Insight Scoop (the blog of Ignatius Press) has a great post about angels that draws from Peter Kreeft, the brilliant philosopher and thelogian from Boston University.  Kreeft’s book Angels (and Demons) explores the topic in great detail.  Here’s an excerpt:

The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.

2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.

3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.

4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.

5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.

6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.

See the rest of the list and some Q&A by clicking HERE.

(Cross-posted at catholicfather.blogspot.com)

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The Codex Sinaiticus Project is placing high-resolution images of the oldest complete copy of the New Testament online – the complete manuscript! The text is in ancient Greek (of course), but there will be translations in English and German. (Will that be the King James version? ‘Cause you know, if it ain’t….)

As much as I love wasting time on the Internet, it’s nice to see something this important and historic going online. Even if it is likely to be over my head!

The site goes live on July 24th, but they do have an intro up. LINK

You can read the Reuters article HERE.

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An article in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer examines the possibility of NFL linebacker David Pollack returning to play for the Bengals next season. After a fractured spine, that’s impressive enough. But was most remarkable was this comment from Pollack himself:

“I will want to take some time, though, to fast and pray and spend time by myself a lot and try to figure out where God is leading me,” he said. “If it closes one chapter, it opens another.”

And it’s not even Lent! We rarely hear of people incorporating fasting into their prayer life these days (at least publicly), but I think he’s setting a great example. Who would have thought – act like a Bengal to draw closer to God? (Just kidding!)

Paragraph 1434 of the Catechism tells us that

“The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others.

Most of us pray and give some amount to charity, but do we fast? There’s something about a physical hunger to make us more deeply understand our need for God. Maybe a good place to start would be to abstain from meat on Fridays. While this is required of us during Lent, it is actually encouraged by the Church year-round.

Paragraph 1438 of the Catechism says:

The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works). [Emphasis added]

Abstinence is not expressly required on Fridays, but only because the Church has left it to our discretion how we will make that penance. If we are not fasting or abstaining, we should be doing some other form of penance in remembrance of our Lord’s suffering. Start today?

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A recent article published by Reuters news service states that the Catholic Church’s opposition to the use of condoms is contributing to the spread of AIDS in Latin America. Let’s take a look at the holes in the argument, shall we?

First, there is no empirical evidence offered that the Church is responsible for this. All that is presented is that the Church opposes the use of contraception, which is true. What is also mentioned, but given no credence, is that the Church also opposes sex outside of marriage.

So we should draw the conclusion that the Latin American people follow the Church’s teaching to the letter when it comes to contraception, yet ignore the teachings against fornication? It seems to me that the decision to fornicate comes first, then the decision whether or not to use a condom. So the Church is not in their thinking for the first decision, but then, between deciding to do the deed and actually doing it, they stop to ask “what would Jesus do”? And don’t go back to revisit the first decision? The argument makes no logical sense.

Second, a UN official is quoted as saying:

“In Latin America the use of condoms has been demonized, but if they were used in every relation I guarantee the epidemic would be resolved in the region.”

This is the lie that spreads the use of condoms around the world. The latex in a condom is dense enough generally to stop sperm from passing through it. It is NOT, however, dense enough to prevent the AIDS virus from passing through, rendering it useless in preventing the spread of AIDS.

A 2004 study titled Condom Promotion for AIDS Prevention in the Developing World: Is It Working? (Studies in Family Planning 2004; 35[1]: 39–47) found that:

“In many sub-Saharan African countries, high HIV transmission rates have continued despite high rates of condom use.” In fact, they continued, “No clear examples have emerged yet of a country that has turned back a generalized epidemic primarily by means of condom distribution.”

No surprise, then, that Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa — the nations with the highest levels of condom availability — continue to have the highest rates of HIV prevalence (“The White House Initiative to Combat AIDS: Learning from Uganda,” Joseph Loconte, Executive Summary Backgrounder).

This article also mentions an example of AIDS declining in Uganda:

Uganda at one time had the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. Starting in the mid to late 1980s, their government instituted a program to teach abstinence before marriage and fidelity to one’s partner afterwards. They only reluctantly advised condoms for high risk groups (like prostitutes) whom they knew would not accept the other two approaches.

[snip]

In 1991, the prevalence rate of HIV was 15%. By 2001, it had dropped to 5%. It was the biggest HIV infection reduction in world history.

When you read these kinds of articles, do so with a critical eye. The UN and the mainstream media are no friends of the Catholic Church. But Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And the Truth will set you free.

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Fun article in USA Today about the “legality” of fatherhood. Excerpt:

…all children are born with an innate sense of the law. Indeed, when the Framers spoke of natural rights, they might have hit on the same discovery in their own children. You can actually track your kids’ development by the legal arguments they make. Take it from me, the best way to prepare for parenting is to take a law course at your community college.

Takings. The Constitution prohibits the taking of property without compensation by the government. Within their first two years, all children embrace this principle with a vengeance. Parents learn they must compensate for any item removed: a toy for the car keys; a cracker for the
12-inch butcher knife.

Contracts. By 3, negotiating with kids is like working with little Teamsters on a labor contract. Bring a sandwich truck to the site; it becomes part of the contract. Likewise, once a parent buys a scone at Starbucks or allows cartoons in the morning, it is part of an unwritten but enforceable contract. This develops into a form of collective bargaining with the addition of another sibling: Any benefit to one is instantly an expected benefit to the other. Break the contract and you’ll face work stoppages, unending protests and even sabotage that ranges from spilled milk to items in the trash can.

Cruel and unusual punishment. By 3, children have defined what they view as cruel and unusual punishment. Denials of favorite foods or toys are considered to be measures that “shock the conscience” and require immediate redress.

Privacy. As soon as a child goes through potty training, privacy becomes an increasingly important right – reaching its apex in the teen years. The same parents who spent two years changing them and bathing them must now sequester themselves in a distant room to avoid the “chilling effect” of surveillance.

Equal protection. By 6, all children put themselves in what the Supreme Court calls “a suspect class” – any different treatment based on their identity as a sibling can be enforced only after parents show a compelling reason that they are using “the least restrictive means.” Otherwise, a difference of only 10 minutes in television time is enough to unleash demonstrations reminiscent of the march on Selma.

Due process. By 6, kids will insist on full due process in adjudicating their claims. Major penalties such as loss of Game Boys require something close to a full trial with two days of arraignment, jury selection and sequestration – and inexhaustible appeals.

[More]

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Science has once again confirmed what we common-folk have long known: marriage is good for your well-being. A study from an Ohio State grad student reveals that “marriage provides a greater psychological boost to depressed people than to happy people, even if the marriage is so-so. “

The big remaining question, she says, is why depressed people benefit more from marriage than happy people. It could be that marriage provides the companionship and emotional support needed to help alleviate depression, she said.

Could be. But not sure. Probably take some more grant dollars to settle it.

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Actor Alec Baldwin has driven one road lower in his bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife Kim Basinger, this time verbally unleashing on their daugher. He was recently recorded on voicemail calling his 11 year old daughter a “rude, thoughtless little pig.” He went on to say:

“You don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being,” he says, apparently upset that she did not answer her phone for a planned call.

“I don’t give a damn that you’re 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you’re a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn’t care about what you do as far as I’m concerned. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.”

It’s not my place to jump on him, but clearly he’s missing the purpose of his role as a father. Is he fighting to see his daughter more, or to punish his ex-wife more? Trying to explain himself, he said,

“I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child. [snip] I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case.” [emphasis added]

So the worst part is not what he said to his 11 year old little girl. It’s that a court order was violated to keep the tape private. No matter who else hears the comments, it’s he who hurt his daughter. No the media, not her mother, not the lawyers.

I’m grateful that we have a forum like this to strengthen us in our God-given role as fathers. It’s not an exclusive club. We should all pray for Mr. Baldwin.

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