'And Mary kept all these things . . . in her heart.' Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

The Virgin Mary, El Greco, 1590s


Gospel (Luke 2:16-21)


The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.

+++
Pope Benedict blessing members of Pueri Cantores (Boys' Choir Association), 30 December 2010

Pope Benedict’s Message for World Day of Peace 2011

Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace

Religious freedom in the world

14. Finally I wish to say a word to the Christian communities suffering from persecution, discrimination, violence and intolerance, particularly in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East and especially in the Holy Land, a place chosen and blessed by God. I assure them once more of my paternal affection and prayers, and I ask all those in authority to act promptly to end every injustice against the Christians living in those lands. In the face of present difficulties, may Christ’s followers not lose heart, for witnessing to the Gospel is, and always will be, a sign of contradiction.

Let us take to heart the words of the Lord Jesus: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted … Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied … Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 5:4-12). Then let us renew “the pledge we give to be forgiving and to pardon when we invoke God’s forgiveness in the Our Father. We ourselves lay down the condition and the extent of the mercy we ask for when we say: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us’ (Mt 6:12)”.[17] Violence is not overcome by violence. May our cries of pain always be accompanied by faith, by hope and by the witness of our love of God. I also express my hope that in the West, and especially in Europe, there will be an end to hostility and prejudice against Christians because they are resolved to orient their lives in a way consistent with the values and principles expressed in the Gospel. May Europe rather be reconciled to its own Christian roots, which are fundamental for understanding its past, present and future role in history; in this way it will come to experience justice, concord and peace by cultivating a sincere dialogue with all peoples.

Full text here.

+++

A Feast Rich in Names, Meaning and Mission

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, DEC. 24, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Jewish Feast of Rosh Hashanah, meaning literally the “beginning of the year,” occurs on the first of the Hebrew month Tishre and inaugurates the solemn Jewish season that concludes with Yom Kippur.

In the Bible, the Jewish New Year Festival is called Day of the Sounding of the Shofar and Memorial of the Blowing of the Shofar (ram's horn). This instrument is designed to sound the alarm of the forthcoming solemn season, to awaken Jewry to prayer and repentance. It serves as a call to remember the historical events that made Israel a people, whether at Mount Sinai or on its entrance into Israel, or on the occasion of the proclamation of the Jubilee year. In Jewish liturgy, this feast also has two other names: Day of Memorial and Day of Judgment. Each of the different names of the festival conveys one of its special characteristics.

Full text here.

+++
The Virgin in Prayer, Sassoferrato, 1640-50

What's in a Name?

Fr Fabian Radcliffe OP

'Holy Mary, Mother of God': we say this whenever we say the Hail Mary. We say it so often that we can easily forget what a strong, startling, even shocking, phrase it is. How can Mary, or any woman for that matter, be literally Mother of God? God has no beginning. It is impossible for a human woman to be Mother of God. It sounds more like pagan myth than Christian doctrine.

But no: it is the Christian and Catholic faith that Mary is Mother of God; so it is necessary to understand it properly. The difficulty is overcome if instead we say that Mary is the 'God-bearer'. This is in fact what the Greek word theotokos means: 'God-bearer', and therefore 'Mother of God', because the one she bears is God. This title had been given her in popular devotion from the second century onwards, and it was confirmed by the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 as a sure way of asserting the full divinity of her Son.

We also hear this phrase in all the Eucharistic Prayers. There it is linked with her title 'Virgin' in such a way that the two tend to be merged into the paradoxical title 'Virgin-Mother'. Mary is indeed both virgin and mother. 'Virgin' expresses the initiative of God and therefore the full divinity of her Son. 'Mother' expresses Mary's full cooperation and therefore also His full humanity.

Full text here. 

Burger Bench and Bar

There's quite a few non-beef choices, including the Japanese curry chicken katsu burger ($7.90), soft shell chilli crab burger ($7.90) and Green Curry Catfish Burger ($8.20). But if you want a grilled option, it's only the chicken breast burger ($8.50) which is what I had for dinner. I found the chicken breast pretty alright, though not as juicy as I would have liked. It comes with their yummy chunky tomato relish and some jalapenos for spiciness (though I don't take spicy stuff so I threw them out). Bun is pretty normal - nothing fantastic and not toasted either. I'd prefer it if it was toasted and buttered - untoasted buns just give the burger a very unfinished feeling. Of course, if you eat beef, you really shouldn't get this burger - chicken is always the less tasty of the two...
This is the cheese and mushroom beef burger ($8.20). Of course I don't eat beef so I cannot say how it tastes. Just that it's unremarkable? Lol neither dry nor juicy I suppose...
Their signature soft serve dark chocolate ice cream ($3) which is pretty good, though it's really not as creamy as I'd have liked it to be, it's very chocolatey and a really nice way to end the meal.

Burger Bench and Bar's started up by Willin Loh, who also owns Wild Rocket and Relish. It's supposed to be a mid-range fast food joint targeting younger people with tighter budgets. They don't use preservatives, MSG, processed meat etc but it's still pretty pricey compared to the other fast food joints, considering that the prices I've quoted in my post are only for the burgers - you'll have to add about $1.50 (or is it $2?) if you want their special hand cooked potato chips. I suppose I won't mind visiting it again - but going to Cine really makes me feel freaking old :(

Burger Bench and Bar
8 Grange Road
#01-02 Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
Tel: +65 6737 9947

Ding Tai Fung's Truffle Xiao Long Pau

Normal Xiao Long Paus Red Bean Xiao Long PausTruffle Xiao Long Paus - according to the sign, it says it's only available at Paragon, and in Taiwan, it's only available to special guests! Fortunately, we're not in Taiwan, so even a pleabian like me can eat the truffle xiao long pau ;P There's a few morsels of truffle in each pau, and it's not truffle paste. I think truffle goes really well with the xiao long pau though I won't really be hankering with more. I prefer my truffle in ang moh dishes.Truffle Xiao Long Pau s $3.80 per piece of $14.80 for 5 pieces at the Paragon outlet only.
My usual pork cutlet fried rice - I think that it's one of the few rice dishes I really like (and sushi cos it's Japanese!) Ok I shant blog about the other mediocre things that I ate during the meal like the dou miao (I like the way Ding tai fung does the veggies cos it's not over or under cooked).

Sakuraya @ Westcoast Plaza

Here's what I had for Christmas dinner with my family - somehow my family is very un-festive so we usually eat Japanese or Chinese during Christmas and Indian for our CNY dinner (but not the extended family one cos my grandmother will protest). Of course, since I was on call on Christmas eve, all these lovely goodies were eaten through my post-call daze, which somehow makes food taste less good than sleep... I suppose I have bad luck which even bathing cannot get rid of.
Lots of fresh fish . We had the scallops and the cockles (top left) though we didn't attempt a whole fish even though the counter lady kept recommending the red one over the top right hand corner.
Many more sashimi packs - choose anything and they will prepare it for you
Loved the little orange pile of uni (sea urchin) which was reasonably fresh (though definitely not the freshest) and the bloody cockle, which is the super-sized version of the sea haam we get in char kway teow here. Tastes much cleaner too! And we had 2 different types if scallops - one's a razor scallop which is a rather big skewed looking shell, about 1.5 times a whole hand (my hand at least) and the normal kind of scallop which was sweeter and had a smoother and softer texture. We also got a nice pack of oysters at $11 per box. They were clean tasting, creamy and fresh (though, like the uni, not as fresh as some I've tasted) but it's reasonable freshness for the price. Ate this with ponzu sauce, which is my favourite way to eat raw oysters.They also had the 'fish sperm' (technically it's fish testicles I think?) which is cholesterol laden super creamy tasting and melt in the mouth. Looks a bit like brain (though I haven't had the opportunity to try brain before) and I like the way theyh prepare it wiht ponzu sauce, some spicy radish and finely sliced spring onions.
Those round disc shape (white and purple) are the bubble-gum chewy raw octopus. I dislike the rubbery boiled ones that's usually found at the take away sushi counters cos they're always tasteless and have such a tough texture that makes them a chore to eat. Fresh octopus doesn't have much more taste, but the texture is less tough and it remindes me a bit of ika (squid) but slightly more chewy. I think I will stick to the prepared chopped octopus marinated with sauce and wasabi from now on.
In the back, we have mekajiki (used to hate this but now it's on my top 3 most favourite sashimi), kampachi and hamachi as well as salmon. It was really too much sashimi so we ended up taking back some of the salmon and kampachi (though they all disappeared from the fridge really fast). Felt like I was eating a sashimi buffet here...Seafood handroll - nothing special but the rice is pretty nice. I don't think they toast their seaweed though...
We ended up eating so much at Sakuraya that we ended up paying enough to get a decent Christmas set at a nice restaurant. Super fresh Sashimi washed down with sake always makes for a yummy meal. Sakuraya offers fresh sashimi at very reasonable prices (think of the Isetan/Mediya supermarket price) but with casual restaurant style service.
Sakuraya Fish Mart
154 West Coast Road
#B1-50/51/52 West Coast Plaza
Tel: +65 6773 6973

Rachel's Vineyard

Massacre of the Innocents, Guido Reni, 1611

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more" (Mt 2:16-18).

These words end today's gospel for the Feast of the Innocents. St Matthew's text also gives the name to an international ministry that began in the USA some years ago, Rachel's Vineyard. The website carried this message by the founder, Dr Theresa Burke:

Rachel's Vineyard - A Message from our Founder


Dear friend,

I would like to personally welcome you to Rachel's Vineyard! 

If the emotional and spiritual wounds of a past abortion have been sapping faith, love and joy from your life, I can promise, that if you enter this process for healing, your life will begin to change. 
 A journey into Rachel's Vineyard is a gift only you can open your heart to receive.  The spiritual process of reconciliation with yourself, with God and your lost child will truly result in wholeness and freedom and a difference you will be able to feel inside your heart. This healing process will give you a deeper compassion for yourself.  It's also a journey that will give you a new appreciation of your strength and courage.

By traveling a path of healing in Rachel's Vineyard, you will experience an end to isolation, despair and hopelessness. You will have the potential to revisit abandoned goals and dreams, and articulate your truest and deepest desires for your future.

Whatever your fears or hesitations may be, I encourage you to take the steps toward receiving the healing and peace that you deserve.  Rachel's Vineyard provides a tried and true journey that over 100,000 women and men have traveled.  You can be confident that there are wonderful people in Rachel's Vineyard who are ready and eager to accompany you.

You are not alone.  A new chapter of your life awaits you.  Take courage, God is calling you towards peace, love, hope, and freedom.

Dr. Theresa Burke
Founder, Rachel's Vineyard Ministries
As far as I know, Rachel's Vineyard doesn't exist in the Philippines - yet. Though abortion is illegal in the Philippines the evidence is that it is widely practised.

Rachel's Vineyard is active in Ireland, where I got to know a little more about it during my recent home leave. I met the director there just after she had visited the Faroe Islands at the invitation of a mutual friend, Sr Maria Forrestal FMM.
 Bernadette Goulding from Cork, Ireland

The Irish website carries this statement:

Rachel's Vineyard is a safe place to renew, rebuild and redeem hearts broken by abortion.
Healing Weekends offer you a supportive, confidential and non-Judgmental environment where women and men can express, release and reconcile painful post-abortive emotions to begin the process of restoration, renewal and Healing.
Rachel's Vineyard can help you find your inner voice. It can help you experience God's love and compassion on a profound level. It creates a place where men and women can share, often for the first time, their deepest feelings about abortion. You are allowed to dismantle troubling secrets in an environment of emotional and spiritual safety.
Rachel's Vineyard is therapy for the soul. Participants, who have been trapped in anger toward themselves or others, experience forgiveness. Peace is found. Lives are restored. A sense of hope and meaning for the future is finally re-discovered.
Making the decision to attend a Rachel's Vineyard Healing Weekend can  be intimidating.
Fear of the unknown might be making it harder for you to reach out for help with the emotional and spiritual conflict you may be feeling after your abortion, whether your abortion was recent or decades ago.

Most of us at Rachels Vineyard are persons who have walked down the same path as you and have experienced the Healing power through a Rachel's Vineyard Healing Weekend.

+++
The weekends organized by Rachel's Vineyard also welcome men who have been directly affected by abortion. These may be fathers of aborted children who were not consulted or who put pressure on the mother to have an abortion. They may be husbands married to women who have had abortions in a previous relationship and whose marriage is affected by this.






Funny Chinese book




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Andre

I'm lagging again! Hope all you readers had a merry christmas and happy boxing day.This year's Christmas eve and Christmas was spent working - was saying that I've never worked on Christmas, but then someone pointed out that I've never had a job prior to this:/Thankfully, I didn't end up with chicken rice for Christmas dinner or my Christmas would have been even more tragic.
Happier mealtimes from nearly a month ago, just that I didn't have time to upload everything onto my comp. Spectacular meal with even better company:)
And so begins the food journey at Andre...
Starters including some popcorn thing with vanilla sauce (in the middle) and a delicious aji tatare in a crispy shell (far right)
Crispy chicken skin, which reminds me of the one I had at 53
Extremely thin and translucent, crispy without the oily fatty taste of chicken skin
Fresh scallops with purple cauliflower consomme - I liked the light purple hue of the dish if anything... it's cold and has some interesting kind of oil (of which I've already forgotten what kind of oil it is)
Delicate and fresh oyster encased in a wobbly piece of seaweed with apple foam and finely diced green apple
The oyster is so fresh that it feels like the oyster was just alive and happily sitting in the sea just seconds ago...
I really cannot remember what this dish was, just that it has macadamia nut shavings and caviar... If I'm not wrong, it has eggplant?
My favourite dish of the night - maybe cos it tasted very Japanese. Raw fish (can't remember what but I think it was aji?) with the swetest tomatoes and a refreshing tomato sorbet The other part of the dish (served together) was a seafood risotto and raw prawns (which were so fresh my tongue and ears started itching, as they always do when I eat raw prawns lobsters and crabs).
Chef's cheeky play on ingredients and textures - When this dish is served, you'll be asked which one's the squid. It's a dish with squid and rice, and keropok-like crackers (I suppose they're blackened with squid ink?). This dish is made from luxurious ingredients including Iberico Ham, Black truffle and some special egg. So shoot me cos I don't eat beef (even though I really miss BK's mushrom swiss and Mac's double cheeseburger) - the beef was tender and pink and looked incredibly juicy.

Since I don't eat beef, it was substituted for chicken (most un-worth it, I can hear all the beef eater's screaming in horror at the waste...) Chicken breast it was, cooked in a salt water bath. Every morsel of this was so tender and juicy it didn't even feel like I was eating chicken breast. The skin was crisped like crackling pork. I was quite intrigued by the the little pile of worm-like starchy root vegetables (from France, if I remember correctly).
Chef Andre serves this dish under the 'Memory' section of the menu. It's a foie gras custard (looks like creme brulee) with a aromatic layer of truffle oil on the top. Every scoop is so creamy and rich, it feels like I'm going to get an instant heart attack, but it's so yummy that I had the dish scraped clean. According to our server, this dish is extremely close to Chef Andre's heart... I agree totally - I'm sure a new plaque is wedged in my coronary arteries now...
Lastly was dessert - spongy chocolate cake (which looked like those natural sea sponge bath sponges) chocolate soil and a chocolate capsule
Andre
41 Bukit Pasoh Road (Opposite Oso)
Singapore 089855
Tel: +65 6534 8880
Btw, parking's a pain in the neck since the public carpark is being renovated, but they have valet parking.

'Tweetings' of great joy!


Matt in The Daily Telegraph

I don't 'tweet' and I don't have an i-pod but this front-page cartoon from the English broadsheet with the widest circulation shows that the Good News is news!


'He rose, took the child and his mother . . .' The Holy Family, Year A, 26 December 2010.

The Flight into Egypt, oil on copper, Cigoli, c.1608


Readings (New American Bible, used in the Philippines and the USA)

Gospel (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23)

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.


When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled,
He shall be called a Nazorean.

+++

St Joseph is central in the Christmas story as St Matthew tells it. His role is to be the husband of Mary. It is as such that he names Mary’s son and so becomes his legal father (Mt 1:21). It is as husband of Mary that he ‘took the child and his mother by night’ and fled to Egypt. It is as husband of Mary that he ‘took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel’. It was as husband of Mary that ‘he was afraid to go back there’ (Judea) and risk not only his own life but theirs and took them instead to Galilee

The major feast of St Joseph, on 19 March, honors him as ‘Husband of Mary’. I can’t help repeating that the primary vocation of a married couple is to be spouses, not parents. It is as loving spouses that they become loving parents. This was most clearly expressed for me by an 11-year-old boy at a family day of Worldwide Marriage Encounter here in Bacolod City during an activity for the pre-teens. They were asked what they loved most about their parents. He said, ‘What I love most about my parents is that they are always together’.

A wife can fail as a spouse by giving more attention to her children than to their father. Nobody questions the love of a mother. But it can be a temptation. If a husband, who has pledged his life to his wife ‘till death do us part’ feels that he is not any more the most important person in her life he may be more easily tempted to look elsewhere, with tragic consequences for the whole family.

So many married couples in the Philippines, and elsewhere, are separated by the fact that one is working overseas, sometimes both and possibly in different countries. It is vital that they have living and vibrant communication. Modern technology has made that possible in almost every part of the globe. I know one Filipino couple, where the husband is on a scholarship in Japan, who talk every night using their webcams and computers and their children have a chance to see and talk to their father as he sees and talks to them.


Flight into Egypt, Murillo, painted 1655-60.


Biblical Reflection for Dec. 26, Feast of the Holy Family, Year A

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, DEC. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Today's readings for the Feast of the Holy Family take up the tension between rights and obligations. Our Scripture texts maintain that obligations have primacy over rights. Hence the truly human, genuinely Christian priority is not so much what others can do for me but rather what I can do for others.

Preoccupation with self must be set aside as we cast ourselves in the role of servant rather than served. Serving and selflessness are at the core of authentic family life . . .

. . . Joseph, the "foster-father" of the Lord reveals that fatherhood is more than a mere fact of biological generation. A man is a father most when he invests himself in the spiritual and moral formation of his children. Real fathers and real men are those who communicate paternal strength and compassion. They are men of reason in the midst of conflicting passions; men of conviction who always remain open to genuine dialogue about differences; men who ask nothing of others that they wouldn't risk or suffer themselves. Joseph is a chaste, faithful, hardworking, simple and just man. He reminds us that a family, a home, a community, and a parish are not built on power and possessions but goodness; not on riches and wealth, but on faith, fidelity, purity and mutual love.

Full reflection here.

'Adeste Fideles' on this 'Holy Night'!



Growing up as a Catholic boy in Dublin I just loved 'Adeste Fideles', which we sang in Holy Family Church, Aughrim Street, during Christmas. I've always loved it as a rousing, manly hymn. John McCormack's version was played every year on the radio coming up to Christmas. And being a 'Good Irish Catholic', I have never warmed to the English version, 'O Come, all ye faithful', which I've always seen as somewhat 'Protestant'. Give me the original Latin anyday!

Andrea Bocelli has the backing of a choir and orchestra here, which the hymn calls for. I found two different videos of Andrea singing this. This one has more of 'the works'. Being Italian, he follows the Roman pronunciation of Latin, which the Church uses, with a soft rather than a hard 'g'.

I'm not familiar with the second and fourth stanzas below. Only the first two stanzas are sung here, with everyone singing the first again after the second.

Adeste Fideles
Laeti triumphantes
Venite, venite in Bethlehem
Natum videte
Regem angelorum
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Dominum


En, grege relicto,
humiles ad cunas,
vocati pastores approperant;
et nos ovanti gradu festinemus.
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus
Dominum


Cantet nunc io
Chorus angelorum
Cantet nunc aula caelestium
Gloria, gloria
In excelsis Deo
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Dominum


Ergo qui natus
Die hodierna
Jesu, tibi sit gloria
Patris aeterni
Verbum caro factus
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus
Dominum



I don't remember hearing 'O Holy Night' growing up in Ireland until the early 1960s, when I was in the seminary, when an Irish singer named Tommy Drennan recorded it. But now everyone in Ireland knows it. It is also enormously popular here in the Philippines, though I don't think that this wonderful recording by Leontyne Price - the very best version in my opinion - is known here. If the various stations of RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster, didn't play this version every December there might be an uprising!

O Holy Night!
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

In Ireland we say 'Happy Christmas!' rather than 'Merry Christmas!' In the language of my ancestors: 'Nollaig shona daoibh!' And in the language of the people among whom I live here in Bacolod City, Philippines: 'Malipayon nga Pascua sa inyo nga tanan!'

Profiles Auction Results

Well, Profiles Auction # 43 went off this past Friday & Saturday and I think it went true to form. Most items went about where one would expect and the items with the high reserves didn't sell. There were also some good bargains.

Here is the rundown:

Lot # 992, TOS Insignia $ 5,500


Well, this really is a premier piece of TOS history and I think it is a reasonable price. The fact that it is from the William Theiss collection is important and make the piece more valuable. You got to love solid provenance (especially since that is never something Profiles reveals much).

Lot # 1004, Starfleet HQ concept sketches $ 1,000

I liked this lot and I think it is a good price. Basically $ 500 each. I was close to going for this, but the holidays have money tight and I passed. Besides, I just pent a ton on some private sales. If the winner wants to sell one to me, let me know!


Lot # 1009, Maroon $ 5,500


Well, this piece wound up right where I expected it. The Sulu pieces drove up the price one would expect for a standard Maroon. So I think the buyer (A good friend of mine) did well with this.

Lot # 1025, Hero Boomerang Phaser $ 3,750

A good price on this I think. I think it could have gone at $ 5,000 no problem. So whoever got this did well.


Lot # 1027, Counselor Troi Monitor $ 1,200

This was a very good deal, maybe the best of the auction. A good character piece that will look great on display (something you all know is important to me!). At $ 1,200 plus BP it is a steal.


Lot # 1031, Picard Starfleet Academy Marathon Wall Placard $ 425

Another really good deal. This piece is an important piece of Star Trek history as we know Picard won the Starfleet Academy Marathon from "Best of Both Worlds Part One". So I like this piece and at this price a STEAL!


Lot # 1034, Brent Spiner Tricorder $ 2,000

Wow, this was another steal! $ 2,000 for a stunt Tricorder isn't bad. This one is attributed to Brent Spiner, which I generally don't give any credence too, but it was attributed by William Dolan, Set Decoration Lead from Star Trek: Insurrection. So it is OK in that case I guess.


Here are a few of the lots that did not sell:

Lot # 995 William Theiss Costume Sketches
$ 2,000 is just too high a starting bid. And obviously the lot isn't worth this much. Considering I bought a Captain Kirk costume sketch from TMP for $ 1,000, this lot should have started at that and may have finished around $ 1,500.


Lot # 996 Teri Garr "Roberta Lincoln" costume

A $ 20,000 opening bid is absurd. This costume is a $ 10,000 costume at best if you got lucky and got the right bidder who was rich, didn't have any sense about them, and loved that episode. So good luck finding THAT collector! It just isn't that important a costume!
Lot # 997 Barbara Anderson "Lenore Karidian" costume

If a $ 20,000 opening bid was absurd for the Teri Garr costume, it is insane for this one. This costume is a $ 5,000 costume at best. Mediocre costume, mediocre episode. MEH.

If this consignor came to me and asked for these reserves I wouldn't take the costumes. A waste of time.

Lot # 1026 Dummy Borg Head

Well, this started and failed to open at $ 1,000. This should have started at $ 500, but not a bad buy at $ 1,000 since everyone loves the Borg.

Well, I would love to hear what you won. Please post it on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum!

Alec


43rd Ordination Anniversary



What does a snowball fight between young Dominican friars have to do with my ordination anniversary? The video was made recently in my native Dublin during the unseasonably wintry weather in late November and early December at St Saviour's, in the heart of Dublin. These young Dominicans studying for the priesthood are living there. The church attached to the priory is one of the best known in the city. My late father, John, used to take me to High Mass there on occasion when I was young. The white habit of the Dominicans was what first stirred my interest in being a priest, when I was six or seven, though I never considered being a Dominican when I began to think seriously about the priesthood when I was 13-14.

The video is from the excellent Irish Dominican Vocations of Fr Gerard Dunne OP, a blog that gives me hope for the Church in Ireland.

The painting is, I think, by Seán O'Sullivan

The Venerable Matt Talbot died just behind the church, in Granby Lane, on 7 June 1925 on his way to Mass in St Saviour's. Sometimes my mother would go into town, as she called the city centre, through Granby Lane and we would stop and say a prayer at the shrine on the spot where Matt collapsed. Today there is a plaque on the wall of a new building in the same place but it lacks something of the expression of faith that the simple shrine was. Matt was an alcoholic who, after giving up drink, lived an extremely ascetic life, similar to that of the monks of ancient Ireland, under spiritual direction, for many years while working as a labourer.
Ordination day 20 December 1967, St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin
With my father, John (+1987), my mother, Mary (+1970) and my brother Paddy.
Two of us are still here in the Philippines. Fr Michael Mohally from Cork city, is in charge of our seminarians from the Philippines and Fiji doing their spiritual formation year, the equivalent of a novitiate in religious orders and congregations, in Manila. We Columbans are not religious. We are secular priests belonging to a 'society of apostolic life'.
Fr Tom O' Reilly from Port Laoise, is now the Regional Director of the Columbans in Britain. He has taught Scripture and worked for some years in Pakistan where Fr Joe Joyce from Tullamore is still serving. He also has been in charge of our spiritual formation year in Chile and once, if my memory is correct, in Manila.
Fr Kieran Moloney from Coleraine is in Fiji while Frs Liam O'Keeffe from Ennistymon, County Clare, and Fr Pádraig Murphy from County Kerry are in Korea.
Fr Pat Raleigh from Limerick city, who worked in the Philippines before being sent to Pakistan in 1979 as one of the pioneers of our mission there, is now the Vice Director of the Columbans in Ireland.
Fr John Brannigan from Dundrum, County Down, is at the Filipino Center, St Columban's Parish, Los Angeles, while Fr John Hickey from County Tipperary, a veterinarian before he became a priest, is now in the Diocese of Clonfert, Ireland, after many years in Mindanao here in the Philippines. Fr Gerard Dunn, a doctor by profession, is in his native Glasgow.
A number of our class have gone to their reward: Fr Jim Doherty and Fr Joe Ruth from Donegal and Fr Morty Kelly from Gort, County Galway. Another died during the summer of 1966 while trying to rescue some cousins from drowning, Jack Walshe from County Sligo.
This year we Columbans, especially his classmates, were all shocked by the sudden death on 18 May of Fr Pat McCaffrey from Tempo, County Fermanagh, in Murree, Pakistan. May they all rest in peace.
Fr Pat McCaffrey