David Ancell / Friday, May 19, 2006 / Comments(0)
I am sitting in the theatre waiting for Over the Hedge to start. I am blogging on my Treo 650. There is some guy behind me who has been talking on his cell phone the whole time I have been sitting here. How annoying! Well, I am sure that you know that this is the Othercott. I don’t usually come to the movies on Friday night.
Unfortunately, the first bit of news has not been encouraging. There was a sign at the ticket counter that said that “The 7:40 showing of Da Vinci Code is sold out.” I hope things go better in other places.
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David Ancell / Tuesday, May 16, 2006 / Comments(0)
I ran across this article on LifeNews.com. It suggests that the husband of one of the Roe attorneys suggested that we need RU-486 to slow the growth of the poor population. Well, I have no idea just how accurate this is, but I suspect there is at least some truth to it.
I have believed for some time that the pro-aborts are targeting the poor. Instead of trying to help them, they want to prevent them from having children. Look at some of the things you can regularly see them doing. It wouldn’t take much effort to find pro-aborts calling a crisis pregnancy center a “fake clinic.” You can find them lobbying for government funding for abortions. You can also read some information about Margaret Sanger to find that she was quite interested in eugenics.
Contrast this with Christ’s love of the poor. There’s mention of feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty. There’s no mention of contraception and abortion to eliminate the “problem.” Now, I am an advocate of “teaching a man to fish” rather than just “giving a man a fish,” but the principle remains. We need people to work, provide for themselves and their families, and do well, but this is for their good, not the good of the state. Our goal is to bring Christ to others, not to eliminate them.
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David Ancell / Sunday, May 14, 2006 / Comments(0)
Yesterday, I spent a little time at the Greek Food Festival at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Memphis. I had heard of it before, but I never had a chance to go. Well, here was my chance. The food was great. It was a huge meal for the price. It was only $2 to get in and $10 for the main meal. The people were really nice.
The best part was getting a tour of the Greek Orthodox Church. Although some of the practices were different, nearly everything that the priest said about worship could easily be said in a Catholic Church, and it would apply easily to Catholics. I guess the best way to explain it is that they have preserved their tradition, while we let the moderns run over us with their views on liturgy. We are much the poorer for it. No wonder some Catholics have chosen to go to Eastern Rite liturgies when they were available.
The priest described the Communion of Saints beautifully. He clearly had a great devotion to Mary, Mother of God. They use icons instead of statues in their church, and they knew what they signified. Unlike some Catholics, they were not ashamed of their beautiful artwork. He described the Church as “Mother Church” who not only informs the intellect but engages the senses. They use the narthex as a place of preparation for the “hard work of giving proper worship to God” instead of a place where a “hospitality committee” stands and says “Welcome to _____ Church?”
Why do we not hear Catholic priests describing the Church and what we do in this manner? Our beliefs are identical in most things, but the way things get explained to us is so bland so much of the time. Don’t get me wrong. I will certainly stay Catholic for a number of reasons that I won’t go into here. My point is that I have gained a whole new respect for the Orthodox, and there is no reason why we Catholics can’t explain our faith in such a manner.
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David Ancell / Saturday, May 13, 2006 / Comments(0)
I heard about the “Other-cott” on Catholic Exchange today. The idea is that the best way to fight against the blasphemy of the Da Vinci Code is to go see another movie. They recommend Over the Hedge just because it is a more family-friendly movie. Some may see this as some kind of conflict of interest, but I think that giving an alternative suggestion is going to make the plan more effective. There will always be people like me who don’t follow movies much who won’t know of anything else to see.
I went to a wedding last night, and on my way in I saw a protest rally that was being organized. While I agree that we need to do something about this movie, I think the “Other-cott” is a better solution. Money-driven businesses will pay more attention to a competitor who is taking a bite out of their sales. The protest flyer says to bring a Rosary. Well, I’ll pray the Rosary, but I think I’ll do this in the Blessed Sacrament chapel where Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist.
Of course, this also gives us an opportunity to get the real truth out about Jesus Christ to those who will listen. Let’s do it. I think this can be done well by educating ourselves about the lies of the book and movie and speaking to others about them when the opportunity arises.
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David Ancell / Tuesday, May 09, 2006 / Comments(0)
I’ve been a subscriber to the Cardinal Arinze Podcast for some time, but I hadn’t listened to it until I listened to one show on Vatican II yesterday. It was great. There was a sort of intermission featuring a song named Mirror Image by Megan Pettengill. I had not heard her music before, so I did a search to find out where I could hear more. Well, I’m still listening repeatedly to Mirror Image, but it is great! She has a great singing voice.
The link to the Cardinal Arinze podcast is on my website, and I will likely be adding Megan Pettengill’s blog soon. Meanwhile, you can check out the music on the artist page in this post. I hope I’ll get a chance to hear more from Cardinal Arinze. He has been a hero of mine ever since the Georgetown University speech.
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David Ancell / Tuesday, May 09, 2006 / Comments(0)
I almost wonder if any of these toxic boss stories have been made up. Then again, I can believe any crazy story in this world. You can go on the site and vote for the most toxic one. I voted for the guy whose vacation was cancelled at the last minute. That guy may actually be losing money by working for someone like that. What is the deal with people that they walk all over each other like this?
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David Ancell / Monday, May 08, 2006 / Comments(0)
I just read this perspective on the effects that lifting the statute of limitations on lawsuits for people abused by priests (let’s face it, the target is the Church) will have on parishoners and the community as a whole. One thing that seems to have been quickly forgotten is that the Church remains where others have left. Should they be taken away for the benefit of greedy lawyers and supposed victims? I say “supposed” because there are bound to be false accusations. My favorite line is, regarding having Churches in a city close, “Catholics will be left to worship almost exclusively in the beige, bongo-filled barns that increasingly dot the suburban landscape.”
Seriously, though, the settlements will likely result in the loss of these treasures to all parishoners, not just to those who are guilty. The vast majority of priests and parishoners aren’t guilty. Why should they be punished? Why should the poor who are served by the Church be punished? Then again, I suspect the people making money off the lawsuits just don’t care.
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David Ancell / Tuesday, April 25, 2006 / Comments(0)
I’ve not read this personally, but I’ve been told by a few friends that some journalists are saying that the Church wants to allow married couples to use condoms when one partner has HIV. Well, no, the Vatican is going to clarify the Church teaching we already have. I must admit that I thought that this was a settled issue.
The argument, as I understand it, of those who favor the practice is that it serves the purpose of preventing a disease rather than contraception. Some may view it as a “double-effect.” Others have said that the “lesser evil” applies when looking at using a condom vs. getting HIV.
Well, there’s a problem. The possibility of refraining from intercourse exists, so we don’t have a choice between condom use or getting HIV. I don’t see how one can apply double effect since the contraception is what causes the reduction of risk of infection.
As a pharmacist, I cannot help but think that condom use, especially when one partner is known to be infective, is medically unsound reasoning. The condom is not 100% effective. If one were to say the condom “prevents” infection instead of saying it “reduces the risk” of infection, they are making an inaccurate statement. Even then, it has to be used correctly an consistently. As a pharmacist, I could not count the number of times I’ve spoken to people who haven’t been taking their medicine. By the way, I would offer the same argument towards a married couple for whom pregnancy would be dangerous. Even if we put aside the intrinsic evil of contraception, we still have to deal with the medical problem.
Also, the “lesser evil” most certainly can’t apply. Getting HIV is a physical evil that happens to someone. The use of contraception is a moral evil that one commits. A moral evil is always greater than a physical evil. This may sound cruel, but my point is that abstinance is really the only way to go in this issue.
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David Ancell / Sunday, April 23, 2006 / Comments(0)
Well, today is Divine Mercy Sunday. I planned to do the Divine Mercy Novena, but I forgot about it until I was a day late, and then I skipped a day or two. I’m never good about keeping up with a novena. Oh well, I’m going to keep going and at least say the prayers.
Right now, though, I need to get my podcast up on Divine Mercy. In my first podcast, I said that they were as much for me as everyone else as I need to heed my own message. Well, this is so true today that I can hardly write about Divine Mercy. My mind is just so messed up because of what has gone on. I can’t share it here, but please pray for me. Hopefully, I can get out a decent message. I don’t know a lot about Divine Mercy, but I love what I do know. I pray the chaplet during the 3 PM hour on Saturday for those going to Confession (which usually includes myself) and on Sunday for conversion of souls. One good priest once told me that the chaplet tends to be more effective when prayed for something else.
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David Ancell / Thursday, April 20, 2006 / Comments(0)
This morning, we had a very strong thunderstorm. There was more lightning than I can remember seeing in the past year. In the middle of it all, we got this e-mail:
Facilities has asked that employees limit or postpone walking between buildings until the thunder storm passes due to severe lightening. Please be careful!
Darn it! I was going to go swim in a puddle in the parking lot wearing copper underwear and flying a kite with a lightning rod in it. I’ve always said that I might like being plugged into an electric socket.
Seriously, though, our facilities people are quite good. So, I wonder what someone did to get them to feel the need to say this. Then again, I probably don’t want to know.
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