PEACE ON EARTH

GOODWILL TOWARD ALL MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, BORN AND UNBORN

Saturday, February 28, 2009

There is a lake of fire in the pit of Hades
For you who crucified Love
In the name of Jesus


There is a lake of fire in the pit of Hades
For you who crucified Love
In the name of Jesus


There is a lake of fire in the pit of Hades
For you who crucified Love
In the name of Jesus.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Does God Tweet?

Tweet This

My apologies for anyone tweeting me on twitter to whom I am not responding, which would be any and all of you tweeting me. It's not that I am technologically adverse, and actually I signed up on a lark (forgive the pun.) But I don't have that comfort level on twitter that allows me to let anyone track my every move. It strikes me as cyber-stalking on steroids. Neither do I particularly need to know from "legalbeagle007" that he just left the men's room at the theatre where he forgot to wipe himself. (names changed to protect the ignorant.) This sort of detail it seems to me should not be reserved for the eternally recoverable hard-drives of crackberries which must be produced under federal rules 27-30.
I know I have to come out of the dark ages and learn how to be as adept at this as GEN Next, but I prefer to keep the space between logging on and off something sacredly private--where I am left to my thoughts and the friends I actually know rather than the anonymous multitudes. I also miss the formality of a nice phone call and that polite request to call back if busy. IMing on the fly just seems kind of too personal for people using pseudonyms and acronyms. How do I know you are not a ticked off x-blind date or frivolous suit process server? So please forgive me for not bulletin board posting my every step and trip. There are some places I have to go that you just cannot go with me.
God, however does have an IM bulletin board to which he will usually respond eventually if tweeted. He never sleeps. You don't even need a blackberry- it's called prayer. Throw up a (!!!!) for emergencies and it might get more immediate attention. "HELP" usually works well. You can telepathically post to his IM bulletin board and he instantaneously receives it. He may not answer you right away, or he may answer you in a way you don't at the time appreciate or get- but he hears you. You can tick off God bad enough sometimes by serious sin, so he won't be inclined to answer always unless you admit it and straighten out your act. It's not true that Love means never having to say you are sorry. If you mess up- say you are sorry, so God can tweet you back or send you an IM.
On that note, I will give you twitter tweeters a peak at my schedule tomorrow; I shall be hiding in a convent/monestary of sorts for the Lenten Day of Recollection with the John Carroll Society and the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement to learn how to say "Sorry." There will be no electronic reception of any kind. It's a silent retreat. We shall practice IMing God telepathically.

If you can give me a good marketing or other reason why twitter is a good idea feel free to comment below. I have an open mind.

on another random note: HOW BOUT THEM STEELERS!!!! (had to get that out)

Mortaring the Cracks: Charities Around Washington, DC- so Folks don't fall through.

Lenten Works- great places to support.

I became a little alarmed when I heard about the Charitable Non-Deduction Proposed- only because I know how badly some of the really necessary good works need donations to survive and do their work. How many people who now give wouldn't if it were not a tax deduction? Did your mother tell you to always write a check instead of giving cash so you would have a record?

So I decided to start this little series on "MORTARING THE CRACKS- SO FOLKS DON'T FALL THROUGH." As the Spirit moves, I will highlight charitable programs around the District that you may not know about. Feel free to write me at HaveMercyOnUs-at- aol.com (replace the -at- with the @ if you are not a spammer to let me know of any others you want to highlight and I will post them here)

Tonight's feature is about a little known transitional program for young near homeless or actually homeless women who are either pregnant or with small children who for whatever reason find themselves without resources, sometimes court adjudicated into the program or otherwise in need of gracious kind secure philanthropy.

A packed crowd ate tonight a simple "lenten meal" of tomato soup and dinner rolls in a basement conference room at Saint Matthews Cathedral and listened to a presentation on this place:

SAINT ANNE'S INFANT AND MATERNITY HOME.
http://www.stanns.org/

Saint Anne's was originally founded by Mother Anne Seaton's order, the Daughters of Charity (Mother Anne Seaton is the first American born Saint who is buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland-just fifteen minutes from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania who sent her sisters all over the East Coast in the 19th century to start schools and orphanages) as an orphanage in 1860 for orphans, with an emphasis soon on taking care of all the fatherless created by the Civil War. It sits on the border of DC and Maryland in Hyattsville, Maryland. It's original Charter was signed by Abraham Lincoln. From its inception it took in all races of women and their children who were transitioning to greater self-sufficiency.
In an average year it now cares for 325 teenage women and their infants. It has a fully credited High School on the premesis. Now it runs four programs; a Children's Residential Program, the Teen Mother-Baby Program, Faith House and the Community Child Care Program.

The environment is loving, nurturing and affirming. Just what these women need.
If there were more programs like this, and more people knew about them, there certainly would be a lot less abortions.

You can go and schedule a visit and tour of the place (maybe even meet some of the women.)
This is one of those charities that would likely suffer if the charitable tax deduction were eliminated unless they were provided substitute funding.
Half their funding comes from grants, and the other half -about $3 Milion it takes to run the facility and pay salaries and feed everyone- comes from private donations.

Think About It-now go get your checkbook.

I know I repeated the word "orphans" a lot here- and that is because the fatherless are the new orphans. True Justice and religion, we are told repeatedly in scripture is this: to take care of the orphan, the widow and keep oneself unstained from the world.
Taking Care of Orphans.....and what's in your wallet?


eddie is something of a good vampire with good teeth; all the better to save you with my dear.

I need a Moment-There is Another Hole In The World

Or A Few Months.


Some friends come and go in and out of your life with ease and you barely notice. Then some stay sometimes in the background and you take their perpetual existence for granted. If you don't see them this week, you will catch them later. Some go and you find yourself constantly remembering little things they did or said.
Some pass on and it stops you dead in your tracks whispering to them without opening your mouth. Joe was all of that at times over more than a decade.

I keep remembering Joe Clark. Pathetically, I only learned of his passing after his funeral. That's my fault for being out of touch and not keeping my old friends up to date on my current email address.
The entire country is in mortgage melt-down, banks are looking at forms of nationalization,
the entire tax code looks like its getting rewriten, guys named things like Madoff are making off with people's retirements, and Joe Clark will no more be behind the
table serving pizza at the 5:30 Cafe at Holy Trinity Sunday evenings, like he was for the last, oh-20 or so years.
Joe Clark was a humble guy- he was a eucharistic minister, he was an ever present helper in time of need, he was someone whose voice was a blessed assurance of everything's going to be just fine, because next Sunday night, he would still be serving Pizza behind the table at the 5:30 Cafe at Holy Trinity. And for a decade or more every Halloween the party was at Joe's house. He came to and hosted bible study home groups. He was a regular feature at the Young Adult Community (YAC) Jesuit retreats up at Bellarmine where he of few words always found the wiser most comforting ones. Rumor has it he actually started the YAC group but hardly anyone around now is old enough to remember back that far.
You wouldn't know unless you talked to him and pryed it out of him that he held a PHD and did some cutting edge avant resesarch in using underwater whale sound sonar to help the Navy. You wouldn't know he was worth a mini-fortune from inherited real estate and had a bunch of properties in the DC area he was developing into Bed and Breakfasts on top of his government job. He didn't dress the part. He was just Joe.
Joe helped out a client of mine once. She lost her job and I literally made a federal case out of it, filing a federal suit in Northern Virginia with another attorney friend to help get her job back and her back on her feet. Joe provided a home for her and her high school age son and let her live there serving essentially as a supervisor on the touch ups to the construction, and let her stay and manage the B&B until her son graduated from high school. Who would do that? Joe- a regular mensch.
Joe was that dying breed of gentlemen- the guys who picked up the check when hanging out with a lady because that's just what guys did. He always acted concerned, like he really was.


Joe would be the last person to tell you that he was a "Saint." His cancer could make him as cranky as the next guy, but he quitely waged this noble fight for over a decade in and out of remission and wasn't one to complain. Recently he went with his buddy Anthony to Lourdes with the Knights of Malta in their annual May Pilgrimmage. One hopes that while he apparently wasn't miraculously cured forever of his cancer, we all have to go and this helped him make his peace with the world and his maker at age 70. His was a life, if ever there was one, deserving of the moniker "Well Done Good and Faithful Servant." Let me tell you, Joe was a first class, A-grade, call the Pontifical Inquisition SAINT.

He didn't have his own family- the entire church was his family, especially those associated with the YACs at Holy Trinity. Please pray with me for his extended church family who is hit hard by this loss because he was one of those rare anchoring rocks that keeps one grounded and full of faith just watching him. There is another hole in the world.

I hope he forgives me for missing his funeral- and I fully expect to ask him personally in heaven.

In the meantime, if you want to help out with the charities that were close to his heart here in DC please consider helping out these ones found on his Washington Post obit/death notice:

Dr. Joseph A. Clark
CLARK Dr. JOSEPH A. CLARK On February 18, 2009 DR. JOSEPH A. CLARK of Arlington, VA. He is survived by cousins, Elizabeth Clark Thomas, Ellen Clark Pittsley, George Alexander and other close friends. Visitation will be held Friday, February 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Arlington Funeral Home, 3901 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, and on Saturday, February 21, at 10 a.m. until time of Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 3513 N Street N.W., Washington, DC.


In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Christ House (homeless ministry in DC) http://www.christhouse.org/ , 1717 Columbia Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20009, Cornerstone Community, 1720 Ontario Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20009, or Joseph's House, http://www.josephshouse.org/ (AIDS Hospice primarily) 1730 Lanier St., NW, Washington, DC 20009. Arrangements by Arlington Funeral Home.


Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Road To Resurrection

The State of the Heart

This week we begin the Season of Lent.

In his chapter on Salesian Spirituality from volume 2 of the book Compendium of Spirituality, Jozef Strus writes: "Christian humanism is the basis of Salesian optimism. The Salesian recognizes the existence of original sin and also the weakness of fallen human beings, but never forgets the possibility of grace. The Salesian insists, in fact, on the need to work in order to obtain it. The equilibrium of Salesian asceticism lies in fostering one's growth in accordance with the plan of God instead of torturing the body..." (p. 200)Whatever we might be planning to do without (or do) or to give up (or give) for Lent, our mortification should be less a function of how we can discipline our bodies and more a function of how God can transform our hearts.(Rev)

Michael S. Murray, OSFS
Director
De Sales Spirituality Center
"Practical Paths to Holiness"

www.oblates.org/spirituality

Monday, February 23, 2009

Radically Abounding Grace

Far As The Curse Is Found

Where are you? What fine mess have you gotten yourself into Lucy? What rut are you stuck in? What bitterness are you nurturing? What prison of your own making have you squatted oppressed in for far too long?

The Grace of God- it's such an overused slogan it sounds cliche-- but what does it really mean?

It means that -seriously- nothing you have done, no problem or mess you have created, no evil or sin or hurt you caused is bad enough to supercede Jesus' sacrificial atonment for it on the Cross- God's love is bigger, all encompassing it. His love wraps itself around and swallows it and remembers it no more. This is the source of our great HOPE. HOPE- it's not just a town in Arkansas. It's rooted in the Cross.

The Cross- Because you can't save yourself.

God's Love for you did though- And no man has any greater Love than that.

Probably the most passionate Sermon I heard preached on the Radical Abounding Grace
is from a fellow named Joseph Prince.

Check him out.

www.JOSEPHPRINCE.com

I recommend that between now and Easter every church show his DVD on Grace, Catholic, Protestant or anything inbetween.

Friday, February 20, 2009

The Ad CNN won't run-

THE ACCIDENTAL CASE-In-CHIEF


The bread that you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothes that you store in boxes, belong to the naked. The shoes rotting by you, belong to the bare-foot. The money that you hide belongs to anyone in need.

- Saint Basil,
fourth century theologian and monastic



WWW.THEPRIESTS.com

WHAT THE HELL?

No Other Word To Describe It.

Anyone who has a legislative role regarding the Infant Born Alive Act or Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) or anything similar by another name MUST watch this movie: 22WEEKS. --Especially if you are a Democratic Staffer. It's been a while since I literally screamed at a movie.
http://www.22weeksthemovie.com/

It is a Docudrama (meaning based on a very true story- meaning it happens in America)
It only played briefly in town, but is available on DVD. It is mandatory watching for all Hill Staffers.



Seriously folks. You owe it to yourself to try to see all sides of the issue.
This clarifies why half the country or more thinks that the public cultural climate currently politically accepted regarding the permissive environment for abortions (late term or otherwise) is the closest thing to a left turn into Hell that they will travel only kicking, screaming or praying the Rosary before a picture of the Divine Mercy, God help us all.

This is an extremely serious mental health issue for women.

The view that abortions help women or somehow liberates them from the psychological damage resulting from their awareness of their torturing their offspring unto death under the misnomer of a clinical "procedure" is beyond perverse and sickening. It is the definition of Hell on Earth.

You owe it to yourself to not vote on anything having to do with abortion legislation -OR SIGNING IT- until you have seen this movie.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

With You Always

jusq'au fin du monde.




The orchid and the Rose.

On the altar of my deepest hope

Sign of spring and wellspring of my answered prayer.

Meet me there, where the Easter orchid meets the Rose.

Go And Learn The Meaning Of These Words


PAX ET BONUM
PAX CHRISTI
joie et paix,

let's keep prayin



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dOveRZhTec&feature=related

NEED MORE THAN WORDS

No Way I'm Disco Dancing-or everyone's in trouble




Nice, uh....cathedral Milan.

You Are Invited!


COME TO OSCAR NIGHT!!

More fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Time to kick up a little Red Carpet and dance the light fantastic. Not for the squeemish. Nerds turn to instant GlamFabulous faster than Cinderella's pumpkin turns carriage this night.

John Hanshaw- the coolest indie film guy in DC is hosting an Oscar Night at the Goethe Institute in DC (near chinatown)- click here and sign up:

http://www.dcfilminstitute.org/INVITE/main.php?uid=9nhu9c9h96bf85n7537s


http://www.dcfilminstitute.org/INVITE/main.php?uid=9nhu9c9h96bf85n7537s

On Your Side- It's a Promise

Tivo It

Educate Yourself - Can't Hurt

"It's not a political issue, it's a moral one"
The very Right Rev. Msgr. Peter Vaghi, Pastor of Little Flower Church in Bethesda)
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021701.html

Whether you Agree or Not with the Politics- It's Worth Watching the "Priests For Life":


Fr. Frank Pavone and Janet Morana will be on the EWTN Live Show on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 8pm ET. The live show will repeat on Thursday, February 26 at 1am and 9am and Sunday, March 1 at 4am (all times Eastern).

You can watch on the internet at http://www.ewtn.com/. Be part of the Live Show by calling in at 1-800-221-9460 on Wednesday night, February 25. You can even CLICK on the brown EWTN logo to the right on this blog.


Hear us on EWTN radio on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Fr. Frank Pavone is her guest every Wednesday at 9:30am ET and Janet Morana is her guest every Friday at 9:10am ET. For radio station information and to listen to the live show on the internet, go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/.

Defending Life: Watch on EWTN every Friday at 10pm ET and Saturday at 2:30am ET. Listen on EWTN radio every Friday at 1am ET, Saturday at 6:30pm ET and Sunday at 5am ET. For more information or to listen online go to http://www.ewtn.com/.

February 20-22: A Powerful Witness. A piece of history comes alive as Martin Luther King, Jr's sister-in-law reflects on the civil rights movement and the rights of children in the womb.
February 27-March 1: Principles of Pro-Life Action: Education. Fr. Frank explores pro-life educational principles. Education is one of the pillars of the Church's pro-life activity, as outlined in the US Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities (2001).

Gospel of Life: The shows air on "Angel One" Channel 101 on Sky Angel IPTV and channel 262 on Dish Network every Wednesday at 11:30pm. It also airs on Catholic Familyland (http://www.familyland.tv/) - Sunday at 1am, Monday at 9am, Wednesday at 3:30am and Thursday at 11:30 pm. (All Times Eastern). Listen to Gospel of Life episodes online at http://www.gospeloflife.com/.
Week of February 15: Conversation with the Descendents of Dred Scott and Booker T. Washington. Guests: Gloria Jackson and Lynn Jackson

Week of February 22: Living History. Guests: Gloria Jackson, Lynn Jackson and Alveda King, Niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday, February 16, 2009





Your life a set of notes and chords
some melodious some unheard
some like spaces in a line
of a harp's sweetest chime.
One alone a note so lonely
when together a harmony so holy
I can't stop listening to your melody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlQETMZFYX8&feature=related

Un Pedigree- Don't Miss this at the French Embassy-La Maison De France-Vive La France!






La Maison Française is proud to present in Washington, DC two exclusive performances and a U.S. première of "A Pedigree", with one of France’s most revered actors - Edouard Baer. This acclaimed work by Patrick Modiano, a French literary master, received extraordinary praise in France while at the famous Théâtre de l’atelier during its 2007-2008 season (sold out with standing room only for 6 months!!!). This performance at La Maison Française will be in French with English surtitles.

“Edouard Baer gives a performance that is all at once sober, emotional and true. Both light and potent, he brings to life the muted pains of childhood.” LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE

“Here, surrounded by a respected audience, with this story, both unique and universal, Edouard Baer finds his truth again.” LE FIGARO

What: Patrick Modiano’s Un Pedigree staring Edouard Baer
Where: La Maison Française at the Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd, NW
When: February 20 & 21 at 8:00pm
Ticket Price: $25
Purchase Info: http://www.houseoffrancedc.org/
or 202-944-6091

RECEPTION FOLLOWS ALL PERFORMANCES- MERCI A ROLAND
----------
Details
----------

Un Pedigree:

Mixing autobiography and fiction, Modiano’s Un Pedigree is a coming of age story set in France between World War II and 1966, masterfully chronicling his early years and family “pedigree”. Born to a Flemish mother and a Jewish father, who met during the German occupation of Paris, Modiano relates his tangled and difficult family history alongside the history of a nation in upheaval.

Patrick Modiano:

Modiano published his first novel, La place de l’Etoile, in 1968. He was the recipient of the Prix Goncourt, an annual award for best and most imaginative prose work, for his 1978 book, Rue des boutiques obscures. Modiano is also the recipient of the Grand Prix National des Lettres for his body of work in 1997. Born in Boulogne Billancourt, France, Patrick Modiano spent his school years in both Annecy and in Paris.

Edouard Baer (pictured above):

Edouard Baer, a well regarded writer, director, producer and actor, attended the prestigious ‘Florent’ academy for drama. He received the Molière Award, France’s highest theatre honor, for his performance in Cravate Club. Baer made his film debut in 1994 with La Folie douce and in 2000 stared in La Bostella, a film he wrote, directed and produced. For the past three years Baer has co-directed Le Grand Mezze at Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris.

-------------------------------
Facebook users: become a "Fan" of La Maison Française

Here's to the Incentive Plan; Keep it in Perspective Joe

Could Have Been Worse i suppose:-)





[Don't try this at home boys and girls]

Bustin a Move- Mardi Gras Dance Off Face Down!! Can't Wait

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Get This Book


And Weep For how Far Gone you Are. Then beg for Mercy.



FEEDING OFF THE BIG LIE

-or-
WHEN THE SCAM PAYS TOO WELL TO QUIT

This is a tale of two delusions and deceptions-and it is a tale of today. Pay attention

In the book of Daniel there is an account of the prophet Daniel who lived during the
Babylonian exile during the reign of the Persian King Cyrus about 500 years before the birth of Christ (in 550 bc)-around 2,500 years ago. At the time the Persians
had some loopy alleged “Gods”- one of which was called “Bel.” Bel was a supposed God that was completely man made- just a huge gigantic statue made of wood and bronzed on the outside sitting on an altar of sorts in a Temple of sorts .
People actually worshipped this “God” Bel. They paid tribute to it. They had liturgical ceremonies around it (maybe an entire liturgy committee and a temple council), they prayed to it and they believed it had power and was alive. Not less than seventy (70) priests serviced the temple of Bel.
Every week it was “fed” by a deposit of a huge amount of sacrifices of food – six barrels of fine flour, forty sheep and six “measures” (large jugs no doubt) of wine.

This just cracked Daniel up. It made him laugh. Hysterical. Ridiculous. So utterly stupid. Are these people crazy? An entire empire off its collective gord.
Well, if you are a devotee of Bell, you are going to be extremely outraged by this insolence, as apparently the townsfolk were as they were up in arms at Daniel’s sacrilege to Bel.
So King Cyrus, who was actually rather fond of Daniel, and a fair minded man, decided to get to the bottom of it. The King decides that he is going to lock the doors to the Temple, with the food inside and cleverly lays ashes around the altar on the floor. He put the seal of his ring on the lock outside so he will be able to tell if someone picked the lock or otherwise opened the door. Then lets see….
If Bel is really a God and really eating all this stuff he is alive and a true God and Daniel will be put to death, if there is some foul play and something else is happening to the food, Daniel will live. Bring it on- says Daniel.

The next morning Daniel and the King open the doors and see all the food is missing.
Oh no. Looks like Bel is really eating this massive quantity of food- he must be alive!.He must be a true god! But wait- look closer- remember the ashes on the floor? Look at all the footsteps of people-and kids footsteps even! Turns out that the 70 priests and their wives and children made a weekly feast of Bel’s “sacrifices” by sneaking into an underground tunnel and trap door by the altar .What a scam!! How ridiculous. What a joke. The entire kingdom was hoodwinked by the
Crooked pagan priests who snuck up from the basement- so King Cyrus put them all to death. Daniel lives another day.

Fast forward five hundred fifty years or so.
Another delusion which hoodwinked an entire kingdom that found it too profitable to
Give up is found in Ephesus, now part of Turkey, then a thriving port town. When Paul of Tarsus went to Ephesus
he found a Temple there twice the size of the Greek Parthenon in Athens devoted to the Greek Fertility Warrier Princess God Artemis (called “Diana” elsewhere.) This Artemis was widely worshipped in the Greek world and Ephesus was a pilgrimage site because it is where the Temple –like a huge Basilica -housed an image of Artemis believed to have fallen out of the sky. Artemis was so famous that
The silversmiths who were carving replicas of the shrine of Artemis created an industry of it and sold them all over the world. If you think “Lourdes” is czhatchki heaven for every kind of religious bobble-headed trinket, it is dwarfed in comparison to the silversmiths of Artemis whose idols were sent from the port town in ships all over the known world.
Trades in idolatrous images of Artemis and the Shrine of Artemis we read about in Acts 19 were so lucrative that the very presence of Paul threatened them. There was a financial motive in protecting the delusion that Artemis was a great God.
It fed practically the entire town of Ephesus. When the little band of Jewish upstarts led by Paul came to town the town became so threatened that it gathered and for two solid hours tried to shout them down and out with loud cries of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
It was not as easy for Paul to crack the deceptions of the worship of the false God Artemis as it was for Daniel to reveal the absurdity of the false God Bel worship in one night. Paul nevertheless stayed for two years, rented a hall in a theatre of sorts and determinedly taught in the hall every day for two solid years in Ephesus. He nearly caused a riot of the silversmiths and idol makers that threatened to bring the wrath of the Roman army down on the town. They were threatened with their very livelihoods. How were they going to feed themselves and their children if this is all a crock? Who will buy this crap then?. They created an industry out of a false worship. Paul was literally run out of town and high tailed it for Macedonia.

Thereafter, we know that Paul remembered the town lovingly even after he was sent to prison as he penned there his great letter to the “Ephesians” correcting their theological error; some bad habits die hard and Paul knew they didn’t completely get it. He tells them this: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with The Word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands, should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes It, even as Christ does the church because we are members of his body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery…” So also, indeed.

God did not give up on Ephesus- the principle place of pilgrimage to all Artemis worshippers at the Basilica of Artemis- he sent Paul there to tell them this is a crock people. This is not a true God, this Artemis is not the Way, the Life and the Truth as is the One True God.

What do we know about false beliefs from the tales of Bel and Artemis? We know
Entire kingdoms were off the ranch in worshipping something completely nonsense because it paid too well to question it. The system worked. The Silversmiths had a good business, the pagan priests of Bel fed their families.

So listen- what have you made for yourself and placed it on the alter of your making to worship when it is really not of the one true God but you worship it as though it were-because it pays too well and works fine? What have you bowed to at the altar of your own making or that was institutionally presented as truth, and affirmed only because it profits you or the institution to a point where you refuse to listen to the truth?
Jesus promises us (and all his promises are sure and true) that Truth will set you free.
Worshipping false idols makes you captive to illusion and deceptions that keep you in bondage to a lie- the greater the profit from the lie the greater the hold that the bondage has on you because it seems self-affirmed by the profit. The more money the silversmiths made the angrier they were at Paul because the more they were threatened.

But Jesus, you see, came to set ALL the captives free. The very point of his coming to Preach is that he came to communicate TRUTH- because Truth sets the captives free from the bondage of their illusions and false worship into LIFE. Jesus didn't come just to Preach- it's WHAT he came to Preach that he came for.

Jesus, the author of all life, came to free you from the oppression of your delusions and to be the exclusive atoning sacrifice for your otherwise inexcusable unacceptable depravity. Jesus, is the greatest emancipator- a gazillion- fold greater than Lincoln. An eternity greater than Lincoln.
Living a lie is painful- and this is not “acceptable sacrifice.” Just because it hurts doesn’t make it noble. Love is greater than sacrifice and Jesus is Love. To insist on keeping yourself in bondage to false idols, false illusions, and false teachings completely denies Jesus himself.
Eventually the truth took hold in Ephesus, and three hundred years or so after Paul left
Ephesus, the great pillars of the Temple of Artemis were carted off to the Magnificent
Haggia Sophia church in Constantinople, the first city where the truth of Jesus was allowed to be worshipped in full in public-where what was known in secret saw the light of day and was acknowledged as true publically.

Bad habits die hard; the more you profit off a lie the more you will believe it true.
The Artemis worshippers who denied Jesus you won’t find in heaven. The seventy Bel priests and their family of worshippers killed by King Cyrus you won’t find in Heaven.
A lie is always just and still a lie and Jesus is the Truth and the Life. The truth will set you free. Jesus promises. Do you believe him- really! Sacrifice into the bondage of illusion is just another word for oppression. Oppression doesn’t create Life, it denies it, and to those watching who live in the light- well, we try not to laugh too loud, because it just looks too ridiculous. Do you REALLY believe JESUS of NAZARETH, or are you feeding too well
off bowing to the big lie.

Friday, February 13, 2009





Fun Facts About Dean:
Born in Steubenville, Ohio to poor italian immigrants. Worked in steel mills in his youth.

Funner Fact: he and my Dad were buds.


wondering who saint valentine actually was? Joyeaux Fete de St. Valentine!


Remember you can pray to these characters.

http://www.h2onews.org/_page_videoview.php?id_news=1547&lang=en

When he celebrated the marriage of a Christian to a Pagan against the law at the time, he
affirmed the supremacy of LOVE over law, rule and edict. LOVE--it's higher than all the
theological virtues, higher than all the laws, because it is the fulfillment of them all. LOVE
with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, first God AND your neighbor as yourself. The former does not preclude the latter but must compel it.

For this principle, a foundational one of Christianity, that the Saint refused to denounce--This Saint lost his head.



And another Saint who Knew Love and loved to cook:

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Catholic/Saints/G/Giles-Mary-Of-St-Joseph.aspx?source=NEWSLETTER

The Consoler of Naples.
He should be the Patron Saint of the Food Channel.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I asked of you, and you refused. I asked of God and he granted it to me.

A STORY OF TWINS

St. Scholastica (480-542?)

(thanks to beliefnet.com)

Twins often share the same interests and ideas with an equal intensity. Therefore, it is no surprise that Scholastica and her twin brother, Benedict, both established religious communities within a few miles from each other.
Born in 480 of wealthy parents, Scholastica and Benedict were brought up together until he left for Rome to continue his studies.
Little is known of Scholastica’s early life. She founded a religious community for women near Monte Cassino at Plombariola, five miles from where her brother governed a monastery.
The twins visited each other once a year in a farmhouse because Scholastica was not permitted inside the monastery. They spent these times discussing spiritual matters.
According to the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, the brother and sister spent their last day together in prayer and conversation. Scholastica sensed her death was close at hand and she begged Benedict to stay with her until the next day.
He refused her request because he did not want to spend a night outside the monastery, thus breaking his own Rule. Scholastica asked God to let her brother remain and a severe thunderstorm broke out, preventing Benedict and his monks from returning to the abbey.
Benedict cried out, “God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?” Scholastica replied, “I asked a favor of you and you refused. I asked it of God and he granted it.”
Brother and sister parted the next morning after their long discussion. Three days later, Benedict was praying in his monastery and saw the soul of his sister rising heavenward in the form of a white dove. Benedict then announced the death of his sister to the monks and later buried her in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

think your condo is too small?

TAKE IT UP WITH St. COLETTE (1381-1447)
Colette did not seek the limelight, but in doing God’s will she certainly attracted a lot of attention.
Colette was born in Corbie, France. At 21 she began to follow the Third Order Rule and became an anchoress, a woman walled into a room whose only opening was a window into a church.
After four years of prayer and penance in this cell, she left it. With the approval and encouragement of the pope, she joined the Poor Clares and reintroduced the primitive Rule of St. Clare in the 17 monasteries she established. Her sisters were known for their poverty—they rejected any fixed income—and for their perpetual fast. Colette’s reform movement spread to other countries and is still thriving today. Colette was canonized in 1807.

modern miracles.

http://thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=3493
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Friday, February 06, 2009

IRAN TODAY-----CONFLICT SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL EVENT NEXT WEDNESDAY.




A Special Event with Conflict Solutions International

Wednesday, February11, 2009, 6:30 PM to 9 PM
*Must RSVP to attend this event*

Anniversary of a Revolution:
Perspectives on Iran

On the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, this program will present
A distinguished panel of speakers with original views seldom heard on the American media.
They will represent and discuss the perspectives of Iran, the West and the Arab World.


The speakers' presentation will be followed by a reception featuring delicious hors d'oeuvres and desserts.



All Souls Unitarian Church, Main Sanctuary
1500 Harvard St., NW., Washington, DC 20009

Entrance is at the corner of 16th and Harvard Streets in Washington, DC. Closest Metro Station: Columbia Heights (Green Line) MapQuest Directions (Copy and Paste the following link into your browser): http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?city=Washington&state=DC&address=1500+Harvard+Street+NW&zip=20009&country=US&level=5

All Souls Church, Unitarian is a progressive religious community located in the heart of Washington, DC, at the intersection of the Mt. Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. CSI has no affiliation with All Souls or any other religious organization. We thank All Souls Unitarian for graciously hosting this special event.


Free of Cost
However Voluntary Donation Accepted

All proceeds will go to CSI, a 501(C) (3) non-profit. Donations
are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law.
For more information on the foundation please visit our website at
http://www.csiorg.org/

MUST RSVP by Monday, February 9th to
CSIEVENT@AOL.COM
With your full name, number of guests, phone number and email

A Class Apart- FEBRUARY 23, 9:00 pm WETA, PBS Special; Don't Miss It.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/class/

The untold story of how Mexican Americans helped forge the civil rights evolution in America.

I saw a preview of this movie and it is fantastic. It tells of a little known Supreme Court case involving the right of Latinos to have a jury of their peers defined as something other than an "all white" jury at a time when Mexican Americans were defined as "white" but treated as another class alltogether. It tells of the historic creative lawyering that made the argument that established equal protection 14th Amendment protections for Mexican Americans and all Latinos. It is a great American story of brave Mexican American lawyers- fighting for their community and the Constitutional principle that all people are created equal in this great land.

DON'T MISS THIS SPECIAL. You didn't learn about this case in law school.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Airing Dirty Family Laundry

Regnum Schmegnum

There is a "crisis" brewing in the Catholic church they say. Another one? It has again to do with the secretive sexual dalliances of an esteemed leader, and founder of an entire order who sired a daughter and was long believed to have sexual encounters with males. It was reported recently in the New York Times that this founder and leader indeed had a mistress, had a daughter while leading this order masquarading as a celibate. The Catholic world is spinning, canon laws mobilizing, and calls for the healing to begin as people try to make sense of this and recover from the deception and illusions.

Two scripture verses come to mind- I will leave it to you to find them.

Paul ripped up a congregation once in one of his letters for people calling themselves disciples or followers of the Apostles. He said basically--why are you calling yourselves Peter's disciples (Cephas' disciples) or John's disciples, etc... Did Peter or John die for you on the cross? Call yourselves Jesus' disciples.

This is a good lesson today- keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Jesus will manifest in a body when two or more are gathered in his name, in spite of the sins of the fathers- and there are many. Priests are just people in collars with more training and hopefully earnestness in seeking G0d. Jesus, however, is your salvation- not any religious order by itself.
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Who cares about a dodgy incontinent preacher too charismatic for his shirt who is dead already. Just take him off your litany of saints list and start praying to Jesus.

The second verse is 1 Timothy 4.
There is indeed something not biblical about any religious order forbidding marriage. Re-read Timothy 4. Forbidding marriage means making celibacy, regardless of the actual gifting of a person toward celibacy or not, mandatory. That is flatly anti-biblical and I would argue evil.
It is done as an institutional "discipline" or accommodation. The scriptural approach however is that some "choose" eunich-hood for the kingdom when so called--not that it is imposed by a castrating religious authority. However, all are more or less called to try to continue to preach and teach. So the gifting or calling by God to preaching and teaching and the gifting or calling by God to celibacy are not mutually co-existent definitionally. JPII made it clear that celibacy is not an essential qualification of the priesthood- were that so the entire byzantine rite and eastern orders would have no priests.
Thus, those who forbid marriage to clergy, even when they may have no such special gifting of celibacy by God, will frustrate them into sin. It is totally predictable. We now have more than enough empiricle evidence to support if not prove it and it is folly to ignore it.
This is why it is such an evil doctrine. It is not just biblical error- it is flatly evil. It's the devil's work.

This is why the entire Christian world, outside the Roman variety of Catholicism has long rejected it. This is why it only came into the Catholic church after centuries of allowing clergy to marry only after internal persecution by the church of itself and the wives of priests.

This doctrine needs to be modified. It subverts the purposes of God and tends some toward sin.

Note that it will not cause huge numbers of priests to all of a sudden want to marry if changed any more than legalizing homosexual marriage will all of a sudden cause heterosexuals to want to become gay to marry their same sex. There are huge numbers, probably by far the majority of priests who are indeed gifted by the Holy Spirit to a life of celibacy, contemplation, prayer and service. But there are others who are amazingly good preachers and teachers who can be wonderful priests and be married. One might argue that a world of wierdness in pastoral relations with women would be made much holier for some awkward priests if allowed to marry one of them.

A married monogamous priest is by far a more honorable truthful person than a wag- about run- around adulterous ac/dc filandering incontinent priest. A Presbyterian minister and a married teacher of Sunday school is a far more honorable truthful person than a wag-about run-around adulterous AC/DC filandering Priest.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. The author and finisher of your Faith. The Source of your Salvation. And do not be misled by false teachings or teachers and those who would forbid marriage.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Mother May I

Constitutional Amendment For the Right to Cut off Your Nose To Spite Your Face.

Come again? Repeat Please. Tomorrow on the Mall will be a Protest Rally and March on Washington for Congress to make a Constitutional Amendment to establish the Right to Cut Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face.

OK. That sounds ridiculous. But not as ridiculous as the Constitutional Right to kill your offspring in utero. Imagine such a Protest Rally. Let's amend the US Constitution so that there is a "Right" to kill your offspring in utero. What does the bill look like ---- "it being universally understood that there is an intrisic right to kill your offspring in utero, after neglecting to "choose" to exercise all reasonable precaution to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, after neglecting to "choose" to not take your clothes off in the presence of a man, after neglecting to "choose" to not engage in intimate behavior with said male, after neglecting to "choose" not to drink half a bottle of red, after neglecting to not "choose" to taxi to his place, after neglecting to "choose" not to answer the phone and neglecting to "choose" to say "no thanks" to the evening, we now find that there is a Constitutional Right to "choose" to bear the natural totally predictable consequences of every previous wrong or bad choice---why?? because women are just too dumb to know better? You are insulting my intelligence.

Get Serious. Why don't they just call the bill the "Constitutional Right to be too drunk to know what I was doing" or the "Constitutional Right to not figure out how not to have sex" or the "Constitutional Right to not be smart enough to figure out how to leave my husband before getting knocked up again" or the "Constitutional Right to have conjugal sex and forget the birth control" or the "Constitutional Right to be as horny and dumb as I want to be." I like this one "The Constitutional Right to actually believe the guy when he said he loves me when followed immediately by the grope for my brastrap."
Because that is what we want to do- create an entire country and culture of really dumb women with the sexual and relational smarts of a labrador.

Oh- and we want to encourage the male sex drive to function without any reality checks. Because the wilder men can behave badly helps society? Sexploitation alleviates aggressive behaviors? Better they are screwing around rampantly than shooting people in the streets?
An abortion "Right" pretty much makes it alternative birth control doesn't it?
No worries- screw around all you want and all you have to do is butcher the woman if she conceives---as many times as you need to.

There used to be a rule in basic tort law that says your right to swing your fist ends at your neighbor's nose-right? The neighbor in this case is living inside your uterus. Swing all you want but don't cut off the life support.

The "my body my business" mantra would make sense, only, the fetus thing is/was actually NOT your body. It's a completely different DNA composition than your body that will have totally different fingerprints than yours. It could have a totally different blood type, and even not be your same gender. The "my body my business" boast would make sense, except it's NOT! It's just not your body. You don't own it, and it isn't "you." You just house it.

The discussion isn't about whether you are entitled to kill an experiment in taking a few of your cells to clone you- it's about whether you have a right to kill something living and growing inside you that IS NOT YOU. It is a completely new different human being that you only half participated in making in the physical dimension. On the spiritual dimension you had no say at all in it's soul attribution. So, no- it's not about "your body your business" its about that OTHER BODY that is growing inside you.

Please people. Really. Seriously. There is no Constitutional Right to have an abortion.
The "privacy" doctrine assumes you are alone! The "privacy" doctrine penumbrally assumed if not overtly found in the Constitution presumes that there is no one else there- the thing sucking its thumb inside your belly is there. You already have a guest with you sleeping close to your heart in bed with you.

If we make up a Constitutional right to an abortion the entire country has landed on the Jerry Springer show. Seriously. There is no Constitutional Right to kill your offspring in utero.

[If we did it to a litter of pre-born puppies it would be felonious animal cruelty- but we can do it to little pre-born people and it's a Constitutional Right? Are you kidding?]

Here's a better idea:
Why don't we get a Presidential website together and list the best "get over" lines.
Women can describe the best pick up lines they have received and the best strategies for nailing them- they can be put into school curriculum to the extent that people are not told by their brothers that males in heat would if allowed have sex with any and everything in a skirt and their couch if the cushions were tight enough.
Then you might start seeing the unwanted pregnancy stats go down.

Couple that with some free higher degrees/education for women/girls and free field trips to anywhere but the inner city and you might find dreams expanding beyond "all that she wants is another baby."
Then put in every McDonalds playland a free ultrasound machine and in every office a lactation room next to the kitchen and the abortion stats would plummet.

We don't need a Constitutional Amendment to create a new "Right" to kill your offspring- we need creative strategies to encourage creation of Life we want to nurture.