My Catholic Life

My first podcast for Vericast.  In this episode Vickie Armstrong gives a perspective on the Conquering Power of the Church. She talks about the Obelisk at St. Peter’s square as a symbol and witness of that conquering power and discusses a model from the early Church. Christ conquered through the Gospel and through the Church that he established. In today’s world true cooperation with him and true witness to him must include an increased confidence in his Church as well. You can watch that episode  here

A blog I wrote for Vericast. On a recent Tim Haines show,  Parading Mistruth , Tim discussed some of the controversy that surrounded the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York and Boston.  One thing that controversies like this manage to do, is generate lots of drama. Catholics seem to be just as susceptible to drama as anyone else. The thing is, often we find ourselves debating the drama and not the real issues.  We debate whether or not Cardinal Dolan gave an order for the police to give a faithful Catholic the bum’s rush. We then prove it with frame by frame video evidence. We accuse one person of employing a goon squad of thugs, yet will willing gather in mobs of our own. Gang banging across the internet, seemingly unaware that there is a difference and a line between making our voice heard and harassment tactics. We attempt to take by force what may instead be taken by grace. We resort to discrediting reputations rather than clarifying issues.  It is not only wi...

A blog post I wrote for Vericast.net In the Christmas Present    Tim, Wilson and Father Paul Nicholson discussed some current attitudes about Christmas and the need for us to reclaim it. We attempt to reclaim the day, the season and even the greetings of Christmas from the secular that endeavors to wrap it in relativism, social cohesion, consumerism, commercialism and the narcissism of self.  Yet our attempts may prove themselves powerless if we are not, at the same time, responding to and actively reflecting the essence of Christmas ourselves Read entire article here

Prayer warriors are called warriors for a reason. We understand that for, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. (2Cor 10:3-4) There is nothing passive about those who war in prayer but they do understand the dynamic of our total dependence on God. Read the rest of the article on Catholic365 here

Another post in my Turning the Tide series for Vericast. When I chose the title Turning the Tide for my series this was the scripture that I was thinking about. The term itself does not appear in the scripture, but it’s what happened. When Moses held up the staff the tide of battle turned in favor of the Israelites. When Moses lowered his hands the tide of battle turned in favor of the enemy. Often it feels like we are on the battlefield battling our little hearts out and that the enemy is having the better of the fight. It seems that our government is bit by bit hemming us in so that we can no longer live, proclaim and share our faith. It seems like evil can boldly show its face and no one blinks an eye. Within the Church it seems that we are at odds with each other. It seems that many are at odds with the clergy and the magisterium. Both faithful and clergy are, at times, at odds with Church teaching.  It does not seem that we have the better of the fight. The fight seems to h...

Guess who I am using for my inspiration today? The Guess Who, that’s who. And if you know the Guess Who then you know from my title that I’ll be working with two songs from the playlist. Anybody here see the noise, see the fear and commotion? I think we missed it Anybody here see the love, see the hate being motioned?   Anybody here see the noise, see the fear and commotion that is surrounding the Synod on the Family? If you are following the media and the bloggers it is hard to miss it.   There is noise, there is commotion but most of all there is fear. The extreme progressive side is afraid that the Church is going to tell us to put a muzzle on our sex lives. The extreme radical traditionalists are afraid that the Church won’t tell us to put a muzzle on our sex lives, thus leading us into apostasy.   Those in the middle are being encouraged to perceive the Church as a completely human institution, a government just like any other government.   By...

This is the second installment of the series, "Turning The Tide" that I am writing for the Vericast Network. Here is the link http://www.vericast.net/blog/2014/10/08/turning-tide-taking-stand/