Archive
The Subtle Knife
With all this talk about how the new movie The Golden Compass is an “atheist” Chronicles of Narnia, I listened to the second book in Philip Pullman‘s literary trilogy His Dark Materials series, The Subtle Knife. — I need to finish the whole series before making any judgement (so far, it doesn’t look good)
FLL pickup
Picked up my sister from the airport.
DOTS — Fracture & Children of Men [project]
home worklist
In order to maintain the “seminary schedule” I’ve grown accustomed to over the past few month, I was strongly encouraged (by Mom) to do a “home worklist.” — I thought “these hands were made for chalices, not calluses”
DOTS — The Simpson’s Movie [PsYcH] — gum bubble
“Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does whatever a Spider-Pig does … Look out! Here comes the Spider-Pig!”
Amadeus
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — Final Exam. — I guess it went ok?
EVENING MOVIE — tonight, we watched Deck the Hall drive-in style with a projector outside for the whole community.
WRITE A PAPER — today I re-watched Amadeus for my Arts & Ideas reflection paper due tomorrow. Here is my opening paragraph:
The Modern period, beginning with the Renaissance, is most known for its ideas in rationalism, empiricism, enlightenment and romanticism. A reflection of the time can be seen in the he 1984 film Amadeus, based on Peter Shaffer’s stage play. The story takes place during the end of the 18th century and is based on the lives of two composers of the time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Within the film, signs of the “modern period” can be seen. More specifically, the modern traits of displaced eschatology, the rise of the genius and technology are demonstrated in Amadeus.
Lost Sheep + cram day
MASS – (Fr Santos) — the Lost Sheep gospel reading — don’t forget importance of the other dependent communal shephards (fellow seminarians).
STUDY GROUPS — since I have no exams today, it’s cram day for 2 exams tomorrow (Ancient Philosophy & Old Testament). Burger King & CVS runs. -Cef
EVENING MOVIE — Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
“philosopher soccer”
Yesterday was our exam on Modern Philosophy (not easy) and tommorrow is Ancient Philosophy. As some of us took a break from a study session, we found this YouTube video from Monty Python about Philosopher’s Football (Soccer) that has the (Ancient) Greeks verse the (Modern & Contemporary) Germans. — Hillarious! (but only because I kinda-know some philosophy)
first 2 exams + Publix
MODERN PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — Final Exam #1 — I think I over-studied with little sleep. (found out later — 78%)
MINISTERIAL METHODS – (Fr Michael) — Final Exam #2 — 25 multiple choice questions. (found out later — 2 wrong 92%)
EVENING MOVIE — Rescue Dawn in community room
DOTS — naps — Publix (ice cream, cakes, drinks, sub) — Dinner “mystery ball” w Oz — watched 3 comics (Josh, Francisco & Ron White)
vocation Mass + Jubilee Rosary + 4 movies
VOCATION MASS – (Fr Manny) –the Miami seminarians were asked to serve this morning for a special vocations Mass on this feast of the Immaculate Conception. Afterwards, we helped serve refreshments outside the Main Chapel.
JUBILEE ROSARY – (Archbishop Favalora) — 7pm tonight was a Rosary with the Archbishop during this Jubilee Year Celebration of the Archdiocese of Miami here at our Main Chapel @ St John Vianney College Seminary. Beautifully done.
MOVIE DAY — today, I watched 4 movies throughout the day … The Muppet Christmas Carol … Back To The Future … The 5th Element … Rat Race … with L-Wendy’s & D-McNuggets … I have no explanation 🙂
spinach + Robitussin
MASS — [left shine]
SPANISH – (Dr Jimenez) — chaper 14 test + dictation + evaluation.
LUNCH — food court @ Dolphin Mall with J.
DINNER — Spinach lasagna (with nuts & hard pasta)? + Robitussin drink + scarce salad bar.
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — part 2 on Virtues for new guys.
TV — watched last to episodes of Pushing Daisies procrastinating 2 philosophy papers due tomorrow. [a blessing in disguise]
moral virtues + Jim Gaffigan
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — new chapter 14.1
TV CATCH-UP — watched missed episodes of The Unit & Cane.
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — about Moral Virtues (see seperate post).
PRE-T HOUSE — watched standup Jim Gaffigan. Night Prayer. House “cleaning” meeting.
thanks dinner + Princess Bride + croquet
TESTS — Spanish & Old Testament. — both went pretty well.
THANKSGIVING DINNER — after a special 4:30pm Thanksgiving Mass (“subway” sermon), we had a great Thanksgiving dinner since we’re released for break after tomorrow’s morning Mass (which I have to serve as Acolyte).
PRE-T NIGHT — us Pre-Theologians are watching The Princess Bride in our off-campus house. Then played a couple exciting rounds of croquet in the back yard. Classic.
ten piedad + soccer + lawn movie night
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — Spanish mid-term on chapter 12. — “Senor profesor, ten piedad de nosotros, por favor!”
SOCCER — with the stressful exam week, we had an evening of soccer (non-tournament) after dinner and played until we couldn’t see the ball anymore. — I was ball boy, again
WALK-IN MOVIE NIGHT — 8pm tonight we had a different kind of movie night for our last evening together before the weeklong “Mid-Semester Break.” We laid out on the grass & watched “Norbit” projected onto a wall outside. — Great idea! Need more OFF!
The Office
TV — watched the new season of “The Office” on NBC. Even through I missed last week’s opener, I joined a few brothers here that also follow the show. I also tried to watch last weeks episode on the NBC website, but the bandwidth here was too slow, but I’ll keep trying. — some classic Dwight Schrute lines: “Assistant TO THE Regional Manager” — “Two paintball lessons with someone as experienced as I am is worth easily like 2 grand.” — “If you can fool them into thinking that you really care, you can get them to do anything for you.” — “Do you have your tickets to the gun show?” — “Do you want to form an alliance with me?” — anybody have another?
care package
Busy day with 3 classes, worklist (mopping floors) and Holy Hour before a good pork – baked potato – kolleyflour dinner. Watched the new Pushing Daisies series and some Bionic Woman. Even with all that, the best part of the day was …
“CARE PACKAGE” — Yeah! Some “The Office” stuff, summer vacation pictures & the 2nd season of “The Muppets” on DVD. — life is way too AWESOME! Thank you, caring stranger!
Bill Baggs – 13th floor – mexican
DAY TRIP — Today was the first opitional weekend trip planned by Fr Michael. A group of us went to Bill Baggs State Park at the tip of Key Biscayne. An afternoon of fun in the sun.
MOVIE — watched the “The Thirteenth Floor” a couple times to get the connection to Decartes (assignment for Modern Philosophy). Fr Santos likes it better than the Matrix (I wouldn’t go that far). — “I think therefore I am” … (I think?)
DINNER — Today’s dinner theme was “Mexican.” — great food
300 – refuse external trappings
MASS – (Fr Santos) — 
In today’s readings, Jesus speaks with “authority” to both preach and heal. Fr Santos (in his first Mass at SJV) began his homily by using the movie 300 to stand firm in beliefs and not be dependent on outside influences. He used the scene where Xerxes (Persians king) offers Leonidas (Spartans) money and power to surrender. Leonidas stood for principles of country, honor & his people — he refused external trappings. The Greek word for “authority” is “exusia” and means “from within your own being” which Jesus did everything by (as opposed to Rabbis and prophets who prefaced what they said with footnotes). In seminary, we’re call to focus on our own individual call (from within) to preach and heal with the “authority” of the true priesthood found in Christ Jesus. — I pay attention to any point made using a cool movie.
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — If “failo” means “to fail,” then I “failo” the test (needs past PRETERITE form – which I don’t know either) of the first 11 chapters of our spanish book (which was taught in Spanish 1). I over-studied last night to the point it all mixed into zero usability. Of all my classes this semester, I will need to put extra effort into Spanish.
LUNCH — we had tuna burgers. I’ve never heard of one and took a picture. — it was good.
OLD TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — we learned methods of studying Scripture — Fundamentalist, Historical-Critical, Human Sciences, and Contextual approaches. Need to read chapters 3 & 4 for next week.
EVENING PRAYER — a major lightning strike (nearest to me nonetheless) in the middle of prayer scared the life out of all of us.
VIRUS ATTACK — as I’m writing this post, my computer got attacked by a virus on my Shared Documents folder. — 2 scares in the same day.
movies – Greeks & 3 Amigos
MASS – (Fr Joseph) — Today’s gospel was the parable of “the ten virgins” with lamps awaiting the bridegroom — 5 were foolish (unprepared) and 5 wise (constantly ready). We are called to constantly be alert, prepared and ready for what the Lord has in store for us.
MODERN PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — Quiz today was 15 true & false question with tricky wording. We reviewed the events of the time that contributed to the Modern Philosophy.
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — Quiz today was listing philosophy’s “3 major concerns” and “4 major problems” with short explanations. We discussed “2 ways of understanding” with lots of subcatagories that wrap around my notes.
ARTS & IDEAS – no Fr Vallee today (vacation) — but we watched a 2.5 hour PBS special on “The Greeks, the Cradle of Civilization” in the cinema room. We took a break for lunch and finished in the afternoon.
ACOLYTE TRAINING — the new guys were oriented for serving Mass or reading this afternoon. I’m serving as Acolyte a the end of the month and haven’t served Mass since 6th grade.
EVENING – watched “The 3 Amigos” — remembering the “singing bush,” “the invisible swordsman” and their trademark demonstration (of a hernia exam).
Spanish 2 – Intro to OT
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — from the moment he walked in, the professor spoke Spanish to us for nearly 45 minutes straight, asking question and having us each answer. I looked around and everyone seemed calm, while I was clicking my heals to “There’s no place like Spanish 1.” When he finally spoke English and assured us we’d review over the next few classes, my heartrate dropped. — I need to start reviewing TODAY.
INTRO to OLD TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — our class size is so big (30+) that we meet in the library. We covered “Questioning Skills” (Bloom’s Taxonomy), “What is the Bible?”, “Senses of Scripture” and Letio Divina. It’s all of stuff because it’s a 2.5 hour class only once a week. Thank goodness the PowerPoint presentation will be available for us, ‘cuz I can’t write very fast. I asked a question about using paraphrase Bibles, like “The Message” (that Protestants like a lot) and, as I expected, we shouldn’t use them for Scripture study nor Lectio Divina — since it seriously compromises the “literal sense” of Scripture. — how ironic that Protestants (who claim “sola scriptura“) would use a “paraphrase” Bible as their point of reference.
Harry Potter is harmless?
I’m not a big book reader, but I’ve always had reservations about the Harry Potter series. With the last Harry Potter book coming out today, I found an article that would be interesting to debate, especially against a recent Florida Catholic article about the good in Harry Potter.
Vatican’s Chief Exorcist Repeats Condemnation of Harry Potter Novels
By John-Henry Westen
ROME, March 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican’s chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, is reported to have repeated his condemnations of the Harry Potter novels yesterday. According to press reports, Fr. Amorth, said of the books, “You start off with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likeable wizard, but you end up with the Devil. There is no doubt that the signature of the Prince of Darkness is clearly within these books.”
“By reading Harry Potter a young child will be drawn into magic and from there it is a simple step to Satanism and the Devil,” he said.
The news will come as no surprise to LifeSiteNews.com readers who recall that Fr. Amorth made very similar remarks in 2002 which went misreported in the North American media, until LifeSiteNews.com clarified the matter.
In a 2002 interview with the Italian ANSA news agency, Rev. Amorth said “Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil.” The exorcist, with his decades of experience in directly combating evil, explained that J.K. Rowling’s books contain innumerable positive references to magic, “the satanic art”. He noted that the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction “does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil.” (coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/02010202.html )
At the time, however, North American coverage of Rev. Amorth’s warnings about Potter significantly downplayed the warnings. The New York Times coverage by Melinda Henneberger, which was carried in Canada’s National Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and on Yahoo Daily News left out most of the information in the European coverage, only quoting Rev. Amorth as saying that “If children can see the movie with their parents, it’s not all bad.”
North America’s most prominent Harry Potter critic, Michael O’Brien, has told LifeSiteNews.com that the movie version has significantly cleaned up Harry’s image, making it far less troublesome than the books.
Another condemnation of Harry Potter coming from Rome was not widely reported until LifeSiteNews.com’s intervention. When in 2003, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger allowed his comments against the novels to be aired publicly, the news was reported in Europe, but not in America. However, when in 2005 LifeSiteNews.com published Ratzinger’s letter concerning Potter online, the international media exploded with the news that the new Pope opposed Harry Potter. (coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071301.html )
Writing to Germany’s best known Potter critic Gabriele Kuby, the man who was to become Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.”
The original article can be found at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06030104.html while a great forum discussion is at PhatMass at http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=70460
Miami seminary
I was looking on the Archdiocese of Miami website for a video of catholic military chaplains that is no longer on their video page (–I downloaded it last year). There is, however, a great little video about St. John Vianney Seminary in Miami (which I’m starting next month) called “A Call to Faith” (DSL or dialup).
While I continued searching the website, I found a great article from last year called, “The people of God deserve the best.” It’s an interview with Father Michael Carruthers, the new rector of St. John Vianney Seminary. He spoke about the quality and “wholesomeness” of the young men who are entering the seminary today. I found a profile on him as well as 24 other priests on another page called “Building the City of God.” Besides hearing some great homilies last November @ the “Seminary Vocation Weekend,” I personally met with Father Carruthers (as part of the application process) and was very impressed by his sincerity, encouragement and attentive ear. — he’s definitely someone I look forward to grow with.
SJVCS Seminary Life Album
July '09 -- hospital chaplains @ IPF
Easter '09 -- Miami SJVCS friends
the Son always finds a break in let the clouds
Feb '09 -- school vocation talks @ AMHS
Feb '09 -- cold breakfast with brothers (Matias, Fenly & Randy), now at SVDP and Imad (at SJVCS)
Superbowl '09 -- eating great @ SJVCS
Sept '08 -- Worklist Coordinators?
St Raphael Chapel mural @ SJVCS
Sept '08 -- retreats @ SJVCS
"It's not easy being green"
Catholic Kermit 
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