Blind faith or facts?

How do we assess whether what the Church teaches is based on fact or fantasy?

A very interesting article on two famous relics, courtesy of the Shameless Popery blog, begs the question: who is using facts and who is using a blind faith in unsubstantiated claims?

We cannot avoid abortion

And by that I mean that we cannot avoid talking about it. I will most likely post regularly about this fundamental issue, but here is one way to start, courtesy of Mark Shea




Got questions?

And now, for something completely different!

Do you want to have fun with the name of your friends or professors? Try getting their anagrams at this site:

http://www.deanjackson.dj/nameanagram/index.php

Of course, don't forget that being mean and using the results of your search to offend other people is sinful!

Oh, what a reading!

Have you checked out today's first reading? It's from St.Paul's letter to Timothy.
Apart from the continuing inspiration that the name "Timothy" gives me ("the one who fears God", but in the theological meaning of the word "fears"), I saw two very interesting messages.

First:
Whoever teaches something different
and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the religious teaching
is conceited, understanding nothing,
and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes.
From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions,
and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds,
who are deprived of the truth,
supposing religion to be a means of gain.

Do you know anyone like that? No, not just the many Christians who are stuck in the myriad of protestant groups, but even the many Catholics who claim to not agree withe certain basic teachings of the Church and delude themselves to be doing something great by their dissension.
St. Paul tells us, in not so many words, that they "understand nothing". Wow! Are we in that boat too? Maybe a good examination of conscience can be useful for us here, especially since when we disagree we usually tend to say that we do it because our conscience tells us to. But is our conscience well formed and well informed? Hmmmm.

Second:
For the love of money is the root of all evils

Notice, not "money", but the "love of money". What a difference! Money is a tool and, like all tools, it is up to us how it is used.
Do we acquire it because we love having it? In that case we are probably taking it away from other people who may use it better, or are squandering it in activities that are destructive to us and others.
But if we acquire it as the result of the good work we have done and if we use it for good purposes, then we don't really love it, do we? We are just moving it around and making it do the work it is supposed to do.

So, which one will it be for you and me?

One week down, a few to go...

As the saying goes at our College, "I survived the first week"! Of course, this is an expression of satisfaction for having overcome all the hurdles of the first week.
As students struggle with finding classes, getting to know their teachers - including figuring out their accents and weird ways - and locating that Far Side everyone talks about, teachers struggle with getting their lessons organized, dealing with their new (or old) students, handling their fear of not knowing enough or of trying something new.
There is a lot of excitement and a lot of energy, but a lot of trepidation and anxiety as well.
What has been your experience? What did you find exciting, motivating or frustrating? What are you still struggling with? What do you look forward to in the next few weeks? Share your thoughts with us.

Have you experienced any of these heresies?

There are many more videos by Fr Barron on YouTube (including part 2 of this one) that you may want to explore.

Never attribute to malice...

...what can be explained by ignorance (or stupidity). Or so the saying goes. Yet sometimes one wonders.

Is it really just ignorance that leads people to make untrue statements, or is it an attempt to provide evidence for a position that is incorrect?

I can hear you say "What is he talking about?"

Have you heard anyone say that in 1992 Pope John Paul II, on behalf of the Catholic Church, conceded that Galileo was right and that the Earth rotates around the Sun? Well I have, several times, most recently in a program pamphlet for a new play presented at a major international mathematical conference.

Of course that statement is incorrect and a quick search would allow anyone to get it right. So, why is it made? Why such sloppy "scholarship" by people who should know better? Any workable hypothesis, or just stupidity?