Why bother with a Catholic University!?!?!

Because you get amazing creativity and hilariousness like this:



My alma mater, Franciscan University of the Steubenville!  I would recommend it for any young Catholic seeking to be serious in their Faith!

Before logging on to the internet

Found here: http://wdtprs.com/blog/a-prayer-before-connecting-to-the-internet/, Fr. Z has done a great service to all of us at his blog, by offering this prayer before you log onto the internet:

A prayer before logging onto the internet:
Almighty and eternal God, who created us in Thine image and bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful, especially in the divine person of Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor, during our journeys through the internet we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter. Through Christ our Lord.   Amen.

Not much more can be said about this....

Other than, please God may it be so:

Do you understand the historic significance of this?

Dear Fellow Parishioners and fellow Catholics everywhere, Pray. Pray for our country. Pray for our president. You may be a person who believes that "gay marriage" should be legal; heck, you may even be for abortion. But understand this: our country has been hijacked from the Christian principles it once stood on. This can be seen in this article posted a few days ago. If you don't have the time, then the jist is this: recently Satanists have unveiled their plans for a Satanic Monument in Oklahoma.

And this comes from society where the mindset is no longer concerned with the only Living and True God who has sent His only begotten Son for the sake of our salvation. This can be seen particularly in our president who holds a syncretistic view of America. And particularly, that our current American President proclaimed these amazing words:

In the American Imagination, the hallmark of our nation has been its Christian underpinnings, which quickly were established as NOT CATHOLIC by society as a whole. Then, and thus where we are now, the Protestant mindset is now waning. Certainly, this is of a piece with Protestant Christianity: If one does not like or agree with something, then they should reject it and change it to what makes them more comfortable. I have heard this from various Catholics who have been told strange things from clergy members - including that HELL no longer exists or that no one is likely there. This kind of erosion is what Satan loves. Yes, Satan and the Hell which he directs are very much real. Satan knows that we Catholics can not be outright changed once we have accepted and decided to serve Christ. But he also knows that if we slowly begin to slack on the grandeur and demands of the Christian Life, then he already has a claw on us. Even WORSE, that we lead one of Christ's little ones astray, "for it would be better if we had a millstone tied to our neck and we were thrown in the sea (Lk 17:2)." To quote G.K. Chesterton, "The Christian life [and here read Catholic, as ONLY it is the fulness of Christianity] has not been tried and found wanting; it has been tried and found difficult." Yes, to claim the title of "Catholic" today and to live up to its demands is NOT for the weak, it is only for those of great courage and faith. Thanks be to God that all of us who are weak will be granted the grace of courage and faith to do this, if we accept it, and become the Saints God intends for us to be!

Consider,as well, our own nearby Christian sisters, dedicated to Christ our Lord and to his service. The Little Sisters of the Poor will NOT (PLEASE GOD) give up the fight against the imposition of so-called "Obamacare" because it violates the basic teaching of what the suffering and wounded Christ died for so that mankind might know him and the way for our Salvation from Sin. In case, you have not heard (or don't have time to read the link): the Little Sisters of the Poor have been wantonly attacked by our own American Government. Thank God for the Becketfund.org that is defending them and proving that Catholics, true Catholics, do NOT back down from the encroachment of this world on our belief in Christ. These Little Sisters of the Poor have been told by the current Administration that it is "no big deal" to sign a waiver which allows them to let another company provide their employees with access to abortion and contraception. This, my dear brothers and sisters, IS the new "PINCH OF INCENSE" that so many of our early Christian brothers and sisters would NOT put on a fire before a statue of the Emperor (seen by the Romans to be a God). They understand well that to do so would be to violate their belief in Jesus Christ as the only true Lord of Life. Their Trinitarian Faith, belief in the Holy Trinity that Jesus came to reveal (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), allowed them to endure what seemed like "no big deal" - the pinch of incense before the idol - and to be faithful to Christ even in what seemed like a small thing. Though, in fact, it was an immense rejection of the Only Living and True God.

Mark these words: the Church is now sinking into persecution. Are you ready to prepare for fidelity to Christ, for as he himself taught us, "he who is faithful in small things, will be faithful in big things." Pray for me, as I pray for all of you, that we ALL may be faithful to him who has given us New Life in the waters of Baptism. I pray persecution is not upon us, but I don't think it can be avoided now - mind you, this is only ONE man's opinion (namely mine!). A showdown seems to be coming in the life of every Faithful Catholic. Pray that we might have an Elijah to help us be faithful against Baal!

Would you know?

Our Blessed Lord Jesus, the only Living and True Second Person of the Holy Trinity, came to deliver mankind from sin. He does not allow us to be comfortable; he is not always allowing us to be in sorrow and pain, and he is often calling us to overcome our human understanding by learning and understanding God's Holy Will for our lives. We need to know that we may learn this Holy Will by learning through the means that Jesus established for us: namely, the Holy Catholic Church.

Certainly, many will object asking "how can this be since Jesus' Church with so many sinners in it?" And yet, when we understand that salvation from sin, each of our salvation, depends on our Freewill, then we can begin to realize how this makes sense. We each have the freewill to accept or reject the Truth, the only Truth, established by Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, that Truth is One, whole and complete. It is not dependent on the people who have been given stewardship of the Catholic Church. How do we know that? Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman once said, "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." In other words, when you look at the history of the Church, and every Catholic should, then we should see quite clearly that their have always been scandals, sinners, and Saints all wrapped up in Holy Mother Church. And yet, in spite of it all, Official Church teaching has never changed. It has never faltered on matters of belief and morals. Certainly, there have been some imprudent and sometimes scandalous policies enacted by Church leaders, and even the Popes. Nevertheless, the official body of teaching has never changed or been added to from what was understood and lived even in the earliest centuries.

Some of our unbelieving contemporaries would perhaps put this up to coincidence or iron-fisted popes or whatever. For us as believing Catholics, we must understand that this is through the promise of what Jesus himself noted when He Sent the Holy Spirit, with the Father, upon the Apostles in order to establish His Holy Church.

Last week at Mass we had a very shocking reading, in which Jesus taught us:

"See that you not be deceived,for many will come in my name, saying,'I am he,’ and 'The time has come.’ Do not follow them! "

Jesus understood well our human nature, after all he created it! Nevertheless, there are various people, even today, who continue to make the claim that they have become or are, the "Lord Jesus Christ" who has returned. Take for example this guy (its a half hour video, so you might keep reading then come back):



Sadly, this is not the only pretender out there. Consider this dude:

And finally, there is another dude who is now claiming "Jesus status", though it seems he has been doing so since "aliens" apparently came to visit him (back when he was known as "Rael?"). This man is named "Lord Rayel", and he is claiming the ability "judge the nations" and, of course, he must have an outrageous "british like accent". I won't give you a link beyond the one to his Youtube channel, as I find his claims too ridiculous. (Remember, we are told already in the bible that a Demon can appear as an Angel of light (see 2Cor 11:14)."

The point here is that many people have and are still making claims to have the power of God, and to even be our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, when he returns, the world of this age will close. Life will not be the same as we are living now, with its struggle with sin - AND YES THERE IS STILL SIN, JUST AS MUCH AS THERE IS STILL HELL! We must consider where do we put our personal faith. Can we believe, in spite of humanity's sinfulness, that Jesus would be faithful to never allow the "the gates of hell (Mt. 16:19)" to prevail against his Holy Catholic Church which he established and promised to be with until the end of time (see Mt 28:19-20). Or is any human's claim a reason to believe in his own claim. Even if his teaching "tickles one's ears," does that mean that man bears the Truth? Even St. Paul warned against this: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed!"

As we come to the end of the Liturgical Year this week, remember that we celebrate the Solemn Feast of Christ the King. Why? Because God is not God of the dead, but of the Living. Jesus Christ, our King, reigns even now. We must allow him, by our spiritual choice and service, to undo what our first parents Adam & Eve did by disobeying God. Nevertheless, He will not force us in his Mercy & Love. Many will likely still come before the end of this world to claim by their humanity the divinity which they will not be able to stand before when the Just Judge finally reveals himself. As servants of Jesus Christ, the Only and True King not just of Israel, or the Church, but of the Universe, let each of us not lose hope, but stand firm, for our salvation is coming - whether in our lives or in the life of the world. May we wait joyfully and in hope for the True Return of Jesus Christ.

Which one is yours?

Consider this: Where is Notre Dame's? Where is your Faith?

Seriously... SERIOUSLY!?!?! Is this what we have forgotten...

There are a great many things wrong with the world. However, what is wrong in the world should not be in the Holy Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is a divine institution entrusted to humanity. It is comprised of people who are fallible, though she herself is without defect because of the promise of the Holy Spirit. That being said, we as Catholics must be informed. "Informed?" you say, "About the sinfulness in the Church???" No!!! My point here is that we must be informed about why the Church is important in our lives. Only then can we understand the humanity in which the Church acts, and in which the Holy Spirit seeks to work - including you and I.

And, unfortunately, we must understand when men choose to work against the mission and teachings of the Church, and the destruction they cause in doing this. Only when we come to know how vital is the Catholic Church to the mission of Christ in the world, that all of his disciples "may be one, as [He] and the Father are one," then - and only then - will we have the love for God to help reform His Holy Bride. Faithful Catholics, it seems to me, are in one of two positions as the Bride of Christ - either 1) continuing to exercise and beautify ourselves for His return, or 2) making a destructive mess of ourselves (as a Church) so that we can fashion ourselves to be beautiful as we see beauty, and not as Christ has revealed how we can beautiful for him. Yes, humanity can be beautiful in the way we respond to God. But, at times, one wonders whether the "destroyers" within the Church even know what they are doing to the Mystical Body of Christ. Every baptized Christian is called to act in the Mercy and Mind of Christ. Yet, how can we come to reports like this:



This is very much along the lines of the report done by Michael Voris for Churchmilitant.TV about the CCHD, which can be found here. I am not one to leave the Church, nor to whine about such things (nor I hope are you, dear reader), rather, as this post aims to demonstrate, I hope to love the Church enough to help educate about the errors that go on, which ought not to.

It is love that compels us as Catholics, or at least it should. Nevertheless, there seems to be a rebellious and anti-catholic spirit that continues to manifest itself in various events and actions around the world. For example: sadly, one should be informed that, for one Diocese, public opinion seems to outweigh the need to Pray AND ACT for the Defense of Human Life:
For discussion's sake, can anyone else come to another conclusion?!? Read this document linked to that video and PLEASE inform me.

Jesus left two final tasks for the Church, well really four sub-tasks: 1) Go forth & Baptize all nations. 2) Teach them to observe all that i have commanded you. Notice, 1) Go, 2) Baptize, 3) Teach & 4) Observe. Inherent in the fourth sub-mission is to be faithful to both the Baptism we receive and, when we make that Apostolic Mission our own, AS WE SHOULD, to be observant of all that we have learned ourselves. This is where things like ignoring the Church's constant teaching on Hell, or Contraception, or Abortion, or the necessity of utilizing the Sacrament of Confession does not help to beautify the Church, but seeks to destroy the "veil" and "dress" which the Lord has left for us, as His bride. In my humble (yet educated) opinion, ignoring these teachings is tantamount to stomping on the ring which he has placed on the finger of the Church. Yes, it is that serious!

The point of this post is not to "destroy", but to inspire awareness that all is not well "Right here in River City!" We Catholics need to be informed of the things going wrong in the Church, and when we are, then the love we have for Him who has established this beautiful bride should encourage and challenge us to do our best to mend her "accoutrements" and her "actions" by what we do in our lives. We can not be those that destroy the faith and love of others for the Church. We must be the Saints that are the face of the Church in the world! As St Teresa of Avila pleaded for us to understand:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

The question, then, that we are left with is: Will we allow ourselves not just to be placed in his service, but rather will we SEEK OUT how to help in EVERY way possible that we can?

Nevertheless, we can not utilize evil or deceptive means to make the Church more beautiful. And to demonstrate that, as well as for a little "entertaining deceptiveness" (which may arguably be the only place where it can be acceptable), I leave you with the Music Man (one of my favorite musicals):