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Thursday, June 20, 2002
-=Silence=-
Silence.. something that I rarely hear! I have a job for this week and man, for the first 2 days I was in my office and I didn't have the computer radio on (b/c of course I didn't think of it at the time) and I was about to go crazy! I know silence is treasured becuz it helps you focus your thoughts.. well.. it's true. When yoour're in complete (or almost) silence you can foocus your thoughts on more directly on something. I was at a retreat over the weekednd and a new priest was talking about how silence is ver special becuz you can focus your heartt and mind on God. During those two days at work even though I would focys on main things I found it easier to focus on God than when I'm at home with the radio on (unless its classical music, then it's a totally different story.) I guess it was yesteray or the day before but i was walking to my room and of course my sterio would play. ya see, i have this rutein where i walkinto my messy messy room, hit the on button look for something, then get out of my room and run to the computer room making sure no old grimy thing from 2 years ago followed me. (heh, im not that messy.. thats my bro hah) *~anywho~* that's getting off subject. my point is that if you want to relly focus your heart on God go to a very quiet room.. maybe not even outside, unless u live on a big open field, cuz they is usually a lot of noise... and then just think/meditate.
9:13 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


-=What were they thinking?!?!=-

Thursday, June 13, 2002
-=What were they thinking?!?!=-

Peter Jennings convinced ABC to pull Toby Keith's performance of "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" because of his lyrics at one point "you'll be sorry that u messed with US of A. cuz we'll put a boot in ur ass its the american way." from the 4th of July Special. Email Peter Jennings!

I'm not sure if many of you listen to country, but this song is pretty funny. Ya sure the lyrics ain't too nice but hay-- they KILLED our own people and tried (keyword, 'tried') to out a boot in our ass but they didn't get too close. My generation is said to be/become more patriotic than the one before (that is, those who were in their teens during the 80's and 90's) since we are growing up during a war or hostile time, just like the Baby Boomers and their parents. If my generation is to be more patriotic people are gonna have to accept songs about putting a boot in someone's ass. I'm a lil hot about this because those people who tried to kill and hurt us are tryin to wipe out an entire population. I don't give a crap if USA is showing favor to Israel, I will go off to war to fight for the Israelites' right to live and be a people. No FAITH, no CULTURE says to go out and oblivate another! What is wrong with these people?!!? I'm afraid I will never understand, nor do I think I want to. Call me feminist, but women in the Middle East--fight for your rights! stand up to the men! I kno it's hard but from a few, large things will happen.

Wow sorry--just needed to vent about that.. and that my keyboard is definitly not working very well
Ps.. i have no problems with Islam, i have Muslim friends. I do however have a problem with cowards that use a religion which means "PEACE" to do the very opposite and say "it is for Allah". Killing without provocation is the opposite of what is taught in the Koran, and will send you to hell. Jihad is often mistranslated as "holy war". Jihad does mean holy war, but it also means and internal struggle between good and evil (the latter being the more common). it's a shame that two of the three 'People of the Book' find it so hard to get along.
I don't know what Rev. Vines was thinking when he commented about Islam but it is totally disrepectful.
"Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives — and his last one was a 9-year-old girl. And I will tell you, Allah is not Jehovah either. Jehovah's not going to turn you into a terrorist that'll try to bomb people and take the lives of thousands and thousands of people," Mr. Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., said at a pastors' conference here on Monday.

Making the connection between terrorists and all Muslims is plain ignorant and shows a lack of knowledge. I believe my memory to be correct but about 800-1000 years ago Christian knights fought during the Crusaders and were 'terrorists' to the people living in the Holy City. Let us not forget what we have been through too, Islam is younger than Christianity and is likely to fall through the same mistakes. AND any Christian who says "well the Catholic Church did the Crusades therefore it has nothing to do w. my church" let them remember that Luther didn't start his 95 Theses during the Mddle Ages...
10:11 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


Monday, June 10, 2002
-=Quote of the Day=-
"Most admirable and worthy of everlastingremembrance was the mother, ho saw her seven sons perish in one single day, yet bore it all courageously because of her hope in the Lord. Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their forefathers with these words: "I do not know how you came into exitensce in my womb it was not I who gave you the breath of life, now was it I who set in order the elemnets of wich each of you is composed. Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes man's begnning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law." 2 Maccabees 7: 20-23.

The pastor at my church loves that woman in that scripture, and she really is pretty cool. Her sevensons were murdered (like in very cruel ways) before her very eyes, because not one of them would trangress the laws of their faith (Judaism). She had a tramendous amount of courgage, and she was later murdered herself.
10:11 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


-=God in School=-

-=God in School=-
To say that God is never mentioned in school, or that anything bad happens to you if you pray, is just plain mixing fact with fiction. You CAN talk about God in class, if it related, (we do that all the time in our history class), but you CAN't dictate or corss another person's rights wit your free speech. You CAN pray during the day. All Virginia public schools have a "moment of silence" in which students can pray, review for the day, or just plain sleep for a minute. I often say a quick Hail Mail, Our Father or Sign of the Cross before a test, and no one ever says anything. Yet you CAN'T disturb the class by praying out loud during the class, since that is just plain rude. My dad once said that the relationship between Church and state is like a pendulum, ever swinging. Beore 9/11 and a little less now, the pendulum was swinging towards the "church and state VERY separate", as seen with the removement of prayer from school. Now, however, the pendulum is pulling back, coming towards the "church and state separated". People feel a little more confident saying and meaning "Thank God" in public, not caring how other look at them for demonstrating their beliefs. ..-=*wow, kinda got away from the subject, my bad*=-.. Basically, I just wanted to say thatGod isn't gone from school anymore than he is gone from any other building. Talking about God is part of free speech, whether in school or out, and a right.

9:46 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


Thursday, June 06, 2002
-=Be careful what you wish for=-
I've always liked this poem ever since I heard it. It provides this idea, that things aren't always as they seem and that people aren't always as they seem...
Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him;
He was a gentleman from sole to crown.
Clean favored and imerially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich--yes, richer than a king--
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we tohught that he was everthing,
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and watied for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
-Edwin Arlington Robinson
10:04 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


-=Media and Sex Scandals=-

Tuesday, June 04, 2002

-=Media and Sex Scandals=-

Don't ya just love signin on to AOL and hearing "You have NO mail" and then seeing the Roman Collar (which btw not only Catholic priests wear)... of course there's a problem, i'm u'd hafta be a hermit to not know, but sometimes it seems like the messenger is being confused w/ the message. I only 5% of priests are wacks, then 95% are normal! whateva happened to positive news?? or is that an oxymoron? I think I'm just blessed b/c I've never seen/met a priest with these sex problems. Every priest I've had has been incredibly sincere about what he does and is totally awesome at it, whether I realized it then or now. Don Jim, especially!

-=Celibacy really doesn't having anything to do w/ pedophile becuz a pedophile has some wires loose in the head. Maybe it affects sexual misconduct because usually both parties agree to it. but really as a pastor once said, "Celibacy is a true gift" because it brings a priest/person closer to God as He is calling he/she. I haven't taken a vow of like a vocation or anything, but until I'm married (which won't happen for awihle..I'm still 15!), I'm still celibate and it really isn't that hard.. Whether a priest is celibate or not won't keep me up at night, but as long as he can keep acting as a good priest i can live w/ it (plus, the vow of celibacy is only somewhat new...

arg!! like always it's late and I still need to read my history book. fun fun fun, but hay, at least it's about the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation so I can tell ya anything I learn! heh.. nite nite and God Bless
11:03 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


after a very tiring day (tell ya details in a min) i decided i'd learn more about this bloggin thing and somehow i got to this cute site and got

What kind of ANGEL are you?

Quiz made by Angela
it very cute, and has some God related questions...
..-=*anywho*=-.. i had batting practice on sunday for an hour (like a FULL workout) and two days later my back is still in pain (feels like i slept on rods) and my hands are the nastiests things (10 blisters~!)... grr and i have a game tonite... what is this?!?!?.. well not too many neat things happened today.. i tried out for a select chorus and we'll just have to see what happens.. hay, i guess i can relate that b/c anyone who's in chorus will notice how much all of the songs we sing are directed to God. That poses a the thought--~*no matter how much they try to get rid of the thought of God, it's still around and alive*~
-=*tanning time!*=-
~*Alicia*~
3:19 PM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


Saturday, June 01, 2002
Sittin in World Civilizations, my friend asks a question about the Church and gay priests and the whole scandals. From hearing her think that "all" priests are gay or pedaphiles, I realized how little is done to inform the non-Catholic world of the actual problems, and just about the Church in general. There are often misconceptions about Catholics, "you believe the Pope is God" (of course not), the strange "you practice cannibalism since you eat Jesus every Sunday"; "all of your priests are gay or have sexual problems", you all know the list. What I'm gettin at is that the Church has stood up for 2000 years, and is still going strong, but there is like barrier between the Catholic and non-Catholic world. Yes a lot of people admire and respect the Pope and know about him, but they still don't know a lot about Catholism. I'm not saying we all should go out and study our neighbor's religion until we're satiated, but that we, or the Church, should do something to make Catholism less misinterpreted. My ideas?? well I actually don't have any good ones so I shouldn't be talking, but I do have one good one: Churches (all different denominations) should have dinners or gatherings all together so that the "cultures" could mirge or something like that. I mean, isn't it somewhere in our faith that we must have deeds and faith.. "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without woorks is also dead." (James 2: 26)
Enuff about this for right now... Later I'll talk about the Great Schism and all that good stuff and the "why'd it happen" and the "why still a schism".
12:40 AM :: ::

alicia :: permalink


--JAT! I totally took this from you! cept mine isn't as good hah, and differnet things but still! sorry, I loved the idea!
Wow, definitly don't have a clue as to what I'm doing.. ya know, I'm too lazy to read any instructions, I just learn as I go. Aight, so this is basically a diary for me and just a place for the Catholics teens to just talk or read and compare things, whateva. I don't usually keep diaries, b/c I don't usually like to write, esp. about myself. But first I'll begin with writing about myself (hm... ironic). I'm 15, my name's Alicia, I go to high school, I'm a practicing Catholic (of to which a lot of my entries will be about). I have a passion for theology (i think that's the right word?) or at for religion. By that I don't mean just Catholism, I mean all the different religions (and I'll prolly write a lot about that). I plan to be a lawyer, (well at least someone with a law degree) but from that I want to be a diplomat or involved in the government. I have "plan" in italics because the more I look at life and downthe road, the more I see that well, I can't say anything for sure, I mean I could become a nun later on... ya just don't know. Anywho.. I could go into more detail but I don't feel comfortable with talkin bout myself alot over the internet. If I'm not making any sense, my apoligies, I had a chorus concert till 11 last night and a horrible LL softball game. That's enuff about me for now, maybe more later.
12:17 AM :: ::

alicia :: permalink