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Showing posts with the label creation

Pope Francis: A Corrupt Creation, Christian Hope, and Rebirth

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On February 22, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the importance of  Christian hope in the face sin during his  weekly General Audience.  Although his reflections focused on the corruption of creation, they are not the opinions of a left-leaning environmentalist but the profound insights of a man of God. The Environment Unfortunately, many Catholics might overreact when they read the title of the pope's latest address, just like they did in  September  when Pope Francis said it was a sin to destroy the environment, turning it into ‘wasteland full of debris, desolation and filth’  and called for concrete action on climate change. Again, last year, his controversial encyclical on the environment,  Laudato si’ , seemed to upset some conservatives. However, if we do not react to sensational headlines but actually read the Pontiff's homilies, encyclicals and addresses on the environment in their entirety, we will unearth deep sp...

All Creation Vibrates With Joy

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To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.  The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. … continue reading

Why Make a Universe?

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(From NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); ESA/Hubble Collaboration; used w/o permission.) " The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft. " ( Psalms 19:2 ) Genesis 1:1 - 31 says that God created the universe, and us, and found everything "very good." Psalms 19:2 says that the celestial light show declares the glory of God. Who is this message being directed at? More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Connecting To Heaven

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As a Mathematician I have a great hunger for knowledge.  I seek knowledge in Mathematics like a bulldog would, I dig in, latch on, and don't let go until I have what I want.  Because this is the method I have used to acquire knowledge, it was no surprise that I would employ these same techniques when it came to seeking after God.     It is written,  "there is no one who seeks God" , well I did.   I went after God, and sought Him diligently  and by God's grace I will tell what I found.  ..... TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

Talking About Sin

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You've heard this one before: or not. After church, one of the older folks said to the pastor: "you should talk more about sin." The pastor was puzzled, since he'd been talking about nothing but sin for the last few weeks. Then he realized that for this person "sin" was a handful of activities that the person either didn't enjoy, couldn't participate in, or actively disliked. Having well-defined personal preferences is okay. Expecting everyone to share them is unreasonable: Getting them confused with universal principles leads to trouble. I'll be talking about sin. I'm against it, by the way: which may not mean what you think it does. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Contemplative Homeschool Unit: Creation

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I haven’t done much blogging on homeschooling since publishing my book, but I hope to do more now. If you read my blog for spirituality, please stick around, as the bulk of my posts will still be on spirituality for adults. A few weeks ago, my kids and I finished studying the Old Testament. Now we split into two groups. D and M are studying the early Church, while C is going back to the beginning of the Bible to read stories he missed. That means I am revisiting units I created about five years ago. As we go through them, I plan to share many of them with you in detail here. Today I am sharing the unit I created on Creation. The purpose of a contemplative homeschool The focus of the units I have created is on helping your children grow in their relationship with Christ. Academics is part of that, but not the most important part.  I want to help children learn to see God in everything. I want to teach them to practice mental prayer. I want religion to be a pa...

Dinosaur Arms, and Ust'-Ishim Man's DNA

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Paleontologists uncovered a huge pair of arms, plus assorted ribs and vertebrae, in the Gobi Desert 49 years back. Discoveries since 2006 supplied the missing pieces of Deinocheirus, the largest known theropod dinosaur. Other scientists are filling in more of humanity's family history, with 45,000-year-old DNA. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientific Discoveries: an Invitation to "Even Greater Admiration"

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This universe has been around for about 13,798,000,000 years, give or take 37,000,000. That's the current best estimate, from 2013 . It's big, too. The photo shows part of the Hercules Cluster of galaxies. Light from that bunch of galaxies traveled for about 500,000,000 years before reaching us. What we see is the Hercules Cluster as it was around the middle of the Cambrian here, roughly when the first trilobite showed up. Taking the universe 'as is' makes sense: for me, anyway. I would much rather learn more about this wonder-filled creation, than insist that the Almighty is limited to what folks knew a few centuries back. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .