Tag Archives: Christianity

Dirty Finger Print

Leave a reply

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creeps upon the earth.'” – Genesis 1:26

“And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master
will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?'”
– Luke 12:42

Satellite produces global air pollution map

Energy and Environment Based on 18 months of Envisat observations, this high-resolution global atmospheric map of nitrogen dioxide pollution makes clear just how human activities impact air quality. ESA’s ten-instrument Envisat, the world’s largest satellite for environmental monitoring, was launched in February 2002. Its onboard Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) instrument records the spectrum of sunlight shining through the atmosphere. These results are then finely sifted to find spectral absorption ‘fingerprints’ of trace gases in the air.

What Would Benedict Say?

4 Replies

I knew the Benedictines had gone ’round the bend of late, but this is just bizarre.

The [Presbyterian] Rev. Lynne Smith is believed to be the first woman in the United States to join a monastery founded by Roman Catholic sisters without converting from her original religion.

(Thanks, Open Book)

Update: The original news story link no longer works, so here’s another version.

First U.S. ecumenical community for women

Lynne Smith describes herself as a new monastic for the new millennium. Smith is a Presbyterian Benedictine — not just a baptized Presbyterian, but an ordained minister in the Presbyterian church. She is also a novice in the ecumenical community of Benedictine women of Madison.

Scandala

9 Replies

No, the title's not a typo. It's Latin. "Scandal" comes from "scandalum". It's means "stumbling block", "temptation", or "trap". With all the talk of priestly impropriety and pro-choice Catholics, it's easy to miss more ordinary forms of scandal. Each one of us can be a stumbling block to someone else's faith. Non-Catholics, and non-Christians in general, see us as representatives of the Church. Our pompous self-righteousness doesn't jive well with Christ's message, and we look like hypocrites as a result.

Continue reading →

St. Blog’s in the News

Leave a reply

Curt
Jester reports that St. Blog’s Parish was mentioned in a recent Washington
Post article. Go us. 🙂

As a student, [Jason Steffens] devoted five to 20 hours a week to his blog, he said. But now that he has a newborn and a new job, he said his blogging time has been greatly reduced. Steffens said in an e- mail that he is one of the few “Christian bloggers who does not mind being called a ‘fundamentalist.’ “

In cyberspace, religious denominations tend to stick together. But the spatial realities of distance and borders do not apply. [Kathy Shaidle], for instance, is Canadian. But this self-described “ugly Ann Coulter of Canada” often comments about American politics and provides links to articles that concur with her conservative views. Shaidle said that most of her readers are American.

Break From Politics

3 Replies

I’ve had far too much about politics here of late, so here’s something Church-related.

A yet-to-be released report to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has found that 55% of priests in Australia believe that optional, rather than obligatory celibacy would be appropriate for priests in the Catholic Church. A further 16% of priests said that obligatory celibacy has had a negative impact.

….

The finding that 71% of respondents have a negative view of the obligation of celibacy is in accord with recently released work from overseas. Last week in the United States, a 53 diocese study revealed that 67%

I’m not opposed to a married order of priests, but I wouldn’t want celibacy made optional across the board. I count priests among the “eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 19:12.

How do you folks feel about this? Do you agree/disagree with the respondents? Why?