2011 in Review

So here is my post about how the year 2011 went. Given that facebook is becoming this timeline thing, i can see its use. however, i am NOT supportive of the format to be a permanent feature. i agree with one of my friends that it should be optional. anyway, as i write this, i try to think back on the year... i can really only go back as far as the summer, contiguously, that is. so, i was thinking that i'll use facebook and the fotos i posted there to help jog my memory.

so, here we go, with a simple month by month review. we'll see where we go from there

january
the highlight of january was my first ever march for life. i love the Church. that trip showed me just how alive the Church is in fact and how unified we really are, even if it seems otherwise on a myopic scale. plus, it was a great time to connect with the students who also went on the trip. i am really excited for this year's trip, which is just a few weeks away.

february
obviously, my birth month. i remember everyone singing to me at spaghetti dinner and a few students made me an awesome cake. i hope this year, when i turn 25, i will be absolutely SURPRISED by what friends do for me. never had one of those... hm...

march
a lot happened in march. the first week in march was the mission trip to luisa, ky. i really enjoyed it, tho it reminded me a lot of the trips to harlan with high school youth group. good times, good works.
another highlight from march was our parish mission, featuring fr. nathan cromly. little did i know that getting to know that good old priest monk would change the rest of my life...well, at least that i would see him quite often over the year... and i hope it's a friendship that will continue in the future. anyway, fr nathan is a religious priest with the community of st. john. he's involved with many apostolates, a few of which he started...more on that later. anyway, he did an amazing job preaching the mission. i attended every session i could with him, and even had the privilege of sharing breakfast with him and 2 of my coworkers.
also in march, another university parish help their first ever retreat, which we helped them put on. i was asked to give the same witness i gave on our retreat. a few of their students attended that retreat in order to get it started at their parish. it was such and honor and a blessing to serve them, yet furthermore build relationships with others among the universal Church.

april
there wasn't much exciting about april, so i'll take a moment to discuss some of the activities and such that i was overall involved in at my job, my ministry. first, as i mentioned before, spaghetti dinners. i organize the volunteers and help make and serve the food. i also lead a bible study, tho attendance dropped second semester due to schedule conflicts. additionally, i was put in charge of the adoration schedule. most importantly, meeting with students and just forming bonds with them in daily life. that kind of thing is hard to measure. okay... i'm not sure where i'm going with this paragraph so onto may

may
on may 5, our staff and some students went to see the minor league baseball team game. another great time. we all were given sombreros! ole!
the semester ended and the students went home... mostly. there were a few students who stayed. it was during the may to june period that i took to videogames once again. one of the students let me borrow his wii. that was an enjoyable time, as some of the guys who were still around in the summer joined me in rounds of super smash bros and links crossbow training.

june
see may

july
so one of the main reasons i, admittedly, took it easy early summer was that i and one of the students were sent to a program called ecclesia. run by none other than fr. nathan cromly, ecclesia is a month of solid formation that centers around the new evangelization. it was yet another amazing time of growth for me as well as networking with other Catholics from round the country, making lasting friendships.

august
as soon as ecclesia ended, i was off to the courage conference. such a joyous time, especially compared to the year prior's conference. last year's wasn't bad, but it just seemed like there was an atmosphere of redemptive suffering and penance. this year's spirit was much lighter and everyone seemed so happy to see friends again...friends they only get to see once a year at these conferences. this year, ironically, was the first conference since fr. harvey passed away. it was much more like we celebrated his life and the amazing work he did for the Church as opposed to mourning the loss. fr harvey is still praying for those near to his heart and the fruits of those prayers were evident at the conference.
not only was courage great, but a few days after that, i went on world youth day. holy moley! talk about the universal Church! it was such a blessed time...despite the fact that i caught a parasite that gave me the runs for days on end...

september
coming back to reality was hard... not sure if i'm fully recovered, honestly... or at the very least, i didn't prepare myself well for what was to come in the past four months... at this point, i'll simply say that it's been a struggle almost every week... yet i will not give up, no matter how often i fall...

the semester started back up. with new staff members an a renewed apostolic zeal from the summer, i was really ready to meet new students and take on the campus... i think we did a decent job, but we can always do better.
one thing that was added to my responsibilities this year was out sunday night catechetical program where students are encouraged and challenged to explore the richness of the Catholic faith by 'Going Deeper'...hm, i wonder what it's called. anyway, it's been a great way see the students grow, and such a privilege to direct their walks in such a real way.
oh yeah the audrey assad concert happened in september. that was a wonderful and fun night.

october
a highlight from early october was the switchfoot and anberlin concert. i enjoyed audrey assad, and am trying to organize something for the spring... but if it's even fair to compare concerts, switchfoot/anberlin was much more entertaining. yet, i digress that it would not be fair to compare the shows, so i'll stop there.
we had some fun parties at the parish in october, including a homecoming formal and a halloween party. both were a blast and a half.

november
a VERY busy month. i attended part of the retreat put on by the other university parish (that's kind how the retreat goes, but i don't want to spoil anything for anyone), their second one. on the way back, my car broke down. it'd been having problems...since i got it actually. there'd been times i'd go several weeks without being able to drive because it needed a fix i couldn't afford. so finally, when the fix was just too expensive, i sold it... for way less than what i paid... live and learn, detached. the next weekend was our parish's turn to hold the retreat. it was really great to see the fruit of the work we'd been charged with all semester come to fruition on that retreat.
just before thanksgiving break, i treated myself to the new zelda game. it's so epic...yet it was challenging. i gotta admit that i was frustrated multiple times. turns out that the random wii shut offs helped me from playing too much on any given day.
thanksgiving was good to see family, but didn't need it to be as long as it was.

december
the last month. ballroom mass was great, despite the rainy weather. more people would have easily attended if not for the inclement conditions.
one of the last men's nights we did was dodgeball. it caught on better than the monster mash, so much so that we played it on a weekly basis as the semester came to a close. they were just fun nights of guys having manly time of brotherhood.
and speaking of brothers, i made yet another retreat with.... you guessed it, the brothers of st john. it was really awesome to see fr. nathan again. this retreat, tho, was to discern my vocation. i didn't get to talk to fr much because he's not directly responsible for promoting their community and inciting vocation with them, nor does he oversee the novices. other priests in his order locally do that.
and of course christmas. again, great time to see family. i didn't receive any huge presents, but what i did get was very intentional and meant a lot. what i gave was good too. my mom loved her 'main' gift: a picture of me and my younger brother, recreated. we then put both fotos in a 2 foto frame. everyone else who received a gift from me liked it and was thankful. given that i didn't need much time to see my family over thanksgiving, i decided not to take off any extra time and just go home for the friday before and come back the monday after.


so... all in all, i'd say that this year was full of joy, and some struggles to still overcome, new friendships, even some from across the country and around the world. as i look into 2012, i'm hopeful... there are many new relationships to foster, and some to renew, including my own with Christ, through His Mother's intercession. may the blessings keep flowing.

Time to update my reading list

To all my adoring fans, super sorry that I haven't been posting that much. Life is crazy. Plus, I haven't been inspired (like I'm that specially that the Lord would speak canonically through me....poke. No, it's just that the Spirit closed the Canon around 425 AD) to write much lately. I just decided a moment ago to update you all with an update list of books with which I would like to update myself, so that I can be uh...up to date... Without further a due (is that the right word?), I give you my new and improved, updated, reading list!

1. Theology of the Body for Beginners
I know it's hard to believe that I still haven't read this one. I probably know a lot of what is already written in here, but it's good to have read it so that when I recommend it to students or whomever else, I can say confidently that it will help them better understand themselves and God's will for their lives and how that's written into our very bodies. I'm looking at the copy I'm borrowing from the student group as we speak... All those people look so happy... smells fresh too!

2. The Love That Satisfies
 Again, another one I should have read by now. It's in Q&A format, a structure of which I'm getting a bit tired. Yet, I'll push through it and hopefully learn something. FOR THE STUDENTS AND FUTURE CHURCH!

3. Love & Responsibility
 Ah yes, some meaty theology, straight from the horse's mouth...or rather our former beloved Holy Father's mouth. Christopher West is a great teacher, but I think I'm more than ready to take on this work, filter-free... or nearly so because I just realized that I can't read Polish.

4. The Church and New Media
 I've read about half of this book already. It has some really good insights about how to use new technology to evangelize...yet some of the contributors, upon close examination, might contradict each other. Shea says to just blog about how you experience God and His Church whilst Marshall aims to simply transmit what the Church has always taught by citing the writings of the Saints and Church Fathers. Both men are still in accordance with the Church in how She transmits the gospel. It's just that Marshall makes it clear that what he blogs about is not just his own thoughts and experiences. I'm probably not doing either contributor justice, mind you...and I hope I didn't spoil anything. Fr. Barron's chapter alone is well worth buying the book!

5. Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would
 My friend and author of this book sent me a copy. I would comment on the *ahem* religious differences, but the Lord is working in Chad's life for sure. I watched a DVD I had of his. Chad, if you're reading this, here's my public commitment to reading your book....eventually.

Okay... I have a few more, but perhaps they are all books that I own and either started and never finished, or I just haven't gotten around to reading them. Someday I'd like to get through all the books on my shelf... That's going to be tough because I have to make myself read. Never did like doing that as a child... Oh yeah and there's still Scripture and Catechism in a year. I'm definitely still a month and half behind on that.

St. Therese Novena

St. Therese Novena 2011! I am joining over 2900 Catholics to pray the St. Therese Novena! I’m pretty excited to pray this with so many faithful Catholics around the world and I thought you’d like to join too! There are thousands of people praying through this novena website and there will be millions praying around the world. + Sign up for handy email reminders to get the the novena prayers here: St. Therese Novena + If you have a website, post about it there! + Email your friends and family and get them praying too! Let’s get all the Catholics we know to pray this novena together to St. Therese!

Making it viral

What I've been up to

This post is featured on my other blog.

Jesus established ONE Church (cf. Matthew 16:18, John 10:16). heck, history is enough to show that the different denominations shouldn't exist. for 1000 or years, there was only ONE Christian Church: the CATHOLIC Church. the word 'Catholic' even means universal in that it applies to EVERYONE. around 1054, it's true that the Eastern and Western 'lungs' of the Church separated, but many Eastern Orthodox Churches have since reunited, forming different Rites of the Catholic Church. so, not only is there the Latin )or Roman) Rite (which is the most popular rite and everyone just assumes is the Catholic Church), but there are many other Catholic Rites, like the Byzantine, Maronite, Chaldean, and even some of those rites are further sub-categorized. Despite these labels, ALL RITES of the CATHOLIC CHURCH believe the same UNIFYING DOCTRINES... because the doctrines themselves were establish by Christ and are firmly rooted in the teachings (or tradition, from Greek 'paradosis') which He charged to His Apostles.

Later, around 1512, Martin Luther, influenced by several competing philosophies (so it wasn't entirely his fault), after seeing the fallen, human corruption among some Church leaders (wow big surprise that Church leaders can sin, huh?), he decided to start his own church. Did he have the authority to do that? NO! Yet, he opened the door for other influential 'reformers' like Calvin, Zwingli, and many others, and thus today we find 44,000+ denominations (because let's be honest, non-denominational is still a denomination) of Protestant Christianity in the US alone.

instead of rejecting something just because it's causing problems, we should do what St Paul exhorts us: "Test all things. Hold fast to what is good." (1 Thess 5:21). we agree that denominationalism is bad, and even unbiblical. yet, the Protestant answer is "let's just call ourselves NON-denominational"... but that doesn't fix the problem. in fact, it only makes it worse because it's only creating more denominations and more division.

while my explanation is a gross over simplification, here's the simple answer to the obvious problem of denomination: JOIN THE CHURCH THAT JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF ESTABLISHED: THE ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH!!


i don't say this to be right or out of anger... i say all of this because zeal for my Father's House (His Church) has consumed me! again, the solution is not to run away, but to push in further. test EVERYTHING. test your evangelical churches... they won't last. that happened to me. i used to go to an evangelical church. i tested it and it wasn't long before i was being force fed lies and the pastor was attacking the Catholic Church. it reminds me of Jesus' apparition to St. Paul. Jesus didn't say, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting my people' or 'my church' or 'my followers'. fact is Jesus said "Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me? ... I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:4-5). Is it becoming clearer that Christ's Church, the one He established, isn't just a group of people who happen to believe the same thing... His Church is more than that; His Church is His Very Body. St. Paul explains in his letters multiple times that Christ is the Head of His Body, the Church. Since there was only one Church at the time, the Catholic Church (btw, the term Catholic was used among the first Christians as early as 80s AD; the term Christian was actually used by non-Christians, non-believers, those outside the Church), St. Paul has to be talking about the Catholic Church.
bottom line, the only True Church to be without denomination is the Catholic Church.
the providential thing about joining the Catholic Church is that it takes humility... and it takes a deep and profound change of heart. i should know, i've experienced it first hand. so i know i'm not going to convince anyone by my words here... but i hope someone takes something from what i've said and actually tests it out... and who knows where it will lead them.
does all that make sense? does anyone have any questions? feel free to message me in private.

...good. that solves that problem forever. lol

The Scandal of Faith

Up front, I must say that I'm inspired by something Mark Shea proposed in the book The Church and the New Media. It's something to the effect that when one enters into the dialogue of faith, one enters into scandal. I've been meditating about that a little bit. It really is true. Now, I don't think Mr. Shea would claim that it advocates sin, nor would he assume that 'faith admits doubt'. I think what our bearded apologist friend is getting at that engaging in dialogue with others about what they might believe can be difficult because there is such diversity (sadly) in what even people believe, especially among Christians. I saw a prime example while going to the cathedral today for the Mass for Life. Along the half mile or so until the cathedral, there are more churches than I can count. Every time I go up to the cathedral, I get a little sad. I ask myself, "Why are there so many churches? Why can't we all just gather in One Church?" There has to be plenty of room in the cathedral, for as big and beautiful as it is. Plus, it houses the Real Presence of Christ... or in other words, it "is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Tim 3:15).

Moreover, even as I write this, I think even as I type above, scandalous faith shines through my words, exemplifying better Shea's implication. As Christians, we are all capable of making some almost outrageous claims about what we believe. After all, it was Lewis who proposed the notion that Christ Himself is either lying, a crazy person, or actually telling the truth about Who He claims To Be. Yet, as Catholics, we can make more totally bodacious claims that are ironically 100% True. “The world’s greatest love story is contained in a tiny, white host.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that about the Eucharist. It IS the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. When He said 4 times that His Body was real food and His Blood real drink in John chapter 6, I think He meant it. When He said, in all of the Gospels, that this, the bread, was His Body, and the wine was His Blood, and that we should take and eat it and drink it… well I’m pretty sure that’s what He wanted us to do. I mean if this man, who most of us can agree that he wasn’t lying nor was he crazy, and he’s gotta more than just some wise prophet, well He has to be telling the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. If the God of the universe can become a small baby boy who grew up to die and to save every other person who would walk on the face of the planet, why can't He also become bread and wine and make it Himself?

Now, my goal in this post is not meant to be a defense of the Eucharist. My point is that, just like Fr. Barron suggests in his chapter of the same book mentioned above, we have to make truth claims, and we have to be bold. We really ought to scandalize people into believing the Truth. Right now, the whole world is being fed lies. It’s going to take scandal for their worlds to be shattered. Let’s face it, most cradle Catholics have already been taught in religion classes by coloring books and we see how well that’s worked out.

This year, I’ve been charged with running our Sunday night program in which we go deeper in aspects of the Faith. Guess what we call it? Going Deeper. Sweet, huh? Anyway, I’ve already got plans in the works to find out what the students want to learn… but I think I’m going to take a new turn with this program. Yes, we will go deeper… but I don’t want this to be like just another class the students sit through and they take notes, watching a PowerPoint dance. I tried that last semester and I was told that I lost a lot of students present. They just stopped paying attention to my presentation. Granted, it was hot and I can get a bit long winded, but I was still disappointed that I didn’t reach some of the students as I’d hoped. This year, it’s going to be different. I want to challenge the students. I want to rock their worlds. I want them to ask questions. I want them to be scandalized.

I’ve tasted it. Last year, during bible study, I simply presented a little bit on divinization… not psychic stunts, like tea leaves or tarot cards; that's divination. Divinization is kind of summed up in the idea that God became man so that man could become God, so that man can become holy and perfect, attributes about God that were exclusive to Him…until Christ came, suffered, died, and rose from the dead, tearing the veil, giving human beings divine access. Of course, man is not God and will never be in the sense that God is sovereign over all and we cannot hope to take his place, to do his job. Sorry Bruce. Yet, through Christ, God the Father calls each and every one of us to become more divine. And how is that done? Through the EUCHARIST!! This post just comes full circle!

As if I hadn’t made my point, this year, I want to scandalize students into faith. Again, don’t take me wrong; I don’t want to lead them into sin… but sometimes it’s going to take quite a bit help these students become good soil and be receptive to the seed of faith.

I'm back

Expect a new post within the next few days. I've been reading a book about the New Media and I'm really inspired to blog on here more often!

Huzzah!!

I'm gone!

Hey everyone,
I will be in North Dakota with the Ecclesia program for the next month or so. I probably will have internet access, however I'd really like to detach myself from technology. So, if you really need to contact me, I will have my cell phone. If it's not that important, email me, though you'll just get an out of office message.

I should be alseep... but I'm too excited!

so... I currently live in an apartment that doesn't have air conditioning. It's among some student housing that's provided by the university parish where I work. Today has been the hottest day so far. When I checked the weather channel, it was 86 degrees, but I woulnd't be surprised if it had gotten warmer throughout the day.

Also, I've developed the bad habit of staying up waaaay too late and then sleeping in the next morning, especially on days when I don't have work. Fortunately, this hasn't impacted my performance. There was one day last week when I didn't get clock in til about half hour later than usual, but since I have a flexible schedule, I only work a half day on Thursdays, and, to my surprise, the other summer worker, who works the other half day, had already opened the office and was planning on working the whole day, all was gravy and I just worked in my office.

All this is to say that because of my abnormal sleep schedule and the increasingly warm nights with no A/C, even though I finished my nightly reading and fell asleep at an unprecendented 11:47 PM... I find myself wide awake right now.

I've been up for almost an hour and I'm not sure I'll be going back to bed anytime soon... though I'm going to try as soon as I post this. As I tried to fall back asleep and sensed it wasn't going to happen, I decided that if I wasn't asleep again by 4, I'd grab a few necessity( pillow, sheet, etc) and head for the couch in my delightfully cool office. Not 10 minutes had passed before it was confirmed within me: I was just too uncomfortable to return to dreamland (even though I haven't been able to remember many of my dreams lately, except for one involving one of my elderly coworkers doing an awful liturgical dance with a large white rose at fake mass, pretend-celebrated by a womynpreest...what a nightmare!) So, I threw on a shirt and went to check out my office, really to see if I needed to bring my fan or if I'd be lulled to sleep by the sound of the vents. As I walked towards the kitchen and main lounge, which I had to pass through to get to my office, I half expected to see one of the students who just might have a touch of insomniac in the kitchen watching Golden Girls (what, it's one of his favorite shows? i don't judge). The TV was on, to my frustration but not surprise, because no one was around.

I get into my office. The first thing I notice besides the perfect sleeping temperature is the eerie blue glow from the computer's ON light. Naturally I sit down at the computer, giggle yet again at my Mother Angelica "I'm so tired of you, liberal Church!" quote as I think, "Well maybe I'll just check my email real quick". As I double clicke the aquamarine lowercase e icon, it occurs to me to instead check the Courage Apostolate webpage...

Low and behold it's like Christmas Morning! REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!! Feel free to examine the schedule. I'm pretty pumped about the speakers. I already knew Card. Burke and Fr. Groeschel were speaking, but I was delighted to find that Bishop Olmsted, who, if memory serves, was the one who removed the Catholic affiliation of that hospital that was performing abotions in his diocese had also made the cut, as well as Msgr John Esseff, a retired exorsist who can read souls. Our Catholic student group brought Msgr Esseff to campus a couple years ago just before I really started to get involved and thus I missed the event. He didn't drive out any demons, but those who did get to interact with him have some amazing stories and have grown much spiritually because of him. He did call down a 9 ft tall angel to guard and protect the men's common room, from what I hear, which is actually just next door to mine...

Anyway, the main point of this post is that you can now register for Courage. I would register right now, except I currently do not have the funds. Am I worried at all? Maybe irrationally that it will somehow fill up and registration will close before 9AM... Though that would be awesome because that means it's only more people who may need Courage more than I do would get to experience the conference... I'm not worried about not being able to afford it, though, because my diocese is going to be sponsoring me, two other laypeople, and three clergy. How cool is that? So, at 9, I'm going to call the diocesan office.

So... I feel like I did years ago, waking up with my little brother way before the rest of my family did on Christmas morning... cept I have no idea what I'm going to do for the next few hours before I shower and get ready and embark on my one minute comute from my room to the front desk... hm... Not sure if I can fall back asleep... videogames?

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

Which directions can I take this post? I'm certainly going to include an amazing quote from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, but I could also talk about Bl. John Paul II's Encyclical on the Dignity and Vocation of Women (or just link it). I could also talk about Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of Mercy Incarnate. I could also talk about my own mother, and a situation one of the students and a dear friend of mine is facing with his own mother and family. Let's start there and see where it goes.

So, one of the student's moms is in the hospital. The doctors aren't quite sure what's going on with her. They thought it was her heart, but now they don't believe it is. All of the family is really worried...except for the student. A few years ago, his dad passed away, which, tragic as it was, brought an even greater good from it: the student's conversion to the Catholic Church!! He is now serving the Lord as sacristan in charge of the altar servers for the Mass and other liturgical events. This summer, he'll even be joining me on a month long summer immersion course in North Dakota. The point is, since reverting to the Church, he's be growing in faith and love by leaps and bounds. I've reassured him many times that this is just another trial and an opportunity to continually grow closer to Our Lord. We're praying that this current situation can be a similar opportunity for the rest of his family. Yet, there is tension amongst his siblings who don't seem to understand. I simply pray that he can be a shining example of Christ for his family and I hope that you join with me in that prayer.

I'd like to talk about my own mother at that too. I won't reveal all the details out of respect for her, but I hope she knows that I am thankful for all that she's done for me...truly. Yet, that does not make her a saint. There are things that she's doing that I can't turn a blind eye to and say some magic touchy-feely words and make everything okay, make it all right... and the sad part is not that I'm bitter or not grateful or anything like that.... the sad part is that she doesn't realize that if she proceeds this way, it's going to be bad news for her and for other parties involved. In my opinion, it stems from society's unrelenting desire to ignore sin...

Sigh. Well... I think I'll just leave you with the quote I mentioned before I heard it from Barbara McGuigan earlier this past week. It really is beautiful... and that's what people don't understand about the Church. She is truly beautiful and only teaches what She does in Her great wisdom because She knows that what we can get ourselves into will only hurt us. So... while we can and should honor our own mothers, there is One Mother who is often under-estimated, under-looked, and quite simply, misunderstood. Let's honor Holy Mother Church this Mother's Day by maybe spending an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament and praying for our own mothers respectively.

The Most Important Person
on earth is a mother. 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…The angels have not
been blessed with such a
grace. They cannot share in
God's creative miracle to bring
new saints to Heaven. Only a
human mother can. Mothers
are closer to God the Creator
than any other creature; God
joins forces with mothers in
performing this act of
creation…What on God's
good earth is more glorious
than this: to be a mother?

God bless all mothers through His Mother Mary and Holy Mother Church!!

Nailed It! in CATHOLICISM

The next installment of Nailed It! is here. Should be self-explanitory. Enjoy the video!!

My take on Fantasy Bishball

A few weeks ago, LarryD over at AoftheA submitted the idea to do a bishop-catholicy-version of fantasy baseball. The idea is simple enough. Draft a team of bishops, get points, etc. Well... that's about all I understand really, so maybe it's not so simple. Anyway, after getting tweets from other bloggers about it, I decided to draft my own team of Catholic bishops... Actually, I'm going to see if I can name 30 bishops. The Pope, even though His Holiness is technically the Bishop of Rome, will be excluded. Even Larry considers restricting the pool to just North American bishops. These are all living bishops.

In no particular order:
Bishop Leonard P. Blair*
Archbishop Timothy Dolan
Raymond Cardinal Burke
Donald Cardinal Wuerl*
Archbishop Dennis Schnurr
Justin Cardinal Rigali
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo*
Francis Cardinal George
Bishop Soto
Archbishop Michael Sheehan*
Archbishop Chaput

okay... i think 30 came from a tweet. i've done more investigating and the teams are maximum 4 bishops. the 4 i'd pick are *ed above. i feel an unfair advantage picking 2 cardinals, but this is just for funzies anyway. the ones i starred i've actually had some very indirect interaction. Bishop Blair's See is my own Toledo Diocese, so it's pretty much a given i picked His Excellence. The good bishop has continued to amaze me in his vocation as the steward-shephard of our diocese! We've also shared a few meals. Their Emenences Weurl and DiNardo both played huge roles in this year's March for Life Masses, which i attended. That's very indirect i know, but both have been outspoken in their respective support and promulgation of Authentic Catholic Faith, especially on very controversial matters. Lastly, Abp Sheehan gave a talk at the 2009 Coming Home Network Conference. Though I attended 2010's Conference, I was given all the 2009 talks to listen to, rating His Excellence's talk 4 stars.

Okay... i'm pooped. enough for today.

Nailed It! on Evangelization ...or lack there of

yup. maybe i should just use this blog to feature what other people are thinking...

or maybe i could put more time and effort into it.

There Was a Dream...: On the silence of religion.: "I wholeheartedly believe that the silencing of religion, sometimes self-inflicted, is a major cause of atheism. I had a brief discussion w..."

Ads... can you blame me?

Ok so, I just want to give a few very small caveats. Yet, I'm sure this will turn into a much longer post, only because I have a long to do list that I'm procrastinating.

Recently, I saw that I can make a few dollars by having google place ads on my blog. Did I sell out? Maybe. Do I need money? YES. Do I regret it? Perhaps a little bit. Will I remove the ads? Probably not. Is it hindering the divine life within me? Not quite. I'd say that we can constitutionally categorize this as venial sin.

I am not asking you to click on these ads.

The deeper issue at hand, though, is that I'd like to communicate that I'm not directly responsible for the content of some ads. Let me explain how I understand them to work. The content is determined yes by the content of my blogs. However, it only looks for specific tag or buzzwords. Since I have so far blogged about Catholic, religious, and otherwise theological topics, the ads that I've seen have thus been about Catholic priests, prayer, pew upholstery, and even defunding planned parenthood. Awesome! Yet, I've just today notice that among things listed in these ads are universalist unitarianism and mormonism, two topics which I personally believe to be heretical, in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Note, I'm not out to condemn anyone because I don't have that authority. I can call sin for what it is.

Back on topic. All I'm saying is that if i start to blog exclusively on pets and pets supplies and how to groom hamsters... well I wouldn't be surprised then if the ads started to reflect that. In fact, I'm sure that just because I'm not using doggie chew toys and kittie litter as an example, there invariably will now be ads for such products that keep domestic animals happy and healthy for hours on end (yes, I'm testing this. See for yourself. Dogs. Cats. Birds. Pets. Mice. Leashes. Collars. Yarn. Spots. Cat food. Birdcages. Jack Hannah. Dolphins. Brine shrimp. you get the idea?)

I guess I could have made my point by simply saying this: The ads that appear on this blog do not necessarily reflect my own personal views... though is super cool when they do. On a deeper level. If you reading this like what what you see and/or what you read and/or want to get to know me better, follow me! Send me a message! Figure out some way to connect to me!

Rant over....for now.

Pax Christi!

Nailed It! on Canon 915

so, I was hoping to have a few posts in between this Nailed It! and the last one...which was the first one... but alas I've been a bit busy... and it's not like I really have any readership currently.

ANYWAY... I read this post and thought to myself, "Of course this is a Nailed It! I mean, it's Archbishop Chaput for crying out loud!!"
Enjoy!

Defend Us In Battle...: If only more Bishops were like him... (UPDATED): "Archbishop Chaput ***UPDATE***: See Below Archbishop Charles Chaput is a courageous and intelligent Bishop. As Thomas Peters from America..."

Nailed It!

I just decided this. I'm starting a new series of blogs here at 3 called "Nailed it!". Basically, while I'm out on the interwebs, whenever I find another blog or website that really well...nailed it...whatever the topic is, I'll give it it's due. This first installment Nailed It! is on Confession. Watch the video featured within the linked post below. BadCatholic: Video Competition: "Errbody! I just entered a scholarship competition. I had to make an under-one-minute video promoting the sacrament of reconciliation. I was..."

and the Truth will set you free!!

Okay... maybe that's overkill.

If you've been reading my recent posts, or the beloved BGNews, you'll have some idea of what's been going on in light of the event we had last weekend. Janet Smith, professor of theology, specifically in the area of Theology of the Body, spoke last Sunday.

Here's the latest BGNews publication.

I don't foresee anyone else commenting negatively or writting into the BGNews all offended. Jillian and Cameron did an excellent job appealing to fertility and femininity in hopes of not only educating such a misguided people, but also restoring some, even just a little, of the damage done by... really the Fall.

...and thing of the spiritual consequences of their actions!! Lately, God has been giving me very small glimpses on the spiritual reality that when we act out of the pure goodness of our hearts, we can, in affect, help in the salvation of souls. Wow!

So proud! ...in a good way

Here's what today's BGNews had in store. There were two letters published. The first letter has two goals: one, to show that yet again, people in their limited understanding, are too prideful to say, 'ya kno, maybe they're on to something', but instead say 'well i just completely disagree. you must be wrong,' and two, to argue that the event shouldn't have even be covered in the BGNews.

I'll just focus on the second part. These letters have been written in response to the very poorly written first article that appeared in Monday's edition. I'm pretty sure that the four people who just had to make their view heard weren't even at the event. It's really doesn't give justice to Veritas, Prof Smith, and the Catholic Church at large (because that's who the enemy wants to attack anyway), to continue critiquing the presentation when those critics weren't there. As for the notion that it shouldn't even have been printed, well... that's not for me to decide. Blame the BGNews... but yet they also printed this very letter that indirectly attacks themselves.

I'd also like to share an article by a friend of mine who also writes for the BGNews. While this guy is Christian [though, as I discovered rather unfortunately, he's also quite anti-Catholic (...does that give anyone else pause? i mean, how can one profess Christ yet still oppose fellow Christians??)], when you read the article, it's ironic how right my friend's thesis is. I submitted for comment the following:

Well said, [name removed].


Take it a few steps further ("south") and you've got the reason why the Catholic Church speaks out against contraception.

Romantic relationships, as I hope you would agree, are about the journey towards loving each other completely and fully. So, by extent, if a guy is dating a girl and they're having pre-marital sex and using contraception, he does not love her alone...but he also loves contraception.

So, I would be so bold as to add "contraception" to the list of things you've already mentioned that don't make a girl who she is...especially as contraception does in fact change who she is chemically and hormonally.

That's what I submitted. It's not posted yet because it's under review. Then again, since the article was written at the end of January, and no other comments appear, I'm not getting my hopes up of anyone seeing what I posted... so I wrote it on here!

Anyway... I'd also be so bold as to say that the 'hypothetical' guy I mentioned in the all too common scenario, in addition to not loving his girlfriend alone but also contraception, he probably also loves sex. I'd venture to say that they both probably love sex than they do each other, and thus they simply use each other. At that point, love goes out the window.

This is why Janet Smith herself expressed her pessimism almost two weeks ago. Sometimes I can't help but agree with Smith. The world is fading away... The warnings Pope Paul VI's prophetic encyclical (see paragraph 17) are coming to pass... and the sheer irony is that the very naysayers to the decline of morality only prove those words to be true!
Yet, God is still good. I am truly proud of how the students within the Church local community are reacting. Not only have I responded (which I posted yesterday on here... though I didn't receive a confirmation of reception by the BGNews like others have...), but so have plenty of students, like Gina, Veritas' president, whose reply was printed. Other steps being taken by the prayer warriors of our local Church Militant include, but are not limited to: our continued inclusion of the BGSU community in our prayers, especially those who need to hear the message Prof Smith presented, the written submissions to the BGNews by close to ten other current Catholic BGSU students and alum and members of Veritas, and the invitation into conversation by several former students to those who have responded negatively. I myself am considering now to email directly the male student who spoken negatively about the entire situation, inviting him into conversation, reaching out to him... not to change his mind, but to change his heart. All in all, eeeing the readiness for battle, first with prayer, among the students here is fantastic.

Bare in mind that when I speak of the Church Militant, the enemy is not those who disagree with the Church, but in fact satan himself and the army of evil spirits. We cannot deny their existence nor the enemy's tactics. If there's one thing that the movie The Rite did, though I have yet to see it, was to promote this truth: "not believing in the devil won't protect you from him". Yet, our weapons in this fight are NOT the same as the enemy's. Even though I'm continuing to use military language and imagery, I want to be clear that it might not exactly be the first idea that comes to mind. We as faithful Catholics engage the enemy in battle when we pray, most especially during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and and for Our Lady's intercession by way of the Most Holy Rosary. Our weapon when we're not praying the official prayers of the Church (because we should never stop praying) is the prayer of Love. It's living out the Christian walk, words and actions, in the light of Love. It's dragging sin into the light. It's being honest with each other. It's confessing. It's calling the world to conversion with compassion... and sometimes that makes us look mean... Jesus looked mean to some of the people of His day. Jesus said some pretty shocking things to the people of His time... and He still does through His Bride, His Church, His Holy Nation, a People called and set apart. ...that's us.

I'm proud because I can see that here locally... I pray that other parishes will join us... that all dissenting catholics will return to the True Faith... that all Christians will come Home... One Flock, One Shepherd, One Church... battle ready, waiting to be welcomed into Eternity and hear the Father say "Well done, my good and faithful servant". Yet, it's in matters both big AND small that we need to fight this battle. Christopher West has said that we won't stop global warming until we stop contracepting. I'd say that we won't stop contracepting until we start doing things, even little things, for others out of simple love for God and for others. West would agree with me, though, that it's because our world doesn't know how to authentically love...even when it's right in front of them. That's why we're experiencing the situation at hand.

I'd like to end with this quote from St. Catherine of Siena. I found it on this article, providentially.
"We’ve had enough of exhortations to be silent! Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence"

Goings on in my job. What a blessing.

Recently, I have been blessed to witness persecution.

What? Yes, persecution is bad... but think of Christ. Think of His holy martyrs. I'd consider it a privilege and honor to die defending Holy Mother Church. Yet, I digress.

Here's what's been going on. Last Sunday, the Catholic Student Group brought Janet Smith, to speak on campus. Since then, it has received a lot of attention from the University's newspaper. Feel free to read what's been printed so far. Below is what I have sent to the paper, in hopes they would print it. In general, among the community here, I've gotten a lot of 'thank you's and 'good job's. I'm curious as to know your response, dear reader. Sure, you can comment on the content of the issue at hand, but as evident my reply, I'd rather focus on the kind of people we are throughout this matter and the direction of our hearts.

Here's what I submitted, with changes noted in [red]:

To [names of students removed, one of whom is a columnist for the BGNews], and the rest of the BGNews staff [and BGSU population at large, I requested to have this part removed before it's considered for printing]

First of all, I'd like to be absolutely transparent with everyone. I'm not going to try to debate facts, nor do I wish to malign any one's character or what he or she may believe. I understand that what someone believes is important to him or her, so much so that it can define who a person is and can direct that person's path in life. Whether that is right or wrong, I will not debate either. What I'm more concerned with, as I hope Prof Smith would agree, is the state of each individual's heart in all of this matter. Yes, a lot of what Janet Smith has said is shocking... as well it should be. However, that doesn't give any of us the right to defame anyone just because he or she believes differently. This respect ought to extend to all people, even to the Pope.

Secondly, can you put yourselves in another's shoes for just a little bit? Do you think that Veritas brought Janet Smith here to make everyone mad? Do you think she was brought here all of the sudden make every single student and faculty member become like Catholic robots, bending to the will of, and I quote, "old white men whose power and influence relies on their ability to uphold an archaic, patriarchal institution,"? Do you really believe what you're writing here, or are you speaking out of anger because someone else in the world happens to disagree with you and then was given a microphone?

I'm honestly not concerned so much about the content of any speech, because there have been plenty of University sponsored speeches that I've attended and then left fuming during my undergraduate here at what I still consider to be a fine institution of higher education... and let's be honest, Veritas, as student organization, has the right as such to bring in any speaker they want to use to promote their own beliefs, just as much as any other organization has the right to bring in speakers who hold opposing views to promote them, which, as I suggested before, I have experienced. The presentation by Prof. Smith at the same time was not mandatory and, if you had attended, you could have left at any time, as some individuals did. What I'm more interested in, truth be told, is what I said before... the condition of your heart, from a human perspective. As I read all of the articles and comments and responses back and forth, I simply am left myself to ask, why? Why do some people respond the way they do? What makes them tick? What's happened to that person in his or her lifetime to make them feel this way or that way? Have they been hurt by someone who's held these views in the past? Do they feel that they have to comment, to be noticed? to be loved? to be approved of?

Thirdly, and most importantly, if you reading this have been hurt in the past by anyone, especially by someone who was supposed to be representing God, may I express my deepest and sincerest apologies. Know that you are not alone and that you can find the hope, peace, and eternal joy that all people long for, whether they realize it or not. While Prof Smith did not explicitly express this as her goal, as a fellow faithful Catholic, I pray that she would agree with me that her mission is in fact to teach, so that hopefully, this world can be a better place and that things like hope, peace, prosperity, life, freedom, true love, lasting happiness, can and will one day be the law that is written on the hearts of all people.
You may call me a dreamer or think I'm unrealistic, but I've been able to experience just a sliver of what I'm talking about... I can honestly say that I've been in some pretty dark places in my life. If it weren't for the Church, I would not be able to type this to you today. Now, by no means to I wish to boast of anything of myself nor do I wish make you feel worse or inferior to me. I am dust; I am nothing; I would not be surprised if this article did not get printed, for I do not deserve such recognition. At the end of the day, all I can do is hope that my actions, whether big or small, were done with utmost sincerity and love, in service of my fellow human beings.

To the BGNews staff,
[There was a male reporter who stopped by the Veritas table yesterday, offering help. Would you be able to tell me who that individual was? This part was not relevant to the article per se, but hopefully the newspaper staff is smart enough to realize not to print it.]
Thank you so much for your cooperation. It is my prayer that you continue to seek the truth. In doing so, you will be united with the goal and ideal of higher education as well as with the student group Veritas (whose name means "Truth").

Whether you want them or not, all those reading this, you are in my prayers.

So..... that's what I sent it. Other members of this community are also sending emails to the BG News. While I'm not directly responsible for the content of their messages, I did also send out an email encouraging our community to see these persecutions as blessings, and to remain diligent in prayer and evangelization, spreading the truth with love.

Great Resource

So... I know I haven't done too much with this site... mostly it's because I have my xanga blog and really no followers here. However, I hope that changes...soon. Perhaps after Lent, when I'm back on facebook, I'll promote this page more...

Plus, this may be a more spiritually healthy way for me to blog... I'll pray more about it.

Anyway, I found this really wonderful website with tons of information that's solid Church teaching, compiling not only Catholic Church documents, but plenty other organizations and speakers who remain faithful to the Church. Included is a plethora of pamphlets that consicely spell out what the Church teaches on anything and everything...almost. They definitely can't replace a Catechism... but if you know someone who has a question about any given topic, I'm sure these could be very useful.

http://www.victorclaveau.com/Pamphlets/free_downloadable_pamphlets.htm

Be good.

Heresy and Hell

got that right!

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