It's here

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I preordered last September, arrived today. :) Complete with beautiful art, Latin prayers, not to mention a summarization of our Catechism in Q&A format.

1. What is the plan of God for man?

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. In the fullness of time, God the Father sent his Son as the Redeemer and Savior of mankind, fallen into sin, thus calling all into his Church and, through the work of the Holy Spirit, making them adopted children and heirs of his eternal happiness.

Cardinal Mahony to Kids: Stay in school tomorrow!

News release

There have been further rumors that a possible school boycott would be held on Friday, March 31st. As one who is deeply engaged in the overall efforts to have Congress pass just and humane immigration reform legislation, I am urging all students in the greater Los Angeles area to stay in school tomorrow. I am urging all parents to speak with their sons and daughters this evening and in the morning impressing upon them the need for to remain in school and not on the streets.

Doctor Who

Has anyone been watching the new Doctor Who series on the Sci-Fi channel? I never followed the older series, but I find this one interesting... kinda creative...

RIP Dan Curtis

Dan Curtis, producer of America's first gothic television soap opera, Dark Shadows, died last Monday. I wasn't a fan of everything he produced, but I have been a fan of Dark Shadows for years -- both the 1960's series with Jonathan Frid and 1990's series with Ben Cross -- primarily for its creative storylines and its borrowing of themes present in a wide array of literature. In fact, my first online BBS nickname was Barnabas Collins.

May he rest in peace...

Sympto-Thermal neatness...

Last Sunday, my fiancee and I attended our class in Natural Family Planning (NFP) in Paso Robles offered by the Couple-to-Couple League (CCL). We started the day off on the way up with the Divine Liturgy at St. Anne's Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) Church in San Luis Obispo, which is always a treat. St. Anne's is an Eastern Catholic parish in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.

But this is really cool... A woman's natural fertility cycle is really something to behold. It is certainly counter-cultural to appreciate it as a man. It should really be required learning for any man, if only to be educated about how wonderfully and intricately made we human beings are, especially women.

The class we attended was actually a condensed, intensive course focusing on the Sympto-Thermal method of NFP, charting and chart interpretation, and other pertinent information to help couples get started with NFP. Couples can then approach other related topics, such how future pregnancy and menopause affect the fertility cycle, at their own pace. Being a part of CCL also means that we can get private consultation and help in interpreting our charts if we ever need it in the future. We knew a fair amount about NFP going into the course, but after walking through everything with other couples, charting no longer seems so daunting, and we are itching to get started charting this week! This'll give us a few months experience in charting before we are actually married. So cool! Thank goodness we have free long-distance on our cell phone plan.