Well I updated the blogroll by deleting dead-sites, changing links for moved sites and adding a new site.

I wanted to bring your attention to the new site, as it’s really good. It’s called Building Cathedrals and the site best describes it’s title:

“A mother is the most important person on earth. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any Cathedral — a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body.” — Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty (as quoted by Danielle Bean)

If that doesn’t peak a parent’s curiosity, a summary of the authors may:

Seven young, Catholic mothers who graduated from Princeton University, seeking to build our families just as the architects of the great cathedrals built their detailed masterpieces: day by day, stone by stone, with attention to details that only He will see.

Seven bachelors degrees, four advanced degrees, and nearly 200 combined months of pregnancy have only convinced us of how much we have left to learn in matters of faith, family and vocation. We adhere wholeheartedly to every doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church, but the details beyond that, from co-sleepers and breast pumps to schooling options and professional life, are grounds for robust discussion with like-minded friends. Nothing written on this blog is intended to incite maternal guilt, anger or to advise on medical or legal matters. Virgin most prudent, pray for us!

The content of the site reflects the thoughtfulness of the title and summary. There’s a humility and honesty that is rarely found in their posts as they feel their way through parenting. Go take a look, particularly all you parents out there.

I’ve gotten a few comments (which means a message from just about every single reader of this blog) that things were messed up. Indeed they were. My hosting provider upgraded the servers and in the process changed a number of things that broke my website. What was noticable from here was that the posts were in the wrong order with the oldest posts first and the newest ones hidden in the archive.

I’ve managed to fix that problem and a number of other problems (leaving just one that only affects my other site ExcuseMeForMyVoice.com) and so am know mostly back in business.

What was most frustrating was that this all happened just as I was going to pick up where I left off on this blog. Expect a number of posts in the next few days…

Well, while the fasting is going well, in fact I’m surprisingly not hungry considering my last meal was 27 hours ago (but who’s counting) and it was my only meal since Tuesday evening, the prayers are not going so well.

Last night I forgot to pray my Rosary.  It was my plan to pray it again with Gregory around 7 PM, but I was so exhausted in the evening that it slipped my mind.  To add insult to injury, while I managed to do the Reading of the Office for Ash Wednesday yesterday, I didn’t get to the Thursday set of prayers.  I managed to get the Thurday set in today and I’ll try to “catch up” this afternoon.

The Rosary on the other hand I’ll just have to miss and will plan on praying it tonight one day down.

A prayer for today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me my many failings and help me to grow stronger.  Help me to remember to keep you and my promises to you at the fore-front of my mind at all times and to faithfully follow Your Will at all times.  Help me to see Your Will in my life.  As with all my prayers, I ask this in Christ’s name, who lives and reigns together with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.

Many don’t know what the Litury of the Hours is, so I thought I’d post about them.

The Liturgy of the Hours dates back to St. Benedict.  He desired that those who participated in the monastic life read the entire book of psalms (more accurately, prayed those psalms) every week.  As with most practices in the Church, over time the practice was broadened to include more of the Church and the pacing for reading the entire book was slowed to 4 weeks.  Again as time continued, there were additional prayers and readings that were added to round out the psalms making it more like a service than a private prayer.  Eventually the combined prayers, reading and psalms became the “official” daily prayer of the Church.

The prayers are broke up into a number of sessions throughout the day:

• Morning Prayer
• Reading of the Office (can be before or after Morning Prayer)
• Daytime Prayer (which is further broken into Midmorning, Midday and Midafternoon)
• Evening Prayer
• Night Prayer

As you can see, it’s a nearly hourly set of prayers that are to be a constant presence in the life of those who participate in it.  Generally that means that it is limited to group participation in monastaries and convents or other communal living environments of faithful Catholics.  For the rest of us, including most priests and bishops, it is a private set of prayers that is done on one’s own.

The “Big 3 prayers” of the day are Morning Prayer, Reading of the Office, and Evening Prayer.  These three consist of a Hymm, a set of psalms to pray, a reading or two, and a closing prayer.  The reading is short for the Morning and Evening prayer and is lengthy for the Reading of the Office.  For the office, it generally consists of 1 Sunday Mass sized reading from scripture and 1 Homily/Sermon from a saint of old.

To give an example, the Reading of the office today consisted of reading psalm 103 in three parts (it’s a fairly long one, on other days you’ll read 3 separate psalms), a reading from Isaiah 12 and an excerpt from a letter to the Corinthians by Pope Clement (who was Pope from AD 88-97, or the 4th Pope and said to have been ordained (not as pope, but as either priest or bishop) by St. Peter himself).

The other three prayers are shorter in nature and forcus more exclusively on the psalms.

For me, although I have attempted to do all the prayers throughout the day, the reality is that someone with a growing family, a full-time job and more hobbies than he should, I just can’t find the time in the day to do all of the prayers.  As a result, I have limited my use of these prayers to the Reading of the Office.  While it means I don’t get the full set of psalms over the 4 weeks, I do get a very good sampling of them, as well as some wonderful readings both from scripture and many early fathers.

And as many have said, to read the early fathers shows just how Catholic the early Church was.

No, not on the fasting.  That I did great on, as far as execution goes (although I was VERY grumpy last night).  I also managed to get in my Rosary last night with Gregory at my side… he was fascinated by it and you could tell that he had vague memories from when he was less than a year old when I’d take him to daily Mass while Wendy was at work and then pray the Rosary (he’d play with the beads from inside his car carrier, just like he played with them last night, now as a 4 1/2 year old).

No, what I blew it on was the Litury of the Hours, Reading of the Office (which I called “Litury of the Office” in my original list).  I didn’t do my Ash Wednesday prayers.  I could say that I lost my prayer book, which is true until about 5 minutes ago when I realized it was hidden in a buried corner of my cubicle, but that would effectively be lying as I didn’t go looking for the book until this morning.

So today I’m going to read both yesterday’s and todays.

About the fasting, I weighed in at 276 this morning, 4 pounds less than yesterday’s 280.  That was before I ate my big breakfast (I didn’t weigh myself afterwards).  If I follow the trend of previous years, tomorrow I should be between level and down another pound or two.  After the first 4 or 5 days I’ll have dropped about 7-10 pounds and then lose another 10-20 over the 6 weeks of lent.  The thing about fasting is that you can literally feel your body eating away at itself.

Thankfully today I can drink all the water I want, which will both keep my hydrated (which should help with the headaches) and fill my stomack when I absolutely need something in there.

Join me in another prayer, will you?:

Lord, help me to fast not as the hypocrites but as a man desiring to grow closer to you.  Help me to remember the words of your prophet: “This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 58:6-8) to remind me that forgoing food alone is not enough, that I must also be an instrument of your justice in this world. Amen.

I’m dying for something to drink, anything.  I’ve got a headache.  I’m starving.  And the worst part is I know that it’s only going to get worse until tomorrow morning when I have breakfast.  After that, I’ve got to “move” my meal back during the day.  So the plan for the next few days is breakfast Thursday, lunch Friday and dinner Saturday.  That helps so that the next time I’ve got something that will heavily tax me, I can move up the next meal the following day to get by.

But just like anything where one goes cold-turkey, the first day is the worst.  I start with the highest level of fasting on the first day, drop into an overly aggressive fasting to move it back in the day over the next few days before I can settle into a routine of having dinner every night.

So far, my crys for relief from God are still few and far between as my mind is more likely to crave than pray.  Say a prayer with me, will you?:

God, help me to find the strength you have provided me to fast.  Forgive me my sins and help me to remember those in need who are hungry through no fault of their own.  Give me the grace to fast as Christ reminds us: “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” (Matt. 6:16-18). Amen

I doubt there is anyone out there reading this who isn’t coming from my Cal blog (http://ExcuseMeForMyVoice.com), but starting today, this blog is back.  Today is, of course, Ash Wednesday.  I will be commenting daily on my Lenten fasting as well as generally my spiritual progress.  I may also post on current events as they relate to Catholicism.

For Lent, I intend to accomplish the following things:

• Pray the Rosary daily
• Pray the Liturgy of the Office daily
• Participate in Stations of the Cross at least twice
• Go to confession
• Fast for the entire period of Lent

For those who don’t know the guidelines of fasting in the Catholic Church, they are as follows:

• You are allowed one meal a day
• You can have up to two snacks, which combined do not add up to another meal
• There is no explicit guidelines regarding drink, but it is considered “bad form” to be drinking filling items such as a smoothy or shake or even a soda and not be counting that towards the snack
• Meat is allowed in the meal except for days of abstinence (like Fridays during Lent)

I will not be having either of the allowed snacks and will only be drinking water.  On manditory fasting days (of which today, Ash Wednesday is one of the two), I will abstain from all food and water for the entire day.

Fasting is VERY difficult for me.  I’m a big guy.  This morning I weighed in at 280 lbs.  I expect that by Easter day I should weigh in at somewhere between 250 and 260 lbs.  This is not a diet!  I fully expect to gain at least half of that weight back in the following week.  But as the body is denied food, it eats into one’s muscles and fat as well as one’s organs like the Liver to get the calories it isn’t getting from food.  The muscles aspect should not be overlooked as I often feel very phsyically weak during fasting.

So why do I do it?

Well, it’s hard to explain in a paragraph but I think the simplest way to state it is that there is no better way to connect with God than to put oneself entirely in His hands.  There is NO WAY I could fast for that long without prayer and asking Him for the strength and determination it takes to deny oneself food that the body desperately wants.  Since over the course of time and routine it is easy to loose that tight connection I’ve had with God, it is important I find ways to re-connect and for me, fasting is by far the best at helping me to do that.

For all those who pray, I’d be blessed if you could offer up a prayer for my well-being during this fast and that it strengthens my relationship with Our Savior.

Passionate readers of my blog may remember some promises I made over Memorial Day weekend on this blog regarding plans for the summer.  Always being one to make sure I deliver on my promises, let’s take a look:

1. Re-review of each game last season with an emphasis on what it means for this season.
2. Coverage of the “Tree Hugger Trial” (date not yet known).
3. Predictions for every Pac-10 game, including non-conference matchups in 2007.
4. Improved online stat comparison tool (expansion of last years stats I provided).
5. A Pac-10 prediction game (similar to a “pick’em” league but with more ways to compare participants).
6. Re-design of visual layout of blog with a lot more data/info.

And how did I deliver?:

1. Done… and it was pretty good if you don’t mind me saying
2. Well since the trial was push back it was kinda hard… but I did post on the few announcements we had over the summer including the Sept. 19th trial date.
3. Not done yet.  But I’ve still got 3 weeks before the seasons starts.
4. Nope.
5. Nope.
6. Nope.

But WAIT!  Could it be that I’ve been hiding all the work I’ve done on numbers 4 through 6?  Could it be there is a new website out there waiting for all of you to discover!?!

http://excusemeformyvoice.com

Yes!  It’s true.  Not only does it have my new Pick’Em league for you to sign up for, it’s got a podcast section, an in-progress stats section, a Cal archive section, a 25th Anniversary The Play T-Shirt for sale and of course a new blog.  To make it even better, I’ve teamed up with the guys from Sturdy Golden Blogs to form an awesome megablog team.  So check it out and remember that the new home of the best Cal Football blogging is:

http://excusemeformyvoice.com

(For those reading this from the “main” blog section (without the cal. prefix), the new Cal site will free this site up to be about Catholic and family/personal blogging… for those lamenting the infrequency of that content, this is good news for you as well.  Expect to see more focused blogging there in the next couple weeks.)

But for you Cal blogging fans, the new site is the place to be.  Don’t forget to update your bookmarks and blogrolls to point to the new site!

http://excusemeformyvoice.com

(Note to readers: Today we wrap-up our look back at the games in the 2006 season with the Holiday Bowl pretty much on the planned schedule of 2 a week between 6 weeks ago and today, the start of fall practice.  Did these help you last through the dry period?  Here are links to our past look backs: Tennessee, Minnesota, Portland State, Arizona State, Oregon State, Oregon, Washington State, Washington, UCLA, Arizona, USC and the Big Game).

The storyline:
In a game with lots of question marks before it started, Cal quickly answered on the field, routing an overmatched Texas A&M team 45-10.  Texas A&M was unable to move the ball after their first possession as Cal was able to decipher Texas A&M’s complex running scheme.  Cal also re-discovered its prolific offense that had been missing late in the season.

The reality:
The key to victory in this game was Cal’s ability to dominate the line of scrimmage.  On both sides of the ball it was Cal’s line that was able to control the flow.  Interestingly it was exactly the opposite on the first set of possessions.  But once Cal settled down, the game was all Bears.  This was particularly true in the 2nd half when Cal went up 21-10 as Texas A&M was forced to resort to its passing game, failing miserably.  In the end, it was not Cal’s 45 points on offense (really 38 minus garbage TD at end) that was impressive but Cal’s defense that not only held Texas A&M to 10 points, but held them scoreless in the 2nd half (and only 3 points after the first possession).

The forgotten:
Forgotten was how Texas A&M was able to shorten the first half and keep the game close.  Cal was only up 14-10 at the half because despite having multiple ineffectual drives, they were able to chew up lots of clock time.  Also forgotten was that Texas A&M had a horrible punt, netting zero yards, in their attempt to punt away from DeSean Jackson.  The resulting touchdown on the short field put the Bears up 21-10 and sent Texas A&M to desperation strategies.

The 2006 learnings:
With the season over, there was nothing more to learn.  Looking back, having such a dominating victory was a sign of just how good the Cal team was when it was playing at its peak.  Between the stout defenses of both Arizona and USC and the difficult conditions of the Big Game, it was easy to forget just how talented the team was.

The 2007 learnings:
Other than Forsett having another great game in relief of Lynch, most of the play makers in this game were the seniors.  If anything, this game showed just how much talent the Bears will need to replace in 2007.  Desmond Bishop had a monster game and it is going to take a team effort with Follett’s leadership to anchor the team.

The Conclusion:
The 2006 season was one with so much potential that it is easy to look back and think of what might have been.  The expectations at the beginning of the season was predicated on USC having somewhat of a rebuilding year, giving Cal a one-year window to get to the Rose Bowl.  In retrospect, it turned out that USC didn’t rebuild, it just reloaded.  At the same time, Cal was very competitive with USC and could easily have beat USC with some better bounces or if the game had been in Berkeley.  With both teams returning similar percentages of talent, there is no reason to doubt that Cal has a realistic shot at winning the Pac-10 outright in 2007.

(Note to readers: Today we continue in our look back at the games in the 2006 season with the Big Game.  Here are links to our past look backs: Tennessee, Minnesota, Portland State, Arizona State, Oregon State, Oregon, Washington State, Washington, UCLA, Arizona and USC).

The storyline:
In a game that was predicted to be a blowout, an uninspired Cal squeaked out a 26-17 win over the normally hapless Stanford. 

The reality:
While the game was far closer than it should have been, it was not nearly as close as the final score indicated.  Cal never trailed in the game.  Whether Cal played uninspired or they were merely out of their rhythm, perhaps because of the difficult wind conditions, is difficult to say.   What can be said is that, outside of some unlikely Stanford heroics that never came, the outcome of the game was never in doubt.  Additionally, Stanford scored far more points than their play deserved.  Outside of Stanford’s first drive that resulted in a field-goal, Stanford was never able to sustain a drive.  Stanford’s first TD was sparked by a kickoff return late in the 2nd quarter that gave the Cardinal a very short field (25-yards).  Their second TD, and the last of their scoring, was off of a deep pass where an offensive pass interference call should have been thrown for pushing off.  Otherwise, Cal’s defense stifled Stanford’s offense.  On the other side, while Cal was able to sustain a number of long drives, too often they stalled resulting in field-goals (they scored 4 and Schneider shanked a 5th), keeping the score far closer than it should have been.

The forgotten:
Forgotten in this game was the nasty wind that blew throughout, although less so in the 2nd half.  This allowed both teams to emphasize slowing the run game without too much fear of getting beat deep.  Also forgotten was that Stanford’s first drive used fully half of the first quarter and that two additional Stanford possessions, although not very successful in moving the ball down the field, did take significant time off the clock, significantly shortening the 1st half and keeping the ball out of Cal’s hands.

The 2006 learnings:
By this point in the season, there was not much to be learned about the team.  About the only learning was a question: where was Cal’s prolific offense?  Now that we know the results of the Holiday bowl, the question has faded, but at the time, after both the Arizona and USC games, many were starting to ask questions after the Big Game.

The 2007 learnings:
Schneider didn’t have many field-goal attempts in 2006 because of the prolific Cal offense.  This was one of his few games to shine, including a 55 yard field-goal.  With him coming back in 2007, the kicking game continues to look in very good shape.  At this point, it wasn’t much of a learning but Zack Follett and Syd’Quan Thompson both had a great game.

The Conclusion:
In many ways this game was reminiscent of the Arizona game in that all that could go right for Cal’s opponent did.  Despite that fact, Cal was able to not only win, but also to never leave the outcome in doubt.  After 5 consecutive victories, many Cal fans have forgotten that the Big Game always defies expectations.  There have been more Big Game upsets of unbeatable teams than one can count on their fingers and toes.  In the Big Game, a win is a win.  Style points do not matter.