RIP Father Tim

I found this over at the Deacon's Bench.

Five years after being gravely wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, the Rev. Tim Vakoc, a well-known and much-loved Roman Catholic priest from Minnesota, has died, his family said Sunday.

Father Tim, as he was known, was the first military chaplain grievously wounded in the Iraq war. He was injured by a roadside bomb as he was returning from celebrating mass with troops on May 29, 2004, the day before the 12th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

In your charity please pray for the repose of his soul. You can read more about this brave Priest here.

LODD

Another in a long line of cowardly pieces of human effluence has snuffed out the lives of police officers. This time in Pittsburgh, PA, three officers responding to a domestic dispute were gunned down by another pathetic loser who felt his rights were going to be infringed by the current administration. So three more families of honorable men will have to suffer. Why you ask. Let me give you a hint. More than one media outlet quoted the mother of this animal as yelling "what are you doing to my son?" as the police responded in force to the house after he committed these murders. Of course the suspect who proudly said to a friend in a pre rampage phone call "I am going to die today" did not fulfill that prophecy. Like all spineless cowards he surrendered.

Its very difficult to remain pro life in the face of events like these. Please join me in wishing him a long life as a debutante on a squalid cell block with predatory alpha males who will ensure he will have a tangible preview of what Hell will be like for him.

And in charity please remember in your prayers the souls of Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo III. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Four more heros fall

If you have an ounce of charity in your heart you were appalled today when you read the news about the Four Oakland Police Officers Killed in Shootout. It is horrifying when any one member of the thin blue line has their life snuffed out in a moment of senseless unprovoked violence. Particularly when the product of a failed judiciary is the culprit and should be locked in a cage somewhere.

Having worked in both Corrections (in our State’s only maximum security lockup) and in the streets for a good part of the last twenty five years it never ceases to amaze me that even the most hardened criminals with violent tendencies are let loose to resume their predatory behaviors on the rest of productive society. While I am against the death penalty for reasons that encompass both moral and fiduciary beliefs there are ways to segment these bottom dwellers from their feeding grounds. The movement for rehabilitation confinement has its merits. First offenders deserve a chance to repent and turn their lives around. That being said it should be equally clear that those who would rape, rob and murder will not benefit from college classes and therapy. What is the benefit, a more educated recidivist? A good case in point is an alumnus from my Maximum Security days who I recently encountered after his violent shoot out with the police. It would appear that paroling him only twenty five years in to a sixty year sentence for his last armed robbery wasn’t the best idea after all.

Within twelve hours of the deaths of the first three Oakland PD officers this blog post appeared. If we stopped catering to the likes of its author there might be not be four California families their husbands and fathers this day. Then again, if we stopped taxing the life out of working Americans to pay for the shortcomings of absent fathers who drop babies like cigarette butts on the street instead of raising their children and directed the funding to long term confinement without conjugal visits maybe our world would be a safer place.

May they rest in peace.

Many thanks to Stephanie over at The Digital Hairshirt for the information on this one.

RIP Uncle Maran

In a family as large as mine and with the occasional tendency toward Jerry Springer worthy sagas its not always possible to get to know all of the extended clan well. In fact just this summer I met a second and third cousin I never knew I had. Thats the case with Great Uncles too to some respect. I knew of Uncle Maran since I was a grade school kid. But I never really got to know all that much about him until he was nearing the end of his life's journey and I was mired in the hectic pace in the middle of mine.

Uncle Maran was married to my Ciocci (Polish for Aunt) Julie for 67 years. They were a weekly regular at the 10:30 Mass at our Parish and I can still envision them sitting in the same spot. I would run in to them from time to time around town and they were always ready with a warm and loving hello, even if they weren't particularly sure at that moment which of her sister's sons I belonged to.

He never split the atom or brokered any major diplomatic solutions to the world's problems but he led the life of a good man. He worked hard to provide for his family, raised three kids, served his country with the rest of the Greatest Generation and practiced his faith. And to his dying day in that wretched nursing home he was my Ciocci Julie's sweetheart.

May the Lord be merciful in his judgement of this good man and grant him eternal rest.