An Intro To St. Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways Which Prove God's Existence

Tonight at "holy" hour we watched a movie titled: "Why Be Catholic." In it the speaker focused a lot on St. Thomas Aquinas' five ways which prove that there is indeed a God.

St. Thomas Aquinas' famous five ways that prove God's existence through philosophy

• 1. The "unmoved mover" argument. We know that there is motion in the world; whatever is in motion is moved by another thing; this other thing also must be moved by something; to avoid an infinite regression, we must posit a "first mover," which is God.
• 2. The "nothing is caused by itself" argument. For example, a table is brought into being by a carpenter, who is caused by his parents. Again, we cannot go on to infinity, so there must be a first cause, which is God.
• 3. The cosmological argument. All physical things, even mountains, boulders, and rivers, come into being and go out of existence, no matter how long they last. Therefore, since time is infinite, there must be some time at which none of these things existed. But if there were nothing at that point in time, how could there be anything at all now, since nothing cannot cause anything? Thus, there must always have been at least one necessary thing that is eternal, which is God.
• 4. Objects in the world have differing degrees of qualities such as goodness. But speaking of more or less goodness makes sense only by comparison with what is the maximum goodness, which is God.
• 5. The teleological argument (argument from design). Things in the world move toward goals, just as the arrow does not move toward its goal except by the archer's directing it. Thus, there must be an intelligent designer who directs all things to their goals, and this is God.

I want to go more in depth to each of these in a couple different posts... Seeing as how it is getting pretty late and I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, I will have to do this later. It is nice to have this type of knowledge just in case a person crosses my path who wants to challenge me on this, which living in a college town I know the likelihood of this happening is pretty high up there.

"Jesus, I Trust In You"

This evening after Mass I knelt down to say a few prayers, as I usually do. I noticed today however that went through these as though I were in a rush. I really had no particular place I needed to be, so I decided to stop and slow down. Whenever I close my prayers after Mass I tend to repeat a few of the same prayers.... "O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine." along with repeating "Jesus I trust in You" a few times as well. Half the time, I admit, I will say those words and not really contemplate on what I am actually saying. It has become a habit for me because that is how my mother taught me to pray at the end of Mass. Growing up I did not understand the magnitude of those five words, "Jesus I trust in You." Oh, it is easy to claim that I trust in Jesus and God, but really it is extremely hard to do.

I am sure I have gone on about this before in one of my previous posts, the difficulty of truly placing all of my trust in God. I tend to fight that. There are a number of things going on in my life right now that I do not fully understand, and the selfish part of me does not want to hand everything over to God and Jesus because I am afraid that what I want is not what God wants. It is silly really to think of it in those terms, because God wants us to be happy in the end. Why fight so hard against what, in the back of my mind I know, will end up being the best for me? I suppose it is human nature. I need to pray even more for the strength to be alright with giving over everything to God. It is scary, but even though it does terrify me, what do I really have to lose?

"What About Now?"

This past Sunday was an eventful one for me. I was even more excited because it was the day of the first meeting for another retreat leadership team I am on... Surprise, surprise. Me helping lead another retreat. It is another Antioch retreat, which is a week-end long retreat for high schoolers. Right now our leadership team is rather small, which makes me somewhat worried, but even with that small amount I feel as though somehow it will all come together. I am praying for a few more people to volunteer to help-out so as to take the load off of all of us having to give two talks each.

This year I volunteered to give probably the most challenging talk I have personally ever given. It is the confession talk. I will be getting into some interesting things in this talk, some very personal things. It will be difficult because I try to avoid talking about these things just because I am not like the person I once was in a lot of ways. It is also intimidating because I have to make confession seem not so awkward to go to... I personally like going to confession now, but I do remember a time when I hated it. I am sure a few of the retreatants will feel that same way, so I have to kind of do a "promo" talk about confession. I think I am up to this challenge.



This year's theme song will be,
"What About Now?"
by Daughtry...

Shadows fill an empty heart
As love is fading,
From all the things that we are
But are not saying.
Can we see beyond the scars
And make it to the dawn?

Change the colors of the sky.
And open up to
The ways you made me feel alive,
The ways I loved you.
For all the things that never died,
To make it through the night,
Love will find you.

What about now?
What about today?
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it's too late,
What about now?

The sun is breaking in your eyes
To start a new day.
This broken heart can still survive
With a touch of your grace.
Shadows fade into the light.
I am by your side,
Where love will find you.

What about now?
What about today?
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love, it never went away?
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it's too late,
What about now?

Now that we're here,
Now that we've come this far,
Just hold on.
There is nothing to fear,
For I am right beside you.
For all my life,
I am yours.

What about now?
What about today?
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?

Send "What About Now" Ringtone to your Cell

Writer's Block...

After really thinking about my blog I have come to the conclusion it must look pretty wimpy lately. I have been busy with work and school, but even with all that I must admit I have been going through somewhat of a writer's block lately. Hopefully I am coming to an end to this one because I have finally had the urge to sit down and write tonight. This is just a short blog as an apology to my readers for being a little absent this past month.

"Honesty Is Honestly The Hardest Thing"

"Tryin' to be perfect, tryin' not to let you down. Honesty is honestly the hardest thing for me right now.yeah While the floors underneath our feet are crumblin' the walls we built together tumblin' I still stand here holdin' up the roof cause it's easier than telling the truth."
~Kris Allan~

The above quote hits me pretty hard tonight. I like to pride myself on telling the truth. I do not like lying. It is not something I find very tolerable. However, I have to admit to myself tonight that I am awful about being completely honest with my own self. In fact, if I am honest with myself right now I have to say I have been lying for the past year or so. I thought that if I pretended I was ok with some things that I have had to deal with for over a year, than eventually I would actually be ok with it. I fooled myself for a good while the past couple of months by thinking I really am doing ok. Then a few words are spoken and I fall right back to where I was before.

The only person at fault for the moment over this is myself. I kept my mouth shut probably when I should have been outspoken about the things that were going on in my head. Maybe if I had told a certain person everything I was feeling last Summer I would not be in the predicament I am. I did not do that because I did not want to be selfish. Now I am regretting that decision.

I feel as though I need to let this person know the complete truth, but am I just feeling this way because I am feeling like being selfish now? Or is it because the longer I have kept it in the more I have ended up hurting myself? If I do end up being extremely open and completely honest with this person I am afraid our relationship will not be the same, and I am scared to death of that. This is going to take a lot of thought before I actually put myself out there; put everything out on the line basically.

Love is sacrificing one's personal wants and needs for the wants and needs of the other person. I have to keep this in mind as I make my decision to tell my friend some things I have kept hidden. Really I have to pray about it and bring this to God and hopefully in the near future He will let me know which way is the right way to go. Prayer is what always puts things into the right perspective for me. Here it goes.

"Prayer For Teachers"

Prayer for Teachers

From A Catholic Prayer Book

Heavenly Father, who promised that all those who instruct others in the ways of holiness will shine as stars for all eternity, fill our hearts and minds with true knowledge and the art of teaching. Give us patience and understanding, justice and prudence, humility and fear of the Lord. Grant us wisdom and charity so that with a pure and holy love of God we ourselves may enjoy all these gifts and impart them to our pupils. Teach our children to be obedient to your laws and docile to your inspirations. Let them be instruments of your peace in their homes, in our land, and in the family of nations as becomes children of the sons of God in the Mystical Body of Christ. May the blessings of your sevenfold Gifts be in all who teach and in all who learn through the Holy Spirit who is the Love of the Father and the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

"Good-bye To You..."

This past week has been a very intense week for me filled with fear, frustration, hurt, exhaustion.. along with those though I have to say I have also felt loved, safe, and special. I would like to go into all the details of why it has been that kinda week, but it is just too personal to put here. Let's just say an incident occured which really made me take a step back and look at myself. Kind of a soul-searching week I guess you could say.

Sometimes it is good to get knocked off a high horse to remember why you were on it in the first place. Was what I did right? Was I so focused on me that I forgot to think about another person's feelings? I still do not think I have done a despicable act, as an old friend seems to think I did, but I did not handle my situation in the best way either I suppose.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people tend to think a certain way about another person, and no matter how much time passes and how much a person can change, those people will never change their idea of how they first viewed that person. I think that is sad. Yes, some people may never change, but if you do not give them the benefit of the doubt then after awhile that person will probablt just do what is expected of them.

It is also interesting to me how you have friends you have known for years, decades even, and yet they really know nothing about you. Then you have the friends you have been close too for only a few years, or months even, and they know exactly when something is not right just by looking into your eyes. I would love to be as close to my old friends as I am now with my new ones, but it is hard when the friendship is more one sided. There is saying that I have heard, "People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime." Maybe these old friends of mine were supposed to be part of my life for a season. I think it is about time I pray for them, but let them be.

Words Are Powerful

"Words are amazingly versatile. They can be destructive weapons, or they can be agents of peace. We need to build our vocabulary to include those words that edify and encourage others."

"Our Lady of Sorrows"

In honor of today's feast day here is a little background info... :)

The feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows was originated by a provincial synod of Cologne in 1413 as a response to the iconoclast Hussites. It was designated for the Friday after the third Sunday after Easter. It had the title: Commemoratio angustiae et doloris B. Mariae V.. Before the 16th century, the feast was celebrated only in parts of Northern Europe.

Earlier, in 1233, seven youths in Tuscany founded the Servite Order (also known as the "Servite Friars", or the "Order of the Servants of Mary"). Five years later, they took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal devotion of their order.

Over the centuries several devotions, and even orders, arose around meditation on Mary's Sorrows in particular. The Servites developed the two most common devotions to Our Lady's Sorrows, namely the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and the Black Scapular of the Seven Dolours of Mary. The Black Scapular is a symbol of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is associated with the Servite Order. Most devotional scapulars have requirements regarding ornamentation or design. The devotion of the Black Scapular requires only that it be made of black woollen cloth.

The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary which are a popular devotion and are frequently depicted in art.^[1]

It is a common devotion for Catholics to say daily 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary for each.

1. The Prophecy of Simeon over the Infant Jesus. (Gospel of Luke 2:34)
2. The Flight into Egypt of the Holy Family. (Gospel of Matthew 2:13)
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days. (Luke 2:43)
4. The Meeting of Jesus and Mary along the Way of the Cross. (Luke 23:26)
5. The Crucifixion, where Mary stands at the foot of the cross. (Gospel of John 19:25)
6. The Descent from the Cross, where Mary receives the dead body of Jesus in her arms. (Matthew 27:57)
7. The Burial of Jesus. (John 19:40)

"You Know You're A Proud Hoosier When..."

• You think the state bird is Larry.(as a kid yes for awhile....)

• There's actually a college near you named "Ball State."

• Your feelings get hurt whenever someone points out the acronym for Purdue University is PU.(Not really... considering I am from Bloomington, that one was used quite frequently and it is kinda funny)

• You've never met any celebrities.

• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

• "Vacation" means going to Indiana Beach or Holiday World (Santa Claus, IN). (So True!!!)

• At your county fair, you see all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.

• You measure distance in minutes.

• You know several people who have hit a deer.

• Down south to you means Kentucky.

• Your school classes were canceled because of cold.

• Your school classes were canceled because of heat.

• You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way.

• You've had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

• Stores don't have bags, they have sacks.

• You've heard of Euchre, you know how to play Euchre, and you are the master of Euchre.

• You've seen a running car, with nobody in it, in the parking lot of the grocery store, no matter what time of year it is.

• You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "If you go to the mall I wanna go with."

• You install security lights on your house and garage, then leave both of them unlocked.

• You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.

• When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, "It was different."

• You carry jumper cables in your car regularly and your wife/girlfriend >knows how to use them.

• You drink "pop".

• Kids and dogs ride in the passenger seats of cars and the backs of pickups.

• You think nothing of it in spring and fall to be stuck behind a farm implement driving on the roads. You just hope it's not a hog truck >or a manure spreader.

• High school basketball games draw bigger crowds on the week- >end than movie theaters, IF you have a movie theater.

• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

• Newspapers have international news &headlines on one page but requires six for local sports.

• You can repeat the scores of the last eight NBA games, but, unless the MVP is a Hoosier, you are not sure who he is.

• You can see at least two basketball hoops from your yard.

• The biggest question of your youth was IU or Purdue.

• Indianapolis is the BIG CITY.

• Getting stuck by a train is a legitimate excuse for being late to school.

• You know several different definitions as to what a Hoosier really is.

• Everyone knows who the town cops are, where they live, and whether they're at home or on duty.

• To you, tenderloin is not an expensive cut of beef, but a big, salty, breaded piece of pork served on a bun with pickle.

• You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over his snowsuit.

• You know all four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, construction.

• You actually understand these jokes

"Save Me"

Save Me

Save me from myself, Lord;
Save me from my need
To always run my life, Lord,
To control my every deed.

Save me from my pride, Lord,
My focus on just me;
Help me learn to serve, Lord;
Show me how to be.

Save me from the world, Lord,
When tempting things entice;
Remind me of eternity
With You, in paradise.

I give my life to you, Lord
My every need you fill;
I’m resting in my faith, Lord;
You saved me, and you always will.

By Joanna Fuchs

My Dear Friend, My Piano... :)

As I have mentioned before in previous posts one of my favorite ways to really pass time is playing the piano. If you were to walk by my house and happen to hear the piano playing you would probably be hearing the song "Do You Dream of Me" by Michael W. Smith. It happens to be the one I have been really working hard to learn the past few weeks and I am finally really starting to sound good. My very favorite song to play though is easily Bach's Ave Maria. I know that song by heart and have known it for years. It is like an old friend when I sit down to play it. It never gets old. I enjoy playing up beat music as well, but I tend to play my best when I am playing more heartfelt slower music. I also tend to get lost in it more easily and do not pay much attention to what else is going on at the moment when I am playing it.

There is a quote, "Love is like playing the piano. First you have to play by the rules, and then you have to play with your heart." I have to agree with it wholeheartedly. Love in any relationship can be tricky at first while you are getting to know a person. Learning what makes a person tick, what boundaries are ok to cross and so forth and so on, but after awhile you have to forget about those rules and let your heart guide you.

The video below happens to be of the song I mentioned I am learning... I enjoy listening to it because the melody really is a pretty one.

"13 Things Your Child's Teacher Won't Tell You"

I found this article off the internet and found it pretty true... As a pre-school/daycare teacher myself, I have to say the first, third, sixth, eighth, ninth, twelfth, and thirteenth are all right on!

A look inside a teacher's mind could help you understand lesson plans and maybe even guide your child to perform better.

1. If we teach small children, don’t tell us that our jobs are “so cute” and that you wish you could glue and color all day long.

2. I’m not a marriage counselor. At parent-teacher conferences, let’s
stick to Dakota’s progress, not how your husband won’t help you around
the house.

3. We’re sick of standardized testing and having to “teach to the test.”

4. Kids used to go out and play after school and resolve problems on their own. Now, with computers and TV, they lack the skills to communicate. They don’t know how to get past hurt feelings without telling the teacher and having her fix it.

5. When I hear a loud belch, I remember that a student’s manners are a reflection of his parents’.

6. Your child may be the center of your universe, but I have to share mine with 25 others.

7. Please help us by turning off the texting feature on your child’s phone during school hours.

8. Guys who dribble a ball for a couple of hours a game can make up to $20 million a year. We educate future leaders and make about $51,000 a year.

9. We take on the role of mother, father, psychologist, friend, and adviser every day. Plus, we’re watching for learning disabilities, issues at home, peer pressure, drug abuse, and bullying.

10. Kids dish on your secrets all the time—money, religion, politics, even Dad’s vasectomy.

11. Please, no more mugs, frames, or stuffed animals. A gift card to Starbucks or Staples would be more than enough. A thank-you note: even better.

12. We love snow days and three-day weekends as much as your kid does.

13. The students we remember are happy, respectful, and good-hearted, not necessarily the ones with the highest grades.

"You're Never Fully Dresssed Without A Smile..."

"Every time you smile at someone it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

-Mother Teresa-

Mother Teresa has always had a special place in my heart. When I was younger it was because I always knew my parents named me after her so in as a child would do, I always loved to point out to my friends how cool she was. Now that I am older and really can appreciate all the incredible work she did I am even more proud to know that she is the one I am named after. She was one fearless and intelligent woman, that's for sure!!!

Inner Beauty

This past week-end my mom decided she wanted to look at some old antique stores in Tennessee and took me along. I must say antique shopping is not really my thing. I was pretty content when I found some boxes of posters though and spent most of my time looking through those. I found some pretty interesting ones with John Wayne, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, James Dean, Elvis, Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz...so forth and so on. Among them I ran across lots with Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.

Now, I have always found Marilyn Monroe a little over the top as far as make-up and attitude goes, but that is what has made her so famous. I was pleasantly surprised to find one Marilyn Monroe poster where she was pretty much natural. She was not trying to be showy at all. I found it really refreshing and beautiful to look at... In fact as I looked at the others she did not always even seem happy.....

Audrey Hepburn, on the other hand is someone I really think was classy and beautiful. She did not really try to be sexy, she was just herself pretty much. She was an amazing actress, but of all the pictures I have found of her that are not for movies that she was in, she really was not showy. I always looked- up to her for that. I also enjoy the many quotes she has said, my favorite happens to be in another blog post I've written.

Anyway, so to the main point of this post. True beauty is not about how much make-up a girl wears. It is not really about how sexy a girl tries to be. It is really how a woman carries herself; with respect. It is too exhausting trying to be someone you are not, and eventually it will bring a girl down. A girl needs to be happy with who she is and what she does, and that will end up helping add more to a person's beauty than anything else.

"There's No Place Like Home..."

Just a quick post to re-cap what I have been up to all this past week-end.

I went down to Tennessee for a cousin's wedding. It was not a Catholic one because my cousin is not Catholic, but it was still very beautiful. I am somewhat sad because I left my camera at home, so I was not able to take any pictures of the ceremony. It was an out door wedding, and the view was spectacular I must say. The bridesmaids dresses were so pretty and the bride was beautiful. I think that my favorite part of this wedding was the moment right before the father gave the bride away... My cousin looked at his bride with the sweetest expression on his face as he whispered to her how beautiful she was. It was an intimate moment and it was sweet. The reception after was a lot of fun, and although I did not catch the bouquet, my little brother did indeed catch the garter.

Sunday morning the part of the family that is Catholic all went to Mass in this little tiny church. It was kind of quaint, I must say. I really enjoyed the priest that was there. He was pretty old, but as he gave his homily I kind of forgot about that because his mind is obviously still pretty young.

The rest of the week-end was spent hanging-out with family. We spent one evening at a park playing endless rounds of horse shoes and corn hole. I started off a bit rusty, but by the end of the night I was not so bad, I must say. It was a fun and relaxing week-end without much of an agenda so we just enjoyed spending time together.

That was my week-end in a few paragraphs. :)

I'm Gone

Just wanted to let ya'll all know that I will be away for the week-end. I am going down to Tennessee for a cousin's wedding and will not be back until sometime Monday evening... With that said, I probably will not get a chance to blog for the next few days, but I hope to make up for it once I get back home. I hope you all have a safe and fun Labor Day week-end!

Friends Who Pray Together Are Unstoppable

This past week-end a really good friend of mine, Robbie, ran and finished his very first ever ironman race in Louisville, Ky. For those of you who do not know what an ironman race is the easiest way for me to describe it is a tri-athalon on steroids pretty much. It consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and then finishes off with a 26.2 mile run. The reason he entered into the iron man was to help raise money for children with down syndrome. His little brother has down syndrome and so he is very passionate about raising down syndrome awareness. He started his ironman at 7:30 a.m. and finished two minutes after midnight, just barely qualifying as an official iron man. He was the last one to officially cross the finish line. He said there were about sixty others who did not finish in time and even more who chose to drop-out throughout the day.

I finally saw Robbie for the first time since his big day to hear all the details that I missed out on by not being able to watch him. Apparently in the middle of his bike run he started to get pretty sick. He could not hold anything down and even threw up a couple of times. He said he seriously thought about dropping out of the race, but ended up deciding against it. He pushed himself to finish the race, and immediately after it went to the hospital. Apparently something went wrong with his kidneys, a chemical imbalance of some sort, which is why he got so sick. He had to stay in the hospital all Monday because the doctors were wanting to keep a close eye on him as he got re-hydrated. Knowing he was that sick and still wanted to finish that race is so crazy to me.

Hearing all of this I have come to the conclusion that an iron man race is the most intense torture one can put themselves through. It is inspiring to watch a person train for, and even more exciting when they actually do finish what they put their minds to. It reminds me how far we, as humans, can really push ourselves to. With the right training and frame of mind we really can accomplish those goals we set that seem so scary and unobtainable.

Robbie, came up to me last night and gave me a big hug and to tell me how grateful he is for all the prayers I have prayed for him in the past few months, and especially on Sunday. He kept saying how he is so incredibly lucky to have friends who have supported him and would not have been able to do it without our prayers. I have to say though, that I am truly blessed to have been able to, spiritually at least, be a part of his journey. I think I have learned a lot more through watching him, and in turn am the luckier one to be able to call him a very close friend.

"Alive Again"

Alive Again
Matt Mahar


I woke up in darkness
Surrounded by silence
Oh where, oh where have I gone?
I woke to reality Losing its grip on me
Oh where, where have I gone?
'Cause I can see the light
Before I see the sunrise

You called and You shouted
Broke through my deafness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again
You shattered my darkness
Washed away my blindness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again

Late have I loved You
You waited for me, I searched for You
What took me so long?
I was looking outside
As if Love would ever want to hide
I'm finding I was wrong

'Cause I feel the wind
Before it hits my skin
'Cause I want You,
Yes I want You I need You, and I'll do

Whatever I have to just to get through
'Cause I love You,
Yeah I love You

"We need God because He is love"

God,

Supply what is wanting in me so I can love You much or at least as much as I have offended You.

Amen.

That is such a short prayer with a heck of a lot of meaning.... supply what is wanting in me so I can Love You much or at least as much as I have offended You.... we can never ever come close to loving God as much as He loves us. We cannot really truly even understand and comprehend just how much He does love us. We strive to love Him back in that way, but we are all really pretty bad at it. That does not mean we should stop striving, but we must keep working on our relationship with Him. It is the MOST important one we all have, so it should also be the one we need to work on the most.