February 9 Cronan the Wise 8th c.

Thom and Jack,
Good Morning, I love you
110127, 1111

A week since last blogging? What have I been up to? Dithering in a much more unproductive way, I am sure. Besides, what do you care what I have been doing? How much do I matter to anyone in the communion of saints? To my family? To those who bump into my circle of impact? Barely a grain of sand on the beach; under the heel of those who saunter by.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Gee, thanks for that. It’s a coward’s way of saying ‘not only no, but hell no.’ It’s disingenuous. It’s a lie. It’s a cover-up for the decision to not do what is the right thing to do. I’ll try would be better. But “I’ll try” elicits Yoda’s infamous retort, “there is not try. There is either do or not do.” Don’t dishonor yourself with the blather. Man up! Even if it is to choose wrongly, be a man and stand by your choice. Let words be meaningful. Listen to yourself when you say such inanities. You are better than that! God didn’t create such a wimp. Your father certainly didn’t instill those words in your repertoire. Duh! It does matter with whom you align. It does matter whom you seek to please. It does matter whom you wish to emulate. Good luck with that.

And, as Cicero said in his Cataline orations – we will pass over what else you said.

I’m between jobs.

I’m thinking about getting certified.

I’m still in the same place.
Oh yeah, that one is true on every level. Except that the same place isn’t a static phenomenon. To not be progressing, to not be improving, to not be seeking, to not be pursuing, leaves things and you getting worse off each and every second. I know from which I speak.

Ora pro nobis.

And then, after being dissed by ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ I pondered the continued ignoring from the editor of NH. “I’m reviewing them…” “I’ll get back to you soon…” Alas, soon has come and gone, several times. C’est la vie. Certainly, it’s much of my life. When you are on the side of holding others in abeyance, remember that their soon is yesterday. It’s a bear responding in other people’s timeframe. It means that we take the responsibility for their feeloughts. Maybe, that’s too much to ask. Maybe, it’s too much to give.

If this is what waiting for an answer of ‘come join us’ is like in this world, how much torture is Purgatory? Ora pro nobis.


February 9
(Talk about dithering. It’s January 27th real time and I’m only on the 9th of Feb for saints of the day. The rationale can be that I won’t be a viewpoint in the NH. That also speaks to my lack of discipline on several dimensions. Pursuing publication is underdone. Taking the time each day to ponder and write on a saint or two is also not going as planned. At bedside and at chairside in my prayer space are a plethora of saint books. It really is a simple matter of opening the computer and typing away. Oh well. I’m much more of a binge and purge kind of guy than a steady, disciplined anything…. Ora pro me.)

Cronan the Wise 8th century

Saints and Angels give us two lines. Brigid-UndertheOak.blogspot.com gives us Canon O’Hanlon’s elaboration.

Cronan the wise was a bishop of Ireland. Today, the bishops of Ireland are under fire for the ‘priest-abuse’ atrocities. Probably not a saint among that bunch today. I bet that if Cronan the Wise heard of a priest in 8th c. Ireland abusing children, he’d have his penis cut off and hung on a stake near his house. Our bishops – yes, OUR, i.e., Catholic, yes, we share in the communion of saints – in Ireland, Belgium, Germany, the USA, and elsewhere I have no doubt, were complicit in the epidemic of atrocities because (a) they were more interested in defending Church than Children or (b) they were prisoners of their role as defenders of the Church canons and Church independence vis a vis secular government (c) they were dependent on expert opinion which years ago told them that child abuse is something that can be cured or, at least, under the right circumstances, manageable or (d) all of the above. Ora pro nobis.

Cronan the Wise systematized canon law in Ireland. No doubt we could use a Cronan the Wise in Ireland today. In the Vatican today. In our Church we live in a parallel universe with the secular “real” world.

We have the still percolating, maybe worsening, situation with our Bishop of the Phoenix Diocese. In today’s NY Times, one of their lead columnists did a story on the De-Catholicizing of St Joseph’s Hospital because, almost two years ago now, the hospital supported the mother’s and father’s decision to terminate their pregnancy in order to save the mother’s life. [I admit that I frame the situation to my bias. Bishop Olmstead et al. would state the situation very differently.] How much would the systematizer of canon law be also a pastoral bishop? A moral theologian [not a moralistic one].

And then we have a much longer story about Cronan the Wise from UndertheOak. Most of which tells us about how confusing is our ‘record’ of Irish saints named Cronan or Mochua.

O'Hanlon believes that our Saint Cronan/Mochua flourished within the County Waterford area, where he first embraced the monastic life under Saint Carthage at Rathan. Cronan the Wise is said to have been the first, who made his religious profession, under St. Carthage, in the famous monastic establishment of Rathen.

Deriving every advantage from the training of this great saint, Cronan made considerable progress in virtue. It does matter under whom you learn – regardless of the content of the learning. The substance of learning is the virtue gained: personal and professional. Choose more wisely, please.

Cronan the Wise was placed by St. Carthage, over an establishment, near Rathen. This place is called Cluain Dachran. When we grow in virtue and demonstrate what we are able to contribute, we will be called upon to give more, to lead others. First, it is a vocational choice whether or not to step from minion to leader. For some, this is not the right choice. Discern wisely. Ask – Is this God’s will for me? Second, when we are tapped to do the next step in our career, realize that it is a qualitatively new responsibility. New competencies and greater virtue.

Apparently, we have a consensus that Cronan the Wise was probably martyred by the Danes of the Swords, County Dublin. Martyred along with the slaughter of his entire family/clan. Love those Danes…. (consensus but not unanimity)

I love you,
Dad
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