President At Prayer

Breakfast
Pleading for Unity, Civility and a little kindness wouldn't hurt either.



















President Barack Obama speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Feb. 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) February 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

God Ordained A Married Man

When the Lord Anointed Peter the First Pope.

Jesus who went to Peter's house to cure his mother in law surely knew Peter was married. It was on that Rock he built his church. Peter's name means in fact rock. In french it is "Pierre"- stone, pebble, rock.

Peter was anointed by Jesus as the highest Priest of his new church. The Highest Priest was married. It was not only not a disqualifier, I would argue that it was a mandatory pre-qualification.

The scripture clearly says that Bishops are to be the husband of one wife. Not ten like the polygamous alien nations surrounding them, not none like an ascetic in the wilderness. One.

So how does this square with the Pope's mandate that the only holy response sufficient to serve the church is through the virginal total self denial translated as self giving to God? It doesn't.
What the church requires isn't what Jesus instituted. It is how what is something viewed as a practical necessity (for worldy reasons) has been justified through a tortured theology to veer from what Jesus intended.

The deviation from God's path in this regard is not just a missing the mark -but it creates something essentially outside God's will in many regards and promotes abuse. It has cast on women an aspersion that is unholy. It has elevated, a la, platonic realm of the forms, non-materialism as the highest virtue over Love itself which is God. It is wrong.
The Pope is here just wrong.

Thirteen (13) Popes prior to the 12th Century were Married men. It took about 400 years for the church to split in half with the entire Protestant world of all denominations rejecting the notion that all priests must be lifetime celibates- regardless of whether they were or were not called by the Spirit into a state of celibacy. In this country hundreds of priests have left the church over the rule.

And the garbage thrown at people like Father Cutie because he wouldn't disgrace, dump, demean and destroy his girlfriend is appalling. Shameful. Sickening.

There should absolutely be a marriage option in the priesthood. Jesus never said that the way to heaven was that everyone had to be castrati self-flagellating celibate scholars. Ridiculous. Jesus said the way to heaven was through LOVE. Its as simple as the nose on your face.

What is Justice?

Back to the Basics, Says the Pope

In his early Lenten address. Seems like we just put away the Christmas ornaments, and now it is time to think penitential.
So What is Justice really, the Pope asks us to think more seriously about.

http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/node/21407

It has to do with the basics- water, food, medicine, shelter, etc.
It has to do with the Good Samaritan who got it and took care of the guy mugged and stranded by the side of the road while the presumptously pious didn't want to muddy their hands or potentially defile themselves with someone else's mess. It has to do with the Matthew 25 mandate that will separate the sheep from the goats. It has to do with the Heart of Christ, not the self laudation of puffing oneself up with accomplishments, accolates, privilege and status.
It has to do with actually doing God's word not just hearing it- and it has to do with giving sacrificially rather than storing up treasures for yourselves and buying bigger barns.

Lent- what are you giving up? What are you really giving up. Your ego might be a good place to start.

Taking a page From Cardinal McCarrick

OBAMA HAILS CIVILITY AS A NEEDED PUBLIC VIRTUE

at the National Prayer Breakfast.


"Too often that spirit is missing without the spectacular tragedy,” Mr. Obama said. “We become numb to the day-to-day crises. We become absorbed with our abstract arguments, our ideological disputes, our contests for power. And in this tower of babble, we lose the sound of God’s voice.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/obama-calls-for-civility-at-prayer-breakfast/?nl=us&emc=politicsemailema4


OBAMA- Trying to Hear The Lord's Voice.

The Sweetest Movie

I think I ever saw.

This movie came out in 1996- it is worth seeing again now.

Particularly for any of the children in Haiti or anywhere who have lost a parent or anyone at any age who has lost a loved one.

It is about a little girl who lost her mother at the precious young age of 4. Her mother visits her in her dreams.

The actress who plays this child is the youngest actress ever to win Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. She is stunning.

It is in French. Haitian children might like it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117359/

Still Praying for Haiti

And the Fine Folks Helping From Everywhere.

Here is an inspirational story of what the Jesuit Refugee Service is doing.
http://www.jrsusa.org/praying/praying.php

...and the struggles of one Salesian Nun from the Dominican Republic:

http://www.cathstan.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=26&ArticleID=3526

And this group supports an American Priest running a pediatric hospital in Haiti:

http://artistsforpeaceandjustice.com/

Wait

For the Lord
And For Your Husband

I recall a lovely luncheon I once had with a friend at the Inn in Little Washington (Virginia) one of the only five star restaurants of the day in or around DC. After the meal we needed to walk it off a bit so strolled down this southern street and happened upon a bucolic quaint B&B. We went inside, grabbed some brochures and sat on the front porch swing kicking out our legs with the wild abandon of a toddler on a swingset. The old lady of the house walked outside and said "are you ladies waiting for your husbands?" YES! we both replied cracking ourselves up at the double entendre (even though neither of us were close to being engaged to anyone at the time.) That's because we knew we were "waiting" for our husbands- in other words we weren't giving it up [again] until we were married. Call us 'born again virgins' if you like, we had our share of heart-ache and wanted to do it the way our mothers' taught us this time. This was way before it was cool or popular to declare oneself 'chaste'-like its anyone's business.

Why bother writing this now? Because the debate rages- should there be abstinence only educational funding or something more comprehensive that includes things like teaching people various ways to get off without getting pregnant? Talk shows are all over it again. I saw a show where an African American young woman, married, was defending the fact that she didn't 'give it up' until married and said it was easy. It's doable. She announced to everyone she dated that if they weren't with the program they "need not apply."

There exist healthy wonderful marriages where this rule was not followed. And there exist divorces where they were- Joy Behar for one announced she was a Virgin when married and is divorced. So it's no cure all and bright line rules always have exceptions. There is something deeper.

What should it matter from a public policy perspective? What should kids actually be taught? Something that shocked even me was the woman who insisted that girls be taught how to manage "desire" by "pleasuring themselves." Hide your eyes, put your kids to bed now- this woman is going to describe on national TV that girls should learn something guys have been told make them go blind apparently. Wrong. Sorry. Wrong.

A fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Whether condoms are appropriate to curb disease is another matter. Bedtime prayers out loud help also. We used to rotate when I was little saying
prayers by the bedside of each kid in the house with the whole family. It was something that stayed with me, and probably did a good deal of protecting me. "Desire" should be directed toward the right things- and can be.

This is where it can become obvious that a religious education makes a huge difference in future lifestyle. A good solid elementary education from a religious school, like a Catholic school, can really make a difference to an entire life, not just where one goes to college.

For that reason I am with Harold Ford, who favors things like Vouchers, and scholarship programs for inner-city kids to go to Catholic schools. DC should bring it back- they are only hurting the kids by depriving them of the option. As for abstinence only education- at least there should be acknowledgment that this is the "best practices" fool safe way to preserve yourself from an unwanted premature pregnancy before you can handle one. It is also the best fool safe way to preserve you from a life of child support payments you cannot afford to give you a better future and a hope. Abstinence funding should be increased. Whether or not "alone" with other explanations.

Star of David

Front and Center atop the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy.

Look closely, yes, you saw that right. A Star of David on top of a Catholic Basilica in Italy.

Why is there a Star of David in the middle front and center of this Catholic Basilica?

Because all true Christians and Catholics are Jews "grafted in the vine" and children of God by adoption.

One of most stunning genealogies is that found in Luke that traces Jesus' step- lineage as the adopted son of Joseph (born to Mary and God) up to David on Joseph's side to David's son Nathan (David, son of Jesse, etc...) and up even further to the son of Noah up further to Adam with the last line reading "son of God." Jesus, the adopted son of God through Joseph's side was the actual son of God by the Holy Spirit's effecting conception through Mary. Through Jesus gentiles are sons and daughters of God - by adoption. Heirs of the Promise of Abraham, through adoption.

This is why any shred of anti-semitism in the Catholic church is a betrayal of it's own soul.

Any shred of anti-semitism in Catholicism is not only oxymoronic it is pure heresy. We are effectively new Jews built on the foundations of faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Jesus.

Perhaps we can change the name - like Cathojudical or something that denotes the fusion more accurately so no one is confused any more.

The Living Waters

of Lourdes.

Feb. 11 is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes day. Lourdes is a place of profound healing and even miraculous healing on all levels and dimensions (bodily, emotionally, spiritually, etc.) See the official Lourdes link to the right.
This is a place that the Blessed Mother (who was once, recall a Jewish likely teen-age mother) is said to have appeared to a poor young girl tending sheep by a grotto and a river. The blessed mother appeared with a message over a period of days/weeks with instructions and prayers for peace. The authenticity of the vision was verified when she identified herself by terminology that would have been unknown to the poor girl, calling herself the Immaculate Conception, which was a doctrine coined in Rome only years before that the girl would not have heard of- as she didn't read Latin. She couldn't read at all in fact.
One of the signature features of Lourdes, one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world, is their system of baths-healing baths, into which the pilgrims are immersed.
This reminds some of their "baptism"- and the baptism of the Lord which "John the Baptist" effected. What lots of Catholics don't realize is that the ritual cleansing bathing for purification and spiritual healing is something that is profoundly Jewish. Yesterday we had the Presentation at the Temple. It is almost certain that this was preceded by Mary's ritual bath cleansing after childbirth.
The water purification ritual of Baptism, was directly in keeping with the Jewish practice of water purification rituals called the "Mikveh." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh
This is something routinely done by Orthodox Jewish women after ever monthly period (menstruation) as well as after every baby born.
It is also done by men, particularly priests, during certain times-and prior to any ordination.
The act of this baptism in water was something that historically anyone converting to Judaism had to undergo, therefore it was natural and in keeping with tradition for John the Baptist to lead people to another Mikveh to purify them into the Way- as an act signalling the repentance of the heart that accompanied a baptism.

Jesus, of course, called himself the Living Waters. This is a direct reference to the Mikveh in that he is the cleansing agent- He is the force purifying the sons of Levi, He is the source of all Life Eternal just as water is the source that sustains all life on earth.
Salvation comes from the Jews. Jesus, of course was a Jew, and he came to his own but his own "received him not" it is written.
What Catholics would do well to remember is that their faith is rooted in Judaism, in all its ritual and practices.

http://judaism.about.com/od/sexinjudaism/a/familypuritylaw.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh

Irony of Ironies.

I sometimes travel with work or fun and find myself in hotel rooms. In some hotel networked computers there is something called the "SiteCoach" that is installed that has a filter screener that picks up what it considers offensive terminology on websites and bans them from viewing. That is to stop your local perv from checking into the hotel and gluing himself to the lobby computer to watch porn sites.

Here is the irony. The Archdiocese of Washington, DC blog apparently is now blocked officially as an 'offensive site'. Something too offensive to show in hotel rooms there, no doubt by that other guy named Pope. Here's what's more ironic. This website you are reading here isn't blocked.

Chuckling to myself that the "Pope" post on "modesty" might have triggered the spam catcher site filter for its loose terminology, I note that Mary Magdalene's passion isn't offensive to Mr. Site Filter.

In fact, Mary Magdalene's passion should be cause for enormous celebration with a few bagpipes and A Capella singing of Ave Maria. What Pope- you don't think a nice Jewish mother wanted her son to find a nice Jewish girl?

I note with only the slightest touch of sarcasm that the tone of sensuality during Jesus' day might have been a wee bit different than that in Victoria's Britain. Corsets had yet to be invented. I believe metal chastity belts were from the middle ages but that might just be because I saw them for the first time in the Museum of Torture in San Gimignano, Italy.
Forgive me also if I don't feel compelled to go to confession because I can dance better than
a long post-menopausal Punch and Judy reliving Saturday Night Fever to the tune of the Electric Slide. I should get dispensations and indulgences for having to watch it.

Don't push it Pope: I am tempted to caption my next post "Are you confusing Virtue with Just Plain Retarded" but I don't want to offend any mentally challenged people.

Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette

Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette

Are You Building

The Kingdom

or Your Constituency?

Are you following your heart?

Or the rules of their road?


Are you worshipping in SPIRIT and TRUTH

or subordinating your Truth to the political will.

Whose Will Are You In Really? Whose Will will Be Done on Earth as it is In Heaven-in this Gospel according to you.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

For the Bible Tells Me So

The Gospel of John's account states clearly that someone ran up to Jesus in a panic to alert him that "Master, the ONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD" He was talking about Lazarus. The "one you love." You are kidding? Lazarus? The dead guy? Why does he love him? He isn't an Apostle? He isn't one of the 70 sent to pave the way, why Lazarus? It's really the first we hear of this guy who is so beloved of Jesus.
So who is he? The brother of Mary [Magdalene] and Martha. Lazarus- everyone says, maybe he's just sleeping- No. He's dead. But Jesus doesn't let that lie. He is going to raise him from the dead, just like he is going to raise himself from the dead. Just to show everyone he means business and he can.
Why would Jesus love Lazarus so much that he gets this special attention- he didn't say "Why are you looking for the living among the dead" or "let sleeping dogs lie" or "what's it to me!" He
sends Martha for Mary- Lazarus's sister. Mary [Magdalene], who is sitting Shiva with a number of people in her home learns from Martha that Jesus is sending for her (he is outside the town likely closer to the tomb of Lazarus when he calls for her.) Mary runs out to meet him and is crying. He's dead-if only you were here earlier you could have saved him-now he's been dead for four days and likely reeks. Then we get the famous verse that everyone quotes and can't figure out why but.....
"JESUS WEPT." Like there were not thousands of dead guys.

Jesus is moved by Mary's tears to tears himself. Lazarus is the one he loved. Lazarus is the brother of Mary [Magdalene].
Lazarus is Jesus' brother in law. This is likely not something he would want spread around- for the protection of Mary and her family.
It is written that because of what Mary told the people sitting Shiva back at the house regarding the raising of Lazarus that many then came to believe in Jesus--and many also started then conspiring to get rid of him because of the threat they believed he posed. Because of what Mary told them, her witness, many believed.


After Jesus died, we see Mary again at the Tomb (thanks to John's account.) Mary sees the angel who rolled the stone and says "Where have you taken MY lord." She doesn't say "THE Lord" or "that Rabbi" or "OUR Lord"-she appropriates him personally. Then she says "tell me where you have taken him so that I can retrieve his body." Who does this girl think she is? Who does she think she is that SHE has a right to take his body when she knew exactly where to find Peter and John? Why on earth would she tell the angel that She would take his body. What random woman floating around would think Jesus would want her to take his body?

For the same reason she came with the anointing oils to the Tomb. She was his wife. The Wife goes first and has first say over what happens to her husband's body. The others knew to keep a respectful distance. She has to go get Peter.

Again- why does this matter?
Because Jesus didn't relegate women to mere housekeeper, or bankroller. Mary and Jesus were emotionally bound. The Apostles knew of their close relationship whether they liked it or not. Mary was given by Jesus special place in his heart, and in his ministry.

The unholy Sophie's choice that exists now where the most "religious" women are those who must definitionally shun close emotional relationships with men and forsake all child-bearing is antithetical to and a false dichotomy never established by Jesus. It is in fact emotionally harmful to some religious women. It misunderstands something at the core of who Jesus is. And that is never good.

http://www.secretsofmarymagdalene.com/SOMM_from_elainepagels.htm

Jesus: Fully Human, Fully Divine.

The Principle of Forgiveness

"Sheep Are Dumb"

...Said someone in my bible study saturday morning class. It hit me. That's what Jesus said- essentially, so dumb-
- they don't know what they are doing.
Forgive them father, they know not what they do.
So dumb they can't even figure out who loves them the most and what power I have to help save them.

How can you be mad at a bunch of idiots? How can you be mad at a bunch of idiots who don't even get that you are there to help? You can't be mad- dumb people didn't ask to be dumb-they can't help it.

Forgive them father, they know not what they do.

Even when they do massive incredible death and destruction are you supposed to say that and just forgive them? Yup. Because the act of forgiveness is a giving of Grace and Mercy that has so much more power than any petty retribution or harboring anger would ever gain you and has so much more power than the destruction they tried to do. You forgive for them, but also for you. "Why let idiots rent space in your head?" (my mother used to say.)

SHEEP ARE DUMB. Why pick a fight with bleeting sheep? Sheep bleet. That's what they do.

The Puzzle Pieced Together

And Who Really Was Mary Magdalene and Why Does It Matter So Much?

There are several accounts of the episode where Jesus tells off Judas and possibly others-Simon the leper, for criticizing the actions of Mary. Luke's account fills in a few more blanks than Johns- both say he told off the people criticizing her. Luke says he told off those who said "hey, if you know what kind of woman this was you wouldn't let her touch you like that." And Jesus tells him off. He defends her- he says different things in the account in Luke than that in John- it's the same Mary. And of course, he lets her touch him- all over. You guys haven't even given me a kiss of peace and this woman hasn't stopped kissing my feet since I got here!

Jesus speaks in parables and explains more directly to apostles. So Simon the Leper gets a parable- about the person whose huge debt is forgiven. Who is more grateful? The person whose bigger debt is forgiven or the one who doesn't really think he owes anything? Obviously the one whose larger debt was forgiven. To Judas he just says- LEAVE HER ALONE!

Why should it matter (to anything more than Dan Brown book sales?) Because if in fact Jesus respected Mary Magdalene to defend her and give her an intimate special place in his ministry and heart, then there is no excuse to maintain a number of things regarding the status of women that historically have existed. For one, the priestly 'marriage option' is a no-brainer.
It reminds me of the Bishops who want to deny communion to oestensibly labeled "pro-choice" politicians when JPII did not and never said to- are you more Catholic than the Pope? Are you more holy than Jesus?

What the Sacrament Said in Orvieto

There is a statue so moving it stopped me in my tracks at the Basillica in Orvieto, Italy. It told me immediately that the sculptor understood the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus as something much more intimate and more serious than anyone credits it for. She was hanging on to him for dear life- like the two were one.

Recall where Mary is annointing Jesus with oil (nard) so expensive Judas goes off the hook protesting essentially - Look at her! That oil is worth x days wages and should have spent on the poor! -because, we are told he is pilfering from the common treasury.

What does Jesus say. - LEAVE HER ALONE! She is annointing my body for burial.
One- how did she know to do that if he didn't tell her.
Two- Recall who actually it was who did annoint his body with oils for burial.
MARY MAGDALENE.

Mary is there before and after with the burial oils. Recall it is Mary Magdalene who came to the tomb with the burial oils.

Who does this to a body absent a professional mortician? The closest family member. His mother wasn't oiling his body for burial. His closest apostle or the one he allegedly loved most wasn't there with the burial oils- the closest relative does this because it is a very intimate process - and Jewish law forbade anyone NOT a relative from even gazing on a dead body. [Open casket viewings are to this day prohibited in jewish funerals for that reason.]

His Wife annointed his body with burial oils.

http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/back_to_basics/burial_practices/jewish_law.html

"Family members" prepared the body for burial, and annointed with the oils.

http://www.stmarymagdalene.asn.au/anointingwoman.htm

"In Mary Magdalene's time, the medicinal properties of spikenard would have been known, including the beneficial effects on skin diseases such as leprosy. (Coincidentally, the anointing in Mark's gospel takes place at the house of 'Simon the leper' - perhaps a sufferer of a skin complaint, but not necessarily leprosy as we know it.) It was also a good treatment for hair and had sedative properties and would have been well known to early Christians in Rome, for whom it is thought Mark's gospel was written.
It is thought that spikenard was associated with both marriage and burial rites. The broken alabastrons sometimes found in graves may have been more an expression of grief than a part of the anointing process. It was not the special anointing oil used by the priests, but it was poured onto Jesus' head in the style of a priestly anointing and Jesus accepted it and the love of the giver in a scene framed by the murderous plots of the chief priests and his betrayal by Judas Iscariot.
The alabastron and the tears, whether symbolic of Mary Magdalene or not, are rich symbols that invite us to look for their deeper meanings - not only in the life of this intriguing woman, but in our own lives as well."

Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Mary Don't You Weep

Caravaggio's Mary Magdalene and Martha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_and_Mary_Magdalene_(Caravaggio)

In the Gospel of John he tells us that the Mary who annointed Jesus' head with oil ('nard') and bathed his feet with her tears drying them with her hair was actually the Mary in Martha and Mary whose brother was Lazarus.

The name "Magdalene" likely does not come from the town. This Mary and Martha were from "Bethany"- and Jesus had a seder meal at their house (a week before the "Last Supper")-with Lazarus after he raised him from the dead. The same sister of Lazarus is the same Mary who annointed Jesus with oil and intimately bathed his feet with her hair. Is this Mary "Magdalene?" Many have so surmised.

"Magdala" is the common name of several towns (its meaning is "tower"-and is sometimes referred to as "Migdal"-there was a Tower of Fish, Tower of the Flock, Water Tower [Migdal Mayim] etc. see also, Genesis 35:21) there is a town so attributed with that name sometime (over a century) after the death of Jesus, there are at least two others by that name. The name in Aramaic means "Tower" Mary Magdalene is possibly not an attribution of where she was from, as in "Mary from Magdala"- Mary "Magdalene" is likely a diminutive derrivative (a 'nickname') likely from the play on the terms Migdal Eder. The Migdal Eder means "Tower of the Flock" and is also used (get a concordance) with the term "daughter of Zion" in old testament prophesy. Was Jesus calling Mary his "Tower of the Flock, Daughter of Zion"-

http://www.mayimhayim.org/Rabbi%20Mike/Migdal%20Eder.htm

It has been speculated that this Mary of Martha and Mary fame, who had the better role and chose the better path by being at Jesus' feet as opposed to being busy in the kitchen (Martha also served that passover supper in Bethany) chose the better role by being close to Jesus, listening to him, and being wed as it were to his every word.

http://www.bible-truth.org/BirthPlaceofJesus.html

Put it Together People.

http://www.biblebrowser.com/micah/4-13.htm

knock knock knockin on heaven's door

But all I get is the voicemail.

That's because you keep calling the line that is the one that is linked only to the voicemail- it's a free screening trick-there is no 'caller id' on it because it just goes all the time right through to the voicemail. So my apologies to all the people too intimidated to leave a message for me to call back- but that is the purpose of it- I only call the people back who are not intimidated to request it by leaving a message and saying "please call me back." Otherwise, I assume it to be a psycho-phone stalker too intimidated to actually talk, of which I have had a few in the past and I delete the blank space that registers on the voicemail without noting who called-because there is no caller ID on that. Wimps.

So if you are actually trying to reach me, you have to try to reach me. Try. Like say "I have been trying to reach you." Your name helps. I have a private number that I give out to folks I actually want to be in communication with and if I don't know you are trying to reach me I don't give you the number.

God works that way also. Try. Don't leave psycho-hangups for God. If you want to talk to him, tell him. It's called prayer. It can be done audibly. Leave your name. Hi God, it's me again. I know you know that because you actually do read minds, but still, present and accounted for, it's me again.

If you are too intimidated to leave your name, number and a message there's no way you are ever going to stand up to your over-bearing mother or my rich uncle. So man up, and leave a message. I promise not to hurt you.