Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

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Sayings from St Marcarius one of the Desert Fathers, set to chant.

h/t to Orthodox Word
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Saint Quiz XII

This time for the Saint Quiz I found an icon with Old Testament figures, I numbered them. Click the image to see it in a bigger size. See how many you can figure out.

I've set an autopost to show the answer in a week.
Answers
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Saints and Scripture Keys to the Kingdom

Today, in the Eastern Churches, is the Feast of the Honorable Chains of the Holy and Illustrious Apostle, St Peter. In this case, the chains referred to are from the first time he was imprisoned, not the chains from his Roman prison(see here for more). With this in mind, my mind wandered on things to post about for Saints and Scripture Sunday. I decided to have a post on Jesus giving Peter the Keys to His Father's Kingdom.
First I want to draw your attention to a passage from Isaiah about God setting up a new Prime Minister in ancient Israel:

"And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda. And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it."

--Isaiah 22:21-25

Now we see the famous passage from the Gospel of St Matthew which every Catholic should know, establishing St. Peter as the first Pope:

And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

--Gospel of St Matthew 16:18,19

Jesus, clearly was referring back to Isaiah and was not just establishing authority in Peter, but also setting him in an appointed position. As a King in the Davidic line, Jesus set Peter as His "Prime Minister", a position which was clearly intended to have successors.

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Its Official!

Anglican Ordinariates are no longer a subject of the future, at least for England and Wales. The first ordinariate was established today: the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
H/T to Anglo-Catholic where I first read about this

Ut omnes unum sint

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25,000 Visits

Today I reached 25,000 visits!
Its not a lot, especially for as long as this blog has been going. Its still a milestone I have been looking forward to even though I know most of the visits were from random Google searchers who probably don't actually read anything here.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

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7 Quick Takes 14JAN

Linked with Conversion Diary 7 Quick Takes

1. We still have a lot of sodas left over from my daughter's birthday party. I have found myself drinking two or three a day. God please grant me self-control.

2.As I've mentioned before, I really like the Divine Liturgy at my local Melkite Catholic parish. I've been going there every Sunday since about last May or June. I really think I'm talk to the priest there at the one year mark and see about becoming Melkite Catholic.

3. Anyone have any good recipes for Friday vegetarian dishes?

4. Windows Vista actually works on Chuck Norris's computer.

5. Does anyone happen to know any romantic places to go in the Augusta, GA area?

6. I used to blog very regularly, but now its seems like I never have anything to say. I almost forget I have it. I wish I could come up with more to say, but I'm just not that clever.

7. TGIF!

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Saint and Scripture St John Climacus

As I was watching EWTN on Wednesday morning I saw a quote: "Run from places of sin as from the plague."--St John Climacus
I found the saying to be really profound, since sin is just as dangerous to souls as plagues are to bodies. It is a reminder to actively resist that which draws us away from God.
St John Climacus was born in the 6th Century in Palestine. At 16 he joined St Catherine's Monastery (it still exists) on Mt Sinai. After a time he withdrew to a hermitage at the base of the mountain. Two of his written works still exist today, Ladder of Divine Ascent and To the Pastor. The Ladder of Divine Ascent also has an icon named for it.
St John Climacus's quote also reminded of Christ's warnings to cut off anything which leads us into sin.

"You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body be cast into hell." Matthew 5:28-30

"And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." Matthew 18:8

"And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting, than having two feet, to be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished." Mark 9:42-47

May God bless all who read my ramblings,


Source for the pic of St John Climacus
Source for the ladder icon

End of Year Post

I started blogging again this last May. I hadn't blogged since June of 2009 unfortunately. Life seems to get in the way of other things sometimes.
Well, this year I started writing Saints and Scripture Sunday posts. I continued with a few more Saint Quizzes. I also contributed posts to LOL Saints and Catholic Dads.
I added a page for my Adopt A Catholic Blog initiative that I started in 2008 but no one has adopted a blog since 2008. Although, one blogger has commented on there requesting that someone adopt him and his blog.
I didn't really do much with 50 Days After this year. Next year I will try to post more regularly and write things that people will actually want to read.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Final 7 Quick Takes of 2010

1. I've really been getting into a show called Naked Archaeologist. The name is because the intent of the show is to break it down for dummies, to strip away all the complications to make it "naked". All of the shows are about various topics from the Holy Land. The only one I have seen that isn't Biblical was about Shimon Bar Kokhba.

2. One episode of the Naked Archaeologist was about the Temple Treasures. He asked at one point if the archaeologist he was interviewing thought that the Ark of the Covenant might be found buried on the Temple Mount. No, was the response, because 2 Maccabees 2:1-7 was very clear that Jeremiah buried it on Mt Nebo, where Moses looked over the Promised Land. So why did the writers of Indiana Jones did so little research that they had it in Egypt?

3.A great song from Matisyahu...



4. “A servant of the Lord is he who in body stands before men, but in mind knocks at Heaven with prayer.”-- St John Climacus

5. Keeping an Eastern theme, here is a quote from my parish's patron saint: “I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.”--St Ignatios of Antioch

6. So i just learned about St David the Dendrite. Dendrite means someone who lives in a tree. St David the Dendrite spent three years living in an almond tree in Thessalonika.

7. Did anyone else know that Christmas is an official holiday in Iraq? I remember the first year that it was declared a holiday; I was there.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

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The Thirsting

A Catholic band called The Thirsting

This second video sounds a bit like listening through a drive-thru window speaker, but I still enjoy the song.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Agape and Regret Videos

Some videos from Seven Sorrows a Catholic heavy metal band.
I'll admit it, I REALLY LIKE heavy metal. I can't get enough, the harder the better. Unfortunately, there seem to be few and far between bands in this genre with Christian or even morally acceptable lyrics.





May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Cathedral of St John the Baptist Savannah, GA

source

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Matthew and the Deuterocanon

Matt. 2:16 - Herod's decree of slaying innocent children was prophesied in Wis. 11:7 - slaying the holy innocents.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Matthew 2:16	...as a rebuke to the decree for the slaying of infants, You gave them abundant water in an unhoped-for way. Wisdom 11:7
Matt. 6:19-20 - Jesus' statement about laying up for yourselves treasure in heaven follows Sirach 29:11 - lay up your treasure.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20	Dispose of your treasure as the Most High commands, for that will profit you more than the gold. Sirach 29:11
Matt. 7:16,20 - Jesus' statement "you will know them by their fruits" follows Sirach 27:6 - the fruit discloses the cultivation.
By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:16-20	In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall sprout and blossom, covering all the world with fruit. Sirach 27:6
Matt. 12:42 - Jesus refers to the wisdom of Solomon which was recorded and made part of the deuterocanonical books.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. Matthew 12:42
Matt. 16:18 - Jesus' reference to the "power of death" and "gates of Hades" references Wisdom 16:13.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18	For you have dominion over life and death; you lead down to the gates of the nether world, and lead back. Wisdom 16:13
Matt. 22:25; Mark 12:20; Luke 20:29 - Gospel writers refer to the canonicity of Tobit 3:8 and 7:11 regarding the seven brothers.
Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died and, having no descendants, left his wife to his brother. The same happened with the second and the third, through all seven. Finally the woman died. Now at the resurrection, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had been married to her." Matthew 22:25-28	For she had been married to seven husbands, but the wicked demon Asmodeus killed them off before they could have intercourse with her, as it is prescribed for wives. So the maid said to her: "You are the one who strangles your husbands! Look at you! You have already been married seven times, but you have had no joy with any one of your husbands. Tobit 3:8	I have given her in marriage to seven men, all of whom were kinsmen of ours, and all died on the very night they approached her. But now, son, eat and drink. I am sure the Lord will look after you both." Tobiah answered, "I will eat or drink nothing until you set aside what belongs to me." Raguel said to him: "I will do it. She is yours according to the decree of the Book of Moses. Your marriage to her has been decided in heaven! Take your kinswoman; from now on you are her love, and she is your beloved. She is yours today and ever after. And tonight, son, may the Lord of heaven prosper you both. May he grant you mercy and peace." Tobit 7:11
Matt. 24:15 - the "desolating sacrilege" Jesus refers to is also taken from 1 Macc. 1:54 and 2 Macc. 8:17.
"When you see the desolating abomination spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains,… Matthew 24:15, 16	On the fifteenth day of the month Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five, the king erected the horrible abomination upon the altar of holocausts, and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built pagan altars. 1 Maccabees 1:54	...keeping before their eyes the lawless outrage perpetrated by the Gentiles against the holy Place and the affliction of the humiliated city, as well as the subversion of their ancestral way of life. 2 Maccabees 8:17
Matt. 24:16 - let those "flee to the mountains" is taken from 1 Macc. 2:28.
then those in Judea must flee to the mountains,… Matthew 24:16	Thereupon he fled to the mountains with his sons, leaving behind in the city all their possessions. 1 Maccabees 2:28
Matt. 27:43 - if He is God's Son, let God deliver him from His adversaries follows Wisdom 2:18.
He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" Matthew 27:43	For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. Wisdom 2:18

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

7 Quick Takes 17DEC10

1. Does anyone have any suggestions for books about Louis Martin (St Therese de Lisieux's Dad)? I am curious to read what he did as a father to encourage his daughters in holiness. He obviously did something right.
2. I've moved around easily a dozen times in my twenty-odd years. I think I might stay where I am or at least try to. I found an AMAZING Melkite Catholic parish here. We are Latin Rite, but I am falling in love with the Divine Liturgy and seriously considering becoming Melkite. Maybe my daughter will get to grow up near her grandparents, like I never got to.
3. In the next few months, I am going to start putting things together to set up a small business. I don't expect to quit my day job, but owning my own business is something I've wanted to do for some time.
4. Right now Sitemeter has recorded about 24, 600 visits. While this blog has only ever been for my enjoyment, I still like the idea that some time this month or next I will have had 25,000 visitors.
5. Speaking of visitors, the most popular posts are Saint Quiz IV and my posts regarding St Expeditus.
6. Do any of the other parents out there find themselves watching their kids show even after they leave? It usually takes me 15 minutes or so for it to register that my daughter is in bed and I am still watching Nickelodeon.
7. "Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord." Psalm 118:26 or 117:26 in the Douay-Rheims translation

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Keep the Mass in Christmas 2010

I had a Keep the Mass in Christmas post once before, but I slacked last year. I actually went for over a year without posting. I am back now though.
Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Nicholas and knowing how St Nicholas went from tall, thin, pious archbishop to jolly, fat man with a red suit who flies around with reindeer and his sole purpose in life is to give out presents has inspired me to post again. Today St Ignatios had one of the deacons dress up as St Nicholas (complete with miter and beard) and give out chocolate coins to the children. My daughter wouldn't have anything to do with him, but she was quite pleased once I opened up the coins and showed her the chocolate inside.
I saw on Google that there are 1, 2, 3 Facebook groups for this cause. I also saw that Tiber Jumper, The SciFi Catholic and Michael Dubriel have posted on this.
I don't have anything really clever to say about this today. I did want to post something and throw some pics out there.
H/T to Tiber Jumper and again for the initial pic that I modified.


May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Saint and Scripture Compassion

"As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him " Psalm 103:13

I hear this part of the Psalms every Sunday during Orthros and it gets me every time. His forgiveness knows no bounds. At the same time, he chastises when we do wrong. This chastisement is by no means a condemnation nor does he necessarily remain angry. I can't explain it well, I just know how I feel as a father. So I will let one of the Church Fathers do the explaining.
From St Augustine:

Let Him be as angry as He shall will, He is our Father. But He has scourged us, and afflicted us, and bruised us: He is our Father. Son, if you bewail, wail beneath your Father; do not so with indignation, do not so with the puffing up of pride. What you suffer, whence you mourn, it is medicine, not punishment; it is your chastening, not your condemnation. Do not refuse the scourge, if you dost not wish to be refused your heritage: do not think of what punishment you suffer in the scourge, but what place you have in the Testament.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Heavenly Dress Code

This is the funniest LOLSaint Post that I have seen in quite a while.

I think this is the guy who showed up to the wedding not dressed up and so the king had him beaten and thrown out. I'd like to know what you guys think it is.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Veteran's Day

Freedom requires vigilance, because not everyone believes in reasonable debate and compromise.

"Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience -- almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate.

In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good."

Pope Benedict XVI April 16, 2008

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

To the alarm company that plays radio ads with that annoying siren:
STOP IT. That is the exact same siren that the incoming alarm used to use.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Saints and Scripture Sunday

Hebrews 11:31,32 mention great heroes of the faith such as Gideon, David, Samuel and Samson who worked mighty deeds and slew many enemies. Hebrews 1:36 mentions the often forgotten heroes of our faith:
"And others had trial of mockeries and stripes, moreover also of bands and prisons"

Too often when we think of the persecution of the Church we think of Ancient times or other historical times. Christians are persecuted and killed TODAY. In Communist, Hindu, but mostly Muslim lands Christians are forbidden from practicing the True Faith and very often imprisoned or killed for it. The process for declaring sainthood takes some time, while there are a great many new martyr saints every year it takes a while for the Church to declare them so, so for a Saint in this week's Saints and Scripture I chose instead of a Saint, Servant of God Fr. Emil J. Kapaun. He was an Army chaplain in WWII and Korea. In the Korean War he was captured by Communist Chinese forces and in the POW camp he resisted attempts to brainwash UN troops, led Sunday celebrations (he had no bread or hosts to consecrate for a Mass), led secret prayer groups, stole food to help his fellow prisoners survive, and more. In the end he became ill and the Chinese left him in a shack by himself with no medical treatment. This was their solution to his resistance to Communism.
Also, I once posted about saints from Eastern Europe, including one who was immured (they bricked him into the wall and left him there to die).
For more info on the persecuted Church, I recommend Voice of the Martyrs or you can go here to write letters (in their own language) to currently imprisoned Christians around the world.

"Remember them that are in bands, as if you were bound with them; and them that labour, as being yourselves also in the body." Hebrews 13:3

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

More Sunday Snippets

This week's Sunday Snippets, I want to mention Saint Quiz XI and Spirit of Vatican II comic.
Not a lot of posting this last week, maybe this week.
May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Unnamed Biblical Characters Meme

The rules for this meme are simple:
1. Name yoiur three favorite unnamed characters from the Bible
2. Tag three friends
3. Link to this post.

My three favorite unnamed characters:
1. The good thief
2. The centurion who declared "Truly this man was the Son of God"
3. Samaritan woman at the well

I tag:
Adrienne
Ironic Catholic
Anita

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Spirit of Vatican II/Halloween

This comic just about sums it all up:

h/t to Catholic Cartoon Blog
May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Sunday Snippets

Its another Sunday Snippets.
This last week I only had two posts total so I'll throw both of those in here the first was about a picture I saw on Indonesian Papist and the other is a video with a hymn sung at baptisms with a Byzantine liturgy.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Saint Quiz XI

Same deal as the other ten Saint Quizzes, place a comment in the combox when you figure out one or more of the saints. These three should be simple. The top one is from my parish, St Ignatios of Antioch in Augusta, GA.





May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Saints and Scripture Longing

"As the deer yearns for running streams, so I yearn for you my God." Ps 42:1

This is the beginning of my favorite Psalm. I know 22 is much better known and more popular, but ever since I saw the mosaic on the floor in front of the altar at Mt Angel, I cannot help but be struck with a burning desire for the Eucharist every time I hear or read this line. The mosaic has deer drinking from a stream which flows forth from a chalice and host. Just as the deer needs water for life, we do not live by bread alone and we as Christians are called to the Living Waters in the Eucharist.
It also reminds of St Giles who lived in the woods as a hermit and his only companion was a deer who kept him company. One day a hunting party shot him with an arrow instead of the deer. He lived, but became the patron saint of crippled persons.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Melkite/Orthodox Baptismal Hymn

Just because...


May God bless all who read my ramblings,

As the deer longs...

I saw this picture on Indonesian Papist. The post was written in a language I don't read, but I do know the little bit of Latin on the picture and I have always liked images which evoke Eucharistic imagery from this particular psalm. I especially like that the chalice has "FONS VITAE" to tell how our lives come from God present in the Eucharist.


May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Jars Of Clay - Flood (Original Version)

Things have been hectic and I apologize for the unannounced hiatus in my blogging. Mea culpa. Here is one of my favorite songs.



May God bless all who read my ramblings,

Small Seed Lazarus

In John chapter 11 there is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. We all know the story, and we can all agree that although Lazarus had only a brief part in the Bible, his story has played a huge role in the salvation of many through the years.
It is an example to point to when we contemplate or speak of the resurrection to come when Jesus returns. It is also an undeniable miracle for a dead and actually rotting man to come back from the dead. This miracle caused a great ripple through the years as the Jews who believed because of it testified of the truth to others who told others and so on.
St Augustine compares Lazarus to a non-repentant sinner (numbers 3 and 4) who seems beyond hope, but that Christ can heal and cause repentance when we have given up hope and he is seemingly dead in his/her sin.
Paul calls the Resurrection the cornerstone of our faith and indeed this is more proof of it that we may hold to our belief.


May God bless all who read my ramblings,