Just Another Day of Catholic Carnival

Catholic Carnival 205 is up at Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering.
Next week it will be here at 50 Days After. I am envisioned a Babylonian theme.
Happy New Years!

Kudos for the best title in the Comment Box

I was bored at work and wrote this:

I'm celebrating Christmas in Iraq this year
I'm fortunate, for our priest will be here
Off to the chapel at midnight for Mass
A day different from the others at last
We pray for faith, hope, love and for peace
We know He will return and wars will cease
Until His justice reigns, we're here in this land
Defending Iraq and home in these blowing sands
Sixteen months or so they say
But I'm still here this Christmas day
Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men
Until His Second Coming. Amen

Adopt A Catholic Blog

I originally published this in September, but I decided to make it a sticky and leave it on the main page for a bit.


I came up with an idea this morning of adopting a blog. I thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that this sort of thing should start within St Blog's Parish before it moved out into the greater blogosphere.
By adopting you would keep the author(s) in your prayers and link to their site on your sidebar (if you have a site). But you would also read their blog with some frequency, maybe blog on one of their posts, and comment on his or her blog as you see fit.
Here's the basic ground rules:
1) You pick a blog and leave a comment under this post marking which blog you adopted. I am not going to assign the blogs out. I am deploying soon and I don't think I'll have time for that.
2) If someone has already taken that blog please move on and find another one there are plenty out there. I know everyone wants to adopt the Curt Jester, but lesser known bloggers need your prayers too. That's not to say that that you can't still pray for Jeff at the Curt Jester on top of your adopted blogger.
3) Tell other bloggers in St Blog's Parish. I have a lesser known blog and I don't have the visibility of the Curt Jester or American Papist. Besides, I am leaving soon and I don't know how much time I will have for blogging.

So true

Catholic Cartoon Blog hits back in the culture war with more witty satire.

Google Search: Che compared to Christ

I saw a post over at Infused Knowledge about what search terms led people to her blog.
After I commented, the next day I looked again on sitemeter at the search terms that led people to my humble blog. I noticed one of the phrases is "Che compared to Christ" which took them to my post titled "Che compared to Christ??!!"
I googled that search to see what else would come up. I found a video on YouTube that really grabbed me. Other than that there wasn't much else interesting, I thought.
Here's the video:

Quick Nap

This picture was taken a few months ago when I was still in the US.

Catholic Carnival Reaches Special 202

Catholic Carnival 202 is up at Real Life Rosary Weblog. 202 is not really a noteworthy or special number except for being a palindrome.
I actually contributed this week. I haven't done that in a while. I have been slacking.

I haven't added any pictures of Cathedrals lately. This is St Francis Xavier Cathedral in Nassau, Bahamas.

67 years ago today...

Our Lady of Akita pray for us.

Keep Mass in Christmas

Every year we see pictures and car magnet with the catchphrase "Keep Christ in Christmas". What about the other part of Christmas...Mass. Even if someone reduces Christmas to Xmas. The Mass and Christ truly present in the Mass are still in the word. That's not to say I am defending the Xmas abbreviation. I find it repugnant and a blatant attempt to remove anything religious from our culture. What I am saying is that our majority Protestant culture in the United States conveniently overlooks the Catholic origins of Christmas and denies the Catholic foundation of all Western culture.

Keep Mass in Christmas...




Adopt a Catholic Blog

Mary Moments Carnival

Catholic Carnival 200 is up at Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering.
I just discovered the Mary Moments Carnival today. Its a monthly Carnival dedicated to the Blessed Mother. Check out November
I filed it under Catholic Carnival because I didn't want to create another category (I already have too many) and its still Catholic and a Carnival.

Adopt A Catholic Blog

Not all return

Please keep 1LT William Jernigan and his family in your prayers. He was a friend of mine.

100 places

In no particular order, 100 Places I want to see in my life. Just thought I'd share.

1. The Holy Land
2. Arctic Ocean
3. Vailankanni
4. Indian Ocean
5. Antarctic Ocean
6. Falkland Islands
7. Lalibela, Ethiopia
8. Possible site of Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia
9. London
10. Lourdes
11. Athens
12. Thermopylae
13. Ruins of Ephesus
14. Moscow
15. St Petersburg
16. Chichen Itza
17. Pyramids of Egypt
18. Istanbul
19. New York
20. Boston
21. Philadelphia
22. Montreal
23. Australia
24. New Zealand
25. Tahiti
26. Hawaii
27. Ulan Baatar
28. Lome, Togo
29. Rio de Janeiro
30. Washington, DC
31. Lisieux
32. Rouen
33. Chunnel
34. Gibraltar
35. New Orleans
36. Gettysburg
37. Valley Forge
38. American Battlefield Cemetery in Mexico City
39. Village at the bottom of the Grand Canyon
40. Las Vegas
41. Lichtenstein
42. Andorra
43. San Marino
44. Nazca Lines
45. Monaco
46. Avignon
47. Monte Cassino
48. Kathmandu
49. Zanzibar
50. Dar-es-Salaam
51. Charleston, SC
52. Ireland
53. Fulda, Germany
54. Oberomergau, to see the Passion Play
55. Havana
56. Akita
57. American Battlefield Cemeteries in Europe
58. Crazy Horse
59. Stone Mountain
60. Dubai
61. All 50 States-27 down, 23 left
62. Pearl Harbor
63. Guadalupe
64. Easter Island
65. St Helena Island
66. Leaning Tower of Pisa
67. St Pierre et Miquelon
68. Prague
69. Budapest
70. Malta
71. Taj Mahal
72. Goa
73. Versailles
74. Alamo
75. Vicksburg
76. Transylvania
77. West Point
78. Stonehenge
79. Lexington/Concord
80. Yorktown
81. Arlington
82. Costa Rica
83. Belize
84. Victoria Falls
85. Amazon River
86. Lake Itasca
87. Amsterdam
88. Cape Canaveral
89. Dakar
90. Dodge City
91. Auschwitz
92. Marathon
93. Bataan/Corregidor
94. Naples
95. Florence
96. Venice
97. Great Salt Lake
98. Dead Sea
99. Maccu Piccu
100. Singapore

--green bold indicates I have been there since I wrote this list (6 complete so far)

Premio Dardos

Sunny from Faith and Country has honored me with the Premio Dardos award.
This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.
The rules to follow are :1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to other 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment.
Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this award.
My 15 blogs of choice:

1. Catholic Cavemen
2. B Movie Catechism
3. The Curt Jester
4. Infused Knowledge
5. Transitus Tiber
6. Steve Ray's Blog
7. Dominican Idaho
8. Aussie Coffee Shop
9. Adrienne's Catholic Corner
10. Maureen Martin
11. Idaho Hicks in Austria
12. Sonitus Sanctus
13. Ironic Catholic
14. Holy Cards for your Inspiration
15. Alive and Young
    

Sunny, I still keep you and your blog in my prayers.
There are still lots and lots of Catholic blogs out there to adopt.

Sacrifice

I have decided to use this deployment to finally read the Bible cover to cover. Genesis and Exodus were fairly quite despite all the "begats". Leviticus is a bit dry to say the least and is proving a challenge.
With that said, what I have read has given me something to think about in regards to sacrifice. There is a lot said about sacrifice in these first three books.
Exodus says at least three times that I can recall that the Israelites are to dedicate, that is sacrifice, their firstborn from their animals and among their children. Donkeys however can be redeemed by sacrificing a lamb instead and their firstborn children MUST be redeemed. As St Paul wrote, Jesus is the "firstborn of all creation". While God has been merciful to His people and not allowed them to sacrifice their children, He sacrificed His Son, His Firstborn for us.
Of course, Jesus' sacrifice of Himself on the cross was the lasting Sacrifice for all eternity and His Body and Blood offered on our altars is a continuing participation in that one Sacrifice. I couldn't help as I read through these books, but to notice parallels between the Old Testament sacrifices and the Eucharist.
As Isaac carried the wood that was for sacrificing himself up the hill, he asked his father Abraham where was the animal for the sacrifice. His father answered him that, "God will provide the lamb." Over course we know that later, the Lamb of God, carried the wood of the cross up Calvary hill and sacrificed Himself and we share in this Sacrifice every time we partake in the Eucharist.
Also, Leviticus prescribes sacrifices for sins of the people, priests, and individuals. These sacrifices are no longer called for since Christ's Sacrifice is for all sin. Fat from the animals and certain organs were placed on the altar to burn, but the meat was eaten by the priests. Christ as both Priest and Sacrifice now offers us his flesh eternally as His Sacrifice of Self for our sins.
I forget where exactly, but somewhere in Exodus around the Ten Commandments chapters, Moses sprinkled the Israelites with blood from a sacrificed animal as part entering the people into the Old Covenant. I thought about that compared with receiving Christ's Blood internally as part of renewing the New Covenant. I am not sure if there's anything to that, but I thought it was an interesting comparison.
At one point the Law called for the sinner to publicly declare his sins before the sacrifice. I like confession better today.

priceles

Cost for a soda at the PX... $0.65
Cost of a haircut at the FOB barbershop... $3.50
300 minute calling card from AT&T... $27.00
Having a Catholic Chaplain on the FOB... priceless

Some people must have nothing better to do

Lawsuit claims California college threatened to expel students who prayed

Alameda County, CA, Oct 12, 2008 / 08:27 pm (CNA).- Two students filed a federal lawsuit this past Monday against the publicly-funded College of Alameda alleging that school officials at the California school threatened to expel them for praying...

That month, student Kandy Kyriacou visited an instructor to give her a Christmas gift. Kyriacou found the instructor alone in her shared office. When the instructor indicated she was ill, Kyriacou offered to pray for her.

The instructor bowed her head and Kyriacou began to pray. They were then interrupted by another faculty member, Derek Piazza, who entered the room and said “You can’t be doing that here!”

Kyriacou left to join her friend and fellow student Ojoma Omaga. Piazza followed Kyriacou and repeated his rebuke. The students related that they were surprised by his intimidating behavior.

Three days before Christmas, both students received letters notifying them of the college’s retroactive “intent to suspend” them. While school policy requires such letters to state factual bases for the charges, the letter only vaguely accused the students of “disruptive or insulting behavior, willful disobedience . . . persistent abuse of college employees.”

Not only did this instructor barge into the office as some sort of "Anti-Prayer Police", but then followed her around looking for something other reason. In most places that would be considered stalking. Of course, in most places it would also be considered common courtesy to wait until later and politely explain that you disagree with these other people.
It sounds like someone needs a hobby.

You are what you eat.

Another autopost for my readers:

St George pray for Soldiers

I set this post to publish after I have left:

Off to that ancient land
From whence came Abraham

Like Saint Joan of Arc before
I am going off to war

Jonah preached in that land
And I shall walk that same sand

Like Father Emil Kapaun before
I am in an Army at war

Gov Palin's speech

This is a video of Gov. Palin's speech this afternoon at our deployment ceremony. After a month at Ft Irwin baking in the Mojave and another month at home we had our deployment ceremony this afternoon. I will post once more, but after that will be posts set publish on certain dates until things settle down.
Btw, that thing hanging around her neck is a medal given to her and her husband, Todd to recognize them as Honorary Members of the Brigade.