Vegetarianism



"[Vegetarianism is] the belief that the body is a sort of magical factory

 where things go in as vegetables and come out as virtues"

I came across this quote in the current issue of the St. Austin Review, and thought it was hilarious!

Chesterton is one of the only people who can honestly be described as "seriously funny".  I just finished his The Ballad of the White Horse, and it was incredible.

What are some of your favorite Chesterton quotes?

picture from www.gkc.co.uk

Horses and Zebras

War Horse
-PG-13

Normally I don't like animal movies.  Yes, I find them inspiring, but too often the animal dies in the end and leaves me feeling depressed. This one was different.  I absolutely loved this movie. 
Basically, the story begins with a middle-aged man buying a horse against his better judgment; he needed a work-horse and he bought a young show horse.  He brings it home, and his son Albert forms a very special bond with the animal.  The two seem to understand each other in a deep, beautiful way.  But, due to a financial crisis within the family, the father sneaks off early in the morning to sell the horse to the French army, looking for troops at the beginning of World War I.  The story follows the horse as he is traded from one owner to another, and those watching get a glimpse of how the war is affecting different people.  The story also follows Albert, who joins the army as soon as he is old enough in order to find his beloved horse.

What I Liked:

This movie was wonderful.  There were no inappropriate scenes, the curse words were minimal (I'm having trouble remembering any), and nothing was too graphic, despite the fact that the PG-13 rating is due to the war scenes.  The characters are so real and beautifully written.  This movie truly has the depth, beauty, excitement, and morals that make a film worth watching.  There is even a scene where a soldier begins to recite Psalm 23.

Possible Concerns:

Since it is a war movie, there are some sad scenes and quite a few deaths.

I recommend this movie to everyone.  My brother and I loved it; this film is one of the rare movies coming out now that actually support Christian morals, honest characters, and quality material.


We Bought a Zoo
-PG

My brother and I went to go see this movie seeing the cute trailer, and after seeing it "cute" is really the best way to describe it.  It is about a widower, Benjamin Mee, who has spent his whole life living on the edge thanks to his job as a reporter.  He has done just about everything, and is afraid of hardly anything.  After his son, who is depressed after his mother's death and has begun to draw morbid pictures as a way to release this depression, is expelled from school, Benjamin decides it's time for himself, his son, and his seven-year old daughter to start a new life, to begin again.  They begin house-hunting, and upon driving up to a run-down house in a beautiful landscape decide they are meant to have it.  That is, until they find out it's a zoo, and anyone who buys the house must agree to re-open and run it.  Despite his misgivings, Benjamin buys the house after seeing how happy his daughter looks, happier than she's looked in a long time.  The movie tells of the difficulties of their new life, the strained relationship between Benjamin and his son, and the family's new relationships with the surviving zoo employees.

What I Liked:

It is obvious from the very beginning of the movie that Benjamin was completely in love with his wife, and this love continues through the entire film.  His devotion is truly touching, as is his love for his kids.  This love is seen more strongly in his relationship with his daughter, but as the movie progresses and the father and son get through their difficulties with each other, the love becomes apparent there, too.

Possible Concerns:

Despite being advertised as a family-friendly film, there is cursing in this movie.  A couple times the words are yelled, a couple times just thrown into regular conversation, which was very disappointing.  The son's morbid pictures are very disturbing, one in particular being hard to look at, so preview the movie before showing to young viewers.  Also, the ring-leader of the zoo employees is a straight-forward 28-year old female, who tells Benjamin that if she "wanted to kiss him, he wouldn't have a choice."  And, later on in the movie, she proves her point.  It's hard to tell if their relationship is pursued on a romantic level, but I was pretty disappointed to see a romance between them at all, since he had only been a widow for six months.  But, I will say, that even though this does happen, the movie ends with Benjamin acting out the day he met his wife for his kids; a very sweet scene.

Overall, this was one of those movies that might be fun to rent for a movie night, but I wouldn't buy a copy.  Not exactly family-friendly, unfortunately.  But, I still feel like Benjamin was one of the more positive father figures to emerge in recent movies.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

God Bless.

News on Comments

Yes, dear readers, I'm finally back!

January is always a busy month for me, with all of the pro-life activites keeping my weeks busy in preparation and the weekends busy with participation.  Add sickness to that, and one can become horribly overwhelmed, and as a result other things (such as this blog) have to take a back seat.

But, now January is (almost) over and I can write for your enjoyment again! :)

First though, I wanted to talk about the comments.  Blogger changed a little bit, and I can now reply directly to a comment instead of having to write back as if I were another reader.  But, when I do reply through the form of another comment, a little circle with a pencil in it appears next to my name so that it is obvious that the author is the one writing the comment.

I love getting comments, and I try to reply to them in a timely manner.  Make sure you continue to check back for my replies, especially if your comment included a question.

Thank you, readers, for your continued support.  I'll be reviewing War Horse and We Bought a Zoo very soon.

God Bless!

And, thanks to all of you who prayed for my Mom.  Through the Lord's goodness, she did not have to go to the hospital and she is now fully recovered!  Praise be to Christ, and may God bless all of those who implored Mary and her Son to heal my Mom.

I Have a Dream



“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream… that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal....' [...] when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last’”.

May we all remember this great civil rights leader today in our prayers,  and in turn ask him to pray for our nation- that our efforts to end to unjust discrimination against the unborn and the elderly in our time might be as successful as his movement was years ago.

May God forgive and bless America.

Amen.

Quote and picture from http://www.thekingcenter.org.

Prayers Needed!

Good Evening!

I know it's been a while since I've posted something substantial, and I thank you for your patience.

I need all of you to pray for my Mom.  My Mom is an incredible person, and it was only through her guidance that I was able to become a good, wholesome person.  I am so blessed to have a mother as selfless, loving, strong, and brave as her.  Over the past month, a virus has been passing from one sibling to another in my family, and now my Mom has it.  It's no mystery how she got it, since she took such special care of each child as he or she went through the sickness.  But, my Mom has it even worse than we did- her throat is infected.  Please pray for her, because nothing seems to be making her feel better and she may have to go to the hospital.

My Mom has a special devotion to Mary, so it would be really nice if you all would ask our Blessed Mother's intercession for her.  I know she will listen to all of us as we beg her to heal one of her most faithful daughters.

Thank you very much, and God bless.

The Importance of Fantasy

Good Morning Followers!

For all those interested, I have (finally) posted a new article on the St. Austin Review's online "Ink Desk" called The Importance of Fantasy. 

Also, just a side note, for all those looking for a good movie to see in theaters, I highly recommend War Horse.  It is rated PG-13 for the war scenes.  My brother and I went to see it and LOVED it.

I will do an official review on it soon, but in the meantime I wanted to throw the idea out there before it leaves theaters.

May God bless all of you; have a wonderful day!

The Bible in a Year

Happy New Year!

I plan to write a more thorough post about New Year's Resolutions soon.  I've been recovering from almost a week of sickness, which is why the prolonged silence on this blog.

But, I did want to encourage all of you to join me in reading the Bible in a year with Clare at The Catholic Young Woman blog.  I know I posted a while ago about a plan I had found, but I fell behind.  I was planning on doing some serious catch-up when I read Clare's post.

Clare's plan is simple, easy, leaves catch up days at the end (hence the pressure is off if you get sick or busy), and since she posted it and asked people to join her, one gets the feeling that they're not doing it alone.

Here's the link.  Please, comment if you are going to do this with me!  I will be sure to update you all on how I'm doing, if you will comment to do the same!

May God bless this new year!