Man, things have been busy since Thanksgiving. This past weekend, 2 babies were saved on our sidewalk, what a tribute for the day after the celebration of the Immaculate Conception.
Usually, I don't get gifts for St. Nick's Day. Before, I've left candy for my college roommates, and bought small stuff for people in Church. However, this past Dec. 6, I got 2 of the best gifts ever! At a church event, a friend came over afterwards and asked if I would be the godfather of her 3wk. old son Ethan. If that wasn't enough, later that night, my brother called to say that he just got engaged that day. So, this year, God gave me a godson (this will be gosdon #2) and a future-sister-in-law all in the same night to celebrate St. Nick's day!
Paix du Christ!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
My Prayerbook
I have a regular weekly hour of Adoration at 4:00 Wed. mornings. So, I thought that maybe the day before each week, I can post some topics that I will be praying for, hopefully you might also take some of my intentions and feel free to add to my prayer list in the comments field and I'll take them along with me.
Paix du Christ!
- Canada Sean and his family.
- RA soldiers across the world.
- A fruitful SQPN/RA fund drive.
- Engaged couples to continue to discern their vocation.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
LEE HIGH BUS UPDATE: Announcements
This afternoon started off on a sad note. Shortly afternoon, an announcement of another student death by injuries. The fourth student to die from the accident is Crystal Renee McCrary at the age of 17.
The NTSB is still on the ground at the site, at their press conference, they listed some steps the investigation will have to take. Not really much useful information. They said they are here just to gather information and the probable cause will not be determined until the final report comes out which can take quite some time.
Although Lee High School decided to still have classes today (which I think is a good idea to give the students somewhere to go and have something else to focus on other than their drepression), they did decide to cancel tonight's Basketball game. Along with convening for classes, the school said that they would have many counselors on hand throughout the day for students.
Please continue to join with me in praying for everyone involved.
Paix du Christ!
LEE HIGH BUS UPDATE: The Mass
Mass last night was nicely done. They were able to get some one there to do music and Fr. John did well trying to fit in talking about the tragedy although he had found out about it just before Mass. Quite a few Lee High students (15-20) showed up, some were Catholic, and many were not. Many people were touched to tears, some of which new some one that was serriously hurt or killed, and others who were just touched by the tragedy. Before Mass, a newspaper team from Chattanooga were interviewing a lady who knew one of the girls that died, I believe it was Taniesha. The parish secretary and youth minister decided that we couldn't give permission to the media to take pictures or video without first consulting the pastor who was not present. So, they delegated me to tell them and the Birmingham NBC crew that showed up who were supposed to be getting shots of a service for some National coverage. Luckily, during the Liturgy of the Word, Fr. Glen, the pastor, showed up and gave them permission so the music minister took them up to the choir loft at the Alleluia and they came down during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. After Mass, they interviewed the principal of Catholic High School about his feelings as a principal in the area and then the youth minister. So, if you see something that looks like a Catholic Mass on NBC, that would be St. Mary of the Visitation.
Paix du Christ!
Paix du Christ!
LEE HIGH VUS UPDATE: The Next Morning
Last night, the Police were able to talk to the driver of the small car now described as an orange Celica. Both the driver and passenger of the Celica were students and they have confirmed that both students were on route to the same destination. Neither of these students are being charged or held. Nicole's, now reported to be 19 instead of 18, family at first had said that she was pregnant, but her sister says that is not true. However, Nicole was the mother of a 4 year old. Taniesha's age has been released as 17. Both Christina and Nicole's funeral arrangements have been finalized and announed, although Taniesha's are not known at this time. I believe there is only one student in critical condition which they are worried about. They say the driver is in bad shape, and unable to talk, but we don't know much more about his condition.
This morning, the NTSB begins it's investigation into the accident. They will start on the I-565 ramp where it all started. They will also sample paint and metal off both the Celica and the bus to see if the vehicles did touch or not.
Paix du Christ!
This morning, the NTSB begins it's investigation into the accident. They will start on the I-565 ramp where it all started. They will also sample paint and metal off both the Celica and the bus to see if the vehicles did touch or not.
Paix du Christ!
Monday, November 20, 2006
LEE HIGH BUS UPDATE: News Stories
CNN
Bus Wreck
Monday Headlines
3 Killed
FOXNews:
3 Dead
Bus Accident Facts
WHNT (CBS):
Videos
Avoid Hospitals
Info for Parents
I-565 closed
Donate Blood
Gov. Riley speaks
Prayer Vigils
Share Your Thoughts
WAFF (NBC):
Message Board
Riley's Statement
Blood donation sites
Prayer Vigils
Memorial Fund
Police Looking for Small Car
Bus Drops Off Interstate
3rd Student Dies
Paix du Christ!
Bus Wreck
Monday Headlines
3 Killed
FOXNews:
3 Dead
Bus Accident Facts
WHNT (CBS):
Videos
Avoid Hospitals
Info for Parents
I-565 closed
Donate Blood
Gov. Riley speaks
Prayer Vigils
Share Your Thoughts
WAFF (NBC):
Message Board
Riley's Statement
Blood donation sites
Prayer Vigils
Memorial Fund
Police Looking for Small Car
Bus Drops Off Interstate
3rd Student Dies
Paix du Christ!
LEE HIGH BUS UPDATE: Map
I've created a map of the locations in the incident using Google Maps. Click to enlarge the map to be more visible.
On I-565, you will see a red circle indicating the site of the accident. Just to the south of that circle, you will see a green circle indicating Huntsville Hospital where about 34 students were taken. Continuing south, there is a blue circle around Crestwood Medical Center where 9 students arrived. To the west of the blue circle there is a red solid square near Brahan Spring indicating the Huntsville Center of Technology (the destination of the bus). To the north-east of the red circle there is a green sqaure denoting Lee High School (the starting point of the bus).
Paix du Christ!
On I-565, you will see a red circle indicating the site of the accident. Just to the south of that circle, you will see a green circle indicating Huntsville Hospital where about 34 students were taken. Continuing south, there is a blue circle around Crestwood Medical Center where 9 students arrived. To the west of the blue circle there is a red solid square near Brahan Spring indicating the Huntsville Center of Technology (the destination of the bus). To the north-east of the red circle there is a green sqaure denoting Lee High School (the starting point of the bus).
Paix du Christ!
LEE HIGH BUS UPDATE: Press Conference
I'm able to give everyone a little better information after the preliminary breifing in a press conference that started about 1:20 CST.
The bus was traveling from Lee High School to the Huntsville Center for Technology (a vocational school). The Bus accident occured approximately 10:15am CST. There were 44 people on the school bus. No one was brought in by medflight, Ambulances and city buses carried students to the Hospitals. 9 students in non-serious conditions were taken to Crestwood Medical Center (in South Huntsville). 2 of these students were treated and released, 2 refused treatment and the remaining 5 have minor cuts, lacerations, and bruises. The remaining 34 were taken to Huntsville Hospital (downtown, only minutes from the scene). 2 were confirmed dead at the scene, none of the students admitted to the hospital have died. 2 of these students are in the ER Operating Room and 2 others are listed in critical condition. 2 students have yet to be identified (they are alive, they just weren't carrying IDs, had to be intebated, and can't further tell who they are), they are 90% sure about the boy, but haven't had someone confirm, and they don't have leads about the un-identified girl. The 2 students that have died are 18 yr. old Christina Collier and 17 yr. old Nicole Ford. Nicole had previously survived a shooting where she had been shot in the face. A drill on bus accidents had been performed in the last couple of weeks by the school system and emerency personal. Some students have reported that a car swerved in front of the bus and others reported that a car hit the bus. There is a small red car that smashed nosed-first into the side concrete barrier of the Highway in the vicenity, but it is unknown if this is the car in question or another vehicle swerving to avoid the incident as well. There are counselors available at some schools. There are also counselors setup for the first responders that had to deal with the initial scene and victims.
By the time I arrived back at work after the press conference, supposedly a 3rd student has died and supposedly 3 students were released from Huntsville Hospital. The 3rd name released dead was Taneisha Hill
There will be a Mass said at St. Mary of the Visitation Church (downtown and only 1-2 blocks from the crash) for Lee High School students. The Mass will commence at the regular 7:30pm CST time and following the Mass, there will be Youth Ministers and church people on hand to talk with any students that may need some one to talk with. If you can stop by adoration, Mass, a church, get a prayer in the intentions, say a rosary, or take some time when ever you can through out the day and the rest of the week for those involved, please do so.
Paix du Christ!
The bus was traveling from Lee High School to the Huntsville Center for Technology (a vocational school). The Bus accident occured approximately 10:15am CST. There were 44 people on the school bus. No one was brought in by medflight, Ambulances and city buses carried students to the Hospitals. 9 students in non-serious conditions were taken to Crestwood Medical Center (in South Huntsville). 2 of these students were treated and released, 2 refused treatment and the remaining 5 have minor cuts, lacerations, and bruises. The remaining 34 were taken to Huntsville Hospital (downtown, only minutes from the scene). 2 were confirmed dead at the scene, none of the students admitted to the hospital have died. 2 of these students are in the ER Operating Room and 2 others are listed in critical condition. 2 students have yet to be identified (they are alive, they just weren't carrying IDs, had to be intebated, and can't further tell who they are), they are 90% sure about the boy, but haven't had someone confirm, and they don't have leads about the un-identified girl. The 2 students that have died are 18 yr. old Christina Collier and 17 yr. old Nicole Ford. Nicole had previously survived a shooting where she had been shot in the face. A drill on bus accidents had been performed in the last couple of weeks by the school system and emerency personal. Some students have reported that a car swerved in front of the bus and others reported that a car hit the bus. There is a small red car that smashed nosed-first into the side concrete barrier of the Highway in the vicenity, but it is unknown if this is the car in question or another vehicle swerving to avoid the incident as well. There are counselors available at some schools. There are also counselors setup for the first responders that had to deal with the initial scene and victims.
By the time I arrived back at work after the press conference, supposedly a 3rd student has died and supposedly 3 students were released from Huntsville Hospital. The 3rd name released dead was Taneisha Hill
There will be a Mass said at St. Mary of the Visitation Church (downtown and only 1-2 blocks from the crash) for Lee High School students. The Mass will commence at the regular 7:30pm CST time and following the Mass, there will be Youth Ministers and church people on hand to talk with any students that may need some one to talk with. If you can stop by adoration, Mass, a church, get a prayer in the intentions, say a rosary, or take some time when ever you can through out the day and the rest of the week for those involved, please do so.
Paix du Christ!
Tragedy strikes in the heart of Huntsville
There was a very tragic accident that happened to a bus of about 35 high school students this morning, A bus was transporting the students from a vo-tec school back to the high school when the bus ran off an Interstate overpass, the bus fell 30+ feet (like driving off a 3 story building and nose-dived onto a downtown street below. So far there have been 4 confirmed deaths and most of the other approx. 20 students taken to the hospitals are in critical condition. This is very sad especially considering that it is only 2 days away from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Please, please pray for everyone involved in this incident including: the person/people in the "red car" that might never surface that they may find solace with God to not condemn themselves with guilt of the loss of lives; for the kids who died or will die at such a young age that God may be merciful when they go to their judgment; for the parents and family who will experience such heartache around the dinner table that they may find comfort and forgiveness in frequent prayer and intercession to God; and the students at Lee High School since it will affect them so closely that God will grant them the grace to carry on with their lives through this school year as well as the rest of their lives.
The local news channels websites are bogged down and many have crashed through the day as people at work across the area are trying to get constant information, so most have gone to a text format for most of the day. However, you can find this story through national carriers of the associated press such as CNN and FoxNews. I'll do my best keep up with the information on this tragedy here as I find out about it.
Here is a report from the local ABC affiliate in town (WAAY):
Huntsville city bus accident involving 30+ people. The bus fell 30+ feet. Lee High School Students involved. 23 were transported by HEMSI, 11 other by city bus to hospitals. All students have been transported to Huntsville Hospital main, and the Women and Children's center and Crestwood Medical. If you are a parent DO NOT GO TO THE ER. Go to the Main Cafeteria of the Huntsville Hospital or Crestwood Pavilion Center for information. The accident happened at Church Street and I565. Please stay away from that area. Two student fatalities. Eyewitness saw bus driver swerve to avoid a red car.
Paix du Christ!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
BAN HOMOSEXUALS!!!!!!!!!
Well, tell me why, not? Elton John wants to cry out to ban all religions. Why can't I say ban homosexuals? Why would I get a visit from the ACLU if I was serious about that statement, but Elton John doesn't? I doubt that it has to do with the difference in our income levels or public stature.
I used to like Elton John and his songs, no matter how off the wall he's been, until he decides to go and make such a dumb statement as "ban all religion." Let me tell ya, that right there is being a bleeding heart and sensitive that liberals claim to be.
Sir Elton claims that "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays." Just because you hate the Church, doesn't mean the Church hates you. Your statement is so wrong. Sure you have sinned, I have sinned, we all have sinned, but the Church doesn't teach to hate homosexual people, and the Church doesn't teach to hate me for my sins. What does the Church teach? Well, let's take a look (CCC 2357-2359):
Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.The first paragraph defines homosexuality and speaks on homosexual acts. It states that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered," not intrinsically evil, not banned, or anything else you've been told. It goes on to describe what that statement means, "They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity." The last line ("Under no circumstances can they be approved.") might sound harsh, but we have to take it in context. Remember, the "they" is refering to homosexual acts (read sex), NOT homosexuALS themselves.
The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.
The second paragraph deals with homosexual people. What does it say about homosexual people? "They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." The Church said it right here, homosexuals are people and they deserve respect, compassion, and sensitivity just like everyone else. What does it say about unjust discrimination and hatred towards homosexuals? That's right [it] should be avoided. And that paragraph just keeps getting better and better for homosexuals. WOW! That's supposed to promote hatred. Unless I'm off my rocker it says that hatred and unjust discrimination are sins.
The final paragraph tells us that homosexual persons are called to chastity. And pretty much describes the exact same call for single people, married people, priests, and religious.
Mr. John, I think you need to check your sources next time. Just because church-going people seem to spew hatred, does not mean that is what the Church teaches. By your statment and by your philosophy, I should then resolve that all homosexuals hate me (a church-going person) and therefore call out that homosexuals should be banned now doesn't it?
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Let's put the Christmas back in Christmas this year
Sunday night I went to Wally World to buy some groceries, would you believe Christmas music was playing over head? Now I can understand selling decorations and what-nots before Christmas, when they start selling them at All Saints Eve time that's a little much, but when Christmas music starts playing after All Saints Eve - that is riddiculous!
Had to get that rant out of the way since it just happened this week. But, for better news on Christmas, I heard on the morning news yesterday that retailers will actually allow people to say "Merry Christmas" again.
Remember last year, Wal-Mart decided to ban the word Christmas in its stores by not letting its associates say "Merry Christmas" (whatever happened to freedom of speech?), Creating a "Holiday" aisle for Christmas trees, and Christmas tree ornaments, and Christmas cards, etc. Which never made since to me, put Christmas on the aisles for Christmas stuff, Hanukkah on those aisle and so forth.
After seeing the errors of their ways, Wal-Mart (along with other retailers) decided to lift the ban on Christmas this year. After all, 'tis the reason for the holiday season and the only reason people spend big bucks that time of year. The emphasis is small on the holiday traditions during the same time of the year from other religions.
Paix du Christ!
Had to get that rant out of the way since it just happened this week. But, for better news on Christmas, I heard on the morning news yesterday that retailers will actually allow people to say "Merry Christmas" again.
Remember last year, Wal-Mart decided to ban the word Christmas in its stores by not letting its associates say "Merry Christmas" (whatever happened to freedom of speech?), Creating a "Holiday" aisle for Christmas trees, and Christmas tree ornaments, and Christmas cards, etc. Which never made since to me, put Christmas on the aisles for Christmas stuff, Hanukkah on those aisle and so forth.
After seeing the errors of their ways, Wal-Mart (along with other retailers) decided to lift the ban on Christmas this year. After all, 'tis the reason for the holiday season and the only reason people spend big bucks that time of year. The emphasis is small on the holiday traditions during the same time of the year from other religions.
Paix du Christ!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
The sadness abounds
It looks like California will again, sell it's young girls to sexual predators by Prop. 85 failing. Missouri will sell medical advances for a science that does not yield results with the passing of Ammendment 2. And South Dakota sells its soul by not banning abortion and standing up against Evil.
It appears that America has no respect for human beings when it can no longer protect the most defenseless and weakest. America ensures us many freedoms in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, but how can we have these freedoms without the "inalienable rights of LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?" It is no coincidence that those rights are listed in that order, they are listed in order of importance.
Paix du Christ!
It appears that America has no respect for human beings when it can no longer protect the most defenseless and weakest. America ensures us many freedoms in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, but how can we have these freedoms without the "inalienable rights of LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?" It is no coincidence that those rights are listed in that order, they are listed in order of importance.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Mass Scandalization
Argh! I've been scandalized!!!!
I made my decision to go to All Saints Mass from one of the 3 local parishes mostly based on the fact that I sing in the choir and last I heard when a Holy Day falls on Wed. that's the choir that usually sings and practice is afterwards. I was a little surprised that the Mass has being held in the parish center (i.e. gym) instead of the sanctuary, since it is an old and pretty church. I show up just as the opening song is being sung and am a little shocked at the projection screen behind the "altar" with an animated image on it. I went ahead and stuck around because, I can handle that if it is done well and in a prayerful manner. Much to my dismay, it, of course, was not. I realize that it was the end of a parish mission, and it was the priest that was in for the mission, but that does not give anyone an excuse to mutalate the Mass.
Most of you can already see the Mass going bad, but, for the next 2 1/2 HOURS, it just gets worse. Before each reading there was some introductory dramatized story mostly from the Bible (but not readings and not straight from the Bible) between a sister and the priest(including the psalm and gospel). And the actual readings were done in parts (again including the psalm and gospel). You know, the sister reads cetain parts, one side of the room reads another, the other side reads another, and the priest reads a part. Needless to say, I had a real hard time concentrating on the readings, I finally was able to find a way to close my eyes to beter concentrate by the gospel and heard that is was the beatitudes.
The holmily was VERY long, and not about the readings or even the particular Holy Day, but about the Bible stories they picked out to read before each of the readings. Let see, one was about Moses and taking off the sandals on holy ground, the next was the pentecost story, and before the gospel was something really hard to follow about the founders of the Salvatorian order (whom I'm sure are not too happy up in heaven). Also, at the end he had everyone write down different lists of gifts they have or don't have and then break into groups of about 5 people to discuss them. I didn't participate, instead, I went outside to pray since I hadn't been able to the whole time. Also, it helped me to cool down some since it was cold and raining. I don't remember a presentation of the gifts, so apparently this discussion about personal gifts was sufficient.
Oh, did I mention that he had just been wearing his black clerics the whole time? Why yes he had, but fortunately, the priest finally decided to don an alb and chasuble (although when I spotted his garb hanging previously, I didn't see a stole) for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Of course, since it was in a gym, everyone stood for the whole thing sans moi. I decided to deny myself communion that day as I didn't feel prayerful enough to accept Jesus body, blood, soul, and divinity. Oh, also, he sung the whole eucharistic prayer, but whoever created the arrangment, I wasn't sure if it was a priest praying to Jesus, or a Phantom singing to Christine. Now, I LOVE music from musicals, and I LOVE Mass, but never the 2 should meet like that.
Okay, so communion is over, and then everyone must write down one gift, file back up, and burn it. All while the priest karaokes the song "On Holy Ground." Then, everyone again has to file back up and get a candle so everyone can go forth and "Be Fire," which is the whole "theme" of the Mass. And don't forget, there are CD's of Fr. Joe singing in the back of the same room, the whole time so you can buy them either before or afterwards. I think there was a Bible story about Jesus getting pissed about something similar to that?
The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous! There were 2 things of which I was glad. First and foremost, that the beautiful sanctuary of the Church wasn't defiled by this train wreck. And second, that the priest actually had sense to tell the people to bow when he did since they were standing during the Eucharistic Prayer. So, my reivew is: I went to a Catholic Church to have a Catholic Mass, if I wanted that type of setting, I would have gone to the Rock.
Paix du Christ!
I made my decision to go to All Saints Mass from one of the 3 local parishes mostly based on the fact that I sing in the choir and last I heard when a Holy Day falls on Wed. that's the choir that usually sings and practice is afterwards. I was a little surprised that the Mass has being held in the parish center (i.e. gym) instead of the sanctuary, since it is an old and pretty church. I show up just as the opening song is being sung and am a little shocked at the projection screen behind the "altar" with an animated image on it. I went ahead and stuck around because, I can handle that if it is done well and in a prayerful manner. Much to my dismay, it, of course, was not. I realize that it was the end of a parish mission, and it was the priest that was in for the mission, but that does not give anyone an excuse to mutalate the Mass.
Most of you can already see the Mass going bad, but, for the next 2 1/2 HOURS, it just gets worse. Before each reading there was some introductory dramatized story mostly from the Bible (but not readings and not straight from the Bible) between a sister and the priest(including the psalm and gospel). And the actual readings were done in parts (again including the psalm and gospel). You know, the sister reads cetain parts, one side of the room reads another, the other side reads another, and the priest reads a part. Needless to say, I had a real hard time concentrating on the readings, I finally was able to find a way to close my eyes to beter concentrate by the gospel and heard that is was the beatitudes.
The holmily was VERY long, and not about the readings or even the particular Holy Day, but about the Bible stories they picked out to read before each of the readings. Let see, one was about Moses and taking off the sandals on holy ground, the next was the pentecost story, and before the gospel was something really hard to follow about the founders of the Salvatorian order (whom I'm sure are not too happy up in heaven). Also, at the end he had everyone write down different lists of gifts they have or don't have and then break into groups of about 5 people to discuss them. I didn't participate, instead, I went outside to pray since I hadn't been able to the whole time. Also, it helped me to cool down some since it was cold and raining. I don't remember a presentation of the gifts, so apparently this discussion about personal gifts was sufficient.
Oh, did I mention that he had just been wearing his black clerics the whole time? Why yes he had, but fortunately, the priest finally decided to don an alb and chasuble (although when I spotted his garb hanging previously, I didn't see a stole) for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Of course, since it was in a gym, everyone stood for the whole thing sans moi. I decided to deny myself communion that day as I didn't feel prayerful enough to accept Jesus body, blood, soul, and divinity. Oh, also, he sung the whole eucharistic prayer, but whoever created the arrangment, I wasn't sure if it was a priest praying to Jesus, or a Phantom singing to Christine. Now, I LOVE music from musicals, and I LOVE Mass, but never the 2 should meet like that.
Okay, so communion is over, and then everyone must write down one gift, file back up, and burn it. All while the priest karaokes the song "On Holy Ground." Then, everyone again has to file back up and get a candle so everyone can go forth and "Be Fire," which is the whole "theme" of the Mass. And don't forget, there are CD's of Fr. Joe singing in the back of the same room, the whole time so you can buy them either before or afterwards. I think there was a Bible story about Jesus getting pissed about something similar to that?
The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous! There were 2 things of which I was glad. First and foremost, that the beautiful sanctuary of the Church wasn't defiled by this train wreck. And second, that the priest actually had sense to tell the people to bow when he did since they were standing during the Eucharistic Prayer. So, my reivew is: I went to a Catholic Church to have a Catholic Mass, if I wanted that type of setting, I would have gone to the Rock.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Happy All Saints Eve
Don't forget to go to church tonight or tomorrow! And over the next couple of days, remember all of the dearly departed and celebrate the fact that they have made the next step on the journey in life and pray that they God may see them fit to be united with Christ!
This past weekend, My uncle got married. It was a beautiful Mass and great reception. I always get keyed up for weddings. It is such a beautiful sacrament to see two people dedicate themselves to bringing each other closer to Christ. And especially since it's been the first wedding in my semi-immediate family in probably a good 22 years!
So, I would like to say welcome to my new aunt, Bridget, to our family. Sure, at first we may seem like the Barrones when we ALL get together, but there's plenty of love and faith to go around ^_^
I was so proud and happy to see my uncle up there. Since I make rosaries, I decided to try making a Lasso Rosary (2 rosaries joined together from the hispanic tradition) as their wedding gift. When I gave it to them at the rehearsal dinner, my unlce said, "You know, we pray the rosary together," which of course I didn't know. And that's an AWESOME way to start off a marriage. I hope that's something I can say about a fiancée if God wills me to get married. The rosary I made is the un-finished one in the last 12 of 12 pictures. Maybe I can get a photo of it completed up here, but not until after the new couple gets back from Hawaii since I forgot to take a picture before giving it to them ^_^;;
Paix du Christ!
This past weekend, My uncle got married. It was a beautiful Mass and great reception. I always get keyed up for weddings. It is such a beautiful sacrament to see two people dedicate themselves to bringing each other closer to Christ. And especially since it's been the first wedding in my semi-immediate family in probably a good 22 years!
So, I would like to say welcome to my new aunt, Bridget, to our family. Sure, at first we may seem like the Barrones when we ALL get together, but there's plenty of love and faith to go around ^_^
I was so proud and happy to see my uncle up there. Since I make rosaries, I decided to try making a Lasso Rosary (2 rosaries joined together from the hispanic tradition) as their wedding gift. When I gave it to them at the rehearsal dinner, my unlce said, "You know, we pray the rosary together," which of course I didn't know. And that's an AWESOME way to start off a marriage. I hope that's something I can say about a fiancée if God wills me to get married. The rosary I made is the un-finished one in the last 12 of 12 pictures. Maybe I can get a photo of it completed up here, but not until after the new couple gets back from Hawaii since I forgot to take a picture before giving it to them ^_^;;
Paix du Christ!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Aaaah, I've been tagged!
Sorry, that it's taken me sooo long to get around to this, but Stella at Wandering Moon decided to tag me with a meme. It's just that work's been breathing down my neck lately and I've been extremely busy with trying to get stuff ready to put on a High School retreat this past weekend. So, here goes...
1. If you were invited to a Halloween/All Saints Day Costume Party, which saint would you dress up as and why? (The Blessed Virgin Mary,the Mother of God, is not an option.) (Tidbit of my own: Did you know that the devil pays more severely for impersonating the Mother of God than when faking Our Lord? *I Read that in a book on Saint Gemma.)
St. David, he was a Welsh bishop so he was Celtic therefore I would have a reason to wear a kilt and buy one (since it doesn't look like I'll be getting married anytime soon and it's hard to find someone to teach bagpipes around here). And he's my patron saint since I share his name as my middle name.
2. Which saint or other person would accompany you to the party?
Hmm, don't know. Would that be female or male? I guess Bridget or Patrick would be cool since they are also Celts. And then it could be a theme party ^_^
3. What famous quote would help others identify you?
I have no idea. There really isn't much on St. David
4. Describe your costume.
A mitre and crossier with a kilt! Why? Just 'cause.
5. Which movie or film best depicts the life of this saint?
There's a movie or film about him?!? 6. What is your favorite book written about this saint or that he or she has written?
Like I said, there really isn't much, and I don't know if he did have any writtings. If he did, I don't think it has survived.
And of course, if you haven't seen this meme yet, then count yourself tagged and make sure to post a link in the comments ^_^ Have fun!
Paix du Christ!
1. If you were invited to a Halloween/All Saints Day Costume Party, which saint would you dress up as and why? (The Blessed Virgin Mary,the Mother of God, is not an option.) (Tidbit of my own: Did you know that the devil pays more severely for impersonating the Mother of God than when faking Our Lord? *I Read that in a book on Saint Gemma.)
St. David, he was a Welsh bishop so he was Celtic therefore I would have a reason to wear a kilt and buy one (since it doesn't look like I'll be getting married anytime soon and it's hard to find someone to teach bagpipes around here). And he's my patron saint since I share his name as my middle name.
2. Which saint or other person would accompany you to the party?
Hmm, don't know. Would that be female or male? I guess Bridget or Patrick would be cool since they are also Celts. And then it could be a theme party ^_^
3. What famous quote would help others identify you?
I have no idea. There really isn't much on St. David
4. Describe your costume.
A mitre and crossier with a kilt! Why? Just 'cause.
5. Which movie or film best depicts the life of this saint?
There's a movie or film about him?!? 6. What is your favorite book written about this saint or that he or she has written?
Like I said, there really isn't much, and I don't know if he did have any writtings. If he did, I don't think it has survived.
And of course, if you haven't seen this meme yet, then count yourself tagged and make sure to post a link in the comments ^_^ Have fun!
Paix du Christ!
Friday, October 13, 2006
12 of 12 - October
Here's my 12 of 12 pictures for this month.
12 of 12 is kind of a fun way to chronicle your life. You take 12 pictures of your day on the 12th of the month. If you want to participate, or find out more information go to the founder of 12 of 12.
7:57
890 Explorer Blvd. aka Work
8:05
Time for a morning soda, didn't get breakfast this morning.
9:12
Taking a break to look at the lake out back
10:35
A rosary project that I am currently working on. Sorry, I can't say much about it right now, but after the end of the month, I'll tell you why it looks a little different.
11:50
Our Lady Queen of the Universe. I try to go as often as possible during the week, sometimes things at work get in the way, however.
12:15
What, is that a woman behind the altar? Why, yes it is, and no it's not a liberal parish, on the contrary, the priest follow the rules very strictly. However, Fr. Joy is spending this month visiting his family in India (he's coming back this weekend) and the Deacon had to move to another state, so the parishoners make due. Don't worry, she has no dillusions. Ask any of the couple of women who distribute communion and they say that they don't feel comfortable at all anywhere near the altar, but only do it because they know that others need them to so they can hear the word of God and recieve the body, soul, and divinity of Jesus.
1:25
Susan's first rosary - The DRE asked me to stick around and share her lunch so I could help her finish the rosary that I gave to her to learn after she saw Rosary Army on LOTR and wants to do it during Confirmation classes. She's my first Rosary padawan with any materials.
3:41
Ugh, taxes - I look over and see the tax paper work that I have to do by this weekend. I had 2 states and federal to do this year since I moved, so I filed extensions on some so that could better enjoy Easter. Well, 6 months is up, which means 6 more months until the IRS fun again.
5:58
Car shopping after work - Mine is slowly going down hill, better to look now rather than when I have a car with no transmission or no engine.
6:18
Cleaning up - So, I had to make a trip to the recycle bin. I'm supposed to be hosting a rosary prayer group meeting tonight, but no one's called to find out where to go, so I doubt anyone will come.
7:42
"Ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere" - As I thought, no one showed. So, I cheer myself up with ribs at Dreamland while watching College Football and Baseball
9:15
Well, it's time to change clothes to get start getting ready for bed and call Mom this week. My cell phone is only reliable from my bed and plugged-in.
Paix du Christ!
12 of 12 is kind of a fun way to chronicle your life. You take 12 pictures of your day on the 12th of the month. If you want to participate, or find out more information go to the founder of 12 of 12.
7:57
890 Explorer Blvd. aka Work
8:05
Time for a morning soda, didn't get breakfast this morning.
9:12
Taking a break to look at the lake out back
10:35
A rosary project that I am currently working on. Sorry, I can't say much about it right now, but after the end of the month, I'll tell you why it looks a little different.
11:50
Our Lady Queen of the Universe. I try to go as often as possible during the week, sometimes things at work get in the way, however.
12:15
What, is that a woman behind the altar? Why, yes it is, and no it's not a liberal parish, on the contrary, the priest follow the rules very strictly. However, Fr. Joy is spending this month visiting his family in India (he's coming back this weekend) and the Deacon had to move to another state, so the parishoners make due. Don't worry, she has no dillusions. Ask any of the couple of women who distribute communion and they say that they don't feel comfortable at all anywhere near the altar, but only do it because they know that others need them to so they can hear the word of God and recieve the body, soul, and divinity of Jesus.
1:25
Susan's first rosary - The DRE asked me to stick around and share her lunch so I could help her finish the rosary that I gave to her to learn after she saw Rosary Army on LOTR and wants to do it during Confirmation classes. She's my first Rosary padawan with any materials.
3:41
Ugh, taxes - I look over and see the tax paper work that I have to do by this weekend. I had 2 states and federal to do this year since I moved, so I filed extensions on some so that could better enjoy Easter. Well, 6 months is up, which means 6 more months until the IRS fun again.
5:58
Car shopping after work - Mine is slowly going down hill, better to look now rather than when I have a car with no transmission or no engine.
6:18
Cleaning up - So, I had to make a trip to the recycle bin. I'm supposed to be hosting a rosary prayer group meeting tonight, but no one's called to find out where to go, so I doubt anyone will come.
7:42
"Ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere" - As I thought, no one showed. So, I cheer myself up with ribs at Dreamland while watching College Football and Baseball
9:15
Well, it's time to change clothes to get start getting ready for bed and call Mom this week. My cell phone is only reliable from my bed and plugged-in.
Paix du Christ!
Friday, October 06, 2006
Rosary on the Rock
Wow, I'm sooo stoked! I went to EWTN for the first time yesterday to watch Life on the Rock live and see 2 shows: the live show about Rosary Army and then a taped show about SQPN.
I got to meet 3 people I absolutely love and listen to everyday! Greg and Jennifer Willits are the co-founders of Rosary Army and have a great apostolate dedicated to spreading the prayer of the Rosary. Fr. Roderick is a priest from the Netherlands, the president of SQPN and hosts numerous Catholic podcasts. They won 3 podcast awards from the podcast expo. That's right, 3 Catholic podcasts won international awards, which means that 2 of them won in categories other than Religion! How wonderful. You really need to start listening to these great Catholic podcasts if you haven't yet. Plus, I have a really big feeling that I'm going to be mentioned on 2 of those podcasts really soon ^_^
Paix du Christ!
Motivation for activation
Lapped Catholic has a motivational poster contest currently going on. So, here are a couple that I created. All you need to do is have an image ready along with a title and some words. Go to Motivator and enter in the information and it will give you a motivation poster look-alike image!
Paix du Christ!
Paix du Christ!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Feast of the Guardian Angels
Don't forget to pray to your angel as today is the Feast of Guardian Angels:
Each one of us is assigned a gaurdian angel from conception. Even those that are aborted before being born. Thank God for providing you with your guardian angel.
Paix du Christ!
Angel of God, my Guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.
Each one of us is assigned a gaurdian angel from conception. Even those that are aborted before being born. Thank God for providing you with your guardian angel.
Paix du Christ!
Fisrt Monday of October
Today is the first Monday of October, which means that today is special day in the secular world as well! What day is that? Well, it's the first day of the new term of the Supreme Court. This is the start of the first term with Samuel Alito, but without Sandra Day O'Connor. Hopefully we will start seeing more level-headed and better decisions made by the court. Hopefully, we can begin to see some JUSTICE for the innocent unborn children.
Whip out those rosaries and start praying!
Paix du Christ!
Whip out those rosaries and start praying!
Paix du Christ!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Pro-life Sunday and month of the Rosary
Today is Pro-life Sunday. Today there will be many Life Chains around the country, ask around in your church to see if there is one near you. Also, this week, you can participate in a pro-life fast. October is also the month of the rosary. Benedict gave a short speech during his midday angelus about celebrating the month of the rosary. The Vatican doesn't have an English version up yet, so I'll post the translation from ZENIT to encourage you to read it (seriously, it's really short and won't take anytime at all).
During this month, don't forget to pick up your rosary an extra few times to during this month Never prayed with the rosary? Now would be a perfect time. Why not head over to Rosary Army in order to learn to make your own beautiful, but inexpensive rosaries!
Paix du Christ!
During this month, don't forget to pick up your rosary an extra few times to during this month Never prayed with the rosary? Now would be a perfect time. Why not head over to Rosary Army in order to learn to make your own beautiful, but inexpensive rosaries!
Paix du Christ!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
1 Step to prevent an increase in your risk of Breast Cancer
That's right, I can help you not increase your risk for breast cancer in one easy step. DON'T HAVE AN ABORTION! My new line is "Fight Breast Cancer, Stop Abortion!" Women, if you want to empower youself, you must inform yourselves and know your rights. You see, if you go into an abortion and ask about abortions causing breast cancer they will tell you that's all hooey. Well, then ask them for their proof that it doesn't. You think more people would look into this as fanatical as people get about coffee could cause cancer or whatever, it seems like people are finding new place to get cancer-causing carcinogens every minute. But you tell them that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer they look the other way. Why? Because apparently abortion is a woman's right, but informing women about medical truth is not a woman's right. Now women, you tell me who is trying to keep you down and under their thumb? It can't be men, because this man is telling you straight up what you're doing to your bodies.
That's right, and I have proof. 6 studies showing a link between abortion and breast cancer. and I wouldn't say it if I didn't have the source to go with it. Here is a page with citations for the studies and a brief synopsis of the results. Also, I found it interesting (although I think I may have seen it somewhere before) right above, you see that becoming pregant reduces you risk of breast cancer. But, you have to cary it to term, because an induced abortion increases your risk. And no, it is not going to cancel each other out, so put that ridiculous idea out of your head.
Paix du Christ!
That's right, and I have proof. 6 studies showing a link between abortion and breast cancer. and I wouldn't say it if I didn't have the source to go with it. Here is a page with citations for the studies and a brief synopsis of the results. Also, I found it interesting (although I think I may have seen it somewhere before) right above, you see that becoming pregant reduces you risk of breast cancer. But, you have to cary it to term, because an induced abortion increases your risk. And no, it is not going to cancel each other out, so put that ridiculous idea out of your head.
Paix du Christ!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Still around, but podding around too
I'm still here, but lately, I've been checking out different Catholic podcasts. First off, what's a podcast? It's basically like a blog where you post articles, and there is a feed which people can subscribe to know when something new comes out. The difference is that podcasts are audio (usually MP3) files as opposed to text files for blogs. The most popular question is do you need an iPod? The answer is no, although the name, obviously, derives from the name iPod, you do not use an iPod. All you need is a computer. I listen to them on the computer while I'm at work. You can put them on any MP3 player, or if you really want to you can put them on a CD. And there are some wonderful stuff put out by Catholics. Some of my favorites:
These are some of the ones that I have found are excellent. I'm trying to go through the back episodes and once I get caught up on those, I'll get to some of the other wonderful Catholic podcasts out there. You can find more on directories such as: SQPN, Disciples with Microphones, look through the religion section of Podcast Alley, seach for Catholic podcasts on the iTunes Music Store. There are tons of places to search for great Catholic Podcasts. Go check 'em ALL out!
Paix du Christ!
Rosary Army - by Greg and Jennifer Wilits of www.rosaryarmy.com whose mission is to make, pray, and give away all-twine rosaries.
Daily Breakfast - a fun podcast, including popculture stuff such as movies, music, video games as well as Catholic news and answering Catholic questions, all put on by a Fr. Roderick, a priest from the Netherlands!
The Arinze Podcast - A podcast with teachings directly from Cardinal Arinze. Absolutely the best way to learn teachings from the Magisterium.
Catholic Answers LIVE - From the EWTN Radio show of the same name, just in case I miss an episode that I really wanted to hear due to youth group.
The Prayercast - spritual music and prayer request from all around the world designed so that you can take it to adoration and listen and pray for other Catholics in front of the blessed sacrement.
Verbum Domini - Readings from the bible to follow with the lectionary, the bishops won't let Brian use the NAB text, so he uses the same versus from other Bible's which he has permission to read. A great way to get the daily readings if you can't always make daily Mass.
These are some of the ones that I have found are excellent. I'm trying to go through the back episodes and once I get caught up on those, I'll get to some of the other wonderful Catholic podcasts out there. You can find more on directories such as: SQPN, Disciples with Microphones, look through the religion section of Podcast Alley, seach for Catholic podcasts on the iTunes Music Store. There are tons of places to search for great Catholic Podcasts. Go check 'em ALL out!
Paix du Christ!
Monday, September 11, 2006
5 Years Already
Wow, it's already been 5 years since September 11th. I guess back then I figured that by this time, we would be settling things in Afghanistan and starting to pull out. But now we're involved in 2 wars at the same time, which I don't think was a good idea. So, we have a military that is spread thin over 2 countries and having quite a difficult time in both arenas. Please pray that this turmoil can soon come to an end and more of our Americans can come back to the safety of their homes.
The first officially confirmed dead was Fr. Judge, a Catholic priest and fire house chaplain. His body was carried by the men in his fire house to St. Patrick's Cathedral and laid at the altar. To find out more about all of the 2,996 lives that were lost in the same morning 5 years ago please visit the 2,996 Project which has assigned one blog to write an entry memorializing the lives of each of the victims.
Everyone has their personal story about where they were the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Mine got kinda weird. I was in my dorm room 104 Center Hall at UofL. I usually got up around 6 to put on some headphones, listen to the radio, and do some homework on the computer while my roomates still slept (that was pretty normal while I was in college). My roommate, Tommy, had already gotten up because I had the TV on and it was on the local Fox channel. I heard them say something about breaking news and kind of huffed and thought what now, because just within the previous week, they had tried to make some big stir about some rollercoaster being stuck with people on it in Texas. When I turned to look, I saw the smoke coming out and then watched as the second plane hit, and my mouth dropped. I had a marketing class at 9:30 with a short quiz at the beginning, so I stayed and watched as long as possible before running to class. Our teacher had class like nothing happened, but it was extremely hard to focus. After class, all of the TV's around campus were on the news and it was hard not to find out what was going on. So I immediately heard about the pentagon, and the towers collapsing being that it was already 10:45. We heard that the University would not be cancelling classes for the day. I headed to the Interfaith Center, where the Catholic Campus Ministry is and made a plan with a few other students, our priest, and Campus Minister for a prayer service. We setup a quiet, candle-lit prayer space for people all day, and the couple students ran around posting fliers where ever we could to inform students. Many people of all denominations sought us out to quench their thrirst for prayer and faith. I spent most of the day crewing the Interfaith Center. However, I did have a night class, so I went back to the business school for that, and found everyone hanging around outside and found out that some funny-guy decided to call in a bomb threat on the Business School. The teacher was walking around finding everyone saying that it was riduculous to not cancel classes and to go home because he was cancelling his class.
Paix du Christ!
The first officially confirmed dead was Fr. Judge, a Catholic priest and fire house chaplain. His body was carried by the men in his fire house to St. Patrick's Cathedral and laid at the altar. To find out more about all of the 2,996 lives that were lost in the same morning 5 years ago please visit the 2,996 Project which has assigned one blog to write an entry memorializing the lives of each of the victims.
Everyone has their personal story about where they were the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Mine got kinda weird. I was in my dorm room 104 Center Hall at UofL. I usually got up around 6 to put on some headphones, listen to the radio, and do some homework on the computer while my roomates still slept (that was pretty normal while I was in college). My roommate, Tommy, had already gotten up because I had the TV on and it was on the local Fox channel. I heard them say something about breaking news and kind of huffed and thought what now, because just within the previous week, they had tried to make some big stir about some rollercoaster being stuck with people on it in Texas. When I turned to look, I saw the smoke coming out and then watched as the second plane hit, and my mouth dropped. I had a marketing class at 9:30 with a short quiz at the beginning, so I stayed and watched as long as possible before running to class. Our teacher had class like nothing happened, but it was extremely hard to focus. After class, all of the TV's around campus were on the news and it was hard not to find out what was going on. So I immediately heard about the pentagon, and the towers collapsing being that it was already 10:45. We heard that the University would not be cancelling classes for the day. I headed to the Interfaith Center, where the Catholic Campus Ministry is and made a plan with a few other students, our priest, and Campus Minister for a prayer service. We setup a quiet, candle-lit prayer space for people all day, and the couple students ran around posting fliers where ever we could to inform students. Many people of all denominations sought us out to quench their thrirst for prayer and faith. I spent most of the day crewing the Interfaith Center. However, I did have a night class, so I went back to the business school for that, and found everyone hanging around outside and found out that some funny-guy decided to call in a bomb threat on the Business School. The teacher was walking around finding everyone saying that it was riduculous to not cancel classes and to go home because he was cancelling his class.
Paix du Christ!
Monday, August 14, 2006
Survivor 73
This past weekend, I went to the EWTN 25 convention in Birmingham. It was going on, I wasn't doing anything, why not just go? Anyway, I hope to get more information up about the goings on later.
But for now, I wanted to share with you about this T-shirt that I saw and just HAD to have. It basically says how I feel. The subject line of this post is the front of the shirt. The Reverse states:
Since 1973 1/3 of my generation has been slaughtered by abortion at the rate of 4000 babies per day. My friends...My classmates...My generation compromised by the selfishness of others. As a survivor I will not let future generations be slaughtered in the name of convenience. I will not be silent. I will not forget. I will not compromise.
Yes, I am a survivor in my generation. I was born in 80, the start of the peak baby killing season. My parents were 17 and 18, didn't have college degrees, worked in fast food joints, didn't own a house, didn't have any saved up money, and had to go into debt to pay the pregnancy bills. I was born well under the 9 month mark after my parents were married. By society and culture standards I should have DIED, they checked all of the boxes excpet rape that people use to excuse themselves of killing their babies. I LIVED! My parents let me LIVE though the world would condemn me to death. Everytime I step out of my car onto a downtown sidewalk on a Saturday morning armed with my loop of 59 beads, I say a prayer thanking God that my parents loved Him and loved me enough not to set foot into one of those death holes, or to find some pill to give them a quick fix to get rid of me. I AM a survivor, I WILL not be silent, and I FIGHT so that others might get to experience the joy of life to learn to love God before being sent to meet Him.
Paix du Christ!
But for now, I wanted to share with you about this T-shirt that I saw and just HAD to have. It basically says how I feel. The subject line of this post is the front of the shirt. The Reverse states:
Since 1973 1/3 of my generation has been slaughtered by abortion at the rate of 4000 babies per day. My friends...My classmates...My generation compromised by the selfishness of others. As a survivor I will not let future generations be slaughtered in the name of convenience. I will not be silent. I will not forget. I will not compromise.
Yes, I am a survivor in my generation. I was born in 80, the start of the peak baby killing season. My parents were 17 and 18, didn't have college degrees, worked in fast food joints, didn't own a house, didn't have any saved up money, and had to go into debt to pay the pregnancy bills. I was born well under the 9 month mark after my parents were married. By society and culture standards I should have DIED, they checked all of the boxes excpet rape that people use to excuse themselves of killing their babies. I LIVED! My parents let me LIVE though the world would condemn me to death. Everytime I step out of my car onto a downtown sidewalk on a Saturday morning armed with my loop of 59 beads, I say a prayer thanking God that my parents loved Him and loved me enough not to set foot into one of those death holes, or to find some pill to give them a quick fix to get rid of me. I AM a survivor, I WILL not be silent, and I FIGHT so that others might get to experience the joy of life to learn to love God before being sent to meet Him.
Paix du Christ!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
More Babies Saved!
Well, Sat. was another HOT morning out on the street corner. I was informed that the previous weekend, 2 mothers were talked to and convinced to choose LIFE, yeah!
There are so many stories that I could relate to you from this weekend. But this past weekend, I met a man who like my dad and his father is a strong man and a true love for his family. These are the men I want to say that I will be like when I am called to my vocation, especially if it happens to be a family man. I'll call this man Mr. Wendell. Mr. Wendell showed up at the abortion mill today because his 16 year old daughter Haley and her boyfriend have a selfish mentality of wanting a quick fix. This mentality not only brought them in search of a first term abortion, but is also the reason they got impregnated at Haley's mother's house. Yes, Mr. Wendell no longer lives with Haley's mother and she is now on her EIGHTH husband. By the Grace of God, Mr. Wendell got full custody of his 2 children (Haley has a younger brother), as their mother was in no shape to raise children when they got divorced.
However, today, Mr. Wendell and his wonderful wife (only his 2nd) are standing up for God, what they believe, the life of his grandchild, and his daughter's immortal soul. Mr. Wendell never really was for abortion, but he never got involved, until his daughter got pregnant the boy's parents and her mother began talking her into having an abortion. Once he started looking into it and pulling out information to share with his daughter, he was horified at the information he began to find on abortion. Now, he is on a mission from God to do everything he can to protect her soul.
Once she decided that she would take the path of the "easy way out" and "quickly" "solve" her "problem." Her father told her that she could not have an abortion living in his house. So, she packed up and left, and her brother, encouraged by his sister and mother's bad examples, also moved out of the house and in with his mother. He lost both of his children in standing up for what is right. And he still stands by his decision.
This past weekend, he came down to confront his daughter, to tell the abortionists that they could not talk to her without his permission (was told they they wouldn't wait for his paperwork proof until he convinced them that he was perfectly ready and willing to sue). He knows this is probably a losing battle with so many people against him and the influence of the culture in which we live; Haley only needs to go to the court and get an injunction. But he's buying more time in order to convince his daughter that he just wants to adopt this child and totally and utterly relieve her of all responsibility and costs just so he/she has a chance at life like the rest of us.
Mr. Wendell is not ready to give up or surrender his daughter to the Devil peacefully. He is a man and will use everything he has to fight for as much of the purity of her soul as he can.
Mr. Wendell is strong and seems to hold up on the outside, but this breakdown in his family has to be costly on him. Please pray for Mr. Wendell that he is strong no matter what happens. Please pray that Haley is open and has a conversion of heart. Please pray that this baby has the chance to live and be loved by his grandparents as he/she deserves. Please pray that more men in our future will be strong like Mr. Wendell, and will fight for what they know is right for the one's they love no matter how much they loose.
Paix du Christ!
There are so many stories that I could relate to you from this weekend. But this past weekend, I met a man who like my dad and his father is a strong man and a true love for his family. These are the men I want to say that I will be like when I am called to my vocation, especially if it happens to be a family man. I'll call this man Mr. Wendell. Mr. Wendell showed up at the abortion mill today because his 16 year old daughter Haley and her boyfriend have a selfish mentality of wanting a quick fix. This mentality not only brought them in search of a first term abortion, but is also the reason they got impregnated at Haley's mother's house. Yes, Mr. Wendell no longer lives with Haley's mother and she is now on her EIGHTH husband. By the Grace of God, Mr. Wendell got full custody of his 2 children (Haley has a younger brother), as their mother was in no shape to raise children when they got divorced.
However, today, Mr. Wendell and his wonderful wife (only his 2nd) are standing up for God, what they believe, the life of his grandchild, and his daughter's immortal soul. Mr. Wendell never really was for abortion, but he never got involved, until his daughter got pregnant the boy's parents and her mother began talking her into having an abortion. Once he started looking into it and pulling out information to share with his daughter, he was horified at the information he began to find on abortion. Now, he is on a mission from God to do everything he can to protect her soul.
Once she decided that she would take the path of the "easy way out" and "quickly" "solve" her "problem." Her father told her that she could not have an abortion living in his house. So, she packed up and left, and her brother, encouraged by his sister and mother's bad examples, also moved out of the house and in with his mother. He lost both of his children in standing up for what is right. And he still stands by his decision.
This past weekend, he came down to confront his daughter, to tell the abortionists that they could not talk to her without his permission (was told they they wouldn't wait for his paperwork proof until he convinced them that he was perfectly ready and willing to sue). He knows this is probably a losing battle with so many people against him and the influence of the culture in which we live; Haley only needs to go to the court and get an injunction. But he's buying more time in order to convince his daughter that he just wants to adopt this child and totally and utterly relieve her of all responsibility and costs just so he/she has a chance at life like the rest of us.
Mr. Wendell is not ready to give up or surrender his daughter to the Devil peacefully. He is a man and will use everything he has to fight for as much of the purity of her soul as he can.
Mr. Wendell is strong and seems to hold up on the outside, but this breakdown in his family has to be costly on him. Please pray for Mr. Wendell that he is strong no matter what happens. Please pray that Haley is open and has a conversion of heart. Please pray that this baby has the chance to live and be loved by his grandparents as he/she deserves. Please pray that more men in our future will be strong like Mr. Wendell, and will fight for what they know is right for the one's they love no matter how much they loose.
Paix du Christ!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
On the road again
Okay, before I continue story telling, I would just like to say that I decided to go to evening daily Mass yesterday due to being the feast day of St. James (patron St. of the church I grew up attending and at which I have made all of my sacraments thus far). It was my first attempt to attend Mass at St. Joe's; however, I was sorely disappointed. There were only like 6 other people I believe and one left after the readings. Everyone was so scattered a part it was ridiculous. Everyone also decided to say the prayers during Mass so softly that I was wondering if they all had just left and weren't there any more. And they forgot what the cues are to stand/kneel and so forth. I'm hoping that the small turn out was due to the fact that there was a funeral that afternoon and the regulars decided to go to that, but still from the people that attended, it made me feel like I didn't really want to be there anymore. Oh well, had to get that off of my chest, sorry about the short rant.
Since I was asked to go to the shrine, although I was already a little worn down after standing outside for over 4 hours, guess what I did? I ran back, cleaned up, and drove to the shrine. I had never been down there before, but found out that it takes 1 1/2 hours. Well, I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the lower chapel, hung out in the upper church, walked around the gift shop for a while and bought some stuff. Well, I spent 2 hours there and really enjoy the awesomeness of the place, but I didn't see any of the walkers. Darn.
Well, I made the 1 1/2 hour drive back so that I could chaperone 14 high schoolers at our Youth Group lock-in for the next 12 hrs. I did lay down for an hour, and got a little bit less in sleep. We ended with early Mass where Brendan and Shannon, two of the walkers talked and had info afterwards. Yay! Shannon told me that they ended up running out of time to go to the shrine, so they didn't end up going. Well, lucky for me, there weren't many musicians showing up for the next Mass, so I stayed to sing for that one too. I remembered that I had a large denomination bill in the car from Christmas and decided to donate it to Crossroads. After Mass, it was time to go take another shower so I could go to a Baby Shower.
Well, the baby shower went well, and afterwards I had to stop by the adoration chapel since I promised the walkers that I'd pray for them. I prayed the glorious mysteries, and it was probably the most devout rosary that I've prayed in a long time. Then I final got to bed after about 39 hours.
Well, I got information from them about where they will be prayin' in ATL next weekend, so I figured since it's only 4 1/2 hours away, I can go out there and TRY to hang out with my friends and family ^_^
Sure it ended up being an extremely long and jam packed weekend, but it was full of life (quite litterally!) and Church and was actually rejuvinating. There are 3 treks of walkers (northern, central, southern) that will be covering about 60 miles per day until they all arrive in DC on Aug. 12. Please take some time in the upcomming weeks to pray for these great individuals. Also, if you are graduating high school, in college, or a young adult pray to see if you might be willing to donate all or some of your time next summer to walk across the country! To check out more about their group, go to Crossroads
Paix du Christ!
Since I was asked to go to the shrine, although I was already a little worn down after standing outside for over 4 hours, guess what I did? I ran back, cleaned up, and drove to the shrine. I had never been down there before, but found out that it takes 1 1/2 hours. Well, I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the lower chapel, hung out in the upper church, walked around the gift shop for a while and bought some stuff. Well, I spent 2 hours there and really enjoy the awesomeness of the place, but I didn't see any of the walkers. Darn.
Well, I made the 1 1/2 hour drive back so that I could chaperone 14 high schoolers at our Youth Group lock-in for the next 12 hrs. I did lay down for an hour, and got a little bit less in sleep. We ended with early Mass where Brendan and Shannon, two of the walkers talked and had info afterwards. Yay! Shannon told me that they ended up running out of time to go to the shrine, so they didn't end up going. Well, lucky for me, there weren't many musicians showing up for the next Mass, so I stayed to sing for that one too. I remembered that I had a large denomination bill in the car from Christmas and decided to donate it to Crossroads. After Mass, it was time to go take another shower so I could go to a Baby Shower.
Well, the baby shower went well, and afterwards I had to stop by the adoration chapel since I promised the walkers that I'd pray for them. I prayed the glorious mysteries, and it was probably the most devout rosary that I've prayed in a long time. Then I final got to bed after about 39 hours.
Well, I got information from them about where they will be prayin' in ATL next weekend, so I figured since it's only 4 1/2 hours away, I can go out there and TRY to hang out with my friends and family ^_^
Sure it ended up being an extremely long and jam packed weekend, but it was full of life (quite litterally!) and Church and was actually rejuvinating. There are 3 treks of walkers (northern, central, southern) that will be covering about 60 miles per day until they all arrive in DC on Aug. 12. Please take some time in the upcomming weeks to pray for these great individuals. Also, if you are graduating high school, in college, or a young adult pray to see if you might be willing to donate all or some of your time next summer to walk across the country! To check out more about their group, go to Crossroads
Paix du Christ!
Monday, July 24, 2006
How great is our God!
This weekend didn't work out at all for me. It ended up much, much better! Isn't God wonderful?
I was going to go to Atlanta to see a high school group do Les Mis, and hopefully spend time with my cousins, and maybe even hang out with a friend that has a great personality and attractive (wink, wink, nod, nod). Anyway, work had other plans, that made me not be able to cut out early on Fri. So, I stayed in town. You know what that means... that's right, another downtown ritual and have I got a story for you!
This Sat. was overcast, okay it was down right cloudy and definitely going to rain sometime that day. But, that was a good thing as it made it a nice temperature to be outside. Well, at first we were 6 strong and actually, all of the first bunch were all Catholic. And we got a few thumbs up from passers. 2 of our group left only after a little while. Not too much later, we get a call (a little after 9) from some of our friends to see if we had been rained out since they are about 1/2 hour away and didn't know if they should come out. It hadn't rained all morning, and we told them we were out, so they said they would join us. Not too much later, it started sprinkling, and some Episcopalian friends showed up. One of the members wanted to call it quits when the rain came because she thought it was going to storm pretty soon. So, we armed ourselves with umbrellas and stayed. After awhile our Baptist friends from out of town, the ones that called, showed up with the kids. And the rain stopped. I joked with Mike that we didn't get any 1 finger salutes from passers until they showed up. And then some more Catholic friends came by.
So, we had our group of 13, which is pretty hardy. Just before 10:00 something absolutely amazing happened. An RV passes the street we are standing on with writing all over and it says PRO-LIFE WALK ACROSS AMERICA in bold letters! It goes around the corner and pulls into the parking lot on the corner. A couple of the ladies run down and then comeback saying that the new comers are coming up to join us (okay, thanks, but I already had that one figured). So, around the corner come 10 young adults with white shirts and PRO LIFE covering the front. Everyone else on that side of the sidewalk started talking to them, so I didn't rush over there. But, after awhile, I looked back and they were standing in a line holding books. Ah, I see, they had started praying the rosary! Excellent, just what I've been wanting. So, I make my way over there and then stand next to Major, who had joined them, and told him I was going to jump when the next set started (I had already silently prayed through the first 3 sets, so I figured it was alright if I missed the joyful since I wasn't there at the begining). Major said that he'd go stand at the other end then. So we go on to the luminous. During the song after it and before starting on sorrowful, God neglected to give us warning, but the sky just opened up and huge drops of water came flooding out. Major and I jumped for the umbrellas we had laid aside from the earlier rains and covered whoever we could. The walkers made it to an overhang at the building on the corner and we stood there talking for a while. I offered to run to a store and find ponchos for everyone, but they declined and 2 of the guys came back from the RV with small trash bags with holes in the top to cover at least the girls (well, their t-shirts were white). After ahile, the rain had washed out all of the rest of the locals, but after it let up, we headed back out to continue God's work. They lined back up, I joined them and we went through the other 2 sets of mysteries. It started raining again, and I noticed that one of the girls, Libby, didn't get a trash bag, but a fuzzy jacket. Bad idea. I popped open my umbrella and huddled with her. We finished up about 11:30, I walked over to the RV with them and asked some information including how to find out where they were going to be praying in ATL next weekend so I could let my friends out there know. They were all really nice and excellent people. I invited them over so they wouldn't have to cram back in their small space, but they said they were going to cleanup and head down to the Shrine (Mother Angelica's shrine) so they wouldn't have time, but they invited me to show up there and hang out with them and they eventually left.
To be continued...
Paix du Christ!
I was going to go to Atlanta to see a high school group do Les Mis, and hopefully spend time with my cousins, and maybe even hang out with a friend that has a great personality and attractive (wink, wink, nod, nod). Anyway, work had other plans, that made me not be able to cut out early on Fri. So, I stayed in town. You know what that means... that's right, another downtown ritual and have I got a story for you!
This Sat. was overcast, okay it was down right cloudy and definitely going to rain sometime that day. But, that was a good thing as it made it a nice temperature to be outside. Well, at first we were 6 strong and actually, all of the first bunch were all Catholic. And we got a few thumbs up from passers. 2 of our group left only after a little while. Not too much later, we get a call (a little after 9) from some of our friends to see if we had been rained out since they are about 1/2 hour away and didn't know if they should come out. It hadn't rained all morning, and we told them we were out, so they said they would join us. Not too much later, it started sprinkling, and some Episcopalian friends showed up. One of the members wanted to call it quits when the rain came because she thought it was going to storm pretty soon. So, we armed ourselves with umbrellas and stayed. After awhile our Baptist friends from out of town, the ones that called, showed up with the kids. And the rain stopped. I joked with Mike that we didn't get any 1 finger salutes from passers until they showed up. And then some more Catholic friends came by.
So, we had our group of 13, which is pretty hardy. Just before 10:00 something absolutely amazing happened. An RV passes the street we are standing on with writing all over and it says PRO-LIFE WALK ACROSS AMERICA in bold letters! It goes around the corner and pulls into the parking lot on the corner. A couple of the ladies run down and then comeback saying that the new comers are coming up to join us (okay, thanks, but I already had that one figured). So, around the corner come 10 young adults with white shirts and PRO LIFE covering the front. Everyone else on that side of the sidewalk started talking to them, so I didn't rush over there. But, after awhile, I looked back and they were standing in a line holding books. Ah, I see, they had started praying the rosary! Excellent, just what I've been wanting. So, I make my way over there and then stand next to Major, who had joined them, and told him I was going to jump when the next set started (I had already silently prayed through the first 3 sets, so I figured it was alright if I missed the joyful since I wasn't there at the begining). Major said that he'd go stand at the other end then. So we go on to the luminous. During the song after it and before starting on sorrowful, God neglected to give us warning, but the sky just opened up and huge drops of water came flooding out. Major and I jumped for the umbrellas we had laid aside from the earlier rains and covered whoever we could. The walkers made it to an overhang at the building on the corner and we stood there talking for a while. I offered to run to a store and find ponchos for everyone, but they declined and 2 of the guys came back from the RV with small trash bags with holes in the top to cover at least the girls (well, their t-shirts were white). After ahile, the rain had washed out all of the rest of the locals, but after it let up, we headed back out to continue God's work. They lined back up, I joined them and we went through the other 2 sets of mysteries. It started raining again, and I noticed that one of the girls, Libby, didn't get a trash bag, but a fuzzy jacket. Bad idea. I popped open my umbrella and huddled with her. We finished up about 11:30, I walked over to the RV with them and asked some information including how to find out where they were going to be praying in ATL next weekend so I could let my friends out there know. They were all really nice and excellent people. I invited them over so they wouldn't have to cram back in their small space, but they said they were going to cleanup and head down to the Shrine (Mother Angelica's shrine) so they wouldn't have time, but they invited me to show up there and hang out with them and they eventually left.
To be continued...
Paix du Christ!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Slow days
Sorry that it's been a little on the light side. We moved into a new office building. I've made a couple of trips back home. I've been assigned stuff at work that is really frustrating and time consuming. And I've also gotten involved in LibriVox that I found out about from Julie D. at Happy Catholic
Let's see; first, I was in town this past weekend, so, of course, I was out praying Sat. morning. Our group was a small crowd, it was very hot, and the traffic seemed light, even the flow of women coming in. I still haven't seen any of the vehicles of any of the first people that we met from the Hospitality House (I hope that's a good sign). The funniest thing happened. Some guy passing on the other side of the road decides to lean quite a ways out of his van window and yell, "GET A JOB!" I died laughing. I didn't know that being out on a Sat. morning meant that you didn't have a day job. I don't think that got the memo that the usual yell out the window is: "GET A LIFE!" Which Mom apparently finds highly ironic. There was a white SUV that passed kind of slowly (ie not speeding) with a 2 people, the driver was male, and it looked like the passenger was a female and there was a large AU magnet on the back. He turned around at the parking lot at the end, usually these are all signs that they are scoping out the place on the first pass, so they can be sure to make the correct turn on the second pass, and possibly to make sure that we aren't blocking the entrance. So, when I saw them turn, I let everyone know that one was coming. The passenger was definitely female, and they both had on white shirts saying they worked security for the VBC. He pulled up to the curb and slowed down. But, having the passenger window rolled down kind of caught me off gaurd. Instead of pulling in, he leaned across so he could see better out the other window and said "You're doing a good job," smiled, and drove off. Wow! If you ever stumble across this, thank you so much. You really made my day.
Other than that, it was pretty quite on the front. I went back to my ol' theatre company who was putting on Seussical. Let me tell you, I was pretty skeptical going in, but coming out, I was a fan. They had a great cast for the show, and I thought the show was pretty excellent. If you ever have a chance to see it, go. Although it will be in Huntsville soon and they are charging $21 O.o I don't know about paying that price for a community theatre.
Well, my recent online hobby is LibriVox. FREE Audiobooks. That's right, absolutely free books that you can download in MP3, you don't have to login or provide an email address or anything, just save the file. The books, of course, have to be in the public domain, but they are still great books and a lot of great readings. If you like it, support them, no money needed, but there are a few different ways to go about it. First, you can print off posters and put them in your library/work/where ever, or email, or tell people, or post in your blog, just get the word out. Second, you can listen. Pick a chapter or 2 and listen to it to make sure that there's not too much background noise or no long pauses and things like that. Thrid, you can read. We already know that you have a computer and are online since you are reading this, all you need is a microphone and a free program to download and you can record poems, chapters, or even whole books and have everyone across the world listening to you!
Before I go, there was a news story on Fri. about some child that has a disease and has all of these hospital visits and needs that are very costly. The reporter in the story said that when they went in to some financial aid person to ask for more monetary help, they were told that they could only help them if the couple got a divorce. WHAT?!? That just makes me boil. Of course, they said they couldn't do that. No duh, they love each other. There's just too much to complain about there, so since there is nothing good to say about it...
Paix du Christ!
Let's see; first, I was in town this past weekend, so, of course, I was out praying Sat. morning. Our group was a small crowd, it was very hot, and the traffic seemed light, even the flow of women coming in. I still haven't seen any of the vehicles of any of the first people that we met from the Hospitality House (I hope that's a good sign). The funniest thing happened. Some guy passing on the other side of the road decides to lean quite a ways out of his van window and yell, "GET A JOB!" I died laughing. I didn't know that being out on a Sat. morning meant that you didn't have a day job. I don't think that got the memo that the usual yell out the window is: "GET A LIFE!" Which Mom apparently finds highly ironic. There was a white SUV that passed kind of slowly (ie not speeding) with a 2 people, the driver was male, and it looked like the passenger was a female and there was a large AU magnet on the back. He turned around at the parking lot at the end, usually these are all signs that they are scoping out the place on the first pass, so they can be sure to make the correct turn on the second pass, and possibly to make sure that we aren't blocking the entrance. So, when I saw them turn, I let everyone know that one was coming. The passenger was definitely female, and they both had on white shirts saying they worked security for the VBC. He pulled up to the curb and slowed down. But, having the passenger window rolled down kind of caught me off gaurd. Instead of pulling in, he leaned across so he could see better out the other window and said "You're doing a good job," smiled, and drove off. Wow! If you ever stumble across this, thank you so much. You really made my day.
Other than that, it was pretty quite on the front. I went back to my ol' theatre company who was putting on Seussical. Let me tell you, I was pretty skeptical going in, but coming out, I was a fan. They had a great cast for the show, and I thought the show was pretty excellent. If you ever have a chance to see it, go. Although it will be in Huntsville soon and they are charging $21 O.o I don't know about paying that price for a community theatre.
Well, my recent online hobby is LibriVox. FREE Audiobooks. That's right, absolutely free books that you can download in MP3, you don't have to login or provide an email address or anything, just save the file. The books, of course, have to be in the public domain, but they are still great books and a lot of great readings. If you like it, support them, no money needed, but there are a few different ways to go about it. First, you can print off posters and put them in your library/work/where ever, or email, or tell people, or post in your blog, just get the word out. Second, you can listen. Pick a chapter or 2 and listen to it to make sure that there's not too much background noise or no long pauses and things like that. Thrid, you can read. We already know that you have a computer and are online since you are reading this, all you need is a microphone and a free program to download and you can record poems, chapters, or even whole books and have everyone across the world listening to you!
Before I go, there was a news story on Fri. about some child that has a disease and has all of these hospital visits and needs that are very costly. The reporter in the story said that when they went in to some financial aid person to ask for more monetary help, they were told that they could only help them if the couple got a divorce. WHAT?!? That just makes me boil. Of course, they said they couldn't do that. No duh, they love each other. There's just too much to complain about there, so since there is nothing good to say about it...
Paix du Christ!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
My Mom Rocks!
At least that's what Lynne told me. As I went back downtown this Sat. morning, I wore my T-shirt that has a picture of a fetus with its hands folded in a bubble being held with two large hands. At the bottom is Mother Theresa's quote: "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." All day long I was asked where I got it so I told people that Mom made it for her youth group when they were doing something. So, when I told Lynne she replied with "Your Mom Rocks!"
It was another short morning as many people had family coming in around luch time for the holiday and had to make it back earlier than normal, but it was definitely still interesting. We still have people stopping and telling us to "get a life" which seems to be the best thing they can say, because they usually degrade to vulgar language quickly after that and end up using just one finger as a final retort.
Well last week, although we had all gone, the police were called out. One of the people in the group was relating the story since they saw the police pull up and start talking to Mr. Scott (the guy that was talking to people from the Hospitality House porch, so we figured that was the reason the cop was there in the first place) as they were leaving. As the cop was pulling out, they asked if Mr. Scott was in trouble. The cop just smiled and said, "Nah, he's fine."
This week, the cops were also called. Apparently, some chick didn't like her picture to be taken (Mike has his camera just in case some altercation happens and wears it kind of as a slight threat, and takes it out to take pictures of cars and people sometimes). So, she called the police because she thought she had a right to arrest him. The cop came to ask for our permit, glad the only person that had a copy of it on them showed up just before (I didn't even know there had to be one). And then told Mike he had to give her his name and she would have to file suit if she wanted something done since it would be a civil matter and not a criminal matter. Although both parties were a little rude. The cop was nice enough to point that out when he was getting a little tired and said all he was there for was to make sure nothing happened when she asked for his information and until the parties were seperated (i.e. she drove off) On her way out, she took a picture of him with her cell phone. There goes her case if she thought she had one to begin with. Afterwards, Mike said he felt a little bad that he was slightly rude to the officer, but I found out that one of the other officers that showed up is usually confrontational and a little pushy with the group, so they were kind of edgy with him there. Now, you have to understand, in Huntsville, when the cops hear something on their radio 3 or 4 cars show up because they feel that there's nothing else going on (even when it's just a speeding ticket), so 1 works while the others just sit around and watch and chat off to the side. It's never anything big unless there's more than 5 cop cars.
Other than that it was a pretty uneventful morning. Everyone always thanks me for being there after something like that happens. I guess they like the thought of a bigger guy hanging around. Also, I'm pretty cool headed in that type of instance and they appreciate it too. The people we met from the Hospitality House were still there plus a couple more. When people on their way out saw us talking to the other people, they would roll down there windows and wait to say hi and tell us the names of their family members in the hospital so that we would pray for them. That was cool that they were pretty much waiting to ask us to pray for them. All of the residents always said that we were doing a great thing out there.
So, continue to pray for Mr. Scott's son. Josh and Clay were the 2 others from last week. Josh is the younger one and they may release him soon, yay! Clay, the one in worse shape is in the hospital and they said was able to take the tube out on his own, but of course he still needs it in (so that's some positive and negative). Jefferey and Hallie are some others in the hospital who need some praying power.
Paix du Christ!
It was another short morning as many people had family coming in around luch time for the holiday and had to make it back earlier than normal, but it was definitely still interesting. We still have people stopping and telling us to "get a life" which seems to be the best thing they can say, because they usually degrade to vulgar language quickly after that and end up using just one finger as a final retort.
Well last week, although we had all gone, the police were called out. One of the people in the group was relating the story since they saw the police pull up and start talking to Mr. Scott (the guy that was talking to people from the Hospitality House porch, so we figured that was the reason the cop was there in the first place) as they were leaving. As the cop was pulling out, they asked if Mr. Scott was in trouble. The cop just smiled and said, "Nah, he's fine."
This week, the cops were also called. Apparently, some chick didn't like her picture to be taken (Mike has his camera just in case some altercation happens and wears it kind of as a slight threat, and takes it out to take pictures of cars and people sometimes). So, she called the police because she thought she had a right to arrest him. The cop came to ask for our permit, glad the only person that had a copy of it on them showed up just before (I didn't even know there had to be one). And then told Mike he had to give her his name and she would have to file suit if she wanted something done since it would be a civil matter and not a criminal matter. Although both parties were a little rude. The cop was nice enough to point that out when he was getting a little tired and said all he was there for was to make sure nothing happened when she asked for his information and until the parties were seperated (i.e. she drove off) On her way out, she took a picture of him with her cell phone. There goes her case if she thought she had one to begin with. Afterwards, Mike said he felt a little bad that he was slightly rude to the officer, but I found out that one of the other officers that showed up is usually confrontational and a little pushy with the group, so they were kind of edgy with him there. Now, you have to understand, in Huntsville, when the cops hear something on their radio 3 or 4 cars show up because they feel that there's nothing else going on (even when it's just a speeding ticket), so 1 works while the others just sit around and watch and chat off to the side. It's never anything big unless there's more than 5 cop cars.
Other than that it was a pretty uneventful morning. Everyone always thanks me for being there after something like that happens. I guess they like the thought of a bigger guy hanging around. Also, I'm pretty cool headed in that type of instance and they appreciate it too. The people we met from the Hospitality House were still there plus a couple more. When people on their way out saw us talking to the other people, they would roll down there windows and wait to say hi and tell us the names of their family members in the hospital so that we would pray for them. That was cool that they were pretty much waiting to ask us to pray for them. All of the residents always said that we were doing a great thing out there.
So, continue to pray for Mr. Scott's son. Josh and Clay were the 2 others from last week. Josh is the younger one and they may release him soon, yay! Clay, the one in worse shape is in the hospital and they said was able to take the tube out on his own, but of course he still needs it in (so that's some positive and negative). Jefferey and Hallie are some others in the hospital who need some praying power.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Why stop now?
Since I have a string of posts going about abortions, why not keep up the trend for the time being ^_^ Plus, I read somewhere on the internet that not too long ago, San Francisco had more abortions than births occuring. How awful.
You may remember this post I wrote in April around Easter time about a group of students at NKU that were incited by a professor to destroy and vandalize a pro-life display. Well, the issue has recently been settled as the professor has agreed to pay for the damages, donate money to a local life center, and issue an apology. You can read more over at ProLifeBlogs
Here are some videos of abortions on the interent. Clearly, some videos are not for all people. You may choose not to view them which is fine. These are links to pages with links to the video, so clicking on this link will not start the video and you still have time to decide if you wish to watch it. I'll provide a little of what you'll see in the videos; the videos are very graphic and it is up to you to decide if you should watch them:
Ken at Time Immortal has a post with an absolutely amazing picture of a C-section birth. And read the post, he notes that sadly, at the time the picture was taken that in Canada and some states the child is not considered a human being and could still legally be killed. If the doctors raise the baby a foot or two, it's then a human being and illegal to kill it. What's the physical and medical difference in those two "organism?" I can't tell, can you?
Paix du Christ!
You may remember this post I wrote in April around Easter time about a group of students at NKU that were incited by a professor to destroy and vandalize a pro-life display. Well, the issue has recently been settled as the professor has agreed to pay for the damages, donate money to a local life center, and issue an apology. You can read more over at ProLifeBlogs
Here are some videos of abortions on the interent. Clearly, some videos are not for all people. You may choose not to view them which is fine. These are links to pages with links to the video, so clicking on this link will not start the video and you still have time to decide if you wish to watch it. I'll provide a little of what you'll see in the videos; the videos are very graphic and it is up to you to decide if you should watch them:
And people think that I'm crazy for taking action by using some Sat. mornings to go and pray and stand up for these children. There are no rights when it comes to an abortion; only wrongs.
- Abort73 - This video has number statistics and then shows still photographs of aborted babies that you might have already seen.
- Choice Blues - You've seen the pictures, now watch it in live action. This is a video from the perspective of the abortionists as they pull the baby out in pieces. (Probably the most graphic and most disturbing)
- Silent Scream - This video is in 5 parts, all of them are good (but if you're crunched for time, Part 3 is the most important one). This video is from the perspective of the baby, or as close as you can get, during an abortion by using ultrasound. The purpose is because you can see the baby thrashing, opening its mouth as if to scream, and the heart rate rise to 200. Pay close attention to what the doctor says in the very begining. The abortionist (who had preformed over 10,000 abortions) and the attendant (who was a "pro-choice" feminist) both never did an abortion after participating in the experiment and seeing its results.
Ken at Time Immortal has a post with an absolutely amazing picture of a C-section birth. And read the post, he notes that sadly, at the time the picture was taken that in Canada and some states the child is not considered a human being and could still legally be killed. If the doctors raise the baby a foot or two, it's then a human being and illegal to kill it. What's the physical and medical difference in those two "organism?" I can't tell, can you?
Paix du Christ!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Weekend for Life
Wow, what a weekend it turned out to be and the theme throughout all of it was LIFE!
Paix du Christ!
Friday - As I mentioned before, Catholic Answers had 2 hours devoted to pro-life topics. Go listen. The first hour is a former abortionist and his wife talking. Their story is absolutely AMAZING. Towards the middle/end of the hour another ObGyn who has always been pro-life calls in to talk about the one time he did do an abortion and how it has affected him. You'll hear a girl calling in that had an abortion that she didn't want donw. Definitely worth the time.
Saturday - Well, I decided to head down to the abortion mill at about 8:00, to see if there were any wackos out there. There were. I guess I didn't really plan on seeing anyone or maybe just one or two people because I didn't grab a rosary, and the one that I keep in the car is broken right now. But, upon arrival, it seemed like a fairly average size crowd, so I decided to stop and stay. The people I met are really great people, probably the nicest and most welcoming pro-lifers I've met (although pretty much all pro-lifers you meet are nice and respectful people). Including myself, there were 9 adults and 4 kids, which they said was a large crowd. Of course, there was a mix of different Christians as you will pretty much always find. There wasn't any real organized prayer going on, but a man by the name of Major had a Rosary of the Unborn with interesting beads that you can find at Holy Love Missions, so I think I might get together with him to see if he would start praying out loud with me.
We shared some interesting stories, and had some interesting experiences. The pro-aborts are ALWAYS more threatening, foul, and down-right mean than the pro-lifers and we experienced a couple of them. My favorite story they told me was about a man driving in by himself with a top-down convertible, they said hi and he said he was there to fix the air-conditioning. So, they nicely informed him that they do abortions here and apparently his response was "They didn't tell me that," and decided to drive off and take his business somewhere else.
The sadest part is that the mill is situated about half-way between downtown and the hospital and it is only 1 1/2 blocks down the street (same street, same side) as the Early Child Works Museum! Also, directly next door is the Hospitality House for the hospital (like a Ronald McDonald House if your more familar with that). Apparently, the people that run that place are sympathetic to the evil and let the clients park in their lot and will call the police to arrest pro-lifers if they step into the parking lot. However, all of the residents that went in or out were very pro-life and sympathetic to us. One guy even even sat out on the side porch that overlooked the abortion mill's parking lot and would talk to the people getting out of their cars. What a great man! His son has been in the hospital for 5 weeks due to a motorcycle accident, obviously has other things he could be thinking about, but takes time to try to save some babies lives. Please, please pray for Mr. Scott's son. Two other ladies were in there for 2 guys in a car accident, apparently, the one's husband isn't doing so hot. If you have time to add these men to your prayer list, please do.
Later on, one of my friends at the picnic that I went to later who kept asking what I'd been upto in the morning, I went ahead and told him to see what he would think (plus I was interested in his stance since he was a nurse). I didn't really find out officially how he feels, but he didn't seem too pro-life. He said he knew a nurse that works at this(?) mill and she carries a gun for her own protection. That comment kind of stunned me off guard, and also was pretty scary. I wonder who that gun is ment for, she doesn't need it for any of us.
Also, Stella posted an abortion-related article over at The Wandering Moon
Sunday - The Mass intention was said for the cause of pro-life. How neat, and how well it rounded out the whole weekend.
Paix du Christ!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Romania is in a terrible state
Reading over the Choose Life of North Alabama's quarterly newsletter for the Summer of 2006, I found some interesting news. If you think Abortions in America is bad, take a look at this excerpt from the article:
We're winning in this country. Let's keep things going in the right direction.
Paix du Christ!
It is mind-boggling to know that the very fi rst act of the new Romanian government after the fall of communism was the legalization of abortion. Three out of four pregnancies (75%) are terminated. Women in Romania average fi ve abortions. Many have 20 or more.
We're winning in this country. Let's keep things going in the right direction.
Paix du Christ!
Starting a war path?
Yesterday driving around I finally found the abortion mill in Huntsville. I couldn't find the PP center (although I drove up and down that street for quite some time, I even got out and walked the block that the signs said was the 300 block), but it still eluded me. I hope to start taking some actions. There is a pro-life group here called Choose Life, I've tried to ask them a couple of times to send me information since I moved here last year, but never saw anything come through the mailbox. So, I might still see if I can help them with anything, and probably get some of my information from them.
I need to find out what their hours are especially on Sat. In KY, there was a group that prayed at the one in Louisville every week. I joined them a couple of times. They would have a blitz during the first couple of weekends in May for Mother's Day. The turn out was absolutely amazing those days, Christians of all types, genders, races, and sizes. No one around here seems to know if anyone prays down there, I think that's something I'd like to start doing again and even more regularly, but I might be there alone and that would definitely be tough. Maybe I'll try to get up early tomorrow and just sit across the street and see what kind of activity is there (the Louisville group started praying at 7:00). In KY, they would have to find on-street parking or park in another lot and walk down the sidewalk on the street to get into the mill. Unfortunately, down here there is a small lot off of the road and the door faces away from the road. But, there is only one way in or out of the lot and it's a narrow driveway, so people would still have to see you as they drive up.
There's also something else that would be a lot easier to do and I want to try. But first, I need to find the PP center and a nice young lady who can role play and be mature about it. I'd like to go in acting as a young, sexually-active couple and see what they offer and things they have to say. I think it would be interesting to see if they mention anything about abstinence. It would also be interesting to see what they say if you go in as a young, unmarried, pregnant couple to see how much emphasis would be put on abortion. However, only one of those is probably possible, unless on the different occaissons there would be different workers and counselors so no one would know that you had already been in about something different.
What's more? Catholic Answers is having a former abortionist tell all during the first hour and the second hour is a pro-life open forum for all call-in questions devoted to a worthwhile topic. And it's all happening today at 18:00 ET, so tune in! Can't spare that time of the day on the internet, get this information too late, don't have an EWTN radio broadcast station near you, or don't have Sirius to tune into Channel 160? No problem, subscribe free to the Catholic Answers podcast through iTunes Music Store or your favorite aggregator. Technology challenged with podcast downloaders? No problem, go to Catholic.com, click on archives at the bottom right and download the mp3's yourself to listen when you have the time.
Paix du Christ!
I need to find out what their hours are especially on Sat. In KY, there was a group that prayed at the one in Louisville every week. I joined them a couple of times. They would have a blitz during the first couple of weekends in May for Mother's Day. The turn out was absolutely amazing those days, Christians of all types, genders, races, and sizes. No one around here seems to know if anyone prays down there, I think that's something I'd like to start doing again and even more regularly, but I might be there alone and that would definitely be tough. Maybe I'll try to get up early tomorrow and just sit across the street and see what kind of activity is there (the Louisville group started praying at 7:00). In KY, they would have to find on-street parking or park in another lot and walk down the sidewalk on the street to get into the mill. Unfortunately, down here there is a small lot off of the road and the door faces away from the road. But, there is only one way in or out of the lot and it's a narrow driveway, so people would still have to see you as they drive up.
There's also something else that would be a lot easier to do and I want to try. But first, I need to find the PP center and a nice young lady who can role play and be mature about it. I'd like to go in acting as a young, sexually-active couple and see what they offer and things they have to say. I think it would be interesting to see if they mention anything about abstinence. It would also be interesting to see what they say if you go in as a young, unmarried, pregnant couple to see how much emphasis would be put on abortion. However, only one of those is probably possible, unless on the different occaissons there would be different workers and counselors so no one would know that you had already been in about something different.
What's more? Catholic Answers is having a former abortionist tell all during the first hour and the second hour is a pro-life open forum for all call-in questions devoted to a worthwhile topic. And it's all happening today at 18:00 ET, so tune in! Can't spare that time of the day on the internet, get this information too late, don't have an EWTN radio broadcast station near you, or don't have Sirius to tune into Channel 160? No problem, subscribe free to the Catholic Answers podcast through iTunes Music Store or your favorite aggregator. Technology challenged with podcast downloaders? No problem, go to Catholic.com, click on archives at the bottom right and download the mp3's yourself to listen when you have the time.
Paix du Christ!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Why so down?
Let's see, yesterday, I tried to make the apricot bread recipe Stella has over at The Wandering Moon. It's pretty good!
I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the stories the producers are chosing on Good Morning America. Yesterday there was a story about how marriages can be more vibrant after one of them has an affair. What load of garbage is THAT?!? Also on GMA, I heard about a crippled woman singing the national anthem in the house of representatives (I assumed national, since I was getting ready in the bathroom at the time, but it was actually in CO) and everyone started singing with her when she got nervous. However, thanks to Stella pointing me to Cvstos Fidei's site I found the rest of the story since they were unwilling to divulge that she was a baby that survived a failed abortion and now has CP because of it (the news story). And then today, they were talking about how condoms are pretty successful (70%) at preventing the transmission of HPV (the virus that can cause cervical cancer). One more time, I have a better way ... DON'T HAVE SEX!!! Come on, It's really a no-brainer. How many times am I going to have to say that here?
Anyway, in other news, I was kind of depressed yesterday. No one would answer their phones, so I couldn't find anyone to share my apricot bread with. Some out-o-town folks are in that I would really like to see, but again, no one will answer their phones so I can't find out where anyone is. Bummer. So, I went out just driving around town for an hour or so and turned on the Broadway Station (of course). That did alright, like usual, but when I was sitting around flipping through stations, I stopped on APT. There was a story about a man with Downs Syndrome named Jon.
When he when he was born, in the early 60's the parents talked to a doctor friend with a handicapped brother. He said that he would definitely put the child in an institution because keeping his brother had ruined his family's life. What a horrid thing to say! The grandparents weren't even supportive. His middle name, was going to be the mom's maiden name, but her parents put up a stink about that when they found out he was retarded. When they asked the father's parents for money to help with the institution after being in debt due to the hospital bills, they were sent $5. Apparently, it was a hard decision, but the parents went with it. 7 years later they get a call saying that the person taking care of Jon had died and he would need to be moved. They went from Charleston to St. Louis to pick him up and bring him to a nursing home closer to them. Apparently, he didn't have the best care as he couldn't chew food or talk. Their other children were frightened of their brother. Eventually, they decided to keep them in their home. They said that it's the best thing they have ever done and regret not being able to spend the first part of his life with him. Now Jon is 43 and still doesn't talk, he uses a modified sign language to communicate, he always wears blue Mickey Mouse shirts and eats an egg sandwich for every meal. His biggest pleasures in life are folding sheets of paper, Furbies, and swimming.
It got me thinking how complex our world has gotten and how wonderful it would be to enjoy such simple things in life. And why should I worry about not having anything to do on a Wed. or how to go about resolving my single situation. There are way too many things to be thankful for and way too many things to enjoy. I also thought about the things Jon could never experience. He can never experience the sacrements except baptism. He probably couldn't understand too much about God and faith, he only has an IQ of 20. But, its so relieving to see someone so happy with themselves and their life.
To find out more about Jon's story, buy the documentary, or see when it will be on TV near you, check out theteachingsofjon.com
One more thing, some girl from the other side of the building apparently walked into my co-worker's office across the hall and fainted while I was sitting here typing. I had no idea that anything was going on until I heard the first responder's radio. Please say a prayer for Lisa that she's alright.
Paix du Christ!
I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the stories the producers are chosing on Good Morning America. Yesterday there was a story about how marriages can be more vibrant after one of them has an affair. What load of garbage is THAT?!? Also on GMA, I heard about a crippled woman singing the national anthem in the house of representatives (I assumed national, since I was getting ready in the bathroom at the time, but it was actually in CO) and everyone started singing with her when she got nervous. However, thanks to Stella pointing me to Cvstos Fidei's site I found the rest of the story since they were unwilling to divulge that she was a baby that survived a failed abortion and now has CP because of it (the news story). And then today, they were talking about how condoms are pretty successful (70%) at preventing the transmission of HPV (the virus that can cause cervical cancer). One more time, I have a better way ... DON'T HAVE SEX!!! Come on, It's really a no-brainer. How many times am I going to have to say that here?
Anyway, in other news, I was kind of depressed yesterday. No one would answer their phones, so I couldn't find anyone to share my apricot bread with. Some out-o-town folks are in that I would really like to see, but again, no one will answer their phones so I can't find out where anyone is. Bummer. So, I went out just driving around town for an hour or so and turned on the Broadway Station (of course). That did alright, like usual, but when I was sitting around flipping through stations, I stopped on APT. There was a story about a man with Downs Syndrome named Jon.
When he when he was born, in the early 60's the parents talked to a doctor friend with a handicapped brother. He said that he would definitely put the child in an institution because keeping his brother had ruined his family's life. What a horrid thing to say! The grandparents weren't even supportive. His middle name, was going to be the mom's maiden name, but her parents put up a stink about that when they found out he was retarded. When they asked the father's parents for money to help with the institution after being in debt due to the hospital bills, they were sent $5. Apparently, it was a hard decision, but the parents went with it. 7 years later they get a call saying that the person taking care of Jon had died and he would need to be moved. They went from Charleston to St. Louis to pick him up and bring him to a nursing home closer to them. Apparently, he didn't have the best care as he couldn't chew food or talk. Their other children were frightened of their brother. Eventually, they decided to keep them in their home. They said that it's the best thing they have ever done and regret not being able to spend the first part of his life with him. Now Jon is 43 and still doesn't talk, he uses a modified sign language to communicate, he always wears blue Mickey Mouse shirts and eats an egg sandwich for every meal. His biggest pleasures in life are folding sheets of paper, Furbies, and swimming.
It got me thinking how complex our world has gotten and how wonderful it would be to enjoy such simple things in life. And why should I worry about not having anything to do on a Wed. or how to go about resolving my single situation. There are way too many things to be thankful for and way too many things to enjoy. I also thought about the things Jon could never experience. He can never experience the sacrements except baptism. He probably couldn't understand too much about God and faith, he only has an IQ of 20. But, its so relieving to see someone so happy with themselves and their life.
To find out more about Jon's story, buy the documentary, or see when it will be on TV near you, check out theteachingsofjon.com
One more thing, some girl from the other side of the building apparently walked into my co-worker's office across the hall and fainted while I was sitting here typing. I had no idea that anything was going on until I heard the first responder's radio. Please say a prayer for Lisa that she's alright.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Abortion Mill CLOSED!
Sorry that I didn't foreworn everyone here, I kinda got caught up in the jobs at work and getting ready. Last week, I was on a mission trip to D.C. with the youth group from back home in the Archdiocese of Louisville. It was a very long and busy weekend, but fun and spiritually rejuvinating. I'll get around to posting some of the activities and lessons learned from the trip later on this week.
For those of you paying attention, you know that today there was supposed to be a hearing about the license of an Abortion Mill in Birmingham, AL that was temporarily suspended in the middle of May. Well, our prayers were answered sooner than expected, but alas, I was away from the internet last week, so I still didn't find out until today. Here is a segment of a news article from Thursday:
Paix du Christ!
For those of you paying attention, you know that today there was supposed to be a hearing about the license of an Abortion Mill in Birmingham, AL that was temporarily suspended in the middle of May. Well, our prayers were answered sooner than expected, but alas, I was away from the internet last week, so I still didn't find out until today. Here is a segment of a news article from Thursday:
State health department officials announced Wednesday (June 14) that the clinic at 1801 14th Ave. South in Birmingham waived its right to a June 20 hearing in Montgomery and agreed to remain closed. Health officials closed the center on May 17, citing the violations.You can read the whole story by using the link in the header. Unfortunately, there have been 4 death camps to open in the past month, bringing the total to 740 in our country. Let's keep those prayers going to get rid of this scourge.
Paix du Christ!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
666 - A Day of Death and Destruction - 666
Okay, so the world didn't end on June 6, 2006, or 06/06/06 (no matter what part of the globe you live on). But, then again, I guess the same could be said for the 19 other centuries that didn't happen either. But yesterday's theme was definitely pain, death, and destruction. Or at least in my life; rest assured, no one that I know died.
Work was awful, just one of those bad days where you want to strangle someone. A great way to start of the day! I went to help out with middle school youth group, but no one showed up. When I got back to my place, I pulled a back mussle getting out of the car, what the heck?!? Needless to say that I didn't do much of anything but lay on the couch with the TV on and taking a nap for the rest of the night.
On PBS, they had a show about Alfred Nobel. Yeah, the Nobel Peace Prize guy. He invented Nitro Glycerin, dynamite, and esentially ended up starting the arms war with the introduction of high explosives. He thought if he could create the ultimate weapon then there would be no need for war, kind of like the idea of a war to end all wars I guess. And we know how far both of those theories got us towards peace. They contiuned the destruction theme by covering the advent of the atomic bomb.
The next show, Frontline, kept the spirit of the culture of death going with an episode called "The Last Abortion Clinic." It was really a great show to watch about the abortion issue with a bit of history of court cases and where we are now. They also take cameras into abortion mills and a pregnancy crisis center (where they try to help women with options and refuse to refer them to an abortion). I was absolutely baffled to see the workers in the mill consulting with people in person and on the phone asking them to pray to God for the strength and courage to go through with their choice. Now, talking about using God's name in vain; I can't think of anything worse against this commandment. Also, you get to hear the pro-aborts make it sound like killing these childern is the only option that these poor, young women have, and the pro-life people are standing in the way of their last, best hope to rectify what they chose to do. What about better education in our school systems? What about NOT HAVING SEX? It is wonderful to hear that in some states the women have an ultra-sound before an abortion. The abortion mills in these areas say that the women can't afford it and they have to refer them to some place that will do it for free, which are crisis centers. The best quote in the whole episode is when the person running a mill says, "We are loosing." It's nice to hear you admit it! You should definitely go to the web page to find when it might be on in your area. Can't find a time it's on TV when you're around? No problem, look to the right side or the top of the page and you can watch it online.
One more proof that 06/06/06 has this running theme is that for the past 2 days (I fortunately saved the very first part before the problems started, so I'm still using the original date stamp), blogger has been severly acting up. I've tried posting this thing 3 times already, hopefully this time I won't loose it again.
One more thing, dealing with topics in this post, please remember to pray for the permanent closing of the Birmingham abortion mill which is temporarily closed right now. The hearing on June 20th is less than 2 weeks away.
Paix du Christ!
Work was awful, just one of those bad days where you want to strangle someone. A great way to start of the day! I went to help out with middle school youth group, but no one showed up. When I got back to my place, I pulled a back mussle getting out of the car, what the heck?!? Needless to say that I didn't do much of anything but lay on the couch with the TV on and taking a nap for the rest of the night.
On PBS, they had a show about Alfred Nobel. Yeah, the Nobel Peace Prize guy. He invented Nitro Glycerin, dynamite, and esentially ended up starting the arms war with the introduction of high explosives. He thought if he could create the ultimate weapon then there would be no need for war, kind of like the idea of a war to end all wars I guess. And we know how far both of those theories got us towards peace. They contiuned the destruction theme by covering the advent of the atomic bomb.
The next show, Frontline, kept the spirit of the culture of death going with an episode called "The Last Abortion Clinic." It was really a great show to watch about the abortion issue with a bit of history of court cases and where we are now. They also take cameras into abortion mills and a pregnancy crisis center (where they try to help women with options and refuse to refer them to an abortion). I was absolutely baffled to see the workers in the mill consulting with people in person and on the phone asking them to pray to God for the strength and courage to go through with their choice. Now, talking about using God's name in vain; I can't think of anything worse against this commandment. Also, you get to hear the pro-aborts make it sound like killing these childern is the only option that these poor, young women have, and the pro-life people are standing in the way of their last, best hope to rectify what they chose to do. What about better education in our school systems? What about NOT HAVING SEX? It is wonderful to hear that in some states the women have an ultra-sound before an abortion. The abortion mills in these areas say that the women can't afford it and they have to refer them to some place that will do it for free, which are crisis centers. The best quote in the whole episode is when the person running a mill says, "We are loosing." It's nice to hear you admit it! You should definitely go to the web page to find when it might be on in your area. Can't find a time it's on TV when you're around? No problem, look to the right side or the top of the page and you can watch it online.
One more proof that 06/06/06 has this running theme is that for the past 2 days (I fortunately saved the very first part before the problems started, so I'm still using the original date stamp), blogger has been severly acting up. I've tried posting this thing 3 times already, hopefully this time I won't loose it again.
One more thing, dealing with topics in this post, please remember to pray for the permanent closing of the Birmingham abortion mill which is temporarily closed right now. The hearing on June 20th is less than 2 weeks away.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
We are family!
Everything that I had planned for this weekend failed. But it ended up being an excellent weekend! I still went out to Atlanta like I had planned, but with the encyclical study apparently being on holiday with the rest of the world I ended up helping Allen move his dorm stuff from the van into the house instead. On Sunday, I figured that I would go the the IATT (It's a TEC thing) they were having in NE ATL. Well, at the gas station on the way out, my keys locked themselves in my car, so I showed up an hour late to a 2 hour program, but there was Mass afterwards. I also wanted to watch the Indy 500 like I do every year and thought that I might try to catch a LifeTeen Mass since Linda keeps mentioning trying to do LifeTeen sometime in the future. Guess what! I didn't do either of those either. Previously, on my way drive over on Sat., I called up some distant family that I haven't seen or talked to in over 16 years. That's right, before I was 10 years old. They live in Newnan, so I went to meet up with them.
So, my cousin, Mary, got married almost 17 yrs ago, which was the last time I saw them. And now they have a 16 yr old daughter that I have never met. We use cousin to define most people in our family, we don't particularly break down relationships, but I figured out that Mary and her sister are my half first cousins twice removed and their daughter would be my half second cousin once removed. When I called out of the air when I was driving we talked for awhile and Mary invited me to a cook-out on Sunday. So, I decided to take her up on it. When I showed up, she had old pictures out of a really, really young me. I pulled out pictures of Me and my family now, so she could see all of us now. After that part, we were all chit-chatting and having a grand time until 2:00 in the morning. And she kept suggesting that I spend the night there. So, in the morning, we still talked and were having fun. She kept trying to talk me into staying, but I had stayed long enough to prevent me from getting to Linda's cook-out on time (the last planned malfunction of the weekend), so I left, but they sent me back with left-overs and told me to make sure to come back soon and often and to make their house my own.
So, although nothing worked out, it was definitely a wonderful weekend. It also reminded me how much I love family, especially mine, and that family is definitely the most important. It doesn't matter how far distant of a relative you are, if you haven't seen each other in 16 years, or don't even remember seeing each other, in my family every one truly is part of the family!
Paix du Christ!
So, my cousin, Mary, got married almost 17 yrs ago, which was the last time I saw them. And now they have a 16 yr old daughter that I have never met. We use cousin to define most people in our family, we don't particularly break down relationships, but I figured out that Mary and her sister are my half first cousins twice removed and their daughter would be my half second cousin once removed. When I called out of the air when I was driving we talked for awhile and Mary invited me to a cook-out on Sunday. So, I decided to take her up on it. When I showed up, she had old pictures out of a really, really young me. I pulled out pictures of Me and my family now, so she could see all of us now. After that part, we were all chit-chatting and having a grand time until 2:00 in the morning. And she kept suggesting that I spend the night there. So, in the morning, we still talked and were having fun. She kept trying to talk me into staying, but I had stayed long enough to prevent me from getting to Linda's cook-out on time (the last planned malfunction of the weekend), so I left, but they sent me back with left-overs and told me to make sure to come back soon and often and to make their house my own.
So, although nothing worked out, it was definitely a wonderful weekend. It also reminded me how much I love family, especially mine, and that family is definitely the most important. It doesn't matter how far distant of a relative you are, if you haven't seen each other in 16 years, or don't even remember seeing each other, in my family every one truly is part of the family!
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Much ado about life
Okay, so maybe I lied a little. I didn't go see Over the Hedge, but I didn't go to see DVC either, of course. What I did do this weekend was much better than sitting in a movie theatre.
I showed up in Peachtree City, GA in time for 5:30 Mass on Sat. Actually, I missed the first two readings, darn road paving going on. Afterwards, a small group gathered for study on "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" parts 16-33. It's a wonderful piece of work on the Eucharist and will definitely re-invigorate you in church.
I truly suggest anyone within driving distance of PTC to check it out. Don't forget to look at the website for info, Pope of Love. Not close enough, no problem, check out the webpage anyway for ideas on how to start your own encyclical study.
One of the guys there offered his floor space, so I decided to take him up on it. He also prays Vespers and Matins, so that was nice to get in on. In the morning, he offered me to spend the day with him. We went to the northside of ATL to visit his dad in the nursing home and took him out to sit outside a table a Starbucks since it was such a nice day. He also stops by to see another lady to take her out of the room too. We wheeled her in a wheelchair a couple of blocks to another restaurant with outdoor seating where she ordered a hotdog and a Bud which is the highlight of her life. She also reveled in being so scandalous that she was drinking a beer on Sunday. Spending time with these people and seeing the smiles on their faces was far better than trying to see a movie, a musical, or anything else I could have figured to do on my own in ATL.
We also went to a boys club group called Conquest (I think) run by a local Regnum Christi group where dave talked about heros, and being a real man is to be a Christian and not what we usually see on TV and movies. Afterwards, I called up and got to spend some time with more friends in PTC before I headed back to my vacant appartment.
I'm pretty sure that I'm headed back this weekend for more encyclical talking, and I found out that I have some distant relatives in the area that I'm going to try calling up. Now, I realize why I've only gone to see 3 movies in the past year. There are so many other things to do, and people to enjoy in life than to tie up 2 hours in a dark room where you can't talk to anyone else.
Paix du Christ!
I showed up in Peachtree City, GA in time for 5:30 Mass on Sat. Actually, I missed the first two readings, darn road paving going on. Afterwards, a small group gathered for study on "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" parts 16-33. It's a wonderful piece of work on the Eucharist and will definitely re-invigorate you in church.
I truly suggest anyone within driving distance of PTC to check it out. Don't forget to look at the website for info, Pope of Love. Not close enough, no problem, check out the webpage anyway for ideas on how to start your own encyclical study.
One of the guys there offered his floor space, so I decided to take him up on it. He also prays Vespers and Matins, so that was nice to get in on. In the morning, he offered me to spend the day with him. We went to the northside of ATL to visit his dad in the nursing home and took him out to sit outside a table a Starbucks since it was such a nice day. He also stops by to see another lady to take her out of the room too. We wheeled her in a wheelchair a couple of blocks to another restaurant with outdoor seating where she ordered a hotdog and a Bud which is the highlight of her life. She also reveled in being so scandalous that she was drinking a beer on Sunday. Spending time with these people and seeing the smiles on their faces was far better than trying to see a movie, a musical, or anything else I could have figured to do on my own in ATL.
We also went to a boys club group called Conquest (I think) run by a local Regnum Christi group where dave talked about heros, and being a real man is to be a Christian and not what we usually see on TV and movies. Afterwards, I called up and got to spend some time with more friends in PTC before I headed back to my vacant appartment.
I'm pretty sure that I'm headed back this weekend for more encyclical talking, and I found out that I have some distant relatives in the area that I'm going to try calling up. Now, I realize why I've only gone to see 3 movies in the past year. There are so many other things to do, and people to enjoy in life than to tie up 2 hours in a dark room where you can't talk to anyone else.
Paix du Christ!
Friday, May 19, 2006
Good news on the abortion front!
That's right, there's good news, but you can make it better ... PRAY, and pray hard for the next month. An abortion mill has been ordered to temporarily close which would be in effect for 90-120 days. However, there is a hearing setup for June 20 to determine the outcome (whether the license should be reinstated or revoked). A woman who was being seen by this death camp was told that she was 6 weeks pregnant and given an abortion-inducing drug. She later gave birth at a hospital to a pretty badly-looking 6 pound stillborn baby. Whoops! I can't stress how important it is that everyone pray hard this month for this victory in the cause for the culture of life. Maybe, to start out the summer we can all praise the fact that there is one less place killing innocent babies. A link to a Birmingham News article is included in the header for those looking for the information.
Furthermore, I'm planning on heading out to Atlanta this weekend and next weekend to check out an encyclical study at one of the churches. It sounds like a fantastic idea, and I really want to see how they run it. This month they are looking at "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" and these are the last 2 weeks. If anyone has a free weekend I suggest taking a drive and checking it out. If you're interested in doing something similar for your college or church, check out their webpage for more information: Pope of Love. Jenn, the lady that runs it is an absolutely wonderful person whom I had the pleasure of meeting on the TEC retreat weekend.
I just remembered that I need to print that off before I leave work today so that I have a copy to read. Also, I remembered that I never got around to finishing off the RVM I was looking at. I suppose I really need to get back around to it. Anyway, off to get ready for this weekend.
Paix du Christ!
Furthermore, I'm planning on heading out to Atlanta this weekend and next weekend to check out an encyclical study at one of the churches. It sounds like a fantastic idea, and I really want to see how they run it. This month they are looking at "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" and these are the last 2 weeks. If anyone has a free weekend I suggest taking a drive and checking it out. If you're interested in doing something similar for your college or church, check out their webpage for more information: Pope of Love. Jenn, the lady that runs it is an absolutely wonderful person whom I had the pleasure of meeting on the TEC retreat weekend.
I just remembered that I need to print that off before I leave work today so that I have a copy to read. Also, I remembered that I never got around to finishing off the RVM I was looking at. I suppose I really need to get back around to it. Anyway, off to get ready for this weekend.
Paix du Christ!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Wow, time flies
Sorry, that I had kind of abandonned posting here or reading other blogs for awhile. Life kind of got in the way of everything with cars breaking down, confirmations, graduations, and we've lost 36% of our work force at our company. So, it's been busy around here.
Of course, the big news this week is the release of The Da Vinci Code this weekend. Sunday morning as I was getting ready for Mass, many of the church services on TV were talking about how in accurate the book is and that it is awful and stupid. Which is great that Christian groups are taking a stand for Christ. Unfortunately, they stayed away from trying to disprove any of the hideous allegations made against the Catholic Church and the grotesque portrayal of Opus Dei.
People have all kinds of theories, on how to "stick it to 'em," from not seeing the movie, to protesting, to seeing other movies. I, myself, believe that I'm going to try to see Over the Hedge this weekend, to essentially vote for a family-oriented film with my money in the box office numbers. I do actually want to see the DVC to see how close it is to the book, and because it has Audrey Tautou in it, but I don't want to spend my money on it, so I'll wait until I have an opportunity sometime in the future.
Paix du Christ!
Of course, the big news this week is the release of The Da Vinci Code this weekend. Sunday morning as I was getting ready for Mass, many of the church services on TV were talking about how in accurate the book is and that it is awful and stupid. Which is great that Christian groups are taking a stand for Christ. Unfortunately, they stayed away from trying to disprove any of the hideous allegations made against the Catholic Church and the grotesque portrayal of Opus Dei.
People have all kinds of theories, on how to "stick it to 'em," from not seeing the movie, to protesting, to seeing other movies. I, myself, believe that I'm going to try to see Over the Hedge this weekend, to essentially vote for a family-oriented film with my money in the box office numbers. I do actually want to see the DVC to see how close it is to the book, and because it has Audrey Tautou in it, but I don't want to spend my money on it, so I'll wait until I have an opportunity sometime in the future.
Paix du Christ!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
The souls who have become lukewarm
Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.
Paix du Christ!
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.
Paix du Christ!
Friday, April 21, 2006
The souls who are detained in purgatory
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Paix du Christ!
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Paix du Christ!
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