David Ancell's Virtual Home

Amy Welborn Does It Again

  /   Monday, September 30, 2002   /   Comments(0)

Once again, we have another great Amy Welborn article on Catholic Exchange. Those of you with small children will likely appreciate her analogy.

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Heartfelt Grief

  /   Sunday, September 29, 2002   /   Comments(0)

I am grieved to see what has happened to ruin the reputation of Gerard Serafin (see below and on his blog; his name was posted on the “list” of the Archdiocese of Baltimore). On top of that, there’s some guy who won’t even post his contact information making downright mean-spirited comments.

We don’t know what he did, and he has a right not to tell us. As far as anyone can see, he has repented and lived in holiness. He has also suffered much. Remember that St. Augustine was first a great sinner. Let’s pray for him to be able to forgive and to bear this cross. Let’s pray that his reputation can be restored.

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This is Funny

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

You’ve got to read this. I feel sorry for anyone who falls for it.

Really, it bothers me to see stuff like this. Haven’t people figured out that anything that is spread through e-mail is most likely a hoax? Besides, if the anti-virus detector can’t detect the worm, why can it detect that “imitation worm”?

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Make Up Time

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

Ok, so I guess I’m making up for being gone last week. Well, next week will be light blogging, too. In fact, it may be a while before I’m back to my old self again.

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Truth or Cynicism

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

We live in a relativistic society. Our society has lost its belief in absolute unchanging truth. We also live in a cynical society (no exception to be made for myself) that doesn’t trust anyone or expect anything good to happen. I think these are one and the same problem. When we lose our belief in absolute truth, then what’s to stop us from trying to do each other in. Then, loss of trust sets in, and therefore cynicism. Besides, if anything can be disputed, it’s impossible to have a supreme cause for which one commits one’s life.

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What I Need to Do

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

Here’s what I need to do, and I would encourage you to do the same:

Contact Bishop Wilton Gregory and urge him to put the matter of a plenary council up for a vote in November. I’m doing this by letter as it would be too easy for someone in the chancery to delete an e-mail:
Bishop Wilton Gregory
Diocese of Belleville
The Chancery
222 South Third Street
Belleville, IL 62220

It appears that someone up at the USCCB is stalling the idea, if not trying to kill it outright. We need the root causes of this crisis examined and the faith revitalized in our nation. Pray that God’s will be done in this matter.

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Review of Triumph

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

Having been away from my computer for several days now, I’m noticing stuff that I hadn’t seen. I saw this great review of H.W. Crocker’s Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000-Year History. I’ve read parts of the book, and it is well worth having if you are interested in the history of the Church.

The reviewer does make reference to his comments on the use of guitars in the Mass. FYI, I am not against the use of acoustic guitars at Mass (ever heard John Michael Talbot). The electric guitar is a different story. How in the heck am I supposed to pray with one of those things blasting in my ear?

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Pretended Piety

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

I just read this article on Catholic Exchange as well as this one. My greatest fear in life is to die and find that I have been a fraud. Whatever I may be, I wish to really be.

I do like how the first article talks about externals. Too many people act as though externals are now unnecessary because of the teaching of Jesus. Well, Jesus didn’t make external devotion unnecessary; he made it insufficient. If external devotion were sufficient, then gunpoint evangelization ought to be considered a holy thing. After all, why would it matter that a person repented only because there was a gun to his head if external repentance sufficed?

Although external devotion can be practiced without interior belief, I do not believe that the opposite is true. We need to dress modestly, dress appropriately for Mass, genuflect if possible when before the Blessed Sacrament, say our Rosary, etc. Even if our interior disposition is not at its best, maybe Jesus will use these things to bring us closer to him.

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Praying

  /   Saturday, September 28, 2002   /   Comments(0)

Good evening . . . . I’m back, for the time being.

I wish to write about prayer. A friar at Franciscan University of Steubenville gave me his outline on prayer when he heard my confession. One of the important points on it is that in prayer we must seek conformity with God’s will. So . . .

Don’t pray to get God to do what you want; pray to get yourself to do what God wants.

Oh, how simple this is to say, but so hard to do. I’m not against prayers of petition; I do a lot of this myself. However, have you ever seen those novenas that “never fail” or anything like that. Don’t fall for it. It’s superstition. In other words, it’s an attempt to manipulate God. I’ve never fallen for this, but I have fallen for my own lines of thought such as “If I pray like this, maybe then God will do what I want.”

I’m in a state of life, having lost an uncle and a former co-worker, that I’m starting to wonder about God’s ways. I need to keep in mind last Sunday’s Gospel. God’s ways are not our ways; they are high above our ways. We see a very small picture; God sees all eternity.

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Do the Jewish people need Jesus?

  /   Monday, September 23, 2002   /   Comments(0)

I am not against the Jewish people. I do not believe that Jesus abolished the Jewish faith, but fulfilled it. However, I find it to be a holy thing to invite a Jewish person to the fullness of faith in Jesus Christ and the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

I guess it’s no secret that the delegates from the Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (BCEIA) released a controversial document. I haven’t posted anything because I haven’t read the document. However, of all that I have read, this article appears to be the most balanced on the document.

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