If I'm using them) and cook 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook an additional 10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick.

Rinse the salt from the eggplant and pat dry. Add the rest of the oil into a frying pan and once it is hot, add the diced eggplant. Cook until the eggplant is tender and turning golden brown. Add the eggplant to the tomato mixture with the rest of the ingredients, and cook on low for another 15 minutes. Check the seasonings and let come to room temperature before serving.


All in all a nice dish. The picture above is from a St. Joseph's day in New York. That is all bread in front of the table.

Wave of arrests of Protestant Christians in China

Here is the story (link)


This line really got me:

Chinese police have arrested three leaders of an official Protestant church in Henan for being “devotees of an evil, illegal cult”.

May the lord protect them. Christianity, evil and illegal. The heart breaks.

The Passers-by at the cross

Fulton sheen talks about the passers-by at the cross.

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross.
Mark 15:29-30

Sheen says that they don't stay long enough to understand the cross. I see some current events reflected in this verse.

Today we might not say "Come down" but we pass by the cross alot. We look away. Our brothers and sisters in Christ in the middle east are on a cross. They are suffering. And in many ways, the west looks away. We pass by going nowhere.

In a real way, there is not alot a common person can do. Or is there?

Writing congressmen and congresswomen.
Promoting awareness
Praying

These are ways to acknowledge this modern cross, and in doing so we say a prayer at the foot of the eternal cross.

All of us who write blogs and draw awareness to these issues, think a moment on a possibility. Maybe someone who has the political or social power to effect a greater change may be made aware by such efforts.

Maybe one day we will be in a place to do even more.

The hand of the Lord guides all things, even if we do not understand.

Let the Cross and its' meaning be in our hearts. Let us take a moment each day to look without turning away. If one person stops on a street to look at something, another will stop and look the same way. Then another, and another. Soon enough to make a difference will be gathered.

Muslim and Christian women against discrimination and violence

I applaud and pray for these brave women (link).


9 March, 2006
PAKISTAN
Muslim and Christian women against discrimination and violence

Kasur (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Our Lady and Mother Teresa as role models for Pakistani women seeking improvements of their condition in society as well as society as a whole was one of the topics of discussion in yesterday’s meeting in Kasur (south of Lahore) of young Christian and Muslim women organised by Milap, a Catholic NGO, for International Women’s Day.

Milap Director Margaret Piara said that “women and girls can find in Our Lady and Mother Teresa a role model in the service of humanity”. She noted that “a good woman is a crown for her husband” and criticised the tradition of celebrating the birth of a boy with a great family feast but bemoan the birth of a daughter. “How can a woman do this to another female?” she asks.

The meeting saw the participation of some 30 Muslim and Christian women and girls currently attending Milap’s sewing centre. One of the students, Shafia Yusaf, said that “women today are not weak, but are like a rock. If they want it, they can fight and overcome any obstacle”. “You are weak when you don’t fight and others take advantage of you,” she added.

A teacher at the centre, Agnes, urged the students “to pray and overcome even the greatest obstacles with love.” She told the future seamstresses to use every opportunity that comes their way at the school, and encouraged them take advantage of inter-faith exchange. “Women,” she insisted, “can lead inter-faith dialogue at a grassroots level”.

Another teacher, Rani, said that “in a society like that of Pakistan, dominated by men, if we always keep an eye on God we can continue to fight and pray together so that women can get respect”.

Participants also prayed for the NGOs involved in promoting women’s legal rights. They prayed especially for those who are fighting against the Hudood ordinances. Even among majority Muslims, many women are demanding the repeal of such discriminatory laws.

The Hudood ordinances were introduced in 1979 when Pakistan was ruled by a military junta led by the late General Zia-ul-Haq. They are operating principles are drawn from Islamic law and, in four parts, address issues relating to property, adultery and what is illicit.

Rape and adultery are treated as the same. Four adult male Muslim witnesses willing to testify are required to prove rape. Unless their evidence is entered in court of law, a rape victim can be charged with adultery and sentenced to prison or death (by stoning).


May this fight for justice bring us together in peace.

More than just a minor behind Fr Andrea Santoro’s murder

Some strange things here (link).

Some excerpts:

A Roman volunteer, Loredana, was working with Fr Andrea. She was a witness to the crime. From a window in a corridor looking onto the church, she saw a young man, who was not the 15-year-old suspect, looking suspiciously from right to left at the door of the church. After a few seconds, when she went into the church, she saw only the arm and hand pointing a pistol and shooting Fr Andrea’s shoulders. From three, four metres away, the first bullet went precisely to the heart of Fr Andrea, who was kneeling in prayer. Just like a professional killer, while the boy held to be guilty said he had only ever shot on computer: it was the first time he was pointing a real weapon. The second bullet hit Fr Andrea as he was falling. She distinctly heard the shout “Allah ekber” (Allah is great) which came from the killer as he escaped, and it was certainly not the voice of an adolescent.

As well as:

As long as the press continues its denigrating campaign with insinuations and suspects, always reporting about Christians and churches in a negative way, the atmosphere will remain poisoned, and it will be impossible to build a future of peace. Turkey is a marvelous country, rich in history, human warmth and welcome, but small fanatical and violent minorities continue to fight in the name of a nonexistent identity, appealing to religion and nationalism. Many newspapers are playing the game and even acting as spokesmen. Many fanatics use religion as a means of division, aggression and death in the name of God. This is the tragedy being lived out today in this land, where the Christian seed, that has wondrously sprouted since the dawn of Christianity, has almost disappeared.

That last line:

This is the tragedy being lived out today in this land, where the Christian seed, that has wondrously sprouted since the dawn of Christianity, has almost disappeared, Is so true.

We in the west now look to the Middle east and are shocked to see Christians there. Shocked to see Christians in the lands of Christ and the birthplace of Christianity. The sorrow of that fact is great indeed.

Thereza Ghattass Kamal, may the Lord protect her

Neferteeti has a post on the situation of Thereza Ghattass Kamal(link). The original article is from the Canadian Coptic Association. Here is a link for their site (link), and here is a link to their original story (link).

Thereza was kidnapped in a forced conversion attempt and has managed to call her family. Here is a quote from Neferteeti's blog:

"Why have you all left me? Theyve kidnapped me and are treating me very badly. They want to force me to convert and I don't know where I am"

The aunt had caller ID on her phone and the call was traced back to someone who works for the Egyptian State Security!!

State security. May the Lord protect her, and deliver her back to her family. It is hard for Americans to really wrap their minds around this, but we must.

Something to keep in your prayers

I'll repost the article:

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Italian police questioned a mafia informer on Monday over the kidnapping of a 17-month-old toddler suffering from epilepsy whose disappearance has shocked the country and baffled investigators.

Tommaso Onofri, who needs an anti-convulsive medicine twice a day, was abducted by two men on Thursday from his home in Casalbaroncolo near the wealthy city of Parma in northern Italy.

Since then a picture of wide-eyed, curly-haired Tommaso wearing a blue and red clown costume, has been splashed on the front pages of all newspapers as politicians, priests, leading singers and soccer players have appealed for his release.

At the weekend, Tommaso's mother appeared on television in tears to urge kidnappers to give him regular doses of the anti-epilepsy drug he is taking, as police struggled to come up with a motive for the abduction.

The Onofri family is not rich and investigators say that no ransom has been demanded so far.

Paolo and Paola Onofri say they were eating dinner at home with Tommaso and his eight-year-old brother Sebastiano when the light went out.

When Paolo went outside to investigate he was forced back into the house by two masked men armed with a knife and what his wife told police appeared to have been a toy gun.

She gave the intruders 150 euros ($180) but instead of searching the house for a bigger bounty, they bound and gagged the family, took the screaming Tommaso from his highchair and fled.

Sebastiano has confirmed his parents' story and investigators, who at first appeared to suspect foul play within the family, seem now to think the kidnapping was carried out as a vendetta or as a means of extracting money.

They have repeatedly questioned Tommaso's father, who is the manager of a local post office, to find out whether a disgruntled customer might have wanted revenge.

The anti-mafia police have also joined the probe after a jailed pentito, or informer, said he knew something about the case.


Pope: Free kidnapped sick toddler
Italy shocked by baby abduction
TELEGRAM FOR KIDNAPPING OF ITALIAN CHILD

May all of our prayers be with this family.

I normally don't go too Political but...

There is a post at Dust Allergies of the Spirit (link) about the WMD issue. The new book "Saddams Secrets" has some interesting stuff (link). Such as:


Elder: What happened to the chemical and biological weapons?

Sada: The chemical and biological weapons were available in Iraq before liberating the country, but Saddam Hussein took the advantage of a natural disaster that happened in Syria when a dam was collapsed and many villages were flooded. So Saddam Hussein took that cover and declared to the world that he is going to use the civilian aircraft for an air bridge to help Syria with blankets, food and fuel oil, and other humanitarian things, but that was not true. The truth is he converted two regular passenger civilian aircraft, 747 Jumbo and 727 ... all the weapons of mass destruction were put there by the special Republican Guards in a very secret way, and they were transported to Syria, to Damascus, by flying 56 flights to Damascus ... In addition ... also a truck convoy on the ground to take whatever has to do with WMD to Syria.

and:

Elder: Fifteen months before we invaded Iraq, the president began talking about what our intentions would be if Saddam would not comply with the U.N. resolutions. During those 15 months ... did Saddam have WMD, have stockpiles of WMD, and, if so, what type?

Sada: Iraq possessed WMD and they were there, and they were chemical and biological, and nuclear weapons. He have also deals with China to make it in China this time, not in Iraq, because F-16s of Israelis have destroyed the Iraqi nuclear project, therefore, he designed a new system to have the atom bomb to be done in China, and he would only pay the money, and he did for $100 million, and $5 million were paid for down payment. I know the bank, I know the branch, and I know the accountant who did it.

I don't know how reliable Sada is, but I just thought this was worth a mention.