It is so easy for us to give into the world. The world constantly tells us that our faith is "outdated," "ignorant," or even "hateful."

The problem with society is that it believes that if you are going against the majority, something about your way of thinking must be wrong. We are trained to be so tolerant of others, while being told that our ways are too archaic.

We can easily become numb to what goes on in the world in terms of premarital sex, homosexual acts, or even abortion, that we begin to act as though nothing is wrong.

An example of this appeared on Oprah today. I know I probably should avoid watching the show, but I was looking for something interesting. She was hosting a reunion of some popular soap opera and introduced on of the major stars. She and the actress proceeding to talk about the major impact that this character had on culture including the promotion of homosexual relationships and even the "first legal abortion" on a tv show. They discussed these things as though they were accomplishments.

This is what we face today. Society tells us that these people are heroes because they stand up for those that cannot defend themselves. How are relationships such as the one on the show considered accomplishments? Why is the institutionalized murder of a living, breathing child something to be proud about?

The people believe that they are accomplishing major goals for mankind, but they are truly tearing humanity apart at its core.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14
You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
15
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
16
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."

We need to pray for these people and society. In an age where God is not welcomed into the home, school, or office, we need to remind these people that God is always waiting for them to come home. We cannot even comprehend God's mercy.

"Let nothing upset you;
Let nothing frighten you.
Everything is changing;
God alone is changeless.
Patience attains the goal.
Who has God lacks nothing;
God alone fills every need."

JP2

When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.
Pope John Paul II

Holy...Monday

This Holy Week, I begin to think about the state of Christianity in the world today. Everywhere I turn, there is hatred for the Christian lifestyle. The media claims that we are a Church of hate because of the way we live. Because we stand up for the sanctity of marriage and the sacredness of every human life, we are considered too traditional or even intolerant of others.

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

The world believes that it is freer than ever because of so much “tolerance.” The truth is, we are not free of materialism and selfishness, it consumes us. We want everything in excess, whether it is money, items, or even some sort of fake love. Society believes that all of this will make people happy, but when you continue to hoard items on your boat, you’re bound to sink.
True Christianity goes against all of that. We are to follow the perfect example of Christ. Not only did God create all of us and everything we need, but, when we failed, He sent His only Son to save us. And, not only that, our Lord, Jesus Christ took on human flesh to do this. He gave the ultimate sacrifice in the most…sacrificial way. If I was suffering so much and I knew that I had a way out, I probably would take that way out, wouldn’t you? He didn’t. He did all of this for you and me, even though we fail over and over.

P4MAIP4U

Please pray

Please pray for the people of Japan and other victims of the recent natural disasters.

These images are truly heartbreaking and these people need our prayers.

Sorry about the ad before the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKh-QaeT6rc

Can you imagine your loved ones and everything you own being swept away by water right after a major earthquake?

This little light of mine

Light a virtual candle and say a prayer:

http://www.lightingacandle.org/Candles/

Word Made Flesh

An archive of some cool quotes about the Blessed Sacrament and you know how much I love quotes!

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/tes/quotes11.html

Some of my favorites:
"Who is Jesus to me? Jesus is the Word made Flesh. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the cross. Jesus is the sacrifice offered at holy Mass for the sins of the world and for mine. Jesus is the Word - to be spoken. Jesus is the Truth - to be told. Jesus is the Way - to be walked. Jesus is the Light - to be lit. Jesus is the Life - to be lived. Jesus is the Love - to be loved,"

- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament....There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, that every man's heart desires,"

- J.R.R. Tolkien

"By a beautiful paradox of Divine love, God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation and our life. We have slain Him; we have nailed Him there and crucified Him; but the Love in His eternal heart could not be extinguished. He willed to give us the very life we slew; to give us the very Food we destroyed; to nourish us with the very Bread we buried, and the very Blood we poured forth. He made our very crime into a happy fault; He turned a Crucifixion into a Redemption; a Consecration into a Communion; a death into Life Everlasting,"

- from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's This is the Mass

And a cool video of a sort of mobile Adoration through the streets of NYC:
Watch

New and Improved

Like the new layout?

I feel like it's less obnoxious :)

Happy Ash Wednesday by the way! Today is the day that we can actually recognize other practicing Catholics.

One reason I love Ash Wednesday is because of it's counter-culture-ness. In modern times, religion seems to be in hiding. Secularists would rather see God-fearing folk in their churches and not causing scenes. Too bad because here comes trouble :)

Interesting article about ashes:
Wearing the Poppy, Wearing the Ashes


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rFrWGjKTcU

Does anybody see what I see?

Stuff like this bugs me:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/miamicbs4-15750840/teacher-criticized-for-how-she-sent-a-note-home-24445195

Sure, maybe the kid was embarrassed. Did the Mom ever stop to think that maybe his humiliation would stop him from acting out in class?

This may not have been the best way to deal with the situation, but I am so tired of kids acting out and no real discipline as a result.

Amy Chua has some interesting points about this:
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/11/132833376/tiger-mothers-raising-children-the-chinese-way

This is why people are sooo messed up today. As children, they were taught that they could do no wrong. Now as adults, they can't understand why they aren't receiving gold medals for waking up in the morning.

Commitment people!

Abigail: Have you forgotten what you used to say to me, I haven't. Commitment, Abby, commitment. There are only two creatures of value on the face of this earth - those with a commitment and those who require the commitment of others. Do you remember John?

For all married couples...

Don't Text and Drive

Please watch this and pass it on:
TXT and Drive

Keep your phone in a safe place, and don't let it distract you.

Ichthys

Recently, I had an awkward conversation with one of my classmates. Not that the content was especially awkward,it was more that I wanted to leave but for some reason, we kept talking.

Somehow, we got to a point where we were talking about how she does not like to go home often. After a while, she explained that she is the daughter of two Presbyterian ministers. I explained that I didn't know much about the Presbyterian denomination, and she went on to explain that, because of this connection, all of the Presbyterians in her town judge her actions. She also went on to explain that her Dad and step-Mom did not care for her fiancé.

Somewhere in the conversation, I mentioned that I was Catholic.

In order to make more of a connection, I told her about how my brothers are both in the seminary. She didn't seem to understand that the statement meant that they both hoped to be Catholic priests someday.

At one point, she finally seem to understand because she said, "Oh, so they are going to become the Catholic priests that don't have kids."

So I answered, "Well, yeah. They don't get married."

She then said, "That must be hard to live alone..except for with just guys."

I then replied, "It's not hard, it's a sacrifice." Looking back, I probably should have said, "it may be difficult, but it is a sacrifice."

It's funny how, the world today, acts like a teenage child acting a certain way just to make it's Father angry.

Until that conversation, I had never seriously thought about how much I need to represent my brothers, and all religious for that matter. When people hear that someone is Catholic, they seem to immediately think of the scandals going on or maybe they think that no one is a "real" Catholic anymore (more the Nancy Pelosi types I guess).

When people ask me about my brothers, I feel like I need to defend them as well as all priests, seminarians, and religious that I know (or don't know).

When Michael first entered the seminary, I seemed to get all of these new uncles. I feel much more connected to the Church and its priests. Not that I wasn't connected before, I just feel more responsible in the representation of the Church. But, we should all feel that way, all the time.

Catholics should defend their priests in these trying times. They are walking through the lions den, and their parishioners should be right there with them. In a time when people only associate the Church with scandal, these priests and religious are true heroes.

Pray for your priests and be armed with information! When someone finds out you are a Catholic, show them your love for the Church and its servants.

When someone draws that Ichthys in the sand, don't ignore it. Profess your faith and finish drawing that fish!

March for Life

This video shows the biased nature of the media when it comes to the March for Life every year. The media constantly chooses to ignore the March despite the overwhelming numbers of marchers.

Media Malpractice at the March for Life

Putting the humanity back into the human

Philadelphia doctor who performed abortions charged with murders

I wish stories like this would wake people up from their ignorant slumber.

Even if, for some reason, you support abortion excerpts like, "...a search of Dr. Gosnell’s clinic had turned up bags and bottles that contained aborted fetuses.
'Jars containing the severed feet of babies lined a shelf,' the statement said," should shake you to the core. You should begin to realize the evils of abortion.

"Gosnell 'induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord.'"
(http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/19/philadelphia-abortion-doctor-charged-counts-murder/)

After hearing the saying "He who sings prays twice," almost all of my life, I wanted look up the source of this "quote" or determine if it really was a quote at all. This saying is usually employed by choir directors of parishes that are a bit too quiet.


Father Z has a cool post from 2006!

"Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat; qui cantat laudem, non solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat. In laude confitentis est praedicatio, in cantico amantis affectio…For he who sings praise, does not only praise, but also praises joyously; he who sings praise, is not only singing, but also loving Him whom he is singing about/to/for. There is a praise-filled public proclamation (praedicatio) in the praise of someone who is confessing/acknowledging (God), in the song of the lover (there is) there is deep love."

In any case, I will be in the music ministry for Mass tonight and I need all the help I can get!

Sophia

There is no possible way to describe how wonderful my Grandma was and how much I will miss her, but I will begin by saying that she had so much love to go around. She made everyone feel welcome and always put others before herself. In public, she was a quiet woman with a loving smile with eyes that gave the glimmer of wisdom and excitement from her many adventures of youth. In private, with family, she showed her humor and sacrificed everything to provide for her loved ones. Even these words don't seem enough to capture the glimpse of Heaven that was my Grandmother, but they are the best I can do at the moment. I love you Grandma and I miss you so much!

Dzisiaj w Betlejem



SUNSET and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

(Crossing the Bar - Tennyson)

I haven't updated in a while, so here goes..something..

I'm back at school now with a whole new semester of classes. It feels strange being back here and especially with the new schedule. After one semester of grad school under my belt I can make some observations. In grad school, they kind of assume you know all of the procedure and such. Don't get me wrong, I like not being treated like I'm in preschool when it comes to finding forms and the like, but sometimes I feel like there should be some advice available.

I can say, for sure, that my head as not in the game after Thanksgiving break. My Grandma suddenly passed away during the Thanksgiving weekend. I know I still haven't come to terms with it, but I'm really trying. I came back to school after that break, but I left my heart at home.

After getting very sick and finally taking my last final I was able to come home.

Christmas break went fast (too fast). After going home late because of a snow delay for my exam, I went straight to work at the bakery which was very therapeutic after so much turmoil over Thanksgiving break and with my exams.

After Christmas, we had a sort of talent show with friends and I decided to honor my Grandma there by singing a Polish Christmas carol with my brother. It seemed only fitting because she had spent Christmas with the birthday Boy this year.

Empty snowfall crush
Eyes burn with warmth of Spring
Lost in this gray slush

JP2, we love you!

John Paul II's Beatification Process

"VATICAN CITY, 14 JAN 2011 (VIS) - On 1 May, the second Sunday of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, Benedict XVI will preside at the rite of beatification for John Paul II in the Vatican.

According to a note released by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, "today 14 January, Benedict XVI, during an audience granted to Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, authorised the dicastery to promulgate the decree of the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla). This concludes the process which precedes the rite of beatification. "

The Cross of St. Andrew

St. Andrew Christmas Novena Prayer to Obtain Favors

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (30th November) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.)Imprimatur

+MICHAEL AUGUSTINE,

Archbishop of New YorkNew York, February 6, 1897

This is disgusting...

Give the gift of an abortion this Chritstmas

The entire invitation is horrible, but one of the worst lines is:
“The gift certificates are also a wonderful idea for that person in your life who puts everyone else first and has been putting off taking care of her or his own health. Now, there’s no excuse for those people in your life not to get the basic health care that they need."

No, obviously this person is putting herself first instead of her child.

Planned Parenthood is basically saying, give this abortion certificate so they can get on with their life by ending one.