Joe Catholic

The Fight is On!Rise Up Oh Men of God!

2012-01-30T08:22:00.000-06:00

Photo by CrisisMagazine

Yesterday I wrote that we are in a spiritual battle against the forces of evil. The Obama-care mandate to fund contraception is a vivid example of this war.

It's clear that the Obama administration is dedicated to "treating pregnancy as a disease" and attacking the Catholic Church. It's most recent attempt at undermining the Catholic Church, is an HHS policy which would require all employers, including Catholic schools, hospitals and other Catholic charities to pay for contraception, sterilization and even some abortion producing drugs.

It's time to take a stand. First, we need to get informed and then we need to speak out directly to our legislative representatives and also spread the word via every possible venue and media.

Below you will find links to the USCCB page dedicated to responding to this issue. Additionally, you will find a copy of an OpEd written by Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan and a video from Dolan charging all Catholics to take action.

If you click on the icon on the left side of this blog that shows the Jerusalem Cross with the Stand With the US Bishops, you will be taken to a Facebook page addressing these issues. I intend to include as many links to other material via my Twitter feed: @dgonz15

Support Respect for Rights of Conscience Act

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan OpEd

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan's video plea

2012-01-30T07:34:00.001-06:00

Support Respect for Rights of Conscience Act

Catholic Toolbox: Spiritual Warfare

2012-01-29T16:38:00.000-06:00

Fall of Rebel Angels, Pieter Bruegel

Spiritual Leaders

Joe Catholics we have a God given duty to protect our families – physically, financially, emotionally and spiritually. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not we are at war. Not the war on terrorism, but an Ancient War in which “our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits” [Eph 6:12].

We are part of the Church Militant and as the spiritual leaders of our families, we are at the frontline of this battle. What can we do to arm ourselves against the devil and his minions?

Marching Orders

We need to return to spiritual fundamentals: prayer, sacraments and a life of virtue. Get straight and get right with God! You can be holier. Fight as to win. This is the big one. We are in dire combat with the forces of evil. Love is the answer.

Nurture your relationship with Him. Learn your faith. “Studying the faith is studying Jesus Christ.” Education is not enough. Most of us know more than enough to be canonized saints, but none of the saints were canonized for what they knew, but for what they did. It's not enough to know the faith, you have to live the faith. (NOTE: This is paraphrased from notes taken at a Father Corapi conference years ago.)

What is our purpose? To love, know and serve God with all our heart, mind and soul.

SWAT: Spiritual Weapons and Tactics:

Pray to your Guardian Angel for protection and help.
Pray the Rosary – “the greatest weapon;” “prayer of the Gospel. When you pray the rosary, you pray the Gospel, the Good News, the Word made Flesh, who is Jesus”
Receive the Sacraments frequently
Frequent Communion (i.e., daily mass)
More frequent Reconciliation
Use the Sacramentals: holy medals, scapulars, rosaries, prayer cards, blessed salt
Holy Water
Brown Scapular – like “dog tags” it identifies us as children of Mary, the Mother of God; we reflect on prayer and penance; you may grasp it to overcome the temptation
Unite all your pain and suffering with Jesus. Offer it up!

Saint Talk: St. Thomas Aquinas

2012-01-28T17:49:00.000-06:00

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church. He is the patron of students and author of The Summa Theologica, which is considered by many to be the most influential piece of western literature.

St. Thomas was a Dominican priest who studied in France under the tutelage of St. Albert the Great. By all accounts Thomas was a supernatural genius, who garnered inspiration from the Holy Spirit and was visited by Blessed Mother and Sts. Peter and Paul (See New Advent, Supernatural Causes). He is also reported to have had the ability to read even the most complex material and have full understanding upon only one reading. I could certainly use a little of that charism when studying for my IPT courses. One thing we can certainly learn from this extraordinary saint is that he prayed before each time he studied or wrote. I am particularly fond of his Prayer Before Study.

Today, our own Frater Bovious made a presentation on St. Thomas' teachings.
WARNING: If you are easily offended by "salty" language there is an S-bomb around the 21:05 mark.

Saint Talk: The Conversion of St. Paul

2012-01-25T09:06:00.000-06:00

Today the Church celebrates the Conversion of St. Paul. St. Paul's conversion is such a big deal that the Church sets aside a special day to reflect upon it. I can't think of another feast day on the Church calendar that celebrates any other person in such a manner.

Saul, as he was named before his conversion, was a Jewish zealot intent on persecuting Christians. Saul journeyed to Damascus "so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1). God had a different plan for Saul. While he was traveling to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul in a flash of light. Saul "fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting' (Acts 9:4-5). Some biblical scholars dispute the accuracy of Caravaggio's famous painting which depicts Saul falling from a horse. The commentators of the Navarre Bible posit "Saul and his associates, who would probably have been mounted, would have had no difficulty in doing the journey in under a week." Personally, I like the image of Saul falling off his high horse. Isn't that what often happens to us right before we turn to God?

Saul was literally blinded by the light of the Truth. Soon after Saul encounters Ananias, who baptizes him and lays hands on Saul (a symbol of commissioning and ordination). Paul became the Lord's vessel, His instrument for good. Paul spread the Word to gentiles throughout the world and is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul's response to God's call is an example for all of us. Pope Paul VI explains:

"The apostolate is [...] an inner voice, which makes one both restlessand serene, a voice that is both gentle and imperious, troublesome and affectio-nate, a voice which comes unexpectedly and with great events and then, at aparticular point, exercises a strong attraction, as it were revealing to us our lifeand our destiny. It speaks prophetically and almost in a tone of victory, whicheventually dispels all uncertainty, all timidity and all fear, and which facilitates--making it easy, desirable and pleasant--the response of our whole personality,when we pronounce that word which reveals the supreme secret of love: Yes;Yes, Lord, tell what I must do and I will try to do it, I will do it. Like St. Paul,thrown to the ground at the gates of Damascus: What would You have me do?

"The roots of the apostolate run deep: the apostolate is vocation, election, interior encounter with Christ, abandonment of one's personal autonomy to His will,to His invisible presence; it is a kind of substitution of our poor, restless heart,inconstant and at times unfaithful yet hungry for love, for His heart, the heart ofChrist which is beginning to pulsate in the one who has been chosen. And thencomes the second act in the psychological drama of the apostolate: the need tospread, to do, to give, to speak, to pass on to others one's own treasure, one'sown fire. [...]

"The apostolate becomes a continuous expansion of one's soul, the exuberanceof a personality taken over by Christ and animated by His Spirit; it becomes aneed to hasten, to work, to do everything one can to spread the Kingdom of God,to save other souls, to save all souls" ("Homily", 14 October 1968).

When I was about sixteen years old, ABC ran a mini-series called Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. While the movie was not completely accurate in its portrayal of biblical events, it did strike a chord with me. To this day, when I proclaim a reading from St. Paul's epistles at Mass, I think of Anthony Hopkins' portrayal. Here is a clip from the movie depicting St. Paul's conversion.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Evernote

2012-01-24T09:09:00.001-06:00

Evernote is a multi-purpose application that allows you to access, create and save various "notes" across multiple platforms (PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, etc.). I use it to take notes when I attend an evening of recollection, Catholic men's conference or when I am presenting at Joe Catholic or RCIA. You can capture audio or even file photos. I like that you can tag your notes with key words which facilitates easy access later on. You can also create folders to organize notes into projects or categories. One other key attribute is the ability to share files with others who have the app.

You can watch a brief video overview of this application.

Saint Talk: St. Francis de SalesDoctor of the Church

2012-01-24T08:55:00.001-06:00

By Father Lawrence Lew, OP

Today the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church.

St. Francis was born to a "noble and pious family." By all accounts he was a great student at the University of Paris and the University of Padua. He was well on his way to a successful career as a lawyer, which was his father's wish. Instead, he answered the call to the priesthood. He was instrumental in responding to the Calvinist movement during the 17th century. Eventually Francis would become the Bishop of Geneva.

His best known work, Introduction to the Devout Life holds the test of time as a guide for lay Catholics who are seeking to develop a closer relationship with Christ. He is the patron of writers.

Additional Reading:

St. Francis de Sales, Catholic.org

St. Francis de Sales, EWTN

For those would like to learn more about St. Francis de Sales from video, here's a one hour video from EWTN:

Keep the Coals Burning - Sustaining Conversion

2012-01-19T09:19:00.000-06:00

Tuesday we published the Joe Catholic debut of Frater Bovious. Today we get to see the man behind Frater Bovious, Mark Connolly. In November, Mark gave a talk comparing conversion to barbecuing. Only Mark could come up with such a unique analogy.

This is only our second Joe Catholic Media production (I use that term loosely), but we do have more in the works.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Holy Smokes! Our Lady of Guadalupe Cigar Matches!

2012-01-17T12:20:00.000-06:00

MATCH MUSINGS AND THE NATURE OF REALITY
------------------------------------------
By FRATER BOVIOUS
Guest Writer to Joe Catholic

Aristotle and Aquinas Have Some Tea
(Mr. Paley was not invited*)

Below you will find a picture of the Lady of Guadalupe cigar matches that I received in my stocking at Christmas. Are they sacrilegious, or are they, in some small "s" kind of way, sacramental?

(CARROLLTON, Cradle of Civilization) - Teleology (from Greek telos, end, and logos, science), like afternoon tea, is something quaint in the minds of many, something that people used to do before Starbucks and Hume. Except, of course, for the fact that no one really strays far from the concept of final causes in their day-to-day real world life.

Take these lovely matches for example. What are they for? Clearly they are for many things, but principally for me, they are for to light cigars. And so, do I take these matches, hold them aloft, utter an obscure latinate prayer to St. Elmo and bid my cigar "Alight!"?

Not hardly. It's way more magical than that. I strike them on the side of the box, which has a scratchy surface that was put there intentionally for the purpose of creating enough friction, that is, heat, to cause a chemical reaction within the head of the match resulting in a series of very small controlled explosions and resultant flame using the wood as fuel and which I then bring near to the cigar and thereby cause the cigar to light. As you can see, it's very magical.

I mentioned that these matches are for "many things". I did not say for "infinite things", meaning that I would not expect these matches, upon being struck, to recite Hamlet's Soliloquy or to suddenly grow wings and fly about the room. Principally, I expect them to make fire. The fire then can be used to do many things, such as light a cigar, charcoal, a candle, etc

"It's just a match," you say. "What's so magical about that," you ask? The fact that it is all so intelligible.

Scientism of today - Oh, what is Scientism? Well now, if fideism is faith without recourse to reason, and rationalism is reason without recourse to faith, then scientism is science without recourse to faith or reason. Anyway, scientism holds that there are no such things as final causes, or final causation - the idea that things work toward a final end or purpose. Things are simply, or simplistically, just random. This is a weak statement of the scientism position, but basically this randomness supposedly accounts for natural selection which is misunderstood as being evolution (when it is simply a process which may explain or support the theory of evolution, but I hear people yawning) and which in any event does not explain a rock.

However, no one actually lives as if randomness were the fundamental principle governing the universe. In fact, the two concepts "randomness" and "fundamental principle" cannot coexist.

Think of it like this - what about a match might disappoint you? If you come home from work, and the matches have not vacuumed, dusted, did the laundry, etc., would you be disappointed? No, what disappoints you about a match would be when it fails to light, or breaks when you strike it - in other words, when it does not meet your expectations; it has not accomplished its end. We think in terms of final causes, we build things in terms of final causes, we have expectations of things and others because we know they are ordered to a particular end or purpose. Sometimes things don't do what we expected, but we do expect that there is a reason or outside influence or something that prevent the match from performing its function.

I submit that no one could possibly live as if randomness were the fundamental principle governing the universe.

If you think about it for a bit, things are only intelligible in the framework of cause and effect, and specifically in terms of formal cause, material cause, efficient cause and final cause. It's rather handy that the universe works this way, since we are equipped such that we can make sense of it all.

But, that is a topic for a future Afternoon Teleology.

Meanwhile, sacrilege or sacrament? Allow me for a moment to simply define the idea of a sacrament as something which points to, and makes present in some way, a mystery. And let me define mystery as something which we can perceive in some manner, but which we cannot readily nor fully explain. These are working definitions, mind you and not rigorous by any means.

The fact that the Lady of Guadalupe matches have successfully lit at least three cigars thus far points to a reality about the universe - the universe is intelligible, and the things that make up the universe all work toward an end. It seems particularly fitting to me that Our Lady, whose end was to be the instrument by which God entered Time in the person of Jesus Christ, should grace this box of matches, consideration of which points back toward God.

Resources:

Aquinas by Edward Feser;
The Shape of Catholic Theology byAidan Nichols
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Kreeft, Peter and Ronald K. Tacelli.

*(For a hint as to why Mr. Paley was not invited to tea, see this briefest of dismissals of the design argument in the wiki on Hume. Contrary to what many think today, Aquinas was not a proponent of the argument from design for the existence of God. This is not to say that the argument from design is wrong - rather it is to say both proponents and detractors are missing the point.)

Evangelization: Who Have You Invited to Meet Christ?

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

Band of Brother by ~7mts

Today's gospel reading (John 1:35-42) contains two subtle examples of evangelization. First, John the Baptism points out Jesus as he is walking by and then tells two of his followers "Behold the Lamb of God." They respond to John by following Jesus.

In the next passage we see that Andrew is the one that invites his brother Simon, soon to be renamed Peter, to meet Jesus. I find it fascinating that in John's gospel account, Peter, the chosen leader of the early Church, was not called directly by Christ.

The Navarre Bible commentary explains:

Sometimes He addresses a person directly by stirring his soul and inviting him to follow Him; at other times, as in the present case, He chooses to use someone close to us who knows us, to bring us to meet Christ.

St. Josemaria Escriva describes the apostolic implications of inviting a friend to meet Jesus:

"Open your own hearts to Jesus and tell Him your story. I don't want to generalize. But one day perhaps an ordinary Christian, just like you, opened your eyes to horizons both deep and new, yet as old as the Gospel. He suggested to you the prospect of following Christ earnestly, seriously, of becoming an apostle of apostles. Perhaps you lost your balance then and didn't recover it. Your complacency wasn't quite replaced by true peace until you freely said 'yes' to God, because you wanted to, which is the most supernatural of reasons. And in its wake came a strong, constant joy, which disappears only when you abandon Him" (St. Josemaria Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 1). [emphasis added]

The Second Vatican Council explained the laity's role in the mission of the Church to evangelize:

"On all Christians therefore is laid the pre-eminent responsibility of working to make the divine message of salvation known and accepted by all people throughout the world"
(Apostolicam Actuositatem, 3).

God is counting on us to do our part in bringing others to Christ. This is at the heart of the Church's mission. Practically speaking, it's our mission too. We might have a friend or family member who has fallen away from the Church and is scared to come back. Or maybe they have never stepped foot in a Catholic Church. Perhaps all they need is a kind gesture, an invitation. They need to know that Christ is waiting for them. We don't have to thump them over the head with a Bible or Catechism; we merely need to be their friends and, like St. John the Baptist and St. Andrew, point the way. We can't let our own insecurities get in the way. The fact is our inadequacies don't matter as long as we put our trust in the Holy Spirit. He will do the rest of the work.

What are you waiting for? Go out and invite someone you know who needs the love of Christ. It will change their lives forever...and yours.

ToolBox: Resources for Studying the Sacrament of Reconciliation

2012-01-12T09:22:00.000-06:00

(Note: I had originally posted this in June of 2009 when the Joe Catholic apostolate was only a month old and I didn't know what I was doing with this blog.)

This is simply a list of resources to begin exploring the Church's teaching on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I have also added a link to two popular Confession apps which are meant as preparation tools for your examination of conscience.)

Scriptural Support for Sacrament of Reconciliation

Baptism and the Forgiveness of Sin
Acts 2:38 - Forgiveness of sins at Baptism cited by St. Peter
Acts 22:16 - Forgiveness of sins at Baptism cited by St. Paul
1 Peter 3:21 - God's pledge of forgiveness thru Baptism

Forgiveness of Sin AFTER Baptism
Matt 28:20 - Christ entrusts apostles with authority
John 20:21-23 - Christ institutes the sacrament of reconciliation
Matt 18:18 - Christ commissions apostles with binding authority to absolve sin
2 Cor 5:18-20 - St. Paul confirms the ministry of reconciliation passed on to bishops/priests

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

(You may need to scroll down the linked page to find section that is cited)

CCC 1425-1426 - Why did Christ institute the sacrament of reconciliation?
CCC 1440-1442 - Who alone forgives sin?
CCC 1453 - What is perfect contrition?
CCC 1457 - Is confession of sins necessary?
CCC 1461 - Who has the power to absolve sins?
CCC 1484 - How necessary are complete confession and personal absolution?

Web Resources

Forgiveness of Sins - Catholic Answers
Confession - Catholic Answers
Confession - The GodPod

Recommended Reading

Lord Have Mercy, Scott Hahn
A Guide Book for Confession for Adults
Why We Need Confession, Russell Shaw
Frequent Confession, Benedict Baur

Apps

iConfess

Confession

Tuesday Tech Talk: VolunteerSpot

2012-01-10T08:43:00.000-06:00

If you have ever had to organize volunteers for an apostolate, ministry or event and wished you had an easy electronic way to do it, VolunteerSpot is the answer.

VolunteerSpot is a simple sign up sheet application that allows you to quickly and easily manage volunteers. There is no software to download and registration is user friendly. VolunteerSpot provides free and premier options.

I coordinate the Lector Ministry at our parish. I was looking for an easy, fair and transparent way to get readers to sign up for special liturgical celebrations. I registered on the website. Next, I scheduled the events I needed volunteers for. This was much like entering a calendar entry on iCal or Outlook. Finally, I cut and pasted my email list into the application and I was able to send out a customized email message that allowed readers to volunteer for the day they were able to read. The app even sends out a reminder email prior to the event.

See the video below for a tour of the application.

SNL Tebow Skit: One Catholic's Opinion

2012-01-09T08:28:00.000-06:00

Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos pulled out another Miracle at Mile High yesterday in defeating the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime and advancing in the NFL playoffs. I am sure the upcoming rematch against Tom Brady's New England Patriots will drum up more chatter about Tebow.

A few weeks ago Saturday Night Live performed a skit satirizing Tim Tebow's style of Christianity. In the skit, Jason Sudeikis portrayed Jesus addressing Tebow and the Broncos in the locker room after their come from behind victory over the Chicago Bears. The skit drew the ire of televangelist Pat Robertson who declared it "anti-Christian bigotry."

I don't think the skit was anti-Christian and I even think it may have contained some subtle insights on how to more effectively evangelize our non-Christian, secularized friends and family. The message of the skit seems to be that you don't have to constantly bring up your faith to be a good Christian. I think this approach, like "Bible thumping" is counterproductive and turns people off. I speak from the experience of one who tried to evangelize my family this way and it failed miserably; they didn't want to be around preachy Don. Instead, I believe, we should focus our attention on living our lives in accord with the teachings of Christ, by being living witnesses of His love and mercy. Thus, they will know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35).

Maybe I am reading too much into the skit, but I also think it contains a more direct message that God gives us plenty of gifts to handle life's challenges on our own; that we don't need to be sitting around waiting for a last minute miracle. In the skit (around the 1:00 mark and again at 1:30), Sudeikis' Jesus says to the team, "I need you to meet me half way." Isn't this what God actually does in our real lives? It reminds me of the story of God and the man in the flood.

I don't purport to know a lot about Tim Tebow. He seems genuine and is certainly a likable guy. I have seen a few of his post-game interviews and press conferences. What I think gets under some people's skin is that he constantly brings up God when it's unsolicited and perhaps unwarranted (if that's possible). For example, after one of the games, a reporter asked him about the defensive unit, and his answer was basically, "I didn't see it; I was praying." To non-believers this can seem to be "in their face" or some might even think it disingenuous.

Watch the skit and you decide for yourself.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Flipboard

2012-01-03T07:11:00.000-06:00

If you were one of the many people who received a new iPad or iPhone as gift, Flipboard is a must have app for your new device. Flipboard is described as a social media magazine app. What this means is that the app allows you to capture your RSS feeds, social sites, and other online media onto one place. What I like about Flipboard is that it allows you to organize your content into categories and you can read through it like a magazine and browse quickly through titles. Best of all it is FREE.

Here is a video demonstration.

Starting the Year Right with Spiritual Reading

2012-01-01T22:49:00.000-06:00

One of the common recommendations in spiritual direction is to incorporate spiritual reading in your daily plan of life. I think it would be a reasonable and attainable goal to read one good, authentic Catholic book per month. This year, I will recommend a different title to read each month. I hope to also squeeze in a few book reviews throughout the year.

I chose Be a Man! by Father Larry Richards as my first recommendation because Father Richards wrote the book specifically for men. Furthermore, the book lays a great foundation for beginning or revitalizing your spiritual game plan. The book is divided into ten manageable chapters that conclude with reflection and action questions.

What are you waiting for? Be a man!

Theotokos: Mary, Mother of God

2011-12-31T17:57:00.000-06:00

Some rights reserved by wordcat57

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This teaching is one of the four Marian Doctrines of the Catholic Church.

Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who is fully man and fully God, "was born of a woman" (Gal 4:4). Mary is that woman. In fact, in Luke's gospel this is revealed in Mary's visit to see Elizabeth. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth proclaimed, ""Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:42-43).

In 431, the Council of Ephesus confirmed Mary as Mother of God, Theotokos. This was proclaimed to answer a heresy denying Jesus’ dual nature as both human and divine. The Council declared:

"We confess, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the Virgin according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in Godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her" (Formula of Union [A.D. 431]).

Note, the language used by the Council and how that is reflected in our liturgy.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also teaches:

Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord." In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). (CCC 495)

Pope John Paul II expanded the Church's understanding of the doctrine in his 1987 encyclical, Redemptoris Mater:

The Second Vatican Council prepares us for this by presenting in its teaching the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and of the Church. If it is true, as the Council itself proclaims,[8] that "only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light," then this principle must be applied in a very particular way to that exceptional "daughter of the human race," that extraordinary "woman" who became the Mother of Christ. Only in the mystery of Christ is her mystery fully made clear. Thus has the Church sought to interpret it from the very beginning: the mystery of the Incarnation has enabled her to penetrate and to make ever clearer the mystery of the Mother of the Incarnate Word. The Council of Ephesus (431) was of decisive importance in clarifying this, for during that Council, to the great joy of Christians, the truth of the divine motherhood of Mary was solemnly confirmed as a truth of the Church's faith. Mary is the Mother of God (= Theotokos), since by the power of the Holy Spirit she conceived in her virginal womb and brought into the world Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is of one being with the Father.[9] "The Son of God...born of the Virgin Mary...has truly been made one of us,"[10] has been made man. Thus, through the mystery of Christ, on the horizon of the Church's faith there shines in its fullness the mystery of his Mother. In turn, the dogma of the divine motherhood of Mary was for the Council of Ephesus and is for the Church like a seal upon the dogma of the Incarnation, in which the Word truly assumes human nature into the unity of his person, without canceling out that nature. (Redemptoris Mater, 4)

Mary is our Holy Mother too. Although He was on the verge of death, Christ called out to John from the cross, "Behold your mother!" (John 19:27). Furthermore, since Mary is the mother of Christ, who is head of the Church, she is also Mother of the Church.

I will conclude with this simple, logical syllogism: Jesus is God. Mary is the mother of Jesus. Therefore, Mary is the mother of God.

Recommended Reading:

Redemptoris Mater, Pope John Paul II

Hail Holy Queen, Scott Hahn

Theotokos: Woman, Mother, Disciple, Pope John Paul II

How Can Mary Be God's Mother, Tim Staples

Saint Talk: Holy Family

2011-12-30T11:05:00.000-06:00

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. Today's Gospel reading is the basis for the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. Instead of giving you my thoughts on the subject of the earthly trinity, I have included some excerpts from the writings of Pope Benedict XVI and Blessed Pope John Paul II.

In the Gospel we do not find discourses on the family but an event which is worth more than any words: God wanted to be born and to grow up in a human family. In this way he consecrated the family as the first and ordinary means of his encounter with humanity.

In his life spent at Nazareth, Jesus honoured the Virgin Mary and the righteous Joseph, remaining under their authority throughout the period of his childhood and his adolescence (cf. Lk 2: 41-52). In this way he shed light on the primary value of the family in the education of the person.

This Gospel episode reveals the most authentic and profound vocation of the family: that is, to accompany each of its members on the path of the discovery of God and of the plan that he has prepared for him or her.

Mary and Joseph taught Jesus primarily by their example: in his parents he came to know the full beauty of faith, of love for God and for his Law, as well as the demands of justice, which is totally fulfilled in love (cf. Rom 13: 10).

From them he learned that it is necessary first of all to do God's will, and that the spiritual bond is worth more than the bond of kinship.

The Holy Family of Nazareth is truly the "prototype" of every Christian family which, united in the Sacrament of Marriage and nourished by the Word and the Eucharist, is called to carry out the wonderful vocation and mission of being the living cell not only of society but also of the Church, a sign and instrument of unity for the entire human race. (Pope Benedict, Angelus, 12/21/06)

Pope John Paul II repeatedly emphasized that "the future of the world and of the Church passes through the family." I particularly like what he had to the role of the father was in Familiaris Consortio:

In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God, a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family: He will perform this task by exercising generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother, by a more solicitous commitment to education, a task he shares with his wife, by work which is never a cause of division in the family but promotes its unity and stability, and by means of the witness he gives of an adult Christian life which effectively introduces the children into the living experience of Christ and the church.

Catechesis and evangelization starts at home with the family. This is our responsibility and not one we can delegate. We cannot simply dump our children off at the church on Sunday Youth Night or Wednesday CRE and think we have fulfilled our duty as parents. Certainly, formal religious ed has its place, but formation must take place at home. As a school teacher, I can tell you that children don't care so much about what you say as they care about what they see you do. Formation at home means we have to live our faith every day. An integral part of this includes family prayer. Father Peyton was on the mark when he coined the phrase: "The family that prays together, stays together."

Feast of the Holy Innocents

2011-12-28T13:32:00.001-06:00

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Innocents. King Herod feared the birth of the new "king of the Jews" so he "ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi" (Matt 2:16).

Rather than focus on the theological implications of the feast day (others have done a great job of that already), I'd like to propose we use this day to reflect on our modern massacre of the innocents - abortion.

Over 40 Million innocent babies have been killed in the United States since 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in this country. These numbers do not even reflect the U.S. government's efforts to export abortion to other countries. In January 2009, President Obama overturned the Mexico City policy which had prohibited U.S. funding of international groups that provided abortions. The Obama administration has implemented a systematic, anti-life agenda which it continues to pursue.

It's not enough to just say we are pro-life, we have to act. First, we must pray. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of unborn children. We should ask for her intercession and offer up Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. We can ask our parishes to make sure that pro-life prayers are incorporated into the Prayers of the Faithful.

Next, we need to get formed and informed. We need to form our consciences in conformity with the teachings of Christ handed down by the Church. Then we need to act on that formed conscience. In the last presidential election too many people, Catholics included, voted with their pocket books and left their consciences at home. In addition to voting with our consciences we should support the efforts of organizations like 40 Days for Life, Priests for Life, Rachel's Vineyard and Pro Life Across America.

We need to attack the culture of death with a culture of authentic love. We don't pass judgement, we provide compassion. We don't reject, we comfort. We don't take, we give. We don't lie, we share the Truth.

PRAYER

God of power and mercy,
you blessed the Americas at Tepeyac
with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
May her prayers help all men and women
to accept each other as brothers and sisters.
Through your justice present in our hearts
may your peace reign in the world.
O Lady of Guadalupe, pray for the Church in America
and walk with us in the third millennium of faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Basic Catholic Tech Tools

2011-12-27T00:06:00.001-06:00

This last Tuesday Tech Talk I thought I would list out the basic tech tools every Catholic techie should have in his toolbox.

Bible - The mobile app created by Olive Tree is the still the best functional way to read and access the Bible when on the go. They have a New American Bible Catholic version available for $20. I wish they would make an RSVE edition; the Kindle version is difficult to maneuver.

Blog - There a number of great Catholic blogs from which to choose. If you are just starting to read Catholic blogs, I recommend adding Father Z's Blog written by Father John Zuhlsdorf. He consistently writes insightful and witty posts. While he is easy to read, he writes frankly and does not water down the truth.

Catechesis - Catholic Answers provides a great deal of accessable resources for learning, sharing and defending the faith.

Catholic Calendar - The best way to keep track of feast days and holy day of obligation is the Universalis Roman Catholic calendar app. When you have Internet access you can also download the Liturgy of the Hours and Daily Readings for that day, the previous and the following. It is free.

Daily Missal - Although the iBreviary (reviewed here) provides a decent missal app for free, I believe the iMissal app is simpler to use. I recently reviewed the iMissal for Tuesday Tech Talk.

e-Book - Recently the number of authentic, Catholic e-books available has increased. The release of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in e-book format makes it the hands down winner. The price is set at $18.99, but you need to view that as an investment.

Liturgy of the Hours - The iBreviary app will provide the most affordable and efficient way to pray the "official prayer of the Church."

Lives of the Saints - Saint of the Day narrowly edges out Saint a Day because it has an audio component and a cleaner look. It also has a social media link which allows you to share with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Mass Times - If you travel quite a lot or need to find a church, the Mass Times app is must. The app not only provides you with a list of the nearest parishes to your location, but it is integrated with Maps so you can get directions. In addition to mass times, it provides times for the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Media Library - EWTN maintains a large library archive of audio and document files. Additionally, the site streams live shows. If it's on EWTN you know it's going to be doctrinally sound.

Prayer Book - There are a number of prayer apps available but none as comprehensive as the iPieta app. This is the mobile app version of the little blue book you see daily mass attendees carrying with them. This app is more than a prayer book; it also contains a vast library of writings from saints, church fathers and the popes.

Rosary - I debated including a Rosary app, but in the end I had to go with the free CD's provided by CatholiCity. I copied my Rosary CD to my iPhone and use it to pray the rosary on my commute to or from work.

Saint Talk: St. Stephen the First Martyr

2011-12-26T03:54:00.000-06:00

The Stoning of St. Stephen, Rembrandt

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr and patron of deacons. Stephen is described in the Acts of the Apostles (6:4) as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Stephen "did great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8). Eventually, his works angered the enemies of the early Church so they trumped up charges against Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. During the trial, Stephen recounted the entire salvation history from Abraham to the crucifixion of Christ, chastising his accusers for failing to believe in Jesus. This enraged his captors and they took him out of Jerusalem to be stoned. As they prepared to stone Stephen, they lay their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. While he was being stoned, Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right of the Father. Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" and then, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:58-60). These prayers are remarkably similar to Christ's words on the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34) and "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" (Acts 23:46)

I find it interesting that we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen the day after Christmas. I looked around for an explanation but could not find one. The closest I came, was this excerpt from a homily given by St. Fulgentius of Ruspe:

Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today we celebrate the triumphant suffering of his soldier. Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.

Our king, despite his exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake; yet he did not come empty-handed. He gave of his bounty, yet without any loss to himself. In a marvelous way he changed into wealth the poverty of his faithful followers while remaining in full possession of his own inexhaustible riches. And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shone forth in his soldier. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment.

Love, indeed, is the source of all good things; it is an impregnable defense, and the way that leads to heaven. He who walks in love can neither go astray nor be afraid: love guides him, protects him, and brings him to his journey’s end.

My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another practical proof of it, and by your progress in it, make your ascent together. (Homily excerpt obtained from SaintsSQPN)

Stephen's martyrdom is significant in the history of the Church. His faithful example and intercession affected Saul profoundly. (I believe this scene is beautifully portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the TV mini-series Peter and Paul.) "If Stephen had not prayed to God, the Church would not have had Paul" (St. Augustine,"Sermons", 315, 7).

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:45:00.001-06:00

The Nativity, El Greco

The following is a reflection on the Nativity written by St. Josemaria Escriva.

“Jesus is still looking for shelter”

Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem because, Sacred Scripture tells us, ``there was no room for them in the inn.'' I am not departing from theological truth when I say that Jesus is still looking for shelter in your heart. (The Forge, 274)

I am not at all stretching the truth when I tell you that Jesus is still looking for a resting‑place in our heart. We have to ask him to forgive our personal blindness and ingratitude. We must ask him to give us the grace never to close the door of our soul on him again.

Our Lord does not disguise the fact that his wholehearted obedience to God’s will calls for renunciation and self‑sacrifice. Love does not claim rights, it seeks to serve. Jesus has led the way. How did he obey? “Unto death, death on a cross” [1]. You have to get out of yourself; you have to complicate your life, losing it for love of God and souls. “So you wanted to live a quiet life. But God wanted otherwise. Two wills exist: your will should be corrected to become identified with God’s will: you must not bend God’s will to suit yours” [2].

It has made me very happy to see so many souls spend their lives — like you, Lord, “even unto death” — fulfilling what God was asking of them. They have dedicated all their yearnings and their professional work to the service of the Church, for the good of all men.

Let us learn to obey, let us learn to serve. There is no better leadership than wanting to give yourself freely, to be useful to others. When we feel pride swell up within us, making us think we are supermen, the time has come to say “no”. Our only triumph will be the triumph of humility. In this way we will identify ourselves with Christ on the cross — not unwillingly or restlessly or sullenly, but joyfully. For the joy which comes from forgetting ourselves is the best proof of love. (Christ is passing by, 19)
[1] Phil 2:8 usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis
[2] St Augustine, Enarrationes in psalmos, Ps 31:2, 26 (PL 36,274)

Pope Benedict's Midnight Mass & Homily

2011-12-24T23:37:00.001-06:00

If like me, you weren't able to make your way to Rome for this Christmas, I have provided the links to Pope Benedict's Midnight Mass Video and Homily text.

Merry Christmas.

Peanuts & The True Meaning of Christmas

2011-12-23T00:28:00.000-06:00

I saw this video clip from A Charlie Brown Christmas on OSV Daily Take and thought I would share it with you. Linus' monologue is actually a reading of Luke's account of the Nativity.

The author of the OSV blog post points out that Father James Martin, S.J. noted on Facebook that Linus drops his security blanket at the exact point he mentions Christ the savior.

My wife Stacey loves this movie. Our daughter Tiffany recently shared it with her co-workers in Slovakia. By the way, Starbucks is currently selling a CD/DVD set of the movie for less than $15.

UPDATE (9:55AM) Amazon is providing the Charlie Brown Christmas storybook to Android owners free. Today only.

Christmas Family Traditions

2011-12-22T22:23:00.000-06:00

Vintage Lefton Santa Mug
All rights reserved by atomicmidcentury

Rightfully, Christmas is a time for being with family. Just take look at a nativity scene and you will see the Holy Family, certainly the model for us all to follow. When I think about getting together with my family, I think about some of the Christmas family traditions we had when I was a boy and how Stacey and I have carried those on with our family.

Midnight Mass - There was never any debate about which mass we were going to for Christmas. It was always the Midnight Mass and in those days it was actually celebrated at midnight. Nowadays, parishes have so-called midnight mass as early as 10pm. This is one tradition that has been difficult for us to maintain. Stacey's mom always has a big Christmas Eve party at her house. We have incorporated that as our tradition and most years we leave in time to still make Midnight Mass.

Santa Mugs - When I was a kid, my brother Tony and I would join our parents on their bed Christmas morning to have hot chocolate in our own Santa mugs. Only after we finished the chocolate did we open the gifts. As empty nesters, Stacey and I start the morning by drinking coffee out of our mugs. A few years ago we gave each of our grown children their own Santa mugs to carry on the tradition.

One Gift - After Midnight Mass we would all come home. At some point, Tony and I convinced our parents to let us open one small gift when we got home from Mass.

Gag Gifts - In addition to the socks, fruits and nuts we found in our stockings, my mother would give each of us a gag gift. Most of the time these had something to do with our personalities. My mother continues to give us gag gifts when we meet at her house for Christmas lunch.

Funny Stories - My brothers and I are notorious story tellers. My mom says we probably got that from our grandfather Pops. The thing is, my brothers tell the same worn out stories every year. Some how they still manage to be funny to us. Our wives have a different opinion.

What family Christmas traditions do you have? Please share in the comments.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Last Minute, Low Cost Christmas Gift Ideas

2011-12-20T23:01:00.000-06:00

For this final Tuesday Tech Talk entry before Christmas, I thought I would share my last minute low cost, gift ideas to give your Catholic techie. Most of the items I recommend are priced under $20 and can be downloaded instantly or picked up at a local office supply or electronics store.

Amazon Gift Card - We love gift cards in our family because you can buy what you want, when you want. We often wait for after-Christmas sales to use our gift cards. The Amazon gift card provides the techie with a number of flexible options. He can purchase apps, media content or even electronic hardware. By the way, Amazon has a large number of Catholic eBooks, including the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I recommend using this link with a discerning eye as not all the content is guaranteed to be loyal to the Church magisterium.

iTunes Gift Card - OK, I promise this will not turn this into a list of gift cards, but this time of year you can often find deals to purchase iTunes cards at reduced rates. That means FREE money. The iTunes store has the largest app library and lots of media content too, including the iMissal app.

Surge Protector - I think it's crazy that we will invest a large sum on a quality laptop or other electronic device and skimp on a surge protector (if we even get one). I recommend doing some research for the appropriate surge protector for your needs.

Screen Cleaners - I like to use the iKlear products for cleaning my iDevices and laptop screens. The cloths that come with the kit are good to carry in a laptop bag to clean up before a meeting. The larger cloths are great to keep in your desk.

Catholic e-Books - I mentioned above that Amazon carries a number of Catholic e-Books. If you don't want to worry about the fidelity of the content, I recommend purchasing your e-Books at Aquinas and More. Wherever you choose to make your purchase, I recommend Be a Man! by Father Larry Richards and The Church and New Media by Brandon Vogt, which I will review on this blog later this week.

Saint Talk: Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha

2011-12-19T21:43:00.000-06:00

The oldest known portrait of Kateri Tekakwitha, painted by Father Chauchetière

Today the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI approved a series of decrees by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, including one which would clear the way for the canonization Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. Blessed Kateri, known as the Lilly of the Mohawks was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

She was the first Native American to be declared blessed and when she is canonized will become the first Native American to be canonized.

Fiat: Your Will Be Done

2011-12-18T21:04:00.000-06:00

On this the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we read about the Annunciation of our Mother Mary. The gospel reading of the Annunciation is juxtaposed with the first reading which tells the story of David seeking to build a proper temple for the Ark of the Covenant. Together today's readings demonstrate a connection between the Old and the New Covenants.

"With her generous 'fiat' (Mary) became, through the working of the Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and, by receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of the Covenant and true Temple of God" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 6).

Additionally, we are given a perfect example of how we are to respond to God's calling - fiat.

It's A Wonderful Life

2011-12-17T11:34:00.001-06:00

My favorite Christmas movie is It's a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. This 1946 classic, I believe, portrays an essential element of the laity's call to universal holiness.

The movie chronicles the life of George Bailey as he faces a life crisis. While on the edge of contemplating suicide, George makes a simple prayer asking God to help. His prayer is answered in the form of an angel in training named Clarence. Clarence, through God's intervention, grants George the opportunity to see the lives of his friends and family if he had never lived. George gets to see how he impacted the lives of many people by simply being a caring and loving friend. These encounters make him realize that his life had meaning.

I believe this goes to the heart of what we, the lay faithful, are called to do in our everyday ordinary lives. We are called to live our lives as living examples of Christ's love (see Lumen gentium, Chapter 4). In this way others will know we are followers of Christ (John 13:35).

What's your favorite Christmas movie and why? Enjoy the movie trailer below.

World AIDS Day

2011-12-01T09:05:00.001-06:00

"If it infects one of us...it affects all of us."

Today is World AIDS Day. Many of us have been directly affected by AIDS, losing family, friends and other loved ones to the disease. Today, let us take time to remember those we have lost and pray for those who are suffering, those who care for them and for a cure.

HIV/AIDSPrayer

God of ourweary years, God of our silent tears O Good and gracious God, You are the Godof health and wholeness In the plan of Your creation, You call us to strugglein our sickness and to cling always to the cross of Your Son. Father, we areYour servants. Many of us are now suffering with HIV or AIDS. We come beforeYou and ask You, if it is Your holy will, to take this suffering away from us,restore us to health and lead us to know You and Your powerful healing love ofbody and spirit. We ask you also, to be with those of us who nurse Your sickones. We are the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children and friends ofYour suffering people. It is so hard for us to see those whom we love suffer.You know what it is to suffer. Help us to minister in loving care, support, andpatience for your people who suffer with HIV and AIDS. Lead us to do whateverit will take to eradicate this illness from the lives of those who are touchedby it, both directly and indirectly. Trusting in You and the strength of YourSpirit, we pray these things in the Name of Jesus. Amen

Prayer byNational African American Catholic HIV/AIDS Task Force

Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me. (Matt 25:45)

Tuesday Tech Talk: Advent App

2011-11-29T09:15:00.001-06:00

What better way to reflect on this Advent Season then by using a Magnificat published app? The Magnificat Advent Companion application is available for download at iTunes for 99¢ and is built to work on iPad and iPhone. The application is organized in a day-to-day format. Modeling the Liturgy of the Hours the app includes opportunities to pray morning, evening and night. It also contains the daily readings and prayers.

It includes a number of extras: meditations, essays, Advent Penance Service, art work (that can be used for meditation) and Advent Stations.

Favorite Christmas Song

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

Some rights reserved by pedrosimoes7

A few years ago, I began teaching a lesson with my high school debate students (around this time of the year) in which I asked them to name their favorite holiday song. Part of the lesson required that the students explain why they chose the song. The kids enjoy the lesson and they learn how to structure a simple argument. In the process they also learn a little about themselves.

A couple of years ago one of the students put me on the spot and asked me to name my favorite song. To the extreme pleasure of my students, I had been stumped. I didn't know. I gave it some thought and reviewed by my iTunes library, discovering I had a number of versions of the Little Drummer Boy. Apparently the Little Drummer Boy was my favorite Christmas song.

As I listened through Joan Jett, Bing Crosby/David Bowie and Jose Feliciano, I determined that the reason I so enjoyed that song is that the little drummer boy gives the only gift he has, his one talent. For me, this embodies our response to universal call to holiness. Like the little drummer boy we can sanctify our daily ordinary lives by offering our Lord our work and our simple talents.

Anyway, I now make it a tradition to search out new versions of the song and I am now up to 27 on my special playlist. This year I have added Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash.

What's your favorite Christmas song and why?

Free Missal Worship Aid

2011-11-27T07:19:00.001-06:00

Today (actually last night's Vigil Masses) marks the beginning of the use of the 3rd Edition of the English translation of the Roman Missal.

Thanks to Catholic Mom and Sadlier, Inc. I was able to download a worship aid to print at home. For those not using an app like iMissal, this makes a great low tech way of learning the portions of the Mass prayers that have changed, especially our responses.

Tuesday Tech Talk: iMissal Update

2011-11-22T07:08:00.000-06:00

iMissal has issued a number of updates just in time for the new translation of the Roman Missal. Most notable of these updates, is the recent inclusion of the Blackberry platform. The new Blackberry version is $6.99.

iMissal has added some few new features since I last reviewed it. First, the settings tab now also includes the option to switch to the new translation. The app now has a Catholic news feed that links to Catholic News Agency. The designers of the app have added more prayers and an email subscription to get information about new develops in the app. Additionally, they have included the ability to purchase the Saint a Day app within iMissal. Interestingly, the app does not recognize the Saint a Day app within its menu if you have previously purchased it separately.

At $4.99, iMissal remains one of the more expensive Catholic apps, but I still think it is worth it. I actually prefer using the iMissal to iBreviary (still the best value for praying the Liturgy of the Hours) because I do not have to worry about syncing it before mass and the font is easier to read.

Catholicism Mini-Series Debuts on EWTN

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Tonight, EWTN will begin airing episodes from Father Robert Barron's epic mini-series Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of Faith. Based on the previews running on EWTN, these are episodes that did not run on PBS. I don't know about you, but our local PBS station, KERA, is not carrying the series and is yet to respond to my email asking if they intend to air it. Maybe we can nudge them a bit with some calls or emails.

For now, enjoy the series on ETWN. Roll that DVR to make sure you get them all!

Tuesday Tech Talk: Ignio

2011-11-15T09:17:00.001-06:00

Thanks to my cousin Lupe, I discovered this new Catholic app. The best way I can describe Ignio is that is a hybrid scripture and prayer app with a social media twist. Ignio means ignite in Latin, and your virtual candle gets bigger as you share your prayers with friends (up to only 11 others) who also have the app. In some ways, it has the potential to be an accountability tool with prayer partners or in a small faith sharing group. Ignio opens with a daily scripture for reflection (and memorization if you like) and it also has the daily readings. You can also post your prayers on a wall to share.

The app is available for free download on the Apple App store. Bishop Kevin Ferrell, the shepherd of the Dallas Diocese, blessed the launch of the app.

RCIA Talk Part 2: My Life with the Saints

2011-11-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

I shared a few stories of saints who have helped me in my journey to answer God's call. Here I will only mention three: St. Paul, St. Josemaria, and Blessed John XXIII.

St. Paul

My earliest recollection of admiring a saint involves St. Paul. When I was a freshman in high school ABC aired a two-part mini-series entitled Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. Hopkins portrayed St. Paul as a remarkable preacher. This inspired me to read the epistles of St. Paul.

Later I would volunteer to be a lector at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Dallas. I would always try and get the second reading so I could read a letter from St. Paul. Now as an adult, I still find myself thinking of Anthony Hopkins' St. Paul when I read one of St. Paul's letters at mass.

St. Josemaria Escriva

About seven years ago I experienced a reconversion that led me through a significant formation process. I truly experienced the awareness, renewal and dialogue found in the teaching of Ecclesiam suam, Pope Paul VI's encyclical written during Vatican II. I had become conflicted about living my "Sunday life" separate from my every-other-day-life. I mistakenly thought I needed to leave my profession as a teacher to serve God in a greater capacity. I was also looking for a saint to help me find congruence in my work and spiritual life.

The entire time I was searching for this saint, I kept stumbling upon the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. Ironically this coincided with the popularity of the Brown's DaVinci Code, which painted the Catholic Church and Opus Dei in a false negative light. Eventually I read The Way, St. Josemaria's most famous written work. In it, I found the precise message I was looking for: we are all God's children and we are ALL called to holiness, even in our ordinary work. I had found the saint I was looking for. Since then, I have become a Cooperator of Opus Dei and I begin each day of prayer reading a passage from St. Josemaria's writings.

Blessed John XXIII

For the last fifteen years, I have struggled with my weight. I went from being a fit cyclist to an obese couch potato (you are indeed what you eat). Recently, I had a series of events which inspired me to take a more spiritual approach to my weight loss. Like my search for a saint of the ordinary, I was looking for a patron saint for obese people or weight loss. I could not find one recognized by Church tradition. Other suitable candidates like St. Maximillian Kolbe (because the Nazi's tried to starve him to death) and St. Thomas Aquinas (because he may have been a large man) came to mind.

Instead, I decided Blessed John XXIII would be the patron I ask for intercessory help. I even took a picture of a statue of him we have in our sanctuary and use it as my iPhone wallpaper. I have lost over 50 pounds since I incorporated prayer into my weight loss plan (Weight Watchers has helped too). I must admit I have not read much about him, but what I do know, I have enjoyed. He was funny, friendly and, most importantly, he convoked the Council of Vatican II.

These are just a few of the saints who have helped me along the way. Some have inspired me by their writings. Others have been role models and still others I have asked for intercessory prayer.

Part 3 of this series will include a discussion of Fun Facts about the saints.

RCIA Talk Part 1: Communion of Saints

2011-11-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

Some rights reserved by Zeetz Jones

This Sunday I spoke on the Communion of Saints to the RCIA group at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Carrollton, Texas. This is one of my favorite topics to teach because by reflecting on the lives of saints, we draw inspiration and hope from these living examples of faith. In addition to their intercessory prayer, this is precisely why they are helpful to our own spiritual development. What follows are the highlights from the talk.

CCC
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches that the Communion of Saints is the Church (#946). More specifically, the CCC teaches that the Communion of Saints is made up of the souls in heaven (Church Triumphant), those on Earth still fighting the fight - sometimes with ourselves (Church Militant) - and the purifying souls in Purgatory (Church Suffering).

Role Models
The Saints - the Holy Ones - are our spiritual role models. They provide us with real life examples of people who faced similar challenges and overcame them through the grace of God. Although there are a number of saints who lived the totality of their lives has "holy people" most did not. Most were like me and you - every day sinners trying to make their way through life. This is why it important to read the lives of the saints, to get the complete before and after picture. For me, reading about someone like St. Augustine - the Charlie Sheen of his day - gives me hope. What makes the saints different is that they humbled themselves to accept the will of God and live is His love. This is what we are called to do right now: submit to will of God, answer His call to holiness and share His love with others. This does not mean we have to be preachers on street corners. What it really means (and I think this is more difficult) is to be friends to those we work and live with. They will know we are Christians by our love! "By this all men will know that you are Mydisciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

This post was getting lengthy so I am going to break it up into three parts. Part Two will be My Life with the Saint, in which I talked about a few of the saints that have helped me in my spiritual journey.

For now, we pray for the intercession of St. Augustine, St. Joseph and all Holy Men and Women of God. Amen!

Purgatory - One of the Lord's Greatest Mercies

2011-11-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

So that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire...1 Peter 1:7

The Catholic Church's teaching on Purgatory is commonly misunderstood by non-Catholics and Catholics alike. First, it important to note that the Catholic Church teaches that in the end, there are only two places a soul ends up: Heaven or Hell. Properly understood, Purgatory is a state of cleansing and purification for souls who are on their way to heaven. You could think of it as a triage station or even a decontamination chamber before you enter the clean room of Heaven.

We don't earn our way into heaven and we have done nothing to deserve God's divine mercy. Instead, Purgatory is a loving gift from the Father which prepares us for the beatific vision. Even though not explicitly referred to by name (by the way neither is the Trinity), the Bible does allude to it, especially in terms of purging fire because nothing unclean can enter heaven (see Isaiah 35:8).

There are are several Biblical passages to support the teaching on purgatory. Here are just a few:

Mal 3:2-3

2 Mac 12:46

1 Pet 3:19

Rev 21:27

Please also review the sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that address the teachings on Purgatory: CCC 1030-1031

FOR FURTHER READING:

Catholic Answers provides an online article with a detailed explanation and answers to common objections.

Books for Further Reading

Purgatory, Fr. Frederick Faber

A Pocket Guide To Purgatory, Patrick Madrid

Game 6: An Apt Analogy

2011-10-31T17:49:00.000-05:00

It's taken a few days for the sting to wear off a bit, but I am ready to talk about the World Series. I was hoping to be writing a post about celebration and teamwork, instead I find myself reflecting on Game 6. I made a presentation to the RCIA group yesterday and it hit me as I was beginning that Game 6 is a apt analogy for our spiritual walk or should I say race.

The race we are in is not for a pennant, but for the beatific vision - the Face of God. St. Paul says in Hebrews (Heb 12:1) that we should "persevere to run the race that is before us." That is exactly what the Cardinals did; they didn't give up. Even down to their last strike (twice!). We need to take that same attitude into our spiritual lives, never giving up. We need not giving into despair (like Judas - see the scene in the Passions of the Chris).

On the flip side, we should never become so comfortable as to think we have finished the race, that we have closed the game. We need to persevere in our pursuit of holiness, up to the very last strike, our last breath.

Catholics Descend on Dallas

2011-10-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

Today the Dallas and Ft. Worth Dioceses are hosting the annual University of Dallas Ministry Conference at the Dallas Convention Center. I hope to obtain some audio and video footage from the weekend and some good ole Catholic "swag."

Here's a promotional video that includes Bishops Farrell and Vann:

Baseball - A Catholic Sport?

2011-10-26T22:33:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I won't lie, I was looking for an excuse to post about the World Series. I am beside myself because the Texas Rangers are one game away from their first World Series championship. I have followed the team since 1972 when my Dad took me to the Arlington Stadium to see the Rangers play the Oakland A's who would go on to win the Series that year.

This weekend, one of our Joe Catholic and RCIA catechists brought up the World Series wager between St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson and Ft. Worth Bishop Kevin Vann. The point he made in bringing up the World Series wager was that Catholicism doesn't have to be a stuffy religion about rules and regulations. While there is a place for rules (10 Commandments) and regulations (liturgical rubrics), we also find God in the ordinary corners of our lives.

In honor of the World Series I have collected a few articles written on the subject of Catholicism and Baseball. If you only have time to read one, start with A Perfect Game.

Catholic Dads - Catholicism and Baseball

Catechist's Journey - Catholicism and Baseball

First Things - A Perfect Game

Tuesday Tech Talk: Saint of the Day App

2011-10-25T08:53:00.000-05:00

As we approach All Saints Day (which IS a Holy Day of obligation) I thought I'd focus Tuesday Tech Talk on another tool to help us reflect on the lives of the saints.

The Saint of the Day iPhone application was developed by American Catholic/St. Anthony Messenger. The material is derived from the book of the same name authored by Father Leonard Foley, OFM. The application is straight forward and allows you to search saints by name, cause and date. Additionally, the application has a short audio file link for each saint entry. There are also other features that connect the app to the American Catholic web with snippets. The app costs $2.99 and is available on iTunes.

Here is a brief video demonstration of the app:

Saint Talk: Blessed John Paul II

2011-10-22T23:19:00.002-05:00

Today marked the first celebration of the feast day for Blessed John Paul II.

Related items:

Blessed John Paul II Intercessory Prayer

John Paul II Sister Spreads his charism

Saint Talk: St. Teresa de Avila

2011-10-15T09:42:00.000-05:00

Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God. God alone suffices.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church. I like to call her the original flying nun because often while she was praying before the blessed sacrament, she would enter a state of ecstasy and begin to levitate.

St. Teresa is best known as a reformer of the Carmelite order and a spiritual mystic. Her spiritual classic, Interior Castle is widely read and considered a monumental examination on meditative prayer. In addition to her writings on meditative prayer, St. Teresa had a tremendous devotion to St. Joseph and wrote about it in her autobiography.

St. Teresa's life was the subject of a Spanish film entitled, Teresa de Jesus which has recently been made available in the United States by Ignatius Press. Below I have included a video from Arcadia Films, Saints Speak series.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Catholic Mass Times

2011-10-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

If you travel quite a bit or find yourself away from your local parish, the Catholic Directory's Mass Times application is a must. The app is FREE!

Using your "current location" or typing in a zip code, this app will find a list of nearby parishes along with their mass times and confession schedules. This is a wonderful tool for helping you fulfill your obligation to attend mass on Sunday (or the Saturday vigil), which is one of the precepts of the Church.

This app is NOT associated with MassTimes.org, which has its own app, but it is not nearly as good as this one. The website is still a great site to go to if you are at home or have wifi in your hotel.

Pray the Rosary

2011-10-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

Today mark's the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary. It is also a reminder that October has been set aside as the Month of the Rosary. This is a good time to get back on track with incorporating the Rosary as part of your daily prayer life. Perhaps you can share the Rosary with your family one night a week. Father Peyton's saying is as true now as ever: "the family that prays together, stays together."

Remember, prayed properly - reflecting on the mysteries - the Rosary is not simply a set of repetitive prayers, but a meditation on the life, suffering and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is NOT a Marian prayer, but rather a Christocentric prayer, for it is a meditation on the Gospel, the Word of God, made flesh in Christ!

Here's an inspiring video on the Rosary. After the video, I have posted a few links to help with praying the Rosary. Also check out the many links on the right column of the Catholic Culture link I have above for the Month of the Rosary.

How to Pray the Rosary

The Rosary Army Podcast

The Rosary Pope: Leo XIII

Saint Talk: Anniversary of Canonization of St. Josemaria

2011-10-06T07:25:00.000-05:00

Today marks the ninth anniversary of the canonization of St. Josemaria, founder of Opus Dei. Blessed Pope John Paul II called St. Josemaria the "saint of the ordinary life." On this anniversary of his canonization, let us ask St. Josemaria for his intercession as we make our way in our daily lives, seeking to answer God's call to holiness.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Video Reflections on Daily Readings

2011-10-04T08:12:00.000-05:00

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' website is a wonderful and robust website for all things Catholic. I plan to do a review of the complete site in the future. Today's Tuesday Tech Talk (T3) is focused on a recent addition to the site - video reflections on the daily readings.

The USCCB has produced a series of videos which reflect on the Gospel reading of the day. The reflections are led by priests and lay people alike. Most of the reflections are no more than five minutes long. They make a nice complement to reading the scripture of the daily mass.

The videos can be shared by email, IM, Facebook and Twitter. My one complaint is that the videos cannot currently be embedded in blogs or parish websites. I would have liked to have embedded one as an example. For now, I will share the link to the Martha and Mary gospel reading from today.

One other minor criticism is that clicking on the Reflections link does not take you directly to the day's reflection. Instead you must click the tab for the month's reflections and scroll down for the day you are looking for. I am sure this will be worked out over time.

The Little Flower

2011-10-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux who is one of the most beloved saints of our time. She is a Doctor of the Church, patron of missionaries and author of the Story of A Soul.

One of my favorite accounts about St. Therese is one describing her interaction with a fellow nun who was especially difficult to get along with. St. Therese's response was to simply be nicer to that nun and smile at her as often as possible. There is a great scene in the movie Therese (now available for streaming on Netflix) depicting this story. The other nun is so moved by Therese's kindness that she can't help but ask, "Why do you like me so much." Although Therese doesn't specifically say so in the scene, it's because she sees Christ in that nun.

Herein lies one of the simply ways which we can model the Little Flower. I am sure each of you reading this post, knows at least one person you work with or encounter regularly who challenges your ability to be friendly.

Give St. Therese's "little way" a try and enjoy this video from Arcadia Films on St. Therese.

Tuesday Tech Talk: EWTN Libraries

2011-09-27T21:43:00.002-05:00

If you are looking for good, reliable content you can count on EWTN's Libraries. The site includes a collection of Document and Audio files. The Document Library includes everything from copies of the Code of Canon Law to Vatican II documents. It even includes articles by such writers as Frank Sheed, Father John Hardon, S.J., and Peter Kreeft.

The Audio Library is the unique gem. It contains a deposit of the audio from many of EWTN's popular shows, including limited series. The library includes several talks by the late Father Thomas Dubay. It also contains the many shows developed by Scott Hahn and Michael Aquilina to discuss Hahn's books. The audio files can be listened to directly on the website or downloaded to your Mp3 player.

Even if you do not have cable to watch EWTN, you can take advantage of these libraries. By the way, remember that you can stream EWTN on your computer and your mobile devices.

Lose-A-Palooza with a Catholic Twist

2011-09-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

In recognition of Weight Watcher's Lose-A-Palooza, today I am writing about my recent weight loss.

Late last April a couple of events merged to create the perfect storm to motivate me to get off my butt (literally) and do something about my morbid obesity. The first was my attendance at our parish's lenten retreat. During the course of one of the evening reflections, Father Thomas McDermott, OP asked us to prayerfully reflect on what the number one thing that was keeping us from growing closer to our Lord. Almost immediately, I thought of my weight and how it was making it difficult for me to serve in the ministries in which I am involved. I could no longer stand to teach RCIA and I couldn't comfortably descend from the altar after lectoring.

The second event involved our church deacon. We were having a conversation after mass and some how got on the subject of Pope Blessed John XXIII. Deacon Walt explained that Pope John XXIII was a big man, probably as "big as you, Don" and then he patted my stomach. I was a bit shocked at his joke (don't get me wrong, I like Deacon Walt and I think he has a great sense of humor), but I wasn't offended. Instead, it got me thinking that I should ask Blessed John XXIII to intercede for me as I contemplated doing something about my weight.

Stacey and I decided to join Weight Watchers and TOGETHER we would take this journey to lose weight. That was about four and a half months ago and I have lost 45 pounds in that time. I have dropped three pant sizes and I can wear my wedding band again. More importantly, I have greater energy and my knees are feeling better. Recently, I have even lectored without pain.

People have asked me why WW has worked for me. My answer is simple - WW works because it is not complicated. Tracking what I eat has led to me making wiser food choices. I can still eat whatever I want, but now I track everything down to the small dab of butter on my toast. The PointsPlus system is very much like maintaining a budget. You are allotted a certain number of points per day. I have been able to be be consistent because of the iPhone app that let's me log in immediately. If you are interested in reading a few more of my weight loss stories, you can read those at Gonzo's Gab.

For the remainder of this month, Weight Watchers is sponsoring a food drive. Our center (where we have our meetings) is dedicated to giving a pound of food for every pound we lose. Additionally, WW is donating money for every tweet, like or post which mentions their Lose for Good campaign.

I still have a long way to go before I reach my ideal weight, but I am not alone in my fight. I have my loving and supportive wife, Stacey and I have a new patron in Blessed John XXIII to pray for me. One of the great things about being Catholic is learning that offering up something like losing weight can be included in our efforts to answer the call to holiness.

Parable of the Sower Revisited

2011-09-17T23:50:00.002-05:00

In light of today's gospel reading I thought I would post a link to a previous post written about the parable of the sower:

Sower and Seeds (originally posted 7/10/11)

Remember

2011-09-11T09:11:00.000-05:00

I took this picture May 2004 while on a school trip to NYU.

As we reflect on this 10 year anniversary of the tragic events of 9-11, let us pray for peace and remember the words of Jesus: "I tell you to love your enemies." (Matt. 5:44)

Blessed John Paul II's Prayer for Peace:

To the Creator of nature and man, of truth and beauty, I pray:

Hear my voice, for it is the voice of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations.

Hear my voice, for it is the voice of all children who suffer and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war.

Hear my voice when I beg You to instill into the hearts of all human beings the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice, and the joy of fellowship.

Hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace.

Hear my voice and grant insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.

O God, hear my voice and grant unto the world Your everlasting peace.

[L’Osservatore Romano, 3-9-81,14]

US Bishops Statement on 10th Anniversary of 9/11

Tuesday Tech Talk: The Better Part

2011-09-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

Today's Tuesday Tech Talk is a review of a Catholic iPhone app - The Better Part. The app is based on the book by the same name. The app and the book are written by Father John Bartunek, L.C., who is also a primary contributor to the Catholic Spiritual Direction blog.

The application is a vehicle to transmit portions of the book on a daily basis to it user. What this means is that the app becomes a tool for daily prayer and scripture study. Father Bartunek organizes the reflection by gospel readings. You have the choice of reading through a gospel or following the gospel reading of the daily liturgy.

Father Bartunek frames the daily prayer and reflections into four categories. First, is Christ is Lord. These sections tend to focus on the context of the gospel reading while focusing specifically at the totality of Christ's life as our savior.

The second section is entitled, Christ the Teacher. This focuses on the underlying message and teaching Christ is sharing in the passage. The third section is Christ the Friend. In this section, Father Bartunek focuses on the personal relationship Christ is developing with us through the story of his life with his disciples. The fourth section is entitled Chris is My Life and generally consist of prayers drawing us into the scripture and asking our Lord for guidance in understanding what we have just read.

Father Bartunek concludes the reflection with a series of questions that can be used for private meditation or part of a small faith group sharing. Throughout the app, you are provided with a "+" sign which pulls up an outline of prompts to help you meditate on the reading. The Meditation Guide includes the 4 C's: Concentrate, Consider, Converse and Commit. Each of these has a few sentences to help you move deeper into your meditative journey, towards Christ.

I actually prefer the app to the book because I can carry this around when I travel. Furthermore, the type is easier to read than the one in the book. I recommend you add this to your Catholic Toolbox.

We are Catholic!

2011-09-06T21:12:00.001-05:00

James Wilcox, seminarian and honorary Joe Catholic, shared this video on Facebook. I thought I would share it with you.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Daily Scripture

2011-08-30T06:22:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for a good way to reflect on the daily readings I recommend subscribing to the Daily Word Google Group. The group is managed by Mike Harrison.

The Daily Word consists of a series of emails sent out a few days before the actual day of the readings. The readings and accompanying commentary are gathered from the Navarre Study Bible (NSB). The NSB is made up the RSV Catholic Edition and the Latin Vulgate. What makes the bible and the Daily Word great are the commentaries from Church Doctors and other saints. The NSB is published in the United States by Scepter Publishers and is available at most Catholic bookstores including Aquinas and More.

Saint Talk: Back to School

2011-08-29T05:45:00.002-05:00

Most school districts and colleges across the United States, school started last week or in the coming week. My students reported to class last week. I started my own studies earlier in the month. Quite frankly I have found it difficult to balance the reading and writing requirements with my duties at work. Yesterday, while attempting to study at our local library, I had an epiphany - why not try praying before you study? I remembered a prayer book my mother gave me years ago when I went off for college. In it, was a wonderful prayer by Saint Thomas Aquinas (Church Doctor and genius) for studying. I have included the text below.

Prayer Before Study

Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your brilliance penetrate into the darkness of my understanding and take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of both sin and ignorance. Give me a sharp sense of understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations, and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in completion; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

St. Monica: Patron of Mothers

2011-08-27T22:55:00.001-05:00

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Monica the patron of mothers. St. Monica was married to a pagan and had a son whose lifestyle would have competed with Charlie Sheen's today. Nevertheless, St. Monica prayed daily for the conversion of her husband and son. Eventually both converted to Catholicism. Her son, St. Augustine just happened to turn out to be one of the great saints of the Church.

For all those who suffer because a loved one has left the Church, ask St. Monica for her help and intercession. I know my mother invoked her intercession while I was lost in the dessert of self absorption. My mother prayed for nearly twenty years for my return to the Church.

I am sure other mothers (and fathers) have similar stories to share.

St. Monica pray for us and those we love, especially those searching for the truth. May they find the truth in He who is Truth. Amen.

To learn more about St. Monica visit:

New Advent - St. Monica

ETWN -St. Monica

Epic Catholic TV Series Coming Soon to PBS

2011-08-25T05:42:00.000-05:00

If the powerfully poignant preview is any indication, the upcoming PBS miniseries Catholicism: Journey into the Heart of the Faith will be worth watching and keying up on the DVR. The 10-part program is hosted by Father Robert Barron of Word on Fire and is scheduled to air on several PBS stations across the US beginning this fall. The series will be preceded by the publication of the companion book in early September.

Brandon Vogt, writing on The Thin Veil blog, described the book as "simply the best book on Catholicism I've ever read." George Weigel, the Pope John Paul II biographer, called it "the most important media project in the history of the American Church."

If you can't wait to watch it on PBS, you can order the DVD's directly from the site below:

Catholicism - It's Your Story...

Tuesday Tech Talk: Olive Tree NAB

2011-08-23T23:30:00.001-05:00

I discovered the Olive Tree bible software years ago when I used a Palm Pilot. Today Olive Tree has one of the most extensive collections of bible translations in multiple platforms, including Android, Blackberry and iPhone/iPod.

Olive Tree provides more than an e-reader bible. The software contains advanced search choices as well as the ability to make notes and bookmark placement. Additionally, the software has a copy feature which allows you to copy a verse and email it. I have found this helpful in my personal meditation or when preparing a talk.

The setup is user friendly. Tapping the face of the device will open a "verse" tab which takes you to the table of contents. All of the books of the bible are listed in order and are organized by Old and New Testament. Each of the books is linked to a list of its chapters. Clicking on a particular chapter will take you to a list of verses. You can either click "go" which takes you to the beginning of a verse or you can choose your particular verse.

At nearly $20 this application is on the pricey side, but I think it's worth it. As of today, I could only find one other NAB Catholic bible (the current translation used for the readings) available. The other application produced by Just1Word was just released today and it is new NABRE translation. I hope to take a look at that application later. I would like to see Olive Tree add a daily meditation feature or one that automatically gives you the daily readings.

Who are the Knights of Columbus?

2011-08-20T08:52:00.001-05:00

For years my perception of the Knights of Columbus was skewed. When I thought of the Knights, I thought of guys getting together in the KC Hall to drink beer, play billiards, cards or dominoes. Occasionally, they would host a fish fry or spaghetti dinner. Oh yeah, they also wore Captain Crunch hats. This is the totality of the view I formed as a teen Columbian Squire. It stayed with me for nearly twenty-five years.

Shortly after our parish completed construction of our new building, a group of men formed a new Knights of Columbus chapter. Those who joined at the very beginning had an opportunity to join as Charter Members. I knew many of these men and I respected them, but I could not get passed my old perceptions, so I did not join.

Months went by and I watched as this band of brothers began to form a bond. They were visibly involved in our parish community as agents of charity. An older parishioner needed a wheel chair ramp; they built it. Someone needed a hospital bed; they bought it. The list goes on.

Eventually, because of the efforts of the chapter's first Grand Knight, and the work they were doing, I joined. I have since seen this group continue to serve the parish and our local community with true acts of charity. They aren't just a group of free "handymen." They also lead several blood drives, support pro-life causes and support several seminarians. I have come to learn that the Knights live their motto: "in service to one, in service to all." I believe this goes to the heart of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. It reminds me of the hymn that says, "they will know we are Christians by our love." See also John 13:35.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan recently wrote a much better tribute to the Knights than I could ever write. Here is the link to his post:

The Gospel in the Digital Age: Alleluia! My Brother Knights

You should also consider reading Parish Priest: Father McGivney and American Catholicism, written about the life of Venerable Father Michael McGivney. The book is not only a biography on his life, but it is a wonderful history of the Knights of Columbus.

Ave Maria IPT Grad Program

2011-08-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

If you have visited the blog this week, you have noticed a significant drop off in posts. First, let me apologize. Secondly, let me explain. I recently began pursuit of a Masters in Theological Studies through the Institute of Pastoral Theology at Ave Maria University. I just attended my first month of classes and I am still recovering from the intense weekend of learning.

We are blessed in the Fort Worth Diocese to have the faculty from Ave Maria fly into the DFW area once a month to instruct about twenty-five of us at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's Formation Center. This is the first year the program is in Ft. Worth. We are studying Vatican II, the Foundations of Catholic Spirituality and the Old Testament. Our professors are Douglas Bushman, S.T.L. and David Twellman, D. Min., Th.M.

We meet one full weekend a month (for the next three years). We begin Friday night, meet all day Saturday and most of Sunday. The instruction is fast paced but full of rich orthodoxy. I learned more about Vatican II in one day than I had learned in my lifetime.

I can already tell I am going to make some life long friends with some of my classmates. I am looking forward to the continued studies and I hope to share some of what I learn here on this blog. I also hope to get back on track posting this weekend. I will be back dating the Tuesday Tech Talk and I have also asked a few other Joe Catholics to write some posts in the future.

Thanks for your continued support.

Saint Talk: Patron of Comedians: St. Lawrence

2011-08-10T12:13:00.001-05:00

Today the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Lawrence, a deacon martyred in the 3rd century, most likely in the year 258. St. Lawrence served under Pope St. Sixtus II who was also martyred days before St. Lawrence. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Lawrence has been one of the most honoured martyrs of the Roman Church." In fact, Constantine the Great was the first to build an oratory over the saint's tomb.

What I found most interesting about St. Lawrence is that he is considered the patron of comedians. Apparently he was executed by being placed on a gridiron over coals of fire. While he was literally being cooked alive, he called to his persecutors, "I'm done on that side. Flip me over." If you click on the image above you will get a better view of this portrayal. One other funny note - St. Lawrence is also the patron of cooks.

May we call upon St. Lawrence to pray for us in times of adversity that we too may trust so much in the power of God that we can face anything with cheerfulness.

For further reading:

Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Lawrence

Catholic Online: St. Lawrence, Martyr

EWTN: St. Lawrence, Martyr and Deacon

Tuesday Tech Talk: Calibre

2011-08-09T18:09:00.000-05:00

Today's Tuesday Tech Talk continues the discussion about e-books. If you have recently purchased or been given an iPad, Kindle, Nook or other e-reader, you may be wanting to download some of your Catholic reading onto them. If you will recall, last week I reviewed some of the Catholic publishers who have entered the digital age by providing some of their publications in e-book format. Before you go drop a lot of money on new books, make sure to read this post first.

You'd be surprised at the number of classic Catholic works that are available for FREE (and legal) on the Internet because they are in the public domain. This includes famous titles like Introduction to the Devout Life and Imitation of Christ. One problem I encountered early on was dealing with the multiple e-book formats and finding a copy compatible with my reader.

While trying to figure this out, I stumbled upon free software that converts most e-book formats into the format of your choice. It's called Calibre. Rather than going through the steps, I am providing a video tutorial below. You cannot convert DRM protected copies of books, but you can convert those that are open for sharing like the ones provided in the links below. One thing I like to use Calibre for is creating my own e-books. For example, if I find an article online that I want to read later, I can convert it into a PDF file and then use Calibre to convert it to an epub to read on my iPad.

Here are some ebook links:

The Thin Veil: Building a Catholic ebook Library on the Cheap

Free Catholic eBooks

E-Books for SQPN

Calibre video tutorial:

CatholiCon Expo 2011

2011-08-09T13:21:00.001-05:00

CatholiCon Expo 2011 is being held in Houston, Texas August 26th-28th. The Expo "brings all of the traditional forms in which The Church communicates as well as the new forms of media that bring the Gospel to the emerging Digital Continent."

Those attending the expo will be allowed to check out booths with the latest gadgets for social media, attend "How To" workshops and listen to guest speakers who are already leading the social media evangelization. Some of the keynote speakers include Father John Zuhlsdorf of the award winning Father Z's Blog - What Does Prayer Really Say? Also presenting is Matthew Warner who writes for the National Catholic Register.

I am proud to announce that Joe Catholic will be attending the expo. Additionally, we are hoping to acquire press credentials to blog and tweet from the site.

Please keep us in prayer. One of the goals will also be to spend some one-on-one time with some of the more experienced bloggers and social media evangelists. If all goes well, I am hoping to come back with a major announcement about a new Joe Catholic endeavor.

Father John McCloskey on Spiritual Direction

2011-08-09T09:11:00.000-05:00

Father John McCloskey was a guest on Catholic Answers Live radio show last Friday afternoon. He spoke on the subject of spiritual direction. If you missed the show I am including a link to the Mp3 file. This will actually take you to my 4shared location. I have to admit I was having technical difficulty with directly embedding the audio onto the blog. I am working to fix that for future posts.

I thought it was more important to get the link out then wait and figure out what has changed with the embedding codes. Thank you for your patience.

Saint Talk: St. Dominic

2011-08-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated the feast of St. Dominic who founded the Order of Preachers best known as the Dominicans. He founded the order in in the early 1200's and it was approved in 1216. The order's charism is that of preaching and to this day often make parish missions. St. Dominic, along with Bishop Diego de Acevedo, encounter and preached against the heresy of Albigensian. This heresy held that all things material were evil and denied the incarnation.

In addition to being a contemporary of St. Francis, St. Dominic introduced the Rosary as a form of prayer after he received a vision from Our Blessed Mother. She gave him instructions how to pray it. This account was affirmed by Pope Leo XIII and later Pope Pius XI

Additional Reading:

Insight Scoop: St. Dominic and the Friars Preachers

EWTN: St. Dominic Founder of Friars Preachers

Catholic Pages: St. Dominic and the Rosary

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Feast of the Transfiguration

2011-08-06T17:59:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. The account of the transfiguration is documented in the gospels of Matthew (17:1-6), Mark (9:1-9) and Luke (9:28-36). According to EWTN and the Catholic Encyclopedia it marks the "culminating point of his public life." The three apostles who join him on the mountain - Peter, James and John - are also the same three who are present on the night he is taken in the garden.

The Transfiguration is the Fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary. Blessed John Paul II, who instituted the new mysteries, wrote that the transfiguration is an event which "strengthens the faith in the disciples' hearts, prepares them for the tragedy of the Cross and prefigures the glory of the Resurrection."

To learn more about the Transfiguration:

Insight Scoop The Ignatius Press Blog: The Transfiguration: Gospel to the Dead

Canterbury Tales by Marshall Taylor: The Metamorphosis of Jesus Christ

EWTN: Transfiguration

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Joe Catholic Affiliates with Aquinas & More

2011-08-06T09:11:00.001-05:00

You may have noticed the new banner on the blog. Joe Catholic has now become an exclusive affiliate of Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. The Joe Catholic apostolate will receive a percentage of the sales made through the link on this blog. Henceforth, any Catholic media recommended on this site will have an accompanying link to the Aquinas and More Catholic Goods online store. This is similar to the Amazon links I used to provide, but now the links will be for a Catholic business.

Additionally, Joe Catholic has been approved as a Tiber River Reviewer. I will begin reviewing Catholic materials on this site. The reviews will continue to be honest and direct. In order to review the media, I will receive a complementary copy of the book, DVD, etc from Aquinas and More. It's my intention to donate those to the Joe Catholic lending library. I should make it clear that the complementary goods are provided so Catholic bloggers can provide sound input on Catholic goods being provided. This does not mean Joe Catholic will become a "yes man" for all the goods provided. If you check out the reviews you will see many of the other bloggers often write critical reviews. I intend to continue to maintain our high standard for the materials we recommend: must be loyal to the Church magesterium. Any book, CD, or DVD that fails to maintain that standard will be exposed as such and will be thrown away.

I urge you to make your Catholic books and gift purchases through our blog. Aquinas and More is committed to providing doctrinally sound products. They are the largest Catholic store online. They are also a family owned business on the cutting edge of helping Catholic authors convert their works into digital formats.

Father John McCloskey on Catholic Answers

2011-08-05T09:11:00.005-05:00

Father John McCloskey, author of Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and The Crisis of Faith, will be taking calls during the second hour of Catholic Answers Live on Catholic Radio. Father McCloskey is the former director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. The National Catholic Register described McCloskey as "one of the Church's most accomplished 'fishers of men.'" In fact, his spiritual direction was instrumental in the conversions of Judge Robert Bork, Robert Novak and Bernard Nathanson, an atheist who oversaw over 70,000 abortions.

I mention his appearance on Catholic Answers because Bishop Vann recommended spiritual direction as an integral part of spiritual growth. I anticipate, based on the title of the show - Spiritual Direction and You - that Father McCloskey will speak on that subject. He is a proponent of spiritual reading as evidenced by his Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan.

Catholic Answers may be heard on your local Catholic radio station, streamed through their website, through their mobile application and on their podcast.

Saint Talk: Patron of Priests: St. John Vianney

2011-08-04T11:27:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars, who in 2009 was named the universal patron of all priests. The link above will take you to a previous post on the life of St. John Vianney and a list of additional resources to learn more about this humble saint including a prayer for our priests.

Please enjoy this video commentary made available by the Apostleship of Prayer. I am also recommending you add this website to your Catholic bookmarks.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Catholic YouTube Channels

2011-08-02T09:11:00.001-05:00

Joe Catholic recently launched its first YouTube video and we will be working on producing additional videos in the future. Therefore, today’s Tuesday Tech Talk will focus on using YouTube channels to learn more about Catholicism. YouTube is easily accessible on the Internet and even most smart phones come with a YouTube mobile app.

Catholic YouTube videos can be useful tools for adding emphasis to a talk you may be giving or for personal study. Additionally, you can follow some of your favorite Catholic programming through their YouTube channels. I subscribe to a few Catholic YouTube channels that automatically alert me when new content has been uploaded. I don’t spend hours watching all of them, but I will use the videos to enhance my study or even to include on this blog. For example, if Stacey and I are out shopping and I am sitting around waiting for her, I can watch a brief video to pass the time constructively.

You don’t have to have a YouTube account to watch the videos, but you will need one to subscribe to the channels. Here are the steps for setting up an account.

Here are some links to some of my favorite Catholic YouTube Channels:

Catholic Answers

EWTN

St. Josemaria Escrivá

Vatican

USCCB

Gut Check: Are You Living a Joe Catholic Life?

2011-08-01T00:38:00.000-05:00

You a drifter? You... one of the crowd? You, who were born to be a leader! There is no room among us for the lukewarm. Humble yourself and Christ will set you aflame again with the fire of Love. (St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way, 16)

It’s gut check time. A few months have passed since the end of Lent. Still more time has elapsed since we made our January resolutions. As the summer heat wears us down, we have a tendency to slow down and slide back into our old habits.

The past week, I began reading Father Larry Richards' book, Be a Man!, which I hope to review on this blog once I have completed it. The experience of reading the book has been like a mini-retreat. It got me thinking about the state of my own walk and my adherence to my spiritual plan of life. As I was praying about this, my eyes turned to our logo (it’s my screensaver) and I realized that we can use the Joe Catholic logo to reflect on where we are in our daily walk.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The CCC or the “big green book” reminds us to study our faith. We can’t share what we don’t know. We have to know our faith, so we can live it, share it and defend it. Spiritual reading must be a component of our daily spiritual plan. This site has a number of good links to books to read. Additionally, almost every post has at least one book recommendation. St. Josemaria said that “one hour of study is an hour of prayer” when offered to our Lord.

Bible

We must be men of the Word of God who became incarnate in Jesus Christ our Lord. We do this by going over the daily readings or some other organized reflection on scripture. I’m not saying we have to have scriptures memorized (although that may be useful at times), but generally know where important points are located. For example, we should all know that John 6 contains significant references to our Catholic beliefs about the Eucharist. St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

Rosary

We must be men of prayer. Prayer is the conversation we have with God. Without this communication we cannot have the intimate relationship he desires to have with each and every one of us. St. Teresa de Avila said, “Mental prayer is nothing else than an intimate friendship, a frequent heart-to-heart conversation with Him by whom we know ourselves to be loved.”

Toolbox

Think of the toolbox as representing our daily work lives. Reflecting on our work, we can ask ourselves whether we are "blossoming where we have been planted." In other words, do we approach our work as a means for sanctification or do we treat it like a grueling necessity or even as punishment? Our work lives and our spiritual lives are not intended to be separate. I’m not talking about being bible thumpers, but living our faith in the little things: being kind, doing good work, offering it up and even praying at meals. St. Josemaría said, “Work is man's original vocation. It is a blessing from God, and those who consider it a punishment are sadly mistaken. The Lord, who is the best of fathers, placed the first man in Paradise ut operaretur, so that he would work.” (Furrow, 482)

Hammer & Rule

Reminds of our role model, St. Joseph the original Joe Catholic. Call on him as a powerful intercessor. He is not only the patron of our little group, but of fathers, workers and the universal church. St. Bernard teaches us “there are some saints who have the power of protecting in certain specific circumstances; but Saint Joseph has been granted the power to help us in every kind of need, and to defend all who have recourse to him with pious dispositions."

World Premier: Joe Catholic Media

2011-07-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

Ok so the title sounds pretty extravagent. We are excited to post our first Joe Catholic YouTube video. Below you will find a video (approximately 15 minutes long) from the Joe Catholic meeting with Bishop Kevin Vann on July 23, 2011. The video includes a talk entitled "Gut Check," in which I explain how we can use the Joe Catholic logo to check the status of our spiritual game plans. The video also includes portions of Lindon Leners' Saint Talk on St. Maximillian Kolbe. Finally, the video includes our FAQ's of Faith section with Bishop Vann as our guest speaker, addressing the upcoming changes to the English translation of the Roman Missal.

The audio and video is a bit raw. While the KC meeting room we were in was nice, it had poor acoustics and even poorer lightening. Nevertheless, Tom Jaconette plowed through all of that to produce our first video. We hope to have more of our own videos in the future.

Catholic e-Books

2011-07-26T11:23:00.002-05:00

Photo by libraryman

Today’s Tuesday Tech Talk focuses on e-books, the fastest growing sector in the publishing industry. Last year, e-book sales increased by 177%. Amazon recently reported that e-book sales on their website exceeded regular books. Only recently have Catholic publishers and authors entered the world of e-book publishing in earnest. The purpose of this post is to highlight the Catholic publishers and authors who are taking advantage of this new medium.

Ave Maria Press publishes their e-books and e-textbooks through Amazon and uses the Kindle format. Ave Maria was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross and specializes in textbooks and books on prayer and spirituality.

Ignatius Press publishes their own e-books and offers over 300 titles, including those written by popular authors like Father Larry Richards and Pope Benedict XVI. They offer their books in both .prc (Kindle) format and the standard epub format. Although, Ignatius Press gives instructions on downloading each of their e-books, it appears their Kindle format may not be compatible with the Kindle app for iPads and other devices.

Our Sunday Visitor also publishes their e-books in the Kindle format through Amazon. While they currently do not boast a large e-book collection, they do have some of the best prices. The collection includes books from Father Benedict Groeschel, Scott Hahn and Patrick Madrid.

Scepter Publishers are making their e-books available through both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This means the books are available in the Kindle format and the epub format used by the Nook. Scepter’s e-books include many of the books written by and about St. Josemaría Escrivá. The library also includes books by James Stenson and Jacques Philippe.

TAN Books currently has a small collection of e-books, which may be downloaded directly from their online store. TAN is best known for their books on the lives of the saints. TAN makes their e-books available in several formats.

As sales of e-books continue to outpace paper books, Catholic publishers are sure to continue to provide more titles. The trend seems to be to outsource e-books sales to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and even iBooks on iTunes. The most common price mark for an average sized book is $9.99. Some of the smaller works are available for less.

Joe Catholic Meets With Bishop Vann

2011-07-23T21:56:00.000-05:00

This morning, the Joe Catholic men's apostolate met with Bishop Kevin Vann, the bishop of the Ft. Worth diocese. The group visiting the bishop included eighteen men from St. Catherine, who were joined by seminarian James Wilcox, at the morning mass at St. Patrick's cathedral.

After mass, the group joined the bishop in the parish Knight's of Columbus hall. Don Gonzalez led the first discussion called "Gut Check," which was a talk on using the Joe Catholic logo as a means to reflect on the state of our spiritual lives. This brief talk was followed by Saint Talk, led by Lindon Leners. Lindon focused on the life and death of Maximilian Kolbe. Bishop Vann shared that he was present in Rome for St. Maximilian's canonization.

Finally, Bishop Vann spoke on the upcoming changes to the English translation of the Missal. He then allowed the group to ask him general questions about Catholicism. When the group was done asking questions, the bishop joined them for a group photo. After that, Bishop Vann led the group on a tour of the rectory.

Thanks to Tom Jaconette, we soon hope to have videos of the three talks and Q & A posted on the Joe Catholic YouTube channel. Additionally, the videos will be embedded in upcoming posts detailing the talks. We also hope to post additional photos from the visit.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Tutorial on RSS Readers

2011-07-18T23:42:00.001-05:00

If you have ever wondered how you can get updates on your favorite blogs like Joe Catholic, today's Tuesday Tech Talk will provide you with an easy way to subscribe to your favorite blogs, news sites or even regular websites.

The video below gives a clear (sometimes funny) tutorial for using an RSS reader to save you time from checking sites for updates. Depending on which reader you choose to use, they all come with their own variety of ways to organize your "feeds." For example, I have mine organized by topics: Catholicism, Debate, Tech and Writing.

At the bottom of the video, I have included a few Catholic blogs I follow. This should give you a head start in collecting other good Catholic information. I find when I am on the go, this is the easiest way for me to incorporate some spiritual reading. I can even read them on my iPhone.

Bishop Kevin Vann's Blog: Shepherd of Fort Worth

Archbishop Timothy Dolan's Blog: The Gospel in the Digital Age

Taylor Marshall (guess blog on this site): Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall

Catholicism and Politics: The American Catholic

Catholic Views on Harry Potter

2011-07-15T13:52:00.001-05:00

For years good Catholic men and women have disagreed about the popular Harry Potter series. The last of the Harry Potter movies opened at midnight today. Last week many news outlets reported that the Vatican had given the new movie a stamp of approval. First of all, it wasn't the Holy Father who made the statement, but rather an article in the L'Osservatore Romano. Secondly, the article did not officially endorse the film on behalf of the Vatican, but instead only said that the movie promoted "friendship. altruism, loyalty and self-giving," which it viewed as attributes to value.

The problem with saying that the Catholic Church endorses or condemns Harry Potter or any other thing, is that the Church doesn't normally work that way. It's not some type of political party that maintains a platform with a checklist of pro's and con's. I can't count the number of times I've had non-Catholic and Catholic friends ask me "what's the Church's position on...?" Instead of looking for a laundry list of do's and don't's in the back of the Catechism, what we should do is a better job of forming our consciouses. This is precisely the mission of Joe Catholic, to help people learn their faith, so they can share it and defend it.

The principal instructors of the faith are not the priests and churches, but instead the parents. Parents are the ones who must discern if their children should or should not read or watch certain material. Furthermore, parents who are well formed in their faith are better armed to answer questions that children raise and, when necessary, to make the tough call to restrict access even when it's contrary to the pervading culture. I have some Catholic friends (who I respect) who allow their children to read and watch the Harry Potter books and movies. I have others, who I equally esteem, who do not permit their children. Neither is wrong, but both are right.

Here are few other Catholic articles on Harry Potter (some for and some against):

The American Catholic: The Conclusion of Harry Potter (spoilers)

Catholic Answers: The Morals of Magic: Is Harry Potter Bad for Kids?

Catholic News Service: Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Dads.org: Harry Potter: An Entry Point into the World of the Occult/New Age Movement

National Catholic Register: Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series

Get Your Answer on Catholic Answers

2011-07-13T09:11:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you have noticed the banner under the Joe Catholic logo from Catholic Answers. If you visit daily, you know that it changes each day. When you click on the banner you are taken to a page with questions that had previously been submitted to Catholic Answers. Before Catholic Answer existed as a radio program, it began as a series of written tracts created by Karl Keating in 1979. He wrote them in response to a Fundamentalist church that had left anti-Catholic leaflets on cars at a local San Diego parish during mass.

Eventually Keating wrote another series of tracts. Keating followed this up with a monthly newsletter in 1986. By 1988, Keating realized “real need for information on Catholic apologetics” and he quit his law practice and began work on a full-time apostolate. The apostolate grew quickly and the newsletter was soon replaced with This Rock, a 10-issue-a-year periodical. The magazine is arguably the best Catholic publication for the laity on the subject of apologetics and evangelization.

Catholic Answers also hosts one of the most comprehensive websites dedicated to providing solid catechesis. The site has a Library tab that contains a wealth of authentic Catholic material, including free tracts on frequent objections to Catholicism. The library also has Answer Guides, Special Reports, and online copies of some of their booklets. The site also contains an archive of This Rock back issues dating back to 1990 when the magazine was first published.

Catholic Answers also has an online store in which you can purchase books, CD’s and DVD’s of some of their speakers and writers. You can listen to Catholic Answers’ radio programming through the site. You can even schedule a Catholic cruise with members of the Catholic Answers team.

The one area that I think the site is lacking in is its forum where online discussions on various subjects take place. I don’t think the moderators are able to monitor well enough to respond to statements made by people who post who may not know what they are talking about. I would stay clear of this section if you are not firmly planted in your knowledge of Church teaching.

Overall the Catholic Answers website is a tremendous resource. I begin all of my research for presentations with a look at this site. I recommend you bookmark in your favorites.

iPieta: The Little Blue Book & More on Your Phone

2011-07-12T23:52:00.002-05:00

In today’s Tuesday Tech Talk, I review the smart phone application iPieta.

Some of you may be familiar with the Pieta blue book that you see many people carrying with them, especially daily communicants. Like the paper version, iPieta contains a collection of traditional Catholic prayers, but this has much more than that. The application is organized into four categories: Bible, Calendar, Prayers and Veritas.

Bible

The bible section contains two choices of public domain bibles: the Douay-Rheims (old English) and the Latin Vulgate. Each of the bibles is indexed by the name of the books and you can simply scroll down and select the book you wish to read. The books are organized by chapters and when the book is opened the entire chapter is displayed. The bibles may be read in English, Latin or English-Latin. Although the application does not currently contain the NAB (used in daily readings for mass) or the popular RSV-CE, the developers are hoping to receive permission to include them in the future.

Calendar

The calendar has two options. You may select the Ordinary (or Novus Ordo) Calendar or the Extraordinary (or Traditional) Calendar. The application permits you to toggle between the calendars by shaking the device. The calendars distinguish the mass types (solemnity, feast, etc.) with different colors and fonts.

Prayers

iPieta literally has hundreds of prayers stored in it. It contains all of the traditional prayers and novenas most of us are familiar with. It also contains a vast library of lesser-known prayers. The prayers are indexed by topic and many are also available in audio format.

Veritas

To tell the truth, this is the section that makes this app unique and worth purchasing. This section is comprised of numerous spiritual writings from popes, saints and councils. Some of the more famous works include The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis, Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis De Sales and The Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas.

At $3.99 the iPieta application is a bargain. Is available in formats compatible with the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and the Android. It is also available in a Spanish version.

Father Larry Richards: "Be a Man!"

2011-07-11T09:11:00.002-05:00

If you have listened to Relevant Radio or Guadalupe Radio Network or received a free CD from Catholicity, you may have heard Father Larry Richards preach and teach. Father Richards is a parish priest in the diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania. He is known for his direct, yet understandable preaching. He blends personal anecdotes and humor into his talks and homilies.

Father Richards recently published his first book, entitled Be a Man! The book earned the #1 bestseller for Ignatius Press in 2010. The book is a guide for teaching men to be authentic Christian men. Father Richards is also the founder of The Reason for Our Hope Foundation and often speaks at Catholic Men’s conferences (see the video above). Later this month, he will be the keynote speaker at the Guadalupe Radio Summer Speaker series.

If you would like a great resource to learn more about the sacrament of reconciliation, I recommend ordering the $1 CD recorded for Catholicity by Father Larry Richards.

Sower and Seeds

2011-07-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

Some rights reserved by madison.murphy

It is human nature to tune out the familiar. This is certainly a possibility with the Parable of the Sower in today’s gospel. How many times have you left mass and a few hours later you can’t remember the priest’s homily, let alone the gospel reading?

I don’t intend to write about being distracted at mass, although that would be a good topic for a future post. Instead, I want to reflect on the meanings of today’s gospel. I believe there are two ways we can look at the parable. First, we can see ourselves as the seeds and how we respond to God’s word. Secondly, we can see ourselves as the sower who plants the seeds of Christ's goodness in the hearts of others.

We Are the Seeds

Jesus describes four types of seeds. The first seeds fall on the pathway, which is so packed that the seed cannot penetrate the surface at all. These seeds represent those who are so closed off to hearing the word of God that they don’t let anything in. They want to do things their way. The second set of seeds fall upon shallow soil and do not take root so they whither when they sprout. A fellow debate coach shared Father Robert Vallee’s homily with me via email. Father Vallee, who is a professor of philosophy at St. John Vianney College Seminary, asserted these are the people who “get all excited about something and then, just as quickly, get bored and drop it.” Father Vallee pointed out in his homily that Christianity is not just an emotional search. Instead, it is also an intellectual one that requires we use reasoning, through faith, to permit ourselves to be properly formed and informed. The thorns choke out the third set of seeds. I think a lot of times we allow ourselves to be like these seeds. We hear the word of God and we believe, but we allow all the distractions of our life to get in the way of putting the gospel into action. Finally, the fourth set of seeds falls on good soil. Like fertile soil, these Christians are those who are receptive to the word of God and allow it to form them and they in turn bear fruit by sharing what they have received.

We Are the Sower

The second lesson we can take from this parable is that we are also the sower. It is not enough to simply receive God’s word, we must also “bear much fruit” (John 15:8). Christ is calling us all to be his disciples and to evangelize “to all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This doesn’t mean that we all have to stand on street corners preaching or go minister to foreign lands, although some, like our daughter Tiffany, may be called to do that. Most of us are called to evangelize precisely where we are. Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta used to say “bloom where you are planted.” This is the essence of our response to the universal call to holiness: to share our faith, to share Christ with others in our ordinary every day interactions. I like what St. Josemaria Escriva said in The Way about discipleship: “Among those around you — apostolic soul — you are the stone fallen into the lake. With your word and your example you produce a first circle... and it another... and another, and another... Wider each time. Now do you understand the greatness of your mission?”

What type of seeds are you sowing in your interactions at home and work?