Holy Family

O Child of every house
Bless us by your humility
Your obedience and love
O Second of the Trinity

O Lady with love's purity
Of true faith and hope
Endurer of dark sorrows
Give us joy, who did not mope

O Worker with hands, with wood
Righteous and loving and kind
Teach us strength, o man of faith
That we may not leave others behind

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Holy Innocents

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

St. Stephen

(I won't be updating daily again until Lent, but I'll be updating weekly on Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri, for now)


A grain of sand
Next to this, next to that
Held in the hand
Many grains of sand

A pattern of grains
In lines and in swirls
Colors and stains
Many grains of sand

A pile of stones
Each filled with grains
Red as blood, white as bones
Many grains of sand

A pile of sand
A pile of stones
Each taken by a hand
Many grains of sand

Stephen has trod
Beaten by men
God hears his blood
Many grains of sand

Paul stands by
Holding killers' coats
Hears Stephen's cry
Many grains of sand

A grain of sand
Red colored it lies
Thrown by a hand
Many grains of sand




God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Merry Christmas!

Have a Merry Christmas! God bless!

>P<
Joshua Fahey

Christmas Eve

The warmth of home in wintertime
Embraces souls with the sublime
Perhaps perchance that candle light
Would guide the lost on holy night

Perhaps perchance we would subsume
Into ourselves a holy room
Where we may dance and sing with joy
The Blessed Virgin and her baby boy

For this hope He came across
A divide deeper than love's first loss
God to man so that with His first cry
Man to God the dream is alive

Of this we dream with joyful heart
God's great plan, that we may take part
And give ourselves, full of joy and pain
To the Christ Child in the manger lain


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Emmanuel

O God with us come soon
Babe from a virgin's womb
Almighty God, helpless Son
Humbly to thee we run



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Rex Gentium

O King of the Gentiles
Who thwarted Satan's wiles
Uniting man and God
We give you love and laud


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Oriens

(For more information on the O Antiphons check out Fisheaters (h/t (I'm assuming this means hat tip which would be figurative because I'm not wearing my hat to tip it) to Happy Catholic))

O Rising Dawn give light
To the fearful ones flight
So we may better choose
Our death and sin to lose


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Clavis David

O Key of David free
Whoever seeks to see
The face of God today
And near to Him we pray

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse mark
All who have left the dark
And be our flag our sign
Showing all your design


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Adonai

O Lord and Ruler heed
We ask for faith filled seed
And to us give your law
That close to thee we'll draw

Flesh and blood

Well first we had Bob Dylan, then Bob Marley, then the Beatles. Finally we have Johnny Cash (I feel there should be a 'b' in his name somewhere...).

Not only is 'Flesh and Blood' a nice Annunciation song, it also can run through my head when receiving communion.

Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood, and you're the one I need.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

O Sapientia

From December 17 to December 23 we have the O Antiphons. For more information on them go to Catholic Culture

O Wisdom, be our guide
From Evil, let us hide
To Heaven let us go
On earth, the Kingdom grow



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Fruit

By their fruits you shall know them.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Listen

Whoever has ears
listening is holiness
to hear, to obey

Walk

Waiting. Weathering. Willowing.
The wind whither the trees
The trees tilted, they tantalize
The Truth here, the Truth it sees

Stones are lined, are straight
Whispers curl about, comforting
Leaves layer in light and dark
The stones, lined, harmonizing

Chilled. Chimed. Churned.
The Truth chipped in beat
The beat, slow and solid
Real, beyond, we meet.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

A man's face

I just wanted to paint with colors today, without trying for something definite until something recognizable came out, then I finished it. It looks cool.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Our Lady of Gaudalupe

Just then, in silence she sang
Upraising the man on the tau
Announcing love like the sea
Newness, birth, from His land
Dew was raining on her derma
Indicating the vision to be real
Entering holiness and hope thru
God's Holy Mother will keep
Open the avenues of grace



Can you see what I did?
God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Gaudete! Rejoice!

For Gaudete Sunday (and for most of Advent) the Beatles' song 'Here Comes the Sun' will just pop into my head.

Little darling, it's been a long and lonely winter. it feels like years since you've been here.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Truth Love Beauty

The last thing known
Rated beneath
Unhappily joyful
Tenaciously life changing
Heartily real


Limitless
Overbearing
Voluminous
Eternal


Bigger badder best
Extensively excitable and entertaining
All around audacity
Umbrage at ugliness
Tantalizing tails totally trippin'
Yesterday's yellow yokel



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Dog and Bird

Apparently, I forgot to upload this yesterday. I made it, saved it, titled it, but apparently forgot to post.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Immaculate Mary

Faithful Daughter who magnifies God
To thee we give honor
For thee the moon is set
For you to stand on

Sinless Virgin whom God saved
To thee we inquire
For thee the sun hides
Behind your back

Holy Maiden who taught God
To thee we come
For thee the stars themselves
Will clothe you

Beautiful Mother who has sorrowed
To thee we cry
For thee the snake is crushed
Never to rise again

Pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

A Jedi in long robes

A Jedi in long robes
Came walking in the building
Others dressed their best
And with one voice, began to sing

Two acolytes holding lights
Were singing out too
Then the Jedi spoke out
"May the force be with you"

And with your spirit
Was the ringing response
Despite raging souls outside
Tossing out taunts

There were readings from wise men
And historical accounts
Poems and love notes
And a man on a mount

The Jedi explained
The way of the force
And how to avoid
The dark side's course

And then a reenactment
That was entirely real
Traveling through time
And a blessed meal

The sacrifice was made
As a gift for us all
Accepted by those
Who listened to the call

Those with should hear
As the Jedi walked out
The dark one's fear
At the angelic shout



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Jolly Old St. Nicholas!

I honestly think that I am improving in regards to drawing humanoid-like things. Though, I guess he shouldn't be smiling and he should have a mitre (instead of a zuchetta (did I spell that right?)) and he should be raising his hand as if to bless the people looking at him. I took liberties, nuff said.

Poison

On the edge from massive yearnings
tiptoe and sharp
straight into evil jowls thru earnings
instead saved by the angelic harp

Madness seeps into thinking
poisoning light
changing the hope of not sinking
into a deprivation of sight

A cleansing is hurtful, it pains
politely red
A shearing of all lions' manes
to steer the soul from the dead

Comfort my people

I always wondered how St. John the Baptist got his honey. While listening to Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" it merged in my head with a story about how Elijah was fed by the birds and I got this. Just a gentle reminder that even if God calls you to the desert he'll take care of you.

Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be all right.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

St. Francis Xavier

I realized that I
haven't done a haiku yet
Rectification

A serious note
Happy St. Francis Xavier
Great Missionary





A Spanish Scholar
of the Order of Jesus
Sent to lands abroad

Francis wanted to
go to China and preach but
God wanted him home

Battle

The enemies opposed and still, waiting for command
Darkest knights on deep black steeds guard with steady hand
The white washed towers of ivory protect the lord, their king
The men who walk to battle when their king doth sing
Each of these as still as the ground on which they tread

Two lords opposed and still, their men at their behest
Will walk and crawl and run and fight and kill with zealous zest
Horses will die and bishops too, who defend and guard
Filled with blood crazed rage, the queens themselves will hit them hard
Many will not survive, it will be their final rest, their last bed

Slowly the fighting slows, the carnage is so great
The remaining pieces of the fight have eyes filled with hate
Some will pick up the weapons of their fallen friends
And fight with renewed vigor using their new ends
The fight will cease only when a king will lose his head


The title of the poem is 'Chess'.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

I believe in God

I believe in God.

As I was pacing, letting my mind jump tracks as it pleases, I started to get a little angry and I automatically jumped into the Apostles Creed. One of the things which always jumps me away whatever I was thinking. In the middle of being distracted I got distracted and started thinking about that first line.

I believe in God.

Isn't that a wonderful first line? (Rhetorical question, of course it's wonderful, I mean like really). The perfect way to express a stance. I believe! I almost want to shout it out, but I'll settle for saying it in my manly man voice (in my head it sounds remarkably like Darth Vader, without the SCUBA effects).

I believe in God.

It is an interesting way to put it too. It isn't an expression of affirming the existence of God (although it has that element), for then it'd be 'I believe that God exists' instead. It isn't just an affirmation of knowledge that God exists either. To explain what I mean, think of your local Elvis fan, he may know the words to every Elvis song, know the date of every Elvis incident, while never having met Elvis. That fan might say 'I believe Elvis was (or 'is' depending on the level of Elvis fanaticism) the greatest!' or 'I believe that Elvis is still alive', but you'd never hear 'I believe in Elvis', that would sound ridiculous to Elvis fans. Consider an alternative though, that you were friends with Elvis and you loaned him your car. Your other friends ask if you were crazy, after all what would happen if the car was scratched, you love that car (and more importantly they do). At that point you might say 'I believe in Elvis', and it would sound perfectly natural. In the same way, the statement 'I believe in God' is an affirmation of Faith.

I believe in God.

My mind jumped again. This time to how well I'm acquainted with Faith, the Virtue (details at eleven, wait, 1814-1816 actually). I came to the conclusion (as always) that I'm a terrible Christian or, in the words of Marc Barnes, a Bad Catholic, especially with regards to faith. I'm not very good at believing in God. If I had such faith, I would no longer sin, I would not even consider it. If I had the heroic faith of the Saints, I would not be so confused every time I went to confession, certain that God was an idiot for not just allowing my continued existence but also forgiving me, when He knows I will just sin again. I still go to confession though, because even if my faith is not heroic, it's still there.

I believe in God.

To be honest, I was worse in the past. God is having a positive influence on me, though I'm slow and stubborn. There remains hope, there I keep watch, there I have faith.

There I believe in God.

A wonderful prayer, full of hope. Even if I'm immature and blind, those words have power. with them I make a stand.

I believe in God.

With that declaration I stand with hand outstretched, with His hand covering mine. I feel the wounds in my older brother's hands that saved me. With this declaration, I look into His face.

I believe in God.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

St. Andrew

What's weird is that I like this picture better than the one I finished Sunday.

St. Andrew pray for us,

>P<
Joshua Fahey

Shoot from the Stump of Jesse

Okay this may be taking things a little too literally...

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Brethren

Though in darkness we do walk
And our arks may need some caulk
We have life and joy today
With brethren who, with us, will pray

Numbered are the days of sin
So let the love of Christ within
Jesus calls and beckons forth
And fifth and sixth and so on of course

Rejoice and cherish all the love
From the mountain city above
And let us not just slumber here
But go to where He will appear



>P<
Joshua Fahey

Keep Watch!

One thing that bothers me about Advent is that there aren't that many songs that you can say, you know that's an Advent song, unlike say Christmas. However, there are some secular songs that do come to mind when Advent rolls around. Bob Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower' is one of them.

So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.

May God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Lamp?

There will probably be a few updates to this blog between now and Advent. Starting in Advent I will be posting once per day, as I did during Lent. Thought anyone reading this would want to know. As an aside the above is supposed to be a lamp with light spreading forward, but because of the style is in, and because of my own discomfort with this style, I felt that I had to describe what it is so that there are no misunderstandings. I think I prefer tangrams, but God created my mind in mysterious ways.

God bless
>P<
Joshua Fahey

All Saints!

I love today, and yesterday and tomorrow. Honestly, today is probably my favorite feast, even more than Christmas or Easter. One reason is that there is no commercialization of this feast (only its eve), the other is that today’s feast is undeniably Catholic and catholic (see what I did there?). I see yesterday, today, and tomorrow as a celebration of the Church. Yesterday of the Church Militant, today the Church Victorious, tomorrow the Church Suffering.

Yesterday really is the militant, we strike the greatest blow against our enemy, for Satan and his minions have their pride, and what greater blow to pride than to laugh? Halloween is a feast of mirth, we laugh at the devils, we laugh at ourselves, and have fun with the macabre. A true celebration of life seemingly overshadowed by death, in which we take death and twist it to give life, yesterday we stood the world on its head.

Today is victorious, today the battle is won, today life celebrates its victory over death. Death gave up, it lost. Today we have joy, many of our brethren have made it to the Wedding Feast. Life is good, today Christ reminds us He keeps His promises, today we can win because of Him.

Tomorrow, having survived yesterday and bolstered by today, we have solidarity. We join in prayer with those who are not perfect yet, while remembering we are not perfect. We pray for them, they pray for us, the saints pray for all. Solidarity. Humility.

We celebrate life.

May God bless it.

Pentecost and Hiatus.

Happy Pentecost!

I haven't been updating, and I won't for a while yet. I need to reassess and reevaluate and re-something else in my life, so I am asking for prayers during this time. I will be continuing to participate writing for Eucastastrophes over the summer.

Thank you for reading so far, I'll be back soon.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Haiku for Sunday

Keep my commandments
And I will ask the Father
The Spirit will come

Worry

Hello friends,

So I was reading this article by the auther of BadCatholicBlog, and it was just someting I needed to read.

Anyway it inspired me to write a poem, because that is the kind of oddball God made me.



No longer foolish mortals be
For God the fool made blind to see
Gave each of his body part
and asks that we should worry not

For worry does not do at all
It merely causes us to stall
We should yell and cry on high
And let His love within us lie

For with the Spirit nothing shall
ever harm us or evil befell
the innocent or guilty alike
He sees us each and all in sight

And NOW is when we shall be
Tis NOW not THEN or WILL is me
And NOW is where my God is
Our troubles NOW become His

What foolish mortals should we be?
If we who see, the blind should be?
If we should fail to do our part
And fill with worry our stone cold heart?

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Joyful Mysteries, kinda.

So, um. Before you read this I'd like you to say a prayer for me, because you may not want to afterwards.





To the tune of We will rock you by Queen.

Mary little girl, heard from Gabriel
Blessed virgin pure, gonna be God's momma someday
A radiant face, full of grace
Said yes to the Lord without fear of disgrace

(Chorus)
Jesus, Jesus love you (2x)

To Elizabeth's town, Mary came around
Blessed of women, gonna be so from this day
Giver of grace, of sin no trace
Helps sinners everywhere with gracious haste

Chorus

To House of Bread was sent, Ark of Covenant
Innkeepers had no room, gotta give birth anyway
Mother of Grace, in a lowly place
Gave birth to her Lord and saw His divine face

Chorus

Simeon did sing, praise to God his king
Said of Mother's heart, gonna be pierced through someday
In a sorrowful place, with a wrinkled face
Filled with grief as much as filled with grace

Chorus

At the Paschal feast, prophet king and priest
Showed to all His call, gonna do His Father's work someday
Joe and Mary haste, frown on her face
To find Christ teaching in the temple place

Chorus

Guitar solo

Chorus



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

The Gate

I am the gate. I was reminded today how often I forget that He is the gate. I can't climb over the wall by my own power, I'd simply be a thief. In order to follow Him, I must completely surrender, that is difficult especially for those of us with arrogance marring our souls. But He is the gate, He is our salvation.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Bells

Ding dong a ling
The Easter bells still sing
Ding a ling ding dong
The Allelulia song

Take a walk.

Happy Mother's day! Today's Gospel is the Emmaus Walk, in which we find that walking with Christ is good for the soul. I like walking, a lot. Whenever I think I tend to pace, around a table, back and forth down a hall. Walkings helps to clear away distractions so that I may enter other worlds easily. It also allows energy to be expended, and is good exercise.

One of my favorite places to pray the rosary is in a cemetery. It is relatively quiet, with the occasional moaning, and the rare instance of groan "Braaiins". Truly the animated denizens don't usually bother me, and in case they do a pouch of blessed salt and a slingshot make sure that there is no real danger.

Take a walk, there's good exercise, a possibilty of Buffy-style civil service (Z instead of V), and it is a good opportunity to converse. Converse with friends, with Christ, with your mother, after all it is Mother's Day.

It's the black spot!

On no Jim miboy! They've given me the black spot! Or they would if they existed.

Wow, I am really doing bad at updating this blog. Things will work out, and I will get better at this, promise.

Jesus loves you, mates!

Graceful Growth

Grime and grit, He stops and spits
Into our eyes
We wash each one, and see the sun
To our surprise

What love is poured out
In grace to each lout?
We are made clean of sin
By seeing His wounds and stepping within

Alone we are lost to freeze from frost
He warms gently
Downed disturbed, He weaves the word
We are made free

His blood poured out
To us is His shout
We are cleansed deep within
Gone to Our Lady neath her apron

Despite our disgrace
He grows from grace
Lily white lace
And a big embrace
For us to see His face

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

As this blog was started as a Lenten penance I had to make the decision to continue with this through the Easter Season or not. I have decided I will, I may not post everyday, but the blog should be updated at least twice a week. Thank you for visiting my blog through out Lent.

Jesus loves you!

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Holy Saturday!

O Light, from darkness, save us
Jesus Christ our light, He came
But before He came to save us
The darkness willed to quell His flame

The sun did set and lonesome followers
Mourning, then despair attacks within
But before the darkness claimed us
He rose so that new life could begin

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Good Friday

Pray for tormentors
That they know not what they do
Father forgive them

Pray for family
Behold your mother, your son
Father in heaven

Pray to our father
And they give me vinegar
Now it is finished



God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Holy Thursday!

Preparing for the Passover
Lamb, bread, and wine
A feast of the divine

Relaying wisdom to be relived
He who would be first must be a slave
This is how I have come to save

Calling God to consecrate
Bread to body, wine to blood
Saving us, mere Breath in mud

Sadly seeing sorrowful pain
He warned Peter of denial
And Judas of betrayal

Willing yet woeful wandering
Accepted a father's will and cup
Agonizing after His last sup

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Fourteenth Station

Jesus is buried.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Thirteenth Station

Jesus is taken down from the cross.

"Woman behold your son."
His last words to her still echoing in her ears she sees His dead body.

"Son behold your mother"
His words call to us as we stand at the cross, as we witness our mother's grief.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Twelfth Station

Jesus dies.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Palm Sunday

Holy week picture.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Eleventh Station

Jesus is nailed to the cross.

Carpenter's trade, carpenter's work, fitting to die by nails and wood. Joseph taught Him righteousness, and twas through the righteous path that He found the cross.

(btw the picture is in iPad wallpaper dimensions.)

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

A modest proposal: Strength

Strength. What is strength to a Catholic? Actually, what is strength to a human? An image of of this buff monster with herculean (literally) power easily comes to mind, but I have to believe that the ultimate showings of strength were shown in the Gospel by Christ.

Strength is different than power, or at least power as humans understand it. After all Christ is admittedly the most powerful human to have walked this earth, but He wasn’t a politician, a general, or a gladiator. Christ shows us instead what power is supposed to be used for, His healings and exorcisms were certainly one part of it. he rarely used power for destruction, but those scenes are memorable (the fig tree and the temple merchants). In fact His power seemed constrained by an amazing self-control, an adherence to a divine honor code if you will. His strength is shown in the melding of power and its right use.

Other aspects of strength, which I think as more feminine in nature, are more clearly shown in His crucifixion, namely endurance and grace. Endurance can be thought of more as acceptance. His endurance of the sufferings of His Passion and His acceptance of the joys of living are both examples of this aspect of strength. Grace or poise could best be summed up in His words on the cross “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” This aspect is rather the opposite of whining, for you notice that Christ doesn’t whine and is in fact very generous towards those He interacts with.

There have been many powerful people, but we love the strong people. We prefer David to Goliath, Robin Hood to Prince John, Hercules to Ares, Dr. King to the KKK. For the Catholic true strength comes from God, which is why both St Francis Assisi and St. Ignatius Loyola were called away from selfish pursuit of glory, and also why Christ washed the Disciples feet. This is why Christ is our Champion.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Tenth Station

Jesus is stripped of his clothes.

All His protection and security taken away as He calls us to lift the bushel baskets off of our candles.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Poetic scripture reading

Who is your father?
It is not Abraham
For you would not kill me
If it was Abraham

Who is your father?
It is not God
For you would love me
If it was God

Who is your father?
Could it be the Devil?
For you are trying to kill me
Just like the Devil

Ninth Station

Jesus falls a third time.

Instead of the kingdoms of the earth, He received a crown of thorns. Instead of bowing before Satan, He bowed under the cross.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

The Sun, the Moon, and Eleven Stars.

Eighth Station

Jesus comforts the women of Jerusalem.

"Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."

Repent

Vipered claws of death
Gutting the flowers of life
Left in ruins soul

Adversary smart
Locks the poison within heart
Chains it with the mind

The sun rises east
Shattered chains of darkness sown
Birds freed from cages

Seventh Station

Jesus falls the second time.

Christ was tempted to throw himself down so that people may see that the angels wouldn't let harm come to Him. Instead he falls under the burden of the cross, no saving angels, no compassionate people, to save us.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Reasonable Doubt (Abortion part 3)

My final reason is more Vulcan (or as I call it Spockian, but that may get confusing so it was rejected by my editor (me)). You might have heard of that philosophy that goes “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” especially if you’ve seen Wrath of Khan. My first reason was of the one, my second of the few (the parents), this last is of the many, it is in fact evolutionary.

Evolution needs the various variety. It needs diversity in order for it to work best. When we don’t have diversity we have inbreeding. Abortion cuts off diversity. Abortion is against evolutionary principles, it is against our very nature.

One objection: We can purify our genes through good breeding (from animal husbandry) and cut off offensive shoots (from gardening techniques).

Answer: Humans are neither animals nor vegetation, and even if they were they would certainly not be cattle nor some potted plant. We are far more wild than other creatures of nature. And even if you could make an argument that God (or some deity like mother nature) does in fact do these things, we are not God (or mother nature).

As it is breeding may give you an excellent racehorse, but never the best wild horse.

Sixth Station

Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

Do we give the life-giving waters to those who are unfortunate, even in defiance of the culture we face?

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Reasonable Doubt (Abortion part 2)

Last time with reason number 1, I focused on fetal personhood. I went through as logically as I could with the only objections I understood. This time I would like to expand the scope to include the main people involved (so I hope).

There has been much research done that has connected physical and psychological trauma on women who have undergone abortions. I am too lazy to actually link you up with the research, instead I offer the pathos arguments here (be careful, some parts of the website are graphic) and then be done with them.

The point I would like to make for this argument is that the one thing that everyone can agree is feminine, whether you are spartan or amazonian or chinese is that women give birth. This is THE feminine trait (I would like to forestall scoffers by saying that men are generally accused (unfairly in some cases) of thinking with theirs). I know that Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby has done an excellent job of selling how abortion allows control over this gift. This is utter hogwash. What abortion does is destroy that gift. It destroys it to the point that it could be easily said without contradiction that women are just prettier men who only get paid 75%. Women are not less than men, more than men, or the same as men. Women are women and men are men, equal and different. This is neither a prejudiced nor a bigoted statement, though it easily could be taken that way. Abortion is the enemy of feminism, and, as such, is also the enemy of masculinity (think about it, the definitions of the two are intimately linked, you can’t affect one without it affecting the other).


Reason 2: I am against abortion because it actively threatens my ability to be a good man.

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Fifth Station

Simon helps Jesus carry his cross.

We are brothers and sisters in Christ, through baptism we have the honor (like Simon) to help in the redemption of man.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

New profile picture! LAETARE!

Yippee!

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Reasonable Doubt (Abortion part 1)

There are three reasons (arguments found by reason (otherwise I’d say because I’m Catholic)) that I am against abortion. This post is my best shot (at the moment) at describing the first.


The first is of the question of the rights of the fetus. I would like to point out that as soon as conception occurs the most fundamental and (possibly) the only scientific ontological change happens. DNA. The fetus is human and alive starting from conception, this is science. The only question that comes from this is when does the fetus have rights? Most notably the right to life. As I said before the only ontological change in the fetus’s development happens at conception. I have heard less logical conjectures though, I would like to present them : brain, heart, pain, birth.

The brain, without it would we be a person? Would we have the right to live? As I have met many brainless people (scarecrows anyone?), and I assume you have too, we should be able to get rid of this one quickly. The idea that personhood depends on the brain should be ridiculous with some thought, it would imply that the smarter a person is the more of a person, the more rights, that person should have. This would regard the aged, the mentally challenged (downs, autism, etc.), the insane as being somehow subhuman. This conclusion is reprehensible, therefore my conclusion is the brain is not a good enough answer (in other news blondes everywhere breath a sigh of relief).

The heart. We allow rich bastards to live, we love the tin man, not much else to say.

Pain. There is a medical condition that exists which describes someone who cannot feel pain, the name escapes me though. Even without nerves the cowardly lion saves the day (yes that will be the last Oz reference, sorry this one was such a stretch).

Birth. The most common illogical one, if you are in the womb you aren’t a person, if you are not in the womb you are a person. If you are in (Texas | USA | love) you are a person...




First reason: I am against abortion because it is logically, scientifically, and Occam’s razorly(sharp) altruistic.

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Fourth Station

Jesus meets his grieving mother.

This station is where most of the pain of His Passion comes from. Nothing the Romans or the Jewish leaders could do could have possibly equaled the grief that mother and son felt in empathy and anguished love for one another. A sword pierces the heart.


God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Poetic scripture reading

If by the power of darkness I drive darkness out
How then is darkness dark?
By what authority of yours is darkness driven about?
The answer is rather stark.

What is divided within cannot stand without
That kingdom will be laid waste
If Satan and his darkness are in a chaotic bout
They’d be going nowhere with haste

With strength a man may guard treasure
And that treasure may be safe
Until one stronger in every measure
Takes and gives the spoils to a waif

Third Station

Jesus falls the first time.

My Lord, even when your body was beaten and worn down you refused to give into temptation. Instead you give us your very body as our daily bread.

Springing thought

Do not judge! Yet at the same time we are encouraged to correct wrongdoing. How are these rectifiable? How can we forgive seven times seventy and turn around and say stealing is wrong?

Stop

Think


Pause


Unpause


Okay, hands up, how many thought 'love the sinner, hate the sin'? Can we truly love someone who has wronged us and simultaneously want them punished?

Alright, enough questions. If we truly love someone we do not wish them to come to harm. Sin harms the sinner, and so we do our best to charitably chide one another when we show signs of entering a near occasion of sin. We are our brother's keeper, but not our brother's warden. We cannot force someone to make the right decision, we can only do our best to help them make the right one, in failing that, to minimize harm. We should remember that we are brothers and sisters ( hah, gender inclusive this time ). Above all we must learn to love as He loved (and loves and will loves).

Sorry about the shallowness of this thought, any further and I'd be drowning at the moment.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Purgatorial pathway

"If you're going through hell, keep going."        -Winston Churchill

"Last is the breath of God: Only a leap from the lion's head, shall he prove his worth."    -Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Fish swimming in the sea above oyster with pearl

I like these (and I perceive oddly)

Open to the light
Aware of where the source is
Gaining sustenance

A sight to behold
Deriving strength from the earth
Pushing to heaven

Helping water fly
Where such miracles are found
Helping travelers

Generous giver
Gently offering up fruits
For the poor and old

Merciful comfort
Allowing the weary rest
Shielding from danger

True beauty and grace
Throughout all seasons and moods
This is truly strength

Model for humans
Who seek the divine Light Source
Trees may be seen thus

Happy Annunciation!

I love finger painting!

God gave Mary a choice, she chose suffering so that her Son, our Lord, may come into this world. I am not so confident in making pictures of people to try making one of her. Therefore, noble ones, the Holy Spirit as a dove will have to do!

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

A Rhetorical Rant of Rumbling Prayer

Prayer! Fasting! Prayer! Fasting! Prayer! (Almsgiving!) Fasting! Almsgiving! Prayer!

That was fun, though perhaps I should have used all caps... eh, whatever.

Having fun praying? Good, that was the wrong question anyway. Prayer isn’t about fun, it’s about God, duh! (oooh the fun of tormenting my readers with such sharp wit!) Anyway prayer is about God, and maintaining or starting, or (in some cases) restarting said relationship. So prayer is painful when healing, because healing is painful. It is joyful when sharing, because well sharing is joyful. It is loving because, okay you got me, God is love (put that in your pipe and smoke it! Then send some to me, in a pipe please).

Some people find it hard to pray at times because of distractions, I say distractions mistractions(?) all you’re doing is trying to talk to an omniscient, omnipotent, and above all invisible God, it’s not like it’s brain surgery (although I’ve heard some mumbling about how that can help with hallucinations). Some helpful tips, religious art (this is especially useful for conversations that might cause others to call the happy hotel for you (why the happy hotel? They give you shirts so that you can hug yourself!!!!!!!)), quietness (yes still in the helpful tips list), honesty (He knows your pain and is there to listen), work at it!


!!!!!! ;-)



Where was I? Oh yes prayer, such a lovely state, no representatives in congress though (like Puerto Rico only a state not a territory). Prayer is a way to transform spiritually, it doesn’t do much good going through the motions. The final note is acting on your relationship with God.

God bless, (! <3)

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Springing thought

In the gospel for today we are reminded by Jesus that it is not the rule or the authority that makes a leader but servanthood and suffering. The two sons of Zebedee (with their mother) request the right sit at the right and left of Christ when He comes into His kingdom. It is not said why they or their mother ask this, but from the context I presume the usual reasons, power, fame, etc. These factors always make us do foolish things. Do our leaders lord it over us? Are we Gentiles or Christians.

Jesus does not ask us to forego seeking leadership, rather he calls them to servanthood. He wants us to be holy examples of humility and service, to accept the pain and suffering that comes with following Him, and to give our lives for Him and His Church.

Can you drink the chalice that He drank?

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Second Station

Jesus embraces his cross.

The biggest failure we can make is not to own up to our failures, not to accept the consequences.

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

Tree with tire swing next to stream

 

Dark thoughts

What a pain and what a laugh
Finding strain among the dead
Let us give our final breath
Our words live beyond our death

Marching for the glory of
Whatever reason that we march
Killing season will unfold
Our souls to God and country sold

Fighting against the wickedness
Of the dark great terror beheld
Plotting light amid the earth
Against our grief is framed our mirth

And the songs we hear
Though bittersweet
We will not fear
Though we may weep

The darkness gains against the throne
We will wait in silence til the sun has shone

Old Mountain Man

There was an old wise man on the top of a mountain, he often got visitors (this is odd because didn’t leave a forwarding address). One day a visitor came, as visitors to places often do (by traveling through space). This visitor started asking the old man questions, this surprised the old man tremendously. The tremendous surprise originated in parts of two, first most people didn’t see him even though many visited him, second he was seen which most people manage not to do.

The questions did not surprise him though for they went thus: “How are you doing?” and “Isn’t sitting there painful?”. The old man answered “Of course it is painful, for that is what I decided to do. Many people have told this rock things like ‘how wise’ and tossed coins making wishes. Fools the lot of them, for they have made not any attempt to do what I have done. I thank you for generous consideration, I will indeed consider it in my thoughts.”

The young man left, looking slightly confused (only the face was confused, the rest knew what it was doing). The old man pondered on the nature of wisdom coming to the conclusion that it is impossible for a human without outside help. He also saw that it was rather pointless to gain wisdom for wisdom’s sake and considered getting off his rock, then another visitor came by, yelled at the rock, and threw some money. The old man thought this isn’t all that bad, he can eat and can sleep after all.

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

First Station

Jesus is condemned to death.

Truly the most frightening laws begin with "Thou art not" rather than "Thou shalt not"

God bless,
>P<
Joshua Fahey

St. Patrick's day! woot!

From wikipedia
 (bishop's red, came at you from the diagonal huh?)

Happy St. Patrick’s day! I always think of St. Patrick as one of the best examples of how God wants missionary work done. First he is captured and sold as a slave, this presents him with an unparalleled opportunity to learn humility. As a slave St. Patrick learns the language, religion, and customs of the Irish. These attributes were necessary for him to convert the peoples hearts. The Irish culture wasn’t destroyed or made less than it was, rather from this conversion the Irish culture became more Irish (now at this point a rational person would ask what the heck does that mean, but that’s okay because no rational person would be reading this blog) by this I mean (psych) that the vast majority of St. Patrick led Ireland from were shackles that limited the Irish from being Irish (psych again). At this point I give up on trying to explain what I mean, if you really want to know ask God (as a side would put in a good word for me? I apparently need help in forming coherent blog posts. Thanks!).

God bless, (and drink responsibly (ah really, so don't do something stupid (i.e. cause your own death)))

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Springing thought

I’d love to talk about something I noticed in today's first reading, that I’d not noticed before. It says that Jonah went preaching to Nineveh which required three days to walk across and in only one day of preaching Nineveh repented. It struck me that a task that might require at least three days to accomplish (normally) required only one. God gives us tasks that seem impossible or unreasonable, but after we start them they are accomplished miraculously (at times). It got me thinking that this blog may be more important then something to do during Lent that forces me to think about God.

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

A modest proposal: Our Father

Today’s Gospel is one of the passages in which Jesus teaches His disciples the Lord’s prayer (aka the Our Father, aka the Pater Noster, aka ...). The passage is an indication that it is not the number of words that He listens to, but what is in our hearts. The Lord’s prayer is as much for our benefit as for His, in it we learn that He considers us family, that He will provide our needs (if asked), that He will protect us from the Fallen One, and it also provides a Golden Rule type of clause. This prayer is as much a conversation as an offering, it is a living set of words that will help bring to mind what we lack in our part as well as what we should be asking for. This is such an important prayer that we say it at mass, that we say it as part of the Divine Office, and that it is an integral part of many devotions (including, but not limited too, the rosary). As the psalm says ‘From all their distress, God rescues the just.’, it is appropriate that after we pray the Lord’s prayer at mass the priest prays for an end to anxiety. God truly does care, shouldn't we trust Him?

Here’s a thought:

our Father we love

forgive us as we forgive
gives us daily bread

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

A modest proposal: respect

The true marks of holiness include humility, charity, and faith. There is also a mark called respect, respect for enemies, respect for sinners, respect for victim and oppressor. Unlike the attribute tolerance, which is perverted by this society far beyond it's use and ability, respect requires associating with the other not separating from the other.

Let's look at this from another aspect, humans are necessarily community beings. Even so called loners and hermits have interaction with the other. From the evolutionary perspective we have been designed for communication, from our brains which seem designed for languages to our tendency to create complex infrastructures for social development. Toleration isolates us, respect unites us. From this we can see that for any civilization to truly work requires respect to be permeated throughout the culture.

A respectful person is polite, caring, and honest. A respectful person would seek to understand differences. A respectful person does not push someone to make a decision, but encourages someone to “smell the roses” and offers to help. A respectful person may be offended, but if such a person is offended there would be a charitable response. How many respectful people do you know? Does your culture actively encourage such people to exist?

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey

Jesus loves you.

Political Rant: Education

After watching this, I wanted to talk about education. I agree with what this guy says (after all he’s a knight how cool is that?!). And with the arrogance that comes with being young, Catholic, home-schooled k-12, and a Software Engineer graduate from Michigan Tech I have compiled a few points that I believe will help enliven our zombie education system. 

St. Albert the Great (from wikipedia)

    First, I believe that we have lost a great deal of our American identity and that the loss of identity can be repaired (though not entirely) by an emergence of art in our culture. So art should be encouraged more by using a structure that will least inhibit creativity in any subject.

    Second, I believe that the subject of philosophy is neglected or put off until college (and even then neglected). It is not only a loss of the study of philosophy that is lamentable in this, but an education in how to think guided by the greatest thinkers of history that will certainly prove to be of service in personal contentment as well as innovation.
     Third, I believe that religion is a great part of the identity of people and we cannot truly understand one another without a respect for the various religions of the world. We cannot respect what we do not understand, if we ignore it via tolerance, the problem won’t disappear (it may, in fact, become worse). We should be taught what religion is and how it affects people, again this should be done respectfully and not done in a bigoted fashion.
    Fourth, Mathematics is important. It is so important that we need to revise how it is generally taught (lifelessly though that depends on the teacher. I have thoroughly enjoyed mine). Memorization is a great tool, but not the only one. Math is an integral part of our society, reducing it to mere numbers is a crime.
    Fifth, language and languages. English is an important subject, it helps us to write and read better (if taught well). Foreign languages should be available at a much younger age, elementary and middle school, because when we reach puberty there is a sharp decline in our ease of acquiring language. The difficulty only gets worse as we get older.
    Sixth, the last point I want to make is the most fundamental. Education should be about our gifts, and giving us the tools to be who we should be. As a Catholic, I see that God created each every one of us to be someone in His plan. Not all of us are called to be publicly great, but all are called to be great.

Oh and one more thing, our system should help learning throughout our life. It mostly does through community colleges and libraries, but I thought that that should be a reminder to keep moving forward.

God bless,

>P<

Joshua Fahey