OLV: Student v. Staff Volleyball and Basketball

Well this morning we had the big game. We played three games of volleyball (2 student wins, 1 staff win) The staff won the basketball game, hands down. For what it is worth I played for the staff. Here are some photos. Enjoy

Pre-Lent Confessions

Well Lent is just around the corner, and with Lent comes Penance services. Well on Wednesday we had a Penance service at All Saints in Dunwoody. It has become and annual tradition at All Saints to have a mission just before Lent and one of those nights they have the Penance service and Msgr. "Doc" Keirnan invites all the priest of the Archdiocese to help out and then a dinner after. It is always a good time, here are some photos to prove that a good time was had by all. Enjoy

Font frame construction

Here are some up to date photos of the font. The guys you see in the photos came in and in about 2.5 hours and put all the block out and leveled, it was amazing to see craftsmen at work. You will see for yourself this weekend but it is amazing. enjoy

Never in Tyrone

Why can't we ever have something this cool in Tyrone?

It is something in Tokyo Bay, put in by Sony to promote a new movie. It looks neat on this little video, bet it was a bit better IRL. Enjoy

Lent is just a week away!

CC Photo: LarimdaME

Are you ready for Lent 2008? If you are like me you have thought about it but have not decided how this Lent will be something special. We have a week left, perhaps we should prepare ourselves??? (FYI Masses here at St. Matthew are 9am and 7pm) So what are you going to do? How are you going to use it as a time to change? Will sacrifice be too much? Will doing more not help? What are you going to do and more importantly how will your Lenten journey increase the Joy of the Lord in your heart? If you have ideas use the comments to share them, lets see if we can support each other on our common journey during Lent.

Here is something, attributed to Thomas Merton, I got from a priest friend around New Year's but I think it works well for Lent. Maybe it will stimulate some thoughts for you.

Pay attention to people.
Fewer things honor people as much, or make them peaceful more readily, or give them an experience of their worth as clearly as paying attention to them.

Verbalize human experience and teach others to do this.
The more inarticulate we are, the more likely it is that we might seek violence as a way of expressing ourselves.

Reject excessive activity, accomplishments or success.
There is something belligerent about frenetic action.

Practice contemplation.
Contemplation is defined as life review, in silence, connecting our reflection with the ideals we have not achieved, making amends for things we regret, and thanking God for the good we were given, the losses we survived, the love we received beyond all measure.

Embrace silence.
Silence is shattered not by speaking but by eagerness and anxiety to be heard by others. Silence invites others to speak. Genuine silence is creative and liberating.

Resist consumerism.
A desperate need to possess is a form of violence.

Lose, then let go.
We are acculturated to go from success to success. Losing gracefully, even in terms of the long run, is a remarkable virtue. Clutching at success, when letting go is necessary, destroys us.

Read Scripture.
If you were to read Scripture reflectively for only five minutes a day, your life would be enriched. Scripture makes the norm, not whatever is presently fashionable, but what is truly enduring. It roots us and gives us peace amid the turbulence of passing crises we face.

Maintain a sense of history.
We become frantic when we see life in the short run. In the longer view of human history or even our personal histories, patterns of meanings emerge. The good does prevail.

Hold the conviction that people are basically good.
People must be reliable or else the Gospel would not have lasted; Christ would have been forgotten. Much of the violence done in the name of religion has been premised on the idea that people are evil.

May the energies of your heart invite the Holy Spirit to visit you with ever-increasing frequency for dispassion. Eastern Orthodox benediction.

Rice

Seems as if there is lots out there about rice so here is a quick post gathered from recommendations of others and stuff I have found myself. You know how much I love rice and have even posted about my new favorite forbidden rice. Well Jim Immel sent me this link to a project that donates rice, with a small catch. From their website:

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.

I thought this sounded fishy so I checked it out and it all seems to be on the up and up. I have a personal best, so far, of 1100 Grains donated on a Vocabulary Level of 40, can you top that? Freerice also has a sister site Poverty.com, I would encourage you to go read some of their stuff on poverty...find out where the US falls in a list of countries who give to help the poor of the world. Find out the different diseases that are made worse (or deadly) because of poverty.

Then the boingers had a vlog about rice used to show demographics. It was done by a group called Stan's Cafe, a theatre company. Here are some links about the display: here, and here , and of course here is a video. Enjoy

Fritti

Fritti is the best place for Italian style pizza in Atlanta. In fact they are the only people in Georgia with Certified by Verace Pizza Napoletana, and mmmmm is it good. They are the sister restaurant to Sotto Sotto, which is probably one of my over all favorites in Atlanta. Anyway I had dinner at Fritti the other night and it was spectacular as usual. If you go, try the fried mushrooms and the fried calamari. As for the pizza it is the Fungi di Bosco, or nothing else. Enjoy

NO, PAPARAZZO

Fr. Paul (Skinny Paul) says, "No" to this paparazzo! Denied!

My new favorite store in Atlanta

I love H Mart in Riverdale. It is a Korean grocery store with load and loads of cool food stuffs, and I love 'em, ok that might be a bit much but I love this place. I found a place that carries forbidden rice and natto, all in one store. They have a total section devoted to rice, variates of white rice you have never heard of. Since it is Korean, a whole section of kimchi, if you are into that stuff. (anyone work for a Korean company? Millers?) Anyway, you should go for a few reasons, whanna hear them? here they are:

1. Fresh Vegetables, all sorts
2. Fresh Fish, pick them out of a tank and have them cleaned before your eyes
3. Rice
4. Any type juice you want
5. Natto
6. Different types of sweets from all over Asia
7. Variety of hot sauces
8. Yogurt Scotch
9. Fun things you have never seen...trust me.
10. Tofu all varieties
11. Frozen swamp eel!
    

They also have a food court with all types of Oriental food, yummy! Here are my photos of the expedition to the H Mart (I have added captions for your enjoyment). Enjoy

what is this about?

Ok so at the Mass on last Monday this guy was in front of us the whole time. It kinda bugged me, what with aligning Christianity with warfare. This is not the first time I have been troubled by it, but it just kind of bothered me at the Mass for Life. Anyway, what do you think. Oh, and since I am asking for comments. When you are done commenting, just make sure to leave your name at the end of the post or sign up for an account so I know who you are. So again, what do you think?

And if you cannot read his shirt (click photo for larger view) it says:
Christian life is WARFARE. Hit hard, with heroic virtue. Hit fast with the 10 commandments. Hit often with vigilant prayer.

Oh and when you read it remember who said it first, and in what setting.