While in Michigan we discovered that Thomas really likes trains, and especially little blue trains with whom he shares a name (i.e. Thomas the Tank Engine). Hence his newest birthday presents, with which he is quite delighted:
31 January 2011
20 Games
MLB Network is counting down the twenty greatest games of the last fifty years, and the Tigers-Twins thriller of a couple years ago has made it in at #16. Here are the results so far:
#20. May 17, 1979. Phillies @ Cubs.
#19. Oct. 4, 2003. Giants @ Marlins.
#18. Oct. 12, 1980. Phillies @ Astros.
#17. Oct. 17, 2004. Yankees @ Red Sox.
#16. Oct. 6, 2009. Tigers @ Twins.
Watch the highlights of each game with discussion at MLB Network's 20 Greatest Games page.
30 January 2011
27 January 2011
Summer Theology Course in Norcia, Italy
Please allow me to introduce you to the St. Albert the Great Center for Scholastic Studies, founded by yours truly together with two of my colleagues at the International Theological Institute.
The St. Albert the Great Center for Scholastic Studies is an organization dedicated to the revival of higher studies in theology undertaken according to the mind and method of the great scholastics. This purpose is realized principally through the regular hosting of two-week long Summer programs, in which participants are invited to an intensive course of studies in Catholic theology presented in the form of the great Catholic universities of the high Middle Ages.
Unique to these programs is the combination of scholastic form and content, namely the study of St. Thomas Aquinas in the way that St. Thomas himself would have studied. Hence the dedication of the Center to his own teacher, St. Albert the Great.
The inaugural Summer program is taking place from June 20 - July 1, 2011 in Norcia, Italy. The academic focus of this year's program is Sacramental Theology, with readings taken principally from St. Thomas Aquinas, but also from St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, Ven. John Paul II, et al.
Participants are invited to attend daily Mass and to pray the Divine Office with the worthy Benedictine Monks of Norcia. Fr. Cassian Folsom, the prior of the Monastery and an official consultor for the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has graciously agreed to deliver the keynote address for the program.
Optional organized excursions include hiking in the beautiful Mount Sibiline National Park and trips to nearby Assisi and Cascia. For the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 23), we will organize a special trip to Rome in order to join the Holy Father for Eucharistic procession and adoration.
Who: Qualified applicants over the age of eighteen.
When: June 20 - July 1, 2011.
Where: Norcia, Italy.
Cost: $975.
For more information on the program please see our website: www.albertusmagnuscss.org.
21 January 2011
The Rise and Fall of Christendom
Food for thought on the trajectory of Western History over the last 2,000 odd years. Somebody who is better at math than I am ought to graph that curve and see if we can't predict when the impending criminalization of Christianity will arrive, as well as the ever-popular end of the world ;-)
~A.D. 1.
The Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Flesh.
The Edict of Milan: Legalization of Christianity.
~~~A.D. 380.
The Edict of Thessalonica: Establishment of Christianity as the Religion of the State.
~~~~A.D. 800.
The Coronation of Charlemagne: Triumph of the Church over the Power of the State.
~~~~~A.D. 1302.
The Bull Unam Sanctam of Pope Boniface VIII: Exposition of the Doctrine of the Two Swords.
~~~~A.D. 1789.
The French Revolution: Triumph of the State over the Power of the Church.
~~~A.D. 1918.
The Great War (WWI): Disestablishment of Christianity as the Religion of the State.
~~A.D. ????.
The Criminalization of Christianity.
~A.D. ????.
The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Judge the Living and the Dead.
25 December 2010
Christmas Morning
24 December 2010
Christmas Eve!
In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth;
the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood;
the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham;
the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt;
the one thousand and thirty-second year from David's being anointed king;
in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel;
in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome;
the forty second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;
the whole world being at peace,
in the sixth age of the world,
Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and nine months having passed since his conception,
was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary, being made man.
desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and nine months having passed since his conception,
was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary, being made man.
The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh!
21 December 2010
Happy Anniversary
Happy 30th Anniversary, mom and daddy! A day late, I know. With John being busy with finals, and having no internet at home, I was unable to post yesterday. But John is done, yay, and we are told we should have internet when we get back next semester.
Hope it was a wonderful day, and that many young couples look to you to see what good, Christian marriages are made of.
16 December 2010
Presentation on Vatican Council II
We're in our first day of final exams here today, and Katie and I have each taken one already this morning. I don't have another until Tuesday, but I have to write a paper on original sin in the meantime. Just last Monday, I and a couple of other students made a joint presentation on the Second Vatican Council, in which we tried to suggest some ways in which it could be interpreted in continuity with Catholic tradition (an important question for me personally, as many of you know). One of my classmates gave some background information on the Council, I focused on the difficult question of 'religious liberty', and then another classmate offered some suggestions on the question of the possibility of salvation outside the Church. A link to my third of the presentation is on the sidebar.
05 December 2010
Winter Meetings
It's already been a busy Winter for the Tigers, who have resigned Brandon Inge at 3B and Jhonny [sp!] Peralta at SS, and then gone on to add Joaquin Benoit RP and Victor Martinez DH/C. I like the look of it so far. What do you think? Something like this for the starting lineup?
CF. Austin Jackson
2B. Carlos Guillen (until he breaks again, and then fill in Will Rhymes)
RF. Magglio Ordonez (I'm hoping they bring him back)
1B. Miguel Cabrera
DH. Victor Martinez
LF. Ryan Raburn
SS. Jhonny Peralta
3B. Brandon Inge
C. Alex Avila
29 November 2010
Advent
Wishing you all a blessed season of Advent! We had our first real snowfall last night, and the kids couldn't be more excited. Maria refused to go to Kindergarten today in order to maximize her playing in the snow time. Thomas is very cute, because he doesn't pronounce the first two letters of the word, so he points out the window yelling, NO! NO! NO! What Thomas?, 'snow'? JAH! NO!
16 November 2010
Die Kuche ist da!
It seems that while I was on the computer yesterday complaining about the lack of a kitchen in our new apartment, Lisa was trying to cut some meat with a dull knife. She went upstairs to borrow a sharp one from a neighbor, saw a man installing a kitchen in an empty apartment (i.e. where there is nobody yet living), and basically burst into tears. By mid-afternoon our kitchen was entirely installed, minus a few tiny details that we don't hinder our use of it in the least. A woman / mother under great stress is a force to be reckoned with.
Thanks for the prayers!
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