November 2003 Archives

I didn't need stitches, but my finger still hurts. Thanks to everyone for their concern. No, I didn't bleed all over my juicy, tasty, flavorful turkey. We're still dealing with the leftovers though. I'll probably make a turkey casserole tomorrow.

My brother's friend Sebastian, a young man from Chile, has moved into our house. We've made room in the guest bedroom already. Apparently, the family that was caring for him kicked him out. He had planned to move in with us in January, but we don't mind having him here a little early.

One interesting thing about him is that he's Jewish. I'm not sure how we'll handle that around this Advent and Christmas time, but I'll do my best to be as ecumenical as possible. He's a really nice kid. My brother tells me he's one of the best tennis players in the world (top 20) and knows Spanish, French and is learning English here in the states. His father owns some sort of business and is apparently fairly well to do. I think he'll enjoy it more here than at his old house, because my mother is very loving and knows spanish. Plus, she can cook like nobody's business. His moving in may help my brother and me improve our spanish skills. I think, overall, his being here will be a good experience.

Well, an hour ago, while cutting the turkey, I cut my finger with the electric knife. I'm alright. I'm ticked at myself for not cutting away from myself like I was supposed to. It was totally my fault.

Please pray that I don't need stitches.

We bought this 11 lb. bird for Thanksgiving, but went to a friends to eat instead. Their turkey was sooo dry. I'm currently cooking our Turkey. This is my first attempt at cooking turkey, and I'm asking for St. Lawrence's intercession. I'm going by the Good Eats recipe which hopefully won't leave the turkey's breast meat dry.

Apparently, the breast meat is done at 161 and the dark meat is done at 180. The little turkey popper pops at 180, but it's put in the breast. That means, while your dark meat is fine, your white meat is dry. So, Good Eats recommends creating something called a 'turkey triangle'. This is a peice of double folded tinfoil that's in the shape of a triangle (duh). You shape it onto the bird. After cooking the turkey at 500 degrees for 30 minutes, you put the triangle on, and cook it for about 7 minutes per pound. This will apparently protect your breast meat from getting over-heated and dried out, and at the same time, ensure that your dark meat gets to 180 degrees.

Currently, the triangle is on the bird. Inside, it has half an orange, half a pear and a celery stick. I think that'll make it taste really good. The skin is seasoned with salt and pepper. I don't put stuffing because stuffing is evil.

I've learned everything I need to know about cooking from Good Eats. You might want to take a look at the show that now airs weekdays on the Food Network. Here's the recipe for Roast Turkey.

Anyway, I'm dog tired. We went door busting today (That's waking up at an insane time of the morning to go shopping at After-Thanksgiving sales.) I have a headache, and it's taking all my willpower to stay awake. I need to stay awake because I don't want the turkey to burn, and when I take it out, I don't want my dad mutilating it. I'll carve it, thank you very much.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. God bless you and your family.

On the Catholiccity listserv for the Militia Immaculatae, they're trying to find a reliable source to either verify or deny the development of the Fatima Shrine into an Interfaith prayer center of some sort. The only news sources anybody's been able to find is from sites frequented by Rad-Trads. I've seen a report on ZENIT that there's a new Basilica being built, but no word on wether or not it's an interfaith shrine. I'm having difficulty believing it's true. Are there any varifiable sources? Pictures? Help would be great. I'd like to get it settled.

I'm about to check a copy of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens with a Foreward by G.K. Chesterton out of the library. It's a 1907 edition of the book, and I think I'll enjoy reading it over the holiday. I was quite pleased to find it.

...that I need to save for later.

Occasionaly, I'll read, write or think about something that sends me off on a tangent. I was just reading something in Boundless. The writer says:
I believe that sexual sins leave the deepest scars in people’s lives. We can be forgiven for any sin, but, for some reason, it’s almost impossible to forget these “sins of the flesh;” they seem to be seared into our conscience for many years to come.

Suddenly a thought occured to me that I hadn't previously connected. "Oh, I know the reason. Satan is a copycat of God. Just as Jesus uses flesh to redeem the world, satan will use flesh to drag people into hell. He'll use different means to go about it to by promoting not only sexual sins like masturbation, homosexuality, sensual lust and so forth, but also extremes where the flesh is evil aka Gnosticism."

I think I'll develop this thinking later. I really need to get back to studying.

Well, I'm feeling better. Currently, I'm typing from the computer lab. I'm supposed to be studying for a math test that I take later this afternoon. I'm probably doomed to fail, but if you could offer a few quick prayers on my behalf to Sts. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Jude and St. Rita, I'd be grateful.

I came back from a conference for Catholic students. It was awesome and featured some of the best priests in Oklahoma. I took copious notes, but forgot them all. The subject was "The Church in Time" it was a bunch of lectures over Church history in 500 year incriments. It was fascinating. I was pleased to see Deacon Brazille there. The man is a true living saint. His was the last talk. He went over the 1500s to Current. He called this time "The Age of Murder" and basically summed up all the other incriments like this.

First 500 years: The Church Defines Who Christ Is
Second 500 years: The Church Defines The Body Of Christ
Third 500 Years: The Church Defines The Authority of Catholicism
Fourth 500 Years: The Church Defines the Value of the Human Person

I think that's how it went. Of course, I forgot my notes and so it may be a bit out of order. At any rate, I had a good time, and I learned a lot. It helped me understand mostly how and why various councils of the Church came about.

I also enjoyed being an altar server and wearing an actual Alb again. It was the first time that I got to serve at Adoration and Benediction. I kind of goofed with the Thurible the first time and the bottom dropped out on me too fast, spilling some ashes on the floor. I later got to kneel on same said ashes. The thought process went a bit like this: "Okay, now I'm kneeling...hmm...that burns. I'm on FIRE!!! AUGHHHHHHHH MY KNEEEEE!!!" Luckily, only the alb was burned badly. I didn't scream but calmly picked up my knee and scooted the hot ashes over with my fingertips. I can play with fire like that because I know how.

Serving at Sunday Mass was a mess. Mostly due to the fact that the altar boy's chairs were literally made for altar 'boys' aka Little kids. You put a large 22 year old man on a short stool, situated snugly against a table with items on it, you're going to see some serious comic relief. I dropped things from the table, and at one point, when I was standing for prayers, the stool fell down from the steps with a rather large crash. Later, the deacon said to me, "I don't think anybody noticed the stool." I replied, "This is what happens when you pray for humility." Other than my tendency to drop things, I did an alright job for serving at a parish I've never been to. I got to ring the bells during the consecration, and I did it at the RIGHT TIME, unlike they do at St. John the Baptist. You're supposed to do it when the priest elevates the host and the chalice. St. John's always does it during the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. It drives me nuts, so that scratched a certain mental itch for me. I got to ring those babies loud and vigorously. The bells always reminded me of little angels singing.

I can't say much for the music though. The choir loves Marty Haughen and couldn't help but sing the mass in a Jazz style. I could have done without it, but I controlled the disgust on my face that I usually have when I sit in the pews.

Oh, there was a dance the night before, and I danced with a few girls, which is always awesome because I like dancing, and I really like dancing with girls. I got to do the Merengue with a girl named Amy from OU. She was from Chicago and I really enjoyed meeting her. I also danced with a girl named Dawn from St. Gregory's. I made new friends, and that's always a good thing.

I'll get back to studying. Please have a good Thanksgiving. Also, a quick reminder that I not only write here, I also write for Eternal Rebels. We have a new writer named Marcus who I think you'll enjoy if you're into deep thinking. Come and see the opinions of a new generation of Catholic conservatives. We recently had an argument over marriages after that whole thing in Massachussets. I was disappointed we didn't get more outside input. We're nice guys and we don't bite too hard. I'm a bit tired of us commenting amongst ourselves. Take a look.

I had no idea I could produce this much fluid from my nose. I'm going to try and sweat it off tonight, but I have spent all day under bed covers eating soup and drinking lots of water. I'm offering up my illness for the poor souls in purgatory, but it sure does suck. Please keep me in your prayers that I can get over this cold quickly.

Scarce posting due to college. Everyone is sick, even my teachers. Right now, I would normally be in my English class, but my professor came down with a cold and now I get an hour in the computer lab. I, of course, could be using my time for more productive activities, but I'd hate to deprive any of you of what was going on in my daily life.

I'm a little sick myself, and I'm doing my best to battle it. I'm trying to keep hydrated, and I sleep with my ceiling fan off at night. It gets unbearably hot in my room, but it seems to lessen my sore throat in the morning.

This week has been pretty interesting. I checked out Answers Not Promises by Mother Angelica and Christine Allison. I highly recommend it to anybody who deals with issues like habitual sin, jealousy or other serious moral problems. It is easy reading and should be an enjoyable book for all members of the family. I can easily say this book has changed my life for the better.

This past saturday, a priest loved in my archdiocese, a Fr. John Petuskey, went to his eternal reward. Please keep him in your prayers. I didn't know him that well, but apparently, he was responsible for founding the Catholic Student Center at UCO.

I think I'll be serving mass at the Center today. We have been without it for about three weeks, thanks to Fr. Francis' busy schedule, and his illness. I wish I was smart enough to connect today's first reading with the gospel. Can anybody out there help me?

The link is already prepared for his jump to the St. Blog's family! I can barely wait!

So, the other night, I went to this All Saints Party. I had been invited by my friends two nights before, and I needed to find a costume ASAP. I finally decided to go as St. Crispin, patron saint of cobblers. I found a shirt from this old midaevil costume I had in my closet and put an apron on. Then, I carried a shoe around.

Anyway, Joe picks me up and after two hours of driving, we finally get to the place which is in the middle of po-dunk, OK. I have no idea where we were. We were surrounded by grass and dirt roads as far as the eye could see. When we finally got there, I saw all sorts of saints walking around. I finally saw my friend Graham, who was dressed as St. John Birchmans. The winner of the night was some guy going around as St. Dennis. He even had his head in his arms, it was very cool.

The party wasn't too bad at first. There were neat Catholic trivia games like Saints BINGO, and fishing for virtues. After each game, you'd get a ticket to collect and eventually buy a prize. I got myself a pack of Saints trading cards and a book of children's stories.

Unfortunately, there were a few people there who were of the kooky rad-trad variety. Now, I knew that most of them were members of the local FSSP church, St. Michaels. But just because a church is legit with the pope, doesn't mean it's parishioners are. I must say, their attitude towards the Novus Ordo mass, the Holy Father and how we as Catholics should interact with the world was a bit off-putting. The most troubling thing I recieved was a small cassette tape. On the tape was a website, one I won't list here, which calls John Paul II an anti-pope.

In spite of the kooks, I had an okay time with my very sane friends. I think I'll go again next year as St. Gaspar del Bufalo and send Fr. Keyes a picture. I liked being asked who I was. Being a lesser known saint, helps people learn more about that particular person.

They love me
Get on their knees and hug me...

and all the other male Catholic bloggers at St. blogs too.