Postcard from Kansas City

Hey y'all! We're having a blast here in K.C. Since our family is so small there are only 14 of us all total and there are no planned activities so this is like having a great vacation with your entire family. Very cool.

Won't bore everyone with the details but my sister's family and ours went to the zoo yesterday while waiting for the others to arrive in K.C. I think she had the best summary of the experience: "It's like they went for the San Diego zoo but forgot to put in the animals." I have never walked so many long concrete trails through very nice landscaping and seen so few animals ... especially at a ZOO!

Best Indian restaurant name ever (found in Westport):

Korma Sutra
The Sensual Food of India

Lords of Dogtown

*** Liked it despite absence of flubber. (see rating key at bottom)

The Lords of Dogtown is a movie about the Z-Boys who started the skateboarding craze in Venice, California, in the 1970s. If you are at all interested in the Z-Boys, skateboarding or Heath Ledger (the movie's one "name") then you probably will enjoy this gritty look at that time. The movie did a great job of showing us the boys' disparate backgrounds and problems and how they handled their eventual fame with the accompanying sex, drugs, and partying.

Not really being interested in any of those things I still found the movie to be well done and compelling, though it could have used a little less skateboarding for my taste (hence my rating). It is a really well done piece though and, not being a Heath Ledger groupie (unlike some in my household!) I was really impressed with his performance in a less than glamorous role. He was totally believable as the surf shop owner who first forms the skateboard team and then has to face who he really is in the wake of their rise to fame.

Extras: a killer soundtrack from that time period and cameo appearances by the actual Z-boys (if you're in the know).

______________________________
HC Rating System
(from The Simpsons, what else?)

**** Listen, we've been meaning to have a talk with you about your reviews. Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that? (newspaper editor to Homer)
*** "Liked it despite the absence of flubber..." - Mel Gibson reading Prof. Frink's review
** Christian: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III."
Mel Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back.
* "Your movie was more boring than church. All you did was yak, yak, yak. You didn't even shoot anybody." -Homer Simpson's comment on movie screening

The Spirit and the Church

The Holy Spirit is to the Church what the soul is to the body. He is the Church's soul, the Church's life. The Church is "the Temple of the Holy Spirit" (CCC 737). Our bodies, too, are temples of the Holy Spirit (see Cor 6:19), because we are cells in the Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit infallibly guided the Church's earliest ecumenical councils to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity -- including the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Why do Catholics believe in the Holy Spirit? On the authority of the Holy Catholic Church, which teaches it. And why do Catholics believe this Church has infallible authority? Because the Holy Spirit, and not any human spirit, is her soul.

"[T]he Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament" (CCC 738).

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Second Rate Movie is No Treasure

NATIONAL TREASURE
HC rating: Worse Than Godfather III **

I had so many people recommend this movie that against the movie critics' better judgment we rented it this weekend. I like Nicholas Cage and had a sneaking desire to see it so I can't blame it all on everyone else. Ho hum. Second rate plot. Lackluster acting except from John Voight who, with the lack of actual material to work with, seemed to be channeling the father from "Everybody Loves Raymond" and Sean Bean who turned in his usual excellent performance, though with an equal lack of decent material he was reduced to a lot of teeth gnashing. Distinctly boring puzzle pieces and mystery to solve. Nicholas Cage seemed to think that being scholarly involved a lot of sleepwalking in this part. The movie makers evidently were under the impression that if they mashed bits of a lot of classic movies together they could come up with a winner. Wrong.

You can do much, much better by renting one of the movies they were trying to copy.

• A great adventure movie: Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark
• A great movie with a quirky father-son chemistry: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Fabulous mystery to solve with two adversaries working against each other: The Fugitive
• Humor, romance, puzzle solving mystery: Romancing the Stone
  

______________________________
HC Rating System
(from The Simpsons, what else?)

**** Listen, we've been meaning to have a talk with you about your reviews. Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that? (newspaper editor to Homer)
*** "Liked it despite the absence of flubber..." - Mel Gibson reading Prof. Frink's review
** Christian: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III."
Mel Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back.
* "Your movie was more boring than church. All you did was yak, yak, yak. You didn't even shoot anybody." -Homer Simpson's comment on movie screening

How to "Get" the Holy Spirit

We cannot "get" him; we can only let him get us. He is God. Only God can give him. Christ gives him. He comes from the Father through the Son...

The Spirit is free. He is God's gift. There is nothing we can do to "get" him; we must simply ask, in faith, like a child trusting his father's love. That same is true of the Spirit's gifts, such as wisdom: we get them simply by asking and believing: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith" (Jas 1:5-6).

But be careful what you ask for, because God will take you at your word. The Spirit's job is to sanctify, to make saints, and saints are not safe! They are like the One who makes them. God is not safe. Rabbi Abraham Heschel says: "God is not nice. God is not an uncle. God is an earthquake."

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

I think we all get to feeling so "familiar" with God that we forget who we're dealing with sometimes. That's why I like Rabbi Hershel's reminder, "God is an earthquake."

The Spirit and Scripture

When a Spirit-filled Christian reads the Word of God -- the Word this very Spirit inspired -- the book seems to "come alive" and "light up" from within itself. This is because its primary Author is really present in the reader, alive, interpreting his own words...

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Does it get any cooler than that? Nope.

Best Summer Movie Ever!!!

MR. & MRS. SMITH
HC rating: Nine Thumbs Up ****

Better than Bond. More fun than True Lies. More gorgeous than ... practically anyone (except Tom Cruise ... or actress of your choice - not really my forté, actresses).

No real need for more details but let me just say that when Hannah and Tom go to see this movie next week (and they will), Rose and I will be going too. It was just that much fun.

UPDATE: Barbara Nicolosi thinks the movie was a "Reece's Peanut Butter Cup" while her friend, Sean, goes for the chocolate truffle. Of course, I'm with Sean on this one. She also thinks a Christian would have made a better movie...

... If we made that movie, we would be more interested in the marriage issues than the shoot-em-up sequences. We would be more interested in showing how real love makes being an assassin by profession impossible. Then, I think it would be okay for us to do.

Perhaps so but it would not have been the same movie and I think it would have been virtually impossible to do in a way that would be appealing to the same crowd. She's talking about a different movie, one that I'd like to see, but not this one. I really expected this movie to take the "War of the Roses" turn (a movie I despised) and was very pleased when it didn't.

______________________________
HC Rating System
(from The Simpsons, what else?)

**** Listen, we've been meaning to have a talk with you about your reviews. Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that? (newspaper editor to Homer)
*** "Liked it despite the absence of flubber..." - Mel Gibson reading Prof. Frink's review
** Christian: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III."
Mel Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back.
* "Your movie was more boring than church. All you did was yak, yak, yak. You didn't even shoot anybody." -Homer Simpson's comment on movie screening

Human Sexuality

God invented sex. That is why it is not "bad" or "dirty". Nor is it merely neutral, to be used as we please. It is good and holy.

No aspect of the Church's teaching is more misunderstood and rejected today than her unchanging and unchangeable principles of sexual morality. For these cannot be understood except in the context of her vision of man.

Man has not evolved by accident or blind chance. Man has been loved into existence by God. Man is willed by God, deliberately designed, as male and female. That is the first reason why sex is holy.

The second reason is that God has designed and willed not only the existence of sex but also its purpose. It is holy not only because of its origin but also because of its end. That purpose is to be the means of procreating the greatest things in the universe: new persons, with immortal souls. "By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator's work" (CCC 372).

Sexual intercourse is like the Consecration of the Mass. It is a human work that God uses as the material means to do the most divine work done on earth. In the Mass, man offers bread and wine, the work of nature and human hands, for God to transform into the Body and Blood of Christ, In sex, man offers his work -- the procreation of a new body -- for God to do his work: the creation of a new soul. God grants priests the incredible dignity of being his instruments in working one of his two greatest miracles. God grants spouses the incredible dignity of being his instruments in working the other...

The principles of sexual morality are essentially unchanging because the meaning of sex is essentially unchanging. They stem from human nature itself, which God designed, not from the changing mores of society, which man designs. God's law is very clear: no adulterated sex, that is, sex outside of marriage. As Holy Mass is the place for Transubstantiation, holy marriage is the place for sex.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Demons

Angels have intellect and free will, like man. Some angels chose, at the beginning, to rebel against God's will and became demons, or evil spirits.

Just as good spirits help us, evil spirits seek to harm us by tempting us to sin.

Any baptized and believing Christian has the power to resist temptation, whether it comes from "the world, the flesh, or the devil" - that is, (a) from the external world of fallen human society, (be) from the internal world of our own fallen, selfish instincts, of body or soul, or (c) from the supernatural world of evil spirits.

No faithful Christicn can be demon-possessed against his will, though many will be severely oppressed and all will be tempted. The Church, like Christ, has the power to free those who are "possessed" by exorcising the evil spirits. Christ promised this gift to his Church (Mk 16:17). In most times and places, demon possession and exorcism are rare. But they are real.

If the devil is not real, the Bible lies (for example 1 Pet 5:8), and Christ was a fool, for he certainly believed in demons and in Satan (see, for instance, Luke 10:18).

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

The Hill of Crosses

I can't get this place out of my mind after reading about it in Catholic Shrines of Central and Eastern Europe by Kevin J. Wright. Steve at November Song brought it to mind again by this post which has some really wonderful links to information and photos of this unique outward testimony to the faith of the people of Lituania. This is one of the lengthier entries in the book but I am putting it because it pulls together everything so well.

One of the most unforgettable and emotional sites in Lithuania is the Hill of Crosses. An intense place of pilgrimage, the shrine offers a glimpse into the history of Lithuanian Catholics and their struggles with the former Communist regime. A worldwide attraction, the two-humped hillock is today buried amidst a multitude of crosses.

More than 170 years ago, however, the site was simply a hill overgrown with weeds. That all changed in 1831, when the first of hundreds of crosses were placed in the ground to honor those killed or deported to Siberia in an anti-Russian uprising. Thirty years later, more crosses were mounted on the hill in memory of those tragically killed in the peasant rebellion of 1863. In the ensuing years, more and more crosses were added to the site. At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, the faithful came here to pray in solitude or take part in religious processions. They came to present their needs to God, to mourn those who had been killed, imprisoned, or exiled, and to recall important historical events.

When Soviet authorities took power in Lithuania after World War II, the new government designated the place as "forbidden" and severely punished those who defied them. The great drama then began to unfold as authorities destroyed the crosses on the hill in an attempt to smother Christianity and erase the "fanaticism." Between 1941 and 1952 the Lithuanians suffered greatly as many of their people were exiled to Siberia. Entire villages were emptied. In 1956 the people began returning to their homes.

Only a short time later, the faithful began secretly replenishing the hill with crosses again in memory of the unbearable torture they had endured and of those who had died and in gratitude for coming back. Lithuanians who returned from captivity in Siberia also put up crosses to thank God for the chance to walk the paths of their homeland and breathe its air again. In time, the Hill of Crosses with its heart-wrenching inscriptions became an open book of people's lives. The site symbolized resistance to violence, oppression and genocide. The resurrection of the crosses on the hill told the world that the nation of Lithuania was not dead.

But once the Communist authorities discovered the freshly planted Christian symbols, they attempted in the spring of 1961 to rid the site of its religious sentiments once and for all. Under the strict guard of the Red Army and KGB, soldiers bulldozed the area, burned the wooden crosses, recycled the iron ones, and buried the stone crosses in the ground. A maple tree, planted by the people to symbolize Lithuania's independence, was also uprooted. (Ironically, however, the townspeople later returned the tree to the hill in the form of a cross.)

When new crosses began cropping up, the Soviets attempted new ways of destroying the hill. On oe ocasin, the Soviets flooded the place, turning the Hill into a virtual island. The Communists exhausted themselves in designing new ways to stop the faithful from planting the symbols of resurrection. They dug ditches, closed bus stops, posted signs, punished trespassers, and blocked roads. But all was in vain. Ironically, one of the new crosses erected during the night read, "Jesus, do not punish the villains for they not know what they are doing." In total, the government bulldozed the hill three times, only to see the crosses spring up again and again. In 1975 the authorities leveled the hill for the last time.

Since then, more than fifty thousand crosses have been placed on the hill -- a testament to the spirit of the people. the planting of crosses can be traced to the Lithuanian tradition of erecting crosses near roads and settlements. In fact, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, so many crosses had been placed on the side of roads that the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire issued an edict forbidding the erecting of them. However, the order had little effect, as the cross had already become a deeply rooted symbol in the heart of theLithuanian people...

Prayer of the Cross

Jesus, you became an example of humility, obedience, and patience, and preceded me onthe way of life bearing your cross. Grant that, inflamed with your love, I may cheerfully take upon myself the sweet yoke of your gospel together with the mortification of the cross and follow you as a true disciple so that I may be united with you in heaven forever and ever. Amen.

Getting Closer to Jesus: Silence, Our Father, and Glory Be

The prayers that make up the Rosary are simple and easy to memorize (though I will admit I haven't really got the Apostles' Creed down yet). You can go here for instructions on which prayers are said when.

Before beginning each decade it is customary to announce the mystery and read the scripture associated with it, sometimes along with a short meditation. I tend to do most of my meditation while I am saying the prayers rather than before but I like to take a moment before each decade to center my mind on what I will think about, as you can range far wider in the Gospel than merely the announced mystery. This is usually when I "dedicate" each decade to an intention. Oftentimes the entire rosary will be dedicated as well but different mysteries will be applicable to different needs on your heart at the time.

Listening and meditation are nourished by silence. After the announcement of the mystery and the proclamation of the word, it is fitting to pause and focus one's attention for a suitable period of time on the mystery concerned, before moving into vocal prayer. A discovery of the importance of silence is one of the secrets of practicing contemplation and meditation. One drawback of a society dominated by technology and the mass media is the fact that silence becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. Just as moments of silence are recommended in the Liturgy, so too in the recitation of the Rosary it is fitting to pause briefly after listening to the word of God, while the mind focuses on the content of a particular mystery.

The thing that I really noticed when I started saying the rosary was that the decades of Hail Mary prayers were always begun with an "Our Father" (aka The Lord's Prayer) and ended with a "Glory Be" (Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.). In my mind they "cradle" the other prayers, surrounding the entire proceedings with God to whom all our thoughts and prayers should be offered during that time. Quite often when I am saying them, I also am thinking of how perfectly planned but yet unexpected God's plan of salvation is.

The “Our Father”
After listening to the word and focusing on the mystery, it is natural for the mind to be lifted up towards the Father. In each of his mysteries, Jesus always leads us to the Father, for as he rests in the Father's bosom (cf. Jn 1:18) he is continually turned towards him. He wants us to share in his intimacy with the Father, so that we can say with him: “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). By virtue of his relationship to the Father he makes us brothers and sisters of himself and of one another, communicating to us the Spirit which is both his and the Father's. Acting as a kind of foundation for the Christological and Marian meditation which unfolds in the repetition of the Hail Mary, the Our Father makes meditation upon the mystery, even when carried out in solitude, an ecclesial experience.

When I was learning the "Glory Be" I was struck by its perfection as well. It was a long, long time before I could get past thinking about the sheer mystery contained in "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." How do so few words communicate so much about God's nature and glory and what he has done for us?

The “Gloria”
Trinitarian doxology is the goal of all Christian contemplation. For Christ is the way that leads us to the Father in the Spirit. If we travel this way to the end, we repeatedly encounter the mystery of the three divine Persons, to whom all praise, worship and thanksgiving are due. It is important that the Gloria, the high-point of contemplation, be given due prominence in the Rosary. In public recitation it could be sung, as a way of giving proper emphasis to the essentially Trinitarian structure of all Christian prayer.

To the extent that meditation on the mystery is attentive and profound, and to the extent that it is enlivened – from one Hail Mary to another – by love for Christ and for Mary, the glorification of the Trinity at the end of each decade, far from being a perfunctory conclusion, takes on its proper contemplative tone, raising the mind as it were to the heights of heaven and enabling us in some way to relive the experience of Tabor, a foretaste of the contemplation yet to come: “It is good for us to be here!” (Lk 9:33).

RESOURCES:

• Rosary Center
  
• EWTN - Rosary, How to Pray the Rosary, The Rosary and Sacred Scripture
• All quotes are from: Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis by Pope John Paul II

Angels

Angels are not mythical but real. They are not an optional addition to the Catholic faith; their existence is a dogma of the faith (Lateran Council IV). Angels appear many, many times in Scripture. The life of Christ especially is surrounded by their work (see CCC 333).

"Angel" means "messenger". "St. Augustine says: '"Angel" is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is "spirit"' " (CCC 329). Angels are spirits who worship and serve God by ministering to men. (So do we!) They minister to men by announcing messages from God (their most important messages were at Christ's birth) and by guarding and guiding us.

Every human being has a guardian angel assigned to him from birth to death. Christ himself assured us of that: see Matthew 18:10 and Luke 16:22.

"Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels" (CCC 331). When he returns at the end of the world, he will come with all his angels (Mt 24:31; 25:31).

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Man's Place in Creation

God created "the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1), that is, "all that is, seen and unseen" (CCC 326, referring to the Nicene Creed). Man lives in both dimensions. He lives in the visible world of matter by his body, and he lives in the invisible world of spirit by his soul. The acts of the soul are invisible and immaterial: thoughts, feelings, desires, and choices have no size, weight, shape, or color.

Man is the lowest of the spirits and the highest of the animals. He is the center and bridge of the created universe. He is creation's priest, for when he offers his whole self to God he offers all creation, since he is in himself all that creation is: spirit (mind and will), which he shares with angels; sensations and feelings, which he shares with animals; organic life, which he shares with plants; and physical matter, which he shares with chemicals.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Good Job, Genius!

STAR WARS III, REVENGE OF THE SITH

WARNING, SPOILERS

Everyone has gone into great detail with various reviews and I am just going to give my general impressions here. Probably the best commentary for discussing how George Lucas deals with details that must be settled to flow into Star Wars IV (the real first movie) is found at Quoth the Maven. Loaded with spoilers, so watch out if you haven't seen it.

• So when Obi Wan kept complaining "he was supposed to bring BALANCE!" ... it never occurred to anyone that two Jedi would be the balance to two Sith? Ok, so they're not rocket scientists.


• Moral relativism charges about this movie ... having seen the movie, I now can reply, "Bunk!" Didn't anyone hear Chancellor Palpatine talking to Anakin about "Good is all in your point of view?" That's how he started messing with Anakin's mind in the first place, through moral relativism. When Obi Wan said that "absolutism was the way of the Sith" in my personal opinion he was talking about the way that Anakin was judging people to be either all good or all evil ... as tools to be used.


• Watching the "mosquito" ships on the Wookie planet, and seeing General Grievous turn into a giant cockroach without his cloak, and seeing that lava planet ... just kept reminding me of Texas in August. And I don't like to look into the future like that.


• The best character in this movie was a toss-up for me ... either R2D2 or Yoda.


• The best real-life actor was (to my great surprise) Hayden Christensen. If he doesn't decide to become an architect instead of going on acting as I read on someone's blog (can't remember where), then he should specialize in villainous characters (with or without glowing yellow eyes) Second best actor was Ian McDiarmid (Councellor Palpatine).


• There was still absolutely no chemistry between Anakin and Padme, although because Anakin kept obsessively talking about his mother, I did believe that his one true goal was to save Padme from death. Ironic that as the Emperor told him in the end, Anakin actually did kill her ... though the Emperor was just saying whatever worked to raise the hatred and self-loathing levels.


• I want to ride a giant lizard like Obi Wan did.


• Order 66 ... what a good idea that was (if you were evil, anyway).


• There is nothing so fun as watching Yoda go ballistic on someone. When it is on the evil Emperor then it is twice as fun.


• Where did "Good job, genius!" come from? That was Rose's reaction when Anakin pushed Samuel L. Jackson out the window and then said, "What have I done?"

The Cows Got Into the Corn Field

I always am likening having our own business to being farmers. When the kids didn't want to help with filing or come up to the office during the summer I would talk about how farmers' kids would be helping milk cows. When we had to cut vacation short or Tom had to work incredible hours to make a deadline I would think of having to get the harvest in before it rained. So now we have damage control after the cows have broken through the fence and trampled through the corn.

Our office was broken into last night. The good news is that we are insured and that the thieves were not interested in anything but obvious computers. Just one room over were all our servers where we also host other sites. Now that would have been a nightmare if they had had the smarts to go prospecting and knew what to look for. The bad news is that they went for the glossy stuff: our sub-leaser's G5 and Apple monitor, my computer and 1-day-old Apple monitor (sigh), and Chris' computer and one day old Dell monitor (we were comparing the Apple and Dell to see what the differences in color were ... neglible for anyone who is interested). No files were lost, at least those of any importance, because they are all kept on the servers, which were spared. Anyway we back-up nightly and take the tapes home in case of fire, flood, or ... theft.

So not that big a deal except in terms of time lost and finances juggled to replace the computers to get up and running as early as possible tomorrow.

The Distinctiveness of the Doctrine of Creation

It is a simple and startling fact that no human mind on earth ever conceived the idea that the entire universe, visible and invisible, was created out of nothing, not just made or formed out of something, by a single all-powerful God -- not one except the Jews and those who later learned this idea from the Jews, namely, Christians and then Muslims.

The Jewish idea of the universe as something created was as unique in history as the Jewish idea of God the Creator -- the idea of a single all-perfect, all-powerful, all-wise, all-holy, all-just, and all-merciful God. The uniqueness of both ideas can be explained by the same fact: both came from God's revelation not man's imagination. (see Is 60:1-3).

The truth about our ultimate origin -- the doctrine of creation -- had the same supernatural source as the equally unique and startling doctrine about our ultimate destiny -- to be spiritually married to the one perfect God. That too is something "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him" (I Cor 2:9).

Different human cultures imagined different ultimate destinies: Nirvana, the Happy Hunting Grounds, the Elysian Fields, the Return to Paradise -- but all these pale in comparison with the divinely revealed truth about our destiny. Similarly, different cultures also invented many different so-called creation myths, but none ever got as far as a Creator of the universe out of nothing.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

How perfect that I read this just the other day. Yesterday our priest's homily was really amazing. He's always an amazing speaker but I have never heard anyone do such a wonderful job of saying that Christianity is the true religion while not saying anything bad about the other ones. He took the above concept as his starting point and then went further to talk about God stepping over the gap to meet us in humanity ... the humanity of Jesus Christ ... and about using that as a stepping stone for meeting each of us personally in our hearts and in our lives. The way to do that? Prayer, of course.

The Nature of God

God is infinite; therefore he cannot be defined. But this does not mean he has no nature. He is not a "whatever", an "everything in general and nothing in particular". He has a character. He is one thing and not another: righteous, not wicked or indifferent; wise, not foolish; merciful, not cruel. But each of his attributes is infinite (unlimited): he is infinitely righteous, indefinitely wise, infinitely merciful, and so on. He is infinite, but not indefinite. He is infinitely himself.

And we can get to know this character:

1. better by faith than by reason; better by trusting his own revelation of himself better than by trusting our own cleverness;


2. better still by prayer, by real personal contact with him, both private and public, both spontaneous and liturgical;


3. and best of all by loving him, doing his will and obeying his commandments, especially that of loving each other; "for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 Jn 4:20).

We can know something of God's nature, or character, from ourselves, from our deepest desires. God is our ultimate joy. God is the one whose presence will give us infinite and unimaginable ecstasy without boredom forever. What must God be, to do this? A sea of infinite beauty, a light of infinite understanding, a heart of infinite love. And more, always more, infinitely more, "what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived" (1 Cor 2:9).

Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Faith and Trials

God tests our faith by allowing us to suffer. He does not make us suffer, but he allows it. He does not miraculously shield us from suffering, though he could. He does this so that we learn to trust him more; he does it to mature and strengthen our souls and thus to increase our ultimate happiness.

God also tests our faith by remaining invisible, so that we must believe him instead of seeing him. He could manifest himself in constant miraculous displays, but he does not do so, for our sake. For more "blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (Jn 20:29).

He tests our faith to make it stronger, as a gardener prunes a plant or a blacksmith forges iron in the fire or an athlete trains his muscles by exercise.

That is why he holds back and lets himself be forgotten, ignored, or even rejected. If we could not refuse him, our faith would not be a free choice. It is the Godfather who makes you "an offer you can't refuse", not God the Father.

We do not need to have faith in the moon: we can see it. We do not need to have faith in an equation: we can prove it. But we need to have faith in the goodness of our friends, our parents, our spouse. God is more like a friend, a father, or a husband than like the moon or an equation.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

What I Learned From the Star Wars "Trili-gon"

The way everything ended up we had about 7 boys and definitely 3 girls spend the night. However, this is not accounting for the "floaters" who came and then had to leave for other events or those who were at other commitments and then came late ... and left later. In fact, one boy who couldn't make it Saturday showed up at 8:00 on Sunday and stayed until 3;00 with the other hangers-on.

I was told we were "brave" and that it sounded "chaotic" but not really at all. One dad who teaches at the school called and asked Hannah, "So how is it over there? Cats and dogs sleeping together? Boys and girls doing the same? How about your parents? Are they watching the movies with y'all?" Ummm, boys and girls in separate parts of the house and though I drifted in every so often to see which part of the movie was on we didn't intrude tooo much. The good thing about this gang is there is a lot of positive peer pressure. They really were there to watch the movies, play "Collector's Edition Classic Star Wars Trivial Pursuits", etc. And, we trusted Hannah that if anything untoward happened she'd alert us to the situation.

It was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed having a bunch of boys around since the ratios always have been reversed until this weekend. So, what I learned:

• You can never, ever have too much food around when you are feeding 7-10 teenage boys. Three 16" pizzas disappear as if they never existed. 6 quarts of popcorn likewise. Four liters of pop are gone in four hours. Good thing I had emergency supplies of pretzels, Doritos, etc or they would have wasted away to nothing.


• A chocolate sheet cake creatively decorated with crossed blue and red light sabers and "May the Force be with you" (all done by Rose) is NOT regarded as dumb and, in fact, may result in having people "call" the pieces of cake with the light sabers.
  
• If you have a gallon of whole milk for breakfast, you will get called a hero by many and hugged by three boys you do not even really know. Girls will smile and be thankful, but not as openly appreciative.


• No one can get every ounce of enjoyment out of Star Wars like a bunch of guys. My first clue was hearing the discussion begin as they trooped down the hall to watch Star Wars, "So do you think there is any significance to the fact that Luke starts out with a blue light saber and then winds up with a red light saber?"


• StarWarz Gangsta Rap is seriously funny.


• I'm not sure exactly which demographic Gray's Anatomy is appealing to but I was interested to overhead one of the guys saying at breakfast that the ads looked "raunchy" to a chorus of agreement. If teenage guys don't think all those sexy shenanigans in the ads look good ... but maybe they're too smart for the show ... or at least the ads. Haven't seen it but it was the "raunchy" factor that turned me off too.


• George "Michael Moore" Lucas says that the over-25 crowd likes the three older movies while the under-25 crowd like the newer movies. He wishes. Only parts of the newer two movies are acceptable and they were all discussed at length. I mean Darth Maul is very cool and how about when Yoda whoops up on the evil count? Good moments but they can't make up for that tragic romance (and we're not talking Romeo and Juliet kind of "tragic"). This doesn't mean that no one is going to see the third movie. Everyone will see it with high hopes that something will finally measure up to the first three.


• Tom is one savvy guy. We were talking later about how much we liked these kids and how nice they are (while still being normal ...). I was shocked when he said, "Yeah, you can see no one has any shenanigans in mind. No one is going out to their car every 10 minutes or anything." Gee, I hadn't even thought of something like that. But he was quietly assessing everything. So nice to learn new things about each other even after so many years.


• Dallas is a much smaller town than you'd think. Turns out one boy's mother dated someone who later married someone who was a very good friend of mine many years ago. The guy is Jewish and keeps kosher while my friend is Baptist (?). This leads to my next point...


• Theology teaching moments come up at the oddest times. During the "break" with everyone standing around eating cake and drinking milk in kitchen when that whole Jewish guy who married my friend thing came up ... the boy said, "Yeah and she's always telling him he's going to hell because he's not a Christian." Just didn't sound like my friend but we haven't been in touch for years. Anyway, then he went on to say, "Just like my 1st grade teacher and my confirmation teacher talking about how non-Catholics are going to hell." Which was my chance to leap in and say that was totally against Church teachings and tell about the American bishop who recently was excommunicated for preaching that very thing. All were much impressed and I heard this being peripherally talked about later.


• When it came to going to Mass the next morning I surprised even myself by suddenly lowering my "cool mom" factor several degrees when I suddenly began quizzing each and every kid there, "Are you Catholic? Then when are you going to Mass today if you don't go with us?" Which led to more "non-Catholics WON'T go to hell" talk.

Bottom line, these are good kids, they were a heck of a lot of fun to be around, and when Hannah has her "Firefly" shindig later this summer I'll buy lots more pizza.

Faith and Belief

Faith includes belief, but it is more than belief. Here are some of the differences.

Belief is an act of the mind; faith is also an act of the will.

Faith is an act by which one person says to another: "I choose to trust you and believe you."

The object of belief is an idea; the object of faith is a person.

Belief alone is not something to die for. But faith is. Faith is also something to live every moment.

Belief alone is not enough to save us from sin and bring us to heaven. "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder" (Jas 2:19). But faith does save us. We are "justified by faith" (Rom 5:1), if it is a faith that is alive and thus produces good works (cf. Jas 2:17).

Non-Catholics who, through no fault of their own, do not believe that the Catholic faith is true can still be saved by the faith in their hearts that leads them to love and seek God. For Christ promised that "he who seeks finds" (Mt 7:8). So while correct belief without faith cannot save anyone, faith without correct belief can.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft