This past Thursday, Fr. Ted Tack, the former Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine, gave a talk at Villanova University on the spirituality of St. Augustine and his relevance today. I attended the talk and it was quite excellent. I recorded it and have made it available online. If anyone is interested in listening, you can find it here. From that link you may either listen to it online or download it to your computer. Enjoy!

...and by the power of ham, we have come to the eleventh month. Hooray for ham!

Ok, ham has nothing to do with this. Pudding does, though. Not ham pudding; that sounds unpleasant. But not as unpleasant as the unpleasantness that might unpleasantly occur should you skip out on this week's quiz of un-unpleasantness. Play it now! Before calamity strikes! Unless you paid Calamity to strike you, in which case, carry on.

Go. Play. Take Quiz.

Recently I revisited the Golden Rule and started seriously asking myself before I took any actions whether positive or negative toward someone else - how I would want to be treated.   I found this a very simple concept that is not easy to put into action.  It takes a lot of forethought - and I was very surprised at what the answers were.  Some of the answers were not so black and white before I asked the question, then became crystal clear after I asked myself . . . how would I want this person to treat me in this circumstance?   Some of the things that I thought would be well meaning and good were actually me putting my nose where it didn't belong - because if I was really honest with myself, I wouldn't want someone handling something for me that I was more than capable of THEIR way. 

Other things stopped me dead in my tracks as far as the negative stuff goes.  I find myself more willing to be patient, more willing to take a step back and give the benefit of the doubt. 

The Golden Rule - Do onto others as you would have them do onto you. - was something I took for granted growing up and as a young adult.  I was focused heavily on the Ten Commandments, yet Jesus simplified the Ten Commandments into a very simple one sentence statement that works as a good consistent tool.  There's no dividing lines, no gray areas. . .nothing confusing.  It's only a simple question that causes me to think before I act. 

I don't say things I flippantly blurt out . .. I don't act in rash ways - I don't reach for the defensive stances or let anger smolder - all because that isn't how I want to be treated.  He said that all of the commandments are included in loving your brother as yourself - doing onto others as they would have them do to you. 

And it's the truth.

1. Fun with lyrics! Name the song:
Don't tell me the lights are shining
Anyplace but there
We will dance the "Hoochie-Koochie"
I will be your "Tootsie-Wootsie"

2. What Russian city was named Leningrad until 1991?

3. Who is the current Welterweight Champion of the UFC?

4. The character Simon Templar is more commonly referred to as whom?

5. Fun with quotes! Name that film:
"So now we got a huge guy theory, and a serial crusher theory. Top notch."

6. What's the nicest thing you've ever done?

Today at my church, we celebrated All Saints Day, plus the 2nd anniversary of my parish, St. Brendan's Anglican Church. To commemorate the mission of St. Brendan, an Irish missionary who faithfully took the Gospel of Christ to Iceland and Greenland, our church held a 'Celtic Eucharist' liturgy today, complete with beautiful cello music.

Here is a beautiful prayer by St. Brendan himself:

Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home? Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, without silver, without a horse, without fame, without honor? Shall I throw myself wholly upon You, without sword and shield, without food and drink, without a bed to lie on? Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness, tears streaming down my cheeks? Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict? Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean? O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea? O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?*

http://www.saintbrendans-online.org/SaintBrendan.dsp

"When a Jewish person went to the temple to worship, he would bring a lamb to offer on the altar. After careful examination by the priest, if the lamb was found to be without spot or blemish, the worshiper could worship confidently. You see, the priest never inspected the person—only the lamb. Satan will try to whisper in your ear, "You're blemished. You've dropped the ball. You haven't been a woman of prayer. You haven't been a man of integrity. You can't worship. You can't talk to the Father. You can't be blessed."

But he's wrong. At the temple, the priests didn't inspect the worshiper. They inspected the lamb. The same is true of you and me. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," declared John the Baptist—which is why three days before His crucifixion, Jesus Himself was scrutinized as the scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees, and Greeks questioned His theology, His morality, and His integrity (Matthew 22). Pilate's declaration that he found no fault in Jesus meant He passed even their inspection perfectly."

David & Goliath

Why was King Saul paying attention to the Giant's demands, and agreeing that the loser would be slaves of the winner? Why didn't he send out a Swat Team, or dig an elephant trap? Was he really going to risk the future of the nation of Israel on the presumption of young David?

When we connect the dots from this account in 1Sam17 to the "Armor of God" in Ephesians 6, the difference between the physical battles of the Old Testament and the spiritual battles of the New Testament are seen more clearly. Saul's armor didn't fit David anyway, and "the battle is the Lord's". Ps 24:8

This is a response to a friend...I tried to describe what it's like whenever the Heavenly Father, by the Son, through the Holy Spirit reveals His Truth to your heart and lets you feel some of the burden on His heart. When the Lord Himself opens your eyes, ears, and imparts His love and understanding....there's no turning back.


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In an earlier discussion the question was posed, in light of Hebrews 10:11-22, how can it be asserted that from the beginning the Church has understood the Eucharist to be a true sacrifice? Those who criticize this Catholic dogma would have a valid point if the assertion was that at each Mass a new sacrifice is offered, so that just like the levitical priesthood described as insufficient in Hebrews 10:11, the new priesthood of the cult of Christ was constantly offering sacrifice for the remission of sins. However, a few clarifications hopefully will shed light on why this is not so.
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 hello friends!

i've had this thought on my mind for a long time and it just won't go away... 

if God knows all that is to happen in the future and he intends for everything to go a certain way, this means he knew that Adam was going to sin, correct? and if he knew Adam was going to sin, but let him sin anyway, then that means He intended for us to be separated from him, right? i can't seem to wrap my head around why God would create a human being to love and then purposely separate him from Him to forever suffer in sin (until Jesus came and cleansed us). 

any thoughts are welcome! thank you all very kindly.

The extra F's are for Fun! Frolicking! Fahrvergnuegen! Fornicating! And maybe Forgetfulness, if you've forgotten to fill out this week's quizly goodness. If you have, then F is for Fanfriggintastic! If you forgot, then F is for Failure Most Foul. But you can change Failure to Fanfriggintastic in one quick step! Just fill out the quiz, and watch failure melt away, like fat in Fight Club. Funderful!

This post brought to you by the letters F and PH, and by the hexadecimal number F, because fifteen has two F's. Two! That's more than one! And that's terrible.

Stanley Hauerwas is a Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School. In 1995 he delivered the following Sermon on Reformation Sunday, a date where Protestants typically celebrate the Reformation. His was quite a different, and indeed powerful, take on it. I would say that his words should serve as a stinging reality check to all Christians, Protestant and Catholic alike, at how important it is for us to work towards a true, visible unity among Christians:

Taken from Called to Communion. ( Under the cut )

1. What cartoon characters were known for "bouncing here and there and everywhere"?

2. Diane Keaton plays a schoolteacher looking for sex and drugs in which 1977 film?

3. According to myth, what was formed during a "suckling malfunction" between Hera and Heracles?

4. "Twenty Years After" and "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" are sequels to which novel?

5. The last words of Pheidippides were "We have won." Who had won what?

6. If you had to completely give up all candy and sweets, what would you miss most?

I was eleven years old when my father passed away. My grandma always tells me this story of how she was crying and I approached her and said, "Don't worry Grandma, daddy's in Heaven teaching the angels how to sail." She tells me how it brought her so much comfort and joy, and how that moment ministered to her breaking heart. The funny thing is that I don't recall that whatsoever. Granted I was eleven, I was a little girl, but I wasn't a small child; It's not like I was too young to recall profound moments. I remember every detail surrounding my father's passing. But I have absolutely no recollection of those particular words, at all.


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X-posted to my personal journal.