Robert Diaz, MI: February 2004 Archives

As was my custom last year, I shall be denying myself the internet for Lent, except for Sundays. I will try to write something each sunday as a sort of progress report on my lenten journey. I have a heavy prayer schedule and I also plan on making a discipline of waking and sleeping at certain times of the day. I'm taking the Liturgy of the Hours along with a rosary and a litany of the day. I may throw in a litany or two as well. Anyway, here's what I have as far as litanies go. Assume that along with these I am praying the rosary, the liturgy of the hours and my customary morning and night prayers. On Fridays, I will be doing stations of the cross and one of the penitential psalms.:

Sunday: Litany of the Holy Name
Monday: Litany of the Precious Blood
Tuesday: Litany of St. Anthony
Wednesday: Litany of The Passion
Thursday: Litany of the Saints
Friday: Litany of the Sacred Heart
Saturday: Litany of Loreto

My goal for Lent is to give up depending on the world to help me, and instead put my trust in God and have him guide me. I pray that everyone have a good Lent and find joy in their prayers, fastings and almsgivings.

Lord, in Your forty days in the desert, You were tempted greatly by Satan. In these forty days, keep my family, my friends those who depend on my prayers and myself away from any physical, mental or spiritual harm. Through Your fasting in the desert, may we only desire Your mercy. Through Your thirst, may we find fortitude against temptation. Jesus, in the desert, I pray for strength against all temptation that will come this Lent. Through Mary, the mother of God, Queen of Angels, strengthen my guardian angel against any evil that may come this Lent. I gladly accept any suffering that you will for me, but only pray that You, in Your endless mercy, help me bear it. Amen

There are three things you must do today.:

1. Visit Fr. Shane Tharp's new blog, Catholic Ragemonkey. It just started yesterday, and I gaurantee it's awesomeness already.

2. Visit stblogs.org's NEW movie review blog Popcorn Critics. It's a group blog starring...lots of people, including YOURS TRULY! Add it to your permalinks. Anything with smockmomma is going to have awesomeness written all over it.

3. Somebody tell me PLEASE: Do broths, consummes and stocks 'count' during Lent? Remember, it's a pretty important ingredient in soups, which a lot of people use as an alternative to meat. Perhaps only solid meat counts?

Last night, Fr. Pacwa spoke at St. John's. He was fantastic, and I took notes. He talked about how different modern philosophies have affected Catholicism and what we can do about it today. The title was "Some Heard Thunder...Some Heard God". It's the working title of a book that will come out soon. I had the pleasure of talking with Fr. Mitch Pacwa when he came to the center the night before the speech. He gave us a synopsis of his homily for the Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Fr. Pacwa celebrate mass. That was a shame.

Anyway, his basic message to the college students was to trust God completely, and you can do anything and if we use our gifts to promote the Catholic culture, the world would improve immensely. He told us about how Mother Angelica started EWTN on just 200 dollars and I finally got to ask him for an interview which I'll probably do online.

He's such a nice person. I recommend everybody try and get him to talk in your town. Luckily for us college students, he's coming back next January.

To Kathryn Lively on her pregnancy! You will be in my prayers for sure!

Alright, while I wait for precious sleep to come, I guess I'll find some sites to look at. I'll know it's time to sleep when my eyes have trouble focusing.

1. haLf-baKed 'tAteRs

I really enjoyed this blog, and will probably end up putting it on my permanent links. I should probably do so since this person was so kind to add me to theirs. Anyway, this is Jermaine's blog, and I'm pretty sure Jermaine is a girl. Most guys are incapable of being this honest in their writings, and few are as this intelligently reflective in their spiritual life. A fine blog which I highly recommend.

2. Life With Jacob

It looks like a website made entirely of blogs. Hmm

3. Credo ut Intelligam

A German blog. I can't read it, but I found it!

4. DaveTown

A blog with poetry and quotations and political commentary.

5. Blurry Flurry

A friend of Onerock! How cool is that?

Ah, blessed sleep is finally clouding my mind and taking any ability to type or think clearly. Thank you, Jesus! I'll probably end up sleeping late, so it's a good thing I went to the vigil mass. So tired...can't focus on computer screen....zzz...

For some reason, I'm having a really difficult time sleeping. It's probably all the anxiousness I'm experiencing for the upcoming dinner on Monday night. Fr. Pacwa is already in town, and he may come to the center tonight. I'm really excited. I still have a lot on my mind as I prepare for Lent. The thing I like the most about lent is that it gives me an opportunity to increase discipline in my life. That's why I'm so hard on myself and set so many disciplines. I write down a set prayer list. One thing which I did last year, and have decided to take up as an annual practice is to pick a psalm or some verse in the bible that reflects the thing that I want to change about myself during Lent. Last year, it was Psalm 51. I'm thinking of going with Psalm 101, and focus on improving my reluctance to hurt people's feelings. I still may go with a penitential psalm though. Suggestions are appreciated.

Since I already practice fasting on Fridays (which every Catholic is obliged to do), I have decided to increase my abstaination from meat to all of Lent.

Now, here's my question for any priest or canon lawyer or even somebody who knows better than me.: Do 'meat juices' count? Can I eat soups that have a chicken or beef broth in them as a base? Would I break any abstaining laws by drinking chicken boullion? I need to know since I'm thinking of buying soups which may contain such things. I know eggs and cheese don't count, but what about broths, stocks and consommé?

Please pray that I get peace of mind so that my sleep patterns return to normal.

Yesterday, my brother attended a funeral for the mother of a friend of his. Being one of the few Catholics in his choir, he was kept busy explaining things to his friends during the Mass. From what he told me however, he did well and perhaps this small act of charity to his protestant friends helped make them feel more comfortable in the foreign settings. My brother was quiet when he came home, and I found him playing a video game in the living room.

The woman died quite suddenly. I didn't know her from Adam, but it's sad to lose a parent. Thank God neither of mine have gone to their rewards yet. In fact, they just celebrated their 25th anniversary this past Tuesday (I should probably dedicate a seperate post to that). My brother told me that the woman suffered a severe stroke that left her heart beating but left the doctors with little options but to let her go. How tragic for this friend of my brother's. My brother and the rest of her friends have been trying to keep her busy and also try to be there for her. I told my close friend who lost her father to diabetes at 13. She said the thing she remembered most was that people were there. Just their presence helped her cope with her father's death. Nothing they said was terribly consoling. I'd imagine it wouldn't be. But the fact that people were around her made her feel better.

Fr. Groeschel once talked about presence in a video he did on Eucharistic adoration. He noted how someone can be present to you from thousands of miles away on a telephone, but a person nudged against you on a sideway is not present to you because you take no notice of them. I pray for this friend of my brother's in hope she find Christ's presence in the sacraments and in the presence of her friends and family.

Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla is going to be canonized a saint! What wonderful news for such a beautiful person. A mother willing to give her life so her unborn child may live. A new and wonderful saint for the pro life movement!

Find out more about her at the site for The Society of Blessed Gianna.

I can't wait. I'm so excited. This is my favorite time of the year! As usual, I will be a bit too enthusiastic with what I'm giving up, but seriously, I LOVE LENT! I wish we could make more use of this season because when we take it seriously it makes Easter so much more awesome.

Anyway, I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do. I'll cut my blogging down to Sundays, which of course are not days of penance during Lent. I'm going to abstain from meat for all forty days and I'll have to set up my prayer schedule later, but I'll probably do the Liturgy of the Hours along with a different litany for each weekday. I'll put down specifics later.

I'm sorry I haven't written. SBC had some issues with Oklahoma, so I haven't had internet access. This is unfortunate, because I wanted to put some arguments in response to a blog. For now though, I'll post five new sites I found on my blog hunt.

1. A Plumbline In The Wind

This guy is no lazy blogger. He writes whole articles on his opinions. Luckily for him, none of his opinions are boring.

2. The Theoscope

Didn't get a good look at it, but it seems very POD.

3. A Thing Worth Doing

A Chestertonian titled blog, like Eternal Rebels (which I will begin plugging every opportunity I see)!

4. The Southfarthing Soapbox

I didn't know this guy had moved, but, I'm glad he still links to me. Check out this hobbit's impressive weblog.

5.Out Loud

A woman who comments on the news. Nice layout.

Who's Calling?

I love Dr. J. Budziszewski. I think he's Catholic, but I can't prove it.

1. Prince of Roses

I don't know who this is, but they have such an amazing way with words. I could only hope to write like this. Please, check this blog out. This person rarely updates, but it's obvious that when she does, what comes out is beautiful. An example:

Envy is a kind of death that promises no resurrections. It is a strangling fig, a green fruit that leaches the surrounding ground bone-white and chokes the air with ash. It is as insidious as a knife slid home between the ribs. It is the poison we slip into each other's cups, as we toast to ambition with flints sparking our stony eyes.

2. Fly Fishing Galilee

A political Catholic blog. Quite witty.

3. Whispers in the Wasteland

A Movable Type blog. This person needs to update more often, but I like what I see. It is run by a man named Robert H. LeBlanc.

4.Dox-ol-o-gy

A stylish blog written by a convert nurse. This person needs to write more often, but I enjoyed reading what she had to share.

5. Catholic Down-Under

A blog run by an Aussie.

Over at TSM comment box, a woman, apparently a pregnant one had a craving for fries. Here is a recipe for oven fries which are probably healthier and taste better than the fried standard anyway. Another person gave a quick recipe for fries which were actually fried. This is all good, but who wants to go through the process of peeling, frenching, drenching, cleaning, and double frying a bunch of potatoes, when you can do it all in the oven without having to worry about cleaning out the peanut oil when you're done? Heck, with oven fries, you don't even have to worry about peeling the potatoes. I hope this helps.

Ingredients:

4 medium russet potatoes,
3 tbsp olive oil
lots of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Rinse the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into wedges or large batons. When you're done cutting the potatoes, put them in a large bowl of cold water. This will keep the fries from turning dark, and will also take off some of the extra starch that makes the potatoes stick to the pan.

Pat the potatoes dry on a paper towel, and place them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Pour on the olive oil and don't be greedy with the salt and pepper. Now, run your fingers through the fries to make sure that they're all coated evenly. Wash your oily hands. Cook the fries for 15 minutes, then, take them out and flip them so they'll cook evenly. They're very hot, so be careful. Put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Don't let the smoke scare you. That's normal. Pull the fries out, and enjoy!

I thought of this last night. COnsidering that there are hundreds of members on the St. Blog's webring, some of them will get less notice than others. This game is to bring some of those unheard of blogs to light, and possible fame for a future St. Blog's Award. It's very simple, and all you need is the little stblogs webring code that should be on every blog in the webring. It looks something like this:

<< # St. Blog's Parish ? >>

The '?' button takes you to a random site on the stblogs webring. Press it, and a new window pops up. Press it again, and a new site will appear in that same window. Now, the basic rules.

1. Find a blog you've never read before and are interested in. It shouldn't be hard.
2. The blog must have been updated within the last month and must not be retired.
3. The blog should have the stblogs webring code on it. If it doesn't, then they're not playing by the rules. Don't link to them.
4. Link to the blog in an entry with a short description.
5. If you like the blog enough, put it in your permanent links.

My results will come at the end of the day. Play along!