Holy Rosary Cathedral

Holy Rosary Cathedral (yesterday evening)

Kitty Lauds?

Blogging has been a little slow because I'm house sitting (and that includes taking care of half a dozen animals...).

I had started Lauds the other day when the kettle started boiling. I got up to turn off the kettle and turned around and look what I found! Honestly, a totally unplanned photo op.

Total Love

"Love him totally
who gave himself totally
for your love."
- St. Clare of Assisi

Authentic Ecumenism

Vatican Official: Ecumenism Needs Truth

ARANJUEZ, Spain, JULY 25, 2007 (Zenit.org).

The secretary of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation emphasized again that the dicastery's recent document on the doctrine of the Church is an aid to ecumenism.

Salesian Archbishop Angelo Amato of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith spoke with journalists Tuesday in Spain, before giving a conference on Benedict XVI's book, "Jesus of Nazareth."

The archbishop said that "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," as the document was called, is "very positive" for ecumenism because it gives a "precise identity to the Catholic Church."

"Ecumenism is based on truth and the identity of the interlocutors," he affirmed.

The prelate denied that Protestants were "vexed" by the document: "They know that this is our identity and it is not the first time that the congregation has made these affirmations."

The archbishop observed that the document repeats what the Second Vatican Council had already said. He further recalled the 2000 document, "Dominus Iesus," which also detailed the same doctrine.

"The Church of Christ exists in history," he added. "It is a concrete historical reality, which searches for unity, through ecumenical dialogue, with all the other expressions."

Ebay

Search "thurible" on ebay and under "Related Guides" they list "The Tools of Witchcraft" and "Wicca/Witchcraft". This is definitely not my intention in searching for a thurible.

Fear

Words of the wise I've been pondering...

"Fear nothing but sin."

Catholic Church Supplies

This question is for the priests (or anyone else out there in the know). I'm looking to get some chalice veils, chalice pall, and perhaps a thurible for the chapel at a local Catholic college. Does anyone know of where to look for these at a reasonable price? Suggestions? (Or if you have extras lying around. . . even better. . .). You can post your suggestions here or e-mail me at dilexitprior@gmail.com .

Back from Camping

Rock climbing anyone?

Yummmy...fresh bannock cooked on an open fire for breakfast!

The view from my tent "door". Seriously.

And the canoe waiting to be taken out for a ride.

Happy Camper

Late tonight I decided to go camping for the weekend. Yipeee... It was a spur of the moment decision to join some friends who were planning on going into the woods for a few days. I decided that since I only live once I should seize the moment (accept God's providence?) and go. After all, I've been lamenting the fact that being stuck in suburbia for the summer I am missing out on all that a summer in beautiful British Columbia has to offer.

And so, as soon as I get off work tomorrow (or rather today now, since it's past midnight), I'm heading off with some friends to an unknown lake (or at least unknown to me) in the middle of nowhere to go camping / swimming / hiking / canoeing / and so much more. . . I'll put on plenty of sunscreen, stop complaining about the heat, jump in the water, and have some fun.

Don't expect to hear from me for the next little while.

Yippppeeee. . . off to camping we go. . .

Can you tell I'm excited?! God is so good. He truly knows the desires of our heart. He knows I don't like being in the city (no offense to the city) and would really rather be outdoors enjoying the summer. Ask and ye shall receive. Deo gratias!

Defending St. Alphonsus

Fr. Tim Finigan has posted a defense of St. Alphonsus Liguori, one of my favourite saints and key intercessors. It's well worth a read.

Random Thought of the Day

Here is the random thought of the day, taken from this morning's homily, which has been bouncing around inside my head:

Christ didn't choose the Apostles because of who they were, but because of who he knew they were capable of becoming.

Too Hot

It's way too hot today. . . and no air conditioning.

40 degrees celcius (102 fahrenheit)

All time record high for the local area.

All I want to do is jump into a lake.

Latin Refresher Challenge

My former Latin professor has issued a challenge to me. Memorize (or at least ponder for a day) and parse one key Latin phrase from the Gospel each day to savor the Latin.

For today:
Confide, filia; fides tua te salvam fecit.

And while we're at it, for tomorrow:
Videns autem turbas, misertus est eis, quia erant vexati et iacentes sicut oves non habentes pastorem.

Anyone want cookies?

Yummy...cookies. I tried a new recipe tonight. It used plain yogurt instead of eggs. They turned out well. Taste yummy too.

If you come pray the rosary you can have some. Really. You can. There's a bunch of us 20-something year olds in the area who get together one evening a week to pray a scriptural rosary (a verse of scripture relating to the particular mystery is read before each Hail Mary is prayed...) and then we typically follow this up with some good ol' fashion fellowship. That's where the cookies come into play.

Old Lives of the Saints

I've been working on cataloging books recently at a local Catholic college. I came across a 1894 edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints today. My patron saint was only four years old in 1894! Speaking of which, it was her feast day Friday. No, I didn't forget, but I was celebrating in ways exceedingly better than blogging.

What does man live on?

"Man lives on truth and on being loved:
on being loved by the truth."

- Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth

Five Things I Love About Jesus

I've been tagged by Fr. Daren Zehle over at Servant and Steward with the Five Things I Love About Jesus meme.

Here are the Rules:

Those tagged will share 5 things they "love" about Jesus.
Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers.
Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.

1. His superabundant personal love for every single person.

Really, every other point is covered by point 1.

2. His mercy.
3. His Eucharistic Presence (the source and summit of my life).
4. His love, humility, obedience, and faithfulness to God the Father (ok, I'm kind of squeezing them in, but really these points are inseparable) which draws us into the life of the Trinity.
5. The mystery of His divine will.

And obviously the list could continue.

I'll tag Antonia from Antonia's World, Gabriel from Et in Arcadia Ego, Laura from ...and if not..., T.O. from LAMLand, and Fr. Dwight Longenecker from Standing on My Head. However, none of these need to feel obliged to respond and anyone else who is interested, consider yourselves tagged.

Jesus of Nazareth Study

Does anyone out there who has read, is currently reading, or would like to read the Holy Father's new book, Jesus of Nazareth, want to do an online study group? Fr. Tom Dowd from Waiting in Joyful Hope and Adventus fame has graciously volunteered to lead it if there's enough interest. Anyone? Anyone?

Creative Pastoral Solution

I recently was skimming a local parish bulletin when I came across a short note by the pastor encouraging people to dress modestly in Church. He pointed out that with the warm summer months sometimes the clothes worn to Mass are less than appropriate. He reinforced the importance of modesty, but also pointed out that the Church is air conditioned and therefore there is no reason for parishioners to be immodestly dressed at Mass. The heat is no excuse anyways, but especially when it's actually cool in the Church. After all, he pointed out, we don't want people getting sick with colds (because they weren't wearing enough clothes at Mass) when they should be out enjoying the summer.

And so, I think Father has proposed indirectly a very creative pastoral solution to immodest clothing during the summer months - simply crank the air conditioning system to its highest level!

Random Thought of the Day

The most beautiful dimensions of life are those which we cannot understand.

There's something profoundly beautiful about mystery.

Top Canadian Wish

Over a month ago the CBC launched a "great Canadian wish" competition on Facebook for Canada Day (July 1st). The top wish proposed? Abolish abortion.

Metaphysics Matters

"The highest truths cannot be forced into the type of empirical evidence that only applies to material reality."
- Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth

Summer is officially here. . .

Ok, so the sun might be hiding a little, but summer is officially here.

First swim in the ocean of the summer this past weekend and my lips didn't even turn blue.

The Home Front

These past two weekends in a row I was back in my hometown for a visit. Here are some pictures of the beauty of God's creation in this part of the world. For more pictures, check out Antonia's World.

Here's Antonia doing what she does best. . . capturing the moment on her digital camera.


And a picture of the beach (despite the clouds, I got a sunburn. . . I'm not allowed to complain though because I know from experience that I burn easily. . .)


Here I am trying to take a nap on the beach. In case you're wondering, I have the rocks on my eyes to block the brightness of the sun. They were quite effective at doing that. Unfortunately the above mentioned sunburn also reflects the fact that I slept with rocks on my face.



This is a picture of my hometown taken from a nearby island. Yes, it was kind of cloudy, but at least it wasn't too hot that way, and it wasn't pouring rain so I didn't mind.