Our home has needed a little TLC for some time, but it seems like we always put other things before it. Sometimes, our finances got in the way, and that’s probably the only excusable reason. More often than not, we just thought it was too hot to work, or too cold to work. Or a video game or a novel was more compelling than the couple of hours it would take to paint, or weed, or make a trip to the local dump.

It’s a shame, really, because there was no need to let things go the way we did. Now, as I sit back and admire my handy work, and look forward to adding something other than off-white to our color palatte, I am saddened that I wasted so much time when I could have been enjoying a more welcoming home.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a little like my experience with painting this weekend. Sometimes we put off going because we perceive it to be difficult or awkward. Maybe the times are inconvenient and we are seduced by the allure of an early movie or an evening out. Whatever our reasons for not going, they are there and keeping us away from the healing grace of this sacrament.

My own experience with the Sacrament of Reconciliation usually ends in a similar way: why did I wait so long?

Unlike slapping on some paint to cover stains or dullness, Reconcilaition offers something greater than just cleansing our souls (ok, that’s pretty good, don’t you think?), it helps us to explore the root of our sins. A proper examination of conscience and true contriteness and penance helps us grow.

We grow closer to God through our suffering experience, and we grow as human beings when we can recognize our weaknesses and work to overcome them. This powerful sacrament is more than just a recitation of our sins, it is the real expiation of our sins, our short-comings, our tendency to be frail and prone to error.

It is more than just a quick fix that leaves us shiny and new on the outside; it heals us from the inside out through God’s loving grace.

Don’t wait until things get really ugly. Do yourself a favor and go to confession. I hear it’s good for the soul.

Rosary Army has been a presence at the Eucharistic Congress for many years. It started with a bucket of rosaries and has grown into quite an operation requiring the coordination of volunteers. The thing is, no matter how complicated it appears to be, somehow, literally through the grace of God, the day runs smoothly and we successfully execute our mission: to distribute rosaries to everyone who wants one.

It’s difficult to anticipate what our needs will be, so every year brings surprises. This year’s big surprise, Jennifer and Greg delivering one of the talks during the general track, was a wonderful one. It’s hard to imagine that the hosts of the popular The Catholics Next Door, the founders of Rosary Army, should have gotten their humble beginnings shoving rosaries into the hands of startled but appreciative folks, but there you have it!

The theme of their talk, to encourage each of us to find that passion for Christ — that passion for evangelization – and to have the courage to pursue it is a powerful one. We can’t be afraid to act. We can’t be afraid to step up and live our lives in accordance with the Truth. Sometimes it’s hard, and usually it’s scary, but always it’s fruitful.

“He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet!  Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, ‘Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?’”

The world is a challenging and sometimes very fearful place to live. We each are called to face the daily burdens that are before us, and yet we can get tired and afraid. If only we would have faith then we too could know the peace of God. It is no weakness on God’s part but in our faith that fear enters in and we fail at the work that is before us. We attempt to lean more on our strength and intelligence and less on the grace given to us by God. Then when we find ourselves in a tight spot we call out to God and expect an immediate answer. Problem is, that we put ourselves in a place where we do not trust God’s Grace, God’s Timing or even God himself. It is not uncommon our even original. All we need do is listen to the trials of Job or the travails of the Apostles on the Sea of Galilee. I suspect we all have had moments just like this when we are sure that there is nothing to be done that can bring us hope. It is then that regardless of our fears that we must trust in God. He is the creator of all, and has promised that if we are faithful nothing will ever truly harm us. Not to say that everything will be perfect mind you, Sin enters in and creates stormy lives just as we have suffered (So Far) a stormy summer. But when we rely in God even though the world around us be falling apart the Lord will give us calm, peace and strength to persevere. The test then is not from God but from ourselves, do we trust in God or ourselves. Only when we trust in God can we truly be free, truly be saved. Let us then not be afraid and enter into our turbulent world bringing our faith and the Peace of God that comes with it!

Peace,

Fr. Bill (P.S. Sorry it has been so long since I have been able to post. I hope to post on a regular basis, again with God we can have peace even in the Storm!)

Stations of the Cross

Also, if you’re looking for additional audio reflections and talks, here are a few more we’ve produced over the years that you may have missed:

Downloadable Audio Rosaries can be found here

Audio Talk: Be An Apologist!

Audio Talk: Prayer in Relationships

Total Consecration Podcast (all the prayers for St. Louis de Montfort’s Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary)

“Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.’”

These words are offered to us with Hope but also with urgency. As Paul reminds us the time for our salvation is not yet to come but now. We have been called through our baptisms into a mercy that forever transforms our lives and makes us over in the fullness of God’s likeness. No longer hampered by sin or even death we can enter the world with hope. But we cannot allow God’s will to be left undone because we fail to do our part. What you say, “God can handle it! Just like the U.S. Air Crash Last week,” Well I do indeed believe that God had a hand to play in that miracle for so indeed it was. But in that miracle were the Pilots and Crew who did what they believed was their duty, the passengers who cared more for others than for self and the bystanders who did not just sit back and let the people freeze and drown.  Each one of us has a special role to play in the salvation of the world. Like a symphony led by a master conductor we are called to make our notes in support of the greater theme. Our theme is not to sound good or be popular but to announce with our very lives that Jesus is the savior of us All. This was a lesson learned by Paul when he met the Lord Face to Face on the road to Damascus. It was there that he received his call to be a voice to the Gentiles. He was God’s chosen instrument to reach the whole of humanity with that Good News. Let us then join in the great work of salvation continuing the mission of Christ and his Apostles winning over this world and brining it out of Death and into Life. Then we will have done what have been made to do in our Baptism, Announce the Gospel to Every Creature!

“Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas’ — which is translated Peter.”

Each one of has had a similar experience as did Peter. We have been called by name and been made over receiving a new name, sanctified by our baptism and called into the mission given to us by Christ. Each one of us has then a vocation by which we can fulfill our part in the plan of mercy God has set into motion through Christ his beloved son. In the world today we can get so bogged down with the day to day. The roar to the world around us makes it impossible for us to recognize when Jesus calls us by name. I suspect it has always been such, for as we heard in Samuel’s call it comes in the night when the young Samuel was asleep. I don’t know about you but most of us sleep through the night, indeed it was said of me that I could sleep through a tornado (This actually happened).  Most times we are so tired at the end of our days it takes many hours of sleep or a bucket of water to be awakened. Then what can we do to hear the voice of our God? We need to spend time listening to God in our daily lives, time marked by silence. Actually it might be easier for us to get a message when we are sleeping… We have incredibly busy and crazy lives, yet we are called to times of silent contemplation as well as prayer. It is in these moments that each of us can hear the Voice of the Lord as did Samuel, as Does Peter. We are then able to respond as we are called. When we fail to listen and go lazily about our lives that we are failing as did Eli for there was no prophecy in the land of Israel. We have suffered this in the church and we all have seen the terrible works that came about from a failure to live according to the fullness of Gods Plan. Let us spend time before the Blessed Sacrament then and discern our call and the true call of the Church so to bring cleansing and healing to our Faith and indeed the whole world!

Peace,

Fr. Bill Kessler

It is easy to accept God’s will in our lives when things are going well, but when we face challenges in our lives, whether they be related to poor health, financial struggles, difficulties in our relationships, or any number of disappointments that hurt us, embracing Mary’s example of submission seems practically impossible.

Secular society treats the word “submit” with great disdain. We are taught through the media, the “talking heads”, and celebrities who really have no qualifications as role models that submission is a sign of weakness, and worse, the result of oppression. For Christians, however, submission to God’s will is an action.

It is a choice that we make.

When Mary gave her consent, “Let it be done to me as you say” (Lk 1:38), she became a part of God’s plan for salvation. She turned her body and will over to God and through her, He delivered to all mankind His son, Jesus. It was Mary’s faith and obedience in God’s plan that serves as such a wonderful and inspirational example for us today.

What better way to start the new year than by recalling that we can all grow closer to Jesus through his Mother. I encourage you to embrace Mary’s example and put your faith and obedience in God.

May God bless all of you in 2009.

I admire the folks who can really pull it off. I think I get about halfway there but I admit to getting sucked into celebrating Christmas a couple of weeks into Advent. The Advent wreath and hymns at Mass are a reminder that it isn’t Christmas just yet, but then I succumb to my favorite holiday shows and … well … I’m weak. I admit it.

It starts with one of my favorite cartoons, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I so loved it as a child although probably for very diffierent reasons than I love it now. When Linus reads from the Gospel of Luke and tells the nativity story I am overwhelmed. So beautiful!

The cartoon is usually aired right in the middle of the self-induced hysteria that generally substitutes for Advent. To my amazement, the show sends a powerful and timely message about the misplaced values and commercialization of what mainstream society calls the Christmas Season. As Catholics, though, we celebrate the Christmas season starting with Christmas and ending eight days later. Unfortunately, it seems like everybody else moves on to New Year’s when we start to celebrate the real Christmas season.

Still, I can reconcile the mixed messages. A Charlie Brown Christmas rejects commercialization and focuses on the real meaning of Christmas. Before the T-shirt kiosks at the malls were making money on their “Put Christ back in Christmas” shirts, the Peanuts Gang sang it loud and clear. I don’t mind the reminder, even if it comes a little early. In fact, I need to hear the message early to prioritize and remember that I am not preparing for Christmas turkey and gift exchanges and too much eggnog.

Advent is instead a time to prepare our hearts to “receive” Jesus, the Light of the world, the Word made Flesh. We can enjoy the anticipation without giving ourselves over to the hysteria. Instead of dreading that there are only 17 shopping days til x-mas, we should be be rejoicing that Christ-mas  is only 17 days away!

Merry Chri — um, have a great Advent and don’t forget that it’s a good time to seek the healing power of the sacrament of reconciliation. We need to prepare our hearts as well as our homes.  Excuse me now while I get back to the TV and cue The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

“May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

That is something I think we all do this time of year. There is so much going on and so many things to gather our attention. This season of the year though our thoughts should turn to the eternal. When we can see so much around us that is passing the mind can become saturated and soggy. This season of Advent then is our chance to take our focus out of the world and put it towards God. Indeed as we spend time preparing for the Great Feast of Christmas our focus should be not merely our preparation for those moments of gift giving but on the reason gifts are given. Jesus indeed is coming again. In his day all people will find justice and peace. We are the agents of his coming. Only when all people of the world are ready to receive him will our Lord Come Again. When that will be is known only to God, but each one of us is called into contemplative action to know our part in welcoming Jesus again. So let us not be asleep but vigilant in our time of renewal. If we have sinned let us seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If we have not spent time in prayer (Apart from Sunday Mass of course) then choose a time to pray with your family. Open an Advent Calendar to remind yourself that Jesus is coming again. There are many ways to remain vigilant, choose one and do it so that we are alert and active until the Lord should come again!

Peace, and a Blessed Advent

Fr. Bill Kessler

Actually, the traditions are as varied and diverse as the people who celebrate this day. While the traditional fare includes turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, a visit to our dinner table will reveal black beans and rice, yuca, and flan for dessert. We’ll make the almost traditional turkey, but marinate it in mojo — no gravy!

The menu doesn’t matter — the point is to get together and enjoy each other’s company. And of course, to give thanks.

That’s something that is easy to do when things are going well, but a deeper and often bitter challenge when they are not going well. For every measure of joy in the world there’s the equivalent in human suffering and mourning.

Why then, offer thanksgiving?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reveals that

2648 Every joy and suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one’s whole life: “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess 5:18).

Indeed, there are many reasons to give thanks. My grandmother passed away this year after a very long battle with Alzheimer’s, but I am so thankful for her presence in my life and the joy she brought to my children. Our dinner table will have an empty place setting, as our oldest is away galavanting in New York City and marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade with the band, but we are excited and enjoying her adventures vicariously as she checks in and gives us updates. We miss our extended family in Miami, and will have a quiet and stress-free meal with our two younger children who are recovering from surgeries — one will hobble up to the table after knee surgery and the other will attempt to eat anything since she’s still feeling uncomfortable after surgery to correct her deviated septum. We are so very thankful for their doctors and the successful surgeries, and we might even confess that thanksgiving dinner in comfy pajamas, while not a tradition we’d like to repeat, is going to be cozy and fun. We’ve had plenty of health challenges, but God continues to bless us. We have good jobs in a scary economy. We have a loving home. We have wonderful family and friends. All these things and more give glory to God.

We don’t really need a holiday to give thanksgiving, but it’s a good reminder that living as Christians  ”means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him” (CCC 224).

What are you thankful for?

The beginning of the year was marked with the launch of a brand new website, the continuation of the popular Rosary Army Catholic Podcast, the filming of a brand new episode of That Catholic Show (we’ll release this soon), followed by Rosary Army’s participation in the very first Catholic New Media Celebration, which brought hundreds of Catholics together to focus on evangelization using new media such as blogs, websites, podcasts, video, and other technologies.

Through it all, the core mission of Rosary Army continued to flourish. Thousands of all-twine knotted Rosaries have been distributed throughout 2008, and countless new Rosary Army “soldiers” started making, praying, and giving away all-twine knotted Rosaries and encouraging others to do the same.

Since incorporating in 2003, our family has run Rosary Army completely out of our house. For years, we’ve had employees and volunteers working out of our home, helping us juggle the amazing amount of requests that we receive each year for Rosaries.

With four (going on five) kids, a dog, and the other responsibilities of raising a family, along with the incredible growth of Rosary Army over the years, this past summer it was necessary to procure an office where Rosary Army employees can process mail and handle day to day operations without having to work in the closets of our house next to our dirty laundry! Believe it or not, that’s how we’ve been running Rosary Army for all these years. Nevertheless, it’s been an amazing experience to witness Jesus and Mary start something with a single spool of twine, and turning it into a worldwide apostolate that has touched countless thousands of souls.

But with thousands of Rosaries flooding in and out of the doors each month, and with even more people are learning about the mission of Rosary Army,  the needs of the apostolate continue to grow.  Therefore, all Rosary Army operations are now being handled in a new distribution center that will hopefully make it easier for employees and volunteers to help grow the apostolate and help more people.

Another monumental change happened for Rosary Army in August of 2008 when my wife Jennifer and I were hired by the Archdiocese of New York to host a daily radio program on The Catholic Channel, which the Archdiocese runs for Sirius Satellite and now XM Satellite Radio.

The show, titled The Catholics Next Door, launched on September 3rd and reaches a potential audience of more than 40 million people. The program is available Monday through Friday from 10AM to 1PM EST on Sirius Channel 159 and XM 117.

Part of our agreement with the Archdiocese was that we would still be able to focus on Rosary Army to make sure that people were still encouraged to make, pray, and give away Rosaries.

However, as a result of the time constraints of the new radio show, as well as the time commitment needed for our ever-growing family, on November 20, 2008, after much prayer, heartache, and discernment, we decided to bring the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast to an end so that we can better focus on the original goals of Rosary Army, while also concentrating on the full-time radio show which pays the bills to support our family.

Rest assured, though the podcast has been brought to a close, there are no signs of slowing down for Rosary Army.

Already there are several amazing events in store for the apostolate in 2009. More details on these will be revealed in the next few months, but let’s just say one event in particular already has us working to gather up 30,000 or more Rosaries to give away on a single day. If you can help in this goal, we’d be very appreciative.

Long time Rosary Army soldiers may also have noticed that we did not launch our annual Giving Campaign as we have for the past several years on All Saints Day.

At this time, we are asking that if you already are a monthly donor to Rosary Army, that you prayerfully consider continuing your gift. Our expenses continue to increase with new rent, utilities, and other operational costs, but we felt that given the current economic climate, and with Christmas and the end of the year so close in sight, that for now we’ll just continue to trust Jesus and Mary that we’ll have all that we need to get us through the next few months without asking you to make additional sacrifices to help out.

If you would, though, please be praying for the apostolate in this regard. We are doing everything we can to keep our expenses as low as possible, but we also know additional employees are needed to keep up with the demands of operating the organization. Your prayers for guidance from the Holy Spirit would be appreciated.

And to all of you who discovered Rosary Army as a result of the podcast, thank you for your support over all these years. Again, the podcast may have been brought to a close, but Rosary Army isn’t going anywhere.

Keep checking back and we’ll keep you updated as we continue working toward our original goal of bringing more souls to Christ through the making, praying, and giving away of all-twine knotted Rosaries.

In Jesus Through Mary,
Greg and Jennifer Willits
Co-Founders, Rosary Army

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius 159/XM 117
• Continue Following Greg and Jennifer at their New Family Website

Subscribe to the feed | Subscribe with iTunes

“‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’ ”

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. This is the very first Cathedral Church of the Bishop of Rome.  Built upon the sight of a Roman Legion Fortress it was the place where the first Popes led all the church. But as with all Churches it is what happens within that is truly most important. That is something I think we tend to forget. Granted we want to preserve the places where we are baptized and where significant moments of our lives have occurred, But the most important thing is what happens in the hearts and minds of those who walk within those walls. The Sacraments of life which occur within the walls of each church leads that structure to be considered holy and respected. It is good for us to have worthy spaces in which to experience the grace of God. Indeed that is why we are working to repair our windows and do those other tasks to sustain the building in which we celebrate the Eucharist, and Reconciliation.  What then isJesus saying to the Pharisees? Is he devaluing the Temple? Absolutely not, he indeed reverences the Temple but states that the most fundamental elemental temple is the Human Person.  He is foretelling the manner of his Death and Resurrection, the Temple he speaks of is not made of brick and mortar but the very life he has.  He would be torn down on the cross, laid bare in the tomb and by his Father’s will would be raised on the third day. What lessons then is there for us to learn? We are people called to worship in the Church and then into service. We take God with us as we receive the Eucharist! Do we then live our lives accordingly? Given the Culture of Death we live in I would suggest that we do not. Why is it that we worry about Chickens being given the right to live free range and yet we continue the murder of Children through abortion, the assisted suicide of the hopeless, and the condemnation of criminals to death? We do not reverence the temple of the Human Person. This feast is a reminder that we all are a place for the spirit of God to dwell. Let us learn the lesson given to us in Christ and seek to live as he shows us, not for ourselves but for God and others.

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”

How gracious then is our God to us. Today we remember with thanks all those who have gone before us. We also seek to offer them aid and mercy by reaching out to them in prayers. They grace given to us by Christ is meant for not merely those of here and now but for all those who have ever been and all those who are yet to be. Often we become so wrapped up into our daily lives we forget those who have gone before us. On this special day we are called to reflect that God is God of the Living and the Dead.  We in life hope to live forever in God’s presence but often our preoccupation with this life causes us to misinterpret God’s will. In those moments we repair our relationship with God through the gift of Reconciliation. That repairs the breach between God and us but we hold onto much more that would make our entry into eternity disastrous. God knows we are working toward a renewal of our truest selves but cannot ourselves accomplish. That is where the Church understands that there is midpoint where we get rid of that would prevent us from standing forever in God’s presence. This midpoint is for us Purgatory, a place where we purge ourselves of those earthly concerns that weigh us down. God’s grace overcomes all our faults but we hold tight to some elements that only God’s love and mercy can purge from our souls. We can thus assist those who have gone before us by remembering them in prayer until they behold the Beatific Vision forever. In this world we too must do everything we can to make ourselves ready for the day when we meet God face to face.

Then we must do all we can to live true and virtuous lives free from grave or mortal sins. In the next few days we as a nation must bring our Faith to bear in reaction to the sin active in the world today. We are called to act on behalf of all those unable to defend themselves and bring about justice for all humankind.  There are wars which have unjustly taken the lives of millions, poverty which has reduced the opportunity for millions more but the greatest evil we now face is that of direct taking of human life through Abortion, Physician Assisted Suicide, and Capital Punishment. Over 50 Million infants have had their lives stolen because we have not stood up to defend them. Countless more millions will die if we do not stand for God and Life. How long will it be until all human life is as worthless to our society as infants, the ill and infirm, and those accused of Capital crimes. The Document “Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship” States: “There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons.”

A good friend of mine, Dr. Paul Camaratta, speaking as a private citizen responded to what some people believe: That voting for a Anti-Life so called Pro Choice Candidates is allowable as a Faithful Catholic, when he wrote : “As to the ‘proportionality’ argument, that is, that one would have to have a proportionate reason in order to vote for a pro-choice, pro-FOCA candidate that would outweigh the harm that might be done instead of voting for someone who would attempt to outlaw abortion, Archbishop Chaput said it best – “What is a ‘proportionate’ reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life — which we most certainly will.”

Please prayerfully consider what you are called to do as a Faithful Catholic Citizen of the U.S.A. If you have not had a chance read the Documents on Faithful Citizenship at the Saint Patrick Parish Website http://www.stpatspana.org. May God Bless the whole world with the courage to live our faith and enter into God’s kingdom as defenders of each other’s lives.

It appears that this election will be closely monitored, from within our borders because of so much partisanship, but also from without, as I can never recall an election that commanded so much interest from abroad.

It is the almost rabid partisanship that has me concerned. While I fervently want my candidate to win, I don’t think the country will collapse overnight if he loses. The odds are generally in my favor that one of them is going to be elected [smile].

 I also think that the threats from both sides to move to another country is neither practical, nor good for America. This is a great country. It will still be a great country on Wednesday morning. As her citizens, we have to remember that once the election is over, we need to put away the blue flags and the red flags and go back to the business of waving the one flag that unites us, you know, that pretty banner with the red, white, and blue.

Tonight, this vigil to one of the most historic elections in our nation’s history, I urge you to pray. Pray for guidance.  Pray for enlightenment. Pray for patience. Pray for protection. Pray for love. Pray for justice. Pray for forgiveness, and brotherhood, and peace.

Pray. We seem to have forgotten, in some circles, that prayer can heal us.

Vote responsibly.

God bless America!

Mom alternately laughed and cried as she read those vignettes. There is no doubt in my mind that my own writing was influenced by my mother’s appreciation for Bombeck’s ability to capture the joys and [hidden] pains of motherhood and family life. I have the sneaking suspicion that the Nobel Prize in Literature would not be as well-received as my having a small column in the local paper.

This realization delights me to no end, yet it speaks to a great truth about how subtly we are influenced by our parents and family. My mother didn’t have 300 channels of satellite radio, 1000 channels of on-demand TV, or endless hours on the internet; she had books to keep her company. Some of the moms I knew had hobbies like knitting, sewing, and crafts. Mine, it seemed, read. It’s no surprise that I grew up to be like my mother.

It also makes the not-so-subtle point that children capture far more from observation than commands. What a responsibility! What an opportunity!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that our first catechists, our “parents, grandparents and other members of the family” should receive a “special gratitude” because it is from them that we “have received the gift of faith, the grace of Baptism, and life in the Church”(2220). What a beautiful gift it is to grow up in a Christian household.

As we go through our lives, raising our children, interacting with extended family and friends, keep in mind that little ones are watching and learning to emulate our behavior, for nothing expresses clearer what we truly believe than our actions.

Make sure to reflect on the Sunday Readings first either on Verbum Domini or the  USCCB Sunday Reading Site

 “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

This is the first commandment, and yet how often are we willing to accept it. Jesus had fearlessly been preaching the Good News of the Kingdom and had silenced all those who came against him. But the Pharisees wanted to take a different tack. They then ask this question about which of the Ten Commandments is the greatest. Jesus doesn’t even flinch as he knows the author of those commandments, indeed he is the Word spoken to bring those commandments to life. How often when asked this same question, have we answered likewise? We are asked this question every day by the choices we make as we live in this world. For myself the challenge to love God fully by getting up and praying as I have promised, when I am tempted to love sleep just a little bit more. Or when I have the chance to protect the defenseless, but I am tempted to protect my comfort, my anonymity. We face these challenges everyday and cannot on the whole say that we love God if we fail to respond to these everyday challenges.  It is not to say that we cannot have our own life but it should be shaped by these commandments of Love and Life. It is not easy but the rewards are eternal life. Paul reflects this back to the Thessalonians when he says: “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers”.  For when we make ourselves over into God’s image then we will love God as he has loved us, Love ourselves as we are loved by God and Love all the World with that same love! Do not live half a life that is comfortable but empty, rather live the live shown to us by Christ!

That crash and burn technique serves me well; I am in the business of reading and writing. There’s always a deadline, always a new book that I must read. Of course, getting to review books for The Catholic Company is a bonus for me!

Last month when my review copy of Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire: The Encounter that Changed Her Life, and How it Can Transform Your Own  by Joseph Langford arrived, I was going to treat it like any other book — something that was going to give me some fleeting pleasure. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t have a cavalier attitude about books. I love books. My ravenous consumption of books is probably rooted in my fundamental desire to read everything, or at least, everything that I can get my hands on.

When I sat down to read Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire something unexpectedly different happened to me. I slowed down.I savored the book. I turned to it, not in a frenzy to see what Langford says next, but to absorb and understand the message.

Joseph Langford examines Mother Teresa’s encounter with Christ through prayer, and it vicariously becomes ours. The lessons are profoundly deep and yet so simple that they can be distilled from the advice she so freely gives:

If you want to pray better, you need to pray more.

That simple command to pray more encouraged me to seek a new level of understanding within my own prayer life. The book captivated me with its life-transforming messages thanks largely to Langford’s expert handling of so esoteric a subject as prayer. After all, those of us who see prayer as a mysterious activity for the super holy have failed miserably to understand its nature. I attribute my own past failure to a fundamental inability to lay bare my soul in a vulnerable position.

Can you imagine anyone more vulnerable than Mother Teresa? And yet, she dedicated herself to seeking and helping those who were indeed more vulnerable. Her secret is exposed here for our benefit, so that we, too, can be transformed, and be transformational for others.

Langford deftly breaks down the essential attributes of prayer as expressed by Mother Teresa — to “pray from the heart” and  to hold “inner silence.” That last one, especially, competes with every distraction continuously pulling at us. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

This beautiful labor of love, not just Mother Teresa’s magnificent legacy but also Joseph Langford’s insight into her secret fire, is a must-read for all of us at any stage of our faith journey.

[Her] message is something infinitely rich, yet infinitely simple. She has shown us that, as the burning desert yearns for water, God yearns for us. And the God who thirsts for us is not hard to find, since he dwells in our soul as his temple, and comes in the palpable disguise of our suffering neighbor, making it easy for us to find the unsearchable God, and to come face-to-face with Christ.

Get it. Read it. Embrace the transformational power of her secret fire.

“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

This phrase is often quoted but I wonder if it is fully understood. Indeed it is the foundation which sets for us the precedent of how we are to live in this world. It has as an underpinning though, the fact the God is the creator of all. But even with that fact of divine creation we are called to live in a world governed by the rules we call laws.  The laws of this world cannot be put aside because we are offended by them. That being said we are called to enter into our world and bring about the promise of God’s love.  You have the chance to change the world every day if only you would realize what God is calling you to. We are a people who get lost in the everyday routine of things. But when we recognize our unique role of God’s Children we can do amazing things.  Not by ourselves alone do we act for as Paul tells us: “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”  Thus we are powerful and active when we render to God praise, worship and all that he has shown us in Christ. Do not surrender this God given task or we will suffer as did the Israelites who under Cyrus were taken into exile for they had abdicated God’s mandate and needed to learn that God is God of All, again. As we look towards the future we must look at all facets of our lives, and move not with the old routines. Rather we are  to seek out how we render to God all that we are called to do so, and while respecting the rule of law on this Earth work to bring about the greater glory of God for ourselves and every generation!

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius
• View House Renovation Stuff on Greg and Jennifer’s New Website

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As I entered the church last Sunday I happened to glance curiously at a couple surrounded by some county sheriff’s deputies and some Spanish-speaking parishioners, and in passing saw some luggage piled in a corner. While my head registered that the scene was under control, my heart nudged me a little—something was just not right.

After mass, I approached one of the church employees, my dear friend, to see if there was anything I could do to help. Sadly, there was little to be done on a Sunday evening. The county emergency services only operate during business hours. [mental note: remember to schedule my emergencies during banking hours….]

It turns out that the unfortunate couple had been evicted earlier that day, and in the abuses and indignities that are often piled upon society’s marginalized, they were not paid what they were owed.

In one moment they became homeless and penniless.

I confess that when dealing with the homeless and poor I often do so with a suppressed air of pity or perhaps worse, an underlying level of scorn. It’s not something I’m proud of—in fact, the origin of those feelings are most likely ingrained in my constant sinful failing: pride. Certainly I would never find myself in their situation, except that, quite possibly I could.

There were no signs of mental illness or the debilitating welfare condition that breaks spirit and initiative. They didn’t look violent or drunken or drug-addled, or any of the other ugly stereotypes of the homeless. No. This was a couple that seemed to be hard-working and guilty of nothing more than an ill-timed risk that failed miserably. As a result, they found themselves beaten and abandoned on the side of the road.

I was shocked to note how their situation paralleled the parable of the Good Samaritan. This couple was desperately in need of temporary aid—some immediate intervention to help them connect with the friends and family that would come to their aid. They were less than 24 hours away from help if they could just make it through the night.

Their countrymen walked past them. The holy man also kept walking, presumably caught up in his other duties. Finally, the officials abandoned them. They were saved, ironically, by a man who just a generation ago was “the enemy.”

Rather than an indictment against all the people who could have, but chose not to help, I want to focus on the ones who did take action. In a world focused on the grand act, the opportunity to give generously to a cause célèbre, the real sacrifice comes from the unnoticed generosity of the anonymous folks who act when no one is looking. It’s easy to do the right thing when there are people around to take note. It’s quite another to do the right (but difficult) thing when no one would know otherwise.

Except, of course, that God is watching. What will He see today?

“The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.  Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.”

 Make sure to reflect on this coming Sunday’s reading at : http://www.usccb.org/nab/101208.shtml

Do you ever find yourself just feeling out of place? The presence of God is not a good place for this to happen. Indeed the Lord our God has invited each one of us into his presence. Given us everything we need to stand eyelash to eyelash with our creator. Yet I wonder how comfortable we would feel in his presence. Are we sufficiently attired to stand in his presence? Are we mentally attired as we ought to be? Have we like the first guests turned down the invitation in outright defiance of what God has called us to? (I suspect if you are reading this that is not the case, but we all know folks who fit this description) What then can we do? How can we, even if we recognize God’s call, make ourselves equal to his majesty? Well the answer is: “We Can’t but God Can!”  Or as Paul put it: “My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.”  Not to say that we have nothing to say. We have within our power to live according the rules and attitudes (Read that Commandments and Beatitudes) given to us by God.  So let us make ourselves disposed to the fullness of God’s invitation. Come to Church dressed as though you were standing before God (For indeed we are!) Let us also make our hearts and minds ready through reflecting on the scriptures, coming to the sacrament of Reconciliation. Then we have no fear of being thrown out but can enter fully into the presence of our God on this Earth, and into eternity!

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius
• Shady Twine
• Greg and Jennifer’s New Website

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“Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

So if you have lived a good life do not fail in seeking out God. Sometimes we can get settled in what we do and how we do it. We become prejudiced that our way is the only way. Yet God works in many and mysterious ways. He is generous to a fault as we heard last week. He calls all people even those who ostensibly should be excluded from God’s love. We all should be in that position, not just the public sinners! But Jesus came and our opportunity for Grace forever changed. No longer are we kept frozen in sin but with God’s help like the sinners of the Gospel we can say yes to God and no to sin. But do not allow yourself to become settled in what you know is right. We are incredible self deceivers, with the ability to say “’Yes, God,’ but then not go.” As the prophet Ezekiel makes very clear any purposeful misstep (read that as Deliberate Intentional Sin) will be a cause for our separation from God’s life. Every person has the choice then to follow God into life or follow their will away from life. We must be people who have in our lives active the very Heart and Life of Christ. Then all our actions will be imbued with his spirit and will. Do not then be afraid of what is before us and what might challenge us for the Lord himself will give us everything and everyone we need to complete our journey through this world and into the life of Heaven!

Enter the social utilities where I play a bit throughout the day. Many of you come to the forums here at Rosary Army. Others participate in any number of opportunities to twitter, plurk, pownce, rejaw and otherwise microblog your activities throughout the day. These utilities are wonderful ways for us to connect to a community of faithful Catholics that share our lives in all the mundane and dramatic turns that make us human.

One of my plurky friends, Edgar the Mexican, announces the Angelus daily. Okay, it’s not a ringing bell, but it is a call to prayer nonetheless. Do churches outside of Rome even ring the bells anymore? Anyway, in his own gentle and not at all in-your-face kind of way, he simply announces the Angelus. If the intent to pray is a prayer in and of itself, then I have been praying along with Edagr every time he posts.

It’s not enough though. I mean, I’m not looking for a short cut. When my friend Linda asked me recently if I ever pray the Angelus, well, it was clearly more than a coincidence. One thing is running across a prayer while visiting Catholic websites, where, frankly, it’s kind of expected, it’s quite another to be out for lunch with a friend and have the topic come up.

So, I got the message. Loud and clear. Maybe this is what was I was yearning for. Maybe, within the prayer is the one thing that I need to change. Maybe, just maybe, I’m getting better at listening to God.

Here’s the part that moves me, that makes me pause and really submit:

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Join me, Edgar, and the Church universal in this call to prayer. See ya at noon!

“‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’”

Have you heeded the call of the Master? He is out in out in our lives every day and yet so often while he seeks us out we stand apart waiting in vain for our Ship to come in. Yet it is our call to share in his works and get to work. There are many in this world who do not have the ability to do what needs to be done. We who are able must then carry the work of God into the world, transforming ourselves in the process. Not everyone is able to do the same things but that is OK in that not everyone needs to be able to do everything. We each have our own particular part to play. This was laid out for us in our Baptism when God called each of us by name. Each one called to the work of salvation and life everlasting. Do not become discouraged if a new way is discovered by one recently called for God works in ways we cannot yet comprehend. The Lord invites the entire world to share in his Glory but regardless of the time we are called or when we answer we each receive the gift of Everlasting life. This parable can be misconstrued as to showing that we earn our salvation. Nothing could be farther from the truth.  God gives to each one who is his child the gift of Everlasting Life. We must choose to be his Child, in so choosing we then do what he has called us to and share that Life with the entirety of Creation. Do not miss out on this invitation to join in the work of Salvation for in doing so you might miss that chance to draw others deeper into the mystery of God’s life and so miss that opportunity yourself.  By denying the gifts of God in our minds we close out those same gifts for ourselves. God seeks us out; let us then receive him and all those God calls with us so that together we might enter into his life forever!

Peace,

Fr. Bill

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius
• Shady Twine
• Greg and Jennifer’s New Website

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“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

We look up for inspiration and for hope and yet when we look up at the Cross of Christ what is it that we see? I suspect Nicodemus expected this “Son of Man” would be suspended on a clouds with God’s glory streaming from him bringing hope to the world. Indeed  the idea that a Crucifix would be a sign of Glory would have been laughable. But look at the symbol which brought life to the rebellious Israelites. They were redeemed and healed by the very image of that which was causing their death. But in God’s wisdom we human beings must go through death to truly come to life. It is for us not a necessity though because one was chosen to be lifted up and through his death give life to the world. To understand how absurd this must have seemed you have to understand that Crucifixion was the worst sort of death any person could be condemned to. Indeed only those seen a criminals of infamy who would make a point “Don’t even think of doing what he/she did unless you want to end up like him/her.”  So Jesus, a sinless man took on the death of the worst human sort, but why?  Scripture makes it very clear “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” So let us look at that which brings us life, receive his body and blood broken and poured out. Then we can share that life with the entire world who will see not us but him who was crucified alive in us!

The reality for us though is so often that we tell everyone but the person who wronged us what they did to us. We live in a world where direct confrontation is frowned upon and yet it is our Catholic Christian way of bringing a person out of sin and into life.  As we go about our daily lives though it is so much easier to grin and bear it, then vent our frustrations with friends, family or whatever stranger happens to be in our path! How much better would our world be if we would honestly address those with whom we have conflict? Indeed we would find closer relationship because we would no longer hide our fear, anger and shame.  It is then for us to surrender our fears and enter fully into the relationships we share with those who journey with us.  For if we fail to do so then we put ourselves in jeopardy.  Not merely the lives of those who have harmed us but our own life. Jesus is very clear in that there is right and wrong, and very clear that we are called to share that truth with the world.  Not to judge but to share the truth and then trust that God will help to show the way and truth and life meant for us all.  If then the wrongdoer fails to reform they will no longer be compatible with our way of life and wander on. We though will continue to be a light in the darkness and a hope to the hopeless. Do not turn away from this responsibility for your sake and the sake of the whole world!

Peace,

Fr. Bill

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius
• Baby & All by Three Blind Mice

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“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

From Meet the Press 8-24-2008

MR. BROKAW: The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it…

REP. PELOSI: I understand that.

MR. BROKAW: …begins at the point of conception.

REP. PELOSI: I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy.

Just in case anyone has any doubts about what Jesus would say to Rep. Pelosi:

“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

When we think we know better than God we are heading in the wrong direction, away from life itself! So much in our world is turned upside down because we have abandoned the plan of God and accepted what Human Beings accept as true. Look at the world around you, life is valueless unless you are able to produce. Old and Young the most defenseless of society are to be literally thrown out in the garbage lest they impinge on our personal freedom. Our personal freedom and its unrestricted exercise have taken the place of a well ordered life centered in the life of God.  What then are we to do? We aren’t allowed to speak out lest we hamper the rights of others, or does it matter. Maybe the time is right to say to the world, snap out of it lest you be destroyed. Indeed Paul pleads with us: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” So let me be very clear here, Life begins at conception, it ends properly when we expire at the end of our days, anything less than that is against the very will of God! So now we must hold ourselves, our families and yes even our Politicians accountable. Indeed we cannot help but face derision and hardship if we accept this but we cannot help but accept it if we are God’s own.  We face many decisions in the coming months and must make hard decisions as we seek new leadership in our nation. Do not be swayed by human wisdom but by the very life that comes from God. Do not conform to what you have always done but live according to what Jesus himself has shown us.

Peace,

Fr. Bill

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius
• Goodbye by Aaron

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While attending a birthday party last weekend,  I had the pleasure of sharing my love of chocolate with another reveler. I use that word oh-so-cleverly because not only were we enjoying the party, but she happened to “reveal” something to me in passing that actually became the topic of a brief conversation.

Have you ever given much thought to chocolate? I mean, beyond whether or not you want nuts in it? Me neither! Sure, I have the occasional urge to get dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. For the connoisseurs there’s no contest—dark chocolate rules, but for the rest of us, milk chocolate has the right amount of creamy sweet goodness that puts a smile on our faces.

Hershey’s was brilliant when they named their little bite-sized treat a Kiss.
Anyway, while my friend and I were enjoying the chocolate icing on the cake, she made a comment that really made me think. She noted that chocolate is very bitter and only becomes a delectable treat after milk and sugar have been added. Wow! Of course. I knew that.

Because I’m kind of nerdy, I looked up the process for refining the chocolate. The historical roots can be found in the Mayan or Aztec people, who distilled the cacao beans and made a frothy bitter drink, and after Columbus presented the beans to Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spaniards began drinking it, after adding milk and sugar to counter its bitter taste. It wasn’t until the 1800’s, after the Italians and the Dutch tweaked it that we saw the emergence of chocolate resembling what it is today.

So chocolate, and the Olympics, got me thinking about how we really need each other in order to grow and maximize our potential.  Stay with me here, it’s not such a stretch. We need the fraternity and interaction of community, and the [ideally] friendly competition that keeps us growing and changing to improve our lives, and improve society.

I was not at all surprised to find that the Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say, generally, about the forces that led to the development of chocolate candy, and the benefit of the Olympics Games:

Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man; they are necessary to him. To promote the participation of the greatest number in the life of a society, the creation of voluntary associations and institutions must be encouraged “on both national and international levels, which relate to economic and social goals, to cultural and recreational activities, to sport, to various professions, and to political affairs.” This “socialization” also expresses the natural tendency for human beings to associate with one another for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities of the person, especially the sense of initiative and responsibility, and helps guarantee his rights (CCC 1882).

See? I told you I’d make the connection. It turns out that as usual, the Church contains the wisdom we need to maximize God’s plan for us.

As St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “All for the glory of God.”

Make sure you check out the Sunday Readings before you head to mass, you can do so at SQPN’s Verbum Domini (www.sqpn.com) or at the USCCB NAB Site (www.usccb.org/nab). Below is a snippet of the Gospel that you can focus on as you read them!

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”

God has fully given freely of his life to us throughout all of history. We human beings though often fail to recognize this gift of love. Indeed we are clueless and lose all that God has generously shared with us. In this little vignette we see the fullness of God’s Wisdom coming forth through Peter. He does not brush aside the wisdom but when called to share it he did. How often in our lives can we say that we did the same? Or do we rather play it safe trying to hold onto our position and dignity before the world.  Peter in a moment of insight opened himself completely to the presence of God before him.  When we in our lives allow the same moments of insight God will give us the same clarity as he did Peter. Indeed it was here the Simon received that name for he had rooted himself not on sand but on the very Rock of Faith. His statement of faith would become the foundation for our understanding of the salvation offered by Jesus. Let us not run away from this clarity but relish in it so that we can root ourselves in the same life as did Peter. For if we stay where we feel comfortable we will find ourselves without, but with God’s help we can find everlasting wisdom and life!

In spite of the gripe-y nature of my observation, though, the truth is that the corner generally offers some kind of local flavor for entertainment. For example, last year, there was a company that would go to homes and buy junk. For cash! I might have invited them over to relieve me of the mess in the basement, but their advertising was suspect. Ok, it was down right weird. Inexplicably, they placed their “junk movers” on each corner of the intersection dressed in royal blue Mario Brothers type work clothes — only, all of it, including an Afro-wig, was royal blue. They looked like that Blue Men troupe. Weird!

Of course, during election times there is a motley crew of folks waving and asking the commuters to honk for their candidates, and there is the random hawker, selling anything from home-made meat pies to kitschy stuff bought from some mail order import company. You get the idea — the corner is always full of surprises.

Last week my senses were assaulted by a woman dressed somewhat like a prairie settler from a hundred years ago, but she was in all white, including some Jed Clampett-looking boots in white, and she was verbally assaulting the drivers as they zoomed past. I figured that I had hit paydirt that morning — here was my entertainment, and I was lamenting that the light would change too quickly and I wouldn’t hear what she was yelling at us.

I got up pretty close and lowered the window, and right about when I heard “The Lord our God will smite you!” I caught sight of the bible that she gripped in her hand. She was waving it around and wildly gesticulating, and I thought to myself, oh brother, it’s just one of those bible-thumping weirdos.

And then I had a revelation. Yup, right there on the corner of Busy and Worldly, I had an epiphany. I wondered, what are YOU doing to live YOUR faith, huh? Yeah, I got caught in my own little moment of hypocrisy and judgment.

Let’s face it, the woman was a little “out there” and she didn’t really look like I’d want to give her any credibility at all, but at the same time, she was doing something about her faith. She was predicating in a very loud and in-your-face way, and was probably not going to convert a single person on that corner, but you know, God has His ways, and while I rejected her personal message, God’s voice rang loud and true: What are you doing to live your faith?

Busted, as my kids would say. What, indeed, am I doing? Am I afraid to live my faith in public? Do I need to stand on a street corner to do it? Certainly not, but I can make some very clear and conscious choices about what I say and do, how I act, what I wear. Living my convictions in the home — with my friends — at work could very well be much harder than just giving lip-service on a street corner.

Then again, it doesn’t have to be.

BE NOT AFRAID!

Sorry that it has been so long since I last posted. Things are really busy here in Pana. I have many boxes left in the garage from my move away from Calhoun. As I sit here watching a rerun of Stargate SG-1 I wonder if I will ever complete the unpacking process. I guess time will tell. Please keep Greg and Jennifer in your prayers as they begin their new ministry on Sirius Sattelite’s “The Catholic Channel”.

Peace,

Fr. Bill Kessler

Links and songs from this episode:

• The Catholic Channel on Sirius

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And yet, there is so much available to guide our exploration of our faith. Our beloved Pope John Paul II, a prolific writer, has written a body of work that addresses our needs, not just as Christians, but as human beings made in the likeness of God, and provides profound insight into God’s love for us and how we can love God in return.

Although these documents exist for us to study and nurture our faith, many Catholics, including myself, are intimidated by them, fearing that they may be too academic, perhaps too esoteric for the common reader. The Theology of the Body was one of those documents that seemed inaccessible to me.

Enter Christopher West, Catholic author and speaker well-known for his on-going work on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. West brings his understanding of marriage and sexuality to people thirsty for knowledge and understanding about a topic that is often relegated to whispers if it is spoken about at all.

His newest book, Heaven’s Song, available in September 2008, continues the exploration of John Paul II’s theology of the body with new material never released by the Pope. In these new talks, West reveals the Pope’s study of the Song of Songs and the marriage of Sarah and Tobias.

I have to admit that I was a little intimidated when I received an advance copy of his book for review. The Song of Songs was just not something I was drawn to, and Sarah – didn’t all her husbands die on their wedding night? It seemed so obscure.

Yet West’s easy, almost conversational writing style engaged me immediately. He approaches the subject of human sexuality so clearly, so humbly that he is able to introduce delicate topics in a non-threatening, comprehensive way that both educates and celebrates our God-given sexuality.

I couldn’t put it down and had to make a concerted effort to slow down and absorb the material. Each chapter not only ends with some thought-provoking questions, but a prayer to engage the reader in living “heaven’s song,” the purest form of prayer.

The beauty of this book is in its ability to convey John Paul II’s message in terms I can understand. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give Christopher West is that it has inspired me to examine my own life; personally; within my marriage; within my family; and within the plan that God has for me.

I yearn to sing with all my heart, heaven’s song.

At first I thought that it would be terribly boring to attend a professional conference by myself. The resort is exquisite and full of many wonderful amenities that are out of reach for me because I am engaged in workshop after workshop. I could be bitter because I am doing what I am supposed to do, rather than submitting to the temptation of a spa.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have found that my personal isolation has pushed me a bit in the direction of actively engaging in dialog with my peers, and taking workshops that both enrich and enlighten me. I hope I leave a better educator.

I’ve also benefitted from a great deal of down-time. My colleagues have gone down the street to visit The Mouse, but I have stayed at the resort, enjoying the solitude and embracing some quiet contemplation and prayer.

Too many times I look longingly at the spiritual retreat offerings near home and think I ought to make the time to go, and then allow myself to be distracted by other demands.

If nothing else, this professional retreat has driven home the point that I must make time for a real, comprehensive spiritual retreat. I need the retreat–not to get away from the material world, but to work hard on my spiritual development.

I need to be present with other like-minded persons (read: Catholic); I need to share my faith journey and hear others share their stories and experiences; I need to learn more about my faith: how to live it, understand it, embrace it.

I need the spirtual refreshment that only The Real Presence can give.

Sometimes, though, having such a detailed plan is a recipe for disaster. When I try to adhere to a plan because I want to finish it, instead of listening to my studnts’ needs and adapting myself to the necessary changes, I end up inadvertently hurting my students and frustrating myself.

On the other hand, if I am paying close attention to the clues in the classroom–things like blank looks on my students’ faces, repeated questions, and roadblock after roadblock, I can adjust what I’m doing. I can stop and regroup and determine what I really need to do to reach my students.

When that happens it is usually an opportunity to do some real teaching since it deals directly with my students’ needs at the moment. The plans may go out the window, but the adjustments become a teachable moment that is often much richer than my original plan.

I’ve witnessed this in my spiritual life, too. We’ve all heard the joke, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” It’s good for a laugh because we all understand that there is truth in the statement. We can plan all we want, but if it does not serve God’s greater plan for us, it will not be a fruitful endeavor.

We need to practice listening to God. It would be great to get a memo confirming that we’re doing the right thing, wouldn’t it? Of course, God doesn’t speak to us in such an overt way. That’s why we need to practice this communication.

Prayer, clearly, is an avenue for that communication. Adoration, especially, places us in a quiet and contemplative environment in the presence of of Our Lord. The frequent reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation heals us and keeps the lines of communication open and clear. Finally, the frequent reception of Holy Communion feeds us and provides the spiritual sustenance that we need in order to continue to grow in our relationship with God.

When we approach our relationship with God in an active way, including Him in our plans, letting Him guide us gently in the subtle ways we can discern His presence when we are open to His love, then we might discover that plan “B” was the right plan all along.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Matthew Kelly’s Rediscovering Catholicism

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If only we all could hear and see what God has so generously displayed before us. God’s grace is in front of us, behind us and all around us. The Parable of the Sower makes it very clear that God’s love is scattered all around us, but we are not always prepared to receive it. Depending on the preparation we have done we are able to receive the grace given to us by God. What then have we done to make ourselves ready to recognize and receive this freely offered gift of God’s love? We can become immune to grace if we fail to dig into our lives and root out that which would kill it. Indeed the callousness of our lives would deflect this free gift if we do not open ourselves to God. How then do we do this? Through prayer, reading of scripture and indeed reception of the sacraments we make ourselves properly disposed to reception of God in our lives. Then we can bear fruit drawing others into the life and grace of the Lord God with us!

 On a personal note, sorry that my Sneak Peaks have been so infrequent of late. As of July 1, 2008 I began a new assignment in Pana and Oconee, IL. I am currently covered in boxes and trying to dig myself out of the move. I hope to update every Thursday from here on forward (As Time Permits). God Bless and dig into your life and make yourself ready for Grace!

As a result, I’m sitting in the dark writing this musing by candle light and using paper and pencil while my laptop sits next to me – the battery dead. There’s something romantic about the scene – the golden glow of the flame – the shadows that move in the flickering light – the sound of the pencil scratching across the paper. Somehow it makes my writing seem more real. Silly, I suppose, to find comfort in tradition.

I found that the same comfort in Mass yesterday. I was running a bit late and entered the church as the priest reached the altar during the processional. I stood in the back for a few moments as I scouted the pews for my husband and son so I could join them. Just then, my unconscious mind registered a series of unusual things – a dark gathering area -open doors – no organist – the priest wasn’t wearing his chasuble – just his alb and stole. I think that’s when I realized the lights weren’t on.

The late afternoon sun was weak, and getting weaker, but there was enough light streaming in through the windows to enable us to see. So what if we didn’t have electricity? So what if the A/C wasn’t on and there were no microphones? We didn’t need them – there was no hum from the A/C to compete with the voices, only the occasional sound of an old lady fanning herself.

The Mass was still the Mass, our a cappella voices sounding sweeter than ever. When the lectors proclaimed the Word, it really was a proclamation for all to hear. And then, at the very moment when we were singing the Alleluia before the Gospel and the deacon raised the Book of the Gospels, the power returned and the lights came on.

Coincidence? Probably.

But still a very powerful symbol. The deacon got it, as he had to contain his smile when he lowered the book to the ambo. I’d like to think the rest of the congregation got it, too.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Follow Greg on Twitter
• Follow Jennifer on Twitter
• 4Marks.com – the Catholic Facebook

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My husband calls those storms that come out of nowhere, rain hard and heavy, and then disappear, gullywashers. I claim cultural ignorance when he uses regionalisms and colloquialisms, so an explanation usually follows, and it is often more colorful than the expression itself.

Anyway, we had just such a gullywasher last evening.  A violent  storm popped up, flashed around some dramatic thunder and lightning, dumped a lot of rain, and disappeared just as suddenly.

Our area needed the rain. We’ve been in a drought for some time, so every little bit helps, even if it’s just a dump and run like last night. I noted the refreshing and invigorating effects of the storm this morning when I went outside with the dog. Everything was washed clean and looked brighter and healthier. The whole neighborhood somehow looked greener, and the sounds of life were everywhere. Is there anything that expresses the wonder of the natural world more clearly than the sounds of birds chirping in the early morning? I was in such a good mood that I didn’t even scream when I walked through a brand new spider web on the narrow path to our backyard.

I reflected on how much we’ve needed that water, and the irony of our brothers and sisters in the midwest struggling with the destructive consequences of too much water. We can’t control the forces of nature, but we can seek balance in our own lives.

Balance is certainly something that I struggle with every day. It seems to me that my modus operandi is to focus focus focus on whatever the hot point is, and let other things fall away. Those things will eventually surface as hot points later, and the cycle continues.

Even as I write about it, I realize that I have no plan to achieve that balance. Maybe the first step is admitting the problem. Perhaps.  At any rate, the realization struck me with the same intensity as the gullywasher. It’s time for me to nurture my physical well-being  as much as my spiritual well-being, my work and my play, and my relationships as well as myself.

Too much of a good thing is just as bad as not having enough.  Sometimes I’m just a little slow to catch on.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Archdiocese of Atlanta Eucharistic Congress
• Catholic New Media Celebration!
• Catholic in Film School’s CNMC Video
• 4Marks – the Catholic Facebook

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We go to execute our mission: Make them. Pray them. Give them away. Boy do we make them. Knot after knot after knot. We have blisters. We have burns. We trample and trip each other pulling on twine that drags behind us as we move among the new recruits. At the end of the day we drag ourselves away, mangled and tired, but uplifted in the Spirit.

Some people think we are exhausted. Maybe a little. But the real truth is that we leave in a state of exhilaration. There’s something special about about teaching folks how to make a rosary. The joy on their faces when they make their first knots is cause for celebration. The little moment of teasing and joking when the second knot is a mess, or too far away, or plain wrong and ugly is a teachable moment.

Knotting a rosay is very much like living our faith. It takes practice to get things right. It takes patience, and persistance.  It also takes a little bit of humility. Often, even the experts, make mistakes and have to untie a knot and try again. Luckily, the twine is very forgiving. Like our God.

We gave away hundreds of knotted rosaries.  In fact, we gave away a couple of thousand rosaries, and when those ran out, we made chaplets with practice twine. We had new recruits who came back with finished rosaries and added them to the giveaway pile.

I know many of those folks took the rosary as a decorative token of the day. A souvenir. Perhaps it’s hanging from the rear view window in their cars, never to be prayed. We don’t know what the impact of that rosary will be, but we do know about the connections we made.

Our Church, the Body of Christ, is made up of people in different places on the faith journey. Many recognized the rosary as a “Catholic thing” but others heard, perhaps for the first time, how to pray it, what it means, the necessity for having a prayer life, and hopefully, they were transformed a little bit by what we shared with them between the joking and the ecouragement.

Just like each knot, uniquely made, comprises a finished rosary, so are each of us, uniquely made and interacting in our own special way, a part of the Church—a part of the Body of Christ.

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I know that sounds a little weird, or as I would write on a student’s essay, that is vague and ambiguous.

I don’t mean to be vague or ambiguous. It’s just an easy way to communicate: we get it.
I thought about this as I was driving to work. I’ll date myself here, but I listen to a classic rock station, and one of my favorite songs by the Rolling Stones was playing, You Can’t Always Get What You Want. You’ll have to look up the lyrics yourself, as the overall message isn’t the stuff of catechesis, but the chorus to the song sends a strong message to me every time I hear the song:

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need.

I can’t get the tune out of my head, and as I move through my day it pops in and out of my concsciousness. Rather than fight it, I just let it play in my head until something else replaces it. As it happens, here it is lunch time and I’m still singing it, so I thought I’d share it with you.

Whenever I hear this song it reminds me that as a faithful Catholic I get it. So what is this “it” that we get? I think it is a sense of security. I am secure in my faith. I am secure in the Truth. I am secure that there is in fact a God, and He is watching over me.

That security, let’s call it Faith, is an incredible grace. It doesn’t change the way things are, but it does change the way we can respond to them. With Faith, life is a whole lot better. With Faith, we can let go of the worrying and put our trust in God. With Faith, we understand that God has a plan for us and that we can and should put our fears aside to follow where He leads us.

With Faith, we’ll always get what we need.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Archdiocese of Atlanta Eucharistic Congress
• Catholic New Media Celebration!
• USCCB Movie Reviews
• Rosary Army on CD

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Archdiocese of Atlanta Eucharistic Congress
• Catholic New Media Celebration!

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Archdiocese of Atlanta Eucharistic Congress
• Catholic New Media Celebration!

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Links and songs from this episode:

• SQPN’s Catholic New Media Celebration
• 2008 Eucharistic Congress
• Curt Miller’s Curt Jester Blog

Contact Information for Sierra Nevada Beer:
Sierra J. Grossman
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Tel: (530) 893-3520
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Having entered into a relationship with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, been fed by Jesus’ own Body and Blood, what then do we do? Do we sit back and leave it all in God’s Hands or do we move into life with the charge given to us by Christ to make disciples of all nations. This season in which we now find ourselves is called Ordinary Time and we can get lost in our everyday lives but we must seek to put at the root of our being the Grace of God. Then every moment of our lives will be colored by God’s life and love flowing deep within us. We will be able to enter into the lives that come before us, with God’s transforming grace flowing from us.  No longer relying merely on our strength God will see us through whatever challenges come before us. With this knowledge then we cannot allow ourselves to sit back and just be. Only if we take our lives into God’s life will we have the strength to persevere in this world as we go into our everyday lives. On this Sunday let us resolve not to accept the curse of disobedience of God’s Will but the Blessing that is his gift to us in the person of Jesus. Then in every time, Ordinary or Extraordinary we are able to do what we are called by our Baptism to do, transform the world through the strength of God within us!

Finally I need to apologize for not have been able to post consistently. I have had PC Problems and I am getting ready for a move to a new set of Parishes very soon.  Thanks to those who read this Sunday Sneak Peek and I look forward to sharing more of the Gospel with you in the years to come!

Peace,

Fr. Bill Kessler

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Links and songs from this episode:

• SQPN’s Catholic New Media Celebration
• 2008 Eucharistic Congress
• Jen’s Spiffy New Chore Chart

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Links and songs from this episode:

• SQPN’s Catholic New Media Celebration
• 2008 Eucharistic Congress
• Greg’s Marathon Video

And be sure to visit these great Catholic organizations in thanks for sponsoring the CNMC:

• Maximus Media Group
• Faith Market
• Catholic Experts
• Invest Catholic
• 4 Marks
• Catholic Match
• Catholic Company
• Catholic Singles
• Echelon Exploration & Production Company
• Circle Press

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Suffice it to say I’ve been Rickrolled for the last time.

Now that I’ve finished all my blustering and posturing, I can admit that I will inevitably be caught off-guard, notably by my brother, and I will fall prey once again to the prank. I’m also coming clean on my tendency to follow trends and propagate memes and games, which brings me to the Great Gratitude Experiment of 2008.

It sounds like it might have come right out of some mega-celebrity’s talkshow, but the truth is that I have really bought into the concept that I want to share today:

I want to make 30 consecutive posts about the things for which I am grateful. My blog is usually self-serving, often cynical, sometimes goofy, and rarely selfless. I’d like to change that, even if it’s only for 30 days.

You know what they say, if you can do something for 30 days you establish a new habit. Maybe this will be a good thing.

And in the tradition of the internet meme, I challenge you to do the same.

Today, I am grateful for my job. It gives me security and the flexibility to use my creativity for the benefit of others. And myself (sheepish grin).

Links and songs from this episode:

• Catholic New Media Celebration!
• Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Eucharistic Congress
• On the U Podcast

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Catholic New Media Celebration!
• Grace Before Meals
• Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Eucharistic Congress
• Regina Doman’s Website
• John Paul 2 High Book Series Website

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Oops. Evidently I didn’t get the memo about a change. Luckily, we knew we were within about 10 miles from the new destination although we were clueless about how to get there.

We foundered for a bit, trying our best to head in the right direction, but the clock was ticking and we were starting to feel a little insecure. I capitalized on the “no-brainer” of dealing with teenage boys and pulled into a fast food joint. I could bank on their distraction with food while I got some reliable directions.

Let me just say that I don’t have an aversion to asking for help when I deperately need it. The problem is that I waste time before I get to that point of desperation. I have to admit that for me, asking for help is a deeply humbling experience–an experience I’d rather avoid if I can find another solution.

If I hadn’t been responsible for getting those kids to their meeting on time, pride might have had me driving blindly.

I hate to think about all the time I’ve wasted in my life, especially in regard to my faith formation, because pride kept me from asking for help or guidance. There are so many rich sources of guidance in our spiritual lives. Of course we always have God, scripture and the Church to guide us, but we can also turn to people, such as priests, deacons or other religious; spiritual mentors and instructors in religious education and formation groups; a wide variety of print resources such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church; and even specific ministries that feed us spiritually.

Ask and you shall receive!

Links and songs from this episode:

• Catholic New Media Celebration!
• Grace Before Meals

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Catholic New Media Celebration!

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What? Sacrament Season? I don’t mean it in a disparaging way at all. It’s just that traditionally First Holy Communion is celebrated in most parishes around April and May. I love this time of year. I love to see the second-graders all dressed up and nervous about their big day. I love to see the smiles and joy on their faces when they come back from the very first time they receive Jesus, His Precious Body and Blood a physical part of them like never before.

It’s an awesome day for them, but for me, the day serves as a reminder that I sometimes put my faith life on auto-pilot, and go through the motions without the awe that is an integral part of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Those little people remind me of the monumental gift that Christ has given us all.

In our parish, the youth received the Sacrament of Confirmation on the same day as the younger kids received First Holy Communion (in different Masses). My son was confirmed that evening, and unlike the other sacraments of initiation, where I first presented him for baptism, and later took him to sacrament preparation class for communion, this time, it was his choice to pursue the Sacrament of Confirmation.

His father and I raised him Catholic, of course, and we taught him in the home through example as well as more formal instruction. In our minds, there was no question that he would choose to follow-through with the life of faith that we had modeled for him. Nevertheless, the formation process for our son concentrated less on our participation and more on his acceptance of and pursuit of the preparation necessary for him to take this step. I can say that it was truly his choice to be confirmed—his choice to stand up in front of our family and faith community and publicly declare his beliefs for all the world to see.

Too often, our youth experience Confirmation as an end—an end to formal religious formation, an end to “having” to go to church, sadly, an end to having God at the center of their lives. It is not a graduation of the faith, but a commitment to embark on a life-long journey of faith.

My son had ample time to discern that commitment, and several opportunities to step away and put it off, but he chose the path of faith. That path will not always be an easy one. It will have some bumps and scary places, and sometimes some alluring side-roads. In the end, though, it will be a rich journey and one that will take him closer and closer to God.

Congratulations to all the Confirmandi (and the Communicants, too)! It is a wonderful springtime in our parish families when we celebrate the future of our church.

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Catholic New Media Celebration!
• Zina’s Super Cool CNMC Commercial

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That same authority was then handed on to us. Very clearly the mantel of leadership has been passed on the to the Apostles, and by our baptism onto us. But even the Apostles stood around and looked up at the sky waiting for the work of God to be done as by lightning from the sky. The Angel of the Lord reached down to shake them out of their stupor and said get to work. We also need that very same message. God has not abandoned us, and truly is with us until the end of the age, we then, are called into action and service of neighbor. To do so we must in our lives suppress our desires for certainty and security, and move in faith. No longer are we powerless to defeat evil in this world. Only if we allow evil to overwhelm us can it succeed. If we rise against the forces of evil in this world, we will find a reservoir of strength and life that cannot be overcome. For that strength and life is God’s own gift to us in Jesus his son. If you are like the Apostles staring into the skies wondering when God is gonna finish what he started, now is your time to join in this great work of grace. Trust in the strength given through the eucharist, set your sights on the salvation given to us in Christ. And in the words of Saint Ignatius of Loyola,“ The work in front of you is God’s work and not yours, if he wants it to succeed it will, if he doesn’t it won’t. What he wants of you is to try, so have courage – And Move!” Let us not let the work before us be left undone but move and do what God has called us to do for ourselves, our world and all those within it!

Does this mean if we love God then we will be out of step with the world around us? That is indeed what it means! We are placed in opposition to the ways of this world that lead to death for ourselves and our neighbors. And yet we are called to be in the world and to engage the world. Very clearly last week Pope Benedict made this statement as he called us to engage the society in which we live to sanctify it and bring it Christ our Hope! And yet we struggle with our own lives and how we are living. “How can I as messed up as I am hope to bring about salvation of someone else?” I suspect the Apostles asked the same question of themselves and yet Philip went into Samaria and proclaimed Christ Crucified and brought them to salvation, not by his gifts but by  proclaiming Christ and trusting in the Advocate given by Jesus. None of us are God, and none of us can bring about our own salvation! But if we love God we can be his presence in the world. We can, imperfect as we are, share the very life given to us in Baptism and Confirmation, which is God’s own Life. In that sense if we reach out  to ignorant of God’s grace, then it is God himself who will work through us.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Fr. Leo Stelten’s Ecclesiastical Dictionary of Latin
• Pontifical College Josephinum
• 2008 Eucharistic Congress
• Catholic New Media Celebration!

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Please make sure you have read the readings (http://www.usccb.org/nab) for this week before you head to Mass on Sunday

We have the fullness of grace before us, and indeed within us. And yet we miss the mark again and again.  Only the presence of Jesus breaks the logjam of our prejudice. But Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his apostles only, how then can we break free of our need to see? Well the Lord sends to us servants and companions willing to sacrifice for us. First were the Deacons, who broke down the divisions of the earliest Christian community and showed the very face of God in the labors. In our day and age there are many who take on this mantel. Some are called to sacramental service as ordained Permanent Deacons but most are those folks who serve us and walk with us as the presence of Christ.  They are the ones who are willing to stand on the cornerstone rejected by the builders. They are those among us who reach out to the outcast, the abandoned, the weak and rejected.  They are the very presence of Christ. In our lives we must then seek out that presence and follow the way they offer. They do not offer anything less than Jesus, the Way the Truth and Life! Let us recognize this grace and become those who speak this Jesus with our lives!

Links and songs from this episode:

• 2008 Eucharistic Congress
• Catholic New Media Celebration!

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Last year I ran a marathon. In case you didn’t see it, I’ll post the video here.

Even after completing 26.2 miles in a race, I still struggle to call myself a “runner,” but I had a mapped out schedule that told me what to run and when.I used to lift weights a lot, too. But I would never consider myself an athlete.And yet I eagerly call myself a Christian, but I’m not always sure I’m following my regular workout routine for that.

I know I do a lot of work for the Lord, but I often feel like Martha, the one scurrying around, doing all the work, but not taking the time to actually be with God.

Lent this year, for me, was a disaster. I planned on getting back into a more deep prayer and study life, but it just didn’t happen. I couldn’t figure out how to start and where to end.

Coincidentally, I hadn’t been keeping up with the training I did for the Marathon last year and my body was quickly bouncing back to it’s bounce-able shape.

So I set a goal and my wife and I decided to start following a schedule again to run another marathon. It was difficult at first, but already within a couple of weeks, the old rhythm has come back and I’m able to follow the routine and I’m beginning to feel healthier again. I even went back and looked at my old weight lifting schedule and have incorporated that again. Routine and schedule.

But what about prayer and study? If I’m going to do all of this work on improving my physical health, surely I can plan out what it would take to keep me growing stronger spiritually.

Sometime at the end of Lent I remembered a resource a friend of mine had written about. It’s a schedule (did I say I love schedules?) that leads you through the entire Bible AND the Catechism in a single year. It seemed like a lot of reading, but after months of delay, I printed it out. Click here if you want to download it, too.

I’m loving it. I love the routine, I love the comfort of following several cohesive stories from Scripture, as well as ongoing topics in the Catechism. I’ve read most of all of this stuff in bits and spurts over the years, but this schedule is just a blessing from God right now.

With as busy as life gets, sometime all it takes is a simple calendar on a piece of paper to slow everything down and keep everything in order. And while I’m getting back in physical shape, my spiritual life is shaping up, too.

We had plenty of room.

Of course we immediately filled up every nook and cranny of those shelves, as well as in multiple closets and rooms in the house.

So every once in awhile we have to remove everything from the shelves just to rearrange them again to get everything to fit. It’s very much like playing with an enormous set of Jenga blocks.

A couple of weeks ago Jennifer got tired of having to nudge against tubs every time she got out of the van, so she took on the ongoing challenge of reclaiming the shelves. This picture is the result of her success.

The garage stayed organized and clean for almost an entire month unless last week when we converted the garage to a green screen television studio.

Time for more shelves, I think.

I have often used that phrase, no man is an island, to defend or explain our need for community—whether it be for students who need a sense of belonging, or in my teaching profession when I wish to see change implemented when faced with opposition, or even in my worship, when the desire to pick up my marbles and go play somewhere else is a powerful and alluring temptation.

As human beings, we are not just social by choice; we were created to be social, to live in community, from small family units to larger groups such as clans, tribes, even nations. We shape our identities within, and as a part, of those communities. Consequently, my identity is dependent upon those communities to shape me, validate me, and sometimes, to redirect me.

Donne addresses this interconnectedness in his meditation—we are not isolated from each other, but connected. He drew this conclusion in a time where life was certainly much harder than it is today if we measure it it technological terms, but perhaps simpler and easier to navigate because of that same simplicity. After all, when Donne delivered his sermons, only a small group of people who were present in the congreagation heard it, and anyone else who wanted to know the content had to wait for it to be published and archived.

How far we’ve come! We are no longer limited to live sermons and the printed word. Most of us here have embraced what Pope John Paul II observed about the internet and the possibilities for evangelizing using this tool. He recognized the internet as a vast library filled with all kinds of information that could be used to spread the Word and bring knowledge of Christ to the whole world. What has emerged, beyond that metaphor of library, is what is often referred to as Web 2.0, or the second application of that resource.

Today, we speak of on-line communities as natural parts of our lives—not compartmentalized and left to the much-maligned stereotype of a Trekkie in his parents’ basement, but to a real-life thriving community filled with real people looking for new ways to connect with each other.

Most of us have been drawn to these web-based communities as a way to explore our faith AND technology: forums where we discuss relevant topics (and irrelevant goofiness), websites dedicated to special interests, podcasts, and video series. They all serve our need to garner information about our faith, but there is also a nuanced level of activity where we begin to recognize regulars to these sites, and begin forging on-line relationships where we can share and join together with our common interests through Facebook, and Twitter, and ustreaming, not just shows, but ourselves.

It has taken the anonymity out of the internet, and brought it into the sun, for the Son. Catholic New Media strives to do all these things—not just build community, but build upon existing community. The providers and the consumers are all a part of the new evangelization.

The image of the anti-social basement dweller is increasingly being replaced by a vibrant, living community intent on spreading the Good News in exciting new ways, and seeking human contact in the chatroom, the coffee house, and the public forums.

See you at the Catholic new Media event! I’ll be the one with the coffee cup.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference (check here for recorded uStream sessions)
• 2008 Eucharistic Congress
• Kaiteur Coffeehouse
• Catholic New Media Celebration!

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Relevant Radio

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Few people realize there is great power in submission. Too often we want things our way, when what we really need to do is embrace the freedom inherent in “thy will be done.”

Now, I didn’t say it was an easy thing to do. I’m as hard-headed as the next person. Sitting in Adoration praying “thy will be done” can be an exercise in futility when my heart has sincerely ended the prayer, but my mind willfully adds, “as long as it’s what I want, too.”

The thing about sitting in silence before the Blessed Sacrament is that it can be pretty deafening. The silence overwhelms, but it is necessary to keep that silence so that we can hear what is truly meaningful–and it takes some practice and effort.

I never realized how absolutely noise-filled my life has become. In fact, my environment tends to be so noisy that I have actually introduced more noise–white noise, to drown out the other unpleasant noises in my surroundings.

I’m not going to lie; I feel a bit foolish for admitting that. I mean, the concept of making more noise in order to be able to concentrate looks pretty ridiculous on paper, so I tried to figure out what is causing me so much distraction to begin with.

First, there’s the artificial climate control. To be honest, it’s not likely that I will be giving up heating or air-conditioning, but it does have a constant hum. There’s also my desk top computer. The manufacturer claims that the fans are low noise. In my noise-addled brain, I interpreted that to mean silent. I suppose that in relation to everything else, it probably is, but in truth, I can hear the incessant whir.

Then there are all of the other noise-makers in my life. The constant blare of the radio or TV. Traffic. Loud and intrusive cellphone conversations, not to mention the ridiculous ring tones and MP3 players (that must be rendering the users deaf because I can hear the music clearly). Meaningless talk to fill the silence.

There is so much noise around me that I have mastered tuning it all out. The problem is that God often becomes a casualty of that ability to tune out. Adoration gave me an opportunity to tune back in. To let go of that distracting noise and let the silence and His presence envelop me. It was better than white noise.

It was Grace.

We made so many great new friends and people who are just busting at the seams with excitement over the possibilities of Catholic New Media. We also got to meet tons of listeners and viewers of the various SQPN and Rosary Army programs, including upwards of 50 people who arrived from California, Colorado, New York, and many other states just to hang out and have a cup of coffee with other members of the SQPN and Rosary Army communities.

This only made us more excited for the very first SQPN Catholic New Media Celebration that we are planning for June 22nd of this year to be held in Atlanta, Georgia the day after the annual Eucharistic Congress. We anticipate hundreds of people being there and we sincerely hope you’ll be one of them. We already have some amazing, amazing things in store for all of you.

So why does Rosary Army, and in turn, SQPN use so much New Media to Evangelize?

Well, this weekend Jennifer and I were blessed with the honor of presenting the closing talk at Steubenville’s Faith and Media Conference. We also participated in a podcasting forum with Fr. Roderick Vonhogen and Fr. Seraphim Beshoner. Also in attendance were several other SQPN podcasters including Fr. Bill Kessler, George Leite, and Dr. Paul Camarata. It was a great warm up to what we hope will be a fun and exciting SQPN Catholic New Media Celebration this summer. We’ll have more details on that in the weeks to come.

For now, though, we invite you to watch the recorded streams from the sessions we were involved with to give you a little insight into the hows and whys of Catholic New Media in connection with Rosary Army and SQPN.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference (check here for uStream during the conference)
• 2008 Eucharistic Congress

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For the Lord will look into our hearts and see what we have done, why we have done it and reflect that back to us. God sees everything as it is, there is nothing obscure in his vision. We often see the world and can rationalize a behavior as good, because it is good for us. Indeed a movie that many of have seen and most have heard of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back said “ It is true, from a certain point of view” But with God there is no certain points of view. He sees who we are completely and with absolute clarity knows us. We though often fail to see what is right before us. The two disciples were walking with Jesus and because of their grief, or anger or whatever reason, could not recognize the one of whom he spoke. Jesus saw the pain that existed within their lives and proceeded with them opening for them the truth of why he died and rose from the dead. Only when he shares the meal of his body and blood are they finally able to recognize him. Hence the reason the Roman Catholic Church calls the Eucharist, The Source and Summit of our Lives. It is in the Eucharist that we receive that which enables us to see as God sees, to be as Jesus is. Then we can live not for ourselves but for each other and for God. But we must recognize that in our journey we are not God, but those called to follow God. It is only by God’s Grace that we are able to live in the world which would hide us from his presence. In the Eucharist and the Sacraments we receive the strength to be God’s Children in name and in fact and work the wonders of God in the here and now. Seek out not that which confounds you and condemns you to confusion then but that which bring clarity and strength!

I hope to see many of you at the Faith and Media Meetup this Saturday April 5, 2008 at the Heavenly Grounds Coffee Shop in Steubenville, OH from 3-5 PM.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference
• Kaiteur Coffee House
• Coffee Shop by Small Fish

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The Lord is Risen! now what??? A question I am sure has been in our minds a time or two. Even worse many in this world would say “So what?” We live in a jaded and judgmental society that expects much but gives very little. Or so it would seem. There exists in our world a very noticeable percentage of people who have chosen a radical form of discipleship. They acknowledge the Resurrection not only with words but by the very actions of their lives. They are choosing to live as did the Apostles and those very first Christians. They do not announce their actions by Press Release or self promotion but by giving quietly and witnessing to those in their presence to him who came to save us. For they have found the peace of Christ alive in their lives and work steadfastly to share what they themselves have received. They understood very deeply these words of Jesus,”Peace be with you.” Not to say that it is easy. Each of us must face the doubts this world presents to us. Thomas is utterly reasonable in saying, prove it. Many of us probably would like the confirmation given to Thomas, if only Jesus would appear before us and present to us the wounds that saved us all. For those who are like this I offer those people who have sacrificed all to offer the Peace of Jesus. They are our neighbors, our friends, even members of our Families. The world would love to call these people fools for what they have done. They have suffered for what they believe and yet they are joyful. Think to that person who said “God Bless You” when you sneezed, or the person you see assisting another on the road when common sense says not to. They are the very presence of Christ before us and we cannot even see it. For we expect it to come in the form given to Thomas. Do not let the presence of Christ to be missed for the peace he offers is directly before us if only we would believe, and then share that peace in the world around us. This is how we then meet the very person of Jesus. He is risen, let us live our lives then in a manner that shouts to the world and leaves no doubt of his gift of Life.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference
  
• All Your Sins by Amplifico

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• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Timez Attack
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference
  
• Sound Scientist by Bill

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It’s hard not to be guilty of preaching to the choir around here, after all, it’s pretty understood that most of the people who read the blogs or post on the forums are Catholics seeking to enrich and share their faith. It’s a lovely place, really. There’s serious discussion and silly discussion, and a lot in between. It’s a very public place, albeit quite intimate, too.

One of the things that we often discuss here is the domestic church. Our role, not just as parents–which gets a lot of attention–but as faithful Catholics living our faith among family and friends, is an integral part of who we are personally, and as a community. The single person living alone. The college student living in a dorm. The married couple, with or without children. The religious. All of us are the church, and we begin and end our days at home.

How do we lead Christ-centered lives? Do we start and end our days in prayer? Do we schedule our Sundays around Mass, or schedule God around our social lives?

How we play and what we do with our leisure time tells as much about us as any formal religious activity. How do you live the domestic church? Do you have special traditions or activities that are unique to your family?

This weekend was the most important day in the Christian calendar. How did you celebrate? We usually go to Mass early, and spend the rest of the day with family and friends, paying special attention to godchildren or godparents. For us, it’s the anniversary of our baptism, regardless of the actual date.

How did you make the day extra special?

originally posted April 17, 2006

I’ve never really understood the fascination with St. Patrick’s Day. I mean, I get the whole Irish thing with the patron saint, but I’m talking about the widespread celebrations that are not really Irish, and certainly not Catholic. Bizarre example: a lovely, charming, delightful, and fun NON-CHRISTIAN co-worker is behind a mid-day St. Paddy’s Day parade at work.

 A little odd?

 You betcha.

Not being the kind of person who would pooh-pooh a gift of beer, even if it is green, I decided to look into this celebration. First, a quick search of St. Patrick yielded some information I’m sure I already knew. Legend has it that St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland. Well, snakes are not indigenous to the Ireland, so we can look at it metaphorically and understand that he probably drove away paganism—another way of looking at it is that he evangelized the country.

St. Patrick is also credited with using the shamrock as a tool to teach about the Trinity. Personally, I think that’s brilliant. As far as saints go, his story is an interesting one—no more, but no less interesting than say, St, Joan of Arc or St. Sebastian, yet no one goes around wearing a fleur de lis or an arrow through the head on their feast days. There must be more going on.

I discovered that there are some very interesting roots to the secularization of this feast day. The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade ocurred in the U.S. in the 1770’s when an Irish regiment marched through the streets of Boston. It became a point of ethnic pride, but more than a hundred years later, when the Potato Famine in 1845 led to the immigration of over a million poor Irish Catholics, things changed. Before, the majority of the Irish immigrants had been Protestant and melted seemlessly into the predominantly Protestant United States. With this new wave of immigration, the Irish Catholics faced a great deal of discrimination and alienation. Societies arose to be sources of aid to thoses families, and eventually, the Irish community became politically and economically powerful. I would imagine that having a gigantic parade that showed off this group would certainly get the attention of anyone.

Over the years, the celebrations became bigger and bigger and turned into community events, where everyone was invited to be “Irish for the day.” Amazingly, it has only been in the last 20 years or so that Ireland has begun celebrating this holiday in the style that has become so popular in the U.S. and other English-speaking nations such as Canada and Australia (which also boast large numbers of Irish ancestry).

There are movements, however, to reign in the wild debauchery sometimes associated with the holiday, and focus on St. Patrick’s life and his mission of evangelization.

I rather like that.

In fact, I like it so much that I am moved to “wear the green” after all.

Links and songs from this episode:

• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Couple to Couple League’s NFP Podcast
• Fr. Bill Holtzinger’s Pilgrim Cast
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference
  
• What If I Get Sick by New Sense

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Links and songs from this episode:

• Learn about Catholic Investing from Epiphany Funds
• Grace Before Meals with Fr. Leo Patalinghug
• Numbers League Card Game
• Mythimatical Battles Game
• Timez Attack
• Steubenville Faith & Media Conference
  
• Win a Free Copy of Timez Attack from the Rosary Army Website
• I Will Walk With U from Popple and Manual3

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Part of the joy that I experienced with the snow was the unexpected nature of its arrival. For most of the country, winter weather will continue for many more weeks, but in the temperate southern states, our mild winter is coming to a close. In fact, we already have new grass and blooming flowers.

One thing is for sure–the weather always keeps us guessing, but we know spring is just around the courner. We prepare ourselves by weeding and cleaning up the yard so new growth can come in. We clean our homes and let the much awaited sunlight brighten our rooms. We get ready and then wait with a great deal of anticipation. Spring will arrive when it gets here–no sooner and no later, but we know that it will indeed arrive.

It’s a little bit like our faith. We need to prepare ourselves. We need to plan for that day when we will face an accounting of ourselves and our lives. Christ is coming for us, and we will not know the day nor the hour.

Lent is an opportunity to do our own spiritual spring cleaning. We need to do some weeding–of our sinful habits, our selfish and prideful behaviors, our complaceny. We need that examination of conscience, and the subsequent “cleansing” that will open our hearts and prepare our souls for the coming of Our Lord.

Holy Week is still a week away. Shake off those cobwebs; pull out those weeds. Get ready. The time is Now.

It gives us good quality time to play these games. Frankly, anything that takes us away from the TV or computer is okay in my book. The bonus of playing together as a family is that we have plenty of time for conversation. After all, we may be cut throat during a strategic move, but there’s generally laughter and banter between plays.

Playing is also an excellent opportunity for teaching and modeling appropriate behavior. We are social beings. God made us that way. He gave Eve to Adam so that Adam would have a companion. We are meant to live with others. Since our families are our first communities, it is where we learn to socialize, and more importantly, where we first learn and live the Church’s moral teachings because our parents are the first and most important catehists. It is through them that we learn about getting along with each other, and taking care of each other. It is through them that we learn to forgive, and to encourage.

Maybe the board game isn’t exactly like the board room, but it gives us an opportunity to practice the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. We learn to make good choices, play fairly, win or lose gracefully, and follow through when sometimes we’d rather take the easy way out.

Playing as a family hones the behaviors we must exhibit in the world. That practice enables us to go out in the world well-grounded in our moral code. It doesn’t mean we’ll always win, but then again, as Christians, we’re playing a different game.

The work of God is just this obvious but so often in our lives we have the same doubt as do the Pharisees. When things do not happen according to our expectations we often fail to see the grace and mercy of God. The man of the Gospel had suffered blindness from his youth. His eyes opened by Jesus also opened his heart. No longer was he isolated by his weakness, but he accepted completely the grace as shown to us in Christ. In our lives we often fail to see the fullness of God’s plan, but that does not mean the plan is not valid and in action. We have to endeavor to seek the will of God in our daily lives and live it completely. We cannot allow our stubbornness or our weaknesses to keep us from this saving plan. Only when we allow the power of God to work throughout our lives will we be conformed to God. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, puts it this way:

“Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.”

Thus if we are sinful, then seek the Lord! He will not leave us broken but will bring us healing. This healing will then lead us to proclaim the salvation that is ours. Just as did this man. Soon after his healing he was brought to task by those who should have recognized the healing is from God. They failed to accept God’s healing grace and thus turned away from the Lord. But we must not turn away,even in the face of persecution, for the Lord himself will give us what we need to overcome the challenges of this world. Let us seek out the graces offered to us in Christ, seeking him and the healing he brings. Then we will persevere in times of testing and pain and find ourselves complete, in Christ!

In your preparation for Easter it is good that we take an honest inventory of our lives and see those moments of healing that we need. If we then take this to God we will not be found wanting but will recieve the healing we truly need and live in ways we cannot yet imagine. Seek out the Sacraments of Reconcilliation and the Eucharist to recieve our Lord’s healing grace. Each Catholic Parish will have the opportunity for these moments of grace seek them out and live out the grace Jesus came to share in our lives!

Links from this episode:

• Please Support our Sponsor – Epiphany Funds!
• RA Podcast Episodes on CD
• Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Faith and Media Conference

Music from this episode was “Alright” by Whitehouse from music.podshow.com
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I’ve made a lot of different kinds of videos, but this one was a lot of fun to put together. Check it out, and tell your friends about it, too. I mean, seriously, how often do you see cool Catholic music videos? Help get the word out.

On those mornings when I am open to the Holy Spirit I usually get a treat. A surprise in the form of blooming flowers. A spectacular cloud formation. Perhaps a revelation that I needed. These treats as I call them, speak directly to me–it’s as if God is smiling at me and saying, “I am indeed here. Thanks for paying attention!”

This morning I got one of those little surprises, and once the charm and delight had settled, I realized there was great depth to the message. You see, in the rural South, churches are a dime a dozen. Anyone in the Bible Belt who is moved by the Spirit can, and often does, open their own little church. It seems like every mile or so I encounter one of these meeting houses. Their charm lies in the clever messages posted on their signs. This morning’s treat said:

THE CHURCH IS A GIFT FROM GOD.

ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

I laughed out loud at the call for attendance. After all, what good is having the building if no one attends? The Church is indeed a gift from God. However, more than just a building, the Church is made up of the people assembled in the building. WE are the Church, and that leads me to the deeper meaning of “assembly required.”

It is our responsiblity, the faithful, to build the Church. Certainly, we have a fiscal responsibility to maintain its physical plant, but more than that, we have a spiritual obligation to build, “to assemble,” a Church that fulfills Christ’s call to us.

How we accomplish this depends on our commitment to follow through, not just with our Treasure, which is essential to the operations, but also in using our other resources that contribute to the programs necessary to “assembling” a faith experience for us, the Church.

Each of us has gifts of Talent as well as Time, so that we can build that Church. Instead of looking at what is already housed within that building, we can look outside, and see where we can gather more tools, more materials to help us keep building a bigger, better Church.

It’s a call to evangelization:

*Assembly Required

Links from this episode:

• Please Support our Sponsor – Epiphany Funds!
• Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Faith and Media Conference

Music from this episode was “Runaway” by Adam Woodall Band from music.podshow.com
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Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

At least that is the way we are with the grace offered to us in Christ.

The woman at the well was hostile with the Lord Jesus as he tried to bring about her salvation. Indeed the Lord could see into her heart and saw that which drew her hostility. And yet even though she could not see the possibility of grace, Jesus continued to extend himself to her.

How often have we seen the Lord before us and failed to receive what he came to give us? The season of Lent is often seen as a desert time. Indeed it is normal not to have Baptisms as we are on our pilgrimage through the desert retreat.

While we are called to retreat from the worldly during this season, it is not to remove ourselves from Jesus but to have ourselves completely free to receive him. Jesus pushed through the woman’s hostility and got from her what he knew she needed. She finally recognized her sinful ways and returned to God with joy. We, too, sometimes ignore the sin that is within us and so are unable to escape that it takes an encounter with Jesus for us to escape that sin.

Jesus is ever before us but are we willing to receive him?

The season of Lent calls us to accept the Lord anew. Let us seek him out with Joy and find ourselves healed and in his presence forever. Let us recognize the sin that is within our lives and seek the forgiveness that only Jesus can bring.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is our opportunity to encounter the Lord Jesus as did the woman at the well. It is here that he can share with us the “living water” that is his gift to us.

Many opportunities for the Sacrament are available, please seek them out. Then we can reach out to those around us to bring the good news of Christ as did the Samaritan Woman.

The event is open to the public (registration required) and will be a great opportunity for Rosary Army soldiers and SQPN followers to get together for a weekend of faith and learning about media.

The university has provided additional information, including a schedule and full list of speakers at a website for the event which you can access via this link.

Greg and Jennifer will also be participating in a roundtable panel about podcasting along with Fr. Seraphim Beshoner (Catholic Under the Hood Podcast) and Fr. Roderick Vonhogen (SQPN). George Leite, another SQPN podcaster and winner of the 2007 Podcast Award for Best Podsafe Music Podcast for his Catholic Rockers Podcast, will also be speaking that weekend.

Fr. Roderick will be presenting the opening talk on Friday evening, April 4th.

There will also be a Meet and Greet event at the Heavenly Grounds coffee house from 3 to 5 PM on April 5th. Heavenly Grounds is located just off of University Boulevard, in front of the university. Click here for a map to Heavenly Grounds (the coffee house is found at #23).

If you’re within driving distance, it’s sure to be a wonderful conference and a great opportunity to socialize with other RA Soldiers. We hope to see you in Steubenville!

Links from this episode:

• Please Support our Sponsor – Epiphany Funds!
• Timez Attack Video Game
• Jeff and Emily Cavins’ Family Devotions
• Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Faith and Media Conference

Music from this episode was “Goodnight” by Popple from their website at www.Popple.us

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I’ve seen a lot of memes on the Internet, but rarely stop to answer them. I decided to take this challenge, however, simply to make sure it was possible to name ONLY 7 things.

1. I hate gum.
This is a deep seated hatred. I hate the smell, I hate the taste, I hate the texture. I hate seeing it in the trash and I hate seeing it dried and stuck to the bottom of tables. I hate seeing it in parking lots and more than anything I hate when I step in some on a hot summer day. It literally (no joke) makes me gag. I absolutely despise the stuff and have a borderline fear of gum. I stress about finding it somewhere in my home. Thus, is it is forbidden and if the kids want to chew on it, then must do so outside. And when they throw it away, it has to be wrapped in 5 layers of paper and thrown in the trash outside. I’m not kidding. I hate gum.

2. I love the Great Brain books
I read these in the fourth grade and then read them repeatedly for years after, well into college. In 1992, before marriage and children, I decided to give my collection to my nephews and have regretted giving them away ever since, especially after they got lost over time. And now these books and incredibly difficult to find. I’d love for my boys to enjoy them as much as I did. A great series of books to read as a growing boy.

3. I Would Love a Box Set of the Steven Banks Show.
I think I am one of 10 people who saw the Steven Banks Home Entertainment Center special on Showtime in the late 1980s and thought it was brilliant. It was picked up as a series a couple years later, and then turned into a series on PBS some time after that. It never took off, but Steven Banks was absolutely incredible to watch and incredibly hilarious. He now writes cartoons for Nickelodean. I doubt his series will ever be released on DVD. (Note: I just watched the first few minutes of this over on YouTube and completely forgot about some of the language in the first few minutes).

4. My favorite Christmas and Birthday presents are trade paperback collections of comic books.
Better than socks, better than electronic gizmos. I’ll always take comic books. Teen Titans, JLA, Nightwing, Batman, Superman. Anything that has to do with the DC Universe. One year for Father’s Day, each of my boys gave me a collected edition of the original Star Wars comic book series. I was set for weeks and it…was…awesome!

5. My favorite comic series of all time is Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew.
Yes, a funny animal super hero comic. This is the series that got me interested in collecting comics in the first place. I had a rabbit named Thumper when I was in the fifth grade. I loved that rabbit. Loved anything to do with rabbits. That was the greatest rabbit in the world. House-trained himself and everything. The most docile rabbit ever. So when CCAHAZC appeared on the shelves, it was a no brainer. Captain Carrot, Pig Iron, Rubberduck, Yankee Poodle, Alley Kat Abra, Fastback, and Little Cheese. I still remember all their names and could probably tell you the plot lines of all 20 issues if I thought really hard about it. This was recently released in a black and white trade paperback for about $15. Totally worth it, though I haven’t bought it myself. I still have the original issues.

6. I eat peanut butter pretty much every day.
I eat peanut butter by the spoonful, peanut butter with chocolate, peanut butter with apples, peanut butter with bacon. Yes, bacon. My Great Aunt Lil taught us that trick when I was a kid and I’ve loved it ever since. Now my kids love it. We go through more jars of peanut butter than you could imagine, and I think I’m the one who eats the most of it.

7. I have no cartilage in my nose.
When I was 16 and a little more stupid than I am now, I totaled a car. I was driving the speed limit on wet asphalt, going around a tight corner, and the car hydroplaned right into a tree. The entire front seat was one long seat and the entire thing came off the track. So even though I was buckled in, the seat came unhinged somehow and my nose slammed smack onto the steering wheel. I split my nose open and pretty much shattered the whole thing. After the stitches were removed, my mom took me to the doctor who recommended an operation because of how crooked my nose was. My mom told the doctor, “Well, his head is already crooked so we don’t want his nose to be that way, too.” So during the operation, the doctor removed a lot of what was destroyed in the wreck. I can now squish my nose flat and twist it around like rubber. It’s quite disgusting, but my boys think it’s awesome.

The reunion came at a time when things were ripe for the trip that he made to rejoin his siblings, nieces, and nephews. What could have been a brief hop across a mere 90 miles turned into a journey that required a great deal of planning and coordination, and while left unspoken, probably included a great deal of sacrifice as well.

Why bother?

Because the pull of family is stronger than the current in the Gulf Stream, more powerful than the threats of a totalitarian regime. In his own words, my uncle said that he had come “to see for himself who we are.”

Although my time with him was brief, I packed as much as I could into the visit. There were hours and hours of conversations. Storytelling. Sharing. Even a little bit of political debate. It was the political debate that somehow went full circle back to the whole purpose of the visit: family. It is a powerful force, one that the Catechism teaches “is the original cell of social life.”

Three generations were present in my parents’ home, and the one thing that was held in common, the one thing that transcended culture, age, and even separation was the tight-knit structure of our family. It is stronger than the forces that strive to pull it apart.

Family, especially the traditional extended family with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, is threatened in modern times. Society would have us believe that family is whatever combination of people in our lives that we “define” as family. Perhaps there is a little bit of truth in that, and a great deal of comfort, too. It’s not enough, though.

We can’t just pick and choose from those that we like or that feed our selfish desires. In family, too, can be found struggle and discontent. The Catechism teaches that, “Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society.” It is where we learn to get along in the world. While it is certainly a source of comfort and security, it is also a microcosm of the difficulties that are faced outside the family in society. It is an essential tool in the establishment of, and participation in a world that often challenges those very ideals espoused in family. “The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom.”

Family is the gateway, our introduction into society. Without it, we are ill-equipped to survive, but with it we are armed with the essential skills to make a positive impact in our world.

It’s God’s plan for us.

Catechism of the Catholic Church ref # 2207

Links from this episode:

• Please Support our Sponsor – Epiphany Funds!
• Lenten Resource for Children
• Rosary Army Podcast on CD from LCE Media
• Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Faith and Media Conference

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Quite a sight this must have been!

I recently was able to visit the mountain where faith tells us this occurred. It is a lonely hill in the middle of a huge valley. You can see for miles all around it. It was here that the Transfiguration of Jesus took place. He came and held counsel with Moses and Elijah.

The failed leader of the People of Israel – Moses. He who could not enter the promised land for his lack of faith. And Elijah, who preached the good news of God’s love until he had no where left to go, and God took him from danger in a firey chariot.

What must the Apostles been thinking as they viewed this miraculous sight?

I also wonder what the folks below must have seen and thought. The light as exhibited by Moses and Elijah were a reflection of Jesus own. His glory shown through them as they showed forth hope to the Apostles.

Indeed they seem to have understood how important this event was for Peter states, “Lord, it is good that we are here!”

And yet do they fully understand what is happening before them.

Moses the prophet, who led people out of slavery in Egypt, but for his lack of faith never stepped foot into the promised land. It is he that we can most identify with.

We believe in God but do we trust in him?

So often we give lip service in faith and fail to follow through. Elijah never was able to call the people Israel from their sinful ways and yet he never lost hope. He never gave up in the goodness of the Lord and even though it would take centuries for his labor to bear fruit he continued on even in the midst of seeming failure.

God lifted him from his concerns and promised that his spirit would one day return.

This is a message to us also, for Jesus faced the same resistance as did Elijah, and so do we. Only with patient endurance of the struggle will we see ourselves through the pain and sorrow before us and receive the grace of our God.

Jesus had to endure the cross to bring us out of death and into life. Are we willing to go as far as the cross to let God’s life and love exist among us?

We do not have to carry the cross ourselves for Jesus did this once and for all. But like Simon the Cyrenean who aided in the journey of Jesus we have our own portion of the Cross to bear.

Saint Paul is very clear as he said: “Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.”

It is not our strength that carries us through but a radical dependence on the love and strength of God!

The key to the transfiguration then is that through Jesus the failure of our strength is blessed and made complete in the person of Jesus. Only in God can we hope to find the glory that is God’s own and that which we lose in our moments of sin.

Just as Moses and Elijah appeared next to Christ, so too can we, if we would only allow his presence to be within us. Then it will not be our light but the very light of God that shines through us and through the world! To do this we must get to know our Lord, spending time in prayer and study of the scriptures.

Let us endeavor to seek the Lord in every way possible that we might be as he has shown us we could be!

As we worked on developing the new site, I kept running into new bits of technical information that I wanted to record in some sort of permanent way in case I ever ran into the same problem in the future and couldn’t remember how I resolved it.

Then it occurred to me that in many ways, working with technology is very much like growing in my faith life.

I set out with the best of intention, believing I have found the best path on which to reach my goal, only to hit a bump in my perfectly laid plan.

Creating this new website came along with two years worth of unexpected bumps.  But in the end, even though the bumps made for a sometimes stressful and unsure ride, they also forced me down paths of learning and surprising improvements that weren’t on my original road map.

For example, in our original design for the new website, there was never a place for having photos of other Rosary Army soldiers.  But when I was looking for a solution for displaying images on the website, I discovered an easy and elegant solution for displaying pictures.  It was a perfect fit, and makes for a much better ending to the website development.

It took me too many years to finally accept the random crosses and detours God tosses at us to bring us closer to him.  Last October when I was hit with the disappointing news that all of our previous web development couldn’t continue and we’d have to start over from the beginning all over again, I would never have imagined the amount of growth, patience, and outright excitement I experienced while going down a brand new development path.

I’m glad we originally went down the wrong path in developing this new website because it only lead us to the side-street pathway God was waiting for us to follow all along.   I think the longer than expected journey was worth the wait.

Oh, and for the record, I’m still going to use this spot to keep track of random information that would only interest me and about a dozen other people in the world.

So let it be known, here’s How to Migrate Wordpress from a Development Subfolder to the Production Root Directory (or, How I Followed the Narrow Gate and Grew Closer to God While Building a Website):

Here are the steps, lest I ever go down this path again:

1.  Go into Wordpress, select Options, then select General.
2.  Remove /blog from both WordPress Address (URL) and Blog Address (URL).  It should now just read http://www.rosaryarmy.com
3.  Click Update Options.
4.  Experience a sense of panic when you get an error message.  Don’t worry about that for now.
5.  FTP the entire site down onto your computer.  We had over a GIG of stuff out there, so it took about 5-6 hours for this step.
6.  If you want a clean slate, then delete all of the files from your old site.  I deleted everything except the old RA images folder and all of my XML files.  I also left some other non-RA websites there that I was hosting in the same place.
7.  FTP back up only the contents of the Wordpress directory, but upload them to the root of the website.
8.  Try to access the admin directory.  The first time I tried this, I got an error. It was almost as if it took a couple minutes for the changes to synch in.  I have no idea why.  I tried it once and got errors.  I tried it again and it worked fine.  Of course, it may have just been a jittery typo on my part.
9.  The next problem is that my index.php was giving me errors.  Again, I panicked.  The error was saying that ./wp-blog-header.php could not be found.  I had to read the message about 10 times before I understood it.  Then I backtracked.  I went into the index.php of the entire Wordpress app (NOT the index.php in the theme, but the main one).  There is this code there:

<?php
/* Short and sweet */
define(’WP_USE_THEMES’, true);
require(’./wp-blog-header.php’);
?>

I took out the ./ and it worked.

That was it.  After that, I just had to go in and fix any broken links or missing images that I’d put in during development and got lost when I moved to the root.

I prayed a whole lot through this.  But here we are.  Hope you’re enjoying the new website.

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Music in this episode was February 2.0 by Geoff Smith. Find it at music.podshow.com.

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While there are plenty of new articles and pages of information now available, the best part of the website is actually the stuff you don’t even see! After five years of hard-coding the pages on our website, we’re now able to update and create dynamic new pages easier than ever – which means there will be more content available on Rosary Army’s website for you!

From first glance, though, we hope you like the new look. For a long time we’ve been migrating a lot of Rosary Army’s content to a “Marian” blue color, and it seemed appropriate to model our website more in alignment with a color often associated with our Blessed Mother.

In the next few days you’ll notice additional great content popping up on the website including new audio Rosaries in multiple languages, a That Catholic Show study guide, separate pages for all of our Rosary Army Extra MP3 files, and much, much more.

In the meantime, enjoy all of our new blog content, dive into the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast, check out photos of other Rosary Army soldiers from around the world, and maybe you’ll find few other surprises, as well.

We’re so glad you’re here!

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Domestic Church’s Lenten Resources
Knights of Columbus’ Catholic Information Service

Music in this episode was provided by our good friends from Popple.us.

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Really, I thought my father was a psycho control freak and that my mother was somehow weak for letting him be such a boor. The idea of honoring these people who were perpetually in my way was not only foreign, but really a drag. And this, after a wonderful and loving childhood, and the best and most loving parents ever.

Why then, did I have such a difficult time with this commandment?

As usual, the problem was with me and my limited ability to understand what was really being asked of me. In my narrow scope, all I was thinking about was that “honoring” meant “obedience.” Well. Yes. Certainly that is a big part of it, and in spite of my snottiness I was relatively obedient. I carried that off better on some days. Other times, let’s just say I took a very loose interpretation of the word.

It meant, also, that I should not be disrespectful to them. I could check that off the list as “done.” Well, “mostly done.” I’m sure I had my share of rebellious back talk, but I never treated them poorly or said really atrocious things.

So, I figured, I was off the hook. I got passing marks on the “honor” bit.

It’s only now, as an adult, that I really see the importance of that commandment. There is much more than just the surface elements of obedience and respect. It is a call to a different and more meaningful respect. It is a call to know and understand, not just the love and sacrifice that went into raising me, but the values, and the need for those values that they imparted in me.

To honor my parents entails an understanding of, and acceptance of those values. It is the respect that I hold for their wishes that I should be a good, God-fearing person. It is living the life they sacrificed for, in a manner that would be pleasing to them and to God. It is the commitment to pass on those values to a new generation.

As my parents age and the reality of an increasingly short period of time to spend with them comes to the forefront of my thoughts, I am challenged by a new way of honoring them. The day will come when I have to care for them as they cared for me. It will, most likely, create an element of sacrifice in my life that I am unsure I have the strength to execute.

But after a lifetime of giving lip service to that commandment, I’m sure of my ability to obey and respect—to honor. This time, I won’t do it because I was told, or because it’s necessary, or because society expects me to do it. No. I will do it because I want to do it. Because they deserve it. Because nothing would give me greater pleasure than to honor the people who taught me the value of Honor.

I am continually amazed by the richness of our religion and how it can serve us, first at the rudimentary stages of a fledgling faith, and then carry us into a profound and deeper understanding of God and His unconditional and sacrificial love for us. When we are children we must be commanded in order to learn and grow, but when we learn to follow those commands and understand them and incorporate them into our being, not so much because we are told, but because in submitting we see the truth in it, then we really begin to live that faith in the fullest, most rewarding way.

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:”

Yes indeed the Lord came to share with us truth, but are we listening. To do so we must look ever deeper into the mystery that is the Lord Jesus Christ. But so often we look not toward Jesus, but toward ourselves and the voices of this world. Only when we look toward our brother Jesus Christ are we able to seek out the truth. This means that we first must acknowledge that we do not know everything, that indeed we are called to humbly acknowledge our weakness and seek the wisdom and truth that is God’s legacy for those who accept him. Let us not fail to hear what Jesus died to bring us but let us humbly seek his presence in our daily lives that we might be made more and more in his image and likeness. Only then will God be able to teach and lead us. In this way we will find in every stage of life the opportunity to live deeply the mystery of Christ, for ourselves, our families, communities and indeed every person we meet. For in conforming ourselves to widsom and truth, indeed the image , of Christ we will share his life with our lives and teach the world as did he on the mountain at the sea of Galilee. Let us conform our hearts and enter into his life and learn the true life he came to share with us!

Peace,

Fr. Bill Kessler

But even with all these benefits, explaining podcasting or the benefits of podcasting to the novice is sometimes very, very difficult.

That’s why, in redesigning the Rosary Army website, we’ve done everything we can to make it as simple as possible to jump in and start listening to podcasts and watching videos.

Our sister apostolate, SQPN.com, does an even better job of it.

The video below, however, really hits it home just how beneficial podcasting can be in our spiritual lives. Major kudos to Paul Camarata from the SaintCast and his son Chris for putting this together. Enjoy!

In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: The third edition of Rosary Army Radio where we play the full versions of podsafe music we’ve played on the show over the past few months. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

Links from this episode:
SQPN and RA Store
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Music in this episode included:
“Blue Sky” by Supraluxe from Music.Podshow.com.
“Love Sweet Love” by Supraluxe from Music.Podshow.com.
“Me Being Me” by Tim Blane from Music.Podshow.com.
“Can You Feel It Now” by Tremelo from Music.Podshow.com.
“Forever Yours” by Popple from www.Popple.us.
“Prayer of St. Francis” by Popple from www.Popple.us.
“The Thank You Song” by Small Fish from Music.Podshow.com.
“I’d Like to Thank You All” by The Machines from Music.Podshow.com.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Getting Organized in 2008, Getting Things Done, Email Catch-up, Website Makeover, Greg’s Perfect Project Page, CMG Booking, Epiphany is Over, Ordinary Prayer Life. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Music in this episode was “Hail Holy Queen” by Dan and Ben Harms. Download a free copy from their website!

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: The second edition of Rosary Army Radio where we play the full versions of podsafe music we’ve played on the show over the past few months. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback! Visit www.RosaryArmy.com for more from Rosary Army!

Links from this episode:
SQPN and RA Store
Please Support our Sponsor – Epiphany Funds!

Music in this episode included:
“I Know You’re There” by Matthew Ebel from Music.Podshow.com.
“Hello, Hello” by Geoff Smith from Music.Podshow.com.
“Don’t Just Be” by Three Legged Fox from Music.Podshow.com.
“Golden” by Brookville from Music.Podshow.com.
“Autumn Leaves Circle the Sky” by Jeff Vidov from Music.Podshow.com.
“Everytime” by Joe Tunon from Music.Podshow.com.
“Giver” by Wahba from Music.Podshow.com.
“Pizza In Paradise” by Joe Tunon from Music.Podshow.com.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Getting Organized in 2008, Getting Things Done, Email Catch-up, Website Makeover, Greg’s Perfect Project Page, CMG Booking, Epiphany is Over, Ordinary Prayer Life. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Greg’s Ultimate Project Planning Template

Music in this episode was “Do They Have E-mail in Heaven?” by Jim Terr from Music.Podshow.com.

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The staff was asked to dress up.

I thought about that for a moment, because, you know, I think I dress professionally for work. I have the standard collection of suits. I brush my hair. I wear lipstick.

I got over the offense, though. First, none was intended, but second, I realized that the term hasn’t started yet, and between terms we have a standing “business casual” dress code. Oh. My bad. It was just a friendly reminder that today was not a “business as usual” type of day, but rather, something very special.

It makes me think about putting my best foot (and the rest of me) forward in my spiritual appearance. I don’t mean that I put on external trappings of hypocrisy to impress others, but the sincere effort to be my best at all times, not just when I “have to.”

Sure, I go to Mass, participate in the Sacraments, attend Holy Day services. I’m supposed to, right? But the big question is whether or not I retain that holiness and allow the graces granted me by the Holy Spirit to carry over into the daily “business casual” days. Am I living my faith in everything I do, especially when I don’t have to, or aren’t seen, or am not publicly held accountable?

I need to work on the spiritual equivalent of dressing up. After all, I’m waiting on the most important dignitary of all, and I have to be ready at a moment’s notice.

In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Happy New Year! Giving Campaign Wrap-Up, Real Trees in Georgia, Sam’s Leap Forward, Scrabble Marathons, IRS Paperwork, Email Solution, DC versus Marvel, and ideas for the Epiphany. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Archive of Live SQPN Shows From New Year’s Eve

Music in this episode was “I’d Like to Thank You All” by The Machines from Music.Podshow.com.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Cookies by FedEx, Christmas Foodapalooza, Scrabble Slamdown, Washing Machine Woes, Last Chance to Tithe, and the Most Important Question Anyone Has Ever Asked Greg on the Podcast. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!

Music in this episode was Christmas! Of Course! by Bill deRome from Music.Podshow.com.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Grab your tickets and don’t be late to the very first Rosary Army Musical in celebration of 200 Episodes! Plus, Fr. Roderick and the Beatles, RA Reindeer, and tons of great listener feedback. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!

Music in this episode was The Thank You Song by Smallfish from Music.Podshow.com.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Investing and the Catechism, Tell a Friend Link, Crazy Christmas Time, Greg Caved In, Our First Jesse Tree, Shopping For Jennifer, Rosary Army StarCraft Group, and Michigan Mad Dog Gives Some Advice. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!

Music in this episode was The Nativity by Matthew Casteel from Music.Podshow.com.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Great Gifts and That Catholic Show DVD, Working Advent Into Daily Life, Why Help? Watching and Waiting, and Fun Little Videos. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!

Music in this episode was from Music.Podshow.com, featuring three different versions of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by Merry Ellen, Fugli, and Friction Bailey.

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Advent Family Traditions, Stepping Up For Bob’s Family, Giving Campaign Momentum, Giving to Any Soldier, and a Surprise Guest Helps Us Give Away Popple CDs! 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!
Help Soldiers through Any Soldier
Jeff Miller’s Curt Jester Blog
Advent Jesse Tree Ideas

Music in this episode was “Middle School Love Song” by Popple from their latest CD, “Plaid.”

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Lisa Duffy and Vince Frese from Journey on Catholics and Divorce, That Catholic Show DVD Releases THIS WEEK, Advent Music and Traditions, and the Truth About the State of Rosary Army. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Journey of Hope & Divorced Catholic Book
Awesome Catholic Music from Popple!

Music in this episode was “Prayer of St. Francis” by Popple from their latest CD, “Plaid.”

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Marathon Feedback, God’s Outrageous Plans For Us, Long Lost College Friend, Preparing to Light the First Advent Candle, Popple Popple Popple, and a New Contest With Prizes! 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Luis Escobar Blog & Web Comic
Awesome Catholic Music from Popple!

Music in this episode was “Forever Yours” and “I Love Peanut Butter Sandwiches” by Popple

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: A special Thanksgiving Day episode! Join Jennifer and Fr. Roderick as they chase Greg through the streets of Atlanta as he runs his first Marathon. Lots of excitement in this one! 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!

Music in this episode was “Can You Feel It Now” by Tremelo

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: The Rain Main Restaurant, Skyline Chilli, 101 Stories of Prayer, That Catholic Show DVD Almost Here!, 5 Lonely Donors, iPadre’s 100th, Catholic Vocations Podcast, and Catholic Voting. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!
101 Stories of Prayer – Writer’s Submission Page
Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics

Music in this episode was “Me Being Me” by Tim Blane

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Tennis Stuff, Star Wars Bagpipes, The Mystery of the Flying Pigs Revealed, Selling Ribs, Denomination Founding Dates, and Salvation Smackdown with Father Shramko. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!
Dominus Jesus
Ask A Catholic

Music in this episode was “Love Sweet Love” by Supraluxe

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In this Rosary Army Podcast Extra: Rosary Army Co-Founder and SQPN President Greg Willits presents a talk to a youth group about defending the Catholic faith and how to become an apologist. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Books mentioned in this episode:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catholicism for Dummies

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: New Show Intro, Tennis Lessons, Running Marathons with Gods, Greg’s Getting Old, Teaching Jitters, More Salvation, and Reading Ahead for Sunday. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!
Team 413 for Marathons
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Podcast
Catholic Men’s Fellowship Sunday Readings Podcast

Music in this episode was “Blue Sky” by Supraluxe

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In this episode of the Rosary Army Catholic Podcast: Prayers for Archbishop Gregory, Sad News from EWTN, Letter from Fr. Francis Mary Stone, Praying for Apostolates, Hills and Marathons, YAM Revive, and Giving Campaign Tally. 206-984-1899 to leave feedback!

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Rosary Army 2008 Giving Campaign – Please Help!

Music in this episode was “Pizza in Paradise” by Joe Tunon

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