Trivia Night Pictures and Information

I have posted pictures for the Cardinal Glennon College Trivia Night on my Seminary Website.

There were 200 people (25 tables of 8) in attendance, and everyone had a great time (myself and the other two judges included!). There was a 50/50 raffle, raffle prizes, a 'Dead or Alive' game (with 4 Cardinals tickets for a prize), and many, many (over 100) questions. I had my trusty Mac with me, running the night's scoreboard, and I also helped judge (which is an interesting experience, because of all the crazy answers people somemtimes give).

The College has raised enough funds to replace the aging carpet in our Chapel, and we'll probably also use a small amount of the money to buy a few furnishings for our Lounge. I thank anyone who attended this Trivia Night, and I hope that we'll be able to do another one next year!

Jesus in My Toast

Dawn Eden today features a story about a possible miraculous event in New Jersey:

Dozens of believers in New Jersey are holding a vigil this morning near a statue that they say - came to life.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus statue is the centerpiece of a nativity scene outside the Jackson Street public housing complex in Hoboken.

Some witnesses say they saw the statue open its right eye, and turn its head toward the crowd.

Many call the event a miracle that could help rescue the neighborhood from problems like drugs and violence.

This brings up an important topic often discussed among Catholics and non-Catholics alike: how are we to determine what miracles or miraculous events we should believe in or not? It is often a tough task to discern whether or not certain things are 'miraculous' or not. Sometimes it's easy, as in the case of the 'Jesus in my toast' case (obviously fake) or when you see the sun dance in the sky (obviously real).

The Church does say some interesting things about this in it's Catechism:

para. 2003: Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.

156 What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived". So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit." Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind".

So, a miracle must be oriented toward sanctifying grace, intended for the common good of the Church and at the service of charity which builds up the Church. For a miracle to be approved, the Church goes through many years of investigation and research. Even if a miracle is then approved, a member of the Catholic Church is not required to believe in the miracle. (This web page has a good explanation of the Church's attitude).

New Seminarian Blogs Added; Trivia Night Tomorrow!

I've added two new Seminarian Blog links to my right-side link column: Matthew 8:8 (hmm... interesting name ;-) and Fisher of Men. They look to be pretty good blogs... time will tell.

In other news, I'm at the Seminary right now, preparing for the College Seminary's Trivia Night (held tomorrow night), and I'm quite excited! We will have a full house (we are completely full!) and I'll be running the technical aspects of the show (and, hopefully, be taking a few pictures). More to come later this weekend.

EWTN Coming to St. Louis on May 13 and 14

It has come to my attention (hat tip to one of this blog's readers!) that EWTN will be holding a 25th Anniversary Family Celebration in St. Louis next year, May 13-14. Tickets are free, but there is not an endless supply, so reserve your tickets online or call EWTN as soon as you can.

Join EWTN in St. Louis for the fourth of several celebrations of the Network's twenty-fifth anniversary. You'll have the opportunity to meet some of your favorite EWTN program hosts, hear talks from renowned guest speakers, attend a special live broadcast of the EWTN LIVE show with Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J. and much more! Sunday's program will feature an address by Mother Assumpta Long and St. Louis Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will be the Celebrant and Homilist for a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving.

Read more here. This looks to be a very interesting and enriching event!

Memorial of Mary Magdalene - July 22

In a Quagmire...

...Actually, I'm not—I just like the word. In fact, I'll say it's my word of the day!

I just returned from the last day of the Carmelite Novena at the Clayton Carmelite Monestary in St. Louis, and I enjoyed it very much! The Archbishop of Guam (Abp. Anthony Apuron) was the celebrant tonight (and, indeed, for all the other nights as well), and he gave a great homily concerning the Eucharist's importance in our lives (which was the theme throughout the nine days).

Since I've been swamped with other things to do over the past week, I have left the blog on the back burner for now, but you can expect a post soon (within a week) concerning LifeTeen, liturgical matters, and the like, as I have reflected often over the past few weeks on these matters, which have become dear to my heart.

As a side note, my previous post (from Saturday) was awarded "The Ridiculous Post of the Week" by Kevin, author of The Heart of a Seminarian

Until next time...

Scrambled Eggs and Syrup on Toaster-Heated Freezer Waffles

In my opinion, nuthin' beats a good sandwich when you're hungry at lunchtime. That being said, I thought I'd share with you my secret recipe for the best sandwich ever made (and it won't cost you anything!).

Step One: Get out two slices of white bread (no wheat for me; but other white-ish breads are fine), a banana (nice and yellow, with a few spots) and a jar of creamy peanut butter (I don't like chunky, and whipped is too expensive).

Step Two: Spread the peanut butter on both halves (I usually spread more on the half the banana goes on), then cut the banana (after you peel it) into thin 'disc-shaped' slices (be sure to do this on a suitable cutting surface!).

Step Three: Place the little 'banana discs' onto the thicker-peanut-buttered side of bread however you'd like (I either place them in a 3x3 layout with spaces in between, or cut the banana thinner and stack them to provide for maximum banana coverage).

Step Four: Place the other piece of bread (without the banans) on top of the piece of bread with bananas, then enjoy!

Other good combinations for sandwiches:

• Peanut Butter, Cheese, Mayonnaise
• Peanut Butter, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese
• Peanut Butter (lots of it!)
• Scrambled Eggs and Syrup on Toaster-Heated Freezer Waffles (Ooh! That could be the name of a band!)
• Turkey, Mayonnaise, Cheese (boring but good)
• Ketchup and a Chicken Breast (the freezer kind)

That's all for now. If you know of any more tasty recipes, let me know in the comments below.

Something You Don't Think About Every Day...

A post on Jimmy Akin's blog today entitled Mary's Marriage caught my eye. I had never thought about the marriage of Mary and Joseph (which was never consummated); was it sacramental? No. Was it valid? Yes. These questions are answered in more detail on Jimmy Akin's blog; he deals with some of the tough questions I will probably find myself dealing with in the future if I am to become a priest.

Links, Links, and More Links! Well... Only Three...

Today (well, right now, anyway) is 'link day' (for me, at least). Here are some good ones:

• Children's prayers to God ('Dear God' prayers) on Jimmy Akin's blog
• MP3 Audio of Talks from Steubenville's Young Adults Conference*
• St. Louis Office of Vocations Website (they did a site redesign, and there's some cool stuff there!)
• Computer Running Slow? Jeff can help! (Shameless plug to my Computer Support Site ;-)

*From Franciscan University of Steubenville (I'll be at the St. Louis Steubenville conference this weekend with some of my Seminarian brothers—I hope to see you there if you can make it!)

Post-Dispatch: "Pediatrics group opposes abstinence-only* approach..."

From today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, concerning 'abstinence-only*' education:

A leading group of pediatricians says teenagers need access to birth control and emergency contraception, not the abstinence-only* approach to sex education favored by religious groups and President Bush.

'Abstinence-only*' education is favored by 'religious groups and President Bush.' Hmm... Actually, I think there's more to it than that. I don't think that only 'religious groups' and 'President Bush' support an education in chastity. But I don't have the statistics on that, so I won't dwell on that point.

That brings me to a sticky point, though; it's sad to hear all the quotes in these stories about 'effectiveness' and 'evidence' in relation to abstinence or contraceptive education. Since when did our society become so utterly utilitarian? Does something become better or more right simply because it makes a number go up or down? What ever happened to a thing I (and the Catholic Church) like to call morality?

Effectiveness in reducing the teen pregnancy rate is not the test by which methods of education in sexuality are to be measured. Before consulting statistics and analyzing them to find the efficiency in certain educational styles, we must find whether certain teachings are opposed to Natural Law.

From the Catechism:

The fecundity of marriage

2366 Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment. So the Church, which "is on the side of life"[150] teaches that "each and every marriage act must remain open 'per se' to the transmission of life."[151] "This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act."[152]

2367 Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God.[153] "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility."[154]

2368 A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the objective criteria of morality: When it is a question of harmonizing married love with the responsible transmission of life, the morality of the behavior does not depend on sincere intention and evaluation of motives alone; but it must be determined by objective criteria, criteria drawn from the nature of the person and his acts criteria that respect the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love; this is possible only if the virtue of married chastity is practiced with sincerity of heart.[155]

2369 "By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its orientation toward man's exalted vocation to parenthood."[156

2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self- observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.[157] These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil.

Also from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, concerning Natural Law: "The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.") When man (or society) loses his connection with God and with Natural Law, he becomes truly imprisoned.

Basically, teaching contraception (even if there may be some good that comes from it) is wrong, because contraception is wrong. It is an intrinsically evil act. It intrudes on the law engraved on the heart of man by God Himself. No study, no statistical analysis, no survey—none of this—can change this fact.

*I don't like this use of 'abstinence-only'—it implies that there is more to be taught than 'just abstinence.' A better way of saying this is 'an education in chastity.' Or 'an education in proper and free sexuality' (but NOT the 'free' sexuality Planned Parenthood teaches, which, in fact, is very much opposed to true freedom through cooperation with the Natural Law!).

PFL Action Alert: Supreme Court Vacancy (O'Connor Resigns)

From an email I received from the Priests for Life:

Please pray for Mrs. O'Connor and for whomever will be replacing her!