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time & space
Some scientific notes I took from the first 2 audio sessions “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours” by Chuck Missler (protestant fundamentalist) to help me understand some concepts of time & space. (For an excellent 24 hour Catholic Bible study, check out Jeff Cavins’ The Great Adventure). I hope I don’t mis-paraphrase any points:
(*) Despite many misconceptions, we have concluded within the past century, that “the universe, time, length & mass are finite, NOT infinite“. Time is subject to gravitational forces.
(*) “Twin Astronauts, part 1.” 1 astronaut travels to Alpha Centauri (the next closest star to the Sun 4.5 lightyears away) at HALF the speed of light, 9 years one way + 9 years back = 18 years. However, the traveling twin is 2 years & 9 months younger than the other.
(*) “Twin Astronauts, part 2.” If 1 astronaut travels to Alpha Centauri at the speed of light, 9 years + 9 year = 18 years. However, the traveling twin only aged 46 days. Wow!
(*) “Eternity IS NOT lots of time.” Therefore, God (eternal) is outside the dimensionality of time altogether. We see time as a series of events, like watching a parade pass by. God uses his ability to be outside of time to send us a message and authenticate it by fullfulling prophecy.
(*) Space is NOT an empty vacuum.
(*) The ability to “bend time” may be seen in Hebrews 1:12 & Isaiah 34:4 when created things (like skies, heavens, earth) will be “rolled up” like a scroll or cloak, and “will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.” Interesting.
(*) There are actually 10 dimension, but we can only conceptualize 4 of them. Hyperspaces (spaces in more than 3 dimensions) can only be visualized by 2 types of people, well trained mathematicians and small children (WHAT?).
(*) The only known visual of a 4th dimension is seen in Salvador Dali’s 1954 Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) by using a tesseract. (I’m getting a headache staring at the picture looking for the 4th dimension)
There are several other tidbits of facts. These are just a few that jumped out at me.
evil love of money
A friend wanted to name his new son Maximus (& mom wouldn’t have it). Was there a saint named Maximus? Indeed there was. St. Maximus is an Eastern Orthodox saint and had some thoughful words on passions. Keeping in mind 1Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evils …,” St. Maximus says …
“There are three reasons for the love of money: pleasure-seeking, vainglory, and lack of faith. And more serious than the other two is lack of faith.
“The hedonist loves money because with it he lives in luxury; the vain person because with it he can be praised; the person who lacks faith because he can hide it and keep it while in fear of hunger, or old age, or illness, or exile. He lays his hope on it rather than on God the Maker and Provider of the whole creation, even of the last and least of living things.”
“There are found kinds of people who acquire money, the three just mentioned and the financial administrator. Obviously only he acquires it for the right reason: so that he might never run short in relieving each one’s need.” 400 Chapters on Love, 3.16-19
Putting these quotes together makes me stop, think and pray over my own intentions.
Review YES Retreat 2007
The Youth Enjoying Service (Y.E.S.) Retreat is a 5 day (June 6-10th) service project experience for high school teens from all over the archdiocese of Miami. It’s is held at the Madonna Retreat House in Hallendale. This year had a small (but very lively) group of 12 teens.
This blog post will be the master directory of all the events & pictures from the video in case the locations change. You can find most of the events on PAGE 3 & PAGE 4 of my archives, but the link to each event is below:
——————– Day #1 / June 6 / Wednesday ——————–
(evening) Welcome + “Human BINGO” + “4 Winds Blow” + Dinner (11 pics)
(talk) “Catholic Social Teaching” (4 pics) — by Gloria Luna
——————– Day #2 / June 7 / Thursday ——————–
(morning) Breakfast + Prayer + Leaving by Bus (3 pics)
(project) St Elizabeth Gardens arrival + games + lunch + BINGO (27 pics)
(dinner) “Class” Dinner (5 pics)
(talk) “Immigration” (2 pics) — by Sr. Ondina Cortes
(evening) End of day sharing + making lunch (6 pics)
——————– Day #3 / June 8 / Friday ——————–
(morning) Breakfast + Prayer (? pics)
(project) Providence Place (? pics) — women’s shelter
(free time) S.W.A.T. training (? pics)
(talk) Monica Santos (? pics)
——————– Day #4 / June 9 / Saturday ——————–
(morning) Breakfast + Prayer (? pics)
(project) Daily Bread Food Bank (? pics) — food pantry
(free time) Football (? pics)
(talk) Convenant House (? pics) — shelter for runaway teens
(talk) “Eucharist” by Bishop Estevez (? pics) — a great surprise visit
(dinner) Dinner (? pics)
(service) Commissioning (? pics)
(nightime) Dancing? + “Mission Impossible” (? pics & 1 video)
——————– Day #5 / June 10 / Sunday ——————–
(morning) Breakfast + Prayer (? pics)
(closing) Closing Mass (? pics)
——————— STATUS of VIDEO EDITING ———————-
July 18 — finished day #2 (35 minutes) – “Class” dinner, immigration,
sharing, & making lunch
July 17 — working on day #2 – finished aerobics & BINGO (10 minutes)
July 03 — working on day #2 – finished wheelchair races (14 minutes)
June 29 — finished editing day #1 (7 minutes). See pics on PAGE 4 (middle).
June 28 — I found a 2 minute video clip on my memorystick. See it here.
June 27 — added blog posts of retreat events (without pictures, yet)
Francis also posted pictures of the retreat on the Office of Youth website.
Y.E.S. D5: Closing Mass
To close day #5 of the Y.E.S. Retreat, families were invited to celebrate Mass.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D5: Breakfast & Prayer
Day #5 of the Y.E.S. Retreat had breakfast & opening prayer.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Dancing?
Usually, on the last night of a retreat, nobody can sleep. Well, after 4 days on the Y.E.S. Retreat, this was no exception. Most got involved in an interesting version of “So You Think You Can Dance?” to grooves by Mixmaster “Upsidedowny” on the laptop. Since I only had 15 minutes of videotape left, I saved it for tomorrow’s Mass. I think that was God’s plan. 🙂
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
I found a 2 minute video clip (accidentally recorded on my memorystick) recorded by “Esmerelda” in the hallway at night just before lights out. I think they’re playing “Mission Impossible” or mountain climbing??? WARNING: If you get motion-sickness, this is not the clip for you. (12 MB in size)
Y.E.S. D4: Great Commission
On the last evening (day #4) of the Y.E.S. Retreat, we had a evening prayer service which included a commissioning service.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Dinner
Our dinner on day #4 of the Y.E.S. Retreat was good, especially with Bishop Estevez.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Bishop Estevez
On day #4 of the Y.E.S. Retreat, we had a surprise guest, Auxiliary Bishop Estevez. He joined us for evening prayer (before dinner) and gave a great teaching on the Eucharist.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Covenant House
On day #4 of the Y.E.S. Retreat, we had a guest speaker from Covenant House, a shelter for runaway teens in Ft. Lauderdale.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Free Time
For free-time on day #4 of the Y.E.S. Retreat, some slept to catch some ZZZs while others played football.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Daily Bread Food Bank
Our third Y.E.S. service project (on day #4) was sorting food @ Daily Break Food Bank in Lauderdale Lakes.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D4: Breakfast & Prayer
Day #4 of the Y.E.S. Retreat began with breakfast and prayer.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D3: Free Time
For free-time on day #3 of the Y.E.S. Retreat, some slept to catch some ZZZs while other practiced their S.W.A.T. team training. 🙂
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D3: Providence Place
Our second Y.E.S. service project was a painting at a women’s shelter @ Providence Place.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D3: Breakfast & Prayer
Day #3 of the Y.E.S. Retreat began with breakfast and prayer.
[pictures coming soon]
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D2: Immigration & sharing & making lunch
On day #2 of the Y.E.S. Retreat, we had guest speaker Sr. Ondina Cortes (Director of the Office of Youth & Young Adults) show the movie, “Dying to Live” and speak on our response to the Immigration problems in our country.
At the end of the night, we all got together to review the day and share our experiences. To save time in the morning, we made P&J sandwiches for our lunch the next day. An AWESOME first day!
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D2: “Class” Dinner
Our dinner on day #2 of the Y.E.S. Retreat had a twist. To determine the “type” of dinner each would eat, we randomly chose an “Upper,” “Middle,” or “Lower” class dinner.
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D2: St. Elizabeth Gardens
Our first Y.E.S. service project was an elderly day-care center in Pompano Beach, St. Elizabeth Gardens. We played games like “wheelchair races” & “beanbag toss.” Then, after an aerobic workout, we had lunch before playing some BINGO.
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
Y.E.S. D2: Breakfast & Prayer
Day #2 of the Y.E.S. Retreat had breakfast & opening prayer. Then we loaded up the bus and headed out for our first service project, St. Elizabeth Gardens, a elderly day-care center.
NOTE: MASTER LIST of all Y.E.S. events & video status HERE.
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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