Alabama Church News

Hullo to Name Hidden, and Former Alter Boy. It's great to see some familier faces around here ^_^

I have been keeping my ears open and searching the news (and their websites) for any updates on the hate crime committed at a Catholic church in Decatur AL last Oct. Unfortunately, it seems recently that hate crimes against churches in this area isn't contained.

You all may have heard of the recent church fires in western AL. These hate crimes are heinous, because they not only terrorize, but are quite destructive. I've been trying to do a little extra news investigating this weekend so that I can better inform you. However, this weekend, another church burned up.

Friday, Feb. 3: Early Friday morning (overnight) 5 churches caught on fire and in Bibb Co., just south of Birmingham. Rehobeth Baptist, Ashby Baptist, Old Union Baptist, Pleasant Sabine Baptist, and Antioch Baptist. All 5 churches were rual off-the-road churches, not far from US 82. Most churches were old, some pre-civil war. 4 churches are predominantly white congregations and 1 predominantly black congregation. 3 of the churches burned to the ground and reduced to rubble. 2 are being reported as damaged, but not destroyed. Not being counted from Chilton Co. is a retired church now being used as a thrift store that was set ablaze Thurs. afternoon.

Tuesday, Feb. 7: Early Tuesday morning (again overnight) 4 churches caught on fire in 3 counties on the Mississippi boundary. Spring Valley Baptist Church and Galilee Baptist Church in Sumter Co. , Morning Star Baptist Church in Greene, and Dancy Baptist Church in Pickens Co. This time all within 25 miles of each other, all rual, all baptist, all old buildings, and all predominantly black.

At this point, there are plenty of ATF and FBI federal investigators around these areas. Although, copycat is on the radar, they are pretty sure that all 9 fires are linked and probably the same people. The leads that they have released to the news are a supposed sighting of 2 white males in a dark SUV, probably a Pathfinder at one of the churches. The investigators also said they have lifted a shoe print at one of the sites.

Saturday, Feb. 11: Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in Lamar Co. is set on fire. This time, the fire is set a little after 4 in the afternoon in the daylight unlike the others that occured under the cover of night. This church is on the MS border just north of the previous 3 counties, predominantly white, baptist, rual, and an older building. Investigators have definitely ruled this church fire caused by arson, but cannot, yet, conclusively link it to the other 9 churches, but are very suspicious.

For everyone keeping count here is a recap. Within 8 days of each other, 10 churches have been set on fire in 5 different counties. All are baptist. All are older and rual buildings. 5 are predominantly white, 5 are predominantly black. A thrift store which used to be a church was set on fire in an adjacent county.

Who are these people? Who knows. People that hate established religion? Some one and his friend who have been estranged/abused/ostrisized by a baptist church? A satan worshiper? Someone who likes fires? College kids with nothing to do but play nasty pranks? No one really knows, these are just some speculations off the top of my head. The FBI profilers believe these are 2 white men in there 20 or early 30's who know what they are doing and how to do it quickly. However, to shine some good light on the subject, at least these people are choosing churches at times most likely not to have anyone in them, instead of apartment buildings where people could definitely be injured or killed. But, these acts are definitely horrible. Police all across Northern Alabama have been building in more frequent stops past churches, especially more rual ones. Let's all keep these Baptist brethren in our prayers that they may have fortitude and find forgiveness in their hearts, the law agents that they have the strength and wisdom to carry out their jobs, and especially the perpetrators that they may have the repentance to stop these fires. On Thursday, mobile units had started moving into the area to aid some of the congregations find a temporary home. It's nice to see communities bonding together to help each other. Currently, the reward money for help in capturing the ciminals is upto $77,000. If I have time today, I hope to find some pictures of locations on the map to give you a better idea. Here is a page for Rehobeth, one of the first 5 churches that was totally destroyed. I like the header on the front page, "God is Love" (which of course is Deus Caritas Est), you can click on the photos link at the top to see a picure of the church, the devastation, and the room they have found nearby to use for worship. I will also keep you informed if any more information comes across in the news.

Paix du Christ!

Stop Hatin' on Catholics

Once I got back to watch the Super Bowl, it was already half time. Most of the commercials weren't very good this year, so I flipped from the game to Crossing Jordan during commercials. It's only 2 channels away since I don't care to pay for cable. In the middle of a change, I noticed a picture of JP, of course I had to stop. As soon as I did, I remembered what the channel was between ABC and NBC - 3ABN. That's right, the Seventh Day Adventist channel. I groaned, and then as they started talking, I painfully watched part of it until I figured the timeout was over.

These vultures have to attck the Church by attacking a man when he's dead. What morons. JP's funeral was acclaimed to be the largest attend in history, President Bush as well as most former presidents attended the funeral, many national and religious leaders from all over the world attended, and were the premise for their argument that the Catholic Church is the beast in revelation, will force it's power on the United States, and take over the world to become the great anti-christ. They also noted that JP appeared on the cover of Time a record 16 times, and said how horrible that was. Apparently we Catholics have a goal of converting a majority of voters in all precincts according to the Glenmary website. The program was also date since they said that if Roberts was confirmed that there would be 4 Catholics on the Supreme Court (can you really count Kennedy?).

You know why so many people attended the Pope's funeral, you know he was on the cover of Time so many times, you know why none of the SDA leaders will ever see these things happen to them? Because the Pope (JP, as well as Benedict) is a man of peace and kindness. JP was the most world-wide influence on the fall of communism and he did all of his work through peace and love. The SDA message on the other hand is all about hate and division. Make people hate the Catholic Church with their lies so they leave the Church. Divide all christians so the SDA can further spread their falsehoods. When I turn on 3ABN, I continually hear hatred, mostly towards Catholics, but towards anyone who isn't SDA. No one's gonna attend a funeral of anyone with that attitude. I have a hard time believing that a church that vommits all that hatred is Christ's Church. Although they are considered christian, I am having a hard time calling them christian, because true Christians wouldn't say the things they do about everyone else.

I'll keep watching 3ABN off and on. Not too listen to the messages, you want me to listen, then you at least have to act christian. But, to improve my appologetics. Watching this channel, I can at least hear attacks and have time to polish any responses with out being in the middle of a personal fire fight.

Paix du Christ!

Where's the Reverence?

This past weekend I attended 3 Masses (singing at all 3), 2 different priests presided. An older, retired priest presided at the first Mass. He had an absolutely outstanding homily. He said he was standing there noticing how wonderful the Gloria sounded in the church and then he looked up and noticed that many people were just there and not singing (not participating in Mass). He also mentioned that sometimes he wonders how many people walk into a church and notice Jesus. He's always present and visible in the tabernacle, but how many people stop to think and recoginze that it is actually Christ, how many people think to say a prayer or thank the Lord for his gifts in life and his presence. Some may have noticed that this past weekend was Scout Sunday (always the first Sun. in Feb.) where any troops, packs, etc. are recognized and thank their charter organizations (usually churches) and typically participate as ushers, greeting people, breakfast afterwards, or other ministries. At the end of the second Mass, the pack and troop were both recognized and came forward to present the charters to the church. The priest preceded to place the framed charters on the altar. Now, I love all of the priests here (even the handful of retired ones who help out), I think they all have great personalities and are great people. But sometimes I can't say that they are all reverent. Some priests refuse to have announcements at the end of Mass as they believe it would disrupt the solemn setting that had just been set by the Mass. But one priest always insists on telling a story or two with a comic punchline at the end of Mass. The third Mass was a Youth Mass that typically only has 10-20 people present (held once a month for the high schoolers in Youth Ministry). The same priest presided at this small Mass. It seems that in this small setting people tend to forget how to be Catholic and no one wants to correct anyone else. People sometimes don't kneel and stand. In fact, this last time, when people started to shuffle to kneel, the priest said "Oh, that's okay you don't have to stand...(people are starting kneel)...but if you want to kneel, I guess you can." So, people are just supposed to sit during the Eucharistic prayer. While eating some of the adults mentioned how they wish Father could be at every Mass because he's so welcoming and how he's still reverent while doing it. Sure, I like some of the things he does differently, but full of reverence is not something I would use to describe the whole of his Masses. Buy condoning priests that don't follow the rules, what are we telling kids these days. Priests should be shepherds and set examples for the people. Maybe people today are being less reverent because of the examples they happen to see in front of them at the altar.

Paix du Christ!

Super Sister Update

GMA reported on Sister's trip to the Super Bowl this morning. Although most of her weekend was filled with a schedule of Super Bowl event, Sister still started off Sunday morning with Mass. She enjoyed just being at the Super Bowl even though her Colts weren't playing. Most people treated her like a celebrity, wanting to shake her hand and get pictures with her, what a great time it must have been for her. Although most people recognized her from the news show, there was someone that tried to buy her ticket for $5,000 (guess he didn't recognize her). Guess a Sister just has more moral values than to scalp her ticket (even if that money could have been used for a good cause). You go, Sister.

Paix du Christ!

Super Sister Mary John

We've all heard of flyin' nuns, but ever heard of a bowlin' nun? This morning on GMA, the winner of the Greatest Football Fan in America Challenge was announced. And the winner is Sister Mary John. Sister is the chaplain at St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis and a dedicated Colts fan. This old nun LOVES football. Her friends at the hospital submitted her entry video on her behalf because she's such a kind and loving person. When Mike Barr showed up to surprise her, he couldn't hardly get a word in becasue Sister had to hug and thank everyone there. Finally, he got to tell her that her prizes were a limo to the airport, a plane trip, dinner with Peyton Manning, a hotel, 2 tickets to Super Bowl XL, and backstage passes to an ESPN show. And who says nuns don't know how to have fun? While your watching Pitt play Seatle, look for Sisters Mary John and Catherine in the 11th row, what great seats. If you missed the story, I strongly suggest going to their page and watch her segment as well as her entry video. Sister predicts the Steelers will win by the width of a safety (27-25), don't call your bookie just yet. Sister ended with some great words of advice for fans (especially Ville fans, they are so unpredictable, but it's great when they are ontop like last year, this year not so hot), she says she doesn't pray to win a game she just asks to be able to accept the outcome whatever it is.

Paix du Christ!

The best feast day

Today is the feast of St. Blaise. This was definitely my favorite feast day growing up. In elementary school, we would go to church and during Mass our throats would be blessed. It's not any normal blessing, you walk up (like a communion or ash wednesday line) and the priest has two candle sticks and would cross them like an X with the ends on either side of your neck as he said the blessing. Why use candle's? Well, why not? As I said yesterday it was Candlemas, which traditionally was the end of the Christmas season and the candles in the church were blessed (hence the name candle mass = candlemas). Since you just blessed the candles the day before, why not use them in a blessing on St. Blaise Day? And then we have the coolest blessing on any feast day. May all of your throats stay healthy!

Paix du Christ!

Happy Candlemas

...or Presentation of the Lord, which ever you prefer.

Well, today I finally did it. I finally bought a Sirius receiver and activated it. No, I'm not a Stern junkie at all (don't even like the show). The whole reason I settled on Sirius is because I'm an Catholic Answers junkie. That's right, after moving from Kentucky to northern Alabama, I miss being able to switch my radio over to the local EWTN station and seeing what's on. I got Sirius solely for the Catholic Radio station; Stern, OutQ, and a few other off-color channels will definitely be locked with a code, so if I'm on youth group events, the kids can't get to them and listen to things they shouldn't (especially on a church trip). EWTN is great to listen to in the car, and you can find out a lot of information about being Catholic, or even other people's faiths just by tuning it on. If you can't get Catholic radio in your area, check out Sirius.

Paix du Christ!

One small step for life

Today, Judge Alito was confirmed by a senate vote of 58-42. One Republican from Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, voted no, but four democrats (Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Ben Nelson of Nebraska) gave a yes vote. Alito will be installed on Wednesday as Justice Alito and hopefully will move this country in the right direction to be re-born into a culture of life.

Paix du Christ!

Terse Verse - 1 John 4:16

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

If this verse sounds fairly familiar from recent events, it should. This verse is the very first line of Deus Caritas Est. As christians, we should take this verse to heart. Christians believe that God can be found in all of creation, especially the perfect creation of man. If God resides in all of us and we say that we love God, then we should only love others. However, sin exists and seduces us with jealousy, greed, etc. that makes people hate one another. If we find ourselves in that situation, then we must stop and remind ourselves, that we would be saying we hate God himself. "Whoever remains in love remains in God." Without God there is no room in one's heart for love, which only leads us to emptiness and evil. The writer in 1 John is responding to people who feel betrayed, he tells them to respond with love instead of anger. We should definitely take heed of his words when it's hard to see God's love around us.

Paix du Christ!

Theology Thursday - CCC Abortion

Continuing the theme of pro-life that has filled this week as the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, The Catechism covers abortion in paragraphs 2270-2275.

2270
Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

Here, spelled out in black and white, is stated that ALL human life must be respected. We are all created in God's image and the human body is a temple of God and we must realize and respect that God resides inside each one of us. If there is any question as to if the first moment of existence is at birth or before, we are even provided with scriptural references which state that God knew us as human beings while being created in the womb.

2271
Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.

Unlike other churches which change their stance about truh to stay more "modern," the Church upholds that the Truth is constant and unchanging which should always be defended. This paragraph even states that abortion cannot be either an end or a means to an end. What to these two philosophical terms describe? Abortion as an end in itself would be to use abortion as a measure of birth control simply that the intent is to end an unplanned pregnancy or an intent solely to end the baby's life. Abortion as a means to an end would be using abortion to "undo" the effects of a rape, to keep the couple financially stable until better times, to not bring shame upon them. Basically there is no excuse for having an abortion; there are plenty of viable and moral alternatives to having an abortion.

2272
Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

Here's a kick in the head. Anyone who formally cooperates in an abortion is excommunicated upon the act itself. Notice it says cooperates and not participates. This page from EWTN gives more detail about who can be excommunicated. Essentially, you have to be over 16 and know that it is an excommunicating offense to be excommunicated. Which, if you just read this article, then you probably aren't exempt since you are now informed ^_^ Cooperation includes working at a clinic, financially supporting an abortion, walking (including clinic escorts) or driving someone to the clinic, friends or family who know they are trying to make this decision and encourage or even if they don't try to talk the person out of an abortion. Participating in any of these activities, is a mortal sin as well as excommunication if you know that is the penalty.

2273
The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."

Any of this paragrph sound familier? It should. Remember the declaration of independence? We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Catechism even uses the same language as the document on which our country was founded over 225 years ago. Inalienable rights and to deny these rights would be inequality. It's all right there and the same. To be American is to be anti-abortion.

2274
Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."

2275
"One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival."

"It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material."

"Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity" which are unique and unrepeatable.

In the last paragraphs, we see the Church stating that embryonic stem cell research or any other scientific or medical research on a human fetus is no different than an abortion. The Church also teaches that producing or manipulation in the creation of humans is morally wrong.

The Church takes a very stong and foward stance on abortion and the taking of a human life. It is just not morally possible. There are stiff penalties incurred by just the act of cooperating in an abortion, you don't have to wait for a bishop to excommunicate you, you have already done so yourself by committing the act. God states that abortion is wrong and so do our forefathers who signed the Declaration of Independence. There must be an end to abortion and we must all continue to fight for the equality of ALL.

Paix du Christ!

Message for you, Sir

Wow, an interesting thing happened today. I got a letter in the mail! Not just any letter. Let me back up a little. Last year, December 1, I wondered onto the National Right to Life website and found a rating of my new Senators and Representatives from Alabama. I noticed the Congressman who represented me had a low score and voted on some morally questionable bills. So, I wrote a lengthy email and sent it through the page (unfortunately, I didn't send myself a copy). I decided not to make it a personal, moral issue as that tends to not make people listen. I decided to defend my views some other way, and why not play on his own grounds. To me, abortion is unconstitutional and I used my points in there. I also brought up bills for which he voted and of which I approved, and those of which I did not. Don't forget if you want a politician to listen to you, make sure to nicely remind him that you will have to decide who to vote next election and he has to win your vote. His auto response says he replies by snail mail to all letters. I figured I would eventually get a general response saying thanks and I'll take what you said in consideration. Time went by and though I know he probably gets plenty of mail and would take some time, I figured I wouldn't hear from him and actually started to forget about it. But, today I got his response in the mail. And he personalized it too, impressive. So, I'll post his response, but first, I'll remind you that I do not affiliate with any party, but he is a democrat.

December 22, 2005

(Address with-held)

Dear Mr. McKinley:

I have received your e-mail regarding the sanctity of pre-born life. I would like to welcome you to North Alabama. I hope you will feel free to contact my office in the future regarding issues of importance to you.

I want to make it clear that I do not believe that abortion should be used as a means of birth control. In 2003, I voted in favor of H.R. 760, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. This legislation, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 282 to 139, makes it a federal crime to perform a partial birth abortion unless the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother. This legislation banning partial birth abortions was signed into law by the President in November of 2003.

Also, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act passed the House of Representatives in February of 2004. I voted for this legislation which passed by a vote of 254-163. This bill makes it a federal crime to harm or cause the death of an unborn child. Specifically, the bill requires that separate charges be brought against an individual who harms a fetus in the womb while committing any one of more than 60 specified violent crimes against a pregnant woman, regardless of whether or not the perpetrator intended to harm the fetus or even knew if the woman involved was pregnant. The Unborn Victims of Violene Act was signed into law by President Bush on April 1, 2004.

In your e-mail, you also mention your concerns regarding embryonic stem cell research. In May of this year, the House pased H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. Currently, only human embryonic stem cell lines derived before August 9, 2001 are eligible for federally funded research. H.R. 810 would lift that restriction, making stem cell lines eligible for federally funded research regardless of the date on which they were derived. Under the provisions of the bill, only embryonic stem cells that would never have otherwise been implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded would be eligible, and no financial or other inducements could be made available to the donors.

As you may know, I voted in favor of H.R. 810. I understand that this is a controversial issue, and I respect the views of my colleagues who opposed this bill. However, embryonic stem cell research has incredible potential to generate cures and treatments for an enormous range of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. I voted for this bill because I believe we must to do all that we can to provide assistance to the millions of Americans who suffer daily with these afflictions.

I thank you for contacting my office. For updates on current events and issues in Washington and North Alabama, please visit my website as http://cramer.house.gov and sign up for my monthly E-Newsletter.

Sincerely,
(signed as Bud)
Bud Cramer
Member of Congress

BC:mh

So, let's see, he supports abortion, but not partial birth abortion, and he supports considering it murder if the fetus is killed in any other matter. Okay, is it or is it not murder? That's like saying if a doctor shots you in the head its not murder, but if anyone else does it its not murder. He also supports ripping embryos out of the womb to kill them for scientific medicine when there are viable and "just as good" options. So, I guess this way, we can make the person having an abortion feel good because they are donating their baby to science. Anybody know where I can find credible sources to inform this goon that adult stem cells are just as good, if not bettern than embryonic stem cells? This is the only one of my 3 reps in the national government that seems to be confused. The 2 senators have all green marks on the NRL site. And one of them, Jeff Sessions, was on the committe to approve Alito.

I encourge you to communicate with your senators and representative. They are supposed to be representing you, so let them know what to do. Let them know if you aren't happy with them and they need to do something to win your vote. If enough people convince them that their position is in jeopardy, they have to change or they won't stay in office. The NRL site gives you contact infor for national, state, and local officials. They let you know bills on which they have voted, and bills that are coming up and a great resource to use to follow up on your pro-life views. It doesn't take any longer to write an email than it does to write a blog entry or read one. Maybe one person can't change the world, but you can make a dent.

Paix du Christ!

God is Love

Today Benedict XVI released his first Encyclical to the Church entitled Deus Caritas Est (God is Love). The letter was released around noon Rome time which would be about 6:00 Eastern. The news actually made it on GMA this morning, it was brief, but it was mentioned. The link in the title takes you to the Encyclical on the Vatican site (English version). Since the document is brand new, and I couldn't find it in PDF anywhere, I copied it to MS Word and made some slight formatting changes to make it more printer/reading friendly. Click to view the printable/downloadable version, or right-click save-as if you want to save it to your computer of course. The Word document comes out to 21 pages long with the last page solely containing the footnote references. I haven't had time to read anything but the introduction yet, but it looks like it has all the essential elements of writing: sex, violence, and religion. No, not any nude and violent nuns here. ^_- But the Pope does talk about sex! Hopefully that will get your attention and peak your intrest to pick it up.

Paix du Christ!

Terse Verse - Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision and today was the 33rd March for Life in DC. God formed and created everyone of us from the beginning, God is the only one who has the right to take that life away. Even the Constitution protects these rights. It states that all humans have inalienable (no one can take them away) rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It doesn't say only Americans, or only those outside of the womb, or only the fittest, but ALL humans. God dedicated us all to a special and unique way of life to be a prophet of God in our own way. By denying the essential right of life, the right of liberty, happiness, or the rest afforded in the amendments are meaningless; there is no right to privacy or right to choose when the right to life is taken away. Today should be a call to prayer for all in the cause for the culture of life. Take some extra time out of your day, even a few minutes to ask God's forgiveness to those who support the culture of death and to ask God to change people's hearts so that they may know Him better and protect all life, especially innocent life. I know I'll be visiting a local adoration chapel armed with a rosary.

Paix du Christ

Theology Thursday - CCC Euthanasia

In lieu of the recent topics, the Catechism gives Catholics direct teachings about Euthanasia.

2276
Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.

2277
Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.

2278
Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

2279
Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.

The Catechism gives us pretty clear instructions as to what constitutes Euthanasia. Euthanasia can be an act or omission which causes death in order to eliminate human suffering. This description could include using a gun, using medicine, or starving someone to "put them out of their misery." We have a duty to attend to sick people, God even wants us to care for people in the hour of their death to ease their passing (but not cause it). Remember the soldier who offers Jesus a drink even when he is on the cross? We also have to be aware of the needs of those who are dying. The Catechism summarizes this whole section into two sentences:

2324
Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.

The intentional act of causing someones death or an intentional omission of basic needs which causes someone's death is murder and a mortal sin based on the fifth commandment. Something not to be taken lightly and we should definitely bring up when the topic arises.

Paix du Christ!

To be or not to be

The most current news in the fight of life vs. death is assisted suicide. Anyone see Law and Order last night? It kind of makes you wonder whether it was coincidental for an episode on assisted suicide comes out in the same week that the Supreme Court rules 6-3 not to stop Oregon's unique law permitting assisted suicide. In law and order, the person took drugs intending to OD in the bathtub with the fail-safe of water in the tub to make sure everything goes according to plan. His brother was in the room making sure things went as planned; however, it comes out that he held the man under the water not allowing him a possible last minute choice, so the incident becomes a murder and the writers don't have to make a statement on the morality of assisted suicide. Why should they make a statement on assisted suicide? The supreme court has yet to make a decision. Sure at first it looks like a loss for life, but we have to look deeper, and not what the media and pro-death people want us to see.

Oregon has a law which permits physicians to help people end the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune so they don't have to take arms against a sea of troubles supposedly in specific terms. The President decided to try to usurp the state's law using the legislature approved Controlled Substances Act. It was used to end a California law permitting medicinal uses of marijuana and that use upheld by the supreme court. But apparently, the supreme court decided that the Controlled Substances Act does not apply this state law. Is this a victory for the culture of death? Not really, make sure you point that out to anyone trying to claim otherwise, its just a ruling on the extent of the Controlled Substances Act. The supreme court still has yet to determine if state laws permitting assisted suicide is constitutional so, there is no precedence to worry about upholding on this issue if it ever does face the court.

That being said, were do states stand on what 'tis nobler in the mind? We'll start from the bottom up. The looser on this front in the fight for life is of course Oregon as they have a law explicitly permitting assisted suicide. 5 states: NC, UT, WY, OH, and VA; all do not have code law or common law (yet) criminalizing assisted suicide. 9 states: AL, ID, MD, MA, MI, NV, SC, VT, WV; all have common laws (law decided in court). If your state isn't listed above that means you are one of the 35 states that criminalizes assisted suicide by means of code law (decided by legislature). So the count is currently 35-6 on states that have assisted suicide illegal. Don't rejoice yet, there have been states attempt to pass laws on the contrary before and currently, there are 2 states (CA, VT) who have bills on the books this year. If you live or know someone who lives in one of these states, please contact and encourage others to contact the representatives so that we can win a victory for life.

Today, If you're still around pondering what this recent ruling means for you and your state, I'll let you ponder with Shakespeare:

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.-- Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

Paix du Christ!

Learning to be Catholic

What a great time to be a young Catholic, or possibly thinking about starting a Catholic family. Last year, Southern Catholic College opened its doors in Georgia. It's curriculum is pretty general Business and A&S degrees. However, one that interests me is John Paul the Great University. Not only because it takes it's name from the person I look up to the most, but also because its focus is on technology as well as business and media. It's openning this fall and is in San Diego, CA. Anyone with kids growing up in the Catholic faith should definitely consider these wonderful opportunities for your kids to continue to grow in their education as well as their faith. You can also visit Catholic Answers and listen to the last hour of today's show to find out more about the new JP Catholic University.

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Terse Verse - John 6:53

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

This verse kept appearing last week. From Paul's sidebar, to 3ABN (the Seventh Day Adventist Channel), to Catholic answers, to spots on EWTN. It just seemed to be everywhere. This verse is one of the things that makes Catholics differ from protestants. "Unless you eat the flesh...and drink his blood." Nowhere does it mention the word SYMBOL, there's nothing symbolic about it, it's all REAL. John Martignoni on EWTN Radio reminds us when Jesus says that he will give his flesh for the sins of the world that no one claims that it's a symbol, but that Jesus would actually die on the cross for the sins of the world. If he uses the same word for flesh in both of these passages, why then would one really mean flesh while the other was just a symbol? Don't forget, if you continue to read through verse 66, some find it hard to believe, leave, and don't follow Jesus anymore. Jesus doesn't run after them and apologize. He said what he meant and if people can't handle it then let them go. They aren't the ones called to him by the Father. In the bible, no where does it ever say or elude to a symbol.

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Last day to delay

First, I want to thank Fidei. I'm streaming internet audio from a co-workers XM account while I work. A few minutes ago Gloria Estefan's "Conga" came on, and I couldn't help but chuckle as I thought of his post and picture a couple days ago. Thanks, I think you've permanently ruined that song for me ^_-

Today is the last day of the Alito questioning. Supposedly, the second part should be about FBI background checks and whatnot so hopefully he will get a break from painfully having to do the PC dance. I don't know if it would be more damaging for a candidate to openly admit to being pro-life or being homosexual.

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Praying for babies

This week, as everyone probably knows by now, Alito is on the hot seat in a bid for the US Supreme Court. The biggest issue in the Senate's eyes is trying to find out where he stand on abortion. I decided this week that I would pray the rosary each night that the outcome would further the cause of restricting abortions. Last night was kinda hairy, it was late and I dozed off a couple of times, but I think I got the whole thing in ^_- I'm not praying that Alito be confirmed, or that he not be confirmed. Honestly, I'm not sure what would be better, because I don't know him. I'm just asking God to make that decision, and that hopefully someone who would rule sympathetic to the pro-life cause will be chosen.

Yesterday was a little uneasy. When asked about a position he took in 1985 he stated that those were his views then and if confronted today he would keep an open mind. He didn't state what his views are today, but he didn't deny those views. He also said that he'd keep an open mind, which I figure is his part of the minuet in trying to say the least possible to be confirmed.

I doubt we will be able to rid our culture of death of abortion anytime soon, especially in one fell swoop. I do believe that the best battle plan is to chip away at abortion as Alito has stated before. The issues that I would put at the front lines are partial birth abortion, and parental permission such as the recent Proposition 73 in CA this past year. I believe if we have to win this war by smaller issues, these are the easiest to win. I'm also for every state having laws saying that killing a pregnant woman brings two murder convictions and not just one. Kind of taking an issue from the movie "I, Robot" and flipping it around. In "I, Robot," by law a murder is one human killing another and if a robot is the killer then there is no murder. Once the state defines killing the unborn child as a murder, then that defines the child as a human being. How can we allow the selective killing of human beings to continue. God will win this battle for life over death, we must be patient and continue to pray. I will leave you with a quote from the AMA back in 1871 that I found from Paul over at Thoughts of a Regular Guy.

Resolved, That we repudiate and denounce the conduct of abortionists, and that we hold no intercourse with them professionally or otherwise and that we will, whenever an opportunity presents, guard and protect the public against the machinations of these characters by pointing out the physical and moral ruin which follows in their wake.

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Terse Verse

Over Christmas, Zak asked me to post a short bible verse to think about kinda often. I believe his intentions were just a one-line verse (let me know if that's what you meant, Zak) which I find a bit of a challenge, but will try my best to adhere. Since it's a verse from the bible and it's short I find it only fitting to call this segment Terse Verse. So, let's begin.

Mark 1:11
And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord; therefore, the verse comes from today's Gospel reading (it was really hard to choose just one of the 5). These words are spoken by God in approval of Jesus taking up his ministry. Although, the heavans probably don't open and we may not hear a booming voice, I believe that in our spiritual selves, God says these words at our own baptism and confirmation as we take on the mantle of our own ministry, seeking to do God's will.

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Welcome back everyone

Well, I took an unintended break for the whole of the Christmas season. Upon arriving home, the internet connection was down most of the time until Alltel could come and fix it. This season was very busy and wonderful. I don't believe there was a single day that went by during the first week of Christmas that we didn't spend with extended family my cousins from NY flew down and we spent quite a bit of time with them as well. There was always a huge meal to eat at someone's house and lots of people there. The best part of this Christmas by far was that I got to spend it with my only sister. Sol from Korea lived with my parents for the majority of the year and all got to celebrate Christmas and have fun together before she left on the 30th. This year has definitely been the best Christmas (ALL 12 days of it).

Speaking of family, I think most of them got word of my blog; so, I'd like to welcome you. Feel free to leave comments on any of the posts if you're visiting. I got a long standing project out of the way today and wanted to get on here and put out a message as I start my lunch break. It's good to have something finished and to be back.

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Religion on TV

Yesterday was an interesting day for religion on television. First, to note was the heaven story by Barbara Wahwah on NBC. I didn't see much of this story, although during the first part I thought she did a good job of getting different views of heaven and the afterlife from different perspectives. But, it was on during House so I turned to it during commercial break and started talking to Mom on the phone sometime during the second part so my focus turned away from the TV. If anyone else caught parts of this story, I would like to hear your opinions and maybe some of the parts that I missed.

As I got back from work yesterday evening, I was flipping through the channels (all 6 since I don't have cable) to have something on in the background as I changed clothes and fixed dinner. Something caught my eye on 3ABN and I thought maybe I could find out a little more about what Seventh Day Adventists believe. Well, I looked at the passage on the screen and noticed where it came from in the Bible, especially when I saw something about Babylon and a woman and then I hoped that it wasn't going where I thought it was. But I was wrong, of course it was about "the Papal Church," as they called it. The program was called Lift Him Up and they were talking about Revelations chapter 17, mostly versus 4-6. Of course the Church is the harlot, the wine is the lies about Christ she has filled it with, and the ones drinking from the cup are the protestant churches that sprung from the Church. Somehow the L.A. Times, New York Times, and Time Magazine all became infallible resource on what the Pope has said and what the Church believes. They used quotes from these articles trying to support that Catholics have to confess to man and cannot confess directly to God and that Catholics worship Mary. Even if these articles did have quotes of the Pope saying these things, I seriously doubt that those quotes are reliable since the ones they came up with, the Pope or anyone in the Church would not have said. They did however, take paragraph 2072 out of the Catechism. Saying that the Catholic church says that Christ dying for our sins was not enough for our salvation and that we have to work to earn our salvation. Far-be-it from any church to actually suggest that we actually need to do good works to show our faith. And then of course Purgatory is where we Catholics must go to be tormented to repay our sins. Hmm, don't know if I've ever heard that one being taught before. They also refer to a question answer with a Stephen Keaning about the Sabbath being Sunday or Saturday and then afterwards say, "There you have it from the Catechism (oh, make sure you mis-pronounce it as Catesism every time) that the church changed the Sabbath." Well, honestly, I don't think that was the official Catechism that you talked to there. A full-out attack on the Catholic Church over the air all on misunderstandings. Very offensive.

House came on and was a Christmas season episode. The main patient in this episode was a nun with a rash on her hands. There really wasn't much talk about the Catholic Church one way or another. Just House's usual miserable panderings and always trying to diagnose everyone else (physically or mentally). Some characters wrestled with their own theological views, one a fallen away seminarian that started to re-find his faith, another one an agnostic, etc.

This morning, flipping through the channels, I again landed on 3ABN hoping to find out more about SDA since they were talking about missions in India. And again, I was disappointed that it wasn't much on their beliefs. They mentioned how by tradition St. Thomas came to India and was martyred there. They mentioned that supposedly St. Thomas brought a statue of Mary, but "Mary worship didn't start until Pope Pius X." Do you not understand that you don't put the words Mary and worship together! That does not happen within the Catholic Church! We honor Mary as everyone else does in the Bible. When Gabriel comes at the annunciation he says "Hail, Mary, full of grace." Mary says, "I will be called blessed by all generations." Her sister, Elizabeth, says, "Blessed are you among all women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Jesus tells his beloved apostle, "Behold your Mother." All of these words from the Bible, why then should we not honor Mary as special like these people, angels, and Christ himself did in the Bible. India is only a small percentage Christian, but the state of Kerala is the most Christian, most of which are Catholics. All the Indian priests and deacons I know come from this state. Now, guess which state the missionaries were going to. Yep, Kerala. Does anyone else have this feeling that they would rather evangelize to other Christians than non-christians? Especially when they tell of the Portugeuse Catholics coming in and declaring the Churches property of the Pope and forcing the residing Christians to give up their religion. Wow, what a historical re-telling.

To me it looks like the SDA's best weapon is to attack various Christian churches especially the Catholic Church. I'm pretty understanding, but these programs are starting to upset me. I don't have any problems with people stating their own views, but when they start attacking someone else's to further their own, that's when I start getting unnerved. I also have a tendency not to trust a church that follows Christ whose fore-founders (Millerites) claimed to know when the second comming was, when Jesus clearly states that no one will know. If there are any Adventists or anyone who knows an Adventist that wants assure me that they don't have it out for Christian Churches, please let me know. Until then, I have this very uneasiness with the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

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Christmas time is upon us

This year has been different from most years becasue I've been very anti-commercial Christmas. I don't mind people saying happy holidays or whatever. Never really had a beef with that. Jay Leno had a joke last night stating that you can't say Jesus anymore, you have to say Holiday Infant. I mostly don't like the buying frenzy, the insane you have to buy attitude, all the Christmas music before the season that I know will disappear on midnight, and all the ME-ness. This year, I'm telling people that I don't want anything for Christmas. But no one takes me seriously. If they think they have to do something for me, then they can just donate money, or give me the money and I'll donate it to something. It's Jesus' birthday, and he deserves the gifts, not me.

In the past year, alot has happened to me to re-evaluate Christmas and I just find joy in being with my family and not in the gifts that I get. Last year, the person with whom we shared true love left me for selfish reasons and treated me really badly about it. Last year I had to spend 2 days (23rd and 24th) digging my car out of ice to get to work and then drive home. At work, some one went off at me because we couldn't get someone out to fix his internet at 10:30pm Christmas Eve night. On the way home, my car slid down a hill and nearly off the road. This year, I'm living 4 hours away from home. My grandfather just had a biopsy today. And my Korean (foreign exchange) sister is leaving for her home after Christmas. This year, I'm realizing that I have a lot of things to be thankful for. I don't want or need any gifts, all I want is my family and God's love and forgiveness that He made possible through the birth of His son. I've always kept the meaning of Christmas in my mind, but this year, Christmas means a little bit more.

This Christmas, maybe you can find more meaning in it than what you've known before.

Paix du Christ!

Theology Thursday

Today, I looked at the Catechism and found a small section speaking to us about the season of advent. Seeing as we are currently in the season of advent, I would like to take some time to reflect on what the Church provides us on this season.

522
The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.

In this paragraph, we are reminded that the Jewish people waited for hundreds, even thousands, of years for the messiah to come and fulfill the prophesies. It seems that many Christians are stagnant in their faith. "If I believe Christ will save me then he will." But just like the Jewish people, we Christians should also be preparing the world for the second coming of Chirst. The statement He makes everything converge on Chirst reminds me of words from John Paul the Great: "Everything begins from him, leads towards him, everthing, through him, in the Holy Spirit, attains to the Father."

523
St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.

St. John the Baptist holds the distinction of being the only prophet of the New Testament and the second disciple of Christ, the first being Mary. Even before birth he proclaims the coming of Christ. The third Sunday of Advent is always accompanied by a Gospel reading of John; whether from Matthew, Luke, or John. What a great example that we should continue to bear witness to Christ. Even after he baptized Christ, John continued his prophetic ministry and even annoyed the Romans enough through this witness that he was hunted down and killed.

524
When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Each year the Church calls us to prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth in rememberance of the long years of waiting for the messiah. Yet, we are also called to prepare ourselves for the time when we will meet Christ. Every January 1, people try to make a New Year's Resolution, so at the beginning of the liturgical year we should make a spiritual resolution to begin preparing for Christ.

Paix du Christ!

Been awhile

Sorry for the lack in posts lately. I've been really busy and tied up at work and my internet connection has been flaky at the apartment plus I've been working on an intricate and time intensive rosary. The holes in the peridot beads that I bought are quite a bit smaller than the gauge of wire that I have so I had to find wire that fit. Well, had to go all the way down to 26 gauge wire. Pretty darn small. In order to make it more durable, I'm having to wrap around the wire with every loop that I do. There's a loop on each end of each bead and then all the loops on the chains in the middle. That equates to A LOT of extra wrapping for all those keeping track. I've got 2 decades finished, only 3 more to go!

Last night I actually showed up to the young adult faith sharing group that LOCO (Light of Christ Organization), link is on the sidebar, was having. It was the last in the series, but at least I got to go to one. It was about devotion to Mary and the Saints. There were questions about a lot of stuff I already knew with praying to saints, worshiping and the many other common ones. We passed around the Catechism and Bible and read references out of them to back up the belief on topic. Seeing as it was on topic, I offered to teach people to make rosaries and there appeared to be interest. I would really like to get a group to start meeting regularly (at least twice a month or something) and maybe get a rosary guild type thing going with young people. I really do hope it works out.

There's only 1 1/2 weeks before Christmas. Have you prepared for Christ this year? There's only 1 Saturday left to go to confession at most churches. The perfect birthday gift for Jesus this year would be a clean heart.

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Hey Mom, just goin' to church to take off my clothes

Well, I'll tell you my Youth Group never did anything like this. Thank goodness, because my Youth Minister was my Mom, yikes! ^_-

A German church (reported as protestant) has members pose nude in Bible scenes. Now that's a great idea! Sure it will bring in kids, sex sells. I know Eve would be nude, but leave those scenes to be portrayed by Raphael and Michelangelo and other mordern artists, not the youth of the Church. What exactly are we trying to teach these kids? It's okay to flaunt your bodies and make mentally incompetent guys hormones go crazy and rape you. Or how about, it's okay to be sexy and have premarital sex and pass around sexually transmitted diseases. Maybe we should print these lines on the bottom of the calendar to like a surgeon general's warning. I hope these kids are at least not minors.

Warning: For anyone thinking about going to the link inside the news article, there are only 2 pictures on the site. The Eve one has long hair covering the breasts and a fig leaf imposed on the nether region. The Delilah one shows one breast complete with nipple. Just a heads up in case it might offend you.

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Another fairy tale ending

Well, as you might have guessed, we couldn't find internet connections where we stayed in Orlando. There was lots of partying and fun to be had. At the reheasal dinner (which took place in costume at Medival Times, which was pretty much the theme of the weekend), I gave the couple the rosary I made and had engraved with the date and said they would definitely have it with them in the ceremony. Christin also made the comment "Mom was right, it wouldn't be a Strain wedding if we didn't invite you." It's great to have extended families. But the crux of the weekend of course was the beautiful wedding. The church was beautiful and the wedding was excellent. Both parties were Catholic, so it took place in a Mass. The bride is from Florida and the Groom from California, a story of a couple meeting over the internet and it fully working out. At the end of the rite of marriage, I was introduced to two new South Pacific (I think Phillipines) traditions. One was a large and beautiful lace veil placed over the head of the bride and shoulders of the groom and fully wrapped around them. It was to symbolized being clothed as one in Christ. The other was a cord made entirely of coins. The cord has two loops so it looks like a figure eight and is drapped over both the bride and groom. To symbolize they both must equally contribute (especially financially) to make the marriage succeed. This cord was made out of dimes and quarters. The quarters from one side had the Florida design on the back and the other had the California design on the back. Two excellent and very intersting traditions. Afterwards, the bride told me she ad decided to hold the rosary with her bouquet and had it blessed by the priest that blessed the wedding. What an excellent idea. Although, I just enjoy making rosaries for people and thought it would be a nice gift for a Catholic wedding, I didn't imagine that it would mean so much to them to make it apart of their wedding. Weddings always are joyous and wonderful. I love attending them, and you can definitely see the image of God's love. Not only in the couple, but in all of the love and joy in the family and friends involved. What a wonderful time in our lives, whether its our own wedding or we are just attending.

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Theology Thursday

"mehwahge is what bwings us togehdder today." That line from the Princess Bride always pops in my head when thinking about going to weddings. So, the section of the Catechism I took a look at today was that on the sacrament of marriage. Since this section is a bit long, I will look at the second part, sub-section II, which are paragraphs 1621-1624. That way, I can examine other sections for weddings which might come up in the future. This section is short, but it is also a very exciting section which gives us an insight to the celebration of the sacrament.

The first few paragraphs wonderfully tie marriage to many other sacraments. 1621 directly spells out that a wedding between two Catholics should be done in a Mass with Eucharist since "the New Covenant (remembered in the Eucharist) in which Christ has united himself for ever to the Church, his beloved bride for whom he gave himself up." And the celebration of the Eucharist at a wedding symbolizes the unity of the bride and groom into one in the body of Christ. Maybe this symbol of unity can also help remind us that divorcing and re-marrying not only harms those involved, but wounds the body of Christ himself and affects all of the rest of its members.

As we saw with the sections on Confirmation, Catholics are encouraged to go to Reconciliation before being married. Seems to be a common theme for all succeeding sacraments, I wonder if it continues through all of the rest. It does however, seem to be very fitting to reconcile your sins before God before receiving a sacrament. After all it is the sacrament where you can continually receive God's grace and wash away your sins and directly connect us with our roots to baptism.

Honestly, I believe that paragraph 1623 is my favorite in the marriage section even though it is just one sentence. "According to Latin tradition, the spouses as ministers of Christ's grace mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church. In the tradition of the Eastern Churches, the priests (bishops or presbyters) are witnesses to the mutual consent given by the spouses, but for the validity of the sacrament their blessing is also necessary." Wow, I learned something the priest/deacon is not the minister of the sacrament. Read it carefully; the bride and groom are both the ministers of the sacrament when they say their vows. The minister stands as witness for the Church and blesses the marriage, but the two participants actually confer the sacrament.

This last section hints at the sacrament of Confirmation although it never directly mentions it. It mentions the couple receiving the Holy Spirit in their love which seals their covenant before the Church. However, the last statement is pretty interesting. It says, "the [Holy Spirit] ever available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity." The Church shows that marriage is tough and has its trials and tribulations; otherwise, why would married people need to renew their fidelity. Basically, when you get married, you will get drained, you will need to refuel, and it's not easy. Human love can't compare to God's love, no matter how much we love our spouse, parents, or children. As humans, we can't handle these stresses and refuel on our own, we need to turn to the Holy Spirit and God's love to give us the strength to keep a marriage going especially when it gets tough. This simple statement could probably sum up why many people get divorced. They don't have the Holy Spirit to call on or simply forget that's what is needed. It's not enough to turn to the Spirit once or twice and think that's good enough or for only one person to turn to the Spirit. Both husband and wife must continually look towards the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance.

The reason I chose to look at marriage is that I will be flying out to Orlando tomorrow morning for a wedding. I'll be staying in a condo with friends and I'm not sure if there is an internet connection. I'm taking my laptop just in case. If there is, I will make room during the 2 days of parties to make some posts; otherwise, I'll be back on here next week.

Paix du Christ!

Christians vs. Atheists

Last night, Wife Swap just happened to be on one of the three networks that I get. One wife's husband was a pastor and the other hosted an atheist internet radio talk show. I really don't see how someone can make a living at what he does and I don't know why someone would continue to work 70-80 hours a week and not have time to spend with his/her kids. You can visit his web page, listen to his radio program, and make comments. Hey, maybe logon to the chat during showtimes (when people are on) to practice defending the truth, but if you do please be respectful and do it with a christian attitude (you don't have to pay).

One thing I learned is that non-christians have a hangup with Jonah. The seeming first thing atheists/non-christians on the show jumped towards was "do you really believe a guy can live in the belly of a fish." First, I think they need to be more educated that a whale is a mammal and not a fish. But, I also believe a lot of the stories they jump to are allegorical.

I found it interesting that when Kelly, the christian, decided to describe her husband's day instead of name a job. Reggie, the atheist, accuses that a good christian would have just told him up front him that he was a pastor when it did come up. First, I find it funny that he knows what a "good christian" would do. But, I really don't see how that has to do with being a good christian. When people ask what I do, I tell them I design web pages for government projects. I don't tell them our small company name. That usually brings more confusion and questions that are complicated to answer. I don't think my answer, in not providing title and company, makes me any less of a christian.

The pastor did seem to talk about God a little bit excessively. Not that talking about God is a bad thing, but I don't think they showed him having a conversation where he didn't talk about God.

It was definitely an interesting premise for the show. If you want to hear the men talk a little bit more about it go to the web page listed above and look for the episode Stonerock and Finley.

One last thing... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

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Fugitive allowed to attend Mass

Cops aren't all bad ^_^

In Rome, a fugitive from jail ran into a church to hide from the police chasing him. The only catch ... The church was full of cops attending Mass! Needless to say that he was caught, but the cops granted him one last wish before taking him in. He was able to attend Mass at the church.

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The spirit is a movin'

This past weekend, my twin cousins were confirmed. 88 confirmands and their sponsors showed up to lined up and we all processed into the church. Archbishop Kelly's great he has always had kids write him a letter about why they want to be confirmed, what it means to them, and why they chose their sponsors and he reads them during the homily. When it came time for confirming, the 2 parish priests joined the Archbishop so there were 3 people conferring confirmations. Although, it's disappointing that some were confirmed directly from the Archbishops and others weren't, I was kinda glad (it was long enough with 3, I would hate to see it with 1 HUGE line). One of my cousins went to the Archbishop, but since we were in line behind her, we went off to the pastor. Afterwards she kept complaining that the chrism was getting in her eyes. I warned them both before hand that the Archbishop always uses a lot of Chrism. I remember being an altar server during a confirmation and getting to hold the bowl of chrism for Kelly (an unbelievable experience as a kid). Afterwards, my hands were so covered in oil from him using so much, I was surprised that I didn't drop the bowl. Both of my cousins are great kids and I'm proud of them. I gave Zak his present which he was very excited about the St. Zachary medal, he'd never seen anything with St. Zachary on it before and the rosary that I made for him. He gave me a sterling silver crucifix on a chain, very nice, and I wear it all the time. I'm definitely very happy that I got to share in the experience of their confirmation. What a wonderful celebration it was, long but wonderful ^_^

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And the meme continues

Looks like Fidei has sent me this meme (originally started by Holy Fool) to do. Thanks Fidei Defensor to give me this time to reflect. So, here goes nuttin'.

Recently, the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of Christ the King. The Church is beginning a new Liturgical year, beginning with the joyous season of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. This is a wonderful opportunity for Catholics to reflect on how they've lived their Faith this past year, and how they'd like to live it in the coming Liturgical year. So, Here's the meme. In honor of the Blessed Trinity, we:

1. Write three things for which you're grateful to God in this past liturgical year.

I. My entire family (especially my brother and my best friend) The greatest people in the world that will be with you no matter what.
II. Making me give myself new life and finding myself in all new and totally different situations.
III. Giving me the chance to be a Confirmation sponsor for my cousin and allowing me to pass on the faith that I love.

2. Write three ways in which you hope to improve you're relationship with God in this coming liturgical year.

I. Praying the chaplet of Divine Mercy.
II. Making rosaries in order to share it as a gift with others.
III. Exploring my faith through this blog, and hopefully sharing a bit of it with others through this new medium.

3. Pass this on to three other bloggers.

I. The Cafeteria is Closed
II. Cryptocatholic
III. You Ain't No Picasso

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Catholic Hate Crime

About a month and a half ago (first weekend in October) there was a local story that didn't get much press (even in this area it was just a short spot). I tried to find it in the Decatur Daily, but those issues aren't displaying on their site right now, but I did find a Huntsville Times article. There are quite a few stories listed on the WAFF (NBC affiliate) site, most of them are text and not video. The basic story is four people went to Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church, one of them claiming he had a vision from God of destroying a church. They show up at 1100 Mass on Sunday Oct. 2 and after communion 2 of them run up on the altar yelling and screaming about worshipping idols and then push over a 100 yr old marble altar which shatters as it falls down the steps towards the congregation. Some parishioners detained (pretty calmly too) the 4 vandals until the police arrived. They were originally charged with criminal misdemeanors the 2 accomplices were released on $750 bonds. But the 2 vandals were held and eventually indicted with a hate crime and jailed with $10,000 bonds. Now, I don't know if this has anything to do with their target selection, but oddly enough this story was in the Decatur Daily newspaper only the day before (Oct. 1). Immediately following, believers (Catholic and non-Catholics alike) sent in editorial letters, most of the people claiming Roman Catholic affiliation aren't calling for vengeance or harsh punishments.

The reason I am just bringing up this story is that something very shocking happened yesterday. Here's the story that was reported by WAFF. It really shows the insensitivity. A group from California heard the story and sent the bail money for both to be let out. The great quote of the interview: "We heard about this story in California, we think its absolutely absurd that these two kids have been accused and put on $10,000 bond for knocking over a table."

First off, They didn't "knock over a table" they destroyed an expensive, irreplaceable 100 year old marble table. Secondly, they disrupted a worship service and struck fear into the people there as they saw the table coming at them. They are vandals and terrorists. They didn't suicide bomb a building, but I'm sure it was terrifying for the people there as they weren't sure if the altar (or pieces) would hit them, or what was next.

I don't like the term "hate crime," because in my opinion if a crime is not induced by a psychological imbalance it is committed out of hate or rage. But, I do think these criminals need some extended time to think about what being Christian really means.

If they understood the Catholic faith (don't have to believe in it), or even listened during the prayers, they would understand that we don't worship the table, but Jesus in the Eucharist. However, I'm sort of glad they don't fully understand Catholicism or they might have gone for the tabernacle instead and really desecrated the church and totally have Catholics up in arms.

We all just need to make an effort to understand others in order to tolerate them. In the famous words, why can't we all just get along?

Paix du Christ!

Go Forward

... and reap from human babies. First item on my mind is the topic most of the morning news shows were covering today, a recent fundraiser for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Although I find their goal of looking for ways to improve conditions for paralysis, I can't consciously support them due to their support of making embryonic stem cell research available, which was never brought up in the news programs this morning.

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.
Mother Teresa

Welcome FD! A link to his blog College Catholic can be found in the sidebar blog links. A very enjoyable blog from honoring our great vets this past holiday to documenting his encounters with the largely underplayed prejudice that is anti-Catholicism.

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Theology Thursday

Something that I have been thinking about doing in this blog is to explore a little more theology. Finding out more about the faith (most likely from the Catechism, but maybe other writings) and maybe share that with others. I don't know how it will work, but lets give it a try.

Today, I thought that it would be a good idea to explore what the church teaches on confirmation. Fitting, since my cousins are being confirmed this weekend and me a confirmation sponsor.

The paragraphs that I will be referencing can be found in Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 1, Article 2 of the Catechism.

First and for most is the introductory paragraph (1285) which is very important. It basically answers the question what is Confirmation. Notice, however, it never mentions a coming of age, or any such notion as many people describe it. It is described as a completion of baptismal grace, strengthening of the Holy Spirit, and becoming obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed. Wow, if I had known that, I don't think I would have thought that I was ready for Confirmation. A quote that I find interesting from the same paragraph says: "It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace." The teaching of the Church tells us that the faithful must be told about the necessity. Who and where else would be better to tell the masses of the faithful, but the priest in Mass? Priests should try to add into their preaching more about sacraments than they do.

Finally, in para. 1289 it gives the first definition everyone thinks of for confirmation: "the term Confirmation suggests that this sacrament both confirms baptism and strengthens baptismal grace." I usually thought this was a cop-out definition, and teachers in grade school usually wouldn't let us use it, but it is stated right in the catechism. If you look at this line, it is definitely a 1-line brief decription of para. 1285.

In 1290-1291, we get a historical overview of confirmation and here is where all the confusion stands as to when is the proper time to confirm. Confirmation and baptism were originally performed at the same ceremony by the priest and bishop. The priest would baptize with water, and anoint with oil the baptism. Immediately Following the baptism the bishop would lay his hands and anoint with oil and confirm the baptism. However, the 2 became distinctly separate when the bishop could no longer attend ALL of the baptisms.

The sacred chrism is used in Confirmation. This chrism is a perfumed oil with a pleasant smell. In para. 1294, the spiritual sealing of the anointing is described "..so that their lives may give off 'the aroma of Christ.'" I think it is interesting that we are called to give off the aroma of Christ, which corresponds to the sense of smell. It doesn't mention here anything about others seeing Christ in us, or hearing Christ in us, which is mentioned in other areas, but smelling Christ. To me, smelling is a memory sense. Smells are associated with memories more than other senses. The smells of derby pie, warming sweet tea, rising rolls, all bring different memories of family houses. Who can forget the smell of freshly smushed pole cat? The aroma of Christ means that we shouldn't just be Christ for others, but try to make an unforgettable mark of Christ on someone's mind.

Para. 1299-1301 explains the 4 actions during confirmation. First, the extending of hands signifies the gift of the Spirit and is when the invokes the outpouring of the Spirit. The sacrament is actually conferred through the anointing which is done with the laying on of hands and the words "Accipe signaculum doni Spiritus Sancti" (Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit). And finally, the sign of peace.

The most important paragraph is 1303. Here it explains the effects of Confirmation, not only is it an explanation, but a list. Here are the elements of how Confirmation effects (or should, if we are taught correctly):

• Roots us more deeply in the divine filiation (child of God)
• Unites us more firmly to Christ
• Increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us
• Renders our bond with the Church more perfect
• Gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross

The one thing I would make sure is in the process of receiving Confirmation is described in 1310. "One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit." I think it is important for confirmands to be required to go to confession at least once during the process of Confirmation, whether it is on a retreat or they go on their own one Saturday.

The one disappointment I found was there is only a 2 sentence paragraph, 1311, to describe the sponsor.

Well, That was a little bit longer than I had hoped, but I wanted to go over the section on Confirmation. Hopefully, I can do something once a week and keep Theology Thursday as a consistent part of my blog.

Paix du Christ!

New blogs

I've been adding some new blog links over the past couple of days. The newest is Cryptocatholic. He posts information he has gathered about famous people who are Catholic, but most people don't know they are. It's pretty interesting. If you know of any other "quiet believers" that he doesn't have, I'm sure he'd be happy to hear about them and possibly include them in his posts.

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Not quite as sad news

First off, it looks as though I have at least one reader with a comment on my last post that isn't trying to get someone to click on a link or put a lot of words to turn up a search. Thanks Nelson.

Last night I was supposed to host a meeting for the youth group team at my apartment. With the prospect of storms coming through everyone cancelled and I was left alone all night. The storms were hardly anything by the time they came through Huntsville, just a lot of rain. But, I suppose I understand, yesterday was the anniversary of a huge tornado that ripped through south Huntsville that everyone talks about from 1989. My loss of the meeting cancelation isn't anything to what others lost last night and I thank God.

In further storm news, more tornados hit western KY and southern IN again. This time the were more to the west than before and during the afternoon and evening. This time people were awake, having advanced warning and time to react. So far, no state has listed any deaths in these storms. However, I imagine it still devastated some houses and that truly affects a family. Keep them in your prayers as everyone in this year of natural disasters tries to rebuild (houses, families, and lives).

Paix du Christ!

Some news from back home

Look what I found while scouring the internet. I found an article about the annual dinner with Archbishop Kelly in Louisville. And it is written by my favorite Catholic reporter, Marnie! And, in the process I learned that The Record puts its articles online, so I can read them even from almost 300 miles away. Mom was telling me a little about the dinner and how it didn't seem quite as organized. I'm not sure if she's seen this article yet or not (my guess is that it's going to be in this weeks paper), but I have no doubt it will be the talk of the office since the pastor (Fr. Dick), former associate (Fr. Peter), and the secretary (Kathy) are all quoted or mentioned in it. I'll probably hear about it later and hear how Mom wasn't interviewed although she's the youth minister, and so on. Oh well, at least she did interview 2 people from St. James; Fr. Dick the pastor and Kathy a catechist. When Marnie interviews attendants of an event (experience from WYD, and looking for her articles in the Record), I have noticed that she usually tries to get the opinon of a staff member or organizer (sometimes clergy) and the perspective of a regular attendee. And this time, she chose to pick her interviewees from the parish that brought the most kids (ours ^_^).

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Rosaries and things

Friday was a day off from work. I spent pretty much the whole day making Zak's rosary. It's really nice looking. I spent alot of time making sure every thing looked as best as I could. I still notice a few flaws in it, but we are human beings and not perfect and tend to see those flaws in ourselves. Linda and Brian thought it was really great. I hope Zak likes and appreciates it. I really like making rosaries; it's something you can do while watching TV or talking and it's nice and peaceful. It definitely makes you appreciate the prayer and materials more once you start making them yourself. If anyone I have any blog readers and you'd like a rosary, just drop me a line ^_-

Went to the open house of Catholic High School. It seems to be a nice school, definitely small on the inside. I saw Brian and Lisa for a little while and spotted Katie (a high schooler from St. Mary) on the way out.

Linda seems to be starting to get discouraged with the youth group (I think). With Fr. Glen cracking down on the budget and not giving ANY to the youth, and there's a couple nights where there were only 1 or 2 kids. Those were mostly the middle school nights though. But I've been really pleased with the past 2 high school nights. The first Sunday of the month was the Mass of course. There was a nice showing at the Mass after the confirmation retreat. It seemed that all of the parents really liked it and a couple even mentioned they did, but they can't get their kids there every month because it starts at 16:00. We even feel the same way and tried to encourage folks to tell Fr. Glen so maybe it can be changed. This past Sunday, we were afraid no one was gonna show up for hang-out night in the gym, but we got a total of 5 and that made me happy at the showing considering the past few times we've tried (middle school) to be in the gym after rushing out of work and then being disappointed. I'm still hoping "If you build it, they will come" comes true here.

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Preparing for intiations

Very, very tired. After work on Monday, I drove the 4 hours back home and didn't get much sleep. But the whole trip was to meet up with my cousin and confirmand after his retreat. I also needed to pick up some rosary supplies so I can make one for his confirmation gift. It was well worth spending time with my family, especially that part. I don't get to see them very often.

I also picked up my new Ceili Rain CD from Mom. The best christian group as well as the best celtic group. They are awesome. I liked their music since Mom brought back the first CD from an NCYC (hmm, that one might have been in Atlanta too). But when I went to a concert a couple of years ago. It was excelent, and I have been mezmorized and hooked ever since (the best $7 I have ever spent). I was even willing to buy a $300 ticket to NCYC for the sole purpose of a second concert. Thankfully, I had to go through my youth minister (my Mom) and she wouldn't let me. I told her that I'd help chaperone, too ^_- Oh well, I'm aiming for Bloomington in Feb.

Ceili Rain has an excelent sound. I've always wanted to learn the bagpipes and had a facination with them. Skip, you are GREAT! Their repitoire has a combination of faster upbeat songs, as well as slower and more spiritual songs. All of their songs have relious undertones if you listen, but sometimes it's not as obvious. Which makes their style less preachy and is very inviting. On this Amazon listing someone who picked up a CD, loves their music and admits he is a proud agnostic and didn't realize they were christian until he saw the postings on Amazon. What an amazing way to evangelize. They didn't have to yell at him or beat him to death with a bible to plant the seeds of His words. Okay, so everyone run out and buy all of their CD's and book up the concerts.

Good wishes to y'all at the Creation Fesitval and Unity Awards.

Paix du Christ!

Sad prayer news

Joe and Linda made it back safely and got everything delivered. Yay! They invited me over to watch Ep 3 which was great. However, there was some sad news. Apparently, 2 students where her niece teaches (in Fayetteville, GA) were in a car accident. Apparently, it was pretty fiery the passenger died and the driver was burned, but still alive. It's so awful when young people die. But I especially feel for the driver, who no doubt will feel guilty about the death no matter what the circumstances are. Definitely, keep everyone affected in your prayers. Although, you didn't know what was going to happen until it happened (since everything kept changing), I think this weeks youth Mass was great. It's definitely come off the best of the ones here. And in more sad news for prayers, There were tornados that devastated western Kentucky and Indiana. The national news this morning spoke with a lady in a hospital bed who said her and her husband where in a mobile home which had been moved 3 or 4 streets. (Talking about Wizard of Oz) She said that she was hoping to have surgery today, but there were THIRTY-NINE people waiting in front of her. Could you imagine. The firefighters found a bruised 3 yr old boy under some rubble only in his underwear. They weren't too confident in finding any of his family memebers that might have been with him. There was also a family of 3 with one on the way found dead. I know there are a lot of people out there that need our prayers, but if you could keep these accident and tornado victims in your prayers, that would be great. These stories just hit close to home. Stay safe, and hopefully you won't have anything dire to add to my prayers.

Paix du Christ!

What is Being Catholic All About

Now here is a story that has been in the news lately. (I suppose it's fortunate that it hasn't gotten as plastered as the abuse scandals.) A Catholic family complains about a teacher involved with abortion, the school fires the teacher, the school dimisses the kid from school, and the teacher sues the school. What next. You know, I thought that this was a CATHOLIC school. Which brings up 2 points, 1 is why did this happen in the first place and the school not look to hire people that would at least uphold moral values (whether they are Catholic or not), and 2 if a CATHOLIC school can't uphold CATHOLIC values without getting sued, then what's the point? The ACLU might as well come in and say they have to celebrate ramadan and hanukah in religion class and not just christmas. Where does the "rights" war end? (apparently, a God-less anarchy). Evey job that I've had has always mentioned the fact that you could be fired for being drunk out in public or some other offense, since you are always portraying the company image whether or not you want to. Seems like the same issue here to me. We might as well let our school teachers (especially the Catholic school teachers, heck they could probably find those sexy school girl outfits easily) moonlight in strip clubs or on the corner of 4th and Main. Get a life people. If all of you "rights" nuts want to ruin a country, go somewhere else. If anyone knows of an island somewhere that I can create my own nation and only let in sane people who mind their own business, let me know.

Paix du Christ!

Sock It To 'Em

Today Linda and Joe started their trek with a trailer full of goodies to the gulf. Pray for their safety as well as the welfare of the people who now have much less than us and less than they had just a few weeks ago.

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New saints

Pope Benedict XVI has had the pleasure of canonizing his first 5 saints at the clossing Mass of the synod. Here is a list of those saints with some information about them. Ignore the title about saints under John Paul, the Vatican just needs to update the website a little bit better. These saints have done some great things and are from a variety of different cultures. They are definitely an inspiration to all christians. Further more, you can also check out the official unofficial final message of the synod of bishops at the vatican site . It's pretty long and divided up into sections upon sections. Have fun ^_-

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Lifting those crummy days to God

Yesterday was Columbus Day and a vacation day at work. I wasn't at work, the sun actually came out for the first time in 3 days, I watched a couple of movies, I took some time to setup my bed since I had been sleeping on the couch for the past week and Mom actually answered the phone since she hasn't all weekend. Pretty good so far right? Well, the bad times always seem to out weigh the good times. So, I felt kinda down yesterday because of other things going on. Since it was actually a nice day out, I decided to take a few minutes to drive to the state park and read the bible. On the way, I got online with my Treo to pull up the web page (just in case I couldn't get a signal up there) so it would be loaded in cache. I got up there and got some maps from the office. On the legend of the hiking trails map, there was an icon listed as "Japanese Tea Garden." Of course it was intriguing, and was not far at all from where I was so I started walking. There was a couple of bridges, a stage, some rocks and some benches, and a little open air building. I sat down to read the bible passages for the daily readings (lucky that I had thought to pre-load the page). I got to the psalm and it was psalm 98. I was amazed and touched that I had decided to go out into nature and the reading that came up says "All the ends of the Earth have seen the goodness of God!" Wow! Seeing as I knew a tune for this psalm, I decided to sing it out instead of reading it silently. Afterwards, I decided to walk in the little building, take off my shoes, bow in, and sit seiza style (ok, that didn't last the whole time, but I tried). While I was sitting there looking through one of the round windows at the nature of God's goodness, I prayed and started talking with Him. I finished off with the Mysteries of Light. As I headed back, I definitely felt a lot better. Just thought that I'd share my story with you. Maybe, next time you are feeling a little down and out. Just pick up the bible, go somewhere calming and read the daily readings. You never know what it might say to you.

Paix du Christ!

The end of the Reign of John Paul the Great

An account of the last days of John Paul the Great has been released. However, it apparently is only available in Italian. Oh well. It covers the Pope's life from the end of January to his funeral in April. The last words of the great pontiff were "Let me go to the Father's house" in Polish. Further news from the Vatican is that the Pope is in favor of excluding men from the seminary with homosexual tendencies and will soon will be putting this out as official instructions. I can just hear the complaints already. This probably won't even be like the don't ask don't tell policy from the army, but more like a don't tell policy since seminarian entrants probably will be asked. I, personally, am not sure what the Vatican is attempting to accomplish. The Churches stance is that being a homosexual in itself is not a sin. But, barring homosexuals from the seminary seems to say that homosexuality is unclean, or at least not on the same par with everyone else. But, better news is that the Vatican is the ONLY foreign state that has sent an official representative to the Katrina affected gulf. I also believe that the Vatican will also probably provide the most foreign aide to the Katrina efforts as well.

Paix du Christ!