Thomas Woods vs. Thomas Storck on Capitalism, The Market and Catholic Social Teaching

• Catholic Social Teaching and Economic Law: An Unresolved Tension, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (LewRockwell.com March 22, 2002). Delivered a the 8th Austrian Scholars Conference at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Ala. From the author:

  What follows is a discussion of Catholic social thought and the question of the just wage. I have nothing but the most profound respect for the nineteenth- and twentieth-century popes, who led the Church with courage and principle. As for the concept of the just wage, however, the time has come to acknowledge, with the late Scholastics, that the just wage is the market wage. As Fr. James Sadowsky of Fordham University has argued, if a business can "afford" to pay a just wage, market competition for labor will yield one. If it cannot, then it won't. In advocating socially desirable outcomes, it is essential to study how best they can be brought about.

• Morality and Economic Law: Toward a Reconciliation, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (LewRockwell.com March 20, 2004) The Lou Church Memorial Lecture in Religion and Economics, Austrian Scholars Conference, Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama, March 20, 2004. | Audio
• Economic Science and Catholic Social Teaching, by Thomas Storck. (Chronicles Magazine June 17, 2004)
• On the Actual Progress of Peoples, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (LewRockwell.com June 22, 2004)
• The Difficulties of Thomas Woods, by Thomas Storck. (Chronicles Magazine July 11, 2004)
• Catholics and Capitalism, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (LewRockwell.com November 12, 2004)
• Catholic Social Teaching and the Market Economy Revisited: A Reply to Thomas Storck, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (LewRockwell.com January 12, 20010). This paper appears in the current issue of the Catholic Social Science Review (vol. 14, 2009), under the heading “Symposium: The Implications of Catholic Social Teaching for Economic Science: An Exchange between Thomas Storck and Thomas E. Woods, Jr., with Responses.” [1] The Thomas Storck paper to which this one is a reply may be found here | Based on a panel discussion 03-14-09 at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama (Audio). Responses to the exchange:
  • A Response from John Médaille (full text)
  • A Response from Charles Clark (full text)
  • A Response from Kevin Schmiesing (full text)
  • A Response from Emil Berendt (full text)
• Is Thomas Woods A Dissenter? A Further Reply, Pt. 1 (01-18-10) | Part 2 (01-20-10) | Part 3 (01-22-10) | Part 4 (01-25-10). By Thomas Storck. (Chronicles Magazine)
• Is Thomas Woods a Dissenter? (Response from Thomas Woods) ThomasEWoods.com. Friday February 5, 2010.

On Thomas Woods' The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy

• Capitalism and Catholicism, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (LewRockwell.com February 14, 2005)
• Economics As Science: A Catholic Defense of the Free Market, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (InsideCatholic.com April 29, 2008). Based on remarks delivered during the author's December lecture tour of Poland.

About the Authors

Thomas Storck has been intrigued with Catholic social thought since he first read Richard Tawney’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism in high school. This book began a life-long interest in the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

Mr. Storck was received into the Church in 1978 and in 1983 began writing regularly on Catholic social teaching, Catholic culture, and other theological and philosophical topics. He is the author of three books, The Catholic Milieu (Christendom Press, 1987), Foundations of a Catholic Political Order (Four Faces Press, 1998) and Christendom and the West (Four Faces Press, 2000).

His work has appeared in numerous publications and websites in North America and Europe. He served as a contributing editor for Caelum et Terra from 1991 until the magazine closed in 1996 and the New Oxford Review from 1996 to 2006. Since 1998 he has been a member of the editorial board of The Chesterton Review.

Mr. Storck has taught history at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, and philosophy at Mt. Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania and Catonsville Community College in Catonsville, Maryland. He holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio and an M.A. from St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico, with additional studies in history at Bluffton College and in economics at the USDA Graduate School in Washington, D.C. [Source]

* * *

Thomas E. Woods, Jr., is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard and his master’s, M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is the author of nine books, including two New York Times bestsellers: Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse. His other books include Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush (with Kevin R.C. Gutzman), Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass, 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, and The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy. His critically acclaimed 2004 book The Church Confronts Modernity: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive Era was recently released in paperback by Columbia University Press. A collection of Woods’ essays, called W obronie zdrowego rozsadku, was released exclusively in Polish in 2007. Woods’ books have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Polish, French, German, Czech, Portuguese, Croatian, Russian, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. [...]

For eleven years Woods served as associate editor of The Latin Mass magazine; he is presently a contributing editor of The American Conservative magazine. A contributor to six encyclopedias, Woods is co-editor of Exploring American History: From Colonial Times to 1877, an eleven-volume encyclopedia.

See also

• Can Economic Justice Be Achieved Without Law?, by Thomas Storck. New Oxford Review October 2000.
• Fr. Sirico Replies (Response to Thomas Storck) New Oxford Review January 2001.
• Is the Acton Institute a Genuine Expression of Catholic Social Thought?, by Thomas Storck. Social Justice Review, vol. 93, no. 5-6, May-June 2002.
• Middle Ground Between Storck and Sirico?, by Joe Hargrave. The Distributist Review January 27, 2010.

Ralph McInerny (1929-2010)

Dr. Ralph McInerny died on Friday, at the age of 80. Zenit reports:

Ralph McInerny was a professor of philosophy and the Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

He held degrees from St. Paul Seminary, University of Minnesota and Laval University, and had taught at the University of Notre Dame since 1955. He directed the Jacques Maritain Center from 1979 to 2006.

He was an acknowledged expert on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, and a prolific author. He penned over two dozen scholarly books, many more scholarly essays, and over 80 novels.

He wrote the popular book series Father Dowling Mysteries, which became a successful television program starring Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson. ...

In 1982, he co-founded Crisis Magazine with Michael Novak. The publication is now known as InsideCatholic.

In 2006, he published his autobiography titled I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You: My Life And Pastimes.

Perhaps it is fitting, that he should pass one day after the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

• Remembering Ralph McInerny, by Treant Beattie. National Catholic Register 01/30/14. Philosophy professor and famed writer Ralph McInerny died four years ago on Jan. 29. His intellectual legacy, however, has not died; in fact, according to his brother Dennis, it has barely begun to be made manifest.
• "The Writing Life" an autobiographical essay. First Things March 2006.
• Curriculum Vitae
• Via Joseph Bottum, memories of Dr. Christopher Kaczor at Loyola Marymount, one of his many students and a tribute from Thomas S. Hibbs of Baylor University.
• Ralph McInerny (1929-2010) - Tributes from Robert Royal, Michael Novak, Bruce Fingerhut and John O’Callaghan of The Catholic Thing. February 1, 2010.
• In Memoriam: Ralph McInerny (1929–2010), by Fr. Joseph W. Koterski, S. J. First Principles February 1, 2010.
• Thoughts About Ralph McInerny: "A Man of Wit, Wisdom and Achievement", by Steven A. Long. Zenit. February 2, 2010.
• Sketches of Ralph, by Hadley Arkes. The Catholic Thing February 2, 2010.
• Ralph McInerny, philosopher and author NewScotsman.com. February 2, 2010.
• What McInerny saw in Thomas, by Joseph Upton. First Things' "On The Square" February 6, 20010.
• "Death of a Storyteller", by Tom Hoopes. National Catholic Register February 8, 20010.
• Ralph McInerny, 1929-2010, by Joseph Bottum. Weekly Standard February 15, 2010.
• And What's More . . . A recollection by Christopher Kaczor ’94MMS, ’96Ph.D. (Notre Dame Magazine Winter 2010-11).

Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church

January 28th, is the feast day St. Thomas Aquinas, my chosen saint as a convert. (It was a toss-up between Thomas the philosopher-theologian and Thomas Merton, the not-quite-saintly Trappist -- both exercising an influence on my journey to Rome).

Here is a favorite prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas -- for a holy life. It was said that he prayed this every day before the image of Christ:

Grant me, O merciful God, that what is pleasing to Thee I may ardently desire, prudently examine, truthfully acknowledge, and perfectly accomplish for the praise and glory of Thy name.

Ordain, O my God, my whole life, and what Thou requirest that I should do, grant me to know it and to fulfill as is meet and profitable to my soul.

Give me Thy grace, O Lord my God, that I may not fail in prosperity or in adversity, avoiding pride in the former and discouragement in the latter.

May I rejoice in nothing but what leads to Thee, grieve for nothing but what turns away from Thee. May I wish to please or displease n one but Thee.

May I despise, O Lord, all transitory things, and prize only that which is eternal. May I shun ant joy that is without Thee, nor wish for anything outside of Thee.

May I delight in any work taken up for Thee, and tire of any rest which is without Thee. Grant me, O my God, to direct my heart toward Thee, and in my failings constantly grieve, with the purpose of a amendment.

Make me, O Lord, my God, obedient without contradiction, poor without depression, chaste without corruption patient without murmuring, humble without pretence, cheerful without dissipation, mature without dullness, prompt without levity, fearing Thee without despair, truthful without duplicity, doing good without presumption, correcting my neighbor without haughtiness, and edifying him by word and example without hypocrisy.

Give me, O Lord God, a watchful heart, which no curious thought will turn away from Thee; a noble heart, which no unworthy affection will drag down; a righteous heart, which no irregular intention will twist aside; a firm heart, which no tribulation will break; a free heart, which no violent affection will claim for itself.

Grant me finally, O Lord my God, science in knowing Thee, diligence in seeking Thee, wisdom in finding Thee, a conduct pleasing to Thee, a perseverance trustfully awaiting Thee, and a confidence finally embracing Thee. May I endure Thy punishments by penitence; profit by Thy benefits by grace in this world, and enjoy Thy blessedness by glory in the next; Who livest and reignest, true God, forever and ever. Amen

* * *

St. Thomas Aquinas Online

• Saint Thomas Aquinas Stanford Enyclopedia of Philosophy
• Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Enyclopedia [1917]
• Thomas Aquinas' works in English courtesy of the Dominican friars of the Priory of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.

Readings and studies of St. Thomas Aquinas

My very first introduction to The Doctor was by Peter Kreeft's A Summa of the Summa, by way of my dad, featuring a broad selection of his philosophical work along with Kreeft's commentary.

A few years ago I did a poll/post on introductions and studies of St. Thomas Aquinas for beginners or newcomers (and delving into the Summa from time to time is a good reminder that I'm exactly that). Here are some recommendations that were offered on my blog and elsewhere:

• Timothy McDermott’s Summa Theologiae: A Concise Translation
• Fritz Bauerschmidt’s Holy Teaching: Introducing the ‘Summa Theologiae’ of St. Thomas Aquinas
• Aquinas and His Role in Theology, by Marie-Dominique Chenu.
• A Guide to St. Thomas Aquinas, by Joseph Peiper.
• The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, by Etienne Gilson.
• A Companion to the Summa, by Walter Farrell, OP. [Online text].
• St. Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings, by Ralph MacInerney. [Also Dr. MacInerney's online lectures on Aquinas].
• A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas: A Handbook for Peeping Thomists, by Ralph MacInerney.
• G.K. Chesterton's The Dumb Ox, of which Etienne Gilson remarked: "I consider it as being without possible comparison the best book ever written on St. Thomas."

The Great Catholic Blog Torture Debate resumes ...

• "Just WHAT, Exactly, Is Being 'Clarified'?", by Jay Anderson (Pro Ecclesia, Pro Familia, Pro Civitate January 27, 2010).
• Erin on Moral Clarity and Torture Creative Minority Report January 27, 2010).
• 'Tiresome' anti-torturers, by Todd M. Aglialoro. (InsideCatholic.com January 25, 2010).
• "Separating the wheat from the chaff in the Great Torture Debate …" (The American Catholic January 22nd, 2010) -- in which the question is posed: would Deal Hudson, Jimmy Akin, Catholic Answers, and Fr. Neuhaus qualify for membership?

And while, for the record, I believe waterboarding is among the many wrongs commited by the Bush administration, and that other oft-cited incidents of detainee abuse (particuarly those resulting in death) should be investigated, and their perpetrators -- if guilty -- prosecuted, I concur with Jay Anderson:

... I am reluctant to join anything billing itself as the "Coalition for Clarity" for a number of reasons: (1) I am uncomfortable with the whole "Coalition for Fog"/"Coalition for Charity" dicotomy since I have faithful Catholic friends (Shea would label them "Faithful Conservative Catholics[TM]") who oppose torture, yet who have been unfairly accused of being for "fog" in the torture debates; (2) I'm not so sure that "clarity" is actually being sought, but rather see the effort as something more along the lines of "we're not like the the people who Shea has labeled as being 'for fog'"; and (3) nothing about the name overtly or otherwise indicates exactly what it is the group stands for.

So, I beg your indulgence while I offer this humble suggestion. How about you drop the cute euphemism, which is really nothing more than a play on Mark's overly theatrical name calling, and adopt a straightforward name that says what you REALLY mean and what you REALLY stand for? Something like ... I don't know ... "Catholics Against Torture"?

Lastly, my opinion of Mark Shea remains the same as it was last year, around this time (when, curiously enough, I found myself blogging on this same topic):

... that any legitimate disagreements with the Bush administration that could be mounted are obfuscated by his tendency to play fast and loose with the facts; imbue dubious motives to his critics, and substitute the virtual equivalent of sheer playground bullying for civil, rational and charitable debate -- which has, over the course of the past three years, alienated a number of erstwhile friends and readers within the Catholic online community who would have otherwise supported him.

That Shea is credited as both the inspiration for, and a participant of, 'The Coalition for Clarity' gives me a bad impression. Chalk it up to past history. (At the same time, I'm always open to surprises).

(Prior posts on the subject are compiled here).

"a sad infidelity to America's highest ideals"

[N]o one in the world who prizes liberty and human rights can feel anything but a strong kinship with America. Yours is the one great nation in all of history that was founded on the precept of equal rights and respect for all humankind, for the poorest and weakest of us as well as the richest and strongest.

As your Declaration of Independence put it, in words that have never lost their power to stir the heart: “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…” A nation founded on these principles holds a sacred trust: to stand as an example to the rest of the world, to climb ever higher in its practical realization of the ideals of human dignity, brotherhood, and mutual respect. Your constant efforts in fulfillment of that mission, far more that your size or your wealth or your military might, have made America an inspiration to all mankind.

It must be recognized that your model was never one of realized perfection, but of ceaseless aspiration. From the outset, for example, America denied the African slave his freedom and human dignity. But in time you righted that wrong, albeit at an incalculable cost in human suffering and loss of life.

Your impetus has almost always been toward a fuller, more all embracing conception and assurance of the rights that your founding fathers recognized as inherent and God-given. Yours has ever been an inclusive, not an exclusive, society. And your steps, though they may have paused or faltered now and then, have been pointed in the right direction and have trod the right path. The task has not always been an easy one, and each new generation has faced its own challenges and temptations. But in a uniquely courageous and inspiring way, America has kept faith.

Yet there has been one infinitely tragic and destructive departure from those American ideals in recent memory. It was this Court's own decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) to exclude the unborn child from the human family. You ruled that a mother, in consultation with her doctor, has broad discretion, guaranteed against infringement by the United States Constitution, to choose to destroy her unborn child.

Your opinion stated that you did not need to “resolve the difficult question of when life begins.” That question is inescapable. If the right to life in an inherent and inalienable right, it must surely exist wherever life exists. No one can deny that the unborn child is a distinct being, that it is human, and that it is alive. It is unjust, therefore, to deprive the unborn child of its fundamental right to life on the basis of its age, size, or condition of dependency.

It was a sad infidelity to America's highest ideals when this Court said that it did not matter, or could not be determined, when the inalienable right to life began for a child in its mother's womb.

Mother Theresa, Letter to the US Supreme Court on Roe v. Wade (February 1994)

Help for Haiti

Relief Efforts for Haiti A roundup from The Anchoress.

Help.

Ordinarily I'm not one to "bleg", but in dire straits right now, so ...

(On the other hand, if you need assistance, perhaps my web, Photoshop or blog-design skills may be put to use).

For fellow readers and book lovers ... "best books of 2009"

I know, I know -- the decade is not yet over -- but as we had into the final year, some compilations of recommended reading and "best of the decade" lists.

• The best theology books of 2009, by Ben Myers (Faith and Theology).

• "The top ten pro-liberty books of the decade" as selected by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. (Additional reactions from Damon Root and readers of the libertarian magazine Reason).

• The best "Philosophy of Religion" books of the decade, by Andrew Moon (The Prosblogion).

• The editors, authors and staff of Ignatius Press on "the best books I read in 2009".

• The curmudgeonly Arturo Vasquez has compiled "a list of books that I think every convert and convert at heart should read" (Reditus: A Chronicle of Aesthetic Christianity).

• The Guardian selects "50 books that defined the decade".

• The Times (UK) selectes "the 100 Best Books of the Decade".

• And when it comes time to engage in the painful, but necessary, task of weeding your library -- the proprietors of New York's famous Strand bookstore offer strategies for those "books you can do without" (New York Times' "Room for Debate").

Subjective, of course.

Q: What books did you read this year? Liked? Or perhaps disliked? -- Did you accomplish your reading goals? I welcome your comments!

Here and There

• "I'm a Catholic too" - Fr Dwight Longenecker (Standing on My Head):

  When I was an Anglican priest I once said to the (Catholic) Abbot of Quarr, "I'm a Catholic too, but in the Anglican Church." He smiled and said, "You should understand that we Catholics define what being Catholic is rather differently than you do."

• Some News about the SSPX Discussions Via the website Panorama Católico Internacional (found via messainlatino.it) come news about the doctrinal discussions between the Holy See and the SSPX.

• The Lost Wisdom of the Three Wise Men - Umberto Eco (author of ) laments the loss of religious and biblical literacy: "It’s impossible to understand roughly three-quarters of Western art if you don’t know the events of the Old and the New Testaments and the stories of the saints."

• Fidel Castro: Hollywood Screenwriter - Humberto Fontova (Big Hollywood) takes on Soderbergh’s and del Toro’s, “Che.”

• Pius XII - Ready for sainthood? Joe Hargrave (The American Catholic) answers in the affirmative.

• A Composer's Ties to Nazi Germany Come Under New Scrutiny (Chronicle of Higher Education). "More than 50 years after the Finnish composer died, in 1957, at the age of 91, a musicologist in Texas is claiming that [Finnish composer Jean] Sibelius was culpably entangled with Nazi Germany, and should join Pound, Richard Wagner, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline in the select group of artists who have been cast into anti-Semitic ignominy." (Though it seems to me that his complicity with National Socialism was much, much less than that of Martin Heidegger).

• Edward Feser: "Over at my own blog, I provide a detailed critique of materialist philosopher Paul Churchland’s critique of mind-body dualism in his widely-used textbook Matter and Consciousness. In three parts: here, here, and here. If philosophy of mind is your bag, clear your schedule."

• From Lee Gerhard, geologist and reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a concise summary of the "climate change scam" (Hat tip: PowerLine):

  It is crucial that scientists are factually accurate when they do speak out, that they ignore media hype and maintain a clinical detachment from social or other agendas. There are facts and data that are ignored in the maelstrom of social and economic agendas swirling about Copenhagen. Greenhouse gases and their effects are well-known. Here are some of things we know ...

• Theologian Edward Schillebeeckx, dead at 95 (National Catholic Reporter).

• A Walker Percy documentary is in the works! (Via Philokalia Republic)

• Bill Cork teaches us how to count.

  

• Lastly - Dissertations on His Dudeness Dwight Garner (New York Times) on the cult appreciation of the Coen brothers' film "The Big Lebowski", together with a new genre of literature:

  “The Big Lebowski” has spawned its own shaggy, fervid world: drinking games, Halloween costumes, bumper stickers (“This aggression will not stand, man”) and a drunken annual festival that took root in Louisville, Ky., and has spread to other cities. The movie is also the subject of an expanding shelf of books, including "The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers" (Zondervan, 2009) and the forthcoming “The Tao of the Dude.”

  Where cult films go, academics will follow. New in bookstores, and already in its second printing, is "The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies." (Indiana UP, 2009).

  (A favorite film of my brother Jon and I, howbeit not to this extent).

"Is the SSPX Right about Vatican II?" -- A dialogue between Aidan Nichols and a "confused Catholic"

"Rome and the SSPX: a very puzzling dialogue" -- When Moyra Doorly began to wonder if the SSPX is right about Vatican II she asked leading theologian Aidan Nichols to address her doubts. The initial exchange was published July 3, 2009, and continues in the pages of the Catholic Herald (UK):

• Did Vatican II usher in our secular age? Author Moyra Doorly and theologian Fr Aidan Nichols conclude their correspondence about the state of the Catholic Church today. (Catholic Herald October 27, 2010).
• Letter from a confused Catholic: Could the liturgical crisis stem from the Council itself?, by Moyra Doorly. July 3, 2009.
• Reply [to] a confused Catholic: The contrasts you draw are unnecessarily sharp, by Fr. Aidan Nichols. July 3, 2009.
• Is the SSPX right about the liturgy? October 30, 2009.
• We remain the Church of Tradition December 25, 2009.
• Vatican II: a triumph of naïve optimism? Author Moyra Doorly and theologian Aidan Nichols continue to discuss the merits of the Society of St Pius X's critique of the modern Church. January 29, 2010.

The U.S. Army - Bringing new life to an old monastery.

Maj. Jeffrey Whorton, a Roman Catholic chaplain, celebrating Mass at St. Elijah’s Monastery near Mosul in northern Iraq.

The United States Army hopes to restore St. Elijah’s Monastery, an ancient site of Christian worship stuck in the middle of a base in northern Iraq (New York Times December 18, 2009) | Photo Tour of St. Elijah's Monastery in Iraq.

• In the years of American occupation, St. Elijah's became a curiosity, a diversion for soldiers and contractors.
• The site has never been studied or excavated. Before the war, Iraq's Republican Guard occupied the base and, according to the Americans, used the cistern as a latrine.
• The monastery is believed to date from the late 500s, when Elijah, an Assyrian monk, traveled from what is now Turkey. It later became part of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
• The goal, Sergeant Miller explained, is to give St. Elijah's "another 100 years of life -- in whosever regime it is then."

Update!

From a reader and fellow co-blogger at American Catholic recommends some additional articles:

• In Iraq, a Monastery Rediscovered, by James Foley. Smithsonian.com, September 16, 2008
• "Faith Amid The Ruins" Army Times August 27, 2007.

Some of the interesting points:

- Dair Mar Elia was occupied as a monastery for nearly 1200 years before all 150 monks living there at the time were massacred by a Persian leader in 1743 for refusing to convert to Islam. The monastery has been a ruin ever since.

- The local Christian population used to visit yearly on the feast of St. Elia, but this practice has mostly been abandoned since the 70s, when the Republican Guard built a major tank base around the monastery.

- During their 30 year occupation of the site, the Republican Guard used the monastery’s sistern as a latrine and Iraqi soldiers carved graphiti on the walls through the standing buildings.

- The area was the site of a major tank battle in 2003, and the eastern wall of the chapel was damaged at that time by a turret blown off an Iraqi tank (which was positioned right next to the chapel).

- Coalition troops at first had no idea what the buildings were, and so painted over several areas of the monastery with white gloss paint, painted the 101st Airborne crest over the doorway, and most unfortunately, set the latrine waste in the cistern on fire. (Just for a good time? To get rid of the smell? Who knows…)

- Since army chaplains and the army core of engineers have set about restoring the monastery and trying to get it on the Ministry of Archeology and Culture’s list of historic sites, they’ve discovered additional graphiti carved in the monastery walls by crusaders in the 13th century, and also the tombs of the monks, which local Christians had believed to be lost or destroyed.

Whatever one thinks about the US’s mission in Iraq, it’s good to hear about this ancient monastery (long abused and unknown) is receiving some long needed restoration, and may in fact receive it long term through the Iraqi Ministry of Culture. And the Eucharist is once again being celebrated in a chapel which, for many centuries, was left empty, and in recent decades was actively mistreated. The stones once again witness the sacrements for which they were put in place. Those who put those stones in place could little imagine what would follow in the centuries to come. And yet, through it all, the sacramental life of the Church returns, Christ is present on the altar once more.

Not that I need another reason to enjoy coffee, but ...

Melinda Beck provides a roundup of (mostly positive) coffee-related medical research ("Good News in the Daily Grind" Wall Street Journal December 29, 2009):

This month alone, an analysis in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people who drink three to four cups of java a day are 25% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who drink fewer than two cups. And a study presented at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting found that men who drink at least six cups a day have a 60% lower risk of developing advanced prostate cancer than those who didn't drink any.

Earlier studies also linked coffee consumption with a lower risk of getting colon, mouth, throat, esophageal and endometrial cancers. People who drink coffee are also less likely to have cavities, gallstones, cirrhosis of the liver, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, or to commit suicide, studies have found. Last year, researchers at Harvard University and the University of Madrid assessed data on more than 100,000 people over 20 years and concluded that the more coffee they drank, the less likely they were to die during that period from any cause.

But those studies come on the heels of older ones showing that coffee—particularly the caffeine it contains—raises blood pressure, heart rate and levels of homocysteine, an amino acid in blood that is associated with stroke and heart disease. Pregnant women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day have a higher rate of miscarriages and lower birth-weight babies; caffeine has also been linked to benign breast lumps and bone loss in elderly women. And, as many people can attest, coffee can also aggravate anxiety, irritability, heartburn and sleeplessness, which brings its own set of problems, including a higher risk of obesity. Yet it's just that invigorating buzz that other people love and think they can't get through the day without.

Melinda asks: "Why is there so much confusion about something that's so ubiquitous?" -- Read the rest.

Happy New Year!

As for 2009 wrap-ups, may I say 'God Bless Dave Barry' for giving us something to laugh about?