Viva La Vida (Live the Life)

"I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world"

Pujols' Push for MVP

"Any calculator can reveal the numbers Albert Pujols needs this final weekend of the season to run down his second National League batting title. What it will take for the Cardinals' first baseman to also claim his second NL MVP is less quantifiable.

It's not awarded just for crunching numbers; it's can come from numbers in the crunch. On Friday, he did both until he could do neither. Finishing out of the postseason is a mitigating factor for Pujols' MVP candidacy, as historically the writers who vote side with hitters who powered their teams to the playoffs.

For Pujols, Friday's campaign stop included three hits, a game-tying home run in the fifth inning and more stumping from manager Tony La Russa.

"Albert is a great player," La Russa said. "He plays defense like a maniac. He runs the bases. He is in the tradition of the great Cardinals players. He is one of the great players playing today. And he shows it on a daily basis." Friday was Pujols' second consecutive three-hit game and his third consecutive multi-hit start. He raised his average from .348 to .357. The homer was his seventh hit in seven consecutive at-bats.

"Is he hot?" La Russa said. "He got a pitch to hit, and he hit."

Pope Benedict XVI, St. Paul, and the Power of Confession

"The more we try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth on the roads of Galilee, so much the more will we understand that he has taken charge of our humanity, sharing in everything except sin," he said. "Our faith is not born from a myth or an idea, but from an encounter with the Risen One, in the life of the Church."

Here is an insightful post on "Why Confession?"
"It almost doesn't even matter what we confess. What matters is that our heart has turned back to God. We've acknowledged our need of him. We've therefore put ourselves back into his will.

Confession is actually a good, healthy and wholesome thing to do. It's healthy and wholesome like getting up early, getting some exercise, turning off the TV and eating our vegetables."

Presidential History: How We Remember Presidents

I found this article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "History may well smile on George W. Bush" written by Charles Krauthammer. He presents a very good point on how we will remember President Bush once he has served his two terms as the President of the United States in America.

"For the last 150 years, most American war presidents — most notably Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt — have entered or re-entered office knowing war was looming. Not so George Bush. Not so the war on terrorism. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue.

Indeed, the three presidential campaigns between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 were the most devoid of foreign policy debate of any in the 20th century. The commander-in-chief question that dominates our campaigns today was almost nowhere in evidence during our '90s holiday from history. When I asked President Bush during an interview Monday to reflect on this oddity, he cast himself back to early 2001, recalling what he expected his presidency would be about: education reform, tax cuts and military transformation from a Cold War structure to a more mobile force adapted to smaller-scale 21st-century conflict. But a wartime president he became. And that is how history will remember and judge him."

Now I for one think President Bush has done an admirable job (he has one of the most scrutinized, publicized, and stressful jobs-only behind Pope Benedict XVI) as President and leader of our Great Nation. Sure, some things have not gone the way he has probably planned for them to go, but who could plan on September 11th and the fact that the situation in Iraq seems to not be getting better because of ignorance and hatred among the people who live there. Now will President Bush be placed along the same side as Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt(s)? Probably not, but he won't be one of the worst-maybe somewhere in the middle of the pack. Remember he does have 4 months to solidify his place in history. I think it would be interesting to be able to sit down and ask the President questions you had and to listen to him speak about being the President and all what entails.

Presidential Highlights:
If anyone has ever seen Frank Caliendo do a GW Bush Impersonation, it is downright hilarious!
Also, with his reception of Pope Benedict VXI was very admiral and his hospitality was well respected by His Holiness, I am sure. I have read articles that call GW the "Closet Catholic."
To see a list of different rankings of Presidents: Historical rankings of United States of America Presidents

Goodbye Yankee Stadium

Although, I never was on the Yankee Bandwagon, I do believe Derek Jeter is one of the best Yankees of all time-this will be the first year he will miss the playoffs-the guy is just a winner...Anyways the Yankees have had a lot of tradition over the years and this year Yankee Stadium will be forever gone after 85 years after last nights game, which the Yankees won beating the Baltimore Orioles (only fitting). One of the experiences of going to a game at Yankee stadium was the PA Announver, Bob Sheppard. Although I was never lucky enough to see a game there, any baseball fan who has watched a Yankee game on TV will know that voice-it is one of those voices that once you hear you recognize-Jack Buck, Joe Buck, Harry Carey, etc. Not only did Bob Sheppard have a great voice, but also a great Faith as documented in this article "The Voice of God," about Mr. Sheppard's Faith and being the voice of the Yankees.
"Now batting for the Yankees… Number 2… the shortstop… Derek… Jeter.. Number 2."

Workout Attack

Here was Jason's Saturday UpperBody (emphasis on arms workout):
-Bike ride to Cardinal Fitness and 10 minutes on elliptical for warm-up-medicine ball roll to stretch out the hammies (no foam roll...)
-Body Weight Warmup Circuit 3x
10 Elevated Pushups
10 BarBell Curls
8 Triceps Extension w/ 10 lb plate
-Chest
For this I started with Incline, then change the incline to halfway between flat and incline and then all the way to a flat bench - this will get your chest pumping
3x8,8,6 w/ 50 lb DB
Super-Set 1
Reverse Grip Pressdown 2x10 110
Narrow Grip Barbell Curl 2x10 75
Super-Set 2
Back- Inverted Rows w/Barbell (Body weight) 3x12
Decline Crunches 3x25
Super-Set 3
DB Overhead Extension 2x10 70
Hammer Curls 2x10 35 lb DB
Side Crunches 2x15 (each side)
Super-Set 4
Triceps Dip x15 w/ 20 lb, x25 Bodyweight
Elastic Band Curls 2x30 seconds
-Bike Ride back home
-Ending with a delicious glass of Fat-Free Chocolate Milk and Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
Not bad, if I must say so myself

A Night of Legends

It surely was a Night of Legends on Saturday at the Assembly Hall in Champaign. Players from all eras of Illini Basketball came to celebrate the rich tradition of Fighting Illini Basketball culminating in the Alumni game pitting the "old" vs. the "new." Players from the Flying Illini (Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Stephen Bardo, etc) along with Frank Williams, Brian Cook, Corey Bradford, and Kiwanne Garris (to name a few) battled against Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head, and Roger Powell. It was great to see all of those guys out on the court. Deron led the way for the new guys leading them to victory-it might have had been that they had 3 NBA Players on their team. Deron nailed a "3" from the "S" on the Illinois that left everyone's jaw dropping. Luther pulled down some sweet dunks, including one where he threw it to himself off the backboard! What may have been the best was to see the Gold Medal around Deron's neck proudly representing the USA and Fighting Illini Basketball-I would take a Gold Medal over a NBA Championship...Then the night ended with the unveiling of 30 of the greatest Illini Basketball Jerseyss. It was a great night and I feel blessed and special to have had my four years at U of I a part of the Fighting Illini Basketball Program!

Remembering 9/11/01

Loving God, help us to realize that true peacemaking can only become a reality in our world today if it is first a matter in our hearts. September 11 reminded us that our country has been blessed with tremendous resources that we must use wisely in the service of others, both within our own borders and around the world.

We ask for the gifts of civility and charity so that we can treat others with respect and love.

We ask for the gifts of faith and hope to strengthen our spirits by placing our trust in You rather than ourselves.

We ask for the gifts of courage and compassion that will move us into action to help those in need in the United States as well as throughout the world. We ask for the gifts of humility and kindness so that we may put the needs and interests of others ahead of our own.

We ask for the gifts of patience and perseverance to endure the long struggle for justice.

We ask for all of this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

"Our call to be Apostles of Christ" B16

"Benedict XVI then highlighted how in the letters, there appear "three main characteristics" of being an apostle: "the first: having seen the Lord, having had an encounter with him that is decisive for one's life". In fact, "it is the Lord who makes an apostle", and this apostle needs to be in constant relationship with the Lord. "One is not an apostle by vocation, but by means of Jesus". The second characteristic is "that of being sent. The Greek word apostolos means one who is sent, dispatched, the bearer of a message". "He must act as an expression of the one who sends him, as a delegate of Jesus". "Once again it emerges that the initiative belongs to someone else, it belongs to God, in Christ". "This emphasizes the fact that the mission has been received from him". The third characteristic is "the exercise of the proclamation of the Gospel, with the consequent foundation of Churches". "'Apostle' is not an honorary title, it consumes the entire being of its subject". "This is why Paul describes apostles as coworkers of God"."

The Birth of The Blessed Mother Mary

Today The Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Mother Mary to her earthly parents Joachim and Anne, descendants of David. Mary is our greatest example of an obedient Disciple to Christ, to whom she gave a divine and virgin birth to Salvation and humanity. Here is an excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI and the role of Mary in the Catholic Faith

"In summary, the pope made five points about Mary in Sardinia, which are likely to surface again while he’s at Lourdes:

• Mary points to Christ, above all to his incarnation.
• Mary is a symbol of the beauty and tenderness of God.
• Mary is a forerunner and a model for all disciples of Christ.
• Mary is a model for mothers, children and spouses, and thus a patron of the family.
• Mary is the “star of the new evangelization,” a patron for efforts to bring Christ to the world.

Benedict encouraged the Sardinians to renew their Marian traditions, not merely as a matter of preserving local culture, but also because of the importance of Mary in Catholic theology and spirituality.

“The role of Mary in salvation history stands out in all its clarity: the being of Mary is totally relative to Christ, in particular to his incarnation,” Benedict said in his homily at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria. “Respecting everything human, God makes it fecund from within, causing the most beautiful fruit of his creative and redemptive work to bloom from the humble virgin of Nazareth.”

“Thus we can, once again, contemplate the place of Mary in God’s plan for salvation,” the pope said. “She is, in fact, in Christ, the summit and model of ‘those who love God.’ In the ‘here I am’ of the Son, we find a faithful echo of the ‘here I am’ of his mother, as well as the ‘here I am’ of all the adoptive children of the Son.”"

Father of Mercy, give your people help and strength from heaven.
The birth of the Virgin Mary's son
was the dawn of our salvation.
May this celebration of her birthday
bring us closer to lasting peace.
Grant this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

-- the Liturgy of the Hours

"The Resurrection will be 'the last word on Suffering'"

"Pope Benedict concluded by referencing men and women ready to carry their cross and follow Jesus.

The Holy Father remarked, “In today’s world, where powers that divide and destroy appear to dominate, Christ does not stop making us a clear invitation: who wants to be my disciple, let him forswear his own egoism and carry with me the cross.”

He then invited his audience to invoke the intercession of Mary who, Pope Benedict said, followed Jesus along the way of the cross."