Is My Phylactery Showing?

Hmmmm. Derived from the MBTI apparently.

The Three Question Personality Test

I've almost always scored as an INTP or INTF (the I/E and P/F being borderline).

Heh heh.

Patrick Coffin has some dire warnings for those wailers and gnashers of teeth in the Great White North.

Uh oh.

My favorite?

"* Disguised as curlers looking for a bonspiel, US troop formations have begun outside Canadian cities. Be very afraid."

I made a curling joke one Sunday when I got up during the end-of-Mass announcements to ask for support for the foodbank I run.

Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical is finally here. You can read the text of Deus Caritas Est from the Vatican's web site.

One of the things I noted about our late Holy father John Paul II's encyclicals is that the style seems to me a bit verbose, circular (not logically, but thematically and structurally), and parenthetical. That's not to say that his words weren't profound—merely that the style wasn't as direct as I would've preferred.

I just finished reading Anne Rice's Christ the Lord. I will likely post a review of sorts in a day or two. I could dig deep into the guts of the novel and explore what I think are the internal contradictions and/or consistencies with Catholic doctrine, but I think to do so would be to completely to miss the point of the book.

Stay tuned...

For those few who've dropped by before, you might've noticed a small change in the masthead. During morning prayer, I came across this reading in 1 Peter, and it helped me to put my ambivalence about Internet apologetics into a frame of reference.

I've enagaged in a number of discussions with non-Catholics, liberal Catholics, and traditionalist Catholics on various message boards and blogs, and I've simply stopped posting in forums.

Not sure I should admit this. However, my wife's confirmation name is Joan, so I don't feel too bad.

You are Joan of Arc! You don't really want to hurt

anyone, but if they attack your friends or your

country and no-one else will stand up to fight

them, you head into the battle. Beware though,

conviction tends to get you killed.

JanJan at WITH ISSUE is asking for prayers for her daughter who's teaching in a rough spot in Capetown. Please add her to your daily intentions tonight and tomorrow.

I didn't fulfill my promise to blog more over the holidays. Instead I decided to do something I haven't done in several years—I took a lengthy vacation (lengthy being a week or more). I read, played games, worked out, ate, and essentially ignored work.

I've been catching back up on work, and I'm not taking a class this semester, so now I have no excuse. Okay, that's not true. I do have an excuse, which I'll get to in a moment. However, I will try to be more diligent.

Tagged for the first time by Anonymous Teacher Person over at Scrutinies. Here's the meme:

Create a post with these directions as your text. Comment on the post by creating an acronym for your blog from the "type this secret code to be allowed to comment" letters.

Got it? Add a comment to your OWN post. I'm tagging Julie D., JanJan, Albertus Minimus, and Der Tommissar (who appears to be slacking off lately on the blogging).

Thank goodness.

HT to G.