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.

Paix du Christ!

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!

Paix du Christ!

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.

Paix du Christ!

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 ^_^

Paix du Christ!

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

Paix du Christ!

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.

Paix du Christ!

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.

Paix du Christ!

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 ^_^).

Paix du Christ!

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.

Paix du Christ!

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.

Paix du Christ!

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 ^_-

Paix du Christ!

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!