If you don't laugh when you watch my cousin and I battle it out during a game of Twister after I finished my NaNoWriMo 2008 novel, then there is something wrong with your taste in comedy.
Post-Noveling Fun
If you don't laugh when you watch my cousin and I battle it out during a game of Twister after I finished my NaNoWriMo 2008 novel, then there is something wrong with your taste in comedy.
NaNoWriMo 2008: Week 4 Roundup
Even in the midst of all that has happened over this past weekend, I managed to finish my second novel. It was not easy, and I had to work some of my blog entries into my novel, but I managed to finish it anyway.Last year, when I finished writing my first novel, the feeling that I received afterward was something that I had never felt before. It was the zenith of excitement and happiness and a sense of accomplishment. This year, however, that feeling is absent. I don't know if that's the result of my grandmother's death or because I have already accomplished writing a novel, but the feeling of intense excitement is absent.
The novel that I wrote this November, entitled Philosopher Kings, is the first part of four. I do not, at this moment, know whether or not I will continue the other parts over the next three years or whether I will work on another part between now and next November or whether I will never come back to this again. Either way, I have planted the seeds of something amazing.
Whatever comes of Philosopher Kings, I congratulate all of you who have crossed into the threshold of the winners' circle and I continue to cheer for all of you who are painstakingly close.
Ich lieben Sie.
My grandmother died early this morning after suffering from an additional heart attack. My mother woke me up this morning right after she received the call, and we rushed to the hospital as soon as we could but we were three minutes too late. I truly believe that she held on until she got to say goodbye to all of her children, and I am grateful that God allowed her to do so.
I have experienced every emotion possible this weekend, but right now all I feel is sorrow and grief. I am confident that she will be received into the Heavenly Kingdom, but letting go is hard. As much as it pains me to say it, "Auf Wiedersehen meine Großmutter."
Ich lieben Sie.
I have experienced every emotion possible this weekend, but right now all I feel is sorrow and grief. I am confident that she will be received into the Heavenly Kingdom, but letting go is hard. As much as it pains me to say it, "Auf Wiedersehen meine Großmutter."
Ich lieben Sie.
Thanksgiving in the Hospital
I don't even know where to begin or how to articulate the events that have occurred over the past few days. Wednesday and Thursday went by so quickly that they don't even seem real or that I am in some kind of a nightmare. I guess, in order for you to understand how emotionally distressed I am, I should start from the beginning.
My grandmother - my mother's mother - has been through a lot in the past three years. She has been through a lot of health problems throughout her entire life, but it has gotten worse over the past three years. Between recovering from a stroke, overcoming breast cancer, dealing with her diabetes and arthritis, and having multiple operations to clear blockages in her heart, she has had a helping and a half of health problems. In the past two months alone, she has been to the hospital three times. So when I received news that she was in the hospital again, I just thought she was having a bad day.
Except I didn't truly know how bad of a day she was having. It all "started" Wednesday, and by started I mean the beginning of the end. My grandmother had a horrible night Tuesday night. She hardly slept, and she had pain in her stomach and lower back. She told my mother that she would have rather died. Wednesday came and she couldn't even walk down the stairs. It wasn't that she didn't want to walk down the stairs, but rather that she actually couldn't walk down the stairs. My father and my uncle drove up to her house and, with the help of my grandfather, wheeled her (safely) down the stairs in a wheelchair.
She was admitted into the hospital in the early afternoon of Wednesday. They ran multiple tests and discovered that she had suffered from a heart attack sometime between last Sunday and when she was admitted. When my mother received the phone call fifteen minutes after she had gotten home from work, my sister, my mother, and I drove to the hospital as quickly as we could. We arrived at four-thirty and waited in the Surgery waiting room with my uncle and grandfather. It took about forty-five minutes for the doctor to come out and explain to us what was occurring.
Before I go any further, I should add that I had seen this scene over and over in movies where the family of a patient receives the good or bad news from the doctor. But for some reason, I expected the scene to be different in real life. It turns out it wasn't. The doctor was a very patient and polite man who told us the facts. According to him, my grandmother's heart is very weak and she only has two of the five arteries functioning. They inserted a balloon inside of her which acts like a pump so that her heart doesn't have to work so hard. He said that he didn't think she will make it, and even if surgery was possible, she would die on the operating table.
He said there was a very, very, very small chance that her heart could become stronger, but even then she only had two functional arteries and she also had a leaky valve.
I was amazed that all five of us sitting there listening to the doctor kept our composure while he was speaking, save for a few gasps of disbelief from my mother. When he left, however, all five of us broke out in tears. This was a woman that we all knew and loved, and we had just learned from a professional that she wasn't going to make it. From there, we made numerous phone calls. My grandparents have two daughters and four sons, and all of them were supposed to be in different directions. Three of them, my family included, were supposed to go to Yosemite for the weekend, one was in Washington, one was in San Fransisco, and one was in southern California.
After we had made the phone calls, we made our way to the waiting room of the Critical Care Center, where my grandmother had been moved from surgery to ICU. One by one, my uncles and aunts trickled in. We each took turns visiting her, and my mother gave me the option of whether or not I wanted to go. I told her I wanted to and when I went into her room, I was distressed at the sight. She was laying in a bed with a large tube stuck down her throat that helped her breath, things around her feet and fingers and hooked up to several machines. She was hardly coherent, since she had been given so many different types of medicines. When I was in there, my mother told me to speak to her, but for some reason I couldn't. I was crying but I assured her that I loved her.
We were at the hospital for almost nine hours on Wednesday and we finally left at one o'clock in the morning. I did not want to leave, because I did not know how much more time I would have with my grandmother, but the nurse kicked us out.
I woke up this morning, ate a quick bite, and then we went to the hospital again at around noon to spend Thanksgiving with my grandmother. Things were much better today. My grandmother was coherent, responded very well to questions, and the doctors were even surprised by her condition. That's not to say that something unexpected can't happen at any moment. Besides my grandmother, there were eighteen of us in the waiting room. Eighteen people, who, under normal circumstances, would have been in four different directions for the Thanksgiving Weekend, but had all be brought together.
Today has been a day where our emotions have been all over the place. It has been a day of thanksgiving, a day of coming together, a day of prayer, and a day of hope. I truly hope that your Thanksgiving Day has been better than mine, and I ask that you keep my grandmother in your prayers throughout these next few days. I cannot go through losing another grandmother during high school. My father's mother died a little over a year ago, and I was emotionally depressed afterward. I don't want to go through it again, so please pray that she is touched by God's healing hand.
My grandmother - my mother's mother - has been through a lot in the past three years. She has been through a lot of health problems throughout her entire life, but it has gotten worse over the past three years. Between recovering from a stroke, overcoming breast cancer, dealing with her diabetes and arthritis, and having multiple operations to clear blockages in her heart, she has had a helping and a half of health problems. In the past two months alone, she has been to the hospital three times. So when I received news that she was in the hospital again, I just thought she was having a bad day.
Except I didn't truly know how bad of a day she was having. It all "started" Wednesday, and by started I mean the beginning of the end. My grandmother had a horrible night Tuesday night. She hardly slept, and she had pain in her stomach and lower back. She told my mother that she would have rather died. Wednesday came and she couldn't even walk down the stairs. It wasn't that she didn't want to walk down the stairs, but rather that she actually couldn't walk down the stairs. My father and my uncle drove up to her house and, with the help of my grandfather, wheeled her (safely) down the stairs in a wheelchair.
She was admitted into the hospital in the early afternoon of Wednesday. They ran multiple tests and discovered that she had suffered from a heart attack sometime between last Sunday and when she was admitted. When my mother received the phone call fifteen minutes after she had gotten home from work, my sister, my mother, and I drove to the hospital as quickly as we could. We arrived at four-thirty and waited in the Surgery waiting room with my uncle and grandfather. It took about forty-five minutes for the doctor to come out and explain to us what was occurring.
Before I go any further, I should add that I had seen this scene over and over in movies where the family of a patient receives the good or bad news from the doctor. But for some reason, I expected the scene to be different in real life. It turns out it wasn't. The doctor was a very patient and polite man who told us the facts. According to him, my grandmother's heart is very weak and she only has two of the five arteries functioning. They inserted a balloon inside of her which acts like a pump so that her heart doesn't have to work so hard. He said that he didn't think she will make it, and even if surgery was possible, she would die on the operating table.
He said there was a very, very, very small chance that her heart could become stronger, but even then she only had two functional arteries and she also had a leaky valve.
I was amazed that all five of us sitting there listening to the doctor kept our composure while he was speaking, save for a few gasps of disbelief from my mother. When he left, however, all five of us broke out in tears. This was a woman that we all knew and loved, and we had just learned from a professional that she wasn't going to make it. From there, we made numerous phone calls. My grandparents have two daughters and four sons, and all of them were supposed to be in different directions. Three of them, my family included, were supposed to go to Yosemite for the weekend, one was in Washington, one was in San Fransisco, and one was in southern California.
After we had made the phone calls, we made our way to the waiting room of the Critical Care Center, where my grandmother had been moved from surgery to ICU. One by one, my uncles and aunts trickled in. We each took turns visiting her, and my mother gave me the option of whether or not I wanted to go. I told her I wanted to and when I went into her room, I was distressed at the sight. She was laying in a bed with a large tube stuck down her throat that helped her breath, things around her feet and fingers and hooked up to several machines. She was hardly coherent, since she had been given so many different types of medicines. When I was in there, my mother told me to speak to her, but for some reason I couldn't. I was crying but I assured her that I loved her.
We were at the hospital for almost nine hours on Wednesday and we finally left at one o'clock in the morning. I did not want to leave, because I did not know how much more time I would have with my grandmother, but the nurse kicked us out.
I woke up this morning, ate a quick bite, and then we went to the hospital again at around noon to spend Thanksgiving with my grandmother. Things were much better today. My grandmother was coherent, responded very well to questions, and the doctors were even surprised by her condition. That's not to say that something unexpected can't happen at any moment. Besides my grandmother, there were eighteen of us in the waiting room. Eighteen people, who, under normal circumstances, would have been in four different directions for the Thanksgiving Weekend, but had all be brought together.
Today has been a day where our emotions have been all over the place. It has been a day of thanksgiving, a day of coming together, a day of prayer, and a day of hope. I truly hope that your Thanksgiving Day has been better than mine, and I ask that you keep my grandmother in your prayers throughout these next few days. I cannot go through losing another grandmother during high school. My father's mother died a little over a year ago, and I was emotionally depressed afterward. I don't want to go through it again, so please pray that she is touched by God's healing hand.
Je suis reconnaisant...
Aujourd'hui je suis reconnaissant de...- ma religion ferme en Dieu et l'église catholique.
- ma famille digne de confiance.
- mes amis qui sont toujours d'accord avec moi.
- mon intelligence et ma personnalité travailleur.
- mes chat mignonnes qui me font toujours sourire.
Rethinking the Status of Ilium HS
My classmate Monica recently wrote to our high school newspaper's Letter to the Editor ripping apart our school's academic system.
But before I get into specific points, I should mention someting about the status of Ilium High. You see, Ilium is a very competitive high school and it is ranked in the top thirty high schools in the US. Ilium offers students two very competitive programs - the Tech program and the IB program. Students who test into either of these programs make up a majority of the student body, where students who live in the district and attend Ilium by default are in the obvious minority. With that, here's what I have against this letter:
1. In regards to the first paragraph: sure the man failed algebra three times in high school but that doesn't mean he can't be successful. It also doesn't mean that Ilium cannot have similar success stories. There have been a lot of successful people who graduated from Ilium - television and film produces, professional musicians, actors, professional baseball players, writers, geeks, and many more. To say that Ilium wouldn't produce a success story like this man's because he wouldn't "test in" to begin with is an unfair accusation because Ilium has produced so many other success stories, and it just so happens that this man's success did not originate from Ilium.
2. It is true that Ilium students are overloaded on homework and are sleep deprived. But that isn't the school's fault, based on what I have observed. Ninety percent of my friends who are in either the Tech or the IB program complain that they only got two or three hours of sleep, but when questioned about time management and procrastination, they are often silent in shame. You see, Ilium has some great time management sessions during lunch periods where they give you the skills to stop procrastinating. Many of my friends are on AIM or Facebook so much that they don't start their homework until 10PM, which is why they stay up until 2AM finishing it.
As I have discovered first-hand, you cannot overload yourself. A student in the IB program cannot also have seven extracurricular activities that he is participating in. I myself get a lot of homework from school, but yet I balance it all with everything that I involved with. Someone who is taking seven classes topped with the school band, piano lessons, singing in a choir, and striving to be an active member in seven clubs will not survive, and thus comes the sleep deprivation. Pick and choose and don't procrastinate and you won't be caught in a pickle.
3. You knew what you were doing when you tested in to Ilium. You knew that Ilium is a very competitive high school with top-notch programs and extracurricular activities. You knew that, in the event you "tested in", you would be required to take seven classes. You knew that you weren't going to just be able to sit back and relax. Ilium isn't like that, and you knew it when you tested to get in. You are the student who lives thirty miles away, so why go to Ilium? Because you knew that it was one of the best schools around, and good schools don't just spring up through faulty expectations. You knew what you were getting into, so live with the consequences and, like my Drama teacher says every day, "no whining."
4. When you have the nerve to call students losers, it is because you are comparing them to other students. Sure, at Ilium there are students who have 5.0 GPAs and many who have GPAs that are much higher than a 4.0. But just because someone's GPA falls under that 4.0 line, that doesn't mean that they are losers. I have never once considered myself a loser or a failure, and I have never gotten a 4.0 GPA. If I were to compare myself to other students, then I might consider myself an academic failure, but to even compare myself to other students can ONLY result in finding that I am a loser, because there are always students who are better than I. Each student is an individual, and must be treated as such.
5. And lastly, the definition of success is different depending on who you ask, because some people might find themselves to be successful if they find a job that doesn't really feel like a job but more of a hobby that earns revenue. Others, however, are not successful until they graduation from medical school or pass the bar exam. I agree with the last sentence, that success is measured by your own experiences, appreciation for life, and contributions to the world we all live in, though we should not completely discount one's education.
After all, Ilium has produced a lot of success stories.
My family and I ate lunch with a wonderful self-made multi-millionaire family friend the other day. His latest success story involves the establishment of a chain of restaurants which will likely soon be found in many cities across California. He is likable, outgoing, friendly, well adjusted, world traveled, decent, honest and a great family man. By the way, he also failed high school algebra three times. I thought about his success in the context of what I think is the failure of the desperately and needlessly competitive nature of the Ilium High School educational experience. This school would never produce a brilliant success story like this man because he would never "test in" to begin with.My initial reaction to this was full-fledged concurrence. But then, when I really looked at it as a whole, I began to disagree with the message that that it relayed, for several reasons.
So what is Ilium producing these days? Mainly, overloaded, sleep deprived, overstressed and "underachieving" students, who are labeled and punished as "underachieving" thanks to over-the-top testing and admissions policies. This is compounded by overly harsh teaching assignments and expectations by a disconnected band of teaching professionals with little to no cross-discipline communication. Outrageous curriculum and homework overload in many courses is amplified by grade deflation, as most of the teachers and career administrators seem compelled to strictly enforce some traditional type of relative bell curve grade distribution. Never mind that the curve of the bell may be shifted well above the level of alternative and nearby schools. The result is a flawed system which punishes the merely high achieving "bright" children because they are cursed with being in a class with those overly driven few who somehow perform even higher. This system seems content to label the (formerly) great ones as failures. These poor souls are punished with GPA's which fall under 4.0 when they would easily be 5.0 students elsewhere. These newly diminished prodigies now must market themselves in an ever increasing competitive post high school environment by explaining, "Well, you see, Ilium has this test to only allow bright children in…" Does this artificial, inward facing academic competition which produces losers out of winners make any sense? Of course not!
Students, make your legacy not one which defines success as a 5.0 weighted GPA but rather one that seeks a far more exalted form of social development, one that reminds you and others that success is ultimately not measured by grades and relative academic performance anyway. It is measured by your own experiences, appreciation for life and your contributions to the world we all live in.
But before I get into specific points, I should mention someting about the status of Ilium High. You see, Ilium is a very competitive high school and it is ranked in the top thirty high schools in the US. Ilium offers students two very competitive programs - the Tech program and the IB program. Students who test into either of these programs make up a majority of the student body, where students who live in the district and attend Ilium by default are in the obvious minority. With that, here's what I have against this letter:
1. In regards to the first paragraph: sure the man failed algebra three times in high school but that doesn't mean he can't be successful. It also doesn't mean that Ilium cannot have similar success stories. There have been a lot of successful people who graduated from Ilium - television and film produces, professional musicians, actors, professional baseball players, writers, geeks, and many more. To say that Ilium wouldn't produce a success story like this man's because he wouldn't "test in" to begin with is an unfair accusation because Ilium has produced so many other success stories, and it just so happens that this man's success did not originate from Ilium.
2. It is true that Ilium students are overloaded on homework and are sleep deprived. But that isn't the school's fault, based on what I have observed. Ninety percent of my friends who are in either the Tech or the IB program complain that they only got two or three hours of sleep, but when questioned about time management and procrastination, they are often silent in shame. You see, Ilium has some great time management sessions during lunch periods where they give you the skills to stop procrastinating. Many of my friends are on AIM or Facebook so much that they don't start their homework until 10PM, which is why they stay up until 2AM finishing it.
As I have discovered first-hand, you cannot overload yourself. A student in the IB program cannot also have seven extracurricular activities that he is participating in. I myself get a lot of homework from school, but yet I balance it all with everything that I involved with. Someone who is taking seven classes topped with the school band, piano lessons, singing in a choir, and striving to be an active member in seven clubs will not survive, and thus comes the sleep deprivation. Pick and choose and don't procrastinate and you won't be caught in a pickle.
3. You knew what you were doing when you tested in to Ilium. You knew that Ilium is a very competitive high school with top-notch programs and extracurricular activities. You knew that, in the event you "tested in", you would be required to take seven classes. You knew that you weren't going to just be able to sit back and relax. Ilium isn't like that, and you knew it when you tested to get in. You are the student who lives thirty miles away, so why go to Ilium? Because you knew that it was one of the best schools around, and good schools don't just spring up through faulty expectations. You knew what you were getting into, so live with the consequences and, like my Drama teacher says every day, "no whining."
4. When you have the nerve to call students losers, it is because you are comparing them to other students. Sure, at Ilium there are students who have 5.0 GPAs and many who have GPAs that are much higher than a 4.0. But just because someone's GPA falls under that 4.0 line, that doesn't mean that they are losers. I have never once considered myself a loser or a failure, and I have never gotten a 4.0 GPA. If I were to compare myself to other students, then I might consider myself an academic failure, but to even compare myself to other students can ONLY result in finding that I am a loser, because there are always students who are better than I. Each student is an individual, and must be treated as such.
5. And lastly, the definition of success is different depending on who you ask, because some people might find themselves to be successful if they find a job that doesn't really feel like a job but more of a hobby that earns revenue. Others, however, are not successful until they graduation from medical school or pass the bar exam. I agree with the last sentence, that success is measured by your own experiences, appreciation for life, and contributions to the world we all live in, though we should not completely discount one's education.
After all, Ilium has produced a lot of success stories.
Weekly Apologetics: Chapter 6
Most of today's argument comes directly from Beginning Apologetics 1. All credit is given to San Juan Catholic Seminars and their work.
Due to my participation in NaNoWriMo, it has been a while since I have written a chapter of Weekly Apologetics. I am back nonetheless, and I'll be putting one of these out every Monday. Per the request of John, today I will be talking about Purgatory. Most of today's argument came directly from Beginning Apologetics 1, since out of everything I have read on the subject, the best argument comes from there.
I will start as I usually start by offering what the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about Purgatory:
(1) between "guilt" and "punishment"; and
(2) between "mortal" and "venial" sin.
One of the first questions is whether or not God forgives the guilt of sin but still requires punishment, also called reparation, or atonement, or expiation. According to King David in 2 Samuel 12:13-14, "David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.'" Here, God forgives the guilt of David's sin, but he still required some sort of expiation in the form of suffering. In the same sense, a man might forgive a teenager for breaking his car window, but he will still insit that the kid repairs the damages.
The second question is where in Scripture is mortal and venial sin distinguished? 1 John 5:16-17 speaks about the degrees of sins, and it blatantly distinguishes between deadly sin and sin that is not deadly. It says "If any one sees his brother committing what is not mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal." Similarly, James 1:14-15 says "each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived give birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown brings forth death." St. James distinguishes desire from sin, and a sort of beginning sin from mature sin which brings death. We call sin which brings death to the soul mortal sin, and sin which only wounds and disfigures the soul venial sin.
So what happens if you die with only venial sins? The souls of those who have died in the state of grace, without the least sin or reparation due to sin, will go directly to heaven. The souls of those who die in the state of unrepented mortal sin go directly to hell. And those who die in the state of grace, but with venial sin or with unpaid reparation due to forgive sin do not merit hell and are not pure enough for heaven, as "nothing unclean shall enter" according to Revelations 21:27. So where do they go? God is perfect holiness (Isaiah 6:3), we are called to that same holiness (Matthew 5:48 and 1 Peter 1:15-16), and without perfect holiness, we cannot see God in heaven (Hebrews 12:14 and Revelations 21:27).
C.S Lewis was a non-Catholic who believed in Purgatory. He wrote that "our souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, 'It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy'? Should we not reply, 'With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be cleaned first.''It may hurt, you know' - 'Even so, sir'" (Letters To Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer).
The logical answer, then, is that those souls with venial sin or with unpaid reparation due to forgiven sin go to purgatory.
Purgatory comes from the verb "purge" meaning "to purify or cleanse." Purgatory is a temporary state of purification for the imperfect saints. The souls of the just who have died in the state of grace but with venial sins or with reparation due for forgiven mortal and venial sins are fully cleansed in purgatory so that they may enter heaven. In purgatory all remaining reparation for sin is made; all remaining self-love is purged and purified until only love of God remains. There are three points to remember when speaking about purgatory.
Matthew 12:32 reads "and whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come." Jesus says that some sins can be forgiven in the next world. We know that sins cannot be forgiven in Hell and there is no sin in Heaven, so any remission of sin in the next world can only occur in purgatory.
1 Corinthians 3:15 reads "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only if through fire." St. Paul cannot be referring to eternal loss in hell, for there is no one saved there. Nor can he be referring to heaven, for no one suffers there. St. Paul is referring, then, to a middle state where the soul temporarily suffers loss so that it may gain heaven. This is essentially the Catholic doctrine called purgatory.
If we read 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 1 Peter 4:6 together, we see many things. The first is that there is a prison for disobedient spirits who were saved when Jesus went down and preached to them. The state spoken about is not hell, because no one is saved from hell. This is probably not the "limbo of the fathers" (also known as "Abraham's bosom" where the righteous souls of the Old Testament waited until Christ opened the gates of heaven) because this is a place for disobedient spirits. We would not expect to find disobedient spirits and David and John and Baptist all together. St. Peter, instead, describes a temporary state for disobedient souls who were eventually saved. At the very least, it proves that a third place can exist between heaven and hell. And at the very most, it proves the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory.
But perhaps the clearest affirmation of the existence of Purgatory comes form the Greek Septuagint; the Old Testament Scriptures used by Christ, all of the New Testament writes, and the councils of Hippo and Carthage (which authoritatively determined the "canon" of inspired books in the Bible). 2 Maccabees 12:44-45 talks about a man making atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. It is impossible to aid the souls in heaven since they have no need, and equally impossible to aid the souls in hell since they have no hope. Praying for the dead presumes souls in a middle state where atonement for sin can be made. Even if you don't believe 2 Maccabees is part of Scripture, there can be no doubt that, as history, the book accurately reflects the religious character of the Jews of the second century BC. In fact, many early Christian liturgies include prayers for the dead (see the epitaph of Abercuis).
St. Tertullian, writing in the year AD 211, says that "we offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday and anniversaries." He always says that "[A] woman is more bound when her husband is dead...Indeed, she prays for his soul, and requests refreshment for him meanwhile, and fellowship (with him) in the first resurrection; and she offers (her sacrifice) on the anniversary of his falling asleep."
For more quotes from Early Church Fathers on Purgatory, please visit Scripture Catholic.
One of the last questions we have to ask is if there are any New Testament passages that refer to prayers and practices performed for the benefit of the deceased. In 2 Timmothy 1:16-18 St. Paul prays for his departed friend Onesiphorus, which makes sense only if he can be helped through St. Paul's prayers. In 1 Corinthians 15:28, St. Paul mentions (without condemning or approving) the practice of people having themselves baptized for the benefit of the dead, who cannot be helped if there is no intermediate state of purification.
To sum up, if the Jews, St. Paul, and the early Christians prayed for the dead, then we should have no fear of praying for them as well. Praying for the dead presumes an intermediate state of purification, whatever you may call it. History, logic, Biblical evidence, and two thousand years of Catholic teaching agrees with me when I say that there is a temporary state of purification for the imperfect saints. Catholics call it purgatory.
Due to my participation in NaNoWriMo, it has been a while since I have written a chapter of Weekly Apologetics. I am back nonetheless, and I'll be putting one of these out every Monday. Per the request of John, today I will be talking about Purgatory. Most of today's argument came directly from Beginning Apologetics 1, since out of everything I have read on the subject, the best argument comes from there.I will start as I usually start by offering what the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about Purgatory:
210. What is purgatory?In order to defend the doctrine of Purgatory, I must explain the distinctions:
Purgatory is the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.
(1) between "guilt" and "punishment"; and
(2) between "mortal" and "venial" sin.
One of the first questions is whether or not God forgives the guilt of sin but still requires punishment, also called reparation, or atonement, or expiation. According to King David in 2 Samuel 12:13-14, "David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.'" Here, God forgives the guilt of David's sin, but he still required some sort of expiation in the form of suffering. In the same sense, a man might forgive a teenager for breaking his car window, but he will still insit that the kid repairs the damages.
The second question is where in Scripture is mortal and venial sin distinguished? 1 John 5:16-17 speaks about the degrees of sins, and it blatantly distinguishes between deadly sin and sin that is not deadly. It says "If any one sees his brother committing what is not mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal." Similarly, James 1:14-15 says "each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived give birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown brings forth death." St. James distinguishes desire from sin, and a sort of beginning sin from mature sin which brings death. We call sin which brings death to the soul mortal sin, and sin which only wounds and disfigures the soul venial sin.
So what happens if you die with only venial sins? The souls of those who have died in the state of grace, without the least sin or reparation due to sin, will go directly to heaven. The souls of those who die in the state of unrepented mortal sin go directly to hell. And those who die in the state of grace, but with venial sin or with unpaid reparation due to forgive sin do not merit hell and are not pure enough for heaven, as "nothing unclean shall enter" according to Revelations 21:27. So where do they go? God is perfect holiness (Isaiah 6:3), we are called to that same holiness (Matthew 5:48 and 1 Peter 1:15-16), and without perfect holiness, we cannot see God in heaven (Hebrews 12:14 and Revelations 21:27).
C.S Lewis was a non-Catholic who believed in Purgatory. He wrote that "our souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, 'It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy'? Should we not reply, 'With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be cleaned first.''It may hurt, you know' - 'Even so, sir'" (Letters To Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer).
The logical answer, then, is that those souls with venial sin or with unpaid reparation due to forgiven sin go to purgatory.
Purgatory comes from the verb "purge" meaning "to purify or cleanse." Purgatory is a temporary state of purification for the imperfect saints. The souls of the just who have died in the state of grace but with venial sins or with reparation due for forgiven mortal and venial sins are fully cleansed in purgatory so that they may enter heaven. In purgatory all remaining reparation for sin is made; all remaining self-love is purged and purified until only love of God remains. There are three points to remember when speaking about purgatory.
- Only imperfect saints in the state of grace enter purgatory. This is not a second chance for those who died in unrepented mortal sin.
- Purgatory exists for purification and reparation. The effects of sin are purged. The punishments due to sin are paid.
- It is only temporary. Once the imperfect saints are purified they enter heaven. Purgatory will cease to exist once all of the souls have been purged, and only heaven and hell will remain eternally.
Matthew 12:32 reads "and whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come." Jesus says that some sins can be forgiven in the next world. We know that sins cannot be forgiven in Hell and there is no sin in Heaven, so any remission of sin in the next world can only occur in purgatory.
1 Corinthians 3:15 reads "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only if through fire." St. Paul cannot be referring to eternal loss in hell, for there is no one saved there. Nor can he be referring to heaven, for no one suffers there. St. Paul is referring, then, to a middle state where the soul temporarily suffers loss so that it may gain heaven. This is essentially the Catholic doctrine called purgatory.
If we read 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 1 Peter 4:6 together, we see many things. The first is that there is a prison for disobedient spirits who were saved when Jesus went down and preached to them. The state spoken about is not hell, because no one is saved from hell. This is probably not the "limbo of the fathers" (also known as "Abraham's bosom" where the righteous souls of the Old Testament waited until Christ opened the gates of heaven) because this is a place for disobedient spirits. We would not expect to find disobedient spirits and David and John and Baptist all together. St. Peter, instead, describes a temporary state for disobedient souls who were eventually saved. At the very least, it proves that a third place can exist between heaven and hell. And at the very most, it proves the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory.
But perhaps the clearest affirmation of the existence of Purgatory comes form the Greek Septuagint; the Old Testament Scriptures used by Christ, all of the New Testament writes, and the councils of Hippo and Carthage (which authoritatively determined the "canon" of inspired books in the Bible). 2 Maccabees 12:44-45 talks about a man making atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. It is impossible to aid the souls in heaven since they have no need, and equally impossible to aid the souls in hell since they have no hope. Praying for the dead presumes souls in a middle state where atonement for sin can be made. Even if you don't believe 2 Maccabees is part of Scripture, there can be no doubt that, as history, the book accurately reflects the religious character of the Jews of the second century BC. In fact, many early Christian liturgies include prayers for the dead (see the epitaph of Abercuis).
St. Tertullian, writing in the year AD 211, says that "we offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday and anniversaries." He always says that "[A] woman is more bound when her husband is dead...Indeed, she prays for his soul, and requests refreshment for him meanwhile, and fellowship (with him) in the first resurrection; and she offers (her sacrifice) on the anniversary of his falling asleep."
For more quotes from Early Church Fathers on Purgatory, please visit Scripture Catholic.
One of the last questions we have to ask is if there are any New Testament passages that refer to prayers and practices performed for the benefit of the deceased. In 2 Timmothy 1:16-18 St. Paul prays for his departed friend Onesiphorus, which makes sense only if he can be helped through St. Paul's prayers. In 1 Corinthians 15:28, St. Paul mentions (without condemning or approving) the practice of people having themselves baptized for the benefit of the dead, who cannot be helped if there is no intermediate state of purification.
To sum up, if the Jews, St. Paul, and the early Christians prayed for the dead, then we should have no fear of praying for them as well. Praying for the dead presumes an intermediate state of purification, whatever you may call it. History, logic, Biblical evidence, and two thousand years of Catholic teaching agrees with me when I say that there is a temporary state of purification for the imperfect saints. Catholics call it purgatory.
NaNoWriMo 2008: Week 3 Roundup
If there is one thing that this third week of NaNoWriMo has taught me it is this: life will inevitably come in the way of you working on your novel and sometimes all you can do is take a break from your book. This entire week I have only managed to write 4,000 words and those were all written at a small coffeehouse in the past three hours.This weekend my schedule has been so jammed-packed that I didn't get a chance to write at all. Last weekend everyone's focus in California was directed to the fires burning up our state. I know quite a few participants who didn't write last weekend, and neither did I. The week was as hectic as it usually is, and every evening I was too tired to write anything at all. I decided to forgo writing for sleep.
This will not distract me from my goal, that is getting to 50,000 words. I am going to try to finish my novel during the next three days, because my family is going up to Yosemite for Thanksgiving and I am not sure what the Internet connection is going to be like in northern California. I am not going to take any chances.
With that, speedy fingers to you all!
Philflipsnor's Personality
According to Typealyzer, my blog has has the personality type of an ESTP according to the Myer's Briggs indicator. Here is the description:The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.I suspect that my eagerness to begin new projects and my occasional inability to write follow-up entries has something to do with the results. However, as a proud ESTP blogger, I pledge to be more active and "play-ful" by writing entries full of energy and comedy.
They are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.
Improving My Life
When he was in his early twenties, Benjamin Franklin set out on a journey to achieve moral perfection. To do this he chose thirteen virtues which if followed strictly, would lead him directly to his goal. In a little book that he took around with him everywhere, he made a small chart containing all the virtues and every time he faulted in following one of them, he made a small mark next to it. At the end of the day, he examined himself. After months of recording his daily faults, he found that it was hard to break the bad habits and he realized would never reach moral perfection. His aspirations, however far away he was from meeting them, greatly improved his life.
The comedian Demetri Martin created a modern version of Franklin's attempt to achieve moral perfection. Martin gathered 35 things which if completed every week, would improve his life. Martin categorized and subcategorized these tasks and created an aesthetically pleasing checklist-like chart. He carried around his "weekly point system" chart for tens of weeks, and every time he did something on his list, he would give himself a point. At the end of his experiment, he found, like Franklin, that he couldn't ever get 35 points, but his life improved nevertheless. Actually, he turned the entire thing into a comedy sketch, but the idea was still fascinating.
Now I am not setting out to achieve moral perfection anytime soon, but I believe that as humans we are always trying to improve our lives (hopefully for the better). After reading about both of these mens' attempts to improve their personal lives, I was inspired to apply some similar method to my life. I created my own Weekly Point System, modeled after Demetri Martin's and with similar aspirations as Benjamin Franklin's. I will do it for twenty-five weeks, and then report my findings at that time. I already have a feeling I know the results, but it's going to be an interesting experiment to carry out.
Watch out, because another chapter of Daily Apologetics is coming at you quickly!
The comedian Demetri Martin created a modern version of Franklin's attempt to achieve moral perfection. Martin gathered 35 things which if completed every week, would improve his life. Martin categorized and subcategorized these tasks and created an aesthetically pleasing checklist-like chart. He carried around his "weekly point system" chart for tens of weeks, and every time he did something on his list, he would give himself a point. At the end of his experiment, he found, like Franklin, that he couldn't ever get 35 points, but his life improved nevertheless. Actually, he turned the entire thing into a comedy sketch, but the idea was still fascinating.
Now I am not setting out to achieve moral perfection anytime soon, but I believe that as humans we are always trying to improve our lives (hopefully for the better). After reading about both of these mens' attempts to improve their personal lives, I was inspired to apply some similar method to my life. I created my own Weekly Point System, modeled after Demetri Martin's and with similar aspirations as Benjamin Franklin's. I will do it for twenty-five weeks, and then report my findings at that time. I already have a feeling I know the results, but it's going to be an interesting experiment to carry out.
Watch out, because another chapter of Daily Apologetics is coming at you quickly!
Liturgical Irony
In retrospect, one could come to two conclusions. Either the second reading at Mass today prophesied the current events in California or it just happens to be liturgical irony. And since the probability of the former is close to nothing, I'm going with the latter. One phrase in St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians stood out:When people are saying, "Peace and security," then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.For those of you who aren't aware of what's happening, Southern California is literally on fire. With the help of 30 mph winds and low humidity on Friday night, one fire quickly spread so that now over 35,000 acres have burned from three fires, more than 800 homes have been destroyed, and over 25,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. On Saturday, I had play rehearsal all day at my high school, which is about five miles from one of the fires. We worked outside in the morning and after we got lunch, the smoke got so bad that we had to take everything inside and actually seal the doors with tape to prevent the smoke from getting in.
My entire family has been glued to the boob tube all day, watching as the entire disaster unfolds, and throughout it all St. Paul's words ring through my head: "When people are saying, 'Peace and security,' then sudden disaster comes upon them." Countless people have lost all of their possessions, all of their memories, and everything that they have worked to obtain in this world. A mobile home park with over five hundred units burned last night, and police are sure many elderly did not make it out in time.
My heart and prayers go out to all Californians affected (directly and indirectly) from the "sudden disaster" that has united us.
NaNoWriMo 2008: Week 2 Roundup
The second week of NaNoWriMo 2008 has confirmed my theory on something that I experienced last year. There comes a point in these novel-in-a-month projects where it all gets easier. The first ten thousand or so words are extremely difficult to write because you have no clue what's going on or who your characters are. But then it all gets easier and the words just seem to flow out. You know your characters a little more and you have a general idea of where your novel is going.This week, it got easier. I'm talking five thousand to ten thousand word days easier. I have been spending a lot more time in coffee shops during any free time I have, and am taking my AlphaSmart everywhere I go. The words are flowing out, and it's not terrible work. Which brings me to my next point. You'll notice that the first ten thousand words of my novel are truly good quality considering I wrote them over the span of three days. Then, as I headed into the second week, I began to focus more on the quantity rather than the quantity. This is not a bad thing, because you can't have a final draft without a first draft, and no matter how bad that first draft is, it is still salvageable.
In summary, the thing that has stood out the most has been the fact that I wrote 20,000 words (and counting) since last Saturday.
Is it all worth it?
It seems like I ask myself this question every day. Is it all worth it? I have a lot of commitments on my plate, and it seems like I have no time to myself anymore. I am taking seven classes right now, I have a large part in the school play, I am an active member of my Boy Scout troop, I am in a German Club where we strive to uphold the traditions and customs of Bavaria, I occasionally sing in my church's choir, I am the Altar Server Coordinator at my church, I am an active parishioner at my parish, and, above all that, I am working on writing my second novel-in-a-month. My week nights are busy with homework, rehearsals, and meetings, and my weekends are jam packed with family obligations and church-related things.
But is it all worth it? Are all of these commitments worth pursuing when my spiritual life has been slowly declining into nothingness? Since I have taken on all of these things, these earthly things have absorbed so much of my time and energy that my prayer life is slowly becoming silent. I am an aspiring priest, but how am I supposed to pursue the path to holiness when I don't even have time to sit and pray once in a while? I guess the main question at hand is: do I love these earthly things more than I love God? And the painstakingly obvious answer is no, but, like all things in life, it isn't that easy. My father wants me to get my Eagle Scout, I want to write this novel, my church is depending on me in several areas, my family wouldn't understand if I stopped going to German Club, and dropping out of school isn't going to help me.
Dropping everything to become a prayer-centered hermit would be silly, but on the other hand, if I don't change something then I'm not going to continue leading a healthy spiritual life. I understand everyone has undulations of faith sometime during their lives, but the cause here isn't me questioning my faith. The cause is my availability to practice my faith fully, or the lack thereof. There was a time when a flame burnt inside me. The flame represented my appreciation of the Catholic Church and my intimacy with God. Every time I was at Mass, or at Confession, or just praying, the flame would burn brighter. Lately though, the flame has died down a little bit, and I don't get the same feelings that I used to get during those times of intense spiritual activity. And I truly believe the cause of that is my busy schedule.
I'm standing at a fork in the road and my answer to one small question will affect which way I go. Is it all worth it?
But is it all worth it? Are all of these commitments worth pursuing when my spiritual life has been slowly declining into nothingness? Since I have taken on all of these things, these earthly things have absorbed so much of my time and energy that my prayer life is slowly becoming silent. I am an aspiring priest, but how am I supposed to pursue the path to holiness when I don't even have time to sit and pray once in a while? I guess the main question at hand is: do I love these earthly things more than I love God? And the painstakingly obvious answer is no, but, like all things in life, it isn't that easy. My father wants me to get my Eagle Scout, I want to write this novel, my church is depending on me in several areas, my family wouldn't understand if I stopped going to German Club, and dropping out of school isn't going to help me.
Dropping everything to become a prayer-centered hermit would be silly, but on the other hand, if I don't change something then I'm not going to continue leading a healthy spiritual life. I understand everyone has undulations of faith sometime during their lives, but the cause here isn't me questioning my faith. The cause is my availability to practice my faith fully, or the lack thereof. There was a time when a flame burnt inside me. The flame represented my appreciation of the Catholic Church and my intimacy with God. Every time I was at Mass, or at Confession, or just praying, the flame would burn brighter. Lately though, the flame has died down a little bit, and I don't get the same feelings that I used to get during those times of intense spiritual activity. And I truly believe the cause of that is my busy schedule.
I'm standing at a fork in the road and my answer to one small question will affect which way I go. Is it all worth it?
Weekly Apologetics Delayed
Since during the past few days I have barely found time to make conversation, take baths, and sleep, sitting down to write this week's chapter of Weekly Apologetics is out of the question, and it will therefore be delayed until next Monday.
On a more optimistic note, I wrote 10,000 words today for my NaNoWriMo 2008 novel. TEN THOUSAND!
On a more optimistic note, I wrote 10,000 words today for my NaNoWriMo 2008 novel. TEN THOUSAND!
NaNoWriMo 2008: Week 1 Roundup
The first week of NaNoWriMo 2008 did not go expected. I was overly confident in that I thought I could manage writing 100,000 words with my busy schedule, but in all actuality I can't. I'm still determined to meet the default goal of 50,000 words this year, but I've decided to breakup my plot line into a series of novels.I started off the week with high hopes, writing over three thousand words on both Saturday and Sunday. Monday came around and I viewed no Heroes episode as additional time to work on my novel. In the end, I had so much homework that I only wrote about 800 words. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday entirely unproductive because those are the nights that I have meetings.
The highlight of my week was Friday night, when I hosted a write-in at a local Starbucks. Five other people showed up, and we all wrote for about three hours. I had three cups of tea, we chatted some, and when four of them started going of on a political conversation, I tuned them out and wrote furiously.
My word count is currently 9280, so here's hoping this weekend will be overly productive.
My Advice: Pray
I have wept tonight. I have not wept because President-elect Obama won tonight's election and, much to my dismay, John McCain lost. I have not wept because of the economic plan that President-elect Obama will put into action in the coming year. Tonight I do not weep for these things. Tonight I weep for the unborn. President-elect Obama said the first thing he does when he comes into office is sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which will demolish any of the restrictions that have led to lower abortion rates in the United States of America.
Patrick Archbold describes it like this:
I now pray for the passage of Proposition 8 in California.
Edit: We did it California. Now comes the hard part. This is the second time that California voters have acted to define marriage as between a man and a woman. It is time that the opponents of traditional marriage respect the voters’ decision.
Patrick Archbold describes it like this:
I am sad for the babies. More babies who will die because America didn't care. They cared more about cheap healthcare and a better economy than innocent lives. Problem is, they won't get what they callously traded those innocent lives for either.There is something that we can do, however. Even when the voting booths have closed, the volunteers have gone home, and the results made public - there is still something we can do. We can pray. We have to remember that God has a plan for us, and he will turn our sufferings into joy. As Christians, we can pray for the unborn children who will be killed unjustly, we can pray for everyone affected by abortions, and we can pray that President-elect Obama has a change of heart and that he advances the common good of all people.
I now pray for the passage of Proposition 8 in California.
Edit: We did it California. Now comes the hard part. This is the second time that California voters have acted to define marriage as between a man and a woman. It is time that the opponents of traditional marriage respect the voters’ decision.
Your Vote MATTERS
It really does.After Mass on Sunday, my parents were talking to some friends about Proposition 8. One of our friends was positive that it was going to pass, and when my mother brought up voting he said that he wasn't going to vote.
When it comes to elections, and especially this election, not voting at all automatically guarantees a vote towards the other guy. Don't let a gut feeling that tells you that something will get passed result in you not voting.
There are so many people who would give up everything to vote, because they are ruled by authoritarian governments where the people have no voice. People in those countries are persecuted and oppressed, and they can't do anything about it because they don't have the power to create change in their country.
But you have that power. So use it. The polls mean nothing right now. Get out there tomorrow and vote according to your morals. Defend marriage, defend life, and protect the future.
Weekly Apologetics: Chapter 5
A question that arises a lot among fellow non-Catholic Christians is why do Catholics call their priests "father," when Jesus commands us to call no man father in Matthew 23:9?What Jesus is saying in Matthew 23:9 when he says call no man "father" or "teacher" is that we should refer to no one as our Heavenly Father. He is using figurative language to stress the fact that all authority and truth ultimately come from God. If Jesus meant that we couldn't call any man on earth "father," then he would be contradicting himself in Matthew 19:19 and Luke 16:24 when he says "honor your father and mother" and "Father Abraham," respectively.
Going even further, many Biblical men are referred to as fathers and teachers. Both Catholics and Protestants call our male biological parent a father. St. Stephen and St. Paul called the Jewish religious leaders "fathers" in Acts 7:2 and Acts 22:1. St. Paul tells the Corinthians "for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel" (1 Corinthians 4:14-15).
St. Paul isn't referring to himself as the Heavenly Father, because that would be against Jesus' commandments. Rather, he is referring himself to their spiritual father because he cooperated with God in giving them spiritual life, just as biological fathers cooperate with God in giving physical life.
So the next time you hear a Catholic talk about Father So-and-So, know that we do so because, like St. Paul, we believe priests cooperate with God in giving spiritual life to their flock by preaching the Word of God and administering the sacraments.
Off To A Good Start
NaNoWriMo 2008 has begun, and I got off to a good start today. I had initially planned on writing ten-thousand words today and ten-thousand words tomorrow, but instead I decided to meet my word count quota each day and focus a little more on the quality so that I would be off to a good start. Today I did just that. I wrote the first thousand words in my back yard under an umbrella in the rain. Then my family went to Disneyland and I wrote two thousand more words in the Grand Californian Hotel next to a pianist, and I wrote the last hundred words at a Taco Bell while I enjoyed a bean and cheese burrito with sour cream, some macaroni and cheese, and a glass of Dr. Pepper.
In all honesty, if I'm ever going to meet my personal goal of 100k, then I need to quicken my pace up.
You can follow my word count throughout the month by viewing my NaNoWriMo profile, and you can also read my novel online as I'm going to post my day-to-day writings on my writing's collective.
Happy writing!
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