And Now I'm Back Home

First, I have thank MartininBroda for being my host and guide in Berlin and Potsdam, even though it meant he had to suffer through a day which he found extremely uncomfortable, and perhaps endangering to his health, as you can read in his own blog. And if you don't know German, scroll down to the English translation which he provided. I enjoyed meeting him and seeing all he and Pastor Roloff — whom I also enjoyed meeting — showed me. I hope to give a post about each day of my trip, so I'll reserve more about that day until later.

Next, I want to thank all the people who tweeted their good feelings toward me. I was really surprised and pleased at Martin's report of the tweets. It's always gratifying to know that  one is well thought of. So thanks again for all your kind thoughts.

I took a lot of pictures, and I hope I'll be able to post a few with each post about the trip.

For now, I'll just add that it was a good trip.

I'm on My Way

In a little over an hour, I'll be heading off for a trip to Germany and France. Barring unforeseen developments, I should be back and ready to blog early in August.

I don't take the internet with me, so there will be no posts or comments from me in the meantime.

Be good while I'm gone.

Welcome New Followers — 2012/07/17

I seem to have acquired four followers when I wasn't looking. They are FJ, Edmund Nuremberg, sacerdos viennensis, and Wandering Pom. Thank you all for following. I hope you'll continue to find my blog worth following.

FJ has a blog titled "FJ's Blurbs: A Man Searching for Himself." He is very faithful to journaling his daily experiences as he struggles with depression and sexual temptations. Here is how he describes himself. "I am a young man who lives in New York.I am 42 years old and I am still searching for myself.I am looking to meet new male friends for friendship and bonding and to just be as they are.I yearn to be one of the guys because I am a guy myself and I want to belong in the world of men.That is all that I want and ask for.I am looking to make new male friends. I struggle with Same Sex Attractions(SSA)and I have bipolar depression(BPD) with schizophrenic tendencies." While the blog seems mainly for his own purposes in keeping a journal of what occurs in his life, I occasionally post a comment  to try to encourage to him in his struggles.


Edmund Nuremberg does not have a blog listed on the page that shows when I click on his profile picture in the bloglist. If you have a blog, Edmund, I'd be happy to know of it.


sacerdos viennensis (Latin for Viennese priest) is a priest of the Archdiocese of Vienna. He has two blogs, sacerdos viennensis, which contain brief comments or reflections on various religious or spiritual topics (sort of a "thought for the day"), and Maria dich lieben, in which he posts items related to the Virgin Mary (pilgrimage sites, accounts of the apparitions at Fatima, etc. Both blogs contain many photographs, including many flowers and other items from nature, as well as specifically church;y items. Both blogs are in German, so they may be of interes especially to my German readers and those who understand German.


Wandering Pom is already familiar to many of you. I was surprised to see him listed as my newest follower. His blog is titled "Notes from a Wandering Pom," and although it has been quiet since his return to England from the U.S., it's interesting reading when he posts.


Note: When I posted this, I thought a Wandering Pom's blog had disappeared. Now I have realized it is still there, and I've corrected the preceding paragraph.

Theology of the Body 2012/07/15

"Genesis 2:25 says, 'The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. …[T]his detail … introduces us to one of the main elements in the story: the theme of original nakedness. This is, in fact, the key to understanding the biblical vision of man's created nature.

"This verse … is a description of human consciousness. … It describes Adam's experience of femininity as revealed by Eve's naked body, and, at the same time, Eve's experience of masculinity through Adam's naked body. …

"Several verses later, in the account of man's Fall, we read:

…Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Gen. 3:7)

"After breaking their covenant with God, Adam and Eve experience their bodies differently — for the first time, they become conscious of their nakedness and are ashamed. Between Genesis 2:25 and 3:7, there is a fundamental shift.

"… Does this mean that before the Fall Adam and Eve didn't really see each other's naked bodies? Or has a change taken place on a much deeper level.

"It is not simply that Adam and Eve have gone from a state of ignorance to "knowing." Instead, there has been a radical change in the meaning of the original nakedness of man and woman in front of each other. This change emerges from their conscience; it's a fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

"This change directly involves the way we experience the meaning of bodies. After their eyes are 'opened,' Adam and Eve first cover their bodies from each other's sight; then they try to hide from God.

But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' (Gen. 3:8-10)

"Shame is a fundamental human experience. … In Genesis, this experience marks the border between original innocence and man's sinfulness. To understand what it means to be without shame, and what significance this has for us today, we must look back to the time of original innocence."

Freedom Of Religion — "Freedom from;" "Freedom for"

An interesting article from another site I follow. It gives a pretty good take on the idea that the First Amendment religion clauses give us freedom from state interference in our religious lives, but believers need to use that important freedom by living the way they should.

End of Holiday Season; Canada Day; Our Crosses

End of Holiday Season.  This year, the Church calendar had seven major feast days ("solemnities") in the period from May 17 through June 29. All but the last two are based on the date of Easter, and can shift about 2 1/2 weeks earlier or later than they were this year. This year, they were about in the middle of their possible range. So we celebrated —
May 17 — Ascension
May 27  — Pentecost
June 3 — Trinity
June 10 — Corpus Christi  (in many countries its original Thursday date, June 7 this year, is retained)
June 15 — Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 24 — St. John the Baptist
June 29 — Sts. Peter & Paul

I had a whole lot of celebrating to do (even aside from the point that the entire Easter season — April 8 to May 27 this year — is one big celebration, but you can't really party every day). Now there is no comparable concentration of big days until November-January, when from November 25 through January 6 we'll celebrate Christ the King, Immaculate Conception, Christmas, Mary Mother of God, and Epiphany.

Canada Day.  On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act came into effect, making Canada independent as a Dominion in the British Empire. Happy Canada Day to all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsHSVE5d3sc&feature=related

Our Crosses.  I happen to be reading a book written several years ago by Cardinal Dolan when he was Archbishop of Milwaukee, To Whom Shall We Go? It is a series of reflections on St. Peter's words and actions as told in the New Testament, and I'm at the part where he writes about Peter trying to dissuade Jesus from being crucified. Cardinal Dolan says that we also have to resist the temptation to avoid the crosses in our own lives: the struggles and hardships and difficulties which we must endure if we are to live as we ought.