Friday, July 31, 2015

'Rowdy' Roddy Piper Dies at 61 From Cardiac Arrest



Wow, seems all of my favorite WWF/WWE wrestlers are going one by one.  First "Dusty Rhodes" and now "Rowdy Roddy Piper."  "Piper" born Roderick George Toombs died of cardiac arrest Thursday night.  He was a fan favorite with his Scottish accent and gimmick walking to the ring at the sound of bagpipes and his trademark kilt.  His character was aggressive, brash and moody.  He will be missed.  

I will update this post when I learn more details.  




Source:

http://www.rowdyroddypiper.com/

http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/31/roddy-piper-dead-dies-wwe-wrestler-cancer/

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/pro-wrestler-roddy-piper-dead-61-article-1.2311240

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/news/rowdy-roddy-piper-dead-at-61-20150731

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/pro-wrestler-roddy-piper-dead-61-article-1.2311240

Minions

I have just come out of the movie theater after watching "Minions" with my nephew. The movie is based on the lovable yellow creatures from the "Despicable Me" franchise.  "Minions" is set up to tell the origin and purpose of the Minion character.  It begins showing "Minion single cell" organism swimming in a primordial soup. They evolve looking for a "boss."

As they evolve to their current twinkie shaped yellow form, they continue to seek a leader.  First a tyrannosaurus was chosen by the Minions, then a caveman. Both leaders succumbed to the clumsiness of the Minion creatures. They then become servants of the Egyptian Pharoah, but accidently kills him and the Egyptians by dropping a pyramid on them.  The movie then fast forwards to 1968 where three of the Minions (Kevin, Bob, Stuart) settle in New York City.  While there, they encounter a secret broadcast infomercial for "Villian Con."  This is a convention specifically for villains and would be held at Orlando, Florida.  The three Minions are intrigued and make it their mission to go to Orlando.  They do this by attempting to hitchhike. While doing so, they encounter a family of robbers who drives them to the convention. Orlando is presented as swampland instead of the city it is today. The Villian convention is held underground.  At the convention, the minions try to apply to be servants for villains present but fail to impress them.  Their skills are "not evil or a talent" as one character informs one Minion.  The main event at the convention entails a presentation given by the biggest villain of them all: Scarlet Overkill who is voiced by Sandra Bullock.

Scarlet Overkill is looking for henchmen.  In order to become her henchmen, she challenges those villains participating into stealing a red ruby from her hand.  Several villains try but are beaten up by the quick and skilled Scarlet Overkill. However, one of the Minions gets caught in the scuffle and loses his teddy bear.  The ruby ends up in the Minion's mouth.  Scarlet is surprised and makes the Minions her henchmen.  She takes them to England where she has a compound.  The movie mocks British people by highlighting the stereotype of large teeth, aloof personalities and rigidity. Moreover, there is a scene where the Moon Landing is also mocked.  The minions enter what appears to be a movie studio where the Moon Landing is being filmed.  Lastly, Anglicanism is also mocked. An Anglican bishop is described as "squishy" as Scarlet squeezes his cheeks.  A scene in the movie shows the Minions busting through a stain glass window of what looks like three bishops in the "hear no evil, see no evil..." pose with the covering of eyes, ears.  However, the last bishop on the window is covering his crotch.  It seems this may have been a jab at the Anglican community of maybe even the Catholic Church in regards to the sexual abuse scandals.  It seems that the message conveyed is that the bishops do not acknowledge evil.

Moreover, Scarlet orders the minions to steal Queen Elizabeth II's state crown.  The Minions attempt to do so but fail at first.  The Minion Bob does capture Queen Elizabeth's buggy, but she refuses to hand over the state crown.  They struggle at the Sword in the Stone location where the Excalibur Sword is impaled. The Minion Bob pulls out Excalibur using robotic arms and the cops who came to rescue Queen Elizabeth begin to bow before him.  Queen Elizabeth then hands Bob the state crowd with a frustrated reaction.  She abdicates the throne and Bob becomes King Bob.  Meanwhile, Scarlet views the coronation and becomes upset believing the Minions betrayed her.  She wanted the crown for herself and wanted to be crowned as Queen.  This is when she goes after the Minions.  They willingly give her the crown, but she imprisons them in a dungeon instead.  The Minions escape and try to apologize to Scarlet during her coronation but accidently drop a huge chandelier from the cathedral on her.  She interprets this as an attempt to kill her and orders other villains gathered at the coronation to go after her.

The Minions make an escape  and run into Queen Elizabeth in a pub drinking with men.  Two of them are captured while Kevin is left to rescue them.  Meanwhile, other Minions are traveling to England to meet their three brothers there.  Kevin attempts to rescue Stuart and Bob but is outnumbered by the villains Scarlet sent after him. He ends up in her compound and enters a machine that makes him grow into a giant.  As a giant, he rescues Bob and Stuart who are tied up in a pile of TNT.  Scarlet finds out and goes after him with her robotic dress.  She fires rockets at him but is unable to defeat him.  She then tries to fly off with her husband, but Kevin holds onto her.  Her rocket lifts him up into the sky where the stress of Kevin's weight as a giant causes the dress to explode. The Minions all gather and watch.  They believe Keven is dead, but he appears parachuting down with his overalls.

Queen Elizabeth II is restored as the monarch and celebrates the three Minions who rescued England from Scarlet.  She hands them gifts and gives Bob's teddy bear a crown.  However, Scarlet and her husband appear and take the state crown.  They try to make a run for it but are then frozen by a young fat boy who turns out to be young Gru from Despicable Me.  The minions are in awe of this kid as he gets away in a ship and go after him seeking him to be their boss.  Bob in the meantime returns to Scarlet and gives her the crown Elizabeth gave to his teddy bear.  So the ending shows how the Minions and Gru came to be acquainted.

The movie starts out slow but then the story begins to build up.  It is full of funny moments, especially the typical silly clumsy comedy that children love. There is some nudity in the form of a sumo wrestler with his butt-cheeks showing and later on, Bob is seen in a thong walking showing his butt cheeks as he walked into a pool.  No foul language is used in the movie, but some innuendos are made that only adults will notice.  Overall, the movie was fun. I was surprised to see many adults and even teen boys present at the movies today along with children of all ages.  The movie deals with the themes of greed, loyalty, belonging, and heroism.  The Minions is a movie for people of all ages and can be used to teach children about morals.   Photos posted here were taken by me using my phone.  

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Fourth Incriminating Planned Parenthood Video & Hacking Claims


A fourth video was just released by the Center for Medical Progress. The video was released amidst complaints from Planned Parenthood that its website was hacked and taken down by "Anti-Abortion Extremists."

It is interesting to note that CNN and other media outlets were not able to independently confirm this hack so it seems it may be a ploy by Planned Parenthood to deflect and increase donations by pretending to be the victim.  This is most likely the scenario due to the timing.  Planned Parenthood has been in existence for years and are we to believe that now is the time an "anti-abortion  extremist" is going to hack it?  It seems far-fetched. Then we see the timing in regards to the release of these videos.  It just does not seem kosher, so to speak.

If this is the case, then we can see clearly how Planned Parenthood is desperately trying to deflect from the attention it has been getting. This new video has Medical Director Savita Ginde discussing contract details, the prices of specific fetus body parts and how not to "get caught." The transactions are to be called 'research,' not 'business,' according to the video. Moreover, a discussion is had in regards to the fetal body having parts that are 'intact.'  More videos will be coming out and will hopefully bring politicians to push for the defunding of this evil organization and prosecution of those trafficking human fetus body parts which is illegal.








Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWQuZMvcFA8&app=desktop

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/planned-parenthood-claims-database-website-hacked-by-anti-abortion-extremis

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/planned-parenthood-website-hacked/2015/07/29/id/659549/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/30/politics/planned-parenthood-website-hacked/index.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/30/us-usa-plannedparenthood-cyberattack-idUSKCN0Q409120150730

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2015/07/planned-parenthood-website-hacked/

http://thefederalist.com/2015/07/30/planned-parenthood-hacking-sure-looks-like-an-orchestrated-pr-stunt/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/30/politics/planned-parenthood-website-hacked/index.html

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/30/planned-parenthoods-hacked-website-looks-like-pr-stunt/

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/30/is-planned-parenthood-lying-about-its-web-site-being-hacked-possible-publicity-stunt/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/30/call-it-research-not-business-planned-parenthood-doc-says-in-latest-sting-video/?cmpid=cmty_twitter_fn

http://liveactionnews.org/planned-parenthood-baby-parts-scandal-grows-as-new-tape-released/

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Cecil the Lion



Non-human animals are part of God's beautiful creation.  Yes, they can be dangerous to human life, but they are part of wildlife, so what else can we expect?  Anyhow, a beloved animal lovingly called "Cecil the lion" as been a staple for tourists in Zimbabwe's Hwange Nation park.  He would roam around with his black mane impressing crowds with his majestic appearance.  Cecil was even studied by scientists. However, all this has changed.  Cecil the lion was lured off the national park, shot with a bow an arrow and later shot dead again.  American dentist Walter J. Palmer paid over $50,000 in order to hunt this animal.

He hired two others who were arrested in Zimbabwe and are facing charges.  The 13-year-old Cecil was skinned and beheaded.  This has brought outcries throughout the world.  Many are protesting the killing of Cecil the lion. Palmer's dentist office is closed.  A make shift memorial with plush lion toys have been placed at the location. Messages were left mourning the loss of Cecil the lion while others condemned Palmer to hell and are calling for him to be charged and arrested.

This news saddens me.  Some people may say "it's just an animal."  Well true, but the killing of this animal was uncalled for. It was not a threat to anyone and the purpose of its killing is unnecessary. This poacher hunts animals just to have their heads as trophies. We are stewards of this world and must care of it and all its contents. There is no need to kill animals just to have their heads displayed on our homes.  This is just sick. Animals were not created by God to be play things or furniture for human beings.





Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-the-lion-killed/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us/cecil-the-lion-walter-palmer.html?_r=0

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/11767119/Cecil-the-lions-killer-revealed-as-American-dentist.html

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

And Another Planned Parenthood Video...


Once again, another video exposing the evils of Planned Parenthood was released today by the Center for Medical Progress.  In this new video, Holly O'Donnell, a whistleblower tells of helping at StemExpress as a hired phlebotomist and "procurement technician."  Instead of dealing with drawing blood, she was asked to assist in dissecting an aborted fetus.  This caused her to faint. In the video, we also see Dr. Savita Grine, vice president and medical director of Planned Parenthood in Denver, Colorado discussing the payment option for fetal parts.  She says, "I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it."

How much evidence do we need in order to push for the defunding of this evil organization?













Source:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/28/w-scott-lamb-third-planned-parenthood-video-releas/

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/28/3rd-shock-shock-video-catches-planned-parenthood-vice-president-selling-body-parts-of-aborted-babies/

http://liveactionnews.org/new-undercover-video-shows-planned-parenthood-dissecting-aborted-baby/

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/new-damning-evidence-released-planned-parenthood-fetal-trafficking-scandal#.p6anhi:j15z

Sunday, July 26, 2015

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Christ Feeds Us

Dear readers, sorry for this "in your face" message but it is urgent and I do not know any other way to get help.

Please consider helping my fundraising campaign which will help me maintain and expand this evangelization work.  In about six months I have to pay the expenses related to this website.  I need your help!

Funds are needed for the following:

1. Help keep the blog domain URL names which are expensive and help bring in web traffic.  see godaddy.com for more information on costs of premium domain names.

2. To help purchase podcasting equipment for the radio podcast show and expand the time slot for it by updating the subscription. For subscription costs see: https://secure.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx?aid=CRMTS

3. I mail religious articles (Rosaries, Crucifixes, Pamphlets, Medals, Scapulars etc) to people who request them. This costs money to purchase and mail. Shipping is expensive, so funds are needed to help cover this cost as well. See usps.com for cost information regarding shipping.

4. I want to publish some books to help maintain this work via sales. In order to publish, I need funds for printing, access to research papers to cite from (journals et al) etc.

5. In the future, I may expand the work on Livestream and other streaming and video services which also cost money.

All monies will go towards the ministry of Sacerdotus in order to keep it stable and running for at least 3 to 4 more years until another fundraising campaign will be needed.

Again, without your help, I will lose this domain name in six months when the renewal of it is due. If this happens, I will lose access to keywords, search engines and millions of visitors. Moreover, someone else may purchase the domain for malicious purposes in order to attack Catholicism or myself by pretending to be me.  Your help can help me keep this going and expand it, especially the radio podcast subscription.  With it I can speak more, have guests and take calls on air live.

Our world is becoming more and more secular and without strong Catholic voices online, then it will continue to grow and push back all that Christianity has done in order to build the West.  As you may know, atheism thrives online.  On the internet, atheists can create blogs and other social networks which they use to promote their misconceptions. This draws in naive youth who read these blogs and buy into the rhetoric. We must stop this by having online evangelization work done just like sacerdotus.com which is a source for those of faith and no faith to get clear answers to the questions and claims regarding atheism.

I hope you reading this will make a donation at www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus to help me.

God will repay you for you help.  I promise to remember at Mass, Liturgy of Hours and private prayer all of those people who have helped me keep this alive.


Reflection:

Christ feeds us all.  In today's readings, we are reminded of how God cares for His people, not only spiritually but physically as well.

The first reading tells us of Elisha who was the successor of Elijah. Elijah was seen as the greatest of prophets.  I mention Elijah because of what the reading tells us and how it relates to the Gospel. Elisha, we are told had twenty barley loaves.  With those twenty loaves, a hundred people were able to eat and there were loaves left over. Sound familiar (Jesus' miracle)? Here we see a miracle regarding the multiplication of loaves. Elisha's servant at first objects to giving the barley loaves because his reason told him that twenty loaves cannot feed hundred. However, God is above the laws of physics and our cognitive limits in regards to processing what is physically possible and what is not (Ephesians 3:20).

Elisha, as stated above is the successor Elijah.  I stress this because Elijah as well was involved in a miracle regarding loaves as well.  In 1 Kings 17:7-16 we read of the prophet Elijah who told by God that a widow would be waiting for him. Elijah meets with her and asks for a loaf of bread. However, the widow does not have enough flour and oil. Her family is literally starving. Nevertheless, Elijah still instructs her to make him a loaf of bread and then one for herself and her son. She does this and they then have enough food for each day. A miracle occurred. God multiplied the food. So first Elijah is involved in this miracle for himself, the widow and her son.  Then Elisha is involved in one, but this one entails twenty barley loaves that would feed one hundred.  However, as we shall read in the Gospel today, Christ outdoes them both.  He multiplies five barley loaves and feeds 5,000 leaving twelve baskets left over of food.  This indicates that Jesus is greater than Elisha and even the greatest prophet of all Elijah.  As God promised Moses, He rose a prophet from among the Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:18). God, Himself comes to feed us as we read in the Psalm (Psalm 81:17).

Today's responsorial Psalm tells us that, "The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs." God cares for us (Matthew 6:26). We in turn must give Him thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  He gives us our food in due season and satisfies the desires of every thing that lives (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). All things come from God and we must be grateful (James 1:17, Psalm 127). We must have faith in Him and realize our place in nature.  We are not gods (Psalm 8:5). Nature reminds us of this constantly. We are seeing droughts in many areas and floods in others. These are natural processes that occur, but also serve as a reminder that we are mortal and need to trust in God. God will bless a nation that seeks Him (2 Chronicles 7:14).  The nations that run from Him face destruction.  We seek God by having faith and putting that faith into action via love as we read in today's second reading.

In the second reading, we are reminded that we must live in a manner that is worthy (Philippians 1:27).  We do this by being humble, gentle and patient.  We must do this with one another through love (John 13:34-35).  I know there are people in our lives or people we may encounter who we want to push down a flight of stairs.  They may annoy us, may compete with us or may just rub us the wrong way.  This happens all the time. Nevertheless, we must love these people and bear them for the sake of Christ and our own sanity. This is especially true of our own in the Church.  Sometimes or many times, people in the Church can be worse than people outside of the Church. We perceive it this way because they are in our Church or parishes, we know what to expect of them. When they do not meet that bar, we begin to judge them. This is wrong (Matthew 7:3-5). We must bear with one another with love. We must be united in peace; of one body and one spirit (Philippians 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8). We have one Lord, and must be of one faith and one baptism. This means we should all believe in the same God, and believe the same thing.  The ideas and labels of "Conservative Catholic," "Liberal Catholic," "Traditionalist," "Progressive," etc must disappear from our Catholic culture.  We must be of one faith (John 17:21). Moreover, those that believe in Christ must be of one baptism. It is a big scandal that there are over 30,000 sects calling themselves "Christian" and the "true church." Christ only founded one Church, not Churches (Matthew 16:18).  Christ has only one bride (Ephesians 5:25-27).  We must work hard to bring our separated friends back home to Rome (Luke 5:4, 2 Timothy 2:25, James 5:20). We must evangelize all those around us and bring them to eat of the baskets, so to speak as we read in today's Gospel.

The Gospel tells us of one of the most well known and popular miracles Jesus had performed: the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes. We are told that a large crowd follows Jesus.  They are following Him because of the signs and wonders He performed; namely, healing the sick. Jesus goes up on a mountain with His disciples. The "mountain" is where God resides (Psalms 125:2, Exodus 19:16-19).  Passover is coming up soon.  We are told this for a reason. The miracle Jesus is about to perform is connected to the Passover.  Jesus notices the huge crowd and asks Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"  The question is a strange one because why would God need to buy food? Why would the creator of space, time, matter and energy need to buy food?  This is why the Gospel says, "He said this to test Him, because He Himself knew what He was going to do."  So we see here Jesus was playing the "human role," so to speak.

Philip tells Jesus that not even nearly a year's worth of wages is enough to buy the crowd food. Andrew then interjects saying that a boy has five barley loaves and two fish but then asks what good would these do. Jesus then tells them to tell the people to relax on the grass.  The Gospel is careful to tell us this by stating, "Now there was a great deal of grass in that place."  Sound familiar? We read of this last week where God Himself will bring back the sheep to the meadows and will care for them on verdant pastures (see: Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 23, http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/07/16th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-flock-he.html) Here we are seeing how God is bringing the sheep back to the meadow. This is why the Gospel mentions that "there was a great deal of grass in that place" to make the connection that God is present as shepherd.  Jesus then takes the loaves from the boy. This boy to me is like the first altar boy ever and is the Gospel I love to use when I used to train altar servers.

Anyhow, Jesus gives thanks and distributes it to those 5,000 present. After the distribution was done and everyone ate their fill, they gathered what was left showing that Jesus was not part of what our Holy Father Pope Francis calls a "throw-away culture." When the leftovers were collected, there were twelve baskets left over.  The number twelve is significant in the Sacred Scriptures and is mentioned 187 times.  The number twelve symbolizes God's holy people; God's power and authority, and completion.  This number is a product of three (3x3x3x3=12 /  3^4=12) which represents the Holy Trinity.  There were twelve tribes, twelve patriachs and twelve apostles. Furthermore, notice what the people say when they had their fill, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." This is connected to the promise God told Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18.

The miracle of using five loaves and two fish showed them that Jesus out did Elijah, their greatest prophet. By using five loaves and two fish, Jesus uses seven items indicating the number of God, or total perfection. This means that this miracle was done not by a mere human prophet, but by the one who is represented by "number 7" or God Himself.  The five loaves represent the body of Christ (bread/Holy Eucharist) and the five wounds of Christ (Matthew 26:26). The fish represent baptism; that the disciples are fishers of men, and the dual (hypostatic union) nature of Christ (Human/Divine) (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Matthew 4:19, John 20:28, Mark 15:39). This miracle is done when Passover is approaching which is a foretelling of the Holy Eucharist where Christ feeds us with Himself under the form of bread and wine (John 6:25-59). The loaves are connected to the Old Testament and the events surrounding Passover which reveal who Jesus really was to the Jews of His time and us today. Jesus was preparing the people for the Holy Eucharist. Let us trust in God and allow Him to feed us daily.  May Jesus Christ be praised!


Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072615.cfm

Friday, July 24, 2015

Pixels the Movie

I just came from the movie theater after watching "Pixels" with my nephew who was anxious and excited to watch this movie since he first saw the commercials on YouTube.  The movie stars funnymen Adam Sandler and Kevin James and involves video games, extraterrestrials and war. The movie begins in the 1980s where Sandler's character (Brenner) and the other main characters spend their youth going to the arcades.

Sandler loses in a arcade tournament against an arrogant gamer (Eddie) who is a dwarf and is portrayed by Peter Dinklage. This character had cheated but we learn about this later on in the movie. Basically, the movie's plot involves the arrival of light-based extraterrestrials who misinterpret data sent from Earth into space, possibly from Voyager. The extraterrestrials see the video games as a threat from Earth and challenge Earthlings to a real life "game" tournament of sort.  They use light and solidify it into pixels which actually generates 1980s classics such as Pacman, Donkey Kong, qbert, duck hunt, Centipede and many others.  These video games appear at set intervals and attack, turning matter into pixels on contact including human beings. Earth has 3 chances or 3 lives to win or face extermination. The light-based aliens send the humans warnings via edited videos from the 1980s. Sandler's character and others are called into action by Keven James' character who is the president of the United States.  They are chosen for their gaming skills and fight the pixelated aliens as if they were playing a real life version of their childhood games.  The final battle is with Donkey Kong but deviates a bit from the actual play of the real classic game.

The movie has gotten poor reviews on the news, but I personally enjoyed it.  It is a great movie for nerds and children. There are some bad words used such as "b*tch and sh*t" and a few sexual innuendos, other than that the movie is watchable.  The dialog can be off at times possibly due to bad delivery.  However, Kevin James' and Josh Gad's characters are hilarious.

The movie has many themes in it such as the possibility that extraterrestrials may in fact misinterpret our greetings.  This is something Physicist Stephen Hawking has warned about.  The movie also reminds viewers of the "good old times" when kids actually socialized and played innocent games, unlike today where games are violent, have sexual themes and kids have become anti-social zombies due to cell phones, tablets and computers.   The movie teaches kids how to be real kids, have fun and play fair.  As I mentioned before, Peter Dinklage's character 'Eddie' uses codes to cheat against the pixelated version of Pacman.  Because of this, the aliens declare that Earth would be annihilated for not playing by the rules of war.  The movie also makes fun of the British and their verbiage mixed with an accent that makes their speech unintelligible.

One of my favorite scenes was the battle in Manhattan against Pacman. The story line in this movie is very original and entertaining. The audience was constantly laughing and clapping indicating that the movie was in fact "easy on the eyes."  This movie is a good way to introduce quantum physics to children via the use of pixels. It is also a good way to introduce the classic games of the past which are innocent and fun to play.  I recommend this movie for older children ages 9 and up.  Reviews given online and on the news by critics are based on their bias for films that are overly sexual and immoral. They do not know what a good movie is. The images here are some that I took with my phone during the film for this blog post.  

Hulk Hogan Fired from WWE

Listen brother...  you may have heard that express from a wrestler with a raspy voice.  This wrestler is probably the most famous and legendary wrestler in American history. He was born Terry Bollea, but we know him by his gimmick name, "Hulk Hogan."

Hulk was very popular in the 80s and 90s. He fought many greats such as "Andre the Giant," "Randy 'Macho Man' Savage," "Brutus the Barber Beefcake," "The Ultimate Warrior," and "The Undertaker. His charisma, and moralist attitude advising the youth to 'take their vitamins and say their prayers' won him a huge fan base which came to be called "Hulkamaniacs."  Well unfortunately, all that is over.  "Hulk Hogan" was taped using some racist language.  Because of this, WWE has terminated his contract and literally purged him from their websites, Hall of Fame and so forth.  Like chef Paula Deen and actor Bill Cosby, Bollea now joins them in a big fall from grace.   I will update this when I learn more.


Here is some reaction on Twitter:















































Source:

http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/wwe-cuts-ties-star-wrestler-hulk-hogan-who-apologizes-offensive-n397916


Thursday, July 23, 2015

Yet Another Planned Parenthood Video

The evil organization "Planned Parenthood" has been exposed in a second video.  The first video of Dr. Nucatola shows here eating a salad nonchantly as she discusses how to avoid crushing a fetus' main organs.

She discusses the cost of trafficking these parts as being $30 to $100 "per specimen."  The video has prompted politicians into ordering an investigation of this evil institution. Now a new video has surfaced. This video has Mary Gatter who is the Medical director at Planned Parenthood in California.

In this video she discusses the selling of aborted fetal parts to academic institutions and other medical facilities so that they could conduct research.  She describes the prices for fetal livers, hearts and heads as negotiable. What is even more disturbing is that she explains how the parts are removed using a "less crunch technique," which pertains to the sounds of the fetus' body as it is torn apart and crushed.  She then discusses jestfully the desire of having a Lamborgini car.

Her psychotic blank face and apathy as she describes using a "less crunchy technique" on an unborn child are very telling. More videos (about 13) are set to be released by The Center for Medical Progress.












Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjCs_gvImyw

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/21/second-shock-video-catches-another-top-planned-parenthood-doctor-selling-body-parts-of-aborted-babies/

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/07/21/planned-parenthood-sting-video-foreman-live-lead.cnn

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/21/new-planned-parenthood-video-shows-top-doc-haggling-over-price-fetal-body-parts/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/opinion/the-campaign-of-deception-against-planned-parenthood.html?_r=0

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Fr. Robert Barron named Bishop




I have great news!  Our Holy Father has appointed Father Robert Barron as an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles!  yes, this is the same priest featured in the award winning series on the Catholic Church.  I think he is an excellent choice for bishop.  Fr. Barron is a superb evangelizer.  His zeal and ability to communicate the Church's teachings is second to none.  Congratulations to Bishop-elect Robert Barron!










Source:

http://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/pope-francis-appoints-fr-robert-barron-auxiliary-bishop-of-los-angeles/4832/

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/la-gets-three-new-auxiliary-bishops-including-fr-robert-barron-60479/

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/07/21/father_robert_barron,_two_others,_named_auxiliary_bishops/1159766


Monday, July 20, 2015

'The Eagle Has Landed' July 20, 1969

Forty-six years ago America did what no one else could. The nation landed human beings on the closest astronomical body to us, the Moon; or "sister Moon" as St. Francis of Assisi would call it. It was a time where the two powerful nations, the Soviet Union and the United States were competing with each other.

America sent astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins from NASA to the Moon on Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969.  The trip took three Earth days.  Apollo 11 was in an elliptical orbit of about 61 by 170 nautical miles and inclined to 1.25 degrees to the plane of the lunar equator.  At 10:59 PM EST, Apollo landed on the Moon's surface: "The Eagle has Landed!"  Cheers broke out at NASA and in the homes watching the news of the landing. Neil Amstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. As he exited Apollo 11 and stepped on the lunar surface, he said, "That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”


Margaret next to the "code"

Much credit is given to the men on the mission, but not much is said of the woman behind it whose genius made it possible.  Margaret Hamilton of MIT, programmed the Apollo Guidance Computer Source Code which directed the Apollo spacecraft during its mission.  This code had the necessary calculations and ability to compensate in the new frontier. At one moment, alarms rang indicating the computer did not have enough memory to calculate the landing on the Moon.  However, that was corrected when the computer released unnecessary radar data that was hogging its ram.

Some have tried to dismiss the landing as a hoax. These conspiracists, like atheists, resort to straw man arguments, appeal to apriorism and contrarian tactics in an attempt to discredit America's landing on the Moon.  Some claims are that there are no visible stars in the photos of the moon landing.  This is, in fact, true. IN the photos, one can see the background is pitch black. However, this is due to the immense light of our own star, the Sun which makes it too bright to see other more faint stars light years away.  One famous claim is that the flag is moving on the Moon. The question is asked, "how can the flag move if there is no wind?" Well, the flag was rigged with wires in order to give the appearance as if it was waving in a breeze.  This was intentionally done in order to get photos of the event highlighting American pride. Others claim that the Apollo 11 craft has no flame as it is landing or taking off.  This is because the universe is a vacuum and fire cannot form in a vacuum.

The mission was a success after eight years of planning.  It is unfortunate that America's plan to visit Mars is taking so long. Hopefully, I and you reading this will be alive to witness the landing of Americans on the Martian surface.








Source:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/video/take-a-round-trip-to-the-moon-on-apollo-11/

http://www.history.com/topics/apollo-11

http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo11.cfm

https://plus.google.com/+AmericanscientistOrg/posts/UtyGH7MLmGp

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/trending/2015/07/17/check-out-these-amazing-16-rarely-seen-apollo-11-photos

http://www.inquisitr.com/2241499/nasa-apollo-11-photo-alien-cities-bases-and-motherships-on-far-side-of-moon-video/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3170726/If-think-moon-landing-fake-need-new-brain-Professor-Brian-Cox-Buzz-Aldrin-slam-Twitter-conspiracy-theorists-doubt-Apollo-11-mission.html
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/20/9002777/smithsonian-kickstarter-neil-armstrong-space-suit-apollo-11

http://time.com/3948364/moon-landing-apollo-11-margaret-hamilton/

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/07/16/today-in-history-1969-apollo-11-carrying-first-men-to-land-on/21210028/

Sunday, July 19, 2015

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The Flock He Shepherds



Dear readers, sorry for this "in your face" message but it is urgent and I do not know any other way to get help.

Please consider helping my fundraising campaign which will help me maintain and expand this evangelization work.

Funds are needed for the following:

1. Help keep the blog domain URL names which are expensive and help bring in web traffic.  see godaddy.com for more information on costs of premium domain names.

2. To help purchase podcasting equipment for the radio podcast show and expand the time slot for it by updating the subscription. For subscription costs see: https://secure.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx?aid=CRMTS

3. I mail religious articles (Rosaries, Crucifixes, Pamphlets, Medals, Scapulars etc) to people who request them. This costs money to purchase and mail. Shipping is expensive, so funds are needed to help cover this cost as well. See usps.com for cost information regarding shipping.

4. I want to publish some books to help maintain this work via sales. In order to publish, I need funds for printing, access to research papers to cite from (journals et al) etc.

5. In the future, I may expand the work on Livestream and other streaming and video services which also cost money.

All monies will go towards the ministry of Sacerdotus in order to keep it stable and running for at least 3 to 4 more years until another fundraising campaign will be needed.

Again, without your help, I will lose this domain name in six months when the renewal of it is due. If this happens, I will lose access to keywords, search engines and millions of visitors. Moreover, someone else may purchase the domain for malicious purposes in order to attack Catholicism or myself by pretending to be me.  Your help can help me keep this going and expand it, especially the radio podcast subscription.  With it I can speak more, have guests and take calls on air live.

Our world is becoming more and more secular and without strong Catholic voices online, then it will continue to grow and push back all that Christianity has done in order to build the West.  As you may know, atheism thrives online.  On the internet, atheists can create blogs and other social networks which they use to promote their misconceptions. This draws in naive youth who read these blogs and buy into the rhetoric. We must stop this by having online evangelization work done just like sacerdotus.com which is a source for those of faith and no faith to get clear answers to the questions and claims regarding atheism.

I hope you reading this will make a donation at www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus to help me.

God will repay you for you help.  I promise to remember at Mass, Liturgy of Hours and private prayer all of those people who have helped me keep this alive.


Reflection:

Today's readings focus on the flock or the Church.  Last week we read of Jesus sending out the disciples two by two (see: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/07/15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-god-sends.html).

In the first reading, we read of the situation in Israel. The shepherds were not doing a good job.  They misled the flock causing them to scatter. These shepherds were entrusted to care for God's flock and instead did not care for them (Ezekiel 34).  God warned them of imminent punishment for this lack of concern for His flock. We then read that God Himself will gather the remnant of the flock (Jeremiah 32:38, Ezekiel 37:27).  He will gather them each and return them to their meadow (Ezekiel 34:12, Ezekiel 34:11, Isaiah 50:11).  While there, they will increase and multiply.  God then promises to give them new shepherds who will do a better job and says that He will bring forth the shoot of David, or descendant of David who will be a king (Isaiah 11:10, Romans 15:12).  This shoot of David is of course Jesus (Matthew 1:1).  Jesus is the Good shepherd who will gather the flock that was lost (John 10:11-18). In other words, God Himself will shepherd His people. This brings us to today's Psalm which echos this by stating that the Lord is my shepherd.

The Psalm today is one that is well known. God is our shepherd (Psalms 80:1). He cares for us, gives us rest and waters that refresh us.  As shepherd, He guides and protect each of us (Psalms 95:7). Even when we are in the "dark valley," God is still with us (Colossians 1:13). We may not notice His presence, but He is there.  Because God is there, we fear nothing or no one (Romans 8:31).  No one will triump over us or celebrate against us because God is there for us (Psalm 41:11). Only goodness comes for those who reside in the presence of God, or His house (Lamentations 3:25).

In the second reading, we are reminded that we were far off at one point. At one point in life we were not in the Church. Perhaps we did not believe or never practiced the faith.  However, that changed because of the blood of Christ. We are near to God.  Jesus is our peace.  He opened up the doors between man and God (1 Timothy 2:5).  The division that separated us from God is gone in Jesus (Matthew 27:51). Jesus broke down the legalism that had taken hold of Israel. The shepherds or the leaders of Israel twisted the faith, making it into a form of control. Atheists often critic and describe religion as "mind-control." They state that religion restricts free thought and action. Well this was the case with the shepherds of the past. They got so caught up with the laws that they forgot that they were made for men, not the other way around (Mark 2:27). Laws serve us, we do not serve them. This is why even when immoral laws pass, we must do what it takes to undo them.

Jesus changed this and restored what the faith is supposed to be (Matthew 5:17).  We must be careful not to become like the shepherds of Israel who got caught up with the rules and did not capture the spirit of them (Matthew 23:27). As Catholics, we must not get caught up in traditions that seem to have been erased by the Church (Vatican II) but in reality simply took on a new expression. We must be careful not to think that certain ceremonies in the Liturgy must be done mechanically in order to be valid, or believe that Latin is somehow a magical language that only God listens to.  Furthermore, today some of our shepherds have not taught the faith. This led to misconceptions among Catholics regarding contraception, abortion and homosexuality.  These shepherds today push for changes in marriage and who can receive the Holy Eucharist even if divorced. Others allowed or participated in the violation of our most precious asset: children.  These shepherds will have to answer to God for their lack of care for the flocks entrusted to them which forced many to scatter.

Finally in the Gospel, we read that Jesus gathered with the apostles. They were overwhelmed by the crowds that had come and needed rest.  The people were desperate to see Jesus and the apostles. Jesus sees this and feels sorry for them.  These people were like sheep without a shepherd.  He then begins to teach them.  Here we see the connection to the first reading.  Jesus is the shoot of David who is king; He is God who comes to pasture His own flock (Ezekiel 34:23).  Christ is the head of the Church (Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 5:23). The Church is His body (1 Corinthians 12:27). In this body, we are in the "meadows" feeding off the Holy Eucharist and drinking the fresh waters of Baptism, so to speak (John 6:51, John 4:14).  This is why "outside of the Church there is no salvation" (CCC 846-848)  The phrase is controversial, but one must understand what it really is stating.  This is not an attack on other religions (CCC 847).  It is a reminder that the Church is the normative means by which we are saved in Christ (CCC 849).  She is His body.

We must be faithful to the Church and help her grow in the world (John 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:13, Titus 1:9).  As Catholics we must accept the teachings of the Church since they come from Christ who guides us via the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, John 16:13).  The teachings of the Church are not suggestions.  They are necessary for us to continue our journey to God while on Earth. As the late Cardinal John J. O' Connor said, "The Church is not a salad bar from which you choose what pleases you" (Coren, PG 30).  The Church is a full meal we must enjoy. Every good meal has some vegetables we may not like.  They may be bitter or strange looking.  In the end, these are the most nutritious of the foods on the plate.  We must eat of it all and not grab the dessert because it pleases us and leave the rest behind.

Let us continue to be loyal to the Catholic Church and tell others about our beautiful revealed faith. As St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote, "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude of the people also be; even as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Ch 8). The multitude we read of in the Gospel is the Church.  They are the people of every nation that no one can count (Revelation 7:9).  May God bless our Catholic Church and may Jesus Christ be praised!



Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071915.cfm

Thursday, July 16, 2015

James Holmes Found Guilty



The jury has reached a verdict in Aurora Colorado theater atheist agnostic shooter James Holmes' case.  He is guilty of murder in the first degree. Holmes entered a movie theater during the debut of a Batman film in 2012 and began shooting people randomly.


I will update this post as I learn more details, stay tuned!





Source:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/07/16/verdict-reached-colo-theater-shooting-trial-james-holmes/vP1N6hh64p0gRXjR9hIfiO/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/07/16/jurors-in-colorado-movie-massacre-trial-reach-verdict-court-spo/21210335/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D-1304415620

http://6abc.com/news/jury-finds-theater-shooter-james-holmes-guilty-of-1st-degree-murder-/856526/

http://ktla.com/2015/07/16/james-holmes-jurys-choice-was-aurora-theater-massacre-murder-or-madness/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/verdict-reached-colorado-theater-gunman-james-holmes-article-1.2294783

Prime Day Fail

Yesterday Amazon, the online merchant had a "Prime Day" event celebrating its 20 years of existence.  During this event, "deals" were going to be shown specifically for "prime users" to take advantage of.  The event was billed as being better than Black Friday sales.  However, things did not go so smoothly for customers.  Fans of Amazon complained that the event was more like a "garage sale" than an actual bargain sale. The hashtag "primeday" was set up to promote the event, but another one took its place, "primedayfail."  I myself tried the event using my student prime account which I have from my university and saw what others saw.

Things available for purchase at "discounted" prices were pretty much not attractive to today's gadget addicted crowd. Two specific "deals" were on the radar of online shoppers. These were two television sets priced at $75 (32 inch screen) and the other at $115 (40 inch screen). However, when the televisions were put on sale, they were "claimed" instantly.  Users were then told that the waiting list was full.  This angered many users who saw it as a scam. I myself tried to order one of the television sets as a gift for a relative and got the same message.  Mind you, I clicked immediately when it popped up. I then contacted customer service both via phone and online and was told it was a glitch and then was told that the item sold out.

It seemed they were only selling one set because anything else is just not logical. I immediately filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as this was a clear example of false advertisement. Moreover, later on at night, a 39 inch television was put as "coming up." The timer was then changed from 5 seconds away from being displayed as a deal to one to be released 1 hour later.  Then as that hour was approaching, the television was removed, the price changed to $368.  Then within another 30 minutes the television miraculous appeared as "coming up" with the counter counting down. When the counter expired, the television was listed at merely $219 and you guessed it.. it sold out within a half second.  Oh well...

Nevertheless, I did get two phone podcast mics to use to record shows for Sacerdotus Radio and also when I am going to interview someone away from home; as well as some toys for my nephews and books for myself to read.  Here are some tweets on the event:

















































































Source:

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=11448061011

http://time.com/3961553/amazon-echo-complaints/

http://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-takes-a-victory-lap-for-prime-day/

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/16/technology/amazon-prime-day-sales-increase/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2015/07/15/amazon-gets-defensive-as-customers-criticize-prime-day/


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