Everyone seems to be amazed that the Pope is tweeting ”“ and there was a news story the other day about bishops in England using Twitter for their Christmas messages. The surprise reminds me of the way people pretend to be astonished when clergy admit to having heard the occasional rude word (never mind clergy actually using them”¦) or having watched a soap. It’s taken for granted that we’re far too unworldly for all this.

Even speaking as someone who struggles with any kind of technology, I don’t think it should be assumed that all my fellow clergy are or ought to be as dim as I am in this area. And I don’t buy into the panic that sometimes gets stirred up about social media and electronic communication. OK, we all know it can be poisonous and destructive at times. But there’s another side to it.

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Like many women these days, Aran Hissam, 35, of Melbourne, Fla., posted the news that she was pregnant on Facebook. On the morning of an ultrasound last year, she debated on the site whether to learn the baby’s sex, musing “to peek or not to peek?”

When she failed to post an update later that day, friends started to contact her. Ms. Hissam decided to return to Facebook to share the news that her unborn baby, a girl, had been found to have fetal hydrops and given no chance of survival.

“I wanted to communicate the news to get people off my back,” Ms. Hissam said in a telephone interview recently. Although her husband was at first surprised that she would share such emotional news publicly, she said, Facebook seemed like one of the least difficult ways to get the word out.

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary is warning its congregants away from a new church it believes is wrongly identifying itself as Catholic.

The St. Pius X Society ”” Catholic traditionalists who broke from the mainstream during the church reforms of the late ’60s ”” has purchased a Catholic church in the city’s Southwest.

The group, which believes in holding Latin Mass according to older liturgical rites, is renovating the building and plans to open it after a blessing ceremony to be held on Dec. 27.

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IBM’s 5 in 5 — a list of five innovations that could change the world in five years — focuses on how computers are developing the ability to taste, touch, hear, see and listen just like humans do, except way better.

It is kind of exciting and kind of terrifying, but mostly just really cool.

For example, Hendrik Hamann, a research manager of physical systems for IBM, describes a smartphone that could use a computerized nose to “smell” if we are sick. Forget the thermometer and the doctor’s visit — we will simply breathe into our cellphones to find out if we have the flu.

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The publication of the data led to an interesting contrast in reactions. A Dec. 11 report published on the Christian Today Web site quoted a spokesman for the Catholic Church, who described the fall in the number of Christians as a “challenge….”

The spokesman cited the address by Pope Benedict XVI at Westminster Cathedral during his visit in 2010, “How much we need, in the Church and in society, witnesses of the beauty of holiness, witnesses of the splendour of truth, witnesses of the joy and freedom born of a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

An editorial published in the Dec. 12 edition of London’s Times newspaper was in sharp contrast. It also used the words of challenge, saying that: “The decline in Christian affiliation is a challenge to the Church.” It proposed a very different solution to that proposed by the Pope. Christianity, the editorial said: “should respond by embracing modernity.”

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In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s famous novel, Ivan is the Karamazov brother who collects stories of children tortured, beaten, killed ”” babes caught on the points of soldiers’ bayonets, a serf boy run down by his master’s hounds, a child of 5 locked in a freezing outhouse by her parents….

It’s telling that Dostoyevsky, himself a Christian, offered no direct theological rebuttal to his character’s speech. The counterpoint to Ivan in “The Brothers Karamazov” is supplied by other characters’ examples of Christian love transcending suffering, not by a rhetorical justification of God’s goodness.

In this, the Russian novelist was being true to the spirit of the New Testament, which likewise seeks to establish God’s goodness through a narrative rather than an argument, a revelation of his solidarity with human struggle rather than a philosophical proof of his benevolence….

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With Pope Benedict XVI’s new presence on Twitter, people from all over the world can now post papal messages with just the push of an on-screen button.

While many have welcomed the pope’s foray into the virtual world, his @Pontifex handles and “reply-able” posts have also meant that rude and crude comments have come with the mix.

Twitter is “an open communications platform,” and the Vatican has readily embraced what the full-fledged exercise of freedom of speech entails, said Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which organized and runs the pope’s eight language-based Twitter accounts.

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Colonel James S. Ketchum dreamed of war without killing. He joined the Army in 1956 and left it in 1976, and in that time he did not fight in Vietnam; he did not invade the Bay of Pigs; he did not guard Western Europe with tanks, or help build nuclear launch sites beneath the Arctic ice. Instead, he became the military’s leading expert in a secret Cold War experiment: to fight enemies with clouds of psychochemicals that temporarily incapacitate the mind””causing, in the words of one ranking officer, a “selective malfunctioning of the human machine.” For nearly a decade, Ketchum, a psychiatrist, went about his work in the belief that chemicals are more humane instruments of warfare than bullets and shrapnel””or, at least, he told himself such things. To achieve his dream, he worked tirelessly at a secluded Army research facility, testing chemical weapons on hundreds of healthy soldiers, and thinking all along that he was doing good.

Today, Ketchum is eighty-one years old, and the facility where he worked, Edgewood Arsenal, is a crumbling assemblage of buildings attached to a military proving ground on the Chesapeake Bay. The arsenal’s records are boxed and dusting over in the National Archives. Military doctors who helped conduct the experiments have long since moved on, or passed away, and the soldiers who served as their test subjects””in all, nearly five thousand of them””are scattered throughout the country, if they are still alive.

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Referencing John 21:18, Archbishop Duncan spoke directly to the new primate and his wife and the vocation of this new stage of ministry.

“Becoming Archbishop means going where you do not plan to go. You are to have the mind of Christ in a very new way. The Lord Jesus is speaking to you as He spoke to Peter. You Stanley, and Mama, are to die and to live. Many days you will be carried where you do not want to go. You will be Christ’s servant more than ever now, as you seek to serve Him by being the servant of the servants of God.”

The sermon also reflected the deep friendship between the two men which began some eight years ago when Archbishop Ntagali visited Pittsburgh before his consecration.

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A new pacemaker has been built inside a heart by converting beating muscle into cells which can organise the organ’s rhythm, US researchers report.

The heartbeat is controlled by electrical signals and if these go awry the consequences can be fatal.

Scientists injected a genetically-modified virus into guinea pigs to turn part of their heart into a new, working pacemaker.

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In the church, this is the season of Advent. It’s superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light ”” but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness. As our Lord Jesus tells us, unless we see the light of God clearly, what we call light is actually darkness: “how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:23) Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness without and the darkness within.

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O God, who didst send thy messengers and prophets to prepare the way of thy Son before him: Grant that our Lord when he cometh may find in us a dwelling prepared for himself; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who came to take our nature upon him that he might bring many sons unto glory, and now with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end.

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to arouse you by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. And I will see to it that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

–2 Peter 1:12-21

14 December 2012

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
(Psalm 121:1-2)

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Advent greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I cannot tell you how much I am heavy-hearted because of what is going on in my beloved country Egypt. Many Egyptians were expecting that after the 25 January Revolution in 2011 there would be no exclusion for any citizen or groups because of their political or religious stance. Sadly, we are still groaning for this equality…

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As schools nationwide welcomed students back on the first day after Friday’s deadly shooting in Newtown, Conn., teachers and parents began walking the fine line between grief and normalcy, openness and vigilance.

Uncertainty was in the air a week before Christmas holidays, and many parents asked themselves a basic question: Should I even send my kid to school?

“My feelings were actually not even bringing her at all,” said Joanne Nichols, who dropped her granddaughter off at Skyland Elementary School in Greenville, S.C. Citywide, principals and administrators got instructions to be highly visible as students arrived, but Nichols said she thought schools should be on lockdown all week.

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Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina on Monday selected Representative Tim Scott to replace Jim DeMint in the United States Senate, an appointment that will make Mr. Scott the first black senator from the South since the late 19th century.

“It is a historic day in South Carolina,” Ms. Haley said, announcing her decision at the Capitol in Columbia with Mr. Scott at her side. She added, “He earned this seat for what I know he is going to do to make South Carolina and our country proud.”

The governor said that she chose Mr. Scott for his business vision and commitment to conservative principles. She said that he “will fly through 2014,” when he faces election to the Senate seat.

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The Most Reverend Doctor Richard Clarke was striking the West Door of St Patrick’s Cathedral three times as part of the traditional ceremony when his staff snapped in two.

However he took the mishap in good humour….

Read it all and watch the video.

The shape of a deal to avert the US fiscal cliff is at last emerging, with at least $1tn in new taxes, up to $1tn in fresh spending cuts and an increase in America’s debt ceiling, as negotiators scramble to reach an agreement before the end-of-the-year deadline.

Barack Obama, US president, and John Boehner, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, held their third face-to-face meeting in eight days at the White House amid signs of growing momentum in the talks. If they strike a deal in the coming days, and are able to pass it through Congress, it would remove a huge cloud of uncertainty hanging over the global economy.

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Few players have provided more important plays for the Steelers the past few years than Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, and they were at it again Sunday.

Roethlisberger, their Pro Bowl quarterback, had thrown two touchdown passes, one of them to Brown, who fought through a defender to reach the end zone. He had more than 300 yards passing and he led his team from behind into a fourth-quarter lead against the Dallas Cowboys. Brown, their MVP a year ago and Pro Bowl returner, returned one punt 29 yards and led the Steelers with eight receptions.

But both players made critical errors in the fourth quarter and overtime, each blaming themselves for a 27-24 loss, their fourth in the past five games that dropped them to 7-7, yet somehow still quite alive for a playoff spot.

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The Beefsteak chapel hardly sounds like a place where vegetarians would be welcome, but more than 200 years ago, this tiny chapel in Salford was the British birthplace of the meat-free diet.

In an even greater twist, the cleric who preached the moral virtues of vegetarianism was the Reverend William Cowherd. His Beefsteak Chapel was the country’s first vegetarian church.

Cowherd, born almost 250 years ago on Sunday 16 December, demanded his congregation eat a meat free diet.

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A Muslim taxicab driver is suing the city of St. Louis, the Metropolitan Taxicab Commission and a private security company, saying he has been harassed and arrested because he insists on wearing religious garb.

Raja Awais Naeem, who works for Harris Cab and manages a shuttle service called A-1 Shuttle, says his religious beliefs require him to wear modest, loose-fitting clothing and a hat called a kufi. But that garb has run afoul of the taxicab commission’s dress code for cabbies, Naeem claims in the suit filed Thursday morning in St. Louis Circuit Court.

Naeem, originally from Pakistan but now a U.S. citizen living in St. Louis County, said he has been told he must adhere to the commission’s rules requiring a white shirt, black pants and no kufi. Baseball caps are allowed, as long as they have no logo other than the taxi certificate holder.

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Pity the prime minister. With most news bleakly austere these days, changing the law to let gay couples marry must have seemed a sure way to spread crowd-pleasing sweetness and light. Countries around the world are giving homosexuals full marriage rights. More than half of British respondents usually tell pollsters they favour gay marriage. Besides, David Cameron truly believes in it, as he told the Conservative Party conference in October 2011.

But government plans to let same-sex couples not only marry but marry in church, detailed on December 11th, have startled the ecclesiastical horses and divided the already fissiparous Conservatives. The Anglican and Catholic churches, along with the Muslim Council of Britain and Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, oppose the move, which contravenes their belief that marriage is between a woman and a man. High-profile Tories including Michael Gove, the education secretary, and Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, are for the change, but over 100 Conservative MPs are believed to oppose it. That will not put the outcome in doubt, as Labour and the Liberal Democrats support the shift, but it guarantees a continuing row.

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That night, Weiss was called to the police station and was assigned to call at the homes of two victims, along with a state trooper and a grief counselor.

He knocked on one door at midnight ”” that of a husband whose wife had been killed in the shooting ”” and the next door at 1:30 a.m.

Weiss knew both families well. They belonged to his church.

In all those hours of counseling and comforting, no one asked the priest, “Why?” The question came later, starting on Sunday, and Weiss did not have an answer.

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With a profound sense of loss, but in total reverence to God, the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion announces the death of our dear former Primate, Archbishop, Metropolitan of our Church, father, grand and great grandfather, the Most Revd. Dr. Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye who passed away peacefully in his sleep at his Millennium house country home, Odo-Owa in Ekiti State in the early hours of Friday 14th December, 2012.

Archbishop Adetiloye died at 83 years after working actively and conscientiously as an enigma. A multi dimensional personality, an icon, a great and true disciple of Jesus Christ was born in Odo-Owa in the Ijero Area, Diocese of Ekiti West in Ekiti State on 25th December, 1929.

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On Wednesday, November 28, Pope Benedict XVI extended his weekly audience to Archbishop Robert Duncan and Bishop Ray Sutton of the Anglican Church in North America. The picture above was taken at the end of the session when Archbishop Duncan and Bishop Sutton were invited to join the Pope’s own Archbishops and Bishops to bring personal greetings. In 2003, Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, sent greetings to the very first Plano, TX gathering of orthodox Episcopal (now Anglican) bishops, clergy and laity in North America. This momentous conference, hosted by the AAC and Christ Church Plano, helped launch the Anglican Communion Network, the precursor to the Anglican Church in North America.

Is it a coincidence that during ACC-15 in Auckland, NZ, it was reported that the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue (ARCIC) now focuses more on exchanges of scholarly papers and less on high-level, face-to-face discussions? Is it a coincidence that Archbishop David Moxon of New Zealand has been appointed to replace the current director of the Anglican Centre in Rome? Is the Anglican Communion Office doing damage control in light of The Episcopal Church’s violations of Anglican– and indeed biblical and catholic– teaching on human sexuality and Holy Orders? Could the appointment of Archbishop Moxon be damage control for Canterbury’s persistent unwillingness to discipline TEC-even at the expense of Anglican Communion faith and order?

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It has been his life’s work. Now, Russell Portenoy appears to be having second thoughts.

Two decades ago, the prominent New York pain-care specialist drove a movement to help people with chronic pain. He campaigned to rehabilitate a group of painkillers derived from the opium poppy that were long shunned by physicians because of their addictiveness….

Opioids are also behind the country’s deadliest drug epidemic. More than 16,500 people die of overdoses annually, more than all illegal drugs combined.

Now, Dr. Portenoy and other pain doctors who promoted the drugs say they erred by overstating the drugs’ benefits and glossing over risks. “Did I teach about pain management, specifically about opioid therapy, in a way that reflects misinformation? Well, against the standards of 2012, I guess I did,” Dr. Portenoy said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “We didn’t know then what we know now.”

Read it all (this was also referenced in yesterday’s sermon by yours truly–KSH.

The insurance company that represents Trinity Episcopal Cathedral will pay $75,000 to the wife of former Dean Philip C. Linder, to settle a civil lawsuit related to his ouster from the cathedral’s top post in July 2010.

Ellen Linder filed suit in Richland County in October 2011 against the cathedral and Bishop W. Andrew Waldo of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, claiming the church and bishop had inflicted emotional distress and defamed her during the Linders’ painful and public departure from the church.

The cathedral and the bishop had maintained there was no merit to the case.

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Listen to it all if you so desire.

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

You seem to be doing very little good at present. The use of his “love” to distract his mind from the Enemy is, of course, obvious, but you reveal what poor use you are making of it when you say that the whole question of distraction and the wandering mind has now become one of the chief subjects of his prayers. That means you have largely failed. When this, or any other distraction, crosses his mind you ought to encourage him to thrust it away by sheer will power and to try to continue the normal prayer as if nothing had
happened; once he accepts the distraction as his present problem and lays that before the Enemy and makes it the main theme of his prayers and his endeavours, then, so far from doing good, you have done harm. Anything, even a sin, which has the total effect of moving him close up to the Enemy, makes against us in the long run….

Your affectionate uncle

SCREWTAPE

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Letter XXVII (emphasis mine), also quoted by yours truly in yesterday’s sermon