What Are Little Girls Made Of? (TOS) – The Secrets of Star Trek

When the Original Series dealt with the idea of transferring your consciousness to an android body, it came to different conclusions than modern Trek. Dom Bettinelli and Jimmy Akin discuss how times and attitudes have changed since then.

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The Weekly Francis – 10 June 2020

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 22 August 2016 to 10 June 2020.

Angelus

Daily Homilies (fervorinos)

General Audiences

Letters

Messages

Papal Tweets

  • “It is important to bring together scientific capabilities – in a transparent and disinterested way – in order to guarantee universal access to essential technologies that will enable every person, in every part of the world, to receive healthcare.” @Pontifex 4 June 2020
  • “Everything is interconnected: Genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice, and faithfulness to others. #LaudatoSi #WorldEnvironmentDay” @Pontifex 5 June 2020
  • “The Heart of Christ is so great it wants to welcome us all into the revolution of tenderness.” @Pontifex 5 June 2020
  • “The Spirit loves us and knows everyone’s place: for Him, we are not bits of confetti blown about by the wind, but irreplaceable fragments in His mosaic.” @Pontifex 6 June 2020
  • “The feast of the #MostHolyTrinity invites us to let ourselves be fascinated by God’s beauty, goodness and inexhaustible truth. He is humble, near, who became flesh in order to enter into our history, so that every man and woman may encounter Him and have eternal life.” @Pontifex 7 June 2020
  • “In many nations #Covid19 continues to claim many victims. I wish to express my closeness to those populations, to the sick and their families, and to all those who care for them. #PrayTogether” @Pontifex 7 June 2020
  • “The #Beatitudes teach us that God, in order to give Himself to us, often chooses unthinkable paths, perhaps the path of our limitations, of our tears, of our defeats.” @Pontifex 8 June 2020
  • “There are two Christian responses to escape the spiral of violence: prayer and the gift of self.” @Pontifex 9 June 2020
  • “In our darkest moments, when we sin or are disoriented, we always have an appointment with God. We do not need to be afraid, because God will change our hearts and give us the blessing reserved for those who allow Him to change them. #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex 10 June 2020

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The Beast Below – The Secrets of Doctor Who

For Amy’s first real adventure, the 11th Doctor takes her to Britain in space. Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the nature of a society that agrees collectively to ignore a horrific truth in order to feel better about a decision, letting the end justify the means.

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Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (DIS) – The Secrets of Star Trek

When Harry Mudd uses a time loop to steal Discovery, only Stamets is able to figure out what’s going on. Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the return of Harry Mudd, the similarities to TNG’s “Clues”, and how this story provides a break from the season’s grim feel.

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Remote Viewing (Psychic Spies! Stargate Program!) – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

CIA scientists began investigating psychic powers in the 1970s, including a power known as remote viewing. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss the surprising successes they reported with remote viewing, the secret Stargate program established to exploit it, and whether any of it is plausible.

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Links for this episode:

Mysterious Headlines

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The Weekly Francis – 03 June 2020

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 19 December 2019 to 3 June 2020.

General Audiences

Homilies

Letters

Messages

Motu Proprio

Prayers

Unknown

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “The Holy Spirit makes us take flight, opens up the wonderful destiny for which we were born, and nourishes us with living hope. Let us ask Him to come to us, and He will draw near.” @Pontifex 29 May 2020
  • “Dear brother priests, I want to fraternally share with you all these things that I thought and felt during this time of the pandemic, so that they might help us in our journey of praise for the Lord and of service to our brothers. Letter” @Pontifex 30 May 2020
  • “The Faith provides us with a realistic and creative imagination, capable of abandoning the logic of repetition, of substitution or of preservation; it invites us to initiate a season that is always new: the season of the Lord.” @Pontifex 30 May 2020
  • “We need the Holy Spirit to give us new eyes, to open our minds and our hearts to face the present moment and the future having learned this lesson: That humanity is one. No one is saved alone. No one.” @Pontifex 30 May 2020
  • “From humanity’s great trials, among which is the #pandemic, we come out better or worse. We will not be the same. And that is why we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit today so that He might change our hearts and help us to come out better.” @Pontifex 31 May 2020
  • “Holy Spirit, memory of God, revive in us the memory of the gift received. Free us from the paralysis of selfishness and awaken in us the desire to serve, to do good. #Pentecost” @Pontifex 31 May 2020
  • “Come, Holy Spirit: you are harmony; make us builders of unity. You always give yourself; grant us the courage to go out of ourselves, to love and help each other, in order to become one family. Amen. #Pentecost” @Pontifex 31 May 2020
  • “Let’s view the Church with the Spirit’s eyes not with the world’s which sees us on the right or left. The Spirit sees sons & daughters of the Father,Jesus’s brothers & sisters. The world sees conservatives and progressives. The Spirit sees children of God. Homily” @Pontifex 31 May 2020
  • “#Mission is a free and conscious response to God’s call. Yet we discern this call only when we have a personal relationship of love with Jesus present in his Church. Message” @Pontifex 31 May 2020
  • “How I desire that we Christians be more deeply united as witnesses of mercy for the human family so severely tested in these days. Let’s ask the Spirit for the gift of unity, for only if we live as brothers & sisters can we spread the spirit of fraternity. Message” @Pontifex 31 May 2020
  • “The Holy Spirit assures us that we are not alone, that God sustains us. Dear friends, we must give in turn the gift that we have received: we are called to share the comfort of the Spirit, the closeness of God.” @Pontifex 1 June 2020
  • “A Church that is mother follows the path of tenderness and compassion. A son or daughter of the Church is therefore meek, tender, smiling, and full of love. #MaryMotherOfTheChurch” @Pontifex 1 June 2020
  • “Let us invoke the Holy Spirit. May He might give light and strength to the Church and society in the #Amazon region, sorely tried by the pandemic. I pray for the poorest of that precious Region and the world. And I plead that they may not lack health care.” @Pontifex 2 June 2020
  • “We have such need of the light and strength of the Holy Spirit! The Church needs it to walk harmoniously and courageously in the witness of the Gospel. And the entire human family needs it so as to move out of this crisis more united and not more divided.” @Pontifex 2 June 2020
  • “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form. At the same time, we have to recognize that violence is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost. Let us pray for reconciliation and peace.” @Pontifex 3 June 2020
  • “Let us learn from Abraham to pray with faith: listening, walking, engaging in dialogue to the point of argument, but always willing to accept God’s word and to put it into practice. #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex 3 June 2020

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The Macra Terror – The Secrets of Doctor Who

The 2nd Doctor has to free a human colony from mind-controlling intelligent crabs? Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss this story now found only in an animated reconstruction, including how the animation makes it an even better story than the original.

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Civilization (ENT) – The Secrets of Star Trek

As the Enterprise encounters a primitive world, they learn a lesson about the Prime Directive. Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha the themes of respect for cultures and exploitation, environmental pollution, and the other side of alien abduction in this story.

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Can Catholics be Jedi? Saying Mass in Klingon? Saved Zombies? … & More Weird Questions – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

It’s a fifth Friday of the month, so Jimmy Akin is answering more weird questions, including whether Catholics can be Jedi, saying Mass in Klingon, whether zombies can be saved, whether Elves need sacraments, and more.

Help us continue to offer Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World. Won’t you make a pledge at SQPN.com/give today?

Questions from this episode:

  • 02:55 -I was watching a sitcom on one of the major networks. In this episode, a teenage character was trying to win over a girl by pretending to be as religious as she was. The female character had decided to be baptized in a Baptist church and the young man joined her hoping that the gesture would garner her affections. The pastor character dunked both teenagers in the font and recited the proper Trinitarian form. Now even though they were acting on a set, it seems to me that all the necessary requirements were fulfilled for Baptism. Provided the actors had not previously been baptized, would they now be baptized?
  • 07:10 – As sort of an academic exercise among linguists, there’s a hypothetical language, Anglish, created from a Britain isolated from Latin and French influence. What would the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be sound like if Anglo-Saxon-influenced words were used exclusively in the prayers?
  • 11:11 – Would Tolkien’s Elves, as unfallen humans, require the sacraments?
  • 14:54 – Would a Mass performed in Klingon be invalid or illicit? If it is valid, where can we find a priest who could do that? Could Fr. Hugh be trained to do this?
  • 19:09 – Where did Jesus’s Y chromosome come from?
  • 20:00 – And where did Adam get his Y chromosome? And did Eve have a Y? Could the Y that was withheld from Eve have been preserved and passed down somehow until it was utilized in Jesus, the second Adam?
  • 23:34 – How long did it take to grow your beard and how long is it?
  • 25:32 – Apparently there is a Non-Theistic movement called Jediism that is based on what the Jedi follow. Would it be ok for Catholics to be a part of this even though the “real life Jedi” may not be too quick to admit they are role-players?
  • 28:38 – Can zombies be saved?
  • 30:50 – Are zombies biblical?
  • 34:04 – Does tradition give us any idea if what happened to the saints that rose from the grave and went into the holy city after the crucifixion of our Lord. Did they have incorrupt bodies or glorified bodies? Did they die again? Did they return to the grave? Were they assumed bodily into heaven? Also, is there any record of what the said to people in the Holy City?
  • 37:29 – What is the real point of liturgies where pets are blessed?
  • 38:48 – Suppose you took a single-celled human embryo. You removed the sex chromosomes from this embryo’s DNA and replaced them with chromosomes of the opposite sex. Now the child will grow up to be the opposite sex. What sex will this person be in the Resurrection?
  • 43:12 – In Scripture we read many times that Jesus wept. Yet I can’t think of a single instance to read Jesus laughed. Did he?

Links for this episode:

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The Weekly Francis – 28 May 2020

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 17 April 2020 to 28 May 2020.

Daily Homilies (fervorinos)

General Audiences

Homilies

Letters

Messages

Prayers

Regina Coeli

Papal Tweets

  • “This life is the gift that God has given us. It is too short to be spent in sadness. Let us praise God, content simply to exist. We are children of the great King, capable of reading His signature in all Creation. #LaudatoSi5” @Pontifex 21 May 2020
  • “Jesus told his disciples that he would send them the Spirit, the Comforter, prior to his departure. In this way, he also entrusted the apostolic work of the Church to the Spirit for all time, until his return. #Ascension [Message(]http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200521_messaggio-pom.html)” @Pontifex 21 May 2020
  • “If one follows Jesus, happy to be attracted by Him, others will take notice. They may even be astonished. The joy that radiates from those attracted by Christ and by his Spirit is what can make any missionary initiative fruitful.” @Pontifex 21 May 2020
  • “The joy of proclaiming the Gospel always shines brightly against the backdrop of a grateful memory. To be “in a state of mission” is a reflection of gratitude. It is the response of one who by gratitude is made docile to the Spirit and is therefore free. [Message(]http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200521_messaggio-pom.html)” @Pontifex 21 May 2020
  • “Receiving the joy of the Spirit is a grace. Moreover, it is the only force that enables us to preach the Gospel and to confess our faith in the Lord. Faith means bearing witness to the joy that the Lord gives to us. A joy such as this cannot be the result of our own efforts.” @Pontifex 21 May 2020
  • “Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence. We have no such right. #Biodiversity #LaudatoSi5” @Pontifex 22 May 2020
  • “Men and women of #Prayer safeguard the basic truths. They repeat to everyone that this life, despite all its fatigue, trials, and difficult days, is filled with a grace at which we marvel. As such life must always be defended and protected.” @Pontifex 23 May 2020
  • “Care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion. Jesus reminded us that we have God as our common Father and that this makes us brothers and sisters. #LaudatoSi5” @Pontifex 23 May 2020
  • “An integral ecology includes taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us. #LaudatoSi5” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “Knowledge of the Lord is handed down from generation to generation mainly by telling the story of how He continues to make Himself present. The God of life communicates with us through the story of life. #WorldCommunicationsDay2020 Message” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “The Feast of the #Ascension tells us that Jesus ascended to Heaven to dwell gloriously at the right hand of the Father and remains always among us. This is the source of our strength, perseverance and joy.” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “Let us entrust our brother and sister Catholics in China to the guidance and protection of our Heavenly Mother, so that they might be strong in faith and steadfast in fraternal union, joyful witnesses, and promoters of charity and hope.” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “我们把在中国的弟兄姊妹託付于我们天上的母亲引领及庇佑，愿他们信德坚毅，巩固友爱团结，喜乐地见证并促进爱德与望德。” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “我們把在中國的弟兄姊妹託付於我們天上的母親引領及庇佑，願他們信德堅毅，鞏固友愛團結，喜樂地見證並促進愛德與望德。” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “Let us entrust to Mary Help of Christians all in this difficult time who work for peace, for dialogue between nations, for service to the poor, for the care of creation, and for the victory of humanity over every disease of body, heart and soul.” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight. Praise be to you! #LaudatoSi5” @Pontifex 24 May 2020
  • “Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Saint John Paul II’s Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint. On this anniversary, I give thanks to the Lord for the journey he has allowed us to travel as Christians in quest of full communion. Message” @Pontifex 25 May 2020
  • “Jesus bore our humanity and brought it beyond death to a new place, to Heaven, so that there where He is, we might also be.” @Pontifex 25 May 2020
  • “The Holy Spirit transforms us into a Church-womb of mercy, that is, into a “mother with a heart open” to all.” @Pontifex 26 May 2020
  • “#PrayTogether Image” @Pontifex 26 May 2020
  • “#Prayer liberates us from our instinct toward violence. It is a gaze directed toward God, so that He might take care of the human heart. #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex 27 May 2020
  • “The Holy Spirit, when we invite Him into our wounds, anoints our painful memories with the balm of hope, because the Spirit restores hope.” @Pontifex 28 May 2020

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