Ahh well, the car breaks down...

Jump into the car this morning to head off to work, turn the key in the ignition and nothing- zip, zilch, nada- kaput! Dang!!!
Had to wake up sweet daughter across town to come pick me up. She was there in less than 30 minutes. She is so dear. Was in a good mood and everything. *sigh* Life is good. Now, if my two older boys would just answer my calls....
Well, let's just hope it's only a bad battery. Can't afford anything else!

Catholic Answers Forums back up- finally!

The Catholic Answers Forums are back up, folks.

Apparently, unbeknownst to me, they have been down for three weeks. Wow, what a trial.
Jimmy Akins has the whole scoop here.

If you haven't been there, check them out, they are a great source of information.

Well, I am in for it, another season...

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I used to be a rabid NFL fan.
But this year I am not much into it.
But out of reflexive habit I signed up for my fantasy football league with the guys at work. And then I went and signed up in another league that I played in a couple years ago! What was I thinking?
Well, tomorrow is the first game of the season and I just ain't that fired up about it. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Alright, everybody is doing it, so...

.

Now this is a Pope with style!

First night of RCIA

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Well, it wasn't so bad. My fear has left me. It has been replaced with a desire to form the souls of the attendees. I want to shape their prayer lives over the next few months. I am seeing a long term plan here coming together. I want them to leave this class with a well-developed prayer life.

I googled some material on prayer this afternoon and promptly forgot it at the printer here at the Internet cafe I inhabit. Doh! So, I had to wing it. Next week I will have handouts for everyone. Heh.

One problem, there are only about 20 attendees! I am so disappointed! We had 50-75 each of the last two years. I guess we didn't make the announcements at the right time. *sigh* Well, there nought to be done about it now. We'll just have to make this a quality year for RCIA since the quantity is lacking. Next year will be better!

I'm supposed to lead prayer at RCIA tonite.

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Well, I am sort of the official prayer man in our parish's RCIA. I'm kind of nervous....

I guess I could do some prep work....
Hmmm, I could google prayer, hmm, i dunno.

Well, gentle reader, please pray for me to channel the Holy Spirit tonight. May God bless all the RCIA classes starting this year.

Kind of going thru a YouTube thing

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Am I getting addicted to video blogging? Another malady to add to my repertoire?

Here is Lucy, a winsome aspiring actress trying to make it in Hollywood.

Lonely Man discovered Lonely Girl on YouTube

She's sweet, pure and innocent. And she likes to swim. Check out her video!

Labor Day happenings

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Well, we got a four day weekend at work for the holiday. Praise the Lord.

Sunday, Mark had a barbeque at his house for about 11 of us. Lots of grilled meat. I ate at least 5 drumsticks along with 2 or 3 sausages. I stuffed myself. It was good to catch up with friends....

Today, I ran over in the morning and woke up my youngest son, Joshua, and we went to Starbucks and then went to my place and played Texas Hold Em for about an hour. Then we went to Chili's for some appetizers. Then we headed up to Mt. Charleston.

We went to the Mt. Charleston Lodge and had dessert. It was packed! It was nice to be in temperatures around 70 degrees but we weren't much in the mood for the mountains, really. We did have a good talk about sexual relations with girls where I told him about my recent victories with celibacy.

We headed back to town and called his younger sister, Serenity. She was having lunch with her niece, Haylie. So they came over for more Texas Hold Em. We played for a couple of hours. Little Haylie is twelve and has the cutest poker face. Serenity bemoaned her travails over her latest boy interest while we proceeded to wipe out her poker chips. I pray for her in regards to relationships with boys.

It's been a fun Labor Day weekend and I got one more day left!

How was your Labor Day?

Speaking about Morning Prayer...

The stone which the builders rejected
has become the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in our eyes.
This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad.

O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.

Go forward in procession with branches
even to the altar.
You are my God, I thank you.
My God, I praise you.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
foe his love endures for ever.


Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, and of all created things, you make your just ones holy and you justify sinners who confess your name. Hear us as we humbly pray to you: give us eternal joy with your saints.


I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees.

YouTube fun- One Crazy Cat

Speaking about Morning Prayer...

I call with all my heart; Lord, hear me,
I will keep your commands.
I call upon you, save me
and I will do your will.

I rise before dawn and cry for help,
I hope in your word,
My eyes watch through the night
to ponder your promise.

In your love hear my voice, O Lord;
I hope in your word.
My eyes watch through the night
to ponder your promise.

In your love hear my voice, O Lord;
give me life by your decrees.
Those who harm me unjustly draw near:
they are far from your law.

But you, O Lord, are close:
your commands are truth.
Long have I known that your will
is established for ever.


In your mercy you led the people you redeemed;
in your strength you guided them to your holy dwelling.


Be solicitous to make your call and election permanent, brothers; surely those who do so will never be lost. On the contrary, your entry into the everlasting kingbdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for.


I cry to you, O Lord, for you are my refuge.
-I cry to you, O Lord, for you are my refuge.
You are all I desire in the land of the living;
-for you are my refuge.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
-I cry to you, O Lord, for you are my refuge.


Lord, free us from the dark night of death.
Let the light of resurrection
dawn within our hearts
to bring us to the radiance of eternal life.

Follow up on coward's streak...

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Well, I got worked up over nothing.
I hemmed and I hawed. I procrastinated and writhed in inner agony, afraid my manager would give me a hard time to adjust my work schedule for RCIA. I plotted and strategized for the right time to approach her.
So, I bring it up today and quick as a flick she says, "Okay!" With nary a protest.
Sheesh, all that agonizing for nothing! Isn't that the way it is with many of our fears? What did that old man say, that he had many, many fears in his lifetime, most of which never happened?

Thanks for prayers, guys, you are the best.
So, RCIA, here I come!

Colbert is at it again... uncannily funny!

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Fellowship with Mark and Katie...

Mark fell in love with this incredible lady named Katie. Mark and I are very close. For a while, it seemed I was glued to his hip. He is my sponsor/godfather in the church, he is basically my spiritual advisor. He taught me how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, the importance of Adoring the Lord before the Blessed Sacrament, he used to be my boss, we get together frequently. Now he is in love.
I used to wonder what would happen if he met a girl. I feared that I would feel estranged from him and would grieve losing part of our relationship. I thought that I would feel like a loser.
Far from it. I actually almost like spending time with the two of them together better than just him and I. That's how gracious this wonderful lady, Katie, is. She is very welcoming of my presence, not a hint of resentment over my place in Mark's life. She is always cheerful, always seeks my best and is always glad to see me. She is a woman of grace.

Woman of Grace

So, Mark and Katie and I are meeting Friday nights to go over The Purpose Driven Life. I know, it is a Protestant book and is kind of simplistic, but it does have a lot to offer. We will read a few chapters each week and discuss it at a local restaurant on Friday nights. We used to go out and eat after doing the Stations of the Cross on Friday nights during Lent. We really enjoyed our time together and have been talking about getting together again and now we are doing it. So, there is an added blessing to my blessed life. I get to fellowship weekly with Mark and Katie.

speaking about Morning Prayer...

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Have mercy on me, God, have mercy
for in you my soul has taken refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I take refuge
till the storms of destruction pass by.


Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
I will lavish choice portions upon the priests,
amd my people shall be filled with my blessing, says the Lord.


O God, we ponder your love
within your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name
reaches to the ends of the earth.


Form the depths of my heart I cry to you; hear me, O Lord.
From the depths of my heart I cry to you; hear me, O Lord.
I will do what you desire,
-hear me, O Lord.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
-From the depths of my heart I cry to you; hear me, O Lord.


All powerful and ever-living God,
at morning, noon, and evening we pray:
cast out from our hearts the darkness of sin
and bring us to the light of your truth,
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Just had to steal this...

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It's too beautiful and compelling, so I am borrowing this from A Catholic Mom In Hawaii.

**********************************************************************

"Do you want the Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit Him rarely. Do you want the devil to attack you? Visit Jesus rarely in the Blessed Sacrament. Do you want him to flee from you? Visit Jesus often. Do you want to conquer the devil? Take refuge often at the feet of Jesus. Do you want to be conquered by the devil? Forget about visiting Jesus. My dear ones, the visit to the Blessed Sacrament is an extremely necessary way to conquer the devil. Therefore, go often to visit Jesus and the devil will not come out victorious against you."

- St. John Bosco

This says so much to me. I have received countless graces that have enveloped and enhanced my soul via Adoration of the Lord before the Blessed Sacrament. There is a peace in my soul regarding relationships with women that has never been there. There used to be a firestorm of passion and now there is a calm, placid lake. There is a sense of a new identity as if I had always been at peace with woman. I often think it odd that I had any other sentiment towards celibacy.

Please, gentle reader, go and spend an hour, a half an hour before the Lord adoring him in the Blessed Sacrament a few times a week.

Give it a month and then you, too, will see the outpouring of grace in your life in a very practical way.

I don't know why or how. I just know that it makes the Lord happy and then he begins to transform your life.

Take it from a man whose life has been changed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Ack! My cowards' streak....

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Folks, I need prayer.

I have to ask my boss for a work shedule change to accomodate my committment at RCIA which starts next week. Lately, when I have asked her for different favors related to Church activites she has been giving me a hard time. So, I have been procrastinating asking her to adjust my Wednesday work schedule where I need to take off an hour early.
The more I wait the higher the anxiety gets. It's driving me crazy. I debated internally all day long today about asking her and avoided it completely. But it's getting late and I need to take action.
So, pray that I get off my duff and just do it. And pray that the Lord will have her grant me favor.
Thanks in advance.

and now for Evening Prayer

The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?

When evil-doers draw near
to devour my flesh,
it is they, my enemies and foes,
who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me
my heart would not fear.
Though war break out against me
even then would I trust.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savor the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.

For there he keeps me safe in his tent
in the day of evil.
He hides me in the shelter of his tent,
on a rock he sets me safe.

And now my head shall be raised
above my foes who surround me
and I shall offer within his tent
a sacrifice of joy.

I will sing and make music for the Lord.


O Lord, hear my voice when I call;
have mercy and answer.
Of you my heart has spoken:
"Seek his face."

It is your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not your face.
Dismiss not your servant in anger;
you have been my help.

Do not abandon or forsake me,
O God my help!
Though father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.

Instruct me, Lord, in your way;
on an even path lead me.
When they lie in ambush protect me
from my enemy's greed.
False witnesses rise against me,
breathing out fury.

I am sure I shall see the Lord's goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!


Father, you protect and strengthen those who hope in you; you heard the cry of your Son and kept him safe in your tent in the day of evil. Grant that your servants who seek your face in times of trouble may see your goodness in the land of the living.


It pleased God to make absolute fulness reside in him and,
by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person,
both on earth and in the heavens,
making peace through the blood of his cross.


Act on this word. If all you do is listen to it, you are deceiving yourselves. There is, on the other hand, the man who peers into freedom's ideal law and abides by it. He is no forgetful listener, but one who carries out the law in practice. Blest will this man be in whatever he does.

Claim me once more as your own, Lord, and have mercy on me.
Claim me once more as your own, Lord, and have mercy on me.
Do not abandon me with the wicked;
have mercy on me.

Open wide the doors of your compassion to those who have died today,
-and in your mercy receive them into your kingdom.


Lord,
watch over us by day and by night.
In the midst of life's countless changes
strengthen us with your never-changing love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

an upside for Diversity Day

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Well, even though I was a little embarrassed to walk around in a kimono, there was some good from Diversity Day.
It's called fooooooooood!
Everyone (but me- hehe) brought in some ethnic food. Nan's chicken was excellent, as was her marinated steak. She said her chicken was Hungarian and Nan is from Guam- I dunno, but it tasted great. She also served rice with a spicy sauce. Mr. B brought in some kind of chicken breast, Miss M brought in black beans and rice and somebody brought in the ripest fresh pineapple. Mmmmm.
So, there was an upside to Diversity Day.

Speaking about Morning Prayer...

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Remember this song by Cat Stevens? Well, it's a well known Catholic hymn:

Morning has broken
Like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the Word!

Sweet the rains new fall
Sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dew fall
On the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness
Where his feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight!
Mine is the morning,
Born of the one light
Eden saw play!
Praise with elation,
Praise every morning,
God's re-creation
Of the new day!


Your love, Lord, reaches to heaven;
your truth to the skies.
Your justice is like God's mountain,
your judgements like the deep.

To both man and beast you give protection.
O Lord, how precious is your love.
My God, the sons of men
find refuge in the shelter of your wings.

They feast on the riches of your house;
they drink from the stream of your delight.
In you is the source of life
and in your light we see light.

Keep on loving those who know you,
doing justice for upright hearts.
Let the foot of the proud not crush me
nor the hand of the wicked cast me out.

Diversity Day- ugh

So here I am at work, sneaking onto the Internet on my break.
I am hiding away in my cubicle because it's Diversity (yuk!) Day. My co-worker, Nan, who is all gung ho over things like this brought in a Japanese kimono top for me to wear. I feel so conspicuous....
I'm kind of shy anyways, in certain situations. But I also abhor political correctness. It rubs me the wrong way. I've never been too deep into my Japanese heritage- a leftover from a childhood growing up in Las Vegas when it wasn't cool to be asian like it is nowadays. A girl even told me I look "cute" in my kimono, argh! Somebody help me. Heh....
So, I'm hiding away in my cubicle. When I'm sitting down the kimono doesn't show so much.

Speaking about Morning Prayer...

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things,
who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor.


Blessed be God who lives forever,
because his kingdom lasts for all ages.

For he scourges and then has mercy;
he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.


So now consider what he has done for you,
and praise him with full voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of the ages.

In the land of my exile I praise him,
and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.
"Turn back, you sinners! do the right before him:
perhaps he may look with favor upon you
and show you mercy.


For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.


Let all the earth fear the Lord,
all who live in the world revere him.
He spoke; and it came to be.
He commanded; it sprang into being.

He frustrates the designs of the nations,
he defeats the plans of the peoples.
His own designs shall stand for ever,
the plans of his heart from age to age.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.

Form the place where he dwells he gazes
on all the dwellers on the earth,
hw who shapes the hearts of them all
and considers all their deeds.


Our soul is waiting for the Lord,
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.


God, our Father,
hear our morning prayer
and let the radiance of your love
scatter the gloom of our hearts.
The light of heaven's love has restored us to life:
free us from the desires that belong to darkness.

Another gem...

Again from Summa Mammas.


St. Padre Pio's prayer of thanksgiving after Mass:

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and always be in Your company.

Stay with me Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes; death judgment, eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way--for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in the night of exile.

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers. I need You.

Let me recognize You and Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion will be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but the gift of Your Presence. Oh yes, I ask this of You!

Stay with me Lord, for it is You alone I look for, You Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.

Found another Catholic blogging treasure

Thanks to Mama T at Summa Mamas, I found a site for a daily dose of St. Augustine! Coolness prevails....

Beautiful image

A moving portrait found at the blog of The Cornell Society For A Good Time

The gestation video... mothers and lovers of babies you gotta check this out.

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The Stretchening

h/t to Mark Shea

and then there was Evening Prayer...

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The Lord looks tenderly on those who are poor.


Make our lives blamesless, Lord. Help us to do what is right and to speak what is true, that we may dwell in your tent and find rest on your holy mountain.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Praised be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has bestowed on us in Christ
every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

God chose us in him
before the world began
to be holy
and blameless in his sight.

He predestined us
to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ,
such was his will and pleasure,
that all might praise the glorious favor
he has bestowed on us in his beloved.

In him and through his blood, we have been redeemed,
and our sins forgiven,
so immeasurably generous
is God's fovor to us.

God has given us the wisdom
to understand fully the mystery,
the plan he was pleased
to decree in Christ.

A plan to be carried out
in Christ, in the fulness of time,
to bring all things into one in him,
in the heavens and on earth.


Lord, you alone can heal me, for I have grieved you by my sins.

Breaking News--- Bettinelli Is Right About JonBenet's Killer's Confession

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Domenico Bettinelli expressed doubt as to the veracity of John Mark Karr's confession of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey on his blog of August 17.


He said:

I had a strange suspicion that perhaps this was an unstable perv who got so obsessed with the case that he created a delusion that inserted him into the event.

So, today, Yahoo News reports that:

Prosecutors abruptly dropped their case Monday against John Mark Karr in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, saying DNA tests failed to put him at the crime scene despite his insistence he sexually assaulted and strangled the 6-year-old beauty queen.

Read Yahoo News on the story here.

Once again the blogosphere is on top of the happenings here in the 21st century. Who needs the Main Stream Media anyways?

AdoroTeDevote has a great conversion story, guys...

AdoroTeDevote: Blue Coyote - Conversion Story Chapter 4

Check out our friend's story of her reversion to Catholicism. She has it in installments, you can read them in order or even pick up here at chapter 4, it is highly interesting reading!

And then there's Daytime Prayer, too...

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The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding forever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of the just.

They are more to be desired than gold,
than the purest of gold,
and sweeter are they than honey,
then honey from the comb.

So in them your servant finds instruction;
great reward is in their keeping.
But who can detect all his error?
From hidden faults acquit me. -Amen!

From presumption restrain your servant
and let it not rule me.
Then shall I be blameless,
clean from grave sin. -Oh, may it be so!

May the spoken words of my mouth,
the thoughts of my heart,
win favor in your sight, O Lord,
my rescuer, my rock!


Psalm Prayer: Father, you weigh what is in our hearts. Free us from oppressors, and , as we wait for your day of judgement, set a firm guard on our thoughts, so that while we return good for evil, we may still praise your kind of justice.

Psalm Prayer: You know our hearts, Lord, but you are slow to anger and merciful in judging. Come, examine your Church, wash her clean of sin and great crowds will surround you with songs of praise.

Speaking about Morning Prayer...

To my words give ear, O Lord,
give heed to my groaning.
Attend to the sound of my cries,
my King and my God.

It is you whom I invoke, O Lord,
In the morning you hear me;
in the morning I offer you my prayer,
watching and waiting.

But I through the greatness of your love
have access to your house.
I bow down before your holy temple,
filled with awe.

All those you protect shall be glad
and ring out their joy.
You shelter them; in you they rejoice,
those who love your name.

It is you who bless the just man, Lord:
you surround him with favor as with a shield.

Lord, all justice and all goodness come from you; you hate evil and abhor lies. Lead us, your servants, in the path of your justice, so that all who hope in you may rejoice with the Church and in Christ.

A Catholic Life: Vatican's Response to new stem cell creation

Moneybags, over at A Catholic Life, made a comment about the recent supposedly moral new form of stem cell research here: A Catholic Life: Vatican's Response to new stem cell creation

I took umbrage at his suggestion that we are in danger of hellfire if we don't agree that this newest form of stem cell research is evil.
Now, I am a new Catholic, relatively speaking, and maybe I am completely in left field here. So, dear readers, please read the statement he made and give me your opinion.

Here is the comment I left on that blog post:

Hi, moneybags, like your blog. Am wondering if you might be a little too presumptious when you made this statement:"Remember, that as Catholics we are to follow the teachings of the Church on both faith and morals - which include their view of embryonic stem cell research and In-vitro fertilization. To disagree with the Church, the Body of Christ, on even one issue would put our salvation at risk."

Surely, you don't think my salvation would be at risk because I believed that this new form of stem cell research was morally sound, do you? Offering news of this sort can be helpful to keep your Catholic audience up to par on current events. But to suggest that Catholics must toe the line on such a current event or be in risk of grave sin and eternal damnation smacks me of meddling.
Perhaps it's just a passing mood that I am in, but that comment
rubbed me the wrong way.

So, there is one of my first stabs at raising controversy in the blogosphere. Hope I am not treading on dangerous ground....

EDIT on Monday, 08/2/06:

I want to make it perfectly clear that I do think that stem cell research that destroys the embryo is a grave sin.

Other EDIT: I changed gender references to male, for some reason I thought Moneybags was a girl, strange that.

Well, a gem of reason found against the cacophony of the Internet regarding our friends who struggle with same sex attraction.

Or A Truly Politically Incorrect View of The Homosexual Struggle

I have benefited greatly from a ministry that serves the needs of the sexually broken, which includes homosexuals and people like me who were addicted to sex.
So has the author of Disputed Mutability, who has an absolute lovely way with words, really the heighth of intelligence. She talks about why she would recommend ex-gay ministries here.
Read it and see a thoughtful, authorative explanation of things regarding recovery from sexual brokenness.

Funny work pics

Talking about morning prayer...

... for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.

For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise,
So I will bless you all my life...

... in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast.

Salvation is from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb! Praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving and honor, power and might, to our God forever and ever. Amen!

Error message fun

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Hat tip to a blogger I found while perusing the list of bloggers from Project 2996.

Which one is your favorite? Mine is the Employment/Enjoyment error. I just started websurfing at work between calls (they just opened the internet to us) and am worried about getting busted by those who monitor my calls.

Well, I joined the tribute. If you want to be one of the 2996 bloggers who honor the 2996 victims of 9/11 then go here and sign up before it's too late. There are only a couple hundred unclaimed victims.

And now for evening prayer excerpts...

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The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God.

The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all creatures look to you
and you give them their food in due time.
You open wide your hand,
grant the desires of all who live.

He grants the desires of those who fear him,
he hears their cry and he saves them.
The Lord protects all who love him;
but the wicked he will utterly destroy.

Let me speak the praise of the Lord,
let all mankind bless his holy name
for ever, for ages unending.


There is no condemnation now for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the spirit, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, has freed you from the law of sin and death.


Christ, our frail humanity is prone to fall,
-strengthen us through your help.
Left to itself, our nature is inclined to sin,
-let your love always restore it to grace.
Lord, sin offends you, repentance pleases you,
-do not punish us in your wrath even when we have sinned.
You forgave the penitent woman, and placed the wandering sheep on your shoulders,
-do not deprive us of your mercy.
By your death on the cross you opened the gates of heaven,
-admit into your kingdom all who hoped in you.


God, our Father,
you brought salvation to all mankind
through the suffering of Christ your Son.
May your people strive to offer themselves to you as a living sacrifice
and be filled with he abundance of your love.

And while not from morning prayer... it's still good

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From the 14th week in Ordinary Time

St. Augustine on the psalms, excerpt:

He is the one who builds, admonishes, instills fear, opens the mind, and bends the perceptions to the act of belief.

I really like that last one: bends the perceptions to the act of belief. May we ever have his hand working in our lives to enhance our belief in any way. What a kind God who builds us up in so many ways.

Speaking about morning prayer...

My sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

Praise the lord for his goodness,
and bless the King of the ages,
so that his tent may be rebuilt in you with joy.

I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Accept us, for our hearts are humble and our spirits contrite,
and those who trust in you shall not be put to shame.

Lord,
fill our hearts with your love
as morning fills the sky.
By living your law may we have
your peace in this life
and endless joy in the life to come.

Speaking about morning prayer...

My sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

Praise the lord for his goodness,
and bless the King of the ages,
so that his tent may be rebuilt in you with joy.

I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Accept us, for our hearts are humble and our spirits contrite,
and those who trust in you shall not be put to shame.

Lord,
fill our hearts with your love
as morning fills the sky.
By living your law may we have
your peace in this life
and endless joy in the life to come.

A dose of reality for Hezbollah

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The Wall Street Journal has an editorial that tarnishes Hezbollah's so-called victory.

Amir Tehari, the author, says

In Lebanon, the Middle East and the broader Muslim space, however, the picture is rather different.

He also says

Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has made it clear that he would not allow Hezbollah to continue as a state within the state.

And

Hezbollah is also criticized from within the Lebanese Shiite community, which accounts for some 40% of the population. Sayyed Ali al-Amin, the grand old man of Lebanese Shiism, has broken years of silence to criticize Hezbollah for provoking the war, and called for its disarmament. In an interview granted to the Beirut An-Nahar, he rejected the claim that Hezbollah represented the whole of the Shiite community. "I don't believe Hezbollah asked the Shiite community what they thought about [starting the] war," Mr. al-Amin said. "The fact that the masses [of Shiites] fled from the south is proof that they rejected the war. The Shiite community never gave anyone the right to wage war in its name."

This perspective peels back the layer of varnish the MSM and Hezbollah has put on the recent Mideast violence. May God grant that area true peace.

Query for My fellow bloggers...

Do you pay for your blog's website? Do you pay for any other services that support your blog?

Pic from the movie, Serenity, which is also my daughter's name

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This also happens to fit the personality of my one and only daughter. A human fireball from birth. But a sweet fireball.

Relax your lower lip, please...

She kept repeating that to me. I don't know, it just seems kind of funny. How often does someone ask you to relax your lip? The dental hygienist was resting her fingers on my lower lip and I guess she couldn't do her job when they were too taut. Guess I've had worse things told to me.

Cheers.

Can't get a Gmail invite?

If you have a cell phone, you can get an invite.

Click here and click where it says: Sign up for Gmail using your mobile phone

Wow, a beautiful piece on coming to terms with life

Romaryka is a great writer.

Incidents and Accidents: These Days

It's kind of long, but beautiful and poignant.

So I got an invisible site tracker to keep a spying eye on you bloggers...

My tracker

Speaking about morning prayer...

Morning prayer excerpts:

O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.

Let everything that lives and breathes give praise to the Lord, alleluia.

Thank God I don't have to move...

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Well, a good ending to my landlady drama.
She was waiting this morning as I was getting ready for morning prayer. She sat on one of the chairs in the living room, one of the ones that I had been blocked access to.
She had a copy of the rental agreement in front of her. She started the conversation off by pointing out that the agreement didn't mention full house privileges. That alarmed me, I didn't even think about that possibility. I thought I was sunk from the beginning. I swallowed down the panic and held my ground.
Then she pointed out that she was giving me free storage space in the garage. She calculated how much that would come to at $40/ month by 8 months. Ouch. I stood there mute.
Then she told me about her feelings about me using the couch. I have to admit I've been a couch potato for the past few months. I work a split shift which gives me 5 hours off in the middle of the day. I would often come home and watch TV during that time and quite often fall asleep. She visits the house twice daily in between the two jobs that she works and would mostly see me on the couch. She is an active person and seeing me inactive on the couch so often must have grated against her nerves. So that explains her motives in cutting me off from the living room I guess.
So, I promised to not sleep on the couch anymore and to clean the bathroom more diligently and pay her the remaining $100 for rent. She agreed to return me to full house privileges.
She said she was sorry and to act like none of this ever happened. She said we were both Catholics and asked me to pray for her as I headed out the door.
A good ending for a trying time.
Thank you to any of you who prayed for me....
God is good.

Blogging success- note to self

Good advice for beginning bloggers from the evangelical outpost.

Thanks to LaShawn Barber's blog which I found out about via sigmund, carl and alfred.

An old pic of me, about 10 years ago when I was thinner.

Pug Bowling

I couldn't stop laughing the whole video through!

Pug Bowling

Thanks to Jules at Maced With Grace

Man, this is hard...

My landlady took a turn on me for the worse. For no reason at all, she blocked off the living room and TV from me. When I moved in a year ago the agreement was $450/ mo. for full house privileges, which has since gone up to $500. So, today when I pay rent I am only gonna give her $400 for the month since she withdrew the full house privileges.
I feel all stressed out now. I hate moving....
So, for those of you so inclined, please pray for me. Pray that my landlady will be reasonable and will grant me favor and not oppose me.

Conservative Catholic magazine that is faithful to the Church now has its subscription at a rock bottom price!

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CRISIS magazine is at it again. They are offering annual subscriptions for only $10.00.
I was offered this 2 or 3 years ago through an email campaign and have ate up every issue since! This is a quality conservative Catholic magazine that writes mainly about political and cultural issues of our day. They did a full issue strictly on John Paul the Great after his passing that was beautifully done. The book reviews are top quality and their feature articles are the best. They even did an article on communion rails for you stalwart ones out there.
Check it out, it's worth the money. Click here to get the discount rate.
Here is the link to subscribe to their free e-letter.

Here is the latest e-letter in its entirety.

********************************************************

Taking Back The Church? Crisis Magazine e-LetterAugust 17, 2006*

Before I get to the e-Letter, I want to let you know that for the next week, we're offering a full year subscription to Crisis Magazine for only $10. You can get a new subscription, a gift subscription, or renew your subscription for just ten bucks. I'll give you all the details at the end of this letter. In the meantime, you can click here to order: https://www.ezsubscription.com/cri/sub.htm


Dear Friend,I've come to a conclusion about dissenting Catholics and how they compare to their more faithful counterparts. Here it is: Faithful Catholics start families. Dissenting Catholics start organizations.If you need proof for the second point, I give you Take Back Our Church, the newest dissident group on the block. Started four months ago by former Jesuit and Newsweek contributing editor Robert Blair Kaiser and California businessman Robert Miller, the group joins an already crowded gaggle of dissenting organizations.So, what differentiates Take Back Our Church from Call to Action, or FutureChurch, or Voice of the Faithful, or The Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, or any other similar group?Good question.Take Back Our Church's Web site is stuffed with the same nonsense you've read before: The Catholic Church is authoritarian... Current Church leaders have turned their backs on Vatican II... The faithful need to reclaim their Church, and reshape it to match their needs. And so on.None of this is terribly surprising, given Kaiser's involvement in the project. He came out with a book earlier this year entitled, “A Church in Search of Itself: Benedict XVI and the Battle for the Future.” If you don't have time to read it, let me give you a quick synopsis: The Fathers of Vatican II ushered in a golden age of openness, tolerance, and progressive action. Unfortunately, the dark forces of John Paul II and his diabolical collaborator, Josef Cardinal Ratzinger, clamped down on this movement of the Spirit, dragging the Church back to the Dark Ages. In light of this, thinking Catholics need to reclaim their Church... and maybe even start an American Catholic Church of their own (more on this in a moment).Sound familiar? This is the same tired song we've heard from all the other grey-haired dissidents of Kaiser's generation. Of course, there's an added note of desperation in this latest entry. The years are starting to thin the ranks of Kaiser's allies, and even liberal commentators acknowledge that younger Catholics are noticeably more orthodox than their elders. So if you're Robert Blair Kaiser, now is the time to act, before the dissident generation is no more. And here's where it gets really interesting...You see, Kaiser's organization is calling for more than just reform... they want an autochthonous American Catholic Church. An autochthonous Church isn't the same as an autonomous Church, as Kaiser is quick to point out on the Web site. Rather, an autochthonous Church is a native Church... an ecclesial body organized and run by people in that specific country. In the autochthonous Church of Kaiser's dreams, the faithful would elect their own bishops. But that's not all:“We will write a Declaration of Autochthony, one that will challenge our priest-people and our people-people to work out a constitution for the American Church that carefully puts aside the Rome-based secretive, half-vast, culturally-conditioned legalisms codified in canon law in return for the kind of servant Church envisioned at Vatican II.”So... a democratic Church with elected bishops and a national ecclesial constitution. If all of that sounds more political than spiritual, it's no coincidence. According to Take Back Our Church's July 4 e-mail to supporters:“This will be a political battle in a Church that has gotten us used to the idea that there's something shady, maybe even something sinful, in trying to overturn the old pyramidal structure. We plead 'not guilty' to that charge. But we do plead guilty in our wish to overturn -- at least in the United States -- what the last pope called 'the divinely instituted hierarchical constitution of the Church.'”At least they're honest. They don't want a hierarchical Church that disagrees with them, so they need to overthrow it.Easier said than done. While Take Back Our Church may be long on ambitions, they're falling short on methodology. Indeed, right now, their principle concern appears to be finding members. As of July 4, they had a total of 580 people on their roll. Not terribly impressive. But don't worry... they do have a strategy for growth:“Right now, we'd like each of you, 580 of you, to scour your e-mail address books and urge your twenty closest friends to go to our website and sign in. Do it now.”Okay, so maybe they need to work on their growth strategy as well. But that gave me an idea...I haven't made the $10 subscription offer for Crisis in quite some time. So I'm going to do it right now. It's the perfect counterbalance to Take Back Our Church's membership drive. Let's see if we can get more faithful Catholic subscribers than they can get dissident Catholic members. Here's the deal: You can have a full year's subscription to Crisis for just $10. That's ten issues... just a dollar an issue.You can also give a gift subscription for $10... it's the perfect gift for your parish, your pastor, a student heading to a secular (or liberal Catholic) college, etc. Really, every Catholic should be reading Crisis.Finally, if you already have a Crisis subscription, you can renew it for a full year for just $10. That's almost 1/3 off the regular renewal price.There's absolutely no limit on the number of subscriptions or renewals you may order. I want to get Crisis into the hands of every Catholic in this country. This is, after all, an apostolate as well as a business. So while this may look like an odd business decision, I do believe it's important for our overall mission. If I'm serious about bringing authentic Catholicism into the public square, I've got to step up to the plate.So that's why I'm making you this offer.Of course, there's a small catch: The $10 deal ends at noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, August 23. I suggest you order sooner rather than later. The devil has a way of distracting us from things like this... until it's too late.Don't let that happen.Click here to order: https://www.ezsubscription.com/cri/sub.htm

Look, we often complain when dissident Catholics worm their way into parishes and chanceries and distort the Faith. Here's a chance to do something about it. Think of Crisis Magazine as a vaccination against the disease of dissent. I'll talk to you next week,BrianP.S. This is a great time to subscribe to Crisis, or to renew your subscription. We have a bombshell issue coming up in December... the fruit of a long-term project. I can't reveal much more than that right now, but it's going to be an issue everyone will be talking about. And there are some well known figures in the Church who won't like it one bit.

To learn more about CRISIS Magazine, visit http://www.crisismagazine.com/subscribe.htm

Followup to God's heads up for me...

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Sadness... My poor friend at work got fired yesterday. She was one of my favorite co-workers. Sigh....
I don't want to mention her name here. She is kind of young and sort of lacking in self-control and she repeated an earlier offense of mouthing off at a customer, although the phone call was disconnected. Still, it's a no-no. Dang, she was always so sweet to me. A very friendly smile awaited me every time we greeted each other and she always said something neighbourly to me when I would comment on our workday. Oh, my young and impetuous friend, I will pray for you. May this be a learning point for you and a chance at getting another good job. May God use this difficult time to bring a blessing into your life. May he comfort you in your pain. Bye, friend, I am sad I no longer can work with you, but there's a great chance we'll see each other in heaven. Keep on praying.

Well, I have been put on my first blogroll

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Thanks goes out to Martha for listing me on her great blog, penni, for your thoughts, about her ponderings of life. She has beautiful photography and great thoughts to consider.
Thanks again, Martha!

God giving me a heads up.

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I think God is gently warning me.
A couple of girls got into trouble at work today. One told me she got caught being monitored when she said something smart to a customer that was cussing her out. We are not allowed to retaliate in any way except to politely hang up when we get verbally abused. The other girl got into trouble in the past due to mouthing off to customers- I really don't know what happened to her today. She got called into the big boss's office with our manager and was sort of in tears afterwards and said something vague about it not being a good thing.
I, myself, have been muttering under my breath after a irritating customer hangs up lately. I think God is kindly warning me to knock it off so I don't get into trouble.
So, please pray for the two girls for wisdom, repentance and mercy. And pray that the Lord will give me wisdom to shape up my act. Thank you.

Yay! I found the new Eucharistic Chapel.

Well, after a week off of praying at the Chapel because it was moved, I finally found its new location. I got to spend a half hour before the Lord today.
That feels good inside. I think spending time before the Lord has a quieting effect on my soul. I think it is largely responsible for the relief I have from inordinate sexual desires and the freedom I have to enjoy celibacy. Thank God for his blessings.

An interesting day... lunch with mum and off to the polls.

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Well, first of all, I have a pre-confession to make about this interesting day. I forgot to schedule time off so I could go to today's obligatory holy day for the Assumption. So, I have to go to confession Saturday before Mass. Rats!
But I had lunch with mum today. It was our annual birthday lunch, we have birthdays that are a week apart. She challenged me in the area of making more money and being able to buy my own home in 5 years. That certainly sounds nice after putting up with landlords that either put their houses up for sale or have relatives that are going to move in or my most recent challenge of the landlady who is taking back the full house privileges she promised when I moved in. We'll see how she feels about that when I pay her $100 less for rent this month. (pray for me here, I really don't want to move again, pray for her to grant me favor)
Then I went to the library, since I don't have internet access at home, and printed up a copy of the voter's guide of a local conservative group, Nevada Coalition of Concerned Voters, www.nevadaconcernedcitizens.org, and ran off to my polling place to vote.
Well, I got there and rushed in to start voting before I realized I forgot the guide in my car. They wouldn't let me leave since I already inserted my voter's card in the slot for electronic voting. Grrrr. So, I went by memory and remembered about half of the names that they suggested. Sheesh! Well, it felt good to get my vote in.

A blog from a funny, no-nonsense kind of priest

http://orthometer.blogspot.com/

What was the hit song on the day you were born?

To find out go to http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/member/birthdayno1.php

Mine was "I'm Sorry" by Brenda Lee. Heh

The sky was falling...

About 13 of us went to the Arizona desert just on the other side of Hoover Dam last night for the Perseid metor shower.
We set up some chairs and laid out some blankets and cracked open a couple bottles of wine and proceeded to stare into the sky for sign of fallings stars. I saw the first one of the night. It was a thick, short star fall that ended in a small explosion. Quite spectacular, actually. There were lots of others, all different in nature. Some making thin and long streaks of light, some leaving a vapor trail that vanished quickly. Some were short and fast, some were slow and they all came in different directions. It was impossible to figure out why meteors coming from the same source would fall in all different directions.
We could maintain our focus on the meteor shower for only about an hour and a half. Soon we were sitting up and talking, sipping wine and then someone turned on a car's CD player and conversations broke out among us.
It was kind of like magic under the stars. It was in the cool of the evening with a soft desert breeze. The milky way was out, that was the first time I had seen its glory in several years. The moon was hidden from view and we were miles away from the city lights. We had Francisco, our resident astronomy grad student, explaining things away. The wine was cold and sweet and the fellowship was warm.
It was the most comfortable party setting I experienced in years. I actually broke out and led a couple conversations. I told my friends about my blogging experiences. About the Catholic bloggers and their excellent faith, about the Israeli bloggers I accidently discovered last week and how the blogosphere stays on top of the latest news items.
It was a night of good memories.

She sounds like a different person...

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Well, more good news about Monica.
I changed plans on her tonight. We usually go out on Saturday nights. And up until last week on Wednesday nights too. She needed the time out of the house to fight off the demons of suicide that recently plagued her. Well, she was so sounded so confident in telling me that she didn't mind me changing plans just now on the telephone. So different from a couple of weeks ago.
She is no longer beat down by life. She actually sounded chipper. We made plans for tomorrow night. Such a refreshing contrast....

A blogger who writes beautifully

http://holyexperience.blogspot.com//

A great response to the fallacy of "in vino veritas"

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10168

One of my favorite columnists

http://www.sobran.com/

For an analyses of religion in the news

http://www.getreligion.org/

Everybody likes good news... (answered prayer)

Well, thanks to anyone who prayed for Monica. It seems the storm has passed. She told me a few days ago that the suicidal feelings have lifted. They were so strong for so long that I was really worried. I even called a suicide prevention hotline....

Praise be to God for giving her relief. It is good to hear her laugh.

Blog from an Israeli waitress

http://noorster.typepad.com/shutterfool/

Mel's second, profound apology

http://amywelborn.typepad.com/openbook/2006/08/a_new_gibson_st.html

a lovely site

http://sacredspace.ie/

another noteworthy blog

http://michellemalkin.com/

Birthdays

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Well, I had a great day yesterday. Mark and Katie took me and Monica out for my birthday. We had a couple glasses of wine at his house first and I got the most pleasant buzz. We ordered more drinks when we got there and had a great sit down dinner. I was floating on air. My spirit was blessed as I counted out loud my blessings to them. Katie asked grand questions that drew the best out of me, as usual, she is a special one, she is.

After morning prayers this morning at Mark's house I told him that I was a rich man. My life is full of blessings. I am content.

So here I am at Webjoy reading blogs and getting ready to play poker ar PartyPoker.net. Hey, everybody, have a great day!

Found a new blog

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Check this out:

http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to Lisa!!

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Well, Lisa fell in love. And she's gonna get married in October. Yoo hoo!!

Lucky gal.

Way to go, Lisa. May God bless you in your marriage. May it be a reflection of the beautiful love of God.

More prayer

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We could all use more prayer, right?

Well, please pray for my daughter's car to be repaired quickly and inexpensively. She's had a couple of breakdowns recently.

Pray for Jonathan and I. He's my second oldest son who just got back from college. Pray that our relationship will be blessed.

Continue to pray for Monica's depression to lift. It has improved some, thank God.

Pray that I will maintain a humble spirit as God blesses me in different ways. Pray that I would grow in holiness and gain in wisdom and knowledge. That I would be blessed with many graces from God.

And I pray, dear reader, for you. That God would bless your health and finances. That he would give you love, faith, a soft heart towards him, wisdom, peace, a spirit of repentance, righteousness and humility. That you would be granted eternal life as you totally submit your life to him and obey him in every way.

Thank you for praying, my friends.

It's been awhile...

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Here are some more prayer requests.

Please pray for my friend, Monica, who is suffering from severe depression. She is bipolar, like me. Pray that the Lord will lift her depression right away, she is suffering so much, the poor thing.

Pray for everything to go smoothly in the financing of my son's tai chi career. He hopes to become an instructor. Pray that the loan I'm co-signing for will be paid off in a timely manner.

Pray for my friends Barry, Margaret and Hugo to be abundandantly blessed during the Leanne Payne conference this year.

Pray for me to increase in my personal sanctity and for my income to be plentiful and that I will gain in wisdom and understanding and health.

And I pray for you, dear reader, to be likewise blessed by the hand of God. Take care.

It's June already...

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Well, it's been awhile since my last post. Last year I didn't post anything after Easter for months. Kinda slow this time of year, I guess.

My friend, Monica, needs your prayers. She has bipolar, too. She is suffering from depression lately, a bad one. Please pray for it to lift.

As for me and bipolar, a strange and wonderful thing has happened to me. I haven't been on meds since March or so. And I feel great. I prayed for healing when this priest from Canada came to give a healing mass. I don't know why, but I am symptom free. I do sleep and lay around a lot and that may be taking a lot of stress off of me and improving my mood. So, pray for me to continue in this blessing and if the symptoms reappear pray that I will take the meds again without being foolish. Thanks.

Since we are talking about praying... My roommate has become grinchy about my kids visiting. Please pray that God will soften his heart and that my kids won't get on his nerves. Thanks.

Well, that's all I can think of to publish today. Take care, dear readers!

Easter was wonderful!

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Well, Easter week was wonderful. I did so much....

I hung out with a bunch of college kids a lot. We went out of town to a campfire and sang under the stars. I read my inspirational poetry and it was well received. They really liked the one about St. Monica. That mildly surprised and delighted me. Mark said hearing them recited by the campfire was like a spiritual experience and he's heard all my poems before. Can't get better than that for a poet.

All the adult Catholic babies got baptized or confirmed and received first communion. What a joy to see them start out on their new journey of faith. My friend, Monica, went with me to Easter Vigil, the long mass that is the climax of the Catholic year (that's where they got baptized, confirmed and received first communion) and she loved it. Said it went by so fast. She really liked that the mass starts out in the dark.... I love the smell of the incense and the fact that we can all share the Eucharist as one in celebration of Jesus' resurrection.

Today, a week later, after mass, the new Catholics shared how the Easter week events shaped their new lives in the Lord. We sat outside under the spring sun and cool breeze enjoying it all. It was beautiful. That's what I like about the Catholic Church, there is so much spiritual beauty....

Last night we went back out under the stars. This time we had a retired nun and Peter, a seventy something young man with a beautiful singing voice with us. They have their liberal lack of insight, but are wonderful people nonetheless. We celebrated Earth day. I proposed a toast to the good earth. Thankfully no one prayed to the so-called goddess.... That would have grieved me. We drank a little wine and had cheese, crackers and fruit and sang a few songs. The stars were out in fine form which is such a novelty for us city dwellers. Saw Orion's belt and his bow and arrow. Another beautiful night with good people.

I hope you had a good and inspiring Easter. I hope the new life of Christ's resurrection has and will find its way into your heart. And remember the Catholic Church celebrates Easter for a few weeks so don't think it's over. It's just begun!

New York Hack

http://newyorkhack.blogspot.com

Just found an interesting blog. It's the perspective of a female New York Yellow cab driver.

Easter is coming!

I actually like this time of year in some ways more than Christmas. It's springtime, of course, but there is also the lack of childhood woundedness that the Yuletide season awakens. Maybe some decade I'll get over all that stuff. May the grace of God through his Church heal me from all wounds.

All kinds of things are happening this year. I took three days off, the three high holy days of the Triduum. Today is the first day. I slept in and did Morning Prayers with the people at Church. Then I'm going to a barbeque and then to Holy Thursday mass and then Taize ( special type of contemplative prayer thru singing) under the stars afterwards.

Tomorrow I will go with folks from the Catholic Worker to do the Stations of the Cross out at the Nevada Test Site and then I'll watch my liberal friends protest and cross the no-trespass line and get arrested, praying for them to be converted to the right side (hehe- please, folks, no offense intended). Then Good Friday service, one of my favorites of the year, with its veneration of the Cross.

Then Saturday will be Morning Prayer again and then special time with the converts in RCIA. I'm also gonna take my son out to Macaroni Grill for his birthday around 2:00. (Pray for him, he needs godly influences in all areas) Then I'll pick up my friend, Monica, to go to Holy Saturday Easter vigil mass for the culmination of the season. Easter Sunday I will rest and go to Mark's barbeque. Then I'll have Monday off to recover, heh.... Hmm, maybe I'll try to have the kids over.

May your Easter be blessed! May you come to terms with the fact that the Creator of the Universe and of your very own soul suffered for you, died for you and rose again from the dead for you. May you be set free from the very things that tear at your soul and be found forever heaven bound living a life of love, good works and freedom from sin.

Happy Easter!

Springtime in Las Vegas

Beautiful weather here. Got girls on my mind again. To avoid temptation I went to Spring Mountain State Park, went up a little hiking trail and found a soft spot where I laid my blanket out and prayed the rosary. The sun was bright, the air was cool and there were these birds who had a soft, sweet song. God's beauty is drink to the soul.

Still got wild thoughts about girls on my mind but the impulse to go chasing them is under control now. Tried to get the kids together for Texas Holdem today but Chris is not answering his phone- he just got a new job, Joshua has to work and Serenity was enjoying the pool on this sunny day. But she promised to have lunch with me tomorrow, an adequate compensation, maybe we'll go to TGI Friday's. Now that I got this neat car to drive maybe I'll go over the Chris's place and roust him up for a meal.

So the Lonely Man has been feeling lonely lately. Tell me, what do you do about your loneliness? Leave a comment....

New hot car!

Well, God blessed me with a beautiful 1997 Cadillac Seville Touring Sedan. It's really a sweet ride and looks so wonderful. That Town Car I looked at had a lot of great features but it looked like a plain sedan. There is nothing like the body lines of a Cadillac.

The car has pretty good mileage and is clean as a whistle. Such a contrast to my old car.

I was dreaming about getting a newer Cadillac just a few mos. ago (my Cadillac was so beat up I was getting embarassed) and never expected that I would actually be able to do it so fast. But my recent raises came in such a perfect time that I can now afford it. Praise the goodness of the Lord.

What has God blessed you with lately? Please share the good news.

Old dead car/ Hot new car

So my head gasket bit the dust this week I find out after I cough up $330 for a new water pump and the repair is priced at around $1500, so you know what that means for the old gray Caddie- hasta la vista, baby. She was a great car. Five years for $1500, not bad, ya know.

I just got approved for a $10,000 car loan! So I have to find a hot new Cadillac. But then again, I just looked at a 98 Lincoln Town Car with 60,000 miles that was mighty sweet. Doesnt look sexy like a Caddy, though. Has great power and is so smooth and has a great sound system. And under the hood it is so clean and glammed out. Hmm.

Chris, my oldest, and I are going to car shop tomorrow. Gonna check out the privately owned Caddies in the classifieds for a hottie.

Please pray for me to find the perfect car. Thanks in advance.

Gambling and girls

Oh boy, somebody pray for me. I want to gamble and chase girls....

My car overheated last night near downtown so I pulled into the Plaza and wasted $40 on blackjack. This morning I want to gamble some more or find some girls to hold hands with. Well....

I must be a bit manic. God help me. I don't want to be good.

A rant against the myth of Global Warming

On my fave site www.Mitfordbooks.com someone started a thread that posted a site that touts some Evangelical group espousing Global Warming as something to actually be concerned about. They said the post might start a debate, so naturally I chimed in and started a debate that slammed the idea of Global Warming. Here is the post I submitted:

************************************************************************
Ok, I'm game. I'll start the debate.

This is ludicrous. Global warming is the biggest socialistic attack on capitalism in a hundred years, next to the Communist regimes of the last century.

To think that mere humans can affect the temperature of the Earth is ludicrous. It is the height of pride to think that we can swing the mean temperature of an entire world.

And think of the solution: petroleum based economies of the world (the capitalist countries, the successful countries) must halt their activities while the third world countries can expand their economies with a separate standard regarding the use of fossil fuels. I.e., they can use them and we must curtail them.
That is BUNK!

We, the leaders of the capitalistic world must continue with our successful use of petroleum fuels to expand our economies. Petroleum fuels are not responsible for the so-called warming trends of our globe.

A single large volcano emits more CO2 than the entire annual output of all the world's fossil fuel utilization. Trees emit more CO2 than our cars do. There are other explanations for so-called global warming.

Don't fall for bad science! Remember the same originators of this argument also argue that a fetus is not a baby and thus can be destroyed for any reason under the sun. They argue for centralized governments that lend towards socialistic oligarchies.

They prey on guilty white, egocentric people who want to think they are the center of the world's problems. They try to paint SUV owners as evil bigots. They voted for Bill CLinton, for Pete's sake!!!! Heh, that last one was an attempt at humor.

You can have my gas guzzler when you pry the steering wheel from my cold, dead fingers.

__________________________________________

It was a lovely memorial service

Well, we had a small memorial service for my grandmother. There was only me, my brother and sister and my oldest son, Chris and my daughter, Serenity. Father George presided over the memorial service and he was wonderful. He introduced himself to us before and was very warm and human when he gave his sermon about the hope of heaven and was very pleasant afterwards while we thanked him. I really wanted him to preside over the service and I am glad we got him.

Afterwards we went out to eat a late breakfast. We had the best time just talking about her and our childhood. It was a warm exchange of family love.

Funny how it takes things like funerals to get families to touch each other. We aren't the warmest of families but we have our moments. May the Lord strengthen our love that we would be more supportive of each other. And may he strengthen the love of your family and friends, dear reader.

How to get a $400 a month raise.

I got a 395.00 a month raise!. I'm increasing my hours an extra 3 hours a week to 40 and will be getting a 10% shift differential with hardly a change to my current work schedule. I already work a split shift, 4 hours in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. With the new schedule I will come in an hour later in the afternoon and may have to work either 8 or 10 hours on Saturday instead of the current 6 hours. Increasing my shift to 40 hours also increases my leave time back to the full time benefit of 23 days a year. They are looking to create a team of split shifters. Trying to entice a bunch of us to work the prime time of calling people mostly at home.

What a blessing. An answer to my prayers.... Gotta have the moolah.

All four- in one place?

Well, during our weekly Texas Hold'em game my oldest and my youngest discussed moving in together this summer when my second oldest graduates from college and returns to Vegas. Maybe my third child will join in. It'll be a big youthfest and for all but my daughter a collegefest. Maybe she'll start taking community college classes....
What a blast that would be! Christopher, Jonathan, Joshua and Serenity- all four in one place, think of the convenience for me, think of the poker nights!! Hehe.
I love those kids.

A sad day in Vegas...

Yes, a sad day today. I got the call from my sister at work 3 hours ago. My grandmother died.
She got pneumonia last month and was admitted to the hospital from her nursing home. Her health declined steadily. She left the hospital for another nursing home last Tuesday where all expected her to pass on. I visited her yesterday with my sister and said goodbye and that I loved her. I don't know if she understood. She had an advanced case of Alzheimer's. She had forgotten how to swallow which hastened her death since she kept pulling her feeding tube out. She looked very relaxed yesterday. 9 days ago she was quite pale and breathing very heavily. She had a healthy shade of pink yesterday and was breathing easily.
I didn't get very close to her because she never knew who I was. Alzheimer's is a strange disease. I hope I don't get it. All the medical staff loved her personality, though. Everyone enjoyed her.
So, you Catholics, please pray for the repose of her soul. Everyone else who prays please pray for the salvation of my sister and mother through this and for a deeper conversion of the rest of us to the Lord's heart.

But my stepdad is doing better. He was hospitalized again 10 days ago with high blood pressure. He only stayed for a few days. He is home now raring to go. Please pray for him, too.

Did you have a Merry Christmas, too?

It was a wonderful Christmas. Mine came in two parts. One with my friends on Christmas day and one with my family a couple days later.
There's nothing like friends and family for the holidays. And the one on one connection with the Lord is made more special around Christmas, too. A day to recall the great gift God gave us through his Son. What a doorway of immense blessing he opened on the day of his birth. The angels couldn't contain themselves and they burst into song that day. How I love that thought. Christmas is a season of great joy and wonder.
May all of you be filled with Christmas blessings as we start the New Year!

Have a Merry Christmas....

I got off work early today- got a three day weekend for Christmas. I wanted to blog today and the libraries were closed for Christmas. My oldest son, who has an internet connection and lives close by, wasn't answering his phone so I came to WebJoy but I forgot it didn't open until 11 am. I had a couple of hours to kill. I sat in the parking lot wondering if I should Christmas shop or wait for the after- Christmas sales since my family isn't celebrating Christmas until Tuesday.

I sat there for a couple of minutes and then my cell phone rang and I thought to myself that this would determine what I would do. It was Barry from Ireland! He called to let me know he sent a Christmas gift and to wish me a Merry Christmas. We also had been planning on talking for over a month. So we chatted for over an hour about life, our foibles, the Catholic church in Ireland (they can go to confession daily there!), our families and our spiritual disciplines we practice. I learned that Barry almost joined the US Marines when he was here in the 90s. What a surprise that was. After we talked I finished These High Green Hills, a Mitford novel in my Caddy. By then WebJoy was open. A perfect morning!

So here I am blogging away.

Now, I don't know what to blog. Well, let's see... Christmas day I will go over to Mark's to exchange gifts. I don't know what to get them.... I haven't done any shopping yet. Had to wait for payday. Then we will go to Chris and Missy's for Christmas dinner. I had to apologize to Missy for my big mouth. I had offended her last time they had a barbeque. I didn't know it until last week. My ADD mouth can get me into trouble, I sometimes say things without thinking of the consequences. Making amends is a good thing. Though I hate having to do it cuz I messed up, I am glad it is available as a way to restore human contact. I learned a lot about that when I thought I was an alcoholic and took the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. A wonderful program for all types of problems, btw. She told me I didn't have to apologize but had to go because of a family emergency. I felt like I was in a quandary cuz my making amends wasn't complete and was trying to figure when would be a good time to call her back. But she called Mark the next day and told him I was very welcome to come over for Christmas. What a good feeling that bit of news was! I like life.

The sun is shining today with some high clouds. It is 60 degrees with no breeze. A great climate, though I wish it were colder for Christmas. It is 4 degrees Celsius in Ireland. I'm guessing that's around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Barry said he could walk around without a jacket so it can't be too cold. Wait, I'll surf the net and get a conversion from C to F.

I was right. 4 C is 39.2 F. He is warm-blooded. 60 F is 15.5 C. A bit warmer here.

What is the high temperature where you are at? Leave a comment.

What are you doing on Christmas day, gentle reader? Inquiring minds want to know.

Pizza and cards...

Had most of my kids over last night for Texas hold 'em and pizza. My youngest son, Josh, couldn't be there cuz he had to study for his finals. Jon came home for the holidays night before last and we all had a great time laughing and carrying on. I was the first to run out of chips. Then Chris went out and Jon and Serenity went at it for a few more hands before she went out.

We ordered pizza and salad, Chris had brought over cokes. We were chomping away between hands.

It was fun to see my blessed not-so-little ones teasing each other and laughing. My daughter kept anteing up for me as my chips dwindled in her sweet sympathy.

Then time was up and after hugging my boys I took Serenity home. We climbed into her new used car her aunt got for a heck of a price which she will sell to her. She drove under her learner's permit to Target where she shopped for her Christmas list and I gave her moral support as she decided what to get for her friends and family. She kept saying how delighted she was to drive her bright red 96 Grand Am. It's a blessing to see your child being delighted.

So, Christmas is around the corner, less than a week away. I might be able to go to a Christmas dinner with friends which would be a real treat. My family will celebrate Christmas a couple days later cuz of various work schedules. It looks to be a full time of celebrations this year.

I have to be creative for gifts this year. Might try and write a poem for each of my kids....

As promised, my latest poem

The Tears Of Monica

Bloodshot eyes, tear stained cheeks
Not unnoticed by heaven’s eye.
Running nose, puffy eyes;
Pure, like finest incense.

Matter mixed with the human soul,
Languishing; body convulsing
With the twisting of the spirit:
Most wholesome prayers.

The tears of Monica
Washed away deafness
From the Maker’s ears,
Caused heaven to be swayed.

Weeping for her first born son
Whose wage was death
Though he breathed the same
Yet was captive to his sin.

“Mountain be moved!”
her tiny faith said.
“Cursed fig tree,
Bear fruit!”

The prayers of a mother
Quaked the earth.
Her inward groaning
Touched infinity:
A saint was formed,
Augustine stood up,
Fortresses fell
And cathedrals arose.

Tim Underwood
November 23, 2005

Christmas Party with my daughter

I took my beautiful daughter to the company Christmas Party, dubbed Holiday Gala for the politically correct. I still have to retrieve my digital camera from a friend's house so I have no pics.
We arrived a little late. I had forgotten our tickets and almost panicked at the thought of driving all the way home to get my wallet. So we snuck right past the guy taking the tickets as if everything was normal. Heh, worked like a charm. How does the adage go, it is better to ask forgiveness than permission?
They had a sumptious spread. My favorite was the penne pasta in Alfredo sauce, the Prime Rib and eggnog custard. I sat with the same folks I sat with last year. You know, the girl I was going on a semi-date with? Check it out on this link from my first entry, way down at the bottom.

I got to show off my darling daughter. She makes me look good. We had fun gossiping about my different co-workers. Mostly, though, I shared with her my warm feelings towards most of the people I recognized. I realized two things that night. I knew a lot of people, being there for 5 1/2 years, and that I had a lot of positive feelings about most of them.
Another blessed night in the life of the not so lonely man.

And then he went into cardiac arrest...

That's right, gentle reader, my stepdad almost died. On the way to the hospital he went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance. The paramedics had to pull over and defibrillate his heart. And less than two weeks later he is resting at home. A Christmas miracle!
He has been ill for the past several years with some rare kidney disease. The past six months he has been in and out of intensive care.
He is my stepdad and at first I was indifferent towards him but the years have melted my heart. He is a wonderful man with keen insight who keeps a steady pace through life and has earned the love and respect of all his stepkids and grands.
He has had little appetite for a few weeks now and was low on his electrolytes and that coupled with his heart medicine almost did him in. I got several people in the Mitfordbooks.com community to pray for him. He still has no appetite but maybe he can get IV solutions administered like they do to NFL football players and people who've had fevers and are dehydrated. Once a week for a refresher, maybe?
Please pray for him to recover his health and to be at total peace with the Lord. I want to be with him in heaven.

Holiday trees? Bah, humbug!

Well, now they have taken Christmas out of Christmas. I can smell college educated personnel at work here. As Rush says about those who have been trained at liberal universities, their skulls are scooped full of mush.
I got motivated by this nonsense and posted about it at Mitfordbooks.com's forum as well as a quote from the Federalist Patriot. Then I decided to send a letter to the editor at our local paper the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Here it is:

To the editor:

What a colossal blunder major retailers have made in censoring Christmas from one of the nation’s biggest holidays. Holiday trees? Bah, humbug!
I can think of no better way to anger the general public at large than this ludicrous censorship.
And there are those who say that Christians should know that the “world” will hate them and we should expect and accept such treatment.
I say, not in America, baby. We aren't a pagan nation with a pagan majority. We are a Christian majority who refuses to be treated with contempt by a vocal anti-Christ minority.
You can't let the barbarians win a single battle. They must be put in their place.
The majority protesters of this censorship are saying this to the college trained politically correct corporate weenies of America:
"Stick it in your ear, it's a CHRISTMAS tree, get over it!"



Hehe, I love tweaking the noses of elitist busybodies....