Destination Priesthood

Let's Go...

2009-05-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

... over to my new blog. It's on Wordpress this time.

Life is Good

2008-06-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

I've really been enjoying my time in Bellingham. I just love being home and around the people I love. I really don't like blogging when I'm home because 1) there isn't much reason too and 2) my parents computer takes about 20 minutes to boot up and get on the internet.

I leave Sunday to go to Mexico for 6 weeks, which is crazy. It's both scary and exciting and I'm looking forward to it.

Then I'm going to be heading into my internship, which will last for 1 year. I'm looking forward to it, as there will be plenty of work to do... work that I really look forward to spending my life doing. (I'll also be making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land sometime in October).

But, unfortunately, as I head into this next set of challenges, there is something I think I need more of... privacy. This is really the make or break year, folks... I need to give 110% to this next year. If I decide to continue on, it will be only like 1.5 years until I'm ordained a deacon, and 2 years until priesthood. That kind of scares me... a lot. That really isn't far away.

So I think this might be my last post for a while. I'm probably going to keep the thing open and after my internship I might blog again, but I think this will be it for a while. But you never know, so check back.

Go Zags. Go M's. Go Seahawks. Go Irish.

God Bless.

Sacramento

2008-05-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

After an incredibly wonderful tour of the east coast, an incredibly frustrating day of travel home, 5 hours of packing, and almost 7 hours of driving, I'm in Sacramento. And I'm loving it. Bye.

Sorry

2008-05-12T12:34:00.001-07:00

Sorry for my lack of blogging. Things have been busy. I'm at the beginning of finals week right now, and then I have to pack up my room and move out. Then I head to the East Coast for some Vacation. Then I head back West and drive for two days. Then, maybe, I will finish up my posts on the Pope. I know... little late. Sorry.

Rini's

2008-04-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

Due to the generosity of my bishop, I was able to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers NY during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA. This is one small part of a series of posts about my experience. Please check back for more updates.

What a day. I had no time to post, so I apologize. Tomorrow I'm going to write the post on "The Main Event," if you will and hopefully have it up in the evening sometime. After that, for the next week I'll be putting more small posts up about other musical acts and some stuff that we did in NY on Sunday.

But for now, I want to post a little commercial of sorts about a good Italian restaurant ran by some wonderful people. I recommend it for anyone staying in White Plains or Elmsford New York, or anyone who is staying in the city and wants to get out of it for a little while. From NY, just head over to Grand Central Station and take the Harlem Line (Metro North) up to White Plains. Its about a 35 minute ride. Then just take a cab over to Rini's Restaurant in Elmsford. This is probably the toughest part, since it will be a good $15 cab ride each way (maybe more).

The food is excellent and the people are very nice. They are all actually Italian too. With accents. After the rally ended, it took us a long time to get off property and out of Yonkers, so we missed our reservations. They were more than happy to take us whenever we got there, even though the restaurant usually closes by the time we arrived. They kept the restaurant open so we could eat and they stayed late to serve us. When we did arrived, they were proud to have 20 seminarians in the restaurant. They even comped us some wine.

Oh, and of course, the food was good too. I ordered the Gnochi and it was quite good although there were another 20 or so items that I wanted to try.

So a big thanks to the people at Rini's, and if anyone is ever looking for a good place north of NYC, look out for them. I highly recommend it.

The Good Stuff

2008-04-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Due to the generosity of my bishop, I was able to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers NY during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA. This is one small part of a series of posts about my experience. Please check back for more updates.

Ok, let's get to the good stuff. After the Kelly Clarkson performance (I'll get to that later) many of the bishops in attendance came out to visit and speak with the seminarians and youth. Here are a few:
And here is the fairly newly appointed Cardinal DiNardo framed nicely between a seminarian and a different bishop. I'm happy these bishops siezed the opportunity to visit with those in attendance, especially the youth. It was just a nice sight.

At this point, word was spreading around that the Pope was going to be a little late. A video on the sacrament of marriage was playing and people were gathered around talking. Then, a cheer started to rise up out of the crowd and we noticed that the video screens had changed to the image of a few cars driving onto the property. The moment that Vatican Flag became visible on that Limo, everybody started going crazy. He was now on the seminary property, only a few hundred yards away.

This is about when I started to lose it. Well, I guess I never really lost it, but I was definately tearing up. To be honest, I don't even know why. I was just moved by the whole experience. We were also receiving an audio feed from inside the seminary chapel and the Organ was droning on a very low note which added to the drama very nicely. I wish I had a picture of the seminarians in attendance. All of them, including me, had this wide-eyed gaping mouthed look on their faces like a kid on Christmas morning. Everyone's attention was drawn to the screens as we watched the Pope enter the seminary Chapel.

The video can be found here.

The seminary chapel was filled with wheel chairs and mothers holding small disabled children. Watching that man walk through the chapel grabbed everyone's heartstrings as a choir sang a hymn. A couple of moments in particular drew some "aawwws" out of the crowd. One was just after the 3:30 mark when that little girl dressed in white gave the Pope a little hug as he was blessing that woman in tears. The second that I remember was right around the 6 minute mark when the same little girl went to give the Pope a hug and then helped her friend do the same. It was an incredible moment I won't ever forget and there were a lot of damp eyes in Yonkers (and around the world) that night.

But we were just getting warmed up.

Security

2008-04-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

Due to the generosity of my bishop, I was able to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers NY during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA. This is one small part of a series of posts about my experience. Please check back for more updates.

Depending on the day the way I finish the sentence, "If I wasn't going to be a priest I would be a..." varies greatly. Well, Saturday April 19, 2008 the answer was, "If I wasn't going to be a priest I'd be a secret service agent." These guys are awesome.

The security at the event was quite impressive. First, the nice little neighborhood in Yonkers where St. Joseph's seminary rests has never seen so many police officers/security guards. My pictures are lacking in their ability to really show how many police were on hand, but here is one: We were all searched pretty closely as we walked in. Inside the venue, the Secret Service was everywhere and there were many more officers. There were also a few of these guys scattered about: Those are snipers. I never did see a sniper rifle (which was good because that would have been a little unbecoming of the nature of the event) but they did have some huge binoculars and were watching every helicopter that cruised by. Oh, and speaking of helicopters, the police were up there as well. Although I never actually saw them, I'm guessing that there was a mess of security guards/secret service agents in the woods surrounding the venue as well.

The point of this is just to show how safe the Pontiff (and the hope of the Church of America as we were all called) were totally safe this evening.

Mo Rocca

2008-04-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Due to the generosity of my bishop, I was able to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers NY during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA. This is one small part of a series of posts about my experience. Please check back for more updates.

When I was a freshmen in college my roomate and I watched the Daily Show with John Stewart almost every night. One of the primary reasons we watched was that everyone besides John Stewart was really funny. Stephen Colbert was funny. Nancy Walsh was funny. Steve Carell was funny. But most especially, Mo Rocca was funny. Ever since these 4 left the show, the Daily show has been pretty bad, in my opinion. But back to the Pope... imagine my surprise when I discovered that Mo Rocca was going to be the MC of the Youth Rally. What the heck was he doing here of all places?Well apparently he's Catholic. I'm not sure how much he practices the faith, but he was educated by Jesuits and his mother seems to be very commited (She was watching the event on EWTN).

Mo Rocca was a wonderful MC of this event. We were all laughing every time he spoke. He was obviously improvising quite a bit in between acts to try and keep us entertained and he did very very well. There is no video out there of him, but if it ever comes out, you should watch it. One of his hidden talents that he used was naming the capital of any country that anyone shouted out.

This post isn't nearly as funny as I envisioned it, since I can't really remember anything specific, so I'm just going to stop.

More later.

Messengers of Christ

2008-04-21T23:14:00.001-07:00

Due to the generosity of my bishop, I was able to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers NY during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA. This is one small part of a series of posts about my experience. Please check back for more updates.

Before the Pope arrived there was a concert that began at 10:30 and ended around 4. I feel as though it might be worth while to give an account of some of the performances, and I'd like to start out with one of my favorites: Messengers of Christ (MOC).

I'm quite honest when I say that I don't really like rap and that when Christians try to rap it is usually a disaster that is (deservedly) made fun of. It simply isn't impressive to me (or anyone) unless its done as a satire, like you know you're a dork trying to rap. Well, I was shown otherwise a little before noon the day of the rally. The Messengers of Christ are for real. They are talented and I think almost everyone enjoyed what they had to offer. As the lead singer, a priest from the Bronx named Fr. Espaillat*, came out in his Cassock I knew these guys were at least going to entertain. And boy did they. Here is a short clip:
After this song Fr. Espaillat* went out to the edge of the stage and rather effectively preached the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He urged everyone to go and from what I hear, confessional lines were fairly long. I would have loved to have gotten more with my camera but I had to save space for pictures of the Pope. Then they sang another song which was my favorite of their (sadly short) set. I think its called Forgive Me, but the spanish name might be Perdoname.The video, of course, doesn't do anything justice but the quality of music was excellent. The band was good. The lyrics (as far as I could tell) were good. The showmanship was good. I'm looking forward to good things out of this group, and I think they need to come to Los Angeles really really soon. Seriously, these guys (and girls) need to be taken seriously.

UPDATE: I found an article on Fr. Espaillat online that is worth reading. And it turns out I have another video from the song mentioned above. Yes, he's doing an Examination of Conscience. Unfortunately, its really tough to pick up the lyrics from the song in the video but its still pretty good.

*I think Fr. Espaillat might be one of the priests in the Vocations video Fishers of Men put together by Grassroots films. I'm pretty sure he's the guy that says, "You have to be a real Man if you want to be a priest."

My trip to see Pope Benedict (part 1)

2008-04-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

Due to the generosity of my bishop, I was able to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers NY during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA. This is one small part of a series of posts about my experience. Please check back for more updates.

Well I guess I'll start by saying laying out the first few hours of the day. We got up around 6 (3 am West Coast time) and cleaned up/ had some breakfast and around 7:30 we were in our cabs to head over to the Yonkers Raceway where we were to be bussed over to St. Joseph Seminary. There were already a lot of youth groups gathered. We were among the first seminarians.

We were put on the first bus and then bussed over to the beautiful campus. We got off the bus and went through the impressive security system fairly quickly. After posing for a quick group picture, I went straight down to the field. This was about 9:30am. There were two sections for seminarians. One was filling up, the other had nobody there. I, of course, went straight for the vacant one, taking the best seat in the house (well, there was one other seat that was as good, but none better).

Here is a diagram to 1) give you a better idea of where I was and 2) put my stellar paintbrush skills on display. The yellow part is the buffer zone between the crowd and the Pope (there was actually Gold carpeting laid down here. The white at the top is the stage, and the white at the bottom is the gathering space. So it was 9:30 and it was already hot. But I didn't want to give up that spot. So I stayed there. I didn't eat. I simply drank a small bottle of water that I was given. It's a good thing that I saw that episode of Man vs. Wild when he goes into the Sahara with only one canteen full of water and learned that you have to only use enough to wet your mouth, rather than drink large quantities. So thanks Man... Versus Wild.

With the Pope not due to arrive until 4:30, this was going to be at least 7 hours...

Here is a picture of me and some people hanging out before the entertainment started:More later...

Amazing

2008-04-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I'm back after one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I have to run to class, but please check back for updates frequently. Here is a preview:

Final Countdown

2008-04-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

All my work for the week is finally done. Final Countdown is underway. ~~More details this evening.~~Good Night.

Can't.... Study......

2008-04-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

I'm so ready for this trip. I can barely think about school. I have a homily to give tomorrow, an entire liturgy that I'm supposed to plan thats due wednesday, and a 20 minute presentation on Thursday. Its crazy. Only this is really the last surge of the year. After this, I'm relatively out of the woods. This has probably been the toughest semester so far, and the most difficult part is almost over.

4 days.

Uh-Oh.

2008-04-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

I'd better start consuming some serious liquids. Its warming up in NY. Friday's forecast is 76 degrees and sunny, which means if Saturday is at all the same, I'll be sitting or standing around in hot weather in all black for like 8 or 9 hours. That won't be fun.

But seeing the Pope will be fun, so I guess it balances out.

New York

2008-04-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today at the Seminary we're having our annual Field Education Supervisor Appreciation Dinner. As has been mentioned, I've been working at a homeless services center in Santa Monica and Venice. It has been a GREAT experience and I can't think of a better way to spend my fridays.

But it does slow everything while we get ready, so I have a few minutes and I thought I'd write a little bit about my upcoming trip to New York to see Pope Benedict. I'll depart from LA Friday Morning and arrive at JFK airport around 5pm NY time. At this point I have no idea what my brethren from other dioceses will be up to, but I assume I'll be meeting up with them at the airport and we'll travel together to our hotel which is like 10 minutes away from Yonkers. We'll get to bed nice and early so we can get up early and head over to the venue, at the seminary in Yonkers~~(i'm hoping our West Coast time schedule works in our favor and gets us up earlier than everyone else).~~ I'm an idiot. Hopefully between 9am and 10am we'll get inside and then we'll basically wait around for a really long time.

At noon there is a concert. I only know of one performer, and I've got to wonder if somebody is up to something. When I think of Kelly Clarkson, I don't think of American Idol. I also don't think of any of her songs (although they aren't bad). I think of Steve Carell in a certain movie yelling her name because he's in pain. If you know the movie I'm talking about you might get what I mean.* Something about a bunch of seminarians screaming her name at the top of their lungs is, well... I will applaud each song she sings, but I will not be screaming her name. That would just be unfortunate.

At 4 this concert apparently ends, and then we basically go ballistic chanting "BEN-NE-DETTO." until finally at 4:30, the man shows up. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm guessing there will be Vespers and an address. Anything else that happens is great with me.

Not sure what will happen afterwards. I don't leave until late Sunday, so I'm guessing I'll probably travel around NYC for a while with some of my fellow seminarians.

So coverage will be on EWTN starting around 4, I'm guessing, (channel 233 in western washington). You can also stream coverage off of the internet.

*

Late

2008-04-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

Missed this the other day.

Update: Here is another good link.

21 Grams

2008-04-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

I've been sitting on this Movie Review for like two months. I'll just lay it right out there:

This movie was awesome. I cannot recommend it highly enough. However, it is NOT for everyone. It is one of the 'heaviest' films I have ever seen, and if you aren't in the mood to be emotianally jerked around a little bit, you shouldn't watch this one. And do NOT show it to kids.

Prior to this one, the most intense (and even "stressful") movie I have seen was Babel, and guess what. They are by the same director, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu. (There are a few Accents and whatnot over his names that I'm ~~not able to use in Blogger~~ too lazy to figure out. Inarritu is also a Catholic, which is cool. To me anyways.

But back to the movie... The story in 21 grams is not told in a linear fashion. Rather, it is pieced together in an order that properly develops the characters and leads you, the viewer, into utter shock over what happens to them. For example, the very first scene of the movie shows Naomi Watts and Sean Penn together in a way that suggests they have a romantic relationship (if you've seen the movie you might understand why I'm being opaque). A few minutes later, you realize they are both married to other people. You will then find yourself wondering how in the world these two found themselves in this situation. Are they having an affair? Were they together before they were married? Where are their spouses? The curiosity you feel is only possible because the story is not told in chronological order. Inarritu and whoever else helped him do this simply did an incredible job of telling this story. It is pure Genious.

Need another good reason to watch the movie? Naomi Watts and the absolutely outstanding job she did in her role as Cristina Peck. It's been 2 months since I've seen the film and I'm still getting chills from her performance. I didn't know it was possible to act as well as she did. Naomi lost out on the academy award to Charlize Theron and her role in Monster in the 2003 Academy Awards. I've only seen clips here and there of Monster, and while I can attest Theron does a remarkable job, Watts probably deserved the award in my book. The emotions she displayed in the movie was like nothing I've ever seen on film.

Oh, and Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro weren't bad either in the acting department.

You should be aware that there are some rather intense nude scenes in the film, so viewer discretion is obviously advised. Also, if your spouse or friends or whatever are in the mood for a comedy or something, do NOT pick this one up at the video store. Watch it with maybe one or two other people. Here is the trailer:

And I hope I didn't build this thing up so much that you're gonna watch it and be disapointed. That would be lame.

Canon Law

2008-04-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is fun. I'm in a total 'fight' with two of my classmates right now about our case study in Canon law. I'm not going to state it specifically, but its a question of whether or not we can preside over a certain wedding. I'm arguing that as a Catholic priest, I cannot witness the marriage. Another classmate thinks we can. Still, another thinks we can only with a dispensation. We're pretty much deadlocked and have to present our case tomorrow. But, you'll be happy to know, we are reading the Canon's over and over again and learning them pretty well.

Seriously, before I entered seminary I thought I knew Canon Law pretty well for a lay person, but when you actually have to draft cases and prove your point, its a bit difficult. That being said, I'm totally right on this one!

I am going to add Ed Peters' Canon Law Blog to the tool bar when I get a chance and make a real effort to keep visiting.

Oh, and as soon as I find the announcement for the new Pastoral Assignments in my home diocese, I'll post the link. I know one or two of you are interested in that and have probably heard rumors that a couple well knowns are on the move.

Peace

Back

2008-03-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

I'm back in California after 2 whole weeks back home. Not much to report. March Madness wasn't that fun. Serving the liturgies at my home parish was wonderful. I got sick 3 different times, which ruined some plans. I spent like 10 hours at the downtown starbucks in b'ham studying. I Hung out with a ton of friends. Pretty standard/great break.

Now I'm back with a bunch of homework, awaiting my trip to see the Pope!

Here is a video of that concert I went to and blogged about in my most recent post. This lady sat right behind me, so it gives a pretty good view of exactly what I saw:

The Show

2008-03-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the Matt Good show in Hollywood. Aside from the Hollywood part it was alright. The reason it wasn't great was because the venue, Hotel Cafe, booked another artist to play at 9:15, which meant that Matt only got a little over an hour to play. But Matt was, as always, great to watch.

I've heard rumors that Matt is a jerk in person. Well, I met him for the second time tonight, and I'm pretty sure the rumors aren't true. Especially since he's been known to wear a shirt that says, "I hear Matt is a real jerk."

The first time I met him I was with a couple of friends from WWU. We went up to Vancouver because he was looking for extras for the "Weapon" video. We got there early, waited around for a couple hours, finally got let in, waited around longer, ate Pizza which Matt bought us for waiting, watched Matt get upset with some people for making us wait longer, waited around a bit more, and finally got told that the shoot got scrapped. We walked over to where he was and introduced ourselves. He apologized (in a humorous fashion which I can't post here) and then let us take a picture with him. It was great. Pizza and Pics with Matt Good. Sure doesn't sound like a jerk to me!

This time was different, but equally non-jerky. I found it hilarious! He definately wasn't mean, but he didn't buy me pizza. I arrived at the venue about an hour or so before the doors opened. About 10 minutes later, he showed up with a couple of his people. He acknowledged my presence with a quick head nod and went inside. After this, we had several extremely short conversations which are awesome (I'm remembering them the best I could... They're pretty close).

Matt: Hey! Are you the guy thats filming the show?
Me: No. I'm just one of your adoring fans.
Matt: Oh. (Walks back inside)

A couple minutes later

Matt with a cigarette: Hey.
Me: Hows your stay been?
Matt: Oh. You know. Sleepin a lot.
Me: Yeah. (pause... then inexplicably and without a purpose) I'm from Bellingham.
Matt: Oh. Right there huh?
Me: Yep.
Matt: Cool (walks away).

A couple minutes later

Matt: Hey is ther anybody back there?
Me: Yeah.
Matt: Oh. Anyone else?
Me: No. You looking for Pete?
Matt: Yeah. He back there?
Me: No.
Matt: Oh. (Re-enters venue)

A couple minutes later:

Matt walks out for another cigarette.
Me: Small place huh?
Matt: Yeah. I haven't had to walk through a crowd to the stage since 92.
Me: (Laughs)
Nobody: Silence.
Me: There only giving you 7 to 9 huh?
Matt: Yeah. Typical LA place.
Me: Yeah! I was supposed to meet a buddy here. We thought the show'd be at 9, but since it starts at 7 he couldn't get off work.
Matt: That sucks (walks back inside).

After this a few other fans started showing up. A lot of really cool people were there. Everyone was talking about how they had heard of Matt Good, since he has found such little fame in the US, or "The States" as some call it. Everyone had the same story. It began and ended with, "Oh. I have this Canadian Friend and he told me to check him out."

Finally we got in. Being the first in, I snagged a table, first row, and off to the side a little bit with my new Matt Good friends I met in the line outside. After watching the entertaining Molly Jensen, Matt was finally on. He was great.

Perhaps I'll write a more in depth review of the show later, but I've gotta finish some homework. In the meantime, Thanks for the good times Matt! Come back to LA soon.

Matthew Good

2008-03-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

I've been working overtime to finish my Medical Ethics, Johannine Lit, and Ecclesiology homework to head into LA tomorrow. The Reason???

Acolyte

2008-03-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to announce to you all that I have been called to the Ministry of Acolyte by my bishop. What does this mean? Well, in a nutshell:

"The acolyte is appointed in order to aid the deacon and to minister to the priest. It is his duty therefore to attend to the service of the altar and to assist the deacon and the priest in liturgical celebrations, especially in the celebration of Mass; he is also to distribute communion as a special minister when the ministers spoken of in the Codex Iuris Canonici can. 845 are not available or are prevented by ill health, age, or another pastoral ministry from performing this function, or when the number of communicants is so great that the celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged. In the same extraordinary circumstances an acolyte may be entrusted with publicly exposing the blessed sacrament for adoration by the faithful and afterward replacing it, but not with blessing the people. He may also, to the extent needed, take care of instructing other faithful who on a temporary basis are appointed to assist the priest or deacon in liturgical celebrations by carrying the missal, cross, candles, etc., or by performing other such duties. He will perform these functions more worthily if he participates in the holy eucharist with increasingly fervent devotion, receives nourishment from it, and deepens his knowledge about it.

As one set aside in a special way for the service of the altar, the acolyte should learn all matters concerning public divine worship and strive to grasp their inner spiritual meaning: in that way he will be able each day to offer himself entirely to God, be an example to all by his gravity and reverence in church, and have a sincere love for the Mystical Body of Christ, the people of God, especially for the weak and the sick."

(Emphasis mine)

From Ministeria Quaedam, the Motu Proprio of Pope Paul VI. This is another step forward in my discernment, the previous step being instituted to the Ministry of Reader back in October.

The institution liturgy will be this saturday at 10:30 am. Please keep me in your prayers.

Old News...

2008-03-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

I know this is old news for everyone, but Mike and Kristine (finally) had their baby. Good work you two. I'm praying for you.

God Bless.

On "Checking Out..."

2008-02-27T15:13:00.000-08:00

I have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. Gonzaga's run to the tournament. My visit to New York to see the Pope. Another trip to the east coast to visit family and friends (Boston, New York again, Washington DC, Baltimore). Six weeks in Mexico to study spanish. Easter. My pastoral internship which begins in September. Trips home.

There is just a lot to be excited about.

Its been very easy to check out. This semester is insanely busy, too. Focusing on academics and prayer has been difficult. Sometimes I need a little shot of adrenaline...

I got that adrenaline today in the form of the comments section of Sr. Mary Ann Walsh's response to a guy who thinks the bishops should go to Hell.

Just read these comments!

Here are some of my favorites:

"I feel for these Catholic friends and family. How any thinking Christian can tolerate supporting an institution where the goodness, decency, and moral integrity is DESPITE rather than BECAUSE of the leadership is beyond me. Especially when there are so many alternative places of worship where the teachings of Jesus are more consistently preached and practiced."
----------------
"Whining that someone is disrespecting your religion because he points out your philosophical shortcomings won't work. For further evidence, Sister, peruse the comments posted so far. Nobody's fooled.
Words like "wafer" and "damned" aren't the issue and you know it. Small wonder your numbers are in such steep decline."
----------------
This next one was great, but I'll just post the very end:

"One last note, why don't you research why the catholic church celebrates the sabbath on Sundays, not on Saturdays as, what's his name, oh yes, Jesus did. You'll find it to be another decision formed from hate. The doctrine of this church is so seriously flawed that only the brainwashed remain. For those of you who want to talk of all the good works of the church, I will remind you that those type of remarks are the same ones made by the benficiaries of the social programs of hamas and hezbollah in the Middle East today. Same bait and switch, different religion."
-----------------
"The clergy has for centuries promoted a very non-Christian view of sex, inherited from other more primitive patriarchal faiths and traditions. Has this nun forgotten how John Paul II resurrected the ridiculous and certainly not from the teachings of Jesus cult of Mary, the immaculate virgin."
-----------------
"The ROMAN catholic church organization in the USA, as elsewhere, has been seeing its membership in decline mode as levels of education climb. This is certainly understandable as people come to understand they ought NOT PARK THEIR BRAIN AT THE FRONT DOOR. The RCC in USA is desperate to increase membership (revenues) so it actively promotes lawbreaking by encouraging and assisting Illegal Aliens, criminals by definition, invade into, and hide in, OUR country. The RCC in the USA likewise promotes the idea women are only babyfactories and ought to have sex early and often so as to produce more potential RCC members. The RCC and the notion of American democratic ideals are at opposite ends of just about any question. democracy is about bottom-up policies, while the RCC is about top-down "stop thinking and do what we say" (not as we do) policies. Vile organization."
-------------------
"The Catholic Church still has not apologized to the planet for institutionalizing child molesting. and then attempting to bury the crimes. Sister, you represent some of the lowest life forms on earth. I was born and raised Catholic by nuns. sickos."
-------------------
Wonderful stuff, eh? Just a few reasons I've gotta pray and study. I'll end with my favorite quote of all though, from a different perspective than the others.

"I wonder how the Catholic Church will view that failed experiment "the United States" a thousand years from now."

More on Dave

2008-02-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

"There are now three generations of people up here who have listened to me. Those are the people I really owe for this honor." - Dave Niehaus

It is great to see so many great thoughts on Dave posted throughout the Mariners blogosphere. Turns out I'm not alone in thinking of Dave as somewhat of an uncle.

Here are a few links:

Prospect Insider's piece is wonderful.

As is Dave's post at USS Mariner.

Jim Caple of ESPN wrote a great piece, with some audio links. Please do yourself a favor and listen them all, but if you don't have time just click "Edgar Martinez's Double vs. Yanks in '95. I get chills everytime I hear it, and I've heard it a lot.

I share the same thoughts. I remember (what seems like) a long time ago when I used to have to go to bed every night before the game ended and would listen to the final few innings on the radio. Dave would always let me know when something big happened, and I'd book it down the stairs just in time to watch the replay with my dad on TV.

What wonderful times.

Go Mariners. Go Dave.

Update: Some awesomeness courtesy of our Japanese friends...

And here's a serious classic, which has some great clips, including Edgar playing some stellar 3rd base, Greg Briley teeing off, and Harold Reynolds playing piano.

Congrats Dave!

2008-02-19T13:47:00.001-08:00

Now here is a great story. I can't think of anyone who has meant more to the Mariners than this Man. Edgar? No. Griffey? No. Dave Niehaus? Yup. He has been with the M's during all the good years and bad years and I couldn't be more thrilled that he's going to the hall of fame. Good work Dave. We're lucky to have you.

I tried to find a Youtube video of him giving a call. Couldn't yet, but I did find this hilarious clip from Almost Live. I can't embed it, so here is the link. (Dave is the second guy, not the first).

GO ZAGS!!!!

2008-02-18T17:06:00.000-08:00

I'm back home after a boss weekend in Orange County with my best friend who came down for a few days. Now I'm doing a bunch of homework so I can watch the Gonzaga vs. San Diego game with a clean concience.

This one's huge.

Go Zags.

New Title

2008-02-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Changed up the title of this operation here. I was just sick of the old one, which was really just a reference to the Simpsons' character known as Professor Frink.

Don't expect any change in content. It will still mainly be me complaining about Seattle Sports teams and Gonzaga Basketball.

I'll also continue to post this video every chance I get:

Juno

2008-02-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

I went and saw 'Juno' last night. It had been very highly recommended by several friends and has also been nominated for an academy award. It also has a very life affirming message, which I'm always a sucker for. A short synopsis: Juno (Ellen Page) gets pregnant as a Jr. in High School and (after running out of an abortion clinic) tries to find the perfect couple to adopt her baby.

I liked the movie. Is it really up to academy award standards? No. I don't think so. First of all, the whole thing was littered with awkward teen girl speak. This got very annoying very quickly. Also, the neo-folk music being played throughout was terribly annoying. I apologize sincerely if any of the artists come across this post, but it wasn't good. Also, that opening credit animation thing was really dumb. The fact that they were playing the folk music during it made it even worse. I know I'm not the only one who felt this way about these aspects, and I just don't think nominees for best picture of the year should be this annoying.

That being said, this movie had some great qualities. The first of these was the Cast. Ellen Page was a good lead who got better as the movie went on. Michael Cera (Arrested Development) is funny in everything he does. The potential adopting couple played by Jennifer Garner (Alias) and Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) were also very good in their roles (especially Jennifer Garner, I thought). J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) was wonderful and I think that all fathers of teenage daughters should watch him play this role and imitate the way he supported his daughter throughout the pregnancy. And if you like "The Office," there was a great little cameo by Rainn Wilson.

The movie also told the story of this pregnant teenager very well. Although both political stances were present, they were also irrelevent to the story. The movie focused on the teenager, her concience and the people around her. The movie was not merely about pregancy, but about a huge range of relationships.

So go see it. Don't expect it to beat out "There Will Be Blood" on Oscar Night, but expect to be entertained, even if slightly annoyed.

Prayers....

2008-02-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

First in thanksgiving for this.

Then for Kristine and Mike (see link on right) as their due date is quickly approaching.

Still frustrated...

2008-02-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

with the loss.

Mainly, I'm just wondering where the heck this is:

Notice the intensity on Heytvelt's face. I'd love to see this sort of intensity again. The sooner the better.

Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's

2008-02-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

If you watched it and are as bummed as I am, just keep watching this:

Super Bowl Sunday

2008-02-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

The NFPs beat the Canon Lawyers 35-23 in our flag football game. Yes, I quarterbacked the NFPs.

I also was fortunate enough to draw the New York 3, New England 7 square in our pool. If you don't know that that means, sorry, I really don't want to go into it. But since that was the score at the end of 2 quarters, I won double $$.

I also won the Madden tournament on Playstation 3.

So, yeah. Good day.

Map of the Problematique

2008-02-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Couldn't think of anything else to title this bit of randomness, so I just decided to name it after this one song I'm really into right now. Its part techno and part rock. (See youtube clip at bottom of page).

But, seriously, Gonzaga just made me doubt their tournament worthiness for most of their game Saturday night. It was pathetic. GU has several guys who should have been able to win this game single handedly. Heytvelt, Pargo, Bouldin, and Downs are better than every single player on that Santa Clara Roster, yet none of them stepped up when we needed them. Instead, two Freshman stepped up. Austin Daye and Steven Gray were the ones who had to pull this one off. Oh, and Brody Angley had to make the most unfortunate play of his career to put Gray on the line with .3 seconds left. GU escaped in the end, but it definately wasn't pretty.

Oh, and FOX is stupid for cutting out 9 minutes worth of overtime.

On the plus side, though, I did see my cousin on TV. On the negative side, she was in the Santa Clara Band. So I guess its not positive at all. Really, I think she's disgraced the family. Good thing she doesn't read this.

Also, I'm learning a lot about Baseball and why my favorite team is going to make me miserable for a long while longer. USS Mariner and Lookout Landing have both been providing extensive coverage on why this Jones for Bedard deal is terrible. Mainly, its because the Mariners are much further away from a Division title than a good pitcher (and Eric Bedard is a very, very good pitcher).

Super Bowl tomorrow. I guess that's good. I've got a free carwash riding on the game if the Pats win. Only thing is I'm not sure if a free Carwash is as good as watching the Giants beat the Pats. I'm definately a fan of Eli and Coach Coughlin, and am extremely happy for the both of them for being where they are right now.

Prior to the game is our own seminary Flag Football game. Its the Canon Lawyers vs. the NFPs (I'll be quarterbacking the NFP's, by the way). My guess is it doesn't happen because its supposed to rain and Californians don't like doin' stuff in the rain.

Anyway, this has gone on long enough, and I have a ton of work to do in order to fully enjoy the Super Bowl Festivities tomorrow.

Oh, here is a link to my field education placement: St. Joseph Center.

Muse, Map of the Problematique...

New Classes

2008-01-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the classes I'm taking this semester.

Spanish - I still have no idea what's going on in this class.

Latin - Self explanatory.

Field education seminar - This semester I will be assisting a ministry to the homeless in Venice Beach. Should be interesting. I also have an hour class to learn the art of theological reflection.

Pastoral Psychology - The basics of counseling... what we can do as priests, what we can't do as priests... when to make referrals, etc.

Homiletics - practicing the art of preaching.

Johannine Lit. - The Gospel of John, The book of revelation, the Johannine epistles. Very excited (John is my favorite Gospel).

Ecclesiology - The study of the Church (its mission and structure, etc.).

Canon Law - The law of the Church. You might even define it as Ecclesiology in action.

Healthcare and Catholic Morality - probably going to turn out to be my favorite class.

Should be very busy, especially since my field education takes up a whole day. Oh well...

Here is a video I took this last weekend at the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco. I obviously attended.

Hey WWU folks...

2008-01-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

I recieved a text from Zach... as of 7am this morning, Cheri was in labor. She probably has delivered already, but lets remember her in prayer anyway.

UPDATE: Isaac has a brother! Aidan Xavier! 9lbs 6oz. Both Aidan and Cheri are doing well!

Seahawks are done...

2008-01-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

But at least I don't have to sulk about this one. Green Bay just kicked the trash out of us and Brett Favre reminded the world just how tough of a man he really is. Still, how many 20 yard gains should a playoff team give up on third and seven? I don't know, but not as many as the Hawks did.

Not wanting to watch the game alone, I drove down to my favorite Hawk watching spot in LA, Hollywood Billiards, to meet up with a friend. I've talked a lot about how cool this place usually is. Its not nearly as cool when you lose. There were a lot of Hawk fans there, but there were also a lot of Packer fans in attendance. We weren't very well segregated, either. So this video isn't that great, but its a taste of the fun I had this season watching football at this place.
The Packer fan in this video at the beginning drank too much and was a serious Jerk after the game started to get out of hand. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Also, I pan around a bit to try to show the other Hawk fans, but it was too dark. The main problem with this place was that we were too spread out, but I'd say there were probably 70 Hawk fans and 100 Packer fans in this place. So.... whatever.

At least the Zags won.

Hello Again.

2008-01-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

Well hello! Thanks for dropping by. Its been quite a while since I last posted. This is mainly due to my fairly awesome Christmas Vacation. Some Highlights? Ok! Not in any particular order:

1) I got some pretty rad Christmas Gifts, but few are as awesome as the gift that my Archbishop gave me. A TRIP TO NEW YORK TO SEE THE HOLY FATHER IN APRIL!!!! Well, he gave it to me and the rest of our seminarians. But that was pretty cool. So, yeah... I'm going to see the pope this April.

2) Playing Rock Band at my old roomate's house on New Years Eve. It's like Guitar Hero, only better.

3) A couple good friends got married (to each other) in Vancouver. Congrats Val and John! BTW... Best. Wedding Food. Ever.

4) After watching these two tie the knot we had to race to Burnaby to watch the Seahawks in their skirmish with the Redskins. There were about 35 of us crammed in this tiny lounge at the Hotel. Go Hawks!

5) Gonzaga Battle in Seattle pre-game. Also blogged about over at La Rev. Basically, my friend got me on this "list" of sorts which got me into the Fox Sports Bar and Grill with the entire Zag team and a few other notables. Here is some evidence:

This first one is of Jud Heathcote.

Second... This is GU coach Mark Few:

Third... Craig Ehlo. You pretty much have to be a regular at the mentioned above La Rev to know how cool this is. Read his post and you might start to understand.

So yeah... that was a great time. We also got a bunch of free food.

6) I got see a lot of family and friends that I miss when I'm in California.

Now, I just got done with my silent retreat, only, I was pretty sick throughout and didn't actually make it to many of the talks/masses/adoration. I mainly just slept. But I'm almost recovered now, so I guess I needed it.

Tomorrow Its all about the Seahawks and the Zags.

Then Sunday its all about the Sabbath.

Then Monday its all about my new schedule. More on that later.

So take it easy and enjoy your weekends!

Danget Gonzaga...

2007-12-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

That one really really hurt.

Update: It's approaching midnight and I still haven't recovered. Perhaps its all this packing that I'm doing. No, wait... its definately the fact that Pargo took that shot with like 7.5 seconds left on the clock.

Update 2: As I posted this I looked and was reminded that the M's signed Carlos Silva for 4 years at 11 million per... what a terrible day.

Blessed be God.

In case you were wondering...

2007-12-19T22:55:00.000-08:00

Finals are not any better in the seminary than they were at Western. They still suck. Just one more day to go...

Home Stretch

2007-12-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

Things are definately winding down in my favor this semester. Most of my classes had a final project instead of a final exam, which means I'm practically done with the semster and just get to enjoy the final week of school. I do have one in class final, one take home final, and one long translation in Latin, but they won't be too bad. Friday morning I will leave for home... I can't wait.

I know everyone is spending like crazy and giving a lot this Christmas, but if you are looking to give some more to a good cause, I'd like to suggest giving it to Shelley Lubben Ministries. Shelley is a former prostitute/"adult" film star who has cleaned up, become a devout evangelical Christian, and now works to get women out of "the industry." Give her site a visit and if you feel like it, give her some $$.

No Country for Old Men

2007-12-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Saw it last night and thought I'd share some of my thoughts...

First of all, the concept of this movie was great. For the first hour and a half I was on the edge of my seat. The movie is about a deer hunter from Texas named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brodin) who comes across the scene of a drug deal gone completely wrong. Only one person was alive at the scene, although he was badly injured and in need of water. Moss leaves the man at the scene and tries to find the "last man standing." He finds him under a tree with a satchel containing 2 Million dollars. He takes the money with him and goes home. This of course makes the drug lords unhappy so they hire a hitman (Javier Bardem) to get the money back. This begins an exciting chase across the State of Texas that will only end when one of them dies.

This chase set up what could have been an intense climax for the movie. Only the movie didn't show you what happened. It just kind of told you. I'm sure that artistically this was a great move, but I personally wanted to see what happened. To be fair this was apparently very faithful to the book by Cormac McCarthy, which is always good. But still, I wanted to see how things went down.

The final thirty minutes were boring. You had to pay close attention, and after the first hour and a half of suspense I found this impossible.

I will definately watch this one again to try and get the most out of the final 30, and I'll probably pick up the book one day, but I must admit I'm sort of confused about the point of the film. I'll also admit that I don't understand the Oscar Buzz surrounding this one (other than the fact that its been a bad year for movies).

I give it a C.

What a weekend

2007-12-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

Real quick...

Gozaga won. It made me happy. Visit La Rev for the review (The link is on the right).

Seahawks won. It made me happy. Our defense is looking pretty good. We might win out and take the #2 playoff spot if Green Bay could lose a couple more games.

I saw the John Butler Trio saturday night. It was awesome. He's promoting his new album, so a lot of his newer stuff was played. Not bad, but not as good as his older stuff. The show is posted at Archive.org for download. Don't worry... its totally legal. Here is the Link: Link. Here is a video of one of the new ones I liked the most, called "Fire in the Sky."

Jai Bai Tai!

2007-11-29T22:53:00.000-08:00

That, of course, is Australian for JBT. JBT is, of course, the John Butler Trio, the best Australian Band around.

I just got word about 30 minutes ago that John Butler and his trio will be playing, of all placese, Bellingham Washington on December 8th at the Nightlight Lounge. If you are reading this and you're in Bellingham do yourself a favor and go see him. He's good. I'm serial. I won't be able to make it, as I will still be down in LA. I was initially pretty ticked off when I heard that was the date. But I decided to check the tour dates and, whatdyaknow? They're playing THIS SATURDAY IN LA! And I'm going! Here are some clips.

Take (Make sure you make it to the last couple of minutes... insane!):
Ocean:

Back in Action

2007-11-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

I'm back from a spectacular trip home. I had two terrible flights, but I'm alive.

Now I'm trying to catch up with school. Nothing out of the ordinary. I definately see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Did anyone see that Notre Dame game last saturday. What were those refs thinking when they called that TD back? Terrible call! They actually got it right the first time and then they changed it to the wrong call after viewing the replay. I like the Pac-10, but I'll admit... it has the worst officiating in college sports. Are you with me Oklahoma?

But while trying to find a video I came across this! I remember this video from 1992 and have looked for it on Youtube but finally just found it by accident. It features my college's football team, my favorite sports reporter of all time (Bruce King), and my old High School at the very end.

I give you the greatest catch ever.

I'm on my way.....

2007-11-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday and Happy A-Rod staying on the East Coast and out of my life more often than he would if he were in Anaheim day.

Here is the schedule...

Today I work on my exegesis for like 8 hours or until its finished. Then I pack. Then tomorrow I wake up ready to tell people that they can't go to their friend's diaconate ordination because there isn't enough space and that they can't get in without a ticket (its because 13 guys are getting ordained). Then I somehow how try to justify that I'm at the diaconate ordination while there are so many people outside and upset. Then As soon as the diaconate is over or the clock strikes 12:45 I leave for home.

I'm on my Waaaaaaaaaaaay. I'm on my Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Home Sweet Home!

Finding a Motley Crue video without pointless nudity and/or cursing is pretty difficult. I'm pretty sure this one doesn't have either, but if it does, please email me and I'll take it down.

Don't Fire Weis

2007-11-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit sick this week. I'm guessing it might be because of the disgusting Notre Dame Game I listened to. Then again, it may have been that atrocious Seahawks game I followed on GameCast. Either way, I have a nasty sore throat and I've missed some class this week.

But regarding the above teams, I'm pretty sure the Seahawks are going to make the playoffs. First off, their division is terrible. Second off, the schedule that looked so intimidating at the beginning of the year now looks laughable. They might even win out. If the Seahawks don't make the playoffs in this situation, they don't deserve it and you won't hear any complaining out of me.

As for ND, I really like this article from ESPN. It sums up a really bad situation, but concludes that the Irish shouldn't fire Charlie Weis. It also sides with the former Coach, Tyrone Willingham who was fired after a similar first 3 years as Weis. (TW, by the way, is in some hot-water at UW as well... I hope UW doesn't bow down to the boosters and decides to keep willingham around) Anyway, I don't have much more to say about that.

As for the Navy Game, I'll just say this: Its like that old saying goes... Its even hard to beat Navy 44 times in a row.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IRISH!

PS. Blogging has been light and will be light for a while because I'm dealing with the biggest assignment of my semester and am not even really that close to finishing it. It is an exegesis on Luke 24:13-35, The Road to Emmaus. Its not that long, but its 40% of my grade, which means I have to do really well.

Later.

Scholastic Dilemma

2007-10-29T14:37:00.001-07:00

So I just recieved my schedule for next semester and its pretty loaded. I have 17 credits that are mandatory. This does not include my pastoral formation assignment, which will be 8 hours of serving the homeless on Friday. It also only includes 2 hours of Spanish, which meets for 4 hours a week. So, I basically have 19 hours of class stuffed into 4 days. Its definately do-able, but the problem is that I'd really like to take some electives. I will continue Latin, which is 2 credits more which puts me at 19 credits and 21 hours Mon-Thurs.

So the dilemma is should I really push myself and take on another elective or just really invest myself in the 17 credits I already have? If I go for the elective, which should I take. So many look good. Here is what I have to choose from:

Greek (Which I've already taken 3 times)
Health Care and Catholic Morality
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Pneumatology (Theology of the Holy Spirit)
The Theology of C.S. Lewis

Me thinks von Balthasar is the way to go if anything. I'll have to talk it over with the academic dean and my advisor. I'm sure all of these classes will be offered again, so there isn't really a rush. But I would be interested in your thoughts if you have them.

Pope to Say Mass in Satan's Lair

2007-10-29T07:28:00.001-07:00

Rocco Palmo of whispers published this story about the Pope's plans for his upcoming visit to the United States. It looks like the Pope is planning on taking the battle between good and evil straight to the source of evil:

As things presently stand, the plan now looks to give B16 three days in New York, including a culminating Mass on the final day in Yankee Stadium, as opposed to the previously-proffered option of Central Park.

I have never been to Yankee Stadium, but I've seen many atrocities happen here. I have to hand it to the pontiff... he's fearless.

In other news from Satan's team, A-Rod won't be returning. This means that there is a good chance A-Rod will be suiting up for (of all teams) the Anaheim Angels. If this happens, there is a very good chance the Angels will pass the Yankees on my list of most hated sports franchises. Don't let the name throw, these buggers are up to no good.

Bella

2007-10-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

I just saw it with 11 other guys from the seminary. The theater was packed and everyone applauded at the end (although I may have had something to do with that). Everyone who offered an opinion afterwards liked it. The critics have not been as positive. Rotten Tomatoes, a usually reliable indicator me gave it a 40% rating (although I've been questioning RT lately because it gave Eastern Promises and 82% and it was probably the worst film I've seen since A History of Violence, done by the same people).
I'd recommend two reviews of Bella. American Papist has a very positive review. This is in shocking contrast to another very reliable Catholic Blogger Barbara Nicolosi from Church of the Masses who doesn't have many positives things say except that she likes Eduardo Verastegui. I suggest reading them both. Although they don't contain any serious plot spoilers, I would suggest reading them after watching the movie, because (like all movies) its better to see films without that kind of bias going into it. If you haven't seen it, you might want to come back to this.....

As for myself, I disagree with both reviewers in certain ways. American Papist said that the movie was "well told." Although I didn't think it was badly told I thought there were some improvements that could have been made. This was mostly in the dialogue. The conversations between the main characters, Jose (Eduardo Verastegui) and Nina (Tammy Blanchard), did not strike me as being very, well, REAL. I took one quarter of creative writing in college and I learned a concept that you, "Show! Don't Tell!" Well, in the context of Bella, they could have shown that she was poor, afraid, and not ready to have a baby without having Nina just overtly stating "I'm poor," "I'm afraid," and "I'm not ready to have a baby."

But I consider this minor and definitely did not ruin what was (for me) a very moving film.

Nicolosi (we actually have a couple of mutual friends, although I've never met her) was very critical of the whole project (even some of the people who made it) and weaved quotes from the secular critics throughout her review which all demonstrated the film was not good. Her main problem is that Christians blindly jumped on the Bella bandwagon, completely over-hyped it, and labeled it "the greatest pro-life film ever," when in fact we could have done much better. She might be right (at least I know I blindly jumped on the bandwagon without seeing it). But, the film wasn't as bad as she seems to say. I thought was a great first attempt from Metanoia Films, and it showed promising signs of good things to come.

NOTE: I have one other comment to make but I'm really tired and I just can't quite get it to sound the way I want it to. If you're interested, check back tomorrow.

Go See This Movie

2007-10-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

Its called Bella and its supposed to be incredible. It has been winning awards all over the country at the various film festivals. Its most notable prize is probably the People's Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival. This award is widely regarded as an indicator for Oscar Success, and past winners include Life is Beautiful, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hotel Rwanda, American Beauty, and Tsotsi. Not only is the movie a great film as all of these are great films, but it also has a very positive message. It will be good to give this a good first weekend at the box office, so if you aren't doing anything GO SEE IT!!!!

Click here for a list of theaters.

Trailer:

Fire

2007-10-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'd like to take a moment to ask you all to pray for the wildfire situation in southern California. For those of you who don't know, there is a very strong wind that has a tendency to blow from the east, called the Santa Ana winds. When these winds begin to blow, a few morons decide that they want to go light fires. It doesn't take a large fire to get spread with these powerful winds.

I'm not in any danger here at the seminary, but there is a lot of smoke. Everyone here is coughing pretty frequently. I ask you all to join in our prayers for the safety of the firefighters, for their families, and for all who have lost property due to these criminal acts of arson.

Ministry of Reader

2007-10-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

It is with great joy that I announce to you all that, after having petitioned my bishop, I have been called to the Ministry of Reader. I will be installed here at the seminary this Saturday October 20th.

For those of you who are unaware, Pope Paul VI replaced the minor orders of Tonsure and Porter with the ministries of Reader and Acolyte with his Motu Proprio, Ministarae Quaedam. Now, every seminarian applying for orders is entrusted with these ministries. Here is what the ministry entails for me as outlined in the Motu Proprio:

5. The reader is appointed for a function proper to him, that of reading the word of God in the liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to proclaim the readings from sacred Scripture, except for the gospel in the Mass and other sacred celebrations; he is to recite the psalm between the readings when there is no psalmist; he is to present the intentions for the general intercessions in the absence of a deacon or cantor; he is to direct the singing and the participation by the faithful; he is to instruct the faithful for the worthy reception of the sacraments. He may also, insofar as may be necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who are appointed on a temporary basis to read the Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may more fittingly and perfectly fulfill these functions, he is to meditate assiduously on sacred Scripture.

Aware of the office he has undertaken, the reader is to make every effort and employ suitable means to acquire that increasingly warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord.

One thing to note is that this is a permanent ministry that I am called to perform. If I were to leave seminary next Monday after being instituted a reader, I would still be asked to perform these functions. I'm a little scared, to be honest, but I'm also overjoyed at this opportunity to serve the Church.

Also, being able to take these small steps helps prepare me for Diaconate and Priesthood, if by the grace of God I am called to serve the Church in this capacity. When the rector made the announcement a small chill went through my spine. I'm seriously moving closer. I ask you all for your prayers that I will be able to meet the demands of this responsibility.

I promise that I will serve you all to the best of my abilities!

Hey Sun Devils, Saints of New Orleans, Boston College

2007-10-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

...and while I'm at it, Trojans.

Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve Perry!

This one is definately going to work. (I just hope it isn't too late.)

Texas Hold Them 2

2007-10-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

My bad for not getting this one out sooner. Many of you might remember when I blogged about a professor I had at WWU , Steven Garfinkle, who competed in the 2007 World Series of Poker. Well, last tuesday the episode aired where he was eliminated, finsihing 10th and one seat shy of becoming a millionaire. Sorry I forgot to tell you. But you are in luck! Its on Youtube. And its embedded right below this sentence.

Psyche-Out Update

2007-10-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

After last night's Notre Dame game, I was about to declare this whole psyche-out thing the best idea I've ever come up with. Then the Seahawks played. Awefully.

But USC lost, so thats good.

Latin test tomorrow, followed by a week of studying leading up to midterms. I have a post on the evangelical council of obedience brewing, so look out for that if youre interested.

Here's a good laugh...

2007-10-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Brought to you by the women at ABC's The View (through Jimmy Akin) who recently discussed certain aspects of Church teaching.

"We were all raised Catholic here, so this is not some anti-Catholic rant that we're on. This is just factual information." Just in this statement alone: 1)Not all of them were raised Catholic. 2) Being Catholic does not mean you can't be anti-Catholic. 3)Being Catholic does not mean everything you say about the Church is factual. 4) There were very few facts presented in this segment of the show.

Jimmy has the transcript here.

I'd like to add a couple last things, speaking as an average Catholic, rather than as someone who studies theology. When you recieve communion, you are in fact making a public statement, to me and to everyone else, that you are in communion both in faith and action, with us. For most of us (usually when we slip into mortal sin) we deny ourselves communion, by not presenting ourselves. If people don't believe what we believe (in matters of faith and morals), or if they act innapropriately, they shouldn't present themselves either. I find it personally disrespectful when they do.

Comments?

Hey Steelers and Bruins.....

2007-10-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that the Steelers are decimated by injuries, 4 out of 5 morons pick the Steelers to win this Sunday.

Steeeeve Perry!
Note: I'm really going to try to make this a regular occurance. My teams depend on me.

A Little on ND

2007-10-03T10:02:00.001-07:00

This year has been pretty bad, but all the talk about firing Charlie Weis is ridiculous. If this program is going to get rolling we need to let it get rolling. Here is a pretty good take on it all.

Goooooooooooo Irish! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeat Bruins!

Sports Adoption

2007-10-02T13:56:00.001-07:00

I'm adopting the Colorado Rockies for the playoffs, although I question how much time I will be able to actually watch them. Things are busy. The reason for this adoption is that, if you didn't know, their playoff run has been possibly one of the most incredible feats in recent history... (they kind of remind me of a certain Seattle team in say, 1995, who was 13 out in early August and took the division in a one game playoff against the California Angels keyed by an in the park grand slam by Luis Sojo*). I will also, of course, be cheering for the Angels and the Yankees to lose, and lose bad. Between them and Cleveland, who I also don't really care for, the AL is a mine field of potential lameness. So, GO NL!

Also, its almost that time of year again! and by that time of year again, I mean time for GONZAGA BASKETBALL!

Here is a good article, posted over at La Revolucion. Oh, and speaking of La Revolucion, do check out his Gameday Video tournament bracket. Its quite good, except I really think the "selection committee" pulled a Homer by picking Thundercats over Voltron. Silly. * In seventh grade my friends and I called it a Grand Slam, but it was really a double with several errors.

What? Tonight?

2007-09-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

If you live in LA and don't have any plans tonight (Friday), I have one question for you: Are you also a seminarian? Come on. This is LA. You're supposed to be like, living it up all crazy like. and stuff. With famous movie stars.

Well that isn't important. What is important is that if you don't have plans tonight I might have something for you. But as most of my poorly written blog posts do, I'm first going to tell a short story.

So last night I was working on this paper, and it wasn't going too well. It was a short one, just 5 pages, but I had written 3 and a half and felt like it was good enough to be done with. So, I scoured my sources to look for any little piece of evidence I could find to comment on. This got very boring, so I decided to distract myself by checking out my myspace page, which I never do. It said I had an invitation, so I checked it out and "Boom Goes the Dynamite!" My friend Kris Orlowski is playing a gig tomorrow right here in Hollywood! Kris and I used to play soccer together back in like high school. Since then, we've run into each other at WWU and Church and whatnot. But still, he's playing in LA! And I'm totally going to go.

The show is tonight at a place called The Derby. I'm not sure what time kris will be going on, but I'm trying to get reach him via the telephone to find out. It's 15 bucks, and there are a few other acts.

So, if you live in LA and aren't doing anything and are sad enough that you have to take social tips from a seminarian, you should stop by. But in all honesty, kris is a great musician and you might like him. Here is his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/krisorlowski (Check out "The Bay." Thats my favorite)

And here is a (short) youtube videos of him:

Here's a full song:
More on this later.

Busyness as Usual...

2007-09-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

I was elected Vice President of the students here, which has led to even more work this semester, which is quite a lot to begin with. Funny thing though: I'm so on top of it all its scary. Very unlike me, in a way. ~~Maybe~~ Formation is working.

I was reading some Raymond Brown for my class the other day. If you know anything about Brown, you know that he isn't really the most exciting guy to read. I happened to be reading in our periodical section in the Library, and my eyes wandered to the most recent edition of First Things, and to the article called "God and Evolution," written by Avery Cardinal Dulles. I set Brown down on the ground with a frown (ok, not really a frown, but it rhymed) and picked up the article and read it, and I recommend you check it out. It can be found, in full, here.

The whole article was great, but there was one thing that caught my attention... I had a class last year in which I couldn't pay attention well (my classmates tell me I didn't miss out on much). I tried, but I found it much more fun to work out some "proofs" for the existence of God. I actually thought of one that I thought was pretty good, that I'd never heard of before. Then I saw it explained in First Things:

It may be of interest that the scientist Francis Collins came to believe in God not so much from contemplating the beauty and order of creation—impressive though it is—but as the result of moral and religious experience. His reading of C.S. Lewis convinced him that there is a higher moral law to which we are unconditionally subject and that the only possible source of that law is a personal God. Lewis also taught him to trust the natural instinct by which the human heart reaches out ineluctably to the infinite and the divine. Every other natural appetite—such as those for food, sex, and knowledge—has a real object. Why, then, should the yearning for God be the exception?

So it looks like CS Lewis beat me to it. Actually, thats kind of cool. Anyways, I've got some work to do, but the good news is, once I'm done with this one assignment I'll be done for the whole weekend! That means I might get to watch the Seahawks!

But seriously, read the article, especially if you are confused on what the Church's thoughts are on evolution.

College...

2007-09-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

My Alma Mater resumes classes this Wednesday. All my Newman Center connections have graduated, for the most part, so I now have no more ins to tell me how its going. I have no doubt that it will go well, though, with Fr. Nguyen and Rachel in control. Why am I typing this? Only 2 of you care. Oh yeah... I wrote it as somewhat of a lead in to this link. This one here.

Its about how to get college students to practice Catholicism. I agree with it. I think a lot of people would try to avoid the difficult stuff expecting the more devout Catholics to get involved anyway, which would maximize participation. Of course, what winds up happening is that participation is closer to minimal. Things can be a bit counter-intuitive when it comes to people and religion.

Oh well... I have to give a homiletic simulation on Racism tomorrow, so I gotta get to bed.

btw... for those of you who are interested... my brother is having a lot of fun in India. He's teaching a couple english classes and touring the area pretty well.

Ok, later.

Seattle Sea-Awesomes

2007-09-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Good win guys. Sorry I didn't get to see much of it.

Stupid

2007-09-21T08:04:00.001-07:00

Boooo!!!

I have 3 papers due next week, a homiletic simulation, a take home exam in Liturgy and Monday and Tuesday are packed full of class/other mandatory obligations. This means I pretty much have to do it all this weekend (not to mention my personal prayer and exercise), so watching this game is probably out of the question anyways. But still, the NFL is 0 for 3 in providing opportunities for me to actually watch the game.

From My Reading...

2007-09-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to do something like this for a while now... If ever I come across something in my reading assignments or research that strikes me as profound or inspirational, I'll just post it here. Since it will come from my course work, I'll put them under the label "Seminary Life," and probably "Random Catholicism," as well as a new label, "Quotes." So, here is the first one...

My God, in whom is my delight, my glory, and my trust, I thank you foryour gifts and beg you to preserve and keep them for me. Keep me, too, and so your gifts will grow and reach perfection and I shall be with you myself, for I should not even exist if it were not by your gift.
St. Augustine, Confessions (Book I, 20)

Hammer Time!

2007-09-16T16:51:00.001-07:00

As bad as the Seahawk's loss tastes (I didn't even watch it as I've been busy writing a paper on the Christology of the letter to the Hebrews) it couldn't ruin a great weekend. As I mentioned a few posts earlier, I participated in The Nike Run Hit Remix in LA. It is a 5 mile race, and every mile or so there is a stage some old skool hip-hop acts performing. If you don't want to read this whole post, I understand, but at least skip to the MC hammer portion. Its worth it.

The race began at 9am, and there was a great turn out. They were expecting 10,000 but I'm not sure how many actually registered...

A couple notable celebrities were in attendance, including tennis player Serena Williams. Serena was there to speak on behalf of "Let Us Play," a charity that tries to get sports equipment and fields into the inner cities.

The race began, and before I knew it, I was at the first stage, where "Naughty by Nature" was playing. They were a lot of fun, but I only stuck around for one song. I don't understand why, but for some reason, people don't want to get too close to the performers. Everyone was like 20 feet away. Except me, of course:

The second stage featured "The Sugarhill Gang." They were pretty fun, but nothing over the top. The real fun began at the next stage, where Dawn Robinson of "En Vogue" was singing. Dawn was a lot of fun. I showed up just as she was finishing up with, "You're Never Gonna Get It." I don't know much about En Vogue, but I do remember the song, "Free Your Mind," which I looked up on Youtube to remember the words. I of course started requesting it. She told me she wasn't gonna do it until the end, so I started singing it and, yes, she joined it and sang a few bars. Here is the proof: She also posed for a picture with me and my friend William:
At Mile number 4 was the guy I was most excited about seeing: Sir Mix-a-Lot! Let's back up. When I was in grade school, my best friend had a tape that his older brother and sister made for him of all the "coolest" music. This tape featured Millie Vanilli, Bobby Brown, and a whole lotta Sir Mix-a-Lot. As soon as I showed up I started requesting "My Posse's on Broadway." He sang it immediately, and I sang along with him. Next, I requested "Swas," and I was surprised it was still in his repertoire, but he sang it as well. Next, I went for "Jump On It," and he said, "Dude, are you trying to kill me? I gotta be careful of my voice." So he denied me there, but we stuck around for a few more songs. I think we were probably there 25 minutes or so. I've got a video of This performance, but for some reason Youtube won't take it. When I figure it out, I'll post it.

Now onto the best part of ~~the weekend~~ my life. After completing the race in a little over an hour we worked our way toward the stage for the MC Hammer portion of the morning. I had a goal to get a good section of the crowd chanting "Add-am's Fa-mil-y! Add-am's Fa-mil-y!" Well, we got pretty close, and he came out on stage (Yes, this the video I took of it. Sorry the sound is pretty bad):

After he was done with the song, I started chanting. Although a lot of people thought this was funny, nobody joined in. After the next song I tried again, but there were no takers. So I thought, I'm gonna just have to get closer so he can hear me yelling. I tried to weasel my way forward even further, but I couldn't get much closer. Then, something incredible happened...

Hammer asked if there was anyone out there who knew how to do the "Cha-Cha." He said if you could, then you could get up on stage. Now, I have no idea how to Cha-Cha, but I did want to request Adam's family bad enough that I was willing to embarrass myself in front of the several thousand racers in order to ask the man directly. I left my camera with William and forced my way to the stage, and yes, I was let up.

Not wanting to embarrass myself or the Seminary too much (Yes, Fr. Dave, I was thinking of what you told me at Mike and Kristine's wedding...), I decided to just go chill in the back, behind everyone with legit dance skills. Well, backstage were a couple of his dancers, so I asked them if they still knew the dance moves to Addam's groove. A couple of them had never even heard of it. Frustrated, I looked around, and that's when I saw Tennis Star Serena Williams standing in the back. Disappointed I didn't have my camera, I just went and shook her hand. Yes, she is really nice in person.

Anyway, the dancers weren't going to help me out at all. If I was gonna get my song played, I was gonna have to ask the guy myself. So, I fought my way to the front of the stage. And when the song was over, I had my window of opportunity.

William got some awesome pictures. This is the moment I asked him.

The question drew some laughter. Even PMU (Poor Man's Usher, as we dubbed him) was smiling. As for MC, he chuckled and said, "Nah man. I don't do Addam's any more. Ah man." Then he gave me 5. It was awesome.

But I didn't give up. I had to keep pestering the guy. The funny thing is, both MC and PMU were pretty interested in what I had to say. See! The outrageousness is only outdone by my goofy facial expression:

Still no dice, but I had done everything that needed to be done to make it happen. It just wasn't meant to be. Overall, it was a great experience and I'm happy I can tell such a great story. MC Hammer is definitely cool for putting up with me. He still is a great entertainer, so if you ever hear of him putting on a show, I'd recommend going. I had a blast.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Now I've gotta finish the paper mentioned at the beginning and then translate a bunch of Greek.

Later...

Seattle Sea-Ughs...

2007-09-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

That was stupid.

This video kind of cheers me up, but not really.

Perhaps this is Overdue

2007-09-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

American Papist linked to this story from Newsweek about a young woman, Jessica Rowley, who claims to have been ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood. There are many blogs out there commenting on the ins and outs of this topic, offering theological arguments for and against and whatnot. There is no need for me to do that, although I disagree with quite a bit of the article. There is, however, one piece I’d like to comment on. I’ve been putting this topic off for some time but I think I owe it to those of you out there who actually read this thing to post on the subject of celibacy and my thoughts on it.

But before, I want to remind everyone that there are many married Roman Catholic Priests out there, who are converts from other Christian denominations (Lutherans and Episcopalians) who do wonderful work for the Church. This in no way is meant to detract from the service they perform to God and the Church. Nor is it to meant to detract from the service our Eastern Rite Catholic Priests perform for their communities.

Here is the part of the article that grabbed my attention:

"[My marriage has] been nothing but a blessing in my ministry. It isn’t so odd if we look at the Episcopal Church or other denominations that have had married clergy for a long time. Being exposed to those traditions made me see that it could be possible. Married priesthood was a reality in the Catholic Church in medieval centuries. It wasn’t until later that celibacy was mandated. [In the Ecumenical Catholic Communion] we have married priests…. We see the benefit of intimate connections. That helps us relate to couples. We also receive the kind of emotional support that so many Roman Catholic priests have to live without because they’re mandated to be celibate."

Well, I guess I’ll comment on it one point at a time. Since these views are common in the modern Church, and who knows, maybe you feel the same way as Jessica, I’m going to write this post in the second person, like I’m talking to the newly ordained. Also, I intend this to be in a very charitable tone. Sometimes when issues come up like this it's tempting to want to read anger into the other person’s words, so if you disagree with me on any this, then please give me the benefit of the doubt that I am not angry. Just a bit confused and disappointed.

“[My marriage has] been nothing but a blessing in my ministry.”

Perhaps that’s true Jessica, but it says that you’ve only been ordained for one week. Not to mention that, but probably one of the most joyful weeks of your life. Perhaps the best time to evaluate this one would be 2, 5, or even 10 years from now, after you’ve been at this for a while. Also, you say in another place that you can’t wait to be a pregnant priest. Well, what will happen to your congregation should you go into labor on a Sunday Morning? What will you tell the elderly woman who is waiting for you to anoint her dying husband when you’re resting after going through the birthing process? Will he wait around for you to recover so you can anoint him? No, and when you aren’t there do you know who the couple will call? The celibate priest from the Roman Catholic parish across town.

Is being married with children a blessing to your congregation of 80? Paying a salary for one person would be difficult for a congregation of 80, let alone paying a salary for one person plus her husband, plus their x number of children. I’m sure that your husband probably has a great job and that he will make more than enough money for this, but if he is working, then you will have to spend even more time raising your children. Applying the above scenario to this situation, are you going to bring your newborn and your 3 year old to the hospital with you when you go to anoint the sick of your flock?

“[In the Ecumenical Catholic Communion] we have married priests… We see the benefit of intimate connections.”

It seems, Jessica, that what you are saying is that “Because we see the benefit of intimate connections, we have married priests.” Logically, it would follow that if a group does not have married priests, then they do not see the benefit of intimate connections (law of modus tollens, I think). Do you really believe this? Here is what the Catholic Church teaches about “intimate connections.”

“Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different way. The union of man and woman in marriage is a way of imitating in the flesh the Creator’s generosity and fecundity… (CCC 2335)” “Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man (CCC 1604)”

Thus I object to your inference that the Catholic Church does not see the benefit of intimate connections. The reason our priests forego sexual intimacy is not because sex is bad or sex is unimportant. Its just the opposite. I’ll depart from references to the Catechism in favor of something more personal…

I believe women are the most beautiful things God has created. Seriously. Nothing else even compares. Unfortunately (in my opinion) women are victimized terribly in today’s society. Pornography, prostitution, rape, and abortion are all terrible offenses to the dignity of women. I know some women who feel that they can’t even walk down the street without being judged by men, and unfortunately, I also know many men who can’t talk about women without objectifying them in some capacity. By being celibate, I feel as though I can help remedy this in two ways, ways I wouldn’t have if I was married. 1) Women will be able to bring their problems to me without having to worry about being used. This might sound funny to some people, but (celibate) priests I know have told me this before. Women who have been victimized are able to open up to the truly celibate priest. (Surely one or two of you reading this will say “not me, I feel completely the opposite…” but in practice, this is just the case based on the testimony of many celibate priests I know.) 2) Men will have an example of someone who doesn’t have to act on every single urge they get and might think twice before they buy their next mag.

But you know what, Jessica? There is something even more mysterious going on here aside from this practical concern. Something in me, something I don’t understand fully, causes me to want to embrace the entire Church through the gift of celibacy. Like you, I’m looking forward to the symbol, “This is my body given up for you,” only when I make my promise to the Church, it will not just be to my spouse, but to the entire Church. Because I have the desire to love the Church like this, I don’t want to place obstacles in between myself and the people of God, such as the possible scenarios dealing with anointing I mentioned above.

Furthermore, I believe that celibacy will help me accomplish my hope to lead souls to Christ. When I was a child, I used to consider the sacrifice of the priests and say to myself, “If that priest has that much faith to give up a family, then maybe I can have just a little bit of faith.” In other words, the priest’s witness to me through his celibacy helped me to accept the gift of faith that God wanted to plant in my heart.

Thus, Jessica, my decision to be celibate is not out of fear, not out of coercion, not out of a misguided papal mandate, but rather out of a sincere gift I hope to give to the Body of Christ, the Church.

“[Being involved in an ‘intimate connection’] helps us relate to couples.

The folks at wikipedia have nicely summarized a concept I was taught in a Sociological Theory class in college called the Availability Heuristic. Basically what this is is a cognitive bias where the availability of objects in an environment influences the judgments about their relative frequency, plausibility, and efficacy. For example, when I was young and in Catholic School, about 90% of my friends were Catholic. This fact left me with the wrong impression that 90% of my hometown were Catholic. What I needed to do to give an accurate guess on the number of Catholics in my hometown was to step out of Catholic School. Well when you’re in your marriage, and I hope it is a happy marriage, you will receive information based on your marriage. But the danger here is that you will have a natural bias about “the happy marriage,” and will thus be in danger of unintentionally passing on advice that might be in flawed.

What I think couples need is someone who can step out of the experience of earthly marriage and view it from a more objective standpoint. If I was married, I’d go to a celibate priest for advice before anyone else, because I feel he will not have a bias on what a perfect marriage is.
Other than this sociological argument, I again find it a bit disheartening and shocking and, dare I say, offensive that you would infer that because I’m celibate I’m unable to do something that I can in fact do. I have many married friends with children and yes, I relate to them quite well.

“We also receive the kind of emotional support that so many Roman Catholic priests have to live without because they’re mandated to be celibate.”

Emotional support. Is that what you kids are calling it these days? (just kidding). But I’ve heard this one a thousand times before, and it seems to me as though it stems from a ridiculous and false caricature of the priestly life. It goes something like this. The priest gets up early, goes to say mass in front of an empty Church with old people who can’t hear a thing he says, then he sits in the confessional for a few hours listening to story after story of people’s sexual fantasies, wishing he had an “outlet for his sexual energy.” Then after a few hours of paying bills or whatever he goes home to an empty house where he breaks open another bottle of scotch and drunkenly cries himself to sleep because he doesn’t have any “emotional support" because that guy in Rome forced him to be celibate.”

Well I’m not a priest, but I am in the seminary, and I can honestly say that, although it isn’t from a spouse, I have emotional support. So often I receive letters from the faithful urging me not to give up. I receive letters from kids in our Catholic Schools telling me that they are happy I’m becoming a priest. My friends call me up and encourage me all the time, reminding me that they’re praying for me. Not only do these people console me, I also have the consolation of the Holy Spirit. So no, Jessica, I don’t live without emotional support.

Also, nobody is forcing me into anything. I’m free to pack up my belongings right now and leave the seminary. Perhaps I’d even find a girl who would want to enter into the sacrament of matrimony and I could experience God’s love in that way. But I’m choosing not to do that because I believe that God has chosen for me to be happy as a celibate priest. It is my choice, and every priest’s choice, to be celibate.

Final Thoughts

Well, Jessica, you said your piece, now I've said mine. I could go on and on about this, but I won't. Good luck in your marriage and in your ministry. I mean that. I hope in ten years or so I will see another article about you in Newsweek so I can see how you've been doing.

This was my attempt to answer the common objections of priestly celibacy that run deep in our Church today and to respond to a small section of the Newsweek article mentioned above. If you read this and disagree, please email me (the link is in my profile). If you read this and agree completely, please comment or email me. But I ask everyone, no matter where you sit on this issue, to please pray for me and all the young men out there in formation. No matter how cheesy it sounds, we are doing this because we love you and want to serve you. We want to baptize your children, and witness their marriages. We want to join you in the hospital as you prepare for the death of your loved ones. We want to hear your confessions and offer you God’s forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation. But most of all, we want to bring you the Eucharist, Christ’s Body and Blood, who makes himself present on our altars at the holy sacrifice of the Mass.

Fun Run II

2007-09-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

Some of you who've been around know that last year I participated in an event called the Nike Run Hit Remix, which I blogged about here with my post race roundup here. This is a 5 mile race down in the LA coliseum/USC area, where there are hip-hop acts every mile of the course. If you read my post-race roundup you might remember my disappointment for not getting to hear this Urban Hymn:
Well, unfortunately 40 years old Mr. MC won't be there this year. Nor will Coolio, who was actually my favorite performer last year.

Despite this, there is a pretty solid lineup. Naughty by Nature will be there. Ya down wit o-p-p? The lead singer from En Vogue will be singing along the way, as will Sugarhill gang. I hope I make it to them in time to see the 10th -13th minute of rapper's delight. Actually, I'll probably just skip these guys. But the performers I'm most excited for are Seattle's own Sir Mix-a-Lot and a post race concert from... M.C HAMMER! You know what I'll be requesting: 2 Legit.

And yes, I will be taking my camera with me, so hopefully this time I'll have some pictures and videos of all the fun.

Together As One

2007-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Does this mean that if the Irish lose 33 to 3, then I lose 33 to 3?

Take it to 'em boys.

Note: If you click on this photo, it will enlarge a lot, and you will be able to see that I didn't shave today. We call that a formation issue around these parts. So, mea culpa. Oh, and that is St. Patrick behind me. Well, actually, its not. Its just a statue.

New Baby

2007-09-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

Hey all you WWU folks...

I'm sure you have heard the good news already, but Carrie gave birth to a baby girl this morning. Both Carrie and Clare Marie are doing very well.

I'm sure Tom is doing well also.

Congrats you two.

Schedule

2007-09-05T15:02:00.001-07:00

While I have some free time, I'd like to post my schedule for the semester:

Spanish - continuation of my previous classes.

Greek - Continuation of last fall. I'm really worried about this one because I haven't taken too good of a look at this since December.

Latin - I'm taking this for revenge. You see, in college, I had to write a paper using a lot of sources from the middle ages. I found a few abstracts to some sources that were perfect for what I was researching. Only they were in latin. And not translated. So I missed out. Hopefully I'll be able to go back and read these. That and liturgical reasons.

Intro to the Synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke.

Church History: 1500 to present - just the second half of the survey.

Homiletics - Contemporary Issues.

Liturgy and Culture - ...

Christology - In the beginning was the Word... Very standard systematic course.

Works of Augustine - I'm very excited about this. We cover Augustine in all of our systematic Theology classes, but when we do this we don't get huge chunks of his own writing... its mainly my teacher summarizing his though with a few block quotes thrown in. This will give me a chance to read what he said in its context.

This adds up to 20 credits, which is a lot, but I should be able to handle it. I might not be able to watch as many Mariner games, but thats ok, because I shouldn't be doing that anyway. And furthermore, do I really even want to watch them?

Its Go Time...

2007-09-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning prayer is at 7am, and then the new semester is on. I'll (hopefully) be posting my new courses with some extra bits of info soon, but I gotta get to bed.

Its hot here, btw. Really hot.

Had some ITunes $$ left, so I just bought the new(er) Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds acoustic CD. So far its great. I'll get a review in soon. Favorite part so far is Still Water --> Dont Drink the water. Wow. Thats what I've been missing Dave.

The Cadinal will be here tomorrow for Mass, so that's exciting.

Oh, and I hope the Irish are working hard right now, because that was pretty bad there, dudes. But at least you weren't Michigan.

Big Gulps, huh? Alright. Wellp, See ya later.

Miracle, or Menace

2007-08-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm cruising into Eugene Oregon Tuesday night around 7pm, the same time the Mariners are about to continue their series with the LA Angels of Anaheim. Hoping to pick it up on some MLB-less station in Portland, I hit the scan button on the radio and listened for a familiar voice. Well, I hit the jackpot... on KOMO AM 1000, one of our Seattle stations!

"How could this be?" I asked myself. "I don't even get KOMO very well up in Bellingham, and here I am in Centerish Oregon!" As I listened to the M's put up 5 runs in the first inning, I thought to myself that this must be some kind of a miracle. Boy was I wrong. I kept driving, and the Signal never left, and thus I continued to listen to Vlad Freakin Guerrero shred us apart and I fought the temptation to slam my car into the guard rail through Roseburg, Medford, Ashland, Yreka CA, Shasta, Redding... This made an already pretty terrible car trip into one of the most awful few hours I've ever spent in a car.

So I got to the Seminary Wednesday Evening just in time to watch a bunch of dorks from Anaheim and dorks from LA who actually think this team is from LA celebrating for no other reason than to spite me.

But when you have a hilarious blog to read, it sure does make it easier. Thanks Jeff. Whoever you are.

Anyway, the point is I'm back safely (so thanks for the prayers) and hopefully won't have to be so obsessed with the Mariners lack of skill.

Boo-urns and I'm Out.

2007-08-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

First the Boo-urns. I'm not sure which is more pathetic, the Seattle Mariners' attempt to get everyone at the game to wear blue, or the Seattle Mariners' attempt to win a baseball game tonight (Monday night). Both were rediculously sad. I can't wait to read Lookout Landing tomorrow to see what Jeff has to say. I'll need it after watching this pathetic mess of a game.

Now the I'm Out. Packing is in progress, and tomorrow morning I'm down I5 back to Cali. If you come across this, please say a quick prayer for me. When I get down there, I will hopefully give a post with some of my plans for the semester (including a possible trip to Anaheim to see the M's suck against the Angels in person)... should be a good one both academically and otherwise.

Until then, God Bless.

John Lackey is the devil.

Texas Hold Them

2007-08-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

I was showing a friend around the old College yesterday, when I noticed a copy of it's student published newspaper, The Western Front sitting in its display case. I put my Fair Trade espresso down and picked up the paper to see what kind of non-news the Front was reporting. It turns out that an awesome bit of news was right there in bold letters telling me that one of my former history professors, Dr. Steven Garfinkle, found some good fortune at the 2007 World Series of Poker, taking 10th in the often televised Main Event.

Professor Garfinkle was a great professor, although I only took 1 of his classes. I focused more on the medieval period, while he taught all the ancient history, so I mainly took his introductory class for "fun." I'd like to say that I remember everything he taught me, but unfortunately only The Epic of Gilgamesh and writing those little one page papers before each Friday class really comes to mind.

But there was one issue that he told our class about that I remember pretty clearly. I'll give it some precious blog-time in honor of Dr. Garfinkle's triumph at the WSOP. That issue is the looting of antiquities from the Iraqi Museums during the war. Read a little about it here. So here's to you Dr. Garfinkle, and your winnings, and to the recovery of the lost antiquities.

Well this is nice...

2007-08-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

From a Diocesan Newspaper in New York an article about my friend Steve, an aspiring actor who will be moving to New York (unless he changes his mind and heads to LA like I'm hoping). Steve and I went to Western Washington University together and participated in the Newman Center there. He's a great guy and its wonderful to see he's evangelizing through his work.

Keep it up Steve!

Just For a Bit of Inspiration

2007-08-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Owner of the Seattle Supersonicas

2007-08-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

No longer Celebrates Chanukkha.

Instead, he celebrates making all the children who asked for that Kevin Durant Jersey for the birthdays cry.

Here it is. Either the city gets a new arena deal done, or the team moves off to Oklahoma.

This is a bit disapointing. I'm not the biggest fan of the Sonics (or the NBA for that matter) but it is nice to have a team around. Especially the only Seattle team that has won a championship... oops. I forgot. The Seattle Storm has one. How could I have goofed that one up. To see the city rally behind the likes of Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird... the electricity... Ok, time to be quiet.

I find it difficult, though, to support a new stadium deal. We've already purchased two stadiums in the last 10 years or so. Also, the Key arena is not that old. Also, the 520 is going to need to be replaced soon. Also, the Viaduct needs to be replaced right now, before it kills some people.

So Sea-Town has a lot to worry about, and its NBA team isn't really that big of a deal right now. I hope a deal gets done, but its not looking good.

But perhaps the saddest consequence of the sup's leaving is that there will be no more Sonics songs written by the Presidents of the USA....

And Gary Payton was on... Bounce pass upcourt to Shawn... Five guys in a groove... nothing but net Big Smooth.

I wish I had a video, but this will have to suffice.

Lookout Landing

2007-08-10T14:49:00.001-07:00

We're now well into August, and the M's haven't folded yet. Awesome. Not only have I been enjoying the Mariners beating up on the likes of the Orioles, but I've been enoying Lookout Landing. Just read this stuff . Hilarious.

The Simpsons Movie

2007-08-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

I saw it a couple nights ago. Although there were a couple of hilarious moments, I was pretty disappointed. I had heard rumors that the writers from the show's glory days (Seasons 3-8) would be heading up the project. I haven't checked to verify, but that seems pretty false. It was not funny. Here are some random complaints...

Spider-pig. This joke was beaten to a pulp in the previews, so you can imagine that by the time it was shown in the movies, and then referred to again and again, it had lost any small amount of luster it may have had.

Itchy and Scratchy. Worst. Episode. Ever.

The Plot. Like many of the newer episodes of the show, the plot changed too many times. One moment I thought that the movie was going to be about Bart wanting to join the Flanders household, and the next moment it was about the Simpsons moving to Alaska. I also thought there were going to be some religious themes, since Grandpa was prophesying at the beginning (although, as you might imagine, I'm not too disappointed they left it out... could have been a bit awkward).

President Schwarzenegger. The Simpsons features a Character named Ranier Wolfcastle, who was created to mock Arnold. See what I mean? So here's what ticked me off. If they just made the president of the USA Ranier Wolfcastle it would have been funny for us long time fans, although it may have (but probably not have) gone over the heads of some who have never seen the Simpsons. Thus, the long time Simpson's fans were a bit betrayed by this one. Is that too harsh? Perhaps. But so was taking my 9 dollars. So it evens out.

Ok, I'm done. I would like to know what you thought of the movie though, so please use the combox. I know that the Gonzaga Bloggers, Scott, (and now George) probably saw it. Hopefully you liked it. If so, please tell me why. I'm stumped.

Now, something actually funny to end this one on a positive... it actually stars the voice of Principal Skinner, although Christopher Guest is why I like this...

And We're Back...

2007-07-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hello There...

My retreat is over and I'm back at my mom and dad's for the rest of the summer. Thank you for your prayers.

Not much has changed. The Mariners continue to play really bad and good baseball. They probably aren't quite good enough to make the playoffs, but the fact that it is almost August and we're still in it has been a nice surprise.

Matt Good has a new album coming out. You can stream the whole thing off of his website, but you have to register first. And even then I seem to be having a difficult time with it. I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Thats it for now.

Prayers Please...

2007-06-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

I'm about to head off to Sacramento for a couple days for a wedding. We are road tripping and will be driving through the night, so if you read this and feel like saying a quick little prayer for us it would be much appreciated.

Then, on Sunday, I'll leave my friends in Sacramento and hop on a plane to LA where I'll begin my 30 day retreat with my classmates. During the 30 days, I would again appreciate some prayers... in fact, I think my whole class would. Know that I will be praying for all of you as well.

No blogging until August.

God bless us, everyone!

Same Old

2007-06-21T17:24:00.001-07:00

Just attending Mass everyday, keeping up with the Office... you know.

Much of my time is being spent watching baseball and sitting out in the sun reading while sipping on a beer. Pretty good stuff.

What I'm reading or have read...

-The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
-A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
-Jesus of Nazareth by His Awesomeness Benedict XVI.
-Letter and Spirit by Scott Hahn.
-The Unchanging Heart of the Priesthood by Father Thomas Acklin , O.S.B.

In other news, my brother graduated from Western, The Archbishop ordained 2 men to the priesthood, Western raised up another vocation and the mariners have been playing some of the best and worst baseball I've seen.

One week left until my retreat... a wedding this weekend, and then Quo Vadis after that... then its back to cali.

Summer is Rad

2007-05-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Before I explain, I'd like to offer some congratulations to one of my readers, Kevin, who was ordained to the diaconate last Saturday. Way to go Deacon Kevin.

Now onto my summer plans...

As far as formation goes, my summer will be a bit different than it was last year, in downtown Seattle. Instead, I will be returning to California for the month of July for a retreat. I've never been on retreat for a month before. Its a little intimidating, but I think it will be a great experience.

In the meantime, June is a busy month for seminarians. The highlight will definately be ordination. I'll be assisting at the liturgy, where two men will be ordained to the priesthood.

Other things we will be doing include a fundraiser with the local Serra Club, the priesthood retreat at the ocean, and our discernment retreat for High School/College Students, Quo Vadis Days.

After the retreat, I'll come back for a month before I start fall semester.

But all this of course is not all I'll be up to. The Ski to Sea Race was this last weekend, which is always one of my favorite things to do every summer. I'll be hitting up the Mariners a few times, for sure. A weekend boat trip through the San Juan Islands with a few friends is in the works, as are a couple trips north to Vancouver BC.

Yep, should be a great time. Blogging will be very light around here, although it pretty much always is.

Home

2007-05-22T11:27:00.001-07:00

I got home safely Sunday night at 7:15pm.

Thanks for the prayers...

More soon.

Hello Time Bomb

2007-05-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Shuttin down the computer. Thanks for keepin up this year. I'll see you back in the state o' Wershington.

Pray for some safe travels please.

I'm on my waaaaaaaaaaaaaay.... I'm on my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay..... home sweet hoooooooooooooooooome....

And She Was

2007-05-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Thats the song on my ipod right now.

I'm cleaning a lot. I have so many books its stupid. I haven't read like half of them, but they are all awesome. I need to get to that. Anyway, this day is stupid because it involves a lot of packing. I can't stand packing.

It is also a rather dumb day because people are making the rounds saying that they've made decisions not to come back next year. I'm sure they are all the correct decisions, but it is still hard. Oh well, thats discernment for you.

Blessed Be God!

Now its Christmas Song by Dave Matthews on my ipod. The version from Remember Two Things.

Blessed Be God

2007-05-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Wow. I'm finished. Finished with one of the most difficult academic years of my life. I suprisingly don't feel relief. Rather, I feel a huge sense of... I don't know, Satisfaction? Joy? Looking back over the year, I feel like I've grown a lot, and in many different ways. I can't say anything more than that.

I'll try to shoot out a couple more posts before I leave letting you know my summer plans and whatnot.

Well...

2007-05-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

One final left.

I came across the below video on Mary Meets Dolly. I'm no scientist, so if anyone wants to refute the video in any way, they can go ahead.

A couple weeks ago in Moral Theology my professor talked about some of the realities of how embryos are harvested for research. One such reality is how difficult the procedure is on the women who give up their eggs. It is a terribly difficult procedure.

Since American Women aren't giving up their eggs (at least as my professor asserted... again, feel free to disagree) a lot of companies are going to the third world and offering women relatively small amounts of money to give up their eggs. If the procedure is as difficult as my professor and videos like this assert, then I really don't see this as being anything other than exploitation of women.

Oh yeah... and its all for "highly speculative" research that has not yet yielded any good news for curing any disease.

Call me crazy, but maybe this whole embryonic stem cell research thing isn't all its cracked up to be.

Ooooohhhhh I'm half way there.....

2007-05-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Oooooohhhhh! Livin on a prayer....

Halfway done with finals. Christian Anthro went alright... sometimes my prof asks questions that I swear he never mentioned, but I think I should pull a decent grade. I destroyed my Moral theology exam. I had to answer two questions (essay, of course). 1) Explain the ontological distinction of human life and human person as discussed in the magisterial documents and explain its impact on the Church's teaching of abortion and 2)Explain the Church's teaching regarding the use of pain control in its documents on Euthanasia.

Pauline epistles and Church history remain, both take homes, but both LONG.

I still haven't packed much of my stuff up, which is bad news. I want to get home to kick it with my friends and family.

Here is an album version of the song I referenced above, and a sweet acoustic version of the same song.

Bike to Work Day

2007-05-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

How am I going to celebrate this wonderful day??

I think I'll drive 400 miles.

Alma Mater Soccer

2007-05-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Nice work boys! ON TO STATE!

Here is the Bham herald article. I love how the article brings up the best game in school (not to mention county) history, where SHS wound up in the state championship against the cross-town rival. Of course, leave it to the Squally fans to show up in their pre-game "State Champion" T shirts. I wonder what happened to all those shirts after Sehome sent them home in PKs. (btw, I'm a proud brother, since my bro played in that game and shut one of their forwards down... I should load that thing up on Youtube one of these days).

My trip to state was much worse. After beating the top seeded team in the first round, we got to host a second round game. I didn't see the field and we blew a two goal lead at halftime to lose in PKs. Danget. Well, at least I'll always have that Intramural Championship at WWU!
So... Roll on Green Wave! Stick it out and bring home another title. And congrats to BHS as well, who are undefeated and in the same tournament.

Now, I've been wanting to play this one for a while. It doesn't fit at all, but I think this is one of the best movies of the last 5 years, and since it probably won't be on Youtube much longer, I want to play it. Its from Man On Fire, and it's awesome. It's the end of the movie though, so if you haven't seen it, don't watch it here. Rent the movie and watch it. It is AWESOME.
Back to the studies...

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Some images from my travels...

Did anyone else notice that its Mother's day AND the feast of Our Lady of Fatima? Because I didn't until just a second ago.

Oh, and as a tribute to my mom, I'll play this clip of one of her favorite flicks:
I can't wait till my vacation... Love ya mom.

Stuff

2007-05-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

My test last thursday went well. A-.

Studying is going alright, although I don't know how anyone could study in weather like this. I wish I had a picture to show you, but it has been BEAUTIFUL.

A was inspired a bit by this story from my friend Kristine. Kristine and I met at the Newman Center (although it wasn't called that back then) at WWU and have been friends ever since. Her and her husband Michael pretty much dominate. Just in general, they dominate. The story I linked explains one example where Kristine dominates the powers of evil by teaching second graders how to dominate evil with their rosaries.

Not much to report at this time. Here is a video that the deacons at Mundelein made. I leave it because 1) its funny and 2) one of our soon to be ordained priests from the home-diocese helped make it.

Deacon Payne:

Some Old Skool Awesome U2:

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

2007-05-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

I can see it. Its a week away. But wow, what a week it will be.

Thursday: Moral theology Oral Exam (not the final). I'm hoping this will be followed by a trip to the beach with my Christian Anthropology notes... I also have my homiletics self evaluation and my Pastoral education self evaluation to take care of.

Friday: Study Christian Anthro... begin Church history take home exam (which is a long one)... study Moral Theology... begin to pack up.

Saturday: Study above subjects and continue packing.

Sunday: One last mass at the raddest parish in LA... Study above exams... continue packing.

Monday: Christian Anthro exam... study... recieve Pauline Epistles Take home exam... pack.

Tuesday: Moral Theology exam... study... pack.

Wednesday: Church history exam due. Get Pauline exam turned in ASAP.

Next Thurs: Praise Jesus.

Next Friday: Praise Jesus and start the long drive home.

Actually, when you lay it out like that, it isn't that bad. Still, my classmates and I could use some prayers. Pray that we remember we aren't learning this stuff for us... we're learning it for you, the people of God. Its not about grades. Its about being ready to serve those who need it.

Also, please pray for the repose of the soul of my friend Dixie. Dixie was a resident at the convalescent home I volunteered at this past semester. She suffered a lot during the final month or so of her life, and unfortuneately didn't have anyone to comfort her aside from the nurses at the time of her death. She told me a little bit of her story, and she sadly had some difficult experiences I'm not sure she resolved during her time on earth. Pray for her.

Pax Christi.

Spiderman 3 (Part 2)

2007-05-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

As I fully expected, some Catholic reviews of Spiderman 3 have been posted before I had a chance to write anything. American Papist has his review here. I try to read all of his reviews and I can tell you that he has very good taste and has a knack for getting to the depths of a film's message. There isn't really anything I can add, but I will anyway.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, you may not want to read on since I may reveal some aspects of the plot.

Spiderman 3 was a movie about sin, the battle within all of us. This "sin" came in the form of a black ball of slime that came from an asteroid that landed near Peter Parker and MJ. Already a theological parallel can be made, that as the world was not created with sin, neither was Peter Parker's world created with this substance. This slime finds its way into Peter's apartment and attaches itself to Peter, who is immediately changed by it. Not only did his suit change from Red to Black, but he was no longer the humble soul he once was. Instead, Peter and his alter ego became self centered and violent. He kept saying that wearing the new suit, "felt good." At one point he even hit the love of his life, Mary Jane. Another event that featuring the black suited Peter was that he embarrassed a rival photographer, Eddie Brock (played by Topher Grace), by exposing some doctored images. Although I forget the specific course of events, it came to be that Peter began to experience a great deal of guilt.

In his guilt, Peter looks to ditch his black suit, and all the evil he'd caused with it.
So, he makes his way to the local Catholic Church (and yes, it was blatantly Catholic and it included a beautiful crucifix... so that was awesome). It was in the bell tower, and partly due to the sound of the bell, where the suit finally came off, but not without a consequence. Brock, who found his way into the Church to petition God to kill Peter Parker (actually sort of a humorous scene), became infected when some of the sin slime landed on him. It is here where Brock transformed into one of the Spider man villains, Venom. This was interesting, because it provided an image that sin is not merely personal, but infects those around us. It can be passed on, and it can spread.

Carrying on towards the end of the film, a showdown between the redeemed Spiderman and infected Venom provides a pretty good action sequence. Using some steel poles as a bell , Peter causes Venom's suit to freak out, and Brock is freed from it. Using one of the Green Goblin's bombs (the green goblin is a whole other story in this one) Spiderman blows up the suit. The only problem was that Brock wanted the suit so bad that he jumped back into the suit when the bomb exploded, killing him. Its interesting too, that although we may become "free of sin" after confession or baptism, our desire to sin (to put the suit back on) is not remedied. Again, another profound image (perhaps intended, perhaps not) that shows a profound reality.

That's my take on it. But there is one other thing I should mention. It was revealed in the movie that Peter's uncle, Ben Parker, was not killed by the man we thought in the first movie. Rather, he was killed by a man who became Sandman, another spiderman villain. At the end of the movie, we find out that he did not mean to murder Uncle Ben, and he confronted Peter to tell him. There is a lot I'm leaving out here, but Peter wound up saying, "I forgive you." This drew some laughter out of the audience, and the girl behind me said, "Oh my God, that's cheesy." Perhaps its true, but it was still an important part of the film's message, and I hope people don't write the concept of forgiveness off that easily.

A notorious serial killer from my home state, "The Green River Killer," was caught a few years ago. I'm a bit surprised there are a lot of people have never heard of him, since he killed almost 50 women, which is more than some of the more famous serial killers in recent memory. After pleading guilty to the murder each of his victim's to avoid the death penalty, the families of the deceased were allowed to address the court. One person in the courtroom did something that he admits wasn't easy, but was something that affected the killer. See for yourself:

Overdue...

2007-05-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

This post is a bit overdue. Before I updated to the new version of blogger, I had a little widget way down at the bottom that told me who linked to me. Thus, I had a lot of links that I visited that never made it to my official set of links on the right hand side of the page.

Well, the time has come for me to finally do something about it. I added a few blogs that my friends (all young Catholics) back home run. Do give them a visit... they are good people.

Also, do give American Papist a visit and check out the video he has in the upper left hand corner. Its a video my friends Zach and Cheri made in memory of Pope John Paul II. Its a great video!

Also added to my list is a Southern Californian. Inksmudge, who runs ::i am becoming all that i am:: runs a fine blog, although she's been busy with school and hasn't had a whole lot of time lately.

Another is Sister Allie (Duc in Altum!), who a student at Aquinas College (Not the one near me. Its in Michigan). She is a proud supporter of priests and seminarians, so that makes me a supporter of her.

Lastly, another seminarian that I've been in touch with from the East Coast. Carlos runs Thoughts and Ruminations of a Man on a Quest. He reads a lot. Seriously. Give him a visit and see what I mean.

That takes care of that. The Canucks lost on a heart breaker, if you missed it. I don't know a whole lot about hockey, since I only pay attention to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but I thought that looked like a high hit right before the goal. As Roberto Luongo appealed to the ref, breaking his concentration for a split second, some dude put in a haymaker from the blue line. It was pretty lame:

Spiderman 3 (Part 1)...

2007-05-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Part One of this review will be very short. I don't want to spoil everything, and its 2:45 AM. The main point to get across to you now is GO SEE THE MOVIE! I loved it!

Now, I'll just mention some themes to be thinking about when you see it, then I'm going to bed. Mass starts in 4 hours...

Some key themes are:

-Marriage
-Forgiveness
-Extremely corny jokes
-Sin
-Jealousy
-Rage/Revenge
-Terrible acting by extras(During Spider Man's party in NYC, check out the lady just to the left of the podium, and see what I mean).
-Self Sacrifice

The list goes on. I'm disapointed there were no previews for some of the big blockbusters this summer, but whatever... the movie was great.

Now its bed time. Hopefully I'll see the movie again and bring a notepad to write a better review. Till then...