Did we wacky Catholics add books to the bible?

Call us wacky, call us weird...but we Catholics sure know how to have fun, don't we? :) Thanks to TJ for his wit and wisdom. Visit his blog and find more videos and cool stuff.

Rest in Peace, Tony...

In the words of Rev. David M. O'Connell, who told mourners gathered at Tony's funeral: "The measure of this man's life can be found in his character, in his optimism, in his joy and humor, in his courage, in his passion for what was good and right, and in his love for God and family and neighbor and country. Tony Snow did not need a long life for us to measure. It was, rather, we who needed his life to be longer."

I will miss Tony Snow. He was a "class act" as was Tim Russert. God rest both their souls.
susie

EWTN LIVE...

Hey, did any of you bloggers watch EWTN LIVE last night? I just watched it at 3:30 a.m. Yeah, I wake up early. I grinned the entire hour. Steve Ray (above) was Fr. Pacwa's guest and is he ever phenomenal! I love his passion, his zeal, his humor and the hour just flew! If any one isn't familiar with Steve Ray, he's a Catholic convert of 14 years. He was brought up Baptist fundamentalist and very anti Catholic. (He thought Catholics were 'going to hell.') What is that line? If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans? Anyway, he married a Presbyterian, Janet, and they both converted at the same time. We watched a couple dvd's of his video series, Footprints of God, in our first apologetics class at our parish in the Fall of 2005.

Watching him on EWTN Live was just so great, because I know exactly how he feels being a convert, too. I never knew the fullness of Truth was in the Catholic Church. I thought it was a "man made" religious institution that was or had been corrupted by man. I thought the Catholic Church was 'stodgy' and too "old fashioned" to be where anyone could possibly come to know Christ as their personal Savior. (what a little presumptuous ignoramus I was!) I married my husband, a Catholic, in 1976 and then joined the Church in or around 1979-80. But after reading some anti Catholic propaganda, (God rest Keith Green's [ignorant about the CC] soul) it wasn't long before I wanted to stop going to Mass and start going where the "real truth" was, and where the music was better and the sermons more "alive."

So for 26 years, we were bleating out in the wide open evangelical/pentecostal/fundamentalist fray. Yep, we were sheep w/out a shepherd. Doing our own thing in little "independent flocks." Worshiping how and where "we" wanted to worship. So Christianity became dull and lifeless because it was all about "me" and what floated my "spiritual boat." Though there was some truth preached, mostly it was just a pastor's opinion or interpretation of a couple of verses. Since there was so much disagreement among even those of us in the same congregation, it was not long before some would just leave or I'd become bored and disillusioned and just stop going to church for weeks or even months sometimes longer. We'd been in 3 different fellowships. All of us being "led" by the Holy Spirit, which to think about that now gives me shivers.

As an aside: You know, Jim Jones was a bible believing man. He grew up on the "word of God" like a good pentecostal. He was "led" by the Holy Spirit, too, wasn't he???? So how would the doctrine of Sola Scriptura ever conclude he was wrong? If someone claiming to be taught by the bible only, the bible being someone's only "authority" then NO ONE can say Jim Jones went off the rails and was wrong, by what authority would one claim to correct him? See what a slippery slope Sola Scriptura is?

We were all believing such different things and having such conflicting interpretations of the bible. Is God a God of order or chaos? It ended up weighing me down. But I still couldn't put my finger on why, or where to go and I was seeing myself falling into a scary pattern that I'd been in before. Drifting back into being a happy little heathen and hoping for the best in the end. Well, God and his grace took care of that. Read the first post of my blog May 2006 for more details. I am now IN LOVE with the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church! I absolutely love the authority and safety of Holy Mother Church. She is the ONE TRUE CHURCH Jesus established to keep us SAFE and growing in virtue and where all the grace of all of the sacraments is there to help us on our way to becoming saints. God's protection and safety net is IN HIS CHURCH. The Holy Spirit leads docile folk into the complete Truth, not partial Truth where chaos reigns. God, I thank you for such a gift!!! I am so grateful to be HOME!!! ROME SWEET HOME!!! Hey, if you're a Catholic that's wandered away from the Church come home, your Mother's waiting and she has much love and grace to give!

Check out Steve's website It's wonderful.

The Acceptable Time...

Visit the website: Unborn Word Alliance
Visit the blog version of: Unborn Word of the day

Saint Paul speaks of "working with" Christ, then:

"...we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
'At the acceptable time I have listened to you,
and helped you on the day of salvation.
'Behold, now is the acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor 6:1-2)

And so is today the acceptable time, even when humanity's moral compass is spinning wildly out of control - especially when it is spinning thus - this is the appropriate time to trust in God and seek His will with all our hearts. Paul is telling us that "the acceptable time" is the same time as "the day of salvation". In other words, it is a time to act, to live by faith.

The day of salvation, if anything, is a day of spiritual opportunities, that is, it is a day full of promise.

But the world around us is shifting like the sand, blowing hither and thither, aimlessly destroying the moral order that had been constructed over the centuries according to the Judaeo-Christian heritage we perhaps took for granted for too long. Now it is disappearing. To be replaced by a false morality with new false gods and creeds of false tolerance which erode the true tolerance born of mercy which God taught us through the millennia.

But now, the Church is to be purified - is now being purified - has been undergoing purification for some time now, but did we notice? Did we understand?

The Christian must turn to God in union with the body of the Church and "accept the (purifying) grace of God", not "in vain", but with docility, in order to move the Church forward and his/her own relationship with God forward. Within this present cultural upheaval, one discovery the Church must make and the Christian must accept, is that God desires to purify His people.

So it was with the martyrs in prior turbulent times, so it is now in our own privileged time. The logic of Christian daily living is shifting a little bit now. Acts we once took for granted, must now be seen for what they are. To kneel and worship God, for example, is a privilege. Take advantage of it! And know that it is pleasing to God.

To offer thanks to God before a meal is a privilege. To sit in a chapel and pray quietly is a privilege. To take an evening walk and speak softly to God in Heaven is a privilege. Even to be purified - as hard as it might be - is a privilege.

The privileges multiply as grace abounds all the more, all around. But "the acceptable time" is also a time of responsibility. Listen to the question Jesus posed after one of His parables:

"...when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk 18:

Let him who has ears hear this question. Let each Christian reply as one New Testament parent did: "I believe; help my unbelief!" The Son of man wants to find faith on earth when He returns! Will He have to hunt forever to uncover our faith or will He immediately see it, perhaps flickering like a candle 'midst breezes, but lit nonetheless?

Now let's go back to the parable which preceded the foregoing question from Jesus. It was a parable about persistence in prayer (about the widow and the "judge who neither feared God nor regarded man" Lk 18:1-8). Perseverance in prayer provides stability in times of upheaval and faithlessness

Thriving, not just surviving!...

I receive these from Unborn Word Alliance and thought I should post it. Very sobering. My friend, Mary and I have been discussing these things for some weeks at work. Also Mark Mallett has had some incredible posts so check his blog out, too. ~ susie

In 1968, the inhabitants of the city of Prague, Czechoslovakia, were bracing for the impending Soviet invasion of their city. In order to make things as difficult as possible for the invading army, the Czechs took down street signs and removed house numbers and door nameplates throughout the city. When the Soviet tanks and troops stormed into the city and demanded directions they received cooperative but baffling instructions that invariably led them someplace they did not want to go.

In 1968, the Czechs were the victims and the Soviet troops were the aggressors. Today, we see a role reversal where it is the impious aggressors who are taking down the 'street signs' leaving the masses in confusion. In our present time of cultural upheaval, not only have the old familiar cultural and moral signposts been torn down but now new unreliable and unintelligible signposts have been put up in their place by those promoting a new relativistic morality without God. Confusion reigns supreme amongst an overwhelming majority of the populace. A common way of coping with confusion seems to be to choose "the path of least resistance". But the Christian has another path, a superior path: "I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life..." Jesus told His disciples (Jn 14:6). Christ is the path for the Christian, the road for Christianity.

Let's look at this Christian Way in Christ. A lot has changed in our perception of walking this Way now that traditional moral signs imbedded within the very fabric of society have been pulled out from under us. What was once bad is now called good. Crimes of old are now common practice and enjoy the blessing of secular society. Many sins of the past are now, well...laughed at.

What is a Christian to do? Hold fast to those traditional moral teachings and precepts enshrined within the Christian tradition precisely because they were important moral principles worthy of attentive respect. Civilization - no longer as we knew it - has become a dangerous battleground of ideas. The Christian should follow Christ's guideline:

"Behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Mt 10:16)

Many Christians have neglected this advice and have let go of many core Christian beliefs as a result. Pray for them. Pray always!

Next post: "NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME"

George A. Peate, July 16, 2008

Visit the website: Unborn Word Alliance
Visit the blog version of: Unborn Word of the day

Yeah, I'm a bible thumper...

Having some fun in the photo studio today....

As heard on Laura Ingraham...

Right along the same lines as the previous post reads this from Laura's daily e-blast.
Yessiree, if we live like dogs, we die like dogs. This my friends, is just sick.

ANIMAL-RIGHTS TERRORISM: Today's interview with the spokesman of the Animal Liberation Front, which the FBI's designated as a terrorist group, was utterly surreal. Contending that it's "morally justifiable" to kill human beings who conduct scientific research with animals, Dr. Jerry Vlasak sounded legitimately surprised when his views ran into opposition. Laura, an animal lover herself, struggled heroically to contain herself. This guy actually maintained that one human being's life held no greater value than that of a fruit fly! Question of the day: Were he on life support and needed an animal-derived miracle cure - would he say no?

a baby...a lobster, what's the difference?

This is a very powerfully disconcerting article Mark Mallett posted.

I was reading last night on pages 48,49,50 of "Seek That Which Is Above" Pope Benedict XVI, and find it coincides with Mark's blog post. This sounds like what is the current paradigm of the Leftists/animal rights/radical environmental extremist groups or what I've dubbed the "Greenmunist" Party.

"Looking at the world, we may well wonder whether we actually have time to think of God and divine things, or whether we should not rather apply all our energies to improving the lot of people on earth. This was the attitude of Bertolt Brecht when he wrote:

Do not delude yourselves with lies,
Like the beasts man simply dies,
and after that comes nothing.

He regarded belief in a world beyond, in the Resurrection, as a deception that hinders man from fully laying hold of this world, of life. But if we stress man's similarity to the animals and oppose this to his likeness to God, we shall very soon regard man simply as an animal. And if, as another modern poet has said, we die like dogs, we shall very soon live like dogs, too, treating one another like dogs or rather as no dog should ever be treated.

The Jewish philosopher, Theodore Adorno had a more profound view of things. In the passionate, messianic yearning of his people, he continually asked how a just world, how justice in the world, could be created. Ultimately he arrived at this insight: if there is to be real justice in the world, it must be for all and for all time, and that means justice for the dead as well. It would have to be a justice that retroactively heals all past suffering. And this would imply the resurrection of the dead. Against this background I think we can hear the message of Easter in a new way. Christ is risen! There is justice for the world! There is complete justice for all, which is able retroactively to make good all past sufferings, and this is because God exists, and he has the power to do it. As Saint Bernard of Claivaux once put it, although God cannot suffer, he can be compassionate. And he can be compassionate because he can love. It is this power of compassion, springing from the power of love, which is able to make good the past and create justice. Christ is risen: this means that there is a power that is able to creat justice and that is actively creating it. That is why the message of the Resurrection is not only a hymn to God, but a hymn to mand, to earth and to matter. The whole is saved. God does not allow any part of his creation to sink silently into a past that has gone for ever. He has created everything so that it should exist, as the Book of Wisdom says. He has created everything so that all should be one and should belong to him, so that "God shall be all in all."

My thoughts: With abortion, partial birth abortion, infanticide and euthanasia running rampant, we have lost our collective soul and our individual souls and our faith in the Good God. We have been blinded by the world and it's lies. I can only concur with the words Mark wrote at the end of his post:

I believe the personhood and dignity of the unborn child must be respected from conception until natural death. Anesthesia is not an option to make the pain of our conscience go away. Ending abortion is the only option. It is coming… whether we end it, or God ends it, the end of it is coming.

The Year of St Paul....

I pray to have a deep conversion of heart, daily...to be "knocked off my horse" so to speak, so God can speak to me. Read about this new ecclesiastical year here.

YOU ARE PETER...

Jesus returning the keys to St Peter, 1820 Jean Auguste Dominique

Homilies in the Papal household

P. Raniero Cantalamessa, ofmcap

You are Peter!

Today’s Gospel is the Gospel in which the keys are given to Peter. The Catholic tradition has always taken this Gospel as the basis for the Pope’s authority over the entire Church.

Someone might object that there is nothing here about the papal office. Catholic theology responds in the following way. If Peter is called the Church’s “foundation” or “rock,” then the Church can only continue to exist if its foundation continues to exist.

It is unthinkable that such solemn prerogatives -- “To you I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven” -- refer only to the first 20 or 30 years of the Church’s life, and that they would cease with the apostle’s death. Peter’s role thus continues in his successors.

Throughout the first millennium, all the Churches universally recognized this office of Peter, even if somewhat differently in East and West.

The problems and divisions crept up in the second millennium, which has just concluded.

Today we Catholics admit that these problems and divisions are not entirely the fault of the others, the so-called schismatics, first the Eastern Churches and then the Protestants.

The primacy instituted by Christ, as all things human, has sometimes been exercised well and at other times not so well. Gradually political and worldly power mixed with the spiritual power and with this came abuses.

Pope John Paul II, in his letter on ecumenism, “Ut unum sint,” suggested the possibility of reconsidering the concrete forms in which the Pope’s primacy is exercised in such a way as to make the concord of all the Churches around the Pope possible again. As Catholics, we must hope that this road of conversion to reconciliation be followed with ever greater courage and humility, especially implementing incrementally the collegiality called for by the Second Vatican Council.

What we cannot desire is that the ministry itself of Peter, as sign and source of the Church’s unity, will disappear. This would deprive us of one of the most precious gifts that Christ has given to the Church besides going against Christ’s own will.

To think that the Church only needs the Bible and the Holy Spirit to interpret it in order for the Church to live and spread the Gospel, is like saying that it would have been sufficient for the founders of the United States to write the American Constitution and show the spirit in which it must be interpreted without providing any government for the country. Would the United States still exist?

One thing that we can all immediately do to smooth the road toward reconciliation between the Churches is to begin reconciling ourselves with our Church.

“You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church”: Jesus says my “Church,” in the singular, not my “churches.” He had thought of and wanted only one Church, not a multiplicity of independent churches, or worse, churches fighting among themselves.

The word “my,” as in “my Church,” is possessive. Jesus recognizes the Church as “his”; he says “my Church” as a man would say “my bride” or “my body.” He identifies himself with it, he is not ashamed of it.

On Jesus’ lips the word “Church” does not have any of those subtle negative meanings that we have added to it.

There is in that expression of Christ a powerful call to all believers to reconcile themselves with the Church. To deny the Church is like denying your own mother. “You cannot have God for father,” St. Cyprian said, “if you do not have the Church for your mother.”

It would be a beautiful fruit of the feast of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul if we too were to learn to say of the Catholic Church to which we belong that it is "my Church!"

http://www.cantalamessa.org/en/omelieView.php?id=344

I say AMEN, Father!! AMEN!!

Have a blessed solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul today everyone
Pray for unity, pray, pray pray
and let's run to Our Lady, Our Mother
and ask her fervent prayers for us, her children,
to stop bickering, fighting and breaking apart the
Body of Christ even more.
Forgive us, Mama most holy -
Forgive us this atrocious
"sibling rivalry"
and help us to love as we are loved
to forgive as we've been forgiven
and to live out our faith
as One Body.
Amen.

susie

...By Pope Benedict XVI

Read at Catholic Culture, The Eucharist Is Not a Meal Among Friends

Local farmer shares stories of faith/family...

This is an article from the June 13 2008 Catholic Voice Omaha, by Lisa Maxson
www.catholicvoiceomaha.com

First book looks at importance of stewardship

For Curt Arens, workin the land of his grandparents' farm along Bow Creek in Crofton, NE, not only brings him pleasure and a source of income, but also deepens his Catholic faith.

Raised on that land, the 44 year-old Arens writes about learning how to farm and the importance of his Catholic faith in "Down to Earth: Celebrating a Blessed Life on the Land." His first book was published in January as part of ACTA Publications' American Catholic Experience series, which features first-person reflections by lay people.

The 110 page book is filled wih short stories about Arens' upbringing and the people who impacted his life- family and friends and those in his parish and community. It traces his development as a farmer and a Catholic.

"The book is a tribute to the sacredness of rural life, particlarly those hardworking, generous people in my own community," Arens said. "It is about the faith and farm lessons I've learned from my parents and grandparents, from my wife, children and in-laws, and from my neighbors and friends."

Arens tells about growing up on the family farm, imparting his personal stories about the details of farm life, of being a good steward, experiencing college and eventually marrying and taking over the family farm from his parents, all with faith at the base of each story.

FREELANCE WRITER

A veteran freelance writer, Arens and his wife, Donna, have three children. He has been published in Successful Farming, Nebraska farmer, Nebraska Life, American Profile, Norfolk Daily News, and Living Here. He founded "Farm to FAmily Connection" a Yankton S.D.-based weekly radio program promoting local family farms and communities. He also writes a weekly column, "Farm to Family" for the six newspapers owned by the Northeast Nebraska News Agency in Hartington.

Arens told the Catholic Voice he wrote "Down to Earth" because he felt there was a need for more materials and books for rural Catholics and Christians that focus on the unique aspects of being in a rural parish, community and family farm.

He said the National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a "great organization" that works in this arena, and he wanted to write this book to lend a hand and add something to what is already out there.

"I also think farming is maligned by young people as a career choice because it appears too difficult and pverty-stricken" he said. "It is difficult, sometimes grueling. However, there are improtant rewards in raising a family in a rural area, wrapping oneself in the safety and loving embrace of a close-knit rural parish community and being closer than most to God's wonderful creation."

TWO MESSAGES

Arens spoke of two messages in the book: that food should never be taken for granted and the importance of deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Mass. "We have gotten so used to cheap and pletiful food, but family farmers know that fod is never guaranteed," he said. "A few minutes of hail or a few weeks of drought can destroy a crop before our very eyes. Months of labor and expense can be dashed away in short order. We truly need to value the gift of food from our Creator."

"Jesus could have chosen any medium in which to be present at the Mass, but during the Last Supper, he chose bread, a product of wheat from the fields, and wine, a product of the vine - both very agricultural products - as a medium to be present anytime Mass is celebrated," he said.

"The consecration is a sacred time - one of truly solemn awe - and as Catholic and farmers, we have a special appreciation for this great gift of his presence with us in these products of the land" he said.

Arens said his faith is strong, but still forming.

"I am a Catholic who goes through the rhythm of faith like anyone else. However, I have a deep devotion - dating back to my preparation for first Communion with Sr. Veronica Wolff at St. Rose of Lima School - to the holy Eucharist and I love the Mass," Arens said. "I also am keenly aware of God's presence, not only at Mass, but in the fields and meadows that I have the honor to steward over."

He said he learns something new about his faith every day from God, his pastor, his family and his friends. "And believe me," he said, "I'm paying attention."

John Michael Talbot's conversion...partial story of his journey

ONE BREAD...ONE BODY

Pray for these people...

Yesterday was the day for two funerals of two of the boys who were killed last week when a tornado hit a Boy Scout Camp, near Omaha, actually in Iowa, at Little Sioux. A very disturbing thing occurred about 9:30 a.m. or so. I was at work when our office manager, Cory, told us her sister had called and told her that a family, not sure how many kids, was standing on a very busy corner of Center Street and 120th holding signs that read: "Boy Scouts are fags." "God hates Nebraska" This was right along the streets that lead to a Church of Christ where one funeral was and the other leading to Mary Our Queen Catholic Church.

The Westboro Baptist Church, out of Topeka KS, whose main purpose I guess, is to spread their skewed version of Christianity, totally deficient of one iota of the virtue of Charity, was displayed yesterday, and was most dispicable. When Cory found the website we read some of it in disbelief and shock that this is what some think Christianity means. That our Loving Father actually hates any of us is so misguided, and then to see how that belief leads people, a family with children, to go stand on the street of a funeral procession with these signs is outrageous.

The picket schedule on the website is now changed, but when we read it yesterday, under "Omaha NE. was the name of each church to be picketed where the funerals were held. They called the "something" Church of Christ church a "leper colony" and they called Mary Our Queen - a Catholic Whorehouse. I know we have many enemies in the world, but what is so hard to take is the enemy that is supposedly Christian. Pray for those children that they may come to know the Truth and help their parents.

I have prayed for them. I prayed on the way to the Holy Family Shrine yesterday, going to volunteer, and then went to the chapel to pray a rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet for them. Even in my "anti-Catholic" days, I would never have resorted to this. I can't think of anyone I know, Protestant or Evangelical or Pentecostal would do this. Please pray for these folks, especially these children who are being indocrtinated to hate Catholics, Jews, and other Protestants who don't believe like they do. The farther one gets from the "Source" the murkier and more deadly the water becomes. This is an unfortunate example of such a statement. The farther one wanders from the One True Church, the Catholic Church, most anything can be taught and believed and the more narrow the vision becomes, the more narrow the mind and the more closed and calloused the heart.

I pray that those traveling to the funerals didn't have to see this horrific display of hate. I know they were chased off of one place they were standing, and I hope they didn't show up at another.

Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy

Lilies of the field...

Go to the desert.

Letter & Spirit...

The birth of the Church...

Resurrecting a great link I wish this was accompanied by wonderful ancient music, but it's still an amazing visual.

Pick this book up sometime, if you've not read it.
And check out Mike's blog, too.

How old is your church? ...

Find out here.

God rest your kind, patriotic soul, Mr. President...

Mr. President, God bless you. God rest your soul. I miss you. You were like a "Dad" to me. And like I say every election year since you left office: "I miss voting for that man."