U.K. scientists develop "The Pill" for men
Now we men can finally be liberated!

Yes I am joking. The Today Show reported this this morning. Here are a few of the reasons they gave that show how wonderful it will be.

• It will be great for men who want to experience pleasure without pregnancy. (That's great, because after all there's no reason for them to go together is there?)

• Women will not have to bear the burden of all the responsibility. (Do you think that maybe, since man and woman are both necessary, they could share the responsibility?)

• It can be taken just before a date. (I forgot that taking someone on a date is what makes you able to have sex with them.)

Awesome Catholic art blog.

I came across Smallpax yesterday in an image search for St. Lawrence. It is a group of mostly (if not all) Catholic artists, many (if not all) being professional. They post their sketches in various levels of completeness and seriousness. What attracted me most to them is that their devotional art is far from cheesy. Check it out. They haven't posted anything in a while, but I emailed one of the artists, and he said he would be posting again soon. In the meantime, check out their old posts. Here are a few samples, that I hope they don't mind me sharing here:

Our Lady of La Leche



St. Lawrence



St. Anthony



St. Therese

"Dad, why is it hard to share?"

My brother and his family are in town for Thanksgiving. He has a 5 year old daughter and 3 and 1 year old boys. The older of two boys, being at an age where more responsibility for his actions is required of him, has to give of himself quite a bit to the 1 year old. A couple days ago, he asked a very profound question that I am sure all of us ask often.

The 3 year old looked at my brother and said, "Dad, it's hard to share. Why is it hard to share?" So my brother went into a long discourse about the trials of sin and a catechesis on the 7 deadly sins, and... Well he didn't exactly say that, but that is of course the answer. It is hard to share, because we are tainted by sin.

Any one of us could ask the same question any day of our life: "Dad, why is it hard to give of ourselves?" It is hard to give, because we wish we could think only of ourselves. I don't know about you, but I sure am glad that we have a God who thought only of us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that we might not die, but might have eternal life."

We actually do care about others!

The news this morning reported that we now have 3 options for Iraq, "Go Big," "Go Long" and "Go Home." Of course there are people who find fault with all 3 of these, which of course there is. However, I was impressed with the fault that they pointed out for "Go Home."

The news reported that if we bring all the troops home, we run the risk of abandoning the people of Iraq to all out civil war. Even though it would save more Americans, it would leave the people of Iraq extremely vulnerable. I see in this that there is at least some understanding of communio in everybody. Even some of our politicians and media recognize that we have some responsibility for others. To me this really is a sign of the beauty of God, even in the middle of war.

Heaven is for everyone. Christ is for everyone. When we abandon those in the rest of the world, we are abandoning Christ in them. Last week we celebrated the feast of St. Martin of Tours, who gave his cloak to a beggar and later saw Christ wearing the same cloak. We must remember that every person, either Iraqi or American, Muslim of Christian is simply Christ in disguise.

You've probably seen this already but if not...

A breastfeeding mother was kicked off a Delta flight, because she would not cover her child with a blanket. As a husband of a breastfeeding mother, this seems pretty ridiculous. I particularly like this quote from Yahoo! News: "doesn't she know those things are for selling beer and cars? Any other public use is obviously obscene."

Some people have started a petition to be sent to Delta and to Congress to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding mothers.

The Amazing Cooking Priest!



A good priest friend of mine (he concelebrated at my wedding) from the Baltimore area is starting a show on PBS called "Grace Before Meals." He is an excellent cook, and the theme of the show is him going to families' homes and cooking dinner with them as a family. His purpose is to get people back to the family dinner table. Judging from the trailer on the website, it will be a cooking/family dynamics reality show. I don't know where you will be able to see it, but certainly check it out.

What can you really say?

This is wonderful...

• Colorado Voters Pass Gay Marriage Ban, Reject Gay Benefits
• Tennessee Voters OK Amendment Banning Gay Marriage
• Wisconsin Voters Approve Amendment Banning Gay Marriage
• Gay Marriage Amendment Passes in Virginia
• South Carolina Voters Reject Gay Marriage
• Idaho voters approve gay marriage ban
• South Dakota also (good here, bad later)
  

...but a lot is not so nice:

• Arizonans reject gay marriage ban
• South Dakota Voters Reject Abortion Ban
• Oregon voters defeat a parental notification proposal
• California voters defeat a parental notification proposal

These last ones really make me the most upset. They rejected the law that minors have to notify parents before an abortion. Unless something changed that I didn't know about, minors can't vote! These are the parents saying, "I don't care if my daughter gets an abortion, and I don't even want to know." What are people thinking!?

Prayers please.

My grandmother is in the process of dying and likely will not make it through tonight. She is 95, and my family has lived with her my whole life. Please keep her and my mother's family in your prayers tonight especially. I will keep you posted.

"Science Can't Explain It All, Says Benedict XVI"

This heading from yesterday's ZENIT news wrapup reminded me of a great article about the relationship between Science and Theology. It was written by Eric Cornell. Cornell won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2001. This article is adapted from a speech that he gave for his induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, so I would say it is pretty credible from the scientific standpoint as well as the religious side. The title; Why is the Sky Blue?: What Was God Thinking? Science Can't Tell

Birth control is bad for your body!? Who would have guessed!?

I am continually baffled by the fact that people can't figure out that when you make your body stop doing what it is supposed to do, that is bad. Consider this:

"I sure feel good today. Will you hit me in the head so I have a headache?" - Ridiculous

"My blood pressure sure is good today. I better go get mad about something." - Ridiculous

"I sure do enjoy the use of my limbs. Would you break my arm, so I don't have to enjoy this any more?" - Ridiculous

"My fertility sure is working well today. I better do something to stop it." - Acceptable.

Why is that acceptable? Is there any other bodily function that when it is working right, we take medicine to make it stop working so well? I can't think of one. Why is this one area where so many people discard the best option and immediately go for second best? How often do you hear anyone promoting safer cigarettes? "Who could possibly consider not smoking at all? That would be way too hard." You don't hear that too much, but we definitely do hear it about sex. Abstinence is way too hard. We should promote something that is less effective rather than waste our time on it. I pray that some day the world will stop accepting mediocrity and start striving for the perfection that Christ modeled for us.

__________


This is a slide from an NFP talk I have seen. It outlines the side-effects of the various methods of regulating births. Click for larger size:

The world just keeps getting more wonderful!

The only problem now is which to choose: beer or wine?

And the best part is that this only reminds us how wonderful the married life is, because when we turn to the Word that our gracious God has given us, we remember:

“Wine and music please the soul, but better than either, conjugal love.” – Sirach 40:20