My Catholic Life

Everybody’s talking at me, jive talking, telling me lies. A ball of confusion, that's what the world is today, full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Ok, somebody has got to give me some props for that one. I don’t know if you noticed but I managed to quote three songs and Shakespeare in my first two sentences. Of course, a lot of the youngsters might not recognize the lyrics of Nilssen, The Bee Gees and The Temptations. My witty banter aside the point is baby, baby it’s a wild world and a lot of nice things turn bad out there but just remember there's a lot of bad and beware. As may be apparent by some of my most recent posts, I have been quite distressed by what seems to be an overly harsh, and often defamatory, critical view of our Pope. So a-Googling I went over the last couple of days and I have come across evidence of many, who consider themselves good Catholics, that advocate not only criticism, but resistance and disobedience, to our dear Holy Father. They ...

I am so tired of all this Pope stuff. Not our Pope himself, that man has my total, unreserved, unequivocal support. Because he is good? Because he is wise? Because I think he is a great leader? Because I think that he will take this Church to were it is supposed to be? Because I am in denial and have blind faith and obedience to a man who some believe at the very least cannot keep his foot out of his mouth or at the worst speaks error and heresy? No. Because it is what Jesus prayed for, it is what Jesus wants. If Jesus wants it we can know the Father wants it. If the Father and Jesus want it than the Holy Spirit works for it and I will assent to it, I will say Amen. What I am tired of is what we are doing to our Pope and to the Mystical Body of Christ by refusing to be united to him. Because it is only in unity that we ARE the Mystical Body of Christ. Our Pope, our Magisterium, our clergy are in persona christi capitis, (The person of Christ the Head). We are persona christi ...

I recently watched a documentary entitled “Pope Michael”. Apparently there is a man in Kansas that says he is the legitimate Pope. David Bawden aka Pope Michael, believes that through heresy and corruption that the Church has forfeited it’s authority. The Church, the magisterium and the Pope are not the Pope of him. As a matter of fact he believes that there has not been a legitimate Pope since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. So the last six popes have not been the Pope of him. In 1990, in order to fill the seat of St. Peter that had been vacant for 32 years, a conclave was held. The conclave consisted of Bawden, his parents and three friends, all of them laity as Bawden had never been ordained. So, there you go, that’s how you make yourself Pope. How about that? You learn something new every day. For the past 23 years there has been a Pope in Kansas. According to reports there are about 30 people in Bawden’s flock, including his mother and possibly two seminarians studying un...

Boy we’ve got a lot to do everyday, don’t we? I take care of six of my grandchildren all day almost every day and that includes home school. Now if all I had to do was to keep them alive until the end of the day I suppose I would have more time. Nope, there are dishes, laundry, trying to keep the house looking just short of a disaster area, meals, baths, kids wanting to do this, kids wanting to do that, kids needing this and that, potty training, kids who are supposed to be potty trained and forget now and then, mediating disputes, planning curriculums, implementing curriculums and the list goes on and on. Standard taking care of children day. That doesn’t leave much time to set aside for regular prayer. All those who find time to pray raise your hand…you are doing better than me. Finding time alone to pray would actually be a welcome mini-vacation for me. We’ve got a lot of things to pray for too, don’t we? Praying for ourselves, for our families, for our friends, for our churc...

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends (those whom we love) Jn 15:13. Have you ever stopped to think about the phrasing of this verse? Have you wondered why Jesus used the words "lay down one's life' or "to give one's life" rather than just simply use the words to die? Jesus is about to physically lay down his life, to die, for those whom he loves, mankind, us. But physical death is not the only manner of laying down one's life, of giving one's life for another. Jesus gave us this example not just in his death but also in his life. He died for us, yes, but he also lived his entire life for us. Dedicating his life for us, giving up his own wants and desires for us, for our benefit, for our sake. In the preceding verse, Jn 15:12, Jesus says " This is my commandment: love one another as I love you" . We are commanded not only to love, but to love as Jesus loved. All Christians are called to...

Even to the death fight for the truth, and the Lord your God will battle for you. Sirach 4:28 People don’t get me….a lot. It’s not easy to march to a different drummer. More often than not, someone like me, has tried really hard to fit in. But no matter how hard we try we don’t, we can’t, that other drummer just won’t let us. It is a voice that tells us that we are not being true and a sense of integrity will not let us pretend. Sometimes we think we have found a place, a place were we are the same and then something happens and we find out that we are being called to be different there as well. Different drummer marchers are often warriors. Along with that drum we hear trumpets, bugles and shofars. We hear reveilles and calls to arms. We fight with all our might and we fight for what we think is right. Often you think we are fighting for one thing, to be right, to win, to be in charge or control, but we are not. We are usually fighting for an underdog or a principle or for yo...

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6 It seems I have been inspired to write on the subject of unity in the Body of Christ today. I don’t think we realize how powerful that unity is in our prayers, how praying in “one voice” can bring us into the presence of the Lord. Or how the sound of the many in “one voice” strikes fear in the heart of the enemies of our soul. The Church from it’s earliest days has been attacked by disagreement, division, dissention, heresy and schism. Jesus said “ a house divided cannot stand” (Mt 12:25, Mk 3:25, Lk 11:17) and the Epistles are full of verses calling us to remain as one, one with each other and one with the teachings of the Church. This unity is such a position of strength for us, so great in its power that satan does his very best that it not be so....