A Vietnam Veteran's Poem...

To My Brothers...

Side by side we stood,

Black or white, it made no difference.

Catholic, Protestant, Jew, or Atheist,

I may not have liked you, but I loved you.



Only God can give and only God can take away,

But Charlie took and never gave.

Why did my bunker-mate die and I live?

To fulfill my dreams but not his?



Yet he is with me always -- in my dreams,

Not wanted there, as I struggle to sleep.

Lord help me to live and not just exist.

Take this burden from my soul.



Have mercy on them that stayed,

Some here, some there.

Arlington is their home now,

As mine will someday be.




Author: Eugene R. DeLalla (former Staff Sergeant of Air Force Security Police, Vietnam, December 16, 1967 -- December 16, 1968)...

Lent, and a message to my Protestant friends, whom I love...

Today, March 6, 2019, is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Lent is a time, not just for "giving up" some starchy or sugary foods in order to lose weight, or to revitalize whatever New Year's resolution that has fallen by the wayside after a half-hearted attempt to implement.

This is also a time which portends the coming of Spring, and a re-birth of Nature's beauty with budding trees, flowers, and a raiment that far surpasses that of Solomon in all his glory!

But, most importantly, it is also a time for self-reflection and some measure of fasting and praying in preparation for the coming of the Passion of Christ, and of His victory over death: the Resurrection. 

Unfortunately, in today's world, over-commercialization, and over-secularization detracts from the reason for the season, rather than focusing on the birth of the Savior at Christmastime, and Christ's Passion and Death at Eastertime...

And those who attach the august handle of Christian to themselves and their lineage, seem to forget that the very book they base their belief system on, the Bible, relies on the authority of the Catholic Church in determining which books were authentically inspired, while eliminating those that were determined to be specious at best.

In all honesty -- and it takes honesty!  And good will! -- to accept that fact.  

If I could make a comparison between the Constitution of the U.S., and the Catholic Church, it would be to show the supreme interpreter of the laws, and the doctrine of both institutions as follows:

If all men/women were able to interpret the Constitution as written, for themselves, without the Supreme Court to interpret those laws passed, for better or worse, then there would be hundreds if not thousands of different governments and interpretations of those very same laws.  

On the ecclesiastical side of the equation, if all were able to interpret the Bible on their own and make judgments on what Scripture means, then we would be faced with what we see today: hundreds, if not thousands of different denominations all with differing interpretations of the same Bible.  

But Christ left us with a Supreme Authority -- His Church -- to interpret the holy Scriptures and give a standard and a stability to those very same teachings in the Bible. 

The idea that one can say what a particular Scripture verse means, and another says it means something different, shows that there is a vital need for that Supreme Authority.

Clearly, it is the Catholic Church that is the Supreme Authority!

To my Protestant friends, whom I love: come home, and be filled with life, and celebrate with us, the Eucharist!  The Bread of Life!  For if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you will not have life in you (St. John, Chapter 6; taken from the King James version of the Protestant Bible)...  

Pray for our country!!

Gene DeLalla

The Invasion of the Monsters from INNER Space!

Folks my age can remember some really "scary" -- and goofy -- sci-fi movies from the 50's and early 60's, that is, before those movies became full of sexual innuendo, or worse, as we see or hear about today.

There are currently some very scary -- but not goofy -- just plain deadly "sci-fi" events happening in our country this very day!

Among those events is the trend for, not just aborting the pre-born, but also for killing those poor little kids that survive the attempt to kill them, i.e., those born alive, but left to die or kill them outright after "consultation" with the "mother" and her "doctors".  (Notice, there is almost no mention of the father in most of the cases we hear about when it comes to killing that baby!)

A.K.A.: murder in the first degree (pre-meditated).

How can this be in the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The answer is almost too simple: many in power -- those that have been elected to represent us -- as well as those hard-hitters of industry and research, are serving another master, not the Master: God almighty.

It is said that when good men do nothing, evil triumphs.  Said in another way, when there is the absence of good, evil will fill the void.  This is something that I have written about many times, but it bears repeating because of the most bizarre news that seems to permeate the media almost on a daily basis.  This includes, but is not limited, to the aforementioned killing of the pre-born (and now born!), but also experimenting with aborted baby parts and introducing those parts into animals in a fanatical attempt to create a Frankenstinian-type thing bordering on a soulless, artificially-formed, what: Human?  Animal?  Robot?

These monsters are racing to a point of no return, not realizing that when the chastisement comes, they will be the first to feel the wrath of their own deeds: as we are told by Who?   Christ!  That our works follow us.

Lord have mercy on these miscreants, but in the meantime, we must fight these Monsters from INNER Space with all our might, lest we succumb to their diabolical agenda to destroy life by destroying the family unit: the building block of society.  And that, my friends, is exactly what the final end is: eliminate the family so the heavy-handed "almighty" government will become the new "god"...

Pray for our country!

Gene DeLalla

Abortion: The Absence of Love...

Love Thy Neighbor, the second great Commandment, and yet we see that with the absence of love, evil will fill the void.  Hence, abortion is the most extreme example of the absence of love of neighbor.

And that includes the most defenseless, the tinniest, and most innocent of life: the pre-born.  With the absence of love, these pre-born babies suffer the result of the evil that fills that void.

What's worse, are the "adults" that snuff-out those little lives.  So, I can only conclude that those "adults" not only fail in obeying the second great Commandment, but also have invited evil to fill their personal void of good.

This is a combination that is sure to cause the loss of souls -- forever -- unless and until there is real repentance; real change of heart.  The prospects at this point, are, in my mind pretty dim.    

Abortion: The Absence of Love...

Pray for our country..

Gene DeLalla

Ho-hum... What's the Big Deal??

What's the big deal about killing the pre-born, or now the born?  Where's the outrage from our Department of Justice for the premeditated murder of our most innocent of our species?

Has Lady Justice finally opened both eyes??  With un-equal and selective justice??

How can a male or female, especially those in politics, nonchalantly talk about or discuss the heinous procedure that is involved in taking the tiniest of lives, and prevent them from even being baptized, never meeting God face-to-face??

It seems that the barbarism of the ancient Incas or Aztecs is nothing compared to what is now being proposed or actually being done in our "modern" society concerning human beings.

Where are the hierarchy of the Church?   Sure, some of them -- it should be all! -- condemn and threaten to refuse Holy Communion to those who claim to be "Catholic," but few even talk about ex-communicating these miscreants; these murderers.  

Governors of states now not only sign demonic legislation guaranteeing the certain death of the pre-born, but also brag about it and receive accolades from their complicit supporters, including those in the media.

How long will we put up with this mass slaughter of the precious gift of life?????

How long, Lord, how long...

Pray for our country, and for an end to the scourge of abortion.

Gene DeLalla

 

Leaf Peeping, Anyone? But Wait, It's Winter!!

Ever take a drive in the Fall to see the magnificent colors provided to us free-of-charge, by Mother Nature?

Ever drive to a small, friendly town that you've never been to before?

Ever get hungry, but you don't know where to get a decent meal at a reasonable price?

Ever stop at a service (gas) station and ask the attendant (mechanic -- if gas stations still have them) where can you get a nice meal?

Ever take the directions from the attendant and arrive at your destination just as your stomach starts to growl?

Ever wonder why you believed that guy, as you get out  of your car and enter the restaurant?

I'll tell you why: you believed him because you have natural faith that the guy was telling you the truth, that's why!

Ever doubt the Word of God?

Why?

You believed a gas station attendant, but have doubts about what's in the Bible?  Or what the Church teaches on faith and morals?

Man-up!  Woman-up!  And start believing!

Turn that "natural faith" into Supernatural Faith -- and come  home to the Catholic Church where you find it!

See: St. John, Chapter Six.  St. Paul, I Corinthians, Chapter 10; 16, 17, 21. Chapter 11; 23 through 29.

For unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you...(St. John in Six)...

St. John, St. Paul, pray for our country..

Gene DeLalla

PS. All verses taken from the King James Version of the Protestant Bible, copyright 1897.

Happy (Saint) Valentine's Day!

This is Valentine's Day..

But where does this "day" come from??

He was a priest at Rome, beheaded for the Catholic Faith. Because this day is considered by many to be the first approach of Spring, and so connected with romance, Saint Valentine’s Day is celebrated for other than a religious reason.

Just how many people -- who celebrate this day with flowers and candy for their loved ones -- know the real origins of St. Valentine's Day?

Well, now you all do!

Happy SAINT Valentine's Day!

Pray for our country, St. Valentine!

Gene DeLalla