so here I am after a 14 hour day of revision! (well, not 14 consecutive hours...I did eat, go to Mass and surf the net for a little while!!)
In one week's time, I will have finished all my exams....in 12 hours I will just have started.
So if you read this in time...please say a prayer for my exams....9am - noon GMT, & then again 1:30am - 4pm GMT tomorrow (Friday).
(in fact, if you read it after...maybe say a little prayer for the examiner...so that they will be able to read my illegibile exam scrawl, and..you know...be generous with their allocation of points!)
(I then have another few days of exams next week).
But waaaaay more important than my exams.....my brother is taking the first of his law finals tomorrow morning (yes, 2 siblings in an exam at the same time...needless to say my parents are going to Mass at the crack of dawn for us!)
My brother's future relies pretty heavily on these exams so please, forget about my pathetic exams, and ask the Holy Spirit to help him remember everything he has revised and to do well.
I think I am getting too old for these exam shenanigans! I think I have had my fair share of exams!
Ah well, if I pass these...then I will be in my 6th AND FINAL year of MEDICAL SCHOOL!!
Oh my word, in one year's time I will be a few weeks away from being a REAL doctor!!
(if I make it!)
Now is the point at which I was going to go to google and search for a nice exam prayer to put at the end of this post ...but it's 10:28pm....I need to say my rosary and get in to bed!
Dear Holy Spirit, please all those taking exams at this time. That our minds may be clear and we may remember all that we have revised. May your holy will be done in all things.
Amen
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Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
me & my revision
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
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St. Bona of Pisa (1156-1207)
Bona was a mystic, visionary, and an Augustinian tertiary by age ten.
On the way home from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she was captured by Muslim pirates, but was later rescued.
As I read the details of today's Saint-of-the-day, it made me think of Madeleine McCann, who was kidnapped in Portugal almost a month ago now, and hasn't been seen.
The anguish and pain of her parent's must be unimaginable.
May St. Bona of Pisa, a girl who once was kidnapped herself, join her prayers to ours as we pray for Madeleine's safe and speedy return.
~~
Monday, May 28, 2007
8 things..
I have been tagged for a couple of memes...and here is the first one from FloridaWife & Jackie Parkes....
"List 8 facts/habits about yourself..”
So 8 things you didn't know about me..
1. I lived in Saudi Arabia till I was almost 17 years old
(that's a whole post in itself!)
2. I have pretty big feet. UK Size 9.
3. I am 1 m 73cm tall ( I think that's about 5 feet 9 inches)
( I still don't think that justifies the foot size!)
4. This is what my lungs look like:
yep, that is an actual x-ray of my chest from a few days ago! I had to have it done for the Canadian High Commission in order to go to Canada to do my medical elective.
I am happy to report that I do not have tuberculosis!
(...& I don't have HIV or syphilis either!!) (...2 other tests the Canadian High Commission require us to have done!)
5. I truely believe it was St. Raphael's intercession that helped Chris & I meet.
(Two months after praying 3 novenas to St. Raphael that he would help look after my future spouse and keep him safe & chaste....I met Chris! And from week 1 I knew in my heart that we would be married!)
6. I really like walking in the rain under an umbrella.
Although, as I never walk anywhere and only cycle....I usually get soaking wet when it rains!
(...but I much prefer sunshine and warmth!)
7. I go through phases of being really obsessed with certain foods, and then being not so interested in them. In the recent past I have had snicker's phases, M&Ms, beetroot, penut-butter and jam, and now I am onto a pineapple craze!
8. Did you know Chris proposed to me in St. Anthony's Basillica (Padua, N. Italy) on September 8th 2005 (Mary's birthday) in front of a Statue of Our Lady?
This is a picture of me a few moments after saying yes!
--
...and now back to revision!!
"List 8 facts/habits about yourself..”
So 8 things you didn't know about me..
1. I lived in Saudi Arabia till I was almost 17 years old
(that's a whole post in itself!)
2. I have pretty big feet. UK Size 9.
3. I am 1 m 73cm tall ( I think that's about 5 feet 9 inches)
( I still don't think that justifies the foot size!)
4. This is what my lungs look like:
yep, that is an actual x-ray of my chest from a few days ago! I had to have it done for the Canadian High Commission in order to go to Canada to do my medical elective.
I am happy to report that I do not have tuberculosis!
(...& I don't have HIV or syphilis either!!) (...2 other tests the Canadian High Commission require us to have done!)
5. I truely believe it was St. Raphael's intercession that helped Chris & I meet.
(Two months after praying 3 novenas to St. Raphael that he would help look after my future spouse and keep him safe & chaste....I met Chris! And from week 1 I knew in my heart that we would be married!)
6. I really like walking in the rain under an umbrella.
Although, as I never walk anywhere and only cycle....I usually get soaking wet when it rains!
(...but I much prefer sunshine and warmth!)
7. I go through phases of being really obsessed with certain foods, and then being not so interested in them. In the recent past I have had snicker's phases, M&Ms, beetroot, penut-butter and jam, and now I am onto a pineapple craze!
8. Did you know Chris proposed to me in St. Anthony's Basillica (Padua, N. Italy) on September 8th 2005 (Mary's birthday) in front of a Statue of Our Lady?
This is a picture of me a few moments after saying yes!
--
...and now back to revision!!
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Saturday, May 26, 2007
Lyon, France
So while I have spent this last week revising all my 'ologies' (as people in my comment box called them!) , and daily increasing my mean number of hours spent in the library (reaching a peak at 13 hours yesterday) (...and crashing to 5 hours today because I was totally exhausted!), my dear darling husband has spent the last week living it up in a chateau in Lyon, France.
However he was significantly less impressed (& even slightly traumatised) by this particular meal:
A blob of rice, and some funny reconstitued fish roll....and then of course...the head:
un magnifique château
You may remember me saying a few weeks ago that he had been working at the lab till well after midnight for over a month (...Saturdays & Sundays included), because they had absolutely so much research to do for this conference thing.
Well, this last week in Lyon was that conference.
Luckily Chris did manage to get all his research done and his presentation written up (...with 5 whole hours to spare!!)
He came home at almost 1am in the wee hours of Monday morning....and at 6:30am on Monday he caught the train to France!!! woohoo for St. Joseph's intercession!
He gave his presentation on Tuesday, and spent the rest of the week relaxing...errr...'working hard' at the conference.
(seriously though, they went wine-tasting, had dinner in a vineyard, the castle had its own pool & tennis courts, they each got their own private appartment with flat screen tv...how much hard work could it possibly have been?!)
[edit: Chris corrected me...apparently each appartment had TWO flat screen tvs....]
[need I say more?!]
fancy trees!
There were even peacocks wandering round the castle grounds!!
Chris, hard at work:
The high-light for Chris was no doubt the food they got served; gourmet food at every meal.
Such as this apparently exquisite dessert ( he didn't save me any so I can't verify whether it actually was exquisite)
(jealous?! moi?! never!)
Red wine sorbet on a splash of caramel with a pastry stuffed with fresh cream and fresh wild fruits and berries with yummy chocolate at the bottom....
Chris, hard at work:
The high-light for Chris was no doubt the food they got served; gourmet food at every meal.
Such as this apparently exquisite dessert ( he didn't save me any so I can't verify whether it actually was exquisite)
(jealous?! moi?! never!)
Red wine sorbet on a splash of caramel with a pastry stuffed with fresh cream and fresh wild fruits and berries with yummy chocolate at the bottom....
However he was significantly less impressed (& even slightly traumatised) by this particular meal:
A blob of rice, and some funny reconstitued fish roll....and then of course...the head:
Seriously, noone wants that kinda thing looking up at them from their plate!!
IT HAS EYES!
(heeheee! I set this image as the background on Chris's laptop!!)
There was also a Chapel in the Chateaux grounds, disused of course, but apparently quite pretty:
Chris said it has a lot of pigeon poo all over the place as they couldn't keep the pigeons out, which is a shame.
and this is the main baillica in Lyon; The Basilica of Notre Dame.
And although France may be a basically pagan country now-a-days with the number of practising Catholics slim-to-none (like Italy) (...I can say that, I am half-Italian and have seen the country from the inside), it's not too difficult to find evidence of their once flourishing faith; such as this statue of the Sacred Heart:
and look; what a touching sight, some sweet person had put a little flower in Jesus's hand:
awww! There is still faith in some people's hearts!
anyway, just a random selection of Chris's France-photos.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
smoking ban!
I found this picture and I just had to share it...I need something exciting to brighten my loong days of isolation in the library....woooohooo, only 5 weeks to the England smoking ban!!
That means no more smoking in public places!! YEY!!
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Saturday, May 19, 2007
Liturgical Dance..with the Eucharist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRULNTperWE
I think this is objectively horrendous and awful and so insulting to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Priest looks absolutely ridiculous; it's almost painful to watch when he then picks up the monstrance and starts dancing around with it.
I had seen it a couple of month ago, but laurathecrazymama recently posted it on her site and I was reminded of it.
I put it on here because if you go click 'youtube' in the bottom right of the video screen, and go to the corresponding youtube page, there is a pretty impressive conversation going on about this. I was surprsied at how many thousands of people thought that this was a horrible sacrilege.
It always makes me happy when I discover that there are lots of people out there who do love Jesus and want to live as His Church teaches!!
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3 weeks from freedom...
and 2 weeks from pain....!
My exams start in 2 weeks (& will be finished in 3! yippeee)!
I can't wait till they are over (just wish I didn't actually have to suffer through them first!) Life has been pretty revision focused over the last couple of weeks; this last week I have been in the library for an average of 10 hours each day (...yeh, I wish I was joking!) and I have a bunch more stuff I need to make sure I get done in the next 2 weeks before they start.
On the plus side, at least the weather has been AWFUL! It makes sitting in the library a lot easier to bear!
Chris himself has been pretty hard-working this last week; while I've been coming from the library at about 9-10pm every night, he's been coming back from the lab at about midnight!
He goes to France this Monday for a conference and has a load of research that he needs to present to his PhD sponsors at the conference, and so has been working pretty hard to make sure the data is collected and analysed.
(yes, you could say that he probably should have done it all by now given that we are 48hrs away from his departure to France, but his lab has been having some serious work-shop technician related problems as the technicians haven't managed to make all the stuff he needs to experiment on till last week!)
So needless to say.....I am looking forward to exactly one month when I will be on that plane flying to Boston for a week ...and then to British Columbia for 5 weeks!!
yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
but for now....back to histopathology, haematology, immunology, genetics & clinical biochemistry!
---
My exams start in 2 weeks (& will be finished in 3! yippeee)!
I can't wait till they are over (just wish I didn't actually have to suffer through them first!) Life has been pretty revision focused over the last couple of weeks; this last week I have been in the library for an average of 10 hours each day (...yeh, I wish I was joking!) and I have a bunch more stuff I need to make sure I get done in the next 2 weeks before they start.
On the plus side, at least the weather has been AWFUL! It makes sitting in the library a lot easier to bear!
Chris himself has been pretty hard-working this last week; while I've been coming from the library at about 9-10pm every night, he's been coming back from the lab at about midnight!
He goes to France this Monday for a conference and has a load of research that he needs to present to his PhD sponsors at the conference, and so has been working pretty hard to make sure the data is collected and analysed.
(yes, you could say that he probably should have done it all by now given that we are 48hrs away from his departure to France, but his lab has been having some serious work-shop technician related problems as the technicians haven't managed to make all the stuff he needs to experiment on till last week!)
So needless to say.....I am looking forward to exactly one month when I will be on that plane flying to Boston for a week ...and then to British Columbia for 5 weeks!!
yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
but for now....back to histopathology, haematology, immunology, genetics & clinical biochemistry!
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pretty scary
women attacked during the night by a psychiatric patient while doing perpetual adoration in a Catholic Church
Thank God the Church had CCTV!
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thanks to: glacc.blogspot.com
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Thank God the Church had CCTV!
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thanks to: glacc.blogspot.com
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Friday, May 18, 2007
awww!!
" If I want to send a birthday or Christmas card to a friend or family I can do it myself now !"
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Thursday, May 17, 2007
Using NFP
The Catholic Church's teaching on sex and contraception must be one of the absolutely worst understood areas of Catholic teaching in the entire world.
Basically no non-Catholics understand it, and the percentage of Catholics who understand it is probably single figures.
and the use of natural family planning (NFP) is possibly even more poorly understood.
I find it funny sometimes (in an odd way), how at one moment I am defending the scientific basis of NFP with non-religious doctors (even gynaecologists!!), trying to stress that, yes, it does work; no, it is not that difficult to learn; no, women don't need perfectly regular cycles to use it; no, it's not the same as the rhythm method.
and then I can be trying to convince contracepting-Catholics that there IS a huge moral difference between contraception and NFP, and that the Church does still teach that contraception is wrong and you really should be listening.
and then (for me the most surreal part), trying to convince orthodox Catholics who agree with the Church's teaching on sex and marriage, that the Church doesn't (and has never) asked & expected married couples to procreate with every act of intercourse throughout their married lives, the Church (with St. Paul) does actually teach that, while always being generous, couples may abstain from having children for a time if they deem it to be necessary. and that NFP isn't the work of the devil, or some liberal 1960s pseudo-contraceptive compromise!!
So anyway,
here is a fantastic article I recommend reading.
It isn't about the science of NFP....it isn't about the morals behind using NFP....
(info on both of those can be found here and here)
it's on what Humane Vitae's ACTUALLY teaches about spacing births, and when it is morally justifiable to.
artcle here - highly recomended.
thanks to RadicalCatholicMom
----------------
Basically no non-Catholics understand it, and the percentage of Catholics who understand it is probably single figures.
and the use of natural family planning (NFP) is possibly even more poorly understood.
I find it funny sometimes (in an odd way), how at one moment I am defending the scientific basis of NFP with non-religious doctors (even gynaecologists!!), trying to stress that, yes, it does work; no, it is not that difficult to learn; no, women don't need perfectly regular cycles to use it; no, it's not the same as the rhythm method.
and then I can be trying to convince contracepting-Catholics that there IS a huge moral difference between contraception and NFP, and that the Church does still teach that contraception is wrong and you really should be listening.
and then (for me the most surreal part), trying to convince orthodox Catholics who agree with the Church's teaching on sex and marriage, that the Church doesn't (and has never) asked & expected married couples to procreate with every act of intercourse throughout their married lives, the Church (with St. Paul) does actually teach that, while always being generous, couples may abstain from having children for a time if they deem it to be necessary. and that NFP isn't the work of the devil, or some liberal 1960s pseudo-contraceptive compromise!!
So anyway,
here is a fantastic article I recommend reading.
It isn't about the science of NFP....it isn't about the morals behind using NFP....
(info on both of those can be found here and here)
it's on what Humane Vitae's ACTUALLY teaches about spacing births, and when it is morally justifiable to.
artcle here - highly recomended.
thanks to RadicalCatholicMom
----------------
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
English Catholic Places
Joee Blogs tagged me for this meme of my 5 favourite Catholic places in England...
1. MASS
1. MASS
Definitly my absolute number 1 favourite Catholic place to be in England!!
(and this is one of my favourite images ever. I sometimes think of this picture during the elevation of the host at Mass.)
2. THE CHURCH I GOT MARRIED IN
This Church is definitly one of my favourite places. It's so peaceful and quiet, I really like just being in the building. It also has the most beautiful stained glass windows
It's dedicated to the Holy Family, and as you can see to the right is a little altar to Our Lady, and to the left, to St. Joseph. For those of you who weren't reading my blog at the time of my wedding, Chris & I had a prayer of consecration to the Holy Family said during our Nuptial Mass, and then we went and laid a bouquet of flowers to Mary, and a bouquet to St. Joseph while the congregation sang a marian hymn. It was so lovely!
There is also a big statue of The Sacred Heart of Jesus, a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Anthony and St. Therese of Lisieux in the Church as well (not seen in the photo).
Here is a view of the back of the Church:
3. WITH THE CARMELITES
If you have been to this convent, you will know this nun!
Aaah, the Carmelites! What's not to love about them?!
I spent the weekend before my wedding on a retreat alone at a Carmeltie convent.
I can't recommend it highly enough. It was absolutly one of the most spiritually energising times ever.
4. MINSTER ABBEY
(this photo does not do it justice!)
Technically, St. Mildred''s Priory; home 2 dozen or so Benedictine nuns.
Went on retreat there once; they are so sweet, so kind, so hospitable! The grouns are beautiful and peaceful. (& the food was also outstanding!)
It was also the place where I first got to know St. Therese of Lisieux.
I would really like to go again one day.
5. WITH CHRIS
Yes, I do believe being with Chris is a justifiable choice for 'favourite Catholic places'!
He is one holy boy, Catholic through and through, and he makes me a better Catholic girl every day.
Here he is leading the rosary just before our Nuptial Mass.
(I was at home still faffing around with my dress, hair, make-up and bouquet at this point!) (see what I mean about him being a good Catholic influence?!)
okay....I tag...AutumnRose...Catholic Mom of 10, Jackie Parkes, Mac & UKOK!
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no, seriously?!
THAT sold for $72.8 million (that's £36.7 million)?!!how?!!
why?!!
huh?!!
who has that kind of money to spend on things like that?!!
I understand the concept of modern art in theory...that random simple mundane things can have a deeper symbolism and meaning than they first appear....but seriously £36.7 million! I don't even understand how much money that is! For a bit of paint!
Maybe I'm not artistic enough....
surely anyone can do modern art like that?
Oh loook...my mug, half-filled with tea...it represents modern life, a symbol for how our lives are so rushed and hectic that we never manage to finish what we start, never have time to enjoy the simple things to the full, and then when we go back to them, they are cold and stagnant and unpalatable.
(hey, that's pretty good!)
(oh dear, maybe my 11 hours in the library today have sent me a bit funny...)
Now THIS is art!
(try the virtual tour!)
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Monday, May 14, 2007
Downs Syndrome
VIDEO ON DOWN'S SYNDROME
Over 90% of women who find that they have a Down's Syndrome baby have an abortion and most obstetricians encourage it (..or do nothing to discourage it), and it is almost expected that women will abort with this diagnosis.
in this video parents of children with Down's Syndrome go to hospitals to speak with Dr.'s about what it's like to have Down's Syndrome child and to show them what children with Down's Syndome are like (as probably most obstetricians have no contact with Down's Syndrome children) (...they only contact they have is prenatal in-utero diagnosis and then aborting them).
I honestly can't understand abortion.
There are many sins that I can understand why people do...sex before marriage, contraception, divorce ( for the love of God, don't ever do any of them! ) , I can see how people could stray, be brainwashed by Satan's lies and fall into that trap....but abortion?!!
Killing your own child while they are actually living INSIDE your body?!!
How do people talk themselves into that and justify it to themselves?
Abortion literally makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.
I was talking about it with my brother a while ago and we both actually had to stop speaking about it because it is just so vile and cruel that it was really quite upsetting.
I'm not making any judgements on the women involved, but the sickening joy that it must bring to Satan to know that innocent children are being slaughtered just makes me want to shudder.
anyway, the video is quite good.
anyway, back to revision (so that, please God and through His grace only, I will one day be a doctor who supports Life!)
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Over 90% of women who find that they have a Down's Syndrome baby have an abortion and most obstetricians encourage it (..or do nothing to discourage it), and it is almost expected that women will abort with this diagnosis.
in this video parents of children with Down's Syndrome go to hospitals to speak with Dr.'s about what it's like to have Down's Syndrome child and to show them what children with Down's Syndome are like (as probably most obstetricians have no contact with Down's Syndrome children) (...they only contact they have is prenatal in-utero diagnosis and then aborting them).
I honestly can't understand abortion.
There are many sins that I can understand why people do...sex before marriage, contraception, divorce ( for the love of God, don't ever do any of them! ) , I can see how people could stray, be brainwashed by Satan's lies and fall into that trap....but abortion?!!
Killing your own child while they are actually living INSIDE your body?!!
How do people talk themselves into that and justify it to themselves?
Abortion literally makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.
I was talking about it with my brother a while ago and we both actually had to stop speaking about it because it is just so vile and cruel that it was really quite upsetting.
I'm not making any judgements on the women involved, but the sickening joy that it must bring to Satan to know that innocent children are being slaughtered just makes me want to shudder.
anyway, the video is quite good.
anyway, back to revision (so that, please God and through His grace only, I will one day be a doctor who supports Life!)
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exams & St. Joseph
My dear sweet daddy sent this prayer to my brother & I, as we are both piled high with revision (my brother is in the last year of Law school, so he is currently revising pretty hard too).
Dear goodness, only 2.5 weeks till the nightmare...err...exams begin, and only 4 weeks till I am freeeeeeeeeeeee! (...till it all begins again a few months later!).
I have been working pretty consistantly all year but the workload is just...ginormous and there is so much to learn!
anyway, I will entrust it all to St. Joseph with this prayer my dad sent me:
Dear goodness, only 2.5 weeks till the nightmare...err...exams begin, and only 4 weeks till I am freeeeeeeeeeeee! (...till it all begins again a few months later!).
I have been working pretty consistantly all year but the workload is just...ginormous and there is so much to learn!
anyway, I will entrust it all to St. Joseph with this prayer my dad sent me:
Prayer to St. Joseph the Workman
O Glorious St Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labour, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honour to employ and develop by means of labour the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity
of intention and detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch, St Joseph. Such shall be my watchword in life and in death.
Amen.
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Sunday, May 13, 2007
ain't nothing like a good conversion story to make you smile....
here
thanks to Carmel over at Winterr's words
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here
thanks to Carmel over at Winterr's words
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Saturday, May 12, 2007
It's good to be reminded...
Whenever we are tempted to compare ourselves to others and congratulate ourselves on how "well" we are doing...
"Lord, have mercy on us for we are sinners."
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[Jesus said:] "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.'
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:10-14).
"Lord, have mercy on us for we are sinners."
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they are so biased!
I don't own a tv, and kinda hope I never will (mainly because 99.8% of what is on tv is total and utter brain-rotting trash, in my humble opinion, and it is also a complete waste of time). I don't really read the secular news too often either, if anything, the BBC website once a week or so; I mainly just keep up to date with what's going on in the world via catholic news sites and Chris.
However, with the recent kidnapping of that little girl Madeleine in Portugal, I've been checking the BBC news about 5 times a day to see if there are any developments.
Poor parents. What a tragically horrendous situation. I don't think it is possible to imagine the pain of having your 3 year old daughter kidnapped from her bed at night while on holiday in what you beleive to be a safe holiday complex in a safe town in a safe country. The pain must be indescribable
(most recent news...she is still no-where to be found)
anywayz, so yeh...I've been on the BBC website a lot in the last couple of days reading up on that story.
In case you didn't know, THE POPE IS IN BRAZIL at the moment!!
So the BBC have had some articles on what he's been up to out there.
(on the whole I find secular coverage of religious events to be pretty appalling so I wouldn't recommend anyone gets their Catholic news from a secular source.)
One of the BBC reporters out in Brazil decided to carry out his own personal 'opinion poll' of how Brazillians view the Catholic Church's stance on abortion and condom-usage.
Of course, everyone in his "unbiased" poll is pretty much in favour of both, calling the Church out-of-touch, unrealistic etc etc. (half of the people interviewed admitted they don't go to Mass on a Sunday anymore, so it's hardly a shocker that they don't agree with the Church. You stay away from grace and you will spiritually die.)
When I was at World Youth Day in Germany 2005 a reporter from The Guardian newspaper came up to myself and some of my Uni friends and asked whether he could interview us for his article on WYD which will come out in The Guardian newspaper back in England.
Of course, we were delighted.
He asked us all about our opinions on the Church's teaching on no-sex-before-marriage, contraception, abortion.....etc etc.
Of course, being the young enthusiastic Catholics that we were (and still are!), totally in love with the Church, we completely supported everything that the Church teaches and told the reporter so. We even told him that we were waiting for another 7 hours in the heat of the sun for the Pope arrival later on, that's how much we loved him!
He interviewed us for a good 10minutes and even took down a couple of our names and our University and stuff.
Well, the reporter was obviously not happy with what we told him because, what-a-surprise he didn't include us in his article, and instead quoted some wako liberals who were probably handing out condoms.
These reproters are totally and utterly biased and they will write the story that they want to write and so poison people's minds with their own anti-God agenda.
Which is why I keep away from the secular news, and especially their coverage of religious events.
and at any rate, I think the media needs to get it into their heads once and for all...TRUTH IS NOT DETERMINED BY A MAJORITY VOTE!!
THE ENTIRE WORLD COULD BE PRO-ABORTION AND PRO-CONTRACEPTION AND PRO-EVERY OTHER SINFUL BEHAVIOUR...BUT THAT WILL NEVER MAKE THEM RIGHT!!!!
end of rant!
back to revision!
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However, with the recent kidnapping of that little girl Madeleine in Portugal, I've been checking the BBC news about 5 times a day to see if there are any developments.
Poor parents. What a tragically horrendous situation. I don't think it is possible to imagine the pain of having your 3 year old daughter kidnapped from her bed at night while on holiday in what you beleive to be a safe holiday complex in a safe town in a safe country. The pain must be indescribable
(most recent news...she is still no-where to be found)
anywayz, so yeh...I've been on the BBC website a lot in the last couple of days reading up on that story.
In case you didn't know, THE POPE IS IN BRAZIL at the moment!!
So the BBC have had some articles on what he's been up to out there.
(on the whole I find secular coverage of religious events to be pretty appalling so I wouldn't recommend anyone gets their Catholic news from a secular source.)
One of the BBC reporters out in Brazil decided to carry out his own personal 'opinion poll' of how Brazillians view the Catholic Church's stance on abortion and condom-usage.
Of course, everyone in his "unbiased" poll is pretty much in favour of both, calling the Church out-of-touch, unrealistic etc etc. (half of the people interviewed admitted they don't go to Mass on a Sunday anymore, so it's hardly a shocker that they don't agree with the Church. You stay away from grace and you will spiritually die.)
When I was at World Youth Day in Germany 2005 a reporter from The Guardian newspaper came up to myself and some of my Uni friends and asked whether he could interview us for his article on WYD which will come out in The Guardian newspaper back in England.
Of course, we were delighted.
He asked us all about our opinions on the Church's teaching on no-sex-before-marriage, contraception, abortion.....etc etc.
Of course, being the young enthusiastic Catholics that we were (and still are!), totally in love with the Church, we completely supported everything that the Church teaches and told the reporter so. We even told him that we were waiting for another 7 hours in the heat of the sun for the Pope arrival later on, that's how much we loved him!
He interviewed us for a good 10minutes and even took down a couple of our names and our University and stuff.
Well, the reporter was obviously not happy with what we told him because, what-a-surprise he didn't include us in his article, and instead quoted some wako liberals who were probably handing out condoms.
These reproters are totally and utterly biased and they will write the story that they want to write and so poison people's minds with their own anti-God agenda.
Which is why I keep away from the secular news, and especially their coverage of religious events.
and at any rate, I think the media needs to get it into their heads once and for all...TRUTH IS NOT DETERMINED BY A MAJORITY VOTE!!
THE ENTIRE WORLD COULD BE PRO-ABORTION AND PRO-CONTRACEPTION AND PRO-EVERY OTHER SINFUL BEHAVIOUR...BUT THAT WILL NEVER MAKE THEM RIGHT!!!!
end of rant!
back to revision!
----
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Antonia in the nursery
So as part of my paediatrics attachment I spent the day in a nursery/play-group...
I decided to be pro-active and play with children...so I walked up to a toddler, whose mother was sitting nearby and rocking her other baby to sleep in its' push-chair.
Antonia to toddler: Hello there! What's your name?
Toddler: *mumbles something incomprehensible*
Mother: *repeats name but is muffled out by loud noise of other toddlers playing*
Antonia: *Not quite sure what child's name is, but carries on anyway*
Antonia: Are these your toys? What nice toys you have!
Toddler: *smiling picks up car and hand it to Antonia*
A: *drives car along the ground* Vrrrrroooom....beep beeep!
Toddler: *grins, giggles and laughs*
Antonia: *What a beautiful smile you have! You're a cute little boy aren't you?!
Mother: ...she's a girl..
Antonia: *blushing* oh...whoops! sorry!!
Mother: ...it's okay!
Mother: *picks up her other baby who is making pre-crying noises, and says to toddler* Com'on, it's time to go, Charlie's starting to cry and wants to go home.
Antonia to toddler: Oh, is Charlie your new baby brother?
Mother: ...Charlie is also a girl...
~~~
aaaargghhhhhhh!! Two gaffs in the space of 10 seconds!!! How embarrassing! I was glad that they were leaving!!!
~~~
(in my defence, the toddler totally looked like a boy and was dressed like a boy, and to me, Charlie is a boy's name!!!)
~~~~
I decided to be pro-active and play with children...so I walked up to a toddler, whose mother was sitting nearby and rocking her other baby to sleep in its' push-chair.
Antonia to toddler: Hello there! What's your name?
Toddler: *mumbles something incomprehensible*
Mother: *repeats name but is muffled out by loud noise of other toddlers playing*
Antonia: *Not quite sure what child's name is, but carries on anyway*
Antonia: Are these your toys? What nice toys you have!
Toddler: *smiling picks up car and hand it to Antonia*
A: *drives car along the ground* Vrrrrroooom....beep beeep!
Toddler: *grins, giggles and laughs*
Antonia: *What a beautiful smile you have! You're a cute little boy aren't you?!
Mother: ...she's a girl..
Antonia: *blushing* oh...whoops! sorry!!
Mother: ...it's okay!
Mother: *picks up her other baby who is making pre-crying noises, and says to toddler* Com'on, it's time to go, Charlie's starting to cry and wants to go home.
Antonia to toddler: Oh, is Charlie your new baby brother?
Mother: ...Charlie is also a girl...
~~~
aaaargghhhhhhh!! Two gaffs in the space of 10 seconds!!! How embarrassing! I was glad that they were leaving!!!
~~~
(in my defence, the toddler totally looked like a boy and was dressed like a boy, and to me, Charlie is a boy's name!!!)
~~~~
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Pope Benedict video
I really liked this video which is basically a couple of minutes of Pope Benedcit pictures with music...but then again I *am* totally in love with the Pope, so maybe not everyone will like it as much as I did!
Also, anyone from France out there?
Could you tell me what the words are of the song?
( I can speak French well-enough...but understanding it in a song is kinda hard!)
---
Also, anyone from France out there?
Could you tell me what the words are of the song?
( I can speak French well-enough...but understanding it in a song is kinda hard!)
---
Friday, May 04, 2007
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Assault
An absolutely horrendous thing happened to my dear friend Lindsay over at 'Very Sleepy People'; she was was physically and sexually assaulted while walking home from a volunteer's meeting two weeks ago.
She has decided to write about this event in the hope that people might benefit from hearing about the terrible terrible thing that happened to her.
So head on over & read her post, and offer her your support.
We're praying for you Lindsay!
-x-
------------
She has decided to write about this event in the hope that people might benefit from hearing about the terrible terrible thing that happened to her.
So head on over & read her post, and offer her your support.
We're praying for you Lindsay!
-x-
------------
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
hello & NFP
hello!
howz you?
Things have been super duper uber ultra busy here. I have been working my fingers to the bone (literally--SO MUCH typing!)
I have my paediatrics exam tomorrow (eeek! should be revising!) and am still working towards my super scary huge exams in 4 weeks time (AARGH! 4 WEEKS!)
Chris has also been Mr. Increadibly Busy this week.
He has a conference in France in 3 weeks and has to present a bunch of research that isn't quite finished yet, so he has been staying at the lab till mega late doing experiments...he came back home at 1am on Tuesday, and 3:30am this morning!!!
(although i am still in the hospital an hour from home, so I haven't seen him all week anyway!)
I have come across 2 really good NFP sites that I highly recommend paroozling them:
http://nfpsite.aldred.org/
(written by a great person I kindof know)
www.nfpandmore.com
(written by the Kipleys, who started the Couple to Couple League www.ccli.org)
They both have LOTS of info on NFP, both from a scientific perspective and also lots and lots on the Bible and the Catholic Church's teaching.
They also tell you what NFP actually is, how to practice it and when the Bible/Church say it is morally justified using it
I really do recommend having an explore of them.
They both look really simple when you first click on the them, but they are packed with info for exploring.
for example, in the second website nfpandmore, here is a link to a whoole load of "why NFP?" that quotes SO MUCH Church teaching! It's a great resource
http://www.nfpandmore.com/nfpwhat.shtml
and the first website has a very comprehensive section on NFP effectiveness:
http://nfpsite.aldred.org/effect.html
sorry, I know that might've seemed a little random after me writing about how much I've been revising, but I actually just wrote an article on NFP for my medical school journal so I have been searching through these sites & I thought I'd share!!
(please a say prayer that my article will get published!)
anyway, just to say I'm still here, but not doing much other than revising like mad.
ciao
-x-x-
---
howz you?
Things have been super duper uber ultra busy here. I have been working my fingers to the bone (literally--SO MUCH typing!)
I have my paediatrics exam tomorrow (eeek! should be revising!) and am still working towards my super scary huge exams in 4 weeks time (AARGH! 4 WEEKS!)
Chris has also been Mr. Increadibly Busy this week.
He has a conference in France in 3 weeks and has to present a bunch of research that isn't quite finished yet, so he has been staying at the lab till mega late doing experiments...he came back home at 1am on Tuesday, and 3:30am this morning!!!
(although i am still in the hospital an hour from home, so I haven't seen him all week anyway!)
I have come across 2 really good NFP sites that I highly recommend paroozling them:
http://nfpsite.aldred.org/
(written by a great person I kindof know)
www.nfpandmore.com
(written by the Kipleys, who started the Couple to Couple League www.ccli.org)
They both have LOTS of info on NFP, both from a scientific perspective and also lots and lots on the Bible and the Catholic Church's teaching.
They also tell you what NFP actually is, how to practice it and when the Bible/Church say it is morally justified using it
I really do recommend having an explore of them.
They both look really simple when you first click on the them, but they are packed with info for exploring.
for example, in the second website nfpandmore, here is a link to a whoole load of "why NFP?" that quotes SO MUCH Church teaching! It's a great resource
http://www.nfpandmore.com/nfpwhat.shtml
and the first website has a very comprehensive section on NFP effectiveness:
http://nfpsite.aldred.org/effect.html
sorry, I know that might've seemed a little random after me writing about how much I've been revising, but I actually just wrote an article on NFP for my medical school journal so I have been searching through these sites & I thought I'd share!!
(please a say prayer that my article will get published!)
anyway, just to say I'm still here, but not doing much other than revising like mad.
ciao
-x-x-
---
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