Aaargh, matey!

Friday is talk like a pirate day but now that I have twice written my next entry in the "30 Movies You Might Have Missed" series ... and have them blown away by Blogger ... I'm ready to do a bit more authentic pirate-talkin' than I should. At least around Happy Catholic ...

So perhaps tomorrow I'll give it another try. Aaargh!

Pope John Paul II: Those White Habits He Wore

An amusing tidbit from a book I recently received ... I've been reading these to Tom and thought that y'all might like them too.

And, yes, I realize that I've fallen into that trap of dipping into way too many books at one time. I've got to pick out one and finish it!

In the meantime, enjoy this ... I really never thought about what the Pope must go through to keep those white habits unmarked throughout the day.

According to 12-century ritual, white clothes symbolize innocence and charity, whereas red clothes, which the Pope only wore outdoors, recall the blood of the martyrs, authority and compassion. It was naturally unthinkable for the Holy Father to have the slightest mark on his various white habits, despite the numerous activities that made up his day. As one of his former colleagues confided to me, "At working lunches or official meals, he never ate salad, spaghetti or tagliatelli so as to avert the risk of a fatal drop of vinaigrette or sauce falling on his immaculate capelet. In private, however, he did not hesitate to tie a large napkin around his neck."

Pope John Paul II: An Intimate Life: The Pope I Knew So Well

Worth a Thousand Words

Stained Glass Like Blue Tears

Taken by D.L. Ennis at Visual Thoughts

The opposition from the good.

I took a break from my In Conversation with God books for a few months. After reading them for seven years, I finally had gotten a bit tired of that part of my routine. However, I found myself missing them and picked them back up this week. How timely I found this reading from today, what with all the things that it seems we often cannot agree upon as well as the extremely low standards of courtesy held in many places.

It is difficult to understand calumny or persecution -- either open or veiled -- in an era in which one hears so much about tolerance, understanding, fellowship and peace. But the attacks are more difficult to understand when they come from good men, when Christian persecutes, no matter how, another Christian, or a brother his brother. Our Lord prepared his own for the inevitable times when those who would defame, calumniate, or undermine their apostolic work would not be pagans or enemies of Christ, but brothers in the Faith who would think that with these actions they would be doing a service to God. (cf John 16:2). ... It is particularly painful for the Christian to whom it happens. The motives of the calumniators are usually due to human passions that can distort good judgment and complicate the clear intention of men who profess the same faith as those they attack, and who make up the same People of God. There are at times jealousies that supervene, rather than zeal for souls, rash allegations that appear to derive from envy, and make it possible to consider as evil the good being done by others. There can also be a kind of blinkered dogmatism that refuses to recognize for others the right to think in a different way in matters left by God to the free judgment of men. The opposition from the good usually shows itself in antipathy towards some brothers in the Faith, in a more or less masked opposition to their work, and a criticism that is as destructive as it is ill-informed. ...

The moments in which we encounter opposition and difficulties without exaggerating them are particularly propitious for exercising a whole range of virtues: we should pray for those who do evil to us, even without our knowing it, so that they may leave off offending God; we can strive to make amends to the Lord, to be even more apostolic, and to protect with exquisite charity those weaker brothers in the faith who on account of their age, their lack of formation, or the special situations they find themselves in, could sustain a greater harm to their souls. ...

In Conversation with God - Vol. 4 - Ordinary Time, Weeks 13-23

To Think That I Just Discovered This Comic

Wondermark
(Click on the cartoon to enlarge or click through to see it at Wondermark)

Much thanks to David Malki for permission to share these with everyone. Via DarwinCatholic who hit me where I live with the cartoon they shared.

Worth a Thousand Words

Papaveri Rossi by Manuela Valenti

You know, you think that you're just ranting away in the "relative privacy" of someone's comment boxes and then ...

... you get outed.

And then ...

you get outed again.

Regardless, I stand by my "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

You can tell it's serious because of all the exclamation marks. I usually abhor any past one. I'm low-key that way. Can you tell?

How do you get amazing taste in your meals?

Actually, it's pretty easy.

"Ankh if you love Jesus" bumper stickers

Is there anything better than good word play?

No. No, I don't think so.

Just one more reason to check out Signs and Mysteries by Mike Aquilina. No, he's not making the puns, but you'll find the fodder there. (ha!)

Now This is What I Call a Keyboard!

Why have this?

When you could have this?

There's just somethin' about steampunk, isn't there? Ahhh ...

(I must stop here and thank Tony at StarShipSofa podcast for hosting the series of nonfiction segments. In one of those, I was introduced to the whole steampunk concept ... thereby enabling me to get one up on the girls, who hadn't heard of it at all.)

The original steampunk keyboard can be seen here.

If you'd like your own, this enterprising gentleman will be happy to produce one for you.

Though perhaps you will want to wait for him to finish developing ... The Archbishop!

Worth a Thousand Words

Watercolor Study for Del Sol by Belinda Del Pesco

"Why are we doing this again?"

I'm still not sure about how these commercials are biting back at the "PC and Mac" ads but they are highly entertaining if nothing else.

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld get "real."

Good News for Movie Lovers

Jeffrey Overstreet has a new monthly column at Christianity Today, Through a Screen Darkly. Observant readers, with loooong memories, might remember Overstreet's book of the same name which I loved.

Overstreet not only clues us in to The Island, a move that it sounds as if Christians will love (no not that Island with Ewan McGregor ... this is a different Russian movie) but also ... even more excitingly ... tells us about a movie distributor, Film Movement, that offers movies too often missed by American distributors.

He set out to find buried treasure all over the world so he could mail it out to moviegoers, inspiring questions and conversation. "We don't want our movies to be available only in the big cities," he says. "Our movies are available theatrically in cities like New York and L.A., but there are a lot of people who don't have an arthouse theater near them."

Along the way I saw names of several movies in the article that I am going to look for. Read the article and check out the links. Sounds as if we can look forward to some modern forgotten classics being pointed out.

Gov. Palin and Senator Clinton address the nation ... on SNL

Remember folks, this is Saturday Night Live ... it isn't in line with their crudest stuff but if you're easily offended then skip it. I thought it was hilarious. (You have to watch the 30 second ad and then it should start.)

Worth a Thousand Words

A bike called Gazelle by Edward B. Gordon

Here's How Big Hurricane Ike Is

The reporters in Galveston are just about now venturing outside because there are still dangerous gusts of wind. We have been feeling the effects in Dallas this morning already with rain and the wind getting steadily higher. Not bad yet, but we'll be staying in this afternoon for sure.

That's a danged big storm.

Still keeping all in the path in our prayers. Especially Hannah in College Station...

A Still, Small Voice: An Alternative to Ecstasy

I began rereading this last night and it is chock-full of common sense. I had forgotten how really good it is so am glad that I was prompted to pick it up again. For one thing, when I first read it I was a relatively new Catholic and wasn't familiar with many of the revelations to which Father Groeschel refers. Now that I am better informed, I can appreciate Groeschel's insights even more.

Naturally, I'll be sharing some of my favorite bits along the way. For instance, I have always remembered this solid advice from the introduction:

An Alternative to Ecstasy

In my final chapter I offer an alternative to unusual and extraordinary ways of knowing the things of God. There is a normal, everyday opportunity open to those who seek God, called religious experience. This is the action of grace operating in the context of a human life. If we allow it, grace will elicit deeply-moving responses and become a powerful source of virtue. this is the meaning of the words of Saint Therese of Lisieux:

"To ecstasy, I prefer the monotony of sacrifice."

Notice she does not use the passive verb "accept." She prefers the plain fulfillment of one's duties. the active reception of the innumerable signs of grace that surround us, the faithful carrying out of responsibilities, and the willingness to work on daily repentance make a symphony of religious experience, which is appreciated by those who are willing to take the time and make the effort. Perhaps many who are clinging to or seeking the reassurances given by extraordinary experience might be much better off if they knew how to grow and be enriched by the ordinary experience of God and the Holy which are available to all. Saint John of the Cross, the mystical Doctor of the Church, who warned people to assume that extraordinary experiences came from the forces of evil unless the opposite could be proved, would enthusiastically agree.

An appreciation of and sensitivity to ordinary religious experiences frees a person from the possibility of serious error and spiritual price. Therese of Lisieux hardly ever had extraordinary experiences, and yet her life was filled with a profound awareness of the presence of Divine Love. She even regarded falling asleep at her prayers as religious experience. The monotony of sacrifice, fidelity, and generosity may be the safest and most productive of all religious experience, and it is there waiting for us all.

A Still, Small Voice:
A Practical Guide On Reported Revelations
by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

Did I Miss You? Yes ... YES I DID!

Only the best fudge cookies ever.

EVER!

So. Much. Better. Than. Oreos.

Hands down.

And now I see that they have been revived to celebrate the 100th anniversary.

Excuse me. I have to get to the store. Right now.

Hurricane Ike ...

Hmmm ... I think that I'll drop by the store on the way home, rather than waiting until tomorrow.

Along with the rest of the Metroplex no doubt.

Hurricane Ike on Storm Pulse.

Praying for all those in the storm's path and those rescue workers out there. As well as for the reporters on the scene. I think I might know one of them, depending on how they were assigned to cover this.

Prayer Request

For all those in the path of Hurricane Ike ... especially those at College Station, including my darling Hannah at A&M.

More at Aggie Catholics where they are battening down the hatches.