LUTHERAN: "He Was My Pope, Too!"

In Christianity Today, Lutheran writer Uwe Siemon-Netto writes:

For the last quarter of a century, this non-Catholic has had a pope. Now that John Paul II is gone, I am even more of an orphan than the Christians in the Roman church. For they will surely have another pope, but that one may not be mine, since I haven’t converted.

I am sure I am reflecting the views of many Protestants. Who else but John Paul II gave voice to my faith and my values in 130 countries? Who else posited personal holiness and theological clarity against postmodern self-deception and egotism? Who else preached the gospel as tirelessly as this man?

GET THE STORY.

LUTHERAN: “He Was My Pope, Too!”

In Christianity Today, Lutheran writer Uwe Siemon-Netto writes:

For the last quarter of a century, this non-Catholic has had a pope. Now that John Paul II is gone, I am even more of an orphan than the Christians in the Roman church. For they will surely have another pope, but that one may not be mine, since I haven’t converted.

I am sure I am reflecting the views of many Protestants. Who else but John Paul II gave voice to my faith and my values in 130 countries? Who else posited personal holiness and theological clarity against postmodern self-deception and egotism? Who else preached the gospel as tirelessly as this man?

GET THE STORY.

LARK NEWS: The Rapture Has Taken Place!

OTTAWA — The Rapture occurred March 31, 2005, at 9:43 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time and took both people on the planet whose theology was exactly correct.

Dan Wilson of Ottawa, Canada, was snatched away while sleeping.

"He spent years refining his eschatological scheme," says his wife. "Just last week he told me he had it all right, but I still disagreed with him on a minor point. I regret that now."

READ MORE.

In The Beginning: John Paul II's First Homily

A friend of mine who is a priest and a Benedictine (and a really good guy!) writes:

I obtained from the Vatican website the Homily that Pope John Paul II preached at the Mass for the inauguration of his pontificate, October 22, 1978. I’ve translated it from the Italian (minus his brief greetings in several other languages). It has turned out to be a prophecy of his person and work as pope. In case you are interested in it, I have attached it to this e-mail in two forms so that you can open at least one.

GET THE HOMILY.

Continue reading “In The Beginning: John Paul II's First Homily”

In The Beginning: John Paul II’s First Homily

A friend of mine who is a priest and a Benedictine (and a really good guy!) writes:

I obtained from the Vatican website the Homily that Pope John Paul II preached at the Mass for the inauguration of his pontificate, October 22, 1978. I’ve translated it from the Italian (minus his brief greetings in several other languages). It has turned out to be a prophecy of his person and work as pope. In case you are interested in it, I have attached it to this e-mail in two forms so that you can open at least one.

GET THE HOMILY.

Continue reading “In The Beginning: John Paul II’s First Homily”

Viva Le Difference

FLASH! GIRLS AND BOYS ARE NOT THE SAME!

Yes! That’s the shocking conclusion reached by

THIS SCIENTIST.

He’s confirmed something that other studies have shown before–that girl babies respond more to faces than boy babies do–but the twist is, he’s shown it earlier in life than previous studies have. Specifically: He’s shown that the phenomenon exists 24 hours after birth.

It’s interesting to see the politically correct environment he has to deal with in his field. Folks have been so determined to explain ALL sex differences based on training and environment that he actually feels the need to say things like this:

The results of the experiment were that we found more boys than girls looked longer at the mechanical mobile. And more girls than boys looked longer at the human face. Given that it was a sex difference that emerged at birth, it means that you can’t attribute the difference to experience or culture. Twenty-four hours old. Now you might say, well, they’re not exactly new-born, it would have been better to get them at 24 minutes old — or even younger. But obviously we had to respect the wishes of the parents and the doctors to let the baby relax after the trauma of being born. And let the parents get to know their baby. So strictly speaking, it might have been one day of social experience. But nonetheless, this difference is emerging so early that suggests it’s at least partly biological.

His story also goes into a lot of related, interesting subjects, such as the origin of autism and the effects later in life of prenatal exposure to testosterone. Fascinating reading.

GET THE (COMMON SENSE) STORY.

Viva Le Difference

FLASH! GIRLS AND BOYS ARE NOT THE SAME!

Yes! That’s the shocking conclusion reached by

THIS SCIENTIST.

He’s confirmed something that other studies have shown before–that girl babies respond more to faces than boy babies do–but the twist is, he’s shown it earlier in life than previous studies have. Specifically: He’s shown that the phenomenon exists 24 hours after birth.

It’s interesting to see the politically correct environment he has to deal with in his field. Folks have been so determined to explain ALL sex differences based on training and environment that he actually feels the need to say things like this:

The results of the experiment were that we found more boys than girls looked longer at the mechanical mobile. And more girls than boys looked longer at the human face. Given that it was a sex difference that emerged at birth, it means that you can’t attribute the difference to experience or culture. Twenty-four hours old. Now you might say, well, they’re not exactly new-born, it would have been better to get them at 24 minutes old — or even younger. But obviously we had to respect the wishes of the parents and the doctors to let the baby relax after the trauma of being born. And let the parents get to know their baby. So strictly speaking, it might have been one day of social experience. But nonetheless, this difference is emerging so early that suggests it’s at least partly biological.

His story also goes into a lot of related, interesting subjects, such as the origin of autism and the effects later in life of prenatal exposure to testosterone. Fascinating reading.

GET THE (COMMON SENSE) STORY.

Careful, Star Wars Spoiler-Avoiders!

Revengeofthesith I was in a bookstore last night, and right there in the first display inside the main door was the novelization of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

It was sitting right there.

With a complete novelization of what will go down on movie screen across the country just over a month from now.

It had all the spoilers one could want (shy of a bootleg copy of the finished film itself, of course).

And it’s available not only in hardback but also in CD and audiocasette, both abridged and unabridged.

At very reasonable prices.

Next day shipping available.

But be warned: If once you start to read it, forever will it dominate your experience of the film.

YOU MUST FACE YOUR GREATEST TEMPTATION, YOUNG PADAWAN.

Some Random Thoughts On The Death Of The Holy Father

Guestblogger <Rule 15b>Sal</Rule15b> writes:

When I went up to go to confession Saturday, someone had placed a picture of the Pope on an easel in the narthex and draped it in black. The picture was “the red and gold” photo – one of the earliest official portraits. When I looked closer, I saw that the face and body were in bas relief: the picture was made of pressed plastic. And it was in one of those frames that aren’t even real wood, but wood-grained contact paper over pressboard. It had probably been hanging in the church office for twenty years., or someone brought it from home. Which is one of the things I love about the Church – we can be tacky and magnificent at the same time.

Sunday morning, my oldest daughter – the one I was expecting when John Paul II was elected- came over with our granddaughter to pick up some moving boxes.

“You know what we did last night? “ she asked. “ We just lay in bed and watched the coverage of the Pope’s life for hours. Jake said ‘Why are we doing this?’ but we couldn’t turn it off. It was so fascinating.”

Now you need to understand that our son-in-law is completely unchurched and innocent of any religious background at all. He’s not hostile towards religion – just doesn’t know anything about it. For him to watch hours of cable news about a man who didn’t even touch the periphery of his experience means something.

“You just can’t help but like him, “he said.

I didn’t convert until 1985, six years into this papacy. I credit the Pope’s unwavering stand on the things that actually matter with reassuring me that the Church really was indefectible, that rough patches could be overcome, and that God does provide- in this case, the right man for the job. And that in spite of the surrounding seeming chaos, it was still perfectly possible to be a good Catholic. At the time, my friends cautioned: “Oh, he’s okay – but what about the next guy? Huh?” After twenty years in the Church, I’m sure the “next guy” will do just fine.