Canada's first 'green' church

What on earth is eco-theology? ... no pun intended

Inside, the church will be divided into two main areas: A gathering space
just within the main doors where congregants can hold special events or simply
meet informally with one another before entering the worship space for Mass.
The gathering space will feature a "living wall" draped in foliage over
which a thin layer of water will constantly flow. The living wall is designed
to improve the quality of incoming air and purify the air when a congregation
is using the gathering space, the worship space, or both.

My "worship space" = "progressive nonsense" radar is going off but I will reserve judgment not knowing very much about the church. Read the article and decide for yourself. Over-environmental zeal?



I must admit that this rendition of the church puts me off. (See my diatribe on modern design in the church from a fan of modern design)

This reminds me of why the environmentalist movement is such a hot topic with me. I got in a heated debate with a young man who insisted that global warming was caused by humans and that this is a certain fact. I told him that is was not a certain truth because strong circumstantial evidence doesn't equate to facts. One does not necessarily follow from the other and even though I strongly suspect our actions are not good for the earth, I am not going to tell someone it is a 100% verifiable fact that humans cause global warming. It is simply intellectually dishonest.

I want to make it very clear that I am not opposed to proper stewardship of the planet. What I am against is the falsehoods that you see in the secular environmentalist movement designed to cause us to emotionally react as opposed to think about matters related to the environment. I have the same problem with falsehoods used in the pro-life movement even in the cause to defend innocent life againt murder. Lies and theoretical knowledge peddled as truth get you nowhere. Truth is an important standard and one we should all aspire to. Another big problem with the message that environmentalists are trying to get out is that they are going about it in such a way as to create a dividedly partisan issue out of it. They desire so strongly to get the goat of political conservatives that they forget that there are many conservatives who might be sympathetic to their cause. (See Birkenstocked Burkeans - Confessions of a granola conservative on National Review Online)

The environmental message is one I am prone to listen to, provided that it is sensible and keeps in mind all that the Church teaches. Sadly these days people want to think that the whole teaching of Catholicism is one of great cognitive dissonance, so they shed some things in favor of others and say that the Church told them so ....

The Catholic Conservation Center has an excellent collection of resources dealing with the Catholic Church and its historical teachings on the environment. If even has some articles about how the secular version of environmental responsiblity is not always in line with Catholic teaching about environmental responsiblity.

Latin Mass returns to Sioux Falls Cathedral via Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

"I'm really glad it's in English now so I can know what's being said. However, any way the church can reach out with an acceptable liturgy to expand people's relationship with God, that's great."

That is sort of how I have seen it for a long time. Why the friction? I am still at a loss ... chalk it up to my relative newbie Catholic status. (See Use of Latin makes some uncomfortable in this recent entry)

Splinter church has 300 members after a year - "Hausen left the Roman Catholic church because he favors marriage for priests, the ordination of women and debate on birth control. He was excommunicated, and the Pittsburgh diocese said anyone following Hausen also would be excommunicated."

On Anglicans reuniting with Rome via Envoy Encore

How Godel's theorem negates the belief that all true doctrine must be decideable from Scripture. via The Dawn Patrol - Interesting

Oh and the "frighteningly vivid middle-school flashback" 80's song of the week is ... "I Can't Wait" on the album
Poolside by Nu Shooz

I Can't Wait --

Listen (WM)

And speaking of the 80's what do Mercedes Boy by Pebbles, Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Richie and Beat It by Michael Jackson have in common? Meedley meedley MEEEEE guitar solos in heavily pop/electronic tunes. That was a trend in music that I really got a big kick out of but which I am entirely glad fizzled out.

Well the notes will likely come later ...

I got this first thing in the morning when I got to work ...



Normally this is something like "You are entering a secure site" OK, Cancel. Below that would be a message like "Check this box if you want us to remind you when entering a secure site in the future." ...

What this is saying is that "You are agreeing to something but I am not going to tell you what it is" and "Check this box to roll the dice on this unknown question for eternity" ... BWUHAHAHAHA!!!

December 9th ... The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe .. in theatres - quite large download. (main Moviephone page)

and in Bizzaro world news ...

Episcopal bishop tells dissidents to leave

Keep in mind that "dissident" means those who are opposed to the ordination of Gene Robinson as bishop in the ECUSA.

In the Catholic Church we have a minority of bishops standing firm and making life difficult for members who are in favor of affirmation of their sinful lifestyles.
In the Episcopal church we have a minority of bishops standing firm and making life difficult for members who are NOT in favor of affirmation of a sinful lifestyle.

Welcome to the worldly high virtue of tolerance. Tolerance, you see, is acceptable ONLY when the primary doctrine is relativism and relativism only applies to those teachings which do not infringe on the "rights" of others to engage in any activity they please as long as "they are not hurting anyone else".

I really am at a loss here though. In a way it seems grossly ironic that a bishop in the Episcopal church would take a strong stand against those who are in favor of doctrines not in line with what the local church teaches. Woldwide, Anglicans appear to be on the side of the "dissedents".

I think that a division of Episcopalians in this country is now near certain.

The question is, will liberal Catholics see liberal Episcopalians taking a stand and join them or will they hold on to the hope that they can change the Catholic Church the same way? Is an American Catholic - Roman Catholic split boiling under the surface in this country or is the liberal Catholic faction becoming less and less of an influence with the increase in young orthodox priests and the obvious orthodox course charted by the election of Benedict XVI?

Apparel at CatholicPosters.com

I have run into this site on occasions and it always gets me how bold some of their shirts are. For example.




and of course ... one of my favorites ...
You will simply have to see for yourself - This is a womens shirt. There is a mens version as well. The picture shows the quotes better on the womens page.

I LIKE EM!!! If you know me well enough to buy me gifts, this is a good place to start.

Interesting stat on girl baby names

I was checking out the popular baby names statistics on the Social Security administration website. According to the stats on the website, the name Mary was the most popular girl name from the 1880's to the 1950's. I was surprised to see that Mary was the most popular name for 70 years. The name started to drop in popularity in the 60's and has been falling since. So far this decade it is ranking 50th in popularity. I wonder if this decreasing popularity in the name is due to fewer people honoring the Blessed Mother. Here is the link.

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

My response: I noticed this when I was looking at baby names and my guess is that you are almost certainly on to something. Even 50 years ago I am willing to venture that Protestants did not have the Mary-phobia that they have today. I think that the detraction of Mary in our mostly Protestant culture is the extreme outcome of attempts to disprove Catholicism on the merits of refuting Marian dogma or the usual straw-men variations like Catholics worship Mary or Mary is fourth person of the Trinity. From what I can tell, some Protestant apologists see Marian teachings as a weak point to work with. If you dislike and argue against real and imagined Marian doctrines long enough, I don't see how you couldn't grow to dislike Mary.

I have been pleased to see articles in recent months by Evangelical and mainline Protestants who are seeking a deeper appreciation for the Blessed Virgin Mary. I think The Passion of the Christ also has many Protestants rethinking their disgust towards His mother and at a minimum having them divide their disgust for Catholic teachings on Mary from Mary herself. As this cleansing of Protestant thought on Mary continues, I have a sneaking suspicion that the name Mary will start creeping back up the charts.


props to posters on DCF for the cartoon and the topic

Later thought: Another, possibly even more likely cause, is the fact that many in more recent generations are thoroughly secularized.** With Baptists complaining about attendees not being baptized and even further secularization of life in these United State, we have dwindling numbers of folks who hold Christianity in high regard, much less the Virgin Mother of God.

**I believe this trend to be changing

faithmouse has kindly blogrolled me so I decided to spend a little more time on his site and get his RSS straight on my news feed reader. Boy am I glad I spent the time ...

A collection of cartoons and historical writings on the subject of abortion

OK, this is FANTASTIC. Two topics of great interest to me. The END OF ABORTION and early church fathers. To muddle up Newman's quotation a little

"To be deep in history is to cease to be pro-abortion"

Late Nite Catechism raises funds for new convent, church renovation

"The Diocese is expected to raise $40,000 to help raise money to finish the construction of a convent in Alamo for the Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of cloistered nuns. The money will also go toward renovating St. Joseph Catholic Church in Alamo and turning it into a 24-hour chapel, or a 'chapel of perpetual adoration.' "

What a fantastic cause!!! I am a firm believer that perpetual adoration is one of the steps to correcting error in a diocese and I also believe it leads to greater vocations because of that. Time spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament is time spent seeking change to conform to Him in your life.

ECUSA's Griswold to Join ARCIC Gathering Despite Warnings
Orthodoxy Optional
"Theologians reflect on Pope Benedict XVI's theology" via Insight Scoop 2004: Finally, a decent article...

Pipe Bomb Arrest in South Valley - I noted this in my "what is up with people trying to burn and bomb Catholic Churches" post from yesterday. I hope they got their guy ... but the whole trend (is it?) still worries me.

Catholic colleges defy bishops with graduation honors
Loyola Criticized Over Landrieus Honor

And some mid-afternoon additions

Use of Latin makes some uncomfortable

It is an irrational phobia as far as I am concerned ... just like fear of relics, which is a fear I had prior to entering the Church.

I have actually encountered this personally with some Catholics that I would deem progressive in their beliefs. Our diocese has a parish which has an approved Latin mass. I have been told on multiple occasions that the mass is invalid and that the bishop has not approved it. It does not matter the evidence I provide, they INSIST that there is something wrong with the Latin mass .... and no other reasons are offered. For SOME REASON Latin causes people to squirm. Maybe they feel that if the mass is offered, that this will start a trend of reversing Vatican II entirely. What they don't understand is that the progressive novelties of the "spirit of Vatican II" WILL go away with or without approved Tridentine masses. I have been to it once and I felt very much edified from having been. I personally hope that a universal indult is granted so that those who like the traditional mass would be able to celebrate it without fear of retribution of any sort. We also have an SSPX chapel in Baton Rouge and part of me wonders if the only reason the local indult exists is to diffuse the situation with the local SSPX church.

Still, I am glad we have it and I think that the Church could do a lot to heal wounds if they would make efforts to remove the stigma of the Tridentine mass by encouraging its use and incorporating MORE (not less) Latin in the Novus Ordo masses, especially in the United States. There is nothing "wrong" with it.

"He's cute, he's cuuute" ... and busy
Why Men Hate Church via Diary of a Suburban Priest: Why Men Hate Church -- also open book: Why Men Hate Church
Painting by Andrew via Happy Catholic: More Gorgeous Art
Physician Tells of Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano

The extension is called CopyURL+

Add these to your user.js file per the instructions here -

user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.1.label", "Copy URL, Title (BBCode)");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.1.copy", "[url=%URL%]%TITLE%[/url] - %SEL%");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.2.label", "Copy URL, SEL (BBCode)");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.2.copy", "[url=%URL%]%SEL%[/url]");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.3.label", "Copy LINK, Sel (BBCode)");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.3.copy", "[url=%RLINK%]%SEL%[/url]");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.4.label", "Copy LINK, Sel via URL Title (BBCode)");
user_pref("copyurlplus.menus.4.copy", "[url=%RLINK%]%SEL%[/url] via [url=%URL%]%TITLE%[/url]");

This extension makes it easier to copy URL's that you find into posts that you make on message boards and blogs. It requires some tinkering to make it work well with BBCode (config code above) ... It has saved me a ton of time so I figure it might save someone else time.

Jonah Goldberg on Nazisms relative relativism via FideCogitActio
Preservation of old church clears hurdle: Board votes to save St. Brigid's from the wrecking ball
We Buy Ugly Churches - yeee haaaa funny. Originally from The Curt Jester: Thank you Jesus
Catholics Supporting the Denial of 'Nutrition and Hydration' are not in Communion With the Church via Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Tradition and truth via Pontifications
Stay-at-home moms would bring in $131,471 yearly via Summa Mamas
++ relapsed catholic ++: Conservative Christians: the next generation
St. Paul Pioneer Press - Archbishop: No communion for sash-wearers
Imagoicons - Byzantine-style icons via Catholicism, holiness and spirituality: Sacred art

This looked unusual in the world of Catholic news today ...

Bomb left at Catholic Church in San Joaquin Valley (Tulare) - scroll to last news item
Man held over cathedral fire - " A NEPALESE man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to the altar of Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral – the most revered place of worship for the city's Catholics."

and a fire of unknown causes ...
Atascosa County town loses Catholic church to fire - [BugMeNot info] - "I want to believe it was electrical,"

Given the cathedral fire that I mentioned a few months ago and the story of a parish divided about rebuilding a church destroyed under similar circumstances (arson), I have to wonder what is going on here.

Now what I want to know is if this would be "normal" given the number of arsons in the US/World and considering the typical percentage of arsons typically aimed at churches. Is this "normal" activity OR are we seeing unusual activity surrounding Catholic Churches being burned?

Keep in mind that people took the fact that someone died during opening day of the Passion of the Christ to be a strong argument in favor of the idea that it was too violent. I remember several news outlets running stories about it. Further examination of the facts revealed that it is statistically likely that someone will die during a movie on opening day, especially when it opens as strongly as The Passion did. Basically stories were being made of NORMAL occurances that would have received NO INK if they had not been about a movie already receiving much press ...

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill here?

Article: Cleveland Plain Dealer: Communion wafers for sale on eBay spark furor - "The complaints probably are fruitless. EBay plans no shift in its listings policies." -- Ohhh realllyy? - The complaints are in and the policy is changed!!!

If anyone who reads this --actually received-- this email from EBay, would you mind telling me if you cancelled any accounts or if your receiving this was the result of a complaint to customer support or from inclusion in any petitions or boycott drives? Thanks.

The full text of my email is below

Re: Already cancelled accounts with Ebay, PayPal
eBay Customer Support
<rswebhelp@ebay.com> to me
More options 8:24 pm (2 hours ago)

Hello William,

Thank you for your email regarding the sale of the Holy Eucharist by one
of our community members. We respect and appreciate your comments
regarding this sensitive matter.

As you may know, eBay does not sell items itself. Rather, we are a
global marketplace for sellers and buyers who transact directly with one
another. Each day eBay’s sellers list 5 million items on the site, and
those sellers decide what items they want to list. eBay did not
possess, list or approve the sale of the Eucharist. The buyer and
seller completed the Eucharist transaction on April 11th, before eBay
even became aware of the listing.

As a marketplace, we strive to respect the diverse perspectives of our
sellers. We also work hard to promote an open environment for trade.
That said, eBay has policies in place to remove listings for illegal
items as well as highly offensive listings that promote hate or
intolerance.

We understand that the listing of the Eucharist was highly upsetting to
Catholic members of the eBay community and Catholics globally. Once
this completed sale was brought to our attention, we consulted with a
number of our users, including members of the Catholic Church,
concerning what course we should take in the future should a similar
listing appear on our site. We also consulted with members of other
religions about items that might also be highly sacred and inappropriate
for sale. As a result of this dialogue, we have concluded that sales of
the Eucharist, and similar highly sacred items, are not appropriate on
eBay. We have, therefore, broadened our policies and will remove those
types of listings should they appear on the site in the future.

As always, we welcome and appreciate the assistance of the community in
upholding the rules of our site. Should you see another Eucharist
listed on our site, we encourage you to notify us so we can take
appropriate action. Further, we encourage you to directly communicate
with the seller. Members are often unaware that a particular item is
offensive to others. A respectful e-mail to the seller is often all
that is needed for the seller to voluntarily remove the item. We
believe this modification strikes the appropriate balance between
respect for our community’s values and our goal of providing an open
marketplace offering practically anything on earth.

Again, we sincerely appreciate your concern and thank you for
communicating your views with us. Your input has helped us frame a
policy that will enable us to better serve our diverse community of
users around the world.

Regards,
Murphie on behalf of Bill Cobb
Community Watch Team
eBay Trust & Safety

I am glad they came to this conclusion. It seems actions do speak and maybe removing my tiny nothing accounts was just one tiny stone but when combined with thousands of other stones it makes quite the wall. Go Catholic activism!!! ... I feel young *smile*

Some I have read ... some I plan to read ... Enjoy ...

Unam Sanctum: Nurturing core beliefs; a euphemism for relativism
Are All Teachings Equal? A Look at Cardinal Ratzinger's Answer
Jimmy Akin: "Benedict XVI Will Turn Out To Be A Real Liberal" - classical liberal that is ...
Benedict XVI Roundup! - get your daily dose of B16 with the former Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club ... mighty busy these days.

Vatican condemns Spain's gay marriage law ...
and no matter how many times Catholic teaching is explained on the matter, doctrinal liberals seem incapable of grasping such simple "nuance":
Condemning homosexual activity and loving those who have homosexual tendencies is compatible.

Sash Wars V: The Empire Slaps Back - speaking of the nuance challenged.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam: Bishop DiLorenzo Ousts "unorthodox" Priest - Bishops staring to do their job or was this a long time coming?
Curt Jester: Dissident Book Club - on a roll these days.

faithmouse ... yet one more thing to keep me occupied during any given day



Here is the current "blog-sized" cartoon



Syndicate: RSS

The source of my inspiration ... the Atari 2600 I had as a child and this game:



The story begins ...



Well, you can guess that my telling of how this game works was a huge hit with my two little boys. Most parents draw from a wealth of stories that they heard as a child or ones they remember reading as children. For some reason, I draw a blank. I forget what order Goldilocks tried the porridge in. I mix up wolves in the three little pigs and Little Red Riding Hood stories. I am just a mess with classic stories. However, I am top notch with old school video game knowledge. I finally figured out that the key is to draw from where you have a STRENGTH of knowledge. I have vivid memories of 2600 classics like Yars Revenge, Space Invaders, Missle Command and, of course, Adventure. I am armed with epic tales from arcade classics like Crystal Castles and Arkanoid. I can conjure up numerous vivid story lines from 8-bit Nintendo staples like Super Mario Brothers, Metroid, Kid Icarus and The Legend of Zelda. The thing is, you see ... I finished all of those games, so I know the plots quite well.

Heh ... and my parents thought that game playing would never be of any use. Beee-oooong.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (1864)

1864 "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.

Summa - Whether the sin against the Holy Ghost is the same as the sin committed through certain malice?

On the contrary, The Master says (Sent. ii, D, 43) that "to sin against the Holy Ghost is to take pleasure in the malice of sin for its own sake." Now this is to sin through certain malice. Therefore it seems that the sin committed through certain malice is the same as the sin against the Holy Ghost.

Summa - Whether it is fitting to distinguish six kinds of sin against the Holy Ghost?
Summa - Whether the sin against the Holy Ghost can be forgiven?
Summa - Whether a man can sin first of all against the Holy Ghost?

Catholic Encyclopedia - Holy Ghost (see section VIII)

St. Thomas, whom we may safely follow, gives a very good summary of opinions in II-II, Q. xiv. He says that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost was and may be explained in three ways.

• Sometimes, and in its most literal signification, it has been taken to mean the uttering of an insult against the Divine Spirit, applying the appellation either to the Holy Ghost or to all three Divine persons. This was the sin of the Pharisees, who spoke at first against "the Son of Man", criticizing the works and human ways of Jesus, accusing Him of loving good cheer and wine, of associating with the publicans, and who, later on, with undoubted bad faith, traduced His Divine works, the miracles which He wrought by virtue of His own Divinity.
• On the other hand, St. Augustine frequently explains blasphemy against the Holy Ghost to be final impenitence, perseverance till death in mortal sin. This impenitence is against the Holy Ghost, in the sense that it frustrates and is absolutely opposed to the remission of sins, and this remission is appropriated to the Holy Ghost, the mutual love of the Father and the Son. In this view, Jesus, in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 did not really accuse the Pharisees of blaspheming the Holy Ghost, He only warned them against the danger they were in of doing so.
• Finally, several Fathers, and after them, many scholastic theologians, apply the expression to all sins directly opposed to that quality which is, by appropriation, the characteristic quality of the Third Divine Person. Charity and goodness are especially attributed to the Holy Ghost, as power is to the Father and wisdom to the Son. Just, then, as they termed sins against the Father those that resulted from frailty, and sins against the Son those that sprang from ignorance, so the sins against the Holy Ghost are those that are committed from downright malice, either by despising or rejecting the inspirations and impulses which, having been stirred in man's soul by the Holy Ghost, would turn him away or deliver him from evil.

The CDF is not the Spanish Inquisition - remember "Inquisition" to most of the world is a grand persecution of innocent folks by the Catholic Church (see Catholic Answers on the Inquisition). Even Catholics casually using the above link CDF=Inquisition can be a dangerous way of causing others to see the pope in an unfair light. We must choose our words carefully.
The New Republic: Strict Construction - Go figure ... If the Catholic Church would become like the Episcopalians, they too would be losing members hand over fist. Contrary to this person, I DO know cradle Episcopalians who still remain in the church.
Pope More Popular in Poland Than Germany - Let us pray that as time passes Benedict XVI becomes as popular in Germany as John Paul II is in Poland. If that happens, it will mean that Germans are returning to the pews.
Greg Mockeridge, I. Shawn McElhinney on "Legitimate Diversity of Opinion" - A good read on political issues that are a matter of non-negotiable doctrine (abortion, same sex marriage) and those which are a matter of "legitimate diversity of opinion" (death penalty, war in Iraq)
Catholic Teens Attracted to Ancient Religious Practices - Young and Catholic ... Add this to the remarkable number of young people in Rome during the papal transition and their demonstrated zeal for the apostolic faith and I think we are starting to see the seedlings of the New Evangelization sprouting up. It gives me great hope for the future ...

I am currently reading the following ...



The back contains quotes like the following ...

Written to give lay Catholics a better understanding of the Eucharist ... in remarkably clear and straightforward language ...

(some of which is Latin mind you)

Well color me brain dead ....

It is an excellent book but it is one of those that is rather deep in certain areas. It honesly makes me feel less than intelligent. After all, I was excited that they had managed to dumb down a topic of such vital importance to lay Catholic to the likes of jolly folks like me. Apparently, however, I am not your average lay Catholic. I am not there yet, so to speak. I have found much in the way of theology to be that way. I can be honest about it. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton was tough the first run through. I hear people recommend Orthodoxy and Everlasting Man like they are water. Here ... a dose of Everlasting Man will do you .... or make you feel like an idiot. Chesterton has a bigger brain than I have. I have to deal with this reality at some point. I read Orthodoxy and I get it now, but I had to read a lot of other things to get to where either of the books made much sense. The same can be said of some of John Henry Cardinal Newman's work. Don't get me wrong ... I love the man ... but I couldn't tell the difference between Arianism and Pelagianism two years ago ... and people were recommending that I read stuff filled with heresy names and LOTS of Christian history that I was completely ignorant of. That ignorance makes his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine look like

...gop bork schnap wink dink dyang fyark ...

Yeah ... what he said.

Finally, St. Thomas Aquinas was in another world when he penned his Summa. People have to prepare to read that as well. At least I know I am in good company there. I have heard other highly intelligent folks remark that they had to prepare to read the Summa ... a little philosophy here and some basic theology books there, just to get the terminology down. Guess what. I haven't read it yet ... I am still reading other stuff to prepare for the day when I am one of those people who read the Summa and didn't feel so utterly intimidated that reading it would bear no fruit in my life other than frustration.

I would like to know that I am not alone in this whole feeling less than ... shall we say ... smart. I want to understand faster. I really do. I just have to realize that I really am like a baby armed with a plastic spoon staring down a gargantuan Maine lobster and I have a feeling that I am not as dumb as I really feel sometimes... I just need to read more and continue to grow.

They added a permanent 12th game ...

This virtually ensures that a meaningful college football playoff (see my plan for one) will NEVER happen at the 1-A level. I don't care that the non-BCS teams have no realistic chance to win the national championship. At least give them a MATHEMATICAL chance to win the national championship. That only happens when a playoff involving ALL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS happens. This voodoo math they do now basically ensures they dole out token money to the small schools every once in a while. Gee thanks ... It is next to impossible for a good team like Utah was last season to schedule such that they have a real chance at a national title or BUILDING A PROGRAM TO GET TO THAT LEVEL. Their conference schedule makes that impossible. It isn't their fault their conference mates aren't all that great.

EVEN WORSE ... They are allowing a 1-AA game to count towards bowl eligibility every season. To most folks this seems like nothing but my alma mater has to have 5 home games against 1-A teams and this takes away scheduling opportunities ... BIG TIME. The way it was headed, some BCS teams were going to HAVE to go on the road to non-BCS teams at least occasionally because everyone had to have 5 home games and scheduling game payouts were getting pricey because teams were refusing to be pimped out for 3 massacre games every season because they HAD TO HAVE A FIFTH HOME GAME. For once I thought the NCAA did something right ...

Adding in this 1-AA makes it even harder for non-BCS teams to pay the bills because now there is exactly ZERO incentive for Texas A&M, Oklahoma State or Miami to head over to Shreveport to play Louisiana Tech. Now they can just add, Montana, McNeese State or some other school that is LIKELY (not certainly by any means) even easier to beat and STILL get to count the win towards bowl eligibility. Louisiana Tech, however, still has to find 5th home games every season. Now, if people really wanted to they could CHOOSE teams they did not want in 1-A and simply agree never to schedule them and they would HAVE TO MOVE DOWN BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T GET THE FIFTH HOME GAMES SCHEDULED. Anyone else smell a rat?

OK rant over ... I don't know how I can get excited about the future of college football. College basketball anyone?

I still love football ... When does the NFL start?

Sun
Drive to Beaumont
Life Teen mass at St. Anne in Beaumont -- see my musings on the topic of Life Teen

Mon
Mall ... always a fun place for the kids on a dreary day
What about Bob? is still a very funny movie

Tue
Drive to Galveston
visit St. Marys Cathedral - visit the tour page
eat at Rainforest Cafe ... comfort children every 12 minutes when the thunderstorm comes
visit beach .. comfort children every 12 seconds when the waves come
Drive to Brenham
notice number of doughnut shops in west Houston ... comfort children every 12 miles when the traffic comes
take bite of worst doughnuts ever after passing unusual number of doughnut shops and settling for gas station doughnuts ... kids thought they were great

Wed
visit St. Marys in Brenham - WAY impressed with their web site BTW
visit althletic complex / park on outskirts of Brenham
visit Blue Bell / tour ... listen to oldest son charm the pants off the adults on the tour
notice two doughnut shops in town of 15,000 ... rest in room
get the usual stares while eating dinner at Casa Ole in Brenham
miss out on great outdoor adventure and fun at the Blue Bell outdoor aquatic complex ... because it opens next month
hot tub at hotel

Thu
visit Poor Clare nuns or rather, visit their sign indicating they open in 2 hours .... stare at miniature horses through fence
drive through Chappell Hill, Texas
listen to youngest son rant on about windmills
get doughnuts that are actually worth eating

Sensing boom in Texas doughnut industry. Becoming convinced that Texas is seriously rebelling since the lo-carb craze has fizzled

Fri (plan)
Our Lady of Sorrows in China Texas
Astros baseball

Pat Buchanan: Behind the rage at Benedict XVI

Why do they not simply say: "The church is wrong, the church is out of touch, the church is yesterday. I'm gone."

Answer: Deep in their hearts, they fear the church is right. They are unsettled because they fear that when the church says it has been given by Christ custody of the truths about how men must live to reach eternal life, it is right. When liberal Catholics say people have been "hurt" by Catholic teachings, what they are saying is that their consciences are hurting.

I had a professor in college that detested Buchanan. Its easy to hate the man when you are worried sick he might be right.

It's Not Ratzinger That's Showing Nazi Tendencies "Is the West on a slippery slope? No sir. It's a superhighway."

Orthodox Dioceses Produce Five Times the Vocations as Progressive Ones

The Holy Spirit gave us a plan for vocations. Next time your diocese has a big meeting to pow wow about this problem, introduce the following and see how it goes over.

Orthodox teaching (especially about the role of virgins and virginity in the Church) +
Perpetual adoration (especially with teens being encouraged to spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament) =
Vocations

China arrests 7 priests of underground Church As the new springtime comes upon us do not think that Satan's claws will remain as retracted as they have.
Musings of a Pertinacious Papist: Benedict XVI, Benedict XV, and St. Benedict
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam: The “Reform of the Reform” Has Already Begun
Ebay Boycott Over Auctions of Catholic Communion Hosts - Been there. Done that. So should you.
Happy Catholic: Oh, How I Love Archbishop Chaput

I am on vacation ... Blogging is therapeutic for me, so you are lucky to be getting something out of me while I relax. I will post something about our vacation in the future.

We visited here:

and here:

Catholics in the Public Square: Democrats reveal plan to reduce abortions Adherants of the Republican religion cry foul. --- Call me skeptical, as I read elsewhere that this is a plan by a small contingent of Democrats called "Democrats for Life of America" that is in no way based in reality and has virtually no chance of going anywhere. Not in todays secular Democratic party. However, it points out what disgruntled Republican supporters have known for a long time. In the fight for life doing less than perfect is doing SOMETHING. I could care less if Republicans continue to promise the world. Actions speak louder than words. How many pro-life judges have the Republicans forced through confirmation hearings that have been held up by Planned Parenthood sell-out Democrats? What legal incentives have arisen to save lives from abortion? What attempts have been made to create an ammendment to the constitution to stop abortion? Radical measures ... we need them. Lives are being lost every day. More children die by noon on any given day than are executed in our legal system all year. If a small faction of Democrats can start a movement to make people sit up and notice, then that is a battle I would hope that the politically shrewd Republicans encourage. You already have Democrats WILLING to do this. There are Democrats who have noticed the redness creeping into their poll results. They are fighting for their political lives because of the pro-life issue. This is an opportunity to make a difference and I don't care whose idea it is.

I can think of few things I would rather spend my tax dollars on than saving lives.

Now are Republicans too afraid to actually do something about this? Some theorize that if the Democrats would cave on this issue then Republicans would lose a giant segment of their voters who hold on strongly because of this ONE issue. Are Republicans REALLY serious about reducing abortions? We hopefully will see. I am glad to see Democrats moving to make Republicans play their hand even if their chances of getting it done are slim and none. Its about time somebody is at least saying they are going to do something. I never would have thought I would be cheering on Democrats to actually be the ones to start saving lives on the abortion front. Go ...errrr ... blue?!?!?!

Uganda is example in fight to stop spread of AIDS - This is a Catholic blog. You get one guess as to how they did it.

NEWSFLASH: The Pope Is Still Catholic - man imagine that. While I am at it, there will never be women priests and homosexual acts will always be sinful. Whew that felt good to say. "The gates of hell will not prevail"

For 2000 years the Church has made a habit of carrying the same teachings on. I suggest looking at (shameless plug) the earlychurchfathers.org ECF chart for some examples. Why would anyone think that when the whims of yesterday couldn't seem to shake the Church, todays will?

Silly Rabbit ...

DCF = Steve Ray's Defenders of the Catholic Faith

ManSpider215
TABBY
weunice (me)
Ransom / CarolinaBlue / Cardinal Fang
peachsummer
alyssa
The young fogey
Pythia
me3rd
Blondie
CJE
Obi Wan Kenobi
Legatus and Jimbo
anawim
David Chiang
OliveGlory (many/group)
David Hopkins
Ruthann Zaroff
Pro Ecclesia Dei
and of course
Steve Ray

I will add RSS feeds later and create an OPML file and TRY to keep it up to date ...

Yesterday life happened, as it usually does, and I ended up going to a Life Teen mass at 6pm. I have to admit that I DREAD going to Life Teen masses. Usually I leave a Life Teen mass having witnessed some gross abuse that has taken place, like priests inviting kids up behind the altar and holding hands with them during parts of the Eucharistic prayer.

Yesterday was different ... I could see the vision behind Life Teen and I came away with a favorable yet guarded opinion of Life Teen.

First, the music was halfway decent. It was rock music, which I am generally opposed to in mass, but since it was there it might as well be good.
Second, it was PACKED and the kids were INVOLVED.
Third, it was lightly charismatic, as in raising of hands during some of the songs. See my diatribe on the proper inclusion of charismatic phenomenon in the mass. This mass fit my criteria.
Fourth, there seemed to be regular attendees who were NOT teenagers.
Fifth, there were no visible abuses in the liturgy and the teaching was in line with the Magesterium.

These are all good signs ...

In the sense it was presented yesterday, I can see where Life Teen is intended to get youth interested in the mass in a culture that is very hostile to teenagers. In that way I applaud what is trying to be done. I think that the goal, however, needs to be to get kids interested in liturgy that is more ordered towards heaven and this is where I think Life Teen falls a little short. I think it is important to meet people where they are. Life Teen does that. One has to worry however, if what we are really doing is creating adults who want to relive the glories of their youth, which in the future might include attending mass with mostly teenagers or leaving the Church altogether to find "lively" services in a Protestant church.

Another thing that I think Life Teen creates a problem with is getting worked up about songs throughout the liturgy and then having the Eucharistic prayers seem almost dull in comparison. Sure, good catechesis solves that problem and maybe I am underestimating what teenagers know about what is happening on the altar. The focus of Catholic worship is the Eucharist. Without the understanding of what is most important in mass, teenagers can grow accustomed to mass being like everything else in this world. A place to feel good, and not necessarily to pursue holiness.

Also, priests ... you can give deep homilies to kids. They won't bite and they will likely appreciate your affirmation that their intellect is up to the level that you typically associate with mature adults. I encounter Catholic teenagers online all the time. They read Aquinas, Newman, Ratzinger ... they want the good stuff too.