The Lord's Prayer and obedience

This is an extract from Fr. Andrew Garcia, SJ, "Ignatian Obedience in the Light of The Spiritual Exercises", New Jesuit Review (2010, Vol. 1, No. 3):

Thus, the mission of the Son is to restore all things back to the Father. This is brought about by the fulfillment of the Father’s will, that is, to inaugurate the kingdom of heaven here on earth. And it is in the Son’s “inauguration” of the kingdom that he brings about our redemption. The mission to establish his kingdom on earth is only possible in an obedience to God’s will; the words of the Our Father sum this up succinctly, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” One thus realizes that in the “Our Father” the Son is describing nothing less than his mission here on earth [emphasis mine—TL]: it is he who praises and thanks the Father (“hallowed be thy name”); it is he who brings about the kingdom of heaven by perfectly carrying out the Father's will (“thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”); it is he who gives us our daily bread in the sacrament of Eucharist and asks for our forgiveness to the Father on the cross in the sacrament of confession (“give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses”); and it is he who prays for us, as he did for Peter, in our moment of trial and temptation by the evil one (cf. Lk 22:31-32 “and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one”). And in fulfilling his mission, we can all say with him and in him “Our Father, who art in heaven...”

What do men want from women?

In a recent post, The Crescat made this public plea:

I have been told repeatedly that men like domestic women, which I suspect is their not so subtle way of saying they don't think I am. Gentlemen, help me out here. I sincerely want to know what your personal definition of this term means to you.

How could I resist?

Oh, well ... so much for Doomsday ....

New York Man Spends Life Savings Ahead of May 21 Doomsday

A New York man spent his entire $140,000 life savings advertising his prediction that the world will end May 21, the New York Post reported Friday.

Robert Fitzpatrick, a 60-year-old Staten Island resident, said he spent at least that sum on 1,000 subway-car placards and ads on bus kiosks and subway cars.

They say, "Global Earthquake: The Greatest Ever! Judgment Day May 21, 2011."
In a self-published book, "The Doomsday Code," Fitzpatrick said the Bible offers "proof that cannot be dismissed."

"Judgment Day will surprise people. We will not be ready for it," Fitzpatrick said in an interview with the newspaper. "A giant earthquake will render the earth uninhabitable."

If you want to set an alarm clock, the quake will happen just before 6:00pm local time, he said.

"God's people will be resurrected. It is also the day that God stops saving anyone," he said.

Fitzpatrick hopes that he is one of the chosen ones, but he could not be really certain.

"There's just a little doubt," he said. "Most churches teach that if you just believe, you will be saved. It is not our choice. It is God's choice."

And so, one more idiot claims his timetable is Scripture-based, while ignoring passages that clearly say the time of the Second Coming is unknown, that the day of the Lord will come "like a thief in the night" (1 Thess 5:23; cf. Mt 24:36, 44, 25:13; Mk 13:35-37; Lk 12:46; 2 Pet 3:9-10; Rev 3:3). And he spent his life savings doing this.

I don't know whom we need saving from more ... our enemies or our friends.

From the "Abbie Hoffman's Great Political Plays of the 1970s" file

According to Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online, members of an LGBT activist group, Rainbow Sash, are planning to disrupt Pentecost Masses at cathedrals across the nation, with particular emphasis on Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, the apostolic seat of Cardinal Francis George OMI, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In fairness, Rainbow Sash’s own press release doesn’t say anything about disruption. They merely say they plan to enter cathedrals wearing rainbow sashes. But according to “American Papist” Thomas Peters, Rainbow Sash has in fact disrupted masses before.

Apparently the way to spread the gospel of love and tolerance is to make a public jackass of yourself and profane the Eucharistic celebration? Oh yeah, that’ll change hearts and minds. While you’re at it, why not stage a sit-in and sing several repetitions of “Kumbaya”?

UPDATE 5/24/10:
Yup, they entered the cathedral. Wearing rainbow sashes. And that's it.

So sorry for the melodrama, folks. They went into church. And life went on.