Archive for the ‘catholic’ Category

Michael Ruse hits a bullseye on a pet peeve of mine

Posted: August 17, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
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At Beliefnet Michael Ruse has a pretty good argument on Atheism and the what his fellow non-believers should and should not be doing. It’s worth a read but what jumped out at me was his addressing a particular pet peeve of mine:

I often refer to myself as a very conservative non-believer, meaning that I take seriously my non-belief and I think others should do (and often don’t). If someone goes to the Episcopal Church for social or family reasons, or because they love the music or ceremonies, I have no trouble with that. Had I married a fellow Quaker, I might still be going to Quaker meetings. But I have little time for someone who denies the central dogmas of Christianity and still claims to be a Christian, except in a social sense. No God, no Jesus as His son, no resurrection, no eternal life – no Christianity.emphasis mine

In the Catholic Church we see groups like this a lot from the pseudo women priests fringe groups to Catholics for Choice to the Tablet in England and Catholics United etc etc etc…

If you don’t want to be a Catholic fine; There are plenty of Christian Churches you can join. If you don’t believe in the divinity of Christ you aren’t a Christian and you are a liar and a phony if you call yourself one.

Don’t be lukewarm, remember Laodicea:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: ” ‘The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God’s creation, says this: “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. ” ‘”Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.” ‘”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘” Revelation 3:14-22

The Church’s job like our lady’s is to keep you out of the fire. If that’s what you want, Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular is the place to be.

If that’s not what you want or believe then have the courage of your convictions to not play games. If you aren’t sure then use the vast sources of information on both sides to help you. After all you have the freedom to choose whatever path you want for yourself; use it. You have the rest of your life to figure things out…

…after that you’re on your own.

Maybe the Madonna can save me $2000 a year!

Posted: August 16, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, opinion/news
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Blogging will be kinda light today as I will be at St. Anthony di Padua Church in Fitchburg working on today’s Madonna della Cava mass and procession and the party etc afterwords.

The procession with the Band, Banners, et/al will start at 10, followed by mass, free food and music and closing with a Rosary in Italian. We had 300 people last year (I was on a cruse so I missed it) and expect a larger crowd in the 2nd year of the revival of the tradition that ran from the 20’s to the 60’s at the parish.

Not only is this a fine devotion but thanks to Rahm Emanual maybe I can save a few grand in property taxes if I get more involved. Robert Stacy McCain found the story at the American Freedom blog. Barbara there explains:

The Cook County Assessor’s and Cook County Treasurer’s online records indicate Emanuel’s Chicago neighbors pay between $3,500 and $7,000 annually. However, Illinois Review has
been unable to locate any evidence that the former Clinton advisor and investment banker is paying his fair share of Cook County’s notoriously high tax burden.

Why wouldn’t 4228 North Hermitage property owners Rahm Emanuel and wife A my Rule pay property taxes?
One reason may be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their personal non-profit foundation called the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation”. As the non-profit’s headquarters, their home could be exempt from paying property taxes.

So all I need to do is incorporate the society with my house as a headquarters and presto my $2,000+ in property taxes annually will disappear, but as Barbara further explains I’m thinking small…

What a racket! Take all your income and donate it back to yourself via tax exempt orgs where you can spend it on as expenses to operate your car, pay the electric and water bills, etc.

I get the feeling the Madonna might not take kindly to this whole idea so tempting as it is I’m going to have to give it a miss, however the story establishes why so many White House people were tax dodgers. Rahm didn’t want them paying taxes that he wasn’t paying himself.

Madonna Della Cava procession Sunday

Posted: August 15, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, personal
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My Church St. Anthony Di Padua in Fitchburg Mass will be holding its now revived Madonna Della Cava procession with the banner, a band, statue, etc, this Sunday August 16, 2009.

The Procession will start at the school with the Band and statue Banner and will be followed by mass at 10:30 and Italian Food and assorted pastries served at no charge in the Church Hall. Music will be from the Leominister Colonial Band.

A Rosary in Italian will be said to close the festivities.

We aren’t as big as the Boston stuff but we are growing.

Oh and BTW let me give a shout out to Kevin Caravella. Since he took over the parish web site it is really something. It’s 10 times better than anything I did with it. Well done!

Cripes we even have a blog now.

What Miracles? Oh that Miracle

Posted: August 10, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
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Via the Curt Jester a great reminder of what is called willing suspension of disbelief:

“All the cloths similar to the Tilma that have been placed in the salty and humid environment around the Basilica have lasted no more than ten years,” he explained. One painting of the miraculous image, created in 1789, was on display in a church near the basilica where the Tilma was placed. “This painting was made with the best techniques of its time, the copy was beautiful and made with a fabric very similar to that of the Tilma. Also, the image was protected with a glass since it was first placed there.”

However, eight years later, the copy of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was thrown away because the colors were fading and threads were breaking. In contrast, Orozco said, “the original Tilma was exposed for approximately 116 years without any kind of protection, receiving all the infrared and ultraviolet radiation from the tens of thousands of candles near it and exposed to the humid and salty air around the temple.”

He also notes one other issue;

The second miracle was the explosion of a bomb near the Tilma in 1921. Dr. Orozco recalled that the explosion broke the marble floor and widows 150 meters from the explosion, but “unexpectedly, neither the Tilma nor the normal glass that protected the Tilma was damaged or broken.” The only damage near it was a brass crucifix that was twisted by the blast.

He continued, “There are no explanations why the shockwave that broke windows 150 meters afar did not destroy the normal glass that protected the image. Some people said that the Son by means of the brass crucifix protected the image of His Mother. The real fact is that we don’t have a natural explanation for this event.”

Of course we all know how well things are preserved in the heat of Mexico for hundreds of years before air conditioning etc.

The denial of this stuff is the real leap of faith.

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