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Gretchen McNeil | 359 pages | 17 Sep 2013 | Balzer & Bray/Harperteen | 9780062118813 | English | United States Lamentations You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause!

Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment. Darby Bible Translation Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. World English Bible Yahweh, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause. Genesis Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son. Psalm Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men. Hear what my accusers are saying! Jeremiah Should good be repaid with evil? He devised an extremely obvious yet previously unused running strategy that involved breaking the mile into four quarters or laps around the track. He then found four separate sub-minute lap runners and would repeatedly train against them in succession. BUT the most amazing things happened after Bannister broke the record. Just forty-six days later, his record was broken—and then it was shattered again and again and again. In the current record was set at I have not given enough specific examples here, but this is not a post about the candidates. Pope Benedict, regarding one of his first encounters with Fr. My friend Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete once said that our primary in the sense of essential or ultimate responsibility in politics is not to end abortion or the war but to build the Church. Contact me for more information, I am one of his grassroots members. Posted by Francis at PM 9 comments:. Hey everyone, here is my review of the new Death Cab CD. I actually haven't edited it yet, but I wanted to post it anyway. I will be adding corrections soon. When writing the lyrics for his new album, he followed the footsteps of his hero by taking a trip to the terrain of Big Sur in California. The result of his retreat is Death Cab's new album entitled "Narrow Stairs. Gone is the sentimentality of previous Death Cab projects; the album has a tight, impressive, and even shocking unity, which I think comes primarily from the stark and honest lyrics. The first song "Bixby Canyon Bridge" is evidently addressed to Kerouac, as Gibbard sings, "I chased the end of your road"; he went to Big Sur in search of some kind of answer, only to find himself disappointed. Gibbard himself describes the whole album as a descent, the same fall he talks about in "Pity and Fear," the descent down narrow stairs. He vows to love this bird "Till the breath leaves your delicate frame. I would like to think that my lack of contentment is part of what makes my work the way it is, and for the better. The album is dark, but not desperate; it doesn't turn out perfect, but it is beautiful. Gibbard still wants to say the same about life. Posted by Francis at PM No comments:. Tuesday, April 15, Wow. The Pope's plane will arrive in America at 4 PM. I wonder if that is a coincidence An Occasion for Wonder. The hype surrounding the Pope and his visit to America fascinates me. One can go to news websites, and the expectation for his arrival is everywhere. So much so, in fact, that it seems the media doesn't even know what to do about it. They've created things like "Pope Watch" and "Differences between JPII and Benedict" in order to try to categorize and make some sense out of his visit. They ask: "How can Catholics say they side with the poor when the pope lives surrounded with so much gold and splendor? And how can a pope claim infallibility when the Vatican has to spend so much time 'clarifying' offensive remarks? Is he God's rottweiler? Does he love the Church in America? Is he going to reprimand us? I don't know where else these objections and questions could come from, other than the fact that most people want to ignore the Pope's real purpose which he himself has clearly stated: "Christ is the face of God present among us. Through him, our lives reach fullness , and together, both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan of God the Father. I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message is in your country. I am coming to share it with you , in a series of celebrations and gatherings. Among all this hype, I can imagine being there among the apostles and pharisees in the presence of Jesus. There were those who tried to trap him, to figure him out, there are those who might even take his social teachings to heart and try to "apply" them, and then there are the few who stand in wonder, saying, without presumption, without hiding any of their humanity, "Who is this man? And so, the importance of the Pope's visit to America does not lie in the media's supposed reprimand he could supply, nor the intellectual and cultural musings or judgments he may have. Most people overlook the elementary fact of their wonder and curiosity in the presence of this man; they try to organize, stifle, or explain it away, rather than remaining in front of the Event. This remaining requires a simplicity and a love for truth. Ultimately the most amazing fact is that the man himself, the very flesh that laughs, cries, goes to the bathroom and has to practice piano, is the successor of Peter and the guarantee of Christ's presence in the world. Were this not true, were this rock no longer there, as my friend Msgr. Albacete says, I would no longer want to live on this earth. Joe & Nick Manganiello's production company |

This was the language of God's grace, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits. And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. He will save believers with everlasting salvation, while his enemies perish with everlasting destruction. Barnes' Notes on the Bible Wrong - Done to him by the perversion of justice. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary God's past deliverances and His knowledge of Judah's wrongs are made the grounds of prayer for relief. Or, "my perverseness" w ; not that he or they had been guilty of; but the wrong that was done to him and them by their enemies; how perverse and ill natured they had been to them; how badly they had used them; what injuries they had done them; none of which escaped the omniscience of God, to which the appeal is made; and upon this follows a petition: judge thou my cause; the present one; as thou hast pleaded and judged many already, do me justice, right my wrongs, an, save me from mine enemies; and let it appear to all the world my cause is just, and they are in the wrong. Here the speaker returns to the present. This is clear from the following words: Judge thou my cause. Psalm , Psalm Posted by Francis at PM 9 comments:. Hey everyone, here is my review of the new Death Cab CD. I actually haven't edited it yet, but I wanted to post it anyway. I will be adding corrections soon. When writing the lyrics for his new album, he followed the footsteps of his hero by taking a trip to the terrain of Big Sur in California. The result of his retreat is Death Cab's new album entitled "Narrow Stairs. Gone is the sentimentality of previous Death Cab projects; the album has a tight, impressive, and even shocking unity, which I think comes primarily from the stark and honest lyrics. The first song "Bixby Canyon Bridge" is evidently addressed to Kerouac, as Gibbard sings, "I chased the end of your road"; he went to Big Sur in search of some kind of answer, only to find himself disappointed. Gibbard himself describes the whole album as a descent, the same fall he talks about in "Pity and Fear," the descent down narrow stairs. He vows to love this bird "Till the breath leaves your delicate frame. I would like to think that my lack of contentment is part of what makes my work the way it is, and for the better. The album is dark, but not desperate; it doesn't turn out perfect, but it is beautiful. Gibbard still wants to say the same about life. Posted by Francis at PM No comments:. Tuesday, April 15, Wow. The Pope's plane will arrive in America at 4 PM. I wonder if that is a coincidence An Occasion for Wonder. The hype surrounding the Pope and his visit to America fascinates me. One can go to news websites, and the expectation for his arrival is everywhere. So much so, in fact, that it seems the media doesn't even know what to do about it. They've created things like "Pope Watch" and "Differences between JPII and Benedict" in order to try to categorize and make some sense out of his visit. They ask: "How can Catholics say they side with the poor when the pope lives surrounded with so much gold and splendor? And how can a pope claim infallibility when the Vatican has to spend so much time 'clarifying' offensive remarks? Is he God's rottweiler? Does he love the Church in America? Is he going to reprimand us? I don't know where else these objections and questions could come from, other than the fact that most people want to ignore the Pope's real purpose which he himself has clearly stated: "Christ is the face of God present among us. Through him, our lives reach fullness , and together, both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan of God the Father. I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message is in your country. I am coming to share it with you , in a series of celebrations and gatherings. Among all this hype, I can imagine being there among the apostles and pharisees in the presence of Jesus. There were those who tried to trap him, to figure him out, there are those who might even take his social teachings to heart and try to "apply" them, and then there are the few who stand in wonder, saying, without presumption, without hiding any of their humanity, "Who is this man? And so, the importance of the Pope's visit to America does not lie in the media's supposed reprimand he could supply, nor the intellectual and cultural musings or judgments he may have. Most people overlook the elementary fact of their wonder and curiosity in the presence of this man; they try to organize, stifle, or explain it away, rather than remaining in front of the Event. This remaining requires a simplicity and a love for truth. Ultimately the most amazing fact is that the man himself, the very flesh that laughs, cries, goes to the bathroom and has to practice piano, is the successor of Peter and the guarantee of Christ's presence in the world. Were this not true, were this rock no longer there, as my friend Msgr. Albacete says, I would no longer want to live on this earth. Posted by Francis at AM 2 comments:. Monday, March 31, Outlet from the Underground. We've becomes so estranged that at times we feel some kind of revulsion for genuine 'real life,' and therefore we can't bear to be reminded of it…We don't know ourselves. It'd be even worse if all our whimsical desires were fulfilled. Go on, try it. Things get hot and heavy, Josie has a moment when she realizes she's in love and she reaches up and grabs the dude's severed ankle. Is that a foot? How did this body get here?! He just died. It was there and I had a strange turn of events. The book went from giving me a lot of these moments: To where I could barely suppress a laugh: Honestly, though, I was still being entertained Insta-Love: So as if this couldn't get any worse, this happens: She'd never felt this way with her ex-boyfriend. This was something different. Something deeper. Even though they had only known each other a few days, Nick knew her better than anyone else, and loved her even more because of it. Sure, sure. She's in love with this guy even though they've had maybe a handful of conversations all of them related to the plot and had nothing to do with actually finding out things about each other , one of which was sparked by him pointing a gun at her. Boyfriend of the year! I never once felt the connection between the two. They were these character stuck in this situation and randomly, romance was thrown in because, hey, every YA book has to have its romance. Obviously, that was sarcasm. But in the end, the romance didn't add anything extra to the reading experience and felt contrived and forced. Predictability: However, I might have even forgiven all of that if only the entire mystery hadn't been so predictable. I know is being pitched as a sci-fi thriller, but I never once felt the urgency because things were so painfully obvious. I knew who the bad guy was, what happened to her parents, who was attacking the humans, etc. Josie is depicted as a really smart protagonist, but again, spouting off science words is not enough if the reader is two steps ahead of your detective. The really sad part is that the mystery wasn't bad at all, but really lacked better foreshadowing and a much tighter plot. Not only was the plot predictable, but the character actions. And this is where I feel good old fashion character growth would have helped. Josie, as trusting and sweet as she was depicted, was, frankly, TSTL. I don't think this was intentional, but when you keep telling the reader how smart your character is, but they continually do really dumb things, it rarely works for me. To Conclude: In the end, didn't live up to my expectations. Had the plot and mystery been tighter, the characters better developed and the romance cleaned up, I would have probably really loved this one. Would I recommend this? My first reaction is, "Eh, no. I would, instead, strongly recommend checking out a sample to see if the writing style works for you and then abandoning all sense of logic at page one. More reviews and other fantastical things at Cuddlebuggery Book Blog. View all 33 comments. Feb 15, Lenore Appelhans added it Shelves: apocalypsies , met-the- author , parallel-or-divergent-realities. So when I was reading , this happened: If a lemur wants to read it, you know it's good :D So when I was reading , this happened: If a lemur wants to read it, you know it's good :D View 2 comments. Aug 01, Giselle rated it liked it Shelves: own , arc. For an entertaining thriller, does a good job. Some of it is overwhelming or far fetched, and specific parts made me cringe, but it's an action packed read that's great for a quick thrill. With a title like you already know that this specific time is important to the story. So from the start, the time stamp shown on every page works to keep us on edge as we know that something is coming - and soon. Then hits and something bizarre does happen, but we can't make sense of it quite ye For an entertaining thriller, does a good job. Then hits and something bizarre does happen, but we can't make sense of it quite yet. All we know is it's ominous, and it's likely due to her mother's experiments - meaning science, and alternate universes. This is when Jo starts coming into the story. First via dreams, then through the mirror. Jo and Josie are the same person living completely different lives. And what else can you do but want to live where the grass is greener? As such, they decide to switch places. It's an interesting concept, one that was obviously well researched with scientifically solid ideas - ideas that stretch into sci-fi, naturally. On that note, while I appreciate complex detailing for a realistic world building especially in this genre, the science-filled discussions were quite bewildering. From profuse scientific jargon to age old multiverse theories with black holes and quantum mechanics… I'm a big fan of sci-fi books that touch on space—time continuum, but I stopped trying to wrap my head around the science encircling this one. I'm also wondering how this town bred all these teenage Einsteins. These regular school kids could have put any scientist to shame. So no matter how scientifically logical it may be though I couldn't tell you if it was , some parts of the book make it hard to suspend disbelief regardless. Having given up on making sense of it all, I treated it more as a mindless entertaining read and was satisfied on that front! A distant mother, parental separation, a cheating boyfriend, a betraying best friend; Josie's in a place in life where everyone and everything seems to be against her. Loneliness has sunk in hard, hence why she jumps at the chance to switch lives and savor what she used to have if only temporarily. But she was heartbroken so I'll forgive her. What I don't forgive is the part in the romance where they start making out next to a mutilated body. The scene is meant to be romantic, I think? Then Josie acts all surprised and grossed out when, stretching from "romantic enjoyment", she happens upon a dismembered foot. So not sexy, guys! Teenage hormones or something. Moving on from the gross.. There is a strong romantic sub plot in this book where Josie and Nick team up against an unraveling conspiracy. Her still being in love with the other "him" from her real life, and him falling in love with the "new" her gives a unique romance that I found interesting, even mind boggling. I both loved and hated how it ended, too. It's bittersweet. There are also invisible flesh eating flying beasts added in to give a touch of horror to this new world Josie has walked into. I personally found this exciting but I can see some may be less happy about it invading a predominantly scientific plot. With that said, I feel like this book was trying to be larger than it could be, but it's an enjoyable read nonetheless. For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads View all 8 comments. May 20, Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it it was ok Shelves: ya , romance , mental-illness , siblings , sci-fi , mystery , high-school , alternate-universe , twins-triplets-clones , parallel-time. Actual rating: 2. Most of the time, the basis is simple, but then eventually the idea turns into a mess beyond comprehension, both plot-wise and conceptually. This book executes the idea much better than most of the books with a similar premise The idea of the parallel universes were well-explained, but the plot and the characters leave much to be desired. Here we have the sci-fi version of The Parent Trap. Josie Byrne is a brilliant student, she's got a wonderful boyfriend and a group of friends whom she largely ignores because her family life is a mess right now mom is acting like a mad scientist, dad is dating her school's former prom queen-cum personal-trainer, etc. Also, there's been a lot of mysterious deaths in the woods near town. All caused by animals, according to the authorities. Like anyone's going to believe that. In one Very Bad Afternoon, Josie gets into a quasi-car accident, gets fired from her job, and finds out that her wonderful-awesome- handsome-loving boyfriend Nick has been cheating on her. With her best friend, Madison. All this started from that unfortunate car event at PM. From then on, Josie has dreams of someone who looks like her, named Jo. Jo looks like she has the perfect life, because you can absolutely glean all that from glimpses of someone's dreams. Jo drives a sweet BMW. Her boyfriend also Nick is loving and wonderful. Jo's got a lovely bedroom. Josie and Jo come to realize that the mirror in their room is connecting them and their parallel worlds, which is separated by 12 hours. Josie is desperately envious of Jo. Specifically, she is envious of Jo's boyfriend, the cheating son-of-a-bitch Nick, whom she still loves and with whom she still wants a second chance. It's a parallel universe! It changes nothing in her original world! She could be with Nick for one perfect day, he's still not going to have an idea of what transpired in her world. Josie, you are a brilliant high school student, why are you acting like such a dumb chick?! It makes no sense to me that Josie made that decision. Josie is not stupid. She really, truly is brilliant. From her demonstrated knowledge and discussions of advanced physical theories like the Penrose Interpretation, from her mother's reputation as a brilliant scientist she's working on some experiment involving deuterium , I really, truly expected more from Josie than the behaviors of a lovesick girl. Once the two girls do their little switcheroo the normally frumpy Josie even gets her hair highlighted to match , Josie finds out that Jo's seemingly perfect life is not what it seems. Sure, she gets a sweet car, and she's rich, and popular Was that what it was like to be popular? A kind of cold, fearful isolation? The parallel world is like hers, but with different variations, a darker feel to it. In house after house, blinds were being drawn, shutters latched, like every household was hunkering down for the night. As Josie tramped along, she got a creeping feeling up the back of her spine. The entire town had an air of hostility. The people are still the same, but they act differently Her best friend Madison hates her, the whole school is scared of her, the teachers react in shock when she answers a question in class. Her other friend, Penelope, is absolutely terrified of her. And what's with this thing called The Grid? What the hell is a Nox? The plot is interesting, the execution The romance is so ridiculous, so utterly forced. It is as if Josie falls into insta-love with Nick, someone she already knew, except And thinking about romance in this sort of situation is just plain stupid. The plot is complicated. Josie is trying to get back to her world, where the insidious bitchy Jo has taken over her life. There's the mystery of her disappeared mother, there's strange, mysterious, bloodsucking creatures flying around in the dark. There are government plots. People dying. Constant fear of the dark. It is a shitty, shitty world, a hell of a parallel universe, and yet Josie can't help but want to stay in it Screw the Nox. She could stay here, with Nick, forever. No one would know. She leaned her body closer to his, and closed her eyes. And yet for some reason the idea of leaving here—of leaving him—made Josie instantly sick to her stomach. Josie realizes the ridiculousness of her feelings It was so utterly disappointing. I wanted a strong heroine, instead, I got a strong heroine who was weakened; personality and strength and rationality set aside for the sake of romance. The plot is heavily reliant upon deus ex machina. People just happened to be there at the right time to save someone from a bitter fate. Too many time, it happened. Oh, and this little exchange between Josie and her doppelganger father is just lovely. Byrne said at last. The one up at Fort Meade. Byrne asked. Byrne let out a slow breath. Whatever you need. I can probably get them access for a few hours. All of the characters were just They didn't have any depth to them, even Josie, who should have been developing in complexity throughout the book. Josie is pretty much the same lovesick character she was at the end of the book as when she started. She's supposed to have developed strength somewhere along the way, but I really did not see that complexity built throughout the book. The side characters are more interesting than Josie, particularly the parallel-universe version of Madison, but we never got to see more of them than necessary, because Josie has to be the star of the show, and she stays that way to the detriment of the rest of the characters. I never felt like Nick was anything other than a generic nice guy, and I can see how Josie is attracted to himbut I don't see how she's heads-over- heels in love with himin both worlds, with both versions. One version of Nick supposed to be superior to the other, but considering the standard Nick was a cheating asshole, it doesn't take much to raise the bar. A promising book, built on solid scientific theories and a well-executed premise of a parallel universe that was ultimately let down by an absurd plot and no character development. View all 12 comments. Throw in some romance, mystery and danger and I was a happy girl. With her parents separated, her mother consumed with work, and her boyfriend, Nick, distant lately, she feels a little off-kilter. Right off the bat, things go from off- kilter to bad, especially in the romance department, and your heart goes out to poor Josie. The Josie in the mirror, Jo, appears to be the improved, happier version, with parents still together, and Nick still normal. Josie longs for things to return to normal so she switches places with Jo temporarily. Josie learns the hard way that things are not always as they appear. I think this is somewhat inherent in a plot driven novel, and I love reading about a romance that feels real in its connection, so this was a little bit of a disappointment. Still, I did enjoy this book and I was eagerly turning the pages to find out what would happen next. I liked the concept of parallel existences, but to be honest, some of the plot felt farfetched. A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. View all 16 comments. Aug 23, B marked it as to-read. The Parent Trap meets Event Horizon? View all 5 comments. Sep 06, Michelle rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , review-on-blog. Holy cow! This book was awesome! I have been on such a contemporary kick that I have been neglecting all of the other genres that I used to love. Including fantasy and science fiction. Oh, how foolish I have been. I need to go find other fantasy books to read right away. This book is easily the best written, most exciting book I have read all year. You could tell that Gretchen clearly did her research and she explained everything we needed to know really well through Josie and Penelope. I loved that even though there are two doppelgangers, Josie and Jo in this story it was only told through Josie's point of view. It would have been easy to switch back and forth between her and Jo in the beginning of the book when they were first seeing each other through the mirror, but I was so excited that the point of view never switched. I thought it really added to the story to have Josie put everything together for herself. Josie is such a smart girl- brilliant really, but she is also just a teenage girl that recently got dumped by her boyfriend. So when she looked in the mirror and saw her boyfriend happy with her other self, she saw what she wanted to see. That is what made her go from a good character to a great character in my mind. That sounds silly, doesn't it? She isn't perfect, she made some mistakes, but she more than made up for them in the rest of the book. There are so many twists and turns in , I couldn't even predict half of them. Which made for such an exciting read! I couldn't put this book down. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole thing. When I had to stop reading to run errands or to do some work, I was actually annoyed that real life was interrupting my reading time. Gretchen McNeil knows how to write creepy. Man, the Nox was something I would have nightmares about. I would hate to live in a world with them. But they were fascinating. Everything in her world was actually. If you are a "world building" fan, you will LOVE because the detail and description in this book is grade A. I think is a must read book of Whether you are a fan of fantasy and science fiction or not, you need to read this book. View 1 comment. Mar 28, Nicole Wang rated it it was amazing. I don't usually start reviews like this, but Oh my fucking God. I am dead. I can not live. I just. My heart. It fails me. Oh my fuck. I can not even. Everything hurts. So I absolutely have to start off with the sci-fi aspect of this. There is a ton of sci-fi in there and Gretchen McNeil obviously did her research. There were so many theories thrown around, not to mention a ton of But the sci-fi is ha I don't usually start reviews like this, but But the sci-fi is hardcore in , and you just have to love the scientific explanations and I can't guarantee you'll understand, but I can promise that it'll blow your mind away! And you guys, the plot. I can't even. It was filled with suspense and anticipation read: me hyperventilating and I just couldn't put it down! It hooked me in straight away and then proceeded to kill me several times. It was filled with so many twists I hadn't seen a mile away and smacked me in the face, leaving me astonished and shocked. Not to mention, the ending? Oh, it just breaks your heart. I just loved our characters who were so brilliantly written much like the rest of the book and so wonderfully flawed, especially in the parallel world. Josie is the kind of character you have to love. She's been through a lot and she's easy to relate to. I loved her voice and how she wasn't the perfect character. She had her selfish moments and she had her brave ones. She was smart and a bit nerdy, but wasn't the stereotypical "loser" nerd. Nick was sweet in our world, but, of course, was a dick later on. But in the parallel world? Oh God, you have to love him! I couldn't believe her, how she could change personalities so quickly! It was disgusting and I sort of hated her. But she was definitely kickass in the parallel world and I loved seeing the few, but definitely interesting, interactions Josie had with her! | Gretchen McNeil

Thou hast heard their reproach, Lamentations ; all the ill characters they give me, laying to my charge things that I know not, all the methods that they use to make me odious and contemptible, even the lips of those that rose up against me, Lamentations ; the contumelious language they use whenever they speak of me. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary Faith comes off conqueror, for in these verses the prophet concludes with some comfort. Prayer is the breath of the new man, drawing in the air of mercy in petitions, and returning it in praises; it proves and maintains the spiritual life. He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. Thou saidst, Fear not. This was the language of God's grace, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits. And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. He will save believers with everlasting salvation, while his enemies perish with everlasting destruction. Barnes' Notes on the Bible Wrong - Done to him by the perversion of justice. Jamieson-Fausset- Brown Bible Commentary God's past deliverances and His knowledge of Judah's wrongs are made the grounds of prayer for relief. Or, "my perverseness" w ; not that he or they had been guilty of; but the wrong that was done to him and them by their enemies; how perverse and ill natured they had been to them; how badly they had used them; what injuries they had done them; none of which escaped the omniscience of God, to which the appeal is made; and upon this follows a petition: judge thou my cause; the present one; as thou hast pleaded and judged many already, do me justice, right my wrongs, an, save me from mine enemies; and let it appear to all the world my cause is just, and they are in the wrong. Here the speaker returns to the present. This is clear from the following words: Judge thou my cause. Psalm , Psalm The complaint in these verses is regarded by some expositors as a description of the personal sufferings of Jeremiah; and the casting into the pit is referred to the incident mentioned in Jeremiah What is one life or one million in front of the infinite? In the end, we don't respect the dignity of a lot of human lives, but EACH human life. That's a ratio. Really, where is the unrealistic expectation of perfection that Joey refers to? I would say it lies in this single-issue mentality of the anti-abortion activists just as much as it is in those who maintain that the best way to vote is not to vote. This brings me to the MacIntyre article. I agree with what Joey said in his post, that it does not help anything to disengage from politics with so much at stake. It is certainly eye-opening, to say the least. At this point I agree with certain points of his argument, but disagree with his application of it to American politics a tenuous rejection, but I am leaning more and more towards rejecting it. I agree with MacIntyre in the sense that he does not see any value in engaging in ideological debates that censure position as Catholics. Then what do we do? Forget our original reason for our involvement in politics? Play the numbers game? This isn't engaging in politics, but giving way to enemies that are burning ground before us as we retreat. If we do engage, and in the arena of abortion decide to play the numbers game, which is how the pro-choice advocates want the battle to be fought we can talk about numbers all day and never get to the real question concerning the value of life. Do recognize criminals as persons? Do you recognize the women seeking abortions as persons? I want my political question to be that one. Do you recognize the fetus and the immigrant to be equally important because they are the kind of thing that has the potential for happiness? With that as the starting point, to be pro- life is not to be anti-abortion, but rather to be an advocate of the common good via the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Subsidiarity, because life consists of individuals and their communities not ideas and issues , and people should not be deprived of their ability to tend to the needs to which they are able to attend without the interference of government. And solidarity, because solidarity is the mutual discovery of the desire for that happiness that we all seek, which I mentioned above, which facilitates education and the building of true culture. Succinctly put, I will vote for the candidate who allows me, and the Church, freedom. That is, the one that allows for the education and building of society and culture, foundational blocks without which our problems will never be addressed, regardless of our prevention of 6 abortions or 6 million. The political situation may be bad, but, when in Rome, we should do as the Christians did; testify to the beginnings of a new world and a new freedom that cannot be granted by any political institution. The Romans feared the Christians because they were free. I think we need to seriously ask ourselves if we are free in facing this election. This is what changed my outlook on going to the polls in November, and it is why I ultimately disagree with MacIntyre. Would you describe yourself as free in this election? Why or why not? What is freedom? If we don't live with an experience of freedom, that is, the taste of fulfillment, given to us by Christ through the Church, really, let's not waste our time to go vote and think that anything is actually going to change. Unless we recognize this, MacIntyre is dead right and we can expect our retreat to continue. But salvation does not come from politics. I have not given enough specific examples here, but this is not a post about the candidates. Pope Benedict, regarding one of his first encounters with Fr. My friend Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete once said that our primary in the sense of essential or ultimate responsibility in politics is not to end abortion or the war but to build the Church. Contact me for more information, I am one of his grassroots members. Posted by Francis at PM 9 comments:. Hey everyone, here is my review of the new Death Cab CD. I actually haven't edited it yet, but I wanted to post it anyway. I will be adding corrections soon. When writing the lyrics for his new album, he followed the footsteps of his hero by taking a trip to the terrain of Big Sur in California. The result of his retreat is Death Cab's new album entitled "Narrow Stairs. Gone is the sentimentality of previous Death Cab projects; the album has a tight, impressive, and even shocking unity, which I think comes primarily from the stark and honest lyrics. The first song "Bixby Canyon Bridge" is evidently addressed to Kerouac, as Gibbard sings, "I chased the end of your road"; he went to Big Sur in search of some kind of answer, only to find himself disappointed. Gibbard himself describes the whole album as a descent, the same fall he talks about in "Pity and Fear," the descent down narrow stairs. He vows to love this bird "Till the breath leaves your delicate frame. I would like to think that my lack of contentment is part of what makes my work the way it is, and for the better. The album is dark, but not desperate; it doesn't turn out perfect, but it is beautiful. Gibbard still wants to say the same about life. Posted by Francis at PM No comments:. Tuesday, April 15, Wow. The Pope's plane will arrive in America at 4 PM. I wonder if that is a coincidence An Occasion for Wonder. The hype surrounding the Pope and his visit to America fascinates me. One can go to news websites, and the expectation for his arrival is everywhere. So much so, in fact, that it seems the media doesn't even know what to do about it. They've created things like "Pope Watch" and "Differences between JPII and Benedict" in order to try to categorize and make some sense out of his visit. They ask: "How can Catholics say they side with the poor when the pope lives surrounded with so much gold and splendor? And how can a pope claim infallibility when the Vatican has to spend so much time 'clarifying' offensive remarks? Is he God's rottweiler? Does he love the Church in America? Is he going to reprimand us? Inc. created by Nick and Joe Manganiello |

The lawn was mostly weeds, dotted with barren patches of dirt and a minefield of gophers holes. It seemed like everything was falling apart: yard, house, life. Maybe Nick was right. Maybe Josie was partially to blame. Maybe she did need to take a look at herself. Josie turned away from the window toward the old mirror. From where she stood at the window, the antique mirror reflected her bed. And there, snuggled under the same blue-and-white floral comforter cover, was a girl. She wore a sleep mask, but even with it obscuring part of her face, in the bright lights of the room, Josie realized she was staring at someone who looked exactly like her. Josie glanced at her bed. But there, in the mirror, she could clearly see the image of herself sound asleep in her room. Wait, was it her room? The girl, the bedclothes, even the nightstand were the same. Josie took a step closer to the mirror and squinted at the clock. The numbers were backward, so it took her brain a moment to register the time it showed. It dawned on her slowly. But in reverse? Excerpted from by Gretchen McNeil. Excerpted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. To say that these issues take the backburner to abortion is an ideology, a dangerous one. Life is life. Honestly, this is not a Catholic moral argument. What is one life or one million in front of the infinite? In the end, we don't respect the dignity of a lot of human lives, but EACH human life. That's a ratio. Really, where is the unrealistic expectation of perfection that Joey refers to? I would say it lies in this single-issue mentality of the anti-abortion activists just as much as it is in those who maintain that the best way to vote is not to vote. This brings me to the MacIntyre article. I agree with what Joey said in his post, that it does not help anything to disengage from politics with so much at stake. It is certainly eye-opening, to say the least. At this point I agree with certain points of his argument, but disagree with his application of it to American politics a tenuous rejection, but I am leaning more and more towards rejecting it. I agree with MacIntyre in the sense that he does not see any value in engaging in ideological debates that censure position as Catholics. Then what do we do? Forget our original reason for our involvement in politics? Play the numbers game? This isn't engaging in politics, but giving way to enemies that are burning ground before us as we retreat. If we do engage, and in the arena of abortion decide to play the numbers game, which is how the pro-choice advocates want the battle to be fought we can talk about numbers all day and never get to the real question concerning the value of life. Do recognize criminals as persons? Do you recognize the women seeking abortions as persons? I want my political question to be that one. Do you recognize the fetus and the immigrant to be equally important because they are the kind of thing that has the potential for happiness? With that as the starting point, to be pro- life is not to be anti-abortion, but rather to be an advocate of the common good via the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Subsidiarity, because life consists of individuals and their communities not ideas and issues , and people should not be deprived of their ability to tend to the needs to which they are able to attend without the interference of government. And solidarity, because solidarity is the mutual discovery of the desire for that happiness that we all seek, which I mentioned above, which facilitates education and the building of true culture. Succinctly put, I will vote for the candidate who allows me, and the Church, freedom. That is, the one that allows for the education and building of society and culture, foundational blocks without which our problems will never be addressed, regardless of our prevention of 6 abortions or 6 million. The political situation may be bad, but, when in Rome, we should do as the Christians did; testify to the beginnings of a new world and a new freedom that cannot be granted by any political institution. The Romans feared the Christians because they were free. I think we need to seriously ask ourselves if we are free in facing this election. This is what changed my outlook on going to the polls in November, and it is why I ultimately disagree with MacIntyre. Would you describe yourself as free in this election? Why or why not? What is freedom? If we don't live with an experience of freedom, that is, the taste of fulfillment, given to us by Christ through the Church, really, let's not waste our time to go vote and think that anything is actually going to change. Unless we recognize this, MacIntyre is dead right and we can expect our retreat to continue. But salvation does not come from politics. I have not given enough specific examples here, but this is not a post about the candidates. Pope Benedict, regarding one of his first encounters with Fr. My friend Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete once said that our primary in the sense of essential or ultimate responsibility in politics is not to end abortion or the war but to build the Church. Contact me for more information, I am one of his grassroots members. Posted by Francis at PM 9 comments:. Hey everyone, here is my review of the new Death Cab CD. I actually haven't edited it yet, but I wanted to post it anyway. I will be adding corrections soon. When writing the lyrics for his new album, he followed the footsteps of his hero by taking a trip to the terrain of Big Sur in California. The result of his retreat is Death Cab's new album entitled "Narrow Stairs. Gone is the sentimentality of previous Death Cab projects; the album has a tight, impressive, and even shocking unity, which I think comes primarily from the stark and honest lyrics. The first song "Bixby Canyon Bridge" is evidently addressed to Kerouac, as Gibbard sings, "I chased the end of your road"; he went to Big Sur in search of some kind of answer, only to find himself disappointed. Gibbard himself describes the whole album as a descent, the same fall he talks about in "Pity and Fear," the descent down narrow stairs. He vows to love this bird "Till the breath leaves your delicate frame. I would like to think that my lack of contentment is part of what makes my work the way it is, and for the better. The album is dark, but not desperate; it doesn't turn out perfect, but it is beautiful. Gibbard still wants to say the same about life. Posted by Francis at PM No comments:. Tuesday, April 15, Wow. The Pope's plane will arrive in America at 4 PM. I wonder if that is a coincidence An Occasion for Wonder. The hype surrounding the Pope and his visit to America fascinates me. One can go to news websites, and the expectation for his arrival is everywhere. So much so, in fact, that it seems the media doesn't even know what to do about it. They've created things like "Pope Watch" and "Differences between JPII and Benedict" in order to try to categorize and make some sense out of his visit. They ask: "How can Catholics say they side with the poor when the pope lives surrounded with so much gold and splendor? And how can a pope claim infallibility when the Vatican has to spend so much time 'clarifying' offensive remarks?

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