August 2003 Archives

Hi. I'm Krista, wife of Joe. This is my first entry and I'm not as graceful with my words or with this computer as all of the others, so please forgive me.

I am a beginner in a lot of ways, most pertinent to this site is my newfound Catholic faith. One week before my wedding (two weeks ago) I entered into this mysterious and wonderful unity of faith. I'm still a baby Catholic, but not at all new to God's great love. I, like Jay, was raised Baptist. Learning the Catholic faith is learning the secret of life to me. I'm so excited at every tiny step I take toward knowing the fullness of the Church. Sometimes I feel like my own parent watching her child grow and learn. I am still surprised by the words coming out of my soul and my mouth, so different than the ones I spoke even one year ago. I want to share one HUGE truth I've come to realize.

In America, Sunday has become just another day of the week with one small difference: we go to Mass. Why should it be different? God decreed one day of the week as a day of rest:

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

Originally, this was Saturday, however it moved to Sunday with the coming (and Crucifixion) of Christ. Did God need rest? No, He’s omnipotent. He did this as an example for us to follow, because He was aware of our limits. Ultimately, humans need a day of rest and relaxation, but it goes further than that:

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; 11 for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

This is one of the Ten Commandments and is repeated in Deuteronomy 5:12-15. It’s not only that we are to rest from our labors on the Sabbath, but we are also to “keep it holy” by remembering God in this time. A family rosary, bible study, and personal prayer are great ideas for honoring the Sabbath in our day and time. This is a perfect time to include the family – a whole day meant to honor God.

In America, we’ve really gotten away from this – we’re workaholics and productivity nuts. But this compulsion to work takes it’s toll on us physically and spiritually over time. We need this time to rest and focus on our spiritual lives. So take the time to slow down – God knows we need it.

Jay

In this country, believe it or not, ‘Freedom of Religion’ has become a catchphrase for ‘Freedom from Christianity.’ Ultimately, we’re moving toward a society in which you can only practice your religion as long as it isn’t Christianity.

In the latest move in this direction, California is waiting for Gray Davis to sign a bill that requires potential adoptive parents to agree that homosexuality is legitimate. In other words, you must either lie or ignore 2,000 years of Christian Truth to adopt a child. Wow.

This is but the latest step in our society towards a socialist system that criminalizes Christian beliefs and spins ‘love’ into ‘hate’ or ‘truth’ into ‘falsehood.’ Where does this end? Will only homosexuals be able to adopt at some point? I know California is so far gone that they have become the national joke, but let’s remember that states like Massachusetts and New York aren’t far behind.

How far are we away from a national consensus that suggests those condemning homosexuality are spreading ‘hate’? We’re closer than you think. Read this article on Ireland. This is just something else we should be praying about.

Jay

Just a quick note to ask everyone to lift my brother Justin up in your prayers. He is a seminarian studying in Rome for the Savannah Diocese of Georgia and today is his birthday. We love you Justin and miss you dearly.
Maria

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to have my good friend come stay with me, who currently has six children ranging from the ages of 1 to 16. I have three wonderful children 3 and under. We decided to one day take a walk through my neighborhood with all the kids. As we pass one of my neighbors, who I have always enjoyed talking to and who has always loved to see my kids, she cries out, “Oh my goodness, we’re being invaded!” We laughed as I proceeded to tell her this was my friend visiting with her six children. She screams out, “Six children, six children!? Honey, don’t you know what to do about that?” I was in utter shock, completely embarrassed and enraged. My friend politely says, “Yes, I do.” But my neighbor persists, “I mean you know they have things nowadays to stop that.” My mind was reeling. I thought to myself, “Stop that!? Here this lady has before her eyes six beautiful children – all well-dressed, well-mannered and she refers to them as “that”, how utterly sad. My friend like myself is speechless so the lady continues her tirade, “Well, God Bless You! And I mean it because you really need it!” My friend politely thanks her and we move on. I immediately apologize and then for the first time I understood how the Nazis were able to kill so many Jews before mankind stopped them. I understood how easily it is for people to embrace the self-centered contraceptive mindset because it doesn’t affect them immediately and it enables them to have more things without having to deal with “that”. I looked at each of my friend’s children and thought which one of these “that’s” would my neighbor like me to get rid of by killing them because you know we now have “things” these days that makes this possible and effortless (contraceptives, operations, and abortions). When we start referring to humans as objects and not living souls, we give permission to the devil to wreak havoc in our lives and society at large. Thus, like Jay stated in his article titled Dead People Don’t Work, we reap what we sow. May God have mercy on us.

Raising a family whether big or small is no small feat in today’s society, and we need much prayer and support. Mother Teresa wisely once said, “A family that prays together, stays together.” My friend and I talked about things we could have said to my neighbor but didn’t think of at the time. We acknowledged our lives of “replay”, how situations come and go, how we are not always graced with the appropriate things to say at the right moments, how our human weaknesses allow us to be humble, and then instead of living our life in “replay” all the time, we opt to invade our society with prayer. We have faith in God’s grace and mercy to change our nation from a culture of death to a culture of life on which this great nation of ours was founded. It is not too late for we rest in the hope that good will conquer evil in the end, so we choose to invade other people's lives with good, with the gift of other human souls striving to follow Christ. For further food for thought, I highly recommend reading Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn who goes into depth on the reason why we as Catholics and Christians should be open to life.

Maria

Being a lover of freedom, when the (Nazi) revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks...Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.
- - Albert Einstein Kampi und Zeugnis der bekennenden Kirche

At this point in history an interesting event is happening. Even Catholics are beginning to believe the nonsense being published about the Catholic Church and Hitler. The attack is always the same: Pius XII did not do enough to fight against Hitler and his regime. This statement is so dishonest that Catholics should feel personally insulted by the remark.

So, what can we as Catholics do? Learn. Know the facts so you can defend when someone brings up the subject. A great resource is EWTN’s Pius XII Library, which contains many articles that actually include research on the historical events. Take some time and read through them, particularly the first one concerning John Cornwell’s book. This type of blatant bigotry against Catholics has become ubiquitous in our time and needs to be resolved.

One thing every Catholic should know: Pope Pius XII saved more Jews than any other person on the planet, including Schindler (estimated at more than 800,000 by a Jewish scholar). The New York Times even referred to Pius as “a light in the darkness”, because he was the only one speaking out against Hitler.

It’s amazing how ‘spin’ can be so blinding as to create truth. I even saw a post the other day where a Catholic suggested that Pius only was against Hitler because of Hitler’s anti-Catholic approach, but Pius was actually an anti-Semite. This is patently absurd; in reality Hitler was anti-Catholic because Pius was saving the Jews!

Please help spread the word!

Jay

I would like to add to Danny's comments in his earlier article "Traditionalists Alert", the official Catholic teaching on this matter.

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
'Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.'

Greetings All! It is wonderful to be back for two reasons. First, because I am now a happily married man, and while the honeymoon was an adventure, I am longing for "the wildness of domesticity" (Brave New Family, Chesterton). Second, because I have missed this cyber home of ours, this tremendous place of liberty and love.

I wanted to shed some Chestertonian light on this topic of the problem of wealth that Jay had touched on several days ago. I say touched on because Jay mentioned that there are "many moral problems with riches." I wanted to share some of G. K. Chesterton's thoughts on some specific problems in relation to the life of home and family.

Today I got word that a dear family member passed away. Please offer a prayer for the soul of Dr. William Esser II. I feel blessed to have known him and to have been able to share a few pleasant memories with him. He was a man of impeccable character who devoted his life to serving Christ. Now he is standing before our Lord and King. What joy for him and for all those who have gone before him. My heart is gladdened to think of his beautiful homecoming yet still being human I weep for the lack of his physical presence in my life and for all the other ones he has left behind. However, I have lived through quite a few funerals and it always amazes me how the spiritual body of Christ works. How people pray for one another just at those right moments. At times I can't wait to die to experience this aspect in its entirety in heaven being in full communion with the Mystical Body of Christ. Do not fear death, but rather through our tears rejoice for our New Life that God has chosen for us.

"It is not Death that will come to fetch me, it is the good God. Death is no phantom, no horrible specter, as represented in pictures. In the catechism it stated that death is the separation of soul and body, that is all! Well, I am not afraid of a separation which will unite me to the good God forever." - St. Therese of Lisieux, Counsels and Reminisces.

Well, Terry Schiavo’s husband has just crossed another line. In case you haven’t heard, Terry Schiavo is a Florida woman suffering from brain-damage, which has rendered her disabled. Michael, Terry’s husband, has been on a ‘quest’ over the past ten years to murder his wife and now it looks like he’s succeeded. The courts have granted him permission to kill her by removing her feeding tubes – starvation, basically. This is all despite Terry’s parents, who have fought to save her life.

So, Michael seems to be vying for a coveted spot in hell, but that’s not enough. Michael, you see, doesn’t want to wait in line down there, so he’s gone one step further. He’s banned visits from priests to his wife. You can get more information here.

Is there something you can do? Yes, actually. Terry’s only chance is for the Governor of Florida, President Bush’s brother, to step in and save her life. So, click here and sign a petition to request his help in the situation. This is such a sad case, but points to the greater problems we have in the U.S.; the unwillingness of anyone to suffer and selfish desire determining the ‘moral’ course of action.

Also, say a Rosary for Terry and for her husband. He can, after all, reverse his decision.

Jay

Thanks to Mark Shea and Times against Humanity for pointing these issues out.

I just received my latest copy of Business 2.0 magazine and it had a captivating cover story on the future of work in America (I’ll link to it as soon as it’s online). Apparently, the job market is about to face serious consequences as the Baby Boom generation begins to retire, because there aren’t enough living people to fill all of the white-collar positions (it’s difficult for immigration to fill white-collar jobs in mass quantities). The article didn’t address this point, but Why are there so few workers available? It’s an interesting question.

If we look back, the birth control pill (a revolution in the U.S.) became available in the early 1960’s and was the first ultra-simple way to control the ultimate effects of sex (it acts as an abortifacient, but that’s another story). In addition, Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in the U.S in 1973. These two factors combined can account for more children that the shortage predicts.

For example, in 2020, the article suggests we will be short 20 million white-collar workers in the U.S. Well, if you assume that a worker must be over 23 (born before 1997) and have a college degree (assume 40% of those born), then we needed an additional 50 million births that weren’t stopped by birth control or killed by abortion between the early sixties and the late nineties.

Ultimately the article seems to suggest that the U.S. economy won’t be affected by this, but I find that difficult to believe. It seems that we will be “reaping what we’ve sown” to coin an old phrase. Perhaps the wisdom of the Church will become evident to some of those CEO’s and leaders who become desperate for employees which don’t exist.

Jay

It’s funny, but as a Protestant I never asked this question. It was as if I thought the Bible magically appeared after the Crucifixion. Thankfully, Henry G. Graham did the homework and put together this book entitled Where We Got the Bible: Our Debt to the Catholic Church.

The book is very good and raises some obvious issues with typical Protestant positions. One example is the viewpoint that “Luther gave the Bible to the people, who weren’t allowed to read it beforehand” when in actuality there were Bibles available in every language and the Catholic Church worked diligently to provide Bibles to those who could not afford them – this was before the printing press, so Bibles were handwritten and expensive. However, many people owned personal versions of the Gospels or the Torah long before Luther arrived on the scene. Graham also points out the idiocy of the suggestion that the Catholic Church tried to destroy the Bible: they had 1,500 years to do it, if they had wanted to, the Bible would have become non-existent.

But most of all the author points out that the Catholic Church wrote the Bible. The only thing Luther did was remove books he didn’t like and add words to force his meaning upon it. This is highly recommended reading for Catholics (know your history and your faith) and Protestants who don’t realize what was involved in deciding which books should be part of the Bible.

Recommended. Click here to order from Amazon.com.

Jay

Proverbs 30: 8. Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9. lest I be full, and deny thee.

In this materialistic society of ours, ‘riches’ are regarded as the end-all, be-all of our existence. Are you consumed by the desire for wealth? No? Well, here’s the question: If you had a lottery ticket and you knew someone in your area won, could you throw away the ticket without checking to see if you’d won?

Materialism is a problem that seeps into you from our external culture. Most people don’t understand that there are as many moral problems with riches as there are with poverty. I included the next part of verse eight and the start of nine, because they illuminate the problem of riches: “lest I be full, and deny thee.” It all goes back to Jesus’ statements on the difficulty of attaining heaven if you are rich; it is very easy to no longer ‘need’ Christ or God and to generally turn away from him.

Let us all have the ability to pray ‘give me neither poverty or riches.’

Jay

I didn’t think it was possible to be Catholic and not like John Paul II or Scott Hahn, but unfortunately, I’ve been proven wrong. As I was doing my apologetics research on the internet I came across a disturbing schismatic sect that dub themselves “traditionalists” on sites like www.cathinsight.com and www.novusordowatch.org. Basically this group thinks that Vatican II wasn’t legitimate. Consequently, everything it teaches and even our great Pope John Paul II is illegitimate too.

They believe this because they say some of the teachings of Vatican II contradicted what the Church has taught for hundreds of years. Superficially, one might think they have a point, but upon deeper study of the teachings of Vatican II one sees that this simply is not true.

For example, a typical teaching they believe Vatican II changed was 'no salvation outside of the Church'. “Vatican II taught (as had several Popes before it) that it is possible for non-Catholics (and, indeed, non-Christians) who sincerely strive to know and follow the good to be saved. This has appeared to many to contradict prior teachings to the effect that there is no salvation outside the Church. On closer examination, however, one finds that the earlier teachings don't in fact claim that one has to be a juridical member of the Church to fulfill the requirement of not being "outside" her. Rather, one can be joined to the Church in various mysterious ways. A common example would be someone who dies for Christ without having first been received into the Church (called baptism by blood).” (Dr. Mirus, Jeffrey, www.ewtn.com)

I understand if “traditionalists” oppose the misinterpretations that some Catholics have of Vatican II. Those are equally disturbing. But it is sad to see that these “traditionalist Catholics” do not believe that the Holy Spirit guides the Church. As a result, I do not believe these “traditionalists” should even call themselves Catholic. They are creating internal division, wasting precious evangelization energy in their efforts, and making the Catholic Church look more like the Protestant churches (though not nearly as bad) to people outside of the Church, adding to the confusion of this modern age. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them to THE ONE Church and its teachings.

Just a quick note to our readers: Today Joe is getting married to Krista. So, the blog is a little light (we’re both working to get everything ready), but I wanted to ask for your prayers as they start their new lives together.

If you’re doing a holy hour, please dedicate it to them. These days young married couples need all the prayer and support they can get. Oh – and if you aren’t doing a holy hour, you should try it. It’s amazing what God can do in an hour.

God bless,
Jay

We’ve heard for several years now how amazing the Dead Sea Scrolls find was, but we don’t often hear the story of what’s included in the Scrolls. You can buy a number of that purport to detail why the Scrolls were important, but I think one ‘find’ stands above all the rest: the meaning of “works of law” or “ergon nomou” in Greek.

You see, the Catholic Church has long argued that “works of law” refers to the ceremonial law handed out in the Old Testament, not to the Ten Commandments (or Moral Law). This can be see in the earliest Christian writings and followed through Augustine to the present day. Seems pretty clear, huh? So what’s the point?

Martin Luther, in his infinite wisdom, decided that the Church had been wrong for 1,500 years. He decided that “works of law” referred to all of the laws of the Old Testament, including the Ten Commandments. Ultimately this became the doctrine of sola fides or ‘by Faith alone,’ which is one of the two pillars of the reformation (and the one Luther declared the most important). All because of one verse:

Romans 3:28. For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.

The Church teaches, along with all of history, that Paul is stating that we are justified by faith, not by acts such as circumcision or Old Testament sacrifices, which are “works of law;” a stock formula in those days. The best discovery in the Dead Sea Scrolls? That the Catholic Church was right and Luther was wrong. Many protestants are starting to see this as true - click here for a detailed look at “works of law” in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

One other point that should be made is that only the Catholic understanding of these verses makes sense in light of James:

James 2:24. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

This verse inflamed Luther so much that he wanted to remove James from the Bible along with the other seven books he removed, but he restrained himself (others talked him out of it). Back to the point, this verse directly contradicts Luther’s translation of Romans 3:28, because he translated it as “man is justified by faith alone” even though he admitted the word “alone” is not in the actual text.

I’ll be writing more on this in the future, but sola fide is a doctrine fraught with problems in the Bible – you can’t change doctrine like Luther did without rewriting the Bible.

Let me know what you think.

Jay

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

I decided to open this article with a definitive "yes" to the title question by presenting the age old prayer to Mary. The Summa of the Catholic teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary. I wants to take this prayer phrase by phrase to show, not just the Scriptural basis for the praying to Mary, but also the need for praying to Mary.

In light of the current economic situation of our country, I thought it might be appropriate to touch on this very important subject. So often we lose sight of the fact that God has a plan for our lives. We become self-centered and limit our spiritual vision. We forget that we were made for greater things than simply working for this or that company. We have dignity and uniqueness as human beings. We are loved and can love in return. Jesus wants what is best for us; therefore we have to abandon ourselves to His divine will.

We have so many uncertainties in this life. Will I have a job next month? Will my children be provided for? Will I have enough money saved up for retirement? Yet despite all of these legitimate concerns, we do have one certainty...God loves us.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they: And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all those things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." - Matthew 6:25-34

So during these times of uncertainty let us place our trust in the Lord of heaven and earth and abandon ourselves to His divine will.

It’s not often a run across a book that’s so compelling that every parent should read it, but A Landscape with Dragons by Michael O’Brien is one of these. In fact, I now give it to new parents in the hopes that they will read it and apply it to their lives.

Essentially O’Brien makes the argument that what your child reads and watches affects them profoundly, especially in their formative years. The book details some of the problems with popular literature and movies and goes on to explain exactly why each is a problem. Then he goes a step further and shows which books are positive and reinforce the Catholic worldview in your child’s mind.

I think the key is understanding why a book or movie might be detrimental. O’Brien does a great job of proving the effects that come about by allowing your children to watch anything. However, he doesn’t simply condemn all of popular society; for example, many are quick to say all Disney movies are bad, but this simply isn’t the case. O’Brien shows you which ones are bad and explains why, so you can judge future Disney movies for yourself. O’Brien also offers a recommended reading list that contains everything from C.S. Lewis to Mark Twain and breaks them up by reading levels.

This book is highly recommended as a primer and a future resource for parents (and grandparents). Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Jay

I think we need to put out a plea for help. Just wandering around the blogosphere a little tells you how honest this statement is: we need more faithful Catholic bloggers. There are some out there – Patrick Sweeney and Mark Shea, for example, but we still lack quantity – the key to our evangelization efforts.

Currently there are tons of anti-Catholic bloggers and more unfaithful Catholic bloggers than you would believe; in fact, probably the most well-known Catholic blog out there is a homosexual Catholic who rages against the Church on a daily basis (he’ll get no link from me). Granted blogging is a new arena, which suggests it will take time to gain new adherents, but someone should talk to Scott Hahn (I’ll personally code his site gratis – just for the honor of having him online), Stephen Ray, and the other muscular converts who really have something to add to the online dialogue.

However, it doesn’t stop there: why aren’t you blogging? Talk about an easy way to do a little work for heaven, just espouse Catholicism as Christ intended and you’ll be amazed by the lives you touch. The Pope is calling for a New Evangelization and this is your big chance. As Chesterton famously wrote: “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” So don’t worry if you aren’t the most able writer or don’t worry you may get something wrong (we obviously don’t). To start is half the journey. Feel free to comment on this message or email me and I’ll be glad to direct you to resources.

Oh – and someone get a hold of Scott Hahn! The blogosphere needs him!

Jay

PS – Hahn was a major force in my conversion, hence the hero-worship! ;-)

Just a curious question. The Episcopal leaders seem bent on pushing a particular point of view, even if it destroys their church. How do they get away from this:

Romans 1:27. and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

As Catholics, we follow natural law as Paul does in Romans. Many of the Protestant churches have abandoned natural law as they seek to appeal to non-Christians (ex. Legitimization of birth control). Unfortunately for them, natural law is as compelling as gravity and its effects are just as real. So no matter how the Episcopalians justify these actions, they still contradict natural (read: God’s) law. Paul writes:

19. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;

How can they read the Bible and support these policies? Just wondering.

Jay

This is one of those little historical facts that every Catholic should know and impart to their Bible-believing Protestant friends. Why? Because it is extremely important. So, back to the question, “Why are we Roman?” The initial answer most Catholics would give is: that’s where the Pope lives. Or, that’s the main Basilica of the Church. But why? Why does the Pope live in Rome? Doesn’t there have to be an answer?

Well the answer lies in the Old Testament of the Bible. We often hear of the prophecies concerning Christ, but sometimes we miss the prophecies concerning the Church. However, they remain vitally important to our understanding of Christian history. Let’s start in the book of Daniel . . .

I recommend you stop by and read about the events going on in Ireland.

This is a disturbing turn of events and suggests some of the issues the Catholic Church and us, it's adherents, might face in the coming decade. Basically words like "hate" have been redefined by society and are now being used as a weapon against God and His Church.

What bothers me most about all this is the shortsightedness of those involved. As Americans, we tend to ignore the long-term ramifications of a decision and focus only on the short-term - as can be seen in the Episcopal church issue. What are the long-term ramifications of legitimizing homosexuality? Go back and read Humane Vitae.

Also, don't miss the Lileks column today. The second half of this column discusses some of his issues with the Episcopal's decision. Very thought provoking.

Jay

From The American Chesterton Society:

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.


The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.


Puritanism was an honourable mood; it was a noble fad. In other words, it was a highly creditable mistake.


If there were no God, there would be no atheists.


Religious liberty might be supposed to mean that everybody is free to discuss religion. In practice it means that hardly anybody is allowed to mention it.

Jay

Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? - - James 2:18-20

Everyone professes to believe that the Bible does not contradict itself. So how do Protestants reconcile this simple line from James with their beliefs? Remember, Martin Luther added the word "alone" to the famous Romans verse (he has admitted several times that the verse does not say or imply "alone", but he felt it should be there). Without that one word ("alone") the Romans verse agrees with James. With the word "alone" it is contradictory. So was Luther right in adding a word to the Holy Scriptures? I would say not.

Just a quick thought.
Jay

2 Peter 1:5. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge.

Virtue seems to have disappeared these days; gone the way of chivalry, which was simply another way to describe a virtuous man. But I think it’s a profound lesson that our society – especially 21st century American society – must take note of: Lack of virtue is destructive.

Often you hear older men and women suggest that the world is far different from their youth. I think what they are describing in physical terms is the degradation of virtue in our society. No longer can we trust the word of an unknown person. In fact, we typically distrust our bosses, coworkers, and even neighbors, always assuming that no one has kept the virtue of truthfulness. One thing we understand in modern America, with its libertarian direction, is that you’re on your own. Caveat Emptor has become an excuse for companies to lie and people to give up on living honest lives. Where does this leave us?

One important lesson for Christians is that the virtues are learned together. You can assume those who are virtuous in one area are virtuous in others. Likewise, don’t expect a thief to be honest. As followers of Christ, we are obligated to assume the best in others and trust in God to protect us from those less than deserving. Ultimately, this is the advice we follow, but God does not expect blindness. We should watch those who are unkind, not loyal, or dishonest. These are signs that point directly to a lack of virtue.

As for ourselves we should work to become virtuous. I highly recommend Learning the Virtues by Romano Guardini. It’s an excellent guide to become virtuous in your life – and through virtue living a more joyful, happy life.

God bless,
Jay

Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
- - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe we are a ‘tipping point,’ if you will, in American society. We can have the hope that a new Supreme Court will rule abortion illegal. Yet at the same moment, we worry that the Supreme Court will legalize homosexual marriage. It is, as they say, ‘the best of times, the worst of times.’ Our society is moving more and more toward an Objectivist (read: Libertarian) point of view that removes morality from the public sphere. And yet, the Catholic church is growing stronger through conversions and studious cradle-Catholics.

A tipping point is a peculiar opportunity; we have the ability to strongly impact the future, not only of America, but also of the world, by ensuring that the right decisions are made concerning our society. As Catholics, we have the full Truth, but we also have a moral obligation to push that Truth into the public realm; holding our candle high, rather than hiding it. To paraphrase MLK – Ignorance cannot drive out ignorance, only Truth can do that.

Let me begin by stating that this is a subject very near to my heart. One of my passions is the study of economic theory and the application of that theory. The particular area that I wish to focus on today is labor and the dignity of the worker. Most economists consider labor to be a means for an end, that end being profit. The problem with this train of thought is its complete failure to acknowledge the dignity of the worker. An economy driven solely by profit will quickly place value of the efficiency and proficiency of the worker verses the worker's uniqueness as a human being. Man is not for work, work is for man.