Category: Catholicism

Creation

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I am currently in the middle of Trent Horn‘s latest book, Hard Sayings. In his book, he spends some time discussing the objections raised by critics of the Bible as they interpret Genesis’ account of creation. Just as I was finishing this section of the book, my friend Len shared the following video his Facebook wall:

This video is a 2015 episode of FocusToday, an interview programme which is part of a Christian apostolate. In this particular episode, Jimmy Akin, apologist at Catholic Answers, is interviewed concerning the Catholic interpretation of the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis. As usual, Jimmy discusses the issue in a clear and measured way.

At around the twenty-eight minute mark, the interviewer and Jimmy are joined by John Mittendorf who is associated with the ministry Answers In Genesis.  He takes about ten minutes to respond to Jimmy’s position, after which Jimmy has an opportunity to respond, marked as always with his characteristic gentleness.

More Camino Films

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While I was walking on the Camino, virtually everyone I met along the road had seen The Way, a movie which I reviewed when it first came out in 2011. I think it’s safe to say that this film did much to revitalize the pilgrimage and bring the Camino to a new generation.

However, it turns out that “The Way” is not the only movie produced concerning this ancient pilgrimage across Spain. Just before I left for Spain, I shared a link to Phil’s Camino, the story of a man with Stage IV cancer, walking along the Camino:

phil

I recently heard about A Way To Forgiveness, which is the video journal of a lady who decided to walk across the Camino, in an effort to find healing, following the breakdown of her marriage:

erin

I’ve also come across I’ll push you, which tells the story of two life-long friends making the Camino, one of whom has a progressive neuromuscular disease which keeps him in a wheelchair:

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While I was on the Camino myself, I came across Camino Sin Limites, a team with two brothers, Oliver and Juan Luis who is also wheelchair-bound:

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What is it about the Camino which inspires such journies?

There’s no such thing as a fertilized egg!

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220px-married_bachelor_filmposterI’ve got a longer article in progress on the subject of abortion, but today’s post is an extremely short entry on a point I’ve been wanting to mention for some time…

Whenever you see an abortion debate, either in a formal setting or on Facebook, it’s not long before you hear someone, typically from the pro-choice side, talk about “fertilized eggs”. I only note this because I think it’s always worth pointing out that “fertilized egg” is something of a misnomer…

I say this because once an egg is fertilized, it ceases being an egg. It is now a new, distinct human organism. Calling it a “fertilized egg” is rather like referring to a man as a “married bachelor”. It’s nonsensical since, once married, a man ceases to be a bachelor. Likewise, we would never refer to someone being a “born fetus” because once the child is born it ceases to be a fetus.

That’s all for today 🙂

 

Music Monday: O Sanctissima

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Today’s music is the Catholic classic, “O Sanctissima”:

O sanctissima, o piissima, dulcis Virgo Maria!
O most holy, o most loving, sweet Virgin Mary!
Mater amata, intemerata, ora, ora pro nobis.
Beloved Mother, undefiled, pray, pray for us.

Tu solatium et refugium, Virgo Mater Maria.
You are solace and refuge, Virgin, Mother Mary.
Quidquid optamus, per te speramus; ora, ora pro nobis.
Whatever we wish, we hope it through you; pray, pray for us.

Ecce debiles, perquam flebiles; salva nos, o Maria!
Look, we are weak and deeply deplorable; save us, o Mary!
Tolle languores, sana dolores; ora, ora pro nobis.
Take away our lassitude, heal our pains; pray, pray for us.

Virgo, respice, Mater, aspice; audi nos, o Maria!
Virgin, look at us, Mother, care for us; hear us, o Mary!
Tu medicinam portas divinam; ora, ora pro nobis.
You bring divine medicine; pray, pray for us.

It’s like Woodstock, but with more Bible

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I spent some time today planning my travels for the next few months and I was delighted to look in my calendar and remember that the West Coast Biblical Studies Conference is on the horizon!

wcbsc

The two-day conference is at the end of January (27th and 28th) in San Diego. Once again it is being held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, with the usual line-up of excellent speakers: Scott Hahn, John Bergsma, Michael Barber and John Kincaid. This year the focus will be on The Book of Acts: How the Holy  Spirit leads the Church through hard times.

Tickets are $50, but if you buy yours before 15th December, the price is reduced to $40. If you’re coming from out-of-town, be sure to let me know!

The Meaning of beauty

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Since getting back from Spain, I’ve been catching up on my blog reading. Today I read an article by Maggie Kim, published on her husband’s website PJK Music, which is entitled “I lost all my hair but found the meaning of beauty”:

maggie

In the article Maggie, who has a head of hair which would put a L’Oreal model to shame, explains that while she was pregnant with her second child, her hair started falling out. She describes how she struggled with this and how her beliefs concerning beauty were challenged as she came to terms with the fact that before the preganancy would be complete, she would have lost all her hair…

Polycarp and the Presidency

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trump

I awoke this morning to discover two things.

The first thing was confirmation that Donald Trump is going to be the next President of the United States.

The second thing I found was my Facebook Newsfeed in a state of practical hysteria.

To lay my cards on the table, while I have not supported Hillary Clinton, I have also not been much of a fan of Donald Trump either. I was more than a little suspicious of his claim to being pro-life and, like many people, I was rather disturbed by some of the words which came out of his mouth on a range of subjects.

But what can I say? That’s democracy! Whether you like it or not, the American people have spoken and, despite the many celebrity endourcements of Hillary Clinton, the American people have chosen Donald Trump.

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