Haven't posted in awhile, but this caught my attention: Richard Dawkins' "The Out Campaign".  He's selling T-shirts with the letter A on them.  Gee, I wonder what that A could stand for?

Last night on CNN, they reported on how Mother Teresa's journals included an entry on her doubting her faith, and whether or not God really exists.  The media was playing this as a "shocking" event, and yet, this really wasn't more shocking than watching paint dry.

Every relationship, whether it be with your spouse or with God, has its highs and lows - that's a perfectly normal and expected part of every relationship.  It is impossible to be on a high about your relationships all the time.  For example, sometimes you may wonder about a significant other, "I wonder if he/she really loves me?"  And so it is also with God.

BERTONE-CHURCH Aug-21-2007 (520 words) xxxi
Dark spots only small part of church's reality, says Vatican official
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Dark spots exist in the Catholic Church, but they are only a small part of the reality of the church and its members, said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.
In an Aug. 20 interview with Vatican Radio, the cardinal said media that focus only on the failures of church members are giving the public a distorted vision of the church.

"It is as if they presented a dark fragment of the great, restored Sistine Chapel, which is a splendor and has reacquired Michelangelo's original colors," the cardinal said.
As a historical record, the restoration workers left a few spots untouched to show the dirt and grime that had accumulated over the centuries.

"If someone pointed a television camera at one of these dark spots to show the Sistine Chapel instead of focusing on the splendor of the Sistine Chapel (as a whole), it would be a falsification," he said.
The dark spots are part of the chapel, he said, but they do not portray accurately the overall impact of Michelangelo's masterpiece.

In the same way, Cardinal Bertone said, "the church is a great masterpiece of God's and of the men and women of the church," who have done and continue to do "an immense volume of good in every part of the world."
Cardinal Bertone said that "sometimes it seems that there is a plan" on the part of the media to present only negative stories about the Catholic Church and to focus on them long past the time they are news.

The cardinal also was asked to comment on the formal decision of Amnesty International leaders meeting in Mexico Aug. 11-17 to support the decriminalization of abortion and defend women's access to abortion when their health or human rights are in danger. The human rights organization adopted the position as part of its campaign to Stop Violence Against Women.
"Certainly one must combat violence against women, the inhuman form of violence which is rape, and struggle together to defend the dignity of women, of any woman," the cardinal said.

However, he said, one can never push for the taking of another human life, "even if it is the fruit of violence."

Vatican Radio also asked Cardinal Bertone about remarks he made in an Aug. 19 homily about the struggle between good and evil.

He told the radio there are many signs that the devil continues attacking all that is good and all that is of God.
"Think of violence, which is so widespread and which erupts almost spontaneously, even in places that should be sanctuaries of love: within a family, in forums of sharing, reconciliation and friendship; and the violence that explodes on the part of religions," he said.

"Religions were created for peace because they look toward the same God of all," he said.

"Each of these are signs of the furious attacks of the evil one in our age, which we must oppose with a strong faith, the faith of one who follows Christ," Cardinal Bertone said.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0704749.htm

Look carefully on your Starbucks paper cup the next time you are there and take note of what it says on its "The Way I See It".  Here's what mine read tonight:

The Way I See It #247
Why in moments of crisis do we ask God
for strength and help?  As cognitive beings,
why would we ask something that may
well be a figment of our imaginations for
guidance?  Why not search inside ourselves
for the power to overcome?  After all, we
are strong enough to cause most of the
catastrophes we need to endure.

--Bill Scheel
Starbucks customer

It is easy to see how such comments can easily offend some people, and at the same time can please others.  Atheists use the above comments as a common critique of religion: we are smart people right?  Why should we use God as a crutch when things go bad?  Why don't we just step up to the plate and grow up and come to terms that we conveniently just make up God to have something or someone to rely on?

My response?  Religion always involves faith.  Faith is what separates believers from non-believers, and faith must be a conscious choice.  With faith God is possible.  Yes, with faith so too are Santa Claus and the tooth fairy possible; make up whatever you want, just remember that neither God nor the tooth fairy can be definitively proven through current ways of scientific experimentation to exist.  Therefore, the possibility is certainly there.  But wait, does that mean that the faithful are simply "blind" followers? 

Faith does not require scientific proof.  Faith stipulates that we cannot reduce God to mere experimentation as God is beyond means and methods of the flesh.  God transcends our human abilities of scientific experimentation.  To treat God as a mere laboratory rat is to disrespect God by becoming God ourselves.  So it seems that God has given us, among other things, the choice to believe in him or not - and why shouldn't he have?  Through this choice, God can determine who will be deserving of eternal life in the definitive presence of God - that is heaven.

I'm on a rant...  let's conclude this by having our final thought by Pope Benedict XVI (from p.37 of his book Jesus of Nazareth):

The arrogance that would make God an object and impose our laboratory conditions upon him is incapable of finding him.  For it already implies that we deny God as God by placing ourselves above him, by discarding the whole dimension of love, of interior listening; by no longer acknowledging as real anything but what we can experimentally test and grasp.  To think like that is to make oneself God.  And to do that is to abase not only God, but the world and oneself, too.

In a world where podcasting seems to belong to the secular, capitalist culture, it appears that not all hope is lost... three catholic podcasts have just won awards!!!

The Star Quest Production Network is proud to announce that three SQPN shows have won in various categories of this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards!

The Daily Breakfast, a morning show hosted by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen, won the award for best religious podcast;

Praystation Portable, daily prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours formatted to be used on mobile phones or other mobile devices and hosted by Jeff Vista, won the award for best Mobile Phone Formatted podcast;

Catholic Rockers, a podcast higlighting new Catholic popular music, hosted by George Leite, won the award for Best Podsafe Music podcast.

It is the third consecutive year that SQPN shows win Podcast Awards. In 2005, the Catholic Insider won the award for best religious podcast; in 2006, the Daily Breakfast, Catholic Insider and the Rosary Army podcast won awards. This year, SQPN also stimulated people to vote for Steve Runner’s Phedippidations podcast. Steve is a longtime SQPN listener and friend of the network. Phedippidations is the winner of this year’s award in the Sports category.

The awards will be officially presented to the winners during the Podcast and New Media Expo from 28-30 September in Ontario, California.

www.podcastawards.com

http://www.sqpn.com

Q: If God knows today what I will do tomorrow, what happens to my free will?

A: Nothing at all. God's foreknowledge of something isn't the same as pre-ordaining it. In fact, it isn't really foreknowledge. What we call God's foreknowledge is merely knowledge of what is future for us. From the divine point of view, it's knowledge of the present. Remember, unlike us, God is outside of time. His existence isn't divvied up into compartments known as past, present, and future. He simply is. As a result, God sees what is past, present, and future for us as one grand Now and understands how it all fits together.
Think of it this way. You're traveling through the mountains along winding roads. You don't know what's ahead. A helicopter flies overhead. From his vantage point, the pilot sees miles beyond you. He knows where you've been, where you are now, and where you're going.
God is like the helicopter pilot. He sees the whole road of life, while we see only immediately ahead of us. His knowledge of where we're ultimately headed in no way diminishes our freedom.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1990/9010qq.asp

There is a special CNN series coming up next week entitled God's Warriors.  From their website, it seems like an interesting series.  My only concern is that on reporting on Christianity, they may be over-representing Evangelicals and under-representing (or even omitting) Catholics.  I guess we'll see.  (I've encountered people in the past who told me that it seems "corny" to be raising your arms up to the sky and crying out "Jesus!" repeatedly in a place seeming like a rock concert with people crying all around you... yeah that does seem kind of corny actually.  That's more of a Protestant Evangelical thing to do... it's different for Catholics.)

God's Warriors: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/

This pair of Women's size 6.5 New Balance shoes was made in USA of imported materials.   These are in very used condition with some scratches and cracks in the material.  They need new laces and the left shoe has a hole in the sockliner at the ankle, patched with duct tape.  The soles are in fair condition, these are good for yardwork etc.    They are gray ,  white and yellow.   They have removeable insoles, that you may wish to replace.  

http://cgi.ebay.com/Womens-Used-New-Balance-714-Running-shoes-size-6-5AA_W0QQitemZ170103830510QQcategoryZ63889QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWINQ3aPOST0Q3aRECOQ3aBINQQcmdZViewItem

I was browsing eBay and came across some people trying to sell their old used running shoes.  This begs the question: why???  Why are you trying to sell your old, ratty running shoes for a grand profit of less than ten dollars?  Why not just donate them!?!  There are plenty of good charities that one could easily donate their old footwear to.

I mean, come on!

I want to be... Neo from the Matrix... yeah!  (well there is some resemblance...)

My marathon trip to Edmonton is now past, and I must say, the city surely did a great job of showcasing it's talent for hosting a great event.  The half marathon course was scenic, the weather was perfect, the people were great, we got free technical T-shirts, we got free PowerGel along the course, we got a free all-you-can-eat brunch post-race... it was admittedly the most well-organized marathon event I've ever been a part of, and I can only give it nothing but praise and my recommendations for anyone looking to run a great half marathon.

Edmonton also has a wonderful cathedral, once visited by Pope John Paul II, with the classic medieval architecture that catholic churches are known for.  Visiting this church made me feel like I hadn't even left Winnipeg for one second!  

The hotel we stayed at was great, and the friends I visited were awesome.  Edmonton is one great city!

Tomorrow I leave for Edmonton to run in the ING Edmonton Half Marathon on Sunday, it should be great!  What's not so great is the travel restrictions on liquid stuffs.  They only allow you a 1L Zip-Loc bag of gels and liquids.  I guess it's good that they made that clear.  It's also good that they they made it clear that blowguns and nunchuks are not allowed on the plane.  Gee, who would've guessed?

Here are the the Canadian travel guidelines for all you trying to figure out what gels & liquids you can and cannot bring on board.  Enjoy!

http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/english/travel_voyage/list.shtml

Until Monday! :)

Q

What does the Catholic Church say about the death penalty? - a curious writer

A

The Church has allowed the possibility of the death penalty but only for the protection of society as a whole, never simply as an act of state-sponsored vengeance.  In ages where dangerous criminals couldn't be locked away in a maximum security prison execution was often the only way to ensure that the community would be safe from further acts of violence by that individual.  In the modern western world the need for the death penalty has virtually disappeared and the Church has become one of the leading voices speaking out against capital punishment.  Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" that the death penalty was only appropriate ""in cases of absolute necessity, in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady immprovement in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically nonexistent (paragraph 56)."

Fr Bob

http://www.disciplesnow.com/life/sya_qa.cfm?id=937

Reflecting on capitalism and all the wealthy people in the world today, often one will hear about how one should not be obsessed with material wealth, to the point where maximizing wealth and power become the overriding goals in life.  Proponents against such an (often religious) mentality will say that such thinking is a cop-out to achieving your full potential.  After all, what's so wrong with being wealthy and successful?

Personally, I certainly would not say that there is anything wrong with being successful.  Even though success is defined differently by everyone, success is, from my viewpoint, the manifestation of the gifts given to us by God, provided that those gifts are used for the greater good of other people and not for the glorification of the self.  The easiest way to do this is to keep God as "number one" in one's life.  In doing so, all of one's actions would be only for the glorification of God - again, the virtue of humility is crucial.  Problems with wealth arise when the wealthy individual puts him/herself above God by glorifying the self through lavish spending and frivolous pursuits.  In a nutshell, wealth cannot violate observance of the First Commandment of the Decalogue.  That's theology in the real world.

You know how on Sunday mornings, there are a lot of Protestant services televised?  Well, one of them caught my ear.  It was James Kennedy on Coral Ridge Ministries, and he was preaching about how evolution and creation are completely incompatible, and that the two can never co-exist.  He went on to say how coming from a green sludge (ie. primordial soup) is an insult to us being made in the image of God.  Lots of what he was saying would probably seem ridiculous to most of the non-religious.  Admittedly, I have to agree that what he was saying seemed too backwards and nonsensical.  Kennedy even had his huge congregation pray to God that evolution be destroyed. 

I've posted this before on a previous post, and I'll say it again here:  Catholics do not teach that creation and evolution are completely incompatible.  In fact, evolution is a highly acceptable theory, provided that God is acknowledged as the ultimate prime mover of evolution.  Remember, Catholics do not interpret the Bible in a literal word-for-word manner as other religious denominations will.

See James Kennedy's anti-evolution sermon here: http://www.coralridge.org/medialibrary.asp?mediaId=3506

~~~

Fr. Roderick's down-to-earth explanation of creation & evolution deserves mention here.  Listen to the following podcast by Fr. Roderick of SQPN.com and you will find his explanation of the Catholic Church's stance on evolution quite clear and to the point.  Fast forward the podcast to 15:10 for Fr. Roderick's talk on Catholics and creation/evolution, it goes up to about the 32:00 point.  Listen to that whole segment, it's very interesting!

Daily Breakfast podcast #342: http://www.sqpn.com/?p=1652

If you truly believe in something, is it always right to defend your convictions in all situations?  What if in engaging in such defense of your beliefs, you end up harming your relationship with the person you are debating with?  On one hand, you want to just "lay down the law" and defend your faith, but on the other hand, doing so might make you appear arrogant, condescending, and stubborn.  So what is one to do?

Engaging in such defense of one's faith is what Catholics refer to as "apologetics".  When done properly, it can actually end up having an evangelizing effect; however, when done poorly, it can have a detrimental effect.  In some cases, there are situations in which upsetting another person may harm an important interpersonal relationship with a friend, or someone that you want to become your friend.  In such cases, the arrogance that you may project in a "know-it-all" attitude is pride, a capital sin, in the eyes of God.

Here's a good rule of thumb to follow.  The way I see it, I'll engage in apologetics only if I am questioned on an aspect of my faith.  Otherwise, if all someone else is doing is ranting about why he or she hates Catholics, without asking me any specific questions, then trying to stuff your beliefs in their face because you can't handle a little criticism is evidence of poor self restraint, and an inadequate sense of humility, an all-important catholic virtue.

It's not uncommon to run into those two young fellows dressed smartly in white dress shirts, ties, black slacks, and name tags - carrying what appears to be, but is not, the Bible.  You know who I'm talking about.  They usually go evangelizing door to door, or they'll stop you on the sidewalk.  They are the Mormons.  Have you ever wondered what they're all about?  Well, wonder no more.  I e-mailed a voice recording of myself, asking Fr. Roderick in Europe, about who these Mormons are.  You can listen to his answer in the following podcast: http://www.sqpn.com/?p=1673

PBS made a complete documentary about Mormons, which you can view in its entirety here (I haven't watched it all yet): http://www.pbs.org/mormons

Here are some videos spoofing the Mac vs. PC ads, only this time, it's NFP (Natural Family Planning) vs. contraception.

http://www.youtube.com/user/eskyguard

After four years of intensely struggling with the fear of being called to religious life… after almost being engaged and running to every other outlet to escape my inner restlessness… I finally gave up the fight. I was asked to join a friend to visit the CFR sisters and agreed to go only on the basis to see New York City after the retreat… But, during this three-day “Come & See,” God outpoured His graces and revealed to my heart His Truth… He has been calling me to be His alone!”

When I was reading her discernment I felt a little like it was talking about me. The whole fear of being called. The stubbornness of wanting to tell God “Don’t call me.” I may want longingly to ultimately be with Jesus, my beloved. I may want to pass on the faith, pray for people, live a truly devout life and have my butt kicked with discipline. But as soon as I start seriously thinking about it, I …even now I start crying. It used to be before that the desire to have my own children to raise. Not other people’s children to teach but children to teach and raise in the faith from infants to adulthood. Now its no longer just children. Its the idea of a husband. I want one so badly, so strongly. I’ve been dreaming of my wedding since I was 4.

I know I can’t force God to give it to me. I’ve been in one relationship my entire life. The men I have been interested in have never pursued me. I’ve been praying for a more placent heart and I feel it is more content than its ever been in my life. But I still want to dream of marrying, of it being someday. Having that hope that someday God will give me the a wonderful husband and children.

If I die without Him giving it to me, than I know I will have my Lord in Heaven. Everything that appeals to me about religious life, can I not have it in marriage? Can I not grow closer and closer to God? Can I not volunteer at my parish and pray for people’s spiritual journey? Can I not go to daily Mass and pray the liturgy of the hours? Can I not go on spiritual retreats?

It seems the only thing that makes religious life appealing to me at all is that I’d rather be a religious than a single person forever. I feel like the vocation of a single person is like working for a temp agency.

Yet if God is calling me to religious life, and I’m stubbornly saying no, will he keep me in this temp field forever till I finally give in and so “All right. Religious Order it is.”

God, if you want me to join a Religious Order, than there has to be some desire for it in my heart besides simply the fear of being alone and single.

I know I shouldn’t be closed to religious life. And I’ve been told that you can’t properly discern when you feel under pressure. When I ask God in prayer, “Are you going to give me a spouse?” I get no response, or just a sort of nudge telling me not to look so far ahead, not to be anxious, not to worry, to focus on how I’m to serve Him now and to work for Him in the present.

So off to my temp assignment (which I feel like the single life primarily is. The freedom of having short lived temporary assignments by God). If He wants me to be a religious, He needs to make me restless on my path…a restlessness that finds peace in religious life. The only type of restlessness I have now is the anxiousness and fear that I will never been married.

http://www.beyourhands.com/2007/07/31/vocations-gods-will-vs-your-will/

"In many parts of world, the family is under siege, opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalised by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions, and cut in two by divorce."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1055080,00.html

I just found out today that I'll be MC of a second wedding next year also.  This will be interesting, as I have never done this before.  How hard could it be?