O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Performed by the Urbana 2000 Worship Team.

The Exodus International blog...

...has an entry by Randy Thomas about the suicides.

I don't know if I like or dislike Exodus. They're not the evil that many homo-activists make them out to be, but Exodus does seem, like many evangelicals, to view chaste homosexuals as something of a menace. I like Randy, however, and don't believe he views chaste homosexuals that way.

UPDATE: The Sheepcat left me a comment on Facebook linking to this article! We must read the same sites! (His full comment added to my original post on this issue here.)

A Prayer for Terrorists.

From EWTN.

H/t: Esther/A Catholic Mom in Hawaii

I've been wanting to say something about the recent spate of gay teens committing suicide...

...especially regarding the reactions and what should be the reactions of those identifying themselves as Evangelicals. As usually happens with me, I found someone who said it better than I ever could have.

When Teen Suicide is a Mainstream Medium

H/t: ...as were some of you...


UPDATE: I also posted this on Facebook where the Ever-vigilant Sheepcat comments:


Woodrow, I like the italicized paragraph, which I imagine is what you agree with.

However, with respect, I think Marin (whose book attempts to justify gay sex) is setting himself up pretty disingenuously as a middle ground. I find his reading of Mohler tendentious. I don't see passing of the buck on Mohler's part. "Even long before [the Tylers and Ashers] may hear or respond to the gospel, they need to know that they are loved and cherished for who they are. They need to know that we stand between them and those who would harm them." That seems to me a pretty good statement.

And I thought Randy Thomas did well here too.http://blog.exodusinternational.org/2010/10/06/follow-up-reactions-to-tyler-clementi-and-the-september-suicides/

My thanks to Alan for the caution about Marin! My reply:

Alan, thanks for the info. on Marin. I placed too much trust in crosswalk.com, and didn't scrutinize him. However, I distrust Mohler and conservative Evangelicals generally to really speak against unjust discrimination against persons with SSA. I am reminded of the time when a few years ago the Southern Baptist Convention absolutely refused to speak out against the bullying of homosexuals*, presumably because they were afraid it would legitimize a sexually immoral lifestyle. Yeah, *now* Mohler is speaking out about the issue. What was he saying two, five, ten years ago? Nothing, as far as I can tell.

*The SBC would not say that gay-bashing was wrong, only that bashing anyone is wrong. I cannot document this because it was told me in a private conversation by a person who was a delegate to the SBC National Convention that year. (If anyone is interested, I will try to put you in contact with him in order to verify the accuracy of this claim.)

One of my great loves is world music.

Not that I have much time to put into it.

Indeed, I have only just discovered, quite by accident, that there is an official 2010 FIFA song. I also like techno/dance/electronic music, so, for your listening and viewing pleasure, I present to you Shakira's official 2010 FIFA video and a re-make that's more dance-y (you should watch them both in the highest definition):

If you are a woman in the Atlanta area who is looking for a Courage group...

...check out the Atlanta Women of Courage web site!

Information on Courage is here, and contact info for the Atlanta Women's group is here.

Courage is a Catholic apostolate (evangelicals would use the word "ministry"), but it is open to non-Catholics who are striving to live chaste lives while dealing with same-sex attractions.

It has been a great help to me and to some of my friends (the Catholic SSA ones, of course).

Living with SSA.

It can be quite a challenge! I find myself in a back and forth between despair and hope. That is sometimes I despair that I'll never learn how to be chaste, that my sexual desires will rule me my entire life, that I'll always put myself in temptation's way, that I'll always use the fact that our entire culture is over-sexualized as an excuse to not take responsibility for my behaviors. Other times I have an exceeding great hope in God's infinite mercy, in His trustworthiness to give me every grace I need to overcome my unchastity, in the helps He gives me through Courage and Courage Online and similar support groups, and in the great priests, family, and friends He's blessed my life with.

For much of this year I've been away from the sacraments and Mass (and have kept up the appearance of it, even to the point of lying to inquirers), but have returned to them in the last month. I can see how much ground I've lost in my battles by not making use of the sacraments: lust is a habit, masturbation is now a more severe compulsion, telling the truth about my attitudes and behaviors is a more difficult thing to do. I know I have grieved the Holy Spirit. My spirit is grieved, too.

I have been to Confession four times in the last month, and I'm grateful for it. I went today. It makes a difference. I'm looking forward to the aggregate of sacramental grace I will receive from it and from the Mass through my frequent reception of them both. Today I also received the added graces of the Anointing of the Sick because, in addition to the spiritual sickness and weakness I experience, I have some physical problems, too: dystonia of the wrist, restless leg syndrome, a prostrate infection, and HPV. Part of the rite consists of praying for those who are sick in nursing homes, hospitals, and other care centers, and also for their caregivers. One thing that made that part particularly meaningful for me is that, because of my work, I was able to picture specific patients and nurses to pray for.

May God, in His infinite mercy and kindness grant me healing, especially healing of the spirit, and grant it to all who are in need of it!

The Anchoress has a great post about Confession.

Read the entire thing here.


If you were to ask me my favorite sacrament, it would be a tie between Confession and the Eucharist!


Quoting the Anchoress's quote of David Mill's Inside Catholic article:


. . . we need to recover the use of the word “confession,” while quietly dropping “the sacrament of reconciliation.” We need to hear the blunt word, because, before everything else, we want to say, “I did this and I’m really sorry.” That’s the appeal of confession, the chance to get it all out in the open. To emphasize the result is a bit like renaming the emergency room the “healing center.” It’s true, but not as helpful or as encouraging as you’d think, particularly when you really have an emergency.

Christopher Hitchens discusses prayer in a recent article.

Update, 9/5/10:
A great article about this situation (much better than mine which is just random thoughts that occurred to me during my reading of "Unanswerable Prayers") from Wesley J. Smith at First Things's Secondhand Smoke blog. I completely agree with this: "But I also think that to force prayers on an atheist is to not support the person as he or she is, but to be prideful, by using the ill person’s illness to make oneself feel virtuous. If one wishes to pray for such a person, by all means do, but in the closet. If God is there, he will hear the prayer."


Continuing my post:
Perhaps it would be better to say that he discusses people who are praying for him and their reasons for doing so. [Article here.]

I'm one of those people, although I'm not one of the many who have written or e-mailed him to inform him of that fact. So many people have such odd ideas about prayer. Despite the fact that I've been a Christian for 32 years now ("Saved at the age of four!" as the Baptists would say), I certainly don't think I know everything there is to know about prayer. It is a mystery. I hope I know enough to keep from making some of the mistakes reflected by people in Hitchens's article.

Not technically a prayer (posted on a presumably Christian web site:

"Who else feels Christopher Hitchens getting terminal throat cancer [sic] was God’s revenge for him using his voice to blaspheme him?"

Well, I don't. And I'm ashamed of you for doing so!

The post continues:

"Atheists like to ignore FACTS. They like to act like everything is a “coincidence”. Really? It’s just a “coincidence” [that] out of any part of his body, Christopher Hitchens got cancer in the one part of his body he used for blasphemy? Yea, keep believing that Atheists. He’s going to writhe in agony and pain and wither away to nothing and then die a horrible agonizing death, and THEN comes the real fun, when he’s sent to HELLFIRE forever to be tortured and set afire."

What is wrong with this idiot? Rejoicing in someone's (potential) eternal damnation? Somehow I missed that in the Gospels. Let us pray for that particular poster to have a change of heart, lest he/she "likewise perish".

Hitchens asks, "… would this anonymous author want his views to be read by my unoffending children, who are also being given a hard time in their way, and by the same god?"

Unfortunately, I can think of several people, all of whom, interestingly, are Fundamentalist Christians, who would indeed want his children to read that post because it might warn them of their presumable fate. I used to be one of them. Thankfully,  because of God's grace, I know better now. Let us pray that Christians who hold this or similar views will repent, lest they "all likewise perish".

Hitchens writes: "Almost all men get cancer of the prostate if they live long enough: it’s an undignified thing but quite evenly distributed among saints and sinners, believers and unbelievers. If you maintain that god awards the appropriate cancers, you must also account for the numbers of infants who contract leukemia. Devout persons have died young and in pain. Bertrand Russell and Voltaire, by contrast, remained spry until the end, as many psychopathic criminals and tyrants have also done. These visitations, then, seem awfully random."

Indeed, who can know the mind of God? I wish some Christians would stop behaving as though they do. God allows good and bad things to happen to everyone. Let us pray for the grace to accept and endure the hardships that we either are experiencing or that we will experience.

"As with many of the Catholics who essentially pray for me to see the light as much as to get better, they were very honest. Salvation was the main point. 'We are, to be sure, concerned for your health, too, but that is a very secondary consideration. "For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul?" [Matthew 16:26.]' That was Larry Taunton. Pastor Wilson responded that when he heard the news he prayed for three things: that I would fight off the disease, that I would make myself right with eternity, and that the process would bring the two of us back into contact. He couldn’t resist adding rather puckishly that the third prayer had already been answered…"

Let us indeed pray for the healing and conversion of Christopher Hitchens, but let us not make the mistake of thinking "If Hitchens becomes a Christian, just think of all the atheists who will have to reexamine their beliefs and become Christians, too!" Very often, God does great works for the hidden sanctification of individual souls. We tend to think that a grand, public witness does great good for God's kingdom, but I think many of our attempts do great harm (televangelism, for example). The early Christians were known for their charity and their chastity. In America, Christians are known for being against abortion and against "gay rights". Perhaps the primary reason we're "losing the culture war" is that we are no longer known for our charity? How often do we talk about "loving the sinner and hating the sin" while demonstrating hate for the sin and no compassion for the sinner? I'm just as guilty. Let us pray that we all may grow in the virtues, lest we "all likewise perish."

This blog is becoming a repository of prayers, I think.

Here are some more of them which I've been using quite often, of late. These are great prayers, and I'm glad I found them because I am a grievous sinner who needs God's grace every moment. When I was still an Evangelical, I was good at extemporaneous prayer, but no longer am. These prayers, however, are teaching me to pray again. I hope other people find them beneficial, too.

A Prayer for Others

Traditional Old English

Extend from on high, O Lord, the saving strength of Thy right hand to all Thy faithful people, to Bishops, Abbots, Canons, Monks, Kings, and Rulers ; to my kindred, and to all who have commended themselves to my prayers, or who have assisted me. By Thy help may they seek after Thee with all their strength, and obtain what they worthily desire. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer Against Evil Thoughts

Traditional Old English

O Almighty and most loving God, mercifully regard my prayer and free my heart from the temptation of evil thoughts, so that I may become the worthy dwelling-place of Thy Holy Spirit. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer to Saint Joseph the Worker

Pope Saint Pius X

Glorious Saint Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God; to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render to God of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain complacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch Saint Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity.

A Prayer for Grace

Traditional Old English

In Thy loving kindness incline Thine ears to our supplications, we pray Thee, O Lord. Do Thou, who art mindful of the prayers of those who seek Thee in secret, hear us in Thy mercy, so that by Thy help we may attain to eternal life. Amen.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Traditional Old English

To Thee, my merciful God, do I offer my praise and thanks, who hast deigned to bring me to a knowledge of Thyself, and to admit me by the cleansing waters of holy baptism into the ranks of Thy adopted sons.

To Thee do I offer my praise and my thanks, who, in the inexhaustible patience of Thy mercy, hast waited from the earliest years of my youth unto this very hour, that I, who have swerved from Thy paths by my many vices, may amend my life.

I praise Thee and glorify Thee for that Thou hast oftentimes shielded me from calamity and misery by the right hand of Thy power, and hast saved me from eternal punishment and from the pains of this mortal body.

I praise and glorify Thee because Thou hast often helped me in much tribulation, in frequent dangers of death, and in deserved trouble.

I praise and glorify Thee because Thou hast deigned to bestow on me health of body, peace of life, with the love, affection, and charity of Thy faithful servants, and because whatsoever there be in me is the gift of Thy loving kindness. Amen.

*I added the phrase "to God" at this point.