| Greed: | Medium |
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| Gluttony: | Medium |
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| Wrath: | Medium |
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| Sloth: | Very High |
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| Envy: | Low |
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| Lust: | High |
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| Pride: | Medium |
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Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz
Thanks, I think, to John Paul Hoskins, for pointing to this.
Happy International Women’s Day.
Women’s Day has moved through many incarnations, from a world socialist event to a UN sponsored day. While many of the hot-button immoral political ideologies espoused by ‘international organizations’ would put people of faith outside such a celebration, it is important to remember that mutual love and respect are tenets of our faith. Human dignity applies to all. It is also important to remember that this movement was founded to specifically address issues of peace.
May the women of the world come together once again to espouse and work for human dignity and peace.
Per the NY Times: Captain America Is Dead; National Hero Since 1941
Captain America, a Marvel Entertainment superhero, is fatally shot by a sniper in the 25th issue of his eponymous comic, which arrived in stores yesterday. The assassination ends the sentinel of liberty’s fight for right, which began in 1941.
The first thought that occurred to me when someone mentioned this today was that he was killed in Iraq.
That may be true, but only in the metaphysical sense.
The old people who used to come here every day to play cards and cook now have nowhere to go. There’s no where to celebrate the liturgy. They’re outside in the cold. That’s not right. This is a place where people come to be in the presence of God.
The Rev. Eugene Sawicki, retired New York City firefighter, lawyer, doctor of nursing, judge of the New York Inter-Diocesan Appellate court, and pastor of the suddenly shuttered Our Lady of Vilnius Roman Catholic Church, as quoted in the NY post article Street preach.
That article along with the Post’s Cardinal Sin are a must read. I could reprint excerpts here, each line an indictment befitting the corporate moguls of ENRON, but here applied to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, but to what end? The sheep are out in the cold, their shepherd, the Rev. Sawicki summarily called to the Chancery while the locks on his parish — and his residence — were being changed (only they messed up the lock change on his residence, so he still has a bed to sleep in, for now).
The Our Lady of Vilnius Blog covers it well. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Our Lady of Vilnius. My admiration is with Father Sawicki, who is a true father to his people.
This Sunday we celebrate the 110th Anniversary of the Institution of the PNCC. All are welcome. If you would like contacts in the NYC area, who I am sure would welcome you, please feel free to contact me at deaconjim [at] bvmc [dot] org.
For those who like interesting historical parallels, Cardinal Egan scheduled a meeting with Lithuanian Consul General Mindaugas Butkus who was to hand-deliver Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus’ letter to the Cardinal. The Lithuanian President told the cardinal that “we value [the church] very much . . . it has historical value and cultural value.”
Knowing that the meeting was scheduled and the purpose of the meeting, the Cardinal proceeded to forcibly lock the doors of the church prior to the meeting, yet still went on with the show of the meeting, leaving the Consul General in the dark about the closing.
It reminds me of the Japanese ambassador serving a declaration of war on the United States hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor began.
So the Cardinal shows up hours after the closing for diplomatic niceties. A real Prince of the Church.
John McCain, who I supported when he ran against George Bush, stated that American lives have been wasted in Iraq. He’s right, absolutely, dead, right.
Unfortunately, any gravitas he had back in-the-day is gone, and I no longer support him. He’s become a washed out shadow of what he was.
On the David Letterman show he said:
“[Americans] are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We’ve wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives, over there.”
…and, for a brief moment, the former John McCain was back.
I my estimation wasting is the burning and destruction of something precious for no purpose, or for a purpose of little value. We have wasted our nations youth and treasure on the adventures of a President and administration who are at best misguided, at worst deranged, and in actuality criminal.
Of course Mr. McCain has subsequently backpedaled because saying ‘wasted‘ is a sin (see: McCain says he misspoke in saying U.S. lives ‘wasted’ from CNN). Mr. Obama said the same thing and had his head handed to him as well.
We have to tout their sacrifice. That’s the only proper word. Sacrifice we feel so strongly about that we cut VA funding and place our permanently injured and handicapped sacrificial lambs in places like Walter Reed. To wit from Fox News: Top Army General Relieved of Command at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
WASHINGTON —” A top Army commander was relieved of his command at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Thursday after senior officials said they lost trust and confidence in his leadership abilities to address injured soldier care at military medical facilities.
Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman leaves his post as two-star general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
In a brief announcement, the Army said service leaders had “lost trust and confidence” in Weightman’s leadership abilities “to address needed solutions for soldier outpatient care” at Walter Reed.
The change comes on the same day that an independent panel reviewing allegations of poor quality-of-life conditions at two military medical facilities treating soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan plans to meet for the first time…
They are coming back severely handicapped, insane, or sick. We aren’t seeing it that much because those folks are all housed out of the public eye. When they do appear on the street, and they will be out, on the street, we’ll echo the words of Mrs. McGrath:
All foreign wars I do proclaim
Between Don John and the King of Spain
And by herrins I’ll make them rue the time
That they swept the legs from a child of mine.
The ending lyrics from Mrs. McGrath most recently performed by Bruce Springsteen in We Shall Overcome – The Seeger Sessions.
God help us.
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me forth in the spirit of the Lord: and set me down in the midst of a plain that was full of bones. And he led me about through them on every side: now they were very many upon the face of the plain, and they were exceeding dry. And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou think these bones shall live? And I answered: O Lord God, thou knowest. And he said to me: Prophesy concerning these bones; and say to them: Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and you shall live.
“Spirit”… That is, soul, life, and breath.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin: and I will give you spirit and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a commotion: and the bones came together, each one to its joint. And I saw, and behold the sinews, and the flesh came up upon them: and the skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them. And he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus saith the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and blow upon these slain, and let them live again. And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and the spirit came into them, and they lived: and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
And he said to me: Son of man: All these bones are the house of Israel: they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off. Therefore prophesy, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, O my people: and will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, O my people: And shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall make you rest upon your own land: and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and done it, saith the Lord God:
In case you haven’t heard, James Cameron (director of “Titanic,” “Aliens,” and “The Terminator.”) has become a biblical scholar, archaeologist, and refuter of the Christian faith. He produced The Discovery Channel’s up-coming Lenten PR blast, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.” The program argues that ten small caskets that were used to store bones, discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980, may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family.
The Discovery Channel’s paid researchers say the study of ancient DNA (yes, they actually have a cheek swab from Jesus, and I think they got a blood sample from the cross and/or the Shroud or Turin), the old-world language of Aramaic, archeology, and other evidence lends credible (public relations stunt) support to the fact that these remains belong to Jesus and his family, but also that Jesus and Mary Magdalene (also known as Mariamena) were married and had a child named Judah (all believed to be the remains found in the tomb).
A nay-sayer, an actual biblical scholar who was interviewed in the documentary, says the film’s hypothesis holds little weight, but Cameron says his evidence is based on sound statistics. Oh yes, add statistician to the list above, and maybe potential Nobel Prize winner.
Christian Newswire in Ten Reasons Why The Jesus Tomb Claim is Bogus states:
“Unfortunately, this is a story full of holes, conjectures and problems,” said Dr. Ben Witherington, author of What Have They Done With Jesus? and New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary. “It will make good TV and involves a bad critical reading of history. Basically, this is old news with a new interpretation. We have known about this tomb since it was discovered in 1980. There are all sorts of reasons to see this as much ado about nothing much.”
Witherington and other leading biblical scholars and archaeologists say there are at least 10 reasons why the “Jesus Tomb” claim is completely bogus:
- There is no DNA evidence that this is the historical Jesus of Nazareth
- The statistical analysis is untrustworthy
- The name “Jesus” was a popular name in the first century, appearing in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries
- There is no historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had a child
- The earliest followers of Jesus never called him “Jesus, son of Joseph”
- It is highly unlikely that Joseph, who died earlier in Galilee, was buried in Jerusalem, since the historical record connects him only to Nazareth or Bethlehem
- The Talipot tomb and ossuaries are such that they would have belonged to a rich family, which does not match the historical record for Jesus
- Fourth-century church historian Eusebius makes quite clear that the body of James, the brother of Jesus, was buried alone near the temple mount and that his tomb was visited in the early centuries, making very unlikely that the Talipot tomb was Jesus’ “family tomb”
- The two Mary ossuaries do not mention anyone from Migdal, but simply has the name Mary, one of the most common of all ancient Jewish female names
- By all ancient accounts, the tomb of Jesus was empty, making it highly unlikely that it was moved to another tomb, decayed for one year’s time, and then the bones put in an ossuary
“In light of all the incredible number of problems with the recent claim that Jesus’ grave has been found, the time-honored, multi-faceted evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is more convincing than ever,” said Dr. Gary Habermas, an expert on the resurrection of Jesus and author of The Case for the Resurrection. “Even the early opponents of the Christian message acknowledged that Jesus’ tomb was empty. And the evidence for Jesus’ bodily resurrection appearances has never been refuted.”
As with the hoax over the bones of St. James, skepticism is in order on the part of the larger public.
People of faith are not fooled of course. We’ve come to expect such things and have vast experience of them over the past 2,000+ years. Faith trumps Hollywood directors who have been relegated to the backwaters of the Discovery Channel.
For those interested, Mr. Cameron will soon be raising funds by selling relics of Yeshua Ben Yosef at your local Discovery Channel Store. I may stop by the one in Crossgates Mall to pre-order my ‘Bones of Jesus’ play set.
For those interested (like the media should be…) here are a few folks who actually know what they are talking about (also from Christian Newswire):
Dr. Paul Maier, Bible scholar and author of more than 15 books including The Da Vinci Code —“ Fact or Fiction?, More Than a Skeleton and Josephus —“ The Essential Works. Professor of Ancient History, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Telephone: (269) 387-4816
Joe Zias, Thirty years professional experience in the field of Medical/Physical anthropology; Over 80 articles in peer reviewed medical and scientific journals; Science and Archeology Group at Hebrew University. Former senior curator of Archeology and Anthropology at the Israel Antiquities Authority for which he was responsible for the curation of the antiquities stored in the Israel Antiquities Authority, ranging from the Pre-historic periods up to the 18th Century AD. These objects, numbering over 75,000, included the Dead Sea Scrolls, pre-historic human skeletal remains as well as artifacts from the regions premier archaeological sites such as Jericho, Megiddo, and Gezer.
Telephone: 972-2-588-2811 Hebrew University (from United States first dial 011)
Dr. Amos Kloner, Officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents. Professor, Department of Land of Israel Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Jerusalem, Israel
Telephone: 972-3-531-7283 (from United States first dial 011)
…and in conclusion:
Dem bones, dem bones gon-na walk a-roun’
Dem bones, dem bones gon-na walk a-roun’
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun’
Oh hear the word of the Lord
…they were bigots?
It appears that one of the New Yorker’s cartoonists, Robert Weber, thinks that Polish parents drink a bit too much, thereby resulting in their children having ‘funny’ names like Zbigniew.
You can see the offensive cartoon at Cartoonbank.
I don’t tend to make a big deal out of ethnic humor. To me it says more about the person telling the joke than about the people of the ethnic group being targeted.
Television networks and the media have made lots of money on anti-Polish humor:
- ABC – Barney Miller, Drew Carey
- CBS – All in the Family
- NBC – most recently Office, but add Conan O’Brien and a whole host of NBC shows to that list.
Those are the ones that come most directly to mind. Do they care – no. Are they moved by protest – no. Will it continue – sure.
For my part I will pray for Mr. Weber, and maybe that’s what we should all do. Direct our indignation to prayer. Forgive Mr. Weber for his ignorance and bigotry and pray for a change of heart.
…and for Mr. Weber, here’s a few of those children born to drunken parents:
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Preisner
Zbigniew Herbert
Zbigniew Religa
Zbigniew Boniek
Zbigniew Oleśnicki
Zbigniew Nienacki
Zbigniew of Poland
PS.: ZBIGNIEW, Gender: Masculine, Usage: Polish, Pronounced: ZBEEG-nyef, Means “to dispel anger” from the Slavic elements zbit “to dispel” and gniew “anger”.
PPS.: David Remnick, Editor of The New Yorker responding to criticism leveled at the cartoon.
From All Africa: Catholic Church Publishes Guidelines On Defections
The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has published in English the clarified guidelines for baptized Catholics who formally separate from the Church.
Cardinal Julián Herranz, then president of the pontifical council, issued a statement on formal acts of defection from the Church last March.
The document was drawn up after many requests for clarifications of the so-called formal act of defection from the Church, mentioned in the Code of Canon Law.
Vatican dicasteries examined the issue to identify the theological and doctrinal components and then “the juridical formalities necessary so that such an action would constitute a true ‘formal act’ of defection,” Cardinal Herranz told Zenit.
“The formal act of defection,” the document states, “must have more than a juridical-administrative character (the removal of one’s name from a Church membership registry maintained by the government in order to produce certain civil consequences), but be configured as a true separation from the constitutive elements of the life of the Church: It supposes, therefore, an act of apostasy, heresy or schism.”
The document further lists the three steps necessary for the formal act of defection to be valid as; the internal decision to leave the Catholic Church, the realization and external manifestation of that decision; and the reception of that decision by the competent ecclesiastical authority.”
The document clarifies that the third step must be carried out “by a person who is canonically capable and in conformity with the canonical norms.”
The document has been transmitted by Benedict XVI to the presidents of all Episcopal conferences.
Cardinal Herranz, 76, retired on Thursday February 15, 2007 as president of the Pontifical council.
From my perspective the short answer as to whether or not I qualify is no.
The Roman Catholic Church is faced with many folks who wish to be acknowledged as non-Catholics in governmental registers, especially in European countries or in Africa. I can clearly see their point in saying that you are a Catholic regardless of whether or not you are listed in a governmental register.
I do have difficulty in seeing how they can extrapolate their criteria to me, because it confuses the key point.
I freely acknowledge that according to Roman Catholic Church juridical rules I am a schismatic. I also freely acknowledge the fact that I have externally manifested my separation from the Roman Church. I even sent them a letter to that affect, because they kept sending me contribution envelopes, even though I hadn’t been in one parish for three years and another in five years. I don’t know whether that means a ‘competent ecclesiastical authority’ has accepted my decision (I did stop receiving envelopes), but for the sake of argument, let’s say such authority has accepted my decision. I also think I am competent and ‘canonically capable.’
That takes care of most of the criteria.
Where this reasoning falls is on the criteria that I ‘[make an] internal decision to leave the Catholic Church. Ummm, no. The Roman Catholic Church yes, the Catholic Church no.
I admit that the Roman Church does think (kind of, sort of, begrudgingly) that it is the one and only Catholic Church. But, can I honestly say that I made an internal decision to leave the Catholic Church? Nope.
The problem with over legislating is that eventually all the legislation starts to bump up against other legislation, and beyond legislation, up against practice. Perhaps the Roman Church has gotten too big to legislate cleanly and centrally.
All I know is that as a member of the PNCC I am fully Catholic, maybe even more catholic than the Pope 😉
Since I found out about Anna Nicole Smith’s death, at the age of 39, I’ve been pondering what our response should be. How should people of faith react to the tragedy that was her life.
If we were to be just honest enough, and just sarcastic enough, we would declare a national day of mourning for Anna.
The old Frank Sinatra myopic Miracle of the Bells spoke of a nation called to mourning for an actress that embodied her humble roots, her faith, and the hope of her people.
We’ve been transported 59 years into the future and our nation should mourn for its symbolic princess.
Like the fictional Olga Treskovna, Vickie Lynn Hogan came from poor rural roots. Whatever her connection was to those roots, unlike Olga she left them in rapid succession, drinking her fill of the majority of the seven deadly sins.
Anna Nicole symbolizes much of what we have become. Gluttonous, lazy, imbibed with sex, drugs, and partying, living an I’m OK, you’re OK, no fault life. A life that left a wake of death behind it.
The press tries to dig in an find the witnesses who protest her sweetness, her simplicity. She was OK, things just happen. She was sad, it was the alcohol, or drugs, or men, or…
We need that national day of mourning, mourning for what we now produce. We once proclaimed our values, basic values, now we proclaim lives like Anna’s. We once produced steel, now we produce Anna and Brittney, and so many others, willing to sell themselves for what the American dream has become.
As people of faith we must pray for Anna. First for the repose of her soul. I offer that prayer.
We must also pray for all those on Anna’s path, on the great bling encrusted American production line. God save them.
And we must repent, for our desires, our pennies spent foolishly, make it all happen.
For more see the Daily Mail’s: Legacy of a gold-digger.
Kidnapped:
From the AP via the Boston Herald: U.S. behind kidnapping of diplomat, Iran claims
BAGHDAD – Iran is blaming the United States for the abduction Sunday of an Iranian diplomat by men wearing Iraqi Army uniforms.
The kidnapping of Jalal Sharafi threatens to escalate the tense standoff between Iran and the United States – and could become a major diplomatic crisis for Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government.
U.S. authorities deny any role in the disappearance of Sharafi, a second secretary at the Iranian embassy. The United States has accused Iran of supporting both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias that run abduction operations.
The kidnapping occurred when uniformed gunmen blocked Sharafi’s car, forced him into a vehicle and sped away. Iraqi police then opened fire, disabling a second vehicle, arresting the four gunmen inside and taking them to a police station.
The next day, Iraqis in uniform appeared at the station, showed government badges and demanded the four suspects.
The authorities complied and the men disappeared. Spokesmen for both the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry, which together control Iraqi security forces, said they had no idea where the suspects went.
Shiite lawmakers said they believed Sharafi was detained in an operation carried out by the Iraqi Special Operations Command, an elite unit under the direct supervision of the U.S. military…
Just ticking up the tensions until someone snaps – then BOOM!!! (sound of a low yield nuclear weapon exploding)
More bodies:
From the NY Times: Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 —” Senior military officers, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have told President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the new Iraq strategy could fail unless more civilian agencies step forward quickly to carry out plans for reconstruction and political development.
The complaints reflect fresh tensions between the Pentagon and the State Department over personnel demands that have fallen most heavily on the military. But they also draw on a deeper reservoir of concerns among officers who have warned that a military buildup alone cannot solve Iraq’s problems, and who now fear that the military will bear a disproportionate burden if Mr. Bush’s strategy falls short.
Among particular complaints, the officers cited a request from the office of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that military personnel temporarily fill more than one-third of 350 new State Department jobs in Iraq that are to be created under the new strategy…
Hey, sign me up, I have a death wish (Dear Government watchdogs – note that this is sarcasm. I have no desire to die in a place no U.S. soldier or civilian should be in in the first place.)
Let’s see all the neo-con and Evangelical supporters of Bush’s war head over to represent and evangelize.
NEXT!
From All Headline News: Pentagon Decides To Establish African Command
Washington, D.C. (AHN) – After a thorough review, the U.S. Department of Defense will establish an African Command, to oversee American military operations on the continent.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates spoke on Capitol Hill, saying, “The President has decided to stand-up a new unified, combatant command, Africa Command, to oversee security cooperation, building partnership capability, defense support to non-military missions, and, if directed, military operations on the African continent.”
We gotta send our war weary troops somewhere to let off steam once they’re done (done for, done in) in Iraq.
Useless resolutions:
From VOA: US Senate Divided on Approach to Iraq War Debate
A day after Senate Republicans blocked a nonbinding resolution expressing disagreement over President Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq, the Democratic-led Senate Tuesday remained deadlocked over the best way to move the bipartisan measure to the Senate floor for a vote. VOA’s Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.
Although Senate Democrats and Republicans say they want to be able to vote on nonbinding resolutions on the Iraq war, an issue that will likely influence the 2008 presidential and congressional elections, they have not been able to agree on how best to do it.
Democrats still hope to reach agreement with Republicans on allowing a Senate vote on a resolution sponsored by Senator John Warner of Virginia, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, which expresses disagreement with President Bush’s decision to increase troop strength in Iraq.
But Republicans, who blocked the measure from coming to a vote Monday, are demanding that at least one other Republican-sponsored resolution be allowed to go to the floor for a Senate vote along with the Warner measure. That other resolution, sponsored by Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, includes language saying Congress should not take any action that will endanger United States military forces in the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds…
We’re going to fight and haggle over meaningless resolutions, like Pilate washing his hands. If you’ve been elected to do something, doing something would be good; something in the traditional sense of something as in the concrete and real.