Thursday, October 4, 2012

Quick Takes- Priests & Politics, Puppies & Prayer

1. Hey- did you know that my comment box is oh so easy? No captcha code, no moderation, and I even take anonymous comments! Can you tell I really like (most) comments and I want to make it easy? And I have such a hard time reading those new blogger captcha codes. I guess my eyes are getting weary.

2. My '31 Days' series for October is not going so well. Yes, I am trying to celebrate the 'faith and works' connection. I am trying to find joy in my domestic duties. But it is making me realize that I am really truly not very talented in this realm. If I had a million dollars, I would hire out cooking, cleaning and crafting because the results are never what I imagine they should be. 
3. The blog Prayer of Saint Ephrem had an interesting and important post about Western and Eastern saints. Go over there to read it! And have you looked at any of the sites at In Union with Rome lately? 

4. Please keep my husband, the priest, in your prayers. He is at his eparchy's (diocese) priest conference and cathedral anniversary. He could only make it for half the week because his hospital just can't function without him! Ruthenians and Ukrainians are blessed; they have more than one eparchy in the states. We Romanians are very spread out which makes for long travels. Both of us are reluctant flyers- which  is funny considering that we married each other with families 10,000+ miles away from the other

5. Here's that puppy...he is such a sweetie. I am in charge of shaving his muzzle, tail and feet; we couldn't afford him otherwise. He keeps calm and carries on. He was supposed to be brown, but he is obviously brown on the ears and tail and silver everywhere else. if I had paid $2000+ for him as a puppy, I would be peeved. Poodles must be solid colored. In any case, we love him for who he is- a great family dog who doesn't bark at random dogs and cats and who tolerates little children.
6. What do you think about clergy sharing specific views on politics? A reader was upset that a priest she knows 'likes' Obamacare according to his Facebook page.  In my opinion, priests should not be specific about candidates or ballot measures. They should preach on moral truths and hopefully Catholics with informed consciences will make the best choice. Maybe this is weak, I don't know. I think there were other things going on with the priest, however. If a man (priest or not) 'friends' you and Facebook and ignores your husband, perhaps it would be prudent to block him. Do you agree?
7. October 1st was the feast day of the 'Protection of the Holy Mother of God.' This is the troparion for the feast: 
Protected by your appearance, O Mother of God; today, we devout people solemnly celebrate. Gazing upon your most pure icon, we fervently say: Protect us with your holy veil, and deliver us from all evil, imploring your Son, Christ our God, to save our souls.

13 comments:

  1. #6: It's a slippery slope because it (priests taking political stances) could be interpreted as said priest telling someone how to vote... and costing their parish their 501(c)3 status. I'm in agreement with your view that priests should preach on moral truths.

    I do actually have male friends on Facebook who are not friends with Jon but they're also people that I knew in college and that Jon knows about. He could point to pretty much any male who is friends with me on Facebook and I could point to a real life connection.

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    1. I have male 'friends' on FB that Fr. doesn't have (of course, we know each other's passwords), but this priest recently met the couple and he added only the woman. Hopefully, he just thought that since they are married, they share everything. But you have to be careful

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    2. I really think it's time to give up our 501(c)3 status. Part of the reason that we are in the trouble we're in, regarding both religious freedom and abortion, is because our clergy is too afraid to say flat out that Catholics cannot vote for any party that support abortion. I personally know several Catholics who plan to vote for Obama, despite knowing full well about his support for abortion, because they think other issues are more important. Only by having the Church unfettered in her ability to speak the truth, including the truth that to support (including by voting) abortion is to incur excommunication.

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  2. Your puppy is adorable. I am not sure how I feel about the priest sharing his political views. But, I do LOVE. Your background and blog design. It makes me smile.

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    1. Isn't Duke cute? My daughter got this picture holding a bit of chicken in her hand

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  3. Poodles are so great. I never thought i'd have one until I adopted a cocker spaniel who turned out to be a cockapoo. Before coming to live with me she was a great, patient, loving family dog to small children.

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    1. We got lucky with him...and her is making us exercise! Off to the dog park

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  4. I'm not much of a dog person, but the expression on your poodle's face is super cute :). THANK YOU for no captcha codes. Sometimes I get so tired of trying to figure out what a letter is, that I just click away and figure my comment wasn't that important anyway!

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    1. yes- it is the semi-new captchas that are so weird. but there is probably a lot less spam- I just catch mine in the spam folder (it is always hilarious)

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  5. I adore the fact that you posted a BNL song! :D
    I love the fact that I managed to reduced my options about your husband's roots to two possible countries/areas and Romania was one of them. The Banat was the other one--not neccesarily the area that is in Romania.

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    1. My older sister liked BNL before they were known in the states- she did some youth ministry in Canada in the old days. I have to say- Gordon is their best with Snacktime their second

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  6. I have read your blog for at least a year. I am a Catholic in the great state of Oklahoma. I enjoy learning about the the Byzantin rite. I read a lot of blogs. This is the second time I have ever posted a comment. Your prompting encouraged me to post. You have increase my knowledge of saints and church teachings, and great authors. I think you are a very intelligent person with a lot of " commonsense " .





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    1. Thanks anonymous!...I'll keeping working on my common sense ;)

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