April 29th, 2009
First, a note, Life is Still Worth Living Episode 32 is not going to be posted here. I’m just not really happy with the way it came out and while there aren’t any errors, I’d rather not have it become part of posterity, so sorry, but no episode 32.
This week on Life is Still Worth Living – The Faith and Modern Technology! I love this topic and it’s one close to my heart.
Three citations from Pope Benedict XVI’s letter for communications day (Read it in full here)
Young people, in particular, have grasped the enormous capacity of the new media to foster connectedness, communication and understanding between individuals and communities, and they are turning to them as means of communicating with existing friends, of meeting new friends, of forming communities and networks, of seeking information and news, and of sharing their ideas and opinions. Many benefits flow from this new culture of communication: families are able to maintain contact across great distances; students and researchers have more immediate and easier access to documents, sources and scientific discoveries, hence they can work collaboratively from different locations; moreover, the interactive nature of many of the new media facilitates more dynamic forms of learning and communication, thereby contributing to social progress.
I would encourage all people of good will who are active in the emerging environment of digital communication to commit themselves to promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship.
I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives. In the early life of the Church, the great Apostles and their disciples brought the Good News of Jesus to the Greek and Roman world. Just as, at that time, a fruitful evangelization required that careful attention be given to understanding the culture and customs of those pagan peoples so that the truth of the gospel would touch their hearts and minds, so also today, the proclamation of Christ in the world of new technologies requires a profound knowledge of this world if the technologies are to serve our mission adequately. It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this “digital continent”.
Music: The Mighty Blue Ford
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April 26th, 2009
First, there’s the Meatcard… What can I say – it’s made of meat and lasers…
Then, there are Nerd Merit Badges… As an Eagle Scout, I’m not offended, I am a little bemused though.
Next, two from Etsy. The Math Clock uses finite math to tell time… Pleasant. The very useful Owl Wrap is for your earbuds.
Of course, you’ll also want to pick up your Star Trek Limited Edition Titanium Spork… I’ve got mine right here – just in case.
April 26th, 2009
Our Catholic identity – Fr. Z rants
The Bishop of Steubenville, OH has restored Friday abstinence! Yay! Also, Fr. Z rants, the gist: When Pope Paul VI changed the Church’s laws on penance… It seems to me that there was an overly optimistic, naive premise at work in the Council and its aftermath: that modern man was now mature, “grown up” and sophisticated in respect to previous ages. We have grown beyond of the need for obligation under sin, or the kneel as if before a master, or receive Communion on the tongue from a power-figure priest, or fret about sins. We are are all grown up and sophisticated! That rosy view was wrong.
April 25th, 2009
Hey gang. As usual, comments are always welcome.
By the way, I don’t post as many sermons as I used to primarily because I don’t write the full-text of as many as I used to. I’ve found that unless I’m trying to get some theological or spiritual matter explained in a particular way, an outline is sufficient… At any rate, more to come.
My psychology professor in college was trying to explain to us why some young people will do bad things in order to get attention from others – even if that attention is negative: screaming, punishing and so forth.
He went on and on with lingo and theories, but I didn’t get it until he did an experiment. He asked a young man to wait outside the room for a second. He told everyone in the classroom to ignore anything the young man said. Just sit and stare, look at the cell phone, read a book, anything at all – just ignore him. Then he went outside and told the young man to tell a story from his own life that he thought was interesting. The young man came in and began to tell the story of a camping trip with friends. Everyone in the class dutifully ignored him – except the professor.
The professor called the story stupid. Insulted the young man’s vocabulary, his clothing, his physical features. He just beat the poor guy up emotionally for about 5 minutes until he told everyone to freeze. He said – “look” – the young man was standing right in front of the professor’s desk. Even though he was being brutally insulted, he preferred talking to the professor to being ignored… Suddenly, we all understood.
We’ve all felt that moment when things “become real” for us… It could be a positive thing when we understand some principle of math or science. It could be joyful when we finally get the hang of roller skates or playing an instrumental. It could be a tragic thing when someone dies or suddenly becomes very ill.
In many ways, this is what our Lord is communicating to his disciples in our Gospel today. He wants them to understand that what is happening is above and beyond anything they have a way of understanding… He’s not a ghost, he’s not just the fulfillment of an expectation, nor is he just the next in a line of miracle workers or prophets…
The Lord could say the same thing to us… Even though we know the truth and have more access to it than ever before… We could all use the reminder that God and Faith and Salvation are not just one thing among many – to be set as equal to wealth or the economy or my place in society. Jesus’ resurrection is not something we commemorate blindly as a matter of history…
Our world has deceived itself into believing that Jesus and Heaven and Eternity are irrelevant and can be replaced by power and arrogance and self-worship… We get a taste of just how foolish that is when things “become real” for us.
Just as Lent was a time of penance and preparation, Easter is a time of celebration and realization that our faith – the sacraments, the moral teaching of the Church, the social teaching of the Church, and the absolute authority of the Church – are realer than anything else we’ll encounter in this world… Jesus is not a ghost and the Church is not a social club.
He proved Himself to the apostles by eating and St. John says that we prove ourselves to Him by keeping his word. “The Way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments.”
Easter is the perfect time to fortify ourselves in the truth of the faith and in obedience to that faith so that as more and more “things become real” in our lives, we will find in that faith strength and comfort and peace and joy.
April 23rd, 2009
On this week’s show: Twitter and Facebook reach the new frontier, JP2 gets a little closer to sainthood, Notre Dame in the news and it isn’t the football team! the cu picks of the week, backchat and more!
April 20th, 2009
On this Week’s Show…
Twitter and the new Facebook… Are they a fad, a trend or a new philosophy of interacting on the web and in the world? We talk about the changes and what we can do to use this important media to spread the Gospel!
Our Picks
The CU Metro
Backchat
The Music
April 19th, 2009
Acceptable Fonticide.
when even the creator can sympathize, something’s bound to be up!
