FINALS

havent posted in a bit... and probably wont for a few days due to finals, and final papers... have fun!

A key to the doctrine of the Eucharist by Abbot Vonier

So I'm reading this book, and so far I've found some very interesting things:

"Anyone who has faith is in the supernatural state, and therefore is directly in touch with Christ's life, even though he be actually in the state of mortal sin." p4


This is a bit convicting, and true... regardless of what we desire, once we've received the Gift of Faith, we can never truly turn our backs on the Truth... until the moment we make a sin of "formal infidelity"... the only one of which I know is that sin that witches embrace when they write and sign a statement declaring that Christ is not their master, and that Christ is a lie.

"If we really believe that the Church possesses enough power to wipe away sin, we assume, as well, that sin is compatible with membership in Christ's mystical Body." p4-5


Wow... sin doesn't kick you out of the Church, only out of the ability to receive grace... this line has never been shown to me... but it makes much more sense! This also calls me to humility and love of our brethren, and brings comfort to me when I sin, that I am still part of the Body.

"To every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound, but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away" p8 mt 25:29

I've never seen MT 25 written this way with "seemeth to have"... and this makes more sense and is seemingly more compatible with God's love... he doesn't take that which you have, but in his love he takes the blindness from our eyes, and shows us that we don't possess those things we THINK we have. He shows us how empty our "possessions" are with out receiving them truly from the only One who can really give anything.


"Is not the Son of God made Man, the Sacrament par excellence the magnum sacramentum, the invisible made visible." p9

:-) YAY JESUS!!!
Magnum Saramentum! The Great Sacrament! Something only Catholics and Orthodox really understand! That GOD so loved the world that HE BECAME FLESH! Not to tell us He hates our FLESH but to show us that He LOVES our FLESH! Just as much as our SPIRIT! He wanted to show us that he loves and respects us how he created us, an inseparable body and spirit mix.

Greetings to the Holy Father!

the vatican has posted a link from their site to email greetings to our Holy Father!
Go here and select "Greetings to the Holy Father"
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/index_en.htm
If that doesn't work for you, his email is: benedictxvi@vatican.va
use "Greetings" as the subject

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SHOUT TO THE WORLD OUR LOVE FOR BENEDICT!!
(oh, and email him your love too! ;-) )

Papam Magnum

The more I think of Benedict, the more beautiful and great I think the man is!
I am so EXCITED!!!! I didn't think he had a chance at being pope, so I expected someone else... during noon mass today when the priest said "and our holy father, Benedict" I was taken aback that we had a pope so soon! Yet I was also horrified that it was a liberal cardinal, but excited and wondering whom it would be... was it the secret cardinal? was it some one from africa? was it someone from latin america? was it *gasp* ratzinger? It couldnt be! God bless the pope whomever he is!

After mass, I asked my friend hurriedly who was it? she didn't know... so I asked was it ratzinger? still she didnt know... she asked the first name, and said he was from Germany... I questioned joseph? She said she thought so... I then asked the front desk: "Who is Benedict?" after a pause, and some confusion, she said "oh, Ratzinger."

I've been excited since! He's the man! He's our Father!
YAY!!!!

Papal Family!

Can you imagine being brother to the pope!
You would so know that God has a favourite!
:-D
(and I would venture to say it was you!)


​​​​

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (right, top) with his family in
1951, after he and his brother were ordinained into the priesthood.
Photo: Reuters

--- from Pontiff's brother 'stunned'
In Regensburg, Germany, the older brother of the new pope, who said only weeks ago that German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "has not got a chance" of becoming the next pontiff, was stunned by the choice today.

"He sank before the television and isn't saying a word," said the housekeeper of the 81-year-old prelate, Georg Ratzinger, Agnes Heindl.
"I've never seen him like this," she said.

Heindl said that Georg Ratzinger was now concerned he would see his 78-year-old brother even less often than before.

He told the Abendzeitung newspaper earlier this month that his brother would never succeed John Paul II as pontiff.

His age would count against him, he said, adding "I cannot imagine that a German would be elected pope."

YAY!

I'm excited... someone shown to truly be a prophet has become our pope!
May we bless the holy father, as he blesses us with his ministry!
Viva il papa!

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

HABEMVS PAPAM
BENEDICTVM XVI

Emptiness

our emptiness is proclaimed:



This image, the official seal of the sede vacante... vacant seat, is supposed to be used on all official documents during the times of no pope... from stamps to the flag...

I went to the vatican website today to do some research and being greeted by this image was painful... saddening and emptying.

May God bless the cardinals as they participate in the choosing of His vicar.

computers

As I'm procrastinating my paper, I realised that computers have come an extraordinarially long way in recent years... from server based power, to personal power the size of a text book... I'm amazed! If you told me a few years ago that laptops would be as common and so small, I'd laugh and point to the server I was working on... and say, yeah right... servers are the way things are going! Bigger and faster!

"I have no Idea where I am going"

I miss Kat... she's a holy woman and one I never honored enough... something that saddens my heart daily now, because I can't honor her the way I want, due to our current confusion.

I know God has a plan in store, and though I think I know it, it doesnt mean that I do. I pray that God works through me in this time, to guide Kat to Him further, and to give me the strength to love her enough to know that I may not be His path for her, and to care for her enough that I want His path above the path I want.

May God bless us both in this time... and may His face shine upon us.

Thomas Merton's Prayer
----------------------
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

quick update

So I won the game (killing 5 out of the 7 other people) and now I have to catch up on work... got a paper due in less than two weeks (8-10 pgs) and lots of reading to get done... hmm... well at least it's really interesting stuff! (philosophy of physics, metaphysics and such)

Game ON!!

So my friends and I are playing assassins... 8 of us drew names and then drew weapons... we're playing from friday 1201 am until the last man standing... it'll be great!

DEADLY ASSASSINS

Start - 12:01 Friday April 8
-If you are killed give all names to your killer. ( tell that person who is next on your list)
-If you get your own name, then you become freelance and can kill anyone....
NO KILL ZONES - bathroom, class, and the library.
-Weapons - Yogurt, water baloon, sock, tennis ball, whip cream, flipflops (thong), sillystring
-freelance weapon - a loaf of bread
-must carry name/weapon card at all times. (cross name off on card if killed)

Semester Ending

so I've got 2 papers in 4 weeks to write and research... not so bad considering that some of my friends have on the order of 14!

Other than that, I'm good... been busy studying trying to catch up and get a bit of progress in the paper dept... I'll post them on "ad satisfactionem" at some point in the future...

Well I should really go study and read!
YAY! I'm only down to 50 pages behind!

Meditation on Faith.

Behold the terrible majesty of God, that He was so humble to come as an infant.

april fools fun

today's been great
we've pranked a friend by switching her toothpaste with a mix of toothpaste and hand lotion... she didn't know until after someone told her after brushing her teeth.

I went disc golfing at an amazingly beautiful course right near my dorm...
We played softball and catch... dunked water on friends, T.P.'ed their rooms, some of my friends put happy post-its with messages about how why they like another friend on her door, with photos (who didn't want to be pranked, so they did a nice thing)... I got my door duck-taped and shaving cream covering my handle and key hole... and other fun things...

and I had a person chase after me just to meet me!

Sequentia (Dies Irae)

Quaerens me, sedisti lassus:

Seeking me, Thou didst sink down wearily,

Redemisti crucem passus:

Thou hast saved me by enduring the cross,

Tantus labor non sit cassus.

such travail must not be in vain.

from http://requiemonline.tripod.com/lyrics/latinlyrics.htm

How profound just three lines...

Thanks Penitens for the quotes on your site that led me to this!

NOTICE OF NEW BLOG

due to the ever increasing lenghth of my philosophical and theological postings, I've decided to create a new blog.
"Ad Satisfactionem Omni Poscenti Vos" at VobisEstSpe.blogspot.com

So for those who want a quick and basic translation of the title of my new Blog:
Ad Satisfactionem Omni Poscenti Vos
"To the satisfaction of all asking you"
And here is a translation of the site name (VobisEstSpe.blogspot.com)
Vobis Est Spe
"To you that of the hope"

Both of which are from 1 Pt 3:15...
ad satisfactionem omni poscenti vos rationem de ea quae in vobis est spe (Latin Vulgate)
"But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you." (Douay-Rheims)
"but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope" (NAB, New American Bible)

The purpose of this blog is simple... this is where I will post my philosophical and theological thoughts and musings... though I am learning, and I will fail, I will seek always to find the Orthodox Catholic path in this undertaking...

St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of Scholars, Philosophers, and Theologians, Pray for us!

Gedankenexperiments (thought experiments)

This is a proto-thought, so I don't intend it to be well fleshed out...

It seems that part of the problem that occurs between the Theologian (theist) and the Atheologian (atheist) is due to differing ideas of the utility of Gendankenexperiments...

I maintain that we should work from a system without contradiction. If there is such a thing, there should be no discussion that we presently exist in one (if there is not such a thing, then the premises of logic seem pointless).

In such a case, if we are to discuss the existence of God, would it not be most pertinent to question that hypothesis within the system, and determine if it is consistent in the system? Though one might claim that discussion of hypothetical world systems where God created so-and-so or everyone perfect (such that free will never lead to any choice of evil or the complete lack of any evil), is pertinent to such a discussion, I would say that one can not admit relevance of such a hypothetical, without establishing prior that one can do so without logical contradiction.

If we already have a system we imagine is non-contradictory. then should we not start in that system. Even if we are not fully aware of every aspect of this system, we assume this system is non-contradictory, and thus by basing our information off of this system, we minimize the amount of variability when we are questioning a hypothesis, such as the existence of God.

Starting from intellectual scratch seems prone to contradictions, obvious or implied. As I hold the Atheologian's position on Theodicy has.

This is why I propose that for the clarity, Plantinga's method of showing the impossibility of any world but ours seems promising for future theologians. (A concise and approximate summary of Plantinga's method is: There is a person Bob who makes the free will decision to dance because he's happy right now. Now if we analyze every other "possible world" we find that it is impossible for Bob to NOT dance right now, given that he's happy, has free will and that Bob would dance right now if he is happy. God could make Bob dance, but then Bob would not have free will. If Bob does NOT HAVE free will in this world, where he HAS free will, then this is a contradiction, and this world can not exist. On the other hand, Bob could make the free will decision not to dance, but we have already stated that if he is happy he will dance, and we know that he is happy, so that this possibility is also IMPOSSIBLE, as it creates another contradiction, namely that he decides with his free will NOT TO dance, even though he will decide with his free will TO dance.)

This is by no means a support of Plantinga... I think his idea is heading in the right direction, but I believe his premises are rife with problems... mostly due to his discontinuity with traditional Theology.

lacrimae rerum

Kat and I have ended our relationship...
and though pain I feel,
it must be laid down,
that like Christ it might be crucified,
and my pain resurrected.

Sadness...

I am so horrified by what I just read that my stomach and mouth are ready to vomit... my very soul is sad, my mind is begging for an answer... my heart weeps... only a few times in my life has something other than sickness brought me this close to both tears and vomit.

LEADER EXCLUSIVE: Mother arrested for attempting to intervene in her 14-year old's decision to have abortion

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

By Joyce Morrison, Southern IL News Correspondent

For legal reasons, the names of the family and the 14-year old girl that are the subject of this story have been withheld at this time.

GRANITE CITY - A Sothern Illinois woman was arrested last week (March 17) after trying to intervene on behalf of her 14-year old daughter's effort to have an abortion. The girl was allegedly taken to an abortion clinic by the mother of the man allegedly to have impregnated the 14-year old.

According to the girl's mother, her 14-year old daughter was called off from school in Madison County by a woman posing as the girl's “grandmother.” The woman took the girl from her home only minutes before the girl’s mother returned home from work.

It was later determined that the woman who had posed as the "grandmother" to the school authorities was the mother of the male who had fathered the unborn child the 14-year old girl was carrying. The age of the male has not been released.

When the parents were notified their pregnant daughter was not at school, they suspected she had been taken to the Hope Abortion Clinic in Granite City. The parents and grandfather were the only persons authorized to request school absence for the fourteen year old female.

“My husband and I rushed to the abortion clinic where we saw our daughter’s name on the roster and the time she had checked in,” the mother said. She then went into the clinic and searched a room filled with young women awaiting abortions but did not see her daughter.

She took a seat near the main desk and said, “I was told I could not prove my daughter was there so I began calling her name. A medical tech at the clinic told me , ‘It’s your daughter’s rights, it’s her body. You have no rights.’”

After continuing to call out her daughter’s name and telling her “don’t do it,” authorities were called and the mother was arrested.

The 14-year old told her mother she could hear her but when she asked employees to give her mother a message, they came back to the room and told her that her mother had left.

Angela Michaels, of Small Victories Ministry, was tipped off as to what was happending at the Hope clinic. According to Michaels, she witnessed police placing the mother’s hands behind her back, taking her into custody. As the police were putting the mother in the squad car, she was crying out, “Please, please, help me...my daughter is in there.”

Michaels said, “Exactly one hour later at 10:35 a.m., the 14-year old emerged from the clinic looking disheveled. The 14-year old told us that employees kept her in a quiet room until the procedure was performed and she was told that her mother had left.”

Employees assured this girl on her departure, “No-one will ever know you were here, we’ll bury your records.”

In the meantime, the woman who had taken the girl for the abortion was slipped out the back door of the clinic.

The police in the community in which the family lives allegedly told the girl's mom that they couldn't intervene despite her making a charge that her daughter had been raped (by statute) because the charge was stale--7 weeks after the incident. They did tell the girl's mom that, while she had no right to stop the abortion, she did have a right to go into the clinic and speak to her daughter.

The parents are expected to file charges.

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