His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI's 2012 Urbi et Orbi Message

Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, a happy Christmas to you and your families!

In this Year of Faith, I express my Christmas greetings and good wishes in these words taken from one of the Psalms: "Truth has sprung out of the earth". Actually, in the text of the Psalm, these words are in the future: "Kindness and truth shall meet; / justice and peace shall kiss. / Truth shall spring out of the earth, /and justice shall look down from heaven. / The Lord himself will give his benefits; / our land shall yield its increase. / Justice shall walk before him, / and salvation, along the way of his steps" (Ps 85:11-14).

Today these prophetic words have been fulfilled! In Jesus, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary, kindness and truth do indeed meet; justice and peace have kissed; truth has sprung out of the earth and justice has looked down from heaven. Saint Augustine explains with admirable brevity: "What is truth? The Son of God. What is the earth? The flesh. Ask whence Christ has been born, and you will see that truth has sprung out of the earth . truth has been born of the Virgin Mary" (En. in Ps. 84:13). And in a Christmas sermon he says that "in this yearly feast we celebrate that day when the prophecy was fulfilled: `truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven'. The Truth, which is in the bosom of the Father has sprung out of the earth, to be in the womb of a mother too. The Truth which rules the whole world has sprung out of the earth, to be held in the arms of a woman ... The Truth which heaven cannot contain has sprung out of the earth, to be laid in a manger. For whose benefit did so lofty a God become so lowly? Certainly not for his own, but for our great benefit, if we believe" (Sermones, 185, 1).

"If we believe". Here we see the power of faith! God has done everything; he has done the impossible: he was made flesh. His all-powerful love has accomplished something which surpasses all human understanding: the Infinite has become a child, has entered the human family. And yet, this same God cannot enter my heart unless I open the door to him. Porta fidei! The door of faith! We could be frightened by this, our inverse omnipotence. This human ability to be closed to God can make us fearful. But see the reality which chases away this gloomy thought, the hope that conquers fear: truth has sprung up! God is born! "The earth has yielded its fruits" (Ps 67:7). Yes, there is a good earth, a healthy earth, an earth freed of all selfishness and all lack of openness. In this world there is a good soil which God has prepared, that he might come to dwell among us. A dwelling place for his presence in the world. This good earth exists, and today too, in 2012, from this earth truth has sprung up! Consequently, there is hope in the world, a hope in which we can trust, even at the most difficult times and in the most difficult situations. Truth has sprung up, bringing kindness, justice and peace.

Yes, may peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict which does not spare even the defenceless and reaps innocent victims. Once again I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict.

May peace spring up in the Land where the Redeemer was born, and may he grant Israelis and Palestinians courage to end to long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path of negotiation.

In the countries of North Africa, which are experiencing a major transition in pursuit of a new future - and especially the beloved land of Egypt, blessed by the childhood of Jesus - may citizens work together to build societies founded on justice and respect for the freedom and dignity of every person.


May peace spring up on the vast continent of Asia. May the Child Jesus look graciously on the many peoples who dwell in those lands and, in a special way, upon all those who believe in him. May the King of Peace turn his gaze to the new leaders of the People's Republic of China for the high task which awaits them. I express my hope that, in fulfilling this task, they will esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each, in such a way that they can help to build a fraternal society for the benefit of that noble People and of the whole world.

May the Birth of Christ favour the return of peace in Mali and that of concord in Nigeria, where savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians. May the Redeemer bring help and comfort to the refugees from the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and grant peace to Kenya, where brutal attacks have struck the civilian population and places of worship.

May the Child Jesus bless the great numbers of the faithful who celebrate him in Latin America. May he increase their human and Christian virtues, sustain all those forced to leave behind their families and their land, and confirm government leaders in their commitment to development and fighting crime.

Dear brothers and sisters! Kindness and truth, justice and peace have met; they have become incarnate in the child born of Mary in Bethlehem. That child is the Son of God; he is God appearing in history. His birth is a flowering of new life for all humanity. May every land become a good earth which receives and brings forth kindness and truth, justice and peace. Happy Christmas to all of you!

World is Ending 12.21.12!

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father.- Jesus

The world is about to end run for your life!!!  Just kidding :)  

Today, December 21, 2012 is the first day of the winter solstice.  Days will be shorter and the position of the Earth on its axis will alternate causing some regions to receive less sun and more cold weather.  This is completely normal.

So what makes this day so special or big for some?

Well there are some who are putting too much emphasis on a calendar derived from the Mayan people. The Mayans were advanced considering they had no computers or technology that we have today. They knew math, astronomy and were very skilled people in general.

With their knowledge of the heavenly bodies, they developed calendars just like any other civilization did. The Mayan's calender is extremely detailed and complex. For example, each day in a 52 year cycle had a particular designation. Their system was built on a cyclical approach. Time periods passed via "cycles."

Thirteen "bactuns" in the Mayan system is equal to an epoch in which a new cycle begins. A Mayan epoch translates as 13 bactuns which would total bout 5130 years. The current epoch is about to end and a new one will begin. However, scholars disagree on whether or not this will take place today. It may have happened already, or may happen over the weekend.

Some people who are obsessed with the "end times" have fed off of this calender and built on it to create this paranoia. Unfortunately, some fall for this and start following strange cults which can turn deadly. The fact that today some of the planets in the solar system will be in alignment with the plane of the galaxy also adds to the hysteria.

According to these people, this alignment will cause a shift of energy from the gravitational pull and either push the poles off their original point or destroy the solar system. This of course will not happen. The galaxy is huge, planets are millions of miles away and we barely feel their gravity. It would be like someone feeling your breath from Mars while you're in Antarctica.

New Age people came up with all sorts of crazy ideas about energies and that somehow today the human species will receive some higher consciousness and become godlike. This of course is nonsense. Planetary alignments happen all the time and we do not even notice them unless we pay attention to the skies.

Another idea is that some rogue planet Nibiru will crash with Earth and basically obliterate everyone. To date, NASA has not detected any large body coming out way. If there was a large planet heading our way, we would be able to see it in the sky now just like we can see the moon! Moreover, even if there was a rogue planet heading our way, Jupiter's and Saturn's gravity would pull it away from us as they do with asteroids and comets.

In reality, the Mayans did not believe today to be the end of the world, but the beginning of a new epoch in their time system. It is like a new beginning - a new year or new spring. The Mayans that are left today hold no such belief that the world or universe will end today.

Moreover, can we trust predictions from a people who did not see the affect the influx of Europeans would have on their civilization prior to their arrival? How could they see 5000 years into the future, but could not see that Europeans were about to visit them and cause major changes in their community?

Despite this, there are many who are stocking up on supplies, buying weapons and anticipating the worst. Others are trying to channel energies in an attempt to become "godlike." This is sad indeed and shows how susceptible the human mind can be to stupidity.

The destruction of Mayan texts by Franciscan priest Diego de Landa is often brought up in an attempt to add to the conspiracy theory that those texts had information that would discredit Catholicism and Christ and therefore must have had information regarding the end times. However, what they forget to mention is that de Landa did not destroy those texts our of fear or ignorance. He did so because he learned that the Mayans were killing their own people and throwing them into the cenotes as sacrifices. These texts encouraged human sacrifice and other barbaric things. They had to be destroyed in order to preserve the Mayan people.  

If you are reading this then you obviously know that the world did not end. Friday 12:00 AM hit Australia just 5 hours ago and they are fine there.

No one knows when the world will end. Only God knows this. God holds the stopwatch in His hand and will stop it when He sees fit to come again and measure each one by the love they gave to Him and each other.

So relax, enjoy life, do good and don't worry about the end. We are a people of hope, not despair.

Cardinal Dolan to Obama - HHS NO WAY!

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. - Revelation 13: 16-18

It seems like the Catholic Church is facing "Nero" all over again...

Cardinal Dolan, the President of the USCCB and Archbishop of New York boldly declared that the Catholic Church would not obey any law which pertains to the HHS mandate.

With the passing of "Obamacare," the HHS mandate was included which is an attack on religious freedom and freedom of conscience.  The government is basically forcing religious institutions and those of good conscience to support contraception and abortion or face penalty.

Religious freedom is under attack.  It is the first right guaranteed in the Constitution.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech"

It is no wonder why 50 states are petitioning to secede from the union.  Our government has gone out of control and is becoming a dictatorship.

I love my country, but I love my Church more.  So Your Eminence Cardinal Dolan, you can count me in with the civil disobedience.      


Source:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-dolan-catholic-church-will-not-obey-immoral-hhs-mandate

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/11/16/catholic-bishops-we-will-not-obey-immoral-hhs-abortion-mandate/

Bronx Bummers....

The New York Yankees have just been swept by the Detroit Tigers.  It is a good thing I did not bet. :)   I do not understand at all how the Yankees lost steam at this point.  They faced so many things during the regular season to then end on this bad not.

Arod, Cano, Swisher, Grandersonm Chavez - all great hitters were just dead at the plate.  It just does not make any sense.  To add to the hardship, Yankee's captain Derek Jeter broke his ankle and will be out for four months!

I was hoping to see the Yankees win their 28th championship... oh well.. can't win them all right?  The Yankees need to make big changes.  The salaries do not match with their performance during this post season.  Performance should be a key factor in deciding salaries.  It is unfair for a player to make 20 or more million dollars a year and not be able to hit a ball a little leaguer can hit.

Moreover, the umpires have been making bad calls against the Yankees which I found troubling.  At first I was against using replay, but after witnessing the disaster from the limited cognitive abilities of human umpires, I now think we do need replays.

Anyhow, better luck next year.  

Al Smith Dinner

Today both presidential candidates participated in the Archdiocese's Al Smith dinner which was hosted by New York's Archbishop, His Eminence Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

The dinner is an event that political candidates love to participate in for selfish reasons.  The photo opportunities and how they can steer votes is a major reason for accepting an invitation.

Both candidate spoke and exchanged one liners which were hilarious.  I personally enjoyed Romney's joke about Biden laughing at anything and "In the spirit of Sesame Street, the president’s remarks tonight are brought to you by the letter O and the number $16 trillion.”  Obama also made a good one when he said, "Please take your seats, or else Clint Eastwood will yell at them."

A recent gallop poll showed Romney leading Obama.  Apparently, the second debate helped Romney.  I think Romney's witt has showed a side of him many Americans are not used to seeing due to the bias in the media which he too joked about.  






Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/al-smith-dinner-obama-romney_n_1983512.html?ref=election-2012-blog&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D222483

Presidential Debate 2012

Tonight's debate was fun to watch.  It started off fine and got more interesting as it went on.  Both candidates were calm and poised at first until the questions began to flow.  Obama was visibly nervous and on the defense after Romney shot at him facts and refuted his points.  As the debate moved on, Obama looked uncomfortable and annoyed.  His arguments were incoherent and at a few instances needed help from the moderator.  There was one point where he even said "I think we should move on to the next question."

Meanwhile, Romney tied every point back to creating jobs and linked it to real people while challenging Obama on his record these past 4 years.  Romney was clearly prepared while Obama was aloof and lost.

Moderator Jim Lehrer was horrible.  He had a difficult time controlling the time and flow of the debate allowing both Romney and Obama to talk past the 2 min limit.

On the topic of government role, Romney stated that rights come from God who is the creator and that we are all the children of the same God.  He also stressed religious freedom indirectly attacking Obama's attack on religious freedom with his policies.   

We are endowed by our creator with our rights, I believe we must maintain our commitment to religious tolerance and freedom in this country. That statement also says that we are endowed by our creator with the right to pursue happiness as we choose. I interpret that as, one, making sure that those people who are less fortunate and can't care for themselves are cared by -- by one another. We're a nation that believes that we're all children of the same god and we care for those that have difficulties, those that are elderly and have problems and challenges, those that are disabled. We care for them. - Romney 

Romney was on target in this debate leaving Obama looking for words with his constant use of non-lexical vocable use of "um" "uh."  The debate looked horrible for Obama who is known for being a good speaker. His train of thought derailed.

Even Obama supporters such as Bill Maher were disappointed in him, Maher posted on twitter:

i can't believe i'm saying this, but Obama looks like he DOES need a teleprompter
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) October 4, 2012

Obama made a lot of great points tonight. Unfortunately, most of them were for Romney
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) October 4, 2012

i must say, of all the Romneys i've seen, this Debate Romney is my favorite
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) October 4, 2012

CNN's Piers Morgan had this to tweet:

WINNERS: Romney, Trump LOSERS: Obama, Jim Lehrer, Big Bird #PMTdebate
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 4, 2012

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on her program foolishly called the debate a tie.  She must have been watching some other thing, not what the rest of the nation and world were watching.

If Romney continues to perform like this, then he will be the next POTUS.




Source:

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/03/14207942-candidates-battle-over-tax-plans-in-first-debate?lite
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/03/politics/debate-transcript/
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-live-obama-romney-presidential-debate-2012,0,3871379.story

Olympics London 2012

The Olympics in London have come to a close.  The closing ceremony was held.  Many fireworks, electronic special effects and celebrities were on hand to help celebrate the achievements made.  A tribute was held for British Beatle's rocker, John Lennon who was killed in NYC.  His existentialist depressing anti-religion song "Imagine" was sung and a large puzzle sculpture of his face was assembled by dancers.  The "Spice girls" and George Michaels among others also gave short on musical performances.

The United States of America came out on top with the most medals in each color and in total.
Congratulations to the American athletes and all the athletes from all over who won and didn't win.

The Olympics are fun to watch and show what humanity can do.  We can fight and compete without killing each other or take over each other.
Wars or disputes among nations should be settled like this instead of in combat with arms.

My major complains about this year's Olympics are the broadcasting replays from NBC and the John Lennon tribute.  The song "Imagine" is very offensive and wrongly implies that religion is the cause of discord among humanity.  Also, Eric Idle's comedy thing had these women dressed like nuns lifting their "skirts" in a provocative manner.

Any historian or sociologist can inform you that religion is not the cause of war or violence.  Politics and power struggles is what causes them.  The World Wars, Wars in Vietnam, Japan, Middle East were not about religion.  The Civil War, American Revolution, etc etc were not about religion.

John Lennon was extremely inaccurate with his song which was written to appease the "hippie" sentiments at the time.

Nevertheless, congratulations to all participants

Mayan Kukulkan Temple Beam

A tourist captured a supposed light beam coming out of a Mayan Kukulkan Temple with his Iphone.  The human imagination...  Someone obviously needs to tell this tourist that cell phone cameras or cameras with poor CMOS/CCD sensors can pick up excessive lighting as a beam.

With all the talk about 2012 and the Mayan calendar, people are becoming paranoid.

Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/mayan-light-beam-photo-message-gods-iphone-glitch-145401585.html

GOP Debate Jacksonville, Florida

Tonight's debate was a good one to watch.  Romney and Gingrich went at it with the former being more aggressive than in previous debates.  Ron Paul seemed to be the comic relief of the night by making comments that brought the audience to laughter.  I won't be surprised if he drops out soon.   


Towards the end of the debate, a member of the audience asked what role would religion play in making decisions as President of the United States of America.  Here are the replies from the candidates that I liked. 






Mitt Romney replied:


ROMNEY: Ron Paul makes very good point. I concur with that. I would also seek the guidance of -- of providence in making critical decisions. 

And of course, ours is a nation which is based upon Judeo- Christian values and ethics. Our law is based upon those values and ethics. And in some cases, our law doesn't encompass -- encompass all of the issues that we face around the world. 

The conviction that the founders, when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, were writing a document that was not just temporary and not just for one small locale but really something which described the relationship between God and man -- that's something which I think a president would carry in his heart. 

So when they said, for instance, that the creator had "endowed us with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," I would seek to assure that those principles and values remain in America and that we help share them with other people in the world, not by conquering them, but by helping them through our trade, through our various forms of soft power, to help bring people the joy and -- and -- and opportunity that exists in this great land. 






New Gingrich replied:




GINGRICH: I would say that there are three ways in which religion would affect me. 

The first is, I agree with Governor Romney. I think anyone who is president is faced with decisions so enormous that they should go to God. They should seek guidance. Because these are decisions beyond the ability of mere mortals to truly decide without some sense of what it is we should be doing. 

I would say, second, that we have a real obligation to recognize that, if you're truly faithful, it's not just an hour on Sundays or Saturdays or Fridays. It's in fact something that should suffuse your life, to be a part of who you are. And in that sense, it is inextricably tied in with how you behave. 

But I would say, third, one of the reasons I am running is there has been an increasingly aggressive war against religion and in particular against Christianity in this country, largely by...

... largely by a secular elite and the academic news media and judicial areas. And I frankly believe it's important to have some leadership that stands up and says, enough; we are truly guaranteed the right of religious freedom, not religious suppression by the state. 






Rick Santorum replied:


SANTORUM: Faith is a very, very important part of my life, but it's a very, very important part of this country. The foundational documents of our country -- everybody talks about the Constitution, very, very important. But the Constitution is the "how" of America. It's the operator's manual. 

The "why" of America, who we are as a people, is in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights."

The Constitution is there to do one thing: protect God-given rights. That's what makes America different than every other country in the world. No other country in the world has its rights -- rights based in God-given rights, not government-given rights. 

And so when you say, well, faith has nothing to do with it, faith has everything to do with it. If rights come...

If our president believes that rights come to us from the state, everything government gives you, it can take away. The role of the government is to protect rights that cannot be taken away. 

And so the answer to that question is, I believe in faith and reason and approaching the problems of this country but understand where those rights come from, who we are as Americans and the foundational principles by which we have changed the world. 


(Source:  http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1201/26/se.05.html)




Romney makes a good point that the American Fathers had a strong religious conviction when formulating the Declaration of Independence.  Many Atheists and Secularists deny the Judeo-Christian foundations of this nation.  


Gingrich also makes a good point that leaders need to go to a higher authority in order to run a nation and make the right decisions.  No mere mortal has all the answers and wisdom.  He/she needs God for guidance.  He also makes excellent points that faith is not just something one does on a day of the week.  It is a daily commitment and conversion to God.  I'm glad he mentioned the attack religion is getting from secularism which is starting to take hold more visibly in this nation. 


Lastly, I think Santorum hit it out of the ball park, so to speak.  He says the Constitution is the "how" and the Declaration of Independence is the "why." He goes on to say that rights are given by God the Creator and not the government.  These rights are not negotiable.