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January 26, 2006
Back
Well, I am back from DC. There were a ton of people there. I am still pretty exhuasted from the trip, but I think I will survive. I got to run into several people I knew, a few times by coincidence. It was also nice to be away from the Seminary for a while...
The Holy Father has released his first Encyclical Letter, so that is pretty exciting. I am glad he wrote about what he wrote about (Love), he is acctually just continueing a theme of John-Paul II. I have yet to read it, but I hope to do that this weekend. It is all printed out and waiting for me to start highlighting away.
Other then all that, nothing really going on. I better get back to studying...
Posted by cr3do1 at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)
Good News...
You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451.
Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com |
Posted by cr3do1 at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2006
March for Life
Post will be non-existent as I will be in DC for the next two days at the March for Life. Anyone who is there I will be more then happy to meet, just look for me at the Basilica. I guess I will be sitting in Choir somewhere, thats what they say anyway.
So, the next update will not be till Tuesday... God Bless.
Posted by cr3do1 at 12:06 AM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2006
Philosophy
Well, this is shaping up to be another late night, I am not sure why I do this to myself, but I guess some things just happen.
So, we are currently talking about Emotivism in Philosophy of Virtue. This theory, which olds that our morality and philosophy can be based on our emotions, was the precursor to moral relativism where it does not matter what you believe, unless of course it is that there is object truths. The question we are trying to answer is where did philosophy go wrong and lead to so many errors.
It is my personal belief that philosophy went wrong as soon as it started to view the ancients and medieval philosophers as quacks and create a "fresh beginning". As soon as you cut yourself off from the roots, everything goes to hell. This is all started in the Seventeenth to Eighteenth Century. If you have no grounding, or reject it, then you have nothing and you go off into outer space. So thus, we can define when human life begins and when it ends, we can define marriage in whatever way we please, the ends most certainly justify the means. The list could go on. It is no wonder why the Twentieth Century was so bloody when one simply looks at the philosophy that was circulating around for the past two hundred years. I have no doubt again that the philosophy of the day predisposed the Twentieth Century to be the bloodiest.
People laugh at philosophy, people think they can fool with it, but people seldom realize its importance. These questions we dabble with today, what is human life especially, are all questions Hitler, Stalin, and Mao dabbled with. The targets may have changed, but the question remains every so relevant.
There is hope, however. Many philosophers today are again rooting themselves in the Ancient and Medieval philosophies and applying them to today. They are finding the errors in the Modern Philosophers and looking to the past to correct them. This will be a very long process, but it is a process that is vital to human dignity and to the world.
Posted by cr3do1 at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2006
Being a leader
It is pretty late, and I should probably not be sleeping (considering 6:00 AM comes pretty early), but you only live once. I was not sure on what to post about today, so I decided to talk generally about my day.
First, the March for Life is coming up this weekend. I will be traveling to DC to participate in my Second March and I am looking forward to it. It is a great witness to the Dignity of Human Life; this year, again, being especially important with the looming confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. He will bring the number of Catholics on the court to 5.
My classes should all be interesting again, as I said. Now that I have a little more freedom in choosing courses and stuff, I enjoy my classes much more. I enjoy the studies. I wish I would have discovered this two years ago.
We are only 17 Days into my Presidency, and already big moves have been made. Trying to keep morale up and getting guys to do what they need to do is a constant battle. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them. I assisted the Dean of Men in moving people around in House Jobs so that maybe they will be able to excel in other areas. I am also seeking to revise the way that the Student Council deals with Finances, which I am sure will be the most enjoyable project of my life. I will luckily have assistance in doing that. Being a leader is not always easy, or the best position to be in, but I think that maybe realizing that is a step to becoming a good leader. I guess only time will tell.
It has been reported that the Holy Father's Encyclical will be released on Friday, so I will keep my eyes posted on that. I also still patiently await the appointment of a new Bishop for the Diocese of Youngstown. Hopefully Pope Benedict will not keep us waiting much longer, in regards to either area.
Well, it is time for me to get to bed. I already feel like taking a nap tomorrow...
Posted by cr3do1 at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2006
Retreat Over
Well, the Retreat is over. It was over on Saturday afternoon (Monday through Saturday) and it went very well. I like the Retreat Director, and I took a lot away from the retreat. A ton of things became clear to me, so that is always a good thing.
Today is the first day of classes, and I have already had Philosophy of God. Later in the afternoon I will have Spanish III, Philosophy of Virtue, and the Classical Tradition. That is my classes for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday's and Thursday's I will have Europe in the Post World War Period, which will probably shed a lot of light on why Europe has the problems it has today. This has been a year when I have actually enjoyed my classes. I will also be taking voice lessons on the side and studying some additional philosophy on the side.
Well, it is almost time for Holy Mass and I have a meeting with the Dean of Men. This meeting will be my first official act as Student Council President, isn't that exciting? Ok, maybe not.
480 Days until Graduation...
Posted by cr3do1 at 10:59 AM | Comments (1)
January 07, 2006
Update...
Well, I leave to return to the Seminary tommorrow. We will be on retreat all week, so posting will be non-existent.
We had a nice dinner at my house tonight, everything was good...
Also, for some reason my side bar keeps disappearing, I will try to get to the bottom of it...
Posted by cr3do1 at 10:04 PM | Comments (1)
January 05, 2006
Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches
The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church are scheduled to begin high level dialogue again to try to heal the 1000 year schism. The Holy Father is also expected to make a visit to Constantinople (Istanbul) sometime this year. Although the Patriarch of Constantinople asked that he visit on the Feast of Saint Andrew on November 30, the Turkish Government only specified sometime this year. This visit will be significant for a number of reasons. Benedict will be only the second Pope since the 8th Century to visit Constantinople (the last being Pope Paul VI). Also, it is significant because Pope Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, opposed the entrance of Turkey into the European Union, which offended more then one person in Turkey. It will be interesting to see how this trip plays out...
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/13559141.htm
Posted by cr3do1 at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)
What does Pat Robertson have in common with Iran?
They both believe that God is punishing Ariel Sharon. Of course they are on the opposite sides of the radical pole, but Pat can now say he agrees with the President of Iran on something. Robertson believes God is punishing Sharon for, God FORBID, trying to make peace in the Holy Land. He says God gave the land of Israel to the Jews, and the Prime Minister does not have the right to "carve it up". On the other side of the World of Radicalism, Ahmadinejad is praying for the death of Sharon. I do worry what the death of Sharon will mean to the Middle East. It seemed as though progress was being made, and the Holy Land seemed to have pilgrims returning to it this past Christmas. If a hardliner becomes Prime Minister, then the whole area could potentially blow up again. With the Palestinian Elections coming up at the end of the month, and now this, if hardliners win on both sides, then I doubt the Holy Land will have many pilgrims there for Holy Week...
Keep the Prime Minister, and the entire Middle East in your Prayers...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/05/060105231109.adssezuz.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060105/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_israel_sharon_1
Posted by cr3do1 at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2006
Prayers
Keep the miners in West Virgina in your prayers. There is not much hope that they survived...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060103/D8ETDCA80.html
Posted by cr3do1 at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
The Liturgy
I have been following, at least on some level, the Bishops work on the new translations for the Mass. I found the past meeting of the Bishops in November to be very interesting.
There are a number of points which I want to address...
1. It seems to me that some Bishops in this country think that the laity are stupid or something. Now, I applaud their apparent concern for the feelings of the faithful, but I don't believe they are giving them enough credit. Their justifications for not correctly translating some things in the Mass are because they don't want to burden the laity too much, that the faithful will not understand. I have spoken to some people about these new translations, and most are in favor of it. Most think that the new translations will enhance the Mass and make it more beautiful. It is my belief that if the new translations are presented in a positive light by their Pastors, then the faithful will for the most part overwhelmingly accept them. Give them little books to follow for a year, and they will be just fine and quiet content. 30 years ago the Church changed something which was in force for 500 years; something tells me that the faithful will do just fine.
2. I have also read that some Bishops do not want to translate things such as the Gloria or the Memorial Acclamation correctly because we do not have music written for the new translations. Excuse me, but in 1969, nearly 1000 years of Gregorian Chant was set aside for these new modern translations for which music was written very quickly. It didn't seem to be much of a problem in 1969. BAD excuse. So, GIA get on the ball and start writing new music.
3. It is my opinion that if the Bishops do not want to do it right now, then the whole thing should be set aside until new Bishops come in and want to do it right. 30 years ago it wasn't done right, and now the Vatican is asking that it be corrected. If it isn't right again this time, will we be having the same debate in 30 years from now? It is better to do things right the first time then have to go back and correct mistakes later. That undermines the Church and only make visible within the Church divisions. Discussion on a matter is typically never a bad thing, but when it is apparent there are divisions, this is bad. Luckily, I don't believe the Vatican will accept anything less then a near literal translation.
I applaud the Bishops for their work on this, and I applaud all the more those who are calling for and working on obtaining a good translation.
Posted by cr3do1 at 07:13 PM | Comments (1)
January 02, 2006
A Healthy Priesthood
Here is a good article on why Priests need to be faithful, fatherly, strong, and healthy...
It also raises a good distinction between just discrimination (which is not even discrimination) and unjust discrimination.
http://www.catholic.net/us_catholic_news/template_channel.phtml?channel_id=1
Posted by cr3do1 at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
The United Nations
15. The first to benefit from a decisive choice for disarmament will be the poor countries, which rightly demand, after having heard so many promises, the concrete implementation of their right to development. That right was solemnly reaffirmed in the recent General Assembly of the United Nations Organization, which this year celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of its foundation. The Catholic Church, while confirming her confidence in this international body, calls for the institutional and operative renewal which would enable it to respond to the changed needs of the present time, characterized by the vast phenomenon of globalization. The United Nations Organization must become a more efficient instrument for promoting the values of justice, solidarity and peace in the world. For her part, the Church, in fidelity to the mission she has received from her Founder, is committed to proclaiming everywhere ''the Gospel of peace''. In the firm conviction that she offers an indispensable service to all those who strive to promote peace, she reminds everyone that, if peace is to be authentic and lasting, it must be built on the bedrock of the truth about God and the truth about man. This truth alone can create a sensitivity to justice and openness to love and solidarity, while encouraging everyone to work for a truly free and harmonious human family. The foundations of authentic peace rest on the truth about God and man. - Pope Benedict's Message for the World Day of Peace 2006
Finally, someone is calling for the reform of the United Nations. I have never been, nor am I now, opposed to the concept of the United Nations. I believe it has a lot of potential to promoting peace and justice in the world and it gives bigger nations an opportunity to help other nations and cooperate amongst each other. The United Nations has failed at this mission however, and has become a corrupt international body promoting not peace and justice, but condoms and abortion. It has been at the center of a number of scandals, none of which receives much press. In order for it to be effective, it needs to reform otherwise it will be nothing more then a big bureaucracy with corrupt politicians. In other words, it will stay status quo, and while women may not be having babies, people will still be starving and dieing, feudal type warlords will continue to kill people in Africa, and North Korea and Iran will continue to be a major threat to the stability of the world.
The UN does need to realize, however, that it is not and should not be a legislating body. It should not have sovereign power over any nation. This would be an attempt at one world government, which is a bad idea. It should be, however, a highway for communication, and a place where nations can deal with problems with other nations. None of this will happen under the current leadership. However, I am glad that Pope Benedict did call for its reform, and maybe someday someone will listen.
Posted by cr3do1 at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
Notre Dame
Well, Notre Dame lost to Ohio State. Even though they lost, it was still a good season, and next year should be even better. I think Notre Dame has turned around for the better. Considering how bad they played tonight, OSU should have really beat them by more. I guess that is a testament to how good Notre Dame really is. If they would have came out and played, I am sure they would have won. I just look forward till next year...
Posted by cr3do1 at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)