Sunday, May 27, 2007


Tell me what you guys thought of the movie.... I'm going to go see it on Tuesday (if you can't tell by the picture what movie I'm referring to you are certainly sheltered or un-American). I forbid comments that give away any information about what happens (no spoilers). Just tell me if you like it or not, and then you can also mention what draws you (or what repels you) to the Pirate's movies in general...
Update: So I saw the movie last Tuesday, and I certainly enjoyed it! I like to think about how easy to follow the first pirate movie was and how the second movie was pretty much twice as confusing. Let me tell you that the third pirate's movie is twice as confusing as the second pirate's movie. There are so many characters that seem to betray each other and stuff it's difficult to tell who is the the good guy (hasn't that always been the way the pirate's movie are?). Anyway, over all it is a fun movie though I think it should've been made more simple to follow.

Moral content:

*five stars in the violence for example means that there was no violence.*
  1. Acting: 4 stars
  2. Entertainment: 4 1/2 stars
  3. Sexual content: Some women are dressed immodestly, praise of immodesty, and sex is implied between two characters though nothing is shown.--- 3 stars
  4. Violent content: Much more violence than the last pirate movies involving more fights, and a scene at the beginning where many people are being hung (we see their feet) including a young boy.--- 2 1/2 stars
  5. Language content: British language such as "bloody" and "h---" numerous times.--- 4 stars
  6. Other immoral content: Lying, praising piracy. 3 stars
Overall average rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Friday, May 25, 2007

Close Call....YIKES!!!
I had to write about this because this freaked me out so bad tonight. OK, so I was at work tonight (I'm a waiter at a restaurant) and when I was putting in an order on the computer I looked over to the other side of the restaurant and saw this old guy having a seizure! The other servers assured me that he was OK as his wife (and/or friend I guess) was helping him and he was conscience and breathing and also he had gone through another seizure earlier I found out. But then a couple minutes later the lady started screaming if anyone knew CPR and that this guy wasn't breathing and that he was dying. I ran over there and told them that I am CPR certified (I am) and was just ready to do CPR on the guy when we knew that his breathing had resumed. A lady called 911 on her cell phone and so did our boss. Thank goodness I never had to do CPR, but my co-workers told me I had turned white and I did feel like my blood pressure had slowed down or something! I was so scared! Anyway, praise God that I never had to do that, and the paramedics arrived and the man was safely taken to the hospital. I haven't heard anything else about what happened though I think he's okay.
I want to suggest to anyone out there that if you aren't CPR certified, to go and get certified, as although it's something you never WANT to do, you may save someone's life. I think I'll go and review the steps in doing CPR...
"Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of the night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." (Matthew 24:43-44)

I get so sick of parents not teaching their kids...


OK, get this.... I was Altar Serving at Mass last Sunday (you know this HAS to be good) and now guess what happened!!!! OK, there are in particular these two Altar server kids---one boy and one girl--- who although are nice kids, cannot seem to get things in their tiny (though thick?) heads! They are both probably around the 4th grade or so.


Boy problems: Fidgety, CANNOT hold his hands like a server should, and would even stick them in his pockets (which looks extremely ridiculous with an alb) and seems to have problems kneeling and standing. Seems to have very little religious education (same boy who wasn't sure what the Eucharist was...)


Girl problems: Fidgety, hands unstable though better than boys, and obviously has no sense of the Eucharist seemingly... So, I hand her the large bowl used for the Consecrated Hosts at Mass to place on the credence table while I am bring Father's chalice back, and when I turn around I see her with the bowl UPSIDE DOWN with her hand in the middle of it. OK, I was very mad and told her right away to put it up, though I didn't express my anger at her. After Mass I told her again. I was glad that I hadn't seen any noticeable particles in the Bowl to my memory but still the Eucharist could've fallen right on the floor.


If these kids can't get it together they need to be fired. I'm sick of parents not teaching their kids about their Faith. If these kids were taught and if people actually believed and acted accordingly none of this would be happening. Well, at least I know what to teach at our next Altar Server meeting in two weeks.... Yeah, boy do I know...

Monday, May 21, 2007

Keep on Prayin'!
Would everyone say a quick prayer for my Grandma V. who is suffering so much. She suffers from chronic pain everyday. Here are a few of her ailments:
  1. Scleroderma (a disease which slowly hardens body tissues including the skin and internal organs) which has split the skin in her finger and infected it badly recently.
  2. Diabetes
  3. Arthritis
  4. Some nerve problem in her feet
  5. Sleep apnea
  6. Depression at times (she also has a daughter which will not befriend her unless she sends her money which she has finally said "no" to. This has been extremely difficult)

All that and not to mention that she broke her leg about a year ago which has healed wonderfully, but she still has difficulty walking (she is overweight too).

And now if you would say a decade of the rosary for her soon or any other prayer, both she and I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

IN MEMORIAM
Pray for the souls of:

VATICAN CITY, MAY 21, 2007 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Pierre Duprey M. Afr., former secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on May 13 at the age of 84.

- Bishop Rafael Angel Gonzalez Ramirez, emeritus of Barinas, Venezuela, on May 10 at the age of 90.

- Bishop Lorenzo Rodolfo Guibord Levesque O.F.M., former apostolic vicar of San Jose del Amazonas, Peru, on May 9 at the age of 83.

- Bishop Federico Bonifacio Madersbacher Gasteiger O.F.M., emeritus of San Ignacio de Velasco, Bolivia, on April 28 at the age of 88.

- Bishop Walter Joseph Schoenherr, former auxiliary of Detroit, U.S.A., on April 27, at the age of 87.

Thursday, May 17, 2007




The Titanic's Greatest Hero...
Thanks to an email from Paul



He was born Roussel David Byles, in England in 1870, the year of Vatican Council I and the seizure of Rome by the Italian Republic. ....

He was ordained a priest in 1902 as Fr Thomas Byles.
.........
Fr. Byles's brother William studied with the Jesuits until he realized he did not have a religious vocation. He relocated to America and became president of a business. In 1912 William wrote his brother to ask him to celebrate a wedding Mass in New York for William and his fiancee. Fr. Byles agreed, and booked ship transport to New York through White Star Line, a major British shipping firm. When he received his ticket he saw he was booked for the maiden voyage of the sensational new ship, the RMS Titanic.



At the time, transporting people across the ocean had become a lucrative business: there were growing numbers of wealthy travelers, and even more immigrants wishing to come to America. There was fierce competition for passengers between shipping lines in England and Germany. The idea for Titanic grew out of this competition.
Originally, White Star Line intended Titanic (and sister ship Olympic] as a response to arch rival Cunard's introduction of the Lusitania, the fastest, most elegant ocean liner in the world at that time. Bankrolled by American millionaire J.R Morgan, White Star Line created plans for a ship whose size, luxury, and modern conveniences would be on a hitherto unimagined scale. In the shipyards of Belfast, Ireland, 15,000 men began building Titanic.
Three years later, the largest moving object ever constructed was near completion. An observer described Titanic as a ship "so monstrous and unthinkable that it towered over the buildings and dwarfed the very mountains by the water....A rudder as big as a giant elm tree, propellers the size of windmills-everything was on a nightmare scale."
The ship was the length of three football fields, and weighed over 46,000 tons. Three anchors, each weighing 15 tons, were required to slow it. Each link in the anchor chain weighed 175 pounds. The rudder weighed over 20,000 pounds. Twenty-nine boilers, each large enough to house a double-decker bus, were daily fed the 5,000 pounds of coal required to move the ship. Dubbed "the monster of the sea," when fully completed Titanic was as elegant as she was powerful. The architect, Thomas Andrews, spared no expense to ensure the comfort of the ship's wealthy customers. A Turkish bath, a squash court, gymnasium, and a special dining room for maids and valets were some of the features. Expansive, winding staircases, ornate imported wood paneling, luxurious carpeting, glass-domed ceilings, a telephone system, world class cuisine, and other detailed amenities made first class accommodations on Titanic equal to that of luxury hotels.
The Titanic's captain, E.J. Smith, declared: "I cannot imagine any condition which would cause the ship to flounder....Modern ship-building has gone beyond that." Noting the ship's watertight design, an engineering magazine declared that Titanic "embodied all that judgment and knowledge could devise to make her immune from all disaster." A seaman spoke for many when he said, "God Himself could not sink this ship."
Some called Titanic "a monstrous floating Babylon." More commonly she was called "the ship of dreams," for the undreamed of luxury afforded its first class passengers, and the chances for a new life offered to its third class passengers, mostly immigrants seeking their fortunes in America. The maiden voyage of Titanic included a cross-section of humanity: millionaires like John Jacob Astor, celebrities, politicians, and hungry immigrants from Ireland, France, Germany, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Croatia, and Syria. They all knew they were part of an historic event.
Fr. Byles boarded in Southampton. Upon finding his second-class lodgings, he wrote a letter to his parish housekeeper, Miss Field. After complaining about losing his umbrella, Fr. Byles described the ship, concluding:
That makes eight decks above the water line. When you look down at the water from the top deck it is like looking from the roof of a very high building. The English Channel was decidedly rough to look at, but we felt it not more than when we were in Southampton water. I do not much like the throbbing of the screws (the ship's engine), but that is the only motion we feel. I shall not be able to say Mass tomorrow morning, as we shall be just arriving at Queenstown and there will consequently be some confusion, but after that there will be no difficulty about it....I will write as soon as I get to New York....
The Voyage
Fr. Byles's letter was dated April 10, 1912. The next day Titanic set sail from Southampton, and was immediately threatened with mishap. Upon leaving her berth, the wake from the great ship broke the moorings holding another ship at dock. This ship, the New York, headed straight for Titanic, and only fast work by the crew averted a collision.
The near accident was soon forgotten. The sun was shining and the ocean was calm.



"I enjoyed myself," wrote Colonel Gracie, "as if I were in a summer palace on the seashore, surrounded with every comfort-there was nothing to indicate or suggest that we were on the stormy Atlantic Ocean." So calm was the sea that Captain Smith allowed the engines to open up, and for the next two days Titanic cruised at 24 knots over the glass-like ocean.
There was another reason for the increase in speed. Captain Smith was being badgered by Bruce Ismay, the managing director of White Star Line, to get Titanic to New York faster than her sister ship, Olympic. Crew and passengers recalled a conversation in which an animated Ismay repeatedly told Smith: "The machinery is bearing the test, the boilers are working well. We will make a better run tomorrow. We will beat Olympic and get into New York on Tuesday!" Smith nodded without comment.



Fr. Byles strolled the boat deck in his cassock, reciting his Breviarium Romanum. Sunday, April 14, was Low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. He said Mass for the second class passengers, and another Mass for the third class. Speaking in English and French, he talked about being spiritually prepared. He likened their lifebelts to prayer and the sacraments, and warned them to be on guard against spiritual shipwreck. It was a likely enough sermon to preach on an ocean liner; whether Fr. Byles's words came from a premonition of danger about the lives of the passengers on Titanic will never be known.
Throughout that day Titanic had been receiving warnings from other ships about large ice fields. The month of April was notorious for icebergs, which broke off from Greenland and floated into shipping lanes in the north Atlantic. The Titanic changed its course slightly southward, but did not slow down. Sunday night was beautiful, a cloudless sky and remarkably calm sea. As evening progressed the temperature fell to freezing, and the air became hazy. Experienced seamen knew these were signs that icebergs were nearby.
More reports came in from other ships about icebergs directly in Titanic's path. Generally, icebergs were hard to see, so the crew watched for white foam created when water washed against a berg. Up in the crow's nest the crew noted visibility was worsening, and the horizon was blurring into the ocean. At ll:40pm a lookout rang the bridge: "Iceberg right ahead."
The Titanic turned the bow (front) of the ship away from the berg, but an underwater spar jutting out from the ice berg scraped the starboard (right) bow side of the ship under the waterline for about three hundred feet. Fr. Byles was on deck reading his Breviary, and saw the berg pass by. Like most passengers, he thought nothing of it. Some passengers in the lower decks heard a grinding noise that quickly stopped. Later everyone assumed the ice berg ripped a gaping hole in Titanic. In fact the berg made several very small holes in the steel plating, and buckled other sections of plating. The water pressure was so intense, however, that sea water began shooting through the holes at 7 tons (almost 2000 gallons) a minute.
The Titantic's watertight design made it possible for her to survive if four of the watertight compartments were flooded. The damage had flooded five. The Titanic's bow began to lower. Captain Smith estimated Titanic would sink within two hours. He ordered the lifeboats uncovered and lifebelts distributed.
This bemused most of the passengers. They did not know Titanic was sinking and had no intention of leaving the safety of the "ship of dreams" for a little wooden lifeboat in the cold, dark sea. The band played on, men smoked, drank, and played cards, and the women refused orders to enter the lifeboats. No general warning had been given, and many of the crew were not as yet telling everyone the ship was sinking. When someone asked what was wrong, a crew member joked: "We have only been cutting a whale in two." Many passengers scoffed at the danger. "What do they need of lifeboats?" one woman asked. "This ship could smash a hundred icebergs and not feel it. Ridiculous!" Consequently, many of the lifeboats were launched only half full.
An hour after the collision Titanic launched distress rockets, and a sense of unreality set in. Stewards were preparing dining tables for breakfast, and the band was wearing lifebelts and playing lively tunes. The ship's engines had stopped but the ship was still fully lighted. "There was a sense of the whole thing being a dream," remembered a survivor. "That those who walked the decks or tied one another's lifebelts on were actors in a scene, that the dream would end soon and we would wake up."
Others began to take things more seriously, and willingly boarded lifeboats. The original plans called for sixty-four wooden lifeboats, but that was halved, then halved again to sixteen, partly to allow more room on deck for passengers, and partly from the conviction that lifeboats would not be needed. Even if the sixteen lifeboats had been filled to capacity, less than half of the 3,547 passengers could have used them.
When Fr. Byles realized the ship was sinking, he hurried down to the third class rooms to calm the people, bless them, and hear confessions. A survivor recalled:
We saw before us, coming down the passageway, with his hand uplifted, Fr. Byles. We knew him because he had visited us several times on board and celebrated Mass for us that very morning. "Be calm, my good people," he said, and then he went about the steerage giving absolutions and blessings.
A few around us became very excited and the priest again raised his hand and instantly they were calm once more. The passengers were immediately impressed by the absolute self-control of the priest. He began the recitation of the Rosary. The prayers of all, regardless of creed, were mingled, and all the responses, "Holy Mary," were loud and strong. One sailor warned the priest of his danger and begged him to board a boat. Fr. Byles refused.
Miss Bertha Moran remembered:
Continuing the prayers, he led us to where the boats were being lowered. Helping the women and children and he whispered to them words of comfort and encouragement.
After helping to load the lifeboats Fr. Byles was again asked to get in. Again he refused. Miss Helen Mary Mocklare said:
Fr. Byles could have been saved, but he would not leave while one was left, and the sailor's entreaties were not heeded. After I got in the boat, which was the last one to leave, and we were slowly going further away from the ship, I could hear distinctly the voice of the priest and the responses to his prayers.
Another man who refused to leave was Thomas Andrews, the architect of Titanic. He stood alone in the first class smoking room, ignoring requests to put on a lifebelt. His eyes were fixed on a painting entitled "The Approach of the New World." He was left alone with his thoughts, and went down with the ship.
So did Captain Smith, who was last seen at the bridge around 2am, watching Titanic's bow disappear under the black water. The lifeboats were all gone, and the remaining passengers ran uphill to the stern, which was raising high out of the water as the bow sank further down. Fr. Thomas Byles continued to hear confessions, and then began the Rosary again. There was a tremendous crack as Titanic split in half. The front half of the ship completely disappeared and the lights went out.
The stern settled down in the water, and floated until its compartments filled with water. Then the stern rose up from behind until it was almost perpendicular to the water, the rudder pointing at the stars. Most of the remaining passengers slid, fell, or jumped off. The stern remained straight up for a minute or two, a silent salute from the vanquished to the victor. Then it began sinking straight down, like an elevator, picking up speed as it went down, down, more than two miles to the bottom of the North Atlantic, off the coast of Newfoundland. It sits there today, as nature continues its slow victory by eating away at the remains of the "Ship of Dreams."


After Titanic disappeared all was quiet except for the screams, which one survivor likened to "the chanting of locusts." These died away after half an hour, as those in the water succumbed to hypothermia in the 28°F water. There were so many bodies that the lifeboats had trouble getting through them to the rescue ship that arrived a few hours later.
The iceberg that hit Titanic was seen later that morning. It had a long red streak of paint across it. It was not a large berg, at least the part above the water. For the next few days, as rescue operations continued, other passenger ships heading for America passed by bodies floating in the water. Preserved by the cold, they could be seen in all their horrible detail, including the evening gowns and tuxedos. Many passengers of Titanic, like Fr. Thomas Byles, were never found. Some sank, others drifted hundreds of miles away.
In New York, William went ahead with his wedding as scheduled. A substitute priest performed the ceremony. After being married the bride and groom went home, changed into black, and came back to St. Paul's Church that afternoon for a Solemn High Requiem Mass for the soul of Fr. Thomas Byles. Later that year William and his wife traveled to Rome and had an audience with Pope Pius X, who called Fr. Byles a martyr for the Church. In a letter to his mother-in-law, William recalled his brother leading the Rosary on the doomed ship, writing:
Can you see all those poor people saying the Rosary, and Our Lady at the other end of the Rosary pulling some of them into lifeboats, and others to hear the happy command: "Enter thou into the Joy of the Lord"?
If life can be likened to a shipwreck, eternally happy are those who heed Fr. Byles's advice: do not abandon the spiritual life or the practice of the true religion. They are more secure than lifebelts and lifeboats, and safer than any "ship of dreams" we may have booked passage on.
Mark Fellows is an itinerant Catholic writer who has appeared in several Catholic publications. He lives in South St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and expanding family.

Sources
1. The main source for the life of Fr. Thomas Byles is a website managed by Fr. Scott Archer at www.fatherbyles.com
2. Lynch, Don. Titanic: An Illustrated History. New York: Hyperion Press, 1992.
3. Wels, Susan.Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner. Tehabi Books and Time-Life Books, 1997.
4. Marcus, Geoffrey. The Maiden Voyage. New York: The Viking Press, 1969.
5. Geller, Judith B. Titanic: Women and Children First. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

I Really Should Start a Blog Just for Memes...

Thanks Soutenus for the tag!
How many books do you own? I really don't know. I'm living with my parents and so our books are kinda mixed somewhat (My dad has tons of books), but I'm guessing I personally own around 40 books or so.
Book(s) I am reading now:
1. The Collar by Jonathan Englert.
2. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis.
Books I've read recently:
Hmm.... This one's hard as I've haven't been reading much lately...
2. St. Francis by GK Chesterton
3. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson


Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me:
1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien
3. St. Isaac Jouges by Milton Lomask
4. Come Rack! Come Rope! by Robert Hugh Benson
5. Don Bosco and Dominic Savio by St. Don Bosco
OK, and this time the tags are on:

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Music Meme
Esther tagged me for this one...
Five favorite songs:
  1. Panis Angelicus
  2. The Battle (From Narnia and The Gladiator)
  3. Resurrection (From The Passion ***warning-- some graphic pictures***)
Three favorite music artists:
  1. Micheal W. Smith
  2. Third Day
  3. Jaci Velasquez
Three favorite composers:
  1. Antonio Vivaldi
  2. Hanz Zimmer
  3. Howard Shore
Favorite song when you were a little kid:
  1. The Ants go Marching
Favorite song you wish you could sing:
  1. Ave Maria
Favorite type of music:
  1. Soundtrack!
Least favorite song:
  1. Sing a new church - Sr. Delores Dufner, OSB

Least favorite type of music:

  1. Rap, and heavy metal
Favorite music instrument:
  1. The Piano
Music instrument you wish you could play:
  1. Violin

EVERYONE that read this is tagged automatically (meaning you are obligated to post this on your blog with your answers!)!


On May 13th, 1917, The Blessed virgin Mary appeared to 3 shepard children in Portugal near the small village of Fatima. The Children's names were Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. Mary told the children to pray the rosary everyday, and to perform acts of penance and prayer for the conversion of sinners. At first the children's message of Mary's appearance was doubted my many. Mary had promised the children that she would perform a miracle on the 13th of October (She told the children to come to the area where she would appear every 13th of the month for 6 months starting on May 13th. And so she would do the miracle on the last of those promised appearances.) so that everyone would know the truth of Fatima. Sure enough on October 13th in front of 70,000 people the miracle occurred. It seemed that sun began to dance in the sky and almost fall to the ground but then suddenly return to normal. Although it had been raining up to the time of the miracle, the rain suddenly stopped and everyone's clothes were found dry. Read More.
But why did Mary appear to these children in the first place? What was the miracle proving? In a few words we could say the Blessed Virgin appeared because of sin and a call to repentance. Our Lady showed the children her Immaculate Heart encircled with a crown of thorns. She said the thorns were all of the blasphemies done against her Immaculate Heart. Our Lord Jesus later revealed to Lucia what these blasphemies were.
He said, "My daughter, the motive is simple: there are 5 ways in which people offend and blaspheme against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 1.The blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
2.Against her virginity
3.Against her Divine Maternity, refusing at the same time to accept her as the Mother of all mankind. 4.Those who try publicly to implant in the children's hearts indifference, contempt and even hate against this Immaculate Mother.
5.Those who insult her directly in her sacred statues.
And here is where the First Saturdays devotion comes in. Our Lady of Fatima told Lucia on December 10, 1925, " My daughter, look at my Heart surrounded with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."
Our Lady gives us Five Saturdays to make reparation for the five sorts of blasphemies done to her. (BTW, the First Saturday is just the very first Saturday of the month. Also, do not think that the First Saturday devotion is limited to five Saturdays. It is encouraged to be done every first Saturday.) This exercise is a very easy thing for Catholics everywhere to do. Go to confession, pray the rosary, receive Holy Communion in a state of grace, and meditate on the decades of the rosary for 15 minutes for reparation to Immaculate Heart. (Remember, every act in the devotion is for reparation to the Immaculate Heart) That's all. August is traditionally dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us all make firm resolutions to never forget our Mother's request for our help in the work of Jesus Christ to bring all souls to Him! Official Site, Good Fatima Movie Good Fatima Book

Thursday, May 10, 2007

The "About Me Meme"
Here goes another meme...
  1. Male or Female: Male
  2. Married or Single (or religious): Single
  3. Dream vacation: Europe! (especially Rome)
  4. Birthplace: Georgia, USA
  5. Area I live in currently: Montrose, Colorado, USA
  6. Someone you wish you could meet: The pope
  7. Biggest "pet-peeve": Liturgical abuse
  8. Favorite Religious devotion: The Rosary
  9. Favorite Saint (besides the Blessed Mother): St. Francis of Assisi
  10. Favorite sport that you play: Basketball That you watch: Football
  11. Favorite food: Pizza
  12. Tridentine or Novus Ordo: Both, though I would like to attend more Tridentine Masses and see more Novus Ordo's with some Latin and REVERENCE!
  13. Would you (or are you) home school or public school: I'm home schooled
  14. How many kids do you have: 0 How many do you want: Spiritually I want the whole flock! (I want to be a priest)
  15. Ever been in an auto accident: no
  16. Ever seen a pope in person: no
  17. Languages that you know fluently: English That you are learning: Spanish
  18. Last movie you saw in theatres: Amazing Grace Next one you are planning on seeing: Spiderman III
  19. Favorite Blog: this was so hard, but I guess it would be: www.hicatholicmom.blogspot.com
  20. Your thoughts on Barney, the Easter bunny, and Santa Clause: The first two are evil! The second is saint based--though he shouldn't replace his Creator!

I tag Esther, Nicholas, Kitty, and Jeff

Wednesday, May 09, 2007


Denying Ourselves....

Chapter 32 from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

"Son, thou canst not possess perfect liberty unless thou wholly deny thyself.-(Matt. 16:24)
All self-seekers and self-lovers are bound in fetters, full of desires, full of cares, unsettled, and seeking always their own ease, and not the things of Jesus Christ-(Phil. 3:21), but oftentimes devising and framing that which will not stand.
For all shall come to nothing that proceeds not from God.
Take this short and perfect word: Forsake all and thou shalt find all, leave thy desires and thou shalt find rest.-(Matt. 11:29)
Consider this well, and when thou shalt put it in practice thou shalt understand all things..."
Caption Contest...

The new alternative to Sanctus Bells!

Post your funny captions below...

Monday, May 07, 2007


Do you love Me?



  1. Then will you come to receive My forgiveness in Confession?


  2. Then will you talk to Me?


  3. Then will you visit Me as often as you can in the Blessed Sacrament?


  4. Then will you receive Me in Holy Communion as much as possible?


  5. Then will you defend Me?


  6. Then will you learn about My ways?


  7. Then will you love My mother?


  8. Then will you love Me in your neighbor?


  9. Then will you speak of Me?


  10. Then will you die for Me?

WILL YOU???



2 Prayer Requests....
I feel like all I've been posting lately are prayer requests and funny stuff... Sorry. I'll try to post other stuff later, but some important things have come to my attention and I ask that you would please pray for these two request items:
  1. I can barely say anything about the first one as it is a private family matter (and some people reading this blog know me and my family). But please pray for a very special intention involving a family member.
  2. The next item you can read about here and here, where "Coffee Wife" tells how she is going through some major spiritual warfare. Please pray that she would be delivered quickly from this attack that she would be a strong Catholic warrior for the Lord.

Post your prayer requests here.

I've Always Wondered...
  1. Why don't people turn their blinkers on until they're already turning?
  2. Why do people complain all the time about something, yet take no action to fix the problem?
  3. Why did people turn their "cathedrals" into "warehouses"?
  4. Why did a Protestant make a statue of Mary at our church?
  5. Why do people start smoking in our day and age?
  6. Why can you get "married" (by man's law) easier than getting a driver's licence?
  7. Why do people worry so much about everything that they shouldn't be worrying about?
  8. Why does every really funny movie, that has great potential, ruined by profanity?
  9. Why do people try to change the Catholic Church's teachings when they can go to a Protestant Church and get what they want (e.g. woman priests)?
  10. Why does Barney exist?

If you guys want to vent about anything else, answer any of the questions, or like Barney, please leave a comment!

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

The Meme month of May!


I'm declaring this to be the official "Meme month of May". I will try to post many memes this month and am already in the spirit as I have been tagged twice in about one week! WOW!! Record.
Well, anyway, this time Danny tagged me with this "What I'm Currently Reading" meme. (BTW, Danny, if you're still out there please respond. I haven't been able to access your blog, and am just making sure no anti-Catholic Irish Mafia have been harassing you lately.)

Actually, I'm not reading much of anything lately except for school assignments (you don't want to know about those), so I will post the few books I'm currently reading and the ones I am planning on reading sometime in the near future....


CURRENTLY READING:


1. The Collar by Jonathan Englert. This book is a report of the journey that some recent seminarians went through and their struggles. I am not sure though yet if this seminary is good, though it is the one my pastor went to and his story is in the book. I am reading this, keeping in mind the kind of seminary our diocese would send some men to.


2. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I am currently using this for daily meditations and found it wonderful. The spiritual asceticism is wonderful to read and inspiring. However, you have take this book in little bites as there is so much depth. I read less than a chapter for each meditation.


BOOKS I WANT TO READ:


1. More Catholic than the Pope by Patrick Madrid and Pete Vere. I want to learn more about the radical traditionalist movement and about the whole debate on the Novus Ordo Mass.


2. This Is My Body, This Is My Blood: Miracles of the Eucharist, Books I & II by Bob and Penny Lord.

I recently received these books as a gift and am excited about learning about the powerful and awesome stories of Eucharistic miracles--some of which are still visible today.


3. The Courage to Be Chaste by Fr. Benedict Groeschel. I have heard this is a great book by Fr. Benedict Groeschel that discusses living chastity and am interested in reading it.


OK, if you don't get tagged this time, don't feel bad because remember: this is the "Meme Month of May"!!!

This time my tags are on Florida Wife, Nicholas, and Paul

Any Prayer Intentions?


As I recently put a post for anyone who would like to post a question, this post here is for anyone who has a prayer request. Be assured that any comment below that is a serious prayer request will be lifted up in prayer by the author of this blog and published so that other bloggers can pray for it as well. You can post as many requests as you like! Simply leave a comment below with your prayer request. Oremus!
Please pray for:
1. Angela Messenger who needs our prayers as well as someone suffering from ovarian cancer.
2. Tiber Jumper's 2 sons conversions.
3. Conversion of Esther's father and 4 brothers.
4. For the intentions found here
5. Please keep Nicholas and his family in your prayers especially now. Nicholas has received a threatening note from a co-worker, and his dad has suffered a heart attack, and now his car has been totaled!!
6. Pray for "traditional squeaky wheel" Carolina who is close to being kicked out of her parish. We need good Catholics!
7. Pray for the soul of Spc. Dan H. Nguyen, 24, who died in Tahrir, Iraq, on May 8. Also keep his friend, "MM" in your prayers as well as the family of Dan.
9. For Ana and her family who are having problems with the house and car.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007


"A Banana a day keeps the doctor away...." Right?
I recently received this interesting email and thought I would share it with all of my readers. You'll never look at a banana the same way again. God has created an amazing fruit...


A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression "going bananas" is from the effects of bananas on the brain.

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! ....After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school (England) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.


Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.
So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!" want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe...polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!!