Tradition Revisited.

Where did the Bible that I love come from? Tradition. What is the Bible, a tradition of God's and the Church's.

What are "traditions of men" as Paul calls them? Men deciding that they can abort parts of scripture that they disagree with, and then claim that what is left is the only acceptable source for all knowledge.



St. Jerome, pictured here, is often depicted by artists with a skull "The skull represents the seat of thought, and also symbolized spiritual perfection. Death of the physical body (symbolized by the skull) enabled one to be reborn at a higher level at which the spirit could rule."

Revelation 12

Today's reading, from Revelation 12 struck me in a new way today. It is the description of the Incarnation. A direct reflection of the prophecy in Genesis, where God speaks to Adam and Eve:



14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [a] and hers;
he will crush [b] your head,
and you will strike his heel."

here in Revelation it says:

"3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

It strikes me that if, as Jehovah's Witnesses and some other small cults claim, Jesus was simply a man, as it seems the serpent was expecting Him to be, He would have been devoured by the serpent.

There are so many many reasons why Jesus had to be both true God and true man. This is only one.

There are so many Christians out there who in their niavate' believe that they can reinvent Christianity just by reading their own Bible at home. But there are so very many revelations and so much wisdom that God's Holy Church has gleaned over 2000 years of study and sacrifice for God's Church. People are truly missing out when they claim they don't need a Church or they don't need tradition.

Tradition (including well known facts about The Virgin Mary in the land where she lived out her final days, Ephesus Turkey) tells us that Mary never died. She just disappeared. Never has anyone claimed a grave site or anyone claimed to have been with her when she died.

So did Our Lady, go into the desert for 1,260 days and then was she "taken up". Or was she buried tenderly by God himself like Moses(Deuteronomy 34: 5&6)?

Save the Mint Farm!!

Spread the word, St. John's MI is famous for its Mint festival, it is a nice little town with little crime and lots of good folks. Please spread the word about Crosby farm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yFtlrKKfLQ

Confirmation Bias

Finally a name, I am taking a class in cognitive psychology and finally we have encountered the classic problem with much scientific research, especially opinion polls.

I would postulate that it is virtually impossible to do almost any "pure" research that does not have confirmation bias.

Confirmation Bias is defined as "the tendency to selectively look for information that conforms to our hypothesis and to overlook information that argues against it"(Goldstein, Bruce, Cognitive Psychology, 2nd Ed. 2008, Thompson Wadsworth. Now many scientists think that if they go into research assuming nothing that they have no bias. But I would say that by assuming that there is no mover of events or maker of matter they are using their own Bias. Likewise persons of faith assume that there is a creator will use that assumption behind their research.

Of course opinion pollsters are subject to their in the way that they word their questions or just the tone of voice in which they are couched. I have taught my new voters(a 21 year old and an 18 year old) to be intelligent voters and to read between the lines. Always ask what were the questions asked in the poll, what were you actually trying to measure, support for your candidate or the mood of the nation, and how did you go about measuring it?

Snow

Snow glorious snow! It has snowed here for two solid days and the world is a white wonderland. Every surface is softened in white. Wires, tree branches, any leftover fallen leaves. It is all clean and fresh and white.

Our grubby city needed this softening. My stress level goes down immediately just from the beauty of it all.

Of Course my stress level increases when I try to walk on the slippery surfaces but it is well worth the extra effort to stay afloat.

I love snow. I feel sorry for those who only have a rainy season in winter, and must look out on the grubby damp landscape. Snow is one of God's wonders, it provides insulation for all the animals that do not hibernate, it softens the sounds of the city. Everything is less sharp, less harsh, easier on the eye.

Thank you God for snow.

A Christian Challenge

It has been in the news the past few days that a Southern Carolina Priest has informed his congregation that they should repent, or in his words, go to confession and do penance for voting for a strong pro-abortion candidate for president. I do not name the priest here as his life is getting difficult right now and his personal blog is closed currently as are all links to email him or his parish.

But as a Christian and a Roman Catholic I would like to put in my little paddle here.

The lifelong goal(vocation in Catholic terms) of a Catholic Priest is to save souls from the eternal fires of hell. By informing his congregation that support of a grave moral evil(abortion), makes one complicit in murder he is fulfilling his calling. Now many were not aware because of media flak, that Barak Obama is THE most pro-abortion candidate to run for President of all time, this is unfortuntate, because many lives will be lost simply because of rulings by judges that he will appoint, without even passing the Freedom of Choice Act.

His promise to pass the Freedom of Choice Act as his first act as President is disturbing in nature. This act(FOCA) would make abortion a civil right and strip absolutely all protections from vulnerable women and vulnerable babies. It would make it a civil right and therefor subject even Religious hospitals to being forced to perform abortions. It would repeal laws that require abortion clinics to give care to babies accidentally born alive, and laws that keep minors from obtaining a major, and dangerous surgical procedure without consulting their parents. Additionally, it would take away requirements to inform women in crisis the grave consequences both physical and emotional of the procedure. The implications could be even more far reaching, it is even possible that a physician who is morally opposed to killing could be forced to perform these procedures if the woman insisted that her rights were being denied.

In the Roman Catholic Church, scholars have researched the implications of our behaviors for 2000 years and have abundant, sound Christian teaching behind their assertions. This man should be supported for his stand. He has never refused to give communion to anyone but left this matter up to the consciences of his parishioners, who know their own hearts. If a parishioner were to feel that they were unaware of this horrible stance of Obama's they should probably just mention their inadvertent support for this in the confessional just to cover all the bases with the Almighty. Better that then face eternal hellfire.

Galadriel

Been thinking about Galadriel. For you non-tolkien geeks out there, Galadriel was an Elf Queen, the most powerful one that appears as a character the the whole Lord of the Rings Trilogy. She had a secret power, her power was over water, and the power to protect her people and preserve them from the darkness outside their land.

I was thinking how Galadrel, without the ring is just another elf lady. WIth it she is powerful and helps to protect and shield all who take shelter in her. Nenya is the name of her ring and its power is one of protection, preservation and concealment from evil.

The past year or so i have been pondering and observing the power of love in people's lives. When people Feel loved, they behave differently. They are more optomistic, stand taller and can accomplish more, they have more courage and treat themselves better. If they loose that faith, it is like Galadriel without her ring, they fall back into grayness and are just people. If it is stolen from them or meanly taken away abrubtly they are lost, they find it hard to look up into the sun any more. They have trouble feeling motivated and caring about success or others.

Much of the time this is all a perseption. A co-worker whose husband is suffering a lot physically and has to go in for another surgery, told me yesterday that she felt suicidal becuase of the lack of acknowledgment from her husband recently. Now standing on the outside of this situation i can easily see why he would not be able at this time to be terribly appreciative of anyone. But i am carefully choosing the time and the words. to break this news to the wife who is hurting also. Perception. Perception.

Image is everything they say, much proven by our resent election.

If we see ourselves as loved individuals, even if we only know that God alone of all people loves us, If we are truly convinced of who God is and how much he loves us, it is a truly transforming thought. I am loved. I am loved beyond what I can imagine. I am loved to the depth of my being by the most incredible being ever! That is a ring that you can put on and it will conceal you from evil.