Whether Or Not The Color Of Lemon-Lime Gatorade Can Be Classified As Green?

Wow, the more I read the Summa, the more Aquinas amazes me. He thought of everything!:

Objection 1. It would seem that Lemon-Lime Gatorade is in fact yellow, for it contains the dye Yellow 5.

Objection 2. It would seem that since lemon and lime are proper to yellow and green respectively, and that since green is a combination of both yellow and blue, that Lemon-Lime Gatorade is yellow, since it is predominately yellow.

On the contrary, the accidents of the color of Lemon-Lime Gatorade are interpreted differently by various people, in order to distinguish its form, which is made most manifest in the accident of taste. The variations in interpretation however cannot all be legitimate, for Lemon-Lime Gatorade is not a supernatural drink like the precious blood, in which the accidents are a veil. Therefore since the substance is absolute the accidents must be absolute, and therefore any variation is actually the effect of original sin which causes skewed judgments.

I answer that, green is God’s favorite color, (Genesis 1:11-12, 8:11, 9:3, 30:37, 41:3-18, Exodus 9:31, 10:15, Leviticus 2:14, etc.) and he hates yellow for it is an unclean pagan color. (Leviticus 13:30-36, Proverbs 23:31, Jerimas 30:6) Since there is no question that Lemon-Lime Gatorade is good, it must necessarily be green, unlike Lemonade Gatorade, which is an abomination against the Almighty. However since no offical judgment on this matter from the Holy See has been made I must confess that the question can still be disputed, and I submit absolutely to the future judgments of the Church's Infallible Magisterium.

Reply to objection 1. Yellow 5 is only added to mask the true color of the Gatorade which is in fact dark green, and the dye merely weakens the intensity of the greenness.

Reply to objection 2. green must necessarily be the predominate color, since Yellow dye was used for psychological reasons, so that people would not think they were drinking a pure lime drink.

Hat tip to Alex Cooper

Quote Of The Day

"If there is a God, Cardinal Richelieu has a lot to answer for. If there be none, he certainly has had a successful career."

-Pope Urban VIII

Hebrews 4.12-13

In Hebrews 4.12, we read “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged μάχαιραν, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

This verse is very often quoted and always the “word of God” is thought of as meaning “Scripture.” Yet in the context of Hebrews, the author is not talking about Scripture at all.

Μάχαιραν in this verse is normally translated as “sword.” However, we need to go back and look at the context that this verse is in; entering into God’s rest and the quote from Heb. 4.8:
“For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later of another day.”

In Joshua 5.2 God says to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the people of Israel again the second time." The word in the Septuagint that is used for “flint knives” is μάχαιραν.
The people need to be circumcised before entering the Promised Land and receiving God’s rest. Yet, this isn’t the definitive rest of God. This rest only comes with Christ and the circumcision of the heart. We see this in Ezekiel 44.6-7 “Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations, in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart” and Collosians 2.11 “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ.”

Thus μάχαιραν in this context is better translated as “knife.” And the “word of God” is the λόγος, Christ, who is a living two-edged knife that circumcises the heart allowing us to enter into the Heavenly rest of God, which is the definitive rest.
Then we have verse 13: “And no creature is invisible before him, but all things are naked and exposed to his eyes, with whom on our behalf is the word.”

The “him” in verse 13 refers to God. “Exposed” in Greek has two meanings. The first is a technical term for establishing a wrestling hold on a person. The second is in reference to a sacrificial victim. The neck of the sacrificial victim is exposed in order to be slit with a knife.

“Naked” here refers to the naked neck exposed to God’s eyes.

“With whom on our behalf is the word”: πρὸς pro\s ὃν o(\n ἡμῖν h(mi=n ὁ o( λόγος . The Logos is with God on our behalf. Christ was a victim in a sacrifice and the result of this sacrifice is that He is now with God interceding on our behalf. His expiatory sacrifice satisfied for our sins in the past. But we keep sinning, so Christ intercedes in Heaven for us. Paul continues his argument in verse 14 by saying, “having therefore a great high priest.” Christ has gone through the Heavens and is now interceding for us as the Great High Priest!

In conclusion, Hebrews 4.12-13 shows us the two sides of Christ. We see Him in verse 12 as the Logos performing the efficacious work of the Son in the Sacrament of Baptism in which we receive a circumcision of the heart and enter into God’s rest. Verse 13 shows the efficacious work of the Logos interceding for us as High Priest. Hebrews 4.12 and 4.13 describes the two different functions of the same Logos; the Logos that is like a two-edged knife!

The Primacy Of Rome

"We have considered that it ought to be announced that although all the Catholic Churches spread abroad through the world compromise but one bridal chamber of Christ, nevertheless, the holy Roman Church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of other Churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church....' The first See, therefore, is that of Peter the Apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it."

-Pope Damasus I

Sweet Deal!

Today the campus library here at Franciscan University had a used book sale. For the grand total of $10, I purchased:

-All Ten Volumes of the Catholic Layman's Library
-Henri Daniel-Rops' Jesus and His Times
-47 issues of First Things ranging from 1998-2003

I love used books! Not to mention, if I keep finding great deals like this, my wife won't have to complain that I spend all my money on books.

Revelation 12

"This passage from the Apocalypse has reference to the Church: 'And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.' The features of the vision are borrowed from Mary; Mary is not taken merely as an ordinary example or even as a prototype of the Church, but as a prototype that is organically united to the Church and radically concerns and represents it, and also works both in it and through it.

We should note: (1) the woman brings forth a son, who is none other than Christ, 'who was to rule all nations with an iron rod.' This can be applied to Mary only. (2) Next to the woman the dragon (the serpent) appears, which persecutes her and her Son, without being able to harm them. A clear allusion to the protevangelium. (3) Then it is not in the style of Sacred Scripture to personify abstract things in any other way but through real persons, who are treated as types. (4) The typical and organic mutual relations between Mary and the Church lie, in general, and in particular also with regard to this text, in the firm and universal tradition of the Church.

Accordingly the heavenly glory of the woman, expressed in this great sign, must in the first place be traced to Mary, who is prophesied by Isaias as the divine sign. In her each single feature of the vision is of itself obvious, having almost no ground without the thought of her. The main feature is the woman being clothed with the sun, through which she receives her place in the sun, thus being in the center of the heavens, and for that very reason the moon lies under her feet, while she carries the twelve stars of the zodiac above her as a crown. These grand features find in Mary their realization in the fact that she was clothed with the sun of the godhead in the conception of the Logos. As a result of it she is exalted above the baseness and changeableness of the sublunary world and also excels its beauty. Finally, all heavenly beings and powers, the angels in particular, but also the human beings, of whom first of all the twelve apostles come to mind, gather round her, just as the apostles were also outwardly united with her during the beseeching for and receiving of the Holy Ghost.

The pains of childbirth, ascribed to the woman, find their supplication in Mary, only so far as she has cooperated through co-sufferings in the second birth of Christ, through His death and Resurrection, and at the same time in His third birth in the faithful."

-Matthias Scheeben in Mariology.

Our Lady Of Sorrows

"When she was asked to become the mother of the Messiah, Mary's faith enabled her to give a humble and generous response.... Mary's faith was frequently tested during the public life of Jesus, especially when she witnessed the rejection of her Son. At the foot of the Cross, her pilgrimage of faith had its moment of most severe testing. Mary continued to believe that, because Jesus was the Son of God, his sacrifice would bring salvation to humanity."

-Pope John Paul II.

Common-huh?

Today in the mail I received a copy of the magazine Commonweal. Curiously enough it came the same day as my First Things magazine. Now, I didn't order Commonweal and anyone who knows me, should know that I would not read such a magazine. I have a sneaky suspicion that the editors of Commonweal may have gotten a hold of the mailing list of First Things subscribers and sent a copy to all of the people on the list in hopes of swaying them with their rubbish in order to gain new subscribers. I flipped through Commonweal for about a minute to see what garbage they had in it and when I reached the absolute point of repulsion (somewhere in the middle of reading an article by former Tablet writer, John Wilkins), I tossed it in the trash where it belonged!

Nice try Commonweal. Thanks, but...No Thanks!


On second thought......one of my housemates might have signed me up for a subscription as a joke. I sure hope they wouldn't waste their money like that!

Ecumenism

"Does ecumenism consist in confessing or in hiding the truth? Ought [we] to explain Catholic doctrine, or the doctrine of our separated brethren?.... Hiding the truth hurts both us and those separated from us. It hurts us, because we appear as hypocrites. It hurts those who are separated from us because it makes them appear weak and capable of being offended by the truth.....Let us profess our faith openly. Let us be the teachers we are in the Church by teaching with clarity, and not hiding what is true."

-Bishop Giocondo Grotti of Acre e Purus, Brazil, Oct. 27, 1962.

Limbo?

"Limbo was never a defined truth of faith. Personally -and here I am speaking more as a theologian and not as Prefect of the Congregation- I would abandon it since it was only a theological hypothesis. It formed part of a secondary thesis in support of a truth which is absolutely of first significance for faith, namely, the importance of baptism. To put it in the words of Jesus to Nicodemus: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God' (Jn 3:5). One should not hesitate to give up the idea of 'limbo' if need be (and it is worth noting that the very theologians who proposed 'limbo' also said that parents could spare the child limbo by desiring its baptism and through prayer); but the concern behind it myst not be surrendered. Baptism has never been a side issue for faith; it is not now, nor will it ever be."

-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in Feast of Faith