Sunday, March 13, 2011

Saint Patrick's Day Quiz


Here are questions a good Irish American should be able to answer. See if you have the right stuff for this St. Patrick's Day. To make it easy on you, these are true or false questions:

1. ___Saint Patrick was kidnapped from Britain.
2. ___Saint Patrick's Breastplate is a coat of arms with a shamrock.
3. ___Trinity College is one of the oldest Catholic Universities in the world.
4. ___The Book of Kells is a beautifully decorated book of poetry.
5. ___Frank McCourt was born in Limerick.
6. ___The potato famine occurred in the late 1800s.
7. ___The Commitments is a famous movie about Irish Folk Music.
8. ___Saint Brigid was known for her generosity.
9. ___William Butler Yeats is a famous Irish Catholic poet.
10. ___Peat was burned to heat homes in Ireland.
11. ___Joseph Kennedy served as Ambassador to Ireland.
12. ___Jean Kennedy Smith served as Ambassador to Ireland.
13. ___The native tongue of Ireland is English.
14. ___The Hebrides are Irish islands.
15. ___There are no Mosques in Belfast.
16. ___The largest Christian Church in Northern Ireland is the Catholic Church.
17. ___Bing Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Going My Way.
18. ___St. Columba waged a battle that killed thousands over a literary dispute.
19. ___In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift suggested that the poor Irish might sell their children as food for the rich.
20. ___An estimated 1 million Irish died from the potato famine and another 1 million emigrated.

Answers below:




1. T--Saint Patrick was kidnapped from Britain.
2. F--Saint Patrick's Breastplate is a coat of arms with a shamrock. It's a prayer.
3. F--Trinity College is one of the oldest Catholic Universities in the world. It was established by the English queen as a Protestant institution.
4. F--The Book of Kells is a beautifully decorated book of poetry. Reproduces the Gospels.
5. F--Frank McCourt was born in Limerick. McCourt was born in NY, but his Irish parents returned to their native land and McCourt grew up in Limerick.
6. F--The potato famine occurred in the late 1800s. 1845-1849.
7. F--The Commitments is a famous movie about Irish Folk Music. Movie is about soul music song by an Irish band.
8. T--Saint Brigid was known for her generosity.
9. F--William Butler Yeats is a famous Irish Catholic poet. Yeats was a Protestant who became a Nationalist--loved by almost all Irish.
10. T--Peat was burned to heat homes in Ireland.
11. F--Joseph Kennedy served as Ambassador to England. Ambassador to the UK, Roosevelt wanted him to take the less-sensitive Irish job at the time just before WWII.
12. T--Jean Kennedy Smith served as Ambassador to Ireland.
13. F--The native tongue of Ireland is English. Irish or Irish Gaelic.
14. F--The Hebrides are Irish islands. Scotland.
15. F--There are no Mosques in Belfast.
16. T--The largest Christian Church in Northern Ireland is the Catholic Church. True--there are more Protestants, but those are from different churches.
17. T--Bing Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Going My Way.
18. T--St. Columba waged a battle that killed thousands over a literary dispute. Columba copied a manuscript containing Psalms without permission of its owner Saint Finian. When Columba lost the legal battle for his copy, he put together an army to retaliate. The loss of life was horrific and it brought shame and remorse to Columba who was essentially exiled from Ireland. The Irish loss was the Scots gain -- Columba became a great missionary to Scotland and established great monasteries there.
19. T--In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift suggested that the poor Irish might sell their children as food for the rich. He was being sarcastic, but seriously mocking some of the days thinkers.
20. T--An estimated 1 million Irish died from the potato famine and another 1 million emigrated. There are different estimates, but the losses were huge.
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Friday, March 11, 2011

Choose Life


I have been thinking a lot lately about my favorite teacher, the late Sister Faith Schuster pictured here. She was one of the most positive people I ever knew and although she knew suffering, pain, and tragedy--she always saw them in the context of faith, beauty and love. She never veered from that track.

I am most impressed by people who smile through life and remain positive. They are able to focus on the good and somehow see God's hand in everything. Sometimes the world seems so off-track, but those like Sister Faith can smell the flowers and smile in the sunshine regardless. Life is messy and it always will be, but it seems clear that God does not want us to walk around depressed.

Sister Faith had simple wisdom in a complex time.

This week I was privileged to make mass and this quote from Deuteronomy Chapter 30: 19-20 jumped out at me:

Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.



Photo of Sister Faith is from the Benedictine Sisters of Mount Saint Scholastica home page.