history

Close Encounters with Pope John Paul II

/ esteban

Here are a few photos from visits to Rome that I made with students from the St. Philip Neri Newman Center at the University of Tulsa.

In 2000, we were lucky to attend a special Mass for the 80th birthday of JPII.    In 2004, we attended both a papal audience and the Canonization Mass for six saints, including a favorite of mine, St. Gianna Beretta Molla. Continue reading →

16 Banners

/ esteban

My sister pointed me to this documentary and I thought I’d share it.  She’s right, my love of basketball began as a student at Hobbs High School.   There was nothing better than watching the Eagles play under Coach Tasker.

Watching a 176-49 drubbing of Roswell is something I’ll never forget.  Hobbs lives and breathes basketball.

 

[youtube http://youtu.be/BqxxGpbaj3g]

American Patriots

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My sister Stacey has had a interest in our family’s genealogy for some time.  She was fortunate to have spent some time with my grandfather looking over the materials that he and my grandmother had pulled together over the years.

She recently obtained some information that links us to John Barlow of Kent, Connecticut, a private soldier who served in the Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution.

We don’t know too much about John, other than this regarding his service:

JOHN BARLOW, of Kent, Connecticut, enlisted on May 7, 1777, as a Private in Captain Albert Chapman’s Company of Colonel Heman Swift’s 7th Regiment of Connecticut Militia.

He was subsequently in Captain Comstock Albert Chapman’s Company of Colonel Heman Swift’s 7th Regiment of Connecticut Militia. He was subsequently in Captain Comstock’s Company of Colonel Swift’s 2nd Connecticut Regiment, Captain Cogswell’s Company of Colonel Moseley’s Connecticut Regiment, Captain Chamberlain’s Company of Colonel Swift’s 2nd Regiment, Captain Manning’s Company of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment, and in Colonel Hinman’s 4th Connecticut Regiment.

Washington rallying the troops at the Battle of Monmouth

He was in the Battles of Germantown and Monmouth, served in one campaign in 1775 and all of 1776.  

He applied for a pension, application no. S37732, on April 22, 1818, in Litchfield County, Connecticut. 

John Barlow was born on March 5, 1748, at Kent and was the son of Joseph and Phebe Barlow.   He married first Anna Caswell on May 27, 1770, second Temperance Branch on January 25, 1773, and third Lucy Hatch. He had eleven children.  He died on September 19, 1833, at Kent and was buried there in the Kent Hollow Cemetery.         

Yes, he had three wives over the years, which probably wasn’t all that uncommon in those days.

With no depiction of John Barlow available from internet searches, I was able to find a picture of the cemetery in which he is buried and his headstone.

Perhaps someday I’ll be able to visit there and see it for myself.

According to my grandfather, we’re also related to William Alexander, who styled himself Lord Stirling, before joining the cause of the American Revolution.  He served as a brigadier general directly under General George Washington’s command.

Much more is known about General Alexander, which you can read about in this Wikipedia article.

He is thought to have been present at the Battles of Long Island, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.

Thus both of these American patriots in my family would have served together.  One the lowly private and the other the privileged officer and gentleman.  I wonder if they knew each other.

 

 

 

Independence Day – Oklahoma Style

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I was very lucky to spend this Independence Day with my brother Kevin, Oklahoma style.

After an All-American breakfast at the local Village Inn, we headed over to Tulsa’s outstanding Gilcrease Museum for their “Spend a George to Spend The Fourth with George” event. ($1 admission)

Gilcrease is extremely fortunate to be hosting the Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon traveling exhibit.  More than 100 original objects belonging to George Washington.

The exhibition is presented in 11 sections, ranging from Washington’s youth to his final days. In addition to Washington’s dentures, paintings, books, maps, and objects such as surveying equipment, Revolutionary War armaments, tools used by slaves, and presidential table settings are among the artifacts featured in the exhibition. Mrs. Washington is represented by original jewelry, pieces of her china, silver, and glassware, and reproductions of her gold wedding dress and purple satin slippers.

Three life-size models of George Washington were assembled from a two-year forensic study where computer scientists, art historians, 18th-century garment experts, and a forensic scientist used technology and research from primary sources to measure and analyze portraits, sculpture, and Washington’s dentures and clothing. The project employed proprietary age-progression and regression techniques to create three depictions of Washington as a teenaged surveyor, commander-in-chief atop a white horse, and as the first president taking the oath of office. These lifelike wax figures, with real human hair that was implanted one strand at a time, are embedded in realistic settings – one even with animation – that re-create scenes in the woodsy Ohio Valley territory, wintry Valley Forge, and on the balcony of Federal Hall.

The three life-size models of GW were outstanding!  Truly the stuff of CSI, it was amazing to stand face to face with Washington, depicted as a 19 year old surveyor, 45 year old general and the 57 year old first president.   The photo above gives a hint of their likenesses.

You can find more photos from the exhibit here.  It was a great way to start our observance of Independence Day!

 

Next, Kevin and I drove over to our college alma mater – Oklahoma State University.  Our first stop in town was the famous “Eskimo Joes” – the iconic college restaurant/bar that is a must stop for anyone visiting Stillwater.

I can’t count all the visits I’ve made to EJ’s over the years and the wonderful times that I spent time with friends there.

We arrived shortly before the early closing time, but as always they were gracious and welcoming and we were served my favorites, Joe’s Special Burgers and cheese fries!

After this late lunch, it was time to wander the OSU campus and see all the new projects.  Quite a bit is going on when it comes to new construction,  including major renovations to the equally iconic Student Union.    The north side redesign has been completed, including this awesome new plaza between the Student Union and the Classroom Building.

The campus was almost completely empty as we walked around, but I could still feel the ghosts of my past and the excitements that I experienced during my time there.

Once back in Tulsa, Kevin and I watched the Independence Day celebrations from Washington and New York on TV.  This inspired us to head to Oklahoma’s favorite ice cream shop – Braum’s (they were inexplicably out of several flavors) and then to drive around town like crazy paparazzi, watching area fireworks displays from expressway bridges and parking lots.  We caught glimpses of the shows from Southern Hills Country Club and the city’s FreedomFest show over the Arkansas River.

We topped it off by watching “Independence Day” on TV before calling it a very fun day!

 

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 14 – Independence Day

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There’s not much more to say about the Fortnight for Freedom, so in honor of Independence Day, here are a few reminders from the greatest orator of my time.

Regardless of what you think of President Ronald Reagan, his politics, or his place in history, I hope you will admit that he certainly knew how to make you feel good about our nation and help you appreciate what just how special our freedoms are.

[youtube http://youtu.be/7rNHZh3Vu0Y]

And just for fun …

If you are old enough to remember Liberty Weekend, 1986 – the centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty, than you know what a special time that was.  Here’s a little reminder:

[youtube http://youtu.be/Jj4S2mJ7GUw]

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 13 – DIGNITATIS HUMANAE

/ esteban

On December 7, 1965, Pope Paul VI issued the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration of Religious Freedom “Dignitatis Humanae”

If you’ve never heard of it, or never read it, you can find it on the Vatican website here.

As I read it, I pulled some statements from it that I found resonating under our current situation and see in it all the more encouragement needed for defending our religious freedom.

On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it.

 

This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.

 

On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of life. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in manner contrary to his conscience. Nor, on the other hand, is he to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience, especially in matters religious.

 

The social nature of man, however, itself requires that he should give external expression to his internal acts of religion: that he should share with others in matters religious; that he should profess his religion in community. Injury therefore is done to the human person and to the very order established by God for human life, if the free exercise of religion is denied in society, provided just public order is observed.

 

The freedom or immunity from coercion in matters religious which is the endowment of persons as individuals is also to be recognized as their right when they act in community. Religious communities are a requirement of the social nature both of man and of religion itself.

 

Government is also to help create conditions favorable to the fostering of religious life, in order that the people may be truly enabled to exercise their religious rights and to fulfill their religious duties, and also in order that society itself may profit by the moral qualities of justice and peace which have their origin in men’s faithfulness to God and to His holy will.

 

The fact is that men of the present day want to be able freely to profess their religion in private and in public. Indeed, religious freedom has already been declared to be a civil right in most constitutions, and it is solemnly recognized in international documents.(38) The further fact is that forms of government still exist under which, even though freedom of religious worship receives constitutional recognition, the powers of government are engaged in the effort to deter citizens from the profession of religion and to make life very difficult and dangerous for religious communities.

 

These are some of the phrases that stood out to me, but it doesn’t necessarily portray the whole thought or intent of the document.  I urge you to read it and form your own impressions, lest I be accused of trying to reframe the intention of the Council in writing this document.

 

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 12 – The New Anti-Catholicism

/ esteban

A few months ago when the dreaded HHS Mandate was announced, my pastor stood before our parish congregation one Sunday morning and lamented that for the first time in his life his Americanism and his Catholicism were in conflict.  I still feel that way.

It is sad to see the end of the time when religious liberty was a cherished part of our national ideal.  I constantly ask myself, “Who are we becoming that these coercions are acceptable?”

In the article referenced below, written by Francis J. Beckwith, we see how strong the new Anti-Catholicism has become and how lethargic and apathetic the general public is in defending its freedoms.

If these trends continue, I’m afraid our nation is going to get what it wants, not what it needs, and will thus become a faint whisper of the vision it was designed to be.

http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/the-new-anti-catholicism-occupy-the-vatican.html

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 11 – George Washington, Defender of Catholic Liberty

/ esteban / 1 Comment

If you do much reading about the general public’s opinion about Catholicism during the years of the American Revolution, you will soon note how anti-Catholic many people were and how close our new nation came to outlawing the Church all together.

George Washington, who not only saved our nation during the fight for freedom, but was also instrumental in securing religious liberty for everyone.

You can find many such articles about this online, but here’s one that gives you an example of President Washington’s open-mindedness in this particular area:

http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/11/05/george-washington-and-catholics/