11/1/24

 Friday, November 1, 2024

1952 "Ivy Mike", the first thermonuclear weapon to utilize the H-bomb design of Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam, was detonated in the Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean

   1954 The US Senate admonished Joseph McCarthy because of his slander campaigns

In bed at 11, awake around 4:45, and up at 5:00 with aching shoulders.  I let Lilly out at 5:30.  She went out into the dark without hesitation.

Prednisone, day 171, 5 mg., day 22/28.   Prednisone at 5 a.m.  Three slices of toasted buttered Dave's Bread with preserves.  Trulicity injection at 6:05.  Morning meds at 11:35.

Catholicism and Magic; Jubilee Year.  When I was in undergraduate school, some of my companions would speak blasphemously of  "going to the magic show" on Sundays and 'holidays of obligation.' I can't recall whether I ever used that expression but I may not have because it referred to the dogma of transubstantiation or "the Real Presence" of Jesus's body and blood in communion wafers and altar wine.  I was never comfortable moving Jesus or even 'taking his name in vain' as an expression of anger, exasperation, or disappointment.  I can speak disparagingly of the idea of "God" generally, as in 'God has a plan for each of us,' but it seemed to me as a young man and even now that Jesus the man, the prophet, the teacher, deserves more respect than to have his name used as a cuss word.  

But back to that "magic show" idea.  I was reminded of it by reading a story in yesterday's NYTimes about the Church's upcoming "Jubilee Year 2025."  A Jubilee Year is a "Holy Year" signified by the ceremonial opening of the "Holy Doors" in the four Roman major basilicas: St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls.  The Vatican issued a decree on May 13th outlining  ways that Catholics can obtain a "plenary indulgence" during the 2025 Jubilee Year, including by  making pilgrimages, prayerful visits to specific churches.  A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin, i.e., time burning in Purgatory for "venial sins."  We recall that one of the complaints of Martin Juther against the Church was the sellling of indulgences to raise money, but first I note that I have visited a number of the churches in Rome whose prayful visits may trigger an indulgence.  St. Peter's, Sta. Maria Maggiore, St. John in Laterano, Sta. Maria Sopra Minerva, Sta. Maria della Vittoria, and Sta. Cecilia in Trastevere.  I've also visited the catacombs beneath St. Peter's, where Peter's final resting place is reputed to be and which is also a spot that can trigger a plenary indulgence.  I've also been privileged to visit two venues outside of Rome which may occasion an indulgence: the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi.  I have good memories of all my visits to all these places but I know I didn't receive any indulgence, plenary or temporal, because I know I didn't satisfy the conditions, the most basic of which is believing in indulgences and in the Church's divine prerogative to award them.  I remember standing next to Geri's beloved Uncle Hardy at her mother's wake as a priest arrived to lead prayers.  Uncle Hardy nodded toward the priest said to me "What do you think, Chuck?" and I responded , "I don't know, Uncle Hardy, what do you think?"   He waved his hand and said "It's all a business., just a business."  From the NYTimes article that prompted this note:

Rome is undergoing a huge modernization plan that its mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, said began in earnest to prepare for an estimated 35 million Catholic pilgrims who will visit throughout 2025. The city has budgeted around $4.6 billion on 322 construction projects for the Jubilee visitors, including building a dazzling plaza near St. Peter’s Basilica for pilgrims.

Statues are being cleaned, roads repaired and trash cans installed on corners across downtown. A citywide 5G network and an A.I.-generated app to help make attractions more accessible for visitors will be rolled out in phases throughout next year. And more than one million trees will be planted in Rome, while a new shelter for women and children is being built — two of the kinds of projects that are especially close to the pope’s heart.

It was a business in 1517 when Luther posted his theses.  It was a business when Uncle Hardy said so.  It's still a business. 

Email from Jane Casper:

Oral History Initiative Interview Link

Dear Chuck,

Ryan Rau and Patrick Vang, the Law School's IT pros, have finished editing your Monday interview.  The link is here:

https://youtu.be/WNFxmUb8HEE

Chuck, your interview is so much more than "capturing what it was like to be at Marquette University Law School as a student and a professor." It is a history lesson that spans six decades of our country seen through the lens of a young Marine who later entered law school amid the tension of anti-war and civil rights unrest and who then became a law professor and so much more.  The interview can almost be divided into three periods:  your Vietnam years, your law student years, and your faculty/attorney years.  From what you shared,  there were several layers of tension within the law school from about the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s:  faculty to faculty; faculty to students; students to faculty.  It's as if Marquette Law School was a microcosm of all the turmoil that existed in the country at large.  It's quite an interview.

Christine Wilczynski-Vogel will follow up with an approval form.  She has forwarded the link to Dean Kearney for his approval as well.  At this point the link is not available to the general public; however, you are welcome to share it with family and friends as you see fit.  Please let me know if you have any problem opening the link.

One more time, Chuck, thank you for your participation in Marquette University Law School's Oral History Initiative.

Sincerely,

Jane Casper, Special Projects Assistant