e's blog

Ask a Pastor: Can I be close to God on my own?

2011-03-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

Someone sent me this question and answer set to see what I agreed with or disagreed with. Since I spent my evening writing time replying to this email, I thought I'd repost here since one of my Lenten obligations is to tend to my neglected blog. Mileage! PLEASE post any comments you have! I wanna hear from you!

Ask a Pastor: Can I be close to God on my own?

Q. I feel most spiritual and closest to God when I am alone. Doesn’t a church seem second-rate to being truly spiritual?

A. In this way of thinking, to spiritualize something is to remove it from its historical moment and seize upon a supposed essence. For example, ancient Israel was able to extract the essence of the worship of God in Jerusalem and create rival high places.

In the same way, we can absent ourselves from the material traditions and lay claim to some imagined spiritual core or essence. For example, if we spiritualize the Lord’s Supper (communion), we can make the case that we don’t need the physical bread and wine since we feast with Christ metaphorically. And if we spiritualize a step further, we can be freed from the physical church completely and still keep our personal spirituality perfectly intact — believing that the spiritualized version is the most real and is best when it is divorced from the material. Indeed, the material impedes the spiritual in this way of thinking, and to be truly spiritual one should escape from all outward forms of Christianity by leaving Jerusalem, as it were, and seeking the personal high places.

Following this line of reasoning, anything that seems like structure is too close to being material and must be eschewed. Membership rolls are physical lists and therefore must be viewed with spiritual suspicion. Pastors are seen as those who ruin any chance for the democratization of religious acts. Their ordination is a physical act, and causes distinctions and excludes others who are not ordained; ordination becomes viewed as that which bespeaks material structure which itself is the age-old enemy to true spirituality. Authority is seen as confining, like the old Jerusalem being the ordained place of worship, and must be rejected. The essential idea of Jerusalem must be freed from any relationship that involves locality or ordination.

But note well, when Jesus came he did not overturn material forms of Israel and Jerusalem because he a had preference for non-material and non-institutional religion. In contrast to private spiritual high places, Jesus came and established his church, the temple-abode of the Spirit of God. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” When Peter answered, “Yes, Lord”, Jesus told him to prove it by loving the church (the place of the Spirit). Jesus spoke of something real. The church is a physical reality that is the physical congregation of the Lord. Many movements are afoot which would compel us to repudiate the abode of God as if it were anti-spiritual. But God has made the church, and she is real, and she is well formed. The church is good for us; God has called his people to draw close to him by drawing close to his church, for that is where he resides by his Spirit.

– Steve Rives, Pastor, Eastside Church of the Cross

MY REPLY:

Can I be close to God on my own?
Short version: "You could, but you might not get that close." --- the answer I'd give if it was Ask Erika.
See inserted comments for more details:

Ask a Pastor: Can I be close to God on my own?

Q. I feel most spiritual and closest to God when I am alone. Doesn’t a church seem second-rate to being truly spiritual?

Usually I think this question is asked when someone doesn't want a moral authority other than themselves...

A. In this way of thinking, to spiritualize something is to remove it from its historical moment and seize upon a supposed essence. For example, ancient Israel was able to extract the essence of the worship of God in Jerusalem and create rival high places.

Whaaa? Maybe the writer knows his audience better than I do, but it doesn't seem a very straightforward way of beginning to answer the question. I'd more likely start with "human persons are both spiritual and material, unlike angels who are just spiritual and animals who are just material."

In the same way, we can absent ourselves from the material traditions and lay claim to some imagined spiritual core or essence. For example, if we spiritualize the Lord’s Supper (communion), we can make the case that we don’t need the physical bread and wine since we feast with Christ metaphorically.

Maybe it's hard for me to imagine what he's saying since I hear these terms in such Catholic ways. On a daily basis, a [engaged] Catholic is supposed to make an Act of Spiritual Communion if he cannot attend daily Mass in person, (Sunday Mass is obligatory.) These set of prayers unite us to Christ and to our brothers and sisters who are at Mass, receiving the Word of God, and partaking of His body and blood all around the world. So the spiritual connection is good, but a spiritual together with the material connection is best.

And if we spiritualize a step further, we can be freed from the physical church completely and still keep our personal spirituality perfectly intact — believing that the spiritualized version is the most real and is best when it is divorced from the material.

I hope he is just restating what he thinks the question is supposing and doesn't believe it himself... Being divorced from the material would be anti-reality... but again,it depends on how one uses the word... "flesh" in the sense of created matter is a good. Et Verbum caro factum est "And the Word became flesh." Now, the flesh has weaknesses that have to be guarded against, but then again so does the spirit. I often think that one has to master his physical being before he can begin interior work. Anyways, this may be a denominational difference, as Protestantism historically sees the flesh as irredeemable, (think 'snow-covered dung,') whereas orthodox Catholic thought says the flesh is good, important, and weak doesn't mean bad-- just reliant on God! Also in orthodox Catholicism (I say orthodox be/c there are some crazies out there, but luckily for us we have canonical resource...) the focus isn't so much on heaven, but on the New Earth, the general Resurrection. Which, of course, we will be united in our bodies--- if they were not of consequence, the good Lord would just have us stay in Heaven forever.

Indeed, the material impedes the spiritual in this way of thinking, and to be truly spiritual one should escape from all outward forms of Christianity by leaving Jerusalem, as it were, and seeking the personal high places.

Again, the material can impede the spiritual but it can also make it much stronger. Jesus hardly ever performed any miracles or sacraments without a material aid. Mud, water, wine, fish, bread, cloth, human body-- he surely could have done without them, but I think he knew that being who we were, or were created to be, these things would make a difference once He had glorified them.

Following this line of reasoning, anything that seems like structure is too close to being material and must be eschewed.

Hahaha! Mama needs some structure! And the God of order, science, and law loves him some structure, too. I think this disdain for structure is an adolescent or American perspective that, unfortunately, does a disservice. Structure = effective. Now, some people can focus on structure to the detriment of authentic Christianity; but then it becomes something like money or sex--- when you take it out of context, a good becomes misused.

Membership rolls are physical lists and therefore must be viewed with spiritual suspicion.

??

Pastors are seen as those who ruin any chance for the democratization of religious acts.

Whomever thinks this has some issues with their father that they need to work out. J/K, but really, again, this perspective is really hard for me to relate to.

Their ordination is a physical act, and causes distinctions and excludes others who are not ordained; ordination becomes viewed as that which bespeaks material structure which itself is the age-old enemy to true spirituality.

Again, Jesus laid hands on his Apostles, which they in turn did, and down on the line to make priests and bishops. Catholics believe that the Laying of Hands and the oils, etc in the ordination process change the essential nature of the man to a priest. It is an indelible change. Being excluded from this process doesn't mean you have less value or dignity, but not everyone can be a foot or a head, lest we wouldn't have a body.

Authority is seen as confining, like the old Jerusalem being the ordained place of worship, and must be rejected.

Again, I hope he's just restating what he thinks the person must believe. The differences in authoritarian and authoritative are crucial to understand.

The essential idea of Jerusalem must be freed from any relationship that involves locality or ordination.

? I don't think that's scriptural. There are different layers of Jerusalem or Jerusalem is used for different images, ie, the actual city of Jerusalem, the Jewish people, the Heavenly Jerusalem, Mary. I don' t know. Maybe I don't understand what he's trying to say.

But note well, when Jesus came he did not overturn material forms of Israel and Jerusalem because he a had preference for non-material and non-institutional religion.

Yup. I think.

In contrast to private spiritual high places, Jesus came and established his church, the temple-abode of the Spirit of God.

hmmm... trying to figure out what he's trying to say... There is a time for praying in your closet or in your heart and there is a time for praying collectively as a congregation. This isn't in competition with pilgrimage sites or holy places. ???

Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” When Peter answered, “Yes, Lord”, Jesus told him to prove it by loving the church (the place of the Spirit).

Yes, he was asked to love the Church and Jesus meant REALLY love, aka. to die for her--to physically and spiritually care and die for her.

Jesus spoke of something real. The church is a physical reality that is the physical congregation of the Lord.'

Yes.

Many movements are afoot which would compel us to repudiate the abode of God as if it were anti-spiritual.

Again, I think led by the glorification of self-reliance, autonomy, and independence, whether from an adolescent or 'American' culture.

But God has made the church, and she is real, and she is well formed.

And the gates of Hell will not prevail against her.

The church is good for us; God has called his people to draw close to him by drawing close to his church, for that is where he resides by his Spirit.

and in Body--- in the body of the brothers and sisters in Christ and in His Most Precious Body and Blood.

– Steve Rives, Pastor, Eastside Church of the Cross

Again, I think I agree with him, though it's hard to follow his style and I'm not sure if it is a very helpful style to someone who'd be in the place to ask such a question. Are you sad you asked me what I thought? See what happens when I don't have facebook?? :)
What do YOU think? (Wish we could lounge at a cafe or in your living room to discuss these things....)
love,
e

A man that can cook and transubstantiate!

2011-02-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

Priestly chef wows his guests - Catholic Courier

at the EC with Fr. John

2010-06-08T12:04:00.001-07:00

DSC_2715
Originally uploaded by s.maentz

Agnes Claire choses Chastity as her vow.

My Review

2010-03-11T20:11:00.001-08:00

Originally submitted at The Bed Superstore

Great Buy

By erilind from Atlanta, GA on 3/11/2010

Pros: Attractive Design, Attractive Color Scheme, Sturdy

Cons: Difficult To Assemble

Best Uses: Kids Rooms, Guest Rooms

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

I loved this headboard. Great style and great price. I didn't give the bed all of the stars because my husband said it was a real pain to put together and he's a pretty patient guy. Buy it. Just leave the house when it needs to be put together!

(legalese)

Belmont Abbey College, I'm so proud of you!

2009-08-18T14:02:00.001-07:00

Daily News: The Government vs. Belmont Abbey College: NCRegister

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President Promises Robust Conscience Protection: National Catholic Register

2009-07-02T11:50:00.001-07:00

President Promises Robust Conscience Protection: National Catholic Register

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Michael Jackson on the Sabbath

2009-06-29T15:07:00.001-07:00

Michael Jackson’s Faith: National Catholic Register

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ACLU Backs Bridgeport Diocese In Fight Vs. State Agency - Courant.com

2009-06-28T06:59:00.001-07:00

ACLU Backs Bridgeport Diocese In Fight Vs. State Agency - Courant.com

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Well, well, well. We find our nemesis in support of our position...

My heroes Frankl and Wojtyla

2009-06-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I would list this quote from an article I read called "Logotherapy and the Challenge of Suffering" by Viktor Frankl. (It was published in the Journal of Existential Psychiatry from 1961 I found at work!)

"...I dare say, man never, or at least not normally and primarily, sees in the partners whom he encounters and in the causes to which he commits himself merely a means to an end; for then he actually would have destroyed any authentic relationship to them." [italics his own.]

It sounds very Wojtyla-esque. I love the authentic ring of truth that has a certain radiance when psychology and theology harmonize.

political leanings quiz

2009-06-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

My Political Views
I am a center-left social authoritarian
Left: 1.94, Authoritarian: 4.01

Political Spectrum Quiz

Thank you to e2 for showing me this quiz.

Hope

2009-06-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Click here.

Happy Birthday to our Church!

2009-05-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

How wonderful it would be to be in Rome on this day! Loved these red rose petals for Pentecost!!

On the killing of George Tiller

2009-05-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sad about the whole deal. I'm sad for the person who wrongly thought it was his or her duty or right to kill another person, in a crowded area no less, (the news article I read said that he was killed while ushering at church-- did this person open fire in a church??) I'm sad for George Tiller; as far as I'm concerned, and it seems by objective standards, he was a monster. I remember reading about his Wichita clinic years ago and learning about how, after the abortion procedure, they'll let the parents hold the baby and have a lock of his or her hair, have foot and hand prints done, and I think even photographs if applicable. And they'll even have a funeral. Completely sickening; not because the baby doesn't deserve the funeral, (because surely that person deserves a proper burial,) but just because of the warped understanding of what's taking place. The babies aren't dying from natural causes but from the desire of the parents. Tiller was not an OB who happened to also perform abortions from time to time, but he was the most famous abortionist since he encouraged these procedures at any gestational age. He was famous for partial-birth abortions... That is so horrifying. I'm sad for his soul--that he most likely died unrepentant with all those gruesome killings on his hands. I'm sad for the pro-life movement, because surely many will use this condemnable act as a way to ignore the real arguments of this issue, and we don't need this unassociated diversion.
Thank you, Fr. Pavone, for all of your hard work.
For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Ambassador?

2009-05-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Senyor Diaz, how could you support Sibelius? (Someone teach me how to type a tilda!!!)

Well said.

2009-05-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Georgetown Jesuit on ND
POSTED BY TOM HOOPES
Saturday, May 09, 2009 9:14 AM

By William Blazek, SJ, M.D., FACP

“Is all this bluster over Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony honors for President Obama simply in-house spring cleaning for the American Catholic Church? Not by a long shot.

“The deeper question is whether it is ever suitable, in Catholic environments or elsewhere, to acclaim a man as an icon of accomplishment in the arena of civil rights when he has proposed, instituted and funded policies which deny the fundamental dignity of an entire category of disenfranchised human beings.”

Thus begins an article by William Blazek, a Jesuit scholastic, an assistant professor of medicine and medical ethicist in the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington. He continues:

The debate over the University of Notre Dame’s plan to bestow an honorary doctorate upon Obama this month is much more than a local tempest in a purely Catholic teapot. The question is crucial to the interests of all Americans. At its heart, it is a battle for the very soul of our nation, a battle over whom we include at the table of life and how far our society is willing to go to exclude those who are not welcome at it.

As has been widely discussed these past weeks, some prominent educators have supported Father Jenkins’ invitation as part of a process of open academic engagement, one that recognizes Obama’s significance as the first African-American chief executive and that touches upon a broad spectrum of social and political issues. Others, Harvard’s Mary Ann Glendon most notable among them, have cited the bishops’ 2004 guidance “Catholics in Political Life” in questioning whether a premier Catholic university can honor with a degree a man who has acted “in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.”

The president’s public record makes clear that he is no moderate on the moral permissibility of abortion and embryonic destruction. Any suggestion otherwise is a distortion of reality and insults the intelligence of the American people. In his first 100 days in office, he approved federal funding for research that destroys human embryos and repealed restrictions on the use of tax dollars to support abortions conducted overseas. At the same time, he appointed hard-line abortion rights supporters such as Hillary Clinton, Kathleen Sebelius and Rahm Emanuel to the most prominent positions in his cabinet and staff.

As a U.S. senator, Barack Obama co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, which would make it illegal for any physician or hospital to conscientiously refrain from committing abortions. While an Illinois legislator, he opposed a ban on partial-birth abortion, the macabre procedure in which a near-term abortee’s brains are suctioned from the skull while arms, legs and torso dangle outside the mother’s birth canal. Critics of water boarding step aside; we are in the big time.

President Obama’s general defense of a woman’s control over her body rests on rock-solid foundations, but his ethic and the policies built upon it err in failing to recognize that there is always a “second patient” in any pregnancy. In this administration’s worldview, the mother holds all the cards, the embryo or fetus none. Sound medical practice recognizes that, just as the president’s position on life does not exist in a vacuum, neither does a patient’s autonomy. Both the mother’s freedom of action and her unborn child’s humanity are factors at play in every decision during any pregnancy or delivery.

Barack Obama’s election was indeed a historic event, especially as a great sign of the more complete and substantive incorporation of a long-excluded minority in the American political and social experiment.

That accomplishment notwithstanding, the president’s policies and publicly stated philosophy push a profoundly marginalized group further into the cold — his actions afford them no moral status and moreover directly harm them. This is a grave abrogation of the civil rights of the unborn, and our social institutions, Catholic or otherwise, cannot blithely ignore Mr. Obama’s full cooperation in this injustice while handing out lauds for his other achievements.

William Blazek, a Jesuit scholastic, is an assistant professor of medicine and medical ethicist in the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

"Grammar nerds say, 'What, what!'"

2009-05-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Waffle House

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Ah, she's my girl...

Catholic Vote

2009-05-09T19:01:00.001-07:00

Catholic Vote

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Watch out for Millstones...

2009-05-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Bart Ehrman

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage

Oh, Douglas, we pray for you...

2009-05-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Douglas Kmiec

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage

I have to watch this again soon...

2009-05-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

One of the funniest scenes ever. (You may have to view the movie if you don't agree with me...)
Rushmore -- Offbeat comedy about a hyperactive 15-year-old (Jason Schwartzman) whose crush on a widowed schoolteacher (Olivia Williams) leads him to extremes in trying to stop his closest friend, a married millionaire (Bill Murray), from romancing her. Directed by Wes Anderson, the bittersweet tale of teenage angst is helped by performances which aptly blend humor with pathos as the youth learns about rejection and forgiveness. Brief violence, an implied affair, a few crass sexual references and a flash of nude pin-ups, a scene of underage drinking, occasional rough language and minimal profanity. (A-III) (R) ( 1998 )

Fortenberry v Clinton :)

2009-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you, e2.
Had I been there and had time, I would have addressed this with Clinton.
1. The Thomas Jefferson example doesn't work in this situation because we are talking about an organization (PP) that was founded on just those quotations that Fortenberry lists. If Thomas Jefferson had instituted a company that bought and sold people, (given his interest in slavery,) we would not be supporting that organization or giving it stimulus money.
2. She sounds pretty condescending.
3. I've forgotten. I've played pirate and helped Sophia cut and paste since I wrote number 1.
:)
Please excuse me.

Via Crucis AND Via Lucis

2009-04-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

I just found out merely minutes ago that there is a devotion called Via Lucis, translated the Way of Light. Not to confuse you with Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) which is a devotion that commemorates the significant events of Christ's passion from the condemnation to being placed in the tomb. Here are the "stations" of Light if you are interested, along with their corresponding gospel texts---

Via Lucis

1. Jesus Rises From the Dead (Matthew 28:1-7)

2. The Disciples Find the Tomb Empty (John 20:1-9)

3. The Risen Lord Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18)

4. The Risen Lord Appears to Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27)

5. The Risen Lord Is Recognized at the Breaking of Bread (Luke 24:28-35)

6. The Risen Lord Appears to His Disciples (Luke 24:36-43)

7. The Lord Gives the Power to Forgive Sins (John 20:19-23)

8. The Lord Confirms the Faith of Thomas (John 20:24-29)

9. The Risen Lord Meets His Disciples on the Shore of Lake Tiberias (John 21:1-13)

10. The Risen Lord Confers the Primacy on Peter (John 21:15-17)

11. The Risen Lord Entrusts to His Disciples the Mission to the World (Matthew 28:16-20)

12. The Risen Lord Ascends to the Father (Acts 1:6-11)

13. Waiting for the Holy Spirit With Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Acts 1:12-14)

14. The Risen Lord Sends the Holy Spirit Promised to the Disciples (Acts 2:1-13)

Gianna Jessen in Australia

2009-04-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

sing along/weep along

2009-04-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Will my childhood sweetheart see the light?

2009-04-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

from my new favorite movie...

2009-03-31T13:48:00.001-07:00

So Slumdog won Best Picture and this Best Song; they should have won Best Closing Credits, too...

This is for Billy...

2009-03-31T13:39:00.001-07:00

WooHoo-- a shout out to PTC! (Oh, brother...)

2009-03-17T21:06:00.001-07:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Better Know a District - Georgia's 8th - Lynn Westmoreland

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Mark Sanford
NASA Name Contest

From Papa Benny

2009-03-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

“How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking? The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what St Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4: 14) comes true.

“Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.

"We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth.

"We must develop this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - that creates unity and is fulfilled in love.”

Stay tuned for...

2009-02-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

my next blog on the development and formation of children as it corresponds to ethical theories.... I feel like a genius when I ponder this; surely someone has matched these up before... I promise it won't be long...

What About 'Porn Brain'?: National Catholic Register

2009-02-24T07:01:00.001-08:00

What About 'Porn Brain'?: National Catholic Register

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Thank you, Fr. Frank

2009-02-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Regina Caeli Academy held 2 performances of The Fabulous Fathers Priest Talent Show. Fr. Frank Richardson performed at the matinee, and along with some jokes, he sang a beautiful Irish tune. God graced him with a great voice.
But here, for your enjoyment, I thought I'd post some of his simpler jokes. Your kids may get a kick out of these:

1. Who is the patron saint of travel agents?
2. Who is the patron saint of department stores?
3. Who is the patron saint of cosmetics?

Answers:
1. St. Martin of Tours (FYI-- actually the patron saint of horses and soldiers)
2. St. Francis de Sales (FYI-- actually the patron saint of writers and deafness)
3. St. Peter Chanel (FYI-- actually the patron saint of Oceania)

I love Catholic Cheese!

Proud Women, Lustful Men: National Catholic Register

2009-02-20T16:41:00.001-08:00

Proud Women, Lustful Men: National Catholic Register

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Ah...

2009-02-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and the Persecution of Civil Society

2009-02-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

BY JENNIFER ROBACK MORSE
June 8-14, 2008 Issue | Posted 6/3/08 at 11:48 AM on ncregister.com

Advocates of same-sex “marriage” present the idea as a step forward for tolerance and respect. But recent developments place that interpretation very much in doubt.

Legalizing same-sex “marriage” is not a stand-alone policy, independent of all the other activities of the state. Once governments assert that same-sex unions are the equivalent of marriage, those governments must defend and enforce a whole host of other social changes.

Unfortunately, these government-enforced changes conflict with a wide array of ordinary liberties, including religious freedom and ordinary private property rights.

It began with the persecution of Catholic Charities in Boston. The archdiocese eventually closed down its adoption program, because the state of Massachusetts insisted that every adoption agency in the state must allow same-sex couples to adopt.

Recently, a Methodist organization in New Jersey lost part of its tax-exempt status because it refused to allow two lesbian couples to use their facility for a civil union ceremony. In Quebec, a Mennonite school was informed that it must conform to the official provincial curriculum, which includes teaching homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle.

At last report, the Mennonites were considering leaving the province rather than permit the imposition of the state-sponsored curriculum on their children.

And recently, a wedding photographer in New Mexico faces a hearing with the state’s Human Rights Commission because she declined the business of a lesbian couple. She didn’t want to take photos of their commitment ceremony.

The underlying pattern is unmistakable. Legalizing same-sex “marriage” has brought in its wake state regulation of other parts of society. The problem is sometimes presented as an issue of religious freedom, and so, in part, it is. But the issue runs deeper than religious freedom.

McGill University professor Douglas Farrow argues in his book A Nation of Bastards that redefining marriage allows the government to colonize all of civil society.

If same-sex couples can marry each other, they should be allowed to adopt. Anyone who says otherwise is acting against the policy of the state. If same-sex couples can have civil unions, then denying them the use of any facility they want for their ceremony amounts to unlawful discrimination. When the state says that same sex couples are equivalent to opposite-sex couples, school curriculum will inevitably have to support this claim.

Marriage between men and women is a pre-political, naturally emerging social institution. Men and women come together to create children, independently of any government. The duty of caring for those children exists even without a government or any political order.

Marriage protects children as well as the interests of each parent in their common project of raising those children.

Because marriage is an organic part of civil society, it is robust enough to sustain itself, with minimal assistance from the state.

By contrast, same-sex “marriage” is completely a creation of the state.

Same-sex couples cannot have children. Someone must give them a child or at least half the genetic material to create a child. The state must detach the parental rights of the opposite-sex parent and then attach those rights to the second parent of the same-sex couple.

The state must create parentage for the same-sex couple. For the opposite-sex couple, the state merely recognizes parentage.

In her essay in The Meaning of Marriage, Seana Sugrue argues that the state must coddle and protect same-sex “marriage” in ways that opposite-sex marriage does not require.

Precisely because same-sex unions are not the same as opposite-sex marriage, the state must intervene to make people believe (or at least make them act as if they believe) that the two types of unions are equivalent.

Public schools in California are soon going to be required to be “gay friendly.” A doctor has been sued because she didn’t want to perform an artificial insemination on a lesbian couple. A private school is in trouble for disciplining two female students for kissing. All in the name of supporting the rights of same-sex couples to “equality” with straight couples.

The fact that opposite- and same-sex couples are different in significant ways means that there will always be scope for the state to expand its reach into more and more private areas of more and more people’s lives.

Perhaps some people think it is okay to shut down Catholic adoption agencies, because the Catholics have it coming to them: The Church’s enemies are many. Perhaps some people don’t care for Methodists, and don’t care whether they lose their tax-exempt status.

But the Mennonites? These are the most inoffensive people on the planet. They have been pacifists for centuries. Their continued existence here in North America is a testimony to the strength of our ideals of religious tolerance and pluralism, in all the best senses of those terms. But now, in the name of equality of same-sex couples, the Mennonites are being driven out of Quebec.

Perhaps you think people have a natural civil right to marry the person of their choosing. But can you really force yourself to believe that wedding photography is a civil right?

Maybe you believe that same-sex couples are entitled to have children, somehow. But is any doctor they might encounter required to inseminate them?

Advocates of same-sex “marriage” insist that theirs is a modest reform: a mere expansion of marriage to include people currently excluded. But the price of same-sex “marriage” is a reduction in tolerance for everyone else, and an expansion of the power of the state.

Jennifer Roback Morse is the senior fellow in economics at the Acton Institute and the author of Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village, newly reissued in paperback.

Blood Diamond

2009-02-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Compelling action-adventure set in Africa's Sierra Leone as a mercenary (a superb Leonardo DiCaprio), a crusading U.S. reporter (Jennifer Connelly) and a frantic African fisherman (Djimon Hounsou) who's been separated from his family join forces against a backdrop of bloody civil war and plundering of the country's natural resources. Director Edward Zwick masterfully balances the action sequences with the more intimate ones. The film, though overly long, delivers on entertainment value, while imparting a worthy message about the immoral origin of conflict diamonds and the exploitation of child soldiers, and delivers a strong affirmation of family, while the DiCaprio-Connelly romance is refreshingly devoid of overt sexual elements. Much violence and bloodshed though admirably restrained in its presentation, murder, rough language and profanity, crude expressions, threat of rape, underage drinking and smoking. A-III -- adults. (R) 2006

(While I turned my head instinctively from the violence, it was very well done. I dropped many tears. Maybe you will, too.)

dyspeptic

2009-02-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

|disˈpeptik|
adjective
of or having indigestion or consequent irritability or depression.
noun
a person who suffers from indigestion or irritability.

Hancock

2009-02-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

Ultimately muddled action film in which a dyspeptic, alcoholic Los Angeles superhero (Will Smith), whose good deeds often lead to mayhem, finds the road to reform laid out for him by an idealistic PR executive (Jason Bateman) made bumpy by his deep attraction to his new friend's wife (Charlize Theron). With its clever premise and dizzying special effects, the first part of director Peter Berg's film works well enough, but after one snappy plot twist bogs down in the murky mythology of its back story. Moderately intense fantasy action, partial rear nudity, some vulgar humor, occasional rough and much crude language, a profanity and an obscene gesture. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2008

Psalm 43

2009-02-05T08:00:00.001-08:00

Defend me, O God, and plead my cause
against a godless nation.
From deceitful and cunning men
rescue me, O God.

Since you, O God, are my stronghold,
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go mourning
oppressed by the foe?

O send forth your light and your truth;
let these be my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain
to the place where you dwell.

And I will come to the altar of God,
the God of my joy.
My redeemer, I will thank you on the harp,
O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, my soul,
why groan within me?
Hope in God; I will praise him still,
my savior and my God.

Especially for my students...

2009-01-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

Speaking Italian

2009-01-19T19:44:00.001-08:00

Quote of the Day

2009-01-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

From Thomas Reynolds's Vulnerable Communion:

"Neediness, vulnerability, or lack of ability is not a flaw detracting from an otherwise pure and complete human nature. Rather, it is testimony to the fact that our nature involves receiving our existence from each other."

Christianity as superstition?

2009-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Lately, more and more, I've heard those not partial to religious belief describe it as "superstition" or as a "hobby." Mind you, this is done with complete compassion and condescension. One professor, quoted in the film Expelled, referred to religious belief as "knitting" and that he wouldn't want to take that away from anybody, but at the same time God does not exist and so, while you may keep that hobby of yours that is comforting and recreational, know that it has no bearing on reality.
Hmph!
I think that it is a common trait of "humanness" to have superstitious thought or contrive pieces of a belief system to attain some comfort, regardless of the worldview; however! Magisterial Christian theology and morality is absolutely NOT based on being comforted, at least not in the "knitting" sort of way. There is great paradoxical comfort. In giving of your self, you receive. In dying to self, you gain eternal life. Looking to the stars to determine your future is completely different than acknowledging and behaving in a way that underscores the reality that your decisions have an impact in your life and the life of others and given that, we have some ultimate responsibilities. Fulfilling these responsibilities is in no way a recreational activity. It seems to me that the 'godless' view is the cop-out. What did atheism ever do for anybody?

Awesome New Catholicvote.com Video!

2009-01-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

Are we continuing the 'Will to Disbelieve?'

2009-01-18T17:55:00.000-08:00

I am completely amazed by the continual 'finding out' of pioneers in the birth control or abortion platform that have done a 180 in light of empirical evidence, personal experience, or spiritual conversion (or all of the above) and have left these horrid, inhumane ideas by the wayside.
Yet another brave soul steps up and takes responsibility for his role in this frightening plague on the meaning of personhood.
Click here for the article.

Wafa Sultan's Famous Interview

2009-01-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

According to a "quiz" on FB:

2009-01-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

What Action Hero Am I?

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)
You are smart and kind. You aren't mean to anyone and always think ahead. You don't like war but you aren't a hippie. You only use violence in defence and only rarely hurt people. You are worried about your friends and you are very honorable and obey your master.

(I can't believe how accurate it is!!)

DEO GRATIAS!

2009-01-16T07:44:00.001-08:00

Last printed words of Fr. Neuhaus

2009-01-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

As of this writing, I am contending with a cancer, presently of an unknown origin. I am, I am given to believe, under the expert medical care of the Sloan-Kettering clinic here in New York. I am grateful beyond measure for your prayers storming the gates of heaven.
Be assured that I neither fear to die nor refuse to live. If it is to die, all that has been is but a slight intimation of what is to be. If it is to live, there is much that I hope to do in the interim. After the last round with cancer fifteen years ago, I wrote a little book, As I Lay Dying (titled after William Faulkner after John Donne), in which I said much of what I had to say about the package deal that is mortality.
I did not know that I had much more to learn. And yes, the question has occurred to me that, if I have but a little time to live, should I be spending it writing this column. I have heard it attributed to figures as various as Brother Lawrence and Martin Luther--when asked what they would do if they knew they were going to die tomorrow, they answered that they would plant a tree and say their prayers. (Luther is supposed to have added that he would quaff his favored beer.) Maybe I have, at least metaphorically, planted a few trees, and certainly I am saying my prayers.
Who knew that at this point in life I would be understanding, as if for the first time, the words of Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong"? This is not a farewell. Please God, we will be pondering together the follies and splendors of the Church and the world for years to come. But maybe not. In any event, when there is an unidentified agent in your body aggressively attacking the good things your body is intended to do, it does concentrate the mind.
The entirety of our prayer is "Your will be done"--not as a note of resignation but of desire beyond expression. To that end, I commend myself to your intercession, and that of all the saints and angels who accompany us each through time toward home.

Rest In Peace, Fr. Neuhaus

2009-01-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

We will miss you so much! No one could ever take your place. May you be taken swiftly into the arms of our Loving Father and may you be an even stronger advocate for us in Heaven.

Fr. Neuhaus on death:
"We are born to die. Not that death is the purpose of our being born, but we are born toward death, and in each of our lives the work of dying is already underway. The work of dying well is, in largest part, the work of living well. Most of us are at ease in discussing what makes for a good life, but we typically become tongue-tied and nervous when the discussion turns to a good death. As children of a culture radically, even religiously, devoted to youth and health, many find it incomprehensible, indeed offensive, that the word “good” should in any way be associated with death. Death, it is thought, is an unmitigated evil, the very antithesis of all that is good.
Death is to be warded off by exercise, by healthy habits, by medical advances. What cannot be halted can be delayed, and what cannot forever be delayed can be denied. But all our progress and all our protest notwithstanding, the mortality rate holds steady at 100 percent.

Death is the most everyday of everyday things. It is not simply that thousands of people die every day, that thousands will die this day, although that too is true. Death is the warp and woof of existence in the ordinary, the quotidian, the way things are. It is the horizon against which we get up in the morning and go to bed at night, and the next morning we awake to find the horizon has drawn closer. From the twelfth-century Enchiridion Leonis comes the nighttime prayer of children of all ages: 'Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray thee Lord my soul to take.' Every going to sleep is a little death, a rehearsal for the real thing."

from Wiki:
Richard John Neuhaus (May 14, 1936 – January 8, 2009) was a prominent Catholic priest and writer born in Canada and living in the United States, where he had become a naturalized United States citizen. He was the founder and editor of the monthly journal First Things and the author of several books, including The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America (1984), The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World (1987), and Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth (2006).

One could only dream to write like you do... so grateful you've left us so much!

Please see the First Things website for more information.

answering the call...

2009-01-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

He's going to the same seminary Fr. Kevin went to!! :) Our prayers are with you, Chase!

The Role of Conscience in Medicine

2009-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

Speakers Farr Curlin, (Catholic physician pictured above,) an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, and Martha Swartz, an attorney and adjunct professor of law at Rutgers School of Law-Camden, present the topic The Role of Conscience in Medicine at the Center for Law, Health, and Society at Georgia State University.

Legally Blonde

2009-01-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

Determined to dazzle the boyfriend (Matthew Davis) who dumped her for a smarter girl, a flighty sorority co-ed (Reese Witherspoon) ends up attending Harvard Law School alongside him. As directed by Robert Luketic, Witherspoon makes the predictable, frivolous film stand out even when the light-hearted ``dumb blonde'' jokes fade. Some mild sexual references with a smattering of crass language and an instance of profanity. A-II (PG-13) 2001

Rocky Balboa

2009-01-04T18:21:00.001-08:00

Sixth and ostensibly final round in the "Rocky" saga, in which former heavyweight champ Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), now a widower, estranged from his son (Milo Ventimiglia) and running a restaurant, comes out of retirement, stepping into the ring against the current champ (Antonio Tarver) to prove he has plenty of heart left in his aging body. Written and directed by Stallone, this new chapter is arguably the best in the series since the 1976 original, emphasizing character and emotional drama over fight action, while imparting an inspirational message about perseverance and giving it your all, win or lose. Some bloody boxing violence and a few mildly crude expressions. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2006

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2009-01-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Provocative documentary intended to show that academics and research scientists are penalized for merely suggesting that there might be flaws in the prevailing theory of Neo-Darwinian evolution and that purported scientific evidence for the alternate theory of intelligent design is being systematically ignored. Director Nathan Frankowski's unabashedly partisan film -- using old movie clips to humorously underscore the film's themes of suppression and duplicity, and with at least some of the interviewees seemingly caught off guard by the line of questioning -- is impishly hosted and co-written by former presidential speechwriter, economist and sometime actor Ben Stein. Holocaust imagery and mature philosophical issues. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2008

Great minds think alike... :)

2009-01-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

Spirit Of The Season
More Virgin Mary, Less Virgin Islands
by the Rev. James Martin
All Things Considered, NPR
December 17, 2008 ·

It's the middle of the day, and I'm opening my Christmas cards. And what do I see when I tear open the envelope? Not Baby Jesus in his manger. Not the Virgin Mary. Not even the Wise Men. No, chances are the card will be a photo of a family on some beach in the Caribbean. Or a picture of somebody's house. Or someone's dog wearing reindeer horns.

These are the new favorite Christmas cards, for even the most pious Christians: the family cards.

Family cards display — on the front — a photo of a happy family, typically wearing red-and-green scarves or red-and-green sweaters. Sometimes the family dog is included, wearing a scarf covered with slobber. Just as often, family cards show the clan on their summer vacation, posing jauntily in bathing suits in the Caribbean. These cards don't say "Merry Christmas" as much as "Look where you didn't go!"

Look, I love family photos during the holidays. Plus, I actually read those annual holiday letters, all of which start with "What a busy year it's been!" Seeing photos of my friends and their families and even enjoying a few sunny beach scenes when it's cold and dark outside is a highlight of December.

But I enjoy the photos more when they're inside the card, not the card itself. Because more and more, even devout Christians have been replacing Jesus, Mary and Joseph with themselves. Doesn't it strike you as weird to set aside the Holy Family in favor of your family? Does a photo of Cabo San Lucas trump the story told by the original San Lucas? Is Christmas really about you?

Still unconvinced? Try a thought experiment. For your next birthday, how would you feel about getting a birthday card with my photo on it? "Happy Birthday! It's a photo of me!" My modest campaign against family cards has less chance of success than another Ralph Nader presidential bid. People will accuse me of being anti-family. But I'm not: I'm more pro-Holy Family. Plus, I'm battling Snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak and a lot of online card stores that have been promoting this idea with more resources than a poor Jesuit can muster.

So I'll leave you with a simple plea. Place those great photos inside the card. Or how about this: When choosing your Christmas cards this year, think more Jesus and less you. Or, more Virgin Mary, and less Virgin Islands.

The Rev. James Martin is a Jesuit priest and author of My Life with the Saints.

Brett Dennen 30 Jan 09 at Variety Playhouse

2009-01-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

Ray and I are going to our first non-classical concert since... well, actually, I think since Soul Miner's Daughter in 1999.
I'll let you know how it goes... :)

That's my Papa!!

2008-12-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

Pope puts stress on 'gay threat' from BBC News Europe
"If tropical forests deserve our protection, humankind... deserves it no less."
Pope Benedict has called for "an ecology of the human being."

Pope Benedict XVI has said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.
He explained that defending God's creation is not limited to saving the environment, but also protecting man from self-destruction.
The pope was delivering his end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff.
His words, later released to the media, emphasised his total rejection of gender theory.
Pope Benedict XVI warned that gender theory blurs the distinction between male and female and could thus lead to the "self-destruction" of the human race.

Gender theory
Gender theory explores sexual orientation, the roles assigned by society to individuals according to their gender, and how people perceive their biological identity.

Gay and transsexual groups, particularly in the United States, promote it as a key to understanding and tolerance, but the pope disagreed.
When the Roman Catholic Church defends God's Creation, "it does not only defend the earth, water and the air... but (it) also protects man from his own destruction," the pope said.
"If tropical forests deserve our protection, humankind... deserves it no less," the 81-year-old pontiff said, calling for "an ecology of the human being."
It is not "outmoded metaphysics" to urge respect for the "nature of the human being as man and woman," he told scores of prelates gathered in the Vatican's sumptuous Clementine Hall.
The Catholic Church opposes gay marriage. It teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are.

'Rock festival'
The pope uses his traditional end-of-year speech to offer his Christmas greetings and say a few words about what he considers the important issues of the day.
This year, Pope Benedict also deplored the tendency to depict the Catholic church's World Youth Day, which he attended in Sydney earlier this year, as mere spectacle.
He stressed that the event should not be considered a "variant of modern youth culture, as a kind of ecclesiastical rock festival with the Pope as the star," but as the fruition of a "long exterior and interior path".

Bagel Rolls at ThaiCoon Sushi

2008-12-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

Mmm... thought I'd post my favorite roll... Ray thinks it's funny that, given Japanese food's reputation for being healthy, that my favorite dish is deep fried. (ThaiCoon Sushi deep fries each piece, unlike in the picture.)
It is a DEElicious roll of rice and nori, of course, with salmon, cream cheese, and scallions. The frying causes the salmon to become cooked, so this might appeal to those of you who do not like raw fish.
ThaiCoon Sushi is on the corner of Clifton and Briarcliff. It's yummy!

sybaritic

2008-12-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

|ˌsibəˈritik|
adjective
fond of sensuous luxury or pleasure; self-indulgent

Grove Park Inn

2008-12-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

My new indulgent pleazure...

Iron Man

2008-12-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

Sleekly effective science-fiction tale about a devil-may-care playboy weapons manufacturer (Robert Downey Jr.) who, after being captured by an ambitious Afghanistan-based warlord (Faran Tahir) and ordered to build a replica of his most advanced product, with the help of another captive and scientist (Shaun Toub), instead constructs an impregnable suit of armor, escapes, and begins to re-evaluate his life, with the support of his loyal girl Friday (Gwyneth Paltrow) and despite the doubts of his junior partner (Jeff Bridges) and military liaison (Terrence Howard). In between the impressive special effects, executive producer-director Jon Favreau's screen adaptation of this popular comic-book series charts its main character's conversion from callous genius to dedicated defender. Nongraphic sexual activity, torture, a graphic medical procedure, sci-fi violence, occasional crude language, a brief profanity, sexual humor and innuendo. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2008

News a Distributionist like me appreciates reading...

2008-12-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

Caterpillar Cuts From The Top
Ruthie Ackerman
Machinery maker will slash executive pay by up to 50%.

Caterpillar is taking the high road to cutbacks: the maker of tractors and other construction and mining equipment, said Monday it would drastically slash senior-level compensation, while making shallower cuts lower down in the ranks.

“Good companies become great companies when facing and addressing adversity, and over the decades that has been the case for Caterpillar,” said Chief Executive Jim Owens. “During these uncertain times we will position the company for long-term growth, continued industry leadership and global competitiveness.”

For 2009, the company will cut executive pay by up to 50.0%, compensation for senior managers by 5.0% to 35.0%, and other management and support staff by up to 15.0%. The company will also halt merit pay increases for management and support employees and has instituted a hiring freeze.

Caterpillar is also offering buyouts until Jan. 12 to management and support employees in the United States.

The news comes on the heels of another announcement by the company that it would lay off 814 workers at its Mossville, Ill., engine assembly.

Even as the economic downturn hit the United States, Caterpillar was able to weather the storm because of its strong international presence and the global commodities boom, which motivated its clients to continue investing in equipment. (See “Caterpillar Shifts Into Low Gear.”) But by November commodity prices were receding, and although Caterpillar hadn’t felt the pain yet, falling demand for raw materials was expected to hurt its international sales. (See “The CAT’s Meow.”) Last month, Owens said the company would lay off or transfer an unspecified number of employees at U.S. plants in Sanford, N.C., and Mossville, and in Leicester, England and Grenoble, France.

Caterpillar said its individual business units will continue to reduce costs through temporary factory shutdowns and job cuts as economic conditions call for action.

Code Pink!

2008-12-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Marines in Berkeley

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Stepbrothers

2008-12-05T12:46:00.001-08:00

Frantic confrontational comedy in which two middle-age but immature stay-at-home sons, one a would-be singer (Will Ferrell), the other an aspiring drummer (John C. Reilly), become unwilling roommates and violent rivals after their respective single parents (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins) wed, later bonding as friends based on their common hatred of the former's smarmily successful younger brother (Adam Scott). Affirmations of familial loyalty and enduring idealism lose out, in director and co-writer Adam McKay's film, to all manner of distasteful excess. Nongraphic premarital and adulterous sexual activity, frontal male nudity, pervasive sexual and scatological humor, drug and pornography references, pervasive rough and crude language, and some profanity. O -- morally offensive. (R) 2008

mugwump

2008-11-28T08:26:00.001-08:00

|ˈməgˌwəmp|
noun
a person who remains aloof or independent, esp. from party politics.
• a Republican who in 1884 refused to support James G. Blaine, the Republican nominee for president.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from Algonquian mugquomp ‘great chief.’

The O Fi Su

2008-11-24T18:03:00.001-08:00

Dr Katz AND Jim Gaffigan

2008-11-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

howobamagotelected.com:

2008-11-23T19:15:00.001-08:00

Baby Mama

2008-11-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Frequently funny but morally problematic romantic comedy about a hard-driving grocery chain executive (Tina Fey) who, incapable of bearing a child, hires an unpolished woman (Amy Poehler) to be a surrogate mother, subsequently becoming her roommate when the latter splits from her deadbeat common-law husband (Dax Shepard) while herself becoming attached to an ex-lawyer turned juice-bar owner (Greg Kinnear). Writer-director Michael McCullers' partially improvised feature debut, with a cast that also includes Sigourney Weaver and Steve Martin, abounds in comic energy but implicitly accepts current mores regarding fertility that are contrary to Catholic values. Acceptability of surrogate parenting and artificial insemination, implied premarital sex, some crude and crass language, sexual and scatological humor, and a drug reference. O -- morally offensive. (PG-13) 2008
----my input to come....

What I made for dinner tonight

2008-11-17T18:31:00.001-08:00

Chicken Pesto Sandwich:
grilled chicken breast
hoagie roll
tomato
romaine lettuce
special sauce: pesto, mayo, and freshly grated Parmesan

paired with "Erika's Fries"
chopped potatoes
chopped celery
chopped carrots
chopped garlic
salt, pepper, and of course Tony Chechere's!

Rocky

2008-11-15T20:02:00.001-08:00

Underdog Philadelphia club fighter Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) has a shot at the heavyweight championship with the help of a tough old trainer (Burgess Meredith). Director John Avildsen concentrates on the gritty, back-street quality of life in the old neighborhood and the relationship that grows between Rocky and the introverted sister (Talia Shire) of his best friend (Burt Young). The bloody brutality of the prizefight game is abundantly evident. (A-III) (PG) ( 1976 )

[no title needed]

2008-11-12T19:13:00.001-08:00

Mr and Mrs Josip Petrac!

2008-11-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

In beautiful Baska! Oh, that place is lovely...

Another quote from my dear sweet hero...

2008-11-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

"Only a Christian anthropology, enriched by the contribution of indisputable scientific data, including that of modern psychology and psychiatry, can offer a complete and thus realistic view of humans."
Pope John Paul II address to The Tribunal of the Roman Rota (1995)

Fight FOCA

2008-11-11T06:08:00.000-08:00

HILARIOUS!

2008-11-07T05:36:00.001-08:00

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Get'em, Barney!

2008-11-06T16:29:00.001-08:00

One last negative ad...

2008-11-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Take that!

2008-11-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

I got this from http://amywelborn.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/mano-a-mano/

Dueling letters in Public Discourse

Kmiec

My dear Archbishop Charles,

I want to thank you publicly for your thoughtful inquiry into how best to build a culture of life in the United States in the coming years. Seeing a small snippet of a YouTube discussion of yours brought back happy memories of sharing a table with you during my deanship at CUA. You are as well spoken a defender of the faith as I remember. That said, you and I do differ on the intent of Cardinal Ratzinger’s instruction of ”proportionate reasons” and as related concepts receive elaboration in Faithful Citizenship. I am fearful that your interpretation will lead many in parishes around the country to neglect what they can do to build up the culture of life through the promotion of the social gospel in its fullest sense. You, I know, are apprehensive about emphasis upon the social gospel that neglects taking steps to align the law with the protection of life. In my judgment, there is no reason these two are in opposition even as the candidates have made them so each in their own way. This requires careful evaluation in the Conference of Bishops.

Chaput

I’m grateful to Prof. Doug Kmiec as well for his letter. While we do not share a friendship and have had little contact in the past, Prof. Kmiec is right about the need for civility in public debate. Since I belong to a growing number of bishops excoriated by blogs on the cultural left–including blogs tied to otherwise respected Catholic publications and to scholars that, in the words of Prof. Kmiec, ‘’should know better”–I understand his discomfort with the tone of this election.

Nonetheless, good manners do not trump facts, and as an attorney himself, Prof. Kmiec surely knows the importance of candor. ..

snip

Sen. Barack Obama has promised to sign a sweepingly abortion-friendly ”Freedom of Choice” Act; authorize human cloning to produce embryos for stem cell research in which they are killed; cut off funding for prolife pregnancy clinics; and nominate only ”pro-choice” judges to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Maybe all of these commitments are an elegant charade. Maybe I’ve missed a ”prolife” theme in here somewhere. But no matter. Along with many, many other Catholics and prolife citizens, I look forward eagerly to Prof. Kmiec’s vocal advocacy against these profoundly unjust policies.

Cameo Voting Fun

2008-11-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

I like the non-partisan-ness...

Song for Karol by Mark Mallett

2008-11-04T05:35:00.001-08:00

Song For Karol from Mark Mallett on Vimeo.

SNL Weekend Update with McCain

2008-11-02T08:40:00.001-08:00

SNL Opening Nov. 1

2008-11-02T06:05:00.001-08:00

All Saints' Day 2008 at RCA

2008-10-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Rest In Peace, Monsignor Kenny

2008-10-30T16:03:00.001-07:00

Monsignor Tom Kenny died peacefully in his home on October 30 at the age of 69. He was the rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King for the past eighteen years and a priest for the Archdiocese of Atlanta for forty-three years.
The Reception of the Body of Monsignor Kenny will be at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, with the body lying in state from 2:00-7:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of Christ the King. A Rosary will be prayed for the repose of the soul of Monsignor Kenny at 6:30 p.m. and a Vigil Service begins at 7:00 p.m. Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory will preside over the Funeral Mass on Thursday, November 6, at 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of Christ the King. The Rite of Committal will occur at Arlington Cemetery, Sandy Springs, immediately after the Funeral Mass.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the "Monsignor Thomas Kenny Memorial Fund" sent to the Cathedral of Christ the King, 2699 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30305.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

We will miss you.
For more information on services and memorials for Mnsgr Kenny, please click here.
The Prayer of Cardinal Newman
May he support us all the day long
Till the shades lengthen
And the evening comes
And the busy world is hushed
And the fever of life is over
And our work is done.
Then, in his mercy,
May he grant us a safe lodging
And a holy rest,
And peace at last.

hirsute

2008-10-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

adj; hairy

The Day After Tomorrow

2008-10-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

Visually spectacular doomsday drama about a scientist (Dennis Quaid) trying to reunite with his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) during a worldwide environmental catastrophe triggered by global warning which, in addition to unleashing monstrous hurricanes, killer tornadoes and biblical-proportion floods, threatens to rapidly plunge Earth into a new ice age. The film is brimming with eye-popping special-effects sequences; director Roland Emmerich plays fast and loose with scientific facts to craft a high-concept rollercoaster ride full of escapist thrills but without much of a story beyond its nature-gone-mad premise. Intense scenes of natural disasters. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG-13) 2004

The Love Guru

2008-10-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

Flat comedy, only fitfully enlivened by some clever gags, about a guru (Mike Myers) enlisted by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team (Jessica Alba) to reunite their star player (Romany Malco) with his wife (Meagan Good) who has left him for his rival (an unrecognizably hirsute Justin Timberlake), the French-Canadian goalie for the opposing team, thereby restoring the former player's prowess on the ice. Unabashedly vulgar and tasteless despite its saccharine ending and some moderately redemptive elements, the film, directed at an often tentative pace by Marco Schnabel, feels too long by half and the jibes at celebrity and bogus Indian mysticism wear thin. Much sexual and scatological humor and innuendo, some crude language, adultery and an implied premarital relationship, drug references and comic violence. O -- morally offensive. (PG-13)

Sahara

2008-10-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Lackluster and, at times, absurdly silly action adventure about a roguish treasure hunter (Matthew McConaughey), who, along with his sidekick (Steve Zahn), help a U.N. doctor (Penelope Cruz) investigate a mysterious plague outbreak in a war-torn African nation which they think may be somehow linked to their search for a long-lost Civil War battleship. Directed by Breck Eisner and based on the novel by Clive Cussler, the humor-laced film, though intermittently entertaining as escapist fare, is weighed down by vapid performances, a mediocre script, risible dialogue and an overemphasis on tedious action sequences over character and story. Recurring action violence and minimal rude expressions. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2005

from ATL to A-ville

2008-10-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

So Ray and I have been interested in moving to Asheville for a while now. It's a great compromise from Sitka, Alaska; which I loved, but it is so far away. Now that Ray is in law school, the idea of moving only 3 hours away is more realistic. And if we do, this is what I want in my back yard...

from America's Choice Now

2008-10-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

hey, it's got my boys alan keyes and jim caviezel! well done. :)

me and my hubby

2008-10-28T06:25:00.001-07:00

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

2008-10-21T12:40:00.001-07:00

This year Sophia will be Mother Teresa. I'm having her wear it for trick-or-treating, too, since I have to sew this costume together. I think I will also buy a dark-skinned baby for her to carry. We'll stop by her house (which is across the street from Billy's new place!) I think the sisters would get a kick out of it! :)

St. Maria Goretti

2008-10-21T12:36:00.001-07:00

Last year, Sophia dressed up as St. Maria Goretti at her All Saint's party at school and I think she got to dress up for Mass, too. I took pictures with Ray's APS camera, but the shutter didn't work and so the film was sadly blank.
(For Halloween, the night before, she went as Tinkerbell.) Here is the official prayer of St. Maria Goretti:

Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity, look graciously on the unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially youth,with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus anything that could offend Him or stain our souls with sin. Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation, comfort in the sorrows of life, and the grace which we earnestly beg of thee (here insert intention), and may we one day enjoy with thee the imperishable glory of Heaven. Amen.

Prime Minister Yulia

2008-10-19T19:07:00.001-07:00

Diane von Furstenberg Betty

2008-10-19T17:48:00.001-07:00

Coast

2008-10-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Oli

2008-10-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Diane von Furstenberg Slater

2008-10-19T17:43:00.000-07:00