What Francis might say to the Tele-friars Club

"Moreover, I advise and admonish the friars that in their preaching, their words should be examined and chaste. They should aim only at the advantage and spiritual good of their listeners, telling them briefly about vice and virtue, punishment and glory, because our Lord himself kept his words short on earth"

St. Francis, Rule of 1223,
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Before the Separation of Church and Statesman

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"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States."
George Washington
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lest ye forget

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"When you are down to nothing ...
God is up to something."
i

special thanks to CK's Mom
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So much for Science vs Religion

"I find more marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any
profane history whatever."
... Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
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Where there's a will . . .

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"Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession"
St. Joseph of Cupertino
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What Sorrow Have We?

Our Lady of Sorrows

"At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed."

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a greater work

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"Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead"
St. John Chrysostom
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Birthday

"When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!'. Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!’"Jn 19:26-27

Today, September 8th, is the day picked as the day to celebrate the birth of our Blessed Mother. This is not a Catholic day, nor is it a Protestant day, but a day to celebrate along with the Good Son the birth of His Mother, who He gave to us all.

If we choose to say we will not only follow Christ, but try to become "little Christs" ourselves, than we must do as the commandment says, and honor our Mother. This will not suddenly make you Catholic, and Rosary beads won't magically appear in your hands, nor will the cross around your neck mystically appear connected to a Miraculous Medal . . . but you might just join in the communion of saints as we watch our Lady of Grace blow out the candles (on what I hope is carrot cake), seated next to her loving Son.

Again, I just ask any with "ears to hear" (o.k. eyes to read), that they just ponder in their heart the question of not only why they are scared of Marian doctrine, but a deeper question, which is. . . .

If Mary was to have no purpose except birthing and teaching the young Jesus, than it was it not extremely cruel of Christ to make His mother watch Him die on the cross? He could have easily had her taken home to heaven before that day, as He did with Joseph.

Why was Mary at the cross, and why would Christ use the few precious moments of life left to Him to utter the words "behold your Mother".

Holy Mary Mother of God, I truly thank you for humbling yourself to be the mother of all, especially this silly ol' Baltimore boy.

Thank You Jesus!

But do we know? . . .and do our friends?

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Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed
with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his,"
and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn
away from wickedness."
-- 2 Timothy 2:19 (NIV)

God never changes, and truly "knows who are His", but sadly the problems lie in that those that are His, have either forgotten this truth, or have never been told. So for God's sake go tell someone, even if is just that fuzzy face you see in the mirror.

Oh, and um, work on that other part of the verse too (O:
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frame

My God, not my faith

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Any of you folks still lurking around will remember that I have blogged ad nauseam about struggles in my own life, and our Lord's never ending grace and provision. When giving my "testimony", I have often heard something like "your faith has seen you through" or "your faith kept you going".

Lately this type of dialogue has popped up again in current politics, as well known defenders of Christianity such as Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton (yes, this is called sarcasm), talk of times when their faith "carried them".

Pondering this under the microscope of humility vs. political posturing, I realized how much this type of statement is actually rather self centered.

My faith is a product, a gift, of a merciful and loving God, and to be truthful, nothing of "me" has gotten me through anything. Twas God . . . .before,now, and tomorrow.

God carried me through.
God provided.
God even punished (all the while calling me "son")
God poured out blessing upon blessing on one so deserving of hell

In the end, my faith is only the eyes which to see what my God has/is/will do.

My God, all praises to Him!
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Explaining the Odd Smell in D.C.

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"Apart from God
every activity is merely a passing whiff of insignificance"

Alfred North Whitehead
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Bumper Sticker of the Day

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"God Loves you right where you are,
right where you live,
but you must love God
if you want to live right where He is"
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Gore blames _______ on Global Warming

Gore blames Flatulence on Global Warming

I was just wondering if our favorite overweight ex-pro-lifer might ever use Global Warning as a possible explanation for the funk in the living room after returning from his favorite Tex-mex dive "Las Gluttonia on da Border". Just a thought.

"sorry teacher, the global warning melted my homework"

"no Father your 45 minute homily wasn't boring, it must be the Global warming"

"I would be posting more, but you know how the Global warming changes thought patterns"

What do you blame Global Warning for?
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Quote of the day

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"Even in the Catholic church, nobody has the right to instrumentalize the visit of the pope to serve their personal interests," (Vatican's envoy to the United States) Archbishop Pietro Sambi told the National Catholic Reporter. "The problem is that there are too many people here who would like to be the pope ... and who attribute to themselves a strong sense of their own infallibility."

addressing the possible demonstrations by various groups who call themselves Catholic, while at the same time denying what the church teaches.