Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Really "Non-Denominational"

Which is how universalists reachout to doubting christians and other people that are struggling.

Edenside Christian Church in the Highlands has begun offering a different kind of worship experience with its monthly Thomas Mass -- a nondenominational, alternative worship service open to people of all faiths and spiritual backgrounds.

Thomas Masses were started in Finland in the late 1980s and were named after the disciple Thomas -- "Doubting Thomas" -- with the idea that doubters and people without a religious connection could address the spiritual side of their lives.


"I think it really gets to the heart of the matter. We're all one, together seeking God, regardless of faith traditions," she said. "It's a place where all people come seek and find God in their own way, without the barriers of doctrine."



I guess they don't see how absurd that is.

Ahh, the good ole liberal bastion of the Highlands back in my home town.


Also for another article I happened to come across on the Courier Journal's website...

Contraception War

I was actually really suprised by Mohler's comments. I wonder what the Baptists think about his comments, they sound kind of....Catholic.

I went back and actually found Mohler's original comments...in this article called

Can Christians Use Birth Control?

Although some protestants are starting to see the truth of the Catholic Churches' teaching on this they still have a ways to go. ie. there is no biblical mandate to have as many children as possible...hmm, I think the first mandate was something like "go forth and multiply". Although this doesn't exactly say "as many as possible" the bible is pretty clear about going forth and multiplying and recieving the blessings of children as much as possible while we cooperate with the natural law implicit in creation.

Mohler is close, but no cigar. But there is hope. I consider his statements as a pretty big step in the evangelical world but I think he needs to realize his contradictions.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Bishops to vote on new Order of Mass in English

A very good thing.




WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops will be asked to approve a new translation of the Order of Mass when they meet in Los Angeles June 15-17.

If the new translation is adopted as proposed and subsequently approved by the Vatican, Catholics will have to learn a number of changes in their Mass prayers and responses. Among the more obvious will be:

-- Whenever the priest says "The Lord be with you," the people will respond, "And with your spirit." The current response is "And also with you."

-- In the first form of the penitential rite, the people will confess that "I have sinned greatly ... through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." In the current version, that part of the prayer is much shorter: "I have sinned through my own fault."

-- The Nicene Creed will begin "I believe" instead of "We believe" -- a translation of the Latin text instead of the original Greek text.

-- The Sanctus will start, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts." The current version says, "Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might."

Approving a new text of the Order of Mass is only the first step in a long process of considering and approving a new translation of the entire book of prayers said at Mass. In the United States that book has been called the Sacramentary since 1970, but the Vatican wishes to restore the name Roman Missal, since it is an English translation, with minor adaptations, of the normative Latin "Missale Romanum."

Officials of the bishops' Secretariat for the Liturgy told Catholic News Service May 23 that it is uncertain whether the bishops will seek to publish the new Order of Mass for U.S. use as soon as possible or wait until they have the new English translation of the entire Roman Missal completed. Completing the entire Roman Missal is likely to take at least two more years.

Once the bishops adopt new liturgical texts, they must also be confirmed by the Vatican before they can be authorized for use.

In general, people will find many of the Mass prayers in the new version slightly longer and fuller, as the new translation is based on rules for liturgical translations issued by the Vatican in a 2001 instruction. Unlike the previous Vatican rules -- which encouraged freer translations more adapted to the language into which one was translating -- the new rules require closer adherence to the normative Latin text.

In a recent letter Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, told the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that if a current text does not conform to the new translation norms it must be changed.

"It is not acceptable to maintain that people have become accustomed to a certain translation for the past 30 or 40 years, and therefore that it is pastorally advisable to make no changes. ... The revised text should make the needed changes," he wrote.


-the title is linked to the rest of the article.


Wednesday, May 24, 2006

More on Birth Control etc...

LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer, "Menstruation Is Fast Becoming Optional":
"Thanks to birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives, a growing number of women are taking the path chosen by 22-year-old Stephanie Sardinha. She hasn't had a period since she was 17."
Fair enough. But what's to prevent, in ten or twenty years (with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight), a mounting silent epidemic of women's cancers coercively 'outing' studies of 'irrepressible data' linking hormonal contraceptives with carcinogenesis?

(1) BBC News: "Pill increases breast cancer risk: Women who have taken the contraceptive Pill at any stage in their lives have a slightly increased chance of developing breast cancer, research shows."

(2) Chris Kahlenborn, M.D., Breast Cancer: Its Link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill:

(3) Overview: Breast Cancer and the Pill, by Chris Kahlenborn, M.D.

(4) How do the Pill and Other Contraceptives Work? by Chris Kahlenborn, M.D.

(5) CancerBACUP: The UK's Leading Cancer Information Service: " . . . there is a risk that the hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) in the contraceptive pill may affect breast cancer cells . . ."

(6) Contraception Information Center, The Journal of the American Medical Association: "Women who are currently using combined oral contraceptives or have used them in the past 10 years are at a slightly increased risk of having breast cancer diagnosed . . ."
(7) Breast Cancer: Its Link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill, by Chris Kahlenborn, M.D.


taken from pblosser.blogspot.com

Monday, May 22, 2006

How the Pill and other Contraceptives Work

Part A: How the pill works

The oral contraceptive pill, also known as the birth control pill, is currently being used by over 10 million women in the U.S. 1. A number of physicians and researchers have noted that the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) is actually an abortifacient (ie, an agent that causes an early abortion; specifically, any agent that causes death of the zygote, embryo, or fetus after conception has occurred). Others have stated that they do not believe the OCP is an abortifacient as noted in the recent publication (1998), written by several physicians entitled: Hormonal Contraceptives: Are they Abortifacients? 2

The ethical question of whether contraception is morally permissible has varied between the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches. Both agreed on the "sin of contraception" before 1930 3, whereas both differ in general on the issue today. This appendix will focus on the medical and technical aspects concerning the cited questions regarding the pill's abortifacient qualities.

In order to answer the question of whether the OCP causes early abortions, a number of basic questions need to be answered such as:

Q-A5A. What is an oral contraceptive pill (OCP) and how does it work?

Friday, May 19, 2006

Birth Control Pills are Abortifacients


While my wife and I have been researching Natural Family Planning we have come across some shocking research regarding artificial birth control. Particularly regarding the birth control pill. The effects of this form of birth control is devistating not only to the woman regarding her endometrium lining and propensity for cancer but the fact that no pill is safe from being an abortifacient.


This is not just some kind of Catholic fringe propaganda. Randy Alcorn is actually a protestant that set out to prove this theory wrong but ended up changing his mind in the process.
His website is linked below.

Check out

http://www.epm.org/articles/bcp3300.html


http://priestsforlife.org/contraception/contraceptionofgrief.htm


on excerpt from the last source

When a human egg joins with a human sperm (an action known as fertilization), a new 46-chromosomed human being is conceived. By exploiting the hollow and deceptive corridors of language, however, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology decided to redefine the term "conception"” over thirty years ago, coincidently at the same time that artificial birth control was first being promoted. The new terminology defined conception as occurring not at fertilization, but at the implantation of a blastocyst on the uterine wall, an action which typically occurs a full 1-2 weeks after that new 46-chromosomed human being comes into existence at fertilization.[2]

Dr. Fritz Baumgartner asks a pertinent question in his article entitled “Life Begins at the Beginning: A Doctor Gives the Scientific Facts on When Life Begins”:

But why? Why on earth would the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology change its definition of conception from fertilization to implantation? The chilling answer was suggested by Dr. Richard Sosnowski of ACOG, who in his 1984 presidential address stated: [3] I do not deem it excellent to play semantic gymnastics in a profession … It is equally troublesome to me that, with no scientific evidence to validate the change, the definition of conception as the successful spermatic penetration of an ovum was redefined as the implantation of a fertilized ovum. It appears to me that the only reason for this was the dilemma produced by the possibility that the intrauterine contraceptive device might function as an abortifacient" [4]

Unfortunately, many women who would never consider a surgical abortion now use low-dose birth control pills that may cause them to abort a new life on an average of once or twice every year. In his book, The Facts of Life: An Authoritative Guide to Life and Family Issues, Dr. Brian Clowes explains how a large number of women who identify themselves as pro-life use these pills, many at the urging and pressure of their husbands:

“This means that “pro-life” women who are using an oral contraceptive, or some other means of abortifacient birth control, are committing abortions themselves on a frequent basis. These abortions are “silent” and unseen, but they are no less abortions in the eyes of God than are gruesome third-trimester D&X (partial birth) abortions. There are many “pro-lifers” who are using these pills and who are involved in their promotion and distribution. These people must consider whether they can, in good conscience, criticize women whose action differs from their own only in that they have to drive to a “clinic” (mill) to commit it.” [5]

Dr. Clowes goes on to share that: “Some researchers (using very conservative figures) have calculated that birth control pills directly cause between 1.53 and 4.15 million chemical abortions per year in the United States - up to two and a half times the total number of surgical abortions committed every year!” [6]

Susan Gliko, who coordinates the Rachel’s Vineyard retreats for post-abortion healing in Montana, agrees:

“I am very angry that my doctor never explained the true nature of contraception when he prescribed birth control. My periods are like clockwork, and when I was getting the Depo-Provera shot there were three times that my period was late. When I called my doctor’s office, concerned about my late periods, the nurse explained that I should not worry and that it was normal. They assured me that I would get my period. Well, I did get my period… after my child starved to death. I found out years later how this type of contraception works, and my heart is just sick. My periods were late because I was pregnant. My period was delayed until the baby had died because it could not attach properly to my uterus to be nourished.”

The Birth Control Pill was introduced to the public as a problem free solution for women who wanted to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. Dr. Walter L. Larimore, MD and Dr. Joseph B. Stanford, MD point out, however, that while the principal mechanism of oral contraceptives is to inhibit ovulation, this mechanism does not always work. When breakthrough ovulation occurs, secondary mechanisms operate to prevent pregnancy. These secondary mechanisms may occur either before or after fertilization. In other words, these secondary mechanisms may work to destroy a new human being after its conception at fertilization. The principles of informed consent suggest that patients who may object to the destruction of any children they conceive should be made aware of this information so that they can give fully informed consent for the use of oral contraceptives. [7]

Susan Lepak, from the Diocese of Oklahoma City, has been a Natural Family Planning Practitioner for the past seven years. Susan shares:

“Many women appreciated the pill, the shot, the patch, and hormonal interventions because they create lighter periods. This is a result of the thinning of the lining of the uterus. Break-through ovulation occurs from 30 to 65% of the time. It takes 6 to 9 days on average for the newly formed human to travel from the fallopian tube to the lining of the uterus. Unfortunately, when he or she arrives, the lining is too thin, and there is an early abortion before the woman realizes she is pregnant. The progestin and estrogen actually interfere with the pregnancy by changing the lining of the uterus so that a newly conceived child cannot implant in the womb. She might notice that her period is late or heavier than usual, that there is increased cramping, or some other sign that is different than her usual 3-5 day light flow caused by the hormonal contraception. (However, the IUD acts as an abortifacient most of the time.) The child is flushed out through the uterus and appears as a heavy period. When she learns the truth and then thinks back and prays about it, she might have an intuitive sense that she has lost a child. This new version of the pill that was now supposedly safer for the mom was clearly more dangerous for the babies being conceived.”

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Man more than Matter

Radical materialism makes no sense. For the words in this post exist in one’s mind not in any material way but they have a non-material existence. They are symbols for things material and for intellectual concepts that themselves have no material existence, but exist nonetheless. Universal ideas of non-material things such as love, truth, and beauty have a universal existence that comes about without the transfer of the same material substance to each mind that possesses these concepts. The contents of our thoughts are not limited to space and time as is matter, but they exist in many minds at once without ceasing to be in the minds of others. Thus, there is obviously an intellectual domain that cannot be reduced to matter.

Some have shown that at the instant a materialist utters his claim and wants another to accept it as true, he is being irrational. If materialism is true than asking someone to make a judgment and change one’s mind by accepting his materialist claims, is an impossibility. If materialism is true then thoughts, including judgments, would simply be the result of the interplay of material forces that are completely determined by laws of nature. Whatever happens would be the result of the necessary outcome of matter obeying natural laws. Free will, choice, all of these would be mere illusions. Of course, even if a materialist recognizes this and is a committed determinist, he cannot live that way. This belief generally is used as a convenient justification for his rejection of those truths which would make uncomfortable demands upon him.

from part 2 of a 3 part series on The Sacraments and Human Nature at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

part 1

part 2

part 3

Monday, May 08, 2006

Holistic

Unity of life, as Opus Dei sees it, is about discovering a lens through which all of one's life can he seen as a single, whole thing. This, members say, is what transforms a series of random or isolated movements, the end-less string of hours, days, and years that make up a life, into a meaningful unity—a work of art. The spirit of Opus Dei is supposed to transform a multitude of different steps and contrasting movements into a single dance, so that at any given moment one realizes that one is always one and the same person. Sometimes, in religious contexts, people speak of their "spiritual life," referring to their prayers and practices of piety. But for Opus Dei, the "spiritual life" must include work, friendships, social life, familyeverything. Naturally, this is supposed to have an impact on how Opus Dei members do whatever they do. Ultimately, the "spiritual life" is nothing more or less than human life. Nothing falls outside that. There are no compartments that aren't labeled "God's business."

One of the consequences of being "contemplatives in the middle of the world," as Opus Dei understands it, is that it tends to evaporate the "religious" as a distinct category of experience. One's most "religious" experiences may be in the office, on the playing field, in the kitchen, on the street, in the bedroom or in the hospital. Escriva once said that his monastic cell was the street, meaning that an Opus Dei member is supposed to walk out of church for the same reason they walk in—to be in union with God.


from-
JOHN L. ALLEN JR. is the Vatican Correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and the author of several books about the Catholic Church, most recently 'Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic church' (Doubleday).

Friday, May 05, 2006

Letter to...

The following is from an article over at Pontifications...check it out...


This is the authority that the Catholic Church believes Jesus gave to Peter and the other Apostles. But the ultimate authority lies with Peter. In paragraph 883 of the CCC it states,

“The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter’s successor, as its head.” As such, this college has “supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff.”

This is what the Catholic Church believes about St. Peter and his successors. But you seem to think that Catholics have a different understanding of the Pope. You seem to think that Catholics no longer believe that it was Christ who won for us our victory over death. You even imply that we have replaced Christ with the Pope. This is absolutely untrue. The Pope is not Christ; he is the Vicar of Christ. This designation is based on what Jesus said to Peter in St. John 21:15-17, “Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep.” Jesus is here giving Peter charge over His flock. And what is Jesus’ flock but the Church? Therefore, Catholics believe that Peter is the head of the Church on earth. This in no way takes away from Christ His ultimate role and responsibility for the salvation of mankind. Jesus Christ is our Savior. But He did give Peter charge over the Church on earth.

In connection with this point of Jesus Christ being the Savior of Catholics I want to address what you have said about dogma. You said, “Protestants believe salvation is found in a relationship with Christ and not the following of institutional dogma.” This statement to a certain extent bewilders me. Where on earth do you get the idea that Catholics believe that dogma will save us? True, dogma is necessary to be believed but it does not save us. Christ alone saves us. In explanation of what Catholics believe about dogma the CCC states in paragraph 89: “Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.” Therefore, dogmas do not save us but they do help us along the path toward salvation.

Now to address your thoughts on Universal Truth: you say, “individual interpretation of scripture can get hairy, as some people are so obviously wrong in their interpretations, but part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to give us discerning hearts.” Can you answer the following question—who is to say that you are not the one who is “so obviously wrong in (his) interpretation”? What makes you so sure that the Holy Spirit has protected your interpretation instead of someone that disagrees with you? This was my point in my Apology—Protestants have no Authority on which to base their interpretation of Scripture. What you may say is the meaning of a passage may very well be overruled by another Protestant. Catholics, on the other hand, have a source of Authority that they can turn to for answers to the most difficult questions.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Paradigm Shift

There has been a paradigm shift in my thinking and asking questions over the last few years on my way into full communion with the Church.

As a protestant I was always posing questions to various peers about any given issue ie. infant baptism, escatology.

I would start the question with the words "What do you think about X" then discussion would follow and eventually one would maybe persuade the other to his view of "X". However, that view was not neccesarily the truth about the issue, or even what our denomination taught (if anything at all) about the issue.

On the road to the Catholic Church the question gradually became "What does the Church teach about X"?

To me this is a huge shift in my way of thinking and discovering truth. It is not up to me or my friends to research and then decide. The Tradition of the Church has already decided. I just need to think with the Church, which does imply still thinking and seeking but we do not have to "reinvent the wheel".

It is a shift from the subjective individual to the objective authority established by Christ in real space - time history.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Foreshadowing of the Eucharistic Sacrifice



Gen. 14:18 - this is the first time that the word "priest" is used in Old Testament. Melchizedek is both a priest and a king and he offers a bread and wine sacrifice to God.

Psalm 76:2 - Melchizedek is the king of Salem. Salem is the future Jeru-salem where Jesus, the eternal priest and king, established his new Kingdom and the Eucharistic sacrifice which He offered under the appearance of bread and wine.

Psalm 110:4 - this is the prophecy that Jesus will be the eternal priest and king in the same manner as this mysterious priest Melchizedek. This prophecy requires us to look for an eternal bread and wine sacrifice in the future. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Catholic Church.

Malachi 1:11 - this is a prophecy of a pure offering that will be offered in every place from the rising of the sun to its setting. Thus, there will be only one sacrifice, but it will be offered in many places around the world. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the Catholic Church in the Masses around the world, where the sacrifice of Christ which transcends time and space is offered for our salvation. If this prophecy is not fulfilled by the Catholic Church, then Malachi is a false prophet.

Exodus 12:14,17,24; cf. 24:8 - we see that the feast of the paschal lamb is a perpetual ordinance. It lasts forever. But it had not yet been fulfilled.

Exodus 29:38-39 – God commands the Israelites to “offer” (poieseis) the lambs upon the altar. The word “offer” is the same verb Jesus would use to institute the Eucharistic offering of Himself.

Lev. 19:22 – the priests of the old covenant would make atonement for sins with the guilt offering of an animal which had to be consumed. Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant, has atoned for our sins by His one sacrifice, and He also must be consumed.

Jer. 33:18 - God promises that His earthly kingdom will consist of a sacrificial priesthood forever. This promise has been fulfilled by the priests of the Catholic Church, who sacramentally offer the sacrifice of Christ from the rising of the sun to its setting in every Mass around the world.

Zech. 9:15-16 - this is a prophecy that the sons of Zion, which is the site of the establishment of the Eucharistic sacrifice, shall drink blood like wine and be saved. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the priests of the Catholic Church.

2 Chron. 26:18 - only validly consecrated priests will be able to offer the sacrifice to God. The Catholic priests of the New Covenant trace their sacrificial priesthood to Christ.