Yesterday, we did nothing. We didn’t leave except for lunch. We used the hot tub and dip pool, read and did little else. Great weather. Not hot and not humid. The ocean sounds are wonderful. The waves pound in less then 50 yards away, hitting the rocks and sending spray flying into the air. Pelicans swoop low to the water looking for a meal and drop like a stone when they see one. They appear to be successful. I think of that rhyme…
We are at the One and Only Palmilla resort at Los Cabos, Mexico. Los Cabos, "the capes," refers to the 20 mile long beach from San Jose del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas. This beautiful resort is on the beach about half way between the two locations. The tip of the Baja Peninsula is a point where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez meet. The nearby town of San Jose Del Cabo has a very old Catholic Church,…
Patricia Sitkin of Linden, California wrote a recent letter to the National Catholic Reporter about an article by Stafford Betty, "Why Catholics are heading for the exits" which I had commented about a short time ago. (https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2008/10/why-catholics-are-abandoning-ship.html( Sitkin makes a point worth noting. She notes that traditionalist Catholics disparagingly refer to those us who are critical of Church polices as "cafeteria Catholics" or as she says "salad bar Catholics." These conservatives think it is an all or nothing situation with regard…
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem has been historically venerated by Christian religions as the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It’s located at the end of a street Via Dolorose, the path of sorrows. The Roman emperor Hadrian had erected a temple to Venus in this location. In 326 the mother of Emperor Constantine came to the city looking for sites associated with Christ. She decided this was the site of the resurrection and felt she…
The Shrine of Remembrance is located in Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the largest war memorials in Australia and was originally built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I (1914 – 1918). Erected between 1928 and 1934 it was constructed during a time of great unemployment and financial crisis in Australia. 300,000 people were present during the opening of the memorial. This huge granite structure is on top of a…
Last Saturday night my wife Lita and I attended the Tacoma Symphony fund raising auction at the convention center in Tacoma. One of the items available was a musical visit to the Wurlitzer Manor and Gardens in Gig Harbor (http://www.wurlitzermanor.com/) We live in Gig Harbor and some how I had never heard of this place or a Wurlitzer organ in our area, so I looked it up on the Internet. I found an article in the Puget Sound Online Pipeline…
The Seattle PI reports that Ken Burns, the documentary film maker, is planning a documentary film on Seattle bootlegger Roy Olmstead (1886 – 1966). From 1920 to 1933 the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages was illegal in the United States under prohibition. However, Olmstead became Washington’s biggest bootleggers’s even before that time. On November 1, 1914 by a margin of 52% Washington voters passed an initiative making this state one of 23 other "dry" states which prohibited the sale…
In his book Catholicism at the CrossroadsPaul Lakeland examines the Catholic Church of 2008. Lakeland teaches at Fairfield University and holds the Aloysius P. Kelly S.J. Chair in Catholic Studies there. He has written previous books on the subject, one of which won first place for theology in the Catholic Press Association’s 2005 awards. Here are a few of he points he makes in this well thought out and reasonable book. In his list of some ten steps toward a…
November 4this the anniversary of the death of my father, Paul Luvera, Sr. Dad died in Anacortes, Washington on that date in 1990 at age 92. He was born March 25, 1898 in Reggio Calabria, Italy, the son of Niccola and Fillippa Luvera. Reggio is located right at the toe of Italy across from Sicily. His Italian name was Paolo Nicola Luvera, but in America he was Paul Nicholas Luvera.. In 1902 my grandfather Nicola was working in a slaughter…
