Quote of the Dei (# 10)

photo courtesy of Mashael Al-Shuwayer

"...there is only one honest reason for believing anything: because it is true."

- Peter Kreeft

Hamlet-typing Monkey (by Peter Kreeft)

photo courtesy of www.kopeikingallery.com

Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type out all of Hamlet by chance.

But when we find the text of Hamlet, we don't wonder whether it came from chance and monkeys.

Why then does the atheist use that incredibly improbable explanation for the universe?

Clearly, because it is his only chance of remaining an atheist.

At this point we need a psychological explanation of the atheist rather than a logical explanation of the universe.

The German Shepherd

photo courtesy of www.photovat.com

Mabuhay ka, Santo Papa Benedicto XVI!

Maraming salamat po! Mahal ka namin!

Quote of the Dei (# 9)

photo courtesy of Bruce Almighty

"You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle."

- God (Morgan Freeman) in Bruce Almighty (2003)

Deus Caritas Est

photo courtesy of ~~TonyC~~

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

– 1 Corinthians 13:4–7

The passage above is one of the most frequently quoted in the Bible. Appropriately, it is often read at Christian weddings, since it describes the love that spouses should have for each other. But a deeper reading of the whole 13th Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians reveal that St. Paul is describing what love as much as WHO love is. Read the verses again, only this time put the name of Jesus in place of love; the passage makes perfect sense, for Jesus IS love.

This February, the “month of love”, let us take a moment to reflect on God’s love for us. Let us also take this time to show and give more love to our family, friends and neighbor. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Silent Scream

"If every member of Congress could see that film, they would move quickly to end the tragedy of abortion."

– Ronald Reagan (on The Silent Scream)

The Silent Scream is a 1984 documentary that shows, through ultrasound technology, what happens to a fetus during an abortion.

The film was narrated by Bernard Nathanson, a physician who admitted to being personally responsible for 75,000 abortions and was a major contributor in legalizing abortion in America but has since converted from being “pro” to “anti” abortion advocate after he himself witnessed an on-going abortion via ultrasound imaging.

It’s easy for someone to justify a war when it’s taking place a thousand miles away; not so when the battlefield is near one’s own backyard. The sight of dead and injured soldiers up-close, at the very least, should cause even the warmongers to reconsider their position. Through this documentary, pro-abortion advocates could view an abortion up-close and see the true nature of what they are justifying. 

WARNING: this documentary contains explicit material. Without a doubt, this is a difficult film to watch; the sight of another human being, a fetus, in excruciating pain and making a “silent scream” while being helplessly murdered is surely more than most (including this blogger) could bear. 

* Video courtesy of: American Portrait Films (http://www.silentscream.org/order.html)

Where Was God? (By Mike Huckabee)

Former U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee shares his insights on the recent Connecticut school shooting tragedy.

Transcript:

Maybe it's simply the attempt to express our collective shock when we say we're trying to make sense of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But we're not gonna make sense; not from that which is totally disconnected from the cognitive capacity of any rational human being. The Governor of Connecticut, Dan Malloy, got it right when he said, "evil has visited this community". President Obama, in an emotional statement from the White House, spoke more as a parent than a politician and he quoted the Bible to bring comfort to the nation. Churches were filled in Newtown, Connecticut last night as candlelight vigils were held to grieve for the 27 innocent people killed and the countless lives of those shattered by a few seconds of crazed carnage.

On Friday, Neil Cavuto asked me,

"Where was God?"

I said,

"For 50 years we've systematically attempted to have God removed from our schools (and) our public activities but then at the moment we have a calamity we wonder where He was."

The predictable "left" lit up the airwaves and blogosphere with a violent, vicious reaction and jumped to the conclusion that I said that if we had prayer in school the shooting wouldn’t have happened. I said nothing of the sort.

It's far more than just taking prayer or Bible reading out of the schools.
It's the fact that people sue a city so we aren’t confronted with a manger scene or a Christmas carol; that lawsuits are filed to remove a cross that's a memorial to fallen soldiers.
Churches and Christian owned businesses are told to surrender their values under the edict of government orders to provide tax-funded abortion pills.
We carefully and intentionally stop saying things are sinful and we call them disorders; sometimes, we even say they're normal.
And to get to where that we have to abandon bedrock moral truths…

Then we're asked,

"Where was God?"

I responded as I see it,

"We escorted Him right out of our culture and we've marched Him off the public square, then we express our surprise that a culture without Him actually reflects what it's become."

As soon as the tragedy unfolded, I think God did show up.
He showed up in the lives of teachers, who put their lives between a gunman and their students.
He showed up in policemen, who rushed into the school not knowing if they would be met with a barrage of bullets.
He showed up in the form of hugs and tears for children, parents and teachers, who had lived through the slaughter.
He showed up at the overflowed church services, where people lit candles and prayed. 
He showed up at the White House, where the president invoked His Name and quoted from His Book.
 
In a few days or weeks we'll probably ask God to excuse Himself from view. And we will announce in our arrogant pride that we are now enlightened and educated and we've evolved beyond needing Him. And somebody's gonna suggest that we pass a law to stop all this kind of thing. I might want to point out that we don't have to pass a new law; there's one that's been around a while that works if we teach it and observe it:

"Thou shalt not kill."

Oh, there are about 9 others; but to tell you about them would require bringing God back and we know how unacceptable that might be.

* Video courtesy of: http://www.foxnews.com/

Intercession of Mary (by Bruno Hagspiel)

photo courtesy of sesame ellis

The story is told that one day, Jesus was walking around heaven, much as God once walked around Eden. Much to His surprise in a few hidden corners He found what looked like a few doubtful characters. He wondered how they got in. So He walked over to St. Peter and scolded him for negligence. But the gatekeeper assured his Lord and Master that he was conscientiously guarding the gate and letting in only the deserving.

“But what can I do?” complained Peter. “I carefully watch the gate but at night Your mother opens the windows and lets these rascals in… and how can I say anything against her?”

Reference/s:
Mihalic, Frank (1989). 1000 Stories You Can Use (Volume Two). Divine Word Publications.

Quote of the Dei (# 8)

Ben Connolly's "Prodigal Son"

"The church is a hospital for sinners, not a club for saints."

- unknown author

True Hypocrisy

photo courtesy of Selina Mayer

“A man once said to me: I don’t go to church because I don’t want to be with a bunch of hypocrites.

I replied: Well, one more won’t hurt!”

- Mother Angelica

Hypocrisy is often used as propaganda against Christianity. To my mind, this is due to misunderstanding what the word hypocrisy truly means.

What is hypocrisy? St. Thomas Aquinas defined hypocrisy as not failing to be good but rather pretending to be good.

In other words, hypocrisy is not failing to live up to an ideal but rather the pretense of being ideal. Therefore, a philandering husband who feigns fidelity to his wife in order to gain the admiration of others is a hypocrite. In this regard, we note that:

Philandering discredits the philanderer, not fidelity.

Hypocrisy is not failing to practice what one preaches but rather failing to believe what one preaches. Therefore, a father who forbids his children to lie but doesn’t really put stock in honesty himself and is unremorseful about his own lying is a hypocrite. In this regard, we note that:

Lying discredits the liar, not honesty. 

Jesus Christ commanded His followers to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Sanctity, without the grace of God, is not just hard, but impossible. For this reason, we should always pray for the wisdom, strength and courage to live our lives according to God’s will. And each time we fall, we can pick ourselves up by repenting, confessing and resolving to sin no more. What we cannot and should not do is give up our aim for holiness because we fear being called hypocrites.

It’s also been said that “hypocrisy is the price that vice pays to virtue”. If this is the case, then Christians should be willing to pay that price. In this regard, we note that:

Hypocrisy discredits the hypocrite, not Christianity.