Lent frees our more than just our souls...

I am finding out that some things are easier said than done, such as stating that I will blog 4 to 7 times a week. I'd like to blame it on the fact that with Lent upon us I've been deep in prayer for hours and hours a day. The reality however, is that when I made that statement about 2 weeks ago, I hadn't decided upon my Lenten abstinence yet. I decided a few days later that my Lenten abstinence would be to limit myself to 2 hours of computer time a day (minus class work).

Lent began last Wednesday. I spent Thursday and Friday curled up in the fetal position in the corner of my room having withdrawal symptoms. Once the cold sweats and hallucinations passed, I found that having so much more free time to read, reflect, pray and simply spend some quiet time. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that it'd affect my blogging and other extra-curricular activities. After some minor adjustments, however, I have simply included my blogging into my 2 hours of allotted time. Sacrificing for my readers...or maybe added penance for my readers having to read my blog almost daily again.

One bonus for my readers, though, is that I will have to make my blogs a little shorter and more streamlined. God knows I like to ramble, so this Lenten abstinence may have multiple positive outcomes. Nonetheless, I will begin my ordination blog entries this Friday on the promises I will make on my ordination day, which is less than 3 months from now. I'm almost out of time, so until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 11:48 | link | comments |
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Remember, you are dust...

I sit at my desk typing this blog this afternoon "marked with the sign of faith" as are many other Catholics this day. The ashes on my forehead and on all Catholics today is a proud declaration of our faith. I have been assisting at the Cathedral for the Masses today and I was humbled by the number of people who came to our early Masses before going to work. All these people entered their workplace today proudly identifying themselves as Catholic and a witness to the faith.

The beginning of Lent is the one liturgical season that is not too difficult to figure out if you encounter any Catholics. The sign of the cross in black ash on the foreheads of all Catholics announces that Lent has begun. It announces to the world that in order to truly celebrate Easter, we must first reflect on our need for the Sacrifice of Christ because of our sin. We must reflect on our humanity and our mortality. We are reminded of this in the words spoken when the ashes are imposed on our foreheads: "Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return." We must prepare for Easter by first recognizing our own sin, by seeking to perform acts of penance and by giving of ourself - even in a small way - as we near the day in which Jesus gave his very self - heart, mind, soul and body - for our sins.

For me, Lent is one of the most fruitful in the growth of my faith. It is during Lent that I am able to reflect on my mortality, not in a morbid way, but with a true realization that it is only because of Jesus that I have eternal life rather than the death we all deserve because of sin. Fasting, abstinence and self denial help to reduce the focus on my wants and needs and directs my focus instead on Jesus Christ. Our minor sacrifices are but a mere shadow of the ultimate sacrifice Christ made on Good Friday. In the words of John the Baptist, it is in Lent that "He must increase; I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30). May this Lenten season be a time for us to decrease in our own selfishness and self-focus and that Jesus may increase in our hearts and in our lives. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 15:02 | link | comments |
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Lent is upon us

Wednesday begins the Lenten season. It is a time for reflection on our mortality, consideration of our sinfulness and our need for God's mercy. The Lenten season begins with ashes on our forehead to remind us that we are mortal. The ashes are marked in a cross on our foreheads with the words: remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Lent continues until Holy Thursday at which time the Triduum begins. Lent ends on Holy Thursday at the Last Supper for a reason. Our sinfulness and our mortality are conquered by Christ and replaced by grace and eternal life in the institution of the Eucharist. Our sin and mortality are nailed to the Cross on Good Friday and we wait for the Resurrection on Holy Saturday. In Lent and the days leading up to Easter we experience the whole of salvation history.

Last year I used each Friday during Lent to reflect on the promises I would be making at my diaconate ordination. I plan to do this again with the promises I will make at my priesthood ordination. Like last year, these will be a deeper understanding of what the Church is asking of me and how I view these promises. Hopefully it will give you some insight into the ordination of a priest and it certainly helps me to prepare spiritually for May 26th.

I wish everyone a blessed and fruitful Ash Wednesday and I hope that this Lenten season is one of grace in spirit and growth in God's love. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 17:14 | link | comments (1) |
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One step closer...

Well, last night was a great milestone for me. Each year we have a final evaluation in the spring in which each student meets individually with the Rector, Vice-Rector and class Formation Advisor. These meetings occur by class with 4th year meeting in mid-February and each two weeks the next class meets with the 1st year class having their evals at the end of March. Last night was my final evaluation. More importantly, however, was that this was my FINAL final evaluatoin here at Kenrick.

At the evaluation, you discuss your accomplishments, challenges and shortcomings of the academic year. Prior to the evaluation, each persons fills out a self-evaluation and they are also evaluated by 3 or 4 students anonymously. This is all compiled by the Vice-Rector into a final evaluation report which concludes with the school's recommendation for advancement - in my case advancement to priesthood. I received that recommendation for advancement to the Order of Priesthood last night. Each of us have already written a Petition for Orders to the Presbyerate that we will sign early next week. This petition is then sent to my archbishop, who is actually in the seminary buiding as I type this. He is visiting because he is on the Kenrick Board of Directors who had their semi-annual meeting today. After my archbishop receives my petition, he will send a letter to me in early April. This letter, known as a Call to Orders, will state that he accepts my petition and that I am to be ordained at the specified date - May 26th in this case.

So, you can see why I am happy. This is the first domino to fall in the chain of dominoes that will culminate in my ordination!!! Please pray for me as I enter into these final months. I appreciate it greatly. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 21:20 | link | comments (1) |
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Interesting Democratic situation...

Wow! I cannot believe its been 10 days since I last blogged. It has been rather busy, but honestly, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and blog. One of my friends suggested that I announce that I am on hiatus. He said that, like television, I could run re-runs of previous blog posts. Well...since the only reason I watch re-runs is to see episodes that I missed and since you can re-read any of my blogs (maybe as a sleep aid) having re-runs doesn't seem to work. Instead, I plan on returning to my blogging schedule of 4 to 7 entries a week.

I'd like to focus on the new Democratic-controlled congress and their pursuit of the Culture of Death immediately after taking office. I was reading the newspaper this weekend and I saw that Barack Obama announced his intent to run for president in the 2008 election. I have mixed feelings about his running. First, let me point out that Obama is strongly and radically pro-abortion. Not only does he support the belief of a woman's right to an abortion, but he advocates partial birth abortion, which even most pro-abortion supporters do not agree with. I certainly don't want him to actually win the presidency, yet I am interested in his running for a particular reason: he may be exactly what is needed to split the voting among the Democrats. Hilary Clinton, John Edwards and Obama seem to be the top Democratic candidates. Realistically, Edwards will have problems with his image from the last election, but he will have those attracted to him. What becomes interesting, however, is that the Democratic party is likely to become split over Obama and Clinton. This not only has the potential to damage the unity of the party for the Democratic National Convention, it also has a fairly high chance of splitting the party after the candidate is chosen.

Before I explain how this is likely to happen, I want to make a disclaimer: I am NOT advocating either of these situations, rather simply pointing the reality of what may happen. Hilary Clinton, if nominated by the party, is not likely to get the minority vote and especially the black vote. These voters will feel betrayed by the party for not nominating a minority/black candidate. In addition, one poll estimated that if she were nominated the democratic party would lose most of the southern states. Based on their numbers, she would have to take 75% of the remaining states to win the election.

Obama, on the other hand, would lost much of the female vote and again may lose many of the southern states because he is black. The fact that he is also a freshman senator will cause people to hesitate and question whether he has the experience and understanding of the politics of Washington D.C. necessary to be president.

Ultimately, it seems that these two candidates may serve to help the Republicans gain voters. Remember, most people voted not for Democrats but against Republicans in the recent elections. The Democrats did not actually gain persons who left the Republican party to become Democrats. Rather, they voted for Democrats in this instance hoping for a change of course in Washington D.C. There is no evidence that these persons would vote Democrat again and this is especially true if the party seems split on the direction to take the country. Some interesting food for thought. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 13:39 | link | comments |
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News stories that make you wonder...

Occassionally, I come across stories that make me wonder what this world is coming to. Today was one of those days. I usually check the news stories off the AP wire and on Fox.com each morning. This morning I found a number of stories that made me realize that we have a lot of money hungry, power hungy, uncaring or simple stupid persons in the world. Here is a sampling of these stories:

Totebag suit against Angels dismissed 

• A judge has dismissed a lawsuit, filed by psychologist Michael Cohn, claiming the Angels discriminated against men by giving tote bags to women during a Mother's Day baseball game. The judge ruled that the giveaway was not biased against men and that the May 8, 2005, event was a way to honor mothers.

What kind of uncaring and money hungry persons files a lawsuit against a MLB team for honoring mothers. I bet his mom was embarrassed to call him her son (I wonder if she got a totebag - if she did, I bet her son probably took it).

'Bilk' Combines Beer and Milk for the Tastiest New Drink Sensation

• Now you can get your daily calcium requirement and your buzz all at once with the new beverage that combines two of the world's favorite liquids: milk and beer. A Japanese brewery has succeeded in creating a combination drink known as "bilk" which was designed in part to help use up surplus milk. "Bilk" reportedly has a fruity taste which manufacturers hope will be appealing to women.

This is news? I don't drink much milk (and not a massive amount of beer) but I am thinking that this doesn't sound too good. I don't care if it has a fruity taste or not...but I do think its inventors have something fruity about them!

He Feels Pretty, Oh So Pretty

• A search is on for a thief who looks and smells marvelous. Police say the man has skipped out on at least 20 day spas in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin since last March without paying for an array of services. He says the man gets everything from manicures and pedicures to body scrubs and hair cuts, then leaves without paying his bill. All told, he's failed to pay for thousands of dollars worth of services.

 I hope the police force 'nails' him. I wonder if a judge will require him to 'makeup' for the service he didn't pay for? If he is mentally disturbed I hope they find the 'man a cure' (I can hear dozens and dozens of my readers groaining right now).

These are 'news' stories actually out there today. Granted, I am happy that they are more light-hearted stories to counter the murder, rape, Iraq, Iran and other depressing stories out there. Oh well, I guess EVERYBODY has got a story to tell...most just don't make the news. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 08:56 | link | comments |
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South Dakota abortion ban bill is NOT dead

The South Dakota legislature has re-drafted an abortion ban bill that they had passed last year, but that was overturned by voters in the November election. The claimed reason the bill was overturned was because there was no provision for rape and incest victims.

This is a story that appeared in the Kansas City Star today. I searched around and found a more in-depth story in the Rapid City Journal in Rapid City, SD. The Rapid City article has some of the details of the bill including the fact that 25 of the 105 lawmakers are sponsoring the bill. That is a significant number of people just sponsoring the bill.

Planned Parenthood, who used the fact that there were no provisions for rape and incest as their reason for getting the voters to overturn the bill, tried to play that card again. Kate Looby, state director of Planned Parenthood in SD, said: "The bill really falls short of providing a meaningful rape and incest exception and does nothing more than re-victimize rape and incest survivors..."

Here is what the bill states regarding rape and incest cases:

• The legislation, HB1293, would allow rape victims to get abortions if they report the rapes to police within 50 days. Doctors would have to confirm those reports with police; doctors also would have to take blood from aborted fetuses and give that information to police for DNA testing.
• In the case of incest, a doctor would have to get the consent of the woman to report the crime together to police with the identity of the alleged perpetrator before an abortion could be done. Blood samples from fetuses would have to be provided to police in incest cases, too.

Both these scenerios serve two important purposes: 1) to ensure that persons don't make false claims simply to have an abortion 2) to attempt to put malicious perpetrators of these crimes behind bars. What Planned Parenthood is really saying is: this cuts into our huge profits in abortions for one of our states and threatens these profits in other states! There is nothing like blood money for killing innocent, unborn, children as far as Planned Parenthood is concerned.

Rep. Gordon Howie, a Republican lawmaker in SD, said he believed that the bill may have even more support in the legislature this year as a number of opponents last year stated that they didn't vote for the bill because there was not an inclusion for rape and incest.

I ask my readers to pray over the next few weeks that this bill passes in SD. While it is not perfect - the rape and incest exceptions are still offenses against life - it is by far the most aggressive bill against abortion in the U.S. Whether it forces the Supreme Court to get involved or not, which is what some lawmakers are hoping, doesn't matter because the reality is that, at least for one state, innocent, defenseless, unborn children are not being murdered for the sake of convenience or money! I will keep you all informed as this develops. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 14:04 | link | comments |
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