catholic.org— "Just as Keanu Reeves fought against the powers of evil, a priest comes to help people fight against sin. There is a battle out there."
Aug 19, 2005View in Crawl 4
The MatrixBasically this movie is about a world that has been created to hide the truth from humans in which people are kept in bondage and slavery without them knowing it. That world is called The Matrix, which is a computer generated world designed to simulate the peak of human civilization which has now been destroyed in a nuclear war. The majority of the world's population is oblivious to that fact that their world is not real, but digital and they continue living out their daily lives, without even questioning their reality. The main character Neo, knows that something is not right with the world he lives in, and he is eager to learn the truth. He is offered the truth from a character called Morpheus. Morpheus proclaims that Neo is the One (chosen one) who will eventually destroy the Matrix. For this to happen, Neo must first overcome the Sentient Programs who are the Agents that can jump into anyone's digital body. They are the Gate Keepers and they hold all the keys to The Matrix. This movie reveals the truth gradually and it is this unravelling of the truth that keeps the audience captured. The GospelBasically the gospel message is truth about this world we live in, that is controlled by evil powers in high (spiritual) places. However, the earth and the universe were created/programmed by God; but the world system was created by man, but inspired by Satan. Satan is called the god of this world/age in scripture. This world is full of deception and contains just about every lie in the form of philosophies and religions, but persecutes the truth. All people who trust in the world are not willing to be unplugged in order to see the truth and the truth can only be revealed to those who are searching for it. So many people live out their daily lives oblivious to the fact that there is a God who created a perfect world/state called Heaven. The bible tells us that we cannot love the world and love God at the same time, so we all have a choice. Do we want the truth or do we want to continue living a lie? In the gospel and scriptures, we find that the main character is God and Jesus (Yashua) is the son of God, who came into this world and altered this reality with countless miracles. He is the chosen one of God who came to free man from bondage to sin and slavery to this world and ultimately to deliver us out of this present darkness and into the glorious light. Now for the similarities between this movie and the Gospel Message. •
I guess they are trying to win back some of the boys the scared off from all the "fondling"...All hail the Flying Spaghetti MonsterrAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEENNN...
Somehow, "his noodly appendage" has now taken on a rather unpleasant meaning.If the catholic priesthood had rectified the values it has both long espoused and long eschewed...simultaneously, ...and if the church had spent more of its energy actually making people's lives better (instead of spending millions campaigning for Republicans and against gays)..., ...and if, perhaps, the they had learned enough of the lessons of the Reformation to respond responsibly to the sex scandal (or to deal with sex period)......then perhaps I would have taken them up on their flood of offers to join when I came out.I certainly would have gotten more play.RAmen.
thanks for all of the catholic bashing... when i hear all of the negativity, it really gets me fired up in defense of the faith i believe so strongly in. kind of makes me feel like a martyr, so i appreciate all of you people who do your part to strengthen the catholic church.the priest in the poster happens to be my priest. never have i met a person so enthusiastic about dedicating ones life to god...and not be one of those crazies screaming at you when you stop at a red light. and even better, he's basically my age, so i know he can relate to me and the challenges i face. to the people who know him, he really is an inspiration of how you can let god play a bigger part in your life. and it's not at all surprising that he would open himself up to the kind of insults and criticism he's receiving from you oh so misguided people. as he said just today in mass, if this poster makes one person think, wow, maybe this path really could be for me, then it will have been worth it to him. as i said before, thanks for the persecution...you are making us that much stronger.
I, like the above poster, know this priest. Ia m not Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) but I found him to be an amazing person. This was not some over arching "the Catholic Church" issue. This is one dedicated priest and a photographer from his parish (also very nice) who put this together in the shadow of a vocations crisis. He is a good man who has likely done more for his community than MOST here have doen for their own. Let he who casts the first stone......
Well, this would not be the place to respond to all the Catholic bashing, because obviously the ill-will towards the Church in those who so freely and vociferously have expressed their hatred is quite deep-seated, and a sound bite comment trying to put someone in their place would do nothing but further fuel your hatred. I myself questioned the Church for a long time, but was able to spend some time really reflecting about everything and finding the inherent beauty in the Church, the beauty that shines through the light of Jesus Christ. The Church is a gift from God, and all I will say about the abuses and scandals is that even Catholics are human, and even a God-given gift run by humans will unfortunately at times be corrupted by evil. And it is no surprise that the greatest atrocitites against the Church have been committed by priests themselves, because the devil hates a priest more than anyone in the world. They are sworn enemies, and unfortunately many battles he has won.A few months ago, after a long period of reflection, I finally accepted my calling and will be entering the seminary. I am very proud of my faith, and very thankful for it. And mostly I am very thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to rest eternally after my exile is complete in the sublime presence of my God. Should anyone care to find out what a 28 year old regular guy, a man who has been to hell and back, and is now journeying through the priesthood, thinks like, feel free to visit my livejournal: www.livejournal.com/users/arjuna27
Oh yeah, one last thing, the poster is great. Nothing personal against you who find it to be a joke, because I certainly respect your opinions, but I don't think you were the target audience. Amond the people they are trying to reach, young men who already have strong Catholic faith, but are very unsure about the priesthood as a calling and vocation, it can be very effective.And from someone who has gone through, or rather is still going through the process, it is a way of getting people to look at the priesthood different. However, as bad as the shortage of priests is (although it's blown out of proportion), this poster is far from an act of desparation. The Church does not just look for anyone who wants to be a priest. The process of acceptance is extremely rigorous, now more than ever in light of the scandals. The Church has made mistakes, big ones, but now is the time to move on. A healing process will take years, but it will begin with great, holy priests, priests who can help restore the faith in the vocation. If anyone out there has faith, I ask you pray for me that hopefully when my time comes I can help to serve God in this beautiful capacity.
Exodus 13:15(KJV) "I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem."Exodus 34:19 "All that openeth the matrix is mine".Numbers 18:15 "Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine".
skartelAug 20, 2005
The MatrixBasically this movie is about a world that has been created to hide the truth from humans in which people are kept in bondage and slavery without them knowing it. That world is called The Matrix, which is a computer generated world designed to simulate the peak of human civilization which has now been destroyed in a nuclear war. The majority of the world's population is oblivious to that fact that their world is not real, but digital and they continue living out their daily lives, without even questioning their reality. The main character Neo, knows that something is not right with the world he lives in, and he is eager to learn the truth. He is offered the truth from a character called Morpheus. Morpheus proclaims that Neo is the One (chosen one) who will eventually destroy the Matrix. For this to happen, Neo must first overcome the Sentient Programs who are the Agents that can jump into anyone's digital body. They are the Gate Keepers and they hold all the keys to The Matrix. This movie reveals the truth gradually and it is this unravelling of the truth that keeps the audience captured. The GospelBasically the gospel message is truth about this world we live in, that is controlled by evil powers in high (spiritual) places. However, the earth and the universe were created/programmed by God; but the world system was created by man, but inspired by Satan. Satan is called the god of this world/age in scripture. This world is full of deception and contains just about every lie in the form of philosophies and religions, but persecutes the truth. All people who trust in the world are not willing to be unplugged in order to see the truth and the truth can only be revealed to those who are searching for it. So many people live out their daily lives oblivious to the fact that there is a God who created a perfect world/state called Heaven. The bible tells us that we cannot love the world and love God at the same time, so we all have a choice. Do we want the truth or do we want to continue living a lie? In the gospel and scriptures, we find that the main character is God and Jesus (Yashua) is the son of God, who came into this world and altered this reality with countless miracles. He is the chosen one of God who came to free man from bondage to sin and slavery to this world and ultimately to deliver us out of this present darkness and into the glorious light. Now for the similarities between this movie and the Gospel Message. •
rompom7Aug 20, 2005
skartel i was going to post the same thing.a lot of people don't relise that The Matrix is indeed a very religious movie.
vill4noAug 20, 2005
I guess they are trying to win back some of the boys the scared off from all the "fondling"...All hail the Flying Spaghetti MonsterrAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEENNN...
mantricAug 20, 2005
Somehow, "his noodly appendage" has now taken on a rather unpleasant meaning.If the catholic priesthood had rectified the values it has both long espoused and long eschewed...simultaneously, ...and if the church had spent more of its energy actually making people's lives better (instead of spending millions campaigning for Republicans and against gays)..., ...and if, perhaps, the they had learned enough of the lessons of the Reformation to respond responsibly to the sex scandal (or to deal with sex period)......then perhaps I would have taken them up on their flood of offers to join when I came out.I certainly would have gotten more play.RAmen.
shawgoAug 20, 2005
what are you talking about? The matrix sucked. I iked the forst one ok, but the rest were dumb.
dctrleAug 29, 2005
thanks for all of the catholic bashing... when i hear all of the negativity, it really gets me fired up in defense of the faith i believe so strongly in. kind of makes me feel like a martyr, so i appreciate all of you people who do your part to strengthen the catholic church.the priest in the poster happens to be my priest. never have i met a person so enthusiastic about dedicating ones life to god...and not be one of those crazies screaming at you when you stop at a red light. and even better, he's basically my age, so i know he can relate to me and the challenges i face. to the people who know him, he really is an inspiration of how you can let god play a bigger part in your life. and it's not at all surprising that he would open himself up to the kind of insults and criticism he's receiving from you oh so misguided people. as he said just today in mass, if this poster makes one person think, wow, maybe this path really could be for me, then it will have been worth it to him. as i said before, thanks for the persecution...you are making us that much stronger.
jrstroAug 29, 2005
I, like the above poster, know this priest. Ia m not Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) but I found him to be an amazing person. This was not some over arching "the Catholic Church" issue. This is one dedicated priest and a photographer from his parish (also very nice) who put this together in the shadow of a vocations crisis. He is a good man who has likely done more for his community than MOST here have doen for their own. Let he who casts the first stone......
augustine27Oct 25, 2005
Well, this would not be the place to respond to all the Catholic bashing, because obviously the ill-will towards the Church in those who so freely and vociferously have expressed their hatred is quite deep-seated, and a sound bite comment trying to put someone in their place would do nothing but further fuel your hatred. I myself questioned the Church for a long time, but was able to spend some time really reflecting about everything and finding the inherent beauty in the Church, the beauty that shines through the light of Jesus Christ. The Church is a gift from God, and all I will say about the abuses and scandals is that even Catholics are human, and even a God-given gift run by humans will unfortunately at times be corrupted by evil. And it is no surprise that the greatest atrocitites against the Church have been committed by priests themselves, because the devil hates a priest more than anyone in the world. They are sworn enemies, and unfortunately many battles he has won.A few months ago, after a long period of reflection, I finally accepted my calling and will be entering the seminary. I am very proud of my faith, and very thankful for it. And mostly I am very thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to rest eternally after my exile is complete in the sublime presence of my God. Should anyone care to find out what a 28 year old regular guy, a man who has been to hell and back, and is now journeying through the priesthood, thinks like, feel free to visit my livejournal: www.livejournal.com/users/arjuna27
augustine27Oct 25, 2005
Oh yeah, one last thing, the poster is great. Nothing personal against you who find it to be a joke, because I certainly respect your opinions, but I don't think you were the target audience. Amond the people they are trying to reach, young men who already have strong Catholic faith, but are very unsure about the priesthood as a calling and vocation, it can be very effective.And from someone who has gone through, or rather is still going through the process, it is a way of getting people to look at the priesthood different. However, as bad as the shortage of priests is (although it's blown out of proportion), this poster is far from an act of desparation. The Church does not just look for anyone who wants to be a priest. The process of acceptance is extremely rigorous, now more than ever in light of the scandals. The Church has made mistakes, big ones, but now is the time to move on. A healing process will take years, but it will begin with great, holy priests, priests who can help restore the faith in the vocation. If anyone out there has faith, I ask you pray for me that hopefully when my time comes I can help to serve God in this beautiful capacity.
gopchristianMar 8, 2006
Exodus 13:15(KJV) "I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem."Exodus 34:19 "All that openeth the matrix is mine".Numbers 18:15 "Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine".