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Christian Witness

Bringing along new faith bloggers

The Social Media Club, a project of the non-profit BrainJams organization has a very interesting site and some admirable projects in the hopper.

The Social Media Club states that they are:

…organized for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and promoting media literacy around the emerging area of Social Media.

I am particularly interested in their Adopt A Blogger project. In regard to the project they state:

The idea came from our discussions with BrainJams in New Orleans – to formalize some practices in which many bloggers are already engaged – to help people who don’t know about blogging to learn how and make the most of the tools.

This is particularly important for those of us who are among the leaders in representing underrepresented Churches in the social media sphere.

You can easily count the number of Orthodox (Eastern, Western, and Oriental) as well as PNCC social media sites on the web.

It is my feeling; a feeling echoed by others, that we need to bring along faith bloggers, most especially the young who are strong witnesses to orthodox faith. We need to teach them about responsible communication (versus polemics, sophistry, or demogogary), good web design, good web ethics, and proper standards.

It looks like a great project, one I would love to lead, at least in our Church. Faith, witness, ethics, apologetics, and technology for all. That’s at the core of responsible Christian social networking. Web 2.2 here we come…

Everything Else,

Oh, the things you’ve done….

Deacon Raphael has tagged me… Here is my list (I think I am about as exciting as a stone).

Things I’ve done (for good or bad) are shown in bold and italics:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said —I love you’ and meant it!
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Drunk champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Scored a winning goal
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Visited all 5 continents

40. Taken care of someone who was drunk
41. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
42. Watched wild whales
43. Stolen a sign
44. Backpacked
45. Taken a road-trip
46. Gone rock climbing (Krosno, Poland)
47. Tried to lose weight seriously.
48. Midnight walk on the beach
49. Gone sky diving

50. Taken a train through Europe
51. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
52. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table, and had a meal with them
53. Milked a cow
54. Alphabetized your CDs
55. Sung karaoke
56. Lounged around in bed all day
57. Gone scuba diving
58. Kissed in the rain
59. Gone to a drive-in theater

60. Started a business
61. Taken a martial arts class
62. Been in a movie
63. Crashed a party
64. Gone without food for 5 days
65. Gotten a tattoo
66. Got flowers for no reason
67. Performed on stage
68. Been to Las Vegas
69. Recorded music

70. Eaten shark
71. Buried one/both of your parents
72. Been on a cruise ship
73. Spoken more than one language fluently
74. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
75. Walked a famous bridge
76. Had plastic surgery
77. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
78. Wrote articles for a large publication
79. Piloted an airplane

80. Petted a stingray
81. Broken someone’s heart
82. Broken a bone
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Parasailed
86. Skipped all your school reunions
87. Shaved your head
88. Caused a car accident
89. Pretended to be —sick—

90. Swam in the Pacific Ocean
91. Saved someone’s life
92. Fainted
93. Been in the room while someone is giving birth
94. Hitchhiked
95. Adopted a child
96. Been caught daydreaming
97. Been to the Painted Desert
98. Called off a wedding engagement
99. Donated your blood

100. Become a follower of Jesus Christ

Anyone who would like to participate (Adam?) is hereby tagged.

Everything Else

Negative people

I received this from my daughter.

This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing and cares less tries to make your life miserable:

A woman was at her hairdresser’s getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband.

She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded, “Rome?

Why would anyone want to go there? It’s crowded and dirty.

You’re crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?”

We’re taking Continental,” was the reply. “We got a great rate!”

“Continental?” exclaimed the hairdresser. “That’s a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly and they’re always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?”

“We’ll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome’s Tiber River called Teste.”

“Don’t go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks it’s going be something special and exclusive, but it’s really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly and they’re overpriced.

So, whatcha’ doing when you get there?”

“We’re going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope.”

“That’s rich,” laughed the hairdresser, “You and a million other people trying to see him. He’ll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You’re going to need it.”

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo.

The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.

“It was wonderful!” exclaimed the woman, “Not only were we on time in one of Continental’s brand new planes, but it was overbooked and they bumped us up to first class.

The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.

The hotel was great! They’d just finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it’s a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner’s suite at no extra charge!”

“Well,” muttered the hairdresser, “that’s all well and good, but I know you didn’t get to see the Pope.”

“Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I’d be as kind as to step into his private room and wait the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me.”

“Oh, really! What’d he say?”

He said, “Where’d you get the lousy haircut?”

Current Events, Perspective,

We didn’t get you the first time around

From The Guardian: Obstetricians call for debate on ethics of euthanasia for very sick babies

Doctors involved in childbirth are calling for an open discussion about the ethics of euthanasia for the sickest of newborn babies. The option to end the suffering of a severely damaged newborn baby – who might have been aborted if the parents had known earlier the extent of its disabilities and potential suffering – should be discussed, says the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists…

The factors they site —“ cost (oh, and we missed you while you were in the womb). In addition, they wish to be consistent —“ you know like the Church is but only in reverse —“ no life is sacred. To wit:

The college ethics committee tells the inquiry it feels euthanasia “has to be covered and debated for completion and consistency’s sake …

Stupid parents —“ you should have checked this out before, but we have all the answers. Let me get rid of this little problem for you.

May God have mercy on us! Come Lord Jesus, come!

Homilies

The Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Today’s readings and Gospel would seem to allow me and other members of the clergy an opportunity to do a no-brainer homily. After all, the readings and Gospel simply point out that we are to love God and love our neighbor.

Most people would know that —“ and they would know it intuitively. You could be a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim and know that much. The vast majority of Americans have a belief in God and they know, at least subconsciously, that they are supposed to love Him. After all, He loves them.

In presenting a homily I could opt to drone on about love. Love, love, love —“ all you need is love. Not a bad Beatles tune.

The concept of love, like the Beatles tune, has become the Muzak of our times. Love is discussed, analyzed, Dr. Phil’d, Oprah’d, written about, and presented in the media almost constantly. Love is the staple through which Hallmark has made billions.

Moses, Jesus, the scribe all say:

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.

When they say ‘Hear, O Israel,’ who are they talking about? The Jewish people? Modern Israel?

No, ‘Hear, O Israel‘ is addressed to you and to me. We are Israel, grafted onto the vine. As St. Paul tell the Ephesians:

Therefore, remember that at one time you, Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by those called the circumcision, which is done in the flesh by human hands, were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.

In Jesus’ blood we have become adopted sons and daughters and co-heirs to God’s promise. Jesus, perfect priest and perfect sacrifice, who because of His sinlessness had no need to offer sacrifices for Himself to the Father, sacrificed Himself for us.

The first and foremost proof of God’s love is the shedding of Jesus’ blood for us, and in that blood our adoption.

When Moses, Jesus, and the scribe speak of the required totality of love —“ a love involving every aspect of our being, what are they talking about?

Have you ever felt that kind of love, the kind that causes you pain when you are away from the one you love? The kind of passionate, deep, pervasive, total love that can best be described as hunger?

That’s the kind of love they were talking about. And, they did not mean until the honeymoon is over.

We, the new Israel, are to pour ourselves and our totality into God alone.

Listen to the love described in today’s Psalm:

I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
The LORD lives! And blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.

The psalmist was in love with the Lord. To him, the Lord was everything.

Our love for God and our neighbor is a derivative of God’s perfect love. God’s love is within us, and we as Catholic Christians share most closely in that love because the Holy Eucharist is present, here among us and within us.

Our love is indeed a derivative of God’s love because God’s love is part of our very essence as human beings. This is why the taking of life is immoral —“ for God places His love in each and every human being, whether an embryo, a single cell, a blastocyst, a prisoner, the elderly, or the terminally ill. God’s love is within all, even our enemies.

Our love for God and for our neighbor is a full immersion experience.

When Jesus saw that the scribe understood this He said:

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

When you commit yourself, when you immerse yourself, when you allow nothing to stand between you and your love —“ that is, God, then, just like the scribe who understood, you will be assured of the fact that you are not far from the kingdom of God.

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

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