Thursday, December 22, 2005

St. Norbert Upcoming Events
Christmas Mass

Saturday December 24, 2005 Time: 4:00 pm, 11:30 PM Choir sings, Mass at 12:00 Sunday December 25, 2005 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM

SCRIPTURE STUDY GROUP
Beginning Wednesday, January 4th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. We will be using a scripture study book on forgiveness. This will be a great way to observe Lent.
To sign up or for more information, call Jo-Ann Conti at 838-6342 or Pat Drury at 839-4028.

Ongoing Events
MOM’S BOOK CLUB

A small group of moms from St. Norbert Church has been meeting to discuss wonderful Christian, nonfiction books. We are beginning a new book for the Advent and Christmas season and want to invite other interested women to join us. We will be reading “Cradle of Redeeming Love: the Theology of the Christmas Mystery” by John Saward. This book can be found on Amazon.com new or used and may also be in local bookstores. We will begin this book on Thursday, December 8th at 8:30 a.m. in the playroom at the McDonald’s near Schnucks, 1090 Shackleford Road. Children are welcome to come and play while we discuss this book. All women are asked to prayerfully consider joining us. If you have questions or wish to join, please call Tammi at 972-0635.

Bible Study
Small groups on the Holy Spirit continue to meet at several different times. Contact the Rectory to find a leader of the group that is at a time convenient for you.

The St. Norbert Yahoo e-mail group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stnorbert/ is for parishioners of St. Norbert Parish. It was set up to allow quick dissemination of information about upcoming events or neighborhood issues. Members may post and view items on the parish calendar.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Gee! It's been a long time since I updated this blog. I've been busy taking a Church History class from Paul VI Institute this fall. I had a couple hours a week to work on it. It is part of my certificate in lay ministry that I am working on.

I had a great time in my hometown for Thanksgiving. All 7 of my siblings were there, which is rare. It was fun to see the new members of the family -- the new spouse of my niece and nephew -- from the weddings we attended this summer. A new member will join any day because my nephew's wife is expecting. That will be the second great-grandchild for my mom.

I'm not in the mood for Christmas yet. It takes me awhile. It snowed today, which helps. I'm working on Christmas cards and a newsletter. I got out the Advent candles. I'm going to stuff the stockings for St. Nick's day when I get home. I forgot to do it last night, because I was helping my daughter create a web site for a class. My kids really like this tradition. I wish I could surprise them though. That was the fun part when I was a kid.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Death Penalty - A matter of life, death and social standing
September 26, 2005
Michael Lenza sounds like a reluctant opponent of the death penalty.
"I wish I could say the death penalty is fair, the worst people get it; if its a crime of passion, we're not executing them; we're not executing children; were not executing somebody that's mentally retarded or has severe mental disabilities," he said. "But we can't say that. We just can't."
Lenza has the facts and figures to back up what he says. The Bluffton University sociologist spent 6 years analyzing 19 years of capital murder cases in Missouri.
He concluded that when it comes to sentencing in death penalty cases, "almost everything matters except the crime." What matters most, his findings suggest, is the relative value society places on the defendant and on the victim.
Lenzas presentation Friday was based his doctoral dissertation, a study of the death penalty in Missouri from 1978 to 1996.
He examined 9,857 homicides which resulted in 152 death sentences. He found that defendants were more likely to be sentenced to death if they were young, poor, black or had a previous criminal record.
He found a black defendant who killed a white victim was 3 times as likely to receive the death penalty as a white defendant with a black victim.
Lenza's findings track with numerous other studies. A California study published last week suggested the race of the victim could be the most telling factor: A death sentence was most likely when the victim was white, far less so when the victim was black or Hispanic.
"When the jurors decide guilt or innocence, they're looking at the case. Then the trial stops. Then they have a new (sentencing) trial, and it's about the social relationships and the social standing of the defendant," Lenza said.
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/news.jsp?key=1805

Loose CanonsRole Reversal
The anti-war, anti-Bush MSM both here and abroad have reached a state of near-rapture. The president's problems, Tom DeLay's indictment, the diminishing support for the war and the growing (and healthy) fight between fiscal conservatives and big government Republicans has enthused them like nothing since the last helo lifted off from the American embassy in Saigon. They're ready to declare conservatism over. But, like the Washington Post's reports that Rep. Mike Pence's "operation offset" was dead, they will be proven wrong if actions take the place of speeches.
A little-noticed role reversal has occurred in American politics. The MSM are performing the service that Heritage, AEI, Cato, and the Hoover Institution provide for conservatives. The media have filled the political and intellectual vacuum that left the Dems entirely bereft of ideas, able to say nothing other than "no." Today the opposition party to the Republicans is not the Dems but the mainstream media itself. They write, they speak, and the Dems follow.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8830


Diesel Deliverance
"We could be driving powerful, stylish vehicles that get 35-45 mpg -- if we lived in Europe."
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8849
So don't buy a hybrid car anytime soon.
And they call this a crack down?
Gay priests 'must prove chastity for three years': Vatican
An upcoming Vatican document on gays and the priesthood says men who demonstrate homosexual tendencies cannot become priests unless they can show they have lived chastely for at least three years, an Italian newspaper reported today.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=158372744&p=y5837345x


I heard it through the grapevine.
At least how we used to find out about the latest gossip. Now we get in from online, not the grapevine.
New draft translation of Mass prayers distributed to bishops
ROME (CNS) -- A new draft translation of the main Mass prayers in English has been distributed to bishops and was auctioned off Oct. 5 on eBay, the Internet auction site.http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0505666.htm


Too bad Terri Schavio's judges didn't hear this.
Italian man "understood everything" during 2-year coma
Oct. 06 (CWNews.com) - An Italian man who had been in a coma for 2 years has awakened and reports that he had been fully aware of his surroundings while he was comatose.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=40026

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Government failure, private success
by Michael D. Tanner
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4827
"While the response to hurricane Katrina has uncovered failures of government at every level - federal, state, and local - it has also revealed again the amazing generosity and effectiveness of America's private charitable efforts."

I've often thought exactly what this article says. You can't force people to be charitable by taxing them.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Harriett Miers? Who is she?
It seems all the media frenzy today is about who Harriett Miers is. Has the country reached the point where only unknowns can be nominated and successfully seated on the Supreme Court? The fear of being "Borked" keeps the most qualified from ever wanting to be nominated. Can't the Democrats remember that they lost the election in 2004 and stop their guerilla tactics on judicial nominees? The liberals who can't win an election and use the judiciary to get their way are not acting in the best interests of the nation.
A Case Of Life And Death http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051010/10supreme.htm
The Supreme Court opens its new term with arguments in a case whose implications could not be more profound
By Liz Halloran
"The future of Oregon's 1994 Death With Dignity Act is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. This week, with John G. Roberts sitting in the chief's chair, the court opens its new term with arguments in Gonzales v. Oregon.
Balance of power. The central legal question in the case is fairly straightforward: Can a federal official charged with enforcing drug laws disregard the will of Oregon voters and bar physicians from prescribing lethal doses of controlled substances?
Gonzales v. Oregon will be this term's "premier federalism case," says Jonathan Adler, a Case Western Reserve University School of Law associate professor. Whatever its makeup, the court faces a full plate of controversial issues. Abortion, the religious use of drugs, and military recruiting on campuses are all on the court's new docket."

I think this case is as important for the pro-life cause as Roe v. Wade was for the pro-death cause. This Oregon law is a slippery slope that has to be stopped. I don't want our country to end up like the Netherlands.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

So what's happening in Catholic morality?
http://www.the-tidings.com/2005/0923/benson.htm
“As we continue to conform ourselves more and more to Christ in all things, the question "What should I do?" will only be authentic if we first ask, "What do I want to be?" And, of course, the answer to that question is, "A disciple of Jesus.”
"What do I want to be?" is indeed an important question.

Shroud of Turin 'shows future of science,' says local expert
http://www.the-tidings.com/2005/0923/shroud.htm
"The image of the shroud and its riddle cannot be solved through the science of the past," said Piczek. Concurring with French physicist and shroud researcher, Dr. William Wolkowski, Piczek believes that transdisciplinary study of the shroud will give birth to a new scientific age. "The shroud shows the future of science," declared Piczek.

Monday, September 19, 2005

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization: A review
Thomas E. Woods
This book is about what they don't teach you in World History class. I took two college level classes in World History and neither course gave any real hint of the contributions of the Catholic church. There was a small mention that 'Christianity' had monestaries that had schools, but that is misleading because 'Christianity' had only one denomination until 1517. Why did they leave that important fact out? Why did they misrepresent the church's role in science, education, economics, medicine, charity, morals, secular law and international law? This book tells the stuff that biased authors leave out. It is a real eye opener that is fun to read. I couldn't put it down! I finished it in a couple days. It leaves me thirsty to know more. The part I like the most was the contribution of the Catholic Church to the advancement of women. Before Jesus, only the woman was punished for adultery afterward the men were punished too which is much more fair. Also, women could establish convents and do social work, which was very empowering in an age where women were not allowed to work outside the home. Wow! That blows the 'sacred femininism' theory of the DaVinci Code to bits!

Monday, August 15, 2005

A Baptist writing about birth control?
Albert Mohler Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"Deliberate Childlessness Revisited"
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mohler/?adate=8/15/2005#1345708
Clearly, I hit a nerve. Almost two years ago, I published an article entitled "Deliberate Childlessness: Moral Rebellion With a New Face." In that article I addressed the growing phenomenon of married couples who simply choose not to have children. I argued that this development indicates an eclipse of the Christian worldview in terms of the gift of children and a redefinition of marriage itself.

Pope: Faith is not all about rules
http://headlines.virgin.net/story/OOO/A16361311124031900A00
Pope Benedict has rejected the idea of Christianity as a religion of rules and prohibitions, and said he hoped to use his trip next week to Germany for a youth gathering to spur "a wave of new faith" in Europe.
The German-born Pope said "providence wanted my first trip abroad to take me to Germany."
He will fly to Cologne on Thursday to begin a four-day visit for World Youth Day, a Catholic jamboree of rallies and religious services.
Speaking about the hundreds of thousands of youths expected to converge on Cologne for the gathering, Pope Benedict said: "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 is not a burden to be carried with great love and realisation, but is like having wings. It is wonderful to be a Christian with this knowledge that it gives us a great breadth, a large community," the pontiff said.
Vatican Radio provided an English translation of the 15-minute interview, which was conducted in Castel Gandolfo, the summer palace in the Alban Hills outside of Rome.
Pope Benedict was asked to describe the "ideal aim" for the Cologne appointment "if all would work out perfectly."
The pope laughed and replied: "Yes, well, a wave of new faith among young people, especially the youth in Germany and Europe."
In Germany, "many Christian things occur, but there is also a great fatigue, and we are so concerned with structural questions that the zest and the joy of faith are missing," the pontiff said.
On Sunday, Benedict raised the same theme of the need to invigorate faith in remarks to pilgrims and tourists at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the hills outside Rome.

Biblical Pool of Siloam Is Uncovered in Jerusalem
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm
Tue Aug 09 2005 00:09:33 ET
Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the old city of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, the LOS ANGELES TIMES reports.
The pool was fed by the now famous Hezekiah's Tunnel and is ``a much grander affair'' than archeologists previously believed, with three tiers of stone stairs allowing easy access to the water, according to Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archeology Review, which reported the find Monday.
``Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit'' to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. ``Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was.''
A gospel that was thought to be ``pure theology is now shown to be grounded in history,'' he said.
The discovery puts a new spotlight on what is called the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a trip that religious law required ancient Jews to make at least once a year, said archeologist Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, who excavated the pool.
``Jesus was just another pilgrim coming to Jerusalem,'' he said. ``It would be natural to find him there.''
The newly discovered pool is less than 200 yards from another Pool of Siloam, this one a reconstruction built between A.D. 400 and 460 by the empress Eudocia of Byzantium, who oversaw the rebuilding of several Biblical sites.
Developing...---

King David's fabled palace: Is this it?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/04/news/david.php
By Steven Erlanger
The New York Times
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2005 JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant." JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant." JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant." JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant."

Friday, August 05, 2005

We got back from vacation in Pensacola, Fl Sunday. Our teens enjoyed the beach and deep sea fishing. I did too. We caught at least two dozen big fish.
My niece, Laura, married Chris Sheperd July 23. We went to the wedding. That was beautiful and fun.
In route, we visited Southeast Missouri State Univ. in Cape Girardeau. My daughter might go there. I visited with a friend that was in our wedding that lives there now.
Option to stem cells found
Pitt experts say placental cells offer palatable alternative
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05217/549236.stm
"University of Pittsburgh researchers have discovered that one type of cell in the human placenta has characteristics that are strikingly similar to embryonic stem cells in their ability to regenerate a wide variety of tissues."

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Start Praying Now!!!
Abortion Stance Key to ConfirmationIn an announcement Tuesday night, President Bush picked Roberts to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (search). He is seen as a solid conservative who has done little to give Democrats much cause for complaint.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163028,00.html
The rabid anti-life forces will have a field day with this nomination. The fate of Christianity in this country is at stake. John Glover Roberts, Jr. is a practicing Catholic! (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Roberts,_Jr.)

Start Fasting Now!!!
Al-Qaida's U.S. Nuclear Targets
"Al-Qaida's prime targets for launching nuclear terrorist attacks are the nine U.S. cities with the highest Jewish populations, according to captured leaders and documents."
"The optimal dates for the attacks are Aug. 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Sept. 11 and May 14, the anniversary of the re-creation of the state of Israel in 1948. No specific year has been suggested, however, this Aug. 6 represents the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima attack."
The cities chosen as optimal targets are New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Washington, D.C. New York and Washington top the preferred target list for al-Qaida leadership.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45313

FDA Issues Infection Warning on Abortion Pill
WASHINGTON — The government warned doctors Tuesday to be on the lookout for rare but deadly infections in women using the abortion pill RU-486 (search), citing two more deaths after its use.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163032,00.html

I've been busy taking a class on Morality this summer for my certificate in Lay Ministry. I'm getting a lot out of it. Vatican II replaced the "morality of obligation and duty" with "call to holiness" and "freedom for excellence" according to our textbook. I liked the explaination of the difference between joy and pleasure as the motivators of behavior. Happiness is the goal of a moral life, but it is the joy of the Lord that satisfies our hearts, not a series of pleasurable events.
These insights are mind-blowing for me!
For example, this is what I wrote for one of my assignments:
Insights on collectivism (Marxist communism)
CCC 1885 "The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism." Why is the Church opposed to collectivism? This article explains what is wrong with this thinking.
Nietzsche: A Precursor to Hitler?
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Nietzsche.htm
The appellation of "communism" comes from the Latin root communis, which means "group" living. Fascism is a derivation of the Italian word fascio, which is translated as "bundle" or "group." Both fascism and communism are forms of coercive group living, or more succinctly, collectivism. The only substantial difference between the two is fascism's limited observance of private property rights, which is ostensible at best given its susceptibility to rigid government regulation. Nazism (a variant of fascism) is derivative of Marxism. The historical conflicts between communism and fascism were merely feuds between two socialist totalitarian camps, not two dichotomously related forces. Both tangibly represent the Nietzschean concept of the "human herd," a societal paradigm that subordinates the individual to the collective. Nietzschean philosophy comprises an ideational continuum binding Hitler, Marx, and other socialist totalitarians... "

"In addition to the continuity of political and social thought that pervaded totalitarian socialism, Nietzsche also provided a religious component. The infamous declaration, "God is dead," is but a segue for the introduction of a new god. This god has had numerous manifestations, as is evidenced by the following delineation by W. Warren Wagar:

Nineteenth-and early twentieth-century thought teems with time-bound emergent deities. Scores of thinkers preached some sort of faith in what is potential in time, in place of the traditional Christian and mystical faith in a power outside of time. Hegel's Weltgeist, Comte's Humanite, Spencer's organismic humanity inevitably improving itself by the laws of evolution, Nietzsche's doctrine of superhumanity, the conception of a finite God given currency by J.S. Mill, Hastings Rashdall, and William James, the vitalism of Bergson and Shaw, the emergent evolutionism of Samuel Alexander and Lloyd Morgan, the theories of divine immanence in the liberal movement in Protestant theology, and du Nouy's telefinalism--all are exhibits in evidence of the influence chiefly of evolutionary thinking, both before and after Darwin, in Western intellectual history. The faith of progress itself--especially the idea of progress as built into the evolutionary scheme of things--is in every way the psychological equivalent of religion. (Wagar, 106 -07)"

My comments:
Superhumanity means that Nietzsche believed in preventing the "unhealthy" from procreating and in euthanasia for those he thought were less than perfect.
This kind of thinking is what has led to abortion, free contraception from Planned Parenthood, and the "mercy killing" of disabled Terri Schavio. This is not a slippery slope I want our country to be going down. Christianity is about the only institution standing in the way of these ideas. The USA won the war against Hitler, but his ideas have infected our society to an alarming degree.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Religious agreement on mother of Christ between Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians
London, May 17 (Guardian News Service):
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200505171102.htm
After nearly 500 years of intense division, Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians yesterday declared that one of the two faiths' most fundamental differences - the position of Mary, the mother of Christ - should no longer divide them.
This is amazing news! I never thought I'd see the day this would happen.

This is an article about my family. Frankenberger was my maiden name.
Fayetteville : UA dean lauds engineer dynasty a plumber began
http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=News&storyid=116487

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Birth Control Pill May Cause Prostate Cancer and Bladder Disease in Mothers’ Children
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05050411.html
COLUMBIA, MO, May 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scientists have determined that boys exposed to estrogen hormones in the abortifacient birth control pill while in utero are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer and other urinary tract problems later in life.

Poll: American Catholics Support New Pope
http://abcnews.go.com/International/Pope/story?id=700062

Faith May Do More Than Help You Heal
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78786
Does believing in a higher power make you healthier? There's new evidence from the University of Chicago that in some cases, it really does.
If going to a church, or a mosque, or visiting a Buddhist temple or synagogue could help you lose weight, live longer, and simply feel better and healthier, would you do it?
Americans may wonder after a new study from the University of Chicago.
It found that African-Americans who have a strong religious faith are significantly less depressed than those who don't have it.
Professor John Cacioppo, ph.d., says "In the African-American community [we] found that the stronger their relationship to god, the less depressive symptoms they expressed."
And he says there's also proof that people who trust in God, Buddha, or Mohammed or any higher power just have healthier lives. He says, "They are less likely to smoke, binge drink, less likely to use illicit drugs. They are more likely to engage in fidelity and appropriate sexual behavior."
So do better health and stronger faith go together? An even bigger study at the University of Chicago will now explore the link between life expectancy and religious faith. But there's enough to the idea that University of Chicago divinity professor Clark Gilpin says doctors may start asking you not just what you feel, but what you believe.
He says, "In the same way that physicians need to be able to spot alcohol problems or anything else, they're going to need to be able to interpret the religious dimensions of a person's total life."

Friday, April 08, 2005

The Question of Motivation
By Patrick O'Hannigan
Published 4/6/2005 12:06:26 AM
Have you noticed how much commentary about the passing of Pope John Paul II talks about his leadership without addressing what motivated that leadership?
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7989

John Paul II inspired me to go door-to-door to evangelize when he wrote that Catholics should go do that.
John Paul II inspired me with his Theology of the Body.
John Paul II's preaching touched my heart when he visited St. Louis in 1999.
John Paul II's preaching touched my daughter's heart when he visited World Youth Day in Toronto. I've been asking him to pray for her while she is on retreat this week.
John Paul II has already inspired a few people I know to join RCIA this week. As parish web master, I've seen a sudden increase in the number of hits on our RCIA page from all over the US and other countries. The most frequent search word to reach our site is "becoming catholic."
John Paul II is still on the job!

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

"BE NOT AFRAID," as John Paul II said throughout his time on earth as our servant. I'm tempted to be fearful of who will be elected Pope. I have to assure myself that the Holy Spirit is in charge and that I should trust the Cardinals to pick the right man for the job. They did a great job last time, so why should I doubt now?

Poll: What do Catholics think about Pope John Paul II? See the new Zogby poll. I guess they polled Catholics who actually go to Mass often, insted of the In Name Only ones who answered the AP poll.http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=981

But what made him great?
Pat Buchanan
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/pb20050405.shtml

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Has Osama bin Laden started a democratic revolution in the Middle East? One of very few universally valid laws of history is the law of unintended consequences.

Hmmm... very interesting, but from a British perspective.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1429001,00.html

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Cause of Marital Failure http://www.cuf.org/Laywitness/Articles/Archive/JF05/Jan_Feb05vere.pdf
by Peter Vere in LayWitness magazine
The root cause of marital failure in almost all of these [annulments] cases is abortion, contraception, and premarital sex.Read more articles from LayWitness magazine at http://www.cuf.org/Laywitness/index.asp

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=35615
Smoking pot doubles mental illness risk
Christchurch, New Zealand, Mar. 02 - New Zealand researchers have established that marijuana use doubles the risk of developing a mental illness like schizophrenia.

I liked these articles. Us baby boomers should have listened to the Church back when.

Friday, February 25, 2005

Job Description for the Next Pope
THE FP MEMO: ADVICE FOR GLOBAL LEADERS http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/files/story2444.php
Job Description for the Next Pope
By R. Scott Appleby Page 1 of 3
January/February 2004
To ensure the vitality of the Catholic Church, the successor to John Paul II must embrace science, reject globalization, reach out to the Islamic world—and brush up on economics.
MEMORANDUM:
TO: The College of Cardinals, Roman Catholic Church FROM: R. Scott Appleby RE: Selecting the Next Pope
In the 21st century, Your Eminences, the Catholic Church must vigorously address three related and pressing challenges that threaten the vitality and relevance of Christianity.
I refer, first, to a new and aggressive secularization, borne into the heart of modern societies by the dynamics of globalization. In traditional as well as developed societies, increasing materialism opens the way to a form of secularism that is indifferent or hostile to religious faith. A second critical development bearing directly upon Catholicism's future is the fierce internal contest for the soul of Islam, the great world religion that is both the Church's main rival for adherents and its potential ally against a purely materialistic concept of human development. And finally, the advent of genetic engineering and related forms of biotechnology underscores the need to upgrade dramatically Catholic education and expertise in the sciences and in bioethics.
The pontiff who succeeds His Holiness John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) must address these three challenges boldly. In some cases, the new pope will draw on the example of John Paul II, but he must also define new horizons of understanding for the Church. Unless the next pope perceives the links between these challenges and their roots in the context of a historic debate over the relevance of religion to humanity, Catholicism will be unable to provide a viable alternative to the extremes of intolerant religious militancy and the self-absorbed materialism of a global consumer society.
The Challenge of Secularism
The notion that the human experience can be understood through purely empirical and social-scientific analyses, without reference to humankind's transcendent origins and orientation, is certainly not new. The reduction of the human being to an object is the abiding temptation of the modern world; witness the degradation of life in the wars, genocides, torture chambers, and social inequalities of the 20th century. But this erroneous view of humanity has found a powerful counterpart in the robust new form of globalization that now dominates economic, political, and cultural interactions among peoples. The commodification of social relations that turns individuals into cogs in the wheels of industry and politics now shapes virtually all forms of human interaction—even religion.
For more than a century, the Catholic Church has warned against understanding humanity through concepts taken exclusively from biology, economics, and psychology. With renewed vigor since the pontificate of John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Church has proclaimed that belief in the sacredness of human life is the only secure foundation for protecting human dignity. In reaffirming this cornerstone of Catholic social teaching, the next pope must display the vigor and creativity of John Paul II, who has traversed the globe proclaiming that human dignity is God's gift to every individual. Advocacy of human rights, including the crucial right of religious freedom, must remain the central message of Roman Catholicism to the world. This task is not easy: John Paul II was rebuked when he spoke out on religious freedom during a trip to India, where Hindu militants accused him of Catholic proselytism. Nor are advocates of religious freedom welcome in secular strongholds such as post-Soviet Central Asia or China, or in nations dominated by an ethno-religious majority, such as Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, or Sri Lanka. Lack of popularity or governmental disapproval never stopped Wojtyla, nor must it impede his successor.
This fundamental embrace of human dignity and human rights is the moral foundation of evangelization. In bringing Christ to those who have or have not heard the gospel, John Paul II dramatically rejected alliances with states and their coercive power. Concordats with friendly nation-states, whose friendship with the Church often came at a terrible moral and spiritual price, are a thing of the past. The next pope cannot return to a pattern of affiliation with any government. Civil society—the cradle of political self-determination and the arena for expressing human freedom in culture and religion—is the milieu within which to enact the divine mission of bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.
The next pope must recognize that religious faith is increasingly seen as counterproductive (at best) in a world seduced by material wealth, skeptical of truth, and wary of authority. In much of Western Europe, assertions of religious identity are often met with scorn and almost willful misunderstanding (e.g., the recent spectacle of Muslim girls in France being suspect for wearing veils to school). In Iraq, Syria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, and parts of Latin America, active religious groups of all kinds have suffered intimidation or outright persecution. In the United States, conservative Christians embrace liberty and the U.S. Bill of Rights, even as they struggle with the temptation to regulate what properly belongs only to God—the consciences and moral compasses of their fellow citizens.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

It's been a long time since I posted to this blog. Where did the time go? 2005? It still sounds strange.

It is finally hitting me that one day my children will leave home. We started talking about where they will go to college and how we will pay for it. That's when it started seeming very real. I started going into anticipatory grief. I was miserable for several days until I prayed about it. I think God gave me the wisdom to realize that now is not the time for grieving. I should enjoy what is left of the time they will be with us. I'll cross that bridge when I get there and not sooner. It is not worth losing sleep over now.

My daughter bought an IPOD yesterday with money she earned at her job. I can't tell you how earth-shaking that seems to me. She is not dependent on me for all the money she has now. She can decide to spend $250 without consulting me. It seems like yesterday that she was a tiny baby with a toothless grin. Now she has a shiny metalic-braces smile. That is, when she smiles at me, which is less often than it used to be. She's a teenager, you know.