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.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Conservative Catholic magazine that is faithful to the Church now has its subscription at a rock bottom price!
.
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
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...
.
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Well, I have been put on my first blogroll
.
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!
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.
.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
An interesting day... lunch with mum and off to the polls.
.
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.
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.
Monday, August 14, 2006
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
Mine was "I'm Sorry" by Brenda Lee. Heh
Sunday, August 13, 2006
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.
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.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
She sounds like a different person...
.
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....
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....
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
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.
Praise be to God for giving her relief. It is good to hear her laugh.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Saturday, July 29, 2006
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