Sunday, January 29, 2006

Guilty Pleasures

I goaded Catholic Caveman into tagging me.

Music - Classic rock (Led Zepplin, the Doors, Steely Dan)

Movies – Older WWII movies, like Kelly’s Heroes and the Dirty Dozen. “Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?” Oddball is my hero..

Politics – I must confess to reading Worldnet Daily, once in a while, to see what the evangelicals are hyperventilating about this week. Oh yeah, and the price of gold is on the rise.

Church related – Watching gay priests spontaneously combust in front of their congregations, then take their leave. It’s sad for the priest, to be so lost in a fallen identity, and it’s sad for the congregation, because they’re losing a priest that they depend on. I rejoice, because I know that for every one of these ‘flame-outs’, we’ve got a well formed seminarian in Lincoln, Nebraska, that can replace the confused priest.

Chow – I like to make bacon, then fry a couple eggs, over easy, in the bacon grease. It’s a bad culinary habit I got from my mom, whose rearing from Kentucky must have given her this idea. It may be bad, but it tastes sooooooo goooooood.

Clothing – I like to wear my desert camo, MIL-TYPE-J-44320 “ Hat, Sun Hot Weather Type II “ when golfing. Maybe the other golfers wouldn’t stare so if I had ‘Calloway’ embroidered on it.

TV – Seinfeld reruns on TBS

Hygiene – “Who needs to shave on Saturday?”

Friday, January 27, 2006

Discernment in progress..





God's love..



World's love..





Any doubts ? If I may be so bold as to critique TRUE's version of love:

Yes, Love is awesome, you should read the latest papal encyclical. It may help you clear up the misconceptions you have about love.

Yes, she is awesome, but not in the manner you're suggesting. God made her, and loves her as a unique creature with talents that are ignored in your rush to market her as a commodity.

No, I doubt that clicking your link is going to help anyone find love. Prayer is the way to get that.

Your name, 'TRUE', belies your purpose. For truth in advertising, try 'ILLUSION'.

Really.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Awww.. feeling unloved?

From 365gay.com (via cwnews)

“When considering Pope Benedict’s discussion of the different dimensions of the concept of love, it is striking that in so many ways the Catholic Church fails to love lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, said Debbie Weill, executive director of Dignity.

"His letter describes in considerable detail several facets of God’s love, which the Church intentionally chooses not to extend to LGBT persons, in direct contrast to the idea that ‘Deus Caritas Est:’ God is Love”." [emphasis mine]

I'ts hard to explain the difference of loving the sinner and hating the sin, if the sinner cannot separate the sin from their own identity as a child of God. We were not made to be servants of our carnal appetites, to the point where we cannot hear about the love of God without receiving it as a rebuke.

Kyrie Eleison.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Word for the Day: Thermoneutics

Thermoneutics: The principles governing the behavior of hot air generated by biblical exegetes.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

5 Questions for Jesus

inspired by Digital Hairshirt:


#5) “Where’s Samuel’s (my son) twin?”

The day before our first scheduled ultrasound appointment, of our first pregnancy, my wife miscarried. We went to the appointment the next day, saddened and resigned. The sonographer did the scan anyway, pointed to a tiny flicker on the screen, and declared that we were still expecting. She also pointed out the sac that was left from the miscarried twin. From hope to despair to wonder, we rode it all out.

With the recent murmurings of a reexamination of ‘Limbo’, I am ever curious to know what happened to our lost one. I trust in the mercy of God, and that if he or she was ensouled, then our lost one is the first of us to get Home.

To twist the story further, 3 years later we got pregnant again, this time with twin girls..

#4) “What’s the yardage to carry the sulfur trap, just right of the fairway?”

I know a lot of people think there will be golf in heaven. The way I play the game, I think that golf will be played in Purgatory, and that Heaven will be the 19th Hole. That said, I still play, so I must have hope.

#3) “Out of the guys who’ve played you on film, who was your favorite? Max von Sydow? Robert Powell? Jim Caviezel?”


#2) “So which did you prefer: ‘Te Deum’ or ‘Gather Us In’?

Given the recent reunion of the Horsemen of the Antiphonal Apocalypse (read: the St. Louis Jesuits) I thought the question would be germane. No, I don’t want to hear from SSPX and FSSP partisans to give me His answer for him...that means you, too, Non Sum Dignus.

#1) “Lord, if you let me be here with you, who didn’t make it?”

We need to remember what it took to get us there, and so we’ll all be humble and grateful. I can’t wait. Can you?

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Golden Calves..

From Access Hollywood:

"It was a triumphant night for films dealing with homosexuality and transsexuality.

Along with the victories for "Brokeback Mountain," acting honors went to Felicity Huffman in a gender-bending role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery in "Transamerica" and Philip Seymour Hoffman as gay author Truman Capote in "Capote."

"I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are and so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are," Huffman said.

Contrast

From 'The Imitation of Christ':

My Son, pay diligent heed to the motions of Nature and of Grace, because they move in a very contrary and subtle manner, and are hardly distinguished save by a spiritual and inwardly enlightened man. All men indeed seek good, and make pretence of something good in all that they say or do; and thus under the appearance of good many are deceived.

2. "Nature is deceitful and draweth away, ensnareth, and deceiveth many, and always hath self for her end; but Grace walketh in simplicity and turneth away from every appearance of evil, maketh no false pretences, and doeth all entirely for the sake of God, in whom also she finally resteth.

3. "Nature is very unwilling to die, and to be pressed down, and to be overcome, and to be in subjection, and to bear the yoke readily; but Grace suffereth self-mortification, resisteth sensuality, seeketh to be subdued, longeth to be conquered, and willeth not to use her own liberty. She loveth to be held by discipline, and not to have authority over any, but always to live, to remain, to have her being under God, and for God's sake to be humbly subject to every ordinance of man.

5. "Nature willingly receiveth honour and reverence; but Grace faithfully ascribeth all honour and glory to God.

So..

From Access Hollywood:

"Brokeback Mountain" won the screenplay award for Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. McMurtry thanked his constant companion during the lonely process of writing.

"Most heartfelt, I thank my typewriter. My typewriter is a Hermes 3000, surely one of the noblest instruments of European genius," McMurtry said.


Jimbob says: Thanks for making my point, Larry.

Friday, January 13, 2006

In case you're not sure..

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant.
Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is
truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin.
Officially approved in 451.

Chalcedon compliant

100%

Pelagianism

67%

Apollanarian

58%

Nestorianism

50%

Monarchianism

50%

Monophysitism

42%

Socinianism

33%

Modalism

33%

Adoptionist

17%

Gnosticism

17%

Donatism

8%

Albigensianism

8%

Docetism

0%

Arianism

0%

Are you a heretic?
created with QuizFarm.com


h/t to Shrine of the Holy Whapping

Given my score on the Papal Personality test (see results below), The question remains if I am Vatican II compliant..

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

If I were a Pope..

St. Pius X
You are Pope St. Pius X. You'd rather be right than
newfangled.


Which Twentieth Century Pope Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


h/t to Catholic Fire

I never thought I'd be quite that way, I do hope that no one thinks I'm schismatic at all..

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Tongues of fire, you say?

For that special someone who can't keep their mouth shut:

From the Rule of St. Benedict:

Let us do what the Prophet says:
"I said, 'I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue.
I have set a guard to my mouth.'
I was mute and was humbled,
and kept silence even from good things" (Ps. 38:2-3).
Here the Prophet shows
that if the spirit of silence ought to lead us at times
to refrain even from good speech,
so much the more ought the punishment for sin
make us avoid evil words.


Therefore, since the spirit of silence is so important,
permission to speak should rarely be granted
even to perfect disciples,
even though it be for good, holy edifying conversation;
for it is written,
"In much speaking you will not escape sin" (Prov. 10:19),
and in another place,
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21).


And so will I also not say anything further about the incident.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

If I had to go..

it would be like this:

Mr. Joseph Pararajasingam, Sri Lankan Tamil legislator and ardent human rights activist, was gunned down in Sri Lanka during Christmas mass after he received Holy Communion from the Bishop of Batticaloa.

Story From Tamil.net
Via Catholic World News.


The martyrs are piling up.

"When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also."

Nolite Timere,

jimbob

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Jimbob reads the Qur'an, Pt. 1

Ok, the foks at CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, were kind enough to send me their English translation of the Qur’an. Of course, since the Qur’an was written in Arabic for arabs, any conclusions drawn from the English text are to be dismissed since it is not in Allah’s tongue of Arabic. Too bad, I’m going to read it, and measure it anyway. So there.

So, it starts off with a nice title plate with “The Message of the Qur’an” at the top, a pretty illustrated box in the middle, and then “For people who think” at the bottom. I imagine that this bit of arrogance insinuates that people who reject the “Message” are not thinking..

The book is marvelously illustrated, a delight to the eyes, and good for food..oh wait, that reminds me of another fruit in a different book. Aesthetics aside , let’s delve, shall we?

The first Surah begins:
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace:
All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace, Lord of the Day of Judgment!

Ok, so the Trinitarians out there should take heed: God is boss, and there is no one else.
Thank you, Arius, for this tidbit of heresy. Otherwise, the texts are full of effluent praise of ‘God’ and all His aspects, as if all the praise were a heavy flavoring that could mask the presence of poison. Onward and upward.

Second Surah:

“Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth – it is all one for them whether thou warnest them or dost not warn them: they will not believe. God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil; and awesome suffering awaits them.”

Wow, ok, that’s standard infidel dismissal. But, who decides if your truth is The Truth? Later, we see this:

“Verily, those who have attained to faith [ in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians – all who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds – shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

Ok, so now we’re lumping in Islam with the other “People of the Book”, and co-validating their faith. Well, as long as it’s practiced in accordance to what Mohammed sayeth, right? Why else treat Jews and Christians as dhimmis, unless they refuse to compromise their faith by accepting the Prophet’s testimony.

Here, it gets interesting:
"Say [O Prophet]:”Whoever is an enemy of Gabriel”- Who by God’s leave, has brought down upon thy heart this [divine writ] which confirms the truth of whatever still remains [of earlier revelations], and is a guidance and glad tiding for the Believers: “whosoever is an enemy of God and His Angels and His message-bearers, including Gabriel and Michael, [should know that,] verily, God is the enemy of all who deny the truth.”

The story is that Gabriel dictated the Qur’an to Mohammed. It’s a bit of a twist, considering that God used to communicate directly with the prophets of old. True, angels carried messages to people, but those were more of a personal nature, for specific events. Elizabeth Claire Prophet allegedly channels the spirits of ‘Ascended Masters’ and angels, preaching about many things, like chakras, kundalini, and other spiritual topics from a ‘Father-Mother God’. Prophet and her followers are still collecting guns in their Montana compound. Joseph Smith allegedly got the Book of Mormon from an angel, named Moroni (maroon?). The pseudo epigraphal ‘Book of Enoch’ details how angels came and taught men astrology, witchcraft, herb-lore, and other occult arts. More angelic deceptions?

In the second Surah, there is a lengthy section that contradicts the teachings of Jesus on divorce, as well as denial that God has a Son. More about that in the third Surah, later this week.