Monday, December 26, 2011

Wisdom from Father Jose 6

He who is acclaimed by the crowds on Sunday, is crucified on Friday. -- Father Jose Ramirez
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Feast of St Stephen the Protomartyr

Today is the Feast of St Stephen so here is Good King Wenceslas:


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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

Seven Quick Takes Christmas 2012

  1. Christmas is finally upon us! I always love celebrating the Nativity of Our Lord.
  2. The icing on the cake is that this is a four day weekend for me and I get to spend most of it with my daughter. Next weekend is also a four day weekend. I'm going to miss this job!
  3.  I can't wait to show my daughter the playset out in my yard that I got her for Christmas/birthday. She's going to be so happy!
  4. I just found out today that there are plans to make a Doctor Who movie! I know. I am a huge nerd.
  5.  I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. --Genesis 3:15
  6. Every Christmas I think about the first Christmas tree I got for my new wife. I was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska at the time and it had been -50ish F for about two weeks. She just had to have a real Christmas tree. Lowes and Home Depot were sold out. The only other place in town wanted $60 for their cheapest tree. My platoon sergeant at the time offered to drive me out into the woods on post and help me get one since he had a pickup and I had a hatchback. So right after work (we were on a half day schedule) we drove out into the back woods and started looking around at various trees alongside the road. Finally, we saw a great tree. We got out and slogged through the knee deep snow (It actually snow a lot less there than people think. However, once it snows that snow doesn't melt for a long time so it accumulates) up to the tree. I took the saw and started cutting but apparently not fast enough. "Sir, its too cold for you to take your time cutting it. Give me the saw." So then he finished cutting it down and we threw it in the back of his pickup and dropped it off in my garage. Then we went back to the office so I could get my car and drive it home. By the time I got home she was already there and was very thankful for the tree. I am thankful this Christmas for the wonderful memories that remain.
  7.  
image source

 

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Life of Repentance


I was reading through my RSS feeds and came across this post.  It was about the quote from St Isaac of Syria on the scroll above, "This life has been given to you for repentance, don not waste it on vain pursuits."
I could go on and on about this, but I'll let it speak for itself.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

New Ordinary for American Ordinariate

VirtueOnline is reporting that Jeffrey Steenson, the former Episcopal Bishop of the Rio Grande is to become the first ordinary (its not a diocese so there will not be a bishop) for the American Ordinariate about to begin on January 1st.
A bio from VirtueOnline's report:
Steenson's Anglo-Catholic pedigree comes from being an Episcopal priest for 24 years including stints as the curate and rector at two Pennsylvania parishes -- All Saints' Church in Wynnewood, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, before going on to St. Andrew's in Fort Worth, Texas. From there he was elected, in 2004, to be bishop coadjutor for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande under Bishop Terence Kelshaw. The former Rio Grande bishop has the distinction of being the 1000th Episcopal Church bishop consecrated with his "lappets" stretching all the way back to the first Bishop of Connecticut, Samuel Seabury who was consecrated in 1784. Steenson's consecrators included then Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, his predecessor Bishop Terence Kelshaw, Anglo-Catholic Bishop Clarence Pope, indigenous Bishop Mark McDonald, and ecumenical Bishop Anthony Burton from the Anglican Church of Canada. Steenson became the eighth diocesan bishop in 2005. He was an Episcopal bishop for two short years before swimming the Tiber.

The Anglo-Catholic Bishop of the Rio Grande shed the purple in December 2007 and was received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This was done in Rome, Italy, at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major during a private ceremony officiated by Bernard Cardinal Law, the former Catholic Cardinal of Boston and then archpriest at a Roman basilica.

The former Episcopal bishop embraced the Pastoral Provision that allows for former Anglican clergy to become Roman Catholics and eventually recoup their priesthood. The Pastoral Provision is the precursor to the unfolding Anglican Ordinariate and will operate along side of it for those converting priests who do not wish to become a part of the Ordinariate yet want to become Roman Catholic.

One year after becoming a Roman Catholic, Cardinal Law ordained Steenson as a Catholic deacon. Fourteen months late, he was priested by Archbishop Michael Sheehan in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, located within the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, which overlaps the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.

Since becoming Catholic, Steenson has kept a high profile in his new Catholic circle. He has been active at various levels and has been seen at several Anglican Use events including attending Anglican Use Conferences where he has been the keynote speaker or the preacher at the solemn high Mass. In addition, he has been actively working hand-in-glove with American Catholic bishops as they hammered out the details of how the Anglicanorum Coetibus would be implemented in the United States.

In November, Steenson was introduced to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by Donald Cardinal Wuerl. The Cardinal was then tasked with the implementation of the Anglicanorum Coetibus in the United States. Steenson was on hand when the Cardinal announced the January 1 date for the formal erection of the American Ordinariate.

The soon-to-be-named Ordinariate leader was educated at Harvard Divinity School and holds a doctoral degree from Oxford.

Steenson is now in Houston, Texas, where has been on the faculty of St. Thomas University and St. Mary's Seminary. He has also been instrumental in helping to set up the theological training that his brother bishops and priests will undergo in order to become fully formed Catholic clerics. He has worked at helping to develop the specific elements needed in the formation and retraining program. The former Episcopal bishop has worked closely with both Cardinal Wuerl and Daniel Cardinal DiNardo to get the unique seminary preparation program setup and running in time for the establishment of the Ordinariate on New Year's Day.

Once the Ordinariate is established, Steenson will be in charge of a non-geographic-type diocese, which encompasses the entire United States from Alaska to Florida and New York to Hawaii.
God grant him many years!

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Saint Quiz XIII


This Saint Quiz isn't meant to be difficult. I really just wanted to do another one. Since I haven't done one in almost a year, so I'll quickly explain that the object is to see who can name the depicted saints in the comment box.



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Monday, December 19, 2011

Wisdom from Father Jose 5

Doing many things at once, we find ourselves doing nothing at all. -- Father Jose Ramirez
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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Sunday Snippets Mid-December

This week I had a few more posts than normal and I also posted at Catholic Dads.
Monday I posted the latest installment of Wisdom from Father Jose.  Thursday I posted a Nirvana video and another video about modern saints. Friday I joined in with 7 Quick Takes.

Head over to This That and the Other Thing for the rest of the Sunday Snippets.




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Friday, December 16, 2011

7 Quick Takes 16DEC

  1. So I just finished (and started) my Christmas gift shopping yesterday afternoon. Now I just need to mail most of them and hope they get to my family in time.
  2. I don't usually get political on my blog, but has anyone else heard about the provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act which allow the military to arrest American citizens as terrorists even within the US? Maybe we should arrest certain members of Congress for such a blatant attempt to undermine the Constitution.
  3. On a more pleasant note, I bought my daughter a playset for Christmas and I can't wait to see her face when its set up.
  4. I went to a white elephant gift exchange with the local young adult ministry. My gift was a pack of mousetraps. I ended up with two irons.
  5. 5th installment of Wisdom from Father Jose coming up on Monday. I have a weekly post scheduled to post every Monday through the end of April.
  6. Its great that everyone makes such a big deal about Christmas, but why doesn't anyone seem to care about Easter?
  7. We Three Kings


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Monday, December 12, 2011

Wisdom from Father Jose 4

"Truth cannot compromise."  
"We are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. Lets all get along. Do not treat others with disrespect for everything we do, comes back to us."
-- Father Josecito Ramirez (Diocese of Boise)
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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Sunday Snippets 10DEC


I seem to remember posting a lot this week, but looking back I hadn't hardly posted at all.
I had another entry in the Wisdom from Father Jose series.
I posted 7 Quick Takes this Friday.
 Check out This That and the Other Thing where Sunday Snippets is hosted every week.

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Friday, December 09, 2011

Someone visited my blog from the Vatican

I checked my Sitemeter page and looked at some of the stats and such of who is visiting my humble blog and saw this entry:

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7 Quick Takes 09DEC

  1.  I learned how to get a burn permit for now on when I have fires to burn away the massive brush pile in the back of my yard that came with the house.
  2. At Chick Fil-A there are posted rules. #1 is "Children must always have adult supervision (Sometimes vice versa)". Is it bad if you know it applies to you?
  3. "Came a tribe from the north brave and bold, bearing banners of silver and gold..." 
  4. h/t to Byzantine, Texas
  5.  
  6. Has anyone else pressed their face onto the glass and scanned it so they can randomly send it to someone at work? See #2 above.
  7. My daughter bit the head off of her chocolate Santa Claus and went on and on laughing and saying how funny it was. I'm not sure whether I'm amused or disturbed.
  8. The 8th is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Even though its only about two weeks from Christmas, its amazing to me how many people still think it is about Mary's pregnancy with Christ Jesus. 

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Monday, December 05, 2011

Wisdom from Father Jose 3

I bought a book about sayings, so that I may sound smarter... :) --Father Jose Ramirez
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Sunday, December 04, 2011

Sunday Snippets

I posted a little more this week than I normally do. I started a new series of blog posts called Wisdom from Father Jose. I posted a YouTube video of Veni Veni Emmanuel in Latin. That is my all time favorite Christmas song. The next favorite would have to be God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. And lastly I posted some ramblings about the wonder of the Incarnation as we get closer to the Nativity of Our Lord. In the iconostasis I put along with this post you can see in the center that in the center are icons all about the Incarnation. On the doors are two panels for the Anunciation. To the left of the doors is Mary holding baby Jesus. Christ the Teacher icon is to the right of the doors and the Last Supper is just above the doors. The doors are open through most of the Divine Liturgy to symbolize the union of Heaven and Earth as symbolized by the space around the altar and the pews.

Of course be sure to visit RAnn's Sunday Snippets post to find links to all the others.

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Thursday, December 01, 2011

The Wonder of Christmas

Has anyone else stopped and thought about how truly wonderful the Nativity of Our Lord really is?
Besides a virgin giving birth, Man and God are united in the Incarnation. His taking on flesh and becoming God AND man unites Heaven and Earth. Mary is like Jacob's ladder connecting the two. In the Mass/Divine Liturgy we worship in the same way as the angels as is described in Isaiah, Matthew, Luke, and Revelation. There also Heaven and Earth are united in that place.
Think about it.The Incarnation continues even today in the Eucharist. God makes Himself physically present and available to us, albeit in the guise of bread and wine.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

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veni veni Emmanuel


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