Posted on 12/03/2007 9:34:19 PM PST by dsc
Hi. Chuck here. Hope you're not too stressed as the semester begins to wind down. Here's what's up at St. Paul's this week.
This evening (Monday December 3) is our final Understanding Catholicism of the semester. Our topic for this evening is "Christian Sexuality." We'll give a little glimpse into Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body." In some ways it is a very new way of looking at ourselves and God. The pope maintains that sex is not only good, it is, in fact, the meaning of life. Dinner will be ready at 6 p.m. We'll start the learning at 6:30. Done by 8.
We are getting to the end of sign-ups for the Tijuana Trip. We have been more successful than we had anticipated raising money for the trip, and it will cost significantly less than the $400 price first quoted. We're thinking that it should come closer to $50 per person. Also, according to the U.S. Department of State website, re-entry into the U.S. through a port of entry on the ground (as opposed to an airport) requires only a government-issued photo ID, not a passport. Get in touch with Joe or me right away if you want to come.
Jen Chaffin continues yoga lessons Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in the lower lounge. They are free. Bring a mat. I was there last week and got a lot out of it. Plan to come this week if you can.
Patrick Klekas' band, The Girlfriend Season, is playing here in Boise next Friday, December 7th at The Venue, it starts at 7:30. See their website and hear their music at http://www.myspace.com/thegirlfriendseason.
Ryan Bradshaw's band A Rotterdam November is also doing great things. Their website is http://www.myspace.com/arotterdamnovember.
Saturday December 8 we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a Holy Day of Obligation which has not been dispensed or moved to the nearest Sunday. That means that Catholics are obliged to attend Mass that day. The feast commemorating Mary's conception by St. Ann was celebrated as early as the seventh century in the eastern church, but soon spread to the west. The Immaculate Conception refers to a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that Mary was conceived without original sin. While that was a belief from very early Christian times, it wasn't made an official teaching of the Church until 1854. The 5 p.m. Saturday Mass available at most parishes is the Sunday vigil Mass and does not "count" as having met the obligation. We will have Mass here at St. Paul's at noon Saturday December 8.
Don't forget that we have Mass weekdays at noon. It is preceded by the Rosary at 11:40 a.m. We're always done by 12:30. So you should have no trouble making it to a 12:40 class.
Our Christmas party is Friday evening, December 14. More details soon. We'll have food, fun, anonymous gift exchange, a chance to relax and maybe even get to know some friends you haven't met yet.
Finally, here's a schedule of Advent communal penance services at the parishes around town. All are at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, December 4th St. John's Cathedral
Monday, December 10th St. Mary's
Tuesday, December 11th Risen Christ
Wednesday, December 12th Sacred Heart
Thursday, December 13th St. Mark's
Tuesday, December 18th Our Lady of the Rosary
Wednesday, December 19th Holy Apostles
Hope you have a great Advent season. We'll keep praying for you. Please keep praying for us.
Love,
Chuck
Why is he taking students to Tijuana from Boise? What's in Tijuana? Drunkenness? Drugs? Child prostitutes?
And what's this "communal penance service" stuff? Is this supposed to be a substitute for confession?
Can anybody help me with this "Theology of the Body" thing? I haven't studied it.
If you'd bother to look, you'd have seen that it was a mission trip:
"Tijuana Mission Trip
St Paul's Tijuana Mission Trip (Jan. 5 through Jan. 13, 2007)
Each year during Christmas Break, St. Paul’s students accompany a Capstone Missions team on a service trip to Tijuana where we do repair and maintenance work on St. Joseph’s Home (an orphanage for children with special health problems), the Missionaries of Charity houses (Mother Teresa’s order) and housing in poor neighborhoods."<{> http://www.stpaulsboise.org/StPauls/tijuana_mission_trip.htm
And if you really wanted someone to tell you, you would have put a link to the site so that anyone could find the answer.
Now, in the morning, when you have full use of your faculties, why don't you ask the mod to delete the thread for you.
I got this material in my e-mail, so you can get off your high horse about “bothering to look.” You imply that I should have known that there was a web site, and you impugn my motives with your assumption that if sincere I “would have” put a link to a site that I had no reason to suspect existed.
Nice attempt at a whitewash, but I still want assistance regarding the “sex is the meaning of life” thing, and the “communal penance services,” so I have no intention of asking the moderator to delete the thread. You, however, should certainly feel free to turn your attention elsewhere.
When you start throwing child molestation accusations without having any basis therefor, you get no benefit of the doubt from me.
A bunch of kids going down to do mission work, and all you can say about it is “Drunkenness? Drugs? Child prostitutes?”
If you had any questions, you could have hit reply on your email and asked the person that sent it to you.
I’m no fan of Rome, but this doesn’t even qualify as a cheap shot.
I will not touch the Tijuana stuff with a ten foot pole. However:
>JPII said that sex is the meaning of life?
IF this is what JPII said, and that is a big if- he had his infallibility hat on too tight.
Enjoying and worshiping God is the meaning of life. Sex is just a part of His blessings to all His children.
‘Communal penance’ is what liberal parishes do that never bother with Confessions. Well, that is what we ran into in the liberal parish where we did RCIA. It is a pale copy of the true sacrament.
We studied Theology of the Body at our parish recently, in some depth. I do not believe I heard anything about ‘sex is the meaning of life.’ yegad, how banal. I believe it is about human sexuality, rightly boundaried by the Christian walk, is it not?
And what’s with the bickering on this thread? Sounds like a bunch of crabby kids ...
JPII apparently gave a 129 part series on marriage and family over a 4 year period. I’m not going to dig through it to see everything he says, but if anyone else wants to, they can start here: http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2TBIND.HTM
I’m surprised none of the Catholics have shown up on the thread.
” Sounds like a bunch of crabby kids ...”
Well, I’m crabby, all right. I’m crabby every time I get an e-mail from this person and read what he’s doing with the BSU Catholic Center.
And getting that reply from Saint What’s His Name didn’t help my mood at all.
That said, thank you for your reply.
I wish I could find some authority to contradict the notion that JPII said sex was the meaning of life.
Well, you could use your common sense. Is it in the Catechism? Can you even IMAGINE JP2 saying that? Have you heard the rabble rejoicing in that? NO. It is a banal trivialization of TotB.
You know, I agree with you. It is a totally disgusting newsletter. I would be fried too. There is much good happening in the Catholic Church, and priests like this are on the way out, kicking and screaming all the way. It cannot happen soon enough, imho.
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