Tag Archives: gluttony

The Ladder of Divine Ascent: Avarice and Poverty

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From The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus:

“Do not say that you are interested in money for the sake of the poor, for two mites were sufficient to purchase the kingdom of heaven (cf. Luke 21:2).”

[…]

“The pretext of almsgiving is the start of avarice, and the finish is detestation of the poor. The collector is stirred by charity, but, when the money is in, the grip tightens.”

“A man who has embraced poverty offers up prayer that is pure, while a man who loves possessions prays to material images.”

[…]

“The man who has tasted the things of heaven easily thinks nothing of what is below, but he who has had no taste of heaven finds pleasure in possessions.”

[…]

“The man who thinks nothing of goods has freed himself from quarrels and disputes. But the lover of possessions will fight to the death for a needle. Sturdy faith cuts off cares, and remembrance of death denies the body. There was no trace of avarice in Job, and so he remained tranquil when he lost everything.”

Investigating NFP: Pius XII

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Click here to read the previous post in this series.

I have recently come to the (re)realization that bishops are the authoritative teaching body of the Church. As such, it is their responsibility to properly and effectively teach such sticky subjects as the regulation of births. However, those teachings must be in accord with the Bishop of Rome and magisterium of the Church, so I still think there is merit in exploring the relevant papal documents. Let us then continue by hearing the thoughts of Pope Pius XII.

I had thought that Pius XII had written an encyclical about contraception. As it turns out, the only statements he made about the subject were in in various allocutions (addresses) to associations of doctors and the like. These don't carry nearly the same weight as encyclicals and are certainly not infallible. An exploration of the doctrinal authority of papal allocutions can be found here, but I cannot vouch for its accuracy. Nevertheless, Paul VI quotes from these addresses extensively in Humane Vitae, thus lending some of theauthority of an encyclical. I searched for the texts of these addresses and only found the 1951 Address to Midwives on the Nature of Their Profession and the 1958 Address to Officers and Representatives of the Associations for Large Families-of Rome and of Italy. If anyone knows where I might find the rest of them, I'd be indebted. Anyhow, here's the address to midwives.

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Investigating NFP: Pius XI

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Click here to read the previous post in this series.

It’s time to get our hands dirty by digging into the writings of recent popes to find out what they had to say about contraceptive issues. Let’s start with Pius XI’s 1930 Casti Connubii, which was written in response to the Anglican Communion’s decision that year to permit artificial contraception within marriage (general acceptance came later).

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Dirty Finger Print

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“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.

Portly Protesters

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“Obesity is not a disease. All this does is open the door for the diet and bariatric surgery industries to make a potentially tremendous profit.” – Allen Steadham in “Fat activists start mass protest“

Riiiiight…and smoking isn’t bad for you either. The campaign against smoking is just a front for extortion by a hippocratic mafia. *rolls eyes*

While I agree that too much emphasis is placed on appearance, in particualr thinness, in our society, I don’t think that means all superfluous weight should be accepted. Some people have genetic predispositions to being overweight. They should seek help. Some people have emotional problems that lead to overeating. They, too, should seek help. Some people eat too many damn super-sized burger meals and unhealthy snacks and drink too much soda. They should quit stuffing their faces with fat , get off their lazy, gluttonous asses and get some friggin’ exercise! (Pardon my French)

P.S. I practice what I preach. I’ve been eating better and working out. I’ve lost about 25 pounds over the last year or so.