David Ancell / Monday, October 21, 2002 / Comments(0)
Well, I had my breviary, and the coffee pot worked. However, when I tried to play the CD I made, I discovered that I just made a coaster. It just so happens that I had some back-ups to listen to, so I’m not that bad off. Not sure how this fits into providence, but perhaps it is God’s sense of humor.
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David Ancell / Monday, October 21, 2002 / Comments(0)
As I was driving on I-40 East towards Nashville, I saw this on a rental moving truck. Keep in mind that this is a rental company’s truck that has this “Moving Tip” on it:
Packing tape should not be used as a painful practical joke.
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David Ancell / Sunday, October 20, 2002 / Comments(0)
I guess it’s way past my bedtime . . . I’ve had quite an evening.
I had stopped in my church to pray night prayer before I went home from the Frassati Society meeting. When I got home I discovered that I left my breviary in the church.
I prepared my coffee pot to automatically brew the next morning. Unfortunately, I didn’t put any water in the coffee pot.
I have been busy burning CDs this weekend. I thought that I had packed one for my trip tomorrow. A few minutes ago, I noticed that not only had I not taken the CD out of the recorder, but I also hadn’t finalized it so that it would play on a regular CD player. Therefore, I had packed an empty CD case.
Why did I title this divine providence? Well, I figure that’s what it took to get me to notice these things before tomorrow morning came. It would have been worse when I tried to pray the breviary, drink the coffee, and listen to the CD. I have now retrieved my breviary, put the water in the coffee pot, and finished the CD and packed it.
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David Ancell / Sunday, October 20, 2002 / Comments(0)
I’ve been following the blog of Mark Shea and probably a few others on the controversy of Michigan gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm. The problem arises that she claims to be both Catholic and pro-“choice” at the same time. Of course, the absurdity of this matches that of being a member of the NAACP and the Ku Klux Klan at the same time, but nevertheless, she claims to be such.
Some priests at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary Detroit (remind me never to go there) have taken to their defense as part of a debate. You can read their rather strange commentary at this site.
Victor Lams published Cardinal Maida’s pro-life letter as well as his own response on his blog.
A little integrity is in order. Let me explain some quotes of the pro-“choice” article.
Catholic church teaching throughout most of its history did not regard the embryo and fetus in its early stages of development as a full human being. According to that teaching, the developing life did not become human until the infusion of the soul, which, according to Thomas Aquinas and others, did not occur until at least six months.
Uh . . . . excuse me, but I do believe you have selectively quoted Aquinas. The Angelic Doctor would not have used this as a justification of abortion. As far as “Catholic teaching throughout most of its history” is concerned, let us recall that the earliest known explicit condemnation of abortion was found in no less ancient a source than Didache (dating around 100 A.D.).
Concerning Vatican II: Several bishops suggested that the word “conception” be changed to “fertilization” but after much discussion the bishops at Vatican II overwhelmingly rejected the recommendation.
Note that the very same quote earlier in the article regards abortion and infanticide as “unspeakable crimes.” This differentiation of “conception” and “fertilization” is difficult to take seriously, so I won’t even bother to waste any ammo on it.
The article goes on to say how pro-life theologians assume that biology confirms that there is human life at the moment of conception and that they have refused to “present all the evidence before drawing a conclusion.” This refusal to present “all the evidence,” of course, is the fact that they have not taken the words of dissenting theologians seriously. It is as though they think Catholic teaching to be a synthesis of what a group of theologians say rather than divinely revealed truth.
The article then goes on to speak of the usual follow-your-conscience stream as well as saying that we have to take into account “a whole spectrum of issues affecting life.” Hmmmmm . . . . . so somehow we can trust someone who doesn’t honor the right of vulnerable members of society to live to take care of the “other issues” affecting life in a morally responsible manner. I don’t think so.
The right to live is a basic, unalienable right. It is the foundation of other human rights. We must first affirm a right to life before we can even begin to say that people have rights to affordable housing, education, health care, etc. After all, how do people who don’t even have a right to live have a right to these other things?
Pray for the people who wrote this article. Pray also for those who read it that they not be fooled.
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David Ancell / Sunday, October 20, 2002 / Comments(0)
I’ve received notice of this news analysis of the Vatican decision regarding the Dallas policy on the New York Times. Take a look. Really, I have mixed feelings about it.
It acknowledged that the Vatican does take the sexual abuse problem seriously and that the Vatican has legitimate concerns about the Dallas policy. However, the author appears to bemoan the fact that the Vatican was concerned about the use of lay review boards. It’s almost as though the article views such concerns as a slap in the face for the laity. Maybe it’s just my prejudice regarding the NYT that makes me think this. Feel free to comment.
Three things come to mind:
1. We Americans are not the only people in the Church. The Vatican must take care of the entire Church, and decisions made must be made in view of that light. To the author’s credit, sources were quoted that said just this in different terms.
2. There have been lay people throughout history that were instrumental in reform of the Church, such as St. Catherine of Genoa and St. Catherine of Sienna. Omigosh!! Those two were even women. [begin sarcasm]The church isn’t supposed to listen to women.[end sarcasm] This wasn’t acknowledged at all in the analysis.
3. This paragraph that I will quote pretty much sums a lot of stuff up:
As presented to the Vatican, the policy undercut the church’s image of itself as an institution that gives guidance, rather than beseeching it, and as a source of moral authority, not an instantly flexible instrument responding to public pressure.
This “image” isn’t just the Church’s “image of itself.” This is what God has instituted. Despite the popular media perception, the orthodox Catholics are not conceited individuals who are oblivious to real life. We are believers in a truth that is not of our making. It is a truth that is true not because we believe it, but because it is. We believe because it is true.
Jesus told Peter that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven and vice versa. The Church’s duty is to live according to the Gospel, no matter how strange it may make us appear to our neighbors who see her or the media who critique her. Our standard is Jesus Christ, not American culture.
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David Ancell / Sunday, October 20, 2002 / Comments(0)
I saw this sign posted on the door of a restaurant located a few blocks from my apartment:
We cater to your evey whim . . .
CATERING AND DELIVERY SERVICE
* Some restrictions apply
No doubt the last line was added by a member of the legal profession.
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David Ancell / Saturday, October 19, 2002 / Comments(0)
This topic has been in the back of my mind for a few weeks, but I hadn’t had time to post anything on it. It has to do with the genuflection vs. bowing before receiving the Eucharist that was the talk of the HMS blog a few weeks ago. Here are the posts:
Greg Popcak gives his story
Duncan Maxwell Anderson gives his piece
Emily Stimpson makes her point
Greg Popcak’s wife speaks up
At one time, I did genuflect before receiving the Eucharist. I stopped doing this when I heard that a bow of the head would become the norm in the United States. That’s what I do now.
With that being said, I wish that genuflection had been chosen instead. After all, why do we genuflect to the tabernacle but not before receiving the exposed Eucharist? It doesn’t make sense to me.
On the other hand, I’m glad that some sign of reverence was prescribed. I hope that word of it gets out so that some people actually do it. Something must be done to foster faith in the Real Presence. We as Catholics need to treasure the wonderful gift that Jesus has given us.
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David Ancell / Saturday, October 19, 2002 / Comments(0)
Just wanted to mention something that I’ve noticed about this blog:
There appears to be a problem with Internet Explorer’s viewing of this page. It often cuts off all but the top few paragraphs. I didn’t see this problem with Netscape or Opera.
I’m going to check the support forum to see how to work around this, but until then, this is how to fix it:
Just click the Maximize or Restore button (whichever is just to the right of the “X” at the upper right-hand corner of the screen), and then click it again. The entries will all be visible.
Does anyone know how to stop this from becoming a problem?
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David Ancell / Saturday, October 19, 2002 / Comments(0)
One of these days I’ll get around to reading my copy of Colleen Carroll’s The New Faithful. This book details why young adults are embracing Christian orthodoxy. For now, I’ll settle for reviews like this one that tell me that this book is a hope-filled documentary of how people of my generation are coming to know the truth that sets them free. Perhaps in future years even more of my generation will come to a true faith in the true Lord.
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David Ancell / Saturday, October 19, 2002 / Comments(0)
Do yourself a favor today and read this comment on the HMS Blog by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker about two television shows: Survivor and The Ship.
Quite honestly, I regard Survivor as an abominition. The whole game is based on popularity, and it encourages people to live in a manner far short of Christian charity. It’s nice to see that something like The Ship has come out to counteract the demonic “reality” shows that do little more than portray what life will be like for the damned in Hell.
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