Alive and Young

Theological Irony of Emoji on iPhones

2012-01-19T13:56:00.001-05:00

Oh the irony.

When Physics Becomes Metaphysics: Books Review for "New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy"

2012-01-12T15:26:00.000-05:00

When Physics BecomesMetaphysics

Taking karate as a child, my instructorused to tell his students that the two most dangerous degrees of skill in theworld of karate are the black belt (highest degree and most skilled) and thewhite belt (lowest degree and least skilled). The student who achieves the degree of black belt is dangerous becausehe has the skill to harm and knows well that he can harm, yet he does not. The student with a white belt is dangerousbecause he has not yet realized that he can harm and has not yet learned therestraint and self-discipline to not harm.

As an educator, I find in regards tothe sciences, many of my students are white belts capable of tearing downphilosophical arguments by means of science without the restraint, respect orself-discipline necessary to give an honest and thorough examination of anyphilosophical argument or scientific theorem. Some of my former students who attempted the exercise of tearing downtheological arguments, were more interested in trying to disprove God andvalidate their supposed atheism by using science with the same dangerous skillof the white belt. The result was that they not only evidence of theirmisunderstanding of theology, but they also misrepresented science in theprocess.

While studying and teaching theologyfor the past seven years, some of the questions my students proposed: “Whatdoes the Church think about a bouncing universe, if it’s true does it meanthere’s no God?” “How do we know thereisn’t a multiverse or a parallel dimension?” The questions were often prompted by some recent episode of Dr. Who or a special on the DiscoveryChannel or History Channel. The viewingof complex scientific theories in such miniscule portions from companies moreinterested in ratings than honest science left my student with malformed ideasand theories of their own. Yet, toooften I was unable to respond directly to my students’ questions about therelation between God and science beyond “God created the universe and all thatis in it. So how can science, whichtells us how the world works, oppose God who made the world work the way itdoes?” Though it was an answer to mystudents, I never felt it was a sufficient answer.

How I wish I had Father RobertSpitzer’s book New Proofs for theExistence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy fiveyears ago when I started working with smart aleck students. For Father Spitzer lays flat with black beltprecision some of the very questions my students would ask me.

The purpose of the book “is to set outthe specific evidential bases for this convergent probability in which scienceplays an integral role” (23). Spitzer does this by using John Henry Newman’s“informal inference,” which is an argument that takes into account all theevidence in order to make a compelling, converging, and convincing argument.Both Newman’s and Spitzer’s method are quite different from many of the morewell known proofs for the existence of God, which seek to provide, in a singlelocale, an argument aimed to kill any doubt as to whether or not Godexists. Instead, Spitzer takes thereader on a philosophical, scientific, and metaphysical journey through thecosmos, beginning with the Big Bang and ending with the eternal longings of thehuman heart. He clearly shows thenumerous instances, often brushed off as mere coincidences when examinedindividually, for the necessity of the existence of a Creator.

Father Spitzer brings together all ofthe current scientific and philosophical coincidences and present them to thereader with the underlying question: “When do coincidences stop being coincidences?”Certainly one can ignore an isolated incident as just a mere coincidence, buthow many coincidences, all of which point to the same conclusion, are requiredbefore they pass from coincidence to truth: three, ten, twenty? Yet, when thosecoincidences are brought out of isolation and presented together as a coherentwhole, in intellectual honesty, they cannot be ignored. To view otherwise islike the man who erroneously assumes that it is only by mere coincidence that agroup of musicians happened to assemble on the same stage, all wearing similardress, with an exact number and complementary instruments, and who all happento be playing melodies and harmonies that fit together as if someone arrangedit to be so.

Though the book’s title is New proofs for the Existence of God,several of the proofs are not entirely new, as there are several lines ofarguments which echo Aquinas’ Five Ways,and Chapter Four is dedicated to a Lonergain argument for an unconditional,absolute, simple and unrestricted reality. The newness of the proofs lie not in philosophical methodology, but inthe science Spitzer applies to the classic philosophical methods in providingboth empirical and metaphysical data that supports the traditionalarguments. Spitzer inserts into severalof these traditional arguments findings and examples from contemporary physicsand demonstrates by appealing to the laws of thermodynamics, the universalconstants, the radiation and entropy paradoxes, and the miniscule likelihood ofan anthropic universe that God exists.

Divided into three parts and eightchapters, the first part is primarily concerned with the idea of a supernaturaldesign in the universe and the limitations of the physical sciences.

In chapter one, titled “Indications ofCreation in Big Bang Cosmology,” Spitzer explains how the Big Bang is believedto have happened, why the universe is not a “bouncing” universe, and themetaphysical implications of a beginning. Briefly stated, a bouncing universeis a universe that expands and once expansion has reached a certain point theuniverse collapses on itself and starts again; that is, the universe bouncesback to its original state and starts the process of expansion anew. In lookingat a bouncing universe, Spitzer appeals to the second law of thermodynamics andtwo paradoxes to help demonstrate why a bouncing universe is not plausible andindeed would not disprove God.

The second law of thermodynamics statesthat over time the flow of nature is an irreversible process moving in onedirection, and gives testimony to the fact that the universe seeksequilibrium. By nature moving in onedirection, it becomes impossible for the world to expand, collapse, andbounce. We know the second law ofthermodynamics to be true because it is witnessed, though not acknowledge, bypeople everyday: hot coffee turning to cold coffee, youth growing old, and thepressure from a soda can escaping upon being popped open. In short, whenscience examines the way the world works, science sees the universe “moving” inone direction but never in reverse. Without the second law of thermodynamicsbeing true, the universe would be able to move forward as well as backwards,which would make for an interesting universe more akin to science fiction thannatural science.

Father Spitzer then appeals to theradiation paradox to further demonstrate why the universe is not bouncing. The radiation paradox states that 99% of all lightis background radiation and only 1% is from other sources. With each ‘bounce’ all the visible light andbackground radiation would be folded into the bounce of the next cycle andbecome the background radiation of the new cycle. Yet, this cannot be the case for tworeasons. First it violates the secondlaw of thermodynamics and makes the universe into a perpetual motionmachine. Second it cannot be the case asnew light sources (stars) are still be formed where as all the visible light is1% now, that percentage increases with each new light source. Therefore, the universe is not in a state forperpetual bouncing and at some point in time it had a beginning.

The second of the paradoxes FatherSpitzer employs is the entropy paradox. Entropy is the measure of disorder in the universe or the lost energythat in unavailable to be converted into mechanical work. With a bouncing universe, one would expectthe entropic energy to be exceptionally high. However what is found is that at the moment of the Big Bang the entropyof the universe was “fantastically small” (29). So small in fact that sciences has been puzzled by the fantasticallysmall amount of entropy for years. It isreadily observed that the disorder of the universe is only growing in degreeand never grows in reverse. Therefore,if the universe had bounced or has been bouncing, the current universe wouldhave originated not from a fantastically small entropy that science has beenpuzzling over for years but from a large, disorganized, entropic universe.

The second Chapter, “Indication ofSupernatural Design in Contemporary Big Bang Cosmology,” focuses on three mainpoints: “Universal constants” and the need of those constants in order forthere to be an anthropic universe (gravitation force, earth’s distance from thesun, time, space, rest mass of a proton), the extreme unlikelihood of ananthropic universe, and whether or not there is a multiverse. Citing physicist Sir Roger Penrose, Spitzergives the likelihood (or the unlikelihood) of an anthropic universe as 1 in 10^(10^123).Random chance alone would have miniscule window in which to make a universecapable of sustaining life. To get anidea of how incredibly unlikely an anthropic universe is, Spitzer writes, “Thisnumber is so large that if we were to write it out in ordinary notation (withevery zero being, say, ten point type), it would fill up a large portion of theuniverse” (59)!

Part one concludes with an introductionto string theory by Dr. Bruce L. Gordon. The conclusion seemed unnecessary forthe scope of the book. This essay willcertainly be slow going for those who are not up to date with modern physicsand the terms used by the physicists. Moreover, the remainder of the text canbe just as easily understood by skipping Dr. Gordon’s essay.

Part Two of the book is aimed at thephilosophical proofs for the existence of God.

Chapter three and four are closelylinked, as the author spends all of chapter three proving the existence of asimple, absolute, unique, and unconditioned reality, which Spitzer concludes isthe Creator of all. Chapter four is spent in applying what was concluded fromChapter Three to Lonergain’s argument in Chapter four. Additions are made tothe data from chapter three in that now intelligibility, understanding andbeing are brought to the forefront of the arguments.

Specifically in chapter three FatherSpitzer’s seeks the one unconditioned reality, that is simple. This unconditioned reality, a portion ofreality not dependent upon other conditions of realities, is a necessity. Theremust be at least one unconditioned reality, argues Spitzer. If there is nounconditioned reality then the most fundamental component of creation isactually nonexistence itself, as it allows for only conditioned realities emergingfrom nothing (nothing can depend on nothing for its existence) or a circularset of conditions in which everything is dependent upon everything else for itsexistence. Yet, because all is dependentupon each other it does not allow for the possibility of anything as “B” wouldbe dependent on “A” and “C” on “B” and likewise “A” dependent on “C.” Because each is dependent on the other theoutcome is either nothing or everything at once. So Spitzer argues for the necessity of atleast one unconditioned reality.

The unconditioned reality must besimple because simplicity implies fewer restrictions and fewer boundariesthereby granting the simplest of reality the ability to do more. Spitzer calls this simplest of realities “Absolutesimple reality” which is “pure power and pure simplicity, pure act, pureinclusivity, pure being and pure capacity to unify all being” ( page ?) Though Spitzer does not refer to the absolutesimple reality as God, it is clear that that there is much of God echoing inthe definition. Moreover, it might bededuced that it is only by unbounded limitless nature and power of the absolutesimple reality, that which is pure power, which is capable of crossing theinfinite chasm of non-existence to existence.

Currently the simplest of structurespostulated in physics is the quark, which is/are the subatomic building blocksof the atomic particles. But thequestion remains to be answered, are quarks the unconditioned reality Spitzerseeks or will physics find something smaller that makes up quarks? Furthermore what keeps the quarkstogether? One can only speculate it tobe the pneuma.

Chapter five covers how an infinitepast is not possible and why it is a mathematical contradiction to have aninfinite set contained within a finite world. This chapter is interesting ifthe reader has any passion in the ontological nature of time and how the viewsof time have changed from Aristotle -- who viewed time as the measurement ofchange/motion – to Einstein where time not only measures motion but also effectreality and that the physical world (matter) effects the measurement of time,which is visible in Einstein’s famous E=mc² where the relationshipof time, matter, light, distance, and velocity are made clear, and how time haschanged in contemporary philosophy with Whitehead and other philosophers wheretime became a “real aggregative structure” (179). That is, time is the structure of the sumtotal of a collection of particles or particulars.

Regardless of contemporary theorem, timesets a limit on existence -- something Spitzer implies but does not seem todraw out in the text. If there is timeof any sort, it implies that there is also space and matter. For time is intimately connected to space andmatter. Without space or matter therewould be no need for time. Followingfrom the informal inferences presented on the origins of the universe and theprevious chapters it should be clear at this point in the text that matter hasa beginning, and if there is matter there is space, and if there is matter andspace there is time. Therefore, becausematter has a beginning it follows that time too has a beginning, and there isno infinite past.

Upon reaching the end of chapter five, thisreader is reminding of St. Augustine’s famous comment on time in his Confessions: "If no one asks me, Iknow what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know."

Chapter six’s focus is on methodologyand "the Impossibility of Disproving God," Spitzer gives threearguments on why God cannot be disproved. The first rests on the impossibilityfor a person to experience all there is to experience. There is no absolute certainty to the claimthat “God does not exist” until the person has experienced all there is toexperience. The second argument falls in the realm of the intrinsic propertiesof God. Spitzer writes that God has no intrinsic properties; therefore, Godcannot be contradicted by means of intrinsic boundaries. The third argument,piggy backing off the second, is set in the realm of non-contradiction. Acontradiction assumes boundaries. God has no boundaries. God has nocontradiction.

Also in chapter six is a section titled“The Tenuous Rationality of Atheism,” in which Spitzer spends less time writingabout the rationality of atheism and more time explaining the problem of eviland the compatibility of love and suffering. Though, the root cause of atheismfor the author lies not so much in bad science as it does in the poor definingof terms and false assumptions, on the part of the atheist, as to who God is.That is to say, the atheist misunderstands who God is. It then becomes clear that the problem withthe atheistic/Christian dialogue concerning God is based on the fundamentaldefinition of who God is, and without the proper definition, a dialogue cannothappen. Anyone who has ever been to a Christian v. Atheist debate realizes thatit is as frustrating as arguing with another over whether grapes or orangestaste more like apples.

Part Three of the book is aimed at whatthe author calls “the Transcendentals.”

In Chapter seven, Spitzer articulatesthe “five dimensions of absolute simplicity” Those dimensions are, being,truth, love, goodness, and beauty. There are many references in this chapter toprevious chapters, especially chapters three and four. In chapter eight,Spitzer then connects the five transcendentals to the longings of the humanheart. Specifically the heart longs for ultimate Home, ultimate Truth, ultimateLove, ultimate Goodness, and ultimate Beauty: the heart longs for God andHeaven.

In a world where the myth that faithand science do not mix and contradict each other is continually perpetuated,Father Spitzer’s book is a charitable answer dispelling that myth. Fatherdemonstrates genially that it is completely reasonable to believe in God andstill do honest science. His philosophy is accurate; his language is specific,and his theology is insightful. Lastly,Upon completion of this book, I find myself able to have a fuller conversationwith my students as well as the odd fellow I meet at the pubs and cafes who tryto use science as a means to attack God.

Not Said By Jesus Sunday: Christmas/Marian Edition

2012-01-01T16:24:00.002-05:00

But . . . I don't have time to pray

2011-12-30T15:05:00.003-05:00

I have not met one Christians who agrees that prayer is not important. In fact, most Christians I have met complain about not praying enough or not having time to pray. Time is the issue at hand. What is time? Like Augustine, I find that I know exactly what time is until someone asks me, "what is time"? We all have a finite amount of time -- a non renewable resource for ourselves. What I do know is that when we take time out of our life to pray or be with another person, it is not mere seconds or hours we give. It is a pice of our life we give away.

We complain about not having time in our day for those activities in our life that we know are important: prayer, church, reading scripture. Time is the problem. "If only there were more time in the day. Then I would pray," we might say to ourselves. As if it is time's fault that we don't pray. As if time is preventing us from praying. Yet, there are over 86,000 seconds in a day. 86,000 seconds! Still we complain about not being able to take one second our of the day to say, "Thank you God." Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton called "Thanks" the highest form of thought. Briefly, this is because the expression of gratitude is a realization that for what we are thankful is truly a gift.

Likewise there are 168 hours in our week. WE sleep about 63 of those ourse which leaves us with 126 waking hours of our week. Yet, we complain about having to give up one hour a week to go worship God in Church. We moan and groan over giving up less than one percent of our week.

But, we can't be bothered now to pray. There's another stupid cat video on YouTube.

"A Child is Born: Chesterton Comes to South Louisiana

2011-12-14T09:39:00.001-05:00

What happens when a Late nineteenth/early twentieth century Catholic writer meets a twenty-first century Cajun band from South Louisiana? Beautiful music. Perhaps one of the best Christmas song I have heard in recent years. L'Angelus, French for "The Angelus", is composed of 4 siblings from the Rees family and has a signature stylemade of elements of South Louisiana Cajun, Swamp Rock, New Orleans R&B and Country music.

On their first Christmas album, O Night Divine, The family quartet plays many traditional Christmas songs, but the album has one special fresh surprise that was new to me: a poem of G.K. Chesterton's (you can read it below) set to music. The song, titled A Child is Born, is highly original, very entertaining, beautiful in its simplicity, and lifts both the mind a soul to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. In fact, after listening to the song the first time, I went back and listened to it three more times before proceeding through the rest of the CD. Even while listening to the remainder of the album, my thoughts drifted back to the Chesterton song. Take a moment today to listen to the song. You will have to go to the L, Angelus website in order to listen to it, but it is worth the trip.

Go here to buy and/or listen to the album.
Go here to sign up for their mailing list and have your choice of a free download from the Album O Night Divine .

The Nativity

By: G.K. Chesterton

“For unto us a child is born.” — Isaiah

The thatch of the roof was as golden,
Though dusty the straw was and old,
The wind was a peal as of trumpets,
Though barren and blowing and cold:
The mother’s hair was a glory,
Though loosened and torn,
For under the eaves in the gloaming –
A child was born.

O, if a man sought a sign in the inmost
That God shaketh broadest his best,
That things fairest are oldest and simplest,
In the first days created and blest:
Far flush all the tufts of the clover,
Thick mellows the corn,
A cloud shapes, a daisy is opened –
A child is born.

With raw mists of the earth-rise about them,
Risen red from the ribs of the earth,
Wild and huddled, the man and the woman,
Bent dumb o’er the earliest birth;
Ere the first roof was hammered above them.
The first skin was worn,
Before code, before creed, before conscience –
A child was born.

What know we of aeons behind us,
Dim dynasties lost long ago,
Huge empires like dreams unremembered,
Dread epics of glory and woe?
This we know, that with blight and with blessing,
With flower and with thorn,
Love was there, and his cry was among them –
“A child is born.”

And to us, though we pore and unravel
Black dogmas that crush us and mar,
Through parched lips pessimistic dare mutter
Hoarse fates of a frost-bitten star;
Though coarse strains and heredities soil it,
Bleak reasoners scorn,
To us too, as of old, to us also –
A child is born.

Though the darkness be noisy with systems,
Dark fancies that fret and disprove;
Still the plumes stir around us, above us,
The tings of the shadow of love.
Still the fountains of life are unbroken,
Their splendour unshorn;
The secret, the symbol, the promise –
A child is born.

Have a myriad children been quickened,
Have a myriad children grown old,
Grown gross and unloved and embittered,
Grown cunning and savage and cold?
God abides in a terrible patience,
Unangered, unworn,
And again for the child that was squandered –
A child is born.

In the time of dead things it is living,
In the moonless grey night is a gleam,
Still the babe that is quickened may conquer,
The life that is new may redeem.
Ho, princes and priests, have you heard it?
Grow pale through your scorn.
Huge dawns sleep before us, stern changes –
A child is born.

More than legions that toss and that trample,

More than choirs that bend Godward and sing,
Than the blast of the lips of the prophet,
Than the sword in the hands of the King,
More strong against Evil than judges
That smite and that scorn,
The greatest, the last, and the sternest –
A child is born.

And the rafters of toil still are gilded
With the dawn of the star of the heart,
And the Wise Men draw near in the twilight,
Who are weary of learning and art,
And the face of the tyrant is darkened,
His spirit is torn,
For a new King is throned of a nation –
A child is born.

And the mother still joys for the whispered
First stir of unspeakable things;
Still feels that high moment unfurling,
Red glories of Gabriel’s wings.
Still the babe of an hour is a master
Whom angels adorn,
Emmanuel, prophet, annointed –
A child is born.

To the rusty barred doors of the hungry,
To the struggle for life and the din,
Still, with brush of bright plumes and with knocking,
The Kingdom of God enters in.
To the daughters of patience that labour
That weep and are worn,
One moment of love and of laughter –
A child is born.

To the last dizzy circles of pleasure,
Of fashion and song-swimming nights,
Comes yet hope’s obscure crucifixion,
The birth fire that quickens and bites,
To the daughters of fame that are idle,
That smile and that scorn,
One moment of darkness and travail –
A child is born.

And till man and his riddle be answered,
While earth shall remain and desire,
While the flesh of a man is as grass is,
The soul of a man as a fire,
While the daybreak shall come with its banner,
The moon with its horn,
It shall rest with us that which is written –
“A child is born.”

And for him that shall dream that the martyr
Is banished, and love but a toy,
That life lives not through pain and surrender,
Living only through self and its joy,
Shall the Lord God erase from the body
The oath he has sworn?
Bend back to thy work, saying only –
“A child is born.”

And Thou that art still in the cradle,
The sun being crown for Thy brow,
Make answer, our flesh, make an answer.
Say whence art Thou come? Who art Thou?
Art Thou come back on earth for our teaching,
To train or to warn?
Hush! How may we know, knowing only –
A child is born?

Hey! That's Not Fair!

2011-12-09T12:38:00.001-05:00

Gearing up for finals next week, so while I was giving my students a run down of the exam, I head a couple of students enthusiastically proclaim, "That's not fair!" in response to my exam being 168 questions in length. ( All my other tests have typically been 50-60 questions.) To which I reply, "Not fair?! What are you talking about? 120 of those questions are from your old tests. Do you want to know what's not fair? Babies that have cancer. Puppies without paws. Abortion. Being eaten by a Shark. Bear attacks. Ebola."

Quick Take 7: Marian Edition

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Immaculate Conception refers to Mary beingconceived without the effects of original sin and not to Jesus being conceived in Mary.
Mary’sAssumption is related to her being born without original sin, for death is theresult of sin. Therefore at the end ofher earthly life, she was assumed by the power of Christ into Heaven.
Our Lady of Good Help is the only approvedMarian Apparition in the United States.
Mother of God is a poorly translated phrase fromthe Greek “theotokos” which more accurately means ‘God bearer.’ This phrase was coined in response toNestorian heretics who taught that Jesus was not God from the moment of HisConception but only later became God later in His life. So the title “Mother of God” has little to dowith Mary and more to do with who Christ is: fully divine and fully human fromthe moment of conception. According tohistorian Jarslov Pelikin, “theotokos” is a title unique to Mary the Mother ofChrist.
An image of Mary is the Unburnt Bush.
The message of Mary is simple: “Do whatever[Jesus] tells you.”
Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, are not mentioned in Scripture. Their names are mentioned in the Apocryphal Gospel of James.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-12-04T16:07:00.001-05:00

Not Said by Jesus Sunday: Black Friday Edition

2011-11-27T21:08:00.001-05:00

Kill Your Conscience: Pelosi as Elmer Fud

2011-11-25T12:07:00.001-05:00

From the Article:

Pelosi says [following one's conscience] is akin to having hospitals “say to a woman, ‘I’m sorry you could die’ if you don’t get an abortion,” she told the Washington Post. [Can you provide us with an example? Often times, the doctors are trying to address the disease and not abort the child; however, the result of treating the disease may sadly result in the loss of the child. This is not an abortion. This is the case with treating an ectopic pregnancy. I think the real question is why aren't the doctor's and hospitals bold enough to try and save both? I'd guess they'd rather play to not lose than play to win.]

“Those who dispute that characterization “may not like the language,’’ she said, “but the truth is what I said. I’m a devout Catholic and I honor my faith and love it . . . but they [Isn't it interesting that she says she is a "devout Catholic" then goes on to call Catholics 'they' as if she is not part of the Catholic Church or as if the others who believe differently from her are not the devout Catholics? Perhaps a "we" should have been a better pronoun to use.] have this conscience thing” that the Post said Pelosi “insists put women at physical risk, although Catholic providers strongly disagree.” [Really? A conscience puts women at risk? I thought conscience helping by not putting our soul at risk.]

For some strange reason, this brings to mind the old Looney Toons Cartoon where Elmer Fud is out trying to "Kill the Wrabbit" set to the tune of Wagner's Ride of the Valkaries. Except Pelosi might be singing "Kill your conscience."

So what is the conscience? Here is a refresher.

From The Catholic Encyclopedia at Newadvent.org:

It is often a good maxim not to mind for a time how a thing came to be, but to see what it actually is. To do so in regard to conscience before we take up the history of philosophy in its regard is wise policy, for it will give us some clear doctrine upon which to lay hold, while we travel through a region perplexed by much confusion of thought. The following points are cardinal:

The natural conscience is no distinct faculty, but the one intellect of a man inasmuch as it considers right and wrong in conduct, aided meanwhile by a good will, by the use of the emotions, by the practical experience of living, and by all external helps that are to the purpose. [Definition of Conscience]
The natural conscience of the Christian is known by him to act not alone, but under the enlightenment and the impulse derived from revelation and grace in a strictly supernatural order. [Don't leave God out of the equation. You cannot not, from the Catholic perspective, ignore Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium. All of which say the same thing about life. It is sacred and precious. There has been a consistent ethic on the teaching of abortion. Simply, do not do it. The Romans were aghast at the early Christians who did not kill their children, their elderly, or their disabled.]
As to the order of nature, which does not exist but which might have existed, St. Thomas (I-II:109:3) teaches that both for the knowledge of God and for the knowledge of moral duty, men such as we are would require some assistance from God to make their knowledge sufficiently extensive, clear, constant, effective, and relatively adequate; and especially to put it within reach of those who are much engrossed with the cares of material life. It would be absurd to suppose that in the order of nature God could be debarred from any revelation of Himself, and would leave Himself to be searched for quite irresponsively. [This is like saying, "Thanks God for life, this beautiful gift you have given me. However, I'm not going to seek your input on matters pertaining to life." Which in turn is like not asking your car manufacturer as to why your car is driving funny and making odd noises.]
Being a practical thing, conscience depends in large measure for its correctness upon the good use of it and on proper care taken to heed its deliverances, cultivate its powers, and frustrate its enemies. [In other words, we have to work at forming our consciences. An ill formed conscience results in a skewed viewing of the world.]
Even where due diligence is employed conscience will err sometimes, but its inculpable mistakes will be admitted by God to be not blameworthy. These are so many principles needed to steady us as we tread some of the ways of ethical history, where pitfalls are many.

Un-Official OWS Hand Signals

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Whatever you do, don't call them "spirit fingers." The correct OWS is twinkles. Just watch the video and learn the 7 hand signals for OWS.

I recently came across the un-official OWS hand signal book. Here is a sampling of the OWS hand signals. If you don't like this post, please down twinkles it.

Time to form and begin the drum circle.

I slept till noon today, and I'm still tired. Do you want to go to Starbucks and get a Frapachino?

I haven't showered in 7 days. Do I stink?

Your drumming is righteous!

I am looking for a place to relieve myself. AKA: The PeePee Dance

I respectfully agree to disagree with your opinion, but I will not tell you you are wrong as I know that the only truth is that there are no truths.

Lets wrap this up and get a pint at Ben & Jerry's.

Rocket Ship Pew.

Has anyone seen my watch? It appears to have been redistributed.

The vegan and organic food you are serving is only so-so.

Who wants a body massage?

"Theology is simply . . .

2011-11-22T09:21:00.001-05:00

that part of religion that requires brains," says G.K. Chesterton. Now you no longer have to say it to your friends. You can wear it with this fancy shirt. Order one today.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-11-20T10:30:00.001-05:00

Bad News: 1 in 5 . . .

2011-11-16T08:42:00.000-05:00

have hearing loss.

Good News: 1 in 5 do not have to suffer through bad church hymns.

PETA: Eat Dog This Holiday Season

2011-11-15T14:06:00.001-05:00

This season, PETA is asking the question "If you wouldn't eat your dog, why eat a turkey?" I am offended by this add, in that Peta is encouraging people to try dog this holiday season. However, To answer the question easily:

Turkey tastes good.
Turkey is an economical meat.
Thanksgiving just won't sound the same when Uncle Bill says, "I'll have the puppy paw. It's my favorite part."
There isn't any other meat that will help people get through the holidays by flooding their bodies with L'Tryptophine, which in turns put them into a sleeping stupor and eases the tension.
The Turkey Bowl would have to be renamed the Canine Bowl.
Turkeys don't hump your leg.
Dogs are cute and your can play fetch with them. Ever tried teaching a turkey to fetch?
Turkey taste better than eating nothing.

Wait, which PETA is this? Is this the People for Eating Tasty Animals? How do we know dog isn't a tastier meat? Here are some reasons for trying Dog this holiday seasons:

New wine pairings.
Playing with your food takes on a whole new meaning.
Better alliteration: Puppy Pie.
You'll be awake for the final Touchdown of the Cowboys game.
Mostly dark meat avoids the embarrassing question "light or dark meat"
Adopt your dinner from the SPCA, no need to spade and neuter your pets.
One word: Tur-dog-ken. I smell a new best seller.

I've eaten a lot of strange things living in South Louisiana: squirrel, alligator, snake, rabbit, dove. If it moves, there is a Cajun who eats it. It dogs were not out pets, we'd probably be eating them.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday: 10 Talents

2011-11-13T13:44:00.001-05:00

This week's Sunday Gospel, got me thinking about the whole Occupy Wall Street Movement. Of course, greed does not fit with the Gospel message, and neither does the sense of entitlement that is become the norm amongst parts of the younger generations. It calls to mind what is written in Acts where all Christians received and were given according to their need. There are many things in our culture that we want but we do not really need (though they really do make life a bit more enjoyable): Cable TV, a high paying easy job, a 1,500 sq ft house, an iPad, a cell phone, and the list can continue.

Satan is Kind of Like a Infomercial Salesman.

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

There is Jesus. Wandering the the desert, fasting, praying, and minding his own business. When, out of nowhere, this obnoxious dude show up.

It all does tie into the threefold lusts or the triple concupiscence. It relates the old testament for Adam to the new testament temptation of Jesus (the New Adam). Here is a diagram.

Basically Zero

2011-11-10T19:23:00.001-05:00

Neat info graph about the possibility of your existence. Keep in mind, this is not postulating creationism. This is numbers. Of course, I have no idea if these calculations are correct, but it is interesting.

16 Year Old Latin Wiz is not a Theological Wiz.

2011-11-07T16:16:00.000-05:00

As I am home sick today and feeling a little better, I decided to take a moment to respond to a recent article over at the NC Reporter. At the NC Reporter, they featured an essay from a 16 year old Latin wiz kid. This kid has problems with the new translation. Most of his problems come not from a lack of language training but from a lack theological training. Overall, I give him an "E" for effort.

He Writes,

"The other change is that the Latin "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" is now translated "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." This is pretty much a literal translation. So the Latin is solid.

The problem, though, is that the Latin itself seems to be hyperbolically critical of humanity. It might aim to promote humility, but inevitably it fosters guilt instead. It promotes a vision of human nature as overwhelmingly and inexorably sinful-- a vision more in line with the heretical Janesenist doctrine of centuries past than Catholic dogma."

[The Latin is not hyperbolic. The triple repetition of "mea culpa" should bring to mind two things. First is Peter's triple denial of Jesus, and his later triple reunion with Christ. The second is the Trinity. The number three in a number meaning often meaning completion. Peter completely denies Christ. Peter then completely reunites with Christ. The tripple repetition of "mea culpa" is like saying that "I have sinned completely" and that every sin is indeed a sin against all three persons of the Trinity. Janesenist believed that they could do no good; humanity is depraved and corrupt. I fail to see how saying "mea culpa" three times aligns a person with a Janesenist view. This is like believing that the tax collector who beat his breast and asked God to have mercy on his soul is aligned with a Janesenist view of humanity, which it is not.]

An apologist of the translation reminds us that "the guiding principle of the new translation is a closer adherence to the Latin--not a sharper critique of our virtue." But this makes absolutely no sense. Who cares what the "guiding principle" was? [The guiding principle is VERY important. It puts things into perspective. By not caring for what the guiding principle is like saying "I care not of the guiding principles of the lines on highways. I will drive as I like." The end result is that the Latin is more condemnatory for no discernible reason. [No it isn't. Just because you do not understand something and haven't taken the time to look into does not mean there is no reason for something] And there is no scriptural grounding for this “sharper critique” either [As mentioned above: Peter's triple denial of Christ and every sin is a offense against the Trinity] -- the first appearance of the prayer is in 1100 AD, over a millennium after Christ. [The Church is Alive and Young. Doctrine develops. Liturgies change over time. What is the purpose of poing this out other than to insinuate that the prayer is of little importance as it's first appearance is in 1100 A.D.]

He Writes:

The next major change is to the Gloria. Most of the changes are innocuous enough, but there's one at the beginning of the prayer that seems bizarre to me. The familiar "and peace to his people on earth" is changed to "on earth peace to people of good will." Not only is the latter far more awkward in English, but there's also a problematic sentiment implicit in the new phrase. Why are we only praying that people "of good will" receive peace? This seems to say that people who are without "good will" are not deserving of peace. [This is actually very simple. Only those of good will are capable of peace. It is not that peace isn't offered to those who are not good willed; however, it is the case that those who are not of good will reject the offering of peace.]

He Writes:

Furthermore, there are two bizarre translations of particular words in the Latin that sound awkward and even obscure: "consubstantial" and "was incarnate." The former is a translation of the word "consubstantialem" in the Latin, so it certainly resembles the Latin the most. But does that make it a better translation? [This is because in the philosophical world "being" and "substance" aren't necessarily the same thing. Instead of poopooing a word choice it helps to realize that when words are missing in one language to express an idea from another language the original usually borrows and makes a new words for the other language. This is the case with "consubstantial," which is meant to express not just "one in being with the Father" but "with the substance" of the Father, which is trying to show that Jesus is as much God as God the Father is God. There was and is no real one word in English that can accurately translate "consubstantialem;" therefore, the word is anglicized and kept as close to the literal meaning of the original as possible. "Incarnate" is a theological term which indicates that God became flesh (echoing the first few verses of the Gospel of John). Again there is no English equivalent to this dense theological terms. "Incarnate" was for a while translated as "born," which is far too light of a word to express God being flesh. Also, "incarnate" gives more weight that Christ received his body, his flesh, from a real person and wasn't simply born of a woman. As a person who teaches theology and as one who used to work in a parish, I see this as an excellent catechetical opportunity to catechize the parish in the proper understanding of Catholic teaching.]

He writes:

Finally, I think the changes to the Nicene Creed merit some discussion. As before, all of them have good grounding in the Latin, but it's the Latin that's problematic. The first is the fact that all of the "believe"s are in the first person. This destroys the sense of communal vision found in the "we believe" of the previous translation. Faith becomes something of the individual, by the individual, for the individual -- ironically, a very Protestant idea. Catholicism is supposed to value unity and togetherness. [The Latin "Credo," which is how the creed begins, means "I believe" and not "We believe" (credimus). The reason for the change is simple. I cannot exprese what another person believes. The person next to be might not even be Catholic; yet, the assumption is that the "we" speaks for all present at the Mass. The Creed was never meant to be a general expression of what all Christians believe, but it was written for what every individual Christian believes. This is also why the early Christians taught to the elect the symbol or rule of faith, that is the Creed, during their preparation for baptism. It is what the individual must express. This expression of "I" can be further linked back to the baptismal font when it is "I" who stands before the Lord and make the baptism on my own, that is no one is speaking on my behalf -- unless you were baptized as a child-- during a communal celebration and into a community of believers.]

He writes:

Ultimately, the whole affair just begs the question of why the Latin Mass has any particular spiritual significance. [How does it beg the question? The author has done nothing than mostly give his own misunderstanding. Doesn't he realize that he is speaking about the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church? If I were in a Greek Rite, which was translated into English, I'd hoped they would go back to the Greek to translate.] It's certainly not Scripture [Why does it have to be Scriptural? What about Sacred Tradition?], and it's often just an amalgamation of various communal prayers used throughout Europe for several centuries. In fact, many early bishops would write their own Masses or translations to best fit their community's needs [This is often how the Catholic Church received it's different rites. Appealing to this out of historical context does little good. Doctrine develops. The Church develops. There was a need for Bishops writing their own translation many years ago. Is the need still there? "Yes," but it is done in a different way. Moreover, it is those individual translation that led to the need of one translation. We can't have people praying wrongly as wrong prayer leads to wrong belief.]. And that's the essence of Mass [The community's needs were not and are not the essence of the Mass. This makes the Mass about us and not about God or others. The essence of the Mass is the Liturgical setting in which the people perform a work on behalf of others. We receive the Eucharist and then go to bring He whom we have received to those who do not yet know Him. In this case it is a prayer for the salvation of all people which is emphasized in the word "mass" which comes from the Latin "Missa" which means "to go forth.". The reason why we come to Mass in the first place rather than just praying by ourselves is the interaction with others that has spiritual importance. In the Mass the people become the Body of Christ, conceived as the organic whole Paul writes about in the famous passage from 1 Corinthians: “for the body is not one member, but many.” [Yet, we cannot be many without the one.]

He Writes:

The problem with the new translation and indeed the notion of a codified Latin Mass at all is that it destroys the communal and egalitarian nature of the act. [Woah there. Egalitarianism is a far cry of what the mass is. Equality, yes. Sameness which is what egalitarianism tends to lend itself, no. We may be equal in the eyes of God, but we are not the same. The priest does not preform the same acts as the congregation] Rather than an act of communion through which the churchgoer relates to God, it becomes an individualistic act through which the churchgoer relates to "experts" in Rome [I guess this is like those bishops who made their own translations for their own community. How dare that one expert make a translation for his community. How dare he impose his knowledge and intellect upon others. Communities aren't 100 people anymore. The Catholic Church is world wide. When the Church was smaller things were done differently due to the circumstances in which the Bishop found himself. This is no longer the case. With the ease of communication it is now possible to have a codified mass as the Jews had codified celebrations. The same celebrations in which Christ himself participated]. It sets certain people above others in terms of their knowledge of a dead language and of dogma [And this is bad because . . .? Should we have people who have no knowledge of Latin or dogma writing the new translations?]-- concerns that clearly distract from the message of God. If the Mass has any meaning, it must be grounded in communal concerns and vision [The Mass is about communal concerns. It is called "sin" which hurts the body of Christ.]-- not an effort to include as many four-syllable words as possible [Seriously? Let me get this right. Language matters, then it doesn't matter, than it kind of matters, and now word choice doesn't matter. Which is it?].

NC Reporter must be really grasping at straws by letting this 16 year old write for them.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-11-06T21:10:00.002-05:00

Hey Kids! Your Parents Just Ate All your Halloween Candy!

2011-11-04T21:11:00.002-05:00

The X-Men Were Gay!?

2011-11-04T13:26:00.001-05:00

According to some of the writers and directors of the recent X-Men movies, "mutant" was a metaphor for "gay."

From the Article:

Zach Stenz, one of the First Class screenwriters, explained ona Facebook comment posted in June: “I helped write the movie, and can tell you the gay rights / post-holocaust Jewish-identity / civil rights allegory stuff was put in there on purpose. Joss Wheldon designed the whole ‘Cure’s storyline in the comic books specifically as a gay allegory, and Bryan Singer wove his own feelings of outsiderdom as a gay man into the movie series. The whole ‘Have you ever tried NOT being a mutant’ coming out scene in X2 [released in 2003] is even particularly subtle, while it is effective.”

I've seen the X-Men movies, and I've read the comic books. If the intention was to promote a gay agenda, they missed the mark. Moreover, it seems strange saying this with the story line in the first movie where Magneto was attempting to turn the city of New York into mutants. Were the directors and writers trying to say that a person can be changed into being ~~gay~~ a mutant but one cannot unchange from being ~~gay~~ a mutant?

Lesser Known Proofreading Marks

2011-11-04T09:59:00.000-05:00

I'm in the middle of working on a project with my students. As I look over the rough drafts I wish I could use some of these proof reading marks.

The Down Fall of Satan: How Jesus Will REALLY Defeat Satan

2011-11-02T21:55:00.003-05:00

I don't know. I've always had a grander vision of what the defeat of satan would look like.

Church of the Living Dead

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

(Lack Jackson, TX) – Every Sunday morning Reverend PatCooper stands at the entrance of his church and is greeted with groans and moansfrom his congregation as they come shambling into services. This might seems like a typical Sunday at any church; except, most of his parishioners are unusualto say the least, and they might more rightly be called “perishioners.” Pastor Cooper is the pastor of the First Church ofthe Reanimated Lazarus, which is called by locals "the Church of theLiving Dead."

When asked why a church of this nature was need, PastorCooper said, “Ever since the ZombieApocalypse a few years back, church attendance had been dwindling and most ofour congregation had been turned into zombies. One night, I was reading the Gospels and was inspired by the story ofChrist resurrecting Lazarus. I thought,‘Heck, Lazarus is like a zombie.’ So that is where the idea first began. Looking at Lazarus and the current state ofthe world, I realized that the Gospel was for all people, even the living dead. Who are we to deny the message of Christ andto discriminate against others for no fault of their own and for the mere factthey no longer have a pulse?”

First Church of the Reanimated Lazarus has been a real learning experience for PastorPat. It has required him to change the make up of ministries and church events offered at the church. The Tuesday soup kitchen was change to aTuesday Reattaching-Limbs sewing circle because the perishoners keep trying toeat the homeless. Candy was not a bigdraw for the zombies, so the Easter egg hunt in now the Easter Live Critterhunt – which consists of hiding various small, still living, critters aroundthe church property in cages for the perishoners to find and enjoy.

New challenges are certainly there. When asked about thedangers of this endeavor, Pastor Cooper said, “Of course there aredangers. No one is denying that. Occasionally, one of the living takes therank of the unliving, but that is just a price to pay for this great newendeavor. The early Christians didn’t shyaway from the lions’ den; I’m not going to shy away from those who are life-challenged. Besides, this parish really has beenbreathing life into the community. Thebutcher shops are booming with business.”

Despite the new challenges, Pastor Pat says the averagemember, living or non, hasn’t changed much. “The singing is about the same,” says thePastor. “ Groanings as before, andgroanings now. The difference is onemight now argue that the non-living carry a better tune. Before the outbreak, most of the congregationdressed wildly inappropriately in clothing that was worn and illfitting, so the dress of the church hasn’t changed much either. When I preach from the pulpit, zombie ornot, I get the same glazed look of boredom, almost like nothing is going on uphere, in the mind. Lastly, no matter howmuch I talk or tell them or teach them, neither group has a sense of moralright and wrong.”

Whether this new church will continue or Pastor Pat willcome to his demise at the hands of his own perishioners remains to bedetermined. In the mean time, Pastor Patwill continue preaching to the living-dead. If you happen to be in the Lake Jackson area, stop by and say hello toPastor Cooper. First time visitorsreceive a free t-shirt of their choice. You can choose from shirts that have the the following sayings on the front, “Jesus ❤’s zombies”; “Lazarus wasa zombie”; and “The undead is the new living.”

Not Said by Jesus Sunday: The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

2011-10-30T10:10:00.000-05:00

Occupy Wall Street Photo Album

2011-10-27T21:19:00.004-05:00

Took a little trip to Wall Street, got some great photos.

A Teacher's Dream Answering Machine Greeting

2011-10-26T20:02:00.000-05:00

No one is perfect, and obviously this school must have had some real problems to use it for a couple of weeks. However, something high school isn't only about teaching students, but it is also about training parents.

Angelic Doctor, Scripture, and Homily: A Study

2011-10-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Summa Theologica is pseudonymous with St. Thomas Aquinas to the extent that it is forgotten that Thomas was a member of the Order of Preachers, and he himself did preach and give homilies. One of my favorite homilies of Aquinas is his Hic Est Liber (This is the Book). This homily is a run through sacred scripture and the various books and overall messages of those books. It is well worth a read, and it is an easy read. I've decided to teach this homily to my class before diving into scripture. If you want to follow along, you can read the homily and follow along with the questions. Answers will appear next week.

On whatthree things is the authority of Scripture Founded?
What two ways does Sacred Scripture lead aperson to live and which way is taught according to the New Testament and theOld Testament?
What are the two principal parts of Scripture?
According to what is Old Testament Divided? What are the two types of commandments?
What are the Three Subdivisions of Sacred Scripture?
What is the fourth kind of book is mentioned byJerome? Why did the Catholic Church adeptthese books if the authors were in doubt?

What are the Two Parts of the Law? What is the focus of each part?
What two things are the prophets herald to do?
What is the threefold divine beneficence thatthe prophets expose to the people?
What, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas is thedifference between the Major and Minor Prophets?
How do the following prophets lead: Isaiah,Jeremiah, and Ezekiel?
In what way might the prophets in the previousquestion be arranged in a second manner (Include Daniel in the mix.)? Also, to what New Testament books do theseprophetic books correspond?
The third part of the Old Testament is broken upinto two ways fathers instruct. What arethose two ways?
What are the two ways deeds instruct?
What are the four principal virtues? What Old Testament books do they correspondwith?
What are the Divisions of the New Testament?
What is each of the four gospels chieflyconcerned?
What is another way we can speak of the fourGospels and what is the symbol of each?
The Execution of the power of grace is shown inwhich three New Testament books (or grouping of books) and what is each booksmain focus?

All Souls Novena Begins Today

2011-10-24T15:49:00.001-05:00

Today begins the Novena leading up to All Souls Day, which is celebrate on November 2. All Souls day is primarily a day in which Christians remember those who are faithfully departed who may already be in heaven and to pray for the holy souls of purgatory.

All Soul's Novena

O God, the Creater and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-10-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Ora Pro Nobis

2011-10-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

[This is a talk/lesson I gave my students before we went and prayed the rosary together in the chapel as a class last week.]

The Rosaryis a simple and beautiful prayer. Prayerin the singular sense as it is one prayer composed of many smallerprayers. The rosary as we know it todayappeared in the late 12^th and early 13 century. There were similar methods of prayer thatexisted before then, when Christians would count 150 Our Fathers in place ofreciting the 150 Psalms usingcorded beads or stones. However, theRosary as we know it in its most early formulation really does appear out ofnowhere. The story of the origin of theRosary is that the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Dominic and taught him topray the rosary and instructed him to preach and pray the Holy Rosary so as toconvert the hardened hearts of sinners.

Composed offour groups of mysteries in which we meditate on the Life of Christ, the fourmysteries act as a frame in order to draw out attention to what the frameincases. Just like a picture frame, theframe lets us know that what it contains is important. It is beautiful. It is worthy of respect and a place of honor. So what does the Rosary frame? The life, death, resurrection, and mysteriesof Christ. The rosary in no way detractsfrom Jesus. Instead; it is meant toenhance the image, for a beautiful frame draws our attention to what has beenframed and in doing so makes for an even more beautiful image.

The rosaryis a simple prayer. It is a prayer ofprayers. Composed of the Sign of theCross, which reminds us of our Baptism; Hail Mary – known as the AngelicSalutation; The Our Father, the prayer Christ taught us; The Doxology or GloryBe, which honors the everlasting nature of the Trinity; the Apostles’ Creed,which is the universal expression of belief of all Christian; and the Hail HolyQueen, which expresses Mary has the Mother of the Prince of Heaven.

The HailMary is the most prominent prayer of the rosary and it is composed of 5 parts:

The firstpart is the words of the Angel Gabriel to Mary: Hail Mary Full of grace the Lord is with thee. These are heavenly words from the AngelGabriel, words not of human origin. Inits essence, it expresses Mary’s sinless nature, for Mary has been filledsometime in the past with God’s grace and we know that one cannot have God’sgrace dwelling in the soul if one if full of any kind of sin. Also the salutation of the Angel attests tothe fact that Mary, though fully human, has been chosen and was granted thespecial favor from God to be the mother of God made man.

The secondpart is the words of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth: Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. By referring to both Mary and Jesus as‘blessed’ it can be said that it again attests to both Mary’s and Jesus’sinless natures as well as the intimate union between mother and Son.

The thirdpart is the divine name of the Son of God: Jesus. At the heart of the Hail Mary is Jesus. Jesus is the center and core of the mysteriesof Christianity. No Jesus. No Rosary.

The fourthpart is when we ask Mary to intercede for us sinners in the name of Mother ofGod: Holy Mary Mother of God Pray for ussinners now and at the hour of our death. The title in Greek, Theotokos, is, according to Joslarv Pelikin a titlethrough the ages unique to Mary the mother of Jesus. The Greek word for Mother of God can morerightly be translated as “God bearer,” and is not a statement about who Mary isbut about who Jesus is. By calling Marythe “mother of God” we are in turn saying that Jesus was fully God and fullyman from the moment He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The finaland fifth part of the Hail Mary is a simple and powerful word “Amen,” whichtranslates into “so be it” or “Let it be.” Here we affirm what it is we have prayed. It is the plea of a child to his Father.

Padre Pio,the famous Franciscian mystic who had the wounds of Christ, had the ability toread souls in the confessional, and a famous ability of bi-location (to be inmore than one place at the same time) called the rosary his “weapon.” Drawing on a long history of knights, itbecame customary for knights to wear their swords on their left hand side,likewise, seen as a weapon, it became customary for monks and religious to wearthe rosary on their left side. As it isa real weapon and the war they fight is not against people who pass away butagainst principalities. The Rosary, thisis your weapon against the devil. Youwould be wise to use it. Only a foolwould not raise a weapon to defend himself when attacked.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-10-16T14:36:00.003-05:00

What's On My Running Playlist?

2011-10-12T21:58:00.000-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of entering a half marathon. Something I have not done since I tore cartilage in my hip, and since then it has been a slow road to recovery. I find myself having to spend more time stretching and warming up and cooling down than I did before the injury some 5 or 6 years ago. As I get back into training, I do 6 miles several times a week at a leisurely 10:00 min mile. Far slower than my pre injury time of 8 min mile. I find myself debating over the usefulness, or lack there of, of listing to music while running. There is a great debate over the advantages and disadvantages of listening to music while you run. Runner's World has even included a number of articles on the pros and cons of such practices. Some of the pros include motivation and distraction from the actual process of running. Some of the cons include danger if running on the street and being distracted form the running process by not listening to your body.

So what am I listening to when I run with music? This is in the order as found on my iPod. (All links to songs are on YouTube.)

Ants Marching: Dave Matthews Band (I listen to the Live at Red Rocks version)
Viva la Vida: Coldplay
Through the Fire and the Flames: Dragon Force
Fight for LSU (LSU Fight Song): LSU Tiger Marching Band (I did my undergrad here)
Notre Dame Victory Marcy: ND Marching Band (I did my graduate studies here)
Roll Away Your Sone: Mumford & Sons
Three Little Birds: Bob Marley
Here it Goes Again: OK GO
Cave: Mumford & Sons
Eye of the Tiger: Survivor
One Love/People Get Ready: Bob Marley
Digee Dime: Burlap to Cashmere
Bounding Round the Room: Phish
Crazy: Gnarls Barkley.

My current Delemma is that I actually run longer than the time of my play list. So I'll have to add a few songs in the coming days. If you have any suggestions of good songs to add, please leave a note int he annotations.

I don't recall where I got the images from. I closed the browser before making note. None of the images are mine.

Down, Down, and Into the Dark: Evil in the Hobbit [Part 3]

2011-10-12T09:02:00.003-05:00

Down, Down and into the Dark: Hospitality [Part 1]

Down, Down and into the Dark: Darkness [Part 2]

Part III: Smaug, Satan, the Seven Deadly Sins, and His Answer.

Toward the end of the adventure, the reader and travelers encounter the Lucifarian Smaug: the evilest evil, the trickster, most proud, and exemplar of the seven deadly sins. Smaug is Lucifarian in the most obvious of ways -- first in that he is a dragon. The dragon, in the literary tradition as well as in the Bible, is always an image of Satan. So, drawing on biblical illusions, to speak of a dragon in literature is to refer to Satan. Bilbo is not encountering a mischievous demon as with the goblins. Bilbo is now encountering Evil incarnate. Furthermore, Smaug’s dragon nature, redness and greatness might bring to mind the great red dragon of Revelation 12. Second, Satan’s angelic state before his fall from grace, Lucifer, means “light bearer.” Satan was a bringer of light likely part of the choir of seraphim angels, whose name means “burning ones” (Gigot). This is of note because not only does Smaug bring light in the form of fire from his breath, but Smaug also glows, “a great glow” (215). That is, Smaug literally is a light bearer. Where he goes he bears light; though the light he bears is a warning of the destruction to come. Third, Satan is often casually referred to as “the bringer of death,” for it was by his persuasion that death entered the world, and is echoed in Tolkien’s Smaug. The obvious is that Smaug is a destroyer of towns and kingdoms. The red worm describes himself in the terms of a military battlement, and Smaug’s last statement is that his “breath [is] death” (226). This calls to mind biblical images of the angel of death who is commonly identified as Satan. Fourth, Smaug, like Satan who is the prince of lies, the great slanderer, the great deceiver, does his best to trick up the noble burglar’s trust in his dwarven companions. Smaug begins by telling Bilbo that he’ll “come to a bad end, if [he] go[es] with such friends” and ends by recounting a similar situation in which Bilbo finds himself at the moment (224). Smaug’s “overwhelming personality” implants doubts as to the dwarves’ intentions; but it is Bilbo’s loyalty to his friends that allow him to see through the lies of the dragon (225).

The evil and Lucifarian imagery of Smaug is further developed in that Smaug is a committer and propagator of the seven deadly sins. In brief, the seven deadly sins are sins that can lead to the death of a Christian’s soul. These sins are also known as the cardinal sins because every other sin hinges upon these seven. Though a long historical development, the current list of the seven deadly sins – coming from Pope Gregrory the Great of the sixth century – are greed, lust (luxuary), sloth, envy, pride (hubris), anger (rage), gluttony.

Greed, the desire to have something to excess while ensuring that others have not, is one of the first things the reader learns about dragons. As Tolkien writes that dragons seek out gold and jewels, yet they “never enjoy a brass ring of it” and can make nothing from their horde of gold (23). It is a greed that gives way to a compulsion of an excessive knowledge of something that they themselves do not need. It is greed for the mere sake of depriving others of the beauty found in the dragons’ hordes. Likening it to a passage in the New Testament, one might recall the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, in all his greed, deprives Lazarus of all monetary assistance to the extent that the rich man is damned to Hell. St. John Chrysostom, in a series of homilies on wealth and poverty, commented on this passage in which he saw the rich man’s denial to help Lazarus as a form of theft from the beggar (Chrysostom 35-37). Lazarus’ life was stolen from him due to the greed of a rich man. Tolkien makes it clear that the dragon is a thief and he steals his treasure from dwarves, elves, and humans, but it is also a theft of hording and depriving the dwarves and humans of what is justly theirs (23).

Lust, known contemporarily as an excessive obsession with sex, sexual thoughts, and sexual desires, was not always associated with sex. Coming from the Latin luxuria, lust in one of its earlier understanding is an excess of extravagance. In other words, lust is a sin of possession; it is a desire to possess things not needed and not rightfully one’s own property. The sin of lust is related to greed in that they are both sins of excess. An excess of extravagance is something Smaug depicts in a way he himself does not understand, for he has no need for extravagance yet is compelled to seek it. Smaug has even encrusted himself with jewels of various sorts and seeks to possess extravagant things for no other purpose than possession. Moreover, the sin of lust, might be further exemplified by calling to mind the lustful of Dante’s “Inferno” who are caught in the strong winds of a hurricane when Smaug says of himself, “my wings a hurricane” (226). The winds of the hurricane are present in Dante because it makes present the wild lack of self control contained in those who lust. It is only too clear how Smaug’s lack of self-control leads to his hording and rage, which causes him to destroy towns.

Anger (rage or wrath), the desire to seek out vengeance upon another for a perceived wrong committed against the self, is what leads Smaug to destroy and devour Lake-town. Tolkien describes the worm’s anger as “the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long and but have never before used or wanted” (217). The anger expressed by Smaug combined with his pride leads him to blindly burn the Lonely Mountain, its surroundings, and to attack the people of Lake-town. It is this temporary madness that will ultimately lead to his demise, but not before being a glutton.

Gluttony, the excessive eating of food, is not one of Smaug’s great down falls, but nonetheless it is a deadly sin he possesses. Smaug comments to Bilbo, “Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night and I shall catch and eat all the other before long” (224). It is important to note that a pony is not necessarily a young horse. A pony is a breed of small horse measuring slightly less than five feet in height when fully grown. Though consuming six whole adult horses the dragon finds himself wanting to devour more, not for the sake of nourishment, but because he is angry and wants to show how frightful he is to others.

Sloth, the inordinate laziness that prevents a person from performing good acts, is what Smaug exemplifies when Bilbo finds the worm lazily glowing in the dark. Smaug is a lazy dragon who has spent many years sleeping on his treasure without emerging from his lair. In fact, Smaug has slept for such an extensive period of time the people of Lake Town have begun to doubt whether or not a dragon actually dwells under the mountain. Smaug is so lazy one must wonder how often must a dragon feed. As it appears that until Smaug devours six ponies of the dwarves he had not emerged from his lair to eat for many years.

Envy (jealousy), the resentment of others for what they have and what one does not to the extent that one desires what it is the other has, is the driving force behind Smaug’s treasure stealing. In brief, he is envious of the gold of men, elves, and dwarves, and he desired to have it for himself. It is not a resentment and desire to make useful items for being a superior goldsmith as dragons do nothing with their gold but horde it. Furthermore, his own envy is what drove him to attack the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and the men of Dale in order to steal gold.

Pride (hubris), the viewing of one’s self too highly that faults are ignored, is what leads Smaug to show Bilbo his underbelly. Smaug, believing himself to be invulnerable, rolls over and in doing so reveals to Bilbo his one weakness -- “a large patch in the hallow of his left breast” (227). It is this moment that helps Bard, the captain of the Lake-town guards, in disposing of the flying worm. It is also Smaug’s pride in his intellect that blinds him into assuming that the men of Lake-town are the driving force behind the dwarven expedition. Smaug wrongly guesses and is sent off into a fiery rage.

It would be futile to make a poison without providing the reader with the antidote. Luckily Tolkien gives us such an antidote in the person of Bilbo Baggins. In the Catholic tradition the seven deadly sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride) have always been balanced by a virtue. The pairing of a deadly sin with its counter virtue has always varied as one virtue might serve to counter multiple sins, but there has been some consistency to the pairings over the years. The seven virtues that counter the seven deadly sins are Chastity, Temperance, Charity/love of neighbor, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility. Like the seven deadly sins being present in one character, the seven counter virtues are also found in one character: Bilbo Bagins.

It is important to know that virtues are formed in the pursuit of something. If the Virtue of Chastity, the virtue associated with right relationships with others, is to be acquired, Chastity is not pursued. Instead, knowledge is to be pursued so that chastity will be formed. Knowledge leads to the understanding of the proper relationships one is to have with others. It leads to a correct use and not an abuse of another. Bilbo exhibits his pursuit of knowledge in his fascinations of maps and languages.

In order for temperance to be had in order to counter gluttony, strength of will is pursued. Bilbo exhibits his strength of will by pushing through tough times. Though forced into self denial, Bilbo never turns from the pursuit of strengthening his will. Greed is overcome by the virtue of Charity. Charity is formed in the pursuit of Generosity. Bilbo exhibits his generosity in dealing with the dwarves: giving the dwarves plenty of food, goes beyond what the dwarves ask and what the reader expect. Where most would have given up and left the dwarves stranded to fend for themselves, Bilbo generously rescues them.

To counter Sloth, the most basic remedy is to get up and do something productive. In other words, doing the right thing at the right time in a manner of diligence. Therefore the virtue to counter sloth can be either prudence or diligence. The virtues of prudence and diligence are formed in the pursuit of ethics. That is, ethics in seeking out the right action, which incorporates an element of justice into the pursuit of the virtue. As Bilbo is interested in what is rightly owed to others as seen in his releasing the wrongly imprisoned dwarves by the hands of the Mirkwood elves and in the desire to give the humans and elves their gold back that Smaug had collected of the years.

Countering wrath with peace is perhaps one of the more obvious as to what the antidote to wrath might be. However, peace is not the virtue contrary to wrath. Patience is the virtue contrary to the vice of wrath, as only time quenches wrath. Moreover, patience comes from the Latin pati which means “to suffer.” Implying that where there is wrath so too will there be suffering. The virtue of Patience is formed by the pursuit of peace. The prime example when Bilbo pursues peace is when he gives the Arken Stone to Bard in order to ensure that a battle does not errupt between the men of lake-town, the elves of Mirkwood, and the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

Envy (jealously) is countered with the virtue of kindness. Kindness is formed in the pursuit of Love. For where envy seeks to take and devour what another had, love seeks what is best for the other and seems not to take what is not one's own. Bilbo exhibits the pursuit of love in his relationship with the dwarves, which takes the form of a brotherly love. His love of the shire which urges him to the end of his adventure and the desire to return.

Finally, pride, sometimes seen as the root of all sin, finds its remedy in the virtue of humility. Humility, the virtue in which a person takes a modest view of themselves and sees themselves for who they really are, is formed by the pursuit of modesty. As it appears to be the case, perhaps due to their statue, that modesty is a virtue that comes easily to hobbits – at least Bilbo anyway. For Bilbo hides the knowledge of his magic ring until he is required to reveal it. Even once the little hobbit has the ring in his possession, he does not use it without good cause in the story. Bilbo seems himself never as a hero but only as a hobbit.

In conclusion, Tolkien gives a defined view of evil using the classical theme of darkness. He draws a line between good and evil using hospitality, or the lack of, as the measuring rod. Finally Tolkien presents to his readers the self destructive power of evil in the Lucifarian Smaug. Tolkien does this by primarily appealing to the exterior actions of characters. The reader knows a character is evil by how they act or fail to act. In doing so, Tolkien confirms, decades prior, much of the theology of Pope John Paul II in that persons are people of action. That is, a person becomes what it is they do: One who steals is a stealer; one who runs is a runner. Therefore the person who does evil – the person who is a perpetual vacuum absent of good which then might be filled by all sorts of evil things – is in turn an evil creature.

Lastly, being a children’s tale, the didactic novel given to the reader – as all children’s stories have in nature a lesson – is a simple lesson, but a necessary one that should be repeated over and over. The simple lesson is that evil is real, and it is present not only in the world created by Tolkien, but also in the world in which Tolkien and we too now live.

Chrysostom, John. “On Wealth and Poverty.” Trans. Catherine P. Roth. Crestoow: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984.

Gigot, Francis. "Seraphim." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 21 Apr. 2011 .

“Goblin.” Shorter Oxford English Dictionlary. Sixth Edition. 2007.

“Murk.” Shorter Oxford English Dictionlary. Sixth Edition. 2007.

New American Bible. Nashville: Catholic Bible Press, 1986

Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Hobbit.” New York: Ballantine Books, 1982.

Planking and The Catholic Church

2011-10-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

Priests have been doing it since before it was popular.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-10-09T21:22:00.000-05:00

How To Become a Famous Catholic Blogger

2011-10-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

If you know of another way to become a famous Catholic blogger, leave a annotation.

Nunja Reunion Photo

2011-10-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

Nunja information

Nunja Video From the Crescat

Nunja Weaponry from the Curt Jester.

This is the Nunja Reunion photo from last year's Poconos ~~Stealth~~ Silent Retreat last year.

Can you find all 12 Nunja in this photo?

Nunja skills include but are not limited to:

Holy Mother Rosary Choke Hold
St. Nicholas not Santa Sweeping Backhand Punch (especially effective on heretics).
St. Joseph of Cupertino Flying Nunja Kick.
Silent Wind of the Spirit Noiseless Entry.
Proficent in Nunchucks and Nunjutsu.
St. Peter Walk on Water Technique
Computer Hacking Skills
Being Awesome!

Down, Down, and Into the Dark: Evil in the Hobbit [Part 2]

2011-10-05T09:02:00.003-05:00

Down, Down, and into the Dark: [Part 1]

Part II: Darkness and Black

A second theme of The Hobbit, is Tolkien’s concept of descent into darkness. It is simplistic in that evil dwells in darkness and good dwells in the light. This concept of darkness no doubt echoes the Christian themes of light and darkness as mentioned in the Gospel of John:

And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God

(New American Bible, John 3:19-21).

Each encounter with an inhospitable wickedness is often precluded by darkness and, commonly, the descent into a cave or woods. The first encounter with this theme is when the companions find themselves in want of food at night just after fording a river and losing some stores. The dwarves find themselves camping in the dark and urging their burglar to go through a “dark mass of trees” that once in the trees the surrounding area is found to be “pitch dark” (33, 34). Following the literary tradition, by going into the dark the protagonists are sure to encounter trouble. Trouble is what Bilbo and the dwarves find first in the Trolls. In the end, the trouble with the Trolls is easily conquered, and does not come across as too menacing and difficult to overcome. For all that is needed to chases away the dark (evil) is light. However, with each trip into the darkness, the danger increases and the threat of not emerging from the descent into darkness is intensified.

In the next descent into darkness the Travelers encounter the fearsome goblins. Before the descent into the goblin caves, the event is preceded by night and a double darkness by the travelers entering a dark cave. When the goblins find the dwarves, wizard, and hobbit camping on their stoop, the dwarves are immediately taken by the dark creatures into a darker kind of dark, to a place “Deep, deep, dark, such as only goblins . . . can see through” and still adding to the sense of darkness the dwarves are taken farther “down and down” in the mountain (60). Moreover, the Great Goblin, upon discovering the dwarves’ elven blades, commands in his rage to “take [the dwarves] away to dark holes full of snakes, and never let them see the light again” (64). Like with the trolls, the party only gains salvation from the goblins’ caves by means of light in various forms: Gandalf’s magic, the glowing elven weaponry, and the sun outside the caves.

While in the Misty Mountains, Bilbo takes his first of several lone descents into darkness. Already deep, deep, and dark in the misty mountains, Bilbo awakes after being rendered unconscious by a knock on the head and finds that “He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor” (68). Continuing, Bilbo makes his way and “On and on he went, and down and down” until he encounters “a deep dark subterranean lake” which he “did not dare to wade out into the darkness” (70-71). There “Deep down there by the dark water” Bilbo encounters Gollum. The text tells the reader that Gollum was called “Gollum” because he was “as dark as darkness” (71). Layer upon layer of darkness is added to Bilbo's encounter with Gollum to the extent that one must question if the little hobbit will emerge from the very deep dark or if he will be devoured if not by Gollum then by the darkness and lost forever.

After escaping the Goblins, sometime after the party’s entrance into Mirkwood, and before being taken by the spiders in Mirkwood, darkness, as well as its variants, are mentioned no less than ten times, which more than doubles the preceding dark references before encountering evil in the form of trolls, goblins, wargs, and Gollum. In addition to the numerous references of darkness, the hobbit and dwarves find themselves in a place of darkness similar to the “tunnels of the goblins” (141), which places both the reader and the travelers in a certain mindset in which one half expects the dwarves to be taken again by goblins or creatures of equal malice.

What is quickly evident is that Mirkwood is a place void of light and unfriendly to light of any sort. Any attempt to produce light by means of fire is quickly thwarted by thousands of “dark-grey and black moths” swarming the travelers (142). Furthermore, “mirk” is an archaic spelling of the modern “murk” which means “dark” (“murk”). Combining “mirk” with “wood” one realizes that the travelers are entering into a dark forest. Mirkwood if filled with dark plants, black bats, black butterflies and even a black river. With each mention of darkness or blackness, another layer of the impending encounter with evil is heightened so much so that one might assume that the dwarves will soon encounter the most wicked of beasts while traveling in Mirkwood. Though they do not encounter goblins or Smaug, it is perhaps the most danger the dwarves find themselves in as it is the closet they come to being lost to the lack of hospitable spiders. The murkiness is further emphasized when Bilbo comes to “a place of dense black shadow ahead of him, black even for that forest, like a patch of midnight that had never been cleared away” (157).

The apex of darkness happens while encountering Smaug, the travelers find a new kind of darkness in the dragon’s den. It is a darkness in which Bilbo, for the first time, cannot function without light. As if Smaug himself has absorbed all sparks and illuminations in the room, and though the worm himself glows, his domain is darkness ever present and all consuming. The dwarves find themselves in an ever-present darkness for many days upon having to enter the tunnel with the secret door leading to the dragon’s lair. Moreover, the burglar’s feeling that the darkness is growing deeper and deeper while in the tunnel is the foreshadowing of the darkness that is soon to come to Lake-town. It is also telling that the most evil act in the book, the destruction of an entire town, coincides with the dwarves and Bilbo entering the darkest dark of Smaug’s lair.

The lesson, too plain and clear to be seen by those who are boring and plain, is that it is only by going through the dark that Bilbo and his companions are exalted. That is, the darkness and the troubles found in those dark places where wickedness and darkness are intimately joined that to separate darkness from evil in “The Hobbit” would be like trying to separate the moon from the night is the vehicle for growth of virtue: courage, prudence, temperance, and justice. If at any time Bilbo or the dwarves failed to continue their journey their progress to exaltation and growth of virtue would come to an end, and Bilbo would be great in neither his world or ours. Though there are set backs and losses in the face of evil, it serves no purpose to simply give up. For where would Judaism and Christianity be if Abraham had not preserved through his own dark moments and tests.

Effects of Original Sin . . . Justin Bieber?

2011-10-04T13:48:00.000-05:00

Looking through the review guides I gave to my class for their most recent test, I came across this answer. I wish I could give this student +10 for this answer. For all the theologians out there, my student only listed the Spiritual effects. He listed the bodily effects the next page.

The Evil Apple: Did Adam and Eve Really Eat an Apple?

2011-10-04T10:17:00.001-05:00

A student recently asked after reading the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, “The Bible didn’t say the fruit was an apple. Why do we say Adam and Eve ate an apple?”

I am always happy to see when a student not only does a careful reading but also thinks about the reading they are given. In order to answer the student’s question it helps to understand

1. We do not really know with certainty the kind of fruit Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I’ve heard it suggested the fruit was a fig or a pomegranate. Whatever the fruit was, it would have to be tempting on a number of levels: pleasing to the eyes, good for food, and good for gaining knowledge. Obviously most fruits, at least those found in supermarkets today, can be seen as pleasing to the eyes and good for food, but I’m not sure what earthly fruit is good for gaining knowledge.

2. The Bible has gone through many translations. This tradition of Adam and Eve eating an apple did not surface till sometime after St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. This brings us to the tradition of the Apple. The Latin word for “evil” is “malum.” The “a” in “malum” is pronounced with a short “a” as the “a” in “multa” The Latin word for “apple” is “malum” – spelled the same as the Latin word for “evil.” The differences being in parts of speech one as an adjective and the other a noun and how “malum” (apple) is pronounced. “Malum” (apple) has a long “a” which is pronounced more like the "a" in "father"

So in short, the reason Adam and Eve are said to have eaten an apple is that it is a play on words in the Latin language that has remained in popular use even to today.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-10-02T00:12:00.003-05:00

Down, Down, and Into the Dark: Evil in The Hobbit. [Part 1]

2011-09-28T10:00:00.004-05:00

[I am doing a three part post on evil in the Hobbit. This was born out of a summer reading assignment in an attempt to teach my students about evil, the seven deadly sins, and darkness as a theme in literature in a manner that is more narrative than direct lecture. In the process of putting together my class notes, I noticed that there is a silent void on the topic of evil in The Hobbit. There is much literature about evil in the Lord of the Rings series, but I could not find one word on evil as Tolkien presents it in the Hobbit. The version of the text that I used is the Ballantine/Del Ray Paperback 1997 (there about about 10 copyrights) Revised Edition. Look for Part 2 next Wednesday.]

Part Two: Descent into Darkness

Part Three: Satan, Smaug, and the Seven Deadly Sins

Introduction

The classic definition of evil is “the absence of the good.” With the preceding definition of evil, any and all evil acts are acts void of goodness. In Tolkien’s The Hobbit, evil is depicted primarily through the evil acts of dark races. That is, goodness is presently absent from such dispicable creatures that one learns quickly how the acts of a person reveal the ontological state of the various races of Middle Earth. In the Christian understanding, theologians would say that God’s creation is intrinsically good – worth and goodness are not and cannot be merited by any means. In The Hobbit the nefarious beasts, though originally good, have become malicious to the extent that one might wonder whether goodness remains or whether a once good person has become so perverted and twisted that the intrinsic and ontological nature has changed for the worse, for how can goodness remain in a being who does no good? However, what is clear in the story is that in no way can these monsters be mistaken for being good. They are rotten: evil personified. By including these horrible monsters in his tale, Tolkien paints for his reader a didactic story on the dangers of evil. This instruction is demonstrated by drawing on classic literary devices, imagery, and word choice. Primarily evil is depicted in the lack of hospitality of the fiendish creatures contrasted with hospitality of the good creatures, darkness as a telling prelude to trouble and encounters of evil, and with the Lucifarian image of Smaug.

Part I: Hospitality

A major theme in “The Hobbit” is hospitality, as it serves as the measuring rod in determining which creatures are good and which ones are evil, for the good creatures are hospitable and the evil ones are not. The hospitality provided by the good characters follows a three-fold pattern in which the travelers are given rest, food, and safe shelter.

Though the first instance of hospitality is shown in Bilbo’s reception of the troop of dwarves and Gandalf, the pattern of food, rest, and safety is present, it is not as clear until after the travelers encounter loss and danger in the wilderness in the form of losing supplies and encountering the Trolls en route to Rivendale. Sill, Bilbo hosts the dwarves and furnishes them food of every sort (tea as well as supper), rest , a place for meeting, and safety – as the Shire, in this tale of Middle Earth, is a place that evil and dangers do not exists.

Upon the troop’s arrival in Rivendale, they first encounter the jolly and silly singing of the elves. They most hospitably extend an invitation in song to the road weary travelers to stay and sing through the night with them:

“To fly would be folly,

To stay would be jolly

And listen and hark

Till the end of the dark

To our tune

ha! ha” (49)!

While in Rivendale, the dwarves and the hobbit are treated to many tales, they grow refreshed from their travels, are given safety from danger (for no evil or dangerous creature would enter the valley of Rivendale), are provided with delightful food, and upon leaving their bags are “filled with food and provisions light to carry but strong to bring them over the mountain passes" (52). The overall hospitality given to Bilbo and the dwarves is par excellence in the story, as nowhere else do they receive such treatment. Perhaps this is due in part to the fact that Rivendale is the only place the travelers’ arrival is expected. All other hospitality pales in comparison to that of the elves of Rivendale.

The eagles of the Misty Mountains, though only a brief encounter, follow the same pattern of good hospitality. The eagles rescue the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf from the goblins and wargs. In so doing the eagles not only save the travelers from danger but also give them safety and shelter in the Eagles’ nestings in the Misty Mountains. In addition, "The Eagles had brought up dry boughs for fuel, and they had brought rabbits, hares, and a small sheep" for the party (110).

Following the hospitality of the eagles, the dwarves and the other two travelers come upon the home of the great Beorn -- whose home might be described as a “land of milk and honey,” as most of the food Beorn provides his guests with are made with honey and cream. All-in-all, Beorn gives the guests food, several nights stay, and protection from the wild. Beorn’s hospitality extends beyond his house when he provides his guests with ponies, jars of honey, and other supplies for the trip to Mirkwood forest and the Lonely Mountain (132). Again the tri-fold pattern of food, rest, and safety is present in the travelers’ stay with Beorn.

In the next encounter of good hospitality occurs when the dwarves accidentally fall into the hands of the elves of Mirkwood and taken prisoners. Tolkien makes extra effort to remind the reader that the elves here “are not wicked fold" and are “Good People" (167, 168). Still the same three-fold pattern of the hospitality of the good is present in the Wood-Elves of Mirkwood. Even after being captured, the Wood-Elf King tells his men to take Thorin "away and keep him safe" and the reader learns that the elves "gave [Thorin] food and drink, plenty of both, if not very fine; for Wood-elves were not goblins, and were reasonably well behaved even to their worst enemies, when they captured them" (169). Thorin's dwarven companions were extended the same hospitality and good treatment upon their capture, as the Elf king "ordered the dwarves each to be put in a separate cell and to be given food and drink" (173).

The last example of good hospitality the dwarves receive is from the men of Lake-town. There, Master of Lake-Town gives his own festival chair to Thorin, and Fili, Kili and Bilbo all receive seats of honor (198). Then shortly after, the Lake-town people give the travelers horses, ponies, many provisions and even help in getting them to the foot of the Lonely Mountain in the form of boats with many rowers (200).

The dividing line between the hospitality of the good and the lack of hospitality of the evil is simple. The good hospitaliters are essentially life giving, and the evil hospitaliters are destructive and life devouring. The destructive nature of the evil creatures is emphasized by the ever-present threat to the travelers of being eaten by their wicked captures. What can be less hospitable than eating one’s guest? Such treatment is first realized in the comical scene with Bilbo and the three Trolls, in which the trolls capture the Burglar and his companions and then debate, with the help of Gandalf mimicking the trolls’ voices, as to whether it would be best to roast, boil, or squish the dwarves (40).

Next the dwarves are captured by the most diabolical of creatures: goblins. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary “goblin” comes from the Latin gobelinus and roughly means “a mischievous ugly demon” (“goblin”). There can be no mistake as to the evil nature of these creatures for Tolkien calls the beasts “cruel, wicked, and bad harted” (62). Moreover, following a literary tradition where the author portrays the interior disposition of a person in the beauty of their physical appearance and the beauty of their culture, ugly beings are evil, and beautiful beings are good. The goblins are ugly and “make no beautiful things”; therefore, the goblins are unmistakably devilish (62). The Dwarves, Elves, and Hobbits are presented as making beauty in their surroundings, quality craftsman ship, delectable food, and enjoyable music; therefore, they are essentially good. The climax of inhospitality shown to the companions by the Goblins is clear and is first expressed in Thorin’s words to Dori about getting the Hobbit into the tree less “[Bilbo will] be eaten if we don’t do something” (100). Further, the goblins confirm Thorin’s fear of being eaten when the goblins begin their song while the dwarves are in the trees. The demons take delight in their fiendish song and sing:

“O What shall we do with the funny little things?

Roast ‘em alive, or stew them in a pot;

Fry them, boil them or eat them hot?

. . .

Bake and toast ‘em, fry and roast ‘em!

Till beards blaze, and eyes glaze;

Till hair smells and skins creack,

Fat melts, and bones black” (106)

The fear of being devoured does not end with the goblins. It continues on into the story and is found elsewhere in the book -- particularly with Bilbo’s chance encounter with Gollum. Here, Gollum seeks not to play games with Bilbo, but first desires eating him, to make a “choice feast; at least a tasty morsel” out of the Hobbit (72). Thus the lack of hospitality is expressed by Gollum’s desire to devour Bilbo, and the reader immediately knows Gollum is evil. However, Gollum is a unique creature with a soul of malicious intent. Though he shows some semblance of hospitality in the form of a riddle challenge, Gollum’s mind and heart are revealed by the twisted, lifeless, and destructive riddles he gives. For every lifeless life destructive riddle Gollum gives, Bilbo counters with a riddle that is life giving. Where Gollum’s first riddle involves the lifelessness of a mountain, Bilbo counters with the life giving organ of teeth personified as white horses on a red hill. Gollum then presents wind as a destructive force, and Bilbo counters with an image of the life giving sun shinning on daisies. Next Gollum shows the destructive nature of dark in his riddle, adding to the immediate fear of the dark surrounding Bilbo, to which the Hobbit responds with the most obvious life giving riddle about an egg. The most chilling of riddles is Gollum’s fish riddle in which the fish is seen as being alive and dead. The fish is “alive without breath,/As cold as death” says Gollum (76). Bilbo’s counter-point is a riddle in which fish is the life sustaining source of a man and his cat. Gollum’s final riddle, whose answer is ‘Time’, views time through its destructive nature. Gollum sees time as the final destroyer of all great things, and at the same time fails to see time as the vehicle that makes the mountains and other things great before they are destroyed. If a further study on Gollum and his riddles were to be had, one might come to the conclusion that Gollum exemplifies the sneaky, innocent, childlike manner evil can take in its attempts to devour the good.

Like the Trolls, Goblins, and Gollum, the Spiders of Mirkwood also seek to devour and destroy the travelers. The spiders, who come the closest to actually eating the dwarves, poison and bind the dwarves in a mess of webs so that they might hang for a bit. The poisoning and hanging was to ensure the dwarves “make fine eating” (157).

Smaug, the most fearsome of creatures in The Hobbit for the power he has, does not look to eat the travelers for the sake of a meal like the other evils encountered by the travelers. Instead, Smaug seeks to destroy the dwarves for the mere theft of a gold cup. It is a destruction of life stemming from the hubris and blind rage of the dragon, and the destruction does not begin nor end with the dwarves and hobbit. Instead it includes an entire town.

In the context of “The Hobbit”, the dividing factor between Good and Evil is hospitality. But why the emphasis on hospitality? Perhaps this might be compared to Abraham in Genesis when he is visited by three men on their way to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham wastes no time in provided hospitality, food, rest, and safety for his divine visitors. Upon reaching Sodom and Gomorrah, the divine visitors are greeted somewhat hospitably by Lot and his family. However, the local townspeople show no hospitality to the divine visitors. In stead, the locals seek to take something from the visitors and even destroy those who stand in their way. The message in these two stories is simple: those who seek the destruction of life will in turn be destroyed themselves. As we see in the Bible the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed because they wanted to destroy. Likewise, the trolls, goblins, wargs, spiders, and Smaug are all destroyed due to their wanting to take and destroy life; whereas, those who seek and ensure the survival of life are rewarded.

How Nicholas Cage Wins EVERY Argument and How You Can Too

2011-09-21T21:33:00.000-05:00

I think I am going to try using a similar style of argumentation. Here are some examples:

I am 6'3". Your argument is invalid
I have brown Hair. Your argument is invalid.
I wear shoes. Your argument is invalid.
I can read. Your argument is invalid.
Delaware was the first state. Your argument is invalid.
I run 4 miles a day. Your argument is invalid.
Lady Gaga more like Lady Gag Me. Your argument is invalid.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP. Your argument is invalid.
Aliens did it. Your argument is invalid.
I spent the night at a holiday inn express. Your argument is invalid.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-09-11T12:52:00.002-05:00

What Meat Loaf Would do For Love

2011-09-05T09:39:00.001-05:00

I saw this somewhere once before, but I don't remember where. So I just reproduced it for your Labor Day pleasure.

The Handmade of the Lord

2011-08-29T21:49:00.000-05:00

Had my students learn by heart the Angelus. When we got to the line that is suppose to read, "I am the handmaid of the Lord." Many of the students spelled "handmaid" h-a-n-d-m-a-d-e. Did these kids every learn homophones in grammar school?

Chesterton for the Critics of WYD, the Pope, and the Catholic Church

2011-08-22T20:43:00.001-05:00

Moderns have not the moral courage, as a rule, to avow the sincere spiritual bias behind their fads; they become insincere even about their sincerity. Most modern liberality consists of finding irreligious excuses for religious bigotry. The earlier type of bigot pretended to be more religious than he really was. The later type pretends to be less religious than he really is. He does not wear a mask of piety, but rather a mask of impiety or, at any rate, of indifference.

- G. K. Chesterton

When Analogies Break Down

2011-08-22T10:00:00.003-05:00

Most of the language we use to speak of God draws on an analogy of some kind. God is like xyz. Such and such is like God. God is similar to zyx. It must always be remembered that the earthly part of the analogy will always break down at some point when comparing it to God, as God is far beyond the limitations of not only earthly things but also the language we use to speak of Him. Additionally, whenever a person says that "A" is like "B", they are also saying that "A" is unlike "B" in other ways.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-08-21T10:39:00.001-05:00

Inspired by Pope Benedict XVI (back when he was just a little Cardinal).

Where'd the Blessing Go?

2011-08-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

Flipping through the most recent "Book of Blessings" today at a local Catholic Bookstore, I discovered something that made me awfully sad. The most current Book no longer contains the official ritual for the Blessing of Beer, which was contained in the older 1962 version. I brew my own beer and am a big fan of the liquid bread. I even have a copy of the blessing of beer on the door of my fridge, so that every time I pop open a beer I can pray the beer blessing.

The removal of the beer blessing got mean thinking. What does it mean now that the blessing of beer has been from the roman ritual; after all, weren't Catholic monks part of the reason beer is so popular today? Has the Catholic Church turned its back on on of its grates cultural achievements? Have members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving infiltrated the ranks of the Catholic Church? Is the removal of the blessing part of the so-called Protestantization of the Church?

Eh, it probably means nothing. Till otherwise noted that I am doing something I should not be doing, I'll continue blessing my beer.

10 Catholic Signs It Is Hot HOt HOT Outside.

2011-08-18T20:46:00.000-05:00

You understand the meaning of "Psalms 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer"
The Nuns are baking the communion wafers/hosts on the dash of their parked car.
At the sign of peace, no one touches; instead, everyone waves quickly in attempts to create a breeze in the church.
You repeat the line from Matthew 20 "Borne the burden and heat of the day." over and over again as a sign of repentance.
You start wondering if it is liturgically appropriate to administer the blood of Christ chilled.
Noah's flood isn't sounding too bad right about now.
The Newly baptized ask Father for 15 more minutes in the baptismal immersion font.
The discalced carmelites actually put shoes on.
Gehenna, Shemehenna.
For the homily, the Priest takes to the ambo and says, "You think it's hot as hell. It's not." then steps down and continues with Mass.

The Assumption of Mary: Where's The Body?

2011-08-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

I've been reading several articles on the assumption of Mary. Most of which give a historical and or theological approach to the teaching of Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."

I would like to throw this into the ring. Where is Mary's body? That is, the Catholic Church loves relics. Relics, for those who do not know, are little bits (commonly bone, hair, or nails) of the deceased body of a Saint used in public veneration. Relics serve as a reminder and remembrance of the holy people who have gone to their eternal rest (yes, there is biblical evidence for relics). Through out history, Catholics have gone through great lengths to preserve the bodies and even rescued the bodies of Martyrs under pain of death so as to have relics of the faithfully departed. Even greater length is had to ensure that all Catholic churches posses a relic of the saith with whose name the church bears. So, if you attend Mass at St. John Vianney Parish, there should be a relic of St. John Vianney somewhere in the church. Some churches even go as far as to have the ear of such and such a saint, the tongue of this saint, or the foot of another saint.

What do relics have to do with Mary's Assumption? Only everything! I've had the opportunity to see several relics of Mary; however, these were all second class relics (things owned and use by the Saint) . None were actual pieces of her body. That is because no first class relics of Mary's bones are known to exist. The only first class relics that might be in existence are of her hair and breast milk -- yes there are a few places that say to have the milk that nourished Christ. If Mary was not assumed into heaven and the doctrine of the Assumption was only created in 1950 by Pope Pius XII, then where are all the first class relics of Mary that should be in existence the previous 1949 years? Where are the bones or bits of bones from the Theotokos? Where is she buried? No churches exist as shrines to her deceased body. No pilgrimage routes have been made to the burial place of her body. There are no keepers of the body that birthed Salvation.

If any Saint would have been broken up and spread to the ends of the Earth -- her foot here, her ear some place else, or he tongue there -- it would have been the Blessed Mother. She who gave a body to the God-Man. She who is more intimately united with Christ than any other person will ever be. Yet, the annals are silent on the resting place of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the reliquaries are empty of the bones of the Mother of God. Because her body is not here.

Speaking of Theology of the Body: Don't Over Sexualize it

2011-08-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

Some of the Christopher West devotees might take issue with this but I've always critiqued the parts of Bl. John Paul's Theology of the Body that he over sexualized. I'm sorry West, the baptismal candle being dipped in the baptismal DOES NOT symbolize Christ copulating with his Bride the church. At that moment in the Liturgy, the the candle represents the Holy Spirit going out over the waters of creation.

Recently, a Vatican Official said:

The problem is that if you focus only on sexuality, you cannot develop beyond that level, that such beauty is a gift, something given to mankind by the Creator but within a much broader context. Attraction to the beauty of human sexuality and the human body is normal because it is true and real. What can become a problem, however, would be to regard human sexuality in a kind of mystical way. Pope John Paul II embraced no form of mystic sexuality. What the Blessed Pontiff did in fact say is that sexuality has a mystical perspective and dimension …

There is a danger of vulgarizing here a crucial truth of our Faith that needs rather to be contemplated.

Have a Good Weekend

It is Not Good: A Short Reflection of Theology of the Body

2011-08-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

It is Not Good

God says of man in Genesis: “It is not good that the man should be alone” (2:18 RSV-CE). Here solitude appears to take on a negative character. In the creation stories, it is clear that man is alone in the sense that there are no other creatures like himself. The solitude man experiences in the beginning is different from the solitude of a monk or hermit; they have and know others but leave the world to be for the world. No, man here, in the creation stories, really is alone: there is none like him and it is not good that man should have none like himself. “Alone simply means he has no other like himself.

But why is not having another like oneself “not good”? Christ Himself says of God in the Gospels that “no one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18 RSV-CE). Knowing the revelation of God through Christ and the Spirit, God is revealed as a community of loving persons where each is like the other (scripture passages). It can be said that what is “not good” about Man's solitude is that man, at this point, has no community, no other who is like himself. In other words, it is “not good” for man to be alone because man less perfectly images the self-giving love of the Trinity when man has no other like himself. Therefore, man more perfectly images the Trinity when he has another like himself to whom he may make of gift of himself.

This is expressed at man's joyous proclamation upon waking and discovering woman: “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” It is as if Man looks at woman and says, “you are a creature who is like me in not only form and matter but also in nature and substance. I give the gift of myself to one who is like me and you give the gift of yourself to one who is like you.”

The giving of self as a gift expresses in no way an economic system. Making a gift into an economic system destroys the nature of what a gift is – namely that a gift is freely given. Original man is not saying that he loves woman because she is instrumentally good and useful for something (washing the dishes, cooking dinner or having children). Man gives of himself freely to woman simply because she is the only one who is able to accept the gift, understand the gift, and respond to the gift in a way that results in man and woman echoing the Trinity. In the process of giving, accepting, understanding, and responding to the gift of self, man and woman form a relationship of reciprocity

Doubting Thomas Learns Jesus Isn't Playing Games

2011-08-11T10:55:00.001-05:00

Not Said by St. Lawrence

2011-08-10T22:55:00.000-05:00

St. Lawrence, the early deacon of the Catholic faith who, when commanded by the king to bring to him the treasures of the Church, brought to the king the poor, the sick, and the injured to the king saying, "Here is the wealth of the church." The kind was far less than happy. He ordered the good deacon to be grilled alive. Legends state that after cooking for a while on one side, the deacon quipped, "Turn me over, I'm done on this side." St. Lawrence is the patron saint of Cooks (the Catholic church love irony).

In honor of this holy man. LarryD over at Acts of the Apostasy has made a humorous post of Things NOT said by St. Lawrence. It is worth a read.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-08-07T11:31:00.000-05:00

Not Said by Jesus Sunday: On Monday Edition

2011-08-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

I don't like posting several things on the same day. So I moved this to today.

To Celebrate the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola Let us Bake This Cake

2011-07-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

[Scroll down to the bottom if all you want is the cake recipe.]
The Society of Jesus, commonly knows as the Jesuits, was founded by one of the great Saints of the Catholic Church, Saint Ignatius of Loyola (Loyola means "wolves and pot" ). As a youth, Inigo -- his birth name -- considered himself a playboy who suffered from vanity. He desired to serve in the military and fight for a lady. Eventually, he did get his wish to fight in a battle against the French. At the Battle of Pamploma, Inigo received an injury to his leg when hit by a canon ball. As the French entered the fort at which Inigo was defending, slaying the injured and resistent Spaniards, they were impressed by Inigo's great ferver at which he fought that they spared his life and brought him to a hospital for healing.

While at the hospital he had only two books at his disposal: the life of Christ and a book of the lives of the Saints. Accustomed to reading the romance (Don't think Daniel Steel. Think Kings and knights and ladies) and fantastic stories of knights, Inigo found the stories of the Saints to be uplifting and they stirred within himself something the romance stories could not. Where the romance stories left him empty and sad, the stories of Christ and the Saints filled his heart and compelled him to goodness and service to God, which demonstrated St. Augustines, "you have created us for you O Lord and our hearts are restless till they rest in you" perfectly.

During his reading of the Saints, Inigo discovers the writing os St. Ignatius of Antioch, and he reads a line which went something to the effect: "out of the silence you created me oh God." Inspired by the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Inigo changes his name in imitation of this Saint. Soon after Ignatius of Loyola would begin writing reflections on the spiritual life which would later become the "Spiritual Exercises." The Exercises would eventually become the model from which most religious orders model their retreats.

If one would list the contributions the Jesuits made over the centuries in all the fields of theology and empirical sciences a work of book length would perhaps be sufficient. Jesuits made significant contributions to physics, biology, evolutionary theory, reformed the Julian Calendar, geology, exploration (a 16/17th century Jesuit was the first person to report on Tibet), and more. Today, the Jesuits still operate one of the best Observatories in the World.

One of my favorite stories about St. Ignatius of Loyola happened in his early years following his conversion to Christianity. While on a road traveling, he happened upon a Spanish Moore traveling the same road. The two immediately began discussing religion, and the Moore proceeded to speak unkindly about the Blessed Mother. Ignatius, infuriated over the words from the Moore, wanted nothing more than to kill the blasphemer. Wrestling with this impulse to defend the Virgin, kill the Moore, and follow Christ, he made a brief prayer in which he asked God to guide the donkey on which he rode down the right path upon reaching the fork in the road. If the donkey goes down the same path as the Moore, Ignatius would kill the Moore. If the donkey goes down the other road away from the Moore, he would allow the Moore to live. The downkey chose the later and the Moore lived. Saints weren't always saints, and they too confronted many of the same challenges as we.

To honor St. Ignatius, the people in the Basque region of Spain bake a specific cake in honor of their Saint. If you would like to imitate the the Spanish and honor St. Ignatius with this cake, here is the recipe.

The recipe was given to me on a Jesuit Educator's Retreat in St. Louis. At the time I was teaching at a Jesuit School in New Orleans.

Ignacio

(Cake for St. Ignatius Day)

6 egg whites
2 1/2 cups (625 g) sugar
4 c. (400 g) almonds, ground
1 1/2 c. (200 g) flour
1 c. (250 g.) butter

In a large bowl beat the egg whites with an electric beater until quite firm. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat. After the sugar has been used up, fold in the ground almonds and the flour. Melt the butter; when cool, add it to the mixture, folding it in carefully.

Use an ungreased large round cake pan, about 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter and 5 inches high. Pour in the mixture. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake on a low rack for about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean.

O Sole Mio

2011-07-28T15:18:00.000-05:00

Watch it and be lifted. Does the english language has any songs of this caliber?

Monday's What Have You Done Today?

2011-07-25T22:45:00.000-05:00

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-07-24T22:03:00.003-05:00

Notes from Hell: Hot as Hell.

2011-07-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

A Wretched Man am I: A Lesson in Latin, Music and Theology for Michael Voris

2011-07-22T00:12:00.001-05:00

Michael Voris, the self proclaimed measure of all that is orthodox Catholicism recently took a swing at the church hymn "Amazing Grace." He calls for an end of the singing of this song at the Catholic Mass for the simple fact that is was written by a protestant. Mark P. Shea already did a number on the Voris video, posted at the end.

First He has issues with the word "wretched" and assumes that the word "wretched" can only mean fully deprived of Grace (yet the song is about the saving power of grace and that it is grace that moves the speaker). More on "wretchedness" farther down.

Grace, She Passed Away 30 Years Ago

Second he takes issue with the lines "How precious did that Grace appear / The hour I first believed." Voris does not like this line because he (in his misreading of the lyrics) thinks the song to be saying that grace only appears when and after a person starts to believe. The speaker in the song is not implying what Voris wrongly assumes -- that grace only apear after you believe. The speaker in the song is saying that when he finally believed, he saw that the appearance of Grace was precious to him. This can be likend to a man who walked past a beautiful work of art for 15 years and never once noticing the precious and beautiful work of art so close to him as he walked. Then one day, he turns his head slightly while walking the same street he has walked for the previous 15 years and notices that beautiful art for the first time. He might call this new found work of art "precious" and "sweet" and "beautiful," for though the art was always there it is only now that he sees it and it makes, from his own perspective, its first appearance into his life. In other words, grace has always been there, but relative to the speaker's current state of life, he was unaware of it. Then one day, the hour he first believed, it was as if the grace that was always there had suddenly appeared.

Back to wretchedness:

The Latin word "miser, misera, miserum" can be translated into English as "wretched." The Latin word "misereor, misereri, miseritus sum" is translated commonly as "pity" when it is in the genative case. Both words are of a similar root (miser) and complement each other in the logic behind them.

In the liturgy we say "miserere nobis." "Miserere" is the second person, singular, passive, genative of "misereor", and "nobis" is the dative, plural of the personal pronoun "I"/"we" which is translated as "us." The full phrase is translated in the Mass as "have mercy on us." Here Catholics ask for the mercy of God. Why do Catholics ask for the mercy of God? Remember there is a logical relation between the Latin words for the English "wretched" and "pity/mercy". Because humanity is wretched. You don't ask for Mercy unless you are wretched. You don't ask for pity unless you are pitiful. In the context of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Catholics imply that they are indeed wretched, and it is for that reason they pray "Lord, 'have mercy on us.'" So, "yes," the Catholic view of man is that man is a wretch in the same manner that Saint Paul calls himself a wretch.

Catholics who have any kind of basic theological training know that the assumption is not that man is completely void of grace and goodness and is completely corrupt. Though, one certainly can go too far with the wretchedness of man and wrongly assume that man is only a wretch, which was the case with Luthers and other Protestants sects that popped up over the years. However, the author of the hymn was Anglican, which has different views on wretchedness than does Luther. Though perhaps the author was influenced by John Calvin's view of the wretchedness of man. Voris makes the gravest sin in talking about non-catholics by assuming they all have the same theology, when in fact they do not.

It's a Song, Not an Essay

Furthermore, Voris, as well as MANY other well intentioned Catholics, fail to realize that what he is critiquing is a song and not an exhaustive theological treatise. Amazing Grace would not be the song we know it as today if the author wrote "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a man who has fallen into sin and had become, like Saint Paul, a wretched man." That is, the author was not trying to write an essay on his experience of Grace but a sweet lyrical poem and hymn. When a work of literature or music is critiqued, it helps to place it into the proper category in which it belongs before critiquing it.

Words, Words, Words,

Words have meaning. Words have multiple meanings. The same word may have different meanings for different cultures. For instance if an American said "Let us go have supper." The American is saying that he is going to have his final meal for the day. If an Australian said "Let us go have supper." The Australian is saying something completely different from the American's definition of "supper." In Australia "supper" is not the final meal of the day, but it is a late evening snack that comes after the final meal of the day. Apparently when working on his S.T.B. that he so proudly touts at the end of his name, Voris never learned to use a dictionary. What certain protestants mean by "wretch" and "grace" Catholics might, and often do, mean something different.

Reconciliation

Voris must think church goers to be compete dolts capable of having only the wrong thoughts. The lyrics of "Amazing Grace" can easily be reconciled with Catholic teaching based upon the proper understanding of man (wretchedness) and grace. With the proper understanding a once non-catholic hymn is converted into a beautiful Catholic hymn. How to help others get to this understanding? One way is to not tear down something that is dear to many Christians that is not heretical and not anti-catholic as Voris thinks. In what way could Voris have done this better? Simple: catechesis. Use the song, which is a very popular church hymn, as a vehicle for doing catechesis to teach Catholics the Catholic understanding of man and grace. By doing so, the Catholic cult will have then transformed the culture that Voris so adamantly expresses as being evil.

Lastly, I don't know how people can watch this Voris guy. It is like he is trying to be the Catholic version of Beck or Rush. Something the Church needs not.

Augustine on Pop Culture: Harry Potter and Tears

2011-07-20T10:45:00.002-05:00

Been reading much about the tears being spilled over Harry Potter, when I remembered what Saint Augustin said about the tears he cried over a story. He wrote:

I could weep over the death Dido brought upon herself out of live for Aeneas, yet I shed no tears over the death I brought upon myself by not loving [God].

Today he might have written, "I could week over the death of Harry Potter brought upon him by the sacrifice he had to make, yet I shed no tears over the death I brought upon myself by not loving [God].

Faith v. Science: Father Gregor Mendel's 189th Birthday

2011-07-20T07:30:00.000-05:00

If you have been to the google home page today, then you have seen the "google" name doodled from the shape of pea-pods in honor of the father (in more than one sense of the word) of modern genetics, Father Gregor Mendel. What is often not mentioned about this founding father is that he was a Catholic Priest.

There isn't enough room in all the libraries of the world to give a full count of the silly faith v. science argument. As it is evident in Father Gregory Mendel, as well as countless other priests, that faith and science do fit together nicely. What has happened to me is that my faith actually stirs within me a curiosity about the world in which I live. I like to think that others, like Fr. Mendel, have had similar experiences.

For a laundry list of contributions that men of the cloth have made to not only the scientific community but also the world, I recommend reading Thomas Wood's, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. It is an easy and informative read.

Youth Speaker's Outline: How to be an Effective Youth Speaker

2011-07-19T10:45:00.000-05:00

[satire]Just spent this past weekend at the Archdiocesan Youth Conference for the Archdioceses of Galveston-Houston. I've been inspired to become a youth speaker after the event. Here is my overall structure for my talks that I will deliver. Let me know what you think.

Title of talk

Length of talk: 60 min

I. Obligator song with handmotions (of heaven) or game that has nothing to do with the talk. (5 Min)
II. Tell some jokes and stories that have nothing to do with the talk (20 min)
a. Local crappy sport team.
b. My local crappy sports team.
c. Ethnic jokes, but only if they are about my ethnicity or being Catholic
d. A story that will later embarrass your child, if they knew you were telling this story, and cause years of therapy and trust issues.
e. Some tragedy that happened in your life.
III. Talk about your spouse (10 min)
a. Guy speaker: say how much you love your wife and how holy and perfect she is and how you are blessed to have her as your spouse. Show picture of you and your spouse being cute. The goal is to make all the girls go "awwwwww" and "oooooooo" with delight.
b. Girl speaker: say how much your husband loves you and all the cute things he does for you. The goal is to make all the girls go "awwwwww" and "oooooooo" with delight.
IV. The substance of the talk (20 min)
V. Recap using a clever mnemonic device that can be put on a t-shirt, or plastic bracelet. (5 min)
VI. Play a closing song and say thank yous (5 min)

If the talk needs to be padded:
1. Make fun of some people in the crowd (especially the "too cool" kid)
2. Make fun, for a second time, of crappy athletic team.
3. Have an extra joke on hand -- the cheesier the better
4. Catholic Calisthenics (kneeling, standing, sitting, praying postures in random and rapid order)
5. Another song, teach LOTS of hand motions. [/satire]

Monday's Music: Back When Lyrics Used to Mean Something

2011-07-18T10:45:00.001-05:00

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-07-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

Larry Flynt, Michelle Bachmann, and Freedom of Speech

2011-07-11T10:39:00.001-05:00

Prolific pornographer Larry Flynt respons to Michelle Bachmann's view on wanting to ban pornography. I do not want to get into a back and forth born is bad, no it's my right, etc . . . So I will offer a few observations I have made over the years.

1. I had the opportunity to meet the super porn star Ron Jeremy. During that meeting I asked him, "What positive influence does pornography have on society?" He stuttered for a bit till he found the words, "I don't know. Maybe help people have sex." He could think of no way that pornography is good for a society. I remember in a few of my more non-traditional college classes the teacher would always as us the question "Why should we study women in horror literature?" To which we were to give the canned response, "It helps us understand the culture and times."

2. An insight into what pornography might be had by looking briefly at the etymology of the word "pornography." "Pornography" comes from the Greek words "pornē"which means "prostitute" and "graphein" which mean "to write." A prostitue is simply someone who receives payment for various forms of sexual acts (to be read as meaning more than sexual intercourse). Taking a broad definition this would mean that prostitutes are not just the woman on the side of the highway but are also the strippers, dancers, and porn stars, because they exchange money for sexual acts.

3. In 1986 the US Attorney release a study titled: Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography. In which they central question of the study was "to examine the question of whether pornography is harmful" (31). The long story made short is that "yes" it does cause harm to a society. To which the report then follows up shortly there after with ""And when we think about harm . . . there are acts that must be condemned not because the evils of the world will thereby be eliminated, but because conscience demands it" (32).

4. I think agree, on very limited terms, with Larry Flynt when he writes, " If we restrict adult viewing and reading material to what is appropriate for children, there will be nothing left but Little Red Riding Hood. This is an issue for parents, not for politicians. Parents need to be responsible for supervising their children to make sure that their children do not have access to material that they disapprove of."

Though, I would like to ask Flynt, "Why is it ok for parents to limit certain forms of freedom of expression and speech of their children; yet, why is it not ok for the US to limit certain kind of free speech?" At what point does "freedom of speech" no longer means "say and do whatever you want."?

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-07-10T16:47:00.000-05:00

Educators More Sexually Abusive than Catholic Priests!?

2011-07-06T23:54:00.000-05:00

The studies I've read on the subject say, "Yes. Educators are more likely to abuse their students than Priests." The major culprits are those who organize and moderate after school activities in which a student has a higher chance of being one-on-one with a teacher or coach after school hours. Rarely does a week go by where I do not read a couple of stories about a teacher sexually abusing a student.

This guys synthesizes the data from various sources.

Be sure to check out the report done by the US Department of Education titled Educator Sexual Misconduct: A synthesis of existing literature (PDF file) from 2004. It covers a time span from about 1987-2003. The most interesting (to be read as "disgusting") section is the dirty laundry list extending 28 pages of Appendix I in which newspaper, news wire, and broadcast references are given, about 20 per page.

Now if only teachers didn't have to take vows of celibacy then maybe they wouldn't abuse their students and positions of power. I shake my fist angrily at the United States department of education because they only allow men to be teachers. If women were allow to be teachers then none of this abuse stuff would happen. If only teachers were only allowed to get married.

h/t to Mark Shea.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-07-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

Harry Potter vs. Star Wars

2011-07-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

The Writer over at the blog Geek in Heels wonders

"if Harry Potter will hold the same significance to my kids’ generation as Star Wars does for mine?"

The writer makes an interesting case when comparing the two franchises. Click the hyper-link to jump to the graphical comparison.

Harry Potter vs. Star Wars | Geek in Heels

Eucharistic Flash Mob: Canonically Appropriate?

2011-06-30T09:53:00.001-05:00

Not long ago, the video of a Eucharistic "flash mob" began making the rounds on the internet among the Catholic media. It consists of a Friar, on the feast of Corpus Cristi (the Body of Christ), lifting a monstrance with the Eucharist exposed for public veneration in a market square in Preston (England, I think) and a group of worshipers falling to their knees in adoration. I've seen the video a couple of times and was a little bothered by it, and I was left wondering if it was liturgically appropriate. I searched some of the Catholic forums and the views ran the gambit. So I decided to look into the matter myself. This is what I found.

Cannon Law states:

Can. 935 It is not lawful for anyone to keep the blessed Eucharist in personal custody or to carry it around, unless there is an urgent pastoral need and the prescriptions of the diocesan Bishop are observed. [The question is, was there an urgent pastoral need to transport the Eucharist to this location in order to do the Flash Mob? This of course depends on what is meant by "urgent", "need" and "pastoral." In section 18 of John Paul II's apostolic letter, MANE NOBISCUM DOMINE, for the year of the Eucharist, the Holy Father writes:

Our faith in the God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible source of blessings. [Emphasis mine]

No doubt there certainly is an urgent pastoral need to expose the world to the healing offered by the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. No doubt that the 'flash mob' would not have happened without the transportation of the Eucharist to this location. The real question always comes down to whether or not the Bishop gave approval of such transportation for this reason.]

Can. 944 ß1 Wherever in the judgment of the diocesan Bishop it can be done, a procession through the streets is to be held, especially on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, as a public witness of veneration of the blessed Eucharist. [I'm going to assume the Friar had the Bishop's approval.]

ß2 It is for the diocesan Bishop to establish such regulations about processions as will provide for participation in them and for their being carried out in a dignified manner. [This is a kicker. The local Bishop establishes the regulations for a Eucharistic procession. Typically a Eucharistic procession has a specific form: songs, walking through the streets, public witness, incense, etc. However, according to this Canon, the local Ordinary may change the form of the procession if he sees fit. So this 'flash mob' could very well be an extraordinary form of a Eucharistic Procession in the form of a culturally popular "flash mob." But did they have approval from the Bishop? I think it is generous that we all assume so. Though, it is sometimes easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Could the Eucharistic mob have been done in a more dignified manner? I personally do not see a loss of dignity, but the Friar could have arranged the use of all the smells, bells, and canopy to give the 'mob' more of a Liturgical and Eucharistic feel. Also, If you watch the video, pay attention to what the Friar is saying. He is recounting Christ in every book of the Bible.]

Check out the Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy and Eucharistiae Sacramentum for further reading on this subject.

Welcome to the Vacuum, where lies and fales hoods are sucked up

2011-06-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

The web show Kevin O'Brien is parodying, I cannot stand. This is a comical look at all the hoopla surrounding Fr. Corapi.

P.S. I'm an expert on this issue because I have a blog.

Not Said By Jesus Sunday: Corpus Cristi Edition

2011-06-26T20:39:00.002-05:00

Know Nothinger Dowd takes aim at Archbishop Dolan's stance on Gay Mariage.

2011-06-19T13:46:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me how people in the media always cover topics about which they know nothing. I would never be asked to teach a math class or biology not becuase I do not have opinions on those subjects, but becuase I do not have the necessary training in math or biology to teach those subjects. Likewise if I was a reporter or person of the press I would hope to never be asked to cover golf, as I know nothing about golf other than Tiger Woods is good at it.

However, Maureen Dowd, who from her recent op-ed for the NYTimes, is not hindered by her lack of knowledge on a subject that she is clearly ill equipped to speak of in an educated and respectful manner that should be the cornerstone of journalism.

Here are some quotes, with my commentary in red.

"If only his church had been as ferocious in fighting against the true perversity against nature: the unending horror of pedophile priests and the children who trusted them. " [Seriously? They way she writes makes it seem like every member of the catholic faith under the age of 12 is being constantly approached by priests for abusive purposes. I've been Catholic my whole life. I know many many priests. Never did a priest try to molest me. Plus, I grew up living across from our parish priests whom I got to know very well.]

"Governor Cuomo was already on the wrong side of the church for his support of abortion rights, his divorce and his living in “sin” with the Food Network star Sandra Lee. He was accused by the Vatican adviser Edward Peters of “public concubinage,” as it’s known in canon law, and Peters recommended that Cuomo be denied communion until he resolved “the scandal” by ceasing this “cohabiting.”" [Ok, let me get this straight, church letting some priests wrongfully get away with abusing teens and pre-teens and the church is a hypocrite. Someone within the church restates the church's teachings on an issue and all of a sudden Dowd has a problem with it. What it boils down to is that Dowd wants a religion/Church in which she makes all the rules.]

"Dolan insists that marriage between a man and a woman is “hard-wired” by God and nature. But the church refuses to acknowledge that homosexuality may be hard-wired by God and nature as well, and is not a lifestyle choice." [Commonsense can figure this one out. Just because some men like other men and some women like other women means that homosexuality is no more hardwired in to a person than kleptomania. One would think that if homosexuality is indeed hardwired into people that it would have been eliminated from humanity millennia ago by means of evolution and natural selection as it provides humanity with no beneficial advantage over other members of the species.]

"The church refuses to acknowledge the hypocrisy at its heart: that it became a haven for gay priests even though it declares homosexual sex a sin, and even though it lobbies to stop gays from marrying." [She acts surprised to find sinners in the Church. That's like being shocked at finding sick people in the hospital. The Church is for Sinners! Moreover, has Dowd not paid any attention to the press? The Church has admitted its mistakes on it for trying to handle some of the abuses cases inhouse. It has been doing it for over 5 years? How much longer do you want to the church to admit it. The Church also teaching it is not a sin to be a homosexual. It is a sin to have gay sex. Why? Because they aren't married! Same rules for straight people too.]

"The report suggested that the problem was caused by permissive secular society rather than cloistered church culture, because priests were trained in the turbulent free-love era. It concluded, absurdly, that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were causes." [Go read any book on church history and with will surprisingly find that the church is not immune by the surrounding culture. She should also go read "Goodbye Good men" which goes into more depts as to how many more gay men were let into the priesthood and how some seminaries became know as pink palaces because in some of these seminaries the only way to be let in is if you supported gay rights.]
"If God and nature are so clear about what marriage is, why do the well-connected have an easier time getting the church to sunder their marriages with annulments? (Yes, we’re talking about you, Newt Gingrich.)" [It would have been helpful to research the topic. Clearly she things an annulment is the same as divorce -- they are not the same. Annulment simply means that the sacrament never actually occured do to several reasons:coersion, not freely giving of ones self, improper intent, improper sacramental form or matter etc . . . Simply put with an annulment, the marriage never happened. So the church is not sundering a marriage. There is nothing to sunder.]

"The Starchbishop noted" [You can tell a person knows they are loosing when the resort to name calling.]

“Last time I consulted an atlas, it is clear we are living in New York, in the United States of America — not in China or North Korea,” where “communiqués from the government can dictate the size of families, who lives and who dies, and what the very definition of ‘family’ and ‘marriage’ means.”

Yeah. Not like the Vatican. [The Vatican didn't define it. Go read the gosples. Sermon on teh mount might be a good place to start. I might change the definition of "tree" to include "upright, bi-pedal, rational animals" but I have not enhanced the mean of "tree" I have only destrioed what it means to be a tree and confuse people what it means to be a person.]

"And how about the right of a child not to be molested by the parish priest? " [Funny how when people can't think of any intelligent response they just throw the "priests touch little boys" argument. For instance: "The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus." In which the other person says, "No, I don't agree, I know this teaching is wrong becuase priests molested people." Seriously?]

"Dolan acts like getting married (when done by gays) is a self-indulgent act of hedonism when it’s really a leap of faith and a promise of fidelity." [He doessn't even talk about pleasure in the context of marriage in his article. An act of fidelity is what marriage is supposed to be. Like an ideal. The marriage vow does not guarentees faithfulness. If it did, 70% of marriages would not end in divorce. But the fact that 70% of marriages do end in divorce does not eliminate the ideal and the nature of what marriage is. If we got rid of the marriage vow people would still be unfaithful.]

Worn out by the rampant sexting of Anthony Weiner and the relentless blogging of Archbishop Dolan, I’m wondering if our institutions need to rejigger: Maybe pols should be celibate and priests should be married. [About once a week I read a news story about some teacher somewhere in the usa who is being arrested and charged for molesting a student. If we this country would only allow teachers to get married maybe then children and schools would be safe.]

Really what Dowd fails to see is that the body itself has a meaning and that meaning is expressed by means of the matter. Certain kinds of matter can only express and mean certain things.

Sorry for any typoes, I'm trying to type this quickly.

Not Said By Jesus Sunday

2011-06-12T18:02:00.001-05:00

We Choose You Benedict XVI: McBrien Gots Some Learning to Do

2011-06-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

Fr. Richard McBrien, over at the NC Reporter, is decrying the process in which the Pope and all Bishops are currently selected. He sites a few historical documents that glancing mention selecting a bishop publicly from the community. McBrien wonders why the Bishop is no longer publicly selected/elected by its own community. It is sad when a professor of ecclesiology does not realize that any person who receives the Sacrament if Holy Orders is publicly selected/elected by the Church community. However, it just doesn't happen in the way in which McBrien wants -- he wants a publicly held election, in which I assume would resemble something like a US political election.

When a priest or deacon is ordained the Bishop says the following: "We rely on the help of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and we choose these men, our brothers, for priesthood in the presbyterial order." The key phrase is "WE CHOOSE THESE MEN." The Bishop here is speaking on behalf of the entire local church community. Though I have not been to or seen the rite associated with making a priest a Bishop, I feel pretty confident that there is something similar in the words in which the Church chooses the new Bishop through the Pope.

To make a modern analogy, it is similar to how a Senator represents a portion of his or her state. Not every person can be present to cast his or her vote at every single bill. So the Senator and Congressmen stand in place and represent portions of their state and how the President represents the entire country. It is akin to how the priest represents his parish, the bishop his diocese, and the Pope the entire Church.

From a practical perspective:
1. In the early days of Christianity such a public selection process, when church communities were very small, might have been practical. However, with some diocese having millions of people in it, it is no longer practical to select bishops or the pope in that manner. The question that must be asked is not only "What was it like in the early church?" but also "What is it supposed to be and where is the Spirit guiding us?"
2. We all know how ugly political elections can be. Must we tempt our brothers in Christ with the same lack of charity for the mere position within the Church. This process would seem to lend itself to pride than humility. I refer you to this book by Gregory the Great in which he discusses the need of humility for the priestly office as well as the dangers of selecting spiritual leaders who want to be spiritual leaders.
3. The entire local church would not be voting for the Bishop. Just look at the dismal rate of US citizens who turn out for political elections.
4. In order for anyone to know enough about a person in regards to holiness, education, prayer life, etc . . . the requirement would have to be a small community -- perhaps 150 people in size. The average church goer does not have the time nor the means to vouch for every candidate for the Priesthood or Bishopric. Good thing there are places like the Seminary that can vouch for these individuals.
5. I have parents who think Genesis, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and Jesus are the first five books of the Bible. With such little knowledge of their own faith, the current state of the church, who only pray when they need something from God, and who are caught up more in the works of Fantasy Football or the Real Housewives than the work of the people in the form of the Mass, how can we be certain that they are making a well informed decision? No I'll stick with the Bishops speaking on my behalf when selecting the Pope and the Pope speaking on my behalf in selecting a Bishop. They are much smarter and much holier than I.

Scriptural speaking, it is Peter who leads the selection of Judas' replacement in Act 1. So first it is clear that Peter has the authority to select a new apostle (bishop) through the process that he saw fit as given to him by the Holy Spirit. A selection process does take place; however, it is not explicitly detailed in how it happened. Did all 120 members vote? The text does not say, but what is clear from later writing in Acts, other letters, and in the Gospels is that little happened in the early church, without Peter's consent (John 20, the other apostles wait for Peter and let Peter go first into the empty tomb of Christ; Acts 15, the council of Jerusalem in which Peter makes a decree and James -- the head of the Jerusalem church -- affirms Peter's decree and set about implementing it. Just to name two.) It only makes sense that if a person has the authority to select a new Bishop that he too has the same authority dispose of a Bishop from his bishopric.

Jesus Didn't Say That! Or Did He?

2011-06-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

In today's Mass readings (June 8, 2011), Paul quotes Jesus saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The funny thing is, Jesus is not reported to have said such a thing in the Gospels. Does this mean Paul doesn't know what he is talking about or that Jesus didn't really say it? Not at all. First one should remember John 21:25 which reads, "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." So it should be no surprise that everything Christ did and said are not in Sacred Scripture.

Yet, where does Paul get his information? There are several possibilities:
1. Directly from Jesus Himself when Christ appeared to Paul.
2. From Word of Mouth from other Christians.
3. The Gospels.

We know that the Gospels as a whole were not fully formed when Paul is writing, so we can rule out the Gospels. It is possible that Christ taught it directly to Paul; however, if the records of Acts is accurate in Paul's conversion in recording all that Christ said to Paul then option one can be ruled out also. Therefore, the only plausible option is that Paul received the saying of Christ from one of Christ's followers. After all, he did meet with the Apostles in Jerusalem.

So what does this mean? Simply that Paul is depending upon oral tradition to teach others what Christ did and said. In other words, Paul's teachings is based not upon a book, but the Traditions of Christ passed down from Christ to His Apostles and to His followers. Hopefully this calls to mind Acts 2:42 in which it is recorded "They [the early Christians] devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers."

Yet, later on in Paul's ministry, he tells his readers in 2 Thes. 2:15 to "stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." Aware that teachings are passed down by letter, Paul still adheres to the importance of oral tradition. If letters were the only source of teachings and tradition, Paul would have never encouraged his readers to adhere to oral tradition. Why the emphasis on oral tradition? Because that is how he was taught and learned about Christ. To discredit oral tradition would be to discredit his own teachings and therefore all of Christianity as even the apostles taught by means of oral tradition. Oral tradition is how all early Christians learned about Christ from the Beginning. If oral tradition was done away with then one could never learn of Christ as what latter flowers from the oral traditions are not only the epistles but also the entirety of the New Testament. In other words, the New Testament is the written portion of Sacred Oral Tradition.

Not Said By Jesus: Post Ascension Thursday Sunday Edition

2011-06-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

If I Were an Anime Character

2011-05-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

A student thought an appropriate end of year present for her theology teacher would be a homemade card with a clever anime picture of her theology teacher on the front and a list of funny things or weird things I said in class. I don't think I'll be sharing the list of sayings, though some are funny and even funnier when taken out of context. Here is the anime me as envisioned by one of my students. In case you are wondering, I did like the card.

Not Said By Jesus Sunday: Rapture Postponed

2011-05-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

Not Said By Jesus Friday: Rapture Edition

2011-05-20T00:01:00.002-05:00

Not Said By Jesus Sunday

2011-05-15T13:01:00.000-05:00

I think I saw something like this on a bumper sticker once.

Sunday Worship?

2011-04-29T11:54:00.001-05:00

A friend from work sent this to me today. Histerical! I like the fact that Catholics have Liturgy -- we don't have to make it up as we go along.

What is Church was treated like an NBA game?

And then we have the Sunday worship of the early Church. . .

Not Said by Jesus Sunday: Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T22:17:00.000-05:00

Ok, He sort of did say this, but not in these exact words. Think Mighty Mouse.

Finally, Hell is Fake and Jesus is Wrong

2011-04-20T22:43:00.000-05:00

Mars Hill Bible Church Pastor, Rob Bell's recent book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Apparently he is suggesting that Hell is not real. Here are some highlights from article with my own comments.

From Article:

Bell, a tall, 40-year-old son of a Michigan federal judge, begs to differ. He suggests that the redemptive work of Jesus may be universal [Universal, like Catholic? It is moments like this that I am glad to be Catholic. A quick glance of Lumen Gentium §15-16 reveals who has the fullness of the truth and an 'easier' access to salvation. The list goes as follows: Catholics, Christians who are not part of the Catholic faith, Those who have not received the Gospel but are still related to God's people (Jews), Those who worship and acknowledge the creator (Islam), Those who seek God in the unknown (Deist and Theist), Those who, by no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel or God but seek God in a sincere manner by doing good (the bushman), Those who exchanged the truth for the lie and worship the creation and not the creator, those who live without God.]

If, in other words, Gandhi is in heaven, then why bother with accepting Christ? [Because as Christianity is a Religion not based on feeling, emotions, pop icons, or good ideas. Christianity is a religion of truth. It is the expectation that every Christian is spreading the truth to all people. To do other wise might be a sin of omission.]

Still, the dominant view of the righteous in heaven and the damned in hell owes more to the artistic legacy of the West, from Michelangelo to Dante to Blake, than it does to history or to unambiguous biblical teaching. [Really? I thought it was the Bible and the fact that over 70 times Jesus talks about Hell and eternal suffering. Jesus speaks more of hell than Heaven. If we go on numbers alone Hell is more real than Heaven.]

many had expected their Messiah to be a Davidic military leader, not an atoning human sacrifice.[They were also waiting for a New Adam, a New Moses, a New David, a New Solomon, and a New Temple. But the atoning sacrifice is exactly what was expected because the sin against all of Israel was the sin of a broken covenant and the penalty for those who broke the covenant was death. People really need to go read the Bible]

If Bell is right about hell, then why do people need ecclesiastical traditions at all? [Talk about a huge leap in logic. It isn't the traditions that people need but the Church established by Christ Himself.]

Fair enough, but let's be honest: religion heals, but it also kills. [I thought it was people that kill.]

Hit tip to Justin.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-04-17T01:00:00.001-05:00

"The split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age" (Gaudium et Spes §43)

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-03-27T14:52:00.002-05:00

Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church

2011-03-22T20:35:00.000-05:00

When people speak of "sexual diversity" one might mistakenly assume that "sexuality diversity" is slang for the diversity of sexual partners one might have over a life time or slang for the different sexual experiences to be had in the Kama Sutra or slang for the differnt locals a person might be able to engage in sexual activity or even slang for the "spicing up" of a couple's sex life. Still one might assume that "sexual" is used in the older sense in which 'sex' meant man or woman and in doing so mistakenly think "sexual diversity" is about the differences between a man and woman. However, this is not the case. When groups speak of "sexual diversity" it is often jargon for the promotion of a once forbidden taboo which is now to be pushed and forced upon the masses as a cultural norm in regards to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender sexual acts.

Those people who speak of sexual diversity fail to see a fundamental truth in the sexual intercourse between man and woman: it is, always has been, and always will be ineffably diverse. Sex, for those individuals who promote the diverse kind, is reduced to a mere collision of body parts. The soul, tossed out and ignored like last season's fads, is forsaken for the body and in doing so true diversity -- true sexual diversity is missed. For what makes real diversity, the thing that makes every person an ineffable mystery of God, is not allow to take part in the conversation.

As a result, diversity is limited to personal preferences, and in doing so, diversity undergoes a soft violence by means of the illogic of moral relativism -- that self defeating argument that states the only truth is that there are no truths. The out come is the fortification of the credo of relativism, and no longer is virtue or truth sought. Instead, virtue and truth are replace by sentiments and pleasant platitudes. Furthermore why exactly is sexual diversity limited to the human species? One would expect that in the open mindedness of relativism and in the guise of diversity that other species, phyla, genus, and kingdoms would be invited to the table. For what might the sea cucumber say on sexual diversity? What might lion say on the issue of sexual diversity? Why might the slug or chicken say of sexual diversity? What might those who prefer cross species sexual diversity bring to the table?

The fact that two Catholic universities have to have a conference about the issues of sexual diversity based not on the teaching of the church but on how a gay, bi, transgendered person lives out being Catholic is ridiculous. The Catholic church asks the same of all unmarried people whether they are gay, bi, transgendered, or straight. Sexual acts and reserved for those who are married and have celebrated the sacrament of matrimony.

Not Said by Jesus Sunday

2011-03-20T21:37:00.002-05:00

To the Feeneyist Who Wrote Me an Anon Letter

2011-03-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

To the Feeneyite who sent me the following letter insisting that there is “no salvation outside the Church” (extra ecclesiam nulla salus). That is, there is no salvation outside of the Roman Church established by Jesus Christ and the only means into that Church is by baptism.

What exactly this teaching means is often misunderstood when it is isolated from the entirety of Christian doctrine. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this teaching simply: “it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body" (CCC 846).

Pius IX commented on this doctrine saying in 1854:

“We must hold as of the faith, that out of the Apostolic Roman Church there is no salvation; that she is the only ark of safety, and whosoever is not in her perishes in the deluge; we must also, on the other hand, recognize with certainty that those who are invincible in ignorance of the true religion are not guilty for this in the eyes of the Lord. And who would presume to mark out the limits of this ignorance according to the character and diversity of peoples, countries, minds and the rest”

Nine years later in 1863 Pius IX said:

“It is known to us and to you that those who are in invincible ignorance of our most holy religion, but who observe carefully the natural law, and the precepts graven by God upon the hearts of all men, and who being disposed to obey God lead an honest and upright life, may, aided by the light of divine grace, attain to eternal life; for God who sees clearly, searches and knows the heart, the disposition, the thoughts and intentions of each, in His supreme mercy and goodness by no means permits that anyone suffer eternal punishment, who has not of his own free will fallen into sin.”

In brief, though the Church in the world is the sacrament of salvation, God Himself is by no means limited by what He institutes. The ordinary means of salvation might be through the Church properly speaking, God can -- doing what He sees as fit by means of His omnipotence and omnibenevolence -- save others that are not a part of the Roman Catholic Church. Certainly, those of the Roman Catholic faith do have an easier means at which to attain salvation, provided they take advantage of all that Christ and God offered and established, than those outside of the Catholic Faith.

It must be remembered that the Church makes no official declaration on who is not saved. For we do not know for certain whether or not a person who preformed evil acts while alive is indeed in Hell or if they had a flash of repentance with their dying breath and accepted the grace of God.

The Church only makes proclamations on who is in Heaven and even then it is rare and only after a long process.

[Seriously, if you are going to write me a letter, at least leave a return address so I can write back.]

St. Josemaria Escriva on Lady Gaga: Born This Way?

2011-02-26T18:47:00.004-05:00

Lady Gaga's latest hit, Born This Way, is already being touted as the next great gay anthem and female power song. The song begins: It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M / Just put your paws up / 'cause you were Born This Way, Baby." It is no surprise of the song's licentiousness and its insistence that people do not become who they are but instead are born that way. After all, this is the pop diva who tells her fans that indeed what she does in public and on state is not a persona. The egg she was carried in at the Grammys: Born that way. The meat dress: born that way. Boozing antics at Yankee's club house: born that way. Rhinestone bikini lingerie as the attire to a baseball game: born that way. Ripping off Madonna: born that way.

I will not get into the problems of the philosophical premise found in the song: that everyone is born the way they are and never change. But to state the problem briefly: would it be tolerated if the wife beater, alcoholic, or kleptomaniac expressed that they do what they do because they were born that way? Not likely.

Yet, I still can't help wonder, what would the Saints say to Lady Gaga's insistence that she did not become the person she is but instead was born that way and in turn has no choice but to do what it is she does?

St. Josemaria Escriva might say to Lady Gaga: "Don's say 'That's the way I am -- it's my character.' It's your lack of character."

Lifeteen, Mary, and Purity

2011-02-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

I've been assisting with a Lifeteen group in Houston, TX since my move from Louisiana. Each Life Night, ends in small groups with a journal question for the teens. Last week I gave the question, "How should your view of Mary influence the way in which you view women?" I quickly became tired of the thoughtless answers I received: as a mother, as a sister, as an individual. The answer weren't bad, but I wanted to get to the heart of the matter. For nearly every journal, I replied back the teens with the following:

We wouldn't call Mary, Virgin most Pure, Mother of God, "hot", "sexy", or say she has a "nice butt." So why do we so often do this to other women we know? Women are not degrees of temperatures ranging from hot to cold. Women are not objects put on earth for our mere sexual gratification. Women are not things for us to ogle over and stare at for our viewing pleasure. Made in the image and likeness of God, women are persons to be respected and loved.

An Educator Responds to Obama's State of the Union Address Educational Platitudes

2011-01-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

[It annoys me to no end when policy makers who know nothing on an issue or topic decide to make plan to fix it. I don't tell the auto mechanic how to fix my car. I don't tell the doctor how to heal me. Yet, why do people who sit in the ivory tower separated far-far from the reality of what education has actually become, what happens in a classroom, and how much a teacher works feel the need to tell teachers what has to be done. My dad thought it was a good idea to have every person join the military for four years; it would teach discipline and life skills. Today, I might say, every person in America should become a teacher for four years; it will solve the countries educational decline. So here comes my commentary, in red, to Obama. The president give a lot of platitudes, but does not give any concrete solutions.]

Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America's success. But if we want to win the future - if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas - then we also have to win the race to educate our kids. [Ok, I agree. But are we going to do it?]

Think about it. [Now you're just going to far. Asking me to think. That takes work.] Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. [That's because colleges are turning into the new high school on a number of levels: education and maturity to name two]And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations [That is becuase facebook and Youtube are funner.]. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us - as citizens, and as parents - are willing to do what's necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.[You mean people are going to have to work to become better? It might be challenging. WOW! What a novel idea. Work hard and positive result will follow]

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities [Duh, but who is going to take responsibility? If we take H. Clinton's aprroach it is the whole town; so, let us just pass the buck to others. Mom, Dad, don't be the primary educators of your children, don't help them with their homework. Just let the schools do it.]. It's family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. [This assumes that parents are being parents to their children. Every year I give the same talk to my students' parents, and every years half the parents do not listen. Apparently parents know more about the life of teens than a person who is surrounded by many hundred teens for 8-12 hours a day. The talk basically goes: you are the parent. It is your job to raise your child. You are not your child's friend. YOU are the PARENT. So stop letting your child do what they want and start telling them how it it going to be. This also means that the parent has to turn of the TV as well, set the example and help the child do their homework.] We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline. [Well, pay scientists and teachers millions of dollar. Put the scientis on TV. Heaven knows they will likely be better role models for our kids than the football players. In fact, lets hold a scientist and teacher draft. First years teachers and first round pick gets 10 million a year. Then lets see how the education system changes in this country.]

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance [Assuming the teachers are being supported by the parents, and the parents are holding the student to the same standard--sure. However, much of America has developed a sense of entitlement in the area of education and believe that their child deserves a good grade just for being physically present in the school.]. But too many schools don't meet this test. [How many, can you be more specific?] That's why instead of just pouring money into a system that's not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top. [To the top of what? This isn't the same race that JFK called for. Give us a tangible goal! JFK gave us the moon. Obama gives us the unspecific 'TOP']To all fifty states, we said, "If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we'll show you the money."[How about you start paying a decent salary and maybe good teachers might want to become teachers. I remember being offered 24,000 to teach at a school in Louisiana after graduating from my undergrad. Upon graduating from grad school I was offered 28,000 at another school.]

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. [Why aren't they developed by educators? I'm not setting the standards of care for my doctor. I'm not setting the standards for the government or for the plumber who plumbs. I don't get to set the standards for the banking industry. Then why does the government, a bunch of politicians get to set the standards for my job as an educator. Do they know if they are setting the standards high enough?]]And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids.

You see, we know what's possible for our children when reform isn't just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities. [I wasn't consulted.]
Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97% [Nice percentage, but this dooes not tell us how many actually graduated.] of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their family to go to college [What kind of college? Barber College? Notre Dame? College of hard knocks. This sounds great, but is it?]. And after the first year of the school's transformation, the principal who made it possible wiped away tears when a student said "Thank you, Mrs. Waters, for showing... that we are smart and we can make it."[This is why people teach, but isolated incident. Happens to few teachers.]

Let's also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child's success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom[Then tell parents to start trusting the teacher. Teachers aren't out to fail children.] . In South Korea, teachers are known as "nation builders." Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. [Define good teacher. Define bad teacher.] And over the next ten years, with so many Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.[What about English? What about music?]

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who's contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child - become a teacher. Your country needs you.[Goodwill only goes so far. Why should a young person who is looking at a career when they can find another job which involves less work and more money than teaching become a teacher? What is the incentive to choose a teaching career over another career? Warm fuzzy feeling and good will doesn't pay the rent.]

Of course, the education race doesn't end with a high school diploma. To compete, higher education must be within reach of every American [since when? Why does the plumber need a college degree? I'm not suggesting education is not needed, but why college if a person wants to pursue a trade?] That's why we've ended the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that went to banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make permanent our tuition tax credit - worth $10,000 for four years of college.

Because people need to be able to train for new jobs and careers in today's fast-changing economy, we are also revitalizing America's community colleges. Last month, I saw the promise of these schools at Forsyth Tech in North Carolina. Many of the students there used to work in the surrounding factories that have since left town. One mother of two, a woman named Kathy Proctor, had worked in the furniture industry since she was 18 years old. And she told me she's earning her degree in biotechnology now, at 55 years old, not just because the furniture jobs are gone, but because she wants to inspire her children to pursue their dreams too. As Kathy said, "I hope it tells them to never give up."[Inspiring story: isolated incident]

If we take these steps - if we raise expectations for every child, and give them the best possible chance at an education, from the day they're born until the last job they take - we will reach the goal I set two years ago: by the end of the decade, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. [Since when is it about having college graduates. If that is all it is about then I'll start my own college and sell degrees for $100 a pop. What I'm saying is that I know many people who wasted their college education and have a degree.]

One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.

[Obama, become a high school teacher for a few years and see how difficult it is. Sure you make is sound easy, but the fix is not going to be easy. When people realize it isn't easy and that it will take sacrifice and hard work, how many are going to quit because of they feel as if they have been lied to?]

Tomato Pie

2011-01-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Half eaten tomato pie. Yum.

I've manage to come down with a long head cold that does not want to depart from my body, and I can only take so much chicken soup before I start upon an existential and metaphysical quest trying to answer the question: "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

Result: real food. I decided to make tomato pie. Don't think of an apple pie where the apple filling is replaced with a tomato filing. Think 'pie' as in 'pizza pie.' Tomato pie is a dish I discovered while living in Delaware. According to one local pizza kitchen, it was considered poor people food for those times when mama could not afford cheese, meat, or other vegetables. The outcome from such a lack of income is a delicious pizza-like dish with a kicked up red sauce.

Sadly, when I returned to the South, I could find no pizza places that made such a dish or even heard of such a dish. Most pizzerias I'd ask about tomato pie would give me a face of disgust till I described it to them. Long story short, I experimented in my kitchen till I figured out a good recipie for tomato pie.

So in my sickly days of winter, I share with everyone my recipe for tomato pie, which according to my friend from New York who has tried this, "Ahh, it's like grandma used to make." I took that as a complement; but I don't know, maybe his grandma was a bad cook, and he was really expressing his dislike.

Ingredients:

1 ~26 oz can of tomato sauce
4 Tbls of minced garlic
4 Tbls of Italian seasoning
2oz Whiskey (I prefer Jack Daniels and it has a nice smokey/woodsy flavor)
Pizza dough (I use the canned stuff from the cooler section in the grocery store)

Directions:

Sauce:
1. Empty tomato sauce into a sauce pan, don't forget to rinse out the jar/can with a little water in order to get all the sauce from the jar/can.
2. Add the garlic and seasoning.
3. Add whiskey when you are about 30 min from completion.

The trick for the sauce it to make it thick. Don't think pasta sauce thick. Think somewhere between tomato paste and pasta sauce. Thin enough to spread on the dough but think enough that there is almost no sauce running. This is important because you actually want the sauce to stay on the dough, after all the sauce is the main topping. I can't say for certain how long the sauce needs to be cooked. Cooking time depends on how much water is in the sauce.

Dough:
If you are fancy, you can make your own dough. If you aren't too fancy, you can use a pizza dough mix. If you are in a hurry or find the pre-made dough from a can acceptable, go for it. For this recipe, I usually use the dough in a can for the sake of ease. For this kind of pie, the dough should not be thin and crispy. So aim at making your dough 1/2-3/4 an inch. If you use the can dough, this is simple just use a 15x11 pan and press it out to fit the pan.

Assembly:
You want to pile the sauce on. Don't be shy about how much you use. The goal is to not see any of the dough through the sauce. If you see dough, add more sauce. This is not like regular pizza, in which you can use 1/2 cup of sauce for an entire pizza. You want to use almost all the sauce you make (you'll likely end up with about 3 cups).

Baking:
1. Set oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Stick it in the oven (feel free to sprinkle a little more Italian seasoning on the top to get a great aroma in the kitchen).
3. Bake about 10-13 min, or until dough browns a bit.

Unlike pizza, which is served hot, tomato pie is served about room temperature. So let it cool before eating.

This makes a great appetizer.