Categories

Suggested Books

The Passion of the Christ (Widescreen Edition)
The Passion of the Christ (Widescreen Edition)

Crossing the Threshold of Hope
Crossing the Threshold of Hope

Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible: Translated from the Original Languages With Critical Use of All Ancient Sources
Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible: Translated from the Original Languages With Critical Use of All Ancient Sources

Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures
Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures

Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles

Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei
Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei

Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light - The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta
Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light - The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta

Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words
Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words

Faith of the Early Fathers: Three-Volume Set
Faith of the Early Fathers: Three-Volume Set

Father Elijah: An Apocalypse
Father Elijah: An Apocalypse

Kiss the Ring


You have got to be kidding me, a Catholic Bishop was embarrassed by the protocol of kissing the Pope’s ring?  Our Bishops need much prayer.  I remember for my wedding blessing in front of John Paul II, at his second to last general audience, a whole slew of people went before us and kissed his ring.  When it came time for the newlyweds, who went last, to approach to Pope the attendants brought out kneelers.  All I could think about at first was that I wouldn’t get to kiss his ring and this ”Bishop” is embarrassed by having the privelage and the request to doing do so, he is too modern for his own good.  Does he consider himself above the Pope? Lord have mercy. 

“When it came to my turn, the person before me did it and I kissed his [the Pope's] ring as well — even though I was rather embarrassed by it,” Bishop Murphy said.

Read more: Belfast Telegraph

Deep End of the Theological Pool


I am not a member of the SSPX but I do have a brother who is.  We have gone round and round on issues concerning the Catholic church and ultimately I don’t think either one of us has budge much from our initial positions.  I think we have both left things up to prayer and the Holy Spirit.  I believe my brother to be a poor apologist for the SSPX although that doesn’t mean he’s not willing to have a spirited debate, his arguments just haven’t moved me nor have mine really moved him.  I’d say for more than the past year we have both dropped the “debating”, which my wife probably more accurately describes as arguing.  My best get under his skin line was telling him to “stop following excommunicated Bishops”.  Well eventually he did that since Pope Benedict XVI removed their excommunication’s.  How ever they are still not in full communion with the Pope from Rome’s standpoint.

Recently I saw a link in one of the comments on Fr. Z’s blog for a book from the Society of St. Pius X.  The book is called “The Problem of the Liturgical Reform” which can be found here  http://www.sspx.org/books/problem%20of%20the%20liturgical%20reform.pdf.

I’m not through reading it yet but I would say they have a pretty decent beef with how things were handled back in the 1960s.  The book is at the theologically deep end of the pool.  But I think any reader familiar with the Catholic Mass can pick up a few things and learn a thing or two about the prayers of the Mass prior to the Vatican II Council.

In the end I’m pretty sure the book is not going to change where I stand, but I will have an additional lens to look at my faith with and without stressing the relationship with my brother.  I feel I am sympathetic to those who want to worship in what is now called the Extraordinary form of the Mass.  I buy the line that the core worship of the Catholic Church for more than 500 years couldn’t be a bad thing, which is how it seems some priests and bishops today view the Extraordinary form of the Mass.  I believe Pope Benedict XVI did the right thing to allow priests publicly to say that Mass without the approval of their Bishops.  I believe the greater use of the old Mass will only have positive effects on our Catholic faith. 

But from what I’ve ready so far I believe the SSPX’s beef goes beyond the issue of the allowing the old Mass to be said freely.  Their beef is with the theology of the new Mass.  They’re not buying into the “Paschal Mystery”, as the “Paschal Mystery” is not what was used to create the old Mass.  The theology of the “Paschal Mystery” is basically in it’s infancy if you look at the history of the Catholic Church as a whole.  This is very weighty stuff but then shouldn’t we know some of this anyway?  This is our faith after all, we are talking about our eternal salvation.

So when things get deep or heavy, I think thats a sign we should pray.  May we pray to the Holy Spirit for unity among all Christians while remaining true to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Men Under Construction


Today I was at Men Under Construction 14 here in KC.  Once again it was another great event with great speakers.  I highly suggest if you get the chance to hear Richard Lane Jr. and Michael Franzese.  Their bio’s can be read here http://www.ksmuc.org/Speaker.html.

 To all men and women out there who read this blog I think it wise to fine at least one yearly event to go to.  As Richard Lane said don’t be  part of the “frozen chosen” on Sunday.  We need to take our faith out into the world and live it seven days a week.  Something I found very interesting as part of one of the breakout sessions on Evangelism was that Richard took the first half of the session having us focus on ourselves.  Encouraging us to regularly receiving the sacraments, especially confession, praying, meditating on scripture and constantly learning about our faith, because if aren’t in a state of grace, and have a first hand knowledge of our faith, how can we expect to be succesful evangelizing.

Lenten Update


We’ll we are 4 days into Lent so I thought I’d give an update on my Lenten Penance.  First let me say that the Gospel on Ash Wednesday humbled me a bit for posting my list of items in the first place.

Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“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.”

 So since I’ve already received my reward I figured I might as well give an update on the list.

1. 1 hour of TV per Week
This hasn’t been an issue, but I did catch myself Thursday morning grabbing for the remote.

2. No Coke 
I’ve been in meetings all week with free Coke sitting on the table so the temptation is there but I’ve held strong.

3. Coffee only 1 day per Week
Had my coffee this morning, I’ve been a bit tired and aggitated until today.  It appears that between coke & coffee, I was a bit more tied to caffine than I thought.

4. No reading news articles on my Blackberry
This was tough on Wednesday but I’ve been able to settle into a groove of not looking to my Blackberry.  Changing my home page helped too.

5. Restart a Morning Rosary
Going Great

I hope your Lent is going well and I will say a prayer for all my readers today.  God Bless.

Showing Up For The Dirt



You know what’s amazing about Ash Wednesday?  Even though it’s not a holy day of obligation Ash Wednesday Masses always seems to be packed.  I went at 6:30am Mass and the church was 70% full and the Masses after that were jam packed.  This doesn’t seem to be the case for other weekday Masses even those on days where Catholics are required to attend.

Most Catholics in the United States have daily Mass available to them, they can receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ any day of the week but, as a whole, rarely do.   Yet on Ash Wednesday a large number of Catholics come out of the wood work to get some dirt rubbed on their head.  The whole thought of it is just something to ponder.  I would love to hear peoples thoughts and comments on this.

Jesus Folds His Napkin


Here’s something I got via email a few weeks back and found interesting.  I’m assuming its true but I don’t know for sure.  If it’s not true it’s at least a good story.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!’ Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.  When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.  The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, ‘I’m done’.

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,because……….

The folded napkin meant, ‘I’m coming back!’

Oprah & the Nuns


So today Oprah Winfrey had the Dominican Sisters of Mary Convent on her show today.  Video

I thought it was great to see the sisters speaking to the secular world and showing their true joy in being brides of Christ.  One of the pressing questions Oprah wanted to get to is what it’s like for the Sisters to take a vow of chastity, no sex ever, how could they function?  It’s a legitimate question and on a topic that is so counter cultural to secular society.  The question got me to thinking as I too once thought the vow of chastity would be impossible.

 After five years of marriage, I’ve learned there is so much more to life than sex.  Before marriage I thought a vow of chastity would be impossible, now I can see the vow as totally reasonable.  Within my own marriage I have vowed to live chastely.  I can totally see how someone with much prayer can easily live life without sex.  These Dominican Sisters obviously had a much deeper union with Christ than I think most married people have with their spouses sexually.

 I applaud Oprah for having the Sisters of Mary on her show today.  Our world is so over-sexed and under loved, not by God, but by one another, that the message the nuns brought was much needed bright light that is rarely seen on TV today.

Bishop Approves Needle Distribution


From CatholicCulture.org there is an article about Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, who serves as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. Bishop Hubbard has approved a proposal by diocesan Catholic Charities to distribute free needles to drug abusers in the hope of preventing the spread of AIDS.

SAY WHAT?

“I understand there will be questions, but this is common sense,” says Sister Maureen Joyce, CEO of Catholic Charities.

Okay folks, in my mind this is just plain wrong. Is this not cooperating with evil? Are they going to hand out condoms next? I think Bishop Hubbard needs to hear from the folks in the pew and from his brother bishops.

Howard J. Hubbard, Bishop of Albany
Tel:  (518) 453-6611
Fax: (518) 453-6795

More Praying, Less Writing


I haven’t written in a while, and really haven’t had the desire too.  I have had more time to pray though and focus on more important things.  There are so many things going on right now I do not have the time to comment on them all.  I honestly lost some hope when it came to the Healthcare bill before Congress back before Christmas.  Ben Nelson from Nebraska caved on abortion for money, a move that did not represent his constituency.  He might as well retire and retire to a state other than Nebraska as he was recently booed out of an Omaha pizza joint last week.

But while Ben Nelson caved the people of Massachusetts are hopefully about to elect someone who will vote against the Healthcare bill, would it not be sweet justice that the seat previously held by pro-abortion Ted Kennedy could be the one to bring the bill down?  No one wishes death on anyone but Senator Kennedy’s death could end up being the catalyst that finally unravels this pro-death legislation.  I honestly think that this bill could be done and signed if it wasn’t for the abortion issue, thank goodness for the few Pro-Life Democrats that exists.  May they stand firm.

God help us.

Cancelling Christmas


I’ve been traveling and relaxing and watching the snow fall and build up, and up, and up. I traveled home to Nebraska for the Christmas holiday leaving a day early to avoid blizzarding weather. We stopped in Nebraska City for lunch at Runza one of my all time favorite foods. A Runza is a basically a kinda of bread and meat hot pocket with cabbage and spices. It tastes way better than it sounds and I highly suggest you try one if you get the chance.

While at Runza on Christmas Eve for lunch they had a local country station playing in the background during one of the news breaks they started listing all the local church services that were being cancelled due to the weather. Living my whole life in areas that can have inclement weather school and church cancellations are somewhat common place. Much more so today than when I was a kid. When we finally made it to my parents house more church cancellations were rolling across the bottom of the TV screen during my annual viewing of the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”, my favorite movie.

A curious thing about all the church service cancellations. They were all protestant churches, none where Catholic. Isn’t that an interesting phenomenom? Is it because Catholic Priests live on the parish grounds? That can’t be it as many protestant pastors also live on location at their church. So why is it that Catholic’s don’t cancel their “services” in inclement weather and protestants do?

Well here is my answer, the Catholic Mass isn’t about the congregation whereas a protestant church service is, or at least it’s about the pastor preaching to that congregation. They may be worshiping God, but that can be done from home and without the congregation gathered. Whereas a Catholic Mass isn’t about us, the congreation, it’s about Him, God, and He’ll be there whether we are or not.