Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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on the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, wondering if today’s Gospel takes on special meaning

Let’s go ahead and take a look at this scripture.

27 “But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.

31 And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return;  and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.

36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

38 give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

(Saint Luke 6:27-38 – RSV-CE)

Thank you father for giving me perspective!

Now don’t get me wrong, I do not believe we are to turn our backs on our enemies to make it easier for them to shoot us. We should never forget what happened seven years ago. I do however think we as a nation need to pursue our national security with right intentions that don’t include hatred or revenge. I also feel we as individuals need to be more loving of our enemies.  We always talk about how powerful prayer is.  Let’s apply that to our enemies and see how powerful it can be. Let’s put our prayers where our mouth is. I think we’ll be surprised.  So let’s forgive for our enemies, pray for our enemies. Let’s pray for peace, not only in the world but also in the hearts of anyone that are filled with anger, hatred and revenge.

Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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She persisted with her religious vocation despite serious health problems, and in 1928, she was ordained, taking the name Sister Alphonsa.

[From BBC NEWS | South Asia | Vatican to canonise Indian woman]

Now while I am sure that no one from the BBC would stoop so low as to use the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the Oxford dictionary requires an account to look up words. So I’ll use MW instead. They define “ordain” as:

1: to invest officially (as by the laying on of hands) with ministerial or priestly authority

[From ordain - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]

Other wise this was great article, until it got an agenda.

Indian Christians have been accused by hardline Hindu nationalists of “forced conversions” – especially among low-caste and tribal peoples.

They are also accused of making conversion to Christianity a condition for receiving treatment at medical centres they run.

[From BBC NEWS | South Asia | Vatican to canonise Indian woman]

UM…OK….While I don’t know if this may or may not be happening, I’m not sure what it has to do with the subject of this story. And, if it is happening, it is deplorable and what Christ wanted out of us. Our Blessed Lord offered the woman at the well the water of life before she converted, not after.

Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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According to the lawsuit filed Thursday, the card is titled “Paris’s First Day as a Waitress” and shows a photo of Hilton’s face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food to a patron. In a dialogue bubble she says, “Don’t touch that, it’s hot.” The customer cartoon asks, “What’s hot?” She answers, “That’s hot.”

The suit says Hilton owns the trademark “That’s hot,” which was registered on Feb. 13, 2007.

First of all, how can she register “That’s hot” as a trademark? I mean c’mon! Plus we get this little snippet which describes the complaints in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims commercial appropriation of identity, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of publicity, false representation that Hilton endorses the product, and infringement of a federally registered trademark. The damages would be based on profits from the $2.49 cards, said Hilton attorney Brent Blakely.

Invasion of privacy? In the way she has lived her life and allowed people into her most intimate moments, does she really have any “privacy” left? Besides, I don’t really understand how this is an invasion privacy. Of course I’m not a lawyer….

Yahoo also has a copy of the card you can view it here.

Now my question is doesn’t this really count as parody? I’d love to hear some input on what you think.

Technorati Tags: hilton, law, lawsuit, news, Pais, Hallmark

Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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Iran arrested more than 200 music fans at an underground rock concert that one official called a “satanic” gathering and authorities accused the youths of breaking Islamic law.

A witness said Sunday that police raided the concert as it was ending late Wednesday near the town of Karaj, some 30 miles west of the capital.

Technorati Tags: music, news, politics, freedom, religion, rock

Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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Police say King George, a 150-pound Great Dane, accidentally knocked a .22-caliber pistol off his owner’s end table around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. The gun went off, hitting his 21-year-old owner in the back, MyFOXMemphis.com reports.

OK…Reality just warped into something I can’t begin to describe.

Not only that, but Frayser has a Wikipedia entry.

Technorati Tags: Memphis, news, dog, redneck

Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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A baby sitter accused of allowing a man to have sex with a 12-year-old girl in her care for money was charged with pimping, police said.

What really bothers me about this story (other than the fact it happened in the first place) is the lack of charges against the babysitter. Is “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” enough for what took place? This little girls care was entrusted to the babysitter. She abused that and used the little girl to make money. Shouldn’t some sort of child endangerment or abuse charge be in order. I look at the difference in bonds set between the molester and the “pimp” and I think how can that be. I think they should be closer to the same. Don’t get me wrong here either. I am not saying the guys is being punished too much either. I think whatever punishment he gets, is probably not enough. I just think the babysitter needs to be held a little more responsible for this crime.

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Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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“When girls see the antics of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, they think that being fun and glamorous also means being dumb and irresponsible,” the 32-year-old McKellar told Newsweek for editions to hit newsstands Monday.

“But I want to show them that being smart is cool,” she said. “Being good at math is cool. And not only that, it can help them get what they want out of life.”

To me it’s really refreshing to see her out there trying to be a positive role model. Trying hell, she’s doing it. I really wish she got more press over this. Unfortunately, a story about “some math geek” probably won’t be top on the list of the CNN’s and FoxNews’ of the world. It’s shame.

Technorati Tags: news, winniecooper, rant, tv, wonderyears

Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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Unsafe levels of toxic chlorine pollutants were found in 40 percent of the District of Columbia tap water samples tested during a spring chlorine surge, according to a study released Thursday.

Obviously the folks that compare bottled water to tap water have also never tried the water in Austin. I travel a lot and usually use bottled water on the road. Even if the local water doesn’t upset my stomach, it could have local allergens I might not be able to fight off quickly.

I just found it interesting that there seems to me to have been a recent uproar over bottled water, then this news story came out. Timing is everything….

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Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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Original content Copyright 2007 Marc Smith
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A motu proprio is a papal rescript in which the clause motu proprio (Latin, “of his own motion”) is used, signifying that the provisions of the rescript were decided by the Pope personally and not by a cardinal or other advisors. It is normally in the form of a decree, resembling a papal brief except that it is not sealed and countersigned. The first motu proprio was issued by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. It continues to be a common form of rescript, especially when establishing institutions, making minor changes to law or procedure and when granting favours to persons or institutions.

This one that Pope Benedict issued yesterday (7/7/7), is called “Summorum Ponificum“. Click on the the title for the full text. You can also click here for an explanatory letter from the Pope himself.

But does all this mean? I’ve seen an article that implied that Papa Ben was doing this just to upset so-called “liberals”, whatever a “Catholic liberal” is. I’m not so sure about that. Another headline I read said that he was “rolling back the clock”. I laughed. So what does it mean? Well, to be honest much smarter folks than me have already said a lot about it. I’ll just defer to these scholars.

• First off, Fr. Z of the blog and podcast “WHat Does The Prayer Really Say?” has some excellent commentary on the document itself.
• Fr. Z also has some commentary on comments made by Fr. Fredrico Lombardi, a papal spokesman which is a good read.
• Fr. Z (yes, I love the guy) also has some comments on Cardinal Ricard’s (who was responsible for communication with the group SSPX that has been at odds with the Vatican over the Latin Mass) reaction to the Motu proprio.
• Fr. Z (yes, him again) reacts to an AP article on the Motu proprio.
• Jimmy Akin (only one link???) has some comments on the document itself on his self titled blog.
• Jeff Miller on his blog The Curt Jester comments on the document. Expect some humor.
• Finally Fr. Martin Fox takes a little more guarded view.

So basically this does loosen the use of the older Latin Mass. I am concerned as is Fr. Fox about the possible resource strain this could cause for individual parishes. But the Holy Father was smart enough to give us some lead time. This document doesn’t take effect until September 14.

All in all I am excited though. I used to go to the Latin Mass back in Memphis, when Fr. Mike was still at Blessed Sacrament. It was awesome! I hope to be able to go somewhere here in Nashville really soon.

Technorati Tags: Catholic, christian, Latin, pope, Mass

On 6/13/2007 that’s exactly what happened on HWY 386 just east of the Indian Lake Blvd exit.

While I have seen a few pics of the damage from the highway, I haven’t seen where anyone took some pics from the bridge. I decided to do that. Even two days later the scene was pretty horrific. One scene that caught my eye was this…

This post holding up the guard rail is a good 30 – 40 feet away from where the bridge actually starts. But it was still half burnt through.

You can see all the pics I took at Flickr.

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Police say it was tip that led them to a car that may have been used in the burglary of the Catholic Center the weekend before last. Police charged Jacques Mosby, 30, and Theresa Simmons, 34, with nine counts of burglary and one count of theft over $10,000.

Good to see this kind of thing have closure. I sincerely hop the bet for the thieves. Remember that it was a thief who Christ said to, “Truly I say to you today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Please pray for a softening of the heart of these three criminals. That they may accept Christ.

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09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

Maybe Brittney at Nashville is talking can help…

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What indeed….

The story of course goes on to talk about how a synod of Bishops next year will discuss way to fight anti-Semitism. But, how many times do you think this AP story has sown up in print, on the internet or in some other form of media? How many times do you think someone saw it and only read the headline? (chuckle chuckle, those crazy Catholics…there ought to be a law!)

Wouldn’t it have been more accurate to say, “World’s Roman Catholic bishops to take on anti-Semitism at 2008 meeting”? But that’s not as sensational. We all know that sensation is what sells the news.

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In addition, the intruders desecrated the Blessed Sacrament, which Catholics believe is the body and blood of Jesus. It is kept locked in a small chapel at the center and once profaned, according to church law, the chapel must be reconsecrated before being used again.

As the paper says, we believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church put it beautifully int he following from paragraph 1375:

It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:

It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God’s. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.

And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ’s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.

I would ask everyone to pray for the perpetrators, that they have a conversion of heart and genuinely repent their actions.

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Somehow I don’t think my haircutting habits would float in the presidential race either. As the wife keeps reminding me, I need a haircut really bad. So it seems that while John Edwards is willing to pay $400 for a cut and style, I won’t even pay $14…

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On the eve of a visit by President Bush, the U.S. Embassy confirmed Saturday that American and Colombian soldiers had conducted a joint operation in the southern stronghold of leftist rebels who are holding three U.S. military contractors.

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