Father Denny Dempsey

Who has the right to kill Moussaoui?

Zacharias Moussaoui, however real his connection and central his role to the 9-11 destruction, represents that series of well-strategized and executed attacks against our country.  His speech drips with venom and incites those hungry for justice and/or vengeance to call for his death. 

However heinous his crime and well-placed his guilt, I hope consideration is given to a question that should be asked several times over in our nation's courts of criminal justice:  who has the right to kill him?

The death penalty, abortion, mercy killing, war and many other life issues get debated in our society.  Discussion remains murky, however, when it stays on the level of issues without going deeper to consider underlying principles. 

Immigration Reform

About 150 people loaded buses and vans at St. Dominic Sunday afternoon to participate in the march for immigration reform in St. Paul.  The bus radio was tuned to a Spanish-language station reporting the numbers of those already assembled.  I could sense the excitement, but when we reached St. Paul and saw for ourselves, people were in awe. 

Archbishop Harry Flynn was the main speaker.  I received a call today (Tuesday) from a lady upset that the Archbishop was espousing that undocumented immigrants stay in the United States in violation of the law.  I never heard him tell people to stay, just as I have never heard him tell those in other countries to enter our country illegally.  What he has said is that we have a moral responsibility to care for people in our midst regardless of their legal status...and if laws are passed (as proposed in a US House bill) that would make it a criminal offense to do so, there is a higher law from God which obligates us.

No speaker told people to break laws.  There was a very clear encouragement, however, to reform existing immigration laws.  I am strongly in favor of such reform... 

Cannon Continued

With such a beautiful day, I got out on the river agaqin today, paddling the stretch from Faribault to Northfield.  By the way, you can get a detailed mile-by-mile map of the Cannon River at a DNR office or on the internet.  Check the maps where it says "Canoe and Boating Guide".  Then do a zoom to see each of the river sections clearly.  The photos, by the way, are from Rice County and show the Wilderness Park area.

There are many picturesque cliffs along this route and, when the water goes down a bit, a lot of little rapids too small to even make Class I status.   I also saw an eagle building its aerie or nest in a big tree on the left bank about half way between the Highway 3 bridge just south of Northfield and Dundas.  That will bear some watching as the spring arrives.

Kayaking on the Cannon

With the water up high and the sun shining, today turned out to be a beautiful day to kayak on the Cannon.  The first portage is the easy one...from my house down St. Olaf, across the highway and to the river.  The current was strong, but I could paddle upriver toward the dam, so I trusted that I would be able to control the kayak in whatever lie ahead.  After that little test, the current was my friend the rest of the journey to Randolph and the sunshine my companion on the portage home. 

Usually a couple eagles greet me along the way, but I think they were hanging around clearer calmer waters today.  Taking their place were ducks, geese, swallows, cardinals, herons and a lone woodpecker. 

April Fool

Changing from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time adds extra meaning to April Fool's Day this year.  What are the origins of April 1st being April Fool's Day?

One explanation credits it to the changeover from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, which not only made a correction of a few days (result of having too many leap years) but also changed New Year's Day from around April 1st to January 1st.  Lots of folks didn't get the news of the change, for which they became the brunt of jokes and pranks. 

Ever heard the expresion "God's Fool"?  There's an interesting story called The Forerunner: God's Fool by Kahlil Gibran.  The phrase is often used, however, in reference to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 4:10: "We are fools on Christ's account." A number of Saints, St. Francis of Assisi probably foremost, were either given the title or took it on themselves for making God such a priority that people focused on worldly marks of achievement and success thought them to be foolish.