An Aid To Memory

…if every Lent-observing family gave up one trip somewhere per week and gave the money saved in gas to the poor. Let’s say there are 10 million families observing Lent, and each gives up an unneeded trip amounting to two gallons per week. Each week (all things remaining constant, which is unrealistic I know, but let’s assume this for the sake of this argument) this would add 20 million gallons of gas to the US stockpiles. This alone, over the course of six weeks, would probably have the effect of lowering the price of unleaded gas by at least 30 cents, although based on my observations of the oil and gas market, such robust growth in gasoline stocks, if coupled with other bearish factors, could lower the price by a dollar. Additionally, if all Lent-observing Christians lowered their house temperature by three degrees, a similar price drop in other fossil fuels could result.

This would also mean about 40 million additional dollars going to the poor, not to mention saving us all money at the pump. Just food for thought here. Our president said we are addicted to oil. Curtailing an unhealthy attachment to a material good is always a good Lenten goal, especially when this attachment places a burden on the poor and finances terrorism and anti-American nations.

Lent is here. Why do I like Lent? It is probably the same reason I enjoy cleaning the house and sorting my books every so often. It is good to clean house every so often. Lent gives us a chance to examine those areas of our life that are encumbered by material and sinful things. By denying ourselves physical pleasures and by increasing prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we allow God to transform us. Lent is in some senses a journey of transformation (sorry to use a buzz word!). Either Jonathan or I took this photo at a local shrine. I enhanced it using Google’s Picasa2, which is an amazing, free, photo organization and manipulation program.

Here is my basic Lenten plan (a plan I am sharing with my girlfriend Jennifer). I am not posting this to brag in any way, but to share the ideas we had. Note that numbers 1-3 are expected of all Western Catholics. Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians often have stricter requirements. For more ideas we have compiled Suggestions for your Lenten Fast.

1. No Meat on Fridays
2. Fasting on Ash Wednesday
3. Fasting on Good Friday
4. Read Matthew, John, Galatians, Philippians and Jude
5. Follow the Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan
6. No Snacking
7. No Fried Potatoes
8. Save gas by avoiding 1 trip out/week
9. Exercise 3 times/week

Now, here is what sin each activity fights:
1,2,3,6,7,9: Gluttony, materialist attachments
4,5: Ignorance, Sloth
9: General Materialism

Also, the plan is to give any money saved (from not eating fries or taking an extra car ride) to a Catholic charity.

Also, for those interested in discussing the Church Fathers readings online, please check out the schedule for the Catholics Building Bridges Room on Paltalk.

According to a Russian Orthodox bishop, "We (Orthodox and Catholics) are on the same side of the divide." This, according to a recent article. The Russian bishop is speaking of the liberalization of the mainline Protestant churches, with whom Orthodoxy used to actively engage in ecumenical talks. Now, this Orthodox bishop is questioning how much Orthodox Christians have in common with modern-day mainline Protestantism, which evolved rapidly during the last century.

This article is a positive step forward in my opinion, because an Orthodox bishop is publicly recognizing that Catholics and Orthodox have so much in common, echoing the views of the late John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Our current secular backdrop (including the secularization of the mainlines) especially highlights common Catholic and Orthodox morality and theology. Indeed, Catholics and Orthodox should present a unified moral front even if we don’t agree on all the doctrinal details (although we share so much in common). Where traditional Protestants fit in the bishop does not say. I would be interested to see these thoughts expanded upon. I long for the day when East and West are fully united.

Lent is coming. It is about a week away to be exact. If you are interested in reading the Church Fathers during Lent, please check out the Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan, which will help you read through 205 pages of early Christian writings over 40 days. Our good friend Chad has taken the time and compiled all the readings in one big pdf file: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan: With Texts.

Also, I have bought a few books recently that I am looking forward to reading:
The Heart of Catholicism
New Jerome Biblical Commentary
The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice
1940 Hymnal of the Episcopal Church (thanks Jennifer!)

And though it is not a book, it still entertains me:
Andy Griffith Show Season 5 

This had Jonathan and me rolling with laughter:

http://www.bradbrad.com/mt.mp3

Apparently this is an actual ad for an Episcopal church in Alabama. I guess this parish used to be the flagship Anglo-Catholic parish in Alabama, but is now an "anything goes" smells-and-bells parish (i.e. Catholic externals minus any Catholic substance), although I personally haven’t been there, so I have to take others’ words for it. As Bob Dylan sings, "the times they are a-changin,’" and this ad most certainly shows that.

I took this photo in October, at night, with a slow shutter speed, so it seems like it is day. Of course I used a tripod. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Here a few songs I have been listening to on Yahoo Music:

Moon River - Morrissey
One by One - Wilco
He was A Friend of Mine - Jerry Jeff Walker
4 AM - Our Lady Peace
Once in a Very Blue Moon - Nancy Griffith

Enough of this randomness…Happy Friday and Feast of the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites.

Two Getting Angry at Zoe Movie Part 1

Two Getting Angry at Zoe Movie Part 2

These are videos of me holding my cat (while my other cat walks by). The orange cat (Angel "two") does not like the black and white cat (Zoe). While Two would never hurt Zoe (and they often play together), she does get a little mouthy when Zoe is around. Zoe just likes to play and gives Two a look like "what is her problem?" in Part 2.

Jennifer is recording using my Digital Camera, and offers some commentary. Just so you know, Zoe is not hiding behind the fan in part 2, but rather playing. Zoe is oblivious to Two’s anger, lol. Anyway, I am putting these videos up for a limited time. I thought they were funny. The video was taken with a regular digital camera, not a digital video recorder, so the quality is not TV quality. No cats were hurt in this video, but a human (me) was bitten lightly, lol. I am only leaving them up for a little bit because of bandwidth issues.

Microsoft has released the beta version of Internet Explorer 7.0, which will run on Windows XP platform and their forthcoming Windows Vista. I downloaded it just to see what they have to offer. I don’t find it that exciting…but it does finally render the Church Year. Net index page correctly, which IE Explorer 6.0 does not. IE Explorer 7.0 even seems to render the Complexspiral page correctly. You can download the beta by going to:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/ie7/default.mspx

I still like firefox, which may be downloaded below with the google toolbar (helpful too in my opinion):

Chad, who has the cutest baby online, has tagged me. So here goes:

4 jobs you have had in your life:
Department Store Associate
Drug and Alcohol Counselor
Waiter
Teacher

4 Goals You’ve Set for This Year
Find a good teaching job
Expand my web endeavors
Write a book
Lose 10 pounds

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
50 first Dates
Waiting for Guffman
Return of the King
Santa Claus is Coming to Town

4 Places You Have Lived:
Atlanta, Georgia
Athens, Ohio
Other places too…

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch:
Andy Griffith Show
Simpsons
Golden Girls
Mama’s Family

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation:
Clearwater Beach, FL
Pasadena, CA
Charlottetown, PE, Canada
Barcelona, Spain

4 Websites You Visit Daily:
Bloomberg Energy Futures
Catholic Report
Yahoo Mail
Titus One Nine

4 Of Your Favorite Foods:
Buffalo Wild Wings Legs with Spicy Garlic Sauce
Coffee of any kind
Chi Chi’s Seafood Nachos (out-of-business, sadly!)
Hot Garlic Beef (Chinese dish)

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:
The Autumn
On the Beach 
Hanging out with all my friends who live elsewhere
Teaching at a Catholic School

4 People You Choose to Tag
Choose yourself…I am too lazy!

…who are deeply opposed to women’s ordination.

Why are you still Anglican?

Seriously. The bishops of the Anglican church, including many global south bishops, have concluded that the ordination of women is a non-issue for the Anglican communion. Women are ordained in many Anglican provinces, and have been for years. The church of England is paving the way for women bishops (which makes sense considering they have had women priests since 1992). The Episcopal church has insisted that every diocese accept women’s ordination, whether they like it or not. I think that women’s ordination is a foregone conclusion in Anglicanism, accepted (or at least tolerated) by most Anglicans worldwide who are either progressive (in the West) or evangelical (in the developing world). Even many "conservative" Anglicans support women’s ordination and sometimes have harsh words for those other conservatives who oppose WO. Those in Anglicanism who oppose women’s ordination often come across as angry and bitter, and are becoming a smaller and smaller minority. So…why stick around? I ask this as someone who is generally curious.

Let me note that I have no official stats on the future of WO in Anglicanism. It is just that comments on blogs as of late (and the reasons I mentioned above) have convinced me that any future Anglicanism, conservative or liberal, is going to include women’s ordination. I just wonder where die-hard Anglo-Catholics fit in is all.