SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON

Cartoon by MadPriest.

Lifted from Leonardo at Eruptions at the Foot of the Volcano.

STORY FROM A HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER

I made a traffic stop on U.S. 166 Eastbound at Mile Marker 73 just East of Sedan, KS.

I asked for her driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance.

The lady took out the required information and handed it to me.

In with the cards I was somewhat surprised (due to her advanced age) to see she had a conceal carry permit.

I looked at her and ask if she had a weapon in her possession at this time.

She responded that she indeed had a .45 automatic in her glove box.

Something---body language, or the way she said it---made me want to ask if she had any other firearms.

She did admit to also having a 9mm Glock in her center console.

Now I had to ask one more time if that was all.

She responded once again that she did have just one more, a .38 special in her purse.

I then asked her what was she so afraid of.

She looked me right in the eye and said, "Not a damn thing!"

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

LETTER TO THE CLERGY AND LAITY IN AMIA

The Director of Communications of AMiA, Cynthia P. Brust, posted a letter at the AMiA website to the clergy and laity of the group with information on the latest events. Along with Primatial Vicar Chuck Murphy, Bishops Sandy Greene, Todd Hunter, TJ Johnston, Philip Jones, Doc Loomis, John Miller, Silas Ng, and John Rodgers, resigned from the Rwanda House of Bishops.

During this interim period, the Anglican Mission is under the oversight of our founding Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung until we have a new provincial home within the Anglican Communion.

I've been concerned about the priests and laity in AMiA, some of whom must have had a sense of being adrift since the announcement of the resignation of the bishops by which act the parishes are apparently no longer under the oversight of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. I wonder if the bishops by their resignations actually take all the parishes out of the Church of Rwanda. Do the parishes have a say in whether they leave the oversight of the Church of Rwanda?

I don't know the answer to the questions, but I pray that the clergy, laity, and bishops of AMiA find their places to settle.

ABOUT THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

MURILLO, Bartolomé Esteban - Esquilache Immaculate Conception - 1645-55 (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg)

Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church. I looked for a picture that would illustrate the Immaculate Conception, but what I found were paintings that show Mary in glory like the Murillo above. Now that I think about it, there is really no way to illustrate the Immaculate Conception. What was I thinking?

Elizabeth Kaeton wrote a post at Telling Secrets titled Dirty Mary. Elizabeth's post was, in many ways, a trip down memory lane for me, although I am her elder by years. Back in her day and my day in our Roman Catholic schools, the practices did not change much from decade to decade, thus we share a good many experiences.

We learned early that the Immaculate Conception was definitely not to be identified with the Virgin Birth of Jesus, although, even today, many folks confuse the two. The Immaculate Conception meant Mary was conceived free of original sin, unlike the rest of us who are born prone to sin. Even as a child I thought it rather unfair of God to burden an innocent infant with original sin because of Adam's disobedience.

For several years of those teachings, I had no idea what conception meant, nor what virgin meant beyond, 'How can this be? I know not man.' We'd have had to have been taught a bit of sex education in a Roman Catholic elementary school to understand the words back in the 1940s. Imagine! I don't remember being particularly curious about what the words meant, which seems odd to me now, because I was a curious child. I learned the teachings by rote from the Q&A format in the Baltimore Catechism, and gave the answers back to the teachers on tests without much thought except to get the answers right.

For centuries, there was controversy about the concept of the Immaculate Conception. Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, and Bernard of Clairvaux all had difficulties with the doctrine.

Bernard would seem to have been speaking of conception in the active sense of the mother's cooperation, for in his argument he says: "How can there be absence of sin where there is concupiscence (libido)?" and stronger expressions follow, showing that he is speaking of the mother and not of the child....

Pope Pius IX defined the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church on December 8, 1854

Although I no longer celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception, I honor Mary as a strong and brave woman, a woman who is a model for us all of saying 'Yes' to God, even in the face of grave consequences. I continue to pray to Mary to intercede with her son on our behalf.

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

Luke 2:33-35

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

NOT NICE, MS CAT!

Santa was naughty, too.

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

REAGAN - NO LOOPHOES FOR MILLIONAIRES

Priceless! Thank you, Fr Jake.

HOW MANY OF YOU USE MY BLOGROLL?

How many of you would be upset if I removed the entire list? The blogroll is so long as to be nearly useless, and I don't keep up to see who is still blogging. I'd save the list in the event that some time in the future (I won't say when!) I add an active blogroll which showed updates.

UPDATE: The blogroll is gone. If there is great demand to have it back, I'll return it to its place.

Thanks to all of you who responded.

'COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS'

St John's College Choir, Cambridge University

I love this hymn.

STORY OF THE DAY - TEETH IN A BOX

These are teeth in a box & it swallows up
all the mean things in the world & holds
them in its jaws until times start to
change.

From StoryPeople.

BOROWITZ REPORTS...

SURPRISING LOVE ADVICE

Falling in Polls, Romney Considers Adultery

Huddles with Advisors About Possible Affair

Read the rest at Borowitz Report.

Ha, ha, ha! Andy's wonderfully, bitingly funny.