God
Faith
Prayer Request
Fr. Dan gave a wonderful homily today about the Trinity: one of the things he explained is, axiomatically-- since it is the act of giving-- there must be more than one participant for love to exist. The Trinity illustrated this even "before" time existed: three persons sharing that love.
Pope Leo said today during the Angelus that the Holy Spirit "unites the Father and the Son, and has been poured into our hearts. The Church becomes... where heaven and Earth already touch." So it is through prayer and participation in the sacraments that we enter into communion with the Trinity, and through the giving of love to one another.
Incidentally, Fr. Dan also wore the perfect chasuble for today: it is white, with three maroon-colored upward arcs. As he stood at the altar during the Eucharistic epiclesis, the two side arcs bent to his shoulders and up to each of the two sets of three high altar candles on either side; while the middle line went straight up, to Jesus on the cross.
Communion via the Eucharist, uniting heaven and Earth, all to the Blessed Trinity.
All Things in Truth
If we see something good in someone, we should give them affirmations. But like all things, the affirmations must be spoken from the truth in one's own heart-- not for deceit or flattery. Like all of our actions, they should be provided through prayerful discernment.
I heard a quote from a fifty year jubilarian priest recently, but I don't know what it means. I feel like there is something profound here, but maybe someone else can explain it to me in a way I can understand? Otherwise I will continue to meditate on it. Regarding seminary formation: "They taught us to keep in mind the truth of our faith and the manner the truth is expressed and celebrated. For example, they taught us to think of a small child who receives a gift but plays with the ribbon instead."
A friend of mine provided the personal, written correspondance of her father, and used Copilot to generate a summary of his character as a man. It came so close to accurately describing him, that she felt moved.
The moment brought her closer to God, and increased her love for her dad. While I think this is a very novel use for AI, and it provided her with succor, there is also a risk that people could use it on themselves, then mistakenly treat the AI's feedback about their own tempermanent as some kind of false, digital, substitute "Illumination of Conscience."
Large Language Models only play with statistics and words: "What is the next most probable word to use." They are not a replacement for the human mind, they only produce derivative works by definition, and they are most certainly not a replacement for God or prayer.
Using these tools should fall into the same rubric as recreation, or other things of that nature: "Is this activity-- 'talking' to the AI model-- bringing me closer to, or taking me further from, God? Does it give me an increase in holiness, or is it tempting me to evil action or sin? Does it bring me peace, or distress?"
Diagnosis
A very close friend of mine shared today that she has been diagnosed with cancer. You can refer to her a "R", the Lord will know the intentions on our hearts and for whom they are intended. Please pray for her healing, both physical and emotional.
Pope Leo said today during the Angelus that the Holy Spirit "unites the Father and the Son, and has been poured into our hearts. The Church becomes... where heaven and Earth already touch." So it is through prayer and participation in the sacraments that we enter into communion with the Trinity, and through the giving of love to one another.
Incidentally, Fr. Dan also wore the perfect chasuble for today: it is white, with three maroon-colored upward arcs. As he stood at the altar during the Eucharistic epiclesis, the two side arcs bent to his shoulders and up to each of the two sets of three high altar candles on either side; while the middle line went straight up, to Jesus on the cross.
Communion via the Eucharist, uniting heaven and Earth, all to the Blessed Trinity.
All Things in Truth
If we see something good in someone, we should give them affirmations. But like all things, the affirmations must be spoken from the truth in one's own heart-- not for deceit or flattery. Like all of our actions, they should be provided through prayerful discernment.
I heard a quote from a fifty year jubilarian priest recently, but I don't know what it means. I feel like there is something profound here, but maybe someone else can explain it to me in a way I can understand? Otherwise I will continue to meditate on it. Regarding seminary formation: "They taught us to keep in mind the truth of our faith and the manner the truth is expressed and celebrated. For example, they taught us to think of a small child who receives a gift but plays with the ribbon instead."
A friend of mine provided the personal, written correspondance of her father, and used Copilot to generate a summary of his character as a man. It came so close to accurately describing him, that she felt moved.
The moment brought her closer to God, and increased her love for her dad. While I think this is a very novel use for AI, and it provided her with succor, there is also a risk that people could use it on themselves, then mistakenly treat the AI's feedback about their own tempermanent as some kind of false, digital, substitute "Illumination of Conscience."
Large Language Models only play with statistics and words: "What is the next most probable word to use." They are not a replacement for the human mind, they only produce derivative works by definition, and they are most certainly not a replacement for God or prayer.
Using these tools should fall into the same rubric as recreation, or other things of that nature: "Is this activity-- 'talking' to the AI model-- bringing me closer to, or taking me further from, God? Does it give me an increase in holiness, or is it tempting me to evil action or sin? Does it bring me peace, or distress?"
Diagnosis
A very close friend of mine shared today that she has been diagnosed with cancer. You can refer to her a "R", the Lord will know the intentions on our hearts and for whom they are intended. Please pray for her healing, both physical and emotional.