Time For Another Cat Post...

This photo reminded me of one I'd seen a while back... over at Cavey's blog, in fact!

I can see a definite resemblance, which suggests that my favourite Caveman is probably nothing more than a big pussycat inside...

(Ok, now I think I better go hide before the Caveman catches up with me...)

One Million Visitors...

No, not on this blog!! Well, not yet... give me a couple more years.

Fr. Tim Finigan, aka His Hermeneuticalness, is approaching the 1,000,000 visitor mark. He estimates that it should be some time this evening.

Anyone care to lay bets as to when exactly?

Carbon Footprints And All That...

Yet another picture which made me chuckle... it isn't a picture of a cat, so I don't have to wait before posting it!

A Late Christmas Present...

I came home a little late this evening, after a full day's teaching and an evening Confirmation class, to find a rather large parcel on my doormat.

I knew it was coming, but I didn't know exactly when it would arrive, and so its presence outside my door was a welcome bonus. I manoeuvred it inside, fed the cat (he has me well trained) and went in search of something sharp with which to shred the packing tape.

The friend who had sent the parcel had warned me that she'd been unable to get a smaller box, and rather than incurring a delay, she'd opted for a large box and lots of padding. She wasn't kidding. I was therefore under strict instructions to check the padding for any small items which might accidentally escape. Needless to say, this friend of mine hasn't known me all that long, or she would have realised how unnecessary such instructions would be.

I had sent some traditional English sweets over to my friend just before Christmas, as she teaches English, and she wanted to make her lessons a little more interesting... teenagers always respond well to foodstuffs. Rather than sending over the dreadful English excuse for chocolate (aka Cadbury's), I went to a little sweetshop near me and bought a selection of proper, old-fashioned sweets, that were kept in jars and weighed out. In my childhood it was "a quarter" of whatever sweet you wanted, meaning a quarter pound (4 oz). Now the sweets are priced up per 100g, but the principle was the same. I sent acid drops, rhubarb and custard, strawberry and creams, barley sugars, cough candy, lemon sherbets and so on.

I think they were well received. My friend wanted to know how she could reciprocate, and, after seeing some comments on my blog, told me that she'd send some coffee and chocolate. I forestalled her: after initially protesting that she didn't need to do anything in return, I confessed to a hankering for German sausage. Proper German sausage. I also admitted to a weakness for marzipan. The marzipan you get in England is a pretty poor excuse for marzipan (rather like the chocolate) and is sold for cake-making in big blocks. My grandmother's Christmas parcels had always included proper marzipan...

As you can see, the sausages were included with the parcel, along with some mustard and a postcard of the Holy Father. The sausages are vacuum-packed (just as well, or the sniffer dogs at Customs would have had a hard time of it) but, being proper German sausages sold loose, there are no cooking instructions, and I have had to email my friend for a reminder as to what I should do with them...

The selection of marzipan dainties was amazing. But this wasn't really what I remembered from my childhood Christmasses about marzipan...

What I really remembered was the (very German) sense of humour. German sausage is often sold from kiosks, with mustard or ketchup, and served on little paper plates. Here you can see a typical "take-away," though the sausage is much smaller than normal...

...it is, of course, actually made of marzipan. All of it. Mustard as well. The plate is real paper...

My friend also sent me some coffee beans... wrapped in chocolate!

All in all, a very welcome present...

Cafeteria-Catholic Google...

Ever wondered how the likes of Lavinia Byrne, Cristina Odone and Cherie Blair manage to call themselves Catholic without actually following any of those inconvenient "teachings" of the Church? Well, the Curt Jester has let the cat out of the bag. Apparently, it is possible to use Liberal Catholic Google to screen out all those pesky Vatican documents, not to mention nasty biblical references to unpleasant subjects such as "sin" and "hell"...

About Us

Are you tired of using search terms that give you a bunch of results that you don't want? That you have to go through page after page of results to find answers that match what you want?

If so then liberalcatholicgoogle.com is the site for you!

Our specialized search algorithm will give you the results you want without a bunch of search chaff. No more will you find such sites as catholic.com, Catholic Encyclopedia, etch cluttering up your search results. Though one problem is that even among us progressive Catholics there are people who accept one so-called "dogma" and not another. When we pick and choose what we accept from the hierarchical Church it is not surprising that others pick and choose a different set. But we are a big tent Church and to accommodate this LiberalCatholicGoogle will further filter your search results based on your theological prospective.

When you go to our configuration page you will see a selection of check boxes such as for example:

 Abortion  Contraception  Divorce  Homosexual Acts  Homosexual Marriage  Jesus is God  Jesus is one of many paths  Magisterium  Obedience  Papal Infallibility  Personal Infallibility  Women's Ordination

Just check off the items that best match what you accept.

Or you can just check off

 National Catholic Reporter Reader

And the checkmarks will be checked accordingly.

After then after answering a short questionnaire you're off to search results matched perfectly to what you already believe!

No more will you be bothered with pesky Vatican documents such as Humanae Vitae or annoying quotes from the Church Fathers in your search results. You will find plenty of content from the National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, America, and other great Catholic sources such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Now sometimes you actually want something from a source such as the Vatican or Scripture. In these cases simply checkmark  Vatican Safe Search and/or Scripture Safe Search

With Vatican Safe Search on - we have a special search algorithm first developed for Cherie Blair. The search will go through Vatican documents using the specialized search pick also known as the Cherie pick to return passages of documents that best match your search preferences and search terms. The Cherie pick also works perfectly wellwithScripture Safe Search - on. You will be sure to get scripture such as"judge not' without results such as "go and sin no more" or mean passages from homophobic St Paul. Within seconds you will have select passages to prove to other Catholics whatever you want!

Not convinced yet? Well take a look at a sample of real world search results and you will be:

 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
Donate to Planned Parenthood. Schedule an abortion.
www.plannedparenthood.org/ - 56k

Catholics for Choice
Works in partnership with reproductive health, interfaith and Catholic church reform groups that share the commitment to safe, legal reproductive health ...
www.catholicsforchoice.org/ - 22k

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts : News
Dec 16, 2008 ... NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts releases results of a survey of ... Responses from both Catholic and secular hospitals indicate that they may ...
www.prochoicemass.org/news/echosp2008.shtml - 19k

Commonweal - A review of religion, politics and culture
Why Mario Cuomo is a hero for first using personally opposed but ...
www.commonwealmagazine.org

EMILY's List
Supporting pro-choice Democratic women running for congress and governor.
www.emilyslist.org/

Writer's Desk: June 26, 2006
National Catholic Reporter is a nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax- deductible in the ... Understand, I am no absolutist on the abortion issue. ...
www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/todaystake/index.htm

Amazon.com: A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion: Daniel ...
" A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion" argues that the current Catholic anti-abortion stance is justified neither by modern embryology nor by ...
www.amazon.com/Brief-Liberal-Catholic-Defense-Abortion/dp/0252025504 - 287k

Pro-abortion Senator Joe Biden
The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.. ...
www.joebiden.com/ - 9k

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need
Jan 22, 2008 ... And I will continue to defend this right by passing the Freedom of Choice Act as president. "Moreover, I believe in and have supported ...
www.barackobama.com/2008/01/22/obama_statement_on_35th_annive.php - 41k -

My First Award For 2009...

Admittedly, it's probably going to be my only award in 2009, but let's skate over that bit. My favourite Caveman has seen fit to bestow upon me none other than the Superior Scribbler Award.

So, whassat when it's at home?

Read on, my crayon-toting friend, and learn...

* Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass the award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

* Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom he/she has received the Award.

* Each Superior Scribbler must display the award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains the award.

* Each Blogger who wins the Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List (scroll down). That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives this prestigious honour!

* Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I hereby designate as Superior Scribblers:

1.  Fr. Ray Blake.

2.  Leutgeb

3.  Karen

4.  Paulinus

5.  Ttony

I'm also awarding it to Fr. Tim, but (a) he probably won't notice, and (b) he probably won't get round to passing it on, as it's like a meme, and he thinks they're a bit "girly"...

Words Of Wisdom...

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

...it probably needs a little longer in the microwave.

Calendar Confusion...

I find myself drawn more and more to the Extraordinary Form of Mass, and am also fortunate enough to be able to indulge myself in this respect, as we have a regular Sunday morning Missa Cantata. Saturday morning Mass is also in the Extraordinary Form.

The confusion for me arises with the Calendar of Saints because I also pray the Divine Office... but the Novus Ordo one! I haven't switched to the Old Breviary because my Latin is almost non-existent... though I'm picking it up through typing up the propers for Mass for our choir. 

I'd quite like to pray the Old Rite Breviary, but need a Latin-English version. I understand that Baronius Press are in the process of producing one, though there is, as yet, no publication date. Has anyone got any suggestions...?