"Have I now come up without the LORD'S approval against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"

The English punctuation of the address in Isaiah 36 is some of the most interesting ... and intricate ... in the Bible. Sennacherib's Rabshakeh speaks a message from him to Hezekiah through the latter's officials.

And it struck one reader as unusual that a blasphemer could know the divine name. But then, how else to blaspheme?

Still, when she remarked on it, I wondered whether she had a background with the Jehovah Witnesses. Ya can take the girl out of the church but ya can't take the church out of the ...

Can anything good come from Brooklyn?

This cartoon has it wrong.

The issue that they gave me¹ had this piece as the lead article. Americans weary of the Iraq War might be more than ready to embrace their pacifism. This isn't a new posture for them but might now have a new audience.

The only other article I read appeared towards the back, called "The Eucharist: the Facts Behind the Ritual." Here's the MP3?

There's the frank admission that "in some form this ritual has remained of fundamental importance throughout Christendom." However, Jesus' command at the Last Supper to drink of the cup of his blood (Matthew 26:27-28) is interpreted in light of the apostolic teaching to "abstain from blood" (Acts 15:20, 29). Offhand, I think that's where the "fish on Friday" came from.

Today, the doctrine in Acts 15:20, 29 to avoid sexual immorality has endured, because it can be linked to the decalogue, but the dietary guidelines have been largely discarded. Even so, would a prohibition to abstain from animal blood extend to human blood among non-Darwinians?

Human blood is so beyond the pale of Acts 15:20, 29.

---

¹ The Watchtower (Public) - April 2008.

tags technorati : eucharist watchtower

This seems dubious ...

Link Between Black Market Cigarettes, Terrorism - WNBC, 4/28/08:

cigarettes that begin at Indian reservations [outside Buffalo] in New York end up generating millions of dollars for Hamas and Hezbollah unbeknown to smokers [downstate] just looking for a bargain.

“I would urge Gov. Paterson to do what he can to get the full state resources to collect taxes on these Indian reservations,” King said.

A spokesman for Gov. David Paterson, citing the state’s economic forecast, said, “The governor believes we have to examine every possible way to get revenue. That includes exploring collecting the cigarette tax from Indian reservations.”

Call a spade a spade. This is about tax revenue, so don't dress it up as homeland security because that lumps native Americans in with the bad guys.

My brother in Albion probably still buys his cigs and gas at the Tonawanda Res. But buying on the res isn't the problem.

It was announced this morning that the Halka family is making available to St. Joseph's Church some land directly across Stillhouse Road.

Fr. Mike said the space will be used for a parish center, to accommodate the ever-expanding religious education program. It's a major undertaking, especially coming just ten years after the construction of the larger sanctuary - already too small - and the rectory.

Let's hope that the right people in the church and the community step forward to participate in this expansion.

Some background on the Halka family, their extensive land holdings and civic service to the town: "Nursery owner looks at land use" - Examiner, 7/7/05.

Former Baptist on The Journey Home:

But growing up, you might pick it up in sermons, that, well, there are these other people that believe that you're saved by earning your salvation or that have set up idols and, well, who are those people? Well, those people were rarely named, at least in the congregations I attended.

Now, in college, they named names.

A month before I was to marry their daughter, they had the audacity to join the Catholic Church. And I remember sitting there with my arms crossed, shaking my head, and thinking, "Oh, they've gone and done it now. This is the wrong place for them to go."

I dedicated my life from that point on to getting them out of the Catholic Church.

The first thing I did was get a copy of the Catechism and I was going to start reading it and find all the unbiblical things, and just start bringing them out.

---

"Trail of Blood" Wiki

I was going to just tack this article on the end of my previous one about Fr. Dulles ... but it needs a post of its own ...

"Pope makes time to pay homage to U.S. theologian Cardinal Dulles" - Catholic News Service, 4/21/08:

The wheelchair-bound Jesuit scholar traveled from his residence at Jesuit-run Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx to St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., April 19, for a prearranged, 15-minute private meeting with the pope, just after the pontiff met with disabled youths.

The grandson of a Presbyterian minister and son of John Foster Dulles -- secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower -- Cardinal Dulles entered the Catholic Church in 1941 while studying at Harvard Law School. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he joined the Jesuits in 1946 and was ordained in 1956. He has written 22 books, hundreds of articles and has more than 30 honorary doctorates.

Often considered Cardinal Dulles' most influential work, "Models of the Church" in 1974 provided tens of thousands of bishops, priests, seminarians and lay leaders with a deeper understanding of the different but complementary theologies of the church underlying the work of the Second Vatican Council.

Before the meeting's conclusion, the pope blessed Cardinal Dulles, "assuring him of his prayers for the cardinal, and encouraged him in his sufferings," Sister Anne-Marie said.

tags technorati : avery dulles

Best Religious Commercial Ever! ... according to the Crunchy Con:

"Epic"

Resistance is futile.

Honorable mention:

• "Movie"
  
  
• "The Orthodox Church: a visual history"

---

In the news: "'Catholics Come Home': Bringing them Home to the Faith".

tags technorati : new evangelism

Eh, I try not to ...

You scored as Kanga!
You scored 9 Ego, 16 Anxiety, and 14 Agency!

ABOUT KANGA: Kanga is Roo's mother and Tigger's foster mother. While she is a kind and motherly sort of person, the other inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood suspect that underneath, she is a Fierce Animal. Her hobbies involve talking about Roo's health and development, watching Roo while he practices jumping, and making Roo and Tigger take their strengthening medicine.

WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are the kind of person who takes on other people's worries. You are efficient and a person of action - the type of person who Gets Things Done. Your friends tend to rely on you to get them moving and keep things running.

The problem is that you tend to forget about yourself in all of this. You need to remember that you are an important and worthwhile person, and sometimes it is okay to say "no" to people's constant requests and demands. Give yourself some time off.

How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 0% on Ego

You scored higher than 88% on Anxiety

You scored higher than 37% on Agency

Link: The Deep and Meaningful Winnie-The-Pooh Character Test

via Happy Catholic