Sources

Feast Day for St. Mark

Today I would like to tell you a couple of sources so that you can pick up this reading as well.

First an online version of the Catechism is on the Vatican's website (Vatican.va)this is the one I use the most to copy and paste cannons into the blog.

Second I do have a hard copy of the book. This is harder to get you paws on. Granted you can get one via an online website like amazon. I got mine though the St. James Cathedral store for nine bucks. I would like to mention that majority of Christian Stores do not carry them, since (well lets be honest here) there only rule book is the Bible.

-Giles

Thirty Minute Thought

Feast day for St. Benedict Joseph Labre:

I am going to start my own little way to blog. I am going to try and focus all my thought on one topic for thirty minutes. I feel that this will be a better medium for my thoughts.
Do not worry I will still create blogs for this site as well, but they will be in my new format.

Please this out at:
http://30minthought.blogspot.com/

-Giles

I finished.

I finished reading the book cover to cover yesterday. I just want to tell you that. I will give a full synopsis of what I learn on April 11th, 2009 (My 21st Birthday).

I know I slacked off on the blog, but you will understand why.

-Giles

LaLa Land.

Hello, do you remember me? I am the other guy that makes random posts about random cannons. I have been having my finals week and having an internal battle with myself. Which just so happens to be the the topic of my entry.

My struggle with myself is the following: The ideal practice of the Church vs the applications in real life situations.
I knew ultimately that I would have to write the post, but did not know when.

I am going to give an example that happened this week. The current Pope said that the use of condoms will not prevent the AIDS problem in Africa; and then said that condoms are evil. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7950671.stm or just google it.)

When I was attending Archbishop Murphy High School, there was always an assembly on 'Abstinence only'. I am going to be frank right here, abstinence only classes do work. In fact as I am typing this I really think the Pope is living in 'LaLa Land.'

Why does abstinence only classes do not work, you are asking your self. That is because we [teens (although I will be celebrating my 21st birthday on Holy Saturday)] do not listen. I know for a fact that there was a bunch of fucking going on at AMHS. It is not that I have a problem with Abstinence, it is the only part.

Use of condoms have lower pretty much everything about the dangers of sex. Also, in an abstinence only program they damn masturbation. Even though masturbation has never given anyone an STD or pregnant, and it is a normal body function.
Also in these classes since they do not teach teens about condoms and other safe sex practices. If teens become abstinent and then engage in sexual activity, they are more likely to have sex without a condom, or instead have anal and oral sex since it not "sex" (which it is, they are just living is 'LaLa Land' as well).

I am going to tell you I am a virgin, however, I am not practicing abstinence. All I know right now I am just waiting for someone I really do enjoy being with and love. When I do have sex I am going to do safe sex practices, and be completely mature about it. The stems from the fact that in my late middle/early high school days I listen to a program called "Loveline with Dr.Drew and Adam Carolla." All that radio show is about sex advise that teens absolutely need. I no longer listen to the show since I figure out what Dr. Drew was saying, "Sex is a great thing, it should be safely and done maturely."

I could put my additional layer of how this contradicts with free will. But I will save that for later if someone want to argue this subject with me. (You better have done your homework, since I will see it as an open door and will rip your argument apart like a condom package on prom night.)

To conclude this I am going to tell everyone who is reading (the two of you), the Church, and any teen that presses random page, on how I think the educational model of the Church should be. Are you ready?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Copy and Paste Plan Parenthood's model.

-Giles

To my future lover: I do not care if you had sex before me. I just care about if you did it safely. -Giles

Erreta: I want to add a question to those readers out there. Who has told you to practice abstinence?

This is not Palm Sunday.

I am not reading the Catechism cover to cover, I do not function that way. Instead I am reading a section then jumping to a different one, so I do not get stuck on one part of the book. So for today random section I asked my Batista, Alex, for a number between 1 and 10000. Alex picked 555, and 555 is about Jesus’ divine glory.

Since today I am only doing the sole cannon I am going to quote it directly.

“For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to "enter into his glory".²⁹⁵ Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings.²⁹⁶ Christ's Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant;²⁹⁷ the cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud."^298” (The numbers are footnotes, if you wish to look them up google the catechism.)

I feel that this blog should not be written now. Instead it should be done on Palm Sunday, since that this is talking about how Jesus becomes divine. I find it frustrating that our language is unable to describe His glory. Since this talks about the precession into Jerusalem.

The last sentence is a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas. What would happen to someone that witnessed the entire Trinity? This is something that we are not able to describe; however, all can be explained with God. We do not need to this answer to the question, since we have is our Faith. When I parish hopefully, the Trinity is fully explained to me (with all the bread and wine I want).

Sorry for the lack of my updates, I had a lot on my plate this week. I have started my post for Sunday, and that is up around the 1000 word mark right now.

-Giles

If you are ever by Edmonds Community College and you need coffee may I recommend The Aloha Cafe. If Alex is there ask for my usual I you will not be disappointed.

Goodness, School and Bullshit!

One of my favorite television shows has to be Penn and Teller's Bullshit! on showtime. Currently they are in their seventh season, as of right now it has been shot and shortly I will be able to watch it. For those who have never watched the show before, it is a skeptic show (featuring the magicians Penn and Teller) trying to get rid of all the false greegrees that we have. They have done shows on a multitude of topics, and of course one of their topics has tried to debunk the Bible using the Bible. Their Bible show was of the the interesting ones; doing the obvious topics of the Creation story, Noah's ark, and the Easter story. However, there person that they got to apologetics was not worth their salt. Also just announced for in their new season, there will be the topic of the Vatican.
This is more to be informative than anything else, and I will find the passages (Both in the Bible and in the Catechism) later this week.
However, this blog entry is about goodness and not a free advertisement for the show. I agree with most of the things that P&T say across the board. Since I feel that they are trying to do good. We might have different religious stances, but that does not we are required to disagree on subjects like capital punishment and being green.

According to the Catechism: being good is defined by goodness of the object (1755). The goodness of the object is defined by the intention of the act to be good.
Today’s story is going to be what I think what some one thinks what good, however their intent is not good. Today's walk back to my car from class, there where people trying to hang Nancy Pelosi on the nearest tree. They had signs saying she is a bad person, the bailout money is useless, ect. All in all they were trying to “educate” me on what they think is the right thing to do. When the person tried to get my attention by saying, “Hi! Do you know what we are up to?” I just humbly responded “I can make a bet that I could.”
The reason I said that is because I have made the mistake of talking to these people before. Last time I was agreeing that baby rape is bad, that CEO’s that are taking bailout money should use some digression. However, I did not take anything from them or signed my life away; and when they asked me to sign I just walked away, only to have the person that to run towards me and be a leech on me until I took their handbill.
During our “conversation” I said, “If you want to change this situation do the following: write our leaders, vote for people that can handle the job and maybe run for office ourselves if we do not like the outcome.” I was shot down and told I that I was an idiot in an instance after saying that.

Good is not a feeling. A guide that I use is the “feel good meter.” The question that I asked to myself is “Do I feel good because this is making me feel good?” Just like every single feeling that we have works on the variable output. Just because feel good does not show that I have done good. When P&T does the products shows (like sleep, reflexology, alternative medicine, hair and gyms) the want to reveal to us that they measure the product by asking how someone feels at that time. The conclusions to these show come down to that people use hard sale tactics to get ahead. So far my question it has not failed me yet, since it keeps me humble.
I know I have done good is that I can recall that thing I did, and smile since I know that it was truly good.

There is one more cannon in this section of good, which is #1756.
“It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc.) which supply their context. There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery. One may not do evil so that good may result from it.”

I really like this one since tells us that there is always stuff that is bad regardless of the situation. But there is some acts that need some context to justify its goodness. The last sentence for me seems right and wrong to me at the same time. It seems right since it makes sense, but given the right context I could ask this question. "Can there be evil that creates good?" Maybe I need to reread the section for it to sink into my mind.

-Giles

My top five episodes of Bullshit! are (in no order) :

1: Profanity
2: College (It is about the political correctness on college campuses.)
3: The Death Penalty
4. Nukes, Hybrids and Lesbians
5. Being Green

Beware: I Do Bite.

I am going to make this quick. Lately I have been thinking about my stories I am going to tell for this blog and most of them do involve Roman Catholic bashing. Until very recently I have not met someone that went to a different Catholic high school and know where I am coming from when I say “Jesus does not love you.”*

I think the reason is that people of the same faith as I are in not vocal. We are asked to remain humble in our pursuit of God. I bet there is some humble conclusion that I am missing here, but I am learning Justin’s constant reminder to me (he has this talk with me down pat) of “Patience is a Virtue.”

I am more likely to bite than Justin since I had more “christians being good,” at me. I have been told that I am going to hell by these people. I have been told that Jesus is the only path to not sinning, but then I tell them that the first councils Nicaea and Constantinople disagrees with them. I have been told that my bible is wrong, but then I tell them we use the same one, but you guys use it as a weapon. I have been told that Apologetics (What I am doing here) is proving the Bible is right and not defending the faith. There are many more stories and I will most tell in the ebbs and flows of this blog.

I do not think the goodness of the intent of what they are trying to do is good (1755).

I like this subject on good, so I will come back to it later today.

-Giles

* I will let the Pope to tell you why Jesus does not love you. (Hint: Deus Caritas Est)