Friday, May 29, 2009

Fehrenbach is a Fellow Dayton Domer


In case you had not heard, Victor Fehrenbach, the Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who is being discharged because he is gay, grew up in Dayton and graduated from Notre Dame in 1991.
He recently gave an interview on MSNBC, which can be found here.

The Pope on Facebook


Yes, you read that correctly. The Pope now has a Facebook application in which you can send a postcard to your friends on Facebook. The postcard features a picture of the Pope -- usually comforting someone on one of his trips -- and words of wisdom from the Pontiff.

The application is part of a new website directed at young people, which is found at http://www.pope2you.net/. The website includes links to an iPhone application, the Vatican channel on YouTube, and a wiki of the Pope's messages to young people.

The site looks like it would be a lot of fun, especially if you have children who are beginning to spend a lot of their free time online.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Irish Astronaut on Atlantis


Now this is cool. A Double Domer, Michael T. Good '84, '84, is one of the astronauts on the Atlantis Space Shuttle mission to Hubble. Good is an Air Force colonel who graduated from ND's ROTC program and then earned his Master's at ND.

The NASA website has a lot of really great pictures, video, and background information, including this more complete biography of Good. It says that his hometown is Broadview Heights (between Cleveland and Akron), but his career has never brought him to Wright-Patt. Do any members who are in the Air Force have any suggestions on how we could bring him to Wright-Patt when he returns -- with a visit with the families of our club the next day, of course?
The mission has included five spacewalks that have all been successful. The astronauts have repaired and upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope for what will be the last time.

Good gave a fascinating interview in which he talks about the mission and his role in particular. He described how he was most looking forward to the space walks:

Well, that’s definitely going to be the highlight. I’d have to say there are two things that I’m really looking forward to. One is just going out the hatch especially for the first time and just looking outside, being outside in my own spacesuit, you know, kind of my own little satellite there, and looking out into space through that visor, no windows; looking down at the Earth, watching it pass by, looking at the colors, looking out into space, seeing the stars. But just being outside of a vehicle traveling around the world, hanging out there in space, I think that’s just going to be fascinating and I think it’s something that obviously not a lot of people get to do. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. The other thing I’m really looking forward to is, once I’m out the door, translating over to the Hubble Space Telescope and, and grabbing a hold of it. I’ve, I’ve looked up from my driveway and watched the Hubble go overhead — you can see it, it’s a, a bright light on a clear night — and I’ve just imagined myself actually being up there and, and holding on to that thing as it’s, as it’s speeding around the world. I think that’s going to be pretty cool. And then once I get over that, I’m going to pull out my power tool, I’m going to undo a couple bolts, and we’re actually going to open up the doors to Hubble and we’re going to crawl inside and actually get to work on the telescope from the inside. I think that’s going to be pretty exciting.

There was a significant concern about the possibility of getting hit with "space junk." So much of a concern that a second crew has been poised ready to launch on a rescue mission, if necessary. So far, everything has gone well. The astronauts have been checking the Shuttle to see if it was damaged on takeoff, but have found no significant damage. So, everything looks good for a return Friday morning to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


UPDATE: NASA told Atlantis not to land on Friday due to bad weather; they'll try again on Saturday.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Video from Commencement


You may have received an email from the Alumni Association with links to the commencement videos. In case not, the text of mine is found below:

Given the high level of interest and discussion around Notre Dame’s Commencement, we have prepared a highlights video of the speeches given earlier today. We invite you to view the highlights video.

You can also view the respective speeches of President Obama, Father Jenkins, Judge Noonan and Valedictorian Brennan Bollman in their entirety.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Commencement, Day 1

A good summary of today's events is found on the Dayton Daily News website. A schedule of videos from the University's website is found here.

Text of Honorary Doctorate of Laws

The text of the doctorate given to the President is as follows:

“At the 164th Commencement The May Exercises

The University of Notre Dame Confers the degree of

Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on the 44th president of the United States, whose historic election opened a new era of hope in a country long divided by its history of slavery and racism. A community organizer who honed his advocacy for the poor, the marginalized and the worker in the streets of Chicago, he now organizes a larger community, bringing to the world stage a renewed American dedication to diplomacy and dialogue with all nations and religions committed to human rights and the global common good. Through his willingness to engage with those who disagree with him and encourage people of faith to bring their beliefs to the public debate, he is inspiring this nation to heal its divisions of religion, culture, race and politics in the audacious hope for a brighter tomorrow.

On Barack H. Obama, Washington, District of Columbia”


Friday, May 15, 2009

Live Commencement Video


The University's website has an entire lineup of live video from this year's commencement ceremonies on May 16 and 17. Check it out if you just can't wait to read the transcripts that will come out later.

Fr. Jenkins's Letter to the Graduating Seniors

Many of you received an email from the Alumni Association containing the text of a letter that Fr. Jenkins sent to the graduating seniors earlier this week. For those that didn't, it is reprinted below:

May 11, 2009

Dear Members of the Notre Dame Graduating Class of 2009:

This Sunday, as you receive your degrees at Commencement, your joy – and that of your families – will be shared by the faculty, staff, and administration of the University. We have had the privilege of laboring with each of you to inquire and discover, to teach and to learn, and we will send you off with affectionate and fond hopes for the future.

For those of you who are undergraduates, I feel a special kinship. You arrived in your dorm rooms as I arrived in the President’s Office. You have learned much; I may have learned more. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to learn with you, come to know you, and to serve you during our time together at Notre Dame. During your years here we have endeavored to train you in the various disciplines and urged you to ask the larger questions – discussing not only the technical and practical but also the ethical and spiritual dimensions of pressing issues. I have been proud of you as you’ve grappled with intellectual, political, and spiritual questions. But I have never been more proud than I have been watching the way you’ve conducted yourselves over the past several weeks. The decision to invite President Obama to Notre Dame to receive an honorary degree and deliver the Commencement address has triggered debate. In many cases, the debate has grown heated, even between people who agree completely on Church teaching regarding the sanctity of human life, who agree completely that we should work for change – and differ only on how we should work for change.

Yet, there has been an extra dimension to your debate. You have discussed this issue with each other while being observed, interviewed, and evaluated by people who are interested in this story. You engaged each other with passion, intelligence and respect. And I saw no sign that your differences led to division. You inspire me. We need the wider society to be more like you; it is good that we are sending you into that world on Sunday.

I am saddened that many friends of Notre Dame have suggested that our invitation to President Obama indicates ambiguity in our position on matters of Catholic teaching. The University and I are unequivocally committed to the sanctity of human life and to its protection from conception to natural death.

Notre Dame has a long custom of conferring honorary degrees on the President of the United States. It has never been a political statement or an endorsement of policy. It is the University’s expression of respect for the leader of the nation and the Office of the President. In the Catholic tradition, our first allegiance is to God in Christ, yet we are called to respect, participate in, and contribute to the wider society. As St. Peter wrote (I Pt. 2:17), we should honor the leader who upholds the secular order. At the same time, and born of the same duty, a Catholic university has a special obligation not just to honor the leader but to engage the culture. Carrying out this role of the Catholic university has never been easy or without controversy. When I was an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Fr. Hesburgh spoke of the Catholic university as being both a lighthouse and a crossroads. As a lighthouse, we strive to stand apart and be different, illuminating issues with the moral and spiritual wisdom of the Catholic tradition. Yet, we must also be a crossroads through which pass people of many different perspectives, backgrounds, faiths, and cultures. At this crossroads, we must be a place where people of good will are received with charity, are able to speak, be heard, and engage in responsible and reasoned dialogue.

The President’s visit to Notre Dame can help lead to broader engagement on issues of importance to the country and of deep significance to Catholics. Ultimately, I hope that the conversations and the good will that come from this day will contribute to closer relations between Catholics and public officials who make decisions on matters of human life and human dignity.

There is much to admire and celebrate in the life and work of President Obama. His views and policies on immigration, expanding health care, alleviating poverty, and building peace through diplomacy have a deep resonance with Catholic social teaching. As the first African-American holder of this office, he has accelerated our country’s progress in overcoming the painful legacy of slavery and segregation. He is a remarkable figure in American history, and I look forward to welcoming him to Notre Dame.

As President Obama is our principal speaker, there will no doubt be much attention on your Commencement. Remember, though, that this day is your day. My fervent prayer is that May 17 will be a joyous day for you and your family. You are the ones we celebrate and applaud.

Congratulations, and may God bless you.

In Notre Dame,

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

President

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Truth about Angels & Demons

Using a term reminiscent of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ("mostly harmless"), the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano declared the movie, Angels & Demons, to be "harmless entertainment" with many factual errors and little cultural value. It also called the movie "modest" and "rather innocuous." This is fitting justice to the movie's producers who wanted to stir up some controversy with the Church.

Recall that the Vatican did not allow the movie to be filmed at churches in Rome. The funniest reason for the decision was the following:

Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rome, said: “Normally we read the script but this time it was not necessary. The name Dan Brown was enough.”

With this decision in mind, the recent review by the Vatican made sure to complement the "splendid photography" and the "magnificent" reproductions of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. It seems the writer had a sense of humor, which is probably the best response here.

For those who want to be able to counter the factual errors and libels against the Church, the most complete explanation of the real truth is found in this article by Steven D. Greydanus.

For most Catholics, they'll probably just skip the movie. Why pay money that will just be used to support a future film that attacks the Catholic faith?

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Bono's Magnificat?


U2's latest album contains a song called Magnificent. Is this Bono's Magnificat? Take a look at the lyrics:


I was born

I was born to be with you

In this space and time

After that and ever after

I haven't had a clue

Only to break rhyme

This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue

Only love, only love can leave such a mark

But only love, only love can heal such a scar


I was born

I was born to sing for you

I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up

And sing whatever song you wanted me to

I give you back my voice

From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise…

Only love, only love can leave such a mark

But only love, only love can heal such a scar


Justified till we die, you and I will magnify

The Magnificent

Magnificent


Only love, only love can leave such a mark

But only love, only love unites our hearts


Justified till we die, you and I will magnify

The Magnificent

Magnificent

Magnificent

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Five Facts from Kim Lecture



Below are five facts you may not have known about China, taken from our Hesburgh Lecture, given by Professor Kwan S. Kim:



1. In ten years, China will be the world's second largest economy, behind only the United States.


2. Most companies in China have a Communist Party member or two on the Board of Directors, just to keep an eye on things.


3. Buick is the top selling brand of car in China.


4. While the United States has been going farther and farther into debt, China has been hording surpluses of cash.


5. China is spending some of that surplus on a giant canal project, roads, bridges, and airports.