Saturday, April 27, 2013

St Paul the Apostle - Fr. Mitch Pacwa

Mark your calendars, get your tickets early. 

Fr. Mitch Pacwa is coming to St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Chino Hills California !

He will be here all day Saturday, June 29th, 8am - 5pm for 3 lectures, meet and greet, and he will be celebrating the 8:00am mass.

Plus plenty of books and tapes...

Pass the Word...

Buy your tickets!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Lost...The Right to Raise the Moral Argument

Yes, if one attempts to argue against, oh lets say Abortion or Gay Marriage, or smoking pot or any issue for that matter affecting our culture today, eventually during the discussion one is faced with more than not the accusation that "you're wrong because your judging, you're a bigot, you're imposing your beliefs on me!"

...and that's where the discussion ends. If it does continue one is faced with defending that you're not all those bad things that you've been accused of and,well the argument goes off track.

With the Devil....yes I said the 'D' word and I'll throw in Satan, making major points in the world convincing many that there IS NO SATAN and there IS NO SIN, it's hard to get past the "everyone is their own guide to what is right and what is wrong".

I've been reading a lot on material of late which centers on how to augment my points against the subjects above not only from Catholic teaching, but from a secular point of view and I wanted to pass one of them on.

Gay Marriage is one subject that is gaining acceptance, especially among the youth, so it's very important first to know where the (Catholic) Church stands and how to explain it, but also augment one's points with the other half of 'Faith and Reason'.

Here's a paper on the 'Reason' portion of the stand against Gay Marriage.I find it very helpful.

WHAT IS MARRIAGE?  

SHERIF GIRGIS, ROBERT P. GEORGE, and RYAN T. ANDERSON are the authors, all scholars.They provide the other book end on the subject, Faith and Reason.

Fr. Barron has a say on the subject of the Moral Argument


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Stephen Hawking bashes Pope John Paul II

Stephen Hawking is in the news of late as he visits the Cal Tech campus for a lecture on the Big Bang theory. His over all statement was to say that God was not needed for the creation of the universe.

He had time to outline his M-Theory, which "posits that multiple universes are created out of nothing, Hawking explained, with many possible histories and many possible states of existence. In only a few of these states would life be possible, and in fewer still could something like humanity exist. Hawking mentioned that he felt fortunate to be living in this state of existence."

I was in Barnes and Noble this past weekend and came across a book entitled "I Don't Have Enough Faith To be an Atheist" which is how I understand this M-Theory.

Let's see, multiple universes created out of nothing.We can't explain just one universe made by itself from nothing so we have a theory that says multiple universes created out of nothing "makes more sense" according to Hawking.

And this more acceptable than a creator, God that created the universe, the unmoved mover.

Okay, I'm not smart enough to go through the mathematical equations that suggest this but I'm listening. I find it interesting.

I guess I don't have enough faith to be an atheist.

Then, Hawking takes a swipe at Pope John Paul II, accusing the Holy Father of criticizing the scientist establishment.

In another observation of modern religion, Hawking noted that in the 1980s, around the time he released a paper discussing the moment the universe was born, Pope John Paul II admonished the scientific establishment against studying the moment of creation, as it was holy. 

Now he doesn't specify where or when the Holy Father leveled this criticism, naturally. Maybe we can call it a theory since he offers no solid evidence.

I did a little investigation and all I came up with JPII, FIDES ET RATIO (Faith and Reason), paragraph 106:

106...Finally, I cannot fail to address a word to scientists, whose research offers an ever greater knowledge of the universe as a whole and of the incredibly rich array of its component parts, animate and inanimate, with their complex atomic and molecular structures. So far has science come, especially in this century, that its achievements never cease to amaze us. In expressing my admiration and in offering encouragement to these brave pioneers of scientific research, to whom humanity owes so much of its current development, I would urge them to continue their efforts without ever abandoning the sapiential horizon within which scientific and technological achievements are wedded to the philosophical and ethical values which are the distinctive and indelible mark of the human person. Scientists are well aware that "the search for truth, even when it concerns a finite reality of the world or of man, is never-ending, but always points beyond to something higher than the immediate object of study, to the questions which give access to Mystery". 

It sure doesn't sound like a put down to me. In fact it shows admiration and offers encouragement "to these brave pioneers of scientific research..." 

 And certainly no mention of any "Inquisition". How disappointing from a scientist who people stood in 1/2 mile long line to hear his thoughts. Now I don't know if this is the instance that Hawking had in mind but I does show JPII and the Catholic Church's high regard to the scientific community.


Oh and by the way it was a Catholic Priest who first came up with the theory of the Big Bang, Father Georges LemaƮtre and I don't think he was invited to any inquisition either.

Faith and Reason, the receipt for Truth. Hope one day Stephen Hawking will utilize the two to get what he is hopefully after...the Truth.

Oh and I almost agree with his most resent thought that “I don’t think we will survive another thousand years without escaping our fragile planet.”...I agree....I call it Heaven.

Saturday, April 06, 2013

New Shroud Book...New Evidence

There's a new book out on the Holy Shroud.

Yah I know about the previous Carbon-14 testing, and most would think that's the end of that. At least that's what most people I encounter on the subject of the Shroud say, "...it's a fake!"

But, this new book reveals new testing, not just one, but three different tests that according to the book bring out the errors of the Carbon-14 test and claim a 1st century shroud.

Unfortunately the book, just released in late March is in Italian so I'm going to have to wait for the English translation.

But it's one I have on my "Books to Read" list.

Here's an article on the findings of this new testing.

Vatican Insider: New experiments on Shroud show it’s not medieval         


and a blog on the subject: The Shroud of Turin    



Friday, April 05, 2013

Morning After Pill ...Available for Every Girl 16yrs or Younger!

Today we hear a Federal Judge declare it's legal to sell the Morning After Pill, also known as the Plan B-One Step pill be made available over the counter for every girl 16 years of age or younger, without parental or physician consent.

I just heard a debate between two proponents of this on Fox News with Megan Kelly. Maybe I'll post it later if I can.The arguments were voiced as "hey kids are having sex, thats a reality and this will help them out of a situation (pregnancy) they don't want."

So I'm I to believe that this will prevent teen age pregnancy? The way I look at it this encourages promiscuity not prevent it.

We need to teach our kids, pray with our kids, talk with our kids. We need to keep track of our kids, look at their Facebook pages, see what they are tweeting. We need to guide them, that's what parents do.

So much of society has an attitude that the parents are not allowing their kids to grow by putting "too many rules" or not allowing them to make mistakes on their own. 

We can't be afraid to be parents!

Check this article out.and let me know what you think.

Federal judge rules morning -after pill must be available to all women


Thursday, April 04, 2013

The Miracle of Father Kapaun - New Book

I've got to get this book...

Bill O'Reilly Sticks by His "Bible Thumping"

So most have already heard the out cry mostly from the Left, of Bill O'Reilly's comment of "Bible Thumpers..." to describe opponents of gay marriage.

Now, I understand Mr. O'Reilly's point of not arguing points from the bible with those that don't take the worth of the bible for the paper it's printed on, namely non-believers.

I'm just not use to those that claim to be believers, using that rhetoric against their own. It's not right for non-believer to use that rhetoric during a legit debate so why does Bill defend it. "...because it's a truthful description.." is his claim.

Well golly gee willikers, that makes sense. Ya-right.

Okay so for the past two days I've plugged in to Mr.O'Reilly just to see where he would take this and I'm not surprised to see that once Laura Ingram didn't play nice and nod her head in full agreement with him, that he would have to bring in additional guests that would rally to his side of the argument.

 Bill O'Reilly may hold his own on all things political and while I agree on many of his points (not all) regarding government policy I find his claims of knowledge concerning religion, specifically Catholicism very lacking. Now just to set the record straight, I'm not saying he's not Catholic enough for me, no that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that his knowledge of the teachings of the Catholic faith seem to be very thin. His constant description of the bible as "Allegorical" lead me to believe that he thinks all the bible is allegorical, which is not catholic teaching at all or at least not fully. (SEE CCC 114, The Senses of Scripture)

Anyway, he's sticking to his guns, right or wrong which is Bill's trade mark.While he uses the term "Humble correspondant" it always leaves me with a chuckle, almost like a comedians punch line.

I've seen Laura, a new convert to the Catholic faith and Bill born and raise Catholic go at it a few times on points of religion whether it be marriage or homosexuality or abortion and I kind of think it's true what they say.

New converts seem to have a better appreciation for their faith.

As far as this argument goes (Gay Marriage) I found this article (On Gay Marriage think Natural Law) that spells out my thoughts. Yes Bill we need to approach proponents of gay marriage with a better argument and that would be "Natural Law". That is universal regardless of faith.

Here's a great book to start your study on Natural Law and it's very inexpensive. I've down loaded it to my NOOK.
  
50 Questions on the Natural Law: What It Is and why We Need It