Maybe I'm imagining it

...but I swear I've heard this theory before.

On the sixth day of Christmas, Mike in CT said to you...

Like LarryD said elsewhere, one of the great things about being Catholic is that you can say "Merry Christmas" up to a week after December 25th, and you're still on time.

Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed feast of the birth of Our Lord. May His coming to us bring us all to the peace of His kingdom, if not in this world, then in the next.

Pax.

Clarifying the condom controversy

Sorry the blog lately has been more of a link service with the occasional "Hi, I'm here," but life with 5 is a little hectic. Anyhoo, I do want to point attention to this article from Joe Heschmeyer's blog citing the CDF statement clarifying the recent broohaha over misinterpreted statements that Pope Benedict made in a book interview. Those interested in understanding the truth ought to check it out.

Enjoy (what little is left of) the rest of Advent and have a blessed Christmas everybody!

Dude, who do you say that I am?

Lewis' argument from Mere Christianity keeps coming back to me lately. Jesus can not be relegated to being categorized as a moral teacher, nor a sandal-wearing hippie, nor a counter-cultural philosopher who was just ahead of his time.

If the Jesus whom is depicted in the gospels is at all accurate, then we are faced with three main conclusions about Him, which lead to two choices about ourselves. Either Jesus is a liar, or a lunatic, or He is who He says He is, the Son of God.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse.

Then Lewis adds:

You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

A man who claims to one with the Eternal creator of Heaven and Earth, performs miracles in His name, and offers forgiveness of sins on His behalf must be correct. Otherwise He is a lunatic, and we have no business following him, or worse, a pathological liar and egomaniac, and we must oppose him. We cannot follow Him half-heartedly. If Jesus is who He says He is, we are then faced with the choice of whether to accept all that He is, or none of Him, for in relation to Him, we have no basis to make any limitations.

I've heard people make the road-up-the-mountain argument: there are many roads that lead up the mountain to enlightenment, holiness, whatever you'd like to call it, God. But this is specious at best, for the only way to know if a road leads to the top of the mountain is to trace the road from the top downward. We, being at the bottom of the mount, cannot do this on our own. But One has come down from the top of the mountain to us, and so connected was He with the road He traveled that He called Himself the Way. Only through this door can we enter into eternal life.

This week we finalize our preparations for celebrating not only the day He came down to us in flesh, but also to look forward to the day when He comes again in glory. From Evening Prayer, Fourth Sunday of Advent: "He comes, the desire of all human hearts; his dwelling place shall be resplendent with glory, alleluia."

Yup, Planned Parenthood is in the business...

Federal money to Planned Parenthood increases abortions. While technically not paying for abortions, the money covers other expenses, thus making room for PP to kill more babies. And the more money that PP gets, the more babies are aborted. In fact, PP kills 97% of the babies that are carried through their doors.

H/T CMR

Wanna gain ten pounds fast?

...then try this recipe with no one to share them with. Dangerous. You've been warned. Make sure you are not alone when they are done.
Relatives always request that I make these at Christmas and New Year's. But. Only. Then.


Peanut butter cups.
base:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 lb confectioners sugar
18 oz creamy peanut butter
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)

topping:
12 oz. chocolate chips
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
corn syrup (just a little to thin chocolate out)
optional: candy wax, 1/3-1/2 bar to solidify chocolate
optional: 1/4 cup coffee grounds

Melt 2 sticks butter and mix with graham cracker crumbs, sugar and peanut butter. It will form a moist, shiny dough. If it's drippy or crumbly, add more peanut butter or sugar. Pat into a 10 x 15 pan, about 1/2" thick all around.

Over low flame, melt chocolate and 1/2 stick butter. Optional: melt candy wax over a double boiler and add to chocoloate. Add corn syrup and coffee grounds. Pour over peanut butter base and chill.

Hint: I put the pan in the fridge, then take it out after 5-10 minutes. I score just a little into the chocolate in 1" squares. Then put back in the fridge until chocolate is hardened. It's easier to cut them the whole way this way.

Unfortunately, there are always stray bits that aren't square, especially around the edges. You can't put these on a plate for display, so they must be eaten immediately. And sometimes I don't cut the squares straight, so some of the pieces are just too small to include, and well, make sure you have people lined up or you won't be eating dinner. For a week.