On Christian Love

Love in the New Testament

Check out this thorough analysis on the references and uses of "love" in the New Testament, including a lexical analysis of the Greek terms for "love", courtesy of the Novum Testamentum blog.

Ecclesia Domestica

Oops - I meant to blog about this earlier, but the week got away from me!

Engaged Encounter

We had a really good experience at our engaged encounter weekend... There were around 37 other couples making the weekend with us. The most valuable part of the weekend was the time spent talking and growing with my fiancee. We left feeling much more close and much more ready to make this sacramental commitment to each other. The weekend consisted of several presentations by two married couples and one of the Franciscan priests. The couples were deeply honest in their love for each other, against many odds, and in their love for the church. They were very candid about their experience of living out the Catholic faith in their marriage and family life. It was also really encouraging to see their zeal and enthusiasm for the Church's teachings on human sexuality and fertility, and their practice of natural family planning -- some of which had to be learned the hard way.

Ecclesia Domestica

I have long been attracted to the notion that every Christian family constitutes an ecclesia domestica, that is, a little, domestic church. In a way, it is a reflection of the larger, institutional church -- a small church in which the parents are the primary catechists of the Catholic faith and life for their children, and where an understanding of the love and mercy of God, His grace, and salvation are preached with the whole heart, in word and in life, through the human relationships that make the family what it is. The family is where each individual family member is first exposed to these graces from childhood, and it is families that make up the wider community of faith.

Considering many of our real experiences of family life, this all sounds very lofty, doesn't it? Well, that's where I think it really reveals the larger, institutional church. Families are made up of sinful people through whom God communicates grace. In reality, many families are divided and separated, and there is great need for reconciliation. But I think that when families reflect upon the divine commission to which they are called, and they strive to cooperate with God's grace, then His will is made manifest.

The Second Vatican Council refers to the notion of the domestic church (ecclesia domestica) in Lumen Gentium 11:

The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children; they should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each of them, fostering with special care vocation to a sacred state.

Our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, refers to the ecclesia domestica in several places in his writings, building on the words expressed in Lumen Gentium -- particularly with regard to the fact it is the members of the family, and more specifically the parents, who are charged with the primary responsibility for catechesis of the Christian faith and life. In his apostolic exhortation, Catechesi Tradendae 68, he says:

The family's catechetical activity has a special character, which is in a sense irreplaceable... Education in the faith by parents, which should begin from the children's tenderest age, is already being given when the members of a family help each other to grow in faith through the witness of their Christian lives, a witness that is often without words but which perseveres throughout a day-to-day life lived in accordance with the Gospel... Christian parents must strive to follow and repeat, within the setting of family life, the more methodical teaching received elsewhere... Family catechesis therefore precedes, accompanies and enriches all other forms of catechesis. "The church of the home" (the "ecclesia domestica") remains the one place where children and young people can receive an authentic catechesis.

This is a divine commission, which as it flowers, reveals and reflects the larger Catholic Church and its own commission. The Catechism of the Catholic Church builds on this notion with great depth. Paragraph 2204-2007:

The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church (ecclesia domestica)... The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and education of children it reflects the Father's work of creation. It is called to partake of the prayer and sacrifice of Christ... The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.

The family is the basic block, the original cell of social life. What happens when the family as a whole, and in particular the parents, fails to recognize its primary role? If the larger Church, by way of the ecclesia domestica, is unable to introduce young people to the teachings of Christ, and if, through no fault of their own, young people are unable to participate in the virtues of family life, what happens to society as a whole?

Engaged Encounter

We're headed off on our Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend tomorrow in the Diocese of San Diego. We're looking forward to it! Please pray for us...

Button, Button

Do you remember that episode from the 1980's Twilight Zone which featured a mysterious man who approaches a poor couple in order to give them a small box with a button on it, adding:

If you press this button, you will receive $200,000, but someone -someone you don't know- will die.

After agonizing over the decision, the couple decides to press the button, and the mysterious man promptly gives them their money. The man then takes the button box and leaves, and when they ask him to whom he is going to give the box next, he responds:

I'm going to give the box to someone you don't know...

The obvious implication is that they are to be the next to die.

I often reflect on this episode for a number of reasons. It communicates the simple lesson that our actions, good or bad, do have a relative effect on others. Further, it shows that we are connected in ways that often extend beyond our immediate environment or era. Also, it shows our human tendency to see our own problems (as well as those close to us) as deserving of more immediate attention over the needs, or the life, of another person whom we don't know.

Stercus...

I was a little surprised to discover that Fr. Michael Crosby, OFM Cap., had been invited to lead a pre-lenten parish mission at my parish this week. Just curious as to what would make someone as notorious as Fr. Crosby perfect for this role..? In fairness, I haven't asked my pastor about it yet to hear his side of it. It just seems odd that Crosby would be invited to our parish, which has brought in some pretty solid speakers and events in the past.

In Sept., 2003, I went to hear for myself what Crosby had to say at a talk he gave, sponsored by Santa Barbara chapter of Voice of the Faithful and our local Institute for Adult Spirituality. Here is what I wrote back then. I referred to him as a liberal prophet of gloom.

I neglected to mention back then that he also boasted about how well versed he was in the Scriptures, and that he has a habit of ridiculing opposing points of view and those who raise them. He boasted particularly about a time when he publically embarrassed a couple of young adults who dared to disagree with him after hearing one of his talks, writing them off as simply uneducated and too influenced by that perpetrator of theological and ecclesiastical oppression, Pope John Paul II. Color me unimpressed. Opening the Church's windows can let in some fresh air, but sometimes you get the funk - and that funk sure do stink!

Boycott the Blog Awards!!

I fear that I am the only stiffly stifferson who thinks that the Catholic Blog Awards are detrimental, since each blog has its own personality and set of readers. How can we possibly say that one is better (or best) than another? Blogs that I choose the read, others don't, and blogs that others choose to read, I don't. So it's little more than a popularity contest - Why succumb to the American "award culture"? If it's fun just to see if your favorite blog wins, what does that really say? Meanwhile, some blogs are accumulating 5 and 6 awards, I have to say, it seems a little rediculous...

So please, do not nominate me (assuming you had thought about it)... the last thing I need is an award for keeping my blog. I'm not in competition with anyone. I don't do it for ratings or awards, and I don't need an award to know that some readers enjoy reading me and other readers don't. And, if you do like reading my blog, of course I appreciate it and invite you to keep reading!

That's all I have to say about that...

Unbelievable

This is seriously just over a block away from where I live. I walk past it everyday when I go to work.

Seven dead in California postal shooting

GOLETA, California (CNN) -- A female former employee opened fire at a 24-hour postal service sorting facility in Goleta, California, killing six people and critically wounding another, before turning the gun on herself, authorities said early Tuesday.

I didn't see the story until this morning, but last night, I did hear helicopters circling for hours; turns out they were searching for the shooter around the neighborhoods before they found she had killed herself. Don't know what to think...

Translating the Encyclical

DEUS CARITAS EST, et, qui manet in caritate, in Deo manet, et Deus in eo manet. (1 John 4:16)

In the latest broadcast of The Latin Lover, the pope's latinist, Fr. Reginald Foster, groans about his experience translating the pope's encyclical into Latin. It was not an easy task, according to Fr. Foster, to try to fit all the terrible jargon used in modern languages into Latin, the lingua ecclesiae. "The Romans just didn't think that way!"

Rediscovering the Gibson

In a surprising turn, last night I had a lengthy dream in which I paid a visit to the home of Mel Gibson and engaged him and his oldest son in conversation on various topics, something which seemed to go on for hours. Gibson informed me of the death of his parents, and having told him that I would pray for them and for his family, I woke up feeling like I had truly bonded with the man. Keep in mind that I know nothing more about Mel Gibson than anyone else other than by viewing his films, nor have I been impressed with his more wacked ecclesiology. Anyway, by the end of the dream, I discovered that I was not actually present at the Gibson estate, but rather that I had watched the whole thing on an extended episode of "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. Gift, or curse? ;)

Teaching Through Tragedy

I was 7 1/2 when the shuttle Challenger exploded during its launch 20 years ago. I lived near Omaha, Nebraska back then, and I remember watching it on television, not knowing quite what to think about it. I think that I and every kid I knew back then had wanted to be an astronaut when we had grown up.

Here's an article published in the Santa Maria Times about the experience of a recent aquaintance of mine, Jerry Loomer, who was one of the Teacher-in-Space finalists for that ill-fated voyage. Today he teaches Physics and Chemistry at my former high-school in Santa Maria, CA.

Pi = 3.(...) and other wild adventures

For you C programming nerds and nerdettes, one of the more interesting ways to calculate the value of Pi...

And see all the cool things the preprocessor can do for you to solve the infamous towers of hanoi... (Dump the assembly code to prove it!)

...and other code selections courtesy of our good friends at the International Obfuscated C Code Contest.

Can you theologians out there tell me whether esoteric theology is like esoteric computer science...? hmm.. well I realize that might make no sense... but this is all cool, just the same...

Deus Caritas Est

Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical:

Deus Caritas Est

Opening paragraph:

1. "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us".

Read it! It is here for all of us... don't let it pass you by. I intend to go through it more thoroughly this weekend when I have more time, but what I have read so far is very good, and I find it to be very easy to read. Truly our modern, misguided notions on the nature of love could be said to lay at the root of social evils.

If you're interested, Jimmy Akin mentions an mp3 version of the encyclical (17MB), which is probably best listened to with the actual text in front of you.

Off to Texas

I'm off to Dallas this week to present a technology poster at TI's annual software symposium.

I leave you to meditate on the value of the Mass as expressed in the o sacrum convivium:

O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis eius; mens impletur gratia et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.

O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

Drop Kick Me, Jesus

If you thought some Christian songs couldn't get any weirder, I'd have to go and introduce you to "Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goalposts Of Life":

Drop kick me Jesus through the goal posts of life
End over end neither left nor to right
Straight through the heart of them righteous uprights
Drop kick me Jesus through the goal posts of life.

Make me, oh make me, Lord more than I am
Make me a piece in your master game plan
Free from the earthly tempestion below
I've got the will, Lord if you've got the toe.

Check out the mp3. Ain't it catchy? :)

Madonna Inn

Those who are familiar with the California Central Coast are no doubt also familiar with the infamous Madonna Inn, a landmark in these parts. It's also a famous highway pit-stop, as people can't seem to pass up paying a visit to the Inn's unique bathrooms. I plead guilty. Also check out the assortment of different themed rooms, from the very lofty, to the downright cheesy, to the just plain strange.

Update:
Bill makes mention of Thomas Merton's visit to the Madonna Inn in the late 60's.

Requiem for the Unborn

The 4th annual Requiem Mass for the Unborn will take place at the Cathedral in Los Angeles this Saturday at 7:30pm, celebrated by Cardinal Mahony in memory of victims of abortion. It doesn't look like I will be able to make it, unfortunately. The Tidings article makes some interesting points:

Last year, said Sister Callanan, a teenager and her mother were among the worshippers healing from the pain of abortion. The teenager, who hadn't confided in her mother when she got pregnant and had an abortion, had since told her mother. At the liturgy the two of them walked together and placed a candle on the altar in memory of the lost child and grandchild.

Abortion also affects siblings very profoundly, said Sister Callanan, as children miss the brother or sister who was conceived but never born. Last year one surprised mother turned to Sister Callanan for counseling because her son kept saying he was missing his sister, even though the mother hadn't told the son about the abortion.

Sister Callanan said that numerous times it has been observed that children somehow know that someone is missing from the family. In this particular family, the mother acknowledged the abortion to her son, and then the two of them attended last year's Mass to bring a candle to the altar and honor the sister that was never allowed to be born.

And let's not forget that men are also affected in the aftermath of abortion:

Deacon Thomas Brandlin, who also works with Project Rachel to provide post-abortion counseling to couples and to men, said men often experience two emotions following an abortion --- rage and guilt.

"They are furious because either they weren't told about the abortion or they had no say in it, and they really wanted the child. They feel betrayed," said Deacon Brandlin. "Or they feel guilt because they promoted the abortion or did nothing to prevent it. Now they've seen what damage it's done to the mother and to themselves."

Of course, with repentance, we find that the mercy of God is greater and deeper than the worst of our sins.

In Vitro Fertilization

There is a pretty good article in The Tidings this week by Fr. Richard Benson, C.M., academic dean and professor of moral theology at St. John's Seminary, concerning What's wrong with in vitro fertilization?

Often the Catholic couple brings a moral rationale with them when they are seeking moral guidance. The rationale might be stated as follows:

"The Church teaches us that having children is one of the two goals of marriage. We don't use contraception and have tried for years to get pregnant, but sadly without success. If medicine can help us do what nature cannot why is that wrong, especially since we are such a pro-life church? If God has given us a mind to invent things that help us thrive, like modern medicines that cure and planes, trains and automobiles that move us faster and farther than legs could ever take us, why is using the invention of in vitro fertilization wrong? After all, we're using our own eggs and sperm, just like if we conceived naturally. Isn't this just another example of us using our minds to do something good, something that God wants from every married couple?"

...While no one should doubt the innate goodness of every infertile married couple's heartfelt desire to have children of their own, there are several basic moral principles that we must keep in mind.

First, we can never be satisfied to define every moral act simply by evaluating the intention behind the act. St. Augustine reminded us centuries ago that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." His admittedly polemic statement does clearly remind us of its more theological translation, "One may not do evil, that good may come about."

The Church has always made it clear that while she encourages the use of reason and human invention in all areas of human endeavor, especially medicine and science, she at the same time recognizes that there are limits to the applications of some of humankind's interventions in nature. Just because science can do something does not mean that it should do it. Anything that harms or attacks the human person is immoral.

He then goes into some reasons why IVP is harmful.

1. A child is ultimately a gift from God, not something manufactured in a laboratory. No child should ever been seen as a commodity, which is what they are when one considers that IVF treatments cost tens of thousands of dollars.

2. The Church has never taught that couples have a right to children, simply that they need to be open to them, should God bless them with children.

3. Conception outside of natural intercourse turns the couple and family into a biological laboratory.

4. IVF involves the destruction of embryos, vulnerable human lives. "Leftover" embryos are first frozen and then often abandoned and left to slowly disintegrate over time, or may be given away for experimental purposes.

As with other issues in bioethics, this is becoming increasingly relevant. There are plenty of Catholic couples who, in their sincere desire have a family, have considered using IVP.

Movie time

Over the last several weeks, I managed to see a couple movies I would like to comment on:

1.) King Kong

A splendidly exciting movie, fun had by all. Of course, the key to understanding this movie is to recognize that Peter Jackson was not interested in filming the "story of King Kong". Rather, he wanted to make an homage to the 1933 film that inspired him in his younger years. Everything in this film reflects and references the 1933 film. Many of the scenes are taken directly from the original film, and the incredible, over-the-top, special effects are a direct nod to the 1933 film as, back then, they were quite dazzling! Knowing beforehand that I wasn't going to get just Jackson's "version of the story", watching this movie was a lot of fun. We already know that it will be over-the-top. My only complaint is one that others have mentioned - there was quite a bit of extraneous special-effects material in many of the island scenes which may not have been necessary. But to trim the film down to "35 minutes", as some have suggested, would most certainly have betrayed Jackson's intention in making this film.

2.) The Exorcism of Emily Rose

As a film based on the (largely sensationalized) events surrounding a young German girl, Anneliese Michel, in the 1970's, I have to say that I rather enjoyed the film. I've seen better movies, but I thought that the story here was presented well and that it really left itself open to sound interpretation.

Most of the film takes place in the courtroom, and Emily's actual ordeal is conveyed through flashbacks and courtroom interviews with various people. The bottom line, which was conveyed in the film, is that the film is about possibility. The film doesn't intend to answer any questions for you. It presents people's stories; it presents all of the rational and scientific explanations; and we are left with the question: Was Emily Rose really possessed? But the careful observer will note that this question is only superficial. Beneath it lies a more irritating question, at least to some, and that is: What is and isn't possible in the world? Can things happen that don't always have a rational explanation? The point of the film is that Emily's story be told, not that it be proved. And that's basically it. We know that the exorcism failed, and at the film's ending, it isn't superficially apparent that good triumphed. But the battle of the spirit extends beyond courtrooms and rationalistic barriers we create with our minds.

I haven't read a lot of reviews that fully see this film the way I saw it. I think that Steven Greydanus's review on decentfilms.com is good, but I don't feel that he fully appreciates this point. Christian evangelical screenwriter and director, Scott Derrickson, did a pretty good job, in my opinion.

The Sign of the Cross

Fr. Jim Stehly visited with our young adult group tonight and led a very rousing and moving discussion on the Sign of the Cross. It's something we so easily take for granted, but I think most of us would be wise to spend some time reflecting on the awesome mystery made present by this simple gesture, which is a prayer of extraordinary power all in its own, as it recalls the immensity and profundity of God's love for each and every one of us evident in His suffering and death; a love made manifest through that instrument of torture and execution, the Cross -- this is the symbol we trace on our bodies. This is the symbol we carry with us, in our liturgy, and in our lives.

From the earliest generations of Christians, the Cross was appropriated as a sign of triumph and as a powerful reminder. In tracing the development of the practice of the Sign of the Cross in prayer, Fr. Jim referred to one of my favorite early saints, St. Cyril of Jerusalem (3rd century), who in his volume of Catechetical Lectures wrote:

Lecture XIII, 36.

Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the sake of the poor; without toil, for the sick; since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of devils: for He "triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly" (Col. 2:15); for when they see the Cross they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, "who bruised the heads of the dragon" (Psalm 74:13). Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the gift; out for this rather honour thy Benefactor.

And so what have we done, we who are here centuries after St. Cyril's generation, with this simple gesture? We have the Cross, as the earliest Christians had it, but we also have inherited a wealth of theological reflection and Christian practice. If only we could remember the inestimable value of the treasure we have, folks. Even with the simplicity of making the Sign of the Cross. The next time we make the Sign of the Cross, whether it be at mass or in private prayer, let us not see in it a meaningless gesture. Rather, grab hold of it and allow God to draw you into His depths and let Him reveal His love for you, the love of a God who loved us so much, He suffered and died to set us free.

In talking with Fr. Jim afterward, I came to find out that he has a presence in some of the comment boxes around St. Blog's; If you're reading this, thank you for visiting with us!

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti

On Epiphany

From Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon XXXVI. On the Feast of the Epiphany, VI

I. The Story of the Magi Not Only a Byegone Fact in History, But of Everyday Application to Ourselves.

The day, dearly-beloved, on which Christ the Saviour of the world first appeared to the nations must be venerated by us with holy worship: and to-day those joys must be entertained in our hearts which existed in the breasts of the three magi, when, aroused by the sign and leading of a new star, which they believed to have been promised, they fell down in presence of the King of heaven and earth. For that day has not so passed away that the mighty work, which was then revealed, has passed away with it, and that nothing but the report of the thing has come down to us for faith to receive and memory to celebrate; seeing that, by the oft-repeated gift of God, our times daily enjoy the fruit of what the first age possessed. And therefore, although the narrative which is read to us from the Gospel properly records those days on which the three men, who had neither been taught by the prophets' predictions nor instructed by the testimony of the law, came to acknowledge God from the furthest parts of the East, yet we behold this same thing more clearly and abundantly carried on now in the enlightenment of all those who are called, since the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled when he says, "the Lord has laid bare His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the nations upon earth have seen the salvation which is from the Lord our God;" and again, "and those to whom it has not been announced about Him shall see, and they who have not heard, shall understand." Hence when we see men devoted to worldly wisdom and far from belief in Jesus Christ brought out of the depth of their error and called to an acknowledgment of the true Light, it is undoubtedly the brightness of the Divine grace that is at work: and whatever of new light illumines the darkness of their hearts, comes from the rays of the same star: so that it should both move with wonder, and going before lead to the adoration of God the minds which it visited with its splendour. But if with careful thought we wish to see how their threefold kind of gift is also offered by all who come to Christ with the foot of faith, is not the same offering repeated in the hearts of true believers? For he that acknowledges Christ the King of the universe brings gold from the treasure of his heart: he that believes the Only-begotten of God to have united man's true nature to Himself, offers myrrh; and he that confesses Him in no wise inferior to the Father's majesty, worships Him in a manner with incense.

On 2006...Be Not Afraid

So what to make about the new year 2006? It's about time to make a few changes, and so I'm very excited. I'm excited, naturally, that my fiancée and I are getting married in less than six months. In anticipation of other changes, I just stepped out of my advisory board role for our local young adult ministry here in Santa Barbara. It was quite eye-opening for me, not only in ministering, but also doing it as a young adult myself, and to reflect on our roles in the Church today. I look forward to other opportunities to serve, teach, and learn.

Don't be fooled

Some folks in the Bay Area don't like that people are marching for life this month at the 2nd annual West Coast March for Life in San Francisco. Well, that's putting it mildly. They're planning to disrupt it, through civil disobedience, which apparently may include (as demonstrated last year by more than a few counter protesters) ripping up signs, spitting on marchers, yelling obscenities, and throwing the occasional bag of condoms. I really hope they're peaceful, and I hope that the pro-life marchers also maintain civility -- we're all human, after all. These folks have a right to counter protest, but they should also realize that for us, this type of reaction means that what we believe is the true fight for women is having an effect, and we won't be giving up. The article is pretty silly.

The Walk for Life also shrouds itself in feminist rhetoric. Co-sponsors Feminists for Life are supporting a reform (criminalizing abortion and women's reproductive rights) that will do nothing but harm women.

Funny, the early american feminists contributed to abortion being made illegal to begin with because they believed that abortion oppressed women and their children. And legal abortion has given boyfriends, husbands, employers, and schools justification in discriminating against women who have children. A woman can no longer function in society as a woman unless she denies her fundamental femininity, her fertility, and her motherhood. No, we want social change. We want employers to recognize the fact that women have children and to honor that. We want schools to recognize that some students may be mothers and also would like to get an education without being told that children will ruin their lives. We want accountability for men who refuse to accept the responsibility for something they contributed to. And, fundamentally, we want society to value all human life and not treat it like trash that can be thrown out.

They are walking hand in hand with the elites who enforce discriminate against women in the workplace and push socially destructive and sexist body and sexual standards...

A society that refers to genocide as socially constructive is a society that is destroying itself from within.

On Christmas

What to say about Christmas? Every year I rant about how the Catholic understanding of Christmas refers to much more than just the birthday of Jesus. Not only is it for us the celebration of the coming of the promised messiah, but it is the fruition, if you will, of that most glorious event of the Incarnation, wherein God, the Creator of the Universe, became a human being, becoming present in the womb of a woman and being born into time as a tiny babe. Do we really appreciate the significance of what we're celebrating? It's quite literally earth-shattering, beyond reason. Yet, we believe that it happened. How can we appropriately capture a mystery so profound as this?

I like how the Latin antiphon o admirabile commercium expresses the mystery:

O admirabile commercium! Creator generis humani animatum corpus sumens, de Virgine nasci dignatus est; et procedens homo sine semine, largitus est nobis suam deitatem.

I'll shut up now..!

Los Angeles March For Life

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Hispanics For Life are sponsoring a very special event on the upcoming anniversary of the RoeVsWade decision:

The Los Angeles March For Life/Life Chain
Sunday, January 22nd, 2006, 2:00pm until 4:30pm

The event will begin at the Los Angeles Cathedral Plaza with some speakers and will then form a procession to La Placita/Olvera Street.

Check it out!

Dinner with Pliny

People should know better than to stand up Pliny Secundus when he makes a dinner date with you. From his Epistulae, 1st century AD:

LETTER 15

TO SEPTICIUS CLARUS

How happened it, my friend, that you did not keep your engagement the other night to sup with me? Now take notice, the court is sitting, and you shall fully reimburse me the expense I was at to treat you -- which, let me tell you, was no small sum. I had prepared, you must know, a lettuce and three snails apiece; with two eggs, barley-water, some sweet wine and snow (the snow most certainly I shall charge to your account, and at a high rate, as it was spoiled in serving). Besides all these curious dishes, there were olives, beets, gourds, shalots, and a hundred other dainties equally sumptuous. You should likewise have been entertained either with an interlude, the rehearsal of a poem, or a piece of music, as you like best; or (such was my liberality) with all three. But the oysters, chitterlings, sea-urchins and Spanish dancers of a certain (I know not who), were, it seems, more to your taste. However I shall have my revenge of you, depend upon it; in what manner, shall at present be a secret. In good truth it was not kind thus to mortify your friend, I had almost said yourself; and upon second thoughts I do say so: for how agreeably should we have spent the evening, in laughing, trifling, and instruction! You may sup, I confess, at many places more splendidly; but you can be treated no where, believe me, with more unconstrained cheerfulness, simplicity and freedom: only make the experiment; and if you do not ever afterwards prefer my table to any other, never favour me with your company again. Farewell.

PLINIUS SECUNDUS

Mmm... a hundred other dainties equally sumptuous...

Vicipaedia

Did you know that the Latin Wikipedia site has almost 4,000 articles in Latin already?

Videte! Vicipaedia (Libera Encyclopaedia)

Georgius Bush:

Georgius W. Bush (Anglice: George Walker Bush) praesidens Unitorum Statuus Americae Septentrionalis. Bush in Connecticuta die 6 Julii 1946 natus est.

Ad Civitates Americae Unitae praesidendum anno 2000 electus est, primus praesidens fractionis Rei Publicae abhinc patrem eius, Georgius Herbertus Walker Bush. Bush magno conservativo, nullum favorem cum Liberalibus et Democraticis cepit. Anno 2003 Civitates Americae Unitae in bellum Iracae duxit. Bush iterum electus est anno 2004, parvo margine oppositorem Iohannem Kerryem reppulit.

Johannes Kerry:

Senator Iohannes Kerry adversarius Georgii W. Bush in commitiis anni 2004 erat. In Americ? habitat.

A good evening...

Today is the feast of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr.

Just got back from a mass with our young adult ministry group here in Santa Barbara, celebrated by our regional bishop, Thomas Curry, in our private chapel at the former residence where we meet. Thank you, bishop, for your generosity and willingness to spend time with us, celebrate the mass for us, and talk with us amongst all the activities on your busy Advent schedule. Afterward, we had a little advent/pre-Christmas social time. Thanks be to God.

Rosa sine spina

I'm back from the annual candlelight procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe through downtown State Street in Santa Barbara. Once again, it was quite amazing... I reported on it last year as well. It's just such a powerful witness to see thousands of people from all parts of Santa Barbara filling the streets, with sounds of prayer and song, in English and Spanish, echoing down alleyways and between store fronts. Once again, our regional bishop, Thomas Curry, came out to lead us from De La Guerra plaza up to the church of Our Lady of Sorrows where, for a large church packed with people (I stood), he led us again in prayer in honor of the Patroness of the Americas, the Patroness of the unborn, our Blessed Mother.

Santa Maria, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Patrona de las Américas, ora por nosotros.

UPDATE: I found out from Bishop Curry that over 5,000 people turned out for this year's procession.

Homer Simpson on Marriage

Marge: Homer, is this how you pictured married life?
Homer: Yeah, pretty much, except we drove around in a van solving mysteries.

World Youth Day 2008

WYD Sydney, Australia 2008 has setup its website: www.wyd2008.org

Lingua::Romana::Perligata -- Perl in Latin

I think someone had way too much free time on his hands...

#! /usr/local/bin/perl -w

use Lingua::Romana::Perligata;

adnota Illud Cribrum Eratothenis

maximum tum val inquementum tum biguttam tum stadium egresso scribe.
vestibulo perlegementum da meo maximo .
maximum tum novumversum egresso scribe.
da II tum maximum conscribementa meis listis.
dum damentum nexto listis decapitamentum fac sic

lista sic hoc tum nextum recidementum cis vannementa da listis.
next tum biguttam tum stadium tum nextum tum novumversum

scribe egresso.

cis

Interesting...

300 BPS N81

In the early nineties, the music group "Information Society" produced an obscure song on their album Peace & Love, Inc. called "300 BPS N, 8, 1 (Terminal Mode Or Ascii Download)". If you listen to it, I'm sure you won't be impressed by its musical quality. But supposedly if you feed the song to your modem, it will establish a 300 bps connection with it and send a message in ASCII text. Because modems modulate/demodulate sound to/from data for transmission over the phone lines, your modem will basically interpret the noise as another modem attempting to connect and send data. Apparently this is lost on some folks, as evidenced by one of the reviewers at amazon.com:

The majority of songs on here are like this: airy and synth-heavy, except for filler tracks like #3: "To the City" (which I liked) and #12: "300bps N, 8, 1 (Terminal Mode or ASCII Download)" (which just gave me a headache; it's three minutes of high-pitched computer screaming).

If you're curious as to the contents of the ASCII message that the song produces, look at it here:

SO WE'RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY IN CURITIBA IN 18 HOURS, BUT OUR BUS IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY THE LOCAL PROMOTERS. THEY'VE FORMED SOME UNHOLY ALLIANCE WITH THE BRAZILIAN COUNTERPART OF ASCAP; THE PRS. APPARANTLY THE PRS HAS THE LEGAL POWER TO ARREST PEOPLE, AND THEY WANT A PIECE OF THE NATIONAL TOUR PROMOTER'S MONEY. THE LOCAL SECURITY FORCE, "GANG MEXICANA", HAS BEEN BOUGHT OUT FOR 1800 CRUZADOS AND A CARTON OF MARLBOROS EACH. THE ONLY FACTION STILL OPERATING IN OUR DEFENSE IN "BIG JOHN", OUR PERSONAL SECURITY MAN, AND HE'S HIDING IN HIS ROOM BECAUSE A LOCAL GANG IS OUT FOR HIS BLOOD BECAUSE OF A 1982 KNIFING INCIDENT IN WHICH HE WAS INVOLVED...

Make of it what you will! ;)

Back to Linux

Well, yesterday I said goodbye to the wickedness and snares of Windows XP and installed Fedora Core 4 Linux on my laptop; also added 1GB of memory. It's super smooth... Initially, my conversion was rather lukewarm; I had intended on keeping an NTFS partition up with XP, but after struggling a bit with the partition manager (and not wanting to divide my system against itself), I decided to just go head on. Sometimes bold change is good. It's taking me a while to get everything working. I'm using the wired ethernet right now - struggling to get this silly wireless card to work! Anyway, it feels good to have a dedicated Linux machine again.

UPDATE: Wireless card works now - watch out if you have a Netgear WG511. The firmware isn't easily available.

Big News

The Paulist Fathers are withdrawing pastoral leadership from St. Mark's in Isla Vista.

Last week, in an extraordinary painful decision, our General Council determined that to continue to utilize effectively our limited Paulist resources to accomplish our ongoing objectives, the Paulist Fathers will be required to reduce some commitments and withdraw from others. With great regret, the Paulist ministries at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Saint Mark's are among those from which we must withdraw.

New leadership will be forthcoming from the archdiocese. I was a parishioner at St. Mark's for about seven years. It will be interesting to see what this brings.

UPDATE: This article from the UCSB Daily Nexus provides more information.

FDA labels for condoms

The FDA is finally recommending some important warnings for condom labels:

The FDA wants condom packages to warn that condoms are less effective at stopping some sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes and human papilloma virus, than others... Under the proposed rules, condom packages would say that they are thought to be less effective against certain STDs, including herpes and human papilloma virus, because those diseases can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact in places not covered by a condom.

Now, you knew that condoms wouldn't protect you from some of the most common (and most detrimental) sexually transmitted diseases, right? Herpes is spreading at an alarming rate, and the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer in women, is even more common than herpes.