"Lord have mercy"
Reflections (and photos) of a Catholic Dad.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Added Quotes
I have updated my quotes with several new quotes. Since the come up randomly, you would have you hit refresh a couple hundred times before they all are sure to come up. In that spirit of saving you the trouble, here are the latest additions.
A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope. -Pope John Paul II
Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery. -Pope John Paul II
The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government. -Thomas Jefferson
One cannot build up if what disturbs the foundation has not been destroyed. In other words, the sweet words of good preaching are sown in vain if the thorns of self-love have not first been plucked from the hearts of the listeners. -Pope St. Gregory the Great
It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish. -Mother Theresa
In our own time, moreover, those who have trusted excessively in the progress of the natural sciences and the technological arts have fallen into an idolatry of temporal things and have become their slaves rather than their masters. -Vatican II - Apostolicam Actuositatem
Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish. -Albert Einstein
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. -Albert Einstein (attributed)
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -Albert Einstein (attributed)
If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut. -Albert Einstein
When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about. -Albert Einstein
Ill deeds are doubled with an evil word. -William Shakespeare
Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are supreme dishonor to the Creator. -Vatican II - Gaudium Et Spes
I have an update to the Prayer Request about a college aged girl considering abortion. Thank you all for the prayers, and if you could please remember her over the next several months.
She will not be having an abortion today. Her mother was told about the abortion, and came looking for the girl with flowers to welcome her off of a retreat (the girl did not know her mother was coming). She was still planning to have the abortion up until last night. Her mother talked to her, and the choice (for now) is for life.
However, the girl is having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that her life has changed, and some of her old dreams may need to be set aside to make room for this new life. It is hard for a college kid to leave the "me" stage so soon, especially in our selfish culture. Hopefully with support she will make it. Her life is not ruined, just on a different course than she planned.
Because this is difficult for her, and abortion is legal up until birth in the US, please pray that she remains firm in the decision to keep this new life, and that her support system stays strong. The self centered lure of this world is strong, much too strong for these young who disconnect sex from its consequences.
FURTHER UPDATE: I was able to touch base with my sister about an hour ago, and she tells me that everything is good right now. The girl is excited about the baby and what it means. My sis couldn't talk to me much (IM actually), but apparently after a lot of drama, the girl is embracing this new life inside her. Praise God!
Again, please keep her and her child in your prayers.
I have been waiting to use this picture for Photo Hunt ever since I saw that "Pink" was on the list. It comes from a mall attached to a Casino in Vegas (Bellagio, I think). It shows bouquets of pink flowers that are "falling" from the ceiling.
Read an article where the statistics underlying recent Planned Parenthood research arm (Guttmacher Institute) claims are uncovered as the nonsense they are. This was conducted by folks at Texas A&M. Here is the summary:
The Guttmacher "researchers" built their bias into the statistics (inflating numbers, making odd assumptions, imputing convenient values), and then, guess what.... They confirm their bias and called it truth!!!
WOW! Now that is research that only a politician or an organization with an agenda would use. This is how you lie now days, build a circular argument but hide it under the guise of science. Because secular society has adopted scientificism (what I define as the irrational belief in anything that even sounds scientific), people like this get away with it.
I have not posted much the past few days. I am not sure what to say - it seems a bit surreal right now.
There is my sister's friend for whom we are praying that has not made her decision to have an abortion or not. It is sad to see my sister lose a bit of innocence (yes, still innocent at 20), as she hears a friend say that she knows it is murder and she is thinking about it anyways. I myself at almost twice that age find that hard to fathom. But we pray and do what we can. I hope she does the right think in the end. My understanding is that October 29 is a crucial day. Please continue to pray for her.
Contributing to the sense of gloom are the fires burning throughout So Cal. While the nearest fire is 20 miles away, there is no escaping the constant reminder of the devastation occurring nearby. Everything has an orange tinge to it when the sun is shining through the smoke. And the smell has been only of fire, and ashes fall even this far away. Please pray for those who have lost their homes or who are in danger. Pray too for the souls of the arsonists who set at least some of these fires. Arson, with the death and destruction it entails, is also a sin I find difficult to understand.
There is little left of the feel of the old mission at San Rafael given the damage caused during secularization imposed by the Mexican Government. General Vallejo appropriated all of the mission resources and hired Mission Indians to destroy their own mission.
This is a new kitchen tool we purchased this week, and have already used multiple times. We are looking to make much more of our own food, and this is a practical tool for achieving that goal. And I like how it looks. It just needs to get the racing flames so I can be like Alton Brown. :)
Please pray for a college aged friend of my sister. She has made an appointment to have an abortion at the end of the month.
She told my sister that she believes it is wrong, but the boyfriend/father is pushing for an abortion, and she does not want to face her parents. She tells my sister she knows she would regret an abortion for the rest of her life, but is leaning toward the abortion.
However, she has agreed to see a priest tomorrow.
Please pray for this girl and her child. Pray that she has the courage to do what she already knows is right.
Some pro-life voters are talking about how Rudy Giuliani is an acceptable candidate for which to vote. These are people who are pro-life and pro-family. Giuliani is neither. These are people for whom faith and faithfulness are paramount. For Giuliani they are not.
So how could these faith filled people consider voting for him? Because they are seeking an alliance against what some believe is an even worse choice - Hillary Clinton.
Myself, I am befuddled by the logic of selling out one's values. It reminds me of Judah at the time when Assyria was threatening, and people wanted to join the alliance with the northern kingdom and Syria. Isaiah spoke out against such an unholy alliance and bade the people have trust in God rather than ally with their old enemies. The faithful here are willing to have an alliance with one evil to try and prevent what is believed to be a larger evil. What they don't realize is that allying with Giuliani is worse than losing an election - at a moral level it betrays our core values while at a practical level it destroys our political voice.
The argument for Giuliani rests on an interpretation of something he said about the kind of supreme court justice he would appoint. We typically cannot trust what a politician says. Remember "read my lips"? So how can we trust what they are not even willing to say? How can we put faith in an innuendo? How can we make such a weak alliance?
What we need to do is take a page from the Clinton book. The Clintons are masters of compromise on a variety of issues WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ABORTION. They will harbor no compromise on this and related culture of death issues. This should be the position of pro-lifers. Never compromise on sanctity of life issue.
What does compromise buy us? Less than nothing. We get, not a promise, but an innuendo. On top of that, we teach the Republicans that they can ignore our concerns (a lesson we taught the Democrats in the 1976 election).
What does being faithful buy us? It allows us to maintain our integrity for one. It also teaches the Republican party that they cannot ignore us with impunity.
Remember, we are people of faith. Put your trust in God; not Rudy, not any political party, in God. Remember the words of Psalm 146:
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. When his breath departs he returns to his earth on that very day his plans perish.
Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.
Our priests are under attack on every front. Satan attacks from right and left, front and back. Pray for all of our priests, especially those under in spiritual or physical danger.
Lord Jesus, You have chosen Your priests from among us and sent them out to proclaim Your word and to act in Your name. For so great a gift to Your Church, we give You praise and thanksgiving. We ask You to fill them with the fire of Your love, that their ministry may reveal Your presence in the Church. Since they are earthen vessels, we pray that Your power shine out through their weakness. In their afflictions let them never be crushed; in their doubts never despair; in temptation never be destroyed; in persecution never abandoned.
Inspire them through prayer to live each day the mystery of Your dying and rising. In time of weakness send them Your Spirit, and help them to praise Your heavenly Father and pray for poor sinners. By the same Holy Spirit, put Your word on their lips and Your love in their hearts, to bring good news to the poor and healing to the brokenhearted. And may the gift of Mary, Your mother, to the disciple whom You loved, be Your gift to every priest. Grant that she who formed You in her human image, may form them in Your divine image, by the power of Your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The picture is not one of mine, I got it from boglewood.com. The statue is titled The Ecstasy of S. Teresa di Avila.
"Believe me, the safest thing is to will only what God wills, for He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He loves us."
- St. Teresa of Avila in Interior Castle
Today is the feastday of St. Theresa of Avila. St. Theresa of Avila is a great saint, doctor of the Church, reformer, and mystic. Should anyone be interested in mysticism, they should NOT look to eastern religions. Look to Catholic mystics like St. Theresa. And if you have not read Interior Castle, you highly recommend it.
Fr. Michael Coutts is a long time friend of my family. He is a Jesuit missionary who currently is assigned in Toronto. I knew that he says mass on TV in Canada, but now I can catch some of his homilies here in California via You Tube.
We moved into the neighborhood we are in about 3 years ago. This was a move back home to Southern California from Georgia (I do miss Georgia sometimes, but that is another post). We love our neighborhood. In some ways it feels like a throwback to the old days. Everyone says hello to one another and there are a group of kids who play together on our street and in each others yards. We are so grateful for this blessing.
There is this one neighbor. They lives behind us, and they have a pool. They can be quite loud, especially when they have large groups of people over. The owner is a protestant minister, and there were times when they would practice with what I presume was their youth choir (keyboard, drums, awful lead singer)untill late into the night on a Saturday - it was like a garage band (but not as good). And I think he has their youth group over frequently for get-togethers at their pool. My other neighbors thanked me when I went to the fence and asked that they keep it down. No one else had got up the gumption to say anything. But such reprieves have only a short term impact.
I have wanted to talk to him about how we are supposed to love our neighbors and would he help me out, because he makes it hard. I suspect that doing that would go against the whole concept. So we pray for them, and don't use our back yard when they are having a get-together. Sometimes I (nicely) ask that they keep it down. I do wish loving my neighbor would be easier. Maybe this has to do with my asking God for more patience....
I work for myself, and business development has been very slow. My anxiety has increased in the past couple weeks. I try to keep remembering that I can't do everything on my own, so I ask for your prayers.
Also, if you know of anyone who needs marketing research expertise (survey design, statistical analysis, etc.), let me know. PhD quality, even.
Parents have a special gift. In many ways we get a glimpse of what God's relationship with us is like through our relationship with our children. I have seen how their growth and development cause me delight and I believe that this is a shadow of the delight God feels when we develop spiritually.
As parents we can see other aspects to God's relationship with us that may be hard for non-parents to see - we can see what it is like to feel God's wrath. Remember when the Israelites are in the desert and they are worshiping the golden calf, and God tells Moses to move out of the way so he can take them out? Well, parents know what that feels like. Not just to be disobeyed, anyone in authority knows that one. No, parents know what it is like to be disobeyed by someone whom they created, someone they love above all else.
So, parents, next time you feel that wrath state, remember the gift that it is. You are getting a glimpse of that relationship that God has with each of us when we stray. And don't forget to show mercy - I hear it helps when we are seeking mercy ourselves.
I was up in Pismo Beach about a month ago. This was a the view of the coast from up on the cliffs. I thought the curvy shapes of the waves along the shore fit well with today's topic.
"Marketed as a campaign to raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on maternal and child health, the agenda of 'Deliver Now' includes a call for “safe abortion'--which is treated as synonymous with legal abortion. The campaign is coordinated by The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, chaired by Kul Gautam, the deputy executive director of UNICEF and assistant secretary-general of the UN. The group's members include among others the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and government development agencies from the US, UK, Canada, and Bangladesh, as well as the World Health Organization and UN Population Fund."
I used to think the people who were banging the warning drum about the UN were nuts. I wonder now how crazy they were or are.
For some time I have had a side-bar button that links to the Reason For our Hope Foundation run by Fr. Larry Richards. A friend of mine gave me a CD of Fr. Larry's "Confession" talk that really moved me. I went back and downloaded more of Father Larry's talks, and they were all quite powerful.
His talks really will change your life. Not because there is any new theology, but because he challenges us to live our faith honestly and with passion. He doesn't soft sell the truth. Fr. Larry tells it like it is, but with vibrancy, humor, and conviction. He takes the bible, the teachings of the Church, and the writings of the saints, and presents them in a way that it comes alive. He puts the challenge of Christ in such a way that I WANT to be a saint. I WANT to do what it takes. I WANT to change my life.
Wherever you are spiritually, this will speak to you. It will set you on fire - or stoke the flames higher.
There are five talks in the Reason For Our Hope series:
You can get the talk "The Truth" free by registering at the Reason For our Hope site (click here).
Because I have found these so powerful, I am willing to buy the entire set for you. My funds are not unlimited and am willing to do this for the first 5 people who ask. Leave a message in the comment box and send me an email with where I should send the talks. I will buy the talks in MP3 format and put them on a single disk (in MP3 format) and mail them to you.
"Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Give head to him and listen to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him. But if you listen attentively to his voice, and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries." Ex 23: 20-22
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." Mt 18:10
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased." Lk 2: 13-14
I have received the most unexpected compliment. Christina at Confessions of a Hot Carmel Sundae nominated me for the Nice Matters award. I have not thought of myself as nice - in fact, I struggle with what I think about other people. Maybe that struggle comes out in a postive way in some of my posts. I must say that Christina is one of the people I would nominate if she had not done so to me first.
"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award."
I do appreciate the honor of being able to compliment seven blogs that have inspired me (I have latched onto the inspiration and positive influence aspects). I have no idea if you have been nominated before. If you have, I second it:
Deb at Ukok's Place. It is so clear that people and relationships are important to Deb. She has a powerful story, but instead of letting it make her bitter she has let it turn her into the caring person she is.
Barb at SFO Mom. Barb is an inspiration. Her blog focuses on the important things - family and faith. And her good natured attitude comes through. I think she embodies the Franciscan principles quite clearly.
Jerry at My Autistic Boy And Other Adventures In Fatherhood. I don't think Jerry will pass this one on, and I bet he doesn't see himself as nice. But when you read his blog, you can see a man who cares deeply for his family, who would do anything for those he loves. I think it is well worth the award.
Amber at This Catholic Journey. Amber's journey into the Church and her struggle with her family have been inspirational to me. I remember as Holy Saturday approached in April, keeping her at the front of our intentions during our family's rosary. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of her circle.
Jay at Pro Ecclesia*Pro Familia*Pro Civitate. Jay typically is a great source for political, legal, historical, and commentary from a perspective I enjoy reading. Why he gets this nomination, though, is his respect for the Church and his rule about not criticizing the hierarchy. I know it is hard to not follow that rule (I have regretfully participated), his example inspired me to adopt that rule and you won't be seeing hierarchy criticism on my blog. Though, like Jay, I will still point out those I think outstanding.
Fr. Powell at Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! Have you read his homilies? If you have, then you know why he is inspirational. If you haven't, you need to.
Dadwithnoisykids at Scorpion Stalking Duck. Dadwithnoisykids has 12 children, and another on the way. I remember when Catholic Dads started he commented on being sorry that he and his wife were nearing the end of child bearing years. I find that inspiring, not to mention with 12 (13) kids, I suspect patience, humility and opportunities to offer up suffering are easier to come by. All that and still have a sense of humor...?
There will be a conference in San Francisco on November 28 and 29 called Reclaiming Fatherhood. It is about the effects of abortion on men. Check out the site at www.menandabortion.info. Here is a blurb from the page.
This conference is the first to focus on the effects of abortion on men. Speakers will cover the following topics: pertinent research, abortion as trauma, and counseling men who have experienced pregnancy loss through abortion. This is a unique opportunity for those who deal with men in pastoral or clinical settings to learn about this much neglected topic.
