Musings of an Expagan

One thing that many people don’t understand, is how much my Iphone has replaced my laptop.  I used to spend a few hours a day at home checking emails and checking websites.  Now instead of my laptop, I simply use my phone.Many have asked me why I like it so much, and to really tell you the truth its the interface.  While there are shortcomings to the product (any 1.0 version of a product will have them) I have found that the 1.0 of this version is pretty solid.   That said, I am very happy with my purchase and would have purchased it again if I had too.  I will be blogging on the Iphone quite abit because I use it and want too.

File this under the “Yeah Right”

Worldnet Dailly has a story on yet another Teacher Sexual Abuse incident:

A former Florida teacher already arrested twice for allegedly having sex with two of her students has reportedly scored a hat trick, after police say she again had sex with a previous victim.

Stephanie Ragusa, 29, of Tampa was taken into custody yesterday shortly after Hillsborough County detectives saw her exiting the home of the 16-year old boy.

So when people open their mouths and say when Priest can marry this won’t happen… think again.

We have a problem here in the US.  We have lost the meaning of the word “Hero”

In the past, it used to be a Hero was a man or a woman who did extraordinary things.  Such as pull people out of burning buildings, or save a child from drowning, or sacrifice him or herself so that another person could live.

Today you are branded a hero when you give 100 bucks to a charity.

The same goes for the word historic.  The probem is that historic used to mean events such as Pearl Harbor, Krakatoa, the Civil War, 9/11 and the like.

In order to be historic you have to do something that truly changes the world from that point on.  The same way with the Church.  The Councils of the early Church were historic… USCCB meetings are not, meetings of the Women’s Ordination Movement, and Voice of the Faithful, are not.

Morning Class today we are going to learn a new verb.  The verb is used in Eastern Catholic circles to describe when one of their brethren chooses to embrace Holy Orthodoxy rather than remain Eastern Catholic.

To Dox – The act of exiting the Eastern Catholic Church and enter communion with the Orthodox Church.

So… here we go:

I dox

you dox

we dox

they dox

now in the past tense

I doxed

He doxed

They doxed

We doxed

Good…   Finally I would like to say that I am not sure which is more concerning.  That it happens, or that it happens so much that we have a term for it.

There is a term out there called “Cheap Grace.”

[It] is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Now… I am going to coin a term called “Cheap Evangelization”  This is evangelization that costs nothing to do.  Blogging is an example of that.  While I blog, I don’t pretend to think that I am going to transform the world to Christ by my rantings on the internet.

This brings me to Easter.  My Chuch has “Christ is Risen” yard signs.  Now… frankly, I don’t really put out yard signs for political candidates so the notion of putting one out for Easter was not on my “To Do List”.

I find the notion of  “He is Risen” yard signs to be just another symptom of “Cheap Evangelization”  Stick a sign in the yard and go on your merry way thinking that you are evangelizaing the world.  If it had been that easy… we could have simply stuck a sign outside the empty tomb 2000 years ago, and the myrrh bearing women could have gone home and slept in.

Folks…. Evangelization is hard work. It is more than just an minimum effort.

First, let me be the first one to say that most of this is my problem and not that of the Holy Father.  Currently I am working 2 jobs, which equates to about 60 to 65 hours a week in work.  So I don’t have a lot of free time and the time I do I have actually been doing other things than keeping up with the news.

So, It was refreshing to hear that the Pope has been saddened, anguished, with the sexual abuse scandals in the American Church.  That is great, wonderful.  I am glad that he met with some of the victims.

On the other hand, I think that perhaps it is time to stop treating the American Church with kid gloves, and perhaps some of those Bishops who are guilty of aiding and abetting should be dealt with.  I mean dealt with harshness i.e. stripped of their offices and faithful ones appointed in their place.

However, I remain skeptical that this will happen.  I remain Catholic, because Christ has already asked “Will you Leave, Also?”  To which I have to reply “Where shall I go… You have the words of eternal life.”

Update:  Some in the blogosphere are complaining about the fact that some of us where hoping for action towards the Bishops, but now are complaining that not much happened.

Here is how I see it:

1)  The American Bishops have no cred.  None… nada…  Some are holy men, but as a group, they are pretty pathetic.

2)  Evangelization, under this group is extremely hard.   It hard to be a moral beacon in a darkened world when you actively cover your ass by moving predators around and seem to be more interested in dodging lawsuits than preaching truth.

3)  The list of issues is more than simply the Sex Abuse Scandal.  It also covers the fact that Pro Abortion Politicians, who claim to be catholic, are not being held accountable for their actions.  There are others…