Nun Upstages Hanks

Amy was on CNN last night doing her own protest of sorts:

VARGAS: Author Amy Welborn, who's book De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code refutes "The Da Vinci Code, gave advice to the Sony Studios marketing team.

AMY WELBORN, AUTHOR, "DE-CODING DA VINCI": The major concern was, you know, what can they do not to make everybody really made and not inspire a boycott of this film or the studio or anything like that. And it's really a very delicate situation. They don't want to alienate the core audience.

From the Mail online Mail - news, sport, showbiz, health and more How a Catholic nun upstaged Tom Hanks:

"Sister Mary Michael, 61, knelt in prayer outside the building where scenes for
the blockbuster starring Tom Hanks are being shot.

She believes the book
by author Dan Brown contains heresy.

Asked if she thought the people
making the film would care about her protest, she said: "I don't suppose they
do, but that doesn't matter tuppence to me. It matters to me what God thinks,
not what the film crew think.

"When I face Almighty God, at my final
judgment, as we all will, I can say, I did try my best, I did try my best to
protest."

Sister Mary, a former Discalced Carmelite who now belongs to
Our Lady's Community of Peace and Mercy in Lincoln, said a storyline that Jesus
married Mary Magdalene and that she bore him a child was based on a gnostic
heresy that she first became aware of 50 years ago.

"It is an old error,
derived from the mystery faiths of the east. It is not a new story," she said. "

Amy on Paula Zahn Now Tonight

CNN Programs - Paula Zahn Now:

Based on this description, I believe tonight is the night that Amy will be on:

Monday's show

The "DaVinci Code" movie is already just as intriguing as the book. But why it is under a shroud of secrecy?

Fight Breaks Out At Catholic Shrine

I make frequent pilgrimages to this shrine in Carey, Ohio...hard to imagine anyone taking on the pilgrims there...ONN. Ohio News Now: Fight Breaks Out At Catholic Festival:

"The faithful chased the street preachers out of town says Rev. John Raphael,
pastor of The Shrine.

'They show up with video cameras, send threatening
faxes, and are there to cause problems,' Rev. Raphael tells WNWO. 'I instruct my
staff and those faithful who show up to ignore them.

'They go to other
places and do the same thing. I tell my staff to pray for them.' "

Update on What Happened...8/16/05

Feast of the Assumption of Mary

A Reflection on the Feast of the Assumption, Contemplating the Ritzos Icon:




And Pope Benedict's Reflection from his Angelus today:

On today’s feast of the Assumption, we contemplate the mystery of the passing of Mary from this world to Paradise: we may say we celebrate her “Easter”. Just as Christ rose from the dead with his glorified body and ascended into heaven, the Blessed Virgin, fully associated with him, was taken up into heavenly glory in her whole person. Even in this, the Mother followed her Son more closely and went before all of us. By the side of Jesus, the new Adam, who is “the first fruits” of the resurrected (cfr 1 Cor 15:20-23), the Madonna, the new Eve, appears as the “first fruits and image of the Church” (preface), “a sign of sure hope” for all Christians on earthly pilgrimage (cfr Lumen gentium, 68).

The feast of the Assumption, so dear to popular tradition, is for us believers a useful occasion to meditate about the true sense and value of human existence from the perspective of eternity. Dear brothers and sisters, heaven is our final home. From there Mary encourages us with her example to welcome the will of God and not to allow ourselves to be seduced by false calls of all that is ephemeral and transient, not to give in to temptations of egoism and evil which snuff out the joy of life in the heart.

Interview with Benedict XVI on WYD

Extensive interview with the Pope on his upcoming visit to WYD...



From >>> AsiaNews.it <<< The first interview with Benedict XVI: Youths, it's beautiful to be Christians!:



"Holy Father, can you tell me what you would like to transmit to the youth of the world? What is the main issue you would like to "bring about"?



Yes -- I would like to show them how beautiful it is to be Christian, because the widespread idea which continues to exist is that Christianity is composed of laws and bans which one has to keep and, hence, is something toilsome and burdensome -- that one is freer without such a burden. I want to make clear that it not a burden to be carried by a great love and realization, but it is like having wings. It is wonderful to be a Christian with this knowledge that it gives us a great breadth, a large community: As Christians we are never alone -- in the sense that God is always with us, but also in the sense that we are always standing together in a large community, a community for The Way, that we have a project for the future - and in this way a Being which is worth believing in. This is the joy of being a Christian and is the beauty of believing."

The Problem with Cathoilc Bible Study by Michael Dubruiel

Stated well and right on the mark bySumma Contra Mundum:

When I taught scripture in high school, the students had a one-sentence summary of what they learned of the bible: "We learn that nothing that the bible says really happened really happened." That's the impression they got from four years of historical criticism.

I myself taught high school and heard exactly the same thing when I tried to present the "Fallen State" of humanity according to Genesis to Juniors who had Scripture as Freshman. I do find some hope that the current Pontiff writes about the deficiencies of the historical critical method and its effect on preaching and catechesis.

Michael Dubruiel - 2005

A Former Student of Mine

First a comment on the picture. I'm not a big fan of "resurrection images" but I do like this one...very powerful. It brings to mind the Pantocrater images found in ancient churches.

Second, I'm glad to read that Fr. Tim is doing well.

Late calling is a busy one - OrlandoSentinel.com: Volusia County News:

For most of his life, a pendulum swung back and forth in Tim Daly's head.When he was in fifth grade, Daly decided he wanted to be a priest, but as the years went on, he wasn't sure he was ready.

Daly graduated from Towson University in 1977 and joined the Franciscan Order.

He spent a year and a half with the Franciscans in New Jersey and Boston, but then he decided to drop out. He didn't like how much autonomy he had to give up and felt as if the church was increasingly playing the role of his parents.