The Weekly Francis – Volume 188 – 16 August 2017

 The Weekly Francis  No Responses »
Aug 162017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 6 August 2017 to 15 August 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Papal Tweets

  • “Jesus does not leave us alone because we are precious to Him.” @Pontifex 10 August 2017
  • “When something makes us suffer, let us listen to the voice of Jesus in our hearts: “Do not fear! Go ahead! I am with you!”” @Pontifex 11 August 2017
  • “Dear young people, you are the hope of the Church. Do you dream about your future? Then take part in #synod18! http://goo.gl/WghUvl ” @Pontifex 12 August 2017
  • “In Mary we see that humility is not a virtue of the weak but of the strong who don’t have to treat others badly to feel important.” @Pontifex 13 August 2017
  • “The journey of entrusting ourselves to the Lord begins every day, starting each morning.” @Pontifex 14 August 2017
  • “Mary’s Assumption regards our future: it turns our gaze heavenward announcing the new heaven and new earth with Christ’s victory.” @Pontifex 15 August 2017

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You keep using that word

 Pro-life, Punditry  No Responses »
Aug 152017
 

In related logic Darth Vader is on pace to virtually eliminate disease on Alderaan.

This CBS News promo tweet is just so vile “Iceland is on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion.” – learn more about the Culture of Death tonight at 10pm E.T. Nice teaser.

The worst part is that the stealthy modern eugenics movement is advancing with little outcry. The majority of children diagnosed with Down syndrome by a screening test are being aborted. Estimates in the United States that this happens 67% percent of the time with higher estimates in Europe. The American eugenics movement of the 20s through the 40s was quite rampant and it was mostly the horrors of the aftermath from Nazi Germany that for the time stopped the movement. Yet Germany took their lessons from us.

It seems there is a lot of errors from the past rearing their ugly heads. It is all so sickening.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 187 – 09 August 2017

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Aug 092017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 3 July 2017 to 9 August 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Messages

Papal Tweets

  • “In the name of Jesus we can make known, through our witness, that peace is possible!” @Pontifex 4 August 2017
  • “Other people are gifts to be received with respect, especially if they are weak and frail, because Christ comes to meet us in them.” @Pontifex 5 August 2017
  • “Hope is the virtue of a heart that doesn’t lock itself into darkness, that doesn’t dwell on the past, but is able to see a tomorrow.” @Pontifex 6 August 2017
  • “Forgiveness sets our hearts free and allows us to start anew. Forgiveness gives hope. Without forgiveness, the Church is not built up.” @Pontifex 7 August 2017
  • “Today we give glory to God for the work of Saint Dominic in the service of the Gospel which he preached with his words and his life.” @Pontifex 8 August 2017
  • “In witnessing to the faith what counts is not success, but fidelity to Christ.” @Pontifex 9 August 2017

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Daily Mass goer shunned for lack of “I Believe” sticker

 Parody  4 Responses »
Aug 072017
 

Joe Manning has been attending daily Mass at St. Rita’s Catholic Church for the last ten months. He has not missed a day and while being quiet and attentive, has been ostracized by other daily Mass attenders. He has been wanting to get more involved in parish life, but is turned away.

A fellow parishioner, who wishes to be anonymous, told us. “While Joe seems to be a nice enough guy, there is just something off about him. Mostly we find his lack of a ”I Believe“ bumper sticker disturbing. We have them available for free on a chair at the back of the chapel. So what goes? Considering that every other daily Mass attendee has this sticker, he really sticks out.”

Another anonymous parishioner expressed similar thoughts. “Maybe it would be of no notice if he perhaps had a pro-life, Rosary, or other bumper sticker. But when it was noticed he didn’t even have a Rosary hanging on his mirror, we knew something was seriously wrong. I can’t fault his behavior at Mass, but if he really loved Jesus in the Eucharist then where is his ”I Believe“ sticker?”

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 186 – 02 August 2017

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Aug 022017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 28 June 2017 to 2 August 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “I entrust little Charlie to the Father and pray for his parents and all those who loved him.” @Pontifex 28 July 2017
  • “We call on all people of faith and good will to take action and oppose modern slavery in all its forms.” @Pontifex 30 July 2017
  • “Like Saint Ignatius of Loyola, let us be won over by the Lord Jesus and, led by Him, place ourselves at the service of others.” @Pontifex 31 July 2017
  • “We effectively do good when we do it without seeking reward and in the concrete situations of everyday life.” @Pontifex 1 August 2017
  • “The Gospel is Good News filled with contagious joy, for it contains and offers new life.” @Pontifex 2 August 2017

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 185 – 26 July 2017

 The Weekly Francis  No Responses »
Jul 262017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 9 June 2017 to 26 July 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

Daily Homilies (fervorinos)

Papal Tweets

  • “When we need help, let us turn to the Father who always looks on us with love and never abandons us.” @Pontifex 23 July 2017
  • “How important grandparents are for family life, for passing on the human and religious heritage so essential for each and every society!” @Pontifex 26 July 2017

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15 Year Blog Anniversary

 Blog Announcement  5 Responses »
Jul 242017
 

15 years ago to day I started blogging with this post.

For the first six months my blog was named “Atheist to a Theist” and was hosted on what was blogspot.com at the time. After that I bought the domain <www.splendoroftruth.com> and have been blogging under the The Curt Jester ever since.

So a substantial bit of time since I became Catholic in 1999 has been involved in blogging, tweeting (10 years), and other social media. As somewhat of an introvert writing about the faith was a way to express the joy in me and of course to inflict terrible puns on others. For me blogging was a way to react to events and to think about my faith. Writing doesn’t come easily for me, but it forces me to try not to respond in a knee-jerk reaction and to put some thought behind those reactions.

Over the last 15 years this blog has changed in emphasis. I use to post on political topics frequently. When my wife was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2013 I spent less time time blogging. After her death in January it has only slowly increased since then. Being detached from blogging though has been good for me. I now blog when I want to and hardly give a thought to readership and how many “hits” my blog got. I use to give a lot of attention to my site meter, now hardly any attention at all.

We never know our future with any certainty and so how long this blog will be around is not certain. Still this has been a useful platform for me to think out loud. Plus of course there are always puns and parodies in my mind escaping to get out. The Jester in me needs an audience.

Plus the friendships and opportunities that developed from blogging has been a great blessing to me. Finding that I helped a few people along the way has also been humbling.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 184 – 19 July 2017

 The Weekly Francis  No Responses »
Jul 192017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 29 June 2017 to 18 July 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Letters

Motu Proprio

Papal Tweets

  • “Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far away from poverty, hunger, and war.” @Pontifex 8 July 2017
  • “I entrust sailors, fishermen, and all those in difficulty on the seas faraway from home, to the motherly protection of Mary, Star of the Sea” @Pontifex 9 July 2017
  • “Europe has a unique patrimony of ideals and spiritual values, one that deserves to be proposed again with passion and renewed vigour.” @Pontifex 11 July 2017
  • “Let us be led by the Virgin Mary on the path that leads to the holy mountain that is Christ, where God and man meet.” @Pontifex 16 July 2017
  • “We must overcome all forms of racism, of intolerance and of the instrumentalization of the human person.” @Pontifex 18 July 2017

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Rugged Rosaries

 Punditry  1 Response »
Jul 172017
 

I keep looking for a no fuss Rosary. I like the beaded ones with metal links, but I want to try to pray the Rosary, not spend time keeping it repair. The last Rosary I bought was a knotted Rosary to prevent this problem, but recently the wooden Crucifix on it broke. Yes I enjoy a certain conceit in wearing out Rosaries. Which sucks that I can be conceited about this.

So this time I turned to Rugged Rosaries which I had previously run across.

Most of the Rosaries they sell use military grade paracord which is “Durable, waterproof, and very difficult to break.” They have a variety of colors and styles. When ordering you can choose to add medals to the Rosary. I choose to add the Divine Mercy and St Benedict Medals.

The model of Rosary I choose was the Catholic Gentleman Rosary – Be a Man. Be a Saint.

So using this Rosary over the last week I found it was exactly what I wanted.

During the work day I take two prayer walks. One to pray the Rosary and the other the Divine Mercy chaplet at 3:00 PM (when I am able). What I enjoy the most about this Rosary beyond the sturdiness and build quality is the heft of it. It has a nice weight too it. Plus I can easily hold it one handed going through the beads as I am walking and my arms are swinging to some extent. Just love the aesthetic feel of it in my hands. But mostly I don’t have to think about it.

Combining some exercise with prayer works for me. When I first started to take daily walks I was usually listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Usually would pray the Rosary before going to bed. Often though I would fall asleep while praying it. Yes I heard the bit about your Guardian Angel finishing a Rosary for you when you fell asleep. Still it finally dawned on me to combine the walks with praying. I found for myself it helps me focus better and that from time to time prayer actually breaks through the distractions.

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Why We’re Catholic – Book Review

 Book Review  No Responses »
Jul 172017
 

I always look forward to new books by Trent Horn. I so enjoy his engaging and winsome writing style. There is intellectual heft behind his arguments presented in a challenging, but non-combative style. His latest is Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love.

He starts by discussing objective truth and defining terms regarding truth claims. While the discussion is around the self-refuting claims of moral relativism, he doesn’t use that term. The next chapter deals with “Why we believe in Science” and the problems of scientism. Since the Church vs. Science is such a commonly mistaken view it is important to address this early one.

The chapters go on to build on the existence of God and answering objections regarding Jesus and other common topics regarding the Church. All the chapters are fairly short, but packed with information. Throughout he is careful to define terms.

So overall a very good book as an introduction to various apologetics topics that can be used to shore up your own knowledge or given to someone who has questions.

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