Vid Way Tuesday
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pair uh dee, pair uh dumb x 2
get the popcorn and feel good
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[1:12]


'CLICK' on the above > search your heart.
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[1:53]


'CLICK" on the above > and start smelling the testosterone.

Addendum: Do you have any suggestions for other aromas?
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My Way Sunday
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a parsing parson
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The following article is about an interview with Anglican Bishop N. T. (Tom) Wright. I have been reading some of his Theological tomes for over 15 years now. I have probably 7 or 8 of his books. Some are highly academic; others written for the layman. He is well respected in Biblical studies circles through-out the church, even in Rome. He has 'Catholic' friends in high-places - as well as critics - and his critics are present in Protestant realms, too...they think he is too Catholic. I think he is as good a Pauline scholar as many these days, and better than most.

Note to non-Protestant readers of this blog: The below material is written by a fairly conservative and orthodox Protestant publishing company. Does it differ from your understanding?

uncle jim


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Anglican Bishop Says Resurrection Commonly Misunderstood

The Wired Word for February 17, 2008

In the News

Last week, TIME magazine featured an interview with N.T. "Tom" Wright, the bishop of Durham (England), in which the cleric maintained that the common view of heaven is a distortion of what the Bible actually teaches. He also said that as a result, many people miss the real hope about life after death that the Bible presents.

The article was published under the sensational title "Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop," but what Wright, who is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England, was actually talking about is what the Apostles' Creeds calls "the resurrection of the body."

In the interview, Wright said that the usual view of heaven as an otherworldly place where you go after death if you were good in this life is unsupported in the New Testament in three ways.

The first unsupported view, Wright contends, concerns timing. Many people assume we go to heaven immediately after death, but Wright points out that the apostle Paul said clearly that Christ has been raised from the dead already but that nobody else has yet.

The second view that Wright says is unsupported regards our physical state in the resurrection of the dead. Many people assume we live on after death as a disembodied soul, but Wright says the biblical view is that we receive a resurrected body.

And the third view Wright says is a misunderstanding of Scripture concerns location. He points out that the gospels nowhere say, "Jesus has been raised; therefore we are all going to heaven." Rather it says that Jesus is coming here to join together the heavens and the earth in an act of new creation.

In another interview, this one with the preaching journal Homiletics, Wright explained it this way: "The word 'resurrection' has commonly been used by Christians for many years now to mean effectively, 'life after death.' So that when people read the Easter story they think, 'Isn't that wonderful? Jesus died, then he was raised, then he went to heaven; well, we'll die, we'll go to heaven and that's pretty much the same thing.' And they miss the whole point of the bodily resurrection, which has to do with 'new creation,' because most Christians … don't actually have in their minds a picture of what resurrection really is, which is: a new bodily life after a period of being bodily dead."

Wright went on to say, "resurrection is not life after death, it's life after life after death. We're talking about a two-stage post-mortem reality. A time of being bodily dead, and then -- if you want to talk about going to heaven, then that's what's going on at that point. But then, the new heavens and new earth that were promised will form the theater or stage within which we'll be given new bodies to live within God's new world." (Quoted with permission from Homiletics.)

In the TIME interview, Wright explained that Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return, and that part of that event will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will "awake."

Wright said that the common misunderstanding came in part from the translation of Jewish ideas into Greek. The Jewish view was that although the world of space and time had gotten messed up, as God's creation, it was still basically good. Thus, "God will eventually sort it out and put it right again," Wright said. The Greek-speaking Christians who were influenced by Plato, however, "saw our cosmos as shabby and misshapen and full of lies, and the idea was not to make it right, but to escape it and leave behind our material bodies."

Wright said that the Greek view has been very influential, but that at its best, the church has always come back to the Hebrew view.

The bishop also says that what the New Testament actually says is that "God wants you to be a renewed human being helping him to renew his creation, and his resurrection was the opening bell. And when he returns to fulfill the plan, you won't be going up there to him, he'll be coming down here."

The TIME interviewer noted that the scenario Wright laid out sounds like "work," to which Wright responded, referring to the traditional view of heaven. "It's more exciting than hanging around listening to nice music." He went on to say, "In Revelation and Paul's letters we are told that God's people will actually be running the world on God's behalf."

More on this story may be found at this link:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1710844,00.html

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The Big Questions

1. What do you find appealing in the explanation of resurrection Wright offers? What do you find troubling?

2. What implications does the view of bodily resurrection have in terms of how Christian should regard the physical, created world?

3. What is the difference between "the immortality of the soul" and "the resurrection of the body"? Which one is the Christian view?

4. In terms of how you live your life today, does it make any difference whether you understand resurrection as a bodily event or an event of the soul only? Explain your answer.

5. How do theological discussions such as this one affect your personal faith in Christ?

Confronting the News with Scripture

Here are some Bible verses to guide our discussion:

Isaiah 25:7-8

"[the Lord] will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces ." (For context, read 25:6-10a.)

Daniel 12:2

"Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (For context, read 12:1-4.)

No matter how Christians understand resurrection, the Bible is clear that in God's ultimate plan, death loses, and everlasting life is the destiny for the righteous.

Question: How do these verses from the Old Testament apply to the understanding of resurrection in the New Testament?

1 Corinthians 15:22-23

"... for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ." (For context, read 15:12-26.)

Bishop Wright is referring to such verses as this one from Paul when he maintains that the New Testament says Christ has been raised but that no one else has yet. Here Paul says quite plainly that there is a divine timing in the order of the resurrection, that the resurrection of "those who belong to Christ" awaits Christ's return.

Questions: Does Paul's statement have to be read as a timetable? If not, how should it be understood? What expectations were present in Paul's day about the timing of Christ's return?

Luke 23:43

"Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (For context, read 23:39-43.)

These words are Jesus' response from the cross to the dying thief, who asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. In the TIME interview, Wright said that this Bible verse has caused a misunderstanding of the timing of resurrection. He explained that whatever "paradise" is, it has to be an intermediate state because Jesus himself would not be resurrected for three days, and thus paradise cannot equal resurrection.

Questions: Does "today" in this Bible verse have to be understood as meaning "immediately after we die"? How else might it be understood?

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

"So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body." (For context, read 15:35-57.)

Be sure to read the entire context for these verses, for it is the New Testament's primary passage about the resurrection of the body. In popular notions about life after death, the picture is often that our body decays and our soul sort of floats up to God and lives on. This concept is sometimes called "the immortality of the soul," and frankly, that is not what Christianity teaches. This mistaken idea has it that we can be separated into two parts -- a physical part that is mortal and dies, and a spiritual part that is immortal and cannot die. As long as one trusts God and follows Christ there is perhaps no great harm in picturing things that way, but it does miss some important affirmations of Christianity about the sovereignty of God.

Actually Christianity teaches not immortality, but resurrection, and it goes like this: When a person dies, his or her whole being dies, body, mind, soul, spirit -- every aspect of that person dies. But then, for those who have accepted God's grace, God, who gave them life in the first place, gives it to them again. We all go to the grave completely expired, every part of us 100-percent deceased. But then, in God's own time, he raises the faithful, not resuscitating the old body, but giving the person a new resurrected body. That's what Paul is saying in the passage above.

Resurrection is significantly different from immortality. To suggest that the soul is immortal puts it on a par with God. If our souls cannot die, then why do we need God? We'd have the ability to prevent our own extinction. As opposed to this idea of immortality, resurrection says that God comes to the faithful dead with a new gift of life and re-creates us -- not just the soul part of us but all parts of us.

Thus the Apostles' Creed's insistence that we believe in the resurrection of the body, for in biblical thought, we don't just have a body, we are a body. We are not just spiritual beings trapped inside a prison of flesh. Rather, the body is part and parcel of who we are, and resurrection tells us that in eternity, the faithful in Christ will function as full beings -- body, mind, soul, spirit.

In short, Christianity's teaching is that: 1) human beings are a unity of soul and flesh, 2) our earthly life does not exhaust the meaning of whom we are created by God to be, and 3) immortality is not something we inherently possess, but is given to the faithful in the next life as a gift of God.

Question: What images would you use to explain the difference between immortality and resurrection?

Revelation 21:2-3

"And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them .'" (For context, read 21:1-8.)

These verses are among those to which Bishop Wright refers when he talks about the location of heaven. Note that this passage refers the new Jerusalem "coming down out of heaven" and of the home of God being "among mortals," which suggests that it is not some otherworldly place but a remade creation here.

Questions: Are there other ways of interpreting these verses in terms of the location of the kingdom of God fully come? What are they?

Questions for Further Discussion

1. Comment on the following, heard in a sermon: "The doctrine of the resurrection of the body helps us to picture a time when the reoccurring sinfulness that is within us will be removed. If our souls were immortal, it would mean that we would go into eternity with the same character flaws, prejudices, sins, distorted viewpoints and self-centeredness that interferes with our lives in the here and now."

2. One Christian said this about the resurrection of the body: "I find this distinction between immortality and resurrection very comforting. Who wants to be immortal if it merely means wandering around forever as some sort of disembodied ghost with no place to call home? I'd rather have resurrection, which comes with Christ's assurance that even death cannot cut me off from God's love and care. The same God who loved me enough to give me life to begin with loves me enough to give me life again." Do you agree with his perspective?

3. How does 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 fit into today's discussion? It reads, "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

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having an identity crisis?

Any Way Saturday
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A Catholic College Stands Up for the Faith

by Deal W. Hudson in the InsideCatholic e-zine for

2/15/08

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Belmont Abbey College is one of the few Catholic colleges in the southeastern United States, located about ten miles west of Charlotte, North Carolina. Unfortunately, its president and chancellor are currently embroiled in a defense of the college’s Catholic identity against eight faculty members who insist on insurance coverage for voluntary sterilization, abortion, and contraception.

Here's the story.<--- CLICK this link to read the article.
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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Man Describes Heaven After 'Dying' in Car Crash

This is a rush transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," February 13, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight: we begin a special two- part series about what happens after we die. Is there an afterlife? Obviously, a vital question. And most Americans believe there is.

According to an ABC News poll, 90 percent of us say death is not the end. It certainly wasn't for Don Piper, who was pronounced clinically dead after a car crash back in 1989. Mr. Piper was even put in a body bag.

What happened after that is an amazing tale chronicled in his best-selling book, "90 Minutes in Heaven." I spoke with Mr. Piper a few days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'REILLY: So, Mr. Piper, you're driving down a narrow lane. You see a tractor-trailer coming dead at you. Pick it up from there.

DON PIPER, DIED FOR 90 MINUTES: Well, I was hit head-on. I had no idea. It was a narrow highway. I had nowhere to go. I'm on a bridge, and he hits me head-on with such impact that the wheels of the driver's side of the truck roll over my car, crush me in it, shove it up against the railing of the bridge, and I'm killed instantly.

O'REILLY: Now you — when you say you were killed, you're sitting here.

PIPER: Yes.

O'REILLY: So what is the definition of you being killed?

PIPER: Well, there was a four-car pileup. So as it happened, four sets of EMTs came out to the bridge location to check on everybody. Everybody else was fine except me. So they all focused on me, and they all did all the tests at their disposal. They all concluded the same thing: I was a fatality.

The body was covered up with a waterproof tarp, because it was raining, and they waited for someone to come and take the body away.

O'REILLY: All right. So you were actually covered head to toe, no breathing hole or anything? You're there.

PIPER: No.

O'REILLY: So you are, according to these medical people, done. Then what happens in your mind? What's going on in your mind?

PIPER: Well, immediately I was standing at some magnificent gates surrounded by people I had known and loved in life. So when I saw them, I knew where I was, because I knew where they were. I knew I was at the Gates of Heaven.

O'REILLY: Now when you saw people that you had known who had passed away before you, were they in human form, body form?

PIPER: In a sense they were. They were all fully recognizable as themselves, so yes, they were tangible. I could see them. And they were all perfect. Many of them I had known in life had died at an elderly age or maybe they'd had a traumatic accident themselves. But when I saw them they were all ageless.

O'REILLY: But you say in your book you didn't see God or Jesus or anybody like that?

PIPER: In the distance as I was approaching the gate — I'm often asked about this, as you might imagine. There really are a lot of magnificent structures inside the gate. And at the pinnacle of a great hill beyond them is a bright light. I have the distinct feeling that that is where God — and I was headed in that direction when suddenly I was returned to earth.

O'REILLY: Now how did that happen? You were returned to earth how? What was the — what do you remember?

PIPER: All I remember is being at the gates and about to enter after a lot of other magnificent things that I saw and heard. As it turns out, 90 minutes after the truck hit me, a man climbed into the car and, because he felt like God, spoke to him, started praying over me, even though he knew I was dead.

Suddenly, I found myself back in the car under the tarp in the dark. He's singing a hymn, and he's making me sing it with him. And I had no idea what had happened to me.

O'REILLY: What about a doctor, a scientist, somebody saying to you, look, you had a head trauma and when you have a head trauma, all things — and you are a believer, you know, from the jump.

PIPER: Right.

O'REILLY: I mean, a very religious man. This was in your mind. Head trauma, hallucinations. It's real to you, but it isn't really real.

PIPER: Well, it's actually the most real thing that's ever happened to me. It now defines my reality here. I know how temporary this is. I mean, we know we all — none of us gets out of this life alive.

O'REILLY: Well, I guess the bottom line is if somebody doesn't believe you and, you know, some people watching right now are not going to, is there anything you can do or say to make them believe?

PIPER: This is a very remarkable, unique situation. I saw things there that I wouldn't have expected to see if I was having a dream. I saw people there that I didn't expect to see. There were a lot of things about my experience that convince me in no uncertain terms that that is reality and this is fleeting. This is passing. I can't wait to go back there. I didn't want to come back here.

O'REILLY: Mr. Piper, thanks very much for talking with us. We appreciate it.

PIPER: Thank you so much.

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...and the winner is...

Heart Way Friday
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Adoro wrote this morning and asked that this be posted for your information. Today at noon nominations are being accepted for the Catholic Blog Awards. If you would like to know more or participate, go here.

Consider writing a nomination ballot for some small blogger you really like ... and tell your friends.
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Size matters

Vid Way Thursday
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How many pairs of pants have I owned and worn in my lifetime? How many sizes have I worn since High School? or since getting married? or in the past 10 years? Sometimes I use the tradition of Lenten discipline and fasting to change more than just my spiritual appearance. Sometimes my waist line benefits, too.

I'm all for the 'reforming my ways' approach to Lent. However, recent leanings have been more towards doing something extra - something positive. Don't read me wrong, now - I still need to review my past and work at incremental improvement. God knows, I mess up a lot.

This year I've found a nice meditation booklet, copyrighted by the Diocese of Saginaw, MI. It is titled The Little Black Book and is based on the writings of Bishop Ken Untener [1937 - 2004]. It is a collection of 6-minute meditations - one for each day of the Lenten season ... and I love it.

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[3:26]


'CLICK' on the above > and make plans for change.
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how and where and when do i spend my money

The Way Wednesday
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I know many really committed Christians who live day-to-day, hand-to-mouth. I know many who live in times of plenty. I sometimes wonder how I justify my own material goods to the Lord, when I look around and see such abject poverty elsewhere. Has the 'prosperity gospel' caused some to revel and others to despair? The old adage of 'follow the money' probably tells tons about me. How and where and when do I spend my money?

I certainly cannot judge others - God will do that. I certainly can look inward and judge myself. Do times of recession really get me down, or do I just work harder and trust the Lord? When my friend has his electricity turned off, how do I respond? When another cannot stay on medication because of costs, what do I do to help?

Have I failed if, at retirement, I don't have a million dollars in my IRA or 401K or savings? Some financial planners say that is what will be needed to retire and live a 'life worth living'.

Many have nice retirement plans available to them for their later years - others have no plan at all - many have lost them when companies have closed their doors and all the money is gone. What are they to do? Is God's provision enough?
uncle jim
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Recession Spurs Work on Economic Stimulus Package

The Wired Word for February 10, 2008

In the News

The latest data on the economic front, released just this week, revealed a loss of jobs overall in January and the largest monthly decline in service jobs on record. This information, coupled with the meltdown in the housing market and soaring energy prices, increases the likelihood that the United States is in, or will soon fall into, a recession.

Defined variously as "A significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting longer than a few months, that is visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale-retail trade" or as "A decline in business activity, with two consecutive quarters with a real fall in gross national production," a recession is economic bad news for the nation in general and working-class people in particular.

Because economists do not agree on a precise definition of "recession," and because different economists watch different economic indicators, some are not ready to declare that the country is actually in a recession yet, but most agree that conditions are right for a recession to occur if current trends continue.

As one response to the economic slowdown, Congress and the White House are working together on an economic stimulus package that would inject some $161 billion (amount from the House version of the bill) or as much as $200 billion (amount from the Senate proposal) into the economy by granting tax breaks to businesses and putting some extra cash in the pockets of Americans who earn less than a specific income level, yet to be agreed upon.

The House recently passed its version of the package, but the Senate has postponed its action on the measure until next week when Senators on the presidential campaign trail can return to Washington to cast their votes. If the Senate version ends up having differences from the House version, the two versions then have to be taken to a conference committee to reconcile them.

Most observers say that economic stimulus works only if people who receive the money actually spend it on new purchases, thus creating a positive ripple effect through the economy. If people use it to pay down debt or simply sock it away, the benefit to the overall economy is less.

More on this story may be found at these links:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080206.USECONOMY06/TPStory/Business

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/01/30/luxury.squeeze.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifVw-tbe7isWc0b_BbBXInswo8IQ

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN0563297420080205

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/economy.stimulus/index.html?iref=newssearch

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/economy/2008/01/28/economic-stimulus-how-it-works-or-fails.html?s_cid=rss:economic-stimulus-how-it-works-or-fails.html

The Big Questions

1. Assuming the economic stimulus package is passed by Congress, it is likely to be most effective if individuals actually spend the money it grants them. Christ, however, never blessed the pursuit of possessions. So based on Christian theology and the example of Jesus, what guidelines would you suggest Christians consider when the money arrives in their mailboxes?

2. What would be the effect on the national economy if all Christians actually purchased only the necessities? What would be the effect on their families?

3. In reality, even the most frugal Christians have to be consumers to some degree. How should we balance our consumerism with our charitable giving?

4. What would it mean to our standard of living to reduce our consumption in favor of addressing issues of global poverty, world peace and addressing rampant illness in Third World countries? What would it mean in terms of our standing in God's eyes?

5. In general, what should be a Christian's relationship with money? Why?

Confronting the News with Scripture

Here are some Bible verses to guide our thinking:

Luke 9:58

"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (For context, read 9:57-62.)

Jesus wasn't speaking metaphorically when he said that he had nowhere to lay his head; he was essentially a penniless street preacher whose possessions amounted to little more than the clothes on his back. And he told his followers to lay up treasures ... but only in heaven. As a result, Christians ever since have had an uneasy relationship with money and possessions.

Question: To what degree should the financial situation of Jesus of Nazareth guide how we use money?

Matthew 19:21

"If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (For context, read 19:16-26.)

This is the advice Jesus gave to the rich young man who asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. But followers of Jesus have often taken this as an instruction for Christians in general rather than limited to advice for this specific rich man. Members of some religious orders have taken poverty as one of their vows. And we often look askance at religious leaders who make large salaries.

Yet consider what would happen to the world's economy if everyone followed Jesus' advice to this young man. In the 1970s, after realizing how dependent we in the United States were on oil, there was a conscious effort to reduce our oil imports. In the process, we very nearly wrecked the economies of Nigeria and Mexico. By the same token, if we could cut our coffee drinking in half, much of Latin America would suffer.

Question: How do you personally handle this advice from Jesus?

1 Timothy 6:6-8

" Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these." (For context, read 6:2c-10.)

"We will be content with these," Paul wrote to Timothy. But will we really? Paul is saying that having adequate food and clothing are sufficient for contentment, but in fact, isn't our entire consumer-driven economy driven by discontent? We "need" the newest model of this or that because the one we have is so last year! Advertising constantly plays to our feelings of discontent about our appearance, our status, our possessions, our fulfillment and so on.

Question: Is discontent with what we possess or how we look simply a standard part of what it means to be human, or is there something inherently sinful in it? Explain your answer.

1 Kings 17:14

"The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth." (For context, read 17:8-16.)

This is God's promise to the widow of Zarephath, who sheltered and fed the prophet Elijah during a time of drought. Though she had only enough food for one more meal, God made it sufficient for all the days until the rain came.

Question: It could be argued, certainly, that this provision was a special case because God was protecting Elijah, who still had a mission to fulfill as God's spokesperson, and therefore it cannot be applied to the situation of Christians today. But insofar as a recession is an economic drought, is there any application of this promise that can be made to people who trust God?

Questions for Further Discussion

1. We know it can't buy happiness, but we also know that a severe lack of it can cause serious problems and pain. Given that, is there anything wrong with wanting to have enough money to live comfortably, but not necessarily fabulously?

2. Is there anything unchristian about being in debt beyond our ability to repay it?

3. Comment on this (heard in a sermon): "We may live in a mobile home, but half the world lives in mud huts and cardboard shacks. We may drive an old car, but nine out of 10 people in the world have no car at all. Our pension may not support the lifestyle we'd like, but many people in the world live from hand to mouth and cannot consider retirement. They will have to scrounge for a living until the day they die."

4. Jim Elliot, a missionary who was killed by a tribe in South America to whom he was trying to take the gospel, once said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." What do you think he meant?

5. How is consumerism related to caring for our planet and its nonrenewable resources?

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St. Stephen, here I come

Cause Way Tuesday
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Tell it straight, tell it truthfully, tell it with passion, tell it with no fear, tell it with love. Ever been in a situation where you needed to give the real hard word to a group where some will be 'with you' and some won't even understand what the concern is all about?

Sometime ago in years past [under a previous pastor, now deceased] our Parish Pastoral Council year, which begins in September, began with a half-day mini-retreat. All members of the Council and the heads of the various Apostolates which functioned under the oversight of the Council were expected to participate. I was asked to lead this retreat.

Our pastor didn't micro-manage, but he did want to know, in general terms, what was going to be the main thrust or theme and what I was going to emphasize. My main theme was going to be 'God's call'. For this group, a main focus was going to be on our willingness to volunteer and serve.

Very early I hit on the issue which I wanted to bring to the forefront of our minds. Service to the parish, such as being on this Council, is a 'call' or 'invitation' from God Himself. It should not be viewed as an affirmation of our popularity in the parish.

I continued along the lines of, "If any of us are here today, at the start of this new Parish Council year, for any reason other than as a response to a 'call' or 'invitation' from God, we need to reassess our position. If we never gave that a thought - if we came here to serve merely because it is a 'good thing to do' - maybe we ought to consider not being here at all. It is the beginning of the session and replacements can be found."

Some few understood. Some had no clue what I was talking about. Some became a bit agitated that I was suggesting that some should leave. For a moment I felt like I was going to be dragged out of town and thrown off the highest cliff.

As I then proceeded to flesh out those ideas, I won some over. Some, I believe, still had no understanding of being called to serve. At the conclusion, some thanked me. Several expressed that they had not ever given it any thought in terms of it being a response to a call. The pastor was satisfied. I did not joint the list of martyrs of the Church.
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So what is the point of telling this story?

Please read the two entries for Monday Feb 11 [yesterday] by blogger Adoro at Adoro Te Devote by 'clicking' here. Then pray for her as she makes her presentation tonight, Tuesday, to a second group.

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now you see her ... now you don't

Your Way Monday
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On the Roman Catholic Calendar of Feast-days, today promotes the devotion to 'Our Lady of Lourdes'. Information about this Marian apparition is provided below.
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In 1858, in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes in southern France, Our Lady appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, a young peasant girl.

She revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception, asked that a chapel be built on the site of the vision, and told the girl to drink from a fountain in the grotto.

No fountain was to be seen, but when Bernadette dug at a spot designated by the apparition, a spring began to flow. The water from this still flowing spring has shown remarkable healing power, though it contains no curative property that science can identify.

Lourdes has become the most famous modern shrine of Our Lady.

Read the whole story of the Miracles at Lourdes and about St. Bernadette at the following links.

St. Bernadette

The Grotto

The Apparitions

Bishop's Commission

Episcopal Commission's Report

Canonization

Her Incorrupt Body
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In the past 2000+ years, many visions or visitations or apparitions of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, have been reported. If you'd like to know more about the occurrences, visit the Catholic Encyclopedia.
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Got teens in the house? Lead them to truth. CS-4

My Way Sunday
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Lying is not a problem that only afflicts our teenagers, we all have a propensity towards dishonesty. Words and deeds that we know are wrong find their way into our life so easily - and they can do so much harm.
. . . . .
Ron grew up in a strict Christian environment. Although Ron's parents were really nice, they seemed to be overly protective when it came to Ron's social life. Ron was not allowed to go to movies or school dances. In the eyes of his parents many of Ron's friends were not good enough for him.

Ron was not a rebellious person but the attitudes of his strict parents caused him a lot of tension. The only things they wanted him to do were go to church or church youth group activities. But he wanted to do others as well.

When Ron turned 16 he began to lie to his parents about where he was going. He still was not doing anything wrong in his eyes but more and more he found himself lying aboout his whereabouts. He would tell his parents he was going to a church activity when actually he was going to the movies with some friends.

Ron complained over and over again to his parents about their strict attitudes but all he ever got from them was, "It's for your own good." Ron began to lie more and more.
. . .
1. If Ron was your friend, how could you help him?

2. What difficulties could Ron's lies cause for his church Youth Minister? What could the Youth leader do?

3. If Ron's mom called you on the phone and asked if Ron had been at the youth group meeting, what would you tell her?

4. Read the advise St. Paul give in his letter to the Ephesians in Chapter 6, verses 1-4:

1 Children, obey your parents (in the Lord), for this is right.

2 "Honor your father and mother." This is the first commandment with a promise,

3 "that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth."

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.

How does this scripture apply to this case?
. . .
Cases Originally Copyrighted by Jim Burns 1987 - permission granted to use in work with teens.
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when the saints go marching in

Cause Way Thursday
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from the blog of Deacon Greg Kandra - The Deacon's Bench
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Saturday, February 2, 2008

A milestone is reached in the sainthood cause for Fulton Sheen

A key moment in the canonization process of Fulton Sheen is drawing to a close, as Clerical Whispers notes:

A milestone in the cause for sainthood of El Paso native Archbishop Fulton Sheen comes Sunday, with a special mass of thanksgiving at 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Peoria.

It is part the “postrema session,” which ends the Peoria Diocese’s role in Sheen’s path to sainthood. During the mass, documents collected over the past few years will be officially packed, sealed and notarized.

Sheen was a diocesan priest who later became famous worldwide as a radio and television personality, author and orator. He died in 1979.

The documentation for sainthood includes about 100 testimonies of 15- to 30 pages each; reviews of each of Sheen’s nearly 70 books from the diocese’s Theological Commission; and about 1,500 pages of historical/archival materials, said Monsignor Richard Soseman, the diocese’s judicial vicar.

Coinciding with this, the Catholic Exchange has an interview with Fr. Andrew Apostoli, who's been involved in the process:

Dave Hartline: Father Apostoli can you give the readers an update on the progress of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's cause for sainthood?

Father Andrew Apostoli: The diocesan phase investigating Archbishop Sheen's Cause for Sainthood began in 2002 and that was started by Bishop Daniel Jenky CSC of Peoria, the boyhood home of Archbishop Sheen. The diocesan phase of the cause is drawing to a close. Through our interviews with witnesses who knew the Archbishop, we are hopeful that we can present testimonies that demonstrate that the Archbishop lived a life of heroic Christian virtue, which is necessary for sainthood. We also believe we have two significant healings that can be attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Sheen. One healing took place in Champaign, Illinois, and the other in Pittsburgh, PA. Both were quite extraordinary. One involved a woman who nearly died from a major tear in her pulmonary artery that occurred during a very delicate operation. Doctors felt there was no hope for the woman to survive, but she did. The other case involved a newborn infant who was diagnosed with three life-threatening conditions, one of which was the worst form of a blood disease called sepsis. There seemed to be little hope and yet the infant miraculously recovered to the point that the child shows no signs of his illnesses. The doctors have been amazed.

Dave Hartline: Father, please explain to the readers who are similar in age to myself (born in the 1960s) and have only seen Bishop Sheen on reruns on ETWN what it was like to see him on television in his heyday. What was the public's reaction?

Father Apostoli: NBC purposely put him on TV opposite Milton Berle. The TV networks had an obligation to show one hour of religious programming each week. Since Milton Berle was so popular (he was actually called "Mr. Television," at the time) no one expected Bishop Sheen's program to do very well. However, after his first show he received some twenty-eight thousand letters. Within six months the number of Bishop Sheen's viewers increased to the point that he beat Milton Berle in the first half hour of the time slot. It was amazing that, percentage-wise, more Jewish people watched the Bishop than Catholics or Protestants.

I believe this point helps to explain how Bishop Sheen was chiefly responsible for helping many Protestants and Jewish people to understand what the Catholic Church was really about. On a radio interview program, a Protestant man shared with me that his family always watched Milton Berle and never Bishop Sheen. One evening, however, when the TV reception that showed Milton Berle was so bad his family looked purely out of curiosity to see what Bishop Sheen was like. He told me that from then on they only watched Bishop Sheen. Another person told me that whenever her grandmother, who was a Protestant, watched Bishop Sheen's TV program, she always wore one of her best dresses. She felt like she was in church.

Dave Hartline: Bishop Sheen had a special devotion to St Therese, the Little Flower. You wrote the forward to a book entitled: "Archbishop Fulton Sheen's St Therese" A Treasured Love Story." It has just been released. Could you elaborate on this?

Father Apostoli: Yes, I was happy to write the forward to this beautiful new book since I knew how much St Therese meant to Archbishop Sheen. I think there were many young men and women who were greatly influenced by the writings and example of St Therese. You must remember that she died at the age of 24. This type of devotion and dedication for someone so young had a great impact on people, among them Archbishop Sheen. This book is special because it was the fruit of Archbishop Sheen's preaching about St Therese in which case you have a saintly person writing about a canonized one.

Dave Hartline: Tell us about why Archbishop Sheen spent an hour in Eucharistic Adoration every day.

Father Andrew Apostoli: While still in the seminary, Fulton Sheen heard about the bold faith of a young Chinese girl who during a time of persecution of the Church in China gave her life for the Eucharist. This young girl made reparation in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in a small church in China where the Eucharist had been desecrated by anti-Catholic soldiers. The little girl came back several nights in a row to sneak into the Church. There she spent about an hour in prayer and reparation for the Eucharist that had been desecrated. Each night she licked up a consecrated Host (remember in those days the laity did not receive the Blessed Sacrament with their hands). One night one of the soldiers saw her entering the church, and as she was receiving the last consecrated Host, the guard shot and killed her. Before his ordination Fulton Sheen said that, if this young girl could give her life in reparation for the Eucharist, he could spend at least one hour of each day in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. We know he kept to this. For example, once while visiting missionaries in a remote village in Africa, he arrived late at night and his first request was to be brought to their chapel so he could spend his hour.

There's much more, so check out the rest. And pray that soon this great Catholic communicator will be officially proclaimed a saint.
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from uncle jim

A number of years ago, somewhere between 5-15 years ago, I was leading a Volunteers Workshop in our parish. At the conclusion, there was a final Q & A open floor comment session. The workshop seemed to have been well received by the participants, and I was feeling pretty good about it as I led this final session. A few people commented to that, and stated how glad they were they had participated. One woman, the president of our Parish Pastoral Council, stood up and really went overboard in her praise of the workshop - and of me. I was standing there listening and beginning to feel embarrassed. Our pastor was standing at the rear of the room. I looked back at him and, in an effort to break the tension of my embarrassment, said, "Well, Father, I guess when you get back to the rectory, you can start the paperwork to the Bishop for my 'cause'". I got a few chuckles, which is what I hoped for - but he immediately responded, "I'm sorry, Jim, but I can't do that. You see, you have to be dead first." He got the biggest laugh, and I was able to bring the discussion to a close.

That will probably be as close as I get.
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follow the money, sonny

The Way Wednesday
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The following is a compilation of excerpts from:
. . .
Are U.S. Dollars Supporting Abortion in China?
by Deal Hudson
02/04/08
in InsideCatholic.com e-zine
. . .
The mission of the Global Fund is to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis around the world. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the five-year, $15-billion plan for combating HIV/AIDS expires in 2008. The Mexico City Policy, reaffirmed by President Bush in January 2001, requires non-governmental organizations, such as the Global Fund, to "agree as a condition of their receipt of [U.S.] federal funds" that they will "neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations."

China's coercive abortion practices to enforce its one-child policy are well-known and well-documented. The United States has withheld contributions from the UNFPA [United Nations Population Fund] since 2002 because of its participation in China's program of enforced abortion.

The Gerard Health Foundation reports, "Programs funded through the Global Fund exist in all seven provinces [of China] that the State Department has identified as requiring 'termination of pregnancy' if the pregnancy violates provincial family planning regulations: Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin, and Ningxia." The participation of China's NPFPC, UNFPA, and Maria Stopes International in grants from the Global Fund is buried in structures called "Country Coordinating Mechanisms" (CCMs), by which a country develops and submits its grant proposals as well as oversees their implementation.

Lest there be any doubt about the intent of these organizations, the grant from China approved by the Global Fund includes country population and family planning services in the list of "responsible implanting agencies." The amount of Global Fund grants awarded to China for HIV/AIDS prevention totals $171 million, which means about $58 million of that amount came from the United States.

The Gerard Health Foundation report argues, "The American public has reason to be seriously concerned about the Global Fund's camouflaged activities and what is being done with taxpayer dollars." The Kemp-Kasten Amendment, for example, prohibits giving U.S. "population assistance" funds to "any organization or program which, as determined by the President of the United States, supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization."

Taxpayer money put in the top of the pipeline to fight HIV/AIDS can come out the other end into the pockets of organizations who think the best way to fight disease is to eliminate the number of people who can get sick. American people don't want to pay for abortion, especially at the cost of HIV/AIDS victims whose suffering could be prevented.
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Deal W. Hudson is the director of InsideCatholic.com and the author of Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States (Simon and Schuster, March 2008).
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'Tis the season of political activism - get involved.
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a mull before the storm

Vid Way Tuesday
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Lent is my season for getting rid of the clutter and misbehavior in my life. It is a time to set right all those relationships that I've messed up - of course, the first one is with God, my creator. It is not all doom and gloom; it is also a time to rejoice in the graces I've received and in the good / correct / righteous things I've done / thought / said. It is also time to resolve to do better.
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In this video clip, Roman Catholic priest Fr. Robert Barron of the Archdiocese of Chicago, gives a pretty easy to understand vision of what Lent represents.
[4:11]



'Click' on the above > and use it for tomorrow - ASH WEDNESDAY
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FREEZE! You're under a test

Your Way Monday
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From Dawn Eden's blog, the Dawn Patrol.
[2:16]

'CLICK' on above > and consider that day when everything stops
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Got teens in the house? Lead them to truth. CS-3

My Way Sunday
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Today's environment finds many of us caught-up in the varies sub-cultures of the society in which we live. As individuals, we present many varied pictures and models to our teens - some good, and some not so.

Unfortunately, many of us live lives that we would not like our teens to copy. The reality is our teens will be exposed to the same temptations we face. Their decisions will often model what we present.
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Substance abuse is not very far from any of us - it is very likely that, even if we aren't abusers ourselves, there are close acquaintances who are. The substance of choice for many leads to alcoholism.
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Carol's mother was a very nice woman...when she was sober. The only problem was that she was seldom sober. Carol and her family had lived with her mother's drinking habits for years. Her mother would get drunk and become verbally, and even at times physically, abusive. There were days when her mother didn't come home. Eventually she was fired from her job as a secretary for the school district.

Carol's dad stayed with her mom even thought they fought a great deal of the time. Neither Carol nor her dad invited friends to come to their house. They never knew if mom would be sober.

Carol was beginning to deeply resent her mother. She lover her, but at times felt disgusted by and even hated her. Carol was also angry with her father for allowing her mother to act the way she was acting.

Her mother's drinking was affecting every aspect of Carol's life. She was doing poorly in school. Her anger was turning inward and she began not to take pride in herself. She neglected her appearance. Her mom's alcohol problem was taking a major toll on carol's life. She felt lost.
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1. What active steps could Carol take to deal with the problems caused by her mother's drinking?

2. If you were Carol's friend, what could you do to help?

3. What might help Carol deal with her feelings of anger and resentment?

4. Alcoholism is a family affair. What could the family do to help this situation?

5. What services, counselors, or agencies are there in your area that help families of alcoholics?
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Cases Originally Copyrighted by Jim Burns 1987 - permission granted to use in work with teens.
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As you prepare to use this case-study, try to find out the necessary information referenced in question number 5.
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the widows plight

Any Way Saturday
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Most of us have friends, neighbors, relatives who are widowed. I sometimes have to stop and ask myself about how I relate to them - or ignore them. I need to do better. The below article gives some advice.
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Please Do, and Please Don't
Suggestions for encouraging widows.
Miriam Neff | posted 1/18/2008 08:24AM in ChristianityToday e-zine.
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1. Please do stay connected. Do not assume we need "space" to grieve. There is already a huge hole in our universe.

2. Please do say you are sorry for our loss. Do not tell us you understand, unless you do from personally experiencing the loss of a spouse. We would rather you tell us you do not know what to say than tell us the story of losing your friend or even close relative. We may be able to listen to your story later, but not now.

3. Please call and ask specific questions, such as "Can we go for a walk together? May I run errands for you? Meet you for coffee?" Do not say, "Call me if you need anything."

4. Please refer to our husband's acts and words, both serious and humorous. We are so comforted by knowing our husband has not been forgotten.

5. Please invite us to anything. We may decline but will appreciate being asked. Do not assume we no longer want to participate in couples events.

6. Please accept that we are where we are. Marriages are brief, long, healthy, dysfunctional, intense, remote. Death comes suddenly or in tiny increments over years. Again, our experiences are so different, as are we. So are our journeys through grief. Do not assume we go through the grief process "by the book."

7. Do say, "I've been thinking of you" rather than make a conversation-only offer, such as "We'll call you, and we'll go out to dinner"—unless you can follow up. We'd love that, too.
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am I heartless?

Heart Way Friday
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Borrowed from Sheila at Around the Bend
. . . [4:13]

'CLICK' on the above > and tune-in to the lyrics.
. . .
Here's the lyrics:

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
and when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
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