- White Dresses banned for First Communion -- Joan, 04:25:03 02/17/08 Sun [5] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
The year after I recieved my First Communion, the parish decided to ban white dresses. The thinking was that money was being spent on something that couldn't be used again, and that it wasn't fair to the families that has less money. It only lasted a few years, and the kids were wearing white dresses again. Even the poor families wanted their girls to wear white.
Yesterday, the paper carried an article about a ban on white dresses. What do you think?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Will we have to revise American History? -- Joan, 10:26:12 02/16/08 Sat [2] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
Who discovered America? Will we have to do a little "revisionist" history on the seemingly simple question?
We know what Columbus did. We know that the Spanish were the first Europeans to live in the "lower 48".
But were the Vikings really the first non-natives to arrive on the continent?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Today's readings -- Joan, 05:11:15 02/11/08 Mon [10] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
-
Revise History? -- Joan, 05:49:18 02/15/08 Fri [6] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
Another post brings up this question about revising history. Do you have an opinion on revising histor-- meaning to do more research, incorporate new findings, and publish the new information.
I disagree with putting a modern spin on ancient facts, which is why it's important to understand context. Not understanding context makes it easy for the propagandists to do their job. Without understanding legal, political, and social context, and particulary that secular courts were more brutal than inquisitorial courts, it's easy to mistakenly believe that the inquisitions were something out of the ordinary (and worse) in their time.
The "history" of the inquisitions sorely needed revising, since it was lies that people were learning.
If we kept the history of the US intact, as it was originally written, what would we know of early European settlement? What would we know of Native Americans and their history? There are plenty of "facts" that have been turned over by research.
I guess there are the facts as we know them. And then there is the truth. Good history tries to find facts that are also true.
Fact. Columbus landed in Asia.
I think we all agree that that historical fact was rightly revised. :)
And who writes there histories. Certainly Germany needed to revise its history books post Hitler.
And what of the Muslim countries who are using textbooks with questionable facts. Don't those histories need to be revised?
If no one can revise history, Germany would still be teaching its children racism. And what of the Muslim children? And some Asian children?
There is a lot of junk history out there that needs revising. Here, we're talking about the history of the inquistions and the history of the myth that's know as The Inquisition.
Maybe people just don't want to do the work. They learned what they learned, and that's all they know. Like it's their story and they're stinking to it. Don't rock their boat with such a little thing as truth. :)
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- "The Inquisition". Is what you know truth or myth? -- Joan, 10:05:30 02/13/08 Wed [9] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
What do you know about "The Inquisition"? If you have a list of facts handy, you will have to decide to which Inquisition each fact belongs. If you said that "The Inquisition" is a myth, you know more than most.
Ah, propoganda. You didn't think it was a modern invention, did you? :)
This article is years old, and yet many people still believe in the old myth. Why? The tracts that are still being published today. It's high time we (all Christians who choose to live like they've actually heard of the 10 commandments :) ) combat these lies.
Spread the truth!
"June 18, 2004, 10:26 a.m.
The Real Inquisition
Investigating the popular myth.
By Thomas F. Madden
When the sins of the Catholic Church are recited (as they so often are) the Inquisition figures prominently. People with no interest in European history know full well that it was led by brutal and fanatical churchmen who tortured, maimed, and killed those who dared question the authority of the Church. The word "Inquisition" is part of our modern vocabulary, describing both an institution and a period of time. Having one of your hearings referred to as an "Inquisition" is not a compliment for most senators.
But in recent years the Inquisition has been subject to greater investigation. In preparation for the Jubilee in 2000, Pope John Paul II wanted to find out just what happened during the time of the Inquisition's (the institution's) existence. In 1998 the Vatican opened the archives of the Holy Office (the modern successor to the Inquisition) to a team of 30 scholars from around the world. Now at last the scholars have made their report, an 800-page tome that was unveiled at a press conference in Rome on Tuesday. Its most startling conclusion is that the Inquisition was not so bad after all. Torture was rare and only about 1 percent of those brought before the Spanish Inquisition were actually executed. As one headline read "Vatican Downsizes Inquisition."
The amazed gasps and cynical sneers that have greeted this report are just further evidence of the lamentable gulf that exists between professional historians and the general public. The truth is that, although this report makes use of previously unavailable material, it merely echoes what numerous scholars have previously learned from other European archives. Among the best recent books on the subject are Edward Peters's Inquisition (1988) and Henry Kamen's The Spanish Inquisition (1997), but there are others. Simply put, historians have long known that the popular view of the Inquisition is a myth. So what is the truth?
To understand the Inquisition we have to remember that the Middle Ages were, well, medieval. We should not expect people in the past to view the world and their place in it the way we do today. (You try living through the Black Death and see how it changes your attitude.) For people who lived during those times, religion was not something one did just at church. It was science, philosophy, politics, identity, and hope for salvation. It was not a personal preference but an abiding and universal truth. Heresy, then, struck at the heart of that truth. It doomed the heretic, endangered those near him, and tore apart the fabric of community.
The Inquisition was not born out of desire to crush diversity or oppress people; it was rather an attempt to stop unjust executions. Yes, you read that correctly. Heresy was a crime against the state. Roman law in the Code of Justinian made it a capital offense. Rulers, whose authority was believed to come from God, had no patience for heretics. Neither did common people, who saw them as dangerous outsiders who would bring down divine wrath. When someone was accused of heresy in the early Middle Ages, they were brought to the local lord for judgment, just as if they had stolen a pig or damaged shrubbery (really, it was a serious crime in England). Yet in contrast to those crimes, it was not so easy to discern whether the accused was really a heretic. For starters, one needed some basic theological training — something most medieval lords sorely lacked. The result is that uncounted thousands across Europe were executed by secular authorities without fair trials or a competent assessment of the validity of the charge.
The Catholic Church's response to this problem was the Inquisition, first instituted by Pope Lucius III in 1184. It was born out of a need to provide fair trials for accused heretics using laws of evidence and presided over by knowledgeable judges. From the perspective of secular authorities, heretics were traitors to God and the king and therefore deserved death. From the perspective of the Church, however, heretics were lost sheep who had strayed from the flock. As shepherds, the pope and bishops had a duty to bring them back into the fold, just as the Good Shepherd had commanded them. So, while medieval secular leaders were trying to safeguard their kingdoms, the Church was trying to save souls. The Inquisition provided a means for heretics to escape death and return to the community.
As this new report confirms, most people accused of heresy by the Inquisition were either acquitted or their sentences suspended. Those found guilty of grave error were allowed to confess their sin, do penance, and be restored to the Body of Christ. The underlying assumption of the Inquisition was that, like lost sheep, heretics had simply strayed. If, however, an inquisitor determined that a particular sheep had purposely left the flock, there was nothing more that could be done. Unrepentant or obstinate heretics were excommunicated and given over to secular authorities. Despite popular myth, the Inquisition did not burn heretics. It was the secular authorities that held heresy to be a capital offense, not the Church. The simple fact is that the medieval Inquisition saved uncounted thousands of innocent (and even not-so-innocent) people who would otherwise have been roasted by secular lords or mob rule.
During the 13th century the Inquisition became much more formalized in its methods and practices. Highly trained Dominicans answerable to the Pope took over the institution, creating courts that represented the best legal practices in Europe. As royal authority grew during the 14th century and beyond, control over the Inquisition slipped out of papal hands and into those of kings. Instead of one Inquisition there were now many. Despite the prospect of abuse, monarchs like those in Spain and France generally did their best to make certain that their inquisitions remained both efficient and merciful. During the 16th century, when the witch craze swept Europe, it was those areas with the best-developed inquisitions that stopped the hysteria in its tracks. In Spain and Italy, trained inquisitors investigated charges of witches' sabbaths and baby roasting and found them to be baseless. Elsewhere, particularly in Germany, secular or religious courts burned witches by the thousands.
Compared to other medieval secular courts, the Inquisition was positively enlightened. Why then are people in general and the press in particular so surprised to discover that the Inquisition did not barbecue people by the millions? First of all, when most people think of the Inquisition today what they are really thinking of is the Spanish Inquisition. No, not even that is correct. They are thinking of the myth of the Spanish Inquisition. Amazingly, before 1530 the Spanish Inquisition was widely hailed as the best run, most humane court in Europe. There are actually records of convicts in Spain purposely blaspheming so that they could be transferred to the prisons of the Spanish Inquisition. After 1530, however, the Spanish Inquisition began to turn its attention to the new heresy of Lutheranism. It was the Protestant Reformation and the rivalries it spawned that would give birth to the myth.
By the mid 16th century, Spain was the wealthiest and most powerful country in Europe. Europe's Protestant areas, including the Netherlands, northern Germany, and England, may not have been as militarily mighty, but they did have a potent new weapon: the printing press. Although the Spanish defeated Protestants on the battlefield, they would lose the propaganda war. These were the years when the famous "Black Legend" of Spain was forged. Innumerable books and pamphlets poured from northern presses accusing the Spanish Empire of inhuman depravity and horrible atrocities in the New World. Opulent Spain was cast as a place of darkness, ignorance, and evil.
Protestant propaganda that took aim at the Spanish Inquisition drew liberally from the Black Legend. But it had other sources as well. From the beginning of the Reformation, Protestants had difficulty explaining the 15-century gap between Christ's institution of His Church and the founding of the Protestant churches. Catholics naturally pointed out this problem, accusing Protestants of having created a new church separate from that of Christ. Protestants countered that their church was the one created by Christ, but that it had been forced underground by the Catholic Church. Thus, just as the Roman Empire had persecuted Christians, so its successor, the Roman Catholic Church, continued to persecute them throughout the Middle Ages. Inconveniently, there were no Protestants in the Middle Ages, yet Protestant authors found them there anyway in the guise of various medieval heretics. In this light, the medieval Inquisition was nothing more than an attempt to crush the hidden, true church. The Spanish Inquisition, still active and extremely efficient at keeping Protestants out of Spain, was for Protestant writers merely the latest version of this persecution. Mix liberally with the Black Legend and you have everything you need to produce tract after tract about the hideous and cruel Spanish Inquisition. And so they did.
In time, Spain's empire would fade away. Wealth and power shifted to the north, in particular to France and England. By the late 17th century new ideas of religious tolerance were bubbling across the coffeehouses and salons of Europe. Inquisitions, both Catholic and Protestant, withered. The Spanish stubbornly held on to theirs, and for that they were ridiculed. French philosophes like Voltaire saw in Spain a model of the Middle Ages: weak, barbaric, superstitious. The Spanish Inquisition, already established as a bloodthirsty tool of religious persecution, was derided by Enlightenment thinkers as a brutal weapon of intolerance and ignorance. A new, fictional Spanish Inquisition had been constructed, designed by the enemies of Spain and the Catholic Church.
Now a bit more of the real Inquisition has come back into view. The question remains, will anyone take notice?"
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Today's Readings -- Joan, 07:03:39 02/12/08 Tue [2] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Heresy, Schism, and Apostacy -- Joan, 09:53:47 02/11/08 Mon [3] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
What do you think of the so-called Catholic groups that deny the validity of Vatican II?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Why do we fast and abstain from eating meat? -- Joan, 04:49:42 02/10/08 Sun [3] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
nt
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Sunday's reading -- Joan, 09:56:38 02/10/08 Sun [3] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- More info on Lent--from ashes to palms -- Joan, 10:12:58 02/10/08 Sun [1] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
The key to understanding the meaning of Lent is simple: Baptism. Preparation for Baptism and for renewing baptismal commitment lies at the heart of the season. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has reemphasized the baptismal character of Lent, especially through the restoration of the Catechumenate and its Lenten rituals. Our challenge today is to renew our understanding of this important season of the Church year and to see how we can integrate our personal practices into this renewed perspective.
Why is Baptism so important in our Lenten understanding? Lent as a 40-day season developed in the fourth century from three merging sources. The first was the ancient paschal fast that began as a two-day observance before Easter but was gradually lengthened to 40 days. The second was the catechumenate as a process of preparation for Baptism, including an intense period of preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation to be celebrated at Easter. The third was the Order of Penitents, which was modeled on the catechumenate and sought a second conversion for those who had fallen back into serious sin after Baptism. As the catechumens (candidates for Baptism) entered their final period of preparation for Baptism, the penitents and the rest of the community accompanied them on their journey and prepared to renew their baptismal vows at Easter.
Lent, then, is radically baptismal. In this Update we'll consider some of the familiar customs of Lent and show how we can renew some of our Lenten customs to bring forth the baptismal theme.
Ashes
Ash Wednesday liturgies are some of the best attended in the entire year. Some people suggest that is just because the Church is giving out something free, but I suspect there are deeper reasons! Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also remind us of our mortality ("remember that you are dust") and thus of the day when we will stand before God and be judged. This can be linked easily to the death and resurrection motif of Baptism. To prepare well for the day we die, we must die now to sin and rise to new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our recognition of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during this season of renewal.
Giving something up
For most older Catholics, the first thought that Lent brings to mind is giving something up. In my childhood, the standard was to give up candy, a discipline that found suitable reward in the baskets of sugary treats we received on Easter. Some of us even added to the Easter surplus by saving candy all through Lent, stockpiling what we would have eaten had we not promised to give it up.
Some years ago a friend of mine told me that he had urged his children to move beyond giving up candy to giving up some habit of sin that marked their lives. About halfway through Lent he asked the children how they were doing with their Lenten promise. One of his young sons had promised to give up fighting with his brothers and sisters during Lent. When his father asked him how it was going, the boy replied, "I'm doing pretty good, Dad—but boy, I can't wait until Easter!"
That response indicates that this boy had only partly understood the purpose of Lenten "giving up." Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ. For catechumens, Lent is a period intended to bring their initial conversion to completion.
Scrutinies: Examining our lives
The primary way that the Church assists the catechumens (called the elect after the celebration of the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent) in this conversion process during Lent is through the celebration of the rites called Scrutinies. These ritual celebrations on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent are communal prayers celebrated around the elect to strengthen them to overcome the power of sin in their lives and to grow in virtue. To scrutinize something means to examine it closely. The community does not scrutinize the catechumens; the catechumens scrutinize their own lives and allow God to scrutinize them and to heal them.
There is a danger in celebrating the Scrutinies if the community thinks of the elect as the only sinners in our midst who need conversion. All of us are called to continuing conversion throughout our lives, so we join with the elect in scrutinizing our own lives and praying to God for the grace to overcome the power of sin that still infects our hearts.
Many parishes today seek to surface the concrete issues that the elect need to confront; these issues then become the focus of the intercessions during the Scrutinies. Some parishes extend this discernment process to the wider community so that all are called to name the ways that evil continues to prevent them from living the gospel fully. Even if the parish does not do this in an organized way, every Catholic should spend some time reflecting on what obstacles to gospel living exist in his or her own life. Then when the Scrutinies are celebrated, we will all know that the prayers are for us as well as for the elect.
Taking seriously this dynamic of scrutiny and conversion gives us a richer perspective on Lenten "giving up." What we are to give up more than anything else is sin, which is to say we are to give up whatever keeps us from living out our baptismal promises fully. Along with the elect we all need to approach the season of Lent asking ourselves what needs to change in our lives if we are to live the gospel values that Jesus taught us. Our journey through these forty days should be a movement ever closer to Christ and to the way of life he has exemplified for us.
Scrutinies and Penance
The elect deal with sin through the Scrutinies and through the waters of the font; the already baptized deal with sin through the Sacrament of Penance. The same kind of reflection that enables all members of the community to share in the Scrutinies can lead the baptized to celebrate this Sacrament of Reconciliation to renew their baptismal commitment.
Lent is the primary time for celebrating the Sacrament of Penance, because Lent is the season for baptismal preparation and baptismal renewal. Early Christian teachers called this sacrament "second Baptism," because it is intended to enable us to start again to live the baptismal life in its fullness. Those who experience the loving mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation should find themselves standing alongside the newly baptized at Easter filled with great joy at the new life God has given all of us.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving
The three traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The key to renewed appropriation
of these practices is to see their link to baptismal renewal.
Prayer: More time given to prayer during Lent should draw us closer to the Lord. We might pray especially for the grace to live out our baptismal promises more fully. We might pray for the elect who will be baptized at Easter and support their conversion journey by our prayer. We might pray for all those who will celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation with us during Lent that they will be truly renewed in their baptismal commitment.
Fasting: Fasting is one of the most ancient practices linked to Lent. In fact, the paschal fast predates Lent as we know it. The early Church fasted intensely for two days before the celebration of the Easter Vigil. This fast was later extended and became a 40-day period of fasting leading up to Easter. Vatican II called us to renew the observance of the ancient paschal fast: "...let the paschal fast be kept sacred. Let it be celebrated everywhere on Good Friday and, where possible, prolonged throughout Holy Saturday, so that the joys of the Sunday of the Resurrection may be attained with uplifted and clear mind" (Liturgy, # 110).
Fasting is more than a means of developing self-control. It is often an aid to prayer, as the pangs of hunger remind us of our hunger for God. The first reading on the Friday after Ash Wednesday points out another important dimension
of fasting. The prophet Isaiah insists that fasting without changing our behavior is not pleasing to God. "This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own" (Is 58:6-7).
Fasting should be linked to our concern for those who are forced to fast by their poverty, those who suffer from the
injustices of our economic and political structures, those who
are in need for any reason. Thus fasting, too, is linked to living out our baptismal promises. By our Baptism, we are charged
with the responsibility of showing Christ's love to the world, especially to those in need. Fasting can help us realize the suffering that so many people in our world experience every day, and it should lead us to greater efforts to alleviate that suffering.
Abstaining from meat traditionally also linked us to the poor, who could seldom afford meat for their meals. It can do the same today if we remember the purpose of abstinence and embrace it as a spiritual link to those whose diets are sparse and simple. That should be the goal we set for ourselves—a sparse and simple meal. Avoiding meat while eating lobster misses the whole point!
Almsgiving: It should be obvious at this point that almsgiving, the third traditional pillar, is linked to our baptismal commitment in the same way. It is a sign of our care for those in need and an expression of our gratitude for all that God has given to us. Works of charity and the promotion of justice are integral elements of the Christian way of life we began when we were baptized.
Stations of the Cross
While this devotion certainly has a place in Lent, the overemphasis given to it in the past tended to distort the meaning of the season. Because the stations were prayed publicly throughout the whole season, the impression was given that Lent was primarily about commemorating the passion and death of Christ.
Vatican II strongly endorsed the use of devotions as part of Catholic spirituality, but it also called for their renewal, to harmonize them with the sacred liturgy (see Liturgy #13).
The liturgy of Lent focuses on the passion and death of the Lord only near the end of the season, especially with the proclamation of the Passion on Palm (Passion) Sunday and again on Good Friday. The weekday readings between the Fifth Sunday of Lent and Palm Sunday also point toward the coming Passion, so that might also be an appropriate time to pray the Stations. The earlier weeks of Lent, however, focus much more on Baptism and covenant than on the Passion.
When we do pray the Stations of the Cross, we can also connect them with the baptismal character of Lent if we place the stations themselves in the context of the whole paschal mystery. In Baptism we are plunged into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, and our baptismal commitment includes a willingness to give our life for others as Jesus did. Recalling his passion and death can remind us that we, too, may be called to suffer in order to be faithful to the call of God.
One limitation with the traditional form of the Stations is the absence of the second half of the paschal mystery. The liturgy never focuses on the death of Christ without recalling his resurrection. Some forms of the Stations of the Cross include a 15th station to recall the resurrection as an integral part of the paschal mystery.
Some contemporary forms of the Stations also make clear the link between the sufferings of Christ in the first century and the sufferings of Christ's body in the world today. Such an approach can help us to recognize and admit the ways that we have failed to live up to our baptismal mission to spread the gospel and manifest the love of Christ to those in need.
Blessed palms
As we near the end of Lent, we celebrate Passion (Palm) Sunday. At the beginning of the liturgy, we receive palms in memory of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As a symbol of triumph, the palms point us toward Christ's resurrection and might remind us of the saints in heaven "wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands" (Rev 7:9). The white robes remind us of baptismal garments, and the palms suggest their triumph over sin and death through the waters of Baptism.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
- Ash Wednesday -- Joan, 09:44:15 02/03/08 Sun [14] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
It this Wednesday! How did it sneak up on us so early this year. :)
Do you observe the fast?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Holy Communion -- Neysa, 22:36:09 02/08/08 Fri [3] (user-38lci42.dialup.mindspring.com/209.86.72.130)
I saw on the World Over (EWTN) today that some cardinal at the Vatican wants to stop the practice of people receiving holy communion in their hand.
Do you agree with the cardinal, or should we still have a choice (in hand, or mouth) ?
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Do you believe we are seeing the "last days" or "End-Time" as predicted in the bible -- Catie, 08:00:17 01/22/08 Tue [12] (h95.16.40.69.ip.alltel.net/69.40.16.95)
or do you feel it is very far away?
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
-
Today's Reading for Lent -- Joan, 08:25:05 02/09/08 Sat [1] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
Today's reading is Isaiah 58 9-14.
We are ready to begin our journey. Isaiah repeats his words aobu the choices we must make if we want light to shine for us in the darkness. Now that we are ready, Jesus is calling us as he calls Levi in today's gospel; we must find the courage to accept th invitation. WE are in good company, for Jesus calls only teh sinners to repentance, not the righteous. Lord,help me to leave everyting behind, that I may follow you.
Isaiah 58 9-14
"9
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
10
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
11
Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.
12
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; "Repairer of the breach," they shall call you, "Restorer of ruined homesteads."
13
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD'S holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice--
14
Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. "
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
- Tony Blair Catholic? Who knew? -- Joan, 13:50:57 01/26/08 Sat [5] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
I bought an Irish/American magazine today, and there in the Quotes section was Cardinal Somebody talking about Blair's becomming a Catholic. I had no idea. Did any of you know?
I'm going to Google it. I'm curious.
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Catie, what day is your fast day? -- Joan, 05:36:58 02/06/08 Wed [6] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
You were saying that your church has one fast day a year. What day is it? I'm going to guess that it's Good Friday.
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- House Blessing -- Neysa, 05:00:51 12/28/07 Fri [20] (user-2inik54.dialup.mindspring.com/165.121.80.164)
Have any of you ever had your house blessed? When I was a child every year on January 6...Epiphany, the priest would come around and bless the homes.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Background checks on priests -- Neysa, 23:13:23 01/16/08 Wed [4] (user-2inik66.dialup.mindspring.com/165.121.80.198)
A diocese near me announced that it will now start doing background checks on their priests before they are sent to a new parish.
All I thought was that it's a little late now once they are ordained. They should have been screened and checked out before even entering the priesthood.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Joan, were the 1 commenting on W Blackmon? -- Phil from AZ, 22:42:28 12/16/07 Sun [4] (71-223-7-96.phnx.qwest.net/71.223.7.96)
I grew up in Green Bay during the Lombardi Era and I'm the Packer fan. Somebody on a forum was talking abt Will Blackmon. Was that you Joan?
I saw the Raiders game when he had an electric punt rtn for a TD as well as recovering the fumble for a TD. Brilliant! Today, he also contributed. As a defensive back, Will dove and batted the ball away from the intended rcvr. He also had 2 nifty punt rtns in the Pack's 33-14 win over Stl Rams. Great stuff!
You'll be pleased to note that some in the Packer organization believe he may be the best athlete on the team and that he fits well into the Packer's long-term plans. The only problem he's had so far is that he's missed several games due to injury. Maybe we'll be able to see him star in the Super Bowl when the Packers route the Pats. Yeah right...LoL...dream on Phil...
Take care, God Bless,
Phil from Packer-crazy AZ
PS - If you werent the person talking abt Will B, plz pass it on to that person.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year wishes, Joan and Company! :-) -- Barb, 08:57:50 12/24/07 Mon [3] (clgrtnt7-port-118.dial.telus.net/161.184.52.118)
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- THANK YOU JOAN !!!! -- Neysa, 14:07:57 12/10/07 Mon [9] (user-38lciv5.dialup.mindspring.com/209.86.75.229)
I took your advice and went to the doctor today. My eye feels strange inside because it is slightly scratched. It just has to heal in its own good time.
My guardian angel must have been watching over me. The doctor told me that a few years ago she had a patient who did exactly what I did, hit her eye with the sharp end of the car door. This woman lost her eye. The doctor said the rubber on the door helped me.
Did you get your tickets yet to see the Pope in NYC? In my church the people who want to attend the Mass. They have to let the priest know by this Friday if they want to go, so he can reserve the tickets.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- ""Sabbath. Is Saturday your Sabbath?" -- Catie, 13:11:08 12/07/07 Fri [9] (h71.13.28.71.ip.alltel.net/71.28.13.71)
"Joan, Saturday is THE sabbath. :)"
According to whom? ;)
According to God! "REMEMBER the SABBATH day to keep it holy".
Man changed it sometime around 400A.D. Who? The Catholic church changed the day. I am sure we will get in to this discussion further. :) Right now, without trying to seem as if I'm pointing fingers, being mean or even avoiding you, let me say, I have my daughter here now and we have some errands to run. Gotta scoot but promise, more later.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Father said that he was up early on Black Friday -- Joan, 13:23:11 12/03/07 Mon [2] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
He said he got up extra early to deal with the crowds he was sure would be lined up early on Black Friday morning to get to Mass. LOL
Joan
PS:Catholic churches have daily Masses. Ours is at 7 AM.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Are you doing anything for Advent? -- Joan, 13:44:21 11/28/07 Wed [3] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
I found an Advent wreath at a yard sale, and I put it on my dining room table. There is a Bible study at church for the next 3 Thursdays that I'm going to try to get to.
What do you do during Advent? Special readings? Advent wreath? Bible studies?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. -- Joan, 04:21:47 11/22/07 Thu [4] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
What are you most thankful for?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Sin and Heaven -- Joan, 04:51:14 10/27/07 Sat [26] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
Since the interesting parts of the "Swearing" thread on Brenda's board were deleted, I'll ask the question I asked there, here.
I think most of us believe that no person is perfect, ever. No one is perfect, even after they become a Christian.
So how do sinful people enter Heaven, if nothing imperfect can enter?
What happens to the sin we die with? I know that God forgives our sins. When? How? And what if you die before you've confessed your more recent sins to God?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Catie, in your denomination, how do you understand -- Joan, 06:25:42 11/20/07 Tue [2] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
communion as it relates to its Jewish roots?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- The Pope is coming, -- Joan, 11:14:41 11/12/07 Mon [13] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
and to Yankee Stadium no less!
Will you try to go to see the Pope at Yankee Stadium. I would love to. He'll be here in April, so I would love to make a holiday of it. The tickets will be very difficult to get, I bet. Maybe I should start the buzz at my church.
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- New book about Pope John Paul II -- Neysa, 15:58:39 11/10/07 Sat [6] (user-38lcirk.dialup.mindspring.com/209.86.75.116)
A new book called : A Life With Karol: My Forty Year Friendship With the Man Who Became Pope. By Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, will be available to the public on March 4, 2008.
Dziwisz was JP II's secretary for 40 years. In this book Dziwisz, states how he and JPII would slip pass the guards at the Vatican and would go off skiing etc... When I was doing my research I had heard that JPII, dressed up as a nun once and slipped outside the Vatican Walls. Snuck out a few times but I couldn't prove it.
This book was released this past January in Italian, then Polish. It got great reviews. I am thrilled it will be out in English. It will be a very interesting book even if one didn't like Pope John Paul II.
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
- Passing out birth control to 11-yr-olds -- Joan, 05:30:16 10/19/07 Fri [8] (ip68-0-253-131.ri.ri.cox.net/68.0.253.131)
They're planning to give birth control (pills and condoms) 11-yr-olds in Maine. They can do this without parental consent.
What do you think?
Joan
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
-
RE: Euthanasia -- Phil, 00:45:45 09/27/07 Thu [3] (71-38-97-246.phnx.qwest.net/71.38.97.246)
A doctor alleged Wednesday that Pope John Paul II violated Catholic teaching against euthanasia by refusing medical care that would have kept him alive longer — a charge immediately dismissed by Vatican official.
I'm not sure that I believe this charge, but more to the point...what do you folks think abt the subject of euthanasia. Its a tough one, isnt it?
Take care, God Bless,
Phil from AZ
[ Post a Reply to this Message ][ Edit | View ]
Replies:
Feedback: 
Re: What I know...is the truth.... -- Phil, 11:14:50 02/14/08 Thu
Re: Ash Wednesday -- Phil, 17:47:02 02/03/08 Sun
Re: Ephesians 2:8 -- Phil, 23:20:29 10/30/07 Tue
Re: Passing out birth control to 11-yr-olds -- Phil from AZ, 15:25:14 10/19/07 Fri
