Archive for January, 2008
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Back from New York City and D.C.
The Vanguard was on blogging hiatus the past week or so while Katie and I visited the Big Apple and Washington D.C.
My best man, Robert Berger, who now lives in Long Island, showed us all around and took us into “the city”, where we attended Mass at Father Richard John Neuhaus‘ parish (he celebrated and [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
I’m Supporting Mike Huckabee
He is still in the race and first in many upcoming states. Despite what the media is currently saying, it is not just a two-person Republican race.
You can see what he stands for on his website.
Of the three top Republicans, I believe he has the most correct principles and is the firmest on them.
No Comments » - Posted in Politics by Devman
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Father Maciel Has Died…
…and met our Lord Jesus Christ. May He have mercy on his soul and grant him eternal life in Heaven.
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Friday, January 25th, 2008
Bobby Fischer Received Catholic Burial
May God bless him and rest his soul; he requested a Catholic burial. Why? We can only guess, but it is hopeful that he turned to Christ ere the end of his life!
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Making Objects Out of (Famous) People
It is always wrong to use another person as an object for your own enjoyment.
A ubiquitous example of this immoral practice is when a man lusts after a woman; however, I think it also occurs everyday when we make famous persons into objects for our own entertainment.
I don’t keep up with much Hollywood news, but [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theology of the Body by Devman
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Texas Rally for Life
Hot on the heels of the national March for Life, Texas is having our annual Rally for Life this Saturday!
From Texas Alliance for Life:
Come to the Texas Rally for Life in Austin on Saturday, January 26. This event will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. That [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Politics by Devman
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
A Young Man with Strong Virtue
A great story of a virtuous young man who has auditioned for American Idol (from Bastrop, Texas, too, unless “Bostrop” is really a town) and joyfully proclaims that he is saving not only the marital embrace, but also even his first kiss, for his wife on their wedding day.
A very confused writer for a company [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Faith and Reason, Masculine Spirituality, Theology of the Body by Devman
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Dear God
It’s been 35 years of war on our soil. 35 years of praying, begging, pleading for the lives of the little ones hidden in the womb who can’t speak for themselves. 35 years of wiping the tears of mothers and fathers whose arms are empty of the children who might have been. 47 million Americans who [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Faith and Reason, Love and War, Saints and Angels by Katie
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
March for Life!
Broadcasting live via EWTN live TV.
Gerardo and Roxanna are there, along with Earthie from the Little Wretches of St. Joseph, Thomas from AmericanPapist, and many others!
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Love and War, Politics by Devman
Monday, January 21st, 2008
What Makes a Law Just?
That’s a question that is so important to know the answer to, and there are competing theories.
What did Martin Luther King, Jr. think about it? Well, he agreed with St. Thomas Aquinas and quoted that great saint and philosopher when speaking about laws:
How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Faith and Reason, Politics by Devman
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Texans: Contact Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Dear Texan blog readers,
I received an email today from the Texas Alliance for Life, an excellent, bipartisan, non-sectarian group who promotes respect for human life:
On January 22, 2008, the U.S. Senate will take up S. 1200, a bill that would make certain changes to American Indian health programs. Pro-life organizations, including Texas Alliance for Life, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Faith and Reason, Politics by Devman
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
Learning More About Opus Dei
Katie and I got my mom a book for Christmas called Opus Dei, by John Allen, Jr.
My mom is a speed-reader and finished it pretty quickly, so she lent it back to me because I was interested in reading it.
It has been a good book so far; Mr. Allen gives an informative history of Opus [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Faith and Reason, Saints and Angels by Devman
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
New Farm Blogs Added to My (RSS) Feed
These are funny ones and interesting:
http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/
http://diaryofafarmer.blogspot.com/
The Diary of a Farmer author is from Texas and goes to church in College Station, home of Texas A&M, my alma mater, so that is really cool.
Here is an excerpt on his post about trying to get his pigs to mate:
She [his female pig in heat] was a lot [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Grapevines and Nature by Devman
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Blog Archives for the Vanguard
I just added an easy way to browse our blog’s archives, which you can find on the right sidebar.
The archives display the blog posts without images or fanfare until you click on the title of a post that you want to see in full glory, then it will show the images.
It’s hard to believe, but [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Technical by Devman
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Please, Let It Snow
Please please please please please.
Temperature at 9:20am: 34, but feels like 28. Light rain falling. These are optimum conditions for snow. Please, God, please please please.
Â
1 Comment » - Posted in Catholic Life, Grapevines and Nature by Katie
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Oh, Awesome
Prince Caspian movie, opening May 16
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Entertainment, Masculine Spirituality by Katie
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Searching for Bobby Fischer
The gifted chess champion Bobby Fischer died yesterday.
He had problems in his life, no one denies, but he also contributed to the scholarship and advancement of the game of chess and proved during the Cold War that the United States could triumph over the seemingly undefeatable Soviets, when he beat Boris Spassky in 1972 to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Obama’s Religion
I read about the church that Barack Obama is a member of and went to their website; it contained ideas that have no place in Christianity, in particular, the emphasis on Black Values and Black Worship.
I didn’t bother to post about it then, but I just saw another article on his church and its pastor [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Faith and Reason, Politics by Devman
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Electric Co.?
“If you don’t know,
Electric Co.”
– U2, The Electric Co.
I have this song stuck in my head from listening to the DVD of U2’s Vertigo tour in 2005, but what does this song mean? It’s nonsensical!
The DVD was taken from two performances in Chicago, but Robert, Gerardo, and I went to the Houston show and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in La Musica by Devman
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
48 and 38
48 new Legionary priests were ordained around Christmas in Rome, including 12 from the U.S.
38 seminarians, the most in many decades, are in formation for the diocese of Austin, Texas (our diocese).
This number does not even include the men and women from the Austin diocese currently in formation in religious communities all over the country [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Masculine Spirituality by Devman
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Everybody’s Watching You Now…
And everybody is searching for You.
Today’s Gospel reading:
Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon´s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life by Devman
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Novena in Reparation for Abortion
The Catholic bishops of the United States have designated January 22 as a special day of prayer and penance in reparation for the massive loss of life and reservoir of tears that has resulted from the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision (handed down January 22, 1973) which permitted abortion throughout pregnancy.
Please consider joining us [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Faith and Reason, Love and War by Katie
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
10 Things to Know About Keeping Backyard Chickens
Our friends Enrique and Veronica wanted to know more about keeping backyard chickens and suggested we give a basic overview of their needs.
So here are the 10 most important things I know about chickens that you should consider:
Chickens make droppings–a lot of them–you need a place to dispose of them (trash, compost pile, etc.).
Chickens thrive [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in Grapevines and Nature by Devman
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
New Page: Why I Became Catholic
Hello dear friends! I just wrote a new blog page explaining why I decided to become Catholic.
It is linked to as well on the sidebar under the “Pages” heading. I hope it will be beneficial to you in your journey of faith.
No Comments » - Posted in Faith and Reason by Devman
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Haagen-Dasz Giving Aid to Help Honey Bees
Haagen-Dasz uses all natural ingredients in their ice cream, and many of their flavors rely on honey bees, so they raising awareness about honey bees as well as donating money to honey bee research labs.
1 Comment » - Posted in Grapevines and Nature by Devman
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
Ecumenism: Good Questions to Consider on Authority
I follow a number of blogs by Protestant brothers in Christ who have begun asking some good questions about Christ’s Church, the canon of Scripture, Protestant doctrines of sola scriptura and sola fide, and so on.
Bryan (a Catholic) at Principium Unitatis made a post recently inviting Protestant to answer 12 questions. I must say, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Faith and Reason by Devman
Friday, January 11th, 2008
Noodles: Existential Art
We’re experimenting with organic art these days, as we grow ever closer to the land.
A recent episode of distraction led me to put too much pasta in the boiling water leading to taking the extra pasta out of the water and drying it, which inspired this art. Good news? The pasta dried well. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Grapevines and Nature by Katie
Friday, January 11th, 2008
I’m a Nerd
There’s no doubt about it. I was born 40, which meant that high school was difficult and lonely, but I am happy to report that I’m doing fine tonight. Devin’s out with his Regnum Christi team, painting the town Catholic, so I’m at home on a Friday night making granola (this recipe is [...]
5 Comments » - Posted in Catholic Life, Faith and Reason by Katie
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
I’d Also Buy That
Whenever Danielle Bean sends me and Katie an email, it is an occasion for rejoicing and jubilation.
Today was no different, when I checked my inbox and saw a message to us from Danielle!
She was graciously thanking us for my (only somewhat over-the-top) comment on her blog post in the famous (or in-famous, that is, “more [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Entertainment by Devman
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
The View: Another Reason We Don’t Have TV
Though if we did, I would probably destroy my TV after watching this episode of The View, where Ms. Behar demonstrates frightful ignorance and negligence toward the Catholic faith.
Here’s something good from this disappointing situation: In the Fox News article linked to above, Fr. Jonathan Morris clarifies how the Church recognizes that someone is a [...]