Catholic Liberty

Before my scholastic lapse I was posting in catholic forums topics that were either in the realm of catholic liberty or were controversial in today’s social standards. Now, I know certain topics have a tendency of raising brows and emotions, but I always [naively] thought if anyone was able to withstand such topics, it would be Catholics; I was dead wrong.

I started a thread on contraceptive use with the conditions set out in Humanae Vitae 15:

15. On the other hand, the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.

The starting post went as follows:

Is contraceptives ever justified?

Humanae Vitae 15 makes an exception in cases of disease. It doesn't clarify whether the disease has to be fatal or not but just that "the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means".

Granted, it does say only in cases where it "cures" and where there is no "motive whatsoever".

So this would seem to leave out AIDS on the grounds that it does not "cure" and not necessarily because it leaves out the possibility of procreation. As the same paragraph says "even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from".

So what if a form of contraceptive did cure AIDS? Would it then be allowed?

Essentially I was stuck on the fact that using condoms isn't always done with the intent to stop procreation or even because one lacks self control; maybe.....just maybe......they simply don't want to get AIDS and still fulfill the unitive aspect of catholic sexuality.

Unfortunately I wasn’t met with much charity. It’s like I wasn’t allowed to even dare ask such a question. It’s sad that some Catholics feel this way. The way I see it, it was dialogue and open inquiry that got the Church to clarify and grow in the first place. Hopefully that will change in the future.

Scholastic Life

I’ve been inept in all things scholastic as of late. Not really surfing the forums or reading articles, just busy with life as a husband, father, teacher, employee, and any other title I’ve missed. I don’t know how other fathers with a passion to lurk into history, science, theology, sports, etc. do it. Even when I do manage to slip in some time; it’s an hour at best.

But that’s what makes life interesting. I could be a hermit who reads all hours of the day and still end up thinking I don’t know enough. I’d probably slip into finding pottery or gardening interesting; who knows.

Tee Ball

Evelyn and I signed both the boys up for t-ball. Dominic’s desire to join was rather simple; Gabriel, a boy in his class was already part of the team and naturally Dominic wanted to join as well. Jojo’s desire was no different other then he wants to do whatever his older brother happens to get himself into. I was iffy about Jojo joining at first. He’s more animated, expressive, and emotional then Dominic and I wasn’t sure how that would translate into the field. That and he’s not used to be in a classroom type of environment where kids have rules to follow.

Fortunately, it seems to be turning out much better then I expected. The idea of being a part of something has really excited both of them to the point of them wanting to sleep with there baseball shoes and wear there game day outfits forever. Evelyn wasn’t too fond of them continuing to wear their outfits more then a day; I told her to let it go on this one. They are excited about being pirates and I didn’t think such a healthy feeling was something we wanted to interrupt. However, I could only hold back Evelyn for so many days. Besides, hygiene does eventually become a concern.

It’s been immensely fun and fulfilling to experience all this with my boys and family in general.

Old Friend

I was listening to sports radio today and the famous motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, came on to talk about his ability to impact top notch athletes come back to greatness. The immediate image that popped to mind was an old friend of mine that past away a couple years ago.

Marc Jones was his name. He was the one that made me aware of Tony Robbins by letting me borrow his tapes. I ended up purchasing a whole set of Tony Robbins tapes months after and I still have them to this day.

I miss my conversations with him. I miss him altogether.

You are missed Marc Jones…

Asthma Meds

Since starting the recreational basketball league at work, I’ve seen some improvements in my health. However, I still struggled to keep up with guys my size during games. I figured I was just out of shape; until I noticed no improvement in my stamina over the passing weeks.

I did have a violent cough along with thick green phlegm and figured I was getting over some virus. Turns out, I have “seasonal asthma”. It’s hard to be relieved about having asthma (seasonal or not), but I was. I was starting to get bummed out that I couldn’t keep up with a guy heavier and older then me. I guess my asthma had something to do with me trying to catch my breath.

So, once the doctor gave me meds, the cough and phlegm did stop, but the side effects are probably worse. I’m sensitive to light and noise. I feel cloudy and have difficulty focusing. My patience is shorter and apparently I’m just not as jolly. I’ve had like five different people ask me “are you ok?”. Of course, I say “yes I’m fine thank you”.

I just feel stoic and cloudy. Not really laughing or talking like usual. I can’t wait until I’m done with the medication.

Atoms and force-fields

Who ever thought that everytime you sit on a chair, you are actually sitting on millions of force fields. That's right, force-fields! Sounds sci-fish eh?

How is this possible? Well, atoms are actually 99.99% empty space. What surrounds the atom is this force field; the force-field is actually a shell of electrons. It is said that if these force-fields didn't exist we could literally walk through walls. Now that's cool!

The force-fields behave in a similar way that magnets do when you try to attach like poles. Just imagine everything as gazillions of mini-magnets assembled together.

Now, when I first learned this, I thought to myself "why doesn't everything just repel from each other? Obviously, something keeps them together." What happens is that although all atoms have a force-field made up of electrons; some atoms have an unstable or not enough amount of electrons. The way an atom becomes stable is by bonding to another unstable atom and therefore starting the chain of reactions to form an actual molecule like a protein and a protein into an actual organ.

That's a giant leap I made there and it's obviously more complicated then that but essentially it's a bonding of millions of atoms sharing forcefields that make everything.

Bought a Journal

So I bought my first journal yesterday. No......it's not to write down my feelings; I've got sports for that. I'm just using it as a planner. I really don't like the usual planners with all the clutter. Just simple lines work for me.

Addition to the family

I wasn’t so much surprised that I was nervous and enthused about our baby girl coming, but more at the fact that I was just overwhelmed with awe at how precious babies and life general is. I figured after having gone through this three times already I would be a bit more stoic and expert-like in my reactions and feelings. Not at all! I reacted like if it was my first baby all over again. I had a blast!

Good thing I stayed home with the family for a week after the birth. Life would have been tough for Evelyn had I not been there to tame the other three. Apparently they still think they are the center of the universe even though mommy isn’t feeling good. That is kids for you.

Doh!......Where are my manners?......Baby “Gia Bella Mesina” was born on January 7, 2009 @ 4:12 pm. She weighed in at a wopping 7.6lbs and was 18.75 inches long. She is adorable! See for yourself:

New Year

Happy belated New Year and Merry Christmas!

The holidays were joyous and happy for me. We met at the usual spot (in-laws), with the usual crowd. It’s always fun to see how much relatives have changed and not changed.

Well, it’s a new year and hopefully I can accomplish what I set out to resolve.

The Mist

The drive home yesterday was like something from the twilight zone. I could see the giant cloud devour the 5 freeway; it reminded me of the movie mist.

Now, there isn't anything special about fog...but...fog that devours and moves like what I saw, is simply rad! Does anyone use that word anymore?