David Ancell / Saturday, December 31, 2005 / Comments(0)
As this year began for me at a party at a friend’s house, who could have thought that so much would happen? It ranged from good to sad to dreadful. It has also been a year of real learning for me, but maybe I can post that part later.
As we began, we had recently witnessed the victory of George W. Bush over the “personally against but” politician John Kerry. Kerry claimed to be Catholic with that stance, but it just can’t be. The media tried everything in its power to prevent the Bush victory, and when their attempt failed, they were bewildered. Why didn’t those common folk listen to us highly intelligent people who obviously know more that they do?
Sadly, this year saw the death of Pope John Paul II. I could hardly believe it, and I still have trouble remembering that he isn’t here. However, I couldn’t help but marvel at the good and holy way that he died. We saw the major networks, as one seminarian put it, turn into EWTN for a few days. Eternal rest, grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.
As the conclave began, I was a bit worried. I wondered what would happen. It just goes to show that I should trust the Holy Spirit. I got an e-mail from a non-Catholic coworker telling me that a pope had been elected, but it was not known who he was. I kept clicking Refresh on a news site until I learned that a dream that I thought impossible had come true. Cardinal Ratzinger had been elected as the new Holy Father and had taken the name Benedict. I think this was the happiest day of the year for me.
Unfortunately, just before this all happened, our nation witnessed a major building block in the Culture of Death in the egragarious killing of Terri Schiavo. This was a clear cut moral issue, but our justice system refused to acknowledge the moral law. Then, the politicians who had passed the laws for that very purpose just stood idly by. Terri Schiavo died surrounded by police who were willing to arrest even children who attempted to give her food and water. This has to be the worst precedent set since Roe vs. Wade. It has now been decided that the disabled can be legally declared as unfit to live in our nation. As harsh as it may seem, I still stand by this statement.
A few months later, who can forget Hurricane Katrina? It will take years to rebuild from this storm, and some places may never be the same. It did lead to an amazing outpouring of support from many people. I can remember walking into Costco and seeing people buy all kinds of supplies for the evacuees.
This year also seemed to be a year of deaths. We lost well-known people like Johnny Carson, Peter Jennings, Rosa Parks, and William Rehnquist. I have even learned of the death of Monika Hellwig, a theologian who claimed to be Catholic, but, sadly, embraced much that was contrary to the faith. May the Lord have mercy on all of their souls.
Well, I guess that’s it for blogging this year. I hope to blog more in the year to come.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, December 28, 2005 / Comments(0)
It has gotten harder these days to find time to blog, but I am still here and will still try to keep it up. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I had a great one. My sister, who is a medical resident, made it home. We were all at my parents’ house. I think I ate too much. In fact, the whole trip seemed like one continuous 48-hour meal. It was good, though, but I hope I will still fit in the clothes my family got me for Christmas.
I managed to get some visiting in with the grandparents as well. They seem to be doing quite well. I got the Midway Arcade Extended Play game for my Playstation Portable. I gave a lot of gift certificates. I’m not cheap, but I’m kind of lazy. I did manage to get my Dad an upgrade to his Adobe Photoshop Elements and a book and candle for my grandmother.
I went to Midnight Mass this year. Fortunately, I saw none of this stuff. The new pastor there is great. They even brought back the ringing of the bells at the consecration, which I had never seen in my home parish before.
Well, I hope to do some more blogging later. I’ve got to get ready for work this morning. It’s a busy week with the end of the year and the days off we are getting for Christmas and New Year’s.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, December 21, 2005 / Comments(0)
Since I just blogged about a despicable show, I think I’d like to blog some recommendations.
For music, there’s the newly released CD entitled More by Jim Cowan and his daughter Michelle. If you were at the Defending the Faith Conference in Steubenville in 2004, you will recognize some of these songs. I think a couple of them have different names, though. This is quite a bit softer than what you’d see at the conference, but the songs are there. They sound great. Michele takes the lead on several of the songs, and she sounds great. There’s even a bonus track of her singing Breath On Me, Breath of God when she was seven years old.
I just got home about fifteem minutes ago from watching The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I’ve never read the book, so I can’t tell you how faithful it is to the original. However, it’s a great movie, both as a story and in the special effects. The Christian theme is quite noticeable in this movie though under the veil of a story.
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David Ancell / Sunday, December 18, 2005 / Comments(0)
I remember one newspaper columnist who wrote a kind of mild version of a sex and violence story for the first paragraph of his column. He made it up, and he said that it was easy to write. Indeed, our societal desensitization to vulgarity has made it easy for people who have absolutely no talent to make a quick buck by producing whatever kind of media they can sell. This is definitely the case with South Park.
Comedy Central aired an episode of South Park on December 7th, the night before the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, about the bleeding statue of the Blessed Mother. It was concluded that the statue was just having her period. I cannot for life of me understand what is so enjoyable about this filth. I never watch Comedy Central because there seems to be a lot of stuff there that simply isn’t funny. South Park has no redeeming value. It doesn’t even have decent animation.
Some may ask “What’s the big deal? It’s just a TV show.” Well, let’s think for a minute how you’d feel if you saw someone making crude remarks about your mother, father, brother, sisters, wife, children, etc. Would you be entertained by those remarks? If not, then why do we call it entertainment (and even pay someone to do it) when someone offends our God. It’s just some guy with no talent trying to make a quick buck producing easy-to-create shows.
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David Ancell / Sunday, December 18, 2005 / Comments(0)
I have often stated on this blog that I fear that the day is coming when no one who truly lives the truth taught by Jesus Christ and his Church will be able to practice in any health care profession. Well, it seems to be true for pharmacists in Illinois. While the state has conscience protection laws, their governor decided that they don’t apply to pharmacists. Then, he issued an executive order requiring pharmacists to fill all prescriptions for the “morning after” pill.
It seems that we pharmacists are an easy target to pick on. If you need evidence, ask a pharmacist who works in retail about his or her working conditions. However, we have never been known to band together, and the national organizations we have are often run by elitists with unrealistic visions for the profession. We don’t have much of a lobby. We tend to be introverts. Therefore, as the article says, “pharmacists are often treated more like clerks than like the medical professionals they are.”
Well, I didn’t go to six years of school and earn a doctorate to be a clerk. Patients know this when they have questions. We are the most accessible people, and we don’t typically charge for people to see us and ask us questions. Despite the elitists saying that we are moving from being “product oriented” to being “patient oriented,” the reason that we can do what we do for patients is that we know the product and its suitability for a particular patient. The morning after pill is suited for no one because it can kill a young and helpless human being.
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David Ancell / Sunday, December 11, 2005 / Comments(0)
The papal preacher, in leading a meditation for the papal household, stated that the Church has not been an effective fisher of men. I remember hearing another priest, Fr. Dave Pivonka, say that our doors are open, but we aren’t reaching out to people. Yet another article that I read years ago said that Catholics were less likely than other Christians to share their faith. Some time after reading that, I gave a short meditation to the Catholic Student Association at Ole Miss on all that we have as a result of our faith but are reluctant to share.
Why are we reluctant to speak the name of Jesus Christ to others? What has happened? I’ve heard people use the words of St. Francis of Assisi (“Preach the Gospel, and, when necessary, use words.”) to suggest that we need only preach by example. However, words are more necessary now than ever because our society hardly knows him.
Remember that our faith is not some leisure activity. It certainly isn’t some burden that we are trying to impose. It is the truth that sets us free and give us eternal life. Let us be like excited children who share the Good News with joy.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, December 07, 2005 / Comments(0)
I really should write more. I just can’t get my lazy tail on it. I really do want to have a blog worth visiting.
Anyway, it’s time for my annual Christmas gripe. Last weekend, I went to my company’s “Holiday Party.” They can’t call it a “Christmas Party” or even name several holidays that it’s for. I mean, somehow that would offend people. Nevermind that I’m offended by being told that I’m celebrating a generic winter holiday. It’s okay to offend me, but it isn’t okay to offend unbelievers. I make it a point to say “Merry Christmas” to people who tell me to have a good holiday to emphasize that we don’t celebrate generic winter holidays.
There is even one on-line store that has on its web site that the deadline for “holiday shipping” is December 23rd. Hmmmm . . . I only know of two things that could be. Our federal government still says that December 25th is Christmas. Why can’t they just name the holiday?
I know someone may look at this and say that it’s a “wide world.” Well, it’s a narrow mind that doesn’t have room for the Savior. One cannot claim to be broad minded when they are purposely excluding Christ.
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