Tuesday, February 24, 2004

''Mother Teresa's Creed''


People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Song: I Celebrate The Day

Artist: Relient K
Album: Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hands

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Song: Softer To Me

Artist: Relient K
Album: Relient K

Where am I!? Where are you?
There's so much time so little to do
We're busy doing nothing cause it's vanity we prize.
You can't see nothing cause you can't see through your eyes.
They're covered with a film, you're blinded by yourself.
You're the one to blame but you pretend it's someone else.

Life could you be a little softer to me.
Life could you be a more gentle to me.
Yeah I know this is a selfish plea,
Because Christ sacrificed his flesh
On the cross for me
But this world is hard,
It's cruel and I wish it could be...
Softer to me

I'm still alive. That much is true
I've never lied, well, I guess I've told a few.
There's nothing to see because I brought nothing to show.
The coversation got too deep, I shrug and tell you I' don't know.
This life can get so hard, this world can be so cruel,
Sometimes I fall apart I feel just like a useless tool.

Sunday, February 15, 2004

Song: For The Moments I Feel Faint

Artist: Relient K
Album: The Anatomy Of The Tongue In Cheek

Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement.
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?

Never underestimate my Jesus.
You're telling me that there's no hope.
I'm telling you, you're wrong.
Never underestimate my Jesus.
When the world around you crumbles,
He will be strong.
He will be strong.

I throw up my hands.
"Oh, the impossibilities."
Frustrated and tired,
where do I go from here?
Now I'm searching for the confidence I've lost so willingly.
Overcoming these obstacles is overcoming my fears.

I think I can't, I think I can't.
But, I think you can, I think you can.
I think I can't, I think I can't.
But, I think you can, I think you can.
Gather my insufficiencies and place them in your hands.
Place them in your hands.
Place them in your hands.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Song: i will pledge this song to You

music and lyrics: Jim Cowen

refrain
You are holy,
You are holy,
and my life is in Your hands
You are worthy,
You are worthy,
take my life and all i am. (repeat)

verse 1
every dream i’ve known
every heartache, too,
they have all been shared with You
all the times i’ve failed
been untrue to You
i have known Your mercy, too. (refrain)

verse 2
now the way shines clear
and Your presence here
gives me strength to carry through.
Lord, You are my way
and so every day
i will pledge this song to You.

(refrain)
take my life and all i am.

Monday, February 09, 2004

Sacraments

The thing that separates us [from Protestants], though, is Sacraments. The Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox Churches all have Sacraments. Each of them found in the Bible in one way or another.

Baptism of babies is there, as when the Apostles went and baptised whole homes at once, they did not differentiate age, and Christ said "bring all of your children to me." Not just your 7 year olds on up.

Then there is Confession, where people went up to Christ to ask forgiveness, and He does forgive them, and Christ tells the Apostles, "What you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and loose on earth is loosed in heaven." And gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. What people don't understand about the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation is this: During the Sacrament, you are being Reconciled by the Church Militant.
(Church Militant: the Living; Church Suffering: In Purgatory; Church Triumphant: In Heaven)
Meaning that you are forgiven for all members of the Church on Earth, as you should not harm the Body of Christ, and since that is what we are, each of our sins brings harm to the whole body, as when you stub your toe, your hand will reach for it. The rest of you looks out for the one part of you. The confession of sins to the priest, is mainly so that you lay it all out so that he can forgive you, representing the Church. He then can give you advice on how to overcome those sins that you have commited again and again, and hold you accountable. At the end, you make an Act of Contrition, which is when you pray to God for forgiveness, ask His mercy, and for the grace not to do it again, and to avoid the near-occasion of Sin. Reconciliation is a means to be right with the rest of the Church, which is an essential part of God forgiving you, as He said that if you have not forgiven your brother, you cannot be forgiven. Something like that.

Eucharist is the biggest one. When we disagree about that, we are in disagreement about Jesus, I think. John 6 is really huge, and being an odd number, John 6:66 was one of the most powerful parts of the chapter, that most people don't understand, or don't know what it means, or the gravity of it. It's during the Last Supper, when Jesus says "Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is My Body, which has been given up for you." What he said was something like "to nibble or to chew on My flesh," which, at that time meant great insult to the person. So "He who does not eat of the Flesh and Drink of the Blood does not have life within them" basically would mean, if Jesus was speaking symbolically, that "He who does not insult Jesus, does not have life within them." This is, of course, highly illogical and ridiculous. 1 Cor 11: 27-30 says: Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Why would that be such a big deal, were it a mere symbol of Christ? It must be more real than that. It must also be Perpetuated: The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice (1 Cor 11:25). Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it (Cf. Lk 22:19). By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as priests of the New Covenant: "For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth" (Jn 17:19; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1752; 1764).

And that is why we have the Sacrifice of the Mass. It is not a "re-crucifixion, as some would have you believe, but a perpetuation, for God is outside of Time, and therefore, so too is the Crucifixion, which is why it is a mystery.