Most excellent dude!

The White Stone Name Seeker and Gem of the Ocean have nominated me for this award. Thank you! This is totally heinous!

All the legalese that I don't think holds much water, but nonetheless...

By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want-even those that have received it already, but please award at least 10 people.

Drum roll please. I would like to pass on the award, in no particular order, to:
Vincenzo
Cathy
Sanctus Belle
Terry
Ray
Tara
Karen
White Stone Name Seeker
Archangel's Advocate
Entropy
Adrienne
Ma Beck
Angela Messenger
Laura

Yes, I know I picked more than alloted, but I would wager some of these folks are kind of curmudgeonly, so picked a few extra to ensure that the love gets spread around all of blogdom.

If you don't already know who these folks are, then make your way over to their most excellent blogs and check them out. Tell them So-Crates sent you. Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes!



Teacher Mr. Ryan: Who was Joan of Arc?
Bill: Noah's wife?
(Hey, she doesn't have a name in the bible, just Mrs. Noah, so it could work)

St. Matthew Bible Study - Lesson 15

When I lived in Seattle, the winters were always gloomy. Supposedly, they had one of the highest suicide rates in the country. It didn’t rain the way everyone imagines, with an actual accumulation of water each day. No, it merely misted all day every day, just enough to make your face wet and fog up people’s glasses. It also was the kind of dampness that cooled you to the bone. Each day, on the way to the University of Washington, I would pass places that offered light therapy to combat the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

I think I have BSAD, Bible Study Affected Disorder. For some reason, I’m just not too jazzed about the whole idea. And, posting my notes seems less than thrilling since the start of the year. But, blogging has been the same way. I’ve always had an attention deficit problem. Not the official diagnosed kind, just that I lose interest in things and lately that has been blogging. I’ve been doing some reading and genealogy, plus started my spring cleaning. Everything seems more interesting than blogging at the moment. Maybe BSAD is really Blogger Situational Affective Disorder. Hopefully, they will find a cure soon.

And now, let’s get on with it.

Chapter 15
It’s interesting to see how each chapter seems to show an increase in the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees. And, we see how their hearts are not just hardened to Jesus’ message, but their pride is so consuming that they have clearly moved from disdain to jealousy to now envy. No wonder pride is such a deadly sin and can find such hideous and barbaric forms to express itself in.

Rules are rules
This chapter starts out with the Pharisees questioning Jesus about why His disciples don’t follow the laws. These laws are the laws the Pharisees came up with, not the Law of Moses. The class notes say, “Since the Jews’ return from the Babylonian Captivity, hundred of religious stipulations and rules had been added to the Law in an attempt to ensure no danger of someone inadvertently breaking it. In Deuteronomy 4:2, however, the descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel had been instructed by Moses not to add anything to the Law nor subtract from it: ‘You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.’ The scribes’ and Pharisees’ additions to the Law kept them from being the kind of witnesses to the world that God originally had intended. Jesus cuts through the built-up calluses of human traditions that obscure the spirit of the original Law to make the point that moral purity and the keeping of God’s word begins within the depths of a person’s heart.”

Father Echert said that whatever you do insincerely or with the wrong motives has no merit, or what you do while not in a state of grace has no merit (for you personally). He mentioned that there were 72 scrolls of oral tradition that were destroyed (by Divine Providence) when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD. In the following century, there was a rabbi that managed to reconstruct the laws into what is the Mishnah, which is a (second) collection filled with specifications on the Sabbath and ritual purity. This is the first time I had heard of it, so check out the link for some more information.

Halakah and Korban
Jesus is trying to show the people that it is more important to understand the reasons for the laws and that what is in your heart, the sincerity, is more important than making sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s. The laws the Pharisees added were called Halakah. These are the laws and ordinances not specifically found in Scripture, but had developed from the Pharisees interpretations of the Law.

The Pharisees had the idea that what was unclean could defile what was pure or clean, but nothing that was clean could “cleanse” what was defiled. We saw this in a prior chapter where the Pharisees believed defilement could only go in one direction, for when you were touched by a leper you were unclean and had to go through a ritual and become pure again. However, in contrast to this, Jesus touches many unclean people and His touch alone cures them, makes them clean. Even this is forbidden by Halakah and is part of what irritates them so much about Jesus -- He is disregarding their laws and this is why they question Him about His disciples -- they are not following halakah by washing their hands before eating. Jesus is trying to show them that ritual observance of the law is hollow and how they are practicing it has clouded the real meaning and importance of the Law itself. The class notes mention they "keep the letter of the Law while they ignore its spirit."

When the Pharisees criticize Jesus' disciples for not washing their hands, Jesus calls them hypocrites and points out how they themselves are not just breaking a ritual or tradition, but one of the commandments -- honor your mother and father. The Pharisees have found a legal "loophole" where they are getting out of financially supporting their parents. (Shows where their hearts are, or should I say lack of a heart, how callous). By giving alms, called Korban, they are giving money they should be using to support their parents to the Temple, in attempt to make themselves look good for being so generous. The notes from our study say, "...people are responsible for providing for their parents who are sick, elderly, or otherwise unable to care for themselves. The Pharisees devised a way in which a person could declare his wealth to be korban. After a person's death, his wealth would be turned over to the Temple, but in the meantime it was considered already placed on the altar and was unavailable for other uses. This allowed a person to ignore financial responsibility for his parents while still maintaining a veneer of religious respectability..." Father Echert said that is this a two-fold sin in that they are not keeping the commandment to care for their parents and they are prideful/hypocritical. Their offer is not pleasing to God because you need proper intention and to be in a state of grace -- their offering has no merit.

Jesus further rebukes them by telling them it's not what goes into the body that defiles, but what "comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and defiles a man" (Matthew 15:18). Here, we see Jesus preparing a transition. One is no longer bound by Old Testament standards of ritual purity.

The Canaanite woman and the second loaves and fishes
Drawing a parallel between purity and impurity, Matthew shows Jesus going to Tyre and Sidon where he finds a Canaanite woman. She is a complete "foreigner" to the Jews in every way. She asks Jesus to heal her daughter who is possessed by a demon. First, Jesus rebukes her and tells her He is only here to gather the lost sheep of Israel. She persists and shows great faith and humility. Jesus then heals her daughter instantly by saying, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." This miracle demonstrates who really has faith instead of just appearing to like the Pharisees. Jesus is also showing that He is here, not just for Judah, not just for the 12 tribes, but for all.

The second miracle of the loaves and fishes demonstrates that what Jesus had done for the Jews, he now does for the Gentiles. And, yes, there are TWO miracles of the loaves and fishes, so keep 'em straight! This miracle also foreshadows the Eucharist, much the same as the prior miracle of loaves and fishes. We see once again the super abundance of God's gifts to His people.

And, I thought this was interesting from the notes.
The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly, and the Son more obscurely. The New Testament manifested the Son, and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit Himself dwells among us, and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of Himself.
-St. Gregory of Nazianzen

Inappropriate talker

Like the close talker, but worse



My son is an inappropriate talker. Maybe little boys are like this.

Last week we went to Dodge Nature Center. It was our first time doing an activity with the new home schooling group I joined. We're not even "official" members yet and these are the folks we will be interacting with for (possibly) years to come. So much for first impressions. As our group walked into the room with the reptiles, my son stopped in the doorway and stated that it "stunk" in the room. I kept trying to get him to go in the building, but he wouldn't move until I acknowledged the smell.

No one else mentioned anything about the smell. Just my son.

During the 90 minutes we were there, the instructor showed us several reptiles and amphibians and talked a little bit about each one. If she mentioned something that triggered an association in my son's brain, then words just spewed forth. He's big on dinosaurs, so when she mentioned that some reptiles look like dinosaurs, well, there was no stopping his monologue. She went on to mention the word "monsters" and again that triggered the association with Scooby Doo and off he went, telling the woman (and the class) all about Scooby Doo and the monsters Scooby encounters in the course of being a "mystery solver."

About once every five minutes something set him off and I didn't know if I should look for the duct tape or just chalk it up to what Dr. Ray says is poor impulse control in young kids. The other moms didn't seem to mind, maybe they had come through a stage like this with one of their kids, but this is my oldest so all these experiences are new and challenging!

We were out at the Mall of America for lunch over the weekend. For Christmas, my son got a very nice book on the human body. It's the latest thing he is really interested in. He can actually tell you a lot about the nervous system, the brain, etc., but what system comes to mind when you are eating? Right...the digestive system. And what is the end result of the digestive system. Correct again. And that's what he kept telling us about very loudly. "And it comes out your butt" was said over and over and over. Ain't no stoppin' that kid when he's on a roll.

The other day we took in his Kindergarten application. This is an important step. I told him he needed to be on his best behavior when we were in the school office. I've never given such a stern "pre-warning" before. The school is very hard to get into, so this was causing me some anxiety and I wanted my kids to look and act like little angels. Even though, by law the school has to pick the names by lottery, I was hoping that my son's application would get in the "good" kid pile instead of placed at the bottom of the "bad" kid pile.

But he wouldn't be my son if he didn't walk in the office and ask, "What is that smell?" To which the very important lady taking the very important application said, "Does it smell like peanut butter?" And my son said it did and she told him that someone had eaten their lunch there. While I turn to point my daughter towards the door to leave, I look back to find my son walking around the room, sniffing, trying to find where in the room the smell was strongest. AHHHHH!!! Then, before I can stop him, he takes off his hat and mittens. Now I have to pull my daughter back in the from the hallway and put his hat and mittens back on, hoping against hope that he doesn't do or say anything else in the next thirty seconds that would embarrass all of us. As I push the kids towards the office door, he stops at the water cooler. He wants a drink. I tell him we just need to go, but not before he presses the water button and splashes water all over the woman's office.

Regardless of the results of the application lottery for Kindergarten, I don't think we can show our faces at that school or even in the home school group again. We may just have to move.

My father always told me that my mouth ran as fast as a whippoorwill's rear end. Guess this is pay backs.

Where's St. George when you need him?

Seems that the dragon has bested all my son's knights. Too bad there isn't a St. George that goes with this set that we could get. Maybe if I just bought another knight and told my son he is St. George we wouldn't have a massacre on our hands all the time.

All I could think of when I saw this was that Bonnie Tyler song:

Where have all good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need

I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life

Tale of two memes

Karen at Gem of the Ocean always has some work for me to do. This time it's a book meme. I also saw the other meme at Entropy's blog last night around dinner, and Karen had it too, so will do that since my head cold doesn't leave much room for any original thoughts. It's amazing how quickly these things migrate around the blogosphere. If the bird flu ever becomes an epidemic, it will have been because of bloggers spreading it all over the globe.

First, the book meme.
Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

This irony happened the last time I did this meme. Some goofy book is on my computer desk. This time it's the blasted Da Vinci Code that my husband is using for his class. He had to read it and also use it in his take home test and in his paper. It is not mine. I haven't read it. Don't blame me.

The last time I did this meme, the first few books I picked up didn't even have 123 pages. Then the third book didn't even have enough text to post three sentences. The Da Vinci Code has 123 pages, but on page 123 there are barely enough sentences. I don't know what interest anyone would have in these, but here they are:

Fache decided not to take any chances. Hedging his bets, he ordered half his men back to the Louvre perimeter. The other half he sent to guard the only location in Paris where Robert Langdon could find safe harbor.
______________________________________________________

From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

True statements are in "Bold."

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college

Both of my parents went to college. Both were the first and only in their large family (although my mom's youngest brother did attend Cow College (UW - River Falls) briefly. Mom was a "St. Joe's" nurse from St. Kate's (one of her aunts was a nurse from St. Kate's too). Dad wanted to be a forensic pathologist and teach LONGGGGGGGG before anything like CSI came around. He had started his masters when his father died and he quit school to take care of my grandmother and aunt who was still living at home. He went to school on the GI Bill. I guess my grandfather, who raised his family during the depression, thought my dad was completely insane to quit (actually, my dad took leave from work, which was allowed under the GI Bill I guess) his job and go to college. Education was important to the family, but a great job was hard to find. Dad had taken a job with the railroad and quickly risen to an engineering position. My grandfather thought he was crazy to turn his back on that. When his father died, he went back to the railroad. Not ONCE did my father ever complain about things that could've been or even complain about working.

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
All three. I have a large family, so odds are that it will happen. For me, it's not immediate family, but cousins. My dad's cousin was a prof of English in Georgia for MANY years. She also taught music. The physician part is my cousin's son. Hubby also has a cousin who is an attorney.

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent.

I can't say I had over 500 books, but my parents read all the time and really encouraged us to do the same. I didn't have things other kids did, like a bunch of sports equipment, but my parents would buy us books. I probably do have 500 books now, but many are academic. My mom read to us when we were little, but not to the extent that it was frequent or like we do with our kids.

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

I was a Larkin dancer for awhile. I also had music lessons (at school) and also piano/organ lessons at home.

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.

Stricly speaking, yes. But Catholics certainly aren't portrayed very nicely at times. Heck, look at the Da Vinci Code!

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

Hmmmm. I worked at Target and think I may have had a Target credit card, but my real first credit card wasn't until I was in college.

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

My parents wouldn't even co-sign on my Guaranteed Student Loan! My dad was raised during the depression so there was no way he was going to sign for a loan. And, I knew better than to even ask. I went to St. Thomas on grants and scholarships that brought the cost down to what it would've cost me to attend the U of M. Not a bad deal. I also worked my backside off to pay the tuition myself, plus all my other expenses other than the roof over my head. My second go-round was paid for by Boeing.

16. Went to a private high school
I went to public school. To this day, my aunt still asks me why my parents didn't send me to "Catholic school." I have no idea. It was never discussed and I was of the mindset that Catholic school kids were dorks, so public school suited me just fine.

17. Went to summer camp

I went once for Brownies.

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18

No. No one did that I knew.

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels

I think this is half true. When we were very little, my parents would rent a cabin at a resort for a week. Then my aunt bought a cabin and the family at large flocked there all the time. Never went anywhere else but the cabin though. My friend always got to go somewhere fun, like Hawaii, CA, FL, etc., while we went to the cabin. Still, it was fun and at least we had a cabin to go to.

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18

When I was little, my mom went through a phase of making my clothes, but that stopped well before Kindergarten. So, this is pretty true, just not "all" bought new.

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them

Never. Not on your life. I paid my way from about the time I was 16.

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child [kid's work is original!]
We had a piece of starving artist stuff hanging in the living room. My dad also had some Japanese scrolls in our den and a framed obi. Guess this counts. Nothing like a Monet though.

23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. (follows below)
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school

We lived in the burbs and there was only my brother and me, so we had our own rooms. I had a phone that I kind of wired myself (desperate!) that was still on the same line as the family.

27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course

Are you nuts? No one prepped back then. I didn't even study for the ACT. I think most of us viewed the test as a nuisance, nothing that was going to have any direct impact on the schools we wanted to attend. But, then again, I wasn't applying to Harvard.

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college

No.

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16

I got to fly when I was 16. I had spent the summer taking care of my grandmother who was recovering from surgery. I stayed with her in Hudson instead of the family getting an in-home helper. As my "reward," my aunt sent me to visit my cousins in CA. She also sent my brother with me and he hadn't done anything to deserve it, the rat!

31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family

No. We went on one for our honeymoon and then one in the Mediterranean, but not with my parents.

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up

Not that I remember. My dad hated traffic and I don't think ever drove through the heart of Minneapolis ever. They did take us to the IDS tower once, but museums were things we did on schoool field trips.

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

Not on your life. If I didn't turn off a light, my dad would re-introduce me to Mr. Light Switch. Plus, my mom was sick from the time I was nine, so I handled the bill paying very early on. I knew more about my parents finances than they did! Before I got married and moved away, I had to completely educate my dad on balancing the check book, paying taxes, when things were due, etc. I also had to show him how to use the washing machine and how to program the VCR. Believe it or not, my MIL raised her sons to be ignorant of a good number of things. Immediately after getting married, I taught my husband how to use the washing machine and how to cook. Good grief.

19 of 34 privileged items is 56%

Archbishop Nienstedt's visit

Previous St. Agnes Day Mass. There were three times as many altar boys in the pews for Mass yesterday.
Despite having a cold and not getting much sleep the night before, and even though it was sooooo cold out, I got myself out of bed and made it to the 10am Latin Mass at St. Agnes. It was the parish's feast of St. Agnes and Archbishop Nienstedt was present.

The choir, chorale and orchestra sung/played Gounod's St. Cecelia Mass. It was quite lovely, but I really don't care for the Credo. I have had a CD of this for years, but the more I hear it, the more the Credo sounds like it was written for a Broadway musical. I will say some of the rest of it makes me get a bit teary. I really don't know where this comes from. When I was younger, nothing made me cry. Never, ever. Now I can't venture to a Latin Mass without a tissue. And this isn't even close to Mozart's Requiem, which turns me into a bowl of mush when I hear it performed live.

The church was full of pomp and circumstance, done at a level few churches can achieve. Dozens of altar boys processed in, youngest to oldest (well, maybe I should say shortest to tallest). The church was packed, not a spare seat to be seen. Beside the deacons, Father Ubel was the only other priest on the altar; it was nice to let the spotlight shine on the Archbishop. The Knights of Columbus, that were always so cool to see as a child, were even neat to watch as an adult.

Archbishop kept his homily short. He did mention that he had never met Monsignor Schuler, which I thought was a bit unbelievable since it seems everyone had met him! It is too bad they had never met, since I think they would've had a lot in common. Archbishop Nienstedt did have a point to his homily, other than just introducing himself to the parish. He related the story of St. Agnes, a very young, virtuous girl, who was martyred and essentially said today's youth should follow her example of chastity instead of looking at the example society provides. He also said we are all called to holiness and chastity no matter what our state in life is. Direct and to the point.

Archbishop Nienstedt did mention an "ecclesiastical genealogical connection" he had with St. Agnes. Prior St. Agnes pastor, Monsignor Alphonse Schladweiler, had been appointed Bishop of New Ulm and Archbishop Nienstedt had been Bishop of New Ulm. There you have it.

I did have to stop for a minute when the Archbishop blessed the congregation. I thought, with my poor hearing, that he referred to St. Agnes as a "virgin and mother." I then realized what he had actually said was the more sensical "virgin and MARTYR." Because of this, I didn't really catch much of the blessing :)

And, upon leaving the church, I found I didn't get a parking ticket even though I was parked a tiny bit too close to a stop sign. And I actually got to sit and enjoy the Mass because hubby stayed home with the kids and went to a later Mass at Nativity. It was nice to go to Mass without distraction.

Welcome Archbishop Nienstedt!!

St. Matthew Bible Study - Lessons 13 and 14

Have been so busy lately that I haven't had the time and energy to sit down and type up my class notes from bible study. Now that I look at my notes from last week, I wish I would've done them sooner...but here goes.

CHAPTER 13
Parables
Father started out talking about how Jesus begins to preach in parables (called the parable discourse), departing from His more straight-forward manner. This coincides with the rise in hostility and opposition He receives from the scribes and Pharisees who resent Him because He is stealing their thunder on teaching the Law. Jesus was seen as a great teacher and they felt threatened. Now Jesus takes His message to the streets and is no longer preaching in the synagogues.

This shift to parables is an important distinction to note. From the class notes it says that "to understand why Jesus does this, it's necessary to look at two prominent Old Testament parables -- one involving Jotham (Judges 9:1-57) and the other involving the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 12:1-15). In the first instance, Jotham addresses the people of Shechem after Abimelech has killed 70 of the sons of Jerubbaal and made himself king. Jotham, the lone surviving brother, tells a parable about a bramble who was made "king of the trees" after other, worthier trees were passed over. That bramble in that parable represents Abimelech. In the second instance, the prophet Nathan tells david a parable about a rich man who stole and slaughtered a poor man's only lamb. When David replies: "The man who has done this deserves to die!" Nathan answers the king: "You are the man!" and he then spells out David's sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Bathsheba's husband, Uriah the Hittite. In the Old Testament, both of these parables were told in circumstances where leaders had become corrupt.

Father talked about how those with faith understood the parables and could relate to them, but those against Christ just didn't get it. Parables were not meant to exclude but were to help people accept Christ, but those not open to Jesus' message often times didn't get what He was alluding to since they were hardened of heart. In a way, the parables separate Jesus' followers from the opposition -- one group hears and understands (internalizes the parables) whereas the other group does not.

The class notes say that the "majority of Jesus' parables focus on the kingdom of heaven -- its small beginnings, its immense scope, and its unfathomable value.

Looking at the text
The boat that Jesus preaches from to in verse two is a symbol of the Church and salvation (like Noah's ark). His posture of sitting is that that a rabbi would use in teaching.

In verse ten, when the disciples ask Him why He preaches in parables, Jesus replies:

"To you it has been given to know the secrets (Father said secrets = mysteries) of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."

We see the idea of a "super abundance" in the next chapter when Jesus performs the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The scribes and the Pharisees are the ones referred to in this passage. Father said for he who has ears there is something required to understand...not so much a secret code, but grace of faith. Obviously, the scribes and Pharisees have squandered this grace. We also see this with Pharoah in the Old Testament, where God withdrew His grace from Pharoah and Pharoah became so hardened of heart and dull of intellect that he almost destroyed his own people because of it (Moses and the plagues).

The parable of the sower
This parable shows the different reactions people have to Jesus' message. Those with the grace of faith will hear and be fruitful, but those with hardened hearts will be lost. The message is the same to all, it's just the difference in the person that determines whether the message will take root or not.

Hidden
Several things are hidden in this chapter. Good wheat hidden among the weeds (verses 24-30), the mustard seed (31-32), the hidden flour (33), hidden pearl (44-46), and the net that scoops up good fish obscured by the bad (47-50). Also, the earlier reference to secrets (mysteries) in verse 11. Jesus says in verse 35, "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." Here Jesus is calling His kingdom and the Church that which has been hidden. Father also said that what is small and hidden will become great. This is part of the problem Jews of the time had with Jesus. They were expecting a king like David who would rule, have a temple, armies, etc. Jesus' kingdom is more hidden, not so visible or physical.

The house
In verse 36, Jesus leaves the crowd and goes into a house. The house symbolizes the Church. From the notes it says, "Just as Jesus explained the meaning of his parables while in a house, it's only WITHIN THE CHURCH that the mystery of Jesus can even begin to be understood."

Jesus' brothers and sisters
For the skinny on this, see the Catechism, paragraph 500, which says:
Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus," are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary." They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.


CHAPTER 14
Herod Antipas and John the Baptist
This chapter starts off by talking about Herod again. Those Herod fellas were not nice dudes. This Herod, the tetrarch, was one of the sons of Herod the Great. Herod the Great was an evil and wicked man, and the one responsible for the Martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. When this bad actor leaves the scene, Augustus Caesar breaks the kingdom into three because he fears a strong leader being in control of the area. Herod the Great's three sons, Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Herod Philip, take over, ruling the pieces of Israel from south to north, respectively.

In this chapter we are dealing with the sterling Herod Antipas. John the Baptist has been publically condeming Herod Antipas (HA) and his lovely and charming wife, Herodias, because HA is now married to Herodias, who is really Herod Philip's wife. Antipas stole her away from his own brother. Charming bunch of guys. Herod Antipas' prior wife high tails it out of Israel because she knew HA would kill her to get her out of the way so HA could have Herodias.

It only gets worse. For HA's birthday, which Father said was really a drunken orgy, no cake and candles here, Herodias' daughter dances for Herod. The dance was quite provocative and enchants HA soooo much (can you imagine a mother encouraging her daughter to do this!) that he promises with an oath to give her whatever she asks for. Herodias, who if it's even possible was probably more evil than HA, tells her daughter to ask for John the Baptist's head on a platter. Herodias was full of vengeance to want the tongue of the man who had publically denounced her. HA, who supposedly was "sorry" to have to do this, but after all and oath is an oath and he had to save face, had no problem beheading a man he KNEW was righteous and even like to listen to preach. Talk about bad seed.

In those days, beheading was not usual, stoning was. John's death here prefigures Christ (righteous and innocent man put to death for vengeful reasons). Here we clearly see the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the new. John's martyrdom "sets the stage for the beginning of a totally new way of relating to God."

Our group leader mentioned that supposedly a mystic had a vision that Herodias' daughter supposedly slipped and fell on some ice and was herself beheaded in the fall. Fascinating story, but don't know where it comes from. Will have to check into it.

Loaves
Father and our notes pointed out that immediately after John's martyrdom, Jesus withdrew to what is called a "lonely" place. Father said it really should be translated as "desert" place. Jesus withdrew to the desert, which was lonely, but it signified the wandering in the desert of the Israelites. The notes say that, "Immediately on the heels of reporting the beheading of John the Baptist, Matthew records the miracles of the loaves and fishes. The Evangelist deliberately begins the narrative section that will lead to the discourse on the Church with the story of a miracle that clearly prefigures the sacrament of the Eucharist. This is fitting, since after Jesus' Passion, death and Resurrection, this sacraments of sacraments will become the source and summit of the Church's life and faith. Matthew presents Jesus, the Bread of Life, feeding the multitudes -- which allows this story to be read liturgically from an ecclesial, or Church, perspective. Although Jesus could have performed this miracle many other ways, he instructed his disciples to distribute the loaves and fishes. Not only are the crowds satisfied, but the 12 disciples, acting in Jesus' name and by His power, produce bread in such abundance that there are 12 baskets full of food left. The end of the Old Covenant is marked by the death of the last prophet, and the beginning of the New Covenant shows the 12 disciples as the ones who are going to be sent by Jesus to feed the lost sheep of the house of Israel -- the descendants fo the 12 tribes."

Rationalism
Father spent a few minutes talking about the German Rationalist movement. Briefly, it is used to find a "rational" way to explain what happened in the bible. It denies the divine and has no time for miracles. The MIRACLE of the loaves and fishes is diminished to that old "sappy" tale (to use Father's word) of people sharing the food they had hidden in their garments. The "miracle" was that the people shared what they had, not that Jesus performed a real miracle. Yeah.Right.

Storms and sea
It is in this chapter that we see Jesus walking on the water. The disciples are being tossed about in the boat. Peter, who is later scolded by Jesus as having "little faith," shows incredible faith by asking Jesus, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." Peter then got out of the boat and started walking, demonstrating his incredible faith. It wasn't until his humanity kicked in that he began to doubt and then started to sink. However, as Peter starts to sink, he does the right thing and calls for the Lord to help him. From the notes, the boat is an icon of the Church because just as the boat struggles against the wind and waves in the water, the Church struggles against the waves of history and the persecuting forces of powers and principalities bent on its destruction.

There's some splainin' to do

What classic sitcom character are you?

Lucy Ricardo
Take this quiz!

Romper Room - The Next Generation

Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker's productivity, physical well-being and competence.

From Fox News:

The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolisms. The system would allow managers to monitor employees' performance by measuring their heart rates, body temperatures, movements, facial expressions and blood pressure. Labor unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer's assessment of their physiological state.

Technology allowing constant monitoring of workers was previously limited to pilots, firefighters and NASA astronauts. This is believed to be the first time a company has proposed developing such software for mainstream workplaces.

Microsoft submitted a patent application in the U.S. for a "unique monitoring system" that could link workers to their computers. Wireless sensors could read "heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure," the application states.

The system could also "automatically detect frustration or stress in the user" and "offer and provide assistance accordingly." Physical changes to an employee would be matched to an individual psychological profile based on a worker's weight, age and health. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that he needed help.

Britain's Information Commissioner, civil-liberties groups and privacy lawyers strongly criticized the potential of the system for "taking the idea of monitoring people at work to a new level."

"This system involves intrusion into every single aspect of the lives of the employees," Hugh Tomlinson, an expert on data protection law at the London law firm Matrix Chambers, said. "It raises very serious privacy issues." The U.S. Patent Office confirmed Tuesday that the application had been published last month, 18 months after being filed. Patent lawyers said that it could be granted within a year.

"This system takes the idea of monitoring people at work to a new level with a new level of invasiveness but in a very old-fashioned way because it monitors what is going in rather than the results," said Peter Skyte, a national officer for the British union Unite.

Britain's Information Commissioner's Office, a governmental agency that reports directly to Parliament, was no less alarmed. "Imposing this level of intrusion on employees could only be justified in exceptional circumstances," a spokesman said.

Microsoft refused to comment on the application.

"We have over 7,000 patents worldwide and we are proud of the quality of these patents and the innovations they represent," a spokesman said. "As a general practice, we do not typically comment on pending patent applications because claims made in the application may be modified through the approval process."


Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic Microsoft mirror, tell me today. Have all my friends been productive at work?
________________________________

Myths which are believed in tend to become true.
George Orwell