She could have understood....

....if I'd become Baptist, because at least she could blame my dad for that.

This is what grandma told me Saturday night.  I guess it doesn't matter to her that I didn't even really know Dad was raised Baptist.  After all, the only time he sets foot in a church is for weddings or funerals.

On Election Eve...

...I guess it's time I come out of the closet as a Democrat for McCain. 

I'm not overly thrilled with either major party ticket, but there's absolutely no way I can vote for Obama.  I just don't think he's the right person right now. 

I wish there were a viable third party candidate.

I Suppose....

...that's it's not a good thing when my Wednesday night class has me contemplating the relative benefits of my own slow, painful death.

How Cool

I opened my front door this morning to go to my car and there were three deer right by my house.  They just stood there and looked at me as I walked to my car and got in.  I think that's the closest I've ever been to a deer. 

Antonin Scalia - Wikiquote

Like some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried, Lemon stalks our Establishment Clause jurisprudence once again, frightening the little children and school attorneys of Center Moriches Union Free School District. Its most recent burial, only last Term, was, to be sure, not fully six feet under: Our decision in Lee v. Weisman conspicuously avoided using the supposed "test" but also declined the invitation to repudiate it. Over the years, however, no fewer than five of the currently sitting Justices have, in their own opinions, personally driven pencils through the creature's heart (the author of today's opinion repeatedly), and a sixth has joined an opinion doing so. The secret of the Lemon test's survival, I think, is that it is so easy to kill. It is there to scare us (and our audience) when we wish it to do so, but we can command it to return to the tomb at will. Such a docile and useful monster is worth keeping around, at least in a somnolent state; one never knows when one might need him."


My personal favorite Scalia quotation.  From Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches School District

Great Happenings From 9/30

September 30 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And, I was born an undisclosed number of years ago.

Another Blast from the Past

The Post

by Sara Burns
FOR THE POST

Ohio's men's lacrosse team is going to the National Collegiate Lacrosse League Final Four in Annapolis, Md. this weekend. Ohio defeated Grove City College yesterday 10-5 on the South Green Athletics Fields.
"We played really well and came out firing," club vice president Ian Hill said. "We did a heck of a job."
The first quarter was fairly well matched with Grove City scoring the first goal. The Bobcats came back though, with Dave Lewis, the NCLL's leading scorer, adding two more goals to his total. Grove City came from behind to tie the game with a goal scored by Dave Coleman with seven minutes left in the quarter.
Grove City posed no threat in the second quarter, though. Ohio's Sean Goonan and Todd Seyler each scored one to put Ohio up 4-2. Grove City's Brad Kellogg said the team was tired out after a long bus ride and was just out hustled.
The third quarter was closer with Lewis adding yet another goal. Goonan was called for a slashing penalty, but Tim Leary still managed to add a goal for the team. Grove City made a valiant run, scoring two goals, but was kept from tying the game when Leary scored his second goal of the quarter.
The final quarter went slowly until Bobcat Steve Barth put Ohio up 8-4. Both teams received penalties, but Seyler scored his second goal of the game. Ohio fought for the next few minutes, but made no more progress toward the win. Then, Grove City's Darryl Hockstra scored his team's final goal of the game. Leary went on to score the final goal.
Team members feel confident they will do well against Maryland this weekend. Team President Eric Gleckler said he thinks the team can do very well. He's not the only one.
"Whether we win or lose we made it to the Final Four," club member Todd Baylor said. "We're playing club level teams that are better than some of the varsity."
- Jill Shriver contributed to this story.


The Post 5/1/1997

A Blast From the Past.

The Post

by Sara Burns
FOR THE POST
Since the end of Winter Quarter is here, students' thoughts turn to spring and, more importantly, Spring Break.
An impromptu survey of Wednesday's dinner crowd at Jefferson Dining Hall revealed the most common Spring Break destination to be "home," wherever home may be.
People who are going home have their reasons. Some people do not think it is worth it to go anywhere.
"A week just isn't long enough," said Chrissy Seabold. She is saving her money to go somewhere during Summer Break.
Others, however, just want to go home and relax. Relaxing is what Kia Kuresman, a Jefferson Hall resident assistant, plans to do. She want to go home and "cook like it's my job" to recover from a stressful Winter Quarter.
Food is one reason many students want to go home. Most students surveyed said they wanted a nice, home-cooked meal after a quarter of dining hall food.
For people who aren't going home, Florida is the destination of choice. Many people will be spending their week in sunny Tampa, Daytona or Panama City.
Freshman Nicole Morley will visit Mickey Mouse in Orlando with her family. Mandy Boyd and Maggie Smith are going to Tampa for the week.
Of course, Florida sun or a familiar bed are not the only options.
Some OU students are going to visit relatives in other cities. They can be spotted anywhere from Washington, D.C., to Colorado. Julie Kroth said she is going to go to Memphis, Tenn., to see her "awesome" sister, while Nikki Floyd is jetting to Chicago to visit her mother.
Many of the people not going somewhere exotic for Spring Break plan to visit friends in other cities.
Kristalle Willinger said she is going to visit a friend who attends college in St. Louis.
The award for the Spring Break destination farthest from Athens goes to Oliver Albers. Albers will be spending his week in Ashkawa, Mozambique, in Africa with his uncle.
Albers has never been to Mozambique, but he has heard about the country from his uncle, who has lived there for five years. He said he wants to see the country and its people while he is visiting his uncle.
No matter where OU students end up during break, they all have the same objective - to relax. For some students, however, spring break will not be very different from their time here at OU.
"All I want to do when I go home is sleep and eat," freshman Lisa Schumann said. "Oh, wait, that's what I do here."

The Post 3/14/97

Is it bad....

that I'd rather be at home experiencing another day of a power outage than sitting through my family law class? 

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the socratic method.  I really hate this touchy-feely crap.

It's really starting to feel real now...

Adam and I met with someone from the parish last night to discuss marriage prep. We did the FOCCUS instrument and went over the basics of the marriage prep program. I paid the fee for marriage prep and the use of the church and got sent home with liturgy and pre-Cana stuff.

How Big is the Tent Really?

I'm going to start this post with a disclaimer - I am a registered Democrat and I am even a member of the county central committee and I serve as a precinct captain.

The Democrats are theoretically the party of inclusiveness - of the big tent, if you will. I always understood the ideology of the "big tent" to mean that there was a place at the table for people with multiple viewpoints. The kerfluffle in the liberal blogosphere about the nomination of Sarah Palin for vice president is truly making me question how inclusive the party of inclusiveness really is.

Here's a middle of the post disclaimer: I am Catholic, ergo, I am pro-life.

If the Democrats were truly as inclusive as they'd like to think they are, then this shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately it is. As a more conservative Democrat, I am becoming more convinced that there is no place for me or for people like me at the Democrat table.

I come from a family of yellow-dog Democrats and I would never have ever considered voting for a Republican. The nomination of Sarah Palin for vice president is changing that. I didn't like either of the choices for president for this election, but the addition of Palin to the ticket brought a new level of respect for John McCain.

The liberal blogsphere is in a panic about Palin. They argue that she has no experience or that she's too far right. I think what the problem that they can't articulate is that Palin is highly appealing to those like me who feel we have been pushed to the fringes of the party because our relative conservativism.

Palin represents a whole generation of women who look to the excesses of the 1970s feminism and realize that it was too extreme. She is doing what many women want - raising a family and following a successful political career. I think most women can't relate to the Hilary Clintons or Gloria Steinems of the world. Sarah Palin is someone that we CAN relate to - she could be one of us. I think that scares some of the more liberal Democrats.

So, is there really a place at the Democrat table for people like me? I'm not sure. Am I going to switch my party affiliation? Probably not, especially when it comes to local politics (the local Republicans don't have the best ethical record). Is there a possibility I'd vote for a McCain-Palin ticket? There's a good possibility that I just might.

For Adoro

Can I be St. Joan of Arc?

Can you make sure the Dominicans in their black-and-white habits are prolific throughout, and make sure the evil governments that were the ones actually killing people look as nasty as they actually were? Can I be "burned at the stake" as long as it authentically reveals who was in charge of the burning?

You might want to have a guitilline in order to show the butchery of the State and the Mercy of the Inquisitors who saved so many from the fanaticism of the State....

Ooohhhhh.....Dominicans in black and white? Perfect! Those are my colors after all! For that suggestion, Adoro, you can most definitely be St. Joan of Arc.

Since you asked, the short version of the story is that my family is a version of protestant that buys into all the myths about Catholicism. I occasionally get tired of their remarks and start making jokes to keep myself sane.

Currently there's some discontent in the family about the fact that I'm planning a Catholic wedding. I've told my mother that unless she tells her family to back off, that I'm going to plan the most over-the-top Catholic wedding--one that buys into all of the stereotypes.

We're planning the wedding for the fall of next year, right around Halloween. The idea of a Halloween themed reception quickly morphed into an Inquisition themed reception.

My grandmother informed Adam that she will not be attending the wedding because she can't be part of a ceremony for two people who've left The Lord's ChurchTM to join a "Man Made Religion."

Inquisition Themed Wedding Reception

So, the Clam posted on her site that she'd like to see my inquisition themed wedding reception actually happen. I hate to disappoint her, but I doubt it will ever really happen.

It is fun (in a twisted way) to think of my anti-Catholic family's reaction to an inquisition themed wedding reception. So, in an ideal world where I could actually do this, how would I do it?

I'm thinking I'll need Fr. Schnippel's help. Wonder if he'd like to play the part of Torquemada?

Since you so want to see it happen, Clam, perhaps we could make you an honorary torturer or witch burner?

What other ideas do y'all have?

Six Quirks

1. Link the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

I was tagged for my first ever meme by Jeff

1. I absolutely loathe Walmart. I will do anything in my power to avoid entering the store

2. I have to "face" all the money in my wallet. All the bills have to be arranged in order of denomination and the bills must all be facing the same direction.

3. I would rather clean the bathroom than do dishes.

4. I cannot stand Dickens and I secretly look down upon those who do like his work :-)

5. I will remake my bed until the hospital corners are crisp and there are as few wrinkles as possible in the sheets and blankets.

6. I have to sleep with one foot not under the covers. My mother tells me I've done this since I was a baby.

I tag Clam, Fr. S, Stephanie, Erik, Cheryl and Joseph the Worker

August Is Pray for PZ Myers Month

See the St. Peter Canisius Apostolate site.

For the love of all that is good and Holy....

....someone please put me out of my misery now!

Hallelujah! I have discovered the greatness that is Flannery O'Connor!

I cannot believe that I have survived this long without discovering her work. It's amazing.

I was having a very unproductive library trip last week, so I decided to peruse the classics section because I can always find something there.

Nothing really struck my fancy though so I decided to grab Mansfield Park and an anthology of Flannery O'Connor works.

I am in love with her writing. It's so rich and the imagery is amazing. I can almost visualize the scenes as I'm reading.

Sigh, too bad I'm sitting through the most mind-numbingly dull class that ever existed right now. I thought CivPro was bad, but this is much, must worse.

I'm going to start banging my head against the desk until sweet oblivion arrives.

The Bank of Life

Life, whether social or business, is a bank in which you deposit certain funds of character, intellect and heart; or other funds of egotism, hard-heartedness and unconcern; or deposit--nothing! An the bank honors your deposit, and no more. In other words, you can draw nothing out but what you have put in.

If your community is to give you admiration and honor, it is merely necessary to be admirable and honorable. The more you put in, the more will be paid out to you.

Emily Post (1922) Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home

This Blog is under the patronage of Our Lady of LaSalette

Fifteen year old Melanie and eleven year old Maximin were out tending their cows. They were simple children. When we say "simple" we don't mean like that magazine or the Amish. We mean 'dim bulbs.' They are simple enough to fall asleep and all lose track of the cows. When they awoke they went
looking for the cows but instead found a big ball of light. A beautiful lady stepped out of it. It was the Virgin Mary.

Unlike other Mary sightings, Mary is wearing an odd costume (not her usual blue), never mentions the rosary and she never stops crying. Mary slumps onto a rock and sobs. She tell the children that Jesus has absolutely had it with cart drivers using his name in vain. She tells the children Jesus is very angry and she can’t hold Him back much longer.

Apparently everyone stopped swearing in La Salette after that, as the town still stands.

Thanks Sister Mary Martha!

Visit Sister's Etsy shop.

To The Impatient Driver Behind Me...

Dear Fellow Motorist,

I just wanted to say good morning to you too! I agree that it's a beautiful summer day.

All pleasantries aside, I did notice that you appeared to have some difficulties with the etiquette of what to do when a traffic light is out. I'm trying my hardest to keep with my self imposed goal of becoming a nice person, so I thought I'd help you out.

When a traffic light is out, you're supposed to treat the intersection as a four way stop. I'm going to assume only the best about you and guess that you don't drive in the area a lot, so you perhaps didn't know that the light from the 275 off ramp onto Beechmont Ave goes out every time there's a storm. I'm also going to assume that perhaps you're a very heavy sleeper and that you didn't catch any of the local news this morning so you wouldn't have heard about the bad thunderstorms last night. That's okay. Now you know.

You should also know that when your fellow drivers are treating said intersection as a four way stop, that laying on your horn when I stopped to allow the cars from the exit ramp to take their turn does not exhibit the best manners. But that's okay too, I'll just assume that perhaps you were busy.

Except you turned to go to Lowe's at the next light, so I'm not sure what was so important at 7:45 this morning that you couldn't stop and wait your turn like everyone else was doing. Now I'm still trying to be a good person, so I didn't say anything or make any gestures in your general direction. I didn't even shoot you a dirty look - instead I said a Hail Mary to myself.

However, I've decided that my desire to be a better person doesn't stop me from wishing bad driving karma on you. So the next time you're stuck at the end of that exit ramp and some yahoo doesn't follow the rules for a malfunctioning traffic light, I hope you enjoy the wait.

Yours truly,
The girl in the grey civic.

"Good News For Catholics"

Do any of my astute readers (all three of you) know anything about an organization called Good News For Catholics? I know they're anti-Catholic but other than that I haven't heard much about them.

The reason I ask is because I found one of their tracts at my grandmother's house over the Fourth of July weekend. I didn't get a good chance to look at it though, but from a quick glance it seems to be the usual "Catholics don't read the Bible so if you encourage them to read the Bible then they'll no longer be Catholic, etc..."

Testing

I just added an application called ScribeFire to Firefox. You might see more entries from me if this works.

Exhausted

I did two shifts in the margarita booth at the festival this weekend. Last night was much busier than Friday night was, but also more fun. Dcn. Dave, Roxanne and I had a fun time. I saw Dcn. Dave after mass this morning, but forgot to ask him if he ever managed to make his "dacquitas" look as pretty as mine did. :)


In other news, I've decided I have a knack for making it rain. After holding off for a few days, I finally dragged the hose out and watered my flowers this afternoon, only to be treated to a thunderstorm a few hours later. Sigh.


I suppose I've procrastinated enough. I need to go study for PR.

CoC Funeral

I went to a church of Christ funeral today. It was really kind of sad. It was just a graveside service--the preacher gave a sermon about how we all needed to come to Jesus before we died and we sang two hymns--Amazing Grace and Revive Us Again.

I have a problem with preachers preaching their funeral sermons about how the good majority of the audience is going to go to hell. At least this preacher didn't condemn people to Hell by name like I've seen done before.

It was strange because most of the people there were from my old congregation. I stood in the back with my other apostate cousins and said the rosary during the main part of the service.

There was something lacking with the whole service. I can't pinpoint exactly what, but it all felt very superficial.

O/T but even with someone musically trained leading the acapella hymns, there is still something to be said for instrumental music. There was one couple there neither of whom could carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on it :)

Bridesmaid Dresses

The style on the left is what I plan to use for my bridesmaids' dresses. I'm thinking I'll do the underdress in a matte black and the over dress in some kind of organza. Then I'll have the bridesmaids wear black elbow gloves.

iPhone Mania

There was a line of people wrapped around the AT&T store on the corner this morning. It took me a minute to realize what was going on--the new iPhone.

I guess having the latest is important to some people.

That's It!

I am utterly frustrated at the thought of finding a wedding gown that is anything even close to modest! There's something wrong with every dress I try on--most notable is the distinct lack of fabric on the upper half. The dress I've liked best so far is a no-go without significant alterations. Unfortunately the vast majority of dresses in the bridal shops are strapless. Now, I'm not a small chested gal by any stretch of the imagination and I'm also short (5'2") so wearing a strapless gown will likely give Father a glimpse of something that neither he nor I would want him to see. Incredibly frustrating!

So I'm opting out. That's right, I refuse to purchase a wedding gown from a bridal shop. I have challenged my mother and she has agreed to put her sewing skills to the test.

Dad has agreed to buy her a nicer sewing machine and I will be purchasing her a dressmaker's dummy.

Check back for updates :)

Behold the Spam of God

Mark Shea has a hilarious post over at Inside Catholic about the messages he's received from "Bible-Believing (TM)" Christians. You should go check it out.

Over the last two years of my Catholic journey, I've come to realize that sometimes you just have to laugh at things because you can't change them.

Wedding Reception Theme?

Ooh, I love it! (Even though it is just a joke.)

Just think: you could have a Catechism contest for who gets to be Torquemada...you and Adam could be Isabella and Ferdinand...your priest could play Pope Sixtus...and depending on what time of year you're getting married, maybe have a bonfire...

Too bad your family isn't Lutheran. You could really have some fun with that...

Kasia, if we didn't live in different states, I think we'd be good friends! :) I had suggested having a rack in the reception hall so I could use it on all the people who complain that a nuptial mass is too long.

My only problem is that I tend to get too Monty Pythonesque when thinking up wicked things to do to my families. You know, things like having the bridesmaids wear black cowls and carry whips or having someone wandering though saying "bring out yer dead!"

I do get a little giggle just thinking of it. Of course my family will already be absolutely scandalized because there will be drinking and dancing.

Sigh. Family.

I got another "you're going to hell because you're Catholic" letter from the CoC side of the family. It's from an aunt that even the other CoCers consider wacky so I'm not too concerned. I look at it this way--there's two less people I can invite to the wedding.

The letter does strengthen my desire to have an over-the-top Catholic wedding though. :)

Luckily, Adam and I can joke about it because we both deal with the same thing from our families. We were joking that we're going to have a Spanish Inquisition themed reception--complete with "indulgences" as drink tickets.

Poor mom thought we were being serious (which we're not really) but I think the humor is the only way we can deal with it sometimes.

Shaving Cats

The big, fluffy cat in the post below got his summer haircut today. Last year he went to the groomer for his lion cut. This year, mom decided we could do it ourselves. I was skeptical, but agreed to go along with it partly because the groomer who did him last year won't take him back.

(In all fairness to her, I don't blame her one bit. The cat weighs 25 pounds and he bites when he's upset. I could take him to the groomer associated with my vet and have him sedated, but that raises the price quite a bit.)

So, mom and I got out the clippers and held the cat down. We got the majority of the long hair off him, but the poor thing looks so stupid right now. I'm sure he'll appreciate it in a few days--once he gets over the humiliation.

Aaah...

I finished my last final for this semester two hours ago.


I have the luxury of three weeks off school. What am I going to do with my time now that I don't have to study every night?

Maybe I'll practice being a housecat :-)

Dress Shopping

So, Mom and I went dress shopping for the first time Saturday. I tried on four dresses - two of which would be contenders if they had a wee bit more fabric on top. One dress would be very pretty, but is out because when I kneel Father would get a view of a part of me that neither he nor I would want him to see.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to go looking at one of the area shops that sells Jasmine or Eternity gowns. Eternity is a LDS gown designer and Jasmine will make certain styles of their gowns "temple ready."

Wedding Planning

All this wedding planning stuff I've been doing lately has made me once again stop and realize the wisdom of Holy Mother Church.

I've been perusing some of the online forums dealing with wedding planning and I am extremely grateful that I don't have to worry about what venue I'll use for the ceremony, who I'll get to officiate or what poem/unity candle/handfasting ceremony I'll use to fill time to make the ceremony more substantial.

Nope, Holy Mother Church in her infinite wisdom doesn't leave those decisions up to me. Yes, I have some choice as to which church I plan on using (my home parish) or which reading to choose from the list, but currently my biggest decision regarding the ceremony is whether I want to have a full mass or the rite of marriage outside of mass.

I know that I can trust the guidelines set forth by the Church and that I will have a beautiful, reverent celebration of the sacrament.

I have crossed to the dark side...

....no, I haven't become republican :-)

I bought a macbook! My monster hp laptop I bought when I started law school four years ago is on life support and I was tired to trying to get it going another semester so I have gone mac.

Snow Day

I spent my morning making this:



Because it looks like this outside:

Three in one night!

Okay, Fr. Schippel's comment got me posting again. Here's a general roundup:

I have been crazy busy this semester. I'm taking Insurance, Remedies and Wills & Trusts. Wills is a 4 credit hour course so for 5 weeks I have to be at NKU 4 nights a week. Not to mention I need to find time to do all of the reading to prep for the class.

My aunt has been very ill and has been hospitalized for weeks now. My mother is my aunt's guardian and is responsible for all decisions regarding my aunt. Prayers for both would be appreciated.

In happy news, Adam and I are now engaged. We plan, Lord willing, to be married in the fall of 2009. Clam I now share your frustration at finding a non-strapless wedding dress. I absolutely refuse to wear one even if it means I have to learn how to sew so I can make my own.

That's a quick update.

Parable Meme

Fr. Schnippel tagged me for a meme so here goes:

1. You name your five favorite parables.
2. You tag one blogger per parable.
3. It would be nice if you linked back to this post.

1. The Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-32

I love this because it shows us that no matter how grave our sins, if we approach God with true contrition and ask his forgiveness it will be granted.

2. The Little Children - Matt 18:1-6

I chose St. Therese as my confirmation saint because I was so drawn to her Little Way. To me it is a great example of truly living this parable.

3. The Faithful Servant - Luke 12:35-38

To whom much is given, much will be required. Enough said.

4. The Good Samaritan - Luke 10:30-37

5. The Pharisee and the Publican - Luke 18:9-14

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

I tag Stephanie because she's been quiet for too long, Kasia , and anyone else who feels the need to respond. If you don't have your own blog, feel free to use the combox.

My response to the letter....

16 February 2008

Esther,

I received your letter and while I am dismayed you are so willing to believe family gossip, I take your letter in the spirit of concern and love that you surely had in mind when you wrote it.

It is true that I am no longer attending a Church of Christ. It is not, however, true that I am simply attending a Catholic Church – I am a Catholic. I was received into full communion with the Catholic church through the sacrament of confirmation during the Easter Vigil in 2007.

The decision to convert was not one I made either easily or quickly. I fought the decision for over ten years before I ultimately decided I needed to follow God’s call in my life. I have never believed fully in the doctrine I was taught in the Church of Christ but had been attending enough to keep the family happy. The family was happy, but I was absolutely miserable. I had been living a lie for years and could no longer continue to do so. My mental health had deteriorated so much that I had to go under a psychiatrist’s care in 2006.

[I have deleted a portion of my response because it reveals personal details about two other people and I do not feel free to divulge these details without the consent of the other two parties.]

Because we, as Catholics, believe that marriage is a sacrament, the church holds that remarriage after a civil divorce is a mortal sin. The Church does not allow for remarriage even in the case where one spouse is guilty of adultery. Because marriage is a sacrament, it’s mark on the souls of the husband and wife are indelible. The only way a civilly divorced Catholic can remarry with the Church’s blessing is if, after investigation, the tribunal can determine that the requisite elements required to make a valid marriage were missing from the time the marriage was entered into.

The purpose of the tribunal is to look at the circumstances into which the parties entered into the sacrament of marriage to see if the requisite intent and knowledge were present. If there weren’t the requisite intent and knowledge and desire to enter into the sacrament of marriage, the tribunal will issue a decree of nullity thus freeing one or both of the parties to remarry with the blessing of the church.

You claim the Catholic church has practices that are un-Biblical. I too believed this until I began to study what the church actually teaches instead of what I had been taught the Church teaches. Unfortunately the Church of Christ’s teaching about Catholic doctrine and dogma is fraught with error.

Start, for example, with your claim that the Pope claims to have divine inspiration. I assume you are thinking of the doctrine of papal infallibility. Infallibility is not a claim of divine inspiration. We believe that Christ gave authority over the church on earth to Peter. See Matt 16:13-19

8 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi 9 he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, 10 others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

11 Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood 12 has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, 13 and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 14 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

See also, this passage from the Gospel of John:

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’" (John 21:15-17).


The passage from Matthew is significant to Catholics in two ways. First, Christ chose to rename Simon as Kephas which is Aramaic for Rock. When God gives someone in the Bible a new name, it always signifies a new covenant (i.e. Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah or Jacob to Israel.) Secondly, we hear that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Christ’s church.

Infallibility isn’t divine inspiration or the absence of sin. Infallibility is what arises when you take Christ’s words to Peter at face value. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against Christ’s church. How is this supposed to happen? We believe that the Holy Spirit protects the church from false teaching. This doesn’t mean the pope is always right – it simply means that when speaking on matters of faith and morals that apply to the entire, universal church, the pope will not be allowed to teach error. The Holy Spirit doesn’t always provide the pope with all the right answers, but He won’t let the pope promulgate false dogma.

The authority and teaching power of the Bishop of Rome (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome) has been recognized since the earliest Christian times. See this passage from Clement of Rome, written in 80AD:

"Owing to the sudden and repeated calamities and misfortunes which have befallen us, we must acknowledge that we have been somewhat tardy in turning our attention to the matters in dispute among you, beloved; and especially that abominable and unholy sedition, alien and foreign to the elect of God, which a few rash and self-willed persons have inflamed to such madness that your venerable and illustrious name, worthy to be loved by all men, has been greatly defamed. . . . Accept our counsel and you will have nothing to regret. . . . If anyone disobey the things which have been said by him [God] through us [i.e., that you must reinstate your leaders], let them know that they will involve themselves in transgression and in no small danger. . . . You will afford us joy and gladness if being obedient to the things which we have written through the Holy Spirit, you will root out the wicked passion of jealousy" (Letter to the Corinthians 1, 58–59, 63 [A.D. 80]).

Or this passage, also from Clement.

"Through countryside and city [the apostles] preached, and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this a novelty, for bishops and deacons had been written about a long time earlier. . . . Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3 [A.D. 80]).

As a church, we believe that Christ did not found his church and then abandon it after his ascension. We believe that He gave the authority for His church on earth to Peter and to Peter’s successors. We also believe that He guides, guards and directs His church through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I am sure there are many other specific practices with which you disagree and I will be more than happy to address any specific questions you may have.

You say in your letter that I need to do what I know is right and my response to you is that I have done what I needed to do.

Love,

The Letter

Here is the letter I received from my cousin.

Sarah (yes, we're close enough that she misspelled my name)

This letter is, I am sure, not the first, nor the last you will received about certain things going on in your life. (Actually it's the second) First of all I hate gossip, so if any of the things I mention are not true of you, disregard the reprimand. This is what has come across the wires: that you are no longer attending Christ's church, but are going instead to the Catholic church; and that you're dating a man who does not have scriptural grounds to be remarried. Both of those made my heart sink when I heard them. Let me appeal to your intellect, though and keep emotions out of it.

Galations 1:6-10 says "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and went to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed." No one, no matter how wonderful they are, is worth disobeying God and losing out on your hope of heaven. (As if anyone who truly knew me would actually think I base my major life decisions solely on what will make others happy) I understand that we have to have our own faith and can not believe something just because family does. We have to believe and worship how God commands, not friends or family. If everything the Catholic church practices were according the the Bible, that would be fine, but you and I both know that is not true. The apostle Paul said that if anyone taught different from what they had already taught, even an angel (the Pope claims to have divine inspiration) then that one is accursed.

Second there may be a few instances in marriage when it is neccessary to be separated from a spouse. Those decisions are never easy, I'm sure. I do know that Malachi 2:16 says "'For I hate divorce,' says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'and him who covers his garment with wrong,' says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously." In Matthew 19:9, Jesus says, "And I say to you, who ever divorces his wife, except for immorality and marries another woman commits adultery." Jesus also said in Mark 10:11 "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her." If someone is divorced for any reason other than immorality on the part of his ex-wife, he does not have the God given right to be remarried. If he does remarry, he causes his new wife to become and adulterer. I Corinthians 6:9-10 says "or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the couvetious, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

I will close this out by leaving you with one more scripture. II Timothy 3:14-17 "You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writing which are able to give you the wiscone that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

Please, please read over and thing about everything I have said. Done be afraid to do what is right. The Lord will reward you in the end.

Love,

Cousin

I am working on my reply to her and will post it here once finished. I'm going to have to do some editing from the full version I send to her because I must necessarily reveal details about individuals other than myself. I don't feel those details are appropriate to be put on a publically accessible site.

I welcome any suggestions for specific points of rebuttal. I will definitely be addressing the sacramental nature of marriage and the reason for obtaining a decree of nullity and I will also be addressing papal infallibility.

So It Begins...

My family found out I've become Catholic some time before Christmas. While Christmas itself went well, I knew it was too good to be true.

I came home today to find a letter from a cousin of mine telling me that I'm going to hell.

I'm not going to hell because of my chosen profession (although I'm sure insurance and law at the very least will buy me a nice long stint in purgatory) but because I have left The One True Church(tm) and am "dating a man who doesn't have a scriptural right to remarry."

Sigh.

I'm off for a fun exciting evening of being subject to the Socratic method in wills, but I'll post my response to her here when I get it finished.

Vocab Time

Luddite



Main Entry: Ludd·ite
Pronunciation: \ˈlə-ˌdīt\
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from Ned Ludd, 18th century Leicestershire workman who destroyed a knitting frame
Date: 1811
: one of a group of early 19th century English workmen destroying laborsaving machinery as a protest; broadly : one who is opposed to especially technological change
— Luddite adjective

Luddite--Me, when I confuse the poor teenage stocker at the office supply store by asking for "typist's carbon."

It's almost as much fun as when I caused the cashier at the local toy store to have an existential crisis by refusing to give her my phone number.

Tract Project

I've been thinking lately that there's a definite lack of Catholic apologetics materials that relate specifically to the Church of Christ. I'm going to try to remedy that lack by finding Church of Christ tracts (preferably of the non-institutional variety) and giving a Catholic response to the tract.

Unfortunately the average CofC tract is so full of errors that I could probably write a book in response.

My experience with CofC thinking is that they rely heavily on soundbite prooftexting. They will also ignore any appeals to the early church fathers. Hence my goal is to try to use as much scripture as possible to support the Catholic position.

So if anyone comes across a good tract, feel free to send it my way!

Happy New Year

Well, the first Christmas after the CoC side of the family found out I'm now Catholic went well. Amazingly enough I wasn't accosted by anyone or challenged.

Even more amazing--I was playing handbells with the handbell choir for the 3pm mass on Christmas Eve and Mom and Dad actually showed up. Mom's a dyed in the wool CoC-er and Dad only sets foot in a church if he's being forced to do so for a wedding or a funeral.

After Christmas, Adam, the kids and I headed up to New Hampshire to visit his family. I think the visit went rather well. I really liked his parents and the town they live in is really pretty.

So that's my Christmas in a nutshell :-)

Two Hours of Snow

This is the view from my kitchen window after two hours worth of snow.

No Touchdown Jesus for me :(

Such a sad day (not) the mega church across the street merged with the Solid Rock megachurch (home of the touchdown Jesus) but they won't be putting a matching statue out front.

So for your enjoyment I'll post Heywood Banks' "Big Butter Jesus" instead. You may want to cover your keyboard.

Joe Nuxhall: July 30, 1928 - November 15, 2007

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Texas Style Deposition

WARNING: Some Offensive Language

It should be an interesting Christmas...

Dear Sweet Sara

You are on my mind most of all, you having the Lord’s church a man made religion. Please take time to think about your soul.

Your friend seems nice, think, find out if he had a scriptural right for a divorce, you may get mad at me if you do I’ll love you and pray for you. Your mom had her heard broke. Your dad too.

If your friend has a right to remarry I will gladly accept it, but not you leaving the Lord’s church and joining a Catholic religion.

Grandmother

So that's what I found in the mail yesterday from my CoC grandmother--the one I wasn't allowed to tell I'm Catholic. I don't know how she found out, but I have my suspicions.

After 24 hours to reflect, I'm not really upset. In fact, in a way I'm relieved that I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not when I'm around the family.

This should make for an interesting Christmas though. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of CoC intervention staged. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the friend she speaks about will be there and is likely to face the inquisition also.

There won't be any changing my mind though. I know that my decision to convert was the right one. I've never felt more at peace with any decision in my life and so many changes have happened in the last year that only further convince me I made the right choice.

I suppose if she's going to pray for me I can return the favor and add her to my intentions for my hour of adoration.

Do you ever think....

...that sometimes God is giving you a divine slap upside the head? I have a post in the works about this but I'm still trying to get my thoughts together enough to give a good idea of what I mean but without revealing too many personal details.

Tucker v. State (412 P.2d 970)

Damn! There's a corpse in my living room again!

Clam, This One's for You

Just to make you happy, Kasia :P

Kasia has been asking me where I've been. I've been somewhat busy so here's the Cliffs Notes version:

A little over two weeks ago I checked my work voicemail first thing in the morning to find out that our small, closely held corporation had been acquired by a large multi-national corporation. Needless to say there was some anxiety caused by that announcement. So far, it appears that the new owners do not plan on making any changes to the structure of my company and my job is as safe as it ever is.

We also finally got the good news at work that we're finally being allowed to hire another person. We've been understaffed for the last year or so.

Fall semester is almost at an end and I'm really glad I decided to be lazy and take only Evidence and Antitrust. Next semester will be back to the punishing schedule of three classes.

I've also started a regular adoration hour. I spend an hour every Saturday morning with Our Lord and it is the best thing I've ever done. The peace that comes from that hour is priceless.

Of course, I also think God is using that hour to give me the occasional spiritual slap upside the head :-)

On a personal front things are also going very well, but that's not something I'm going to discuss here.

New Blog

Fr. Rob Jack has started his own blog. I'm adding him to the blogroll and you should check it out.

October 13, 1917

Fr. Ignacio Lorenco (Alburitel, 11 miles away):

I was only nine years old at this time, and I went to the local village school. At about midday we were surprised by the shouts and cries of some men and women who were passing in the street in front of the school. The teacher, a good, pious woman, though nervous and impressionable, was the first to run into the road, with the children after her.

Outside, the people were shouting and weeping and pointing to the sun, ignoring the agitated questions of the schoolmistress. It was the great Miracle, which one could see quite distinctly from the top of the hill where my village was situated---the Miracle of the sun, accompanied by all its extraordinary phenomena.

I feel incapable of describing what I saw and felt. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt the eyes. Looking like a ball of snow revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zigzag, menacing the earth. Terrified, I ran and hid myself among the people, who were weeping and expecting the end of the world at any moment.

Near us was an unbeliever who had spent the morning mocking at the simpletons who had gone off to Fátima just to see an ordinary girl. He now seemed to be paralyzed, his eyes fixed on the sun. Afterwards he trembled from head to foot and lifting up his arms fell on his knees in the mud, crying out to our Lady.

Meanwhile the people continued to cry out and to weep, asking God to pardon their sins. We all ran to the two chapels in the village, which were soon filled to overflowing. During those long moments of the solar prodigy, objects around us turned all the colors of the rainbow. We saw ourselves blue, yellow, red, etc. All these strange phenomena increased the fears of the people. After about ten minutes the sun, now dull and pallid, returned to its place. When the people realized that the danger was over, there was an explosion of joy, and everyone joined in thanksgiving and praise to our Lady.

Litany to Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for our dear country.
Our Lady of Fatima, sanctify our clergy.
Our Lady of Fatima, make our Catholics more fervent.
Our Lady of Fatima, guide and inspire those who govern us.
Our Lady of Fatima, cure the sick who confide in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, console the sorrowful who trust in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, help those who invoke your aid.
Our Lady of Fatima, deliver us from all dangers.
Our Lady of Fatima, help us to resist temptation.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us all that we lovingly ask of thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, help those who are dear to us.
Our Lady of Fatima, bring back to the right road our erring brothers.
Our Lady of Fatima, give us back our ancient fervor.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us pardon of our manifold sins and offenses.
Our Lady of Fatima, bring all men to the feet of thy Divine Child.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain peace for the world.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.


Let Us Pray:
O God of infinite goodness and mercy, fill our hearts with a great confidence in Thy dear Mother, whom we invoke under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary and our Lady of Fatima, and grant us by her powerful intercession all the graces, spiritual and temporal, which we need.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Q: How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Nun

I've Been Banned!

I was listed a a banned blog by the SoV2 parish two months ago and I didn't know it!

Feast of the Nativity of Mary

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy; hail our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us. And after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.


Prayer Source: Enchiridion of Indulgences , June 29, 1968

Points to Consider

III. OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH

2475 Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."274 By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander."275

2476 False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness.276 When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the increased punishment of the accused.277 They gravely compromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions.

2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.278 He becomes guilty:

- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;

- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;279

- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:


Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.280
2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.

2480 Every word or attitude is forbidden which by flattery, adulation, or complaisance encourages and confirms another in malicious acts and perverse conduct. Adulation is a grave fault if it makes one an accomplice in another's vices or grave sins. Neither the desire to be of service nor friendship justifies duplicitous speech. Adulation is a venial sin when it only seeks to be agreeable, to avoid evil, to meet a need, or to obtain legitimate advantages.

2481 Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior.

2482 "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving."281 The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."282

2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.

2484 The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. The culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray.

2486 Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships.

2487 Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. If someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns offenses against another's reputation. This reparation, moral and sometimes material, must be evaluated in terms of the extent of the damage inflicted. It obliges in conscience.

From the Catechism. After reading some recent comments in the Catholic Blogosphere I thought some could use a reminder (and I do not exclude myself from this) of the teachings of Holy Mother Church with regard to truth and not jumping to rash judgment.

Y'all invested a hell of a lot of money to learn how to split hairs, so let's split some hairs!

It's too late to start praying once the Devil shows up.

Go and sin no more.

Red Mass 2007

Mark your calendars:

Friday, Sept 14, 2007
4:30pm
St. Xavier Church, 607 Sycamore St, Cincinnati
Sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society of Greater Cincinnati

Featured Speaker: Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, Ohio Supreme Court

You Are: 0% Dog, 100% Cat

You are are almost exactly like a cat. You're intelligent, independent, and set on getting your way. And there's no way you're going to fetch a paper for anyone!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Your Birthdate: September 30

You have the type of personality that people either love or hate. You're opinionated, dramatic, intense, and very outspoken. And some people can't get enough of you - they're totally addicted. Others, well, they wish you were a little more reserved. Your strength: Your flair Your weakness: If you think it, you say it Your power color: Scarlet red Your power symbol: Inverted triangle Your power month: March

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Bits of Wit and Wisdom from Evidence Class...

There's some damn good law on Law & Order!

Suddenly God couldn't come to the trial because the Pope wouldn't let him! *

*Speaking of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 which forbade clergy from participating in blessings etc during the trial by ordeal.

Yesterday...

I continued my campaign of annihilation against the colony of invading arachnids that have taken up residence on my front stoop.

The indiscriminate bombing campaign (aka the broom) left them homeless but they regrouped and began rebuilding their settlement. It was time for a second attempt.

Yesterday, I resorted to genocide (a la Raid.) I have yet to see a return of the colony so the chemical warfare appears to have been successful. We shall see though.

What Art Movement Are You?

You Are Impressionism

You think the world is quite beautiful, especially if you look at it in new and interesting ways. You tend to focus on color and movement in art. For you, seeing the big picture is much more important than recording every little detail. You can find inspiration anywhere... especially from nature.

What Art Movement Are You?

Clam--you'd better watch out!

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Updates

I updated my Holy Blogs of Obligation to include a blog by a young fellow Ohioan (we'll just overlook that he's from Cleveland, he really can't help it) and a fellow CoC-er who is preparing to swim the Tiber. He's also one of my (two) faithful readers. :) Check out his blog, Y Taith Cristnogol.

How Smart Are You?

Am-I-Dumb.com - Are you dumb?

Anti-Catholicism and the (Campbellite) Churches of Christ

Recent developments on the ex-CoC* Support board have me thinking about anti-Catholicism in the (Campbellite*) Churches of Christ.

Here's my theory--anti-Catholicism is so ingrained in the churches of Christ that even after they leave, many people still do not realize how much of a hold the anti-Catholic rhetoric holds over them.

I grew up in a CoC where regular sermons were preached regarding the evils of Catholicism: praying to statues, worshipping Mary, believing you can work your way into Heaven, you can sin all week and go to confession on Saturday and it's all good, etc. I'm sure others can add to the list, but those are the biggies. I know I believed it all when i was still CoC. After study and meditation though I realized that I had been horribly mislead by the CoC preachers and Sunday school teachers. I'm sure they meant well and thought they were saving me from certain sinfulness, but it delayed my conversion for a long time because I didn't want to be Catholic. I didn't want to believe that all those awful things I'd heard about Catholics weren't really true.

What I've observed on the ex-CoC board is that even among those who have left, there is still an underlying anti-Catholicism. There's an attitude of "I don't know what I believe, but it's not anything like Catholicism" (thanks Stephanie!) I don't even think some realize they're doing it. Others though, are deliberately baiting Catholics. Even among the ex-ers, it's still not okay to be Catholic. The comments on the board have ranged from telling us we're sheep who can't think for ourselves and who couldn't hack it in the real world to calling our belief in tradition "unbiblical garbage."

I would ask all CoC members and ex-members to think about their attitudes. Why do you get upset that Catholics don't believe in Sola Scriptura? Why do you feel the need to make a barbed comment when the question/comment could easily be phrased in non-inflammatory terms?

I'm not really surprised that there is anti-Catholicism in the CoC. After all, Alexander Campbell himself wasn't a big fan of Catholics. See here.

*I use the terms Campbellite and CoC to distinguish the particular branch of restoration movement church of Christ. This is done purely for clarity purposes as the Catholic Church also refers to herself as the Church of Christ.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled progam...

News Flash - The Pope Really IS Catholic

We now return to regularly scheduled programming.

Move along folks there's nothing to see here. I don't get why people are surprised that the Pope claims the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the faith. Would you expect anything less? He's the leader of the Catholic Church!

They're ALL Good Homilies, Father.

So Fr. Jan's Sunday homily got me thinking (I'm assuming that's what they're all supposed to do :) ) I'm pretty sure my train of thought arising out of the homily is slightly different from the point he wanted to get across though.

(Just for the record, I was listening and I got the point. There's no place for ego and selfishness when it comes to matters of faith.)

What got me thinking though was when Fr. Jan was talking about how the priesthood is not a good vocation for someone who desires to see results from their labors. He commented that the most he usually hears is "Nice homily, Father" after mass. Here's where that comment has taken me --

It seems to me as if most people tend to only see the negative about someone or something. It's so easy to point out what someone's doing "wrong." As a result, we don't stop to take the time to point out what they did well or what we appreciated. I think with priests and other clergy the good they do is taken even more for granted because that's what they're "supposed" to do.

Just because someone is doing their job doesn't mean that we can't take the time out to let them know how much we appreciate them.

So, Fr. Jan and priests everywhere--Thank you. You have a vocation that few are called to, so thank you for taking the time to be a pastor to your flock. Thank you for being there to celebrate mass even when it's obvious you don't feel well. Thank you for the well thought out homilies every week. You're there when we're sick, to bury our dead and baptise our babies. Without you we wouldn't have access to the sacraments. Without you I would have never found my way to the fullness of the faith after so many years of being "dead" to religion.

Thank you.

One of these days....

...when I am the benevolent dictator of this society I will make the popping and cracking of chewing gum a capital offense. Especially when said chewing gum is being popped and cracked eight hours a day, five days a week by my co-workers in adjacent cubicles.

What's Your Theological Worldview?

You scored as Roman Catholic, You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Roman Catholic 96% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Neo orthodox 71% Fundamentalist 46% Emergent/Postmodern 43% Reformed Evangelical 36% Classical Liberal 32% Modern Liberal 25% Charismatic/Pentecostal 25% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

June Devotion: Sacred Heart

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of June is set apart for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "From among all the proofs of the infinite goodness of our Savior none stands out more prominently than the fact that, as the love of the faithful grew cold, He, Divine Love Itself, gave Himself to us to be honored by a very special devotion and that the rich treasury of the Church was thrown wide open in the interests of that devotion." These words of Pope Pius XI refer to the Sacred Heart Devotion, which in its present form dates from the revelations given to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673-75.

The devotion consists in the divine worship of the human heart of Christ, which is united to His divinity and which is a symbol of His love for us. The aim of the devotion is to make our Lord king over our hearts by prompting them to return love to Him (especially through an act of consecration by which we offer to the Heart of Jesus both ourselves and all that belongs to us) and to make reparation for our ingratitude to God.

INVOCATION

O Heart of love, I put all my trust in Thee; for I fear all things from my own weakness, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART

Devotion to the Sacred Heart was the characteristic note of the piety of Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302), Benedictine nun and renowned mystic. She was, in fact, the first great exponent of devotion to the Sacred Heart. In our efforts to honor the Heart of Jesus we have this prayer as a model for our own:
Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, 0 my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.
Saint Gertrude

FOR THE CHURCH

O most holy Heart of Jesus, shower Thy blessings in abundant measure upon Thy holy Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff and upon all the clergy; to the just grant perseverance; convert sinners; enlighten unbelievers; bless our relations, friends and benefactors; assist the dying; deliver the holy souls in purgatory; and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. Amen.

A PRAYER OF TRUST

O God, who didst in wondrous manner reveal to the virgin, Margaret Mary, the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart, grant that loving Thee, after her example, in all things and above all things, we may in Thy Heart find our abiding home.
Roman Missal

ACT OF LOVE

Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus, and show me Its attractions. Unite me to It for ever. Grant that all my aspirations and all the beats of my heart, which cease not even while I sleep, may be a testimonial to Thee of my love for Thee and may say to Thee: Yes, Lord, I am all Thine;
pledge of my allegiance to Thee rests ever in my heart will never cease to be there. Do Thou accept the slight amount of good that I do and be graciously pleased to repair all m] wrong-doing; so that I may be able to bless Thee in time and in eternity. Amen.
Cardinal Merry del Val

MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART
Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought it mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushes beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Hear. of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Novena to St. Therese of the Child Jesus

5 Day Novena to St. Theresa

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please
pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens
and send it to me as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to
grant the favors I now place with confidence
in your hands.....
(Mention specific request)

St. Therese, help me to always believe as you
did, in God's great love for me, so that I
might imitate your "Little Way" each day.
Amen.

More Catholic Than The Pope?

Apparently a group of House Democrats think so.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a registered Democrat and a member of my county party's central committee. I think these politicians have a fundamental problem though--entitlement. They seem to feel they're entitled to take whatever actions they like when it comes to abortion and still be considered "good Catholics." I think it's time for these eighteen members of the house to rethink their priorities.

Are they going to serve God or man?

I'm a bad, bad, blogger!

I just realized I haven't posted since April! It's been pretty busy though. I had finals the first week of May. Then I had last week off and decided to enjoy my few days of freedom by working in my flower bed. Now I have to get into the summer routine as summer terms starts tomorrow. So much for free time! I have decided that I'm taking the second half of the summer off school. I need a sanity break!

Are you a tortured genius?

You Are 98% Tortured Genius

You totally fit the profile of a tortured genius. You're uniquely brilliant - and completely misunderstood. Not like you really want anyone to understand you anyway. You're pretty happy being an island.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

"A Chill Wind From Rome...."

The Legal and Catholic Blogspheres are abuzz with discussion of the Supreme Court's recent affirmation of the partial birth abortion ban.

A lot of the discussion is centering around whether the majority (all five of whom happen to be Catholic--Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy) voted based on the law or voted based on religion.

I strongly suspect the majority vote was based more on the justices' theory of Constitutional interpretation much more than it was based on their religion. After all, it's not as if they did anything overly radical--they upheld a law that had been passed by Congress.

Sure, Alito, Roberts and Kennedy were dark horses but anyone who's ever read any opinions authored by Scalia or Thomas had to know how their vote would go. Neither of them sees a Constitutional right to an abortion.

What saddens me is that the discourse focuses on the justices' religion than it does on the state of our society. What kind of society legalizes infanticide? If you don't think it's infanticide, read the description of the procedure from the majority opinion.

Which Twentieth Century Pope Are You?

You are Pope St. Pius X. You'd rather be right than newfangled.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

What is with the media and their Monday morning quarterbacking of the horrible events at Virginia Tech? No one was entirely sure what had gone on and the media were already criticizing university officials for their lockdown and slow notice to students. Have all these journalists forgotten their college days? Now, granted, my college days were in the dark ages (10 years ago) before everyone had cell phones and laptops, but I think this criticizing the Virginia Tech officials for what they did, didn't or shoulda done before the full story is even known is out of line.

My alma mater is roughly the same size and in the same type of setting as Virginia Tech. It took 20+ minutes to walk from one part of campus to the other. I can't imagine the university being able to get notice to all 20,000+ students had some tragedy occurred. As it was, there were riots on Court Street my freshman year, and I was even on Court Street when the events began to occur, but I didn't know there were riots until the next morning when my aunt in McAllen, TX called me and wanted to know why my school was being shown on CNN.

Sure we had campus police and I'm sure they had some kind of evacuation plan, but I'm also sure they never considered having to initialize it. They mostly dealt with underage drunks and thefts. I'm sure they never thought they'd have to deal with a gunman walking into a class building and opening fire. How would you even secure a classroom building?

What happened at Virginia Tech was horrible, but let the officials there deal with what needs to be done and don't armchair quarterback about an unprecedented situation.

Virginia Tech Shooting

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Stupid Files #1

File this under "Sin Makes You Stupid." I don't know what's worse, that my hometown breeds this kind of citizen or that city hall granted his group a permit to march through a predominantly-black area of the city. The same area of the city that was six year ago this month in full riot.

Apparently Cincinnati City Hall also makes you stupid.

Update: Well, apparently the march is temporarily off. Turns out the head of the loccal chapter has a warrant for his arrest. Imagine that.

It's the little things....

That I'm noticing most now that I'm an "official" Catholic. I put official in quotes because I'm starting to think I've always thought Catholic, even during my days as an evangelical, fundamentalist protestant :)

I realized this morning as I was putting on the beautiful, celtic cross my sponsor gave me at the vigil that I would have NEVER worn a cross during my CoC days. It just wasn't done during my days as an anti. I remember hearing screeds against cross-wearing from the pulpit. "If Jesus had been killed by guillotine or electric chair, would you wear that around your neck?"

Now I have the gold, celtic cross from my sponsor and a silver crucifix necklace blessed by my priest. My Scotch-Irish Presbyterian forefathers are probably turning in their graves at that!

Come to think of it, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised that my Scotch-Irish Presbyterian forebears turned Cambellite once they made it to Kentucky, should I?

Easter Vigil

Okay, Kasia. Here it is:

Vigil was wonderful. We had prayers with the pastor in the morning and we were all presented with a cross necklace our pastor blessed. After a mini-retreat we all went home to take naps!

Vigil started at 9pm, but we were there at 8:15 pm. Instead of being gathered around the fire while Fr. J processed out with the servers we waiting until the last possible minute to get outside because it was sooooo cold. We candidates were all dressed warmly, but the catechumens had shorts and t-shirts on underneath their "burlap sacks." We shivered through the blessing and lighting of the Paschal candle (which was at least 6 feet tall.) The pastor had recruited a few of the football players from the local Catholic high school to act as servers and to help with the candle. It took three big guys and a deacon to move it!

After the blessing and lighting of the candle, we all went back inside and the candle was brought in. We all lit our small candles while everyone processed in. Our parish did all nine readings--the first seven were done with only the light from the Paschal candle. When it came time to read the epistle only a few of the sanctuary lights were brought up.

After the readings and the homily, we went out into the gathering space for the baptism as we did the litany of the saints. The baptisms were highly emotional, I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. Our baptisms were done by immersion and if I recal correctly there were 7 of them.

We had almost an entire family come into the church--a mother, her school age son and her toddler daughter. The little girl was done last and as her mother was handing her to Fr. J she cried "nooooo!" Even Fr got a good laugh at that.

While our catechumens and pastor went to go get dried and changed, our parochial vicar led us in the renewal of our baptismal promises. We then went back into the church with lit candles and the choir sang some selections while we waiting for the pastor to come back out.

Then we candidates stood and were received into the church. We were then called by name to come to the front of the church for confirmation (there were about 10 of us.) Then there were three others who were also being confirmed and finally the newly baptised joined us now that they were dry and dressed in their albs.

Fr. J began by confirming the catechumens, then the three who were only being confirmed and finally the candidates. As we walked up to Fr. J, our sponsors handing Fr. H our cards with our confirmation name. I was the last person to be confirmed, by then Fr. J was just grinning from ear to ear.

Then came the big moment--Eucharist. I've been sitting through mass for months and feeling so incredibly sorrowful during the Eucharist because I haven't been able to receive and I've so desperatly wanted to. I have to admit, I was a little teary as I came up to Fr. J to receive the body of Christ.

Afterwards we had a reception in the parish hall for the newly received and the rest of the parishoners.

On a side note--a friend of my family gave me a rosary blessed by Pope John XXIII the next day. It had belonged to a friend of hers who had it blessed when she was married in 1959. How cool is that?

That's the cliffs notes version of Vigil. When I get time I'm going to try to write up something more complete.

Okay, Kasia. Now it's your turn :)

Family--Gotta Love 'em

I just got to spend a wonderful afternoon with my dad's family. I'll spare you the details, but let me just say that they put the 'fun' in dysfunctional.

Holy Week Begins

I have successfully made my first confession and now will spend the next week preparing myself for Easter Vigil. I fully intend to make a post detailing my impressions and thoughts after the Vigil.

For me this is a time of anticipation and sadness. Anticipation that I will finally finish a journey that began almost 10 years ago. Sadness because I seriously doubt I will have any family in attendance. Mom says she'll be there, but I'm not confident enough in that to even bother having the formation office reserve seats.

Hyacinths

My hyacinths bloomed. Yay! I have the purple plus some fuschia and white, but the fuschia and white aren't looking too great after yesterday's storms.

The PFer are at it again...

They've apparently decided that the so-called "Knights of Columbus Oath" and some other spurious "Confession" Protestants are required to make are true and that the church just doesn't tell people about it anymore. Stephanie has a post here.

Coming Soon

I've taken up rosary making and will soon be posting photos. I am still thinking of ways to sell them. I'm undecided between selling them at The Rosary Shop or whether I'll see if I can work something out with the owner of the location Catholic bookstore (which just happens to be a block from my house.) These first will likely be donated for our garage sale for Batahuola, our parish twinning community in Nicaragua.

Ahhhh....

...A Friday night off. I haven't had one of those in a long time. Through some stroke of lucky my Constitutional Law class was moved from Friday to Tuesday, giving me a rare Friday night at home.

And the Drama Continues....

...over at the ex-CoC board. Apparently all of the Catholic posters are engaged in some sort of mass hysteria because we all feel the same way about the vibe we're feeling regarding believers. Some of the other regular posters are beginning to show their true colors, and it ain't pretty. I made the mistake of going over there and reading this week and it just reinforced my decision to leave.

Farewell and Goodnight

After being compared to a racist on the ex-CoC support board for having the unmitigated temerity to suggest that perhaps some of the skeptics tone down their bashing of Christianity I have decided to no longer post there.

I emailed the moderator today and asked that my account be deleted so that I will not have the temptation of posting there any more.

Penitential Rite

After today's penitential rite, I will gladly offer up the screaming pain in my knees I get from our nice padded kneelers. We had to kneel on the hard, cold, marble floor for close to 15 minutes while the congregation prayed the intercessions, the priest laid hands on each of the candidates and then said a blessing.

Ouch.

Constitutional Evil?

The Northern Kentucky Law Review hosted a symposium today at Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. My Constitutional law professor was on one of the panels, so his students were "strongly encouraged" to attend (there will be a question on the final.)

I found the whole thing fairly interesting. The panelist opposite my professor was a professor from the University of Maryland named Mark Graber. Graber hypothesizes that the Dred Scott decision, one of the most reviled Supreme Court decisions, was decided rightly given the time and the state of the law at that time. While I'm not sure I can agree with him (I haven't read his book yet, so I'm not entirely clear on what all of his points are), he raises an interesting point.

(For non law-types, Dred Scott was decided in 1857 and held that African Americans had no right to sue in federal court and also held that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.)

Evangelical Atheism

Recently the tone of the Ex-CoC board has become more and more negative towards those who espouse any religious belief system. Apparently, only the atheists are rational and logical.

The atheists insists on religious people not trying to push their viewpoint, but they don't see that they are trying to force everyone to agree with them.

Stephanie at La Vie Catholique has a good post regarding this.

Moment of Panic

A coworker who happens to be the husband of a member of my old CofC congregation stopped me at work today to ask me where I was going to church.

I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights during hunting season because he immediately promised he wouldn't tell anyone. My mother is the only one who knows that I'm converting. I think the rest of the family has given me up as an apostate.

Mom's taking things better than I thought, but she still doesn't want me to tell my grandmother. I have a feeling my grandmother would take things better than my mom thinks she would, but I'm trying to honor mom's wishes.

It's Been a While

I haven't been good at keeping up with the blog, although I suspect I don't have much readership. School and work have been driving me nuts.