ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

“…for love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.” — Song of Songs, 8:6-7

THESE DAYS, THE WORDS “Love is stronger than Death” keep coming to mind. Four reasons: (1) Two very moving movies recently, (2) Our bible group is currently studying the Acts of the Apostles, (3) Four days of prayers and meditations during Holy Week retreat (March 19-23), and (4) Today is the third death aniversary of Pope John Paul II (also known as Karol Wojtyla before he became pope).

One of the two movies is famous: “The Passion of Christ”. The other is not well-known but its message is just as touching and powerful. It is “Karol, a man who became Pope”, showing in many concrete ways how love can conquer hatred, violence and even death. Here’re two 10-minute video clips and the English transcripts (click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below) for some of its most moving moments:

Karol, a man who became pope - Part 1 of 5

Karol, a man who became pope - Part 2 of 5

All, have a happy and blessed Easter! JPII, unum corde et anima una!

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A BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND A JOYFUL NEW YEAR TO YOU!

CWNews:

Instead of the familiar scene of the Baby Jesus laid in a manger, the Vatican’s Nativity scene this year will show the infant Jesus in a home that also includes his father’s workshop. No reason has been given for the change.

Does the it look like this Honthorst painting of St Joseph, as displayed on AmericanPapist.com (with an infant instead of a child looking up at St Joseph)?
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I HAVE A “SECRET” BLOG SINCE 2003 which I’ve hardly publicized over the years. I don’t even ping any Web services such as Pingomatic or Technorati or Ping.sg. There are a few reasons (be forewarned):

• I’m a rather private and introspective person, which may come as a surprise to certain people. Someone had once commented, “But you’re so outspoken!” Yes, where work is concerned, I am often quite forthright
• In this blog, I write about my faith, inner thoughts and sometimes feelings. Sometimes, I merely quote passages or verses that I like. All these I had presumed that most people wouldn’t be interested in. In fact, this blog is quite religious. More specifically, it’s Christian and Catholic. People who are non-Christian sometimes get rather defensive (even offensive) when they are presented with something religious (or Christian).
• I’ve wanted to migrate this blog to WordPress for months, but have yet to find the time or the specific instructions (or means) to do so.

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FIRST, Sister Judith Zoebelein, editorial director of the Vatican website, was interviewed by Robert Scoble and friends at the recent LIFT conference in Feb. They discussed the relevance and challenges of using Web technologies for a 2000-ish-year-old organization like the Catholic Church.

SECOND, the Podcast Awards for 2006 are out. Among the winners are three Catholic podcasts: Read the rest of this entry »