We Moved!

Hi guys,

I havent posted here in YEARS! But I have not stopped blogging :) We moved! to

http://www.olgcyam.com

Come check it out!

Gods Blessings

Dallas

Questions about sins of the flesh . . .

As of late I have been getting quite a few inquiries involving various sins of the flesh. I usually field such questions with the template that the two-fold purpose of the sexual act is to

1)Be procreative (Not that every act must result in life but must at least be OPEN to life and
2) Be unitive wherein the man and wife become one, renewing their covenantal bond

The end must be these things not pleasure in and of itself.

This shows the intrinsic wrong in homosexual acts, in contraception, and a slew of other sexual immoralities as they are not 'open to life' nor are they unitive within the context of matrimony. They also have pleasure as its direct end.

'On Fire' Quote of the Month (June 2007)

"To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living but existing."


~Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

(See pictures of Blessed Frassati and learn more about him here: http://www.bettnet.com/frassati/)

Are we not to 'seek spiritual gifts'?

Aloha Everyone. I apologize for the lack of updating the site in recent months. Soon my new B.O.L schedule will be released and I will be sure to get all the updates posted here. For now I would like to post an answer I recently gave to someone who questioned the idea of seeking spiritual gifts as found in Corinthians 12. Their claim was that church documents 'prohibited' the faithful from seeking these gifts. They used Lumen Gentium 12 to support their claim. My response is below. . . (Please know that there are many issues that concern me regarding all lay prayer movements in the church, however the claim this person made had no credence whatsoever)

Aloha XXXXXX (name confidential)

What you wrote actually concerned me because it seems to go against St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14: 1 where he says "Pursue love, but strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts, above all that you may prophesy" (from the NAB) or even in verse 13 where he says "Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray to be able to interpret." (NAB) There are also a few other verses to the same effect but they skip my mind at the moment

Anyhow with that said I need to disagree with the translation you provide of LG 12. I know its a wide spread translation of it, but I think it misses an extremely important word, 'temere', which is an adverb which means 'arbitrarily', or capriciously , or unreasonably.

Dona autem extraordinaria non sunt temere expetenda, neque praesumptuose ab eis sperandi sunt fructus operarum apostolicarum: sed iudicium de eorum genuinitate et ordinato exercitio ad eos pertinet, qui in Ecclesia praesunt, et quibus speciatim competit, non Spiritum exstinguere, sed omnia probare et quod bonum est tenere

This changes the full meaning of the text dramatically as it should fully be interpeted as "Extraordinary gifts are not to be sought after arbitrarily, nor are the fruits of apostolic labor to be presumptuously expected from their use"

And no it doesnt matter how wide spread the bad translation is, the latin is the original language the document was written in and it clearly does not support the contention you make that the gifts are not to be sought after.

The gifts are not be taken lightly and should not be sought after rashly, but no where does the actual latin lend to 'not seeking the gifts'.

Christ the Savior is born!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I apologize for not keeping up with the blog as much as I wish I could. I am in California with the Wife and child and my 'internet' time has been limited.

I am grateful for this time of prayer and reflection on those things that are most important to me, God and my family. May God bless each of you during this season and may the coming new year be filled with many blessings.

Photo courtesy of The Faber Girls used under a Creative Commons License. Via Flickr

CatholicTunes: Matt Maher

Every now and then I find an outstanding Catholic band or musical artist that I add to my music collection. Matt Maher is one of the most prolific Christian song writers and popular artist in the Christian music world today and the coolest part is that he is Catholic and his music testifies to it!!!

In this 'the end and the beginning album' along with some modern classic worship songs like 'Your Love is Extravgant' and 'Better is One Day' Matt also does beautiful renditions of various liturgical songs like 'Kyrie' and an awesome 'Litany'.

If you are looking for some good Catholic tunes, please support Matt Maher and his ministry.

You can buy his albums on iTunes or at

http://www.spiritandsong.com/artists/mattmaher/

Fire of Truth series: 'Creation reveals your Majesty' , part #4

Almost everyone at one time of their life or another has been struck frozen by some fantastic aspect of the Earth. Indeed most of the world beholds the beauty of nature and meditates in adoration at the splendor of it all. In it they see an awesome design, one that points right to the Divine. The 20th century has brought forth though a very different opinion of the earth and the heavens above. Many scientists and intellectuals alike see no uniqueness in our earth. In fact they see the earth, as the late astronomer Carl Sagan did, as nothing more than an ordinary, unimportant, and meaningless accident. In recent times this cosmology has been labeled the ‘Copernican Principle’ or otherwise known as the Principle of mediocrity. This cosmology does not simply hold that the earth itself is not at the center of the universe, but strives to illuminate a mediocre and unexceptional outlook of the earth. Flowing from this mindset is the assumption that since our solar system must too be unexceptional the emergence of intelligent life must be ordinary and probable because of the vastness of the universe.

In the past decade or so, there have been many ID advocates that have combated this cosmology and have offered scientific insight to the special place our earth has in the cosmos. Together they have donated to the development of what is known as the Anthropological principle, or as I called it earlier, anthropism. As I mentioned earlier, Wiker favors this insights and has made it one the focuses of his work in ID.

There are many books that have help develop this principle. Three of the more recent ones are The Privileged Planet (PP) by Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards, Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee’s Rare Earth, and Michael Denton’s Nature’s Destiny. Though each of them support the ID theory through showing the cosmos as fined tuned for human existence, none of the above writers conclude through the anthropic argument that a designer for the cosmos must exist. I will discuss each of these books and there support of the anthropic claim, and also how I believe each of them have fallen a little short in seeing the end that such a claim has, namely the existence of an Intelligent Designer.

The Privileged Planet (PP) by Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards refutes the contention of the world as unimportant which has permeated the minds of the intellectual and the general public. Gonzalez and Richards contend that contrary to the Copernican mindset that the scientific knowledge acquired through the many technological advances made in the 20th century will bring a greater understanding and appreciation of our unique place in the universe. Their book, in essence, offers evidence to substantiate that claim. They theorize a correlation between the “measurability” of the cosmos, that is the conditions necessary for viewing and studying the universe, and the “habitability” of the universe. They say that “the conditions that allow for intelligent life on earth also make it strangely well suited for viewing and analyzing the universe.” (p.2) Thus, by showing the optimal uniqueness the earth possess in studying the universe and for discovering the laws of physics, the book demonstrates the many conditions that are necessary for life to exist here on earth and the high unlikely hood that such conditions exist ordinarily anywhere else in the cosmos.

An example of their claim can be seen in studying the moon. The moon plays an extremely important role in the habitability of the world. Ironically, it also plays a major part of understanding the rest of the cosmos. For example, the unique size and roundedness of the moon make possible optimal eclipses to be observed from here on earth. The ability to behold a perfect-eclipse has resulted in many important scientific discoveries. In particular, studying eclipses has brought about greater understanding in the area of the physics of atmospheres. Because of earth’s optimal eclipses, we now understand the Sun’s atmosphere, which in turn helps us understand the chemical makeup of distant stars. An Eclipse also played an important role in testing General Relativity and in measuring the slowdown of the Earth’s rotation. (p.12) There is definitely many other ways the uniqueness of our moon supports the measurability of the cosmos. PP declares it just the tip of the iceberg in relation to the similar mounting evidence throughout the rest of the cosmos. (p16)

Unfortunately though, beyond showing the special purpose of earth in the cosmos, PP doesn’t have a necessarily ID end. Through correspondence with the authors and my teacher Dr. Benjamin Wiker, I have come to learn that the writers of PP do not believe that the anthropic principle, which they have so well supported, can stand alone as a means of showing the existence of a designer. I think their conclusion misses the mark. How could one not see design in such order and purpose. Inferring an intelligent designer from their work wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea, but a logically grounded conclusion.

To be continued and concluded later this month . . .

Photo courtesy of Bluedharma used under a Creative Commons License. Via Flickr

An Invitation to Outreach

Inspired by the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati the Young Adult Ministry of Our Lady of Good Counsel has been serving the homeless in Hawaii for the last three years. For the first two years of our ministry we would do weekly feedings and visits out to Ala Moana Beach Park. However, since May 1st 2006 with the eviction of homeless from the beach park by the City of Honolulu, we have been working in union with the State sponsored organization "Next Step" in providing services for the homeless at the recently established shelter near Kakaako Beach Park.

We visit shelter every Thursday, rain or shine, holiday or not, to fellowship and talk-story with our homeless friends. Every other Thursday our ministry feeds the nearly 300 individuals currently residing at the shelter. Every week we leave the grounds of Our Lady of Good Counsel at 5:30pm and we return no later than 8:00pm. On the weeks that we cook our cooking takes place on Wednesday, the night prior, at the State certified kitchen at St. Joseph School in Waipahu. Our cooking begins at 5:30pm and ends by 8:00pm. If you are interested in any aspect of our Homeless Ministry: visiting, cooking, or serving meals, please contact me at nativecatholic@yahoo.com

This Thanksgiving was such a blessing for us. The shelter put on a Thanksgiving luau for the residents and through the wonderful and generous donations of people from various parishes on Oahu we were able to collect nearly 25 large boxes filled with clothes, shoes, toiletries, baby food, and toys. Thank you to all who donated, may God Bless you seven-fold!!!

Dallas Carter's Lecture Schedule for December 2006 & Contact Info

I will be lecturing at the following events this month (December 2006)

*NOTE* December is usually a break period for the Diocese of Honolulu Religious Ed. Dept. and I will also be on vacation from December 17th - January 1st. That said, My schedule for December will be a lot smaller than usual. Praise God for breaks and vacations :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Sunday, December 3rd, 2006 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM
Work of Mercy, Outreach, and Evangelization -- St. Anthony, Kailua
(Guest Speaker for Confirmation Canidates)

Please Stay Tuned for Future Speaking Engagements ***To Request Dallas to speak at your event or Parish please contact him at nativecatholic@yahoo.com