A Fond Farewell...

2005-08-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Today is the big day. I do not often make prayer requests via the blog, but now would seem to be an appropriate time to ask for prayers both for myself and my novice class. Today, I am off to the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA. Unfortunately, it looks as though I will not be able to continue writing here, as our novice master is concerned that it would take away from our formation as Jesuits. I would tend to agree with his concern, and even if I didn't, I would still respect his opinion with obedience.

If it happens that this is still up and running by the end of the novitiate (2 yrs.), I may come back if fj'll have me. At any rate, perhaps she can post up an update or two on my progress, as she gets them. I have most definitely enjoyed myself here, and spouting off my many and varied opinions. God willing, in two years time I'll be saying these words:

Almighty and eternal God, I understand how unworthy I am in Your Divine sight.

Yet I am strenghthened by Your infinite compassionand mercy,

and I am moved by the desire to serve You.

I vow to Your Divine Majesty,

before the most holy Virgin Mary and the entire heavenly court,

perpetual poverty, chastity, and obedience

in the Society of Jesus.

I promise that I will enter this same Society to spend my life in it forever.

I understand all these things according to the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus.

Therefore, by Your boundless goodness and mercy

and through the Blood of Jesus Christ,

I humbly ask that You judge this total commitment of myself acceptable;

and, as You have freely given me

the desire to make this offering,

so also may You give me the abundant grace to fulfill it.

St. Ignatius de Loyola, patron of Jesuits and founder of the Society, pray for us.

St. Stanislaus Kostka, patron of Jesuit novices, pray for us.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and of us all, pray for us.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I prefer the servants of God to stand out in virtue rather than in number, and to be distinguished more by deeds than by an honorable name."
-St. Ignatius de Loyola, SJ

Simply Silly

2005-08-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

There's nothing quite so good as some really good jokes, especially involving the Jesuits. All funny, and all in good taste, but of course. My two favorites:

Definition- JESUITS: An order of priests known for their ability to found colleges with good basketball teams. (from "A Catholic Dictionary")
The Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits were having a big meeting that went well into the middle of the night. Suddenly all the lights went out in the meeting room. The Franciscans immediately took out their guitars and sang songs, and the Dominicans lept upon the tables and began preaching. The Jesuits went to the basement, found the fuse box and reset the breaker.

Classics, really.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

In lieu of a quote, I'm going to put up another joke, told to me by one of my librarians:

"A famous philosopher was taking an airplane to a conference. The steward came up to him and asked the philosopher if he would like any tea. The philosopher responded "I think not." and -POOF- he dissapeared."

Essential Ethics

2005-08-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Recently, a friend of mine was complaining that one of her main hang-ups with the Church is the complexity of the moral law, and that once she started to just relax and not worry about what the Church said, life got easier.

Far from it, the ethics of the Church, in my humble opinion, is perhaps among the simplest around, theoretically. It is the practical application that gets you. But then again, given how many possible moral situations exist, that should not surprise anybody.

What it all boils down to is an imitation of Christ, a constant struggle to perfect ourselves according to Him.

Aquinas (he always gets mentioned, doesn't he?) said in his wonderfully short and simple devotional The Ways of God that we ought to perform every act as though the whole of our salvation hinged on it.

Now, of course, the controversy lies in the implications of all this. For guidance, I would say that three things need to be known.

1) The Decalouge (aka "The 10 Commandments")- The basis of the law given to Moses by God, this is important because it is this same law that Christ fulfilled. Also, when you consider that an exposition of the commandments constitutes an entire section of the CCC, you do get the impression they might be important.

2) The Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7) Were I to reduce my list of three to only one, it would probably be this. In here is the Beatitudes, Golden Rule, the parable of the Narrow Gate (why, yes, it would seem that Jesus did in fact speak of people going to Hell for doing bad things. Imagine that!) and other classics that remind us that avoiding sin is just the start of the good life.

3) The 7 Virtues (Cardinal and Theological)

Prudence-the virtue St. Thomas called "right reason in action", it is the cornerstone of all other virtues. It is also fairly fitting that the Church G.K. Chesterton called frequently a bulwark of common sense would have this as the base of all other virtues.
Justice-giving to those what is their rightful due, such as obedience to authority, respect to humans, and love to God before others. It is the root of true peace, which St. Augustine felt was our highest good.
Temperance-a moderation of desire, essential to any sort of self-control
Fortitude-courage, basically. A patient endurance of adversity.
Faith-of the three theological virtues, St. Thomas divided them up into two categories in his Summa. The virtues that originate in the intellect, and those that originate in the will. Faith was the only of the three that he felt came from the intellect. It is an intellectual assent that there are some truths beyond the grasp of human reason, and although the exact why's and wherefore's are not known, the fact that they exist is not doubted with this virtue.
Hope- Here, I will give the description used by the CCC, as it is a far better description then I could ever give: "Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness."
Charity-the pinnacle and summation of all virtues, it can be summed up as 'love ordered rightly'. There's more to love than saying everything is good, and more to piety than saying everything is bad. You love what you should love, and hate what you should hate. And love, for those who think it may be a mushy feeling or something beyond your control, is defined by the Catechism (1766), who took their definition from Aquinas (S.Th. I-II.xxvi.4), who in turn took his definition from Aristotle (Rhetoric, II.iv), that "To love is to will the good of another." That would also be why it is a virtue. It is not typically considered virtuous to do something which we have no control over doing. It is when we have a choice between two things and choose to do the good thing that we are called virtuous.

For further guidance, of course, turning to the Church (and good ol' common sense) is recommended, but any Christian armed with those three things should do pretty well in the "good behavior" department. Additional Church teachings on this matter are not confusing the issue, but rather clarifying definitively the meanings and implications of these virtues in our everyday lives. What we must do is clear, how to do it is not always so easy this side of paradise.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it."
-Denis Diderot

"My Name...Is Neo!"

2005-08-12T07:50:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

A little while back, I first came across a piece by Fr. Joseph O'Leary about a group he referred to as "neo-Caths", short, I suppose, for "neo-Catholics". I have never heard this term before, but having read his description, I think I am able to offer a better description of this
group.

The neo-Catholic is anything but that, really. They come from a long and proud line, a 2000 year long line, to be precise.

They are people who love the sacred liturgy at the mass, who view it as an encounter with God, and wish to see its music and ritual be different from anything found in the world. For many, this means a use of Latin througout the liturgy, for others, just having music such as Gregorian chant will do. If nothing else, performances of the hokey-pokey during the consecration of the Eucharist done in order to remind people that mass is really "what it's all about" are quite frowned upon.

Passionately in love with the Church, they eagerly accept any and all of her teachings. They defend her with equal vigor against those who reject the Second Vatican Council and those who reject every other council.

Because they love these teachings, they wish to understand them with a greater depth, and turn to the great teachers such as St. Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine, Aquinas, and the popes and bishops througout the ages, to name but a very few. They wish also to pass this instruction on to the next generation, and feel strongly about giving young Catholics the best possible education in their faith.

They seek to comprehend how a Church which has given such perfect teachings has also come to be associated with decidedly imperfect actions, and probably find a succinct explanation in the proverb "God writes straight with crooked lines."

And last but certainly not least, following the example of G.K. Chesterton, the art of apologetics is not just a thing of spiritual edification in their hands. It is very much a form of entertainment as well.

These are the "neo-Caths", and I am one of them.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress."

-John Adams

WYD indulgence!

2005-08-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

"For what is believed to be the first time in WYD history, the Vatican announced this week that people who “attentively and devotedly participate” in any of the WYD events are eligible to receive a plenary indulgence. "

Awsome!

2005-08-12T06:22:00.000-05:00

I love waking up to good music. This morning was no exception, and there was a song I hadn't heard in a very long time on the radio- I'll leave you with this:

May the bird of Paradise fly up your nose,

May an elephant caress you with its toes...

Google!

2005-08-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

Well, thanks Google, and "Howdy" to all of ya'll who found us by searching for:

"anglorite," "eucharistic synod," "justin daffron sj," "fiorenza AND pallium," "catechism pretest" and "spritual photo's of Jesus Christ." I'm not too sure why we came up with the last search, hmmm.

I'm not sure what you expecting, "Paraclete St. Augustine mathematicians sun moon" person, but you are welcome, too.

and last but not least,

"shot in the back by a storm trooper."

Remember that WYD Band?

2005-08-10T11:12:00.000-05:00

Remember that WYD band?

It seems they were misquoted.

"Silver and Gold Have I None"

2005-08-08T14:23:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

One of the other interesting questions I got from family concerned the fact that the bishops and other high clergy seem to live quite well, particularly Pope Benedict. They were curious as to how they squared this with their vow of poverty.

Well, the first part of the answer is that diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty, so technically they wouldn't have to worry about such things.

That being said, they should still live in a simple manner, and be generous with what they have. However, one thing that most people fail to keep in mind is that, like it or not, bishops, cardinals, and the Pope are leaders of the community, either local or universal as the case may be. That being said, they will need to meet with other leaders, both local and international, in order to carry out some of their duties. They need to continually advise the leaders and urge them to make moral decisions, and need to do what they can as well to see to it that their flock is safeguarded. Because they need to interact with secular leaders (as well as leaders of other religions), they need to a) have the means to recieve and host them, should they come and b) have the means to go to the leaders in order to present the views of the Church, argue them, advise the leaders, or whatever else needs to be done. To do this, they need something of a nice place, and a travel budget.

Should some of them perhaps live a little less extravagantly? Yes. But many, such as Cardinal Dulles do it quite well. Archbishop Sean O'Malley, of the Capuchins, has also done a good job, selling the former bishop's residence for a simpler, though still adequate, place.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against wacking them around a little." (Amen to that!)

-Joe Martin

Vow Number Two

2005-08-06T07:45:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

While I was out on vacation, I did get a few questions from family about a) the priesthood in general and b) the Church in general. One of the questions that I was asked was about a particular vow I'll be taking, and my opinon of it. It wasn't poverty. My family has had its share of college students. Nor was it obedience. I've got an incredible amount of family members in the U.S. Navy, so they're good with that. Nor was it the fourth vow particular to Jesuits, that of special obedience to the pope. Evidently not a lot of people know that one exists. Nope, it was the other vow. Yep, chastity.

Darling and obsession of American society, our vow of chastity (or to be more specific, its implications for preists and religious) seems to fly right in the face of everything our culture tells us: sex is a very good thing which is in fact the fulfillment of your being. You have an innate right and duty to have as much of it as possible, and should excercise this right frequently in order to be "normal".

So, my opinion of priestly/religious celibacy? I like it. Members of religious orders should definitely keep it. The community life that they live is usually a key aspect of the spirituality or mission of the order. More often than not, either the order is very big on living with fellow members, mostly monastic orders such as Benedictines and Augustinians, or they are very active and either do or may have to travel frequently in the course of their ministry, like mendicant orders such as the Dominicans and Fransicans. For the Jesuits, it's very much both.

As for diocesan priests, I really doubt they would have time to do all that they do, be as available as they are, and still run a parish if they were to be married. The (now former) pastor of St. Mary's in College Station, Fr. Mike, was usually up by 6:30-6:45 to lead a group in lauds, and was busy working/praying until 10 or 11 at night. I think that were he married and keeping a schedule like that, he would very quickly find himself with a broken marriage, possibly a divorce.

Certainly, many theologians far smarter than I have written at length on the Biblical basis and justifications, and as I don't think I have anything to add of particular value in that arena, I won't.

So while I say that the Church could theoretically change this rule if it wanted to, I don't necessarily think it is a very prudent idea, and so far as I know, neither does anyone in the Church. I am fairly sure I can speak for just about everyone when I say: please, keep us celibate!

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
-Martin Luther King, jr

First Friday

2005-08-05T07:15:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

As it is the first friday of the month of August, I thought I'd post up the Promises of the Sacred Heart again.

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2. I will give peace in their families.

3. I will console them in all their troubles.

4. They shall find in my Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.

5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.

6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

9. I will bless the homes in which the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in my Heart and it shall never be effaced.

12. The All-Powerful Love of my Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving the Sacraments; my Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue."

-Confucius, The Confucian Analects

WYD Band is certainly NOT Catholic

2005-08-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking things I probably shouldn't say, so I'm afraid you won't get my full opinion on this :). The word "livid" may be a good start...

Santiago, Aug. 04, 2005 ( CNA ) - In an interview with a popular music website in Chile, the Christian rock band from Argentina, Rescate, which boasts of being “the only Hispanic artists that will participate in the closing concert for the XX World Youth Day,” criticized Pope Benedict XVI, who will be the central figure at the celebrations in Cologne, Germany.

The 8-member rock band told the Chilean website “Musica123” that the group seeks “to spread the message of Jesus in a language that is understandable to every person.” In the interview granted during their first visit to Chile, the band said, “Personally, we don’t think the Pope is God’s representative on earth. Jesus came to do away with any intermediary between God and man, and therefore we have a direct relationship with Him.”

“To me the Pope’s strength is more political than spiritual,” said vocalist and band leader Ulises Eyherabide. “This Pope, who is so orthodox, so rigid and not very ecumenical in eyes of some, could turn out to be a surprise because of how he might be forced to change due to political situations from which he cannot escape.” “Replacing John Paul II obviously has more of a political than a spiritual significance,” he added.

I really want to know who invited these guys- really really want to know. I won't be suprised if, upon saying something like that at WYD, they would be boo'd off the stage. Honestly, I'd like that.

I'd expect that the bands preforming at WYD would be compromised of Catholic bands. Even if they are not Catholic, they certainly should not be insult our Holy Father when asked to entertain for us!

I Love Books!

2005-08-04T18:24:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I really enjoy books. When I was in grade school, I was the nerd who would be reading during lunch instead of talking to others. When I stand in line at the post office or anything of that nature, I have a book with me. I recall the last time I was at Disney World, I had with me Shakespeare's The Scottish Play-y'know, the one about the dude who shall remain nameless that killed a king on the advice of three witches- both to read and to memorize, as I almost played the part of the aforementioned dude. I may not be doing theatre, but I still honor the traditions (go figure!). Memorizing the "Is this a dagger I see before me?" soliloquy as I stand in line for "It's a Small World After All" is a very fond and interesting memory (and perhaps an explanation to my peculiarities).

So when I see a list such as this, I get very, very curious. It is a list of the top 100 books published in the 20th century. Below are the ones that I have read. Not very many, I'm afraid. I've never been much for 20th century literature-if you want to call it that.

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene- a must for any seminarian, in my humble opinion. It is one of the few books I will be taking along with me to the novitiate.

The Aubrey/Maturin Novels by Patrick O'Brian- that's 20 books, actually, and I have only read the first one, Master and Commander. Pretty good, although my first loyalty as far as naval literary heroes will always be the intrepid Captain Horatio Hornblower. Why he did not make the list is a mystery to me.

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson-It has been too long since I've read it (6th grade) to give a good review, but I remember liking it, and was thinking about it just the other day. Wonders never cease.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author."

-G.K. Chesterton

UPDATE: Goodness, where are my manners? You'd think I was a Yankee, from what I just did (sorry, Seeker)! Nod to Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve (also in Boston) over at Open Wide the Doors for Christ for the link.

Fr. Ratzinger could use extra prayers

2005-08-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

"ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI's older brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, had a pacemaker implanted because of an irregular heartbeat and is recovering well, the Vatican said Thursday.
After being diagnosed, Ratzinger was outfitted with a pacemaker, which regulates the heartbeat, the spokesman said. Ratzinger's postoperative recovery was "satisfactory," and he was expected to be released soon from Gemelli, Navarro-Valls said."

Support Your Local Pastor!

2005-08-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Today, among other things, is the feast day of St. John Vianney. What makes him special and worth pointing out (besides the fact that he's got his day in the Breviary, which is good in itself) is that he is the patron of priests. Believing, as I do, the axiom that there is no such thing as a bad priest, just one that needs to be prayed for, take a bit of time today to pray for your parish priest, or perhaps one who's less than orthodox methods (we'll be charitable) annoy or infuriate you.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"No doubt the mur'drous knife was dull and blunt

'Till it was whetted on they stone-heard heart."

-"Queen Elizabeth", Richard III IV:iv:227-228

Susan Torres Update

2005-08-03T20:20:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

A while back, I put up a post on Susan Torres, who was being kept alive on life support until she gave birth to her baby. This from the e-mail update that I get:

Susan Torres gave birth at 8:18 am on Tuesday, August 2, 2005 to Susan Anne
Catherine Torres. The baby weighs 1 pound 13 ounces and measures 13 ½ inches long.There were no complications during delivery. The baby is doing well and is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Virginia Hospital Center.

God be praised! It was also felt that since there was no hope of recovery, that Susan be taken off the respirator and other life-support equipment, and she passed away shortly after the delivery.

Holy Mary, Mother of our Lord, pray for us.

Saint Agnes, patroness of young girls, pray for us.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust."

-Samuel Johnson

Ninja

2005-08-03T17:30:00.000-05:00

Beware, for The Ninja may one day cross your path...

My Own Dark and Stormy Night...

2005-08-01T09:46:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Down at Jimmy Akin's blog, a contest has been initiated along the lines of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, to find who can write the worst opening line for a novel. My own entry:

That cinammon scent eminating from the kitchen of his murder victim (or was it coming from the victim herself? "So hard to gage these things accurately!", the ruthless, bloodthirsty, and utterly depraved, yet still vaguely sensitive and caring, killer said to himself) reminded him of his mother, who also smelt of cinnamon.

The sad part is, were I to show that sentence to the American population, a significant number would probably think that I had just crafted one of the deepest and most complex characters in the history of literature. This would be why I tend to avoid books on best seller lists like the plague. For all such people out there, I have but two words: Aristotle's Poetics.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."

-Oscar Wilde

Chavez needs Exorcism

2005-07-31T22:43:00.000-05:00

I do so love this:

Ouspoken Catholic cardinal took his war of words with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to a new level in an interview published Sunday, calling him "a paranoid dictator" who needs "an exorcism."Rosalio Castillo, Venezuela's only cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, also accused Chavez of rounding up more than 100 political prisoners and torturing some captives.

"The difference is in the way it's said. There are those who speak diplomatically, and others like me who speak clearly so that everyone understands," the 82-year-old cardinal said. The Roman Catholic Church has been one of the most critical voices of Chavez, a former paratroop commander and self-styled "revolutionary."

Go Jesuit, It's Your Feast Day!

2005-07-31T17:57:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Today is a very special day. The last day of July, which can only mean two things. First is that I think the month has gone by far too fast. I would like my month back, if that's ok. The second is that this would also be the feast day of the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius de Loyola. Anyone who didn't think I wouldn't make a big deal out of this is insane. It would be like Cnytr just ignoring Aquinas' feast day, except worse, since, as the name might indicate, Aquinas did not found the Dominicans.

Ignatius is a fun saint to read about. Almost as fun as Augustine, really. One of the best parts, aside from the pre-conversion stuff, are the volumes of letters he wrote while superior general of the Jesuits, particularly to St. Francis Xavier and the heads of the various provinces througout Europe. On one occasion, a superior had neglected to send him regular reports of the province. In response to this, Ignatius wrote in a letter to him "You did well to observe obedience in the matter of writing every week [...] What you should have done was to find someone, once the letters were written, to carry and deliver them." Classic, really.

Fellow blogger Mark Mossa, just finishing up his Jesuit regency at Loyola New Orleans, is currently in the process of writing a biography of St. Ignatius. Here is the latest sample on his blog. You know you're in for a treat when the title of the post is "Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"When a soul finds no pleasure or consolation in the things of God, it also fails to find it in any thing created."

-St. Ignatius de Loyola, Spiritual Excercises, IX

"Men (to be) Astutely Trained"

2005-07-31T16:51:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Meet my novice class!

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously."

-Hubert H. Humphrey

Quiz-takers Anonymous?

2005-07-30T16:48:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Lately, I've been getting the feeling that I have become addicted to the whole online personality quiz thing. I can't help myself! I just find it so interesting seeing which character I would be in a 15th century romance novel, were it to be written by Euripides, proofread by Aristotle, and set in Middle-Earth.

Not only that, but when I go in to take one quiz, I see a whole bunch of others and think to myself, "now that would be a good quiz to take, and before I know it, I've taken more quizzes and tests in one day that I will ever take over an entire week of midterms.

Then, of course, comes the part where it affects everyone else, the point when I decide that everyone who reads this blog would be interested to know the results as well, and then take the quiz themselves.

Perhaps a support group is needed for people like myself. It could have a set program, and we could talk about our feelings after singing "Kumbaya". That being said, "Hello, my name is David, and I have a problem with taking internet personality quizzes..."

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

-Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Even Pope's get frustrated

2005-07-29T19:53:00.000-05:00

Even Pope's get frustrated- that's the feeling I get from these statements.

"It seems that people don't need us," he said in Italian, saying that in today's society, "all we do seems useless."

"All of us together want, on one hand, to suffer with these problems and, through suffering, transform the problems, because suffering is precisely the way of transformation, and without suffering nothing is transformed... This is also the meaning of the parable of the grain of wheat that fell on the earth: Only through a process of tormented transformation does one obtain the fruit and see the solution, and if the apparent inefficacy of our preaching is not a suffering for us, it would be a sign of a lack of faith, of a lack of genuine commitmeny... We must take these difficulties of our time seriously and transform them by suffering with Christ, and so transform ourselves, and in the measure that we ourselves are transformed, we can also answer the question articulated earlier; we can see the presence of the kingdom of God and make others see it," he stated.

In face of "the so-called great Churches," which seem to be "dying, especially in Australia, but also in Europe, not so much in the United States," the Holy Father said that he does not believe in "a recipe for a rapid change." "We must go forward, go through the tunnel with patience, with the certainty that Christ is the answer and that in the end his light will appear again." Conviction Benedict XVI continued: "Without reference to the true God, man destroys himself. We see it with our own eyes. "In all this suffering, not only must we not lose the certainty that Christ is really the face of God, but in addition we must deepen this certainty and the joy of knowing it and of really being, therefore, ministers of the world's future, of the future of every man."

As I said before, he sounds frustrated to me; I hope that World Youth Day will be of a great consolance to him-that is always an amazing, crazy gathering. I can understand how he feels, watching the culture around me. As he is the voice of the Church, I can't imagine how much more frusterating it must seem to him.

"The Good Doctor"

2005-07-29T12:25:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Oh, y'all are going to love this [source]:

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday threw his support behind legislation to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, breaking with President Bush and religious conservatives in a move that could impact his prospects for seeking the White House in 2008.

“It’s not just a matter of faith, it’s a matter of science,” Frist said on the floor of the Senate.

Matters of science, which pertain to the world and the created universe, of course, being superior to matters of faith, which pertain to God.

Said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.: “As a physician, Sen. Frist has a moral calling to save lives and alleviate suffering. He honors his Hippocratic Oath today by recognizing the unique healing power of embryonic stem cells.”

Ummm...

“I give huge moral significance to the human embryo, it is nascent human life,” he [Senator Frist] said. “What that means is as we advance science, we treat that embryo with dignity, with respect.”

Ok, let me see if I have the logic straight.

1) We want to heal people

2) We want to treat human embryos with respect

3) The best way to do both is to harvest unwanted embryos for body parts and other things of that nature, since this is, of course, a sign of great respect that your organs etc. are valuable enough for us to want to kill you.

Maybe I'm missing something, here, but somehow I doubt it.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Under every stone lurks a politician."

-Aristophanes

About Us

2005-07-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

There's been enough confusion about who and how many of us there are on here, so we've decided to finally get around to writing biographies about ourselves.

DAVID: Well, I'm going into the Jesuit novitiate August 14th. I spent four years in a Jesuit high school, Strake Jesuit of Houston, TX, and a year at Texas A&M, which I absolutely loved (WHOOP!). While there, I majored in philosophy with a minor in religious studies. There was also a very brief period when I was an economics major doing a minor in philosophy, but I don't like to think of those times. I hope to earn a doctorate in philosophy so that I can teach it on the university level. Or theology. I'm not particularly picky, and both subjects are enjoyable.

fj: So ambitious! I also attend Texas A&M, except my goal is to learn about cows. That's right, cows! I won't go into why I should not be using the word cow (as it would make anyone else I know qute aggrivated because it doesn't mean what most people think). I also love sheep, but I'm not as interested in their technical aspects. So, as someone who is attending an expensive university to lean about cows, I am a double biomedical science and animal science major. If you want to know something about animals, ask.

DAVID: Yeah, she's pretty good at animals, I must give her that. I once wanted to study medicine, mostly for the same reason I wanted to become a preist, to help and heal people. My interests are actually pretty varied, my knowledge base would probably be best described as "broad though shallow in all but a few areas." I come by it honestly, though. When I was in school and bored, I had a rather geekish tendancy to pass the time by reading random articles from the encyclopedia.

fj: See, I think everyone does that- most people just won't admit it. I'm a very practical person. I like to know how to do things- I can stick-weld, shear (anything, but specifically I'm good at show-cuts and hand shearing) fix or build just about anything, I'm proficient in almost all aspects of animal husbandry, love to cook, and I spend lots of time outside. I'm also a huge fan of anything sci-fi, especially Asmov. I also enjoy philosophy and theology, but I am HORRIBLE at explaining it to others. I was requested by my ethics professor (class was crop ethics) to defend the morality (note: not legality) of GM plants using a Thomistic arguing style. Now that was fun! AND he said I sounded like Aquinas, esp. with my last response WHOOP!
Oh, and of course I was born and raised Texan, and I absolutely love this state.

DAVID: Sadly, I was born in Florida, not Texas (always a source of embarassment for me), but having spent the last 16 years here, I like it quite a bit. If I had a choice, the novitiate would be moved to Texas. And trust me when I say that some of the info that I have gathered is some of the most impractical on the face of this Earth. Like the fact that President Taft invented the concept of the 7th inning stretch, and was the only person to ever be the head of more than one branch of government (he was the chief justice of the Supreme Court a few years after his presidency).

fj: I know all sorts of impractical things! For instance, if you don't strip the lanoilin from the fleece before shearing, it shears a hair bit easier than stripping it first. It's also easier to use fencing pliers to mend fences than needle nose, although they work in a pinch. It's more dangerous to have an empty gasoline can with fumes in it than a full one. You can make good halters by using rope and hog rings for around $1 a halter, as well, instead of buying all that "specialty" or pre-made stuff, AND they last longer! Now, living in a city in an apartment, do you have any idea how often that knowledge gets used?

Ah, well. In that way I'm like the Jesuits; I do like to know things. I'm probably a bit more inclined toward the (gasp!) Dominican or Franciscan spirituality, however.

DAVID: My knowledge can be even more useless than that, trust me. Among my varied interests and hobbies are all things Shakespeare, history (especially military history), movies, and camping. I was also a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Eagle in 2001, and did theatre my senior year of high school.

fj: So, by reading this, you now know more than you ever wanted to about us, and none of it useful to boot!

World's Toughest Catholic Quiz...

2005-07-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

A friend sent me the link. I know many readers are in RCIA, and/or new to the faith, so I thought I'd throw it up here. It's fairly basic, but does expect that one understands why the wrong answers are wrong- some answers are only off by a word. If you do not, it has a brief explanation at the bottom.

I knew 19 of 20- got the archbishop wrong, LOL!

The World's Toughest Catholic Quiz

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia..."

2005-07-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

And I'm back from my vacation in Georgia. Good stuff all around, really. Saw family, relaxed on a beach, read a few books, all the finer things in life, really. One thing that I appreciated was a lot of good conversations and questions that have given me inspiration for future posts.

Another was the opportunity to observe interesting things. Especially as we drove down through the center of Georgia (on a route, for the educated, that took us from Savannah to Columbus to Montgomery) and Alabama. Like the fact that every 200 yards or so, I would see another Baptist church. Or that every 5th one of these Baptist churches advertised themselves as a "Full Gospel Church". As compared to a half-Gospel church, I suppose. Or maybe there's a church out there that really has a thing for the synoptic Gospels. Sorry, John, I guess that whole "Bread of Life" discourse was just too much for that particular group.

What is perhaps my all-time favorite part about it, though, is the small church that I went to, St. Michael's, which I make a point of attending at least once when I'm in the area. Not a big parish by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, I'd be incredibly surprised if the census went above 200. It was not a large building, and might be about the size of the chapels in the massive cathedrals. The thing that I like about it is that despite its miniscule size, you walk into that church and don't mistake it for anything else. It's pretty ironic that I can walk into a church in, oh let's just say San Fransisco, a huge building that absolutely dwarfs St. Michael's, and yet I might not know it is a church right off hand. I might think it is the headquarters of a major corporation. Or, more likely, the headquarters that Superman used in the movies. For all my love of the great churches and cathedrals, I am actually fairly easy to please. It doesn't need to be huge, or have gargoyles (cool as those may be), or enough gold trimmings to put Fort Knox to shame. It just needs to look like a church, to serve as a constant visual reminder that I am in God's house.

For the uncertain, this would entail (at minimum):

one crucifix, prominently displayed
stations of the cross
tabernacle w/ Blessed Sacrament, also prominently displayed
stained glass, preferably with images related to God
in addition, pews would be nice. I've read about one church using "mauve stacking chairs". Please avoid that. Kneelers would be needed too, since I'm going to be doing some kneeling during mass.

As you see, my needs are fairly simple.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"To speak in general of those who should be admitted, the greater the number of natural and infused gifts someone has from God our Lord which are useful for what the Society aims at in His Divine service, and the more experience the candidate has in the use of these gifts, the more suitable will he be for reception into the Society."

-St. Ignatius de Loyola, Constitutions of the Society of Jesus

Playing Politics...

2005-07-26T19:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Your Political Profile

Overall: 70% Conservative, 30% Liberal

Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

I must say, I'm surprised at how conservative I am. Quite surprised, really. The 100% fiscal conservatism really threw me for a loop, given my fondness for Chesterton's writings on the topic. I figured somewhere around 50% on that. How remarkably curious. Perhaps I can make my own political quiz. Yes, that'll show them. That'll show them all...

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"There are two kinds of revolutionists, as of most things - a good kind and a bad. The bad revolutionists destroy conventions by appealing to fads - fashions that are newer than conventions. The good do it by appealing to facts that are older than conventions."
-G.K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 30 April, 1910

UPDATE: Ok, so having had a complaint from Publius about the link not working, here it is, a good working link: How Liberal or Conservative are you?

Musings...of a Holy Roman Pontiff

2005-07-25T22:11:00.000-05:00

The Holy Father has joined the blogging world...and here's why:

The musings of a Holy Roman Pontiff:

“Holy Father, why would you desire to become one of them? I answered that I don’t want to become one of them, Heaven forbid! I just want to muse - I really, really like the idea of musing. I even like the way the word sounds. So, I am here to offer the musings of a pontiff. Note: in no way should my musings be construed as ex cathedra pronouncements or official Church teaching. This is a personal interest and off the pontifical record. It’s merely an opportunity for me to take off my miter, kick back, and muse.

I love parody; I found this blog AWSOME. It is brought to you by Rick from Unam Sanctam.

History and the Nazi Party

2005-07-24T21:12:00.000-05:00

In the chapter entitled "Internal achievements of Nazism," one textbook quoted by AFP states: "Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time, establishing a strong administrative set-up."

I really can't believe someone actually published something like this, and that a school would use it- despite protests from pretty much everyone.

A Jesuit priest and social activist, Cedric Prakash, says the books contain more than 300 factual errors and make little mention of the holocaust. Despite protests from parents, peace activists and educationists, the updated school books still contain the same objectionable text this academic year.

Sunday Again

2005-07-24T14:51:00.000-05:00

Liturgical Music & Synod

2005-07-23T22:33:00.000-05:00

All I can say to this is "yay!"

"VATICAN CITY, JULY 22, 2005- The working paper of the next Synod of Bishops suggests that "songs used at present" in the liturgy should "be reconsidered." Based on responses from diocese, religious and the laity to a questionnaire, the text acknowledges in No. 61 that "to enter into sacred or religious usage, instrumental or vocal music is to have a sense of prayer, dignity and beauty." In the liturgy, music must have "integrity of form, expressing true artistry, corresponding to the various rites and capable of adaptation to the legitimate demands of inculturation, without detracting from the idea of universality," the document states.

In connection with the question of liturgical singing, the paper states that "musicians and poets should be encouraged to compose new hymns, according to liturgical standards, which contain authentic catechetical teaching on the paschal mystery, Sunday and the Eucharist." Gregorian chant In particular, the document suggests the rediscovery of Gregorian chant, as it "fulfills these needs" and, therefore, can "serve as a model," quoting Pope John Paul II. In No. 61, the text states that in the responses to the questionnaire with which they concluded the synod's first preparatory text, "some lamented the poor quality of translations of liturgical texts and many musical texts in current languages, maintaining that they lacked beauty and were sometimes theologically unclear, thereby contributing to a weakening of Church teaching and to a misunderstanding of prayer."

The paper refers in particular to youth Masses, stressing the need "to avoid musical forms which, because of their profane use, are not conducive to prayer." "Some responses," it adds, "note a certain eagerness in composing new songs, to the point of almost yielding to a consumer mentality, showing little concern for the quality of the music and text, and easily overlooking the artistic patrimony which has been theologically and musically effective in the Church's liturgy."

Unfortunately, I feel that some will see this only as a suggestion to be briefly considered and discarded; if only it were a bull... However, going from an, ahem, innovative parish, shall we say, to the one which I now attend leads me to believe that those parishes which do work to see that they music is reverent, beautiful, and dignified will have a higher attendance than those which do not. Hopefully, then, other churches will then follow the suggestion. Simply switching pastors at my old parish- which now has a fullblown Lifeteen thing and 'teenage' music- have left the masses 75% full, down from almost full under our old pastor (and the music was ok at best then). The music is DREADFUL. I mean, the Gather book is not perfect, but it is much better than that which is sung at my former parish. If parishes can move toward songs which express the Catholic faith (yes, meaning no protestant symbolic-Eucharist songs and whatnot) fully, and without reservation, I would expect church attendance to increase.

I want more attendance Church because the only catechesis many adults recieve is during the homily at mass; sometimes I think that many priests forget this. I know my parents, raising the three of us, were exhausted at the end of most everyday and could not attend any type of workgroup, or even wanted to read. Anyway, I've known people not to go to mass because the music was so bad; obviously this means 1) they don't realize what "holy day of obligation' means, or 2) the music is so bad it negates their culpability, and that 3) if we can get them to go to mass, perhaps the homily can help instruct them in something as basic as "Go to church on Sunday."

I wish we had better catechesis so we could explore deeper theological topics than "go to mass on Sunday," but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

I realize that there can be a wide opinion of what constitutes "reverent and dignified," however there are some things which are obviously not. The Old Rugged Cross, while a pretty song, should not be sung during mass.

The other problem, I think, which led to this is the fact that there is a bit of a priest shortage in the US. Our priests must concentrate on theirsacramentall duties, obviously that must come first, but things that were formerly being done by religious are now being done by the lay people. Whereas many priests/brothers/nuns used to be musicians, we now have the theology/liturgical minded groups (which usually include our priests), and a lay musically minded groups; these groups do not seem able to communicate effectively with each other at this time.

This looks like it will be a very interesting Synod, I hope they are able to discuss liturgical music and give a good thorough response. I can understand, however, if it is not at the top of their list.

God is, well, God

2005-07-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

David- scan throught this for me please?

From a brief conversation tonight:

"Well, if God was subject to time then by that very statement the God would cease to be God because it wouldn't comply with the very way in which we know God to be!"

Ah, well, at least it is easy to refute the changeable god. If God was subject to time, then it would not be under His control, and if he isn't in control of everything, then he is obviously not God.

LOL. The very simplest explaination perfect for a 5 min. phone conversations.

And no, this was a I-called-my-friend-to-see-how-they-were-doing call. We began discussing a 'philosopher,' as I'll call him, which my friend must read for a class they're in. She was like, "Ooookay. I know. That wasn't my contention." LOL. I just don't like people who miss the obvious- such as this 'philosopher.'

Crazy new-age profs. Sigh. Why no Aquinas or Plato, anybody? They have their faults, but still, they are better than these guys! All I hear about are Kant, Hume, Nietzsche, Tze, and others of that ilk. Ah well!

The Holy Hour

2005-07-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Recently, I was in a Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and decided to do a Eucharistic holy hour. Now, being of a somewhat forgetful nature (just ask fj), I forgot to bring my breviary and Bible with me, so I looked on their bookshelf to see if they had one or the other to at least do some spiritual readings, even if I couldn't do lauds. One book that I came across was Twenty Holy Hours, an out-of-print book by Mateo Crawley-Boevey. Having prayed one of those hours and given a quick glance at several of the others, I can say that it is a pretty good book. My one complaint was that it took me only 45 minutes to pray, but in its defense, the book is designed for a group prayer. Also, most of the holy hours are for First Friday devotion (exactly 12 out of the 20, in fact. Go ahead, ask me how I calculated that one. I dare you.), but I'd say that using it solely for a First Friday is more of a suggestion than a liturgical requirement here.

And now my oh-so-subtle segue from a book on holy hours to the holy hour in general.

Personally, when I do my holy hour, I like it to have a certain amount of structure. I've got a routine that I worked out, and I like it pretty well. That, incidentally, is probably one of the best arguments I've got against those who say that the early Christians just spontaneously had mass whenever and did whatever came to their hearts without any standardized liturgy: its a whole lot easier to worship and be focused on God when you aren't focused on what you should do next. Frequently I do it either before a tabernacle or a monstance with the Blessed Sacrament in it, but not always.

Quite a bit of what I do and how I do it during the holy hour is influenced by Bl. Fulton Sheen's The Priest is Not His Own, where he is talking about the priest and his spiritual life. When I start, it will almost always be with the LOTH. Even if I am doing it at a time outside of lauds or vespers time, such as the middle of the day, I'll use the hour appropriate to the time. Call me old fashioned, but I like to start out with prayer united to the Church.

After this, I may do some spiritual reading, typically either from the Bible or some of the non-Scriptural readings from the Office of Readings (usually 1-2) in the back of the breviary. Recently, I've also been reading from both the Summa and the Catechism on the virtues (right now, its courage, since I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous at the moment about leaving everything and everyone that I know behind to go to the novitiate). Fr. Pacwa, I know, will sometimes read prayerfully an encyclical by John Paul, particularly appropriate since he wrote much of them while in the Presence of the Lord. Others I know have read parts of Augustine's Confessions. Your basic rule of thumb for the reading is going to be:

a) make sure it is by a Catholic, preferably a saint. While Aristotle's Metaphysics and Nicomachean Ethics were huge influences on the writing of Aquinas, and are certainly good works of solid philosophy, I just can't see that providing spiritual nourishment, which is not always the same thing as intellectual satisfaction.

b) make sure it is something you can pray over. If you are in Adoration, make sure it doesn't lead your thoughts far from the Eucharist. On that note, don't read too much, or you will probably get concerned with reading, as opposed to praying. Brief and to the point are better. The whole purpose is to give you something to reflect upon prayerfully.

Next comes one of my favorite parts, the rosary. My personal preference when praying the mysteries is to use a Scriptural Rosary booklet. The one I have is a bit old, distributed by the Padre Pio Prayer Group, taking the Scriptural quotes from Douay-Rheims. Any translation will do, really, just make sure that if you do use a booklet, it has an imprimatur.

After all this, I finish it all off with a brief version of the Jesuit examination of conscience. Basically, there are five parts to it:

Thanksgiving (after this, I typically say a 'Glory Be')
Intentions (usually an Our Father and a Hail Mary after this, plus one Our Father for any special or novena intentions)
Experience- how have you experienced God's love today
Contrition- how have you responded inadequately to or rejected God's love (this, for the relativists reading right now, would be what theologians refer to as "sin", a real thing that people can actually do) An act of contrition would be an appropriate thing to end this part with.
Hope- pray and focus on both how you will correct the sins you went over in "contrition", and ask God for a particular grace or spiritual gift-patience, humility, etc.

Obviously, you should feel free to do what suits you best. Sometimes in adoration the best thing is to just sit there for a bit and meditate or do some contemplative prayer, an excellent guide to which can be found towards the end of the CCC. Perhaps one of the biggest things though: don't worry if it has been more than an hour by the time you finish. Jesus isn't worried, so you shouldn't be either.

And one final note, since I could find nowhere else to mention this: just because you're not a priest, member of a religious order, or hoping to be either of those two, doesn't mean that you can't do a holy hour. Lay people should absolutely pray as often as their scheldule permits.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me?"
-Matthew 26:40

"Passion of Christ, Strengthen Me"

2005-07-22T11:19:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Came across some advice on EWTN a few days ago about praying from Fr. Groschel. One really great thing that he suggested was to look at a crucifix for several minutes in prayer. I've been doing this for a little bit, and can say that it is most definitely solid advice. Personally, I prefer to do so first thing, so as to get in a proper disposition, but I don't think that would be a hard and fast rule by any stretch. Unless I'm in a church, I'll typically use the crucifix at the end of my rosary. Bigger ones can have their uses, though. For one thing, you can see the wounds quite a bit better, unless, of course, you got your rosary 'supersized' when you bought it.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"If you are looking for an example of humility, look at the cross."

-St. Thomas Aquinas

Most Excellent!

2005-07-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

You know, it's been a while since I've done a good rant, just typing in a heat, publishing, and then say "come what may." Far too long, I think. For those who may be new to this site, this might be the time to duck for cover.

I'm fairly annoyed at this tendancy that I've been observing to do the bare minimum. Someone does something, I criticize it, and the defense is "well what's wrong with [insert what you will here]?" It's not that there's necessarily anything wrong with what is being done, but there ain't a whole lot right or commendable about it, either. It simply...is. It's the bare minimum, obeying the moral law like a checklist, but not going the extra mile, where someone says that not only are they going to obey the letter of the law, they're going to obey the spirit as well, and strive to better themselves. Too often, people will focus on not doing anything wrong, rather than actively doing what is right.

Another name for virtue ethics is aretaic ethics, from the Greek word for "excellence". When we behave with virtue, it is said to be a certain perfection or excellence of the self. Contrasted to the deontological, or "duty based" ethics, you discharge your duty, not a bit more, and that's what is morally good. "Duty for duty's sake", as Kant put it.

With Christ's Sermon on the Mount, simply doing one's duty was no longer the standard. The law that we obey is no longer the finish line, where we can say that we have done our best, but becomes the starting point. The law only requires us to go with our neighbor the mile of his journey that he asks, but Christ challenges us to go with him until he is altogether finished with the trip. The law allows us recompense if our brother strikes us, but Christ challenges us to end the cycle on our own by turning the other cheek for him. We were not told merely to dot all the i's and cross all the t's, but to "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt. 5:48)

Let's raise the bar a little bit, then, shall we?

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it."

-G.K. Chesterton

Judge John Roberts

2005-07-20T06:51:00.000-05:00

This is one of the few times I will blog what others are blogging about, and-to-boot, this is mainly going to be excerpts and links for ya'll to follow. They are linked, for the most part, to the individual entries/articles which refer to him.

"Thankfully, President Bush has selected Judge John Roberts, a highly qualified nominee, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Judge Roberts understands the difference between applying laws and rewriting them. He understands that he cannot rewrite the Constitution to fit his own personal political opinions, but that instead he must faithfully adhere to it."
-Fr. Pavone, Priests for Life

"The fact that his wife Jane also served as President of Feminists for Life is also a good sign."
-The Curt Jester

"President Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts gets a nod of approval from various figures which may give an indication of where he stands on the life issues:"
- Catholics in the Public Square (there are many posts about him, so scroll through the blog).

"Okay, one Roberts SCOTUS thread coming up!"
-Jimmy Akin (I'll add his other post on him after he posts it-I'm very much looking foreward to his opinion regarding Judge Roberts.)

Wikipedia's Biography.

Last, but not least, CNN and BBC, if you want to see what the mainstream news is saying.

"Catholicism and Fundamentalism"

2005-07-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I've been quite busy this summer, as far as reading books are concerned. Finished 1 (well, sort of), read 5 more, and working on 2 1/2 others right now (3 1/2, actually, now that I have a copy of Utopia). One of the books I finished was Catholicism and Fundamentalism, by Karl Keating, the founder of Catholic Answers. As a matter of fact, this was actually his first book. Having read through it all, I have to say that my very favorite part was the name of the bishop who issued the imprimatur.

Answer: Most Rev. Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles (not yet the Cardinal we know him as now)

To quote that most august philosopher Larry the Cable Guy: "I don't care who y'are, at's funny right thar!"

As it happens with most books I read voluntarily, I found it to be quite good. The reason for this is simple: I've got a lot of books that I want to read, most of them by very good authors. If you want to bust into a list that includes Aristotle, Aquinas, Shakespeare, and God, you've got to have something special going for you. Sadly, while I've been meaning to get at The DaVinci Code, it's just going to have to wait a while, although I have read a few bits and pieces, and currently hope that the experience will be time out of purgatory for me.

The book is clearly designed for easy absorption so that one can finally have quick and clear rejoinders and answers for anyone in, for example, a dinner party conversation and gets asked about certain aspects of the Church, her doctrines, and almost as importantly, her history.

Many areas are handled excellently by Mr. Keating that with a less delicate treatement could have gone sour. The Church's record with respects to things such as the Inquisitions are particularly noteworthy for this. There's two extremes that he could have taken on this:

1) "The inquisition? That's a bunch of anti-Catholic hogwash cooked up by paranoid delusionals such as Jack Chick!"

2) "Yes, the inquisition happened, it was terrible, and the people who did it were thrououghly evil. We were an evil and corrupt Church back then, but we've changed now, and are far more enlightened and tolerant, in the Spirit of Vatican II."

He skates the mean of these two extremes with a skill that would make the master of the Golden Mean, Aristotle himself, rather impressed. He acknowledges the inquisition, though he also puts to rest beliefs that millions were killed in a bloody rampage. He makes clear that yes, this is the same unchanging Catholic Church that exists today, but that the events were due to a selective disobediance, not a proper adherance, to the Church's teachings (believe it or not, you just might be able to legitimately call Torquemada a sort of "cafeteria Catholic" in his own time, throwing out Church teachings for what the fashion of the day happened to be). Definitely did it with a tact that I lacked, that's for dang sure.

Overall, a great intro to apologetics, and while I wouldn't necessarily use this for catechisis (believeing as I do that apologetics and theology, while intimately related and drawing from each other in many respects, are two distinct pursuits) it does give a good explanation of many of the Church's more difficult to understand teachings, including the "Mother Of All Doctrines", real presence and transubstantiation.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"It is a great thing to know our vices."

-Cicero

Strange Dreams

2005-07-18T21:18:00.000-05:00

What a strange dream, especially for me.

I was at a huge writing desk, the kind I've always wanted. It is essentially a slab of a hardwood on 4 pegs, no fancy stuff, no drawers, nothing. I'm writing on plain paper, translating Latin to English. The room has a mahogany, candlelit feel to it, although all the light comes from a window to the right. The piece I am translating is a letter- the weird thing is, I remember distinctly it was either Cicero or Augustine. I'm assuming it was Cicero since I have never even seen any writings from Augustine in Latin that I can think of. Then again, this was a dream, so who knows. Anyway, I was translating this, and the Latin was clear as day, I could read it as easily as you could read this (trust me...I can't read Latin fluently...yet). As I read it in Latin, I wrote it in English. There was a person standing behind me, however, and no matter how simply and clearly I wrote, or explained it as I wrote, they simply did not get it. I really wish I remember what it was- I remember a paragraph distinctly, and repeating it over and over again to this person, but not I cannot remember what it was!

Ah, well, I rarely remember dreams, so this was interesting to me!

Pope Photos!

2005-07-17T13:17:00.000-05:00

They are located HERE!

This is the Holy Father with the late Bishop Luigi Locati, who was killed in town of Isiolo, Kenya Friday. He was shot by three gunmen; they don't know who or why or anything yet, and are still investigating.

Anyway, I so love pictures! Be sure to go check all of them out; there are many, many, of them from all sorts of different situations! Over 200 photos!

This one is my absolute favorite:

Now I've gone and done it...

2005-07-17T12:24:00.000-05:00

Well I've gone and done it. I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

My sister attended a party-thing when she got the book, read it with her friends that night (fri-sat am), and I grabbed it about 7pm on Sat night and finished it at 12:40. I wish I could do that with Aquinas! There should not be any spoilers below. I know most people haven't read it yet, so I kept it very bland as to what is revealed.

My initial reaction to the book was disappointment. This one simply came nowhere near to my expectations. J.K.'s writing style has changed a bit, as has the whole perspective of the series. This book sets up everything that is to follow, and that, I think, is why I was disappointed. I also did not like seeing two typos on the first page! Geesh. Although I will blame the editor for those, and not the author. Anyhow, a book like this was due to come out at some point, and this one does wrap up many, many lose ends, opens quite a few more, and leaves off ready to plunge into the second half of the adventure (and once you read it you'll know what that sentence means ).

The twists this time around were, in all honesty, predictable. The Half-Blood Prince was who I thought it'd be, as the character killed off- and those were supposed to be the big twists of this book. I was quite upset that the wedding was left out of the book!

What I immensely enjoyed in this one- the part I was not disappointed in- was the further revelation Lord Voldemort's history and development. There is now further insight into who he is and how he came to be that way. I love reading motives into actions (you can predict more of what is to happen) and now we know quite a bit more about him.

Remember all the stir when it was said the 5th book was so much darker than the rest? This one isn't. It is a bit dark- it has to be, look at the overallplot of the series- but overall takes a much lighter tone than book #5, even with character X dying.

I'm very much looking forward to Cnytr's take on it; she always has a neat perspective.

So, all in all, it is a necessary and needed book, it will span the transition nicely, and I'll leave you with this quote:

"Meanwhile the Hogwart Library had failed Hermione for the first time... "I haven't found a single explanation of what [they] do! Not a single one! I've been through the restricted section and even in the most horrible books, where they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions- nothing!"

"This Is Our Faith"

2005-07-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

One of the things that I needed to do in order to be ready for the novitiate was to read a book, This Is Our Faith, by Michael Pennock. They asked us to read this to ensure that we were all on the same page with theology and Church teachings.

I have had the opportunity to read some books by Pennock before. As a matter of fact, we used a few as textbooks in my theology I-III classes (no books used in IV, it was more debate and discussion oriented) in high school. Overall, he's a pretty decent author. He knows well how to keep things simple, and explain them in a very straightforward manner.

Unlike the others I have read, where his goal was to educate junior high and high school students, in this his target audience is an RCIA class. Here, far more so than the high school books, he clings very closely to the CCC, constantly quoting and cross-referencing so that by the end, any adult with even close to no knowledge about the faith should come out of it with a pretty good understanding of what we believe and the solid basics of why.

Quoting not only the Catechism, but also from Scripture, various theologians from the time of the Fathers onward, and several other sources, this is not only a useful introduction to the faith. Quite frequently, people become so knowledgeable in theology and philosophy that they have problems explaining things without jargon or technical terminology. If you or someone you know has this problem, this book might be a good way to cure that.

Good as it is, it isn't without its problems. Probably my biggest pet peeve is how Mr. Pennock seems to refuse to capitalize the word "Church", even when saying "the Church" or "the Catholic Church". Also, I felt that the chapter explaining the Trinity might have been lacking in substance, but that could be due just as much to the fact that I'm working on Aquinas' "Treatise on the Trinity" in the Summa as anything. Plus, there were a few times when discussing the Church, its infallability, etc. when I thought he didn't really answer the questions in a straightforward way, but kind of "puttered around" the issues, if you will.

All in all, a pretty decent read, and definitely worth taking a look at if you have the time.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloraim+

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."

-Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

St. Bonaventure

2005-07-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Today is the feast day of St. Bonaventure, bishop, scholar, and close friend to Thomas Aquinas. By way of trivia, the main cemetary in Savannah, Georgia, where I'll be for the next few days, is also named after him.

St. Bonaventure was born about the year 1218 at Banorea in Tuscany. He sutdied philosophy and theology at Paris and, having earned the title Master, he taught his fellow members of hte Order of Friars Minor with great success. He was elected Minister General of the Order, a position he filled with prudence and wisdom. After being made Cardinal-Bishop of Albano, he died at the Council of Lyons in 1274. His writings did much to illuminate the study of both theology and philosophy.

What I find intriguing about this is that his colleague and friend from his time at the University of Paris (who else but Aquinas?) died en route to this exact same council.

Sadly, one of the more interesting stories, about his involvement when the papacy was left vacant for almost three years between Clement IV and Bl. Gregory X, was omitted. As I recall, he gave new meaning to the term "raise the roof"...

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Justice requires that to lawfully constituted Authority there be given that respect and obedience which is its due; that the laws which are made shall be in wise conformity with the common good; and that, as a matter of conscience all men shall render obedience to these laws."

-Pope Pius XI

Historical Relativism

2005-07-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Of all the particular variations of relativism, I think my favorite might just be the historical version. A darling of progressive personages, this sentiment is commonly expressed in the form of "The Church must change to adapt to the needs of the 21st century", or when Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB said while covering the papal elections that "the very concept of sin is changing." [source] A major part of it is the belief that as man progresses and becomes more enlightened, our morality improves.

First to Sr. Chittister's definition of sin, then to the larger claim that our morality can progress. The basic definition of sin would be "a willful rejection of God's love". How this concept has changed at all since the beginning of time, I'm not quite sure.

The arguments against historical relativism are fairly simple: one, that the justifications for various actions have not changed significantly over the course of human history, and two, that the actions themselves have not changed significanlty over the course of human history. Same old sins, same old stories, basically. As Ecclesiates 1 says "What is it that hath been? The same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? The same that shall be done. Nothing under the sun is new." (9-10)

The part about the excuses I can attest to personally. I recall one occasion where a friend of mine was presenting an argument that she felt was a surefire lock for justifying homosexual behavior. She has put a lot of thought into it, and was convinced that she has a completely new approach to the matter. Interestingly enough, in trying to find a unique defense, she had inadvertently delivered an unusually similar argument as the Manicheean heresy back in the fourth century, namely, that sexual activities which could not result in procreation were to be preferred, since child birth was to be avoided. The key difference was the motive behind avoiding childbirth: one was concerned about overpopulation and doing everything possible to "reduce the problem", while Manicheeism held material existance to be evil, and that everything possible should be done to keep new material beings from existing.

In his book Just and Unjust Wars (which I would enthusiastically recommend to all people, regardless of interest in a military career), Michael Walzer, since he is of course primarily concerned with the military applications of ethics, wrote of common excuses given by soldiers charged with war crimes, obediance to orders from a superior and that they were caught up in the heat of the moment.

In Henry V, there is a scene where King Henry goes incognito with a cloak at night so that he is able to wander about the camp for a bit. Along the way, he meets three soldiers, and when they discuss whether the cause of the war is just, one of the soldiers says that they don't need to worry about it, "For we know enough, if we know we are the kings subjects: if his cause be wrong, our obedience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us."(IV:i:182-185) Compare that to the defense at Nuremburg, where the claim was that they were only obeying orders when they did what they did. 400 years have passed, but nothing seems to have changed. 300 years before Shakespeare, Aquinas also deals with the issue in II-II of his Summa, and from the sources that he cites, it is clear that even then he was not the first person to deal with this excuse.

If the excuses for a given action are the same over time, then that would tend to indicate that the action being excused are also pretty much the same. That and the fact that we haven't exactly had a great many new or improved thoughts in at least 2,000 years (and there's some who'd say that is a generous estimate). Were we to have some new moral code that is so dang superior to the old one, you'd almost expect us to behave differently than we have in years past, but we really don't.

If you read Augustine's Confessions, you see him pretty much run the gamut of sins, either from personal experience or refutation. Perhaps one of my favorite parts( though this isn't a sin per se) is towards the end of book X, when he describes a tendancy of ours which is essentially what we refer to as "rubbernecking". I laughed quite a bit when I read that, I must say. In addition, if you read Book I the Greater of Aristotle's Metaphysics, he goes over positions and opinions held by previous philosophers, you can definitely see the philosophies and opinions held by later philosophers. By the end of it all, you can find refutations for Hume, Kant, Descartes, and almost every major modern philosopher, and all this in the 4th century B.C.

This would be why I look with a cocked eyebrow whenever someone says that so-and-so has a brand-new idea that has revolutionized philosophy.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race."

-Don Marquis

Bishop DeLaney

2005-07-12T18:14:00.000-05:00

My bishop died in his sleep this morning :(. It wasn't totally unexpected, as he had pancreatic cancer, but it's still a shock. His successor, Msgr. Vann, was supposed to be ordained [edit: ack, I didn't mean ordained, can't think of the word, you know what I mean:)] tomorrow morning. Bishop DeLaney was the one who confirmed me, and I grew up in his diocese. I wish I had a picture of him, but none of mine are online; here is a pretty good one from the diocese website. I ask that you all will please pray for him.

Anglican News

2005-07-11T18:25:00.000-05:00

"LONDON (Reuters) - The Church of England voted on Monday to move toward ordaining women bishops, a step which could provoke an exodus of conservative clergy and deepen the widening splits within the worldwide Anglican Communion. A synod meeting in the city of York voted to "remove legal obstacles" in Church law to women bishops, a process Church officials say could take about four years to complete. All three houses of the synod -- the church's parliament -- voted in favor. The most senior house, the House of Bishops, voted 41 for and only six against."

This would be big news. Not necessarily suprising news, but big news nonetheless. More and more Anglicans have been jumping ship, and it is thought over 800 priests will leave if women bishops are 'ordained.' Speculation seems to be in the direction that many of these priests, and hopefully their parishes, would join us. Time will tell how many stand up to their declarations to leave if this was to happen. We have the Anglo-Rite, let's put it to use!

I don't understand why one would stay for the 'ordination' of women to the priesthood, yet balk at their, to use a me-an-David term, bishophication. I could use long fancy correct terminology, but c'mon, that's a great word! Anyway, I don't understand that point; if women are being 'ordained' into the priesthood, would not one assume they would become bishops as well?

Vacation in the Moutains!

2005-07-11T06:43:00.000-05:00

"Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday headed for the Italian Alps, where he was expected to enjoy a nearly three-week holiday reading, writing and taking leisurely walks in the woods...According to Rome-based daily Il Messaggero, the recently-elected pontiff would be taking advantage of the quieteness of the mountains to start work on his first encyclical."

Vacation in the mountains, that sounds lovely. I'm sure it's starting to get verrrrry warm in Rome this time of year, but at least they have air-conditioning now. Why o why do I have "How do you solve a problem like Maria," running through my head as I read this? Anyway. I can't wait to read the encyclical if he does decide to begin work on it!

Compendium Images

2005-07-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

"ROMA, July 5, 2005 – There is an unexpected novelty in the new "Compendium" of the catechism of the Catholic Church presented by Benedict XVI on June 28. It features prominently, in full color, fourteen sacred images. As the pope has explained, the images are not there purely for the sake of illustration. They are an integral part of the new catechism. They are to be reproduced in all the translations of the "Compendium." And each time they are to be placed in the same position with respect to the text. Each of the images is accompanied by a detailed commentary, with extensive citations from the Bible and the Fathers of the Church."

I found this intersting. I can't stand the illistrations in my breviary- red white a black, and to me they look like a poor linocut.

Within the Compendium are fourteen colored sacred images, and are to be "reproduced in all the translations." Pictures really do say more than a page of black and white. "A picture is worth 1000 words," and even moreso for the person who cannot read- or at least does not enjoy doing so.

It is one thing to read about how the mass should be celebrated, or the laity should act, etc, etc, but to have pictures which show the reverence and awe accorded to God; these help to make what is written, or what is read much more real; especially if you do not have a reverent atmosphere at your parish.

I haven't seen much religious artwork produced during my lifetime. I know of only one artist whom I like, and only her Mary paintings. I would like to see some religious artwork done in a contemproary design; what happened to our history? There are the great murals and icons of the catacomes, the High Middle Age, the Rennissance, Baroque period..and then it just ends. I see barren Churches, churches I would think to be protestant were it not for the crucifix and tabernacle- and even these they must put into law so that all churches will have them! Those that are on the barren side (meaning crucifix, no tabernacle, or only those two) often have these felt..things... hanging beside them. Why? Go to an eastern church, in communion or not, and look at all the beautiful iconography. Sometimes the mind does wander during mass, and what better to bring you back and keep your focus on Christ, then these stunning depictions of his life? I've been to two churches which were obviously Catholic once you were inside. One was very cluttered, and one very elegant. They were both full of icons, paintings, statues, and just everything! Both churches, the one that had some arrangement to its collection, and the one without, brought about a vivid sense of the reverence the artist had for the focus of his work. You knew what that church was for; it was for worship of God. It wasn't for Lifeteen parties (don't ask), it wasn't for shouting to your friends across the nave, and it wasn't for running about like a chicken that lost its head. Even the young children behaved quite well- they were not bored during mass as children often seem to be- they only had but to look at the walls or the ceiling to be brought back to Christ and to the mass. I love artwork, and especially good artwork.

And that is what the required 14 images made me think of. Even though some things may sound boring and legalistic in writing, merely looking at these images gives one thoughts and ideas to meditate on, more to think about and learn.

Info on Eucharist Synod!

2005-07-08T08:56:00.000-05:00

Usually I wouldn't copy something this long, but it's from a secular source and, well, read it!

"VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican singled out divorcees who remarry and Catholic politicians who support abortion on Thursday in criticizing the faithful who continue to receive Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin.

The lament came in a new document on the Eucharist that details abuses of the sacrament and the need for better instruction to ensure it remains sacred. The 85-page text is the working draft of a final document that will be developed during the global synod, or meeting, of bishops Oct. 2-23 in Rome.

The paper covers a range of issues related to the Eucharist: It suggests, for example, that Latin be used during international liturgical gatherings so all priests involved can understand the proceedings, and it suggests that parishes consider using more Gregorian chants to prevent more "profane" types of music from being played.

It calls for priests not to be "showmen" who draw attention to themselves and says lay people can have an important but "minimal" presence in Masses. It says the tabernacle -- which holds the bread and wine held by Catholics to be the body and blood of Christ -- should have a prominent place in the church and not be shunted off to a corner.

Most significantly, though, the document laments the fact that fewer and fewer Catholics are going to Mass on Sundays -- in some countries, only 5 percent of the faithful attend -- and that fewer Catholics are going to confession.

As a result, many Catholics are living in a state of mortal sin when they receive Communion, it said. The Church defines sin as a free and deliberate violation of God's law; a mortal sin is one that involves a "grave violation of God's law" and "deliberate consent." Catholics can repent their sins by confessing them to a priest.

"The faithful frequently receive Holy Communion without even thinking that they might be in a state of mortal sin," the document said. "As a result, the receiving of Holy Communion by those who are divorced and civilly remarried is a common occurrence in various countries."

It noted that confession isn't always available to the faithful because of the acute shortage of priests in parts of the globe, but said the sacrament nevertheless was necessary. It cited statistics showing there was one priest for every 1,797 Catholics in 1978 compared to one priest for every 2,677 Catholics in 2003.

The document, "The Eucharist: source and summit of the life and mission of the church," was written starting in 2004 based on responses received by bishops from around the world reporting on their own experiences. It stresses that it is not a theological treatise on the Eucharist and in fact it restates church teaching on most key issues.

In one section, for example, the document criticized the faithful who support Catholic politicians who themselves back abortion and other policies contrary to church teaching.

"Some receive Communion while denying the teachings of the church or publicly supporting immoral choices in life, such as abortion, without thinking that they are committing an act of grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal," it said.

"Some Catholics do not understand why it might be a sin to support a political candidate who is openly in favor of abortion or other serious acts against life, justice and peace."

I love it!

Rock the Vote!

2005-07-07T17:19:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Nod to Jimmy Akin's (typically) excellent blog for making me aware of this: the BBC is taking a poll currently to see who the greatest philosopher ever is. My vote: St. Thomas Aquinas (naturally). Now all of you go out there and vote! While they don't post current results, one person on Akin's combox says that Marx is currently in the lead. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but either way, flood the ballots in favor of the Church's greatest philosopher/theologian.

UPDATE: I've just found out that voting ends at midnight tonight, so there's no time like the present.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I believe that scientists looking at nonscientific problems are just as dumb as the next guy."

-Richard Feynman

Relativism: Round Two!

2005-07-07T07:20:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Down in the combox, the friend's rejoinder:

he argues that there is a difference between truth and absolute, the difference being that anything absolute must withstand the test of time whereas truth does not have to do that. he says there are no tangible absolute truths, because we have no way of knowing that these tangibles will exist tomorrow... i don't know what to say to that.

I put the response up here so that it didn't get lost in the shuffle.

The more I read, the more I am sure he's just inadvertently fudging definitions of words. Something is called eternal, not absolute, when it lasts forever (more specifically, has no beginning or end.) Something that withstands the test of time, incidentally, is called a classic, although I have never yet heard the phrase "classic truth". Who knows, perhaps someone will surprise me. I rather doubt it, though.

An absolute truth is one that does not vary from person to person. If 'a' is true for Pat, then it is also true for Jen, Will, and Meg as well. That is what is meant when a truth is said to be absolute. While it is true that we have no way of knowing when the world or things in it will end, as Christ reminds us when He says"Watch ye therefore, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come." (Mt. 24:42) we do know how things are, which is what matters, not how things will be or might be.

I got the feeling that your debate was at least sparked by, if it doesn't center around, morality, so now to that.

There's a few things to remember about the laws that we are morally bound to obey. The first thing is that there are three basic varieies: natural law, Divine law, and human law.

Natural law refers to the moral laws that God has written on our hearts. As the name would tend to suggest, it is a part of our very nature, and so long as our nature does not change (ie, so long as we are humans) there is no reason (that I can think of, anyway) that this would change either.

Divine law refers to moral precepts and commands that God has given to us outside of the natural law, primarily through Divine revelation. Since the time of public revelation has ended, this too should be free from change, at least until the Second Coming. Minor clarifications are made, of course, as the ramifications and consequences of what has been revealed to us becomes clearer, but as your friend does not seem to be Catholic, and hence would probably not understand too well the concept of "development of doctrine", I wouldn't go into that. If your friend challenges you on this and you do have to give an explanation, I would keep it very basic and along the lines of "what was revealed to us in the time of Christ did not change, but our understanding of it simply became clearer".

Human law would refer to disciplinary laws made by governments or the Church of that are apart from both natural and Divine law. These laws may change at the discretion of the authorities, so long as they do not conflict with the other two. A classic example of a Church law that could change would be priestly celibacy. I am personally all for it, but at the same time recognize the right of the Church to change this. (Another example, just for all the SSPX-ers and those of that ilk who might happen to be reading this, would be the language that the Mass is celebrated in.) Typically referred to as civil law, I felt this designation to be a more accurate one.

Following this, morality can be considered absolute because:

Human nature is the same in all persons (as evidenced by the fact that they are all called "human") and so the laws within that nature will be the same for all people without exception, and can thus be said to be absolute.
Divine revelation was for the sake of all people, as opposed to a particular group, and so will apply in the same way for all people without exception, and can thus be said to be absolute.
While it is true that the specific precepts of human law can and do change, the basic priciple itself, that of respect for the law, which can be inferred both from natural and Divine law, does remain the same, and so applies to all people without exception, and can thus be said to be absolute. (for more on obedience to civil law, here is a previous post on the subject)

I must admit that I'm becoming curious as to how the outcome of this will turn out. Do let me know.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person."
-Socrates (as quoted by Plato), The Death of Socrates

JPII Poster

2005-07-06T10:26:00.000-05:00

I looked all around this website, and as far as affiliation with the Church or Catholic organizations, it seems to be supported by the Diocese of Cologne, the WYD people, and these guys, which seem to be a website for (a? the?) cathedrals of Cologne. So there's the disclaimer!

"Late Pope John Paul II is the grand-father of the World Youth Day (WJT). It was him, who – in 1984 - initiated the first world meeting of young people in Rome. His idea: Every two years, the Pope invites young people from all over the world to come to one town to experience Christ and his living church.

We want to say thank you to the inventor of the World Youth Day: By means of the biggest mosaic portrait the world has ever seen. To accomplish this, we need your photograph. From thousands of portrait photographs, your portraits, we will build an image of late Pope JP II."

Go take a look! This should be an English link (the site is in frames). If it is not English, click the british flag on the top right-hand side! I'll edit this tonight so I can put the picture in of the poster :).

Stamps

2005-07-06T10:04:00.000-05:00

"Pope Benedict XVI was presented with two special edition stamps by Israeli and German officials on Wednesday marking the visit of the late John Paul II to the Holy Land and the church's upcoming World Youth Day in Cologne.

The Israeli stamp depicts John Paul's stop at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, where he left a letter asking forgiveness for acts committed against Jews by Christians throughout history.

The German stamp celebrates August's World Youth Day, for which Benedict will travel to Cologne on Aug. 18-21 - a trip originally planned by the late John Paul. The German-born pope is due to visit the Cologne synagogue during the trip and say prayers in Hebrew."

What Heresy would you subscribe to...

2005-07-05T21:38:00.000-05:00

Which heresy would you subscribe to?

Apparently mine would be Pelagianism. No original sin (whoop!), but no grace either!

What heresy would you be?

Now, in all seriousness, "O felix culpa quae talem et tantum meruit habere redemptorum." That is my favorite phrase on earth :0).

Yee-haw!

2005-07-04T14:15:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July!!!! BBQ, Crawfish, fireworks and fishing! Hooray!

Y'all might enjoy this song as well:

Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies- Aaron Tippin

Happy Independence Day!

2005-07-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Well, it being the 4th of July, I could think of no better thing to put up than a patriotic hymn. Arguably the most recognizable of all such hymns is America, the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates, so that's the one I went with. There's 8 verses, all told, but the first four are probably the better ones, so those are the ones I'll put up. For those of you who feel you've been cheated by this, here is a link for you.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Happy Fourth, everyone!

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloraim+

"This is the best form of polity: being partly kingdom, since there is one at the head of all; partly aristocracy, in so far as a number of persons are set in authority; partly democracy, i.e. government by the people, in so far as the rulers can be chosen from the people, and the people have the right to choose their rulers."

-St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II:cv:1

Make Poverty History

2005-07-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

VATICAN CITY, July 2 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict hailed Saturday's Make Poverty History rally in Scotland and urged world leaders to honour past commitments to help the world's poorest people."God intended the earth and all it contains for the use of everyone and of all peoples," the Pope said in a message sent to Scottish Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien."For this reason, people from the world's richest countries ... should urge their leaders to fulfil the pledges made to reduce world poverty, especially in Africa, by the year 2015," he added.Saturday's demonstration in Edinburgh was aimed at putting pressure on the leaders of wealthy nations to agree measures to tackle global poverty at a summit in Scotland next week.The Pope said he would pray for the leaders to play "their part in ensuring a more just distribution of the world's goods."

I like his prayer. We pay farmers NOT to grow food, burn the extra which was grown, and refuse to support any gm-style foods which may help the poor in the world, and then lament about the poor. America has poor people- and although the poor may always be with us, we could at least try to keep them from starving as well! Being poor not the problem- the problem is food distribution.

Say What?

2005-07-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

As many of you know by know, fj and I are regular readers of the blog Cnytr. What you may not know, however, is how to pronounce it. That's ok, neither did I. Until now, that is. Ka-night-er. (not, ka-niggits, ka-night-er). I still don't know what it means, and according to The Old Oligarch,

the meaning of the name remains a closely-guarded secret.

Well, at least I won't mis-pronounce it anymore.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I Love the 90's: where nostalgia and instant gratification come together."

-"Mallard Fillmore"

The Villiage Called...

2005-07-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Hat tip to Seeker for pointing out this delightful little survey by Corpus Christi church in sunny Pacific Palisades, California. And to make sure that no one feels left out or excluded, here's a short quiz for the children that they provided. My favorite question/answer set:

Q: Who was St. Francis of Assisi?

A: An animal lover

I suppose its just very bad timing that I'm working on Chesterton's bio of him right now. Perhaps if I weren't that question and its dreadfully oversimplified answer wouldn't annoy me quite so much. Ah well.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land!"

-'Josh Lyman' to 'Donna Moss', The West Wing

Relativism

2005-07-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

A reader writes (I'm a little excited, because this is the first time I've ever been able to type that on a post):

i was having a discussion with a friend on absolutism, which he claims does not exist... that nothing is absolute except for God because nothing else will be true and stand the test of time.

Those are always fun.

i was wondering if you could help me out here in explaining absolutism to my friend.

"Ask and ye shall recieve..."

God bless

And you as well.

p.s. love the blog

Well, thank you!

As it happens, I was thinking of doing something on relativism soon anyway, so now I've got a good excuse.

The next time that you talk to your friend, the first thing you may want to do is have a slight clarification of terms. From what you are saying, it doesn't sound like he's using the term "absolute" in the standard way. The way it looks like he is using it is to say that only God is unchangeable and eternal, which is quite correct. He may just be saying the right thing in the wrong way. The next thing is to clarify what he means to say that only God is true. You can say that only God is truth itself, not unlike when Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (Jn. 14:7) Or when Aquinas said that "Truth Himself [ie, Jesus] speaks truly, else there's nothing true" in his great poem Adoro te Devote. What you can't say is that everything is false except for God. For one thing, if that statment were true, then it would demonstrate that there is at least one thing true outside of God.

Most good arguments against relativism, incidentally, take the form of pointing out contradictions of that nature: that it's wrong to "impose one's values on others", except of course, for the value of not imposing your values on others; that any statement of relativism is going to be an absolute statement; of subjectivism is going to be objective; or that the sentiment that "The only truth is that there is no truth" (according to our good friend Frederick Nietzche) practically disproves itself, if you think about the words for more than 30 seconds while engaging common sense.

Once y'all do that, then the real fun can begin! The core of absolutism is very simple: truth exists, and is not determined by our opinions, but by what is actually out there in the real world, facts that do not change from person to person, but remain the same for all people. So, obviously, an explanation of truth is going to be needed.

One thing you may wish to do is to clarify the distinction between truth and being, which appears to me to also be an issue with him. With a proper definition of truth in hand, and a way to defend the definition, the merit of absolutism should become fairly clear to anyone. The two things are very similar, but still distinct. Truth is dependant on reality, without being exactly the same thing. Aristotle had a wonderfully concise definition of truth in The Metaphysics: "A man speaks truth when he says that which is, is, and that which is not is not; and speaks false when he says that that which is not, is, and that which is, is not." (Ia:i)

As a side note, if you ever hear someone talking about the "correspondance theory of truth", that would be it: that a thing is true because what we have concieved in our intellects about it corresponds to how it is outside of our minds, in reality. You can also mention that truth isn't determined by what will be, but what is, so saying that absolutism is false because eventually things will no longer be as they are is not particularly valid. It is true to say that I am alive, despite the fact that 70 years from now I'll probably be feeding the worms with my fellow Jesuits at the cemetary in Grand Coteau, LA.

The common response to this given by the relativists (and their country cousin, the skeptic) is the question: "so how can we be sure that what we experience, what we sense and conceive in the intellect is actually outside of it? We never leave our minds, so how do we verify things as true?"

That our minds are able to accurately recieve information through the senses and intellect is what must be the first principle of philosophy. The interesting thing about first principles is that you can't prove them, but you can't deny them, either. If you try and prove them, it will be circular reasoning, if you deny them, you will end up with a gross contradiction. You can, of course, demonstrate the impossibility of denying them, however. If a person thinks that the mind is unreliable, they will come to an unusual problem: this unreliable mind has somehow managed to stumble upon what would be one of the greatest facts of all. G.K. Chesterton put it quite well in what might be the best introduction to Aquinas' philosophy yet written, St. Thomas Aquinas

[E]ven those who appreciate the metaphysical depth of Thomism in other matters have expressed surprise that he does not deal at all with what many now think the main metaphysical question; whether we can prove that the primary act of cognition of any reality is real. The answer is that St. Thomas recognised instantly, what so many modern sceptics have begun to suspect rather laboriously; that a man must either answer that question in the affirmative, or else never answer any question, never ask any question, never even exist intellectually, to answer or to ask. [...] If a man feels that all the movements of his own mind are meaningless, then his mind is meaningless, and he is meaningless; and it does not mean anything to attempt to discover his meaning.

If you will allow me to borrow some wit in the same vein as Chesterton, those who say that our minds cannot know what is really true do not know what they are talking about.

The best argument against this principle would have to be that there are people whose senses aren't quite working properly(such as those who are blind and deaf) or who may have a problem with reasoning, such as Downs' Syndrome. Simply because one person can hear something does not indicate that something can be heard. More still, just because a multitude can hear something is no more evidence, since you can decieve the many in a similar manner as the one. It could very well be that the deaf person is hearing what there is to hear-nothing-and that the rest of us are decieved.

The answer is that we determine things such as blindness to be defects not because they are possessed by the majority, but because the eye is designed to see. If it cannot see, then what it is designed for is being prevented, which would be what it means for a thing to be defective. Similarly with the ear and other such things.

So that should about do it for you, I hope. Let me know if there is anything else. In the mean time, I suspect that I will put up another post or two along the same topic over the course of the next several days.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"To err is human, to persist in erring is devillish."

-St. Augustine

My Lord Archbishop

2005-06-30T13:30:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Our local archbishop (the first of the newly-minted Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston), Most Rev. Joseph Fiorenza, now has his pallium [story]. I don't care who you are, that's pretty cool, right there, I'll tell you what!

+AMDG+

"We must take care lest, by exalting the merit of faith, without adding any distinction of explanation, we furnish people with a pretest for relaxing in the practice of good works."

-St. Ignatius de Loyola, SJ

Michelle's Photo Caption

2005-06-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Sometimes even an apologist needs an apologist, it seems. Yesterday, Michelle Arnold, of JimmyAkin.org, put up a post with a photo edited to have President Clinton's face on a Sacred Heart image. My own post at what is currently the bottom of the combox for the post:

For those out there that didn't like it: lighten up. It wasn't sacrilege, it wasn't a sin. It was incredibly absurd, and because of that very absurdity, pretty doggone hilarious, in my humble opinion.

For the person who thinks that President Bush deserves to be at Jesus' right hand (aptly named "farrightfan"), two things:
1) You're telling me that of all the saints and devoted servants that have lived and are now in heaven, including John Paul and other popes, St. Thomas Aquinas, all the Apostles and martyrs, St. Augustine, etc., GWB tops them all? Forgive me if I'm not a tad dubious about that.
2) Read Matthew 20

Some of those comments were just plain mean. No other way to put it. You have an opinion, that's fine, go ahead and express it. This is America, so you can do that here. But if you are going to express that opinion, do it politely. Otherwise, people just don't listen to you. Being from the South, good manners are quite important to me, you see. For those who have a mind to go and make another harsh comment expressing your displeasure: lay off.

Anyone who is a parishoner here at St. Blog's can tell you that it's not always easy, and sometimes you can put a lot out on the line when you go into a potentially controversial issue. I take constructive criticism gratefully, since it helps me better get out the idea that I am trying to get out, and also helps me better find the Church's own views sometimes. But helpful admonitions, gentle rebukes, and yes, even the playful ribbings that are so common in the Parish are different than some of the stuff I saw there that I can only describe as nasty.

Forgive my abruptness and unusual lack of civility, but as you can see, this has me extremely incenced.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

-St. Augustine (emphasis mine)

Pope's stargazers teach tomorrow's astronomers

2005-06-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

I thought this was pretty neat:

"For the past 20 years, the Vatican Observatory, one of the world's oldest astronomical institutes, has selected young, promising scholars for courses at the papal summer palace. "The Vatican wants to show its appreciation for science," said Father Chris Corbally, a soft-spoken Jesuit from Britain who is the observatory's vice-director and dean of its international summer school. "Science is an important value in human life and therefore it is important to the Catholic Church," he said on the palace terrace during a break in classes. Popes have been intertwined with astronomy for centuries.

Father Emmanuel Carreira, a Jesuit who taught physics for decades in the United States and his native Spain, is a link between the old and the new worlds. He shows a visitor the giant telescope -- built in 1935 but still going strong -- with the pride of someone showing off a vintage pre-war Rolls Royce that no-one would ever dream of equipping with an on-board computer. "

Ignoring the jabs at the Church about Galileo- who was condemned not because of his Copernican beliefs, but beacause he used these to call into questions certain theological dogmas, such as transubstination- this article is pretty neat!

Ok, I can't ignore...If he hadn't tried to mix his science with theology, he wouldn't have had any problems. The main belief at the time was the Ptolemaic school of thought, and it wasn't just Galileo who would have been ridiculed a bit for the idea of heliocentrism (which had been around since Aristotle), but Johannes Kepler at the University of Tübingen (a protestant uni.) was condemned by Tübingen this belief. It wasn't until Galileo began pushing the theology along with heliocentrism that he got in trouble.

If you want to read more about him, here is a good place to begin.

Anyway, I'd like to find out more about the Observatory. I wonder if they have published any pictures they have taken? That would be awsome! I also wonder what the reactions of the students learning there are; they are being taught by a bunch of Jesuits to boot, that's not even fair!!! I would love that!

JPII Intercessions: Apply Here

2005-06-28T18:32:00.000-05:00

Remember the prayer Zenit reported for the intercession of JPII?

"The cause for beatification begins solemnly this Tuesday in Rome. Monsignor Slawomir Oder, postulator of the cause, explained that the Web site "already has different sections in several languages, which will gradually be completed, to give visitors worldwide the possibility to follow directly the development of the cause for beatification."

Here is the website for anyone who wishes to report miracles! It is exteremely slow for me, I imagine it is recieving more than a few hits, especially since Zenit has linked to it.

JPII, we Love you!

St. Irenaeus

2005-06-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

WHOOP! It's the feastday of St. Irenaeus!

I'm currently reading book which deals with several ECF's, including him. What struck me today was this passage from his Against Heresies.

"As I said before, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although she is scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if she occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She likewise believes these things just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart; she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony as if she possessed but one mouth. For, while the languages of the world are diverse, nevertheless, the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything differenct, not tdo those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throguhout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shineth everywhere, and enlightends all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Much of his writing deals with various heresies, especially the Gnostics. This footnote in my book (Four Witnesses, by Bennett) I found especially humorous, "The English word 'heresy' comes to us through a Greek root that means 'to pick and choose.'

Now what does that sound like to ya'll?

Texas My Texas

2005-06-26T06:09:00.000-05:00

You know you are from Texas when...

You see more Texan flags than American flags.
You know someone who ate the 72 oz steak and got it for free.
You attend a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry, and your Cowboy Boots. [Yep- I wear my paddock boots to church if I want to dress up, with clean pressed jeans and a pearl-snap. -As well, every wedding I have been to the bride wears her boots under her dress.]
You can write a check at Sonic for a chili cheese and fries . [I LOVE Sonic. Hooray, yum, and THEY TAKE CHECKS!]
You dress up to go shopping at the mall. [Yup.]
You've hung ornaments and tinsel on a tumbleweed and used it as a Christmas tree. [Among other things..like longhorns or cactus.]
You're disappointed when a food doesn't come in spicy flavor. [Or the "mexican food" is cheese and a corn product....Yeeech! My other pet peeve is when the fajitas are made with some beef that is not the diaphram muscle- it is supposed to be the diaphram muscle people!]
You know from experience that rattlesnake meat tastes like chicken. [And oppossum, squirrel, armadillo, and wild hogs (well, they taste more like pork for some reason...)]
You can tell a rock from an armadillo at 300 yards. [and rope or shoot it, depending how much time I've on my hands].
You know what a 'Cowboy Cadillac' is.
You have both a dog and a brother-in-law named Bud.
Your local grocery store sells cactus in the Fresh Produce department [Pear Cactus, yep they do! Go HEB!]
You watch the movie Urban Cowboy and laugh at the phony Texan accents. [Need I say more?]
You choose a brand of Mexican salsa with the same care that another might use to select a bottle of fine wine. [Yep. And who in their right mind says "mexican salsa?"]
You think that the 4 basic food groups are nachos, bar-b-que, fajitas, and Copenhagen. [... it's called "chaw"]
You know whether another Texan is from South, West, East, North, or Central Texas as soon as they open their mouth. [Actually, it'd be the Panhandle, Hill Country, North Texas, or the 'Border]
You don't consider people from Austin to be real Texans. [WHOOP!]
Your Priest wears boots. [I've known a few :D]
The Blue Book value on your truck goes up and down depending on how much gas it has in it.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Texas. [and point out all the things wrong in them, delete the ones which really don't apply, and marvel at the fact a non-Texan wrote it and managed to even understand that much about our culture!]

Texas, our Texas, all Hail the Mighty State...!
...You know the Texas state song.

Yoda!

2005-06-25T23:05:00.000-05:00

I am Yoda! I think he would make quite the Franciscan.

Don'cha just hate these things?!

The Pope Would Like to Land!

2005-06-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Down in Harris County, TX (home to Houston, and next door to my own Galveston County), one of the commissioners, Steve Radack, has been getting a bit of flak lately from the ACLU for deciding to name a park "John Paul's Landing". Since he himself is Catholic, they feel that he is using his position to promote his own religion. In the Sunday edition of the Houston Chronicle, he gave a pretty good response (Unfortunately, I am unable to link to the source, so just trust the Eagle Scout turned Jesuit, and all will be well):

I have named two other parks for local Catholic leaders. There was no controversy then. There was no controversy when I named a park for the Steins, a local Jewish family that has contributed to our community. In 1996, when we placed a plaque along the Brays Bayou hike and bike trail honoring slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, there was no outcry.

If the test being used by critics in this situation were applied on a proader scale, there would be no streets, parks, or schools named for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

There are cities and streets named for saints. Should we change them?

The legacy of Pope John Paul II should be remembered. There's nothing wrong with doing that at a public park. His name is going there not because he was a great Catholic, though he was. It will be there because he was a great man and he stood for great things.

And even though political correctness would have us forget such giants or belittle their faith, we must not forget them. Our leaders shoudn't let us cast aside their legacies.

Before the end of my term, I anticipate it will be necessary for me to change the name of the park to Saint John Paul's Landing.

My question: why can't more Catholic politicians make promises like that?

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"It is a very sad thing that nowadays, there is so little useless information."

-Oscar Wilde

Giant popsicle melts, floods New York park

2005-06-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

"AP- NEW YORK — An attempt to erect the world's largest popsicle in a city square ended with a scene straight out of a disaster film — but much stickier.

The 25-foot-tall, 17 1/2-ton treat of frozen Snapple juice melted faster than expected Tuesday, flooding Union Square in downtown Manhattan with kiwi-strawberry-flavored fluid that sent pedestrians scurrying for higher ground.

Firefighters closed off several streets and used hoses to wash away the sugary goo."

Wow! I love stories like this one :)

JPII!

2005-06-24T12:36:00.000-05:00

"O Blessed Trinity, We thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.

Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen."

Ooooo now what is this pretty prayer all about?

The Body of Christ

2005-06-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Part of Maria's query involves our relationship to the body of Christ, as indicated here:

Yet we are the body of Christ. No part of the body can exist without the others says St. Paul. We are the light of the world says Jesus. Christ has no body but ours says St. Teresa.

In the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Sign of the Four, Holmes once said to Watson "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improblable, must be the truth." Several centuries later, Mr. Spock said this to Scotty in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country while trying to find evidence that would exhonerate Capt. Kirk (making the claim, incedentally, that he was quoting an ancestor of his). All in all, its a pretty good rule of thumb. We know that we ourselves do not have a divine nature (from the previous post), so now what remains is the question of how we can be members of the body of Christ.

The first thing to be mindful of is that the fact that we are the body of Christ is almost always expressed with the word "mystical" in front of it, indicating something of a mystery. The exact and precise nature of it is not known, although certain things about it can be deduced. Unless a council or pope decides to comment further on this in an infallible manner, the mystery of it all is quite likely here to stay.

I am by no means a trained or expert theologian. If you want a more professional opinion, I would suggest going to EWTN or Catholic Answers. Lord knows they're a lot better at this than I'll be for a very long time, if ever. It seems to me, though, that what St. Paul and others who refer to the Church as the body of Christ (and if you look at Colossians 1, it does become clear that the Church is what St. Paul is describing by that phrase) are trying to express is that the Church is united in a very special way, not just to its members, but also to Christ Himself. She is a living institution. Christ did not just wind her up like a clock and let it tick, but constantly guides and sanctifies her through the Holy Spirit. Through membership in the Church, we "partake in the Divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4) This would not indicate that divinity is naturally a part of our essence, but that God, for the sake of our santification and out of His infinite love and mercy, allows us to partake of His own essence, which is divine, so that we may be perfected and made worthy to be called His children.

I have given the matter of just how God makes this occur quite a bit of thought, and no matter what explanation I think of, there is one constant in every variation: the sacraments. However this wonderful mystery occurs, it is almost certainly done through the exemplars of Christ's love, the seven sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which St. Paul called "a sharing in the body of Christ" (1 Cor. 10:16). And that is about as far as my own limited skills take me in attempting to explain the matter.

Now, like the true Thomist that I am, comes everybody's favorite part, the "reply to the objections", as it were.

I think I'll address sentence three of that paragraph first. To put it bluntly, that has nothing to do whatsoever with the issue.

The line from St. Teresa is actually a misquote. It should actually read: “Christ has no body now on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours." (emphasis added) With that, the meaning of what she said becomes fairly clear, that we must carry on the work of Christ here on Earth because He is not here, or in other words "As the Father sent me, so I send you."(Jn. 20:21)

With regards to the St. Paul quote, I used a concordance, I used the Douay-Rheims search engine, and with neither could I find that particular arraingement of words. 1 Corinthians 12 perhaps comes the closest (though there were many like it), saying "For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink. For the body also is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?" In this, St. Paul is speaking of the necessity for unity among the early Christian communities, and of the importance of using the diversity of gifts and talents the people have for the common good, and not solely their own.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"If I have taught anything false, I leave correction of it to the Roman Catholic Church."
-St. Thomas Aquinas, In Articulo Mortis

Clarification: Ok, I've been getting a few comments and questions about the post as of late, so I'm going to make a clarification on the matter, lest I be known as a heretic. The post is loosely based on the layout of any given article in Aquinas' Summa. First the opposing arguments, then the main argument, then responses to the arguments presented. For me, the main argument, the corpus, occurs after the block quote of Maria and ends with me saying "And that is about as far as my own limited skills take me". So the majority of my thoughts on the Mystical body of Christ are contained there. With the rest, I am responding to her own arguments, which do, yes, focus exclusively on one particular facet of the MBOC (and then mis-interprets the aspect). Such is the nature of errors, that all truths about a thing are not balanced, and are the meanings likely distorted. Were I Aquinas, I probably could have (and should have) presented an array of arguments which brought out more than one aspect of the doctrine, but alas, I am merely David. Many apologies about the confusion.

The Forgotten Vice

2005-06-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

THE FORGOTTEN VICE IN SEMINARY FORMATION

This article is pretty interesting. I'm usually not one to pick things up from other blogs and put them on here- someone already wrote about it, and unelss I have an entirely different view, or it is something that needs all the coverage it can get, you won't see me doing that.

This, however, was one of those things that very much caught my attention, and I feel it could use the publicity. I've heard, and been apart of, many conversations over this very subject; and this is the first published thing I've seen that is less than a couple hundred years old. It's an exteremely well-done discourse- go read it!

Thanks for pointing it out, Seeker!

Pray for Us...

2005-06-23T09:59:00.000-05:00

Pray for us, JPII!

"The Vatican is urging Roman Catholics to contribute to the late Pope's beatification by sending e-mails about miracles performed after his death.
The website for the Diocese of Rome will soon start publishing the readers' messages under several categories. "

Take note that it is not yet up, but the website it should appear HERE. After searching instead of going to class (gasp!) this seems to be the website. Of course, it all seems to be in Italian (could that be because it is in Italy?)...which I can't read; nor could I find anything for switching to English, so good luck :).

"God became man so that man might become God"

2005-06-22T07:30:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

The title there is a title of a sermon by St. Augustine (at least, acording to my breviary), and it's pretty appropriate. Late in May, Maria at Catholic Conversations put up a post that asked if we were divine. Her exact question was

Does God exist outside us? Can there be a God without every part of creation? [...]When we look at our kids, we see God alive. When we see the beauties of nature, we feel the breath of God. God is within these wonders of creation. God is living in this crazy conversation that we're having on this blog! As we used to memorize in the Baltimore catechism, "God is everywhere."So are we not divine? Or is that word so frightening because it conjures up all kinds of responsibilities that we are not ready to take on[?]

Speaking as someone who hopes to make a living as a philosopher/theologian, its an interesting question, not necessarily because I agree with what I think is her answer (allow me to assure people reading this that I don't, and that this smacks of pantheism to me) but because it allows (gives me an excuse) for a further exploration into that wonderful mystery of the Church's role as the mystical body of Christ. I like her question in the same way I like the Gnostics. Yes, it was a heresy, no, I don't even come close to accepting it as true, but the Church did give us an official list of Scriptures because of Gnosticism, and I like the Bible, so there we go.

Speaking as a very-soon-to-be Jesuit, I can almost sympathize with this question. Almost. After all, part of Jesuit spirituality is to "find God in all things." But what does that mean, exactly? The most basic explanation is that we strive to find the Creator in the handiwork of His creation, so gaining a better knowledge of and coming closer to God. As the source of all goodness and perfection, when we see that which is good, our thoughts should be led to God. When I see the beauty in nature, I am reminded of the beauty in God. When I rejoice in watching my younger cousins and my friends' younger siblings, I am reminded of the joy I will experience in heaven, and know that the joy of heaven is a thousandfold greater than the joy I have here, and the beauty of God is infinitely greater than any beauty found on Earth. God is the source of all these things, but He still remains distinct from these things. To say that "God is everywhere" and to say that "God is everything" are two distinct statements. The first concerns location, the second modes of being.

That God exists necessarily without any of the rest of creation is made obvious by the simple fact that the Universe has a finite existance, whereas God is without beginning or end. Even after the beginning, it would be inappropriate to say that God is now a part of creation, since that would imply that He was created, which is incorrect.

Genesis tells us that we are made in God's image. St. Thomas is quick to note, however, that the Psalms and Isaiah also tell us that God is not like us. (Sum. Con. Gen. I:29) Statues and portraits are made of people, but it is not usual for people to be said to resemble statures or portraits, even though the reverse is not uncommon. After the Fall, this likeness still existed, since our nature had not changed, but given its fallen state was less apparent (for lack of better words). Christ came to restore mankind to the exalted perfection and dignity of nature once had. When the word "gods" is used to describe us, then, it is emphasizing not that we ourselves are divine, but refers to the great diginty that our restored nature has.

I anticipate the next part of the question, on the body of Christ and our relationship to it requiring a lengthy answer, so I will give it its own post.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-Aristotle

Watercooler Gossip

2005-06-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Got this great story about Cardinal Dulles, S.J., and the Jesuit vow of poverty in general, thanks to Fr. Kitten (the vocations director for my province), and a Jesuit discernment e-group which I am a part of.

"I drove Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ," writes Fr. Claudio Burgaleta, SJ, professor at Fordham University, "to Kennedy Airport for a flight to Rome for the meeting of the cardinals and the pope on sex abuse. We were to stop at the police building and arrange for the cardinal's escort through security. The officer at the parking lot was skeptical. Just a few minutes before, Cardinal Egan had been through and had just left in his limo with a police escort for the terminal. I explained there were two cardinals in New York. The explanation satisfied him; I left Cardinal Dulles in his ten-year-old Toyota Tercel in the lot and went in to find our contact. A sergeant appeared and wanted to know where Cardinal Dulles was. I told him he was in his car. He looked through the glass doors, then sternly stared at me. ‘What car?' I pointed out the Toyota. The sergeant shook his head. ‘What, is he poor?' I responded, ‘Something like that.' Soon after, we lined up the old Tercel behind a cruiser and were escorted to the terminal where the cardinal caught his flight for Rome."

Go Cardinal Dulles, and go Jesuits! That story deserves a big ol' (ol' Army, I should say) Fightin' Texas Aggie WHOOP!

Speaking of Jesuits, by the way, today is the feast day of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (For a great website on him, click here), Patron of Christian Youth and namesake of yet another Jesuit University that sports (pun most definitely intended) a crackerjack basketball team (second specialty, remember?). Be a good Catholic and become a Jesuit saint and perhaps you too can have your feast day remembered on this site!

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!', but 'That's funny...' "
-Issac Asimov

Oh, Sweet Mysteries of Life...

2005-06-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Quite frequently, when I am reading something out of the Bible, I like to check it against the translation of the Douay-Rheims version. Not owning one of my own, I use the one that is linked off of the New Advent website, http://drbo.org/. A few days ago I was looking around at some of the features that they have at that site, such as the preface, note on the translation, etc. It didn't take me more than a few minutes to suspect that it was kept up by someone affilliated with the SSPX. Probably the biggest giveaway was the link to Angelus Press, where it said on the side "offers books pertaining to the modern errors in the Church."

The moment I read the tag, I laughed pretty hard. The first thing that came to mind, actually, was this line from the Summa that deals with the mass. For those who are unfamiliar, after Aquinas gets done presenting the opposing arguments on any given topic, frequently he will introduce a contrary opinion, possibly a quote from Scripture or an authority, or some pertinent piece of information. This isn't necessarily to prove his point, but more to get his foot in the door so that he can proceed to do so. In that particular section, Aquinas is examining whether or not the liturgy is improper or defective. The contrary that he gives is

On the contrary: The custom of the Church stands for these things: and the Church cannot err...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it really is the little things in life that make it so enjoyable.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"All in all, no human thing is of serious importance."

-Plato

Ave Maria

2005-06-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

Wow... listen to THIS Ave Maria!

It is sung by the St. Michael’s Abbey Choir.

Mmmm there is nothing like good gregorian music.

'Course, country is close. If you want some good 'ol country music, you can listen to Ghostriders- this by Monty Robins, or the version by Willie and Jonny HERE. If you like Cash, his version is HERE! I'll refrain from listing all the other versions! I do LOVE Willie Nelson's voice, though. And The Highwaymen. And Hank Williams- all 3 of them. And, well, I suppose I will stop now 'cause I could go on for awhile. I do think Willie could pull off Ave Maria, and sing it well, though!

Cultural Creative???

2005-06-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

You [fj] scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

Cultural Creative 37%
Romanticist 16%
Existentialist 15%
Postmodernist 13%
Fundamentalist 10%
Materialist 9%
Idealist 0%

What is Your World View? (updated)

I what? I "tend to shy away from organized religion [...] Spiritual but not religious?" I'm not even going to ask. Please, someone, explain that one to me! No, Catholic cannot be considered an organized religion in the least! This has got to be one of the worst quizzes I've ever seen.

My favorite question, of course, was "There is no truth." ROTFL. I do so love statements like that. It's little things like that which make my day!

And what in the WORLD does "cultural creative," even mean? LOL!

A Great Place To Go!

2005-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

As much as I take pokes at the Jesuits (which runs along the same vein as the self-depreciating jabs I like to make of myself), I really wouldn't go to any other Order. The same method of formation and spirituality that has given the Church the occasional thorn in the side such as Fr. Andrew Greeley has given her far more devoted servants and great minds, such as St. Ignatius and the original companions, Peter Canisius, and Robert Bellarmine, to name but a few.

One of the really great examples of a good Jesuit ministry is the Online Ministries Page over at the Creighton University website. I've been going there for quite a while now, and its an excellent site. My personal favorite there is the daily reflection where a faculty member (not necessarily a Jesuit, except for Sundays, when it is always a preist) writes a page or so long reflection on the Scripture readings of the day. I have not personally been to their online retreat section, but if there is one thing the Jesuits excel at, it is retreats (second, of course, is founding colleges and universities with top-notch basketball teams), so I'd whole-heartedly recommend it as well. Definitely something worth looking at.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit."

-Aristotle

I'm Not So Bad...

2005-06-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I took a quiz provided by Cnytr to find out how evil I was. I came out at 7% (one less than her. Go Jesuits!)

========================================================

I am 7% evil.

I am an Angel. I rarely sin which makes my life pretty boring. But if there is a god he will likely reward me in the afterlife.

Are you evil? find out at Hilowitz.com
=========================================================

I'm going to have to amend that third sentence to "God will likely reward me in the afterlife." To the theological credit of the maker of that quiz, though, the highest I could get on the evil scale (when I started messing around to see various answers) was 99% evil (The lowest being negative 2%). So go ahead, take the quiz. I dare ya'!

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Evil, be thou my good."

-Satan, (According to John Milton), Paradise Lost IV:i:131

Susan Torres

2005-06-17T10:20:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Hats off to Jimmy Akin for alerting me to the following story:

A 26-year-old pregnant woman with cancer whose brain function ceased last month is being kept alive with a respirator in hopes she can have a very premature baby who has a chance to survive.

Against long odds, the baby Susan was carrying when she was stricken appears to be thriving after nearly 21 weeks of gestation, Torres says. If she can stay alive another month, and the cancer stays away from her uterus, the baby could be delivered and have a chance of surviving, he says.

Right now, the target is mid-July, when Susan will be about 25 weeks pregnant — 15 weeks short of a full pregnancy. That's the gestation age,doctors tell Torres, where a baby can survive though with a heightened risk of brain damage and vision and developmental problems.

Torres knows that the baby's delivery date, when and if it comes, will be bittersweet. After the baby is born, Susan's body will be anointed in the Catholic tradition, and she'll be allowed to die.

Not surprisingly, the man, although still a devoted Catholic, finds his faith wavering from time to time in the face of all this suffering within his family. The major problem with keeping her alive at the moment is the incredible cost of the health care, which comes in at around $1,500 per day that is not covered by insurance. Anyone who wishes to make a donation to help defray these massive expenses may go to http://www.susantorresfund.org/. If you cannot afford to donate money, prayers are always helpful. I will update this post as I get new information.

UPDATE: Susan's parents have reported feeling the baby kick for the first time, and anticipate being able to determine the sex very soon. Her condition remains stable and all remain hopeful.

SECOND UPDATE: They have finally been able to determine the sex of the baby- it is a girl. The cancer is still progressing, but it seems like Susan should make it, so long as they can afford to keep her on treatment.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloraim+

"D'you call life a bad job? Never! We've had our ups and downs, we've had our struggles, we've always been poor, but it's been worth it, ay, worth it a hundred times I say when I look 'round at my children."

-W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage

B16's New Look

2005-06-16T20:29:00.000-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI took an unexpected call yesterday while on walkabout at his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square. An elderly man handed over his mobile and asked the pontiff to say a few words, which he did with good grace. Later, a group of Vatican firemen offered him a helmet engraved with the name Ratzinger to try on.

Cool!

A New Cause for Canonization

2005-06-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I've got a fantastic idea. Bear with me, please. Normally, when a Jesuit starts off a sentence with these words, a request for priestesses, a suggestion for more liturgical dancing, or perhaps incorporating time into the mass for some quality yoga will follow. Fortunately for us all, I am reliably informed that I am far from normal.

I was thinking yesterday evening, and the question occured to me: is there a cause for cannonization for G.K. Chesterton? I checked it out, and sure enough, there is not. Personally, I can't think of any reason. From all I know of him, he lived a good and virtuous life following his conversion and was a devoted Catholic, giving vigorous defenses of the faith, particularly against skeptics and modernists.

I'm dead serious. I really do want to see a cause for cannonization opened for G.K. Chesterton. The process calls for Chesterton's home diocese to begin the inquiry. Near as I can figure, this is the Archdiocese of Westminster, which contains within it the greater London area. I urge you all to contact them to suggest that an investigation be opened. Lacking any permanent tribunal for the matter, their contact is enquiries@rcdow.org.uk. If you could please, any fellow bloggers here in St. Blog's Parish are also asked to encourage their own readers to join in the petition. (While we're at it, perhaps we should ask if they would look into getting Westminster Abbey back from the Anglicans? Seems only fair to me.)

Perhaps the biggest hurdle for the cause is his name. St. Gilbert? He never went by Gilbert that I know of. St. G.K., then? Perhaps we can just keep calling him G.K. Chesterton and remember he's a saint without actually putting it on any of his books and such. If he were to be canonized, though, I think he would be a good patron for apologists, Thomists, and of course, common sense (That really goes hand in hand with Thomists, though).

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Psychoanalysis is confession without absolution."

-G.K. Chesterton

Pope's discourses defy simplistic headlines

2005-06-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

"VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has once again weighed in on pro-life and family issues in a way that offers clues to the style and substance of his still-young papacy.To judge by media reports, the pope's talk June 6 to the Diocese of Rome was no less than a declaration of war against gay marriage, abortion and birth control. Newspapers plucked out phrases like "anarchic" and "pseudo-marriages" for some zinger headlines.But that's one of the problems with Pope Benedict: Often, his well-reasoned discourses don't break down easily into sound bites and headlines.As one veteran wire service reporter recently lamented in the Vatican press office, the new pope is hard to write about because short citations don't do justice to his complex arguments. You can't just cherry-pick quotes.That was especially true when the pope spoke about the family to a packed Basilica of St. John Lateran. His 3,000-word speech was a seminar, not a tirade."

Here, I'll help the press: "Sin Less!" "Abortion Bad! "More Prayer!" "Adoration Good!"

Yet Another Book Review...

2005-06-13T23:21:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Lauren B. over at Cnytr wrote a great review on The DaVinci Code. I've been meaning to get to it myself, and given her review, it looks like a thing to dread since, so far as I can tell, our opinions regarding literature are fairly similar. My favorite line in the whole thing, though, had to be

I mean, everybody *knows* it's the Jesuits who are behind the conspiracy, not Opus Dei or the invented-in-1950-by-a-mad-Parisian "Priory of Sion".

Let's just all be glad that I am a mere inbound novice (postulant, technically, but the postulancy period is so negligibly brief for the Jesuits that it is generally just all called the novitiate) and not yet one of the master Jesuit assasins of Jack Chick fame, or she might just have to be "silenced"... if you know what I mean.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."

-Douglas Adams

West Meets East

2005-06-13T11:15:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I have just finished reading a book given to me by a friend who is Greek Orthodox entitled The First-Created Man: Seven Homilies by St. Symeon the New Theologian, and I can say right now that it is pretty dang good (In the great state of Texas, that is very high praise).

St. Symeon is primarily used by the Orthodox (before I laid hands on this book I had never heard of him) but he lived shortly before the Schism between the two Churches (949-1022), so he's a good read for Catholics as well, especially those who would like to involve themselves in a re-unification of Catholics and Orthodox. While there are a few points of doctrine that he errs on, I would give that a "grandfather clause", attributing it to the stage of development of doctrine at the time rather than him being heretical (not unlike when I read Aquinas' treatments of the Immaculate Conception).

One of the interesting things about St. Symeon is that he writes in a style very similar to that of the Early Fathers, despite the thousand year time difference. As the title might indicate, he focuses primarily on the Original Sin and the Fall, making wonderful parallels between the Fall of Adam and the redemption of Christ, some obvious, such as the comparison of tree of forbidden fruit and the Cross of Christ, others not so obvious, such as that of the tasting of the fruit by Adam in Eden and the tasting of the bitter vinegar by Christ as He hung on the cross. He writes magnificently on the role of grace and works in our salvation and how they liken us to Christ, a must for salvation.

Perhaps the strongest thing going for St. Symeon is that because his aim is the instruction of the Everyman, and also because he shuns the works of the philosophers, his writing is very straitforward and accessible, lacking any terms or technical vocabulary that can sometimes be confusing for the beginner. At the same time he covers areas of great depth in a way that is very easy to understand. This would perhaps be ideal reading material for the person who wants to gain a greater knowledge of the faith but may lack the backround to master a "heavier" book (for lack of better words). Symeon's work itself is around 70 pages, and with the preface, introduction, and biography comes in at around 118 pages, so it is a fairly quick read for anyone.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"And so let no one invent excuses for his sins and say that we, by virtue of the transgression of Adam, are entirely subject to the action of the devil and are dragged by force into sin. They who think and speak thus consider that the dispensation of the Incarnation of our Master and Saviour [sic] Jesus Christ was useless and in vain. Such an opinion is the opinion of heretics...for what other reason did Christ descend and become incarnate ... if not in order to loose the condemnation which proceeded from sin, and to deliver our race from slavery to the devil and from the activity in us of this our enemy?"
-St. Symeon the New Theologian, The First Created Man, Homily 66: "The Banishment of Adam and the Repentence of Every Christian", section 3: "If one truly wishes to repent, he must repent."

Its a bird, its a plane...

2005-06-12T19:35:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Bit of pope trivia for you:

The call sign for the president's jet is Air Force One, and for the Vice President, Air Force Two. What is the call sign for the pope's jet when he is flying over the U.S.?

Answer: Shepherd One

That made me laugh rather hard when I heard that.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations."

-Orson Welles

"Men Astutely Trained"

2005-06-12T18:34:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

While fj was off ordaining Abby (her dog) back home and a fringe group was out on the St. Lawrence river ordaining women, I was in New Orleans this weekend (I left early Friday and got back very, very early Sunday) watching seven men be ordained as priests in the Society of Jesus in a mass that in terms of ceremony and beauty rivals even the Easter Vigil masses. My warmest congratulations, the best of luck, and the grace of God to these men, two of whom were actually teachers at my high school when I was a freshman and sophomore.

Fr. Rafael Vitoriano D. Baylon, S.J.
Fr. Ronald J. Boudreaux, S.J.
Fr. Flavio Issac Bravo-Valle, S.J.
Fr. John DeAndrea Cunningham, S.J.
Fr. Justin Daffron, S.J.
Fr. Anthony Gerard Rauschuber, S.J.
Fr. Michael Ross Romero, S.J.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam+

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted... to give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit."

-Isaiah 61:1, 3

Darwin Fish!

2005-06-12T12:08:00.000-05:00

I am a college student. I don't know what anyone thought, but I am not a philosophy, theology, or any other soft-science major- my fun is found in the biomedical/animal science double major. Yay for chemistry, biology, and examining dead things! If you want all science and like animals, these are the majors for you.

I take classes like biological chemistry, organic chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, biochemistry, etc etc etc. What is humorous is that contrary to the popular belief that all scientists= athiests, is that the more I learn, the harder I find it possible to deny the exsistance of God. It is all simply amazing- I wouldn't know how to describe it.

Now, I have learned all about Darwin and his theories in my intro classes. I love those little Darwin bumper decals because they make me laugh. Every so often I see them, usually with other bumperstickers promoting things like gay marriage, or condemning the goverment. These people, in effect, are usually saying "We all come from some primordial sludge (well, currently the prevailing theory seems to be blacksmokers, but I digress); I am enlightened enough to understand this, while you christian people hang onto some misbegotton but comforting notion of a fuzzy-happy god who helps you to deal with the reality of death." I have spoken (to? with? I don't think they listened) more than a few of these people-not at A&M, but other 4-yr universities which shall remain nameless.

I would think that, were something to be stuck to my car, I would know about it. If a statement about evolution and godless-ness while making fun of the Christians was to be made, I might use the word "evolution" in a fish, but certainly NOT the name of Darwin, who was very much a theist (although he does seem dualistic at times). Most people hear about his Origin of the Species, but few have read it. Here are two parts that very much come to mind when I see those things:

It is scarcely possible to avoid comparing the eye to a telescope. We know that this instrument has been perfected by the long-continued efforts of the highest human intellects; and we naturally infer that the eye has been formed by a somewhat analogous process. But may not this inference be presumptuous? Have we any right to assume that the Creator works by intellectual powers like those of man?[...] Further we must suppose that there is a power always intently watching each slight accidental alteration in the transparent layers; and carefully selecting each alteration which, under varied circumstances, may in any way, or in any degree, tend to produce a distincter image. We must suppose each new state of the instrument to be multiplied by the million; and each to be preserved till a better be produced, and then the old ones to be destroyed. In living bodies, variation will cause the slight alterations, generation will multiply them almost infinitely, and natural selection will pick out with unerring skill each improvement. Let this process go on for millions on millions of years; and during each year on millions of individuals of many kinds; and may we not believe that a living optical instrument might thus be formed as superior to one of glass, as the works of the Creator are to those of man?

The Ordination of My Dog

2005-06-08T19:09:00.000-05:00

I have decided I should ordain my dog because of this:

Nine women, including one Canadian and one American, plan to defy the Vatican and become the first female Roman Catholic priests and deacons ordained in North America.The ceremony, which is not sanctioned by the Vatican, is to take place July 25 on the St Lawrence River near Gananoque in eastern Canada... Organisers consider the location for the ceremony international waters between the United States and Canada where no diocese has jurisdiction and thus cannot interfere [as if this has anything to do with anything... the Bishop is still attached to a diocese] The Vatican has refused to allow women to become priests...[and it seems God has too, but let's ignore Him, and attempt it anyhow. Does anyone else get the game 'Operation' buzzing noise in their head when they think about this?] Some of the women are divorced, others married. Celibacy or sexual orientation is not considered, but years of religious study is a prerequisite, Birch-Conery said [I'd really, really, REALLY like to know what exactly this study entailed-probably lots of contemplation while walking the spiritual maze].

So, following these "ordinations" I shall ordain my dog, Abby, a priest. It would be just as valid- and she'd be great at it! She is compassionate, kind, loving, gets along with everyone, is good at calming upset people down, and I bet she'd look ADORABLE in religous garb! She will be a great pastor for those who own dogs- who realates better than her, a dog who lives with people-she can explain things from the dog's point of view. She could never do any of this without being a priest, right? She MUST be ordained so she can help other people, be nice, be religious, and teach others about Christ..

A Rapier Wit

2005-06-08T06:26:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

By now, everyone and his (or her) dog knows the saying by Josef Stalin that goes to the tune of "The Pope? How many divisions does he have?" to indicate that the Vatican was essentially powerless and such. What they probably don't know is what the pope at the time, Pius XII, said in response when he heard Stalin's little jab:

"Tell Mr. Stalin that he shall meet my legions in the next world."

Which is where I will have to go to shake his hand, unfortuneatly. But that right there is a classic. Pure genius, plus a little wit.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloram+

"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends."

-J.R.R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings

Jedi Mind Tricks...

2005-06-07T19:43:00.000-05:00

Wanna let Darth Vader use his "sith sense" to read your mind?

Here ya GO!

I tricked him with "pleco," "rosary," and "Darth Vader!"

Requiesiat in Pacem

2005-06-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I have just gotten word that the father of one of the guys I will be entering into the novitiate with next August has died from lung cancer. I ask now for your prayers, both for him and his father. Thank you.

St. Peregrine, patron of cancer patients, pray for us.

St. Joeseph, foster father of our Lord and patron of the good death, pray for us.

St. Ignatius de Loyola, founder of the Society and patron of all Jesuits, pray for us.

St. Stanislaus Kostka, patron of Jesuit novices, pray for us.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloram+

"It is a far, far better thing that I do now, than I have ever done: it is a far, far better rest that I go to now, than I have ever known."

-Charles Dickens (Sydney Carton) A Tale of Two Cities

Sheen, Servant of God

2005-06-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Below is a link to the official website dedicated to the cause of cannonization for Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. You can make contributions, look at various meditations, read quotes and a bio, and (I can only presume) inform them of any intercessions prayed for and recieved from him.

http://sheen.catholicexchange.com/index.html

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloram+

“There are two philosophies of life: the Christian philosophy and the Secular Philosophy. The Christian Philosophy is: first you fast, then you feast! The Secular philosophy is: first you feast, then comes the hangover!”

-Bl. Fulton Sheen

Go Texas!

2005-06-06T08:47:00.000-05:00

Minors in Texas (those under 18) must have parental consent not only to have their ears pierced, recieve tatoos, or take asprin from a school nurse, but they must also recieve parental consent to have an abortion.

Gov. Rick Perry put his signature to legislation restricting abortions and added his backing to a measure barring same-sex marriage.
Perry signed a bill Sunday requiring girls under the age of 18 to get their parents' consent before having an abortion and also imposes more limits on late-term abortions.
Texas already had a parental notification bill, approved in 1999. The new measure requires a parent to provide written consent for unmarried girls under 18. The bill also restricts doctors from performing abortions on women who have carried a child for more than 26 weeks unless having the baby would jeopardize the woman's life or the baby has serious brain damage.

Long Literary Laundry Lists

2005-06-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I have been "tagged" by Jimmy Akin in his blog when he said that whoever reads his post may consider themselves tagged for the book meme that is floating about. Fj's are in green.

1) Total number of books I own-254 somewhere over 500 (several bookshelves, two tubs that take up ALL of under the bed, several boxes..and then some).

2) The last book I bought- God, by St. Thomas Aquinas (No, really, that's the title of it! Think back to my book list post, and all shall be clear.) The Catechism of the Council of Trent (that's what happens when I go to half-price books...)

3) The last book I read was- Well, I finished that abridged version of Augustine's Confessions Friday, but I don't think that counts because (see my previous post for why). The last unabridged book that I read cover to cover was The Priest is Not His Own, by Bl. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, which in my humble opinion was absolutely magnificent.

Padre Pio, by Fr. Carty

4) Five books that mean a lot to me- Having provided a list of the books I would take with me over all others, I am now going to attempt to make a list of five that are not on that list, which sadly leaves out the Bible.

The Boy Scout Handbook I am an Eagle Scout. I will always be an Eagle Scout. Outside of theology classes in high school and those dreadful C.C.E. classes I went to before that, what I learned about character, morals, leadership, values, speaking my opinions with confidence (which we see now I have no problem doing) and yes, even faith, I owe to the Boy Scouts. So I place their book on here in a debt of gratitude.
Henry V by William Shakespeare This and Hamlet are both wildly influential with the literary love affair that I have with the Bard. I picked this one over Hamlet because a) I like this one a little better and b) it was after watching Kenneth Branagh's version of it that I decided to go out for the theatre, a decision that has affected me in more ways than I can count.
The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk I am an absolute sucker for naval literature (accounted for in part by the fact that had I not chosen the Jesuits, I would be in an NROTC program for the U.S. Navy right now) and its a very good book by a very good author, who wrote some of the last stuff in this century that I am familiar with to employ crazy literary devices such as symbolism, and whose idea of a well crafted scene features more than a copious use of adjectives.
Dune by Frank Herbert. Dang good sci-fi book. (Bit of trivia: The Bene Gesserit order were inspired by Herbert's aunts, who constantly tried to convert him to Catholicism, who he derisively termed "the female Jesuits". If you sound it out right, there is a certain similarity between the pronunciation of the two words.)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding Excellent study of the darker side of humanity. If you ever get someone who doesn't believe in Original Sin or the fallen nature of humans, sit them down with this book.

This is not a nice question! Not a nice question at all!

We've decided to add a new question in place of the "who do you tag?" one, since the answers to that one as of late are invariably "whoever reads this".

5) Book(s) you are reading currently- I read several books at the same time, so here they are:

God
City of God-St. Augustine
The First Created Man-St. Symeon the New Theologian (a Greek Orthodox theologian who lived shortly before the Schism, which I suppose would make him still Catholic, but we don't seem to talk about him much, whereas the Greeks do, so I suppose they have something of a claim on him.)
Treatise on the Trinity (from the S.Theol.)

Catechism of the Council of Trent
The Four Witnesses-Rod Bennett
Theology and Sanity-Frank Sheed
Tathea-Anne Perry
Various Biology Textbooks

+Ad Majorem Dei Glorem+

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

-Mark Twain (S.L. Clemens)

Against the Middle Man

2005-06-05T14:13:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

I get my hopes up, and then they are dashed. Lately I've been working on Augustine's Confessions. Last Friday, I was browsing through the philosophy section of Half-Price Books (window shopping, really) when I came upon a second copy (a Penguin Books translation). When I compared it to my own translation by Whitaker House, I was more than a little surprised to discover that mine only went to book 10, whereas the Penguin version went up to book 13. I have to say that I feel a bit cheated, especially when I went back and checked to find out if there was an abridged notice and found none. Why you would cut out the last 3 books (chapters, basically) and not mention what some would call a significant detail? When you add that to the fact that whenever Augustine quoted Scripture they would insert the KJV translation instead of either a) translating the quote as he wrote it or b) get a translation from a version Augustine would have used if there is the suspicion that he flubbed the quote slightly, although they were good enough to say "all Bible quotations are from the King James Version", I would have to recommend against the Whitaker version.

Good translation in other respects, from what I could tell. (I did a quick check in some areas agains the translation available here on New Advent.) There were a few differences that annoyed me a bit, such as an occurance in Book VII where on New Advent it was translated "Thy Catholic Church" but in Whitaker it was "Thy church [sic]".

It would seem to me that the translator had something of a Protestant bias, and given that the last three books (from what I have read) feature Augustine interpreting the Creation account in Genesis, I really have to wonder if his interpretation was not to their liking , hence why they cut out the last three sections without summarizing the last three books or even mentioning that they were edited out (which to me seems highly irregular, although if someone who knows better could please tell me if I am wrong on this point, that would be greatly appreciated). This is why I need to learn Latin, so that I can read Augustine and Aquinas without some translators getting in the way.

+Ad Majorem Dei Glorem+

"The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice."

- G.K. Chesterton ILN, 6/11/10

Swiss Guard Photo's

2005-06-03T19:57:00.000-05:00

I love pictures of the Swiss Guard! I found these today; they are from May when the new guards were sworn in. My favorite is the last photo- I love anachronistic stuff!

"And Now For Something Completely Different..."

2005-06-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

Its good to be silly every now and then, don't you think?
(Hats off to girl noir for the link.)

+Ad Majorem Dei Glorem+

"A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men."

-Roald Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Promises of the Sacred Heart

2005-06-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

+JMJ+

The Twelve Promises of Our Blessed Lord to St. Margaret Mary for those who are devoted to His Sacred Heart:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in my Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes in which the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in my Heart and it shall never be effaced.
12. The All-Powerful Love of my Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving the Sacraments; my Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

I was quite amused when I discovered the fact that my 9th consecutive first firday fell upon the feast of the Sacred Heart. Its really the little things like that which really need to make you smile.

+Ad Majorem Dei Gloram+

"To love is to risk. To love without risk is not true love. To risk with tenderness to the point of being ready to give all, even one's life as Christ did, is the most profound expression of true solidarity."
-Helen McLaughlin, RSCJ (Thirteenth Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart)