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Jan
29
Streaming video on Internet seen as new way to spread Gospel
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By Franz Klein | Catholic News Service
LA CROSSE, Wis. (CNS) — First there was YouTube. Then there was GodTube. Now there’s Catholic-Tube.
Streaming video is all the rage on the Internet, and some people are starting to realize how valuable a tool this technology can be in reaching out to young Catholics.
If St. Augustine were alive today, he “would have done his ‘Confessions’ in video and streamed it on the Internet,” Travis Boudreaux, the tech-savvy Louisiana Catholic who founded Catholic-Tube.com several months ago, told The Catholic Times, newspaper of the Diocese of La Crosse.
On his Catholic-Tube blog, Boudreaux posts daily some of what he considers the best Catholic videos and podcasts uploaded to major sites such as YouTube.com and GodTube.com, as well as smaller Catholic operations such as LoveToBeCatholic.com and SQPN.com.
A veteran Web watcher, Boudreaux believes that video is the future of the Internet.
“There will always be room for audio and the written word, but video provides a dynamic that’s not there otherwise,” he said. “Imagine if you could see St. Augustine’s emotion. There’s so much that’s lost without voice inflection and hand gestures.”
Continue reading here…
Jan
29
Rosary | Outside Carnegie Hall
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| January 29, 2008 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
There is a rosary tomorrow from 6pm-8pm outside carnegie hall for this show. Please click the link to know what the Rosary is for. Besides the fact that I dont know how to describe the show I dont want to post anything that might just add to its publicity so I am leaving you with a link. (Hat tip to CMK for letting us know about this.)
Jan
29
The Church, it is said, has been given the ministry of shepherd; she proclains the Gospel for the faithful, but does not teach for the theologians. But such a distinction between proclamation and teaching is profoundly contrary to the nature of the biblical word. The Church has brought about the emancipation of simple souls and has promised even to them the ability to be philosophers in the true sense of the word, that is, to comprehend what is essential to human nature as well as, or even better than, those who are learned.
Jesus’ words about the lack of understanding among the wise and intelligent and the depth of understanding among infants and children (Mt. 11:25) are particularly apposite in this context: they establish Christianity as a religion for the people, as a faith in which there is no class system. And, in fact, what is proclaimed in the homily is binding; that is its nature. It does not propose this or that recreational activity or a kind of religious entertainment. Its purpose is to tell man what he is and what he must do to be himself. But how can this teaching of the Church be binding if it is not binding on theologians? The essence of the Church’s teaching ministry consists precisely in the fact that the proclamation of the Faith is the valid touchstone for theology as well. This proclamation is the object of the reflection of theology.
The faith of simple souls is far from being a kind of watered-down theolgoy for the laity, so called “popular Platonism”, the relationship is exactly the opposite: proclamation is the standard for theology, not theology for proclamation. It is indeed correct that the Church in her ministry as shepherd is authorized to proclaim the Gospel, not to teach theology as a science. But the ministry of proclamation is likewise the ministry of theology.
From: Internationale katholische Zeitschrift Communio 15 (1986), pp. 526-27
Jan
29
Mark 3:31-35
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31 And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
32 And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.”
33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
34 And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Jan
29
St. Teresa of Avila
Filed Under The Wisdom of the Saints | Leave a Comment
Mental prayer is nothing else but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him.
– St. Teresa of Avila
Jan
28
It would assuredly be foolish of us to expect that there will be, in the foreseeable future, a general unification of Christianity under the papacy if this is understood to mean a recognition of Peter’s successor in Rome. Perhaps it is also a part of the inevitable constraints and limitations of this mandate that it can never be fully executed and must, consequently, be a source of friction among Christian believers, who exhibit in its regard a quality that is not vicarship, but autocracy. Nevertheless, it is not inconceivable that the Pope should exercise some kind of unifying role that transcends the community of the Roman Catholic Church. Even for those who do not accept the claims of his office, the Pope personally is a sign to the world of a responsibility, transmitted and proclaimed, for the world of God and, consequently, a provocation of which all are aware and that concerns all not only to seek greater fidelity to the word, but also to strive for unity and to accept responsibility for the lack of unity. In this sense, there is, despite the separation, a function of the papacy that builds unity and that, in the last analysis, no one can erase from the historical drama of Christianity. For the papacy and the Catholic Church, the criticism of the papacy by non-Catholic Christianity continues to be a spur to seek an ever more Christ-like realization of the Petrine ministry; for non-Catholic, on the other hand, the Pope continues to be a visible incitement to that concrete unity that is the responsibility of the Church and should be her sign before the world: may both sides succeed in accepting without reservation the question that is posed to us and the task that is given us and thus, in obedience to the Lord, become the dwelling-place of a peace that prepares the way for a new world- for the Kingdom of God.
From: Dienst an der Einheit, pp.177-78
Jan
28
St. Padre Pio
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Never rise from the table without having given thanks to the Lord. If we act in this way we need have no fear of the wretched sin of gluttony.
– St. Padre Pio
Jan
28
Mark 3: 22 - 30
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22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Be-el’zebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
23 And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.
27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” –
30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jan
27
by
Sensing and answering the call to convert to Catholicism is a tremendous decision on many levels. It can be one of the most freeing, elating, and exciting events in one’s life. After perhaps years of struggle, many nights of worry; after wrestling with your conscience for weeks or months and learning all you can about the Church, ”coming home” can be a great relief. But that relief is often tempered by a very real cost. The decision to convert is seldom free of heartache, misunderstanding, and strained or broken relationships. This doesn’t mean that we delay our conversion or, God-forbid, deny it. But as a fairly recent convert, I thought it might be good to offer some reflections on the challenges you may face as a new convert.
1. The Relief of Resolution
Often the first thing you feel is relief. You’ve finally made the decision! There is a sense of the weight of indecision coming off your back, the hound of heaven has chased you down. You have your own moment of standing in the presence of God and truly offering yourself again to Him. There is a sense in which the “Yes” to convert is a great act of faith — you do not know where the path will lead you. You’re just convinced that this is the path you are meant to travel. Now you are relieved to answer the call.
2. Disappointment that not Everyone Shares Your Relief (though some will)
Once the news of your decision begins to spread, you will likely find that not everyone is as thrilled as you are. Some will perhaps understand your “need for a change”, but they will question the timing, direction and perhaps even the sanity of the decision you have made. It can be disappointing. You have spent considerable time and effort and prayer reaching this decision and you have experienced the relief of your own “fiat” — your own “yes” to God. But for some people your decision will be strange or worse…which leads to #3.
3. Anti-Catholic Sentiments
One well-intentioned person in my congregation heard of my family’s decision to convert and said, “We’re sorry to see you go. We’re even more sorry you’re going to be Catholic.” In #2 your sanity may be questioned; here, in #3, among more anti-Catholic minds, your salvation is questioned. Comments like, “How can you buy into a church that worships Mary?”, “So now you’re not going to share Communion with anyone else?”, “Why would you submit to allow a priest to stand between you and God?” are common…and you may experience worse comments.
(Please continue reading the article here.)
Jan
27
Mother Refuses Cancer Treatment So Baby Can live
Filed Under News & Current Events | Leave a Comment
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
Rather than follow the doctor’s advice, however, the courageous woman insisted on waiting long enough to give her unborn son a chance to survive, telling her husband, Martyn: “If I am going to die, my baby is going to live.”
NORFOLK, UK (LifeSiteNews) - Lorraine Allard of St. Olaves, near Great Yarmouth, was told she had advanced liver cancer when she was four months pregnant with her first son.
The thirty-three year old mother of three girls was advised to abort her son, who was 23 weeks old, and begin chemotherapy right away. Rather than follow the doctor’s advice, however, the courageous woman insisted on waiting long enough to give her unborn son a chance to survive, telling her husband, Martyn: “If I am going to die, my baby is going to live.”
Mrs. Allard was scheduled for a caesarian delivery at 26 weeks, but went into premature labour and delivered her son, Liam, on November 18.
“He was so tiny, just 1lb 11oz, so the nurse grabbed him and allowed Lorraine to give him a little kiss before he was taken to an incubator,” Mr. Allard said in a report by the Daily Mail. (Please continue reading the article here.)
