Father Corapi...

...let us pray for him.

Kresta in the Afternoon blog on this situation: The Walls Come Tumbling Down on Corapi.

Jen Fulwiler's blog entry about the Father Corapi situation (probably the best one I've read). Read her blog. It's much better than mine. I work way too many hours to keep this thing updated like I should.

And to close: some comments I made on Kresta's blog...


"I have been praying for Fr. Corapi, and will continue to do so. In one of his recorded talks he asked that we pray for him constantly because, as he said, any of us can fall deeply into sin and lose our souls. But, to quote him, "It ain't over till it's over." He can still repent and be renewed! Let us pray for him, for all who are hurt by his fall, and that God will help each of us to guard our hearts and lives that we may attain eternal life!"


UPDATE: Wise words from Father Z.


Hat tip to Mark Shea (another blog that is much better than mine!).

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.

A Prayer for Terrorists.

From EWTN.

H/t: Esther/A Catholic Mom in Hawaii

Christopher Hitchens discusses prayer in a recent article.

Update, 9/5/10:
A great article about this situation (much better than mine which is just random thoughts that occurred to me during my reading of "Unanswerable Prayers") from Wesley J. Smith at First Things's Secondhand Smoke blog. I completely agree with this: "But I also think that to force prayers on an atheist is to not support the person as he or she is, but to be prideful, by using the ill person’s illness to make oneself feel virtuous. If one wishes to pray for such a person, by all means do, but in the closet. If God is there, he will hear the prayer."


Continuing my post:
Perhaps it would be better to say that he discusses people who are praying for him and their reasons for doing so. [Article here.]

I'm one of those people, although I'm not one of the many who have written or e-mailed him to inform him of that fact. So many people have such odd ideas about prayer. Despite the fact that I've been a Christian for 32 years now ("Saved at the age of four!" as the Baptists would say), I certainly don't think I know everything there is to know about prayer. It is a mystery. I hope I know enough to keep from making some of the mistakes reflected by people in Hitchens's article.

Not technically a prayer (posted on a presumably Christian web site:

"Who else feels Christopher Hitchens getting terminal throat cancer [sic] was God’s revenge for him using his voice to blaspheme him?"

Well, I don't. And I'm ashamed of you for doing so!

The post continues:

"Atheists like to ignore FACTS. They like to act like everything is a “coincidence”. Really? It’s just a “coincidence” [that] out of any part of his body, Christopher Hitchens got cancer in the one part of his body he used for blasphemy? Yea, keep believing that Atheists. He’s going to writhe in agony and pain and wither away to nothing and then die a horrible agonizing death, and THEN comes the real fun, when he’s sent to HELLFIRE forever to be tortured and set afire."

What is wrong with this idiot? Rejoicing in someone's (potential) eternal damnation? Somehow I missed that in the Gospels. Let us pray for that particular poster to have a change of heart, lest he/she "likewise perish".

Hitchens asks, "… would this anonymous author want his views to be read by my unoffending children, who are also being given a hard time in their way, and by the same god?"

Unfortunately, I can think of several people, all of whom, interestingly, are Fundamentalist Christians, who would indeed want his children to read that post because it might warn them of their presumable fate. I used to be one of them. Thankfully,  because of God's grace, I know better now. Let us pray that Christians who hold this or similar views will repent, lest they "all likewise perish".

Hitchens writes: "Almost all men get cancer of the prostate if they live long enough: it’s an undignified thing but quite evenly distributed among saints and sinners, believers and unbelievers. If you maintain that god awards the appropriate cancers, you must also account for the numbers of infants who contract leukemia. Devout persons have died young and in pain. Bertrand Russell and Voltaire, by contrast, remained spry until the end, as many psychopathic criminals and tyrants have also done. These visitations, then, seem awfully random."

Indeed, who can know the mind of God? I wish some Christians would stop behaving as though they do. God allows good and bad things to happen to everyone. Let us pray for the grace to accept and endure the hardships that we either are experiencing or that we will experience.

"As with many of the Catholics who essentially pray for me to see the light as much as to get better, they were very honest. Salvation was the main point. 'We are, to be sure, concerned for your health, too, but that is a very secondary consideration. "For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul?" [Matthew 16:26.]' That was Larry Taunton. Pastor Wilson responded that when he heard the news he prayed for three things: that I would fight off the disease, that I would make myself right with eternity, and that the process would bring the two of us back into contact. He couldn’t resist adding rather puckishly that the third prayer had already been answered…"

Let us indeed pray for the healing and conversion of Christopher Hitchens, but let us not make the mistake of thinking "If Hitchens becomes a Christian, just think of all the atheists who will have to reexamine their beliefs and become Christians, too!" Very often, God does great works for the hidden sanctification of individual souls. We tend to think that a grand, public witness does great good for God's kingdom, but I think many of our attempts do great harm (televangelism, for example). The early Christians were known for their charity and their chastity. In America, Christians are known for being against abortion and against "gay rights". Perhaps the primary reason we're "losing the culture war" is that we are no longer known for our charity? How often do we talk about "loving the sinner and hating the sin" while demonstrating hate for the sin and no compassion for the sinner? I'm just as guilty. Let us pray that we all may grow in the virtues, lest we "all likewise perish."

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.

************************************************************************************
The rest of this post doesn't really have anything to do with the above link.
************************************************************************************


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!

Iran...

...Let us pray for the people of that nation.

Let us pray for peace.

Let us pray that the Iranians will have a government that respects human dignity and seeks what is truly good for the people.

Let us pray for the Christians in that nation to somehow exert a peaceful influence well beyond their small numbers.

Let us pray that the Iranian Muslims, Jews, Baha'is, nominal Christians, etc. will be open, because of their current circumstances, to the true peace that comes only from the Gospel.

Let us pray for our home nations and for Iran:

V. Show us Thy mercy, O Lord;
R. And grant us Thy salvation.
V. Endue Thy ministers with righteousness;
R. And make Thy chosen people joyful.
V. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
R. For only in Thee can we live in safety.
V. Lord, keep this nation under Thy care;
R. And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
V. Let Thy way be known upon the earth;
R. Thy saving health among all nations.
V. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
R. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
V. Create in us clean hearts, O God;
R. And sustain us with Thy Holy Spirit.

Amen.

After the spurt of postings I've had in the last two days...

...this may be a minor surprise to some.

I haven't been able to blog much lately because my wrist has some sort of problem. I'm not exactly sure what. I've spoken to my doctor about it, and I go on Friday to get some tests done. It seems there's definitely have some nerve damage, and the tests on Friday will determine exactly what kind and what the extent is. I'm right-handed and it's my right wrist that's acting up. It worries me because I'm losing function in the wrist. It's difficult and a little painful to type. It's difficult and very painful to write because I have to hold my pen in such an odd way (strangely enough, I have to hold my pen so strongly and exert so much control that my handwriting has improved even as I'm less able to hold the pen comfortably). Sometimes, I even have difficulty feeding myself because of how my wrist behaves when putting a cup or utensil to my mouth. One can teach oneself to become ambidextrous, which I'm willing to do, but I miss being able to write and type well. I used to be able to type at 8100+ sph with a one percent error rate (data entry), but cannot come anywhere near that now.

I would appreciate any prayers you could offer for this situation.

Thanks.

Hope in Darkness

Sometimes I look at the world and get scared. The situation for Christianity in the modern world often looks bleak, especially in the West. But Jesus promised the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. There have been many times in Church history when the truth was obscured by widespread heresy. Arianism had nearly taken over the Church in the fourth century, and it took until about 100 years after the Council of Nicea for it to be rooted out. Christ's mystical body is divided, huge segments of certain denominations have apostatized, African and Asian Christians battle spiritism and animism, Western Christians battle relativism and materialism, but in the end, God will put everything right. To quote Saint Julian of Norwich: "…all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." In the meantime, let us pray for "cafeteria" and dissenting Catholics, our separated brethren, and those who make fun of us. May we humbly serve them, and may God bring them into the fullness of His Truth! And let us not forget that there are millions of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Catholic, Coptic, Armenian, Orthodox, Protestant, etc., who suffer terribly for their faith in Jesus Christ. More Christians died as martyrs in the twentieth century that in the previous nineteen centuries combined! The persecution hasn't lessened any in the twenty-first century. Let us pray that we will be faithful, and let us pray for the persecuted:


Alia Oratio ad Sanctum Michael
Pope Leo XIII, from the Roman Ritual, Rite of Exorcism

O glorious Prince of the heavenly host, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and fearful warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come thou to the assistance of men, whom Almighty God created immortal, making them in His own image and likeness and redeeming them at a great price from the tyranny of Satan. Fight this day the battle of the Lord with thy legions of holy Angels, even as of old thou didst fight against Lucifer, the leader of the proud spirits and all his rebel angels, who were powerless to stand against thee, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast forth, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduces the whole world; and he was cast forth upon Earth, and his angels were sent with him.

But behold! the ancient enemy of mankind and a murderer from the beginning has been fiercely aroused. Changing himself into an angel of light, he goes about with the whole multitude of the wicked spirits to invade the earth and blot out the Name of God and of His Christ, to plunder, to slay, and to consign to eternal damnation the souls that have been destined for a crown of everlasting life. This wicked serpent, like an unclean torrent, pours into men of depraved minds and corrupt hearts the poison of his malice, the spirit of lying, impiety, and blasphemy, and the deadly breath of impurity and every form of vice and iniquity.

Be favorable to Thy Church, the Bride of the Lamb without spot, whose enemies have filled to overflowing with gall and inebriated with wormwood. They have laid profane hands upon Her most sacred treasures. Where the See of the most blessed Peter and the Chair of Truth has been constituted as a light to the nations, there they have placed a throne of their abomination and impiety; so that with the Pastor struck, they may prevail to disperse the flock.

Therefore, most invincible Leader, be with the people of God against this spiritual wickedness and bring about victory. Thou art venerated by Holy Church as Her guard and patron; thou art glorified as our defender against the impious powers of earth and of hell. Unto thee the Lord hath handed over the souls of the redeemed to be placed in happiness above. Entreat the God of peace, to obliterate Satan beneath our feet, lest he prevail further to hold men captive, and to injure the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that the mercy of the Lord may swiftly overtake us, and apprehend the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and send him bound into the abyss, so that he may seduce the nations no more. Henceforth having been confided to thy escort and protection, we by the authority of Holy Mother Church, do undertake to repel the infestations of diabolical deceit in the Name of Jesus Christ, Our God and Lord.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, depart from us, our adversaries.

R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, root of David, has conquered.

V. Let Thy mercy be upon us Lord.

R. As much as we hope in Thee.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

Amen.