St. Ignatius of Loyola

Go here for a great post about St. Ignatius of Loyola.

From the Furrow #503

Forgive my insistence: the instrument, the means, must not be made into an end. If a spade were to weigh a hundred weight instead of what it should, the laborer would be unable to dig with it. He would use up all his energy humping it around, and the seed could not take root, for it would remain unused.

Ego veni ut vitam habeant, et abundantius habeant.
John 10:10
I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.

St. James

cornerstone inscrription

I need help choosing an inscription for our new building's cornerstone.

Here are a couple
Royal College of Midwives: Vita donum dei (Life is the gift of God)
or
AMGD - to the greater glory of God

It will, of course, be in Latin

fallen creatures

We are all creatures. We receive our being from the creator, God.
Because of original sin, which is exacerbated by personal sin, we are not in a state of friendship with God. Sin cuts us off from the sustenance that God wants to give us.

The person in a state of grace receives all that he needs from God. Having received these gifts he can make good use of them for himself and his neighbor.

The person at enmity with God, because he no longer receives from God, is very unstable. So he must look at the goods of the world as something to be taken and used for himself. He cannot afford to be generous because his sin has cut off the supply that was coming in from God's goodness.

Before the fall Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. There was no lust in them, no taking of what can only be a gift.
After the fall they were naked so they hid themselves. Experiencing their vulnerability they had to protect themselves. Love (a gift) is turned in to lust (taking what sin has made man incapable of receiving).

Receiving Communion

I personally believe that kneeling is the best posture for receiving Holy Communion. I think we will see a day when this practice is restored.
Obviously veils for women would be great. That will be a much more difficult thing to accomplish.

From the Catechism: on prayer

In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures. Many Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they "don't have the time." Those who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone.

"Women don't want to hear what men think. They want to hear their own thoughts in a deeper voice." Jeff Foxworthy

A good article

Here is a great article for those going to college and the parents who are sending them.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

A glance at ancient physics
Although at the time of Christ's birth Hellenic science had produced nearly all its masterpieces, it was still to give to the world Ptolemy's astronomy, the way for which had been paved for more than a century by the works of Hipparchus. The revelations of Greek thought on the nature of the exterior world ended with the "Almagest", which appeared about A.D. 145, and then began the decline of ancient learning. Those of its works that escaped the fires kindled by Mohammedan warriors were subjected to the barren interpretations of Mussulman commentators and like parched seed, awaited the time when Latin Christianity would furnish a favorable soil in which they could once more flourish and bring forth fruit.
(Why can't we write this way anymore?)

Tattoos

What are the purpose of tattoos? Why do people get them? It seems that more and more people are getting them. What is this all about?
The purpose of a sign is to communicate something. What is being communicated.
In past generations you would only think of military men getting a tattoo to mark their belonging to a certain branch.
I tend to think of tattoos as a grasping for significance in one's life. I want my life to mean something. I want my body to indicate some reality that is greater.
In baptism we are marked by the sign of the cross. For the Christian this mark of baptism gives significance to our bodies and to our souls. The body of the Christian is a 'Temple of the Holy Spirit.' If this Christian awareness exists in a person then their is no need for other markings on the body.
It seems to me that the modern person, for whom this Christian awareness does not exist, is grasping to express a sacramental reality.

Home

My father and I returned home from Denver yesterday. We had a great trip with my sister's kids visiting my other sister and her kids. We went swimming every day and to the zoo and to the imax theater and to the Pirate's Cove water park, and my sister Stephanie taught my dad and me about the joys of a high fiber diet.

Happy 4th of July.
I am leaving tomorrow for Denver and won't be back until Friday night. You probably won't see any posts this week.

Gettysburg

Go here for a great post on confession

Year of the Priest

On June 19 Pope Benedict XVI began the "Year of the Priest." My plan is to do several posts about the sacrament of Holy Orders. If you have any questions about the priesthood you can leave them in the comment box.

An excellent article

Go to the First Things website to read a very good article.