Desire of the Everlasting Hills

What a movie! It moves me to pursue chastity ever more faithfully. Honestly, I don't do a very good job of that. I have slacked off terribly in recent years, and allowed lust to master me. One day I hope to be as faithful as Paul, Dan, and Rilene. May it be soon! May God have mercy on me, a sinner, and, through the intercession of St. Joseph the Betrothed, St. Joseph the All-Comely, St. Charles Lwanga, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Augustine of Hippo, and all the saints, may He grant me the grace to live a chaste and celibate life in peace and happiness. And do you, my reading public, also pray for me.

'Desire of the Everlasting Hills is a very well-made documentary, produced by Courage, about the lives of 3 people who experience sexual attractions towards their own sex, and who are seeking to live out Catholic Church teaching on homosexuality in obedience to Jesus Christ. They begin by telling of their early experiences of their sexuality, and tell how they began to live in their twenties and beyond. They discuss what their views on religion were, how they felt about God, their partners, etc. How they began to recognize that their lives were unfulfilling, and how they began to seek peace and answers to their questions in the Catholic Church. Each of them had experience with the Catholic Church, each left, and each came back to Her. Their stories are compelling, and certain of each of their experiences resonate with me. I want to write about this, but I don't have time right now. So let me provide the link, and encourage those who have not yet seen it to do so. It's a little over an hour, and can be viewed for free online.


Desire of the Everlasting Hills

Happy Feast of Saint Joseph!

It's too late to do a novena in his honor for his feast day this year, but here's one you can do next year:

O glorious descendant of the kings of Judah, Inheritor of the virtues of all the patriarchs. Just and happy St. Joseph, listen to my prayer. Thou art my glorious protector, and shall ever be, after Jesus and Mary the object of my most profound veneration and confidence. Thou art the most hidden, though the greatest Saint, and art particularly the patron of those who serve God with the greatest purity and fervor. In union with all those who have ever been most devoted to thee I now dedicate myself to thy service; beseeching thee, for the sake of Jesus Christ, who vouchsafed to love and obey thee as a son, to become a father to me; and to obtain for me the filial respect, confidence and love of a child towards thee. 

O powerful advocate of all Christians, whose intercession, as St. Theresa assures us, has never been found to fail, deign to intercede for me now, and to implore for me the particular intention of this Novena. 

(Mention your intentions here)

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. 

Present me O great Saint to the adorable Trinity, with Whom thou hadst so glorious and so intimate a correspondence. Obtain that I may never efface by sin the Sacred Image according to the likeness of which, I was created. Beg for me that my divine Redeemer would enkindle in my heart and in all hearts, the fire of His Love, and infuse therein the virtues of His adorable infancy, His purity, simplicity, obedience, and humility. 

Obtain for me likewise a lively devotion to thy virgin spouse, and protect me so powerfully in life and death, that I may have the happiness of dying as thou didst, in the friendship of my Creator, and under the immediate protection of the Mother of God. Amen.

It is apparently the custom to begin this prayer on March 10 and end it on the 18th, the eve of his feast.

Shrines of Saint Joseph you can make a pilgrimage to:

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Santa Cruz, CA (cared for by the Oblates of Saint Joseph)

Shrine of Saint Joseph in St. Louis, MO

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Stirling, NJ

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Yarnell, AZ

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Farnborough, UK

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Grass Lake, MI

Shrine of Saint Joseph in Pontiac, MI (in St. Damien of Molokai parish)

More on Saint Joseph

at the OrthodoxWiki

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

And now, good news and bad news.

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields"

H/t: Mark Shea.

God bless these Muslims! May their example shine throughout the world and show terrorists the wrongs of terrorism!

Prayers for Egypt: New Years Massacre at Coptic Church

H/t: Just a Dude.

Let us pray:


A Prayer for Persecuted Christians

(C) by Star Ferdinand. Used by permission.

Thank You, O Lord, for redeeming us from the hand of the adversary and gathering us from the far corners of the earth. We bow before You now, asking that You have mercy on Your people who are persecuted and afflicted around the world – those who have heeded the call of Jesus to take up their Cross daily and follow Him. Their path has been difficult, full of trials and hardships. Yet they refuse to deny their Lord. As they partake of the sufferings of Christ, we know they are also partaking of the comfort You provide. Please work out Your will in their lives. Stand by them and strengthen them as You did Paul, so they can earnestly say, “Your will be done.” 

We have read of the rescue of Peter from prison and know that You can turn the heart of any government official, including those with authority to release Your people from prison. Father, You rescued Peter in response to the prayers of the Church. We now ask You to do the same for Your disciples everywhere who have been imprisoned because they preach Christ. Deliver Your messengers from the hands of the executioners so that through them, Your message will be fully proclaimed to every people group on earth. 

We have also read of Your servant, Stephen, who was stoned to death. We know that many others since that day have been executed because they would not deny their faith. For those in our generation who will suffer this same fate, we ask, Lord, that You will strengthen their faith so they can say with Paul, “To die is gain.” Expand their vision, O God, so that they see what Stephen saw: Jesus standing at Your right hand. Let those of us who now pray to You follow the lead of Your persecuted ones, pick up our Crosses daily, and follow Your Son, in Whose precious name we pray. Amen.

Yes, Virginia, there is...

...still a blogger at this site. One, however, who stays too busy to post very often!

I break my fast of posts with a link to a much better resource than my own humble* blog: Eve Tushnet's latest at Inside Catholic.

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The rest of this post doesn't really have anything to do with the above link.
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One of the main reason's I started this blog was to publicly "talk through" what it means to be "gay" and Catholic. Much to my regret, I've never really used that blog for that purpose, however, partly because I didn't want to be too open about my thoughts and struggles as I learn how to deal with my same-sex attraction. As I've been sharing my story with other people, I've realized how powerful it can be to admit publicly, my sins, my need for accountability, the things that have helped me achieve the small victories I've won, etc.

I've also realized that my public speaking engagements, as well as the things I share with friends on Facebook, necessitate that I tell my family my full story. So far, they know only small parts of it. It's unthinkable that one of my Facebook friends should mention something about my unfortunately-not-yet-non-existant sex life to my parents and sisters who still believe I'm a virgin. Thry deserve to hear the truth from me, not from somebody who has heard me speak!

Perhaps, gentle readers, you will be so kind as to pray for the following:

1) that God will give me the courage to speak soon to my parents and siblings about this hidden (from them) part of my life;

2) that God will give me the grace to know what to say, how to say it, and that He will enable me to say it well, with charity^, grace, and humility;

3) that God will prepare their hearts to hear this shameful news that I have to tell them;

4) that somehow we will grow closer as a family, and that we will grow close as a Christian** family as a result of my openness with them.




*Humble, not as in the virtue of humility, but as in Merriam Webster's third definition of the word.

^I ask for charity because when I first outed myself to them, I didn't think about their feelings; my only concern was to unburden myself!

**We are all professing Christians, but some in my immediate family have separated themselves as far as they are able from all that would do them good. Pray for us!

Let us never forget...

...our brothers and sisters who suffer for the name of Christ in the Middle East.

National Geographic--Arab Christians. (H/t to Mark Shea).

Where God Weeps/Aid to the Church in Need

Voice of the Martyrs

Open Doors with Brother Andrew

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many…that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whenever one member suffer, all the members suffer with it…"

The First Epistle of the Apostle Saint Paul to the Church at Corinth
(I Corinthians 12:12-14, 25, 26a NAV)

"Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured."

The Epistle of Hebrews
(Hebrews 13:3 NRSV)

Prayer for the Persecuted

Father in Heaven, You make Your sun shine on bad and good alike. Your Son, Jesus Christ, died for us all and in His glorious Resurrection He still retains the five wounds of His Passion. With His divine power He now sustains all those who suffer persecution and martyrdom for the sake of their fidelity to the faith of the Church. Merciful and mighty Father, do not allow Cain to return again to murder helpless Abel, innocent Abel. May the persecuted Christians remain, like Mary, their Mother, together at the foot of the Cross of Christ the Martyr. Comfort those menaced by violence and those oppressed by uncertainty. May Your Holy Spirit of love make fruitful the witness and the blood of those who die forgiving. Amen.

And speaking of The Sheepcat...

Way back on Sunday, July 27th, I got to meet Alan live and in person at Lakeshore-St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church where he debated the Reverend Martha Daniels of Metropolitan Community Church Windsor on the topic of "[I]s homosexual practice 'contrary to the [G]ospel and inconsistent with a Christian lifestyle?'"

You can read about it at Alan's blog here and here.

I just want to add a few comments.

First, it was the most un-Presbyterian Presbyterian church I've ever been to, all seeker-sensitive and stuff (deplorable!), but the people, especially the pastor and his wife, were very good.

Second, it was great to meet Alan. I've enjoyed his blog ever since I first discovered it two years ago. He's as great a guy in person as you'd think from reading his blog. That was certainly the highlight of July.

Third, I also got to meet Dale and Heather Price of Dyspeptic Mutterings and Domestic Bliss Report, as well as the Price children, or, as CourageMan calls them, the Pricelets. Dale and Heather seem to be very fun people, and their children shocked me by actually eating food at the Mongolian BBQ. I cannot imagine my nieces and nephew being so not-picky! Dale also promised to remind CourageMan that I too live in the Detroit area when he (CM) visits them (Prices) this Christmas.

Fourth, the debate. Alan was stronger in the first debate than the second, but he was good in both. Here's a quote from his blog to demonstrate how good he was in the first:

"I can't resist recounting one anecdote: in the first debate Martha argued that homosexuality couldn't be against nature, as it had been documented in hundreds of animal species. Well, I responded, cannibalism is found in the animal kingdom, but we don't take that as a model of appropriate human behaviour. She didn't use that line of reasoning the second time."

I have to remember that one.

His limmerick at the end cracks me up! In both debates, he ended with it and then simply said "Martha?" as a way of handing it over to her. It's funny because this is how it went:

"Second Peter and Jude are akin
as they warn against libertine spin,
'Sodom's toast*, so beware
of the prophets who dare
to treat grace as a license to sin'...Martha?"

I'm not sure Martha liked being linked with the daring prophets.

You can get copies of both debates by contacting Lakeshore-St. Andrews. I don't know what the prices are. There's a free MP3 download of the first debate here.

*A contraction for "Sodom is".

The Realities of Same-Sex Attraction Conference...

...went very well on Friday and Saturday!

We had about 40 clergy on Friday and about the same number of laity on Saturday, including a few of my friends who came for moral support. I was very glad to see them.

I learned something about myself at the conference: I enjoy public speaking! And I seem to be good at it! Up till now, the only talent I knew I had was reading, which is kind of a useless skill in that one cannot really serve other people just by reading lots of books. Now I know I can do something else that can affect other people. Giving my testimony was fun, and I still can't believe how much I enjoyed it.

The best part was my opening on clergy day because I got to thank them for all they do for us. It was good to be able to be a blessing to them.




I would first like to thank His Excellency Bishop Boyea, Catholic Charities, and particularly Rory Hoipkemeier, for giving me this opportunity to share my story with you this afternoon.

While my primary purpose here is to share with you my testimony and some of what Courage has meant for me, I cannot pass up this chance to express thanks to you for two things. I've never before been able to speak to a large group of Catholics, let alone clergy, and I must do this while I have the opportunity.

First: I thank you as fellow Catholics. I'm a convert to Catholicism, received at the Easter Vigil of 2004, and am grateful for your faithfulness to the Church, preserving the Church through the years, so that She was there for me when I was ready to join Her.

Second: I wish to thank you as clergy, for giving your lives to Christ and His Church, serving the people of God in this most special way. You probably hear more complaints from the laity than anything else, and don't hear thanks from us often enough, but we do thank you. We need you and we love you. We appreciate all you do for us.

Seminarians, thank you for taking time to discern whether or not God is calling you to Holy Orders. We're grateful for your willingness to stop and listen to what the Spirit is saying to you, and we're praying for you during your discernment.

There may be some here who are suspicious of, or who do not support the Courage Apostolate, its goals, or its message. There may be some here who don't know what Courage is, or only have vague ideas of its mission. I'm pleased to explain what Courage is and what it means to its members. As stated on the Courage website:

"Courage is an apostolate of the Roman Catholic Church that ministers to those with same-sex attractions and their loved ones. It has been endorsed by the Pontifical Council for the Family and our beloved John Paul II said of this ministry, 'Courage is doing the work of God!' Courage also has an outreach called Encourage which ministers to relatives and friends of persons with same-sex attractions.

"Courage has five goals which were created by the members themselves, when the apostolate was founded. Each member is called to practice them in daily life.

1) Live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality. (Chastity)
2) Dedicate one's life to Christ through service to others, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. (Prayer and Dedication)
3) Foster a spirit of fellowship in which all may share thoughts and experiences, and so ensure that no one will have to face the problems of homosexuality alone. (Fellowship)
4) Be mindful of the truth that chaste friendships are not only possible but necessary in a chaste Christian life and in doing so provide encouragement to one another in forming and sustaining them. (Support)
5) Live lives that may serve as good examples to others. (Good Example)"

Courage member David Morrison wrote a book called Beyond Gay, in which he listed some things that Courage is not.

" Courage is not an orientation change group. Courage does not require anyone coming to its meetings or getting support to commit to diminishing [his or her] same-sex attraction or changing it to a more heterosexual focus. If individual members wish to try such a course their Courage groups will support them, but it's not a requirement.

"Courage is not an organization of perfectionists! The first men that Father Harvey helped to form Courage did not do so to create a society of the folks who had already made it. Courage members are not required to be living chastely when they arrive[,] and some may never arrive at that point. All Courage requires is that its members commits to trying to live the goals. The goals are goals, after all, things people aim toward and for. They are not grades for work already done.

" Courage is not 'rigid'. Courage is faithful to the teaching of the Catholic Church, but Courage is not only about living chastely. Courage is about becoming better Christians. Courage is about growth, integration, and joy and about using the teaching of the Church to help get there.

"Courage is not anti-gay. In fact, Courage is not particularly anti-anything in the sense of feeling the need to denounce things or continually address the 'issue' of same-sex attraction. Courage remains intensely personal. Members have included former gay activists and married men for whom the support groups for whom the support groups are the only people on earth who know their struggle to live chastely. It is true that Courage is about choices, and in that sense one course of action has to win out over another. Encouraging members to choose Mass or prayer over gay bars and one-night-stands might be seen by some as 'anti-gay', but it's not as though, in an abstract sense, Courage formally goes out and denounces patrons of gay bars or people who have one night stands."

I want you to know that I don't stand before you as the poster-child of Courage. I'm one of those trying to live the goals, and identify more with what Courage is not than with what it is. I have many failings with chastity and need to go to Confession often. My heart still repeats after Saint Augustine, "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet." The Courage Apostolate and the teaching of the Church have helped me face both my sexual sin and my sexuality, and to face them with hope, knowing that God loves me.

My story begins with my parents who became committed Christians shortly before I was born, during the Jesus Movement in the 70s. They attended a small Fundamental, Baptist church because that's where their friends went. They sacrificed to send my sisters and me to private, Baptist schools, and until my junior year of high school, I'd never met another Christian who was not Baptist, and I was shocked at how many non-Baptist Christians there were!

My pastors and the private school and Sunday school teachers would sometimes tell us about other Christians and what they believed, but, as I learned later, they gave us a lot of misinformation, especially regarding Pentecostals and the Catholic Church.

Nevertheless, in this environment, I came to faith in Christ at a very young age. One day, when I was four years old, I was playing with my toys in my bedroom, thinking about what my parents told me about Jesus, and I decided I wanted to ask Him into my heart. So I got up, walked over to the bathroom door (because my dad was in there), knocked, and said, "Daddy, I want to ask Jesus into my heart!" My dad said, "Right now!?" I said "Yes", so he opened the door, let me in, asked me some questions to see if I understood what I was doing, then, while he was still sitting on the toilet, he led me in a prayer asking Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to come live in my heart. I was baptized, in a baptismal font, a few months later.

From the beginning, I loved Jesus! And my faith in Him grew. But in my early teen years, my faith began to stagnate, until, at the age of sixteen, I went to summer camp with my church and the Lord touched me there. I saw my faith in a whole new way, and fell in love with Christ all over again.

At this point I should mention that the Fundamental Baptists taught me that those who experience homosexual attractions choose to be this way. There was no understanding of the psychological dimension or other possible causes for it. Because of this worldview of homosexuality, even though I had same-sex attractions from the beginning of my puberty, I wouldn't acknowledge these feelings and so buried them. However, we know all too well, that doesn’t work for very long! I never told my friends or family about these feelings, and when I got my own car and was able to go anywhere I wanted, all my suppressed feelings and buried sexual desires came out.

My first sexual experience with another person was at 19. I wasn't very promiscuous to begin with; I'd have anonymous sexual encounters a few times a year, picking up guys at various places gay men were known to cruise.

This pattern went on for about seven years, and I had more sexual encounters and had them more often. I felt torn in two different directions. My faith life was best described as up and down. When I spent time with my Christian friends, I would feel encouraged and loved. Other times I felt isolated, discouraged, and rejected by God.

By the end of the year 2000, my discouragement and disappointment in myself made me feel like a failure. I stopped going to church, reading the Bible, or even praying. I really didn't want anything to do with God. I thought He saw me as worthless, and I felt abandoned.

I made plans to move across the country, away from my family and Christian friends, and start a whole new life, becoming part of the gay scene, making gay friends, and openly living a lifestyle that was contrary to my faith.

From my late teens until about this point, I had wanted to be a missionary. I dreamed of taking the Gospel to tribes that had never heard it before. The only thing that stopped me from moving across the country was that I had been telling my friends since early '97 about a missions conference that I planned to attend in late December of 2000. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship holds this conference every three years. It's called Urbana. My best friend Dan, who knew nothing about my sexual issues and who had moved to Alaska a couple of years before, was flying down to Detroit to go to the conference with me.

I was pretty miserable the whole time I was there. On the one hand, I felt hopelessly abandoned by God, but on the other, I knew that what I was hearing and experiencing at Urbana was good and holy.

I said and did all the proper Christian things at Urbana in order to blend in with the crowd, even though I didn’t feel like much of a Christian. On the last day of the conference, I attended a workshop that addressed same-sex attraction. I went with mixed feelings, unsure of what I would find there.

The main point of the seminar was that there was hope for those who had these feelings. The workshop leader told us that the answer did not lie in hiding our feelings, running off, giving up, and giving in to a lifestyle that we knew in our hearts was wrong. In fact, he said something that explicitly addressed the dilemma I was facing: "If you're experiencing these feelings, don't "out" yourself to the gay community and lead a sexually immoral life. "Out" yourself to the Christian community and let the Body of Christ love you and help you deal with these feelings."

I nearly fell out of my chair! There were over 20,000 people at Urbana, and yet, God had a message specifically for me! I felt hope again, and my heart was filled with joy!

I went home and, on January 2 of 2001, did the scariest thing I have ever done in my life: I told my parents about my homosexual inclinations. This was such a huge step of spiritual victory and emotional release for me that I'm afraid I didn't really think about the impact on them. Even though they told me right away that they loved me, at first they had a hard time dealing with this revelation. My mom cried a lot, and my dad got mad at God for quite awhile. He told God, "I know You didn't make my son gay, but You could have stopped it!" They accepted it, eventually, but no wonder people want to avoid talking about these things with their families!

I knew I needed to get back into church, and began attending an Evangelical Southern Baptist church near my home. I didn't want to hide anything any longer, so I told my pastor and Sunday School class about my orientation and sexual struggles. Everyone took it quite well, and nobody condemned me nor was anyone freaked out even though I was still struggling with chastity and failing a lot.

I also attended an Evangelical-Christian support group called ' Reconciliation Ministries', which dealt with same-sex attraction, but they held to the view that if your orientation did not change, you weren't doing something right.

I attended both the Baptist Church and the support group regularly, and kept learning more about the Christian faith. I started a new job and began speaking with a co-worker, Michael Chesley, who was in formation at Sacred Heart Major Seminary for the permanent deaconate. We began sharing our faith, and he gave me literature about the Church after I expressed an interest in Catholicism. I eventually decided to convert, and, as stated before, was received into the Church on the Easter Vigil of 2004.

I'd heard about Courage through a friend at the Evangelical support group, and when I joined the Church, I looked for a Courage chapter near me.

At this point, I was under the impression that the Catholic Church held to the same position that the support group did, namely that my orientation had to change. I was worried because I had been trying for several years now to become heterosexual, and it wasn't working.

When I learned the Church's teaching on homosexuality, it was a great comfort to me. The Church tells me I might not change, but that's okay; change is not a requirement. The Church realizes that the human condition is complicated. There are many reasons for one having a same-sex attraction, and the Church leaves it up to science and medicine to figure out why. I'm called to follow Christ, and, like every other single, unmarried man, live a life of chaste celibacy. The Church tells us that no matter what our sexual inclinations are, we are all made in God's image and likeness and can all grow in holiness. The Church offers me forgiveness when I sin, and hope in God's grace and mercy. She tells me I am not worthless and abandoned, but that God loves me with an everlasting love. I joined the Church because I was convinced that the doctrines of the Church are true in theological matters, but never expected to find the peace of mind and heart I now have because of what the Church teaches about human sexuality! Praised be Jesus Christ!

I want to encourage you to let people know about the Courage Apostolate. If people come to you who are same-sex attracted, especially if they feel like I did—hopeless, worthless, rejected—let them know they will find love and support at Courage. Don't be afraid to tell them what the Church teaches about sexuality: there is peace and joy and healing and life in the truth! And please let them know how much God loves them. Let them know they are dear to His heart. Let them know that God loved them so much, that He gave His only-begotten Son so that they might not perish but have everlasting life.

You do so much for the people of God already, but I do ask that you do this one thing more: support Courage in this diocese. Tell people about it. People need to hear this message. People are waiting to hear this message.

Thank you all, again, for your faithfulness as Catholics, for your ministry to the people of God, and for listening to my story. God be with you.

One of the best things the Fundamental Baptists gave me...

...is a great respect and a great love for Holy Scripture. I just finished reading part one of an article at Zenit called "What is needed for a Bible Comeback?" It's an interview with Cardinal Albert Vanhoye. Here are some quotes that struck me:

"In particular, I studied the theme of faith in John's Gospel, an obviously basic theme. For John faith consists in believing in the Son of God. This is not just adherence to revealed truth, but it is above all adherence to a person, a person who is the Son of God, who does the work of the Father, in union with the Father and who also invites us to do his work."

"My assumptions [in my study of the Bible] are clearly assumptions of faith. The Bible is a text that expresses the faith. To receive it in a serious and profound way it is necessary to be in the current that produced it. So, it is essential to approach the inspired text with an attitude of faith. On the other hand, there is also the conviction that the Bible is a historical book and not simply theoretical. It is a revelation with facts, with events; it is an existential historical reality that must be accepted as such."

"...sacred Scripture is essential for knowing Christ, for conforming to Christ..."

"[The Church needs to educate] the faithful to receive the word of God completely not only in their mind but in their heart and in their life. This is clear. The faithful need to be educated to do this. And on the other hand, in order that this be truly effective, it is indispensable that the faithful meditate on the word of God, reconsider it, reflect on it. And in this way their life will be transformed little by little by the power of the word of God."

"...'lectio divina' is a very serious method of entering into inspired Scripture. But in order for it to have an impact on life it is necessary that the last step be an application to life. It is possible to do a 'lectio divina' that stops at an attentive consideration of the text, and then a meditation. But it must be completed by an effort of the believer to apply it to life, to truly receive the word of God in his life, to make it not only present but operative."

In the last few years I've gotten out of the habit of regular, daily Bible reading, but have taken steps recently to change that by developing a Three Year Plan that will have me read the Gospels four times every year, the Psalms twice every year, and the rest of the Bible once in three years. The Psalms and Gospels have been weak areas for me, but I've gotten much better with the Psalms thanks to the Liturgy of the Hours! I'm looking forward to getting better acquainted with the Gospels.

Here's a link the Coming Home Network's reader's guide to read through the Bible and Catechism in a year (PDF file).

Some other links that may be of interest:

The Early Church Fathers on the Scriptures (small selection)

From the Congregation for the Clergy at the Holy See: Biblia Clerus, Reading the Word of God with the Church

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859 edition. A Catholic Bible Commentary compiled by the late Reverend Father George Leo Haydock, following the Douay-Rheims Bible. (This is the commentary only, not the Biblical text. Bible link here: the Bible at this link has commentary by Bishop Richard Challoner, 1691-1781)

The Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible online.

A short list of Major Church Pronouncements on the Bible.

Today We Remember...

Today, We Remember…


I still remember vividly the attacks of September 11, 2001. I was at work, not listening to NPR, or any radio show/station, which was very unusual for me at that time of day. Someone from the office came out into the warehouse and told us about the first plane hit. I didn't realize even then how serious the situation was, and delayed turning on the radio until the second plane hit. I don't remember which came first, the plane crashing in Pennsylvania or the Pentagon attack, but I called my mom after they both occurred. She was still sleeping at the time. After she said "Hello", I told her what was happening and to turn on the television. I kept listening to the radio all day. My dad went home from his job to be with my mom, and my sister and her three children went over there, too. I wish I had joined them, but nobody from my workplace went home, and, even though I really wanted to be with my family, I stayed at work, not that we got very much done that day.

I remember thinking, "The World Trade Center is hit, two planes crashed into it and the towers are burning, some people have already died, but they're evacuating and it will turn out okay for most of the people today."

Then the towers fell.

I don't even know how to describe the sinking feeling I got in my gut when that happened. There was a Lutheran church not far from my workplace, so I called their office and asked if they were open for people to come pray. The lady on the phone told me that they had just decided one minute before I called to open the church up for prayer. So I went for a while. When I got back to the warehouse, my boss told me he was surprised that I came back. I'm not sure why my co-workers were not as affected as I was by what happened, but it hit me hard. My boss took it better than any of us did, but he'd spent twenty years in the navy and had been in combat. Some of my co-workers, and I must admit that I'm still somewhat upset over this, decided that their news source for the day was Howard Stern!

Many Christians, myself included, hoped that America would wake up and turn back to God, but that didn't really happen. Many New Yorkers have been affected and have re-prioritized their lives, concentrating more on God, friends, and family, but there wasn't a wide-spread spiritual renewal in that city, either. Our churches were packed for only a few weeks.

It seems that God intended through this tragedy, not a loud and general triumphant "revival" for the United States of America, but "the hidden sanctification" of a few souls. Of course, we see only a small portion of what goes on, and we cannot know whom God changed through that event, or for what purpose. Sometimes, it takes a generation or two for God's plan to become evident. I think of Mr. Edward D. Kimball, a Sunday School teacher at Mount Vernon Congregational Church in Boston, Massachusetts, I believe. Mr. Kimball never did any thing "extraordinary" in his life, but one day he led D.L. Moody to Christ. And look at Louie and Zélie Martin – ordinary Christian parents who gave birth to a Saint (and whose cause for sainthood is being explored). Perhaps something like that will come from the 9/11 tragedy. Who knows?

In the meantime, let us pray for the United States.

O God, I ask, in the Holy and Powerful Name of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that You will bless America by bringing the Christians in Her to repentance for our sins. May we reject and renounce the materialism in our lives, the selfishness, greed, and gluttony with which we fill our days. May we seek to know and love You, and seek to know and love our neighbors, and welcome them into Your family. May we remember that true riches are found in virtuous lives lived for Your glory, and that the riches of this world are given to our stewardship to further Your kingdom. And that even being good stewards builds Your kingdom. May we live courageous lives of charity and chastity in the public square, and, lest people think that we are so great and not You, may we be unafraid to speak of Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection, what He means to us, how He changes us, how He loves u, and how He loves our fellow-citizens.

As we approach this election, may You guide our hearts and minds that we may vote for people and policies that are in accord with Your eternal and unchanging law. And may we remember that our hope does not lie in who our President is and which political party controls the Congress and what judges are on the Supreme Court, but our hope is in Jesus Christ and in Your promises to us through Him. May we remember that, in addition to voting into government men and women of character and integrity who will support the passing of good laws, that we must serve our family, friends, and neighbors. May we remember that it is more important for us to support crisis pregnancy centers than it is to protest public funding of Planned Parenthood. May we remember that is more important to befriend the men at the gay bar down the street than it is to boycott companies with domestic partner policies. May we remember that it is more important to visit the abandoned persons in nursing homes than it is to ensure adequate government oversight of the facilities they live in. May we remember that people are much more important than politics (but may we never forget that politics is important, too).

As we pray for America, asking that Your kingdom be furthered in Her, may we remember that Your kingdom will last for ever, whereas our nation will endure but for a time. May we remember that Your kingdom transcends all earthly kingdoms, and may we therefore pray for all people in all nations on earth. May we remember our brethren in Iraq who suffer at the hands of the Muslim majority of their country because of their witness to You. May we remember that Iraqi Muslims are not our enemy, but are prisoners of war; indeed, prisoners of THE Enemy, casualties in THE War. May we remember those who are oppressed by wicked rulers, those who are exploited by uncaring employers, those who are slaves, those women and children subjugated by the sex industry, those suffering from AIDS and other incurable diseases, any person who is in any situation that makes it difficult for them to believe that a good God exists. And, as we fight oppression, exploitation, slavery, the sex trade, disease, and darkness, may we remember, once more, that those who are guilty of these crimes are prisoners of THE Enemy and casualties of THE War. And may we remember that the darkness and evil in their hearts is in ours, too.

O God, fill us with Your love and grace that we may be concerned with Your glory. Change us that we may be fit instruments to spread Your kingdom. May Your Spirit fill us over and over, again and again because we are leaky vessels. May we love and respect and cherish Your Name, and may our hearts be consumed by You.

Amen.

Dear Readers, Ramadan begins in September.

On September 1, to be exact. If you've been reading this blog since last year, you remember, I hope, what that means:

The 30 Days International prayer initiative begins soon. This blog will provide daily updates during the month of Ramadan so that we as Christians can pray for Muslims to come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 NAV)

My dear readers, as Catholics and other Christians we should remember that God "...will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:4 NAV) Perhaps during this month of Ramadan you would also consider whether or not God may be calling you to be a missionary or evangelist to Muslims in this world? It is difficult to reach Muslims with the Gospel, but it is not impossible. Let us spend this month in prayer asking God "to send forth" more "laborers into His harvest" in Muslim lands.

Resources to help you:

Order the 30 Days prayer booklet

Download the PDF version

Subscribe to the e-mail list

Other things Catholics can do:

Find out the names of Muslim religious leaders in your city and have Masses said for their conversion.

Make a Holy Hour for Muslim neighbors.

Pray a rosary for the conversion of Muslims on one day, and the next day pray a rosary for those who are working to win them to Christ. Ask especially for the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima.

Buy the book Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics. Read it. Let it inform your prayer life. Learn about Islam, and learn more about your faith, too. Consider passing this book along to other people in your parsih, especially teens and twenty-somethings.

Ask God to burden your heart for Muslims.

Encourage others to pray, read, have Masses said, etc.

And don't forget:

You'll learn more about Islam and how to reach Muslims for Christ from Abu Daoud than you will from me. Visit his site often!

Conspiracy theories

Several persons of my acquaintance are believers in conspiracy theories. I do consider one of these people a good and close friend, and as for the remainders, one I classify as "somewhat more than an acquaintance" and the other is classified as "not an enemy"). There are a couple of web articles I try to get all three of them to read, but with no success. You, my Reading Public, may be interested in these articles. So, for your reading pleasure, follow the links below:

Tinfoil Nation: Why 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Linger.

Christians and Conspiracy Theories: A Call to Repentance.