The following article is from the BBC (November 11, 2009), its source is the Vatican Observer - the official newspaper of Vatican City. As mentioned, good Christian reflection requires thinking "outside the box".

Vatican says aliens could exist

By David Willey
BBC News, Rome

Artist's impression of a black hole at the centre of a remote galaxy (NASA handout - file image)

Father Funes says the universe is so vast that other life forms may exist

The Pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article 'Aliens Are My Brother'.

'Free from sin'

Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. And some aliens could even be free from original sin, he speculates.

Asked about the Catholic Church's condemnation four centuries ago of the Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo, Father Funes diplomatically says mistakes were made, but it is time to turn the page and look towards the future.

Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God, he assures readers.

To strengthen its scientific credentials, the Vatican is organising a conference next year to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the author of the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin.

AMDG

Right Living, a poem

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November 10, 2009

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I asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I prayed for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I had asked for, but everything that I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered, I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

A Changing Church "Gay Marriage"

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October 22, 2009

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For information purposes only. I'm not debating the position in the article.
I just found the following posted today (10-22-09) on the BBC News' website. Seems the European Church is changing:

Sweden church allows gay weddings

Sweden's archbishop is broadly supportive of the move
The Lutheran Church of Sweden - the country's largest - is to conduct same-sex marriages from next month.
Around 70% of the church's 250-strong synod, or church board, voted to back the move, making it one of few global churches to allow gay marriage.
Sweden's government introduced a new law in May allowing gay couples the same marriage rights as heterosexuals.
Three-quarters of Swedes are members of the Lutheran church, though church attendance is low.
The Lutheran Church says gay couples can now get married by any of its priests from the beginning of November.
Individual priests will not be "forced" to perform same sex ceremonies, though substitutes will have to be found if they refuse.
The church - which split from state control in 2000 - backed the government's decision to legalise gay marriage in May.
But some clergy had questioned whether church ceremonies - and the term matrimony - should be reserved for heterosexual unions. Others opposed the move on the grounds it contravened the scriptures.
Limited opposition
In response, the Archbishop of Sweden, Anders Wejryd, told reporters: "For my part, the right decision was taken, but I can empathise with the many who believe this has gone too fast."

Sweden's largest gay rights group, the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL), welcomed the move.
"[We] congratulate the Church of Sweden for its decision. [The church's] homosexual and bisexual members will finally be able to feel a little more welcome within society," the group said in a statement.
Sweden was one of the first countries to give gay couples legal "partnership" rights, in the mid-1990s, and to allow gay couples to adopt children from 2002.
It become the fifth European country, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Norway, to recognise same-sex marriage.

GAY MARRIAGE IN EUROPE
Netherlands, legalised in 2000
Belgium, 2003
Spain, 2005
Norway, 2008
Sweden, 2009

Conversations with God

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3 comments

October 05, 2009

112 reads


Within the last couple weeks I've received an email about the books entitled Conversations with God and Conversations with God for Teens. Here is my thought about these books: I haven't seen these books, much less read them, to know whether what is being said about them is true. Regardless of that, if the nature of the books is contrary to a Christian's life then its just a bit more about the secular (worldly) society in which we live. And its the very same culture that the Apostles confronted with the churches in Corinth and Thessalonika and others. They didn't concern themselves about changing that culture rather they were concerned about those who had "put on Christ", their on-going conversion, and the call to faithfulness to Him. Christianity has never influenced anyone by war or protest or attack or assault or injury or insult; rather by our undaunted love for Christ and each other millions have come to Light because this love is not love as the world knows it, and its the love everyone really desires. So, let them write and sing and perform whatever they like (Matthew 24:38-39) but for us who believe there are three things: "faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love". As for me, my book of choice for conversing with God is Psalms: 150 songs that seem to encompass every human emotion and thought and need. AMDG

All Things Bright And Beautiful

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5 comments

September 15, 2009

96 reads


Cecil Frances Alexander Hymn writer and poetess, Dublin, 1818-1895 All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings. The purple-headed mountain, The river running by, The sunset and the morning, That brightens up the sky. The cold wind in the winter, The pleasant summer sun, The ripe fruits in the garden, He made them one by one. He gave us eyes to see them, And lips that we might tell, How great is God Almighty, Who has made all things well.


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The following article is from the BBC (November 11, 2009), its source is the Vatican Observer - the official newspaper of Vatican City. As mentioned, good Christian reflection requires thinking "outside the box". Vatican says aliens could exist

Sweden church allows gay weddings

The following article is from the BBC (November 11, 2009), its source is the Vatican Observer - the official newspaper of Vatican City. As mentioned, good Christian reflection requires thinking "outside the box".

Vatican says aliens could exist