Me and college athletics

But I need to get this off my chest.

This situation disturbs me, and unfortunately, it's not the first time. Let's begin with Billy Donovan.

When he announced he was going to coach the Magic, I was saddened. What Gator wasn't? And I was initially elated by his return, before I realized the full impact. He broke his word with the Magic, and I am convinced this is affecting us to this day. How much? I don't know.

And now Coach Meyer. One the one hand, he never broke his word with anyone by actually leaving for another job. But on the other hand, the situation was made to think his health was in serious jeopardy. Granted, the media has a tendency to exaggerate things (putting it mildly). But I honestly hope that he tends to his health and is not just a ploy to get leverage over Foley (as some have insinuated).

I may not be a graduate of UF, but I am concerned with UF's integrity. I am somewhat angered that the head coaches of the Gators' two biggest sports programs have damaged the integrity to some degree. As such, it is not in my best interest to continue supporting the programs while they are associated in any form with the university.

I may get blasted. I may get called a traitor by some (who shall remain nameless), but maybe it's for the best. This maybe the wake up call I need to focus on more important things than investing emotion into a football or basketball game. When the time comes for actual coaching changes, I hope that the Gators hire men who will believe that their word is their bond.

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and Merry Christmas as we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord.

Urgent prayer request

Last evening, Bishop John Ricard suffered a stroke and is currently in the hospital in Pensacola. Please pray for a full recovery.

Unbelievable

If true, this judge should be removed for lack of common sense and lack of adherence to the Constitution. A judge has reportedly issued a restraining order against a father, prohibiting him from taking his child to church. Found this out at Creative Minority Report, which has more information.

Truly unbelievable.

Dad Barred from Taking Child to Church?

Student Group case before Supreme Court

In a case that has implications for religious freedom, freedom of association vs non-discrimination, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a student group who was denied official recognition at a college. The college said that the group's refusal to allow homosexuals to vote or become officers constituted discrimination, even though anybody could attend meetings of the group.

Student Group case before Supreme Court

Given that two Federal Courts of Appeals have issued conflicting opinions involving the same student group, the Supreme Court will issue a decision one way or the other. Not surprisingly, the Court of Appeals that upheld the college's decision is none other than the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. There isn't a liberal cause it hasn't upheld as constitutional or a conservative cause that it has struck down.

The Episcopal Church strikes again

As if the election of Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual bishop, wasn't controversial enough, this happens:

Lesbian bishop elected

I cannot understand why any church, Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox would elect someone whose lifestyle is against what Christian doctrine teaches. It's one thing to sin and then try to live a life pleasing to God, it's another thing to openly live a life that is disobedient.

The main thing I have to say this is: electing a homosexual to a leadership position in a church is like electing a white supremacist to a leadership position in the NAACP. It does not make sense.

Notre Dame

I like to tease my mom sometimes about Notre Dame's football team. However, given Notre Dame's stance towards the Catholic Church at times, I cannot in good conscience support the university and therefore the football team. Ironic that they would go against Church teaching, given that it's allegedly a Catholic university. But they continue to employ one of the biggest dissidents, and unfortunately, this dissident is a priest. He is Fr. McBrien.

However, in the past year, events at Notre Dame have made even the employment of Fr. McBrien a smaller issue. When President Obama spoke at the graduation and received an honorary degree, a group of 88 people, including a priest, were arrested for trespassing. While legally Notre Dame has the right to pursue charges, do they have the moral right or legal necessity to do that? In my opinion, no. However, they could've easily told the state of Indiana to drop the charges and let things die quietly.

Instead, the Notre Dame 88, as they are called, are still facing charges. Two things about this disturb me greatly. First, that Notre Dame refuses to drop the charges. Technically, it is really the state or a judge who dismisses the charges, but let's not pretend that the university doesn't have the influence to get the charges dismissed. If they wanted to make a point about making sure there were no undue security risks to the President, they could've dropped the charges awhile ago, or they could've also arrested the pro-Obama protesters (whom weren't arrested, by the way). It is bad enough that secular leaders have shown disdain for the Catholic Church, but even worse when a supposedly Catholic university is willing to clamp down on faithful Catholics. The second thing that disturbs me is the judge. Judge Manier is the wife of a retired pro-abortion Notre Dame professor. That alone should cause her to be disqualified from hearing the case, although she has agreed to let the appeals court decide the issue.

In today's age, the Church needs unity, not division. Yet it's almost impossible to achieve unity when members persecute other, more faithful members of the Church. As long as Notre Dame continues on its present course, I cannot in good conscience support Notre Dame.

The Mass

First, let me start off by saying this: I am not among the group that think the Ordinary Form of the Mass is invalid or illicit. While some Masses have the potential for being illicit, just because it's not the Latin Mass (known as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass) doesn't make it automatically invalid. Not every Mass needs to be in Latin, have incense, or Gregorian Chant. But it does require reverence and not to be confused with entertainment.

The biggest problem I have encountered (until very recently) are the choice in hymns. As some have pointed out on various message boards, the songs we sing at Mass either are banal, or may not completely reflect orthodox Catholic doctrine. Some are just plain silly; for example, "Sing A New Church." My reaction is this: Is the Catholic Church not good enough? Didn't we go through that with the Reformation? Give me the hymn, "The Church's One Foundation" any day.

But a couple of weeks ago, I encountered something that would make the problem of some hymn selections seem minor in comparison. We had a guest priest who celebrated Mass at every Sunday Mass, including the 6 PM Mass which I attended. While the homily was good, the rest of the Mass left much to be desired. The main problem was that he would play around with the words outside of the Consecration. For example, normally the celebrant would say, "The Lord be with you," and the response would be "And also with you" (faulty English translation, but that's for another time). Instead, he would say, "The Lord is with you," and we would give the customary response, and he would say, "Your welcome." Sorry, Fr., but the Mass isn't meant to be entertainment, and you're not the star.

Fortunately, he didn't play around with the Consecration, but attending that particular Mass left me at unease. Our priests and our bishops have great responsibilities as shepherds for their flocks. The Lord trusted St. Peter to "feed his sheep." With a great mission, comes great responsibility.

Yet another hiatus

Can't believe it's been so long since I've last posted. I'll try not to go so long without posting again.