When I Get Where I'm Going

Today's Office of Readings speaks of not getting distracted and forgetting where we are going. This song played recently on the local Christian station WOLC, Joy 102.5. This is the secular version of it by Brad Paisley. I think it says it all.

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Rough Roads and Pleasant Meadows

From Today's Office of Readings:

From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope

Christ the Good Shepherd

I am the good shepherd. I know my own – by which I mean, I love them – and my own know me. In plain words: those who love me are willing to follow me, for anyone who does not love the truth has not yet come to know it.

My dear brethren, you have heard the test we pastors have to undergo. Turn now to consider how these words of our Lord imply a test for yourselves also. Ask yourselves whether you belong to his flock, whether you know him, whether the light of his truth shines in your minds. I assure you that it is not by faith that you will come to know him, but by love; not by mere conviction, but by action. John the evangelist is my authority for this statement. He tells us that anyone who claims to know God without keeping his commandments is a liar.

Consequently, the Lord immediately adds: As the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. Clearly he means that laying down his life for his sheep gives evidence of his knowledge of the Father and the Father’s knowledge of him. In other words, by the love with which he dies for his sheep he shows how greatly he loves his Father.

Again he says: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; they follow me, and I give them eternal life. Shortly before this he had declared: If anyone enters the sheepfold through me he shall be saved; he shall go freely in and out and shall find good pasture. He will enter into a life of faith; from faith he will go out to vision, from belief to contemplation, and will graze in the good pastures of everlasting life.

So our Lord’s sheep will finally reach their grazing ground where all who follow him in simplicity of heart will feed on the green pastures of eternity. These pastures are the spiritual joys of heaven. There the elect look upon the face of God with unclouded vision and feast at the banquet of life for ever more.

Beloved brothers, let us set out for these pastures where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens. May the thought of their happiness urge us on! Let us stir up our hearts, rekindle our faith, and long eagerly for what heaven has in store for us. To love thus is to be already on our way. No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of that heavenly feast. Anyone who is determined to reach his destination is not deterred by the roughness of the road that leads to it. Nor must we allow the charm of success to seduce us, or we shall be like a foolish traveller who is so distracted by the pleasant meadows through which he is passing that he forgets where he is going.

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Buddy - Musiq Soulchild

This is one of my favorite songs out right now. I'm not sure if it is the musical arrangement, the melody or just the story line in the song that attracts me. But I really like the closing scene of the video. It looks like they were having fun.

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Asking God About School Shootings

Dear God:

Why didn't you save the school children at:

Moses Lake , Washington 2/2/96
Bethel , Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl , Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah , Kentucky 12/1/97
Stamp, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro , Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro , Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville , Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield , Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond , Virginia 6/15/98
Littleton , Colorado 4/20/99
Conyers , Georgia 5/20/99
Deming , New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson , Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee , California 3/ 5/01 and
El Cajon , California 3/22/01
Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007

Sincerely,

Concerned Student

God's Reply:

Dear Concerned Student:

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely,

God

Sometimes I think that many of the problems we face now are the result of terrible choices...choices that seem harmless and even fair at the time...like removing prayer and the ten commandments from our schools.

My prayers go out to all the victims of school violence.

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Cheerleader Brings Knife and Hit List To School

Is MySpace a place for stupid kids? I guess if you post your "hit" list on your profile and then bring it and a knife to school, there is an argument to be made.

A teen in a Baltimore area cheerleading squad did just that... and got caught. Anne Arundel County school leaders say disciplinary action has already been taken, but parents are miffed saying that without telling them about the incident, the safety of their children threatened.

As a parent I am constantly monitoring what is going on in their schools. In Crisfield Md, there has been a murdered student and threatened race riots because of the sudden natural death of another. It is the parents right to know. I found out about these things because my kids have cell phones. I don't rely on the school system here. it seems to be more interested in attendance- ie. keeping federal funding for "No Child Left Behind"- than for a kids actual intelligence or safety.

It must be an NEA secret.

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Are You Moving?

Did you know that 20% of the U.S. Population moves every year?

Researchers have learned that movers are a special group of consumers who are dealing with a lifestyle change. In essence, special methods have been developed to address them in a very personalized and unique way. This change of residency can be exciting or traumatic to the family. Mostly it generates a combination of emotions, depending on the circumstances of each moving experience.

So are you one of the many needing help finding a cheap moving company?

Service Network announces their quick and easy moving company matching system. Because moving can be a stressful time on both your family and your finances, selecting the right moving company is very important. The moving industry is known for having less than reputable movers. Some moving companies will be in business one day and gone the next. So how do you select one you can actually trust? Service Network has successfully assisted over 50,000 customers move just this year alone. Their process is quick and easy in a matter of minutes you can get connected with movers in their network. Service Network has also pre–negotiated up to 65% discounts for your move.

Check them out today.

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Real Food And Drink

Today's Gospel John 6:52 - 59:

The Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’


Jesus is the bread of life. Be filled.

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Kickin' It Old Skool

Ok...some of you may not appreciate this kind of humor. But this is just the premise in a movie that I enjoy. So does the Coma dude get the girl? I guess we'll have to see.

Jamie Kennedy has been a busy guy. If you check his website you will see an amazing array of projects he has produced. One is a documentary called “Heckler”. Jamie's documentary "Heckler" will be premiering on April 26 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. It will be showing every night from April 26 to April 30th, with a special screeining on May 2nd at Tribeca Cinemas sponsored by Verizon.

The last screening will be May 4th at midnight - if you're in the city, come check it out!

For the trailer, show times and locations and much more, check the link below:

http://www.hecklermovie.com/

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Vacations.net

Looking for an all inclusive resort in mexico?


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Visit Vacations.net new website today.

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Feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist

Today's Gospel Mark 16:15 - 20:

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

About St. Mark:

He was a cousin of Barnabas and accompanied the apostle Paul on his first missionary journey; later he followed him to Rome. He was a disciple of Peter, and his gospel is told from Peter’s point of view. He is credited with founding the Church in Alexandria. His body was stolen from Alexandria in 828 (though some say that the wrong bones were stolen) and taken to Venice, which adopted him as its patron saint.

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Let us sing to the Lord

From Today's Office of Readings:

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

Let us sing to the Lord a song of love

Sing to the Lord a new song; his praise is in the assembly of the saints. We are urged to sing a new song to the Lord, as new men who have learned a new song. A song is a thing of joy; more profoundly, it is a thing of love. Anyone, therefore, who has learned to love the new life has learned to sing a new song, and the new song reminds us of our new life. The new man, the new song, the new covenant, all belong to the one kingdom of God, and so the new man will sing a new song and will belong to the new covenant.

There is not one who does not love something, but the question is, what to love. The psalms do not tell us not to love, but to choose the object of our love. But how can we choose unless we are first chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the apostle John: We love him, because he first loved us. The source of man’s love for God can only be found in the fact that God loved him first. He has given us himself as the object of our love, and he has also given us its source. What this source is you may learn more clearly from the apostle Paul who tells us: The love of God has been poured into our hearts. This love is not something we generate ourselves; it comes to us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Since we have such an assurance, then, let us love God with the love he has given us. As John tells us more fully: God is love, and whoever dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. It is not enough to say: Love is from God. Which of us would dare to pronounce the words of Scripture: God is love? He alone could say it who knew what it was to have God dwelling within him. God offers us a short route to the possession of himself. He cries out: Love me and you will have me for you would be unable to love me if you did not possess me already.

My dear brothers and sons, fruit of the true faith and holy seed of heaven, all you who have been born again in Christ and whose life is from above, listen to me; or rather, listen to the Holy Spirit saying through me: Sing to the Lord a new song. Look, you tell me, I am singing. Yes indeed, you are singing; you are singing clearly, I can hear you. But make sure that your life does not contradict your words. Sing with your voices, your hearts, your lips and your lives: Sing to the Lord a new song’.

Now it is your unquestioned desire to sing of him whom you love, but you ask me how to sing his praises. You have heard the words: Sing to the Lord a new song, and you wish to know what praises to sing. The answer is: His praise is in the assembly of the saints; it is in the singers themselves. If you desire to praise him, then live what you express. Live good lives, and you yourselves will be his praise.

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The Life-giving Cross

From Today's Office Of Readings:

From a sermon by Saint Theodore the Studite

The precious and life-giving cross of Christ

How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.

This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the Lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in his hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory!

Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom’s pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.

The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God’s command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God’s own people? Aaron’s rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?

By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven.

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The sacrament of unity and love

From Today's Office of Readings:

From a book addressed to Monimus by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, bishop

The sacrament of unity and love

The spiritual building up of the body of Christ is achieved through love. As Saint Peter says: Like living stones you are built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And there can be no more effective way to pray for this spiritual growth than for the Church, itself Christ’s body, to make the offering of his body and blood in the sacramental form of bread and wine. For the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ.

Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, since we all share the same bread. And so we pray that, by the same grace which made the Church Christ’s body, all its members may remain firm in the unity of that body through the enduring bond of love.

We are right to pray that this may be brought about in us through the gift of the one Spirit of the Father and the Son. The holy Trinity, the one true God, is of its nature unity, equality and love, and by one divine activity sanctifies its adopted sons. That is why Scripture says that God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he has given us. The Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, produces in those to whom he gives the grace of divine adoption the same effect as he produced among those whom the Acts of the Apostles describes as having received the Holy Spirit. We are told that the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, because the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is one God, had created a single heart and soul in all those who believed.

This is why Saint Paul in his exhortation to the Ephesians says that this spiritual unity in the bond of peace must be carefully preserved. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, he writes, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, with all humility and meekness and with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit.

God makes the Church itself a sacrifice pleasing in his sight by preserving within it the love which his Holy Spirit has poured out. Thus the grace of that spiritual love is always available to us, enabling us continually to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to him for ever.

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The spiritual Passover

From Today's Office of Readings:

From an ancient Easter homily by Pseudo-Chrysostom

The spiritual Passover

The Passover we celebrate brings salvation to the whole human race beginning with the first man, who together with all the others is saved and given life.
In an imperfect and transitory way, the types and images of the past prefigured the perfect and eternal reality which has now been revealed. The presence of what is represented makes the symbol obsolete: when the king appears in person no one pays reverence to his statue.

How far the symbol falls short of the reality is seen from the fact that the symbolic Passover celebrated the brief life of the firstborn of the Jews, whereas the real Passover celebrates the eternal life of all mankind. It is a small gain to escape death for a short time, only to die soon afterward; it is a very different thing to escape death altogether as we do through the sacrifice of Christ, our Passover.

Correctly understood, its very name shows why this is our greatest feast. It is called the Passover because, when he was striking down the firstborn, the destroying angel passed over the houses of the Hebrews, but it is even more true to say that he passes over us, for he does so once and for all when we are raised up by Christ to eternal life.

If we think only of the true Passover and ask why it is that the time of the Passover and the salvation of the firstborn is taken to be the beginning of the year, the answer must surely be that the sacrifice of the true Passover is for us the beginning of eternal life. Because it revolves in cycles and never comes to an end, the year is a symbol of eternity.

Christ, the sacrifice that was offered up for us, is the father of the world to come. He puts an end to our former life, and through the regenerating waters of baptism in which we imitate his death and resurrection, he gives us the beginning of a new life. The knowledge that Christ is the Passover lamb who was sacrificed for us should make us regard the moment of his immolation as the beginning of our own lives. As far as we are concerned, Christ’s immolation on our behalf takes place when we become aware of this grace and understand the life conferred on us by this sacrifice. Having once understood it, we should enter upon this new life with all eagerness and never return to the old one, which is now at an end. As Scripture says: We have died to sin – how then can we continue to live in it?

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Silver Coins

Remember when you could take a dollar down to the gas station and buy four gallons for a buck! Back then our dollar was backed by REAL money, real silver. Did you know hat same amount of silver still buys four gallons of gas? That shows that “real” money like gold and silver holds its value and it is the green paper money that is now worth a lot less.

When you think about it, gas, food, and almost everything else has NOT gotten more expensive. It only seems that way because the value of the green paper money is has lost it’s value, so now it takes more and more of it to buy the same goods and services. Prices have not gone up…the value of the dollar has gone down.

Investment experts have long-recommended portfolio diversification and that 10% to 20% (and sometimes more) of an investor’s assets be devoted to tangible assets such as gold, silver coins. Monex has the experience, expertise and resources to serve most any precious metals investor’s needs. Since 1967, well over one hundred thousand investors have purchased billions of dollars of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and bullion coins from Monex.

As one of the country’s oldest, largest and most experienced firms specializing in precious metals for the individual investor, Monex is uniquely qualified to serve your precious metals needs. We look forward to serving you, and helping you meet your investment objectives.

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A new creation in Christ

From Today's Office of Readings:

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

A new creation in Christ

I speak to you who have just been reborn in baptism, my little children in Christ, you who are the new offspring of the Church, gift of the Father, proof of Mother Church’s fruitfulness. All of you who stand fast in the Lord are a holy seed, a new colony of bees, the very flower of our ministry and fruit of our toil, my joy and my crown. It is the words of the Apostle that I address to you: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh and its desires, so that you may be clothed with the life of him whom you have put on in this sacrament. You have all been clothed with Christ by your baptism in him. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor freeman; there is neither male nor female; you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Such is the power of this sacrament: it is a sacrament of new life which begins here and now with the forgiveness of all past sins, and will be brought to completion in the resurrection of the dead. You have been buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that, as Christ has risen from the dead, you also may walk in newness of life.

You are walking now by faith, still on pilgrimage in a mortal body away from the Lord; but he to whom your steps are directed is himself the sure and certain way for you: Jesus Christ, who for our sake became man. For all who fear him he has stored up abundant happiness, which he will reveal to those who hope in him, bringing it to completion when we have attained the reality which even now we possess in hope.

This is the octave day of your new birth. Today is fulfilled in you the sign of faith that was prefigured in the Old Testament by the circumcision of the flesh on the eighth day after birth. When the Lord rose from the dead, he put off the mortality of the flesh; his risen body was still the same body, but it was no longer subject to death. By his resurrection he consecrated Sunday, or the Lord’s day. Though the third after his passion, this day is the eighth after the Sabbath, and thus also the first day of the week.

And so your own hope of resurrection, though not yet realised, is sure and certain, because you have received the sacrament or sign of this reality, and have been given the pledge of the Spirit. If, then, you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your hearts on heavenly things, not the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

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The Bread Of Heaven

From Today's Office of Readings:

From the Jerusalem Catecheses

The bread of Heaven and the cup of salvation

On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body”. He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take, drink: this is my blood”. Since Christ himself has declared the bread to be his body, who can have any further doubt? Since he himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not his blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ. His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood with him. Having his body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall have no life in you. This horrified them and they left him. Not understanding his words in a spiritual way, they thought the Saviour wished them to practise cannibalism.

Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged. Under the new covenant there is bread from heaven and the cup of salvation. These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.

Do not, then, regard the eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as he himself has declared. Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ. You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness. Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that by contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may be transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen

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Jack Black and Sasquatch

Just another reason to say no to drugs! Some may object to this but my children love this Jack Black sequence. My seven year old daughter said, "Those mushrooms made him dream that". Very observant. She also said about The Pick Of Destiny, "They say alot of bad words..." Well at least she's getting it.

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Christ Is The The Source Of Life

Reading From an Easter homily by an ancient author

Christ the source of resurrection and life

Saint Paul rejoices in the knowledge that spiritual health has been restored to the human race. Death entered the world through Adam, he explains, but life has been given back to the world through Christ. Again he says: The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven and it is heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthly man, the image of human nature grown old in sin, so let us bear the image of the heavenly man: human nature raised up, redeemed , restored and purified in Christ. We must hold fast to the salvation we have received. Christ was the first fruits’, says the Apostle; he is the source of resurrection and life. ‘Those who belong to Christ will follow him. Modelling their lives on his purity, they will be secure in the hope of his resurrection and of enjoying with him the glory promised in heaven. Our Lord himself said so in the gospel: Whoever follows me will not perish, but will pass from death to life.

Thus the passion of our Saviour is the salvation of mankind. The reason why he desired to die for us was that he wanted us who believe in him to live for ever. In the fullness of time it was his will to become what we are, so that we might inherit the eternity he promised and live with him for ever.

Here, then, is the grace conferred by these heavenly mysteries, the gift which Easter brings, the most longed for feast of the year; here are the beginnings of creatures newly formed: children born from the life giving font of holy Church, born anew with the simplicity of little ones, and crying out with the evidence of a clean conscience. Chaste fathers and inviolate mothers accompany this new family, countless in number, born to new life through faith. As they emerge from the grace giving womb of the font, a blaze of candles burns brightly beneath the tree of faith. The Easter festival brings the grace of holiness from heaven to men. Through the repeated celebration of the sacred mysteries they receive the spiritual nourishment of the sacraments. Fostered at the very heart of holy Church, the fellowship of one community worships the one God, adoring the triple name of his essential holiness, and together with the prophet sings the psalm which belongs to this yearly festival: This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. And what is this day? It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the author of light, who brings the sunrise and the beginning of life, saying of himself: I am the light of day; whoever walks in daylight does not stumble. That is to say, whoever follows Christ in all things will come by this path to the throne of eternal light.

Such was the prayer Christ made to the Father while he was still on earth: Father, I desire that where I am they also may be, those who have come to believe in me; and that as you are in me and I in you, so they may abide in us.

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The Easter praise of Christ

Reading From an Easter homily by Melito of Sardis, bishop

The Easter praise of Christ

We should understand, beloved, that the paschal mystery is at once old and new, transitory and eternal, corruptible and incorruptible, mortal and immortal. In terms of the Law it is old, in terms of the Word it is new. In its figure it is passing, in its grace it is eternal. It is corruptible in the sacrifice of the lamb, incorruptible in the eternal life of the Lord. It is mortal in his burial in the earth, immortal in his resurrection from the dead.

The Law indeed is old, but the Word is new. The type is transitory, but grace is eternal. The lamb was corruptible, but the Lord is incorruptible. He was slain as a lamb; he rose again as God. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, yet he was not a sheep. He was silent as a lamb, yet he was not a lamb. The type has passed away; the reality has come. The lamb gives place to God, the sheep gives place to a man, and the man is Christ, who fills the whole of creation. The sacrifice of the lamb, the celebration of the Passover, and the prescriptions of the Law have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Under the old Law, and still more under the new dispensation, everything pointed toward him.

Both the Law and the Word came forth from Zion and Jerusalem, but now the Law has given place to the Word, the old to the new. The commandment has become grace, the type a reality. The lamb has become a Son, the sheep a man, and man, God.

The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of those who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: Who will contend with me? Let him confront me. I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.

Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your ransom, your life, your resurrection, your light, I am your salvation and your king. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up, and I will show you the eternal Father.

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Easter Blessing

From Today's Gospel: John 20:1 - 9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb' she said 'and we don't know where they have put him.'

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

A Prayer

O God, through your only-begotten Son who defeated death, you have opened for us today a path to eternal life.
Grant that as we celebrate the solemnity of the Lord's resurrection,
we may be renewed by your Spirit and rise again in the light of a new life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Wishing everyone a Happy and blessed Easter!

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The whole earth keeps silence

From today's Office of Readings:

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

The Lord's descent into the underworld

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all”. Christ answered him: “And with your spirit”. He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”.

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

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Easter Triduum marks "supreme confrontation"

From CWN.com:

At his regular weekly public audience on April 4, Pope Benedict XVI looked forward to the Easter Triduum, saying that the liturgical events of the coming days enact "the supreme confrontation between light and darkness, between life and death."

The Easter Triduum, the Holy Father said, "invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Cross, to acknowledge our sinfulness and, in faith, to unite ourselves with Jesus in his saving passover from death to life."

Speaking about each liturgical event in turn, the Pope said that the Chrism Mass and the Mass of the Lord's Supper-- both celebrated on Holy Thursday-- encourage the faithful to recognize "the supreme triple gift of priestly ministry, the Eucharist, and the new commandment of love."

Good Friday, he continued, is a day of solemn fasting, penance, and prayer, with the Way of the Cross giving the faithful an opportunity "to imprint the mystery of the Cross ever more deeply on our hearts."

Holy Saturday should be a day of "interior meditation," the Pope said-- acknowledging that this is a challenge as the faithful prepare for the Easter celebration. Then at the Easter Vigil, "the veil of sadness shrouding the Church… with be shattered by the cry of victory."

In the Easter Triduum, the Pope said with emphasis, the Church relives "not just a memory but a current reality." Christ is triumphant over sin and death today, the Pope said. "It is upon this certainty that our Christian lives are built."

Before ending the Wednesday audience, Pope Benedict acknowledged the presence of many students who have gathered in Rome in for the annual UNIV conference sponsored by Opus Dei. Citing the words of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of the lay movement, he said: "I really wish we Christians knew how to serve, for only by serving can we know and love Christ and make Him known and loved."

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The Perfection Of Love

From Today's Office Of Readings:

From a treatise on John by Saint Augustine, bishop

The perfection of love

Dear brethren, the Lord has marked out for us the fullness of love that we ought to have for each other. He tells us: No one has greater love than the man who lays down his life for his friends. In these words, the Lord tells us what the perfect love we should have for one another involves. John, the evangelist who recorded them, draws the conclusion in one of his letters: As Christ laid down his life for us, so we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. We should indeed love one another as he loved us, he who laid down his life for us.

This is surely what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon: If you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler, observe carefully what is set before you; then stretch out your hand, knowing that you must provide the same kind of meal yourself. What is this ruler’s table if not the one at which we receive the body and blood of him who laid down his life for us? What does it mean to sit at this table if not to approach it with humility? What does it mean to observe carefully what is set before you if not to meditate devoutly on so great a gift? What does it mean to stretch out one’s hand, knowing that one must provide the same kind of meal oneself, if not what I have just said: as Christ laid down his life for us, so we in our turn ought to lay down our lives for our brothers? This is what the apostle Paul said: Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we might follow in his footsteps.

This is what is meant by providing “the same kind of meal”. This is what the blessed martyrs did with such burning love. If we are to give true meaning to our celebration of their memorials, to our approaching the Lord’s table in the very banquet at which they were fed, we must, like them, provide “the same kind of meal”.

At this table of the Lord we do not commemorate the martyrs in the same way as we commemorate others who rest in peace. We do not pray for the martyrs as we pray for those others, rather, they pray for us, that we may follow in his footsteps. They practised the perfect love of which the Lord said there could be none greater. They provided “the same kind of meal” as they had themselves received at the Lord’s table.
This must not be understood as saying that we can be the Lord’s equals by bearing witness to him to the extent of shedding our blood. He had the power of laying down his life; we by contrast cannot choose the length of our lives, and we die even if it is against our will. He, by dying, destroyed death in himself; we are freed from death only in his death. His body did not see corruption; our body will see corruption and only then be clothed through him in incorruption at the end of the world. He needed no help from us in saving us; without him we can do nothing. He gave himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from him we cannot have life.

Finally, even if brothers die for brothers, yet no martyr by shedding his blood brings forgiveness for the sins of his brothers, as Christ brought forgiveness to us. In this he gave us, not an example to imitate but a reason for rejoicing. Inasmuch, then, as they shed their blood for their brothers, the martyrs provided “the same kind of meal” as they had received at the Lord’s table. Let us then love one another as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us.

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Keith Richards- "I Snorted My Dad"

Ask Keith Richards a drug related question...then step back and wait for fireworks.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow." he told NME magazine in a exclusive interview. It is just another addition to a long list of chemically enhanced depravity the Rolling Stones guitarist has under his belt.

His father Bert passed away in 2002, aged 84, and was cremated. Richards said his ashes were pleasant to snort. "My dad wouldn't have cared, he didn't give a s--t, It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

The drug tinged rocker also recount his worst drug binge to NME. "It was when someone put strychnine in my dope," he said. "It was in Switzerland. I was totally comatose, but I was totally awake. I could listen to everyone, and they were like, 'He's dead, he's dead!', waving their fingers and pushing me about, and I was thinking, 'I'm totally not dead!' "

Richards is co-writer of chartbusting Rolling Stones singles including Satisfaction and Start Me Up. The veteran rockers will hit the road for the European leg of their never-ending A Bigger Band tour in June.

Richards said he has "no pretensions about immortality-I'm the same as everyone else-same as you, same as everybody, I'm the same old bastard, just kind of lucky." Indeed! Richards received emergency brain surgery to remove a blood clot after falling out of a tree while gathering coconuts at a resort in Fiji last May. It was reported the a jetski accident soon afterwards. His antics have earned Richards a reputation as rock and roll's luckiest, and silliest, survivor.

Richards also spoke of the impact his current, sober state has had on his legend."I was number one on the Who's Likely to Die list for 10 years," he said. "I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list."

Richards has been arrested on drug charges numerous times and sought medical treatment for heroin addiction in the late 1970s.

One month after Richards' brain surgery another of the band's guitarists, Ronnie Wood, ended up in an alcohol rehab clinic in London after "overdoing it" on a night out. All these drug induced theatrics haven't hindered the band's success. Forbes magazine declared the British group the top money earners in the music industry last year. Their 2006 Bigger Bang tour made around $177 million.

Richards is now set to hit the big screen, playing Jack Sparrow's dad in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, due out May 23.

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How To Sell Endowment Mortgages

How hard is it to sell endowment mortgages?

Endowment mortgages are mortgages where the interest on the principle of the mortgage loan is due. The principle of the loan is covered by a type of insurance known as an endowment policy. The endowment policy ensures the mortgage holder will be able to pay off the loan when it comes due. In the UK, endowment policies are known as endowments. An endowment is an insurance policy and the policy holder must pay monthly premiums. Endowment policies where issued in the 70’s and 80’s and were thought to be able to pay off the mortgage loan completely. However, for a number reasons, many of the endowments are plagued by a shortfall. That is, they won’t pay enough to cover the mortgage amount coming due.

In some cases, policyholders are surrendering them to the issuing insurance companies for ridiculously low prices. The UK government stepped in with legislation to protect consumers by informing them that they may have higher value with a endowment policy selling service. Some policies are not all that desirable to purchase for many buyers, however it is just a case the seller being able to find the right buyer for their unique endowment policy. Someone will want to buy it. By selling their endowment policy through such a service, the endowment policy holder may receive up to 35% more for their policy.

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The Secret Life Of Cows

A co-worker called me a weird guy. He knows that I am a writer but I don't think he was ready for a taste of the writers life. We were at lunch when he, out of sheer boredom, began reading from a local sale paper. There was an ad in it for a hoofer. That would be someone who works on animals with hooves. I told him he should call him up, pretend he was the devil and try to set up an appointment to get his cloven hoof fixed. What's odd about that? It would make a great story.

We all have a secret life. Mine just blurts out from time to time.

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God our Saviour made a plan

From Today's Office of Readings

From the book On the Holy Spirit by Saint Basil, bishop


By one death and resurrection the world was saved

When mankind was estranged from him by disobedience, God our Saviour made a plan for raising us from our fall and restoring us to friendship with himself. According to this plan Christ came in the flesh, he showed us the gospel way of life, he suffered, died on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead. He did this so that we could be saved by imitation of him, and recover our original status as sons of God by adoption.

To attain holiness, then, we must not only pattern our lives on Christ’s by being gentle, humble and patient, we must also imitate him in his death. Taking Christ for his model, Paul said that he wanted to become like him in his death in the hope that he too would be raised from death to life.

We imitate Christ’s death by being buried with him in baptism. If we ask what this kind of burial means and what benefit we may hope to derive from it, it means first of all making a complete break with our former way of life, and our Lord himself said that this cannot be done unless a man is born again. In other words, we have to begin a new life, and we cannot do so until our previous life has been brought to an end. When runners reach the turning point on a racecourse, they have to pause briefly before they can go back in the opposite direction. So also when we wish to reverse the direction of our lives there must be a pause, or a death, to mark the end of one life and the beginning of another.

Our descent into hell takes place when we imitate the burial of Christ by our baptism. The bodies of the baptised are in a sense buried in the water as a symbol of their renunciation of the sins of their unregenerate nature. As the Apostle says: The circumcision you have undergone is not an operation performed by human hands, but the complete stripping away of your unregenerate nature. This is the circumcision that Christ gave us, and it is accomplished by our burial with him in baptism. Baptism cleanses the soul from the pollution of worldly thoughts and inclinations: You will wash me, says the psalmist, and I shall be whiter than snow. We receive this saving baptism only once because there was only one death and one resurrection for the salvation of the world, and baptism is its symbol.

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Glory in the Cross

From toady's Office of Readings

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

Let us too glory in the cross of the Lord

The passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience.

What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created?

It is a great thing that we are promised by the Lord, but far greater is what has already been done for us, and which we now commemorate. Where were the sinners, what were they, when Christ died for them? When Christ has already given us the gift of his death, who is to doubt that he will give the saints the gift of his own life? Why does our human frailty hesitate to believe that mankind will one day live with God?
Who is Christ if not the Word of God: in the beginning was the Word, and the Words was with God, and the Word was God? This Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. He had no power of himself to die for us: he had to take from us our mortal flesh. This was the way in which, though immortal, he was able to die; the way in which he chose to give life to mortal men: he would first share with us, and then enable us to share with him. Of ourselves we had no power to live, nor did he of himself have the power to die.

In other words, he performed the most wonderful exchange with us. Through us, he died; through him, we shall live.

The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves.

He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. How then can he fail to give us the reward we deserve for our righteousness, for he is the source of righteousness? How can he, whose promises are true, fail to reward the saints when he bore the punishment of sinners, though without sin himself?

Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.

The apostle Paul saw Christ, and extolled his claim to glory. He had many great and inspired things to say about Christ, but he did not say that he boasted in Christ’s wonderful works: in creating the world, since he was God with the Father, or in ruling the world, though he was also a man like us. Rather, he said: Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Man arrested for ‘stealing’ own car

Here is a news article from last August that is just crazy enough to be presented here 9 months later.

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City police have a new crime on the books: Stealing your own car.

Just ask Keith Spence, a Baltimore City resident who was arrested when he was driving home from work in a car he bought with a tax refund.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” Spence said.

Spence, 28, said city police pulled him over in his 1993 red Cadillac Elderado coupe for a cracked rear window in February. Four officers dragged Spence and his two passengers from the car and said they were under arrest for stealing it, he said.

“I was listening to the radio from the back seat of the police car. It said a gray Cadillac sedan was stolen; mine is a red coupe. I guess the officer must have been color blind,” he said.

“I tried to tell them it was my car, but they wouldn’t listen.”

Spence and his two friends were arrested, and the car was impounded. Charged with one count of motor vehicle theft, Spence represented himself in court in June.

“I owned the car — I knew it wasn’t stolen,” he said.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.

“The whole courtroom fell out — even the judge laughed,” Spence told The Examiner.

Still, police sold Spence’s car at auction two months before his day in court.

Now Spence is without the car it took him a year to buy, and his lawyer, Roland Brown, said he is preparing to sue the city.

“Not only did the police violate my client’s constitutional rights by selling his car before the trial, but the case demonstrates that young black males in this city are blindly targeted by the Baltimore City police,” he said.

Brown said the case also points out problems with the city’s management of stolen vehicles. “You have to question why a stolen car would be sold at all,” he said.

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said police are investigating the incident.

“We’re looking into the circumstances surrounding why the car was sold,” Jablow said.

Spence said he only wants the Cadillac he worked so hard to buy.

“I loved that car.”

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The Wonderful World of Wi-Fi

Using VOIP or or wi-fi with your pda’s and computers requires a complicated system of communications which for us less than nerds know nothing about. We simply want to plug in and browse. The Cisco Unified Wireless Network is one such system that comes with quality and name brand appeal. Their Product Portfolio contains gateways, servicing nodes , routers and a hundred other items that we daily take for granted.

For wireless business mobility Cisco Wi-fi is cost-effective and provides superior wireless security, management, deployment, radio frequency (RF) technology and mobility. They also have Cisco Outdoor Wireless Solutions which is a portfolio of products designed to enable deployment of a wireless mesh network infrastructure, wireless bridging, and mobile networks. This solution is designed to meet the specific needs of local governments, public safety, transportation, and the oil and the gas industry.

All in all it is the technology that is overlooked as we speed dial on our cell phones and connect to the internet with our wireless laptops.

I’m glad there are people who are knowledgeable enough to keep me connected. To them I tip my hat!

This is a paid advertisement.

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Exhibition Of Chocolate Christ scrapped over outrage.

An Easter-season exhibit of a life-size chocolate sculpture of a naked Jesus at a Manhattan art gallery has cancelled after an outcry by Catholics.

The artistic director of the gallery resigned in protest the cancellation.
The sculpture, My Sweet Lord, by international artist Cosimo Cavallaro was to be exhibited for each day next week in a street-level window of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery in Midtown Manhattan.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has written to 500 religious and secular organizations and has called for a boycott of the affiliated Roger Smith Hotel.

Kiera McCaffrey, a spokeswoman for the right-wing group, says it is delighted with the outcome. "We're glad that they came to their senses," she said.. “[It is] an assault on Christians during Holy Week. They would never dare do something similar with a chocolate statue of the prophet Mohammad naked with his genitals exposed during Ramadan," she said.

Cardinal Edward Egan, the Archbishop of New York, called the sculpture "scandalous" and a "sickening display".

The gallery's artistic director, Matthew Semler does not consider the piece irreverent and says he will look for another venue to display it. "I saw it as meditation on all those issues: the fact that it's chocolate, the fact that it's nude, that the chocolate is black," he said.

Cosimo Cavallaro is best known for his large-scale artistic “instalations” using food.

He has covered a room of the Washington Jefferson Hotel in New York with cheddar cheese in 1999. Two years later he sprayed cheese over the entire interior of a house in Wyoming.

Other famous New York clashes between art and religion include then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s attempted withdrawal of a grant from the Brooklyn Museum of Art for a painting “elephant Dung Mary”, depicting the Virgin Mary as a black woman splattered with elephant dung and adorned with cut-outs from pornographic magazines. Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg approaches controversy differently.. "If you want to give the guy some publicity, talk more about it, make a big fuss," he said.

"If you want to really hurt him, don't pay attention."


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1886493.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

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