Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Holy WHAT?!?!?

Remember this guy, Michael Baigent? Yeah the guy who wrote Holy Blood, Holy Grail. The book that is supposedly started the fact to end all facts that led to the Da Vinci Code. But, wait it gets better. Apparently there's more than just Jesus being married and whatever other nonsense he contrives in the book. That's right. He has another book coming out entitled Jesus Papers. Apparently Jesus survived the crucifixion and other facinatingly absurd claims he makes in order to bring out the "truth" about Jesus. What a nut! Let's see, for anyone that could bore themselves through the excerpt of that book, his conclusive documents are on papyrus and mummy writings kept in 2 wooden boxes in a London bank, these documents are owned by a Jordanian and apparently the Vatican is attempting to purchase for $5.6 million and would then (as the author puts it) vanish into limbo.

Okay, to review. He is in London, a really foggy and rainy city - therefore humid; he's in a bank conference room with frosted windows, no apparent climate control or means by with which to perserve the authenticity of the documents; The people with which he is meeting wants him to take pictures for the sell, but they are planning on just sending the negatives of through Wal-Mart or where ever; he talks them into letting him developing them, I'm sure they wouldn't expect him to make a copy for himself AT ALL; he takes his only set to a museum to find out what they are about and the guy he knows well isn't there, so he just hands them over to some expert there he doesn't know (good job, way to think); the guy with his set of the photos disappears and the museum couldn't give a flip.

Raise your hand if you find something TERRIBLY WRONG with any of this. Yeah, thought so, you can put your hands down now. I have a feeling that I won't be reading it. The only reason I read DVC was so I would know what others are talking about. How can you argue (def. - intelligibly create a series of premises and not just taking up a contrary position). If people really start taking off on this bull, I'll have to suffer through it to be able to talk with them about it. Otherwise, have a great life Mr. Baigent and I'm glad I'm not you when you pass on.

Paix du Christ!

Sad news from home

This past weekend, I found out that a family friend, Andy Zagar died suddenly from a massive heart attack. Andy was only 49, and a middle school teacher. During his years in E-town, he has taught choir at both middle schools and a high school, he directed school and community plays usually all done with students for actors. He was very dedicated to children and teaching them the joys of the arts especially singing. His funeral today is starting in about 1/2 an hour. He will definitely be a missed member of the community. His wife runs a dance school and they have adopted 2 children both under the age of 11. Please keep his family in your prayers as they go through such a hard time to figure out how to piece their lives together in order to carry on in the best possible way.

Paix du Christ!

Bishops in town

Yesterday the parish of St. Joseph celebrated the feast of St. Joseph ^_^ Yes, I keep hearing from everyone that the date is supposed to be the 19th, but since that fell on a Sunday this year the bishops moved the optional celebration to Monday. Well, St. Joseph's parish has had a novena for the past nine days (of course) culminating with a Mass on the 20th with Bishop Emeritus Foley. Although the congregation was a little on the lite side for having the Bishop in town (about 60 people), it was a nice celebration. Granted, there was a combined choir which hadn't practiced all of the songs, which kinda got hairy once or twice. I had two different rythms in my ears once and neither of them were correct, so I just concentrated, belted it out and tried to plough through with anyone else that might have been on the right track. The bishop had quite a few nice things to say about the church's adoptive father. At the end of Mass, before he closed us out he said that he was sure if Joseph was here he would make sure to remember Mary since he was such a humble man and for us all to say a Hail Mary together. Bishop Foley also has a great and strong singing voice during the Eucharistic prayer. He gave us an update on the search for his successor. Basically, they are working on it. We heard how the Nuncio had retired so they had to wait for a new one to be appointed, and how Italian paperwork usually moves pretty slowly in the first place. Hopefully he'll get some reprieve soon, it looked like he was thinking sometime this summer or fall possibly. Just keep the selection in your prayers that Birmingham will receive a strong leader and one who cares about the youth and the future of the church.

Paix du Christ!

Slow posts and heavenly parties

Sorry about the slow posting recently and not getting anything up last week. Alot started happening last week between getting the Youth Group ready to go on their mission trip to Bayou La Batre to do some manual labor to help the hurricane victims, not having power at work for a whole day, trying to catch up after the power outage, my apartment complex loosing water pressure, hearing about some all-of-a-sudden deaths from back home, and playing some of Empire at War (a present) I haven't had much extra time recently. So, I do appologize.

Fortunately, a lot of great things happened this weekend. The youth group actually left for the gulf coast to help out. There's about 12 people (including drivers) on the trip. Keep them in your prayers.

I went to the Ceili Rain concert at Bellarmine University in Louisville. An excellent group as always! Although I've ripped all their CD's to my computer (yes, I have legal copies of them all), I lost one of their CD's during my move. So, I had to buy it to fill the hole in my CD case. Plus the cover makes a great place for signatures. If Ceili Rain is ever within driving distance, I highly suggest dropping everything else and going. I've never seen a concert price higher than $10. They are charged with extremely high energy even if it's just a small turn out like this weekend. It's all great christian music (and some people wouldn't know that if you didn't tell them). They have an awesome sound.

And most importantly, I heard from some old and great friends. After the concert, as I was going to bed, I was shocked to see a text message from a girl that used to be in high school plays with me. I finally was able to call her back on my way down to Huntsville. Since she lives in Nashville now, she told me to stop by. How cool is that. While I was there, my best friend from elementary school calls her cell phone so she surprises us both by having me answer it. Another friend that I have tried to keep in touch with was at church and I actually got to tell her happy birthday on her birthday! We've tried to keep in touch sometimes, but most of our contact information is old, but we actually got to update it this weekend. It really is exceptionally wonderful to hear from those golden friendships and I really hope I can do better to stay in touch with them.

Paix du Christ!

Celebrating

Due to St. Aloysius' and my birthday, I'm postponing the rest of my RVM posts to resume next week.

Paix du Christ!

Most Recent Morning News

There were some updates in the local television news this morning about the arsonists. Apparently the first night of fires with the first five churches were the "prank." The four about a week later were a diversion to cover their tracks. Which makes sense with the students being from Birmingham. Since Bibb county where the first five where is just south and right outside of Birmingham, and the other three counties are further east it would lead the investigation out that way. Hey, I was suspecting students from UA, with the pattern. They aren't saying what leads helped them to the culprits, but the reporters did mention that they were able to match the tire tracks at one of the crime sense to one of the boys' vehicle. Hopefully, the congregations will be able to rebuild and go on with their lives. I know it will be hard as the secretary here said that one of the churches was where her cousin goes and it has helped in causing her cousin to have a stroke. So, there are still huge impacts past the property damage that these people will have to overcome. I also pray for the reconcilliation of these three kids with God.

Paix du Christ!

Alabama Church fires a thing of the past

Apparently the church fires were all a hoax. No, they did happen, but 3 college students have been arrested and say they just started doing it as a prank. So much for the FBI profilers, remember they said that it was 2 males in their late 20's to 30's. But these kids are only 19. They could face up to 20 years in prison for their actions. I guess the joke's on them. I will mention that my main prediction was that it was probably a couple college kids with nothing better to do. But that guess was just because all of the counties involved seemed to center around Tuscaloosa; however, these kids apparently go to Birmingham-Southern College.

I went around work to show people the story and to ask their opinions. Well, generally people think that there's something more than it just being a prank and think that's the story so they can possibly get out of an hate crime convictions. Their are a few fishy elements to the prank story that will probably have to be worked out. Like why continue to 9 churches over a couple weeks if it was just a "prank?" Also, why were all the churches Baptist churches? I'm sure there are plenty of other rual denominations in central Alabama instead of simply cherry picking Baptist churches.

Paix du Christ!

Terse Verse - Matthew 9:36

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

The first part of this verse appears at the top of the lenten message from Benedict XVI. In his message, the Pope says that this Gospel text is his theme for the season of lent.

This verse appears in Matthew after Jesus has performed a series of Miracles and Jesus is going around preaching in the synagogues. The crowd at which he shows pity are those who are coming to hear Jesus speak. These souls are troubled and have either been abandoned by the pharisees and priests, or they themselves had abandoned their religion becase their faith was waning. These people were streaming in to hear Jesus so that he might be able to give them some hope and maybe re-kindle their beliefs. They needed someone to follow as a guide like a shepherd prods his sheep in the right direction. Christ seeing their desire for faith had pity on them included them among the "ripe for harvesting." In today's world, Jesus still has pity on the people longing for faith that come to him no matter how troubled we are. Sheep constantly are straying away from the shepherd looking for food, but that search can always be dangerous when you get away from the flock. But, the shepherd always searches to bring the lost sheep back to the flock and on the right path. We too will continue to stray away from Christ, but Christ always has pity on us so that He goes looking for us to bring us back to the crowd.

Paix du Christ!

Theology Thursday - RVM 9-17

Every follower of Christ delvs into Christian contemplation. What is Christian contemplation? "To look upon the face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings of his human life, and then to grasp the divine splendor definitively revealed in the Risen Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father." The best role model for Christian contemplation is his mother Mary. Mary was the first to look upon the face of Christ with so much joy, Mary was the first to recognize and accept His divinity when as she said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word." The rosary is centered on the events in Christ's life and is therefore a Christocentric prayer. When we enter into the christian contemplation upon praying the rosary we are reflecting and contemplating upon any of 20 events in Christ's life, but we try to imagine what it would be like to view His life through the eyes of His mother, the very first and best model of Christianity.

Some people chastise others for saying the rosary because it's just a meaningless repitition. Which, for some people some of the time, is unfortunately true. But, without the contemplation on Christ's life, the rosary is essentially a "body without a soul." St. Louis Grignion de Montfort writes that "one Hail Mary said well is worth more than one-hundred and fifty said badly." (The Secret of the Rosary, 116)

Christ is the supreme Teacher, and we must strive to learn and understand what he taught. As Christians, we strive to be like Christ; in order to be Christ-like, we must learn and understand Christ himself and not just solely his teachings. Spiritually, the Holy Spirit is our guide down this path, but as humans, we typically need something concrete or experiences to learn from. Who better to be our teach on the subject of Christ than Mary? The first miracle performed by Jesus at the wedding in Cana, Mary shows that she is a teacher of Christ as she convinces the servants to do what Jesus commands. Most likely, she continued being a teacher after He died with His apostles. So too, we should go to Mary to learn from her teaching.

Paix du Christ!

Ashes, ashes...

If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to follow the link in the title to view the Holy Father's message for the season of lent 2006. It's only a couple of printed pages long and he has quite a few good points to make.

There are two types of poverty in the world: physical and spiritual. One comes from an inabitlity to meet basic material and social needs and the other is a lack of fulfillment of the profound desires of the hears. It is impossible to seperate the two.

However, evil, espcially poverty, is imposed a divine limit, which is called mercy. Christ has a mercy for each individual person no matter who they are that he defends us at at the cost of his own life. This "gaze" of Christ's compassion continues to fall upon us all today. Lent is a a spiritual pilgrimage towards Christ. As we strive to move closer to Christ, we should also look with compassion upon those around us and show the same mercy of Christ's love.

Paix du Christ!

Terse Verse - John 12:24

As I try to get back on schedule here after having a lot on my plate for the past couple weeks, especially now that the Monk Rock concert is over, I'm going to use a verse that I heard last night. This verse was mentioned by Tom Booth last night before he sang one of his songs, which was inspired by it, called "Slipping." And it just got me thinking, alot, during his singing last night.

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

God is calling us each and every day to die. Not necessarily die in a physical way, of course we are all going to die someday. But, God calls us to let go of something, let go of ourselves each day. Only by letting go and letting that part of ourselves die, will we provide fertile ground for God to cultivate us so that we can bear much fruit. What is it that God is calling you to let go of, which part of you do you have to let die?

Paix du Christ!

Monks Rock!

Wow, yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to join a 76 member, 9 church, ecumenical choir (6 Catholic, 2 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist) when John Michael Talbot brought his Monk Rock Tour band to Huntsville for a concert. Included in this band were 3 other great Contempoaray Christian artists. Tom Booth, John's brother Terry, and Joe Hand. I'd never really heard Terry's songs before, or Joe's. Although John was spiritual, Tom is an excellent artist, and Terry was good and funny, Joe was a great guy. Joe played the bass and was the closest to the choir. As soon as he went up on stage for a sound check, he started chatting and cutting up with us. He was always smiling and very positive. Unfortunately, we weren't blessed with any of the song's he has written, but I did buy a CD to be able to hear his songs ^_^ It was an excellent evening of Christian music and fellowship! Definitely a wonderful way to start looking toward the lenten season.

If you haven't noticed, I've added the Unseen Blog to the list on the right. Also, In lieu of my most recent musical experience, be looking for links to blogs of Christian artists (mainly JMT, Joe Hand, and Ceili Rain).

Paix du Christ!

Theology Thursday - Rosarium Virginis Mariae 1-8

Today, I figured we could start looking at the Apostolic Letter from John Paul the Great entitled Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary). It's a very reverent and uplifting document of the church and a great reminder of the wonderful gift we have in the rosary and that we should all pray it.

At the beginning, the Pope states that the rosary is "simple yet profound," the hardest part of the rosary is probably the apostles' creed at the beginning. other than that, the rosary is prayed with 3 short prayers and focused on events in the life of Christ. Most people don't realize that although the rosary appears to be totally Marian (and sometimes as worshipping Mary to the non-catholic), the rosary is really a prayer centered on Christ.

He continues in the next section by describing how many Popes have exaulted the wonders of the rosary. John Paul even said that the rosary is his favorite prayer. Do to the many graces he received from the rosary, he dedicated most of his papacy to the rosary. In our experiences, we can all relate to the joy and sorrow expressed in Christ's life through the rosary. "Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rythm of human life."

In the fouth section, we see where people, even within the Church that might have problems with the rosary. The first objections is that the only prayer they should be concerned with is the Liturgy. However, Paul VI tells us that the rosary doesn't take anything away from the Mass, but sustains it as it brings the Liturgy into our daily lives by meditating on the events in Christ's life. Others think that the rosary may turn off people from other religions because it is praying to Mary. But, the rosary is Christological to its core. The 20 mysteries are based on Christ's life. Also when we honor someone's mother, we honor them, and so it is with Mary and Jesus. The relationship a son has to his mother even comes up in modern culture. Remember Yo' Momma jokes? They were started as a way to really insult someone by slandering their mother. So, with the rosary, the reverse is true, by saying good things about Christ's mother we are raising him up. Also, I've noticed more and more non-catholics taking a liking to the rosary. Many of my co-workers here ask me if I'm currently making a rosary and if they can see it, some of them (non-catholic) even want me to make one for them. I knew an agnostic at my last job who said that he likes and respects the rosary. My friend's wife is a Baptist and prays and even makes rosaries on her own. The Anglicans are even trying to get in on the act, I've heard more people saying they have an "Anglican rosary." I don't have a problem with other religions having prayer beads, but personally I don't like calling it a rosary. I'll stick with Anglican chaplet. So, I see many people outside of the Catholic faith that are drawn towards the rosary.

The most important reason to encourage the rosary is that of self-discipline and spirituality. Both of which seem to be harder and harder to find in today's world. As the rosary is a simple prayer made up of only a few small prayers it is easily taken up on a regular basis and can be prayed anywhere. I believe that God made humans, living rosaries. As long as you can remember which mystery on which you are supposed to be meditating ^_- all you need to do is to use 10 things to keep track of your prayers. Now, how many fingers do you have? In a pinch, you can just count on your fingers.

Historically, the rosary has been used to pray for peace locally and throughout the world. With terrorists attacks, rebels in Iraq trying to start a civil war, Muslim extremists rioting over cartoons in totally other parts of the world, Hamas being elected into national government to increase tensions in the holy lands, the rosary can be a very powerful tool for peace. Also, with traditional family being threatened with homosexual marriages, sexual molestations, high divorce rates, abortions, pre-marital sex, the rosary can be a powerful prayer where remember the familial relationship between Christ and His mother.

Christ himself asked his apostles to treat Mary as their own mother as he stated "Woman, behold your son!" and "Behold, your Mother" in John 19:26-27. Many Christians since then have followed in these footsteps by calling on Mary, their spiritual Mother, in times of need just as they would call on their own mother as a child.

Paix du Christ!

More on fires

This past weekend, more news about fires in Alabama cropped up. There was another attempt at setting fire to a church, but not by the same people as before.

Sunday morning the pastor arrived early in the morning at Chapman Chapel in near Glencoe in southeast Etowah County. What he found was a small blackened burn mark on the outside siding of the church. This incident was reported about 7:30 Sunday morning. Although it drew the attention of the church arson task force here in AL, they are pretty sure this attempt was not by the same perpetrators as the string of 9 (and a possible 10th) linked fires in west-central AL.
Why does it not appear to be linked? First of all, by looking at a map, one finds that Etowah Co. is is in north-east AL (approximately 80 miles south of Huntsville off US Hwy 431). It is in a different part of the state. Also, the other 10 fires were started inside the church around the pulpit area and the churches that were not destroyed had knocked-in back doors (again showing that the fires would have been started inside). This church had a burn mark on the outside and apparently a broken bottle had been found. This bottle would have been filled with a cocktail of flammable liquids and usually tossed at a distance or from a moving car in an attempt to start a fire. Definitely a different approch to setting the fire.

Although the damage was only cosmetic and easily fixable, we should still pray for people who would try to disrespect the property of others, especially when the attempt is to destroy property. We can't let the mind set that arson (especially on churches) is a crime you can get away without punishment.

Paix du Christ!

The bright side of fire

While there's been no news about more church fires or capturing the culprit(s), there have been related stories. One story, which was considered copy-cat (I don't really consider it so), is a boy who set fire to an abandoned church fires, with the supposed motive of simply watching his brother put out the fire. They know who the boy is and have him, apparently he has previously started brushfires. To me that's more of a pyromaniac with issues rather than a copy-cat.

However, a more interesting and brighter story comes from around 150 miles away from the church fires, right here in Madison Co. Apparently, a church congregation which had recently moved to a new location had left the pews in the old building. The new owner of the property, which I believe is become a storage building, doesn't have any use of the pews and decided to donate them to an unfortunate congregation that was a victim of the fires in central AL.

Paix du Christ!

Stranger and stranger

Sorry, for this link you might have to either put in your zip code and gender, or click the link at the bottom to skip it.

I'm not so sure about these people down south in central AL anymore. Shooting cats and cows with crossbows and a dog with a bow and arrow? These shot animals were found in Bibb and Shelby counties. To jog your memory, you might remember that Bibb county is where the first 5 churches burned down and Shelby is adjacent to the northeast. Does anyone else find it a little strange that these two weird acts happen in the same area within the same month?

Paix du Christ!

Dark-sided spouses

I was browsing around the Google Video of the Day blog and found this video. I don't know if anyone watches the FOX show Trading Spouses and might have seen this episode to know exactly what's going on, but did she say "I had to make them go to a Catholic Church?" Does that mean that she's Catholic. I can understand about being wigged out to find out there is a pagan living for a couple weeks with your family where they have to listen and usually do what she tells them to do. But, first pray that God will take care of the situation, and then lets use a little rationale to find out exactly what happened first. I hope this video isn't out there representing Catholics as looneys.

Paix du Christ!

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!