Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Marxist President

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

This conscience bit is hyperbole.
;
Is Obama forcing upstanding, believing Catholics at gunpoint to contracept or abort their children? No. They are choosing to do it. End of story.
;
Health plans have provisions that lots of subscribers would never use, like glasses or contact lenses. Just because you choose not to wear contacts or will never wear glasses doesn’t mean your premium will be lower. Insurance companies, especially American ones, will squeeze as much money from you as they can, regardless.
;
The American bishops are whining because they say Catholic institutions would be forced to pay for things that are prohibited by their religion. No. The insurance companies that underwrite these health plans would be indemnifying those premium paying subscribers who choose such things despite their religion. Obama isn’t compelling people to abort their children or get an IUD to remain on the plan.
;
The U.S. government does not exist to be the enforcer of the Catholic Church. Obama leads a democratic country and adopts policies that will win him elections. Abortion and contraception are proposed for these mandated health plans because lots of voters, lots of Catholic voters make use of them. You should be angry at them, not Barack.
;
Isn’t it true that Catholics believe that if one aborts their children, contracepts or fornicates, that person runs the risk of burning in hell for all eternity? So if the American bishops are so concerned, how come I don’t hear them saying what their church teaches on these matters? I’d actually have some respect for them! Alas, I think they know they’d lose a lot of congregants and more importantly, the Sunday collections will start to dry up. This is all just about money, appearances and hypocrisy.
;
When Ted Kennedy died, there were all kinds of bishops, priests as well as a cardinal prancing around his casket in a Catholic cathedral even though he steadfastly and publicly promoted those same things that these American bishops are having a hissy fit over today. He even sent a letter to the pope explaining his convictions and didn’t recant anything. What did Benny say? Where was his conscience? How come that priest on the video wasn’t outside the cathedral screaming about THAT instead of BSing years later in front of a captive, sympathetic audience about something that will actually be good for a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to healthcare?
;
American bishops and priests, either be honest with Catholics about the good, the bad and the ugly in their religion and its rules or shut the f*** up. Tell them they’ll rot in hell or don’t give them church funerals like the one you gave for Teddy boy. There will be less Catholics in name only and less money, true; but you’ll also have fewer worries about Catholics on the pill. ;Best of all, YOUR consciences will be clear. The government can’t interfere with that. You guys used to burn people at the stake, remember? Figurative fire and brimstone isn’t as bad. Get it straight. Catholics aren’t aborting their kids and using birth control because of what Obama is doing but because of what YOU aren’t.

PART 1.

Anonymous said…

This conscience bit is hyperbole.

Is Obama forcing upstanding, believing Catholics at gunpoint to contracept or abort their children? No. They are choosing to do it. End of story.

YES, THERE ARE CATHOLICS WHO PICK AND CHOOSE IN A CAFETERIA LINE AS TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE OR PRACTICE AND WHAT THEY DON’T. SO WHAT? SIN AND DISOBEDIENCE HAS BEEN WITH US FROM THE BEGINNING. YOUR POINT IS NOT GERMANE.

Health plans have provisions that lots of subscribers would never use, like glasses or contact lenses. Just because you choose not to wear contacts or will never wear glasses doesn’t mean your premium will be lower. Insurance companies, especially American ones, will squeeze as much money from you as they can, regardless.

NO. EMPLOYERS ARE FREE TO EXCLUDE ITEMS FROM ANY INSURANCE PLAN.

PART 2

The American bishops are whining because they say Catholic institutions would be forced to pay for things that are prohibited by their religion. No. The insurance companies that underwrite these health plans would be indemnifying those premium paying subscribers who choose such things despite their religion. Obama isn’t compelling people to abort their children or get an IUD to remain on the plan.

HE HAS DONE ANYTHING TO PROMOTE ABORTION THAT HE CAN FROM HIS FIRST DAY AS PRESIDENT. THIS IS FACT. YOU AGAIN PLAY WITH THE FACTS. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS NEVER MANDATED BEFORE THAT ANY EMPLOYER MUST PROVIDE SPECIFIC PRIVATE HEALTH CARE BENEFITS OTHER THAN BASIC EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS. THIS IN ITSELF SEEMS TO ME TO BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

The U.S. government does not exist to be the enforcer of the Catholic Church. Obama leads a democratic country and adopts policies that will win him elections. Abortion and contraception are proposed for these mandated health plans because lots of voters, lots of Catholic voters make use of them. You should be angry at them, not Barack.

IRRELEVANT WHAT SOME CATHOLICS DO. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DOES NOT EXIST TO DEMAND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OR ITS INSTITUTIONS DO ANYTHING. THIS IS THE POINT WHICH YOU CONVENIENTLY MISS.

PART 3.

Isn’t it true that Catholics believe that if one aborts their children, contracepts or fornicates, that person runs the risk of burning in hell for all eternity? So if the American bishops are so concerned, how come I don’t hear them saying what their church teaches on these matters? I’d actually have some respect for them! Alas, I think they know they’d lose a lot of congregants and more importantly, the Sunday collections will start to dry up. This is all just about money, appearances and hypocrisy.

YES, DYING IN MORTAL SIN CAN LEAD ONE TO HELL. THAT IS THE FREE CHOICE THAT GOD GIVES. THE FACT THAT THE PRIESTS AND BISHOPS HAVE NOT TAUGHT ON THIS FOR DECADES, POSSIBLY AFRAID THAT THE COLLECTION PLATE WOULD DRY UP IS INDEED SAD AND A SCANDAL.

When Ted Kennedy died, there were all kinds of bishops, priests as well as a cardinal prancing around his casket in a Catholic cathedral even though he steadfastly and publicly promoted those same things that these American bishops are having a hissy fit over today. He even sent a letter to the pope explaining his convictions and didn’t recant anything. What did Benny say? Where was his conscience? How come that priest on the video wasn’t outside the cathedral screaming about THAT instead of BSing years later in front of a captive, sympathetic audience about something that will actually be good for a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to healthcare?

TED KENNEDY’S PUBLIC CANONISATION WAS A SCANDAL. IF HE REPENTED FOR HIS LIFELONG WORK AGAINST THE CATHOLIC TEACHING HE WAS CERTAINLY ENTITLE TO A CATHOLIC FUNERAL BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN PRIVATE FOR THE FAMILY AND CERTAINLY NOT TELEVISED. IF YOU’VE READ THIS BLOG OR THOSE BY ANY OTHER CATHOLICS WHO TRY TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND LIVE THE FAITH DESPITE OUR OWN INDIVIDUAL SINFULNESS, YOU WOULD KNOW OUR OPINION ON THE KENNEDY FUNERAL SCANDAL.

American bishops and priests, either be honest with Catholics about the good, the bad and the ugly in their religion and its rules or shut the f*** up. Tell them they’ll rot in hell or don’t give them church funerals like the one you gave for Teddy boy. There will be less Catholics in name only and less money, true; but you’ll also have fewer worries about Catholics on the pill.

YES INDEED, BRING IT ON. EVEN POPE BENEDICT HIMSELF HAS SPOKEN AND WRITTEN OF THE “SMALLER CHURCH.”

Best of all, YOUR consciences will be clear. The government can’t interfere with that. You guys used to burn people at the stake, remember? Figurative fire and brimstone isn’t as bad. Get it straight. Catholics aren’t aborting their kids and using birth control because of what Obama is doing but because of what YOU aren’t.

BURN PEOPLE AT THE STAKE? YES, WE EVEN BURNED SOME OF OUR OWN…EVIL BISHOPS HAVE DONE BAD THINGS THROUGHOUT HISTORY…ST. JOAN OF ARC WAS DECLARED A HERETIC BY EVIL BISHOPS. BUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DID NOT BURN THE WITCHES AT SALEM, THOSE WERE GOOD AMERICANS. THANK YOU FOR REMINDING US THAT SOME CATHOLICS, MANY CATHOLICS DON’T BEHAVE.

There are two issues here. Anonymous is confusing them. I congratulate you Vox on dealing with them in a firm but most charitable manner.

The issue that is being debated is not the sinfulness nor luke-warm (at times at best) teaching of morality by priests and bishops. THE issue here is whether or not the State is supreme; whether or not the State can determine the doctrine, mode of behaiour of a religion. The answer is a clear: NO. Obama, whether he is aware of it or not is promoting a conception of a fascist State. If the State becomes the arbitrator and determinant of morality (c.f. the writings of Mussolini). Obama is a deceptive liar. He has lied to a number of the bishops (including Cardinal Dolan). He is a spiritual thug.

Anonymous,
There are four issues at stake here, abortion, religious liberty, man’s sinfulness, and contraception.

WRT abortion, let me make it explicit. Suppose your government forced you to pay for “inconvenient” people under the care of “care takers” to by killed by them. You’re not doing the killing, so you have no right to complain, right? Shouldn’t “care takers” have the right to complain, right? Of course not. It’s evil whether or not you’re forced to pay, but it’s especially evil if you’re forcing others to co-operate with your evil. Fortunately, there are laws of religious freedom, but they will only matter if they are enforced.

WRT sinfulness, name one person you have met that has kept the 10 commandments flawlessly since baptism. Man’s sin does not discredit the 10 commandments, it reinforces the need of the 10 commandments.

WRT nonabortive contraception (NB: all chemical contraceptives are abortive) are an issue of natural law, not religion. Humanae Vitae outlines some of the consequences which are bearing fruit now. It it the root of most issues that are destroying societies around the world. We have to oppose it. As stated, it is natural law. Hindus such as Gandhi oppose it as do hostile to religion atheists such as Freud. Both saw its evil. Science and demographics also prove it. Regardless of the mandate, it must be opposed.

Last point, why are you so angry? American bishops are only fighting against changing the status quo. Nothing is being taken away from you (assuming you’re American).

Read article here: 

The Marxist President

Read More

Full Text: Cardinal Collins Homily at Mass of Thanksgiving February 29/12

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thumbnail

Below you’ll find the complete text of the homily delivered by His Eminence, Thomas Cardinal Collins at the Feb. 29 Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Michael’s Cathedral with 1,000 guests in attendance.

 

Remember, regional Eucharistic Celebrations and receptions will be held in the coming weeks for those who wish to celebrate with Cardinal Collins. All are welcome. You can find more details on these celebrations here.

 

Homily of His Eminence, Thomas Cardinal Collins
February 29th, 2012The Sign of JonahI: Jonah the reluctant prophet: a sign of Repentance, Engagement, and TrustThroughout the world on this Lenten weekday, the readings at Mass speak of Jonah, the reluctant prophet sent by God to preach to the people of the distant pagan city of Nineveh. The first reading the Book of Jonah tells of his preaching, and in the Gospel Jesus speaks of his own preaching as a fulfilment of the sign of Jonah.

We can learn from the sign of Jonah, a sign of repentance, of engagement, and of trust.

Jonah teaches us about repentance, for that was the message God called him to preach to the people of the great city of Nineveh. There was much in their society and in their hearts that needed to be changed, and Jonah’s message was a call for that change of heart. Of course, Jonah himself needed to repent, for in his willfulness, the source of all sin, he tried to flee to the ends of the earth rather that fulfill the mission on which God had sent him, because in his religious complacency he did not agree with God’s plan of mercy for the unbelievers; he did not want their pagan society to be rescued.

Jonah speaks to us of engagement with the wider world. He was comfortable among the believers, but God called him to move out beyond his safe world of devotion to walk the alien streets of the great city of Nineveh. It was to avoid that call to engagement with the wider world that he tried to flee to the ends of the earth, until God through a great storm on the sea brought him back to his mission to Nineveh.

The sign of Jonah also is one of trust. The prophet’s first failure was a refusal to trust God’s plan for him. He needed to let go of his own prophetic agenda, and follow God’s will. Jonah, despite his reluctance, was wildly successful in his preaching: all the people of Nineveh repented immediately – which did not please Jonah. The result of his mission was clearly not dependent upon his enthusiasm or skill: he had to come to learn that it is the provident love of God that brings about conversion, not the talents or zeal of the prophet. We need to learn that too.

II: The Sign of Jonah Today: Repentance, Engagement, and Trust

The Sign of Jonah: Repentance

The message of Jonah is the same as is found in the first words of both John the Baptist and Jesus as they began their ministry: Repent. This challenge is basic for our life in Christ, and is especially emphasized during Lent. One of the prayers said when ashes are bestowed on Ash Wednesday is “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” We sometimes forget that. We are called to preach repentance to this world, and we are called, of course, first to experience repentance ourselves.

This is why we need to reflect not only on the message but on the messenger. God can use any prophet, and Jonah himself is very much in need of repentance. The messenger needs first to repent and only then to preach the message of repentance to this generation. We preach not only by the words we speak but by the lives we lead. Our ability to be effective instruments of God in our world is inhibited to the degree that we do not ourselves live with integrity. A wise person once said, “the Gospel loses credibility if conscience tethers the tongue.” If there is anything in our lives that will block the light of Christ, we need humbly to attend to that before we can proclaim the Gospel to others. God uses weak servants like Jonah, like the apostles, like you and me – and we always have to preach first to ourselves.

Some practical implications:

1. Individually, get to confession. To repeat – get to confession. Remember, saying to a priest, “Bless me Father for I have sinned” is much better than saying, “Bless me Father my neighbour has sinned.”

This is the first gift of Our Lord to his disciples after the resurrection. The sacrament of reconciliation needs to be widely available, and we all need to experience it fruitfully and frequently, as a basic way of being made ready for our mission as disciples. That is another reason why we will always need more priests: we need more confessors.

2. As a community, in a spirit of repentance we must honestly be attentive to our failures to live up to what God expects of us. A culture of communal humility is the foundation for our effectiveness in bringing Christ to this world.


The Sign of Jonah: Engagement

We need to be engaged, engaged with this society of ours, which may often seem like the great city Nineveh, distant and antagonistic to our faith. We need engagement, bold engagement. Not for us the flight of Jonah.

St. Luke, who reports the message of Our Lord in today’s Gospel about the fulfillment of the sign of Jonah, speaks in his second book, the Acts of the Apostles, of the way in which the early disciples boldly and joyfully engaged with the world not of Nineveh but of ancient Rome.

They did so filled with hope and joyful energy as they sought to bring the message of the Lord to that world. We need to do the same today, with creativity, energy, and faith.

People often speak of a secularization of society, and of a receding of the tide of faith.

Secular simply means “of this age”; people of faith are a fundamental part of this age, which would be a crueler place without their witness. But secular has taken on a narrow meaning, a heavy meaning, a limiting meaning. It is interpreted as the absence of the voice of faith in the public square. We need not accept that narrow view. Less reluctantly than Jonah, and with the inner conviction and the joyful courage of the apostles down through the ages we need to make the voice of faith heard throughout society. People of faith already do this most effectively through the massive contributions which they make to aid the suffering and the vulnerable. But we also need to be articulate voices in the public forum. Secular humanists do not have a monopoly on the democratic conversation.Some practical implications:We need to learn about our faith, by studying it more fully, so that we may more effectively engage in this world of ours with a sympathetic understanding of the struggles people face, an understanding which is illuminated by the vision of the Gospel. This is where the social teachings of the Church can guide us.Engagement with this world is essential. This is why in our own community of faith we need to strengthen the formation and training of people who help us to reach out and evangelize. It is important for all of us to encourage people to respond to the various vocations of lay ministry, the diaconate, religious life and the priesthood.

We value Catholic education at every level, including universities, an education in which students are offered a vision of the greater purpose in life. It is holy wisdom that is most needed if our society is to be what God invites it to be. Life is more than a meaningless struggle, in which we are simply lost in busyness. We are called to be people with a purpose, and so we if we are effectively to engage in our society, we all need to learn to use the gift of reason within the context of faith which reveals the plan of divine providence within which our secular society is set.

Our Christian life, within our parishes, and also when it is shaped by the various movements and societies within the Church, needs always to be nurtured by the gifts of word and sacrament, and by our love for one another, but it must always reach outward, towards engagement with the world. If we circle the wagons and become comfortably enclosed within ourselves in an illusion of devotion, either individually or as a community, then we will fall back into the fault of Jonah before he met the whale. Our life of faith always needs to end in outreach. Faith and hope reach fulfilment in active charity. A key norm I always use in assessing any initiative in the Church is: does it include the elements of head, heart, and hands – clear teaching to give it direction according to the Gospel, zealous devotion, and practical effect in serving others.

We need to be engaged, and as a community of faith we cannot let our horizon be limited by our own comfortable world here in North America. We must be attentive to people around the world, especially those who are suffering, and most especially our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering persecution, and all who are suffering that way. This is one reason why we should always be attentive to those who are refugees, thinking also of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, refugees from Herod in Egypt.

It is above all the mission of lay people to be engaged in every aspect of the world of this age, this secular world, in which we live. Those of us who are ordained are called to offer spiritual nourishment in word and sacrament to the lay people of the Church, but it is they who are most immediately engaged in evangelizing this world, by their direct involvement in every aspect of it, to help to leaven this world with the vision of the Gospel and to make it a place more in harmony with the will of God. That message of engagement is to who we all are, if we are to become the sign of Jonah for our world today.



The Sign of Jonah: Trust

As we reflect on the sign of Jonah, we need to consider not only repentance and engagement, but also our need to trust in God’s providence. We are called to action and engagement, but it is not our activity that ultimately brings about conversion. In the story of Jonah, we see him revealed as a most reluctant prophet, who does not even want his mission to succeed. The people of Nineveh are converted because of him to a certain extent, when he finally follows God’s will and preaches, but you can almost say that they are really converted despite of him.

Just as we are called to be faithful messengers of repentance for ourselves and for those whom we meet day by day, and as we are called to get beyond the comfort of our own lives and engage in the secular world around us, so too are we called to recognize that our mission will be not because of any skill or strength or anything else that we have, but because of the grace of God. We are simply servants.

That is why as we engage in the new evangelization, although we need to think clearly and plan carefully and energetically produce various ways of reaching out to this world, we must ultimately recognize the power of Pentecost. It is the Holy Spirit of God who will bring fruitfulness to our work, just as it was not Jonah’s preaching, for he was indeed a reluctant prophet, and not his personal conviction, but rather the power of God that touched the hearts of the people of Nineveh.

I often have recalled, as over the years I have tried to develop all kinds of vocation approaches to encourage those who are called to be priests, that Our Lord gave us only one direction: Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into the harvest. Then our efforts will be fruitful, in God’s own way and God’s own time. A practical implication of this is that we need to root our efforts in prayer. Our action must flow from adoration. It is no accident that vocations flourish where the practice of Eucharistic adoration is widespread.

That is why Bishop Sheen recommended that every priest spend one hour every day in adoration before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That also explains why the Church comes alive in fruitful activity, not fruitless busyness, when Christians individually and as a community, take the time for prayer. It is why I want Eucharistic Adoration to become a regular part of the life of all of our parishes. It is trust in our provident God and surrender to His will that is the foundation for fruitful engagement with the world.

This is the purpose of Lectio Divina: to become immersed in the word of God, and to encounter Our Lord through the praying of the sacred scriptures. We move out from the house of the Word of God on our daily mission of evangelization, and return each day to be nourished once more.

We must also be nourished at the table of the Lord through the Holy Eucharist. The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation for our mission of evangelization, both as individuals and as a community, and the daily celebration of the Eucharist provides many people with the still point around which their busy lives revolve. Our celebration of the liturgy, and our disposition to the experience of God’s grace through His gift of the liturgy, allows us to be faithful and fruitful in our mission in this world. So we need to be attentive, to celebrate the liturgy of the Church with a humble spirit, to be attentive to preaching, and to music. In our liturgy, as in every aspect of our experience of God, we are invited to appreciate beauty – beauty of language, of music, and of art and architecture – as a way in which we are disposed to experience God, and in which those who do not share the gift of faith can be invited to approach God.

Fruitful action follows from adoration, because adoration and prayer are a sign of our dependence upon the providence of God and it is God alone who brings about the conversion of our own hearts and the conversion of this world.

III: Make a joyful duty our sacrifice of Praise

On this Lenten day in which we are presented by the Church with the sign of Jonah, we can learn about our life of discipleship, as individuals and as a community of faith on a journey through time, through the ages, in the world of this age, this secular society.

The sign of Jonah calls us to repentance, to engagement with the world, and to the trust in the providence of God that underlies everything. That spirit of trust can lead us to a further gift, in the midst of our struggles, one not enjoyed by Jonah, the grumpy prophet. It is the gift seen in the great saints, as they struggled with problems far worse than those that can so often absorb us, and depress us, and fill us with anxiety. It is the gift of joy.

I think of St Thomas More, facing a world in which the evil seemed triumphant, if considered within the narrow perspective of his own age. But his sense of divine providence, developed over years of prayerful fidelity, gave him the deep joy that strengthened him and those around him. I think of St Theresa of Avila, the great reformer who was so serene in her trust in God that she could joyfully overcome the immense challenges to her reform. And there is the great apostle of Rome, St Philip Neri, who preached the good news, in the midst of enormous difficulties, and was able to touch the hearts of people in a world that had lost its way, and particularly the hearts of the young, because of his joyful trust in God’s provident grace.

So too, for all of us, as we are guided by the sign of Jonah to repentance, engagement, and trust:

Then hear, O gracious Savior, accept the love we bring,

That we who know your favour, may serve you as our king;

And whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill

We’ll triumph through our sorrows, and rise to bless you still:

To marvel at your beauty, and glory in your ways,

And make a joyful duty, our sacrifice of praise.

See original:

Full Text: Cardinal Collins Homily at Mass of Thanksgiving February 29/12

Read More

The Interwebs Pt 2

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Well, it happened.

Last Friday, after a week or so of preparing people, I did what I thought to be the unthinkable.  I DELETED MY FACEBOOK ACCOUNT!

Now, Facebook is tricksy: they like to give you two weeks before deleting your account, just in case you change your mind.  That e-mail they sent haunts me: I can still revert, I can still go back!

But I refuse to.  This is what I must do.  But, I must admit, it has not been easy!  Suddenly I feel disconnected from the world.  How will the world know if – God willing – the bishop decides to call me to ordination?  How will I tell friends and family alike?  How can I share the latest articles I’ve come across, the newest ideas, the latest books, the mundane activities of my life?  I must admit it: there is slight separation anxiety attached with this detachment.  It is not easy. 

Furthermore, how am I to find out what sort of events are going on around town with my friends?  How will I know what is going down?  I feel separated, lost, and scrambling to distract myself in other realms of my life.

But, in the end, despite the difficulty, despite the slight anxiety, I realize this has been a good thing.  I did not realize how much time Facebook was taking up in my life until I left it.  How easy it was to go on my phone and check it out.  How easy it was to just sit at my computer and engage in rather pointless discussions.  In the end, it was more a waste of time than anything else.

But there is a further element of reflection from all this: the separation anxiety is real, but it is because our world has reduced communication to social media.  We are unable to communicate outside of it.  This has all occurred within the span of five years at the most!  That is a scary change, one that, I believe, is the result of the unreflective spirit of our age.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we have a tendency to take upon new technologies simply because they are new and not because they are good.  We refuse to ask “what are we losing with all this?”  It is a question we must always ask.  In the end, as Neil Postman observes, every new technology means that we lose something.  The invention of writing began to be the end of oral tradition and profound memory, for example.  It’s not necessarily bad, but it means we lose something in the process of gaining something else.

My question today, however, is whether this form of communication through social media is actually good?  The reactions I got against leaving Facebook, the fact that people felt they would be unable to communicate with me by leaving it tells me there is something wrong here.  If something creates the inability to communicate any other way, then I think we need to begin to re-evaluate and ask whether we are on the right path.  The more I reflect on it, the more I think that we are not on the right path.  I see an inability to confront and talk face to face.  I see an inability to communicate person to person.  When communication loses the personal element, then we are no longer communicating.

To me, communication must take all three transcendentals into account: the true, the good, and the beautiful.  In fact, all activity should be done in truth, for the good of myself and others, and in an attractive/enticing manner.    That is the ethos which governs my life.  Technology, however, has lost its aetsthetic value, its ability to put forward an attractive truth claim, to form an attractive ethos.  With the loss of the aesthetic dimension, with “the beautiful” being removed from the realm of technology, all that is left is facts in place of truth, activism instead of goodness.  When you remove a transcendental, all else becomes pointless because all the other transcendentals lose that which makes them what they are.  Truth needs beauty and goodness to be truth, beauty needs truth and goodness to be beauty, and goodness needs truth and beauty to be itself.  The internet, I believe, does not have the moral or aesthetic dimension.  With this, I see the internet only as a place for fact finding.  One can find resources, articles, news, etc.  This is good.  But it is not a place of communication.  The only exception I will give to this is e-mail because it mimics letter writing.  It still loses the essential element of reflectivity – it’s so easy to write without much reflection in email – but it can allow for that element.  I have yet to see that reflectivity anywhere else on the internet.

By the by, a friend and colleague has posted a wonderful reflection on his blog in reference to my first post.  You can find the article here.

In Christ

-Harrison

Original link: 

The Interwebs Pt 2

Read More

Daytimer Prayer

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

This
Lent I have promised myself to pray more often, more deliberately, more
consistently and more thoughtfully. I know that I have tried many
approaches to prayer throughout my life with varied diligence and
consistency! As I look back, there where times when my prayerlife was
stronger…but I didn’t necessarily know it at the time! I know that I have felt happier and more peaceful when I’m praying each day…and preferably using a prayer journal to write my prayer, reflect on Scripture, ask the Lord questions and try to listen to what He is telling me.

I have filled up quite a few prayer journals…but there are some times when I have strayed and fought to get back on track…and I think that this is one of those times.

Sometimes I have resorted to Lenten resolutions or gimmicks to get myself back on track. (More about prayer gimmicks to come in future posts!)

With a particularly bumpy start…it looks like this Lent is going to be one of those times.

Inspired by the 3 times I have been on the

Lightweigh

,
I recognize the importance of checking in everyday and keeping myself
accountable to my commitments…even if I have to resort to a checklist
to keep track.

Somehow a checklist motivates me…I’m not sure why.

Does anyone else understand that?


Before Lent started this year, I was already trying
something new. I picked up a spiral-bound daytimer calendar at the
dollar store. I like it because there are only about 2 days per page,
with lines to write on and even little check-circles to check. The
calendar is not specific to any year…it has the months and the dates,
but not the day of the week. I’m using it to keep track of how I meet
my goals each day:


  • prayer-time
  • exercise
  • portions
  • no 2nds (do
    vegetables count?)
  • no snacking
  • who I’m praying for
  • …and what I’m sacrificing (for those intentions)

This is a big list for me (and notice how THREE of them have to do with food?) As much as I’d like to simplify…the whole
list of options keeps me hopeful that somehow I’ll be able to check off
at least a couple each day!

I’m also trying to write …even a little snippet about the Scripture or spiritual reading that got my attention that day. These days…that would be either from Scripture, particularly John’s Letters, Surrender by Fr Larry Richards OR A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey

Maybe the small amount of space in the daytimer works for me
too…not as intimidating as a big blank page…and just enough motivation to not
skip a day!

Does this make sense to anyone else?

More: 

Daytimer Prayer

Read More

The Unfortunate Incident with a Smelly Piano

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Recently Jay-Jay and Tabitha’s father bought them a new piano. The children were very excited. When they went to pick it up, the house they bought it from had a suspiciously foul smell hanging in the air. However, they quickly forked over several hundred dollars and then carted the instrument out. After a great deal of expense and effort, they installed it in their living room. Unfortunately, the curious odour, which they thought they had left behind them, appeared to be radiating in strong waves from the piano. Jay-Jay and Tabitha rallied and attacked the piano with a bottle of febreeze, but to no avail. The smell became so pungent after a while that the children refused to practice. Then they refused to go near the instrument or the living-room any more. I suggested that perhaps there was a dead animal inside, and Jay-Jay said, “Well I’m sure not looking.” I asked Tabitha what exactly the smell was like. Her face paled, and she replied in a whisper, “Like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.” Finally, the parents were getting quite upset because the smell was penetrating the whole house. The last I heard, Jay-Jay’s dad took a sharp tool to it and hacked it to pieces. Tabitha told me that the piano is now a mangled heap of wood, pedals, and strings lying by the curbside. I’ve heard that the snow has melted away from it in a circular patch; there have also been some complaints from neighbours who think that there is a sewage leak somewhere in the area.

See more here - 

The Unfortunate Incident with a Smelly Piano

Read More

It’s an Education

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thumbnail

Read More: 

It’s an Education

Read More

Jay-Jay and Tabitha

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Jay-Jay and Tabitha: Two little black kids who are super excited and positive about everything (Cool stickers! Cool piano bench! Cool song! etc, etc). Jay-jay snaps his fingers and busts out dance moves on the bench. He could have come straight from New Orleans.

Jay-Jay tells me he hasn’t been able to practice piano recently because their keyboard broke down, but not to worry–he learns songs in his dreams. Amazing skill!

Continue reading:  

Jay-Jay and Tabitha

Read More

castle and catapult craft!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012


Here’s a great craft for Leap Year Day!

I have posted about this craft before and have used it at TWO medieval birthday parties…usually this time of year! It’s a lot of fun to make and play with!

All you need to make the castle is:
corrugated cardboard
foam pipe insulation
craft foam sheets or construction paper for trim
popsicle sticks
craft foam sheets,
glue,
scissors and a craft knife

Ammunition: mini-marshmallows
*if you can’t play outside…lay down some plastic table clothes to catch flying mini-marshmallows…otherwise you (or your toddler!) will be finding them for months to come!

Check out the Castle and Catapult step-by-step instructions

Don’t panic if you don’t have plumbing pipe insulation on hand! You can use a skinny pool noodle or 4 empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls for the towers of the castle. You can even make your own rolls of construction paper: the thicker and tighter the “wall” of the roll, the stronger it will be.

Check out how we revisited this craft for another

Medieval Birthday Party

last year

with

10 year old

boys

All you need to make the catapult is:
a glue gun
a popsicle stick
a wooden clothes peg
2 corks
a bottle cap
a lid or some cardboard for the base.

I’m confident that you can substitute alot of other things for just about any of these items, except for maybe the clothes peg….check out the pictures from our Medieval Party last year!



See the original article here:  

castle and catapult craft!

Read More

Israel, Palestine and the Vatican Part 3

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

So we left off last time still swimming in the ‘historical context’ wading pool before treading the ocean of socio-political firestorms. Both parties justify religion as the basis for their claim to the land, with both parties laying a legitamite gripe as to why the land should be theirs. Soooooo,..let’s continue on shall we?

So we left off more or less with the Balfour declaration and thus cleared up any propaganda that Israel was only established in the wake of WWII because people felt guilty about the Holocaust. This myth is widely circulated in leftist circles. So, now here comes the immigration. Thousands and thousands of Jews, ‘Askanzi’ begin to immigrate to Palestine, buying up land and establishing colonies. This,..the Zionist mentality comes into a full blown confrontation with Arab, yes,..but Muslim nationalism as well. Again, with Islam, we cannot separate the politics from the religion as this concept is quite alien. Islam is the political system. Within the system and stemming from the theological root is the concept of a land bethrowed,..( see here ). The surrounding Arab countries tend not to view the struggle which was political as just that,. political, instead they see it as an attack upon Islam itself. Herein lies the problem.

So begins the protests in Jerusalem, with Arab banners reading ‘Our country for us’ and ‘Stop jewish immigration’ as battle cries. Still in the same year, Muhammed Amin Al-Husayni incited crowds, as well Jews in Galilee were attacked. This all led to the establishment eventually of Haganah,..a Jewish defense force, a pre cursor if you will, to the IDF. The next year, saw what were called the Jaffa riots whereby the Jews retreated from Jaffa to Tel Aviv. Surprisingly, there were not many casualties, yet the British(the mandated authority) were constantly trying to restore order. Later, that year,..the true tension arrives when politics, unofficially turns religious as Muhammed Amin Al-Husayni becomes the grand mufti of Jerusalem. The ‘Grand Mufti’ is seen as the highest level of religious authority within a muslim (sunni) state. So that being said a little muslim colour is added to the mix, and the next year, Arab leaders informed the Brits,..that they will not accept the Balfour declaration. So what was proposed in 1917,..was finally rejected 5 years later…..The Brits, because of certain political factors,.namely Arab riots, a change of government in Saudi Arabia,..clarified their position with the Churchill White Paper…(see here )

So what about the Palestinian Christians? And what happens to the Jews? Were Arabs kicked out of their houses during the immigration and what about Islam, Apartheid and the UN???? Find out in the next installment!!!

Our Lady of Ville Marie,……………ora pro nobis!

Visit site - 

Israel, Palestine and the Vatican Part 3

Read More

40 Days for Life – March 13th, 2012 Chaplaincy Day!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thumbnail

Every year, we participate in a 40-day campaign to end abortion. This is a prayerful campaign is at a “Women’s Care Clinic” (Abortion Facility) at 960 Lawrence Ave

See the original article here: 

40 Days for Life – March 13th, 2012 Chaplaincy Day!

Read More

40 Days for Life – March 13th, 2012 Chaplaincy Day!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thumbnail

Every year, we participate in a 40-day campaign to end abortion. This is a prayerful campaign is at a “Women’s Care Clinic” (Abortion Facility) at 960 Lawrence Ave. West, close to the intersection of Lawrence Ave. & Dufferin St.

The campaign hours are 8:00am – 8:00pm. The chaplaincy will be participating on vigil day on March 13, 2012.

There have been at least 30 women and babies SAVED from abortion in the last year and a half.

If you cannot come and keep vigil with us on this day, you can go and pray infront of the Abortion mill any day from February 22, 2012 – April 1st, 2012. You can also pray this prayer for the unborn:

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I  know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen!

For more details on 40 days for Life, you can refer to this website: http://40daysforlife.com/toronto/index.cfm?active=1

Source: 

40 Days for Life – March 13th, 2012 Chaplaincy Day!

Read More

CAS: Evening of Recollection Thursday, March 1st

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thumbnail


Quantcast

  • sample

  • CC Archives

  • sample
  • facebook twitter youtube
  • sample
  • sample