Links In Both Death and Life

Pictures of Catholic Sisters and Nuns

2011-06-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from Picaso, taken from my Religious Orders blog. Hope you enjoy it. - Oh, and a picture of a deer, some saints who were priests or male religious, and a few other things -I'm not sure how they got there.

Random Thoughts

2011-06-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Archive for Random Thoughts

Man, I just can't stand to erase stuff, can I?

May/June 2011

Tornadoes

1. They are the pits.

2. It is no fun sitting in your bathtub with a mattress over your head for what seems to be an interminable time. However, I personally know someone by Cross Lake who survived her entire house being destroyed this way, so that's what I do. I don't think she does very well emotionally when the weather is bad, since that time. Understandable.

3. I don't live in Tornado Alley. Why have I had two tornadoes pass within a quarter mile of my home in the last two years? - and others farther away, but too close.

That's a rhetorical question.

4. If you look at the map of the dead, no one died in Louisiana. However, at least two people died in Monroe on the first night of bad weather, and I think they were tornado related. I'm sure more people died than any chart is going to show.

5. I am not aware that Pat Robertson has stated that that the towns in Arkansas and Mississippi (that are no more), or the people who were in the mile long path that runs through Tuscaloosa and other places, died or were punished due to their sins. This is Bible Belt country. Is that the difference?

BUT ...

6. I really do think that God could (and might) punish people, places (things, for all I know), if He wanted to. He has in the past (the Bible says it a good many times). I'd be mighty careful about saying this, however.

7. In natural disaster, I am very likely to go with the permissive will of God idea. Also, the earth just works this way. We live with it, the best we can. Most of the time, we like (very much) the way it works.

8. I hate that I know a family in Tuscaloosa. I hate that that family know lots of other families there.

9. Tornadoes are so ugly.

10. Tornadoes have a certain beauty.

Now that I've written this down, these thoughts won't make so much noise in my head.

11/26/10

Because my Thanksgiving get together has been put off for several days, I am watching some movies and old tv shows -

I don't think I'll ever make it through the first season of "The Outer Limits" - was it on every day? The discs are two-sided, more than six hours apiece.

Twilight Zone is my favorite of that genre (I'm working my way through those also). I've noticed these things about "Outer Limits", filmed in the early 60's:

1. Men wore their pants very high - the older the man, the higher the pants. It looks remarkably odd. Charleton Heston wore high (belt-less) pants in Soylent Green, but well, he looked great in them.

2. Women get to be scientists - even mathematicians! At this point in history, it is usually taken for granted that they're working with their scientist husband, or they haven't married the (male) scientist they work with, but they'd like to. In one episode, there is even a woman of color, who is some sort of professional. -wow-

I'm not down on marriage. Marriage is wonderful - a holy relationship. Get married!

3. The aliens are always awful ugly - I mean, plum plain. Big eyes - popular. Why can't aliens be unspeakably beautiful, in some foreign sort of way? Huh? I don't know. We had to wait for Star Trek - although their aliens were often ugly, they were valued occasionally.

4. These ugly aliens were discarded, burned, otherwise ignored when they had to be killed - which was most of the time. Were they too disgusting to study? I don't know.

5. The special effects were not all that bad ... sometimes. Considering what they had to work with, and the fierce schedule television shows adhere to.

6. Women never wore pants.

7. Grace Lee Whitney was a semi-regular. "Controlled Experiment" is the BEST episode. Martian gets enamored with nicotine and caffeine, and love. Simply done (film runs back and forth, slow motion, etc), but very effective.

7. That's it. If something else comes up, I'll add it.

Unknown Date

More like a random child, today. Great costume.

Thoughts are hard to come by, sometimes.

No, I don't know who this child is.

March 15, 2010

The actual purpose of this text widget is to provide an anchor for the "Follow/Subscribe" tab up top. Which I could do without putting any text in this box, but you know how I hate blank spaces.

I really have been making progress on my religious order pages, which is the purpose of my so-called "blogging vacation". I viewed them for the first time in Internet Explorer (I use Firefox), and the navigation tabs disappeared. I finally fixed that. Then I discovered with the latest Firefox update that I could not change the layout (which I needed to do so those tabs would work for intrapage navigation), but could only do so in IE. They also load slowly and not very reliably in IE. I'm not even going to see what it looks like in Opera or other browsers - not until I get some good tranquilizers, anyway.

December, 2009

I suppose it would be appropriate to have comments concerning Christmas (since it almost is, being the 23rd of December).

It seems that many times this is when we remember those we love, but perhaps have not loved well enough, and heap them with an extra dose of tangible or intangible things. Not being under the illusion that this will "make it all better." It can be an extravagant season, and sometimes that might not be so terrible. Especially with the intangibles.

And then we remember those who are strangers, but are in need. We volunteer at Christmas dinner at a homeless shelter, and give coats (old and new) to children in need.

And that doesn't seem terrible either. Just that we may not be very mindful of the important things every day of the year.

Better than nothing.

Right now, though, I'm thinking of all the kindness that has come my way these past 330 days or so.

The couple who stopped and helped me with my dead battery, with wide smiles and broken English, in their van that made my old car look like it was just off the line.

The friend who took off a day of work, to go with me to my doctor's appointment.

The neighbor, whose own car had broken down, and which she cannot afford to fix, who borrowed someone else's to help me on another occasion when my car was in the shop (my car has had its share of problems this year).

The couple who had me over for Thanksgiving dinner, knowing I no longer had any family in town.

My vet, who discounted my bill, unknown to me until I stopped on my way out, because I had taken in a litter of stray kittens.

A friend of the family, who faithfully calls me every time she visits my mom in Houston, so we can speak. For various reasons, my mom doesn't have a phone by her bed.

Not an exhaustive list, but one that reminds me that these small and large kindnesses are the one's I most appreciate, and these are the memories I want others to experience, in turn.

Relgious Orders Internationally for Women

2010-12-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

I've just started this list, sorry.

Australia

Catholic Vocation Ministry Austrailia

Ireland

Irish Province of the Order of Carmelites

Spanish

Divinas Vocaciones Religiosas

Prayers

2010-03-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

As I come across prayers I like, I will put them here.

Adoration Prayers from the Pink Sisters.

The Prayer of St. Patrick

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

--------------------------------------------------

Soul of Christ, Sanctify Me!

Make a saint of me. Show me how to rid myself
Of traits of character that annoy others;
that make the lives of those about me miserable.
Help me to break the hardened shell within which selfishness hides, and which renders me insensible to the needs of others.
May I become great enough to be the servant of both rich and poor.
May I grow strong in virtue, so as to sustain the weak and encourage the weary.
May my heart increase its power to love, so as to be able to minister kindness to the timid and mercy to the wayward.
May I have the honor to bring cheer to all my fellow men on the long and sometimes rugged road of life.

Body of Christ, Save Me!
Save me from my great archenemy, my weak and faltering self.
Save me from all greed of money, of power, and of praise.
Save me from the thirst for pleasure, worldly show, and midnight revelry.
Save me from betraying You, Dear Lord, in thought, or in word, or in deed.

Blood of Christ, Strengthen Me!

Inebriate me with Your Love, that I may be absorbed in Your Will. Absorbed so as to be unmindful of my ills and petty cares.
Unmindful of weariness and pain, heartache, and disappointment.
Heedless of the lash of cruel words, and patient under wrongs.

Passion of Christ, Strengthen Me!
Strengthen me under the pressure of temptation.
Strengthen me when principle is at stake.
Strengthen me to do Your Will, My God.
Strengthen me in moments of suffering, in times of loneliness, in periods of depression.
Strengthen me that I may never swerve from You, Dear Christ, nor weaken through a desire to be popular, through hope of social distinction.
Strengthen me to accept my cross and carry it generously to the end.
On the battlefield of life, stand by me that I may never prove a traitor in the ranks.
Stand by me that I may not be dazzled by the glitter and glow of the enemy camp.

Thanks to Bill for this one.

Too many Franciscan prayers for me to list, found on the website of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

Questions and Searches

2010-01-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

1. Is [some order] an approved institution?

To the best of my knowledge, all orders listed on this site have their constitutions approved by the Catholic Church, or in the process of being approved. I do try and look at all links and confirm this. If you have doubts, please see the vocation director in your parish.

2. I have quite an extensive list of orders to write about, but if someone puts in a search for one I don't know about, I add to my list. Although I am sorry I have not been able to help you, you have helped me.

3. Prayers, meditations, reflections: Some specific prayers may be found on the Trad. Women's Rel. Orders by Spirituality page (see label list). Many, many others may often be found on an order's website, esp. those specific to founders and saints. Also some prayer under tab "Helpful Websites".

4. email contact: Click on the purple link under the title of the order you are interested in. They almost always have an email link.

5. Info on the apostolic visitation of women's religious in US, official site: Apostolic Visitation

6. Wanting to find a location to make a retreat.

Many of these orders have retreat centers. I suggest you go to the link (scroll down a bit) and look for your state in Rel. Orders by State. Check the various order's websites listed to find out.

Helpful Websites

2010-01-25T16:17:00.000-08:00

Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious

Institute on Religious Life - Women's Affiliates by State

Institute on Religious Life - Women's Affiliates

Roman Catholic Vocations

Catholic Online

Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations

A Guide to Religious Ministries for Catholic Men and Women

Cloister Outreach

Religious vocations - media

More Prayers

Catholic Prayers

Religious organizations for those with disabilities

History of Nuns and Sisters

Latin Mass Orders

Rosary of the Seven Sorrows

American Cloisters - Women

Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

What is an extern sister or nun?

Carmelite Nuns Around the World

Cloistered and Monastic communities

What Happens at the Solemn Profession of a Nun?

Religious Orders in other Countries

What is the Difference between Religious Orders?

Holy Year for Nuns

Archive: Saints and Blessed

2009-09-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

Father Stanley Rother

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Bl. Titus Brandsma

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St. Jaime Hilario Barbal

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Bl. Frederic Ozanam

Lord, when did we see you hungry?
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Archive: All around the world

2009-09-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Ven. Engelmar Unzeitig

Father Unzeitig wrote:

"The Good is undying and victory must remain with God, even if it sometimes seems useless for us to spread love in the world. Nevertheless, one sees again and again that the human heart is attuned to love, and it cannot withstand its power in the long run, if it is truly based on God. We want to continue to do and offer everything so that love and peace may soon reign again."

Father Jacques Bunel, Righteous among the Nations

Father Bunel said:

"Our life must be a constant, silent prayer that rises unceasingly to God. That is what constitutes our duty in life...

We must not confuse this state of prayer with religious sentimentality, or with pious feelings unrelated to authentic prayer, which can sometimes be piercingly painful. That love, which is our life's duty, must express itself in vibrant, zealous deeds, all aspects of which compel our careful consideration."

He was true to these words.

Mary Ann Glendon, Ambassador of Values

Daniel O'Connell, Ireland - Anti-Slavery Activist

Alexis Kagame, Rwanda - Poet, Philosopher, Priest

Archive: Favorite Things

2009-08-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

News you can't use (which is the normal sort):

The problem with 'digital' is that life is 'analog'.

A reader comment concerning acceleration problems in cars. I don't think that genie is ever going to return to the bottle either. Further cool news from the Iditarod:

Twinkies never freeze.

And I got just one more:

Dog: “He feeds me, he pets me, he takes care of me. He must be a god!”
Cat: “He feeds me, he pets me, he takes care of me. I must be a god!”

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If it seems that the only time a church gets attention is when it is in the process of jettisoning another element of the Christian faith, might that be a bad sign (like, say, when your radioactivity badge starts to darken)?

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His last conscious act was sitting up in bed and saying, "I give my soul to Jesus Christ."

Father Solanus Casey -- For such a death I personally pray.

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It is interesting to note in this connection that no pope, be he never so wicked, ever taught from Peter's chair that his simony, avarice, luxury, nepotism, and lechery were anything other than sin. He never substituted the euphemism "style of life" for the stark category "sin." Dante, a fierce Catholic, had half of his popes in hell.

Thomas Howard, on people who enter the Catholic Church, and eventually discover their fellow parishioners are human beings. It is sometimes a shock.

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"For best results, squeeze tube from the bottom and flatten as you go up." Best results? You mean fewer cavities are the result from the way I squeeze the tube?

Steve Scott

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Culture wars are toxic.

Heard it through the grapevine. I believe it.

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Despite all of that, in regard to faith and morals, the Catholic Church continues to be our trusty guide. Throughout history she has shown an unwavering faithfulness to the unchanging truth; her teaching mysteriously immune to a warring world in flux. And whether you are in Uganda or San Francisco, you can rely on her to help light your path.

It’s not the answers, my friend, that are blowing in the wind. It’s us.

Matthew Warner

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Some of our Sisters are at the diocesan Walk for Life this morning...

And I am sadly aware that some of the Sisters who are supposed to be here are not walking for life at all, because they were aborted.

Sr. Maryana, School Sisters of St. Francis

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You must never believe when you do not practice virtue that it is due to some natural cause such as illness, time, or grief. You must draw a great lesson in humility from it and take your place among the little souls, since you are able to practice virtue only in such a feeble manner. What is necessary for you now is not to practice heroic virtues but to acquire humility. For that, your victories must of necessity always be mixed with failures, so that you cannot take any pleasure in thinking of them.

- Celine, Sister and Witness to St. Therese of the Child Jesus. From one of Terry's posts

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The Church has not moved. She still condemns pornography, divorce, homosexuality, contraception, and abortion. She also opposes war and supports the poor. The Left Elite in American moved away from the Church teachings on chastity and decency, and now finds itself in opposition to her. The Right is just as far away from the Church on questions of just war and proper use of wealth, but no one emphasizes the breach there, because the Right has not come out openly against Christ. Even when the Pope himself denounced the War in Iraq, no newspaper spoke of the “Christian Left” or the “Christian Anti-war movement.”

John Wright

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Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. 'I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032...'

I hope Mr. Perminov's memory improves before the Russians launch anything in space to intercept the asteroid Apophis. The Bulava missile debacle doesn't give me much confidence.AP new source.

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Christians can be the source of a new, life-giving culture. As we spend time searching for the Lord and beholding his coming, we must allow our hearts to be full with thoughts for those God has entrusted to us, especially those who are heavily burdened. Keeping vigilance during Advent means searching for God in those who suffer during this season, giving to them generously not only material goods, but spiritual ones as well. We must pray for those who seem to need more than we can give especially when we have given all we can.

Anthony Lilles

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And so, may God grant us grace to grant special honor to Mary, the mother of God, and follow her example during this Advent and Christmas season, and every season throughout the year.

Michael Spencer

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Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on us.

Servants of the Pierced Hearts
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One note of interest to my Catholic friends. I found a church where I could take Mass, and felt a sense of coming home when I stepped in the door and saw sacred images of the Virgin, Christ, and St. Joseph (to whom I have been addressing myself particularly in prayer these days, since he is sort of an adoptive father) -- even on the far side of the world, I was among friends. Of course I understood not a word of the service. Of course I understood it perfectly.

John Wright, in China to pick up his new child (a teenager, I think).

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'We only have to think of such peculiarly modern phenomena as, for example, the dominance of commercial image in advertising and the media exploitation of personality cult, encouraging people as these do to value themselves and others for reasons disconnected from the virtues. Or again, there is anomie whereby the young arrive in the state of adulthood having neither internalized obligations, nor acquired a sense of living under authority -- so great has been the reduction in moral force of the family, extended or nuclear, and the weakening of deference to civic tradition and the State. In the past, such deference has been open to abuse. Yet this danger must be balanced against the implications of a generalized unwillingness, outside Islamic politics at least, either to die for or in any very costing way to live for civilization-based ideals'.

The Realm, Aidan Nichols, O.P.

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Choose this day whom you will serve, whom you will defend, whom you will honor, ...whom you will love.

Jennifer Hartline

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When the Communists put me in the hold of the boat, the Hai-Phong, along with 1500 other prisoners and moved us to the North, I said to myself, "Here is my cathedral, here are the people God has given me to care for, here is my mission: to ensure the presence of God among these, my despairing, miserable brothers. It is God's will that I am here. I accept his will". And from that minute onwards, a new peace filled my heart and stayed with me for thirteen years.

Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan

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Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience.

St. Faustina

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The instant I remembered the Catholic Church, I remembered her; when I tried to forget the Catholic Church, I tried to forget her; when I finally saw what was nobler than my fate, the freest and the hardest of all my acts of freedom, it was in front of a gilded and very gaudy little image of her in the port of Brindisi, that I promised the thing that I would do, if I returned to my own land.

G. K. Chesterton, on the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Kicked, beaten and stabbed nearly 20 times. Last rites twice in a single day. Still, Father Shaji Varghese harbors no anger toward his attacker, who approached him and asked to go to confession. Fr. Varghese survived, although critically wounded. After his recovery, he went home to India in August for a month and spent time with his mother, seven brothers and sisters and 14 nieces and nephews. During a visit to his brother's house, Varghese noticed a picture of Rodriguez (the man who attacked him) in the family's prayer room. "I asked, 'Why do you keep it here,' and my sister-in-law told me, 'While we were praying for you, we were praying for him also,'"

Scripps News

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"Moreover, while we are much more aware of, say, the oppression of women in Iran, we often are more ignorant of the problems facing our local communities--even the personal crises the person who works in the office next to our own is facing. We read about people half-way around the world, but we don't even know the person sitting next to us!"

Michael Barber, on charity and the internet

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"Then, by developing and applying the scientific and technological skills of the twentieth century for "the well-being of mankind throughout the world", he may still see Isaiah's prophesies come true: "... And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose... And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water...And may these words come true!"

Norman Borlaug, Nobel Lecture, 1970

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"As my picture suggests, I was made in the womb..."

Caption under a Catholic blogger's picture.

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A Christian can never preach hate. Hate leads to the death of the other, and what we want is not death, but reconciliation, forgiveness, and the conversion of the one who shuts out love. No one is converted if he is killed, suppressed, and marginalized.

Fr. Nicolas Schwizer from Vivificat!

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'Jesus did not found a Catholic party in a cosmopolitan debating society but a Catholic Church to which he promised the fullness of truth; a body which reduces its Catholics to a party within a religious parliament can hardly deserve to be called a branch of the Catholic Church, but a national religion, dominated by and structured on the principles of liberal tolerance in which the authority of revelation is subordinate to democracy and private opinion.'

Jeffrey Steel

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The first lesson of history, and it may well be the last, is that you never know what is coming next.

George M. Young, English Historian

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Some tasks are harder than others (this makes me laugh):

"The Society of Jesus was created to deal with the Protestant Reformation.The Order of Preachers (St. Benedict) was created to counter the Albigensian heresy.Now, pardon my implying that someone may not be doing a good job here:Have you seen any Albigensians lately?I rest my case."

A comment from another website, based on an old joke.

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“‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life,’... this saying of Jesus from the Gospel of John expresses the basic claim of the Christian faith. The missionary tendency of this faith is based on that claim: Only if the Christian faith is truth does it concern all men; if it is merely a cultural variant of the religious experience of mankind that is locked up in symbols and can never be deciphered, then it has to remain within its own culture and leave others in theirs. That, however, means that the question about the truth is the essential question of the Christian faith as such, and in that sense it inevitably has to do with philosophy.”

(Then) Cardinal Radzinger

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Our Papa Benedict talks about the Bread of Life:

"...if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever: and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" (Jn 6:51). After this, "many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him" (v.66). One might expect Jesus to seek compromises to make himself better understood, but he does not mitigate what he says. On the contrary, he turns directly to the Twelve and asks them: "Will you also go away?" (v.67). This provocative question is not only addressed to listeners in his time, but also reaches the believers and people of every epoch. Peter answers Jesus' question on the Apostles' behalf, and in the name of believers of every century: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life..."

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"It is amazing how lightweight and easy to wear modern technology has made the ball and chain."

Tom Ligon in Payback

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"How do we find this enlightenment? The passion to love God in real friendship, divine eros, is a gift. It is something to be asked for in earnest. Like a Bride, we must utilize our full human capacity, all our effort, all our might, to seek the Bridegroom - for in Christian enlightenment, the one who asks, receives; the one who seeks, finds; and the one who knocks discovers the welcoming eyes of the Lord."

Anthony Lilles

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"Let us strive to work diligently in service to the Lord, seeking His guidance, imploring His mercy, and begging that our lives may be pleasing in His sight. When those outpourings of Grace come, let us rest in Him. When we are troubled, let us rest in Him. Let us cast ourselves always at His feet."

Dauvit Balfour

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"Let us thank God that he makes us live among the present problems. It is no longer permitted to anyone to be mediocre."

Pope Pius XI

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The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

(CCC 133)

Archive: All over the net

2009-08-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

I will be using this page to store links from my widget, All over the net.

Gondor, Byzantium, and Feudalism - Tom Simon

The Third Way: A social and economic philosophy

Chaplain Mike discusses how he uses Rosary beads and the Liturgy of the Hours: How Protestants may find tradition spiritually enriching.

Protestants and Catholics can be a source of encouragement to one another - Allison Salerno - and this is certainly true (if we only will). I chuckled a little after reading it, because I have been a contentious friend (and known and know!) as many Christian friends who are more difficult to have a conversation with regarding the most general tenets of Christianity, that we avoid it like the plague, and this is more than unfortunate. It is rather tragic.

The mustard seed: A short, but very encouraging message.

On widgetbox, there is now an application that will allow you to tweet in Klingon.

That's all I had to say.

By far, the most comprehensible post (or any communication) I have read on this subject. God and Creation: Are Human Beings the only ones made in the image and likeness of God? You can put the emphasis on "comprehensible" here. I'm sure others have written marvelous things on the subject, but that doesn't mean I would understand it.

Texas now has the third largest number of Catholics (after New York and California) in the United States. Very strange. But nice.

Disasters in the world being on many minds these days, a man who should know addresses the sensational Yellowstone question: Oh no, is it gonna blow? Of course. Someday, in some way. Dr. Lowenstern of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, on the hype, the truth, and what we don't know, from 2005.

Apparitions? - optional, I suppose you'd say. This, well put together, on Medjugorje. I don't truly expect clarity on this phenomena in my lifetime. And seriously - I have trouble with the easy stuff, and I think it wise for me not to take on any baggage I don't know what to do with.

Alan Greenspan - an interesting take on the financial crisis by Angelo Matera

I may have to answer to a higher power about laughing when I read this article (who knows about these near occasions to sin?) - here it is anyway: Nunjas

Haiti - Where is God? - Christopher

There is always a day before - Michael Spencer

Polaroid and Ma Bell - What happened to the big names in American innovation?

Morality: Depends where you live, and when?

Somewhat difficult for me to believe that I would suggest you go to WikiSource, but here it is, with thanks to Mr. Madrid: The Maxims and Sayings of St. Phillip Neri.

News of the Decade in my corner of the world. They could have just said "natural gas", as we had no idea we were sitting on top of something with more explosion potential than the nuclear bombs that I live near (way, way, too near). Oh. Did I leave out Katrina/Rita?

The best books of 2009 and the decade from major news sources.

Come, let us reason in the region of Andromeda: Temple Prostitution, a satire

The Catholic Laboratory, where science and faith meet with a firm and loving handshake. Thanks to Jeff Miller for pointing the way to this site.

St. Thomas Christians come to agreements...Setting an example in a divided and divisive world.

Mark Shea, Still arguing that supporting torture is another slippery slope. I've lost his other post on the issue, and will try and find it.

Bad Catholic Alert III : Scroll down to 11 Dec. You get the entire month with Enbrethiliel's links, or nada. Take the whole month, and be glad.

Just as the French begin eating fewer horses, I discover that ANYONE has been eating them.

Natural Family Planning

The Echternach Pilgrimage, from a reader's comment on Jeffrey's blog. Every once in a while I find myself speechless.

Not as Fun, But Interesting

The moral significance of "family" - Gerald V. Bradley

For His Love Endures Forever - Webster Bull

Perseverance - Terry, at Abbey-Roads

You would need to do some fast talking to convince me this is NOT rape.

Thomas Cahill, one of my fave authors, and Bible translations he prefers

These Stone Walls - Gordon Macrae's prison diary

Redeeming Harry Potter

Glorify God - an relatively new online Cathoic magazine, written by laypeople. Contemporary and faithful.

David Letterman can teach us about the gospel - Russell Moore

Lifestyles of the rich and pious - can't add anything to its actual title

Repressed memories - tread with care

Lichens - and God.

Queering the Rosary - I don't have any clever comments for this one

Christopher comes to know Jesus - through Mary

The World was Born Yesterday

A Protestant speaks about the end times - without once mentioning Catholicism, the Pope, or Mary. Whew. I thought the day would never come.

Eduardo Verastegui - a faithful man in a glittering world

You can plot the next Dan Brown novel!

Odd Science: 10 ways to destroy the earth utterly

Natural Law, and the problem of being Catholic in America

A stillborn child and unlooked for compassion

John Wright has more than a few things to say on "voluntary suicide"

The Holy Infant of Prague - his left hand sustains the universe (you'd have to read the article)

Lutheran CORE - doing their best in a bad situation

Mary and the Convert - Chesterton

Friendly Atheist Arguments

The smartest animal on earth (I may be slightly prejudiced in this regard)

The first in 150 years - a new women's order in Scotland

The Latin Mass without a scandal - the newspapers must be furious

Never, ever, play poker with a Mexican Jesuit

Choosing a basketball team - or a religious order. Same thing.

Violent Pro-Lifers: Something to think about

The Death of Christianity in Iraq

End Times Mania (again, and again, and again...)

St. Patrick, still in the business of evangelization - Patty Bonds

Eunice Kennedy Shriver - A woman who believed in life

Purgatory

Chastity is timeless - Amanda Vernon

Yet another reason we have saints - I think Stephen has deleted this blog

The Dictionary of African Christian Biography

The world was born in 1991

Catholic Science Fiction Writers

J. R. R. Tolkien - a great author - and Catholic

This is the faith that moves mountains

Reasons to rejoice - John Wright

Every day is a day to believe

The needs of a regular guy: Mass

John Bergsma talks about marriage

Dr. Bergsma's fascinating stats

Speak of Shut Up

Buddhism and Abortion

The Best Post I've Ever Read

The Catholic Conscientious Objector

The Troubling Case of Father Gordon MacRae

Western cultural individualism

NFP written so that even I can understand it

A Surprising Protestant View of Mary

Christianity in a One-Storey Universe

A Rational Non-Theist

FUN STUFF

An old Wittenburg Door article - Jesus, tired of being lifted higher

Some of the best "A funny thing happened in church" stories I've ever read. I'm still laughing.

What students have to say about religion

Cows and Economic Models

Truly BAD Christian Album Covers

Parenting - Old Testament Style

A Womanly Desire for Priesthood Explained

Michael Spencer at his funniest

Cap. Kirk and Padre Pio together-at last

Oh sure, this blog is not only perfect, it's the Gospel itself

Rabbi Rami considers both sides of the 10 Commandments

Which Church Father are you? - some fun (thanks, Richard)

Nicene Creed

2009-06-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.

For us men and our salvation He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary , and became man.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures:
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Source: e-Catholic 2000

Historical: Believe

Apostles Creed

2009-06-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only Son, Our Lord
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit
Born of the Virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
Was crucified, died and was buried.
On the third day, he rose again
He ascended into Heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of God, the Father Almighty.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the Communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

Source: Catholic-Pages.com

Historical: Believe

Athanasian Creed

2009-06-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;

Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;

So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.

But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.

So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.

Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;

He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;

and shall give account of their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

Source: Sancta Sanctis

Historical overview: Believe