The Underground Pewster is suggesting the answer is yes and I've got to wholeheartedly endorse that answer:

Now, that was not the part of her sermon that initially caught my attention, nor was that what led me to suggest that this might be her worst sermon ever. No, it was her interpretation of the story of Paul and the slave girl that left me shaking my head. You may recall the version that Luke gives us in Acts 16,

"Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities." Acts 16:16-19 (KJV)

I understand that there are different takes on this passage, and here is mine: Paul does let the possessed girl cry out her message for several days before he casts out the spirit. One might guess that this kind of hawker might draw in the crowds initially, but being praised by the demonically possessed seems counter-productive to Paul's ministry. Paul heals the girl, freeing her from possession, but in actual fact it is not Paul doing the healing, but Jesus Christ whom Paul rightly invokes. 

Our P.B. has a very different opinion, and after she worms the obligatory remarks about homosexuality into the Gospel, she... well, read it (emphasis added) for yourself...

"We live with the continuing tension between holier impulses that encourage us to see the image of God in all human beings and the reality that some of us choose not to see that glimpse of the divine, and instead use other people as means to an end.  We’re seeing something similar right now in the changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships, as many people come to recognize that different is not the same thing as wrong.  For many people, it can be difficult to see God at work in the world around us, particularly if God is doing something unexpected."
"There are some remarkable examples of that kind of blindness in the readings we heard this morning, and slavery is wrapped up in a lot of it.  Paul is annoyed at the slave girl who keeps pursuing him, telling the world that he and his companions are slaves of God.  She is quite right.  She’s telling the same truth Paul and others claim for themselves.  But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness.  Paul can’t abide something he won’t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it.  It gets him thrown in prison.  That’s pretty much where he’s put himself by his own refusal to recognize that she, too, shares in God’s nature, just as much as he does – maybe more so!    The amazing thing is that during that long night in jail he remembers that he might find God there – so he and his cellmates spend the night praying and singing hymns."
"An earthquake opens the doors and sets them free, and now Paul and his friends most definitely discern the presence of God.  The jailer doesn’t – he thinks his end is at hand.  This time, Paul remembers who he is and that all his neighbors are reflections of God, and he reaches out to his frightened captor.  This time Paul acts with compassion rather than annoyance, and as a result the company of Jesus’ friends expands to include a whole new household.  It makes me wonder what would have happened to that slave girl if Paul had seen the spirit of God in her."

"Paul is annoyed perhaps for being put in his place"!  I don't get it, but I can only assume this is a reflection of the modern attitude that Paul was an arrogant, self righteous, homophobic, hung up, misogynist who needs a little put-down from revisionist teachers and preachers so that today's congregations won't take Paul's letters too seriously.

Paul deprives the girl of her "gift of spiritual awareness"!Are you kidding me? The girl was possessed! (Remember this comes from the leader of a church that believes that homosexual marriages are a gift from God, so with that in mind, demonic possession as a gift from God makes perfect sense).

"Paul can’t abide something he won’t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it." Oh, she must really dislike Paul, but the fact is that Paul sees demonic possession as something that is neither beautiful nor holy, whereas our Presiding Bishop sees it as a gift from God. Bad Paul: destroyer of God's gift. This too fits the revisionist picture of Paul as an intolerant man who is merely a reflection of a first century value system that we have mercifully outgrown.

"She, too, shares in God’s nature, just as much as he does – maybe more so!"
Now this is going too far. Does God's nature include possession? 
  
"The amazing thing is that during that long night in jail he remembers that he might find God there – so he and his cellmates spend the night praying and singing hymns."
The amazing thing is that anyone with a bishop's miter on her head would spread the supposition that Paul had forgotten God in the first place.

There's much more and every jot and tittle confirms for me that my departure from the ECUSA was divinely ordered... and I can't help but wonder it would take for the orthodox to leave if this ain't it.

Carry on.

This is pretty special, coming our way via Josh Vorhees at Slate:

Let's hope there are more stories like this coming out of Moore, Okla., where people continue to pick through the rubble of their town for family, friends, and pets who managed to survive the massive tornado. In the video below you'll meet Barbara Garcia, an elderly woman who rode out the storm by taking refuge in the bathroom of her since-destroyed home. Things get good—and may just get a little dusty in your office—at about the 1:35-mark when she discovers her missing dog, shaken but seemingly largely uninjured, in the rubble.* "Well I got God to answer one prayer to let me be OK, but he answered both of them because this was my second prayer," Garcia says, partly to the camera and partly to herself.

Hope amongst the rubble.

May there be similar news for missing persons in the area.

Dear God, let it be so.

The tornado death count as of this morning is 51 and that includes at least two dozen children killed in an elementary school.  The count is sure to rise in the coming days.

As always, we wonder how to help.  

NBC News is listing organizations that are gearing up to do just that.  So are the folks at USA Today and CBS News.

Locally, Operation Blessing is getting involved:

A team is already on the ground in Texas helping victims of other tornadoes and they were working out of Oklahoma City.

Tuesday morning, Bill Horan, president of Va. Beach-based Operation Blessing, boarded a plane to join the team to do whatever is needed

"Operation Blessing is really good at managing volunteers," Horan said. "We can coordinate them and focus their unfocused energy."

If you want to help out, cash is the best donation you can make. Horan says they can easily use it wherever the need is greatest.

You can make a donation on the Operation Blessing Website and follow the team's progress on its Facebook page.

Catholic Charities in Oklahoma also has a site set up to take donations.

Lastly, we can pray for God's comfort and mercy and His healing presence for all impacted by the storm.

Carry on.

As the Kermit Gosnell case fades from the memory of those few media outlets that covered the story, now comes word of yet another late term abortionist who kills babies in and out of the womb:

A leading pro-life group has put together a web site to expose Douglas Karpen. Like Kermit Gosnell, this Texas-based abortion practitioner kills unborn children who are born alive in a gruesome abortion-infanticide process.

This week, LifeNews exposed Douglas Karpen — who, like the Philadelphia-based abortion practitioner, is also killing babies born alive after botched abortions. Unlike Gosnell, who killed babies by jamming medical scissors into their necks, at his Houston abortion clinic former employees of Karpen testify he goes one shocking step further, he kills the babies wit his bare hands by twisting their necks execution style.

A new video expose’ of Douglas Karpen has three former abortion clinic employees of abortion practitioner Douglas Karpen exposing horrific practices that took place at his abortion clinic.

Because the mainstream media has done little reporting on Karpen thus far, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life has put together a new web site:www.TexasGosnell.com and is urging pro-life advocates to make the public aware of the evidence that he is killing babies born alive, and violating numerous other laws. He hopes they will contact state and local officials in Texas to ask for an investigation.

“The Harris County, Texas, District Attorney has already opened an investigation; we are sending out an action alert to the Attorney General to take swift and thorough action until this abortionist is stopped,” Pavone explained.

“As we have said, Kermit Gosnell is not the exception in the abortion industry; he is the norm. As we have seen countless cases in the past, we expect to see many more in the future. And each of them should prompt us all to action,” he added.

Pavone continued: “Priests for Life is working in partnership with Life Dynamics and Operation Rescue on highlighting the atrocities being committed in Karpen’s clinic and elsewhere. We have set up the web site TexasGosnell.com to provide vital information about the ongoing investigation and how people can support it.”

Majorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List is also calling for pro-life people to speak out about Karpen.

“Once again a “respected” abortionist has shown the true horror of abortion. Karpen has practiced in the Houston area for over 20 years, killing thousands of babies, and he will continue to perform these murders unless we stop him,” she said.

There's more at the link if you can stomach it... and elsewhere there are horrific pictures taken by the clinic workers referenced in the piece that show the heinous results of this doctor's actions.  It is pure evil.

How anyone can do this sort of thing and not be driven absolutely bat poop crazy by their conscience and the associated guilt that ought to ensue can only be explained by the perpetrator being completely and utterly soulless.  There is no other explanation.

Evil is real and can be found at abortion clinics around the globe.

What exactly are you and I willing to do about it?

Carry on.

Nicole Demille, like me, finds much that she appreciates in Catholicism.  Here she expounds:

What I have found perhaps most beneficial about being Catholic, in a practical, real life way, is the daily self-examination.  I present this analogy: in my bathroom, I have an 8x magnifying mirror.  It's great for tweezing eyebrows, and great for keeping me humble.  Because I see my face for what it really is, aging, imperfect, temporary.  It doesn't make me beat my breast and want to go out and get Botox.  It actually makes me feel free.  It's just a face.  I'm not keeping it forever.  I won't need it where I hope to be going.  The daily examination of conscience works kind of the same way.  Don't just look at your behavior and your thought patterns in a fuzzy, faraway, or cursory way.  Look at your heart and your intentions, your words and your acts, in an 8x magnifying mirror.  Now you don't look so hot.  Now you get that Scripture was right.  No, not a good man, not even one.

But you don't have to turn away from the examination of conscience and go wear a hair shirt.  You can take a few steps that are more constructive.  Confess your sins and receive absolution.  Then go about the work of implementing a two-pronged plan.  Avoid the occasions of sin, and use your newly found humility ('cause if you do Confession right, you're going to come out humbled) to aid you in loving your neighbor.  That is, after you've identified correctly and Biblically just who your neighbor is.  

Is there anyone out there who is not my neighbor?  Anyone so repugnant and evil that he does NOT deserve my prayers? Anyone who is thinking and living so contrary to the Law of God that surely she is worthy of my scorn and hatred?  Anyone so stained by sin that Jesus would surely pat me on the back for spitting on this person, laughing at this person, refusing my heart's mercy to this person?  Is there anyone at all who is so damnable and laughable and horrible that this soul is beyond forgiveness and redemption?

No, not one.

Faith that does not challenge, that does not bring one out of his or her comfort zone... is it faith worth embracing?

I'd say no.

Carry on.

Just saw this on ESPN and it cracked me up:

Graeme McDowell reached the semifinals of the World Match Play Championship after knocking out defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts, whose day include the bizarre moment of taking a penalty drop inside a restroom.

McDowell rallied from an early deficit to win 2 and 1 over his European Ryder Cup teammate on the oceanside Thracian Cliffs course and will next face Branden Grace of South Africa, who beat Chris Wood of England 2 and 1. The other semifinal will pit Thomas Aiken of South Africa against Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.

Colsaerts had the most memorable moment of the day when his tee shot on the short par-4 10th hole flew into a hazard behind a public restroom in a brick building close to the green. Because of where the ball had crossed the hazard line, tournament officials ruled that the penalty drop must be made within the restroom itself, leading to a comical moment that had Colsaerts, his caddie and rules officials all laughing.

"I ain't hitting it out of the loo," Colsaerts joked.

He didn't have to. Since it was considered an immovable obstruction he was then given free relief to play from outside.

He ended up saving par and halving the hole.

"I'm sure now the whole episode at 10 is going to make all the TV news programs, Facebook and all the social media sites with the caption: 'Here's some Belgium guy playing golf in some toilet block in Bulgaria,' " Colsaerts joked. "It's the first time I've ever hit a ball into a toilet block, and you would have thought as a kid I would have been crazy enough to practice that shot. But I never did."

I play some crappy golf... but I can honestly say it's never been this crappy.

Carry on.

On a government installation near my office sits a graveyard that dates back to the mid 1800s.  I play on a softball field adjacent to the cemetary and checked it out just last week before a game.  It's fenced off and so you can't walk amongst the headstones and grave markers but from the fence you can read a few of the inscriptions.  

On one of those markers, the names of 3 children are engraved, their ages listed as 1, 3 and 5 years old respectively, incompletely telling a tragic and heartbreaking story of young lives lost and the lives of those left behind to bury them.

This morning I came across this related piece by tiberjudy that reminded me of that pre-softball game visit to the old cemetary and the connections to the past we're missing out on today:

Back in the days when cemeteries were grand and beautiful, the living and the dead were much more connected than they are in our modern world. People were born at home and many babies died very young also at home. Families lived together with several generations under the same roof. If you were sick or injured you were treated at home where you’d either recover or die, surrounded by your family.  When you died, your body wasn’t whisked away to a funeral home. Your body was washed and dressed by family members and your wake and funeral was held, most likely, in the room where you died. Many families had burial plots on their own land. If not, the parish church always had a cemetery, usually adjacent to the church. You’d see it every time you went to Mass. You’d grow up helping to keep your family plot tended and you’d surely visit your family’s graves on birthdays and anniversaries. You knew where your kin were buried and they were still, in some ways, part of your family life. You visited them and took them flowers. As you helped pull the weeds from their graves you’d hear stories about the deceased person and these would keep their memory alive. Today’s sterile, drive-through “gardens” are rarely near the parish church. The staff there mow the grassy expanse so there’s no need for family upkeep. Without monuments or statues it’s often difficult to locate a loved one’s grave. Great for mowing but bad for encouraging family visits and reflection. Many modern cemeteries don’t allow flowers to be left on the gravesite. Dying in a sterile hospital and buried in an easy-mow plot, our dead are pretty removed from our daily lives.

Catholics believe in something called the “communion of saints.”  That means we believe that those who have died in God’s friendship are part of the same mystical Body of Christ as those of us alive on earth. If your church proclaims the Apostle’s Creed, then you believe this, too. Thus the faithful departed remain alive in Christ, just as we are. In short, we’re all in this together. Our modern culture has gone a long way towards severing any connection between the living and the dead. We hide the process of dying and we bury our dead in endless rows of unadorned identical plots. Gone are the beautiful statues of weeping angels or praying cherubs. There are no more poetic epitaphs remembering the life and loves of the deceased person. When was the last time you made a family visit to put flowers on your grandmother’s grave?  Do your children even know where your grandmother is buried?

Practically speaking, few families today could afford a lavish family tomb in one of the few grand old cemeteries that still survive. It’s even unusual to find a parish church that still has its own cemetery. And with families living all around the country, it’s hard to make frequent visits to family plots. But we can do a few things to recapture that sense of communion with our deceased family members. We can include them in our family prayers at mealtime and at bedtime. We can remember the anniversary of their death with a memorial Mass or donation to the parish in their name. We can share photographs and stories about them with our children and grandchildren. We could plant a special garden in their honor and include their favorite flowers or shrubs. The important thing is for us to teach our family that our faith in Christ makes us all members of His family and that dying doesn’t separate us from one another. Our faith connects us to one another through the love, mercy, and sacrifice of Jesus. Nothing, not even death, can separate us from His love.

          “Our dead are among the invisible, not among the absent.”
                                                     —Blessed Pope John XXIII

Beautiful piece.  And yet another reason I find my embrace of the Catholic Church so rewarding.

Tiberjudy by the way deserves to be a regular stop on your blogospheric rounds.

Nearly two months ago, I wrote:

I'd like to change the banner on the blog.  It's served me well over the years but... I think... I need something different.

But I'm not sure at this point what to change it to.  I'd like to think I'm still a brutally honest guy though trust me when I tell you that can mean different things to different people.

My bottom line is that my focus has changed a bit in the last 2 1/2 years and those who've stuck around (not all have) can see that.  I still think that the pronouncement of faith, of religion, and particularly Catholicism can in this culture be seen to be a manifestation of brutal honesty.  I also am keenly aware that brutality can be counter-productive to themessage of the gospel.  

Here's where you come in.  Especially you regular readers.  

What can maintain the motif but also give us a new yet meaningful look?

Shortly after that post, I reached out to a friend I knew had some creative and artistic abilities.  I shared the post above with her, sent her some pictures and some of my thoughts at that point as to what I was looking for and off she went.

She ended up pretty much ditching what we initially talked about, saying she literally prayed over what she should come up with next and voila... the banner was it.

I'm loving it.  It speaks to me personally and dresses the place more than just a little bit.  I loved the old banner and appreciated it for many years (or I wouldn't have kept it for so long) but my focus has evolved and I think the banner now represents more of what I hope the focus is and ought to be.  

And by the way, she who created the banner has communicated that she's willing to help others out who are looking for her kind of talent.  Just contact me, either here in the comments or my email address and I'll pass along the interest.

Carry on.

Father Robert Barron expounds on "why the Catholic Church speaking on morality is so often hard to hear, hard to take seriously."

Stay with it: