You Know Your Catholic . . .

. . . when you see the Blessed Sacrament in a moon rise over the Bay (O:
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On the way home . . .

The Calling

Regret

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"The tiresome devil begins to rage amongst the ungodly and to belch forth many wild and mazy beliefs and doctrines.
This man will have nothing of baptism, that one denies the Sacrament, a third awaits another world between this and the Last Day ; some teach that Christ is not God ; some say this, some that, and there are as many sects and beliefs as there are heads ;
no peasant is so rude but that if he dreams or fancies something, it must forsooth be the Holy Spirit which inspires him, and he himself must be a prophet." Martin Luther
(April, 1525, " Werke," Weim. ed., 18, p. 547 ; Erl. ed., 53, p. 342 " Briefwechsel," 5, p. 151).
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Yep, this is how I'd do it (O:

The Protestant Passover

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From today's reading

Jesus answered them and said,

“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me

not because you saw signs

but because you ate the loaves and were filled."

One of the reasons for my becoming Catholic, was the dishonesty I often felt when passing over verses like this. "Deep in Scripture" host Marcus Grodi, with very special guest Steve Ray (both fellow converts), address this better in an episode of the Podcast entitled "Verses I Never Saw". You can read from the PDF or listen here.

"that they may be one"
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All Pawns

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Studying the history of the Protestant Reformation maybe a lil' too much lately, as well as half a pint of Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin while watching Harry Potter before bed time, lead to an interesting dream last night.

In this lactose and sugar induced fantasy I was part of a large Chess game, with one side all a dull White and made up of only Pawns surrounded a simple White King. The other side, which I was a Rook (well, I have gained a few pounds), was not black but filled with changing colors like a prism. Each Bishop was in Gold and Silver, with hints of red. The knights polished copper silver and bronze, with red Crosses on their shields, and had red and yellow ribbons attached to their lances. Us Rooks were more like Cathedrals, and were shiney white and taller than every piece except for Two. The Pawns, while in simple black and white, were polished as a mirror and reflected light in every direction.

Now the Queen and King were the most curious, as they were full of light so bright it was hard to look at them, yet impossible not to. The Queen was much smaller yet the king spoke through her when she said in a voice like a song "with love, bring them to Him", as she pointed to the white pawns.

Before our side could even begin to move forward the white team was in chaos, with all the pawns bumping into each other and some falling over, or worse, falling off the board entirely. The strange thing was that the few white pawns left standing seemed to turn into versions of our pawns once they were met by our Knights.

All the white pawns gone or transformed, our Bishops met their White King, and bowed before Him. They proceeded to break chains that were holding the King, while polishing and adorning Him in Gold,Silver, and Crimson. As they did this He slowly started to resemble our magnificent King . . .and than He was gone . . .and from the shadows outside the game, a creature with red eyes screamed in agony.

. . .than I woke up, and swore to switch to Edy's low-fat Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream from now on.
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The Office, not the Man

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Our friend Screwtape is again using his favorite tool, the media , to not only spread misinformation about the Church, but as a way to distract and prejudice our Protestant brethren.

Yesterday, an ol' Evangelical friend asked me if I had finally "seen the light" about the Church, and "how can you belong to a Church that trains (some) bad priests"

I answered "oh, I guess the same way we both follow a Savior who trained Judas as an apostle"

After 500 years, and 30,000+ splits in the church (denominations), you would think we might realize that Luther, more than Judas, was the great pawn of satan.

I do hope that the Prodigal Protestants will one day come back to the body of Christ, and that we all can live out Christ's final prayer;

"that they may be one, as We are one"

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ideas before coffee

Just a lil' digital doodle as I try to think of names for my lil' busy-ness, although I am more inclined to name it

"Our Lady of the Twin Beaches
Custom Picture Framing"

but the image above did make me giggle (O:

Whatever the name,D'art is now taking yer Art, and is open for buisness !
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Wonderful Site/Blog/Podcast

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Called to Communion is a fairly new site with another bunch of my fellow converts at the helm, with their main goal to be to bring unity to the Body of Christ.

"We believe that Christ is calling His Church to be one, as He and the Father are one. This is the prayer and the desire of our Savior’s heart and therefore it is also our desire. Our aim is to effect reconciliation and reunion between Catholics and Protestants, particularly those of the Reformed tradition. We hope to accomplish this by removing obstacles founded upon misunderstandings as well as by engaging in charitable discussion of genuine disagreements, in a context of continual prayer for each other and for the unity of all God’s people. We believe that genuine unity comes through truth and never by forsaking or compromising the truth."
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Theology of the Body Refuting Modern Psychobabble Thru Mimetic Theory and a Backbeat

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"There's a rip like a hole
In the heart, in the soul
Of the man who wants
Nothing to do with love

There's a girl like a hope
That she could never know
If you say you want
Nothing to do with love

If you can never be true, it's got nothing to do
It's got nothing to do with love
If there's a devil in you, he's got nothing to do
He's got nothing to do with love

There's a kid who was told
When you give you get sold
So he says he wants
Nothing to do with love

There's a prayer that will rise
From the fields to the skies
Don't you say you want
Nothing to do with love

If you can never be true, it's got nothing to do
It's got nothing to do with love
If there's a devil in you, he's got nothing to do
He's got nothing to do with love

Never be true, it's got something to do
With the words that you said or the hell you've been through
It's got nothing to do? It's got nothing to do?
It's got nothing to do? It's got nothing to do?

If you'll never be true, it's got nothing to do
It's got nothing to do with love
If there's a devil in you, he's got nothing to do
He's got nothing to do with love

It's got nothing to do, it's got nothing to do
It's got nothing to do with love
It's got nothing to do, it's got nothing to do
It's got nothing to do with love"
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He Is Risen!!!

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“Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
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Hope in the Waiting

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"The cross means
there is no shipwreck without hope;
there is no dark without dawn;
nor storm without haven."
Pope John Paul II

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Jesus, that Wacky April Fools Prankster

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Meditating on John 6:53 today, while realizing it is April 1st and I had not pranked anyone (or punk'd, as those youngens say), it dawned on me that Protestants treat Jesus' words here and at the Last Supper as some kind of divine "just kiddin'".

There is always the inevitable "it's just symbolic" that they have been taught by root, but have never actually studied (or if they did, I'd be calling them my fellow converts). Naturally it is the Protestant leaders and ministers who are at fault here, more than the lay people who have mistakenly put there trust in an authority without authority (although many might subconsciouly like that, as when a teaching is too tough they can always say "by what authority").

If only they were taught the Old Testament, as well as Jewish tradition and history, they would realize that the sacrificial lamb is not only slain, but the sacrifice isn't complete until the lamb is eaten. Jesus is the Lamb of God . . . do the math people!

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."

I missed the part where Christ says "naaaah, just messin' wit ya", because if we say His words are only "symbolic", than we are indeed making Him out to be a rather silly savior, and one you should avoid rather than follow . . . and many did stop following him after this saying (a foreshadowing of Protestantism?). If our Lord was only speaking symbolically, wasn't it rather cruel to let believers leave instead of explaning this?

Thankfully, it is the constipated monk, and those that came after him that are truly the fools . . .who's followers are even today being mislead. So we must pray as Christ prayed, that we all can one day become One (and how we could affect the world if Christians were united again).
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A little Flower for Holy Thursday

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"The eve His life of love drew near its end,
Thus Jesus spoke: "Whoever loveth Me,
And keeps My word as Mine own faithful friend,
My Father, then, and I his guests will be;
Within his heart will make Our dwelling above.
Our palace home, true type of heaven above.
There, filled with peace,
We will that he shall rest,
With us, in love."
St. Therese of Lisieux
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