Because I can

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabbaoth;
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria Tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.

Caption Contest

Caption away in the combox.

Samson and the Destruction of the Temple

As I was reading Phatcatholic Apologetics this morning, I read through a post about suicide. One of the links toward the bottom of the post caught my eye: Did Samson Commit Suicide?
Clearly he intentionly meant to end his own life by destroying the temple and the Phillistines within. He even prayed to God that he may "die with the Phillistines" (Judges 16:20). The meat of the response was in two paragraphs:

For what it is worth, the Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Louis Hartman, C.SS.R., had this to say: “Samson’s death in the Temple of Dagon at Gaza, which he brought down on himself and the assembled Philistines (16:23-30), was not an act of suicide, but rather a return to his mission, to which he had been unfaithful when he betrayed the secret of his strength to Delilah, but which he in conscious response to his call and with a prayer to God on his lips, now fulfilled, even at the cost of his own life.”...
The moralist Heribert Jone, O.F.M.Cap., calls this indirect suicide and says that, while in itself it is forbidden, it may be permitted for a proportionately grave reason. Jone writes: “One kills himself indirectly if, without the intention of committing suicide, he knowingly and willingly does something which not only has an intended good effect, but from which death also follows.”

They cite the example from Ancient Rome of Christians who leapt to their death rather than be sexually violated. I think a more poignant example would be St Maximillian Kolbe who took a man's place while in Auschwitz knowing the man had been condemned to die, even though St Maximilian might have possibly survived Auschwitz.

My Saint and Devotion for the Year

Thanks to Angela Messenger for doing this for the St Blogosphere.
My saint for 2008 is St Anthony of Padua and my devotion for this coming year is the Precious Blood.

Catholic Carnival 147

Living Catholicism has hosted the latest Catholic Carnival. This week is a good one. I am not sure yet if I'll post further on the entries.

More sarcastic humor at Scrappleface.

Psalm 51 in Latin! Because I can

1 MISERERE mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum: deleiniquitatem meam.
2 Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me.
3 Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: et peceatum meum contra me est semper.
4 Tibi soli peceavi, et malum coram te feci: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris.
5 Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum: et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.
6 Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti: incerta et occulta sapientiæ tuæ manifestasti mihi.
7 Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.
8 Auditui meo dabis gaudium et lætitiam: et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.
9 Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis: et omnes iniquitates meas dele.
10 Cor mundum crea in me, Deus: et spiritum reotum innoara in visceribas meis.
11 Ne projicias me a facie tua: et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.
12 Redde mihi lætitiam salutaris tui: et spiritu principali confirma me.
13 Docebo iniquos vias tuas: et impii ad te convertentur.
14 Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meæ: et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.
15 Domine, labia mea aperies: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.
16 Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem: utique holocaustis non delectaberus.
17 Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus: cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.
18 Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion: ut ædificentur muri Hierusalem.
19 Tunc aceeptabis sacrificium justitiæ, oblationes et holocausta: tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

AMS new Archbishop

Ever since July when Archbishop O'Brien became the Archbishop of Baltimore, the Archdiocese for the Military Services (USA) has been without an archbishop. No more.
Archbishop Broglio has been appointed as our new shepherd. Welcome Archbishop Broglio!

Catholic Carnival 146

This week's Carnival is at We Belong to the Lord

Pope Pius XI: Spaghetti Western Star

I saw an article quoted (the quote was translated) over at WDTPRS?. The article noted that Pope Pius XI packed heat:

We are not dealing with just any librarian, but with Achille Ratti, who became Pope with the name Pius XI.

And the gun?

Here’s the explanation of this oddity. When he was prefect of the Ambrosian Library in Milan, Ratti kept a a revolver close at had "as a deterent to keep off possible miscreants with gunshots in the air, or the like."

Once promoted to the Vatican Library, he brought his gun with him. And when in 1918 Benedict XV sent him to Poland as an apostolic visitor, he sent to Warsaw via the diplomatic pouch, "a small revolver and ammunition".

As Pope, we don’t know. But it occurs that he could have been a quick-draw, based on the motto he chose for his episcopal caot-of arms: "Raptim transit" , "it goes by swiftly", a citation of Job 6:15.

When I read it I thought immediately of Spaghetti Westerns. Instead of Clint Eastwood, maybe Pope Pius XI could have starred, or maybe co-starred with St Gabriel Possenti.
I thought up a few titles, but please by all means add more in the combox:
For a Few Prayers to St Thomas More
The Good, the Bad, and the Holy
Fistful of Rosaries
Once Upon a Time in the Roman Empire

and there's one title that would fit perfectly:
God's Gun

Why do we go to Mass?

Curious? Listen here.

HT to Catholic Audio

Condoms instead of Bibles

Hotels substituting “intimacy kits” for Bibles
I think this headline speaks volumes about where our society has gone.

CC 145

The latest Carnival is up here.

Blogging will be sparse this week because I am moving.

Established and preserved by blood and prayer
Thrown away with no concern nor care

Christendom, the shining jewel of the Earth
Now suffers from Europe's spiritual dearth

A great jewel formed of the hostile Empire
Its borders marked with many a spire

Much of it torn away by the atheist Marx
The Christian fire in Russia reduced to sparks

The plague of Communism in time spread
The lands Christian legacy officially dead

Complacency and tolerance have done the rest
Such have tarnished the jewel more than Lenin's best

A shame that a jewel made so precious by prayer and blood
Should vanish away like the Earth by the Great Flood

Happy Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day and I would like to thank all the Veterans out there for their service, especially the St. Blog authors at Catholic Cavemen and Quaffs and Quibbles.

I would also like to remember Fr. Kapaun, an Army Chaplain and veteran of WWII and Korean War, who died at the hands of his Communist Chinese captors during the Korean War.

A Veteran's Memorial

Every year we celebrate Veteran's Day on November 11, but few of us realize that November 11 is also the memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, a Soldier in the Roman Army. He is almost always portrayed as a Soldier on horseback, cutting his cloak in half to share it with a freezing naked beggar. That's because he once cut his cloak in half to give one half to a beggar. Later in a dream, it was revealed to Saint Martin that the beggar was really Christ Jesus.
As a side note, the cloak was kept as a relic. French kings took it with them when they went into battle. The Latin word for cloak is capella (my spelling might be off). And of course priests accompanied the relic and they came to be called capellans, after the relic. The "c" in Latin apparently sound like "ch" in English. So that is where the word Chaplain came from. In a way, he could almost be considered the patron saint of Chaplains.
Also, I would point you to point by my good friend from my days in the sem, Matt Libra. He visited the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian, another Saint who was a Soldier in the Roman Army, and Matt has his own Veteran's Day reflections.

A prayer by Saint Martin of Tours:
Lord, if Your people still have need of my services,
I will not avoid the toil.
Your will be done.
I have fought the good fight long enough.
Yet if You bid me continue to hold the battle line
in defense of Your camp,
I will never beg to be excused from failing strength.
I will do the work You entrust to me.
While You command,
I will fight beneath Your banner.

Christ the Convict

H/T to Ironic Catholic posting at National Pray to God Month

Negotiator or Agitator

Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, is in the news for acting supposedly for the Colombian gov't for the release of civilian hostages held by the FARC in their guerrillas war against the Columbian people.
Now, obviously the FARC are Communist guerrillas, but many people don't realize Chavez is by his own admission a Maoist. That's right, the world's 5th largest exporter of oil is run by a Communist. 13% of the crude oil the US receives comes from Venezuela.
His politics and shady history (the first time he tried to be president it was an attempted coup d'etat) make you wonder whether this isn't the fox guarding the hen house. For all we know the 100,000 AK-47s he ordered in 2005 might be in the hands of the FARC or maybe he just gave them his old stock of weapons once he got new AKs.
Colombian law enforcement have found FARC leaders sheltered in Venezuela before. Seems like they were being sheltered by a government trying to Communist to the rest of Latin America. The Soviet Union fell apart and the Berlin Wall fell, but stubborn idealogues seem determined to try and make it work despite its inherent self-destructive nature.

David and Popes

Over at Crossed the Tiber I came across a very interesting post comparing bad and often sinful decisions made by Popes with David's fornication and having the husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed. The main gist of the post was this:

Catholics are often asked how we can believe in the validity of the Church in light of the bad popes, corrupt bishops, bad priests, (sinful bloggers) etc and the recent abuse scandal.

Would Uriah the Hittite have accepted what came to be the Word of God if he knew that the man destined to write a portion of it (Psalms) fornicated with his wife and sent him into battle to die? The Jewish people as well as early Christians accepted the Old Testament as God's Word despite the fact that adulterers, polygamists and murderers wrote fairly large portions of it, including Moses, David and King Solomon. We don't believe the sinful actions of these men affected the truth God inspired them to write.

That's right, just as Sacred Scripture is the inerrant Word of God despite the sinful and sometimes scandalous actions of the writers, just so is the Catholic Church still the one true Church despite the sins and scandals of some Popes. The Holy Spirit is, despite some protestations to the contrary, able to proclaim Truth and overcome the sinfulness of mankind.

Carnivals

144

143

5,000

Woohoo! My blog has made the 5,000 visitors mark!

H/T to Rosetta Stone

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
-Luke 18:38

Citizen Soldier by 3 Doors Down

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"
--George Orwell
H/T to Faith and Country for this video
I am not gonna post the lyrics, but she did if you want to see them.
3 Doors Down always has good stuff




I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.