Open Tabs

My new favorite website: Badass of the Week. If only the internet had been around when I was learning history. I would have actually paid attention.

The 'endless vigilance of husband and father'.

6 Important Things We're Running out of (from cracked, so you know it's NSFW). Tequila? Chocolate? Say it ain't so!

Is piracy the future of tv? Interesting article.

Liberal Catholicism is slavery to mammon. Take away quote:

And what shall we say to such persons? There are, of course, many things we could say, but this alone will suffice: Persons who think such things have not yet begun to live in the freedom of the children of God, but are yet slaves of mammon. Such persons cannot believe that a man or woman could ever be happy without mammon, that is, without worldly possessions and secular pursuits. These people approach the Church from an incredibly worldly and secular perspective – they judge things according to the ways of human beings, not the ways of God.

Donor-conceived adults want to know who their fathers are. I don't blame them one bit.

This video sures gets the point across about Planned Parenthood:


On dumbing down our language to speak of God.

That's Low!

Using Nina Simone to sell Weight Watchers?

That's low.

Using Jennifer Hudson to sing an awful version of Nina Simone?

Lower.

I just wish artists (or their heirs) would stop selling out to pimp other peoples' products.

The Bobble-Head Phenomenon

From mockdock.com

Has anyone else noticed this? Perhaps it's just the angle of the pictures, but a lot of women celebrities right now totally look like they are bobble-head dolls. I just wanna say to them: Eat something! Have a baby and don't lose all the weight in 2 weeks (thereby setting an unrealistic standard for 'normal' American women!)!

also from mockdock.com

Or maybe it's the way their hair is done? I dunno. In my opinion, Celine Dion is the worst bobble-head offender (bho).

mockdock.com

Victoria Beckham...seriously woman.

thefrisky.com

Don't you just think that these women are gonna topple over the next time they stand up?

Sunday Feast

As was pointed out to me last week, Sunday is not a day of fasting, but of feasting. So, the focus every Sunday is to feast with my family, to truly make Sundays a day of rest; which means to refrain from the internet and other technology as much as I can. I'm going to be putting up the previous Wednesday's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, and I encourage you to read and to study. 

What are you reading today? What are you talking about this morning?

Being Present

'The Church speaks of the universal call to holiness, and this call means the challenge to each and every one of us towards having an interior life. Sacramental and interior life are deeply interdependent. On the one hand, sacramental life offers us objective contact with the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the other, to achieve sanctity is not enough to be present at Mass and receive His eucharistic body. We need to embrace this interiorly with faith and the humility that is the basis of the three theological virtues.' (The Mystery of Faith: Meditations on the Eucharist by Fr. Dajczer)

What a challenge he speaks of! It is not enough to simply be present at Mass and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. We need to present our very being at Mass as well.

This is something that I find to be very challenging - to have an interior life not only at Mass, but also through my day of temper tantrums, not-napping children, dinners going awry, plans having to change. It is a constant challenge to be interiorly collected, to remember the name of 'Jesus' at every moment - especially the hard moments.

My Hideaway

I was clicking through my tabs this morning, and was reading through mental floss where they had a post up about secret passageways. They asked: If you could have a secret door in your house, what would it be — and what would it lead to?

What do you think my answer is gonna be? What would your answer be?

2011 Cannonball Awards

The Crescat says they will be announced March 1. Don't be surprised to hear tell of me blegging for you to suggest ...the hell with it for an award. I could care less about the other awards around (from about.com? who cares what they say!) - I love, love, love the Crescat's blog and respect her opinions.

Drink Thursdays

It's called "Drink Thursdays", in which I talk about a person that I'd like to sit down and have a drink with, and why. And because I'm Catholic, darnit, and we're not Puritans. Here's the introductory post.

I'm going to preface this post by saying that I know I'm probably going to get a lot of flack for today's drinking partner. So be it.  Now, right about now, I'll bet you're thinking, "Umm, Ranter, WTF? This is how last week's post got started." And you're right. It's called being lazy. LOL. 

Because truly, this week's is a real controversial person. I've been thinking about featuring her for awhile, but decided to go all out this week. She's an author, a teacher, a social critic. She's a self-described dissident feminist. On one hand, she denounces the Democratic party and skewers fellow feminists. On the other hand, she 'celebrates' such things like pornography, abortion, sodomy, drug use, and suicide. (Quoting from wikipedia)

Intrigued? Disgusted? Fascinated?

Being a Fan, part two

(Part One here)

So the word on the street is that Javier Bardem has been offered the role of Roland Deschain in the Dark Tower movie and series.

Sigh.

I don't know how I feel about this. I mean, I just can't reconcile this:

from www.nndb.com

With this:

from michaelwhalen.com

Toothy Tuesdays Answer

Yesterday's phrase was tort-feasor (noun). Hard one!


The definition is: One who is guilty of a wrongful act; a wrongdoer; a trespasser.


The relevant questions, after the shooting down of the Korean airliner, were (1) How does one punish a punishable act? (Answer: By demanding reparations.) (2) How does one take reasonable steps to see to it that such an act is not committed again? (Answer: By getting assurances from the tort-feasor.)
(Courtesy of The Lexicon by William F. Buckley Jr.)

And That's Another Thing!

I was perusing BadCatholic this morning, and he put up a post with a couple of videos he created about NFP. One, I love Marc's blog, it is completely amazing and I think he is a talented writer and videographer, etc.

But (You knew it was coming, didn't you? Right? If you didn't, perhaps you want a more holy blog?)....

Sometimes, I get so tired of hearing about NFP, as a Catholic woman. Let's just say that some couples don't want to use NFP, and are open to life, and God's plan. I think sometimes Catholics can get so caught up in touting NFP that it is forgotten that it is completely licit to NOT use NFP (and it should go without saying, any other form of birth 'control' [artificial or natural]). This is nothing against you, Marc, my dear brother in Christ, but I, for one, am completely tired of NFP fanatics (again, I'm not speaking directly to you, Marc.).

For us, it's not about:

"Oh you're so lucky that you don't have to worry about loans, and debt, and other such things."

nor:

"Well, not everyone is as lucky as you to stay home with your kids."

or:

"It must be nice to not worry if you're knocked up."

or:

"But, NFP will make your marriage so much better!! Communication! Sunshine! Roses!"

nor:

"I bet you haven't even tried NFP. And if you had, you probably thought it was too hard."

Toothy Tuesdays

Our first Toothy Tuesday. If you are just joining us, I will post a word from The Lexicon, ask you to give your best guesses in the combox; then I will reveal the guesses and the correct answer the next morning.

Our eighth word is tort-feasor (noun). Happy guessing!

Ave Maria

Which version of Ave Maria is your favorite?

Gounod/Bach version:


Schubert:


Rachmaninoff:


Verdi:

I Am Love

Warning: if you don't like opera, stop reading this right now.

One of my favorite pieces of music is "La mamma morta" from the opera "Andrea Chenier" - of course the best version sung by Maria Callas.

I first heard a snippet of it in the movie, "Philadelphia" with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. I soon looked it up and found the whole thing.


The song is so haunting in Maria's delivery - haunting, emotional, scared, passionate, inconsolable, comforting. How often has anyone of us wanted to sob: "I bring misfortune to all who love me"?

Sunday Feast

Sunday is not a day of fasting, but of feasting. So, the focus every Sunday is to feast with my family, to truly make Sundays a day of rest; which means to refrain from the internet and other technology as much as I can. I'm going to be putting up the previous Wednesday's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, and I encourage you to read and to study. 

What are you reading today? What are you talking about this morning?

This Time Tomorrow

I will be laughing hilariously at this guy (in person!!):

I'm Addicted

Hello, I'm The Ranter, and I'm addicted to books.


No, seriously. I can't help myself. I just bought 11 (eleven!) new books. Do you know how many books I have sitting on my shelf right now that I need to read?? Probably at least 11. If not closer to 20, or 30. So, here's what I've got coming:


Saints for Sinners by Archbishop Alban Goodier. I have another Saint to Sinner book (the name of which escapes me right now), but I've heard that this one is really the one to get, and luckily, it's still in print.
     Christ Came not to call saints but to make them often out of weak, stupid, and sinful men. That's why the saints are not only models of holiness for us to imitate; they're reminders that God's grace can outshine every human flaw. As Alban Goodier's classic Saints for Sinners shows us, even the greatest saints had to battle the same stubborn vices, temptations of the flesh, and bouts of spiritual dryness that afflict you and me today. In these pages, with a style that perfectly blends hagiographical detail, spiritual meditation, and a skilled storyteller's touch, Archbishop Alban Goodier brings us the tales of: The mercenary fighting man and the itinerant gambler who left behind his rough soldier's habits and founded a religious order to take care for the sick. The backward, sickly teenager, disowned by his family and dogged by the Inquisition, who became a miraculous healer and paragon of humble simplicity. The willful Tuscan beauty with a bad reputation who forsook vanity and lust to answer God's call to live in poverty and penitence. The royal chaplain and daring Counter-Reformer who escaped the gallows but had to endure a lifelong interior martyrdom of doubt and discouragement. The brilliant, brooding Spanish nobleman who gave up everything to be a missionary only to see most of his efforts fail. The hedonistic heretic and womanizer who traded worldly pleasure for divine happiness, and became one of the Church's greatest theologians. And other inspiring tales of imperfect souls "made perfect in infirmity" Read these stories and find in them delight and encouragement, as well as hope. You'll come to see that there is no one so sinful, weak or desolate that God has not already raised another like him to the heights of glory. (Amazon Product Description)

Compare and Contrast

From the Magnificat:

Saint Silvin
Bishop (c. 720)

Silvin was a young Frankish courtier on the verge of marrying when he resolved to forsake his station in the world and embrace instead a life of consecrated celibacy and poverty. Silvin was ordained a priest and was later consecrated a bishop. It is thought he was regionary bishop, a bishop without a fixed see. Silvin preached to the pagans and non-practicing Christians of northern France, converting many. His success in saving souls stemmed not only from his words but also from his personal holiness. In a spirit of self-denial, Silvin chose for himself the poorest clothes and abstained from bread for forty years, taking nothing more than herbs and fruits for his nourishment. His inherited wealth he spent upon the relief of the poor, the building of churches, and the ransoming of slaves held captive by the pagans. Racked with physical infirmities, he kept for himself only one possession, a horse, which he rode on his missionary journeys when he could no longer walk.

From the PhillyBurbs.com:

It was tough to read the latest grand jury report on resurgent child sex abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Maybe Cardinal Justin Rigali should declare moral bankruptcy.

At Sunday Mass, a priest told us what is to blame for the publicity: the media.

"The newspaper is not a friend," he said, as I sat with my three children. "The newspapers are not telling you the whole story."

That's probably a good thing, since the "whole story" as documented by the Philadelphia grand jury, using the archdiocese's own records and testimony, is worse than you think. For example:

A 10-year-old boy was passed among two priests and a Catholic school teacher, who raped the child.

According to grand jury testimony, one of the alleged molester priests told the boy that "God loved him" as he forced the boy to have oral sex in a church sacristy.

This level of depravity is beyond the imagination of the average Catholic. It gets worse, though.

Two More Thoughts

Two more dueling articles on lying to Planned Parenthood:

Mark Shea

versus

John Zmirak

Hard stuff to think about, indeed.

The Lying Game

I'm going to preface what I'm about to say with this thought: I hate that I disagree with LiveAction.

I know there has been a lot of talk over the past couple of weeks about LiveAction's videos, and the fact that they went 'undercover' to expose unlawful practices of Planned Parenthood. Before a couple of weeks ago, I would have told you that there was nothing wrong with what they did, and I would have defended their actions. Until I read this article from New Liturgical Movement, where the author lays out the case that what LiveAction did was not moral, backed up by the Catechism and the Bible.

Then, I started to have doubts about the certainty I had. The more I read, the more firmly the doubt became, until I realized, much to my dismay, that I was on the other side of the fence.

In the Bible study I'm a part of, we are close to the end of the book we are using: Life in Christ, by Fr. Groeschel. This book follows the Catechism, using Scripture verses to back up each chapter. I bring this up because among this week's assigned readings were reflections on the 8th Commandment.

Drink Thursdays

It's called "Drink Thursdays", in which I talk about a person that I'd like to sit down and have a drink with, and why. And because I'm Catholic, darnit, and we're not Puritans. Here's the introductory post.

I'm going to preface this post by saying that I know I'm probably going to get a lot of flack for today's drinking partner. So be it.

I read an interview with today's guest sometime this past week, and it just got me thinking that maybe this person isn't whom I've thought he is - or how the world has portrayed him. He's been portrayed as a stupid person, an idiot without a thought in his head, or a care in his heart.

But Church is Boring!

I'm back to reading Remember Jesus Christ by Fr. Cantalamessa. The second chapter is entitled 'Do You Believe? The Divinity of Christ in the Gospel of John.'

'The issue is knowing whether biblical inspiration still has some meaning for Christians or not - whether, when we exclaim, "The word of the Lord!" at the end of the Scripture reading, we believe what we say or not.'

Too often, when I go to Mass, the readings are proclaimed in such a joyless, lackluster way that you wonder if the person reading them aloud is still asleep. Mass then becomes what all the critics say it is: B-O-R-I-N-G.  I've listened to readers that have bored me to tears - but this is God's word! This is amazing material, people! How can you not want to read with fervor, devotion, passion, that those in the pews sit up and take notice - "This person truly believes what they are reading!"

Ah, but there's the rub. One, do those who are proclaiming truly believe they are reading God's word? There are some that read in monotone, others in a singy-songy voice, still others (I kid you not) provide different 'voices' for each 'character'. Do those who proclaim truly believe that what they are reading is not just a story, with well-loved characters? Too often, I think, the Bible becomes just that - a well-loved story that we can put on the shelf and pull out whenever we need to get some sleep.

Toothy Tuesdays Answer

Yesterday's word was cordon sanitaire (noun; Fr.). No guesses, so here's the answer:


The definition: A line designed to act as a buffer between two territories actually or potentially hostile to each other.

We arrive [at Fillmore East to hear Virgil Fox, the organist, play Bach], and there are hippies and non-hippies trying to get in, a sellout. One young man ventures forward, do I have an extra ticket? I give him one of the two tickets, thinking to keep the second, under the circumstances, as cordon sanitaire.
(Courtesy of The Lexicon by William F. Buckley Jr.)

Éire go Brách

I've been contemplating a trip to Ireland. You see, I've always wanted to go there. Yes, I have Irish ancestry, but actually I'm more Scottish than Irish. I joke that I'm the whitest combination there is available - English, Scottish, Irish, and German. Most of the time in the summer, my freckles are what gives me the illusion of a tan. The color of my legs could give people the impression that I'm a cadaver. My face without make-up is the epitome of a ghost.

Toothy Tuesdays

Our first Toothy Tuesday. If you are just joining us, I will post a word from The Lexicon, ask you to give your best guesses in the combox; then I will reveal the guesses and the correct answer the next morning.

Our seventh word is cordon sanitaire (noun). Find the answer tomorrow....no cheating!

Did You Lose Someone?

I hate that phrase "We lost our friend/spouse/whatever" when someone dies. I hate euphemisms like that. It's just a way to pretty things up, to blunt the truth. You don't just 'lose' people - they don't just disappear into thin air. We don't misplace a person like we misplace our keys or important papers.

But death is so harsh, isn't it? So final to most people. So unforgiving. So harsh. So we use pretty phrases to comfort ourselves, to comfort others, to make ourselves feel better and distance ourselves from our own death. Because it intrudes into our little bubble, our own little fantasy world that we have built up and don't want destroyed.

But there is an objective truth to what happens after death - either you believe that death is the end, or you believe that death is the beginning.

Sunday Feast

Sunday is not a day of fasting, but of feasting. So, the focus every Sunday is to feast with my family, to truly make Sundays a day of rest; which means to refrain from the internet and other technology as much as I can. I'm going to be putting up the previous Wednesday's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, and I encourage you to read and to study. 

What are you reading today? What are you talking about this morning?

Letting Go of Self

'God's Face like a countenance beaming forth from the darkness: in order to see it we throw everything we possess into the fire - the world, our joys, our hopes. The flames leaps forth, consumes it all, and in its glow the beloved Face lights up. But the flame dies down, and we fee it with what little remains to us: honor, success, our will, the intellect, our temperament, finally our very self: absume et suspice - "take and receive." This is not simple self-giving but, increasingly, the knowledge that I am being taken, that I must surrender. Grace is everything: the moment of God's appearing; grace also every sacrifice the fire snatches from me...' (Fr. Hans Urs Von Balthasar)

What's that saying about heaven and hell being in the same place; those in heaven feel the warmth of God's love and those in hell feel only the burning?

Drink Thursdays (It's Back!)

It's called "Drink Thursdays", in which I talk about a person that I'd like to sit down and have a drink with, and why. And because I'm Catholic, darnit, and we're not Puritans. Here's the introductory post.

Today's guest I've been thinking about for awhile. She's been an elf, a girlfriend for Jim Carrey, Dorothy in a cool sci-fi remake, and in real life, an indie artist.

Unconquerable Goodness

'Our lives are constantly bound up with those of other people in some way or another. Perhaps those people fail in many things, but they are in some way a portion of our own lives; they partake of the graces we possess. "The faithless husband, "says Saint Paul, "will be sanctified through the believing wife." The children of believers are sanctified through the very fact of their paternity. One person in a family may be the salvation of the whole family, though it may not be given to him to see the final issues and the ultimate results. But there is the fact - an absolute certainty, goodness inevitably produces goodness; it is unconquerable, it cannot be stifled, it has greater ramifications than evil can ever have...One saint outweighs a hundred, a thousand, perhaps a million sinners. The sanctity of one saint prevails over the sinfulness of a thousand sinners. Sin is negative; sanctity, positive. Sanctity is more powerful than sin; sanctity is, in fact, the only real power.' -Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B.

Toothy Tuesdays Answer

So, the word for yesterday was splenetic (adjective). 

The guesses:

Patrick Button said...

Having to do with spleens?

February 8, 2011 9:54 AM 

Archaeology cat said...

Patrick took my guess :mellow: (yes, I know that's not the real smiley any more)

The definition: characterized by morose bad temper, sullen malevolence, or spiteful, peevish anger.

The war engaged all the splenetic instincts of Khomeini, and he urged all Iran's young people to die in ecstasy of a mission that transcribed God's will.

(Courtesy of The Lexicon by William F. Buckley Jr.)

Open Tabs

Selling the Vatican? Yah, I don't think so. I really, really, hate this argument, btw. "Why doesn't the Vatican sell all its riches and give it to the poor?" Grrr

7 Most Unexpectedly Awesome Parties in History: Oh my Goodness Gracious, I love cracked. "That's right. That's the day that Russia ran out of vodka." LOL

Back Alley Abortions have never been gone, unfortunately.

What are we doing about abortion clinics? Not enough.

7 Reasons I Stink At Praying: I think 'waiting for the right time' is me right now. Sigh. I have been doing so much better at praying in the morning, shortly after breakfast and before turning on the computer. But evening or night prayer? Not so much.

Women and Head Coverings

I'll write up my feelings about this later, but please go take the poll at Fr. Z's place. I think making sure you have a good sampling of people is a good idea, so link to it and spread the word.

Toothy Tuesdays

Our first Toothy Tuesday. If you are just joining us, I will post a word from The Lexicon, ask you to give your best guesses in the combox; then I will reveal the guesses and the correct answer the next morning.

Our sixth word is splenetic (adjective). Think hard!

Hungering

I'm starting a new book (actually two!) called "The Mystery of Faith: Meditations on the Eucharist" by Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer.
     In the foreword by Stanislaw Carindal Dziwisz, he states, "To become filled we need to be empty, to be fed we need to be hungry. The Mystery of Faith invites us to see if there is actually a hunger for God in us, a hunger for Eucharist. It inspires us to attempt deeper contact with this sacrament in faith and love. AFter all, Christ always unfailingly wishes to pour His love into us. It is so easy to be closed to it. Then we not only do not receive the grace but, what is worse, it may happen that - as St. Paul says - in receiving the body and blood of Christ - we are eating and drinking judgment upon ourselves (cf. 1 Cor 11:29)."

This reminds me of my post about needing to be spiritually dry. I tried reading this book last Lent and couldn't really get started. So I'm looking forward to reading more.

The Edge of the Earth

No, I did not fall off the edge of the earth. Yesterday was pretty much the worstest day evah. I had to get up earlier than normal for a Saturday to eat and get ready for a platelet donation. I couldn't have coffee (?!!) so I had some juice and some Kix (who doesn't love Kix?! srsly). I left the house to go to the vampire store blood place and went through the interview process, etc...got hooked up to the machine and started the process. (Warning: the following may gross some of you out.)

The Church exists to evangelize

In other news, the sky is blue and grass is green. (An article stating the obvious.)

I referenced the other day that I had two articles from November 2010 H&PR to discuss. Well, this here's the other one. The article is entitled "The Church exists to evangelize" by Victor R. Claveau, M.J.

Fair warning: this is gonna be a long one.

Drink Thursdays

I won't be doing Drink Thursdays this week. Yes, I know it's the second week in a row. I'm afraid, though, that a physical ailment will be keeping me from blogging much today.

So, to keep you happy, here are some of my favorite posts I've ever written:

Things I Don't Get

I Spy With My Good Eyes

Guilty As Charged

The Apocalypse

Get Used To It

10 More Things

Typical

Sexy, Baby!

Christian Leadership

Ineptitude

How Messed Up Is It...

...to admit publicly that you've texted and drove is becoming a bigger scandal than to admit publicly that you've had an abortion or been complicit in an abortion?

Un-freaking-believable

Mental Floss does a blog post about eugenics and leaves out Margaret Sanger (found of what would become Planned Parenthood in America). Something is said in the combox there, thankfully. Gee, and surprise surprise! It still goes on by Planned Parenthood. *commence vomiting now*

Rude Gestures

I was reading the November 2010 issue of Homelitic and Pastoral Review, and found a couple of articles pretty interesting. (I can't find an online link, so if you find it, please let me know in the combox and I'll link to the issue.) I'll write on the other in awhile, but the one I want to discuss today is the article entitled, "The biblical foundations for liturgical gestures".

The whole article is, obviously, about the biblical foundations for liturgical gestures: gestures in general, the Sign of the Cross, standing, sitting, kneeling, the Kiss of Peace and insufflation, the reverent bow, facing the East, raising of eyes & hands, prostration, imposition of hands, and striking the breast. (I've written about gestures before.)

In the article, the author, Fr. Andreas Hoeck, states: "Sacred words and sacred actions are joined together. By freely participating in divine ritual, he allows the Holy Spirit to pray and perform through him." This is why it is so important the people do not take on the priest's gestures during Mass.

Toothy Tuesdays Answer

The word was epochal (adjective).

Paul, just this guy, you know? said...

as or relating to an epoch; an extremely rare occurrence.

Believe it or not, that's off the top of my head.

The answer is: Extremely important, likely to affect future events or the understanding of them.

During the tumultuous month since being told he would be returning Cuba on an important mission, he had been given intensive training. And then had come the epochal briefing the day before his departure, delivered by Malinovsky himself. 

(Courtesy of The Lexicon by William F. Buckley Jr.)

Stumblin' Along

Things I have found through StumbleUpon lately (some NSFW may apply):

Before I ever get on the internet, I should chant this over and over.

Sketch something, then swap it for something someone else sketched. Fun and cool stuff.

Letters of Note: a letter from Ron to Nancy. Very lovely. Since it's my wedding anniversary today, I definitely appreciate the sentiment.

Dear Blank, Please Blank: I guess I'd better watch those kids' movies again.

24 Hour View of the Sky, almost creepy.

Stairway to Heaven. A lovely ideal, but too much white when you have kids.

This should be my homepage.

Warning: these pictures will be enough to give you heartburn or worse.

If only I would have known about this list when I had roommates. I would have used #12.

Very freakin' cool!!

I really, really, want this shirt.

I still had to watch this video over and over to get how they did some of the tricks. As a mom, a lot of those would be handy.

Original Design Project for each book of the Bible. I wish I had talent like that.

Out of Love, Comes Art

From www.robertkaindl.com

I must confess, the reason that I started to have an interest in glass art was because of a romance novel. The novel was so descriptive of the whole process that I became so intrigued with this form of art, and that intrigue has far outlasted my fascination with romance novels.

Toothy Tuesdays

Our first Toothy Tuesday. If you are just joining us, I will post a word from The Lexicon, ask you to give your best guesses in the combox; then I will reveal the guesses and the correct answer the next morning.

Our fifth word is epochal (adjective). See you on the flip-side!