Inspired by the movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I read the Chronicles of Narnia for the second time in my life (I also read them during middle school), and I thought I'd offer a few thoughts, as well as a couple of links for further reading.
In my opinion, these books are very insightful, entertaining and easy to read. I read all the books within a two week period (granted, I didn't have too much homework during that time), and the conclusion of The Last Battle was better than I expected (don't worry, I won't spoil it—yet!). I have read other people's reviews and opinions of the books, and sometimes people say the books are simplistic or chauvinistic, but these allegations are simply not true. Anyone who says so is ignorant of the wonderful Christian tradition the books were written in.
The imagery with Aslan, Narnia, and our own world is simple enough for a child to understand, but it also contains enough material for much thought. I often put the book I was reading down to think about a theological aspect of the story or try to apply something one of the characters learns in the story to my own life. The conversations between Aslan and the characters are especially enlightening.
(WARNING: Possible Spoiler!) One question stuck in my mind as I finished the books, though; what happens to Susan? Obviously, she is not 'damned to Hell,' as some reviewers seem to think, because of her 'silliness' and infatuation with youth, but the reader is left to wonder what will happen to her after she finds that her family has died in a train accident. I, the optimist, hope she returns to her belief in Aslan and Narnia, and finds herself one day in Aslan's kingdom... but that's my opinion. I found two very good articles online concerning this very topic: Article 1, Article 2.
I encourage anyone with the least bit of interest in any kind of fantasy novels, or even in short, entertaining novels, to read these books. You will not be disappointed!
After many months of procrastination, I finally decided to go ahead and radically change the look of my blog. I have always wanted the links column on the left-hand side of the page, but I have been using a template using CSS (cascading style sheet) coding that I did not fully understand, so I could not change it.
I finally had the time to go through all the code on my blog's templates, finding all the nuances that make it look as it does, then I changed them to my liking. There are still tweaks to be made, but I think I'll be able to make them soon enough. I liked the look of the reflection on the logo that I did on my iWeb test website, and I decided to use the new logo I designed as well (the cross is actually a letter 't' with the bottom part edited off from one of my fonts).
I will try to make the site even better, and I am open to any suggestions you may have; just leave a comment here, and I'll see what I can do!
(To all geeks out there: My blog, and most of my other sites, are now almost all XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant. I still have some cross-browser issues (most notably with IE) with some elements of my sites, though...).
I did not believe the headline until I read the story. I'm still quite shocked, though...
Blessings are part of the Catholic tradition,” said Rozycki, who is pastor of St. Martin's Church in Tours. “You bless the building so it will be a safe haven, so that the families that enter will be blessed, so the employees will be blessed É as they support their families.” (Read More...)
Details are now posted online about the upcoming variety show, Couch Potatoes: Twice Baked, produced entirely by seminarians and faculty of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. Tickets cost $5 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. Shows will be at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 24 and at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 25. The priestie boyz and Holy Mountain Music will be there!
