"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
I saw someone share this video and I thought it was an excellent introduction to the one of the most distinctive practices of the Catholic and Orthodox East – icons.
The presentation is given by Fr. Michael O’Loughlin and Deacon Basil (pronounced “Baz-ill”!) from a parish I’ve visited in Denver, Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church:
There are many topics I’ve wanted to write about but either through lack of time or, more recently, writer’s block, I’ve never quite managed to tackle them. However, today I will begin to scratch a writing itch which I’ve had for some time. Over the next month or so, I will be publishing articles which relate to the classical proofs for the existence of God.
A few days ago, I was talking with a friend on Facebook who is a former Catholic. During our discussion, I mentioned a philosphical proof for God, known as the “Argument From Desire”. He asked me to explain it, so I wrote a brief summary of the proof and we spent a little bit of time going back and forth. So, drawing upon this conversation, I thought that this would be good topic with which to begin this series of posts on the philosophical arguments for God…
Today in our culture…
materialism is idolized,
immorality is glamorized,
truth is minimized,
sin is normalized,
divorce is rationalized,
and abortion is legalized.
In TV and movies…
crime is sensationalized,
drugs are legitimized,
comedy is vulgarized,
and sex is trivialized.
In movies…
the Bible is fictionalized,
churches are satirized,
God is marginalized,
and Christians are demonized.
Also in our society…
the elderly are dehumanized,
the sick are euthanized,
the poor are victimized,
the mentally ill are ostracized,
immigrants are stigmatized,
and children are tranquilized.
Our families now live in a world where…
manners are uncivilized,
speech is vulgarized,
education is secularized,
advertising is sensualized,
and everything is commercialized.
Now, unfortunately Christians, you and I, we’re often disorganized, and we’re demoralized, our faith is compartmentalized, and our witness is compromised.
– Rick Warren
If you’ve been involved in the pro-life movement, chances are that you’ve come across Abby Johnson, the former Clinic Director of Planned Parenthood who is now an outspoken pro-life advocate. In the abortion debate, Abby’s testimony carries particular weight given her former employment by the nation’s most well-known abortion provider. Well, I recently heard about someone with a similar story…
A few weeks ago a reader told me about Patricia Sandoval, a lady who was also once an employee of Planned Parenthood. Like Abby, she is now a pro-life advocate and travels internationally sharing her testimony. Most of the videos on her website are in Spanish, but here’s one in English where she describes her (rather traumatic) journey:
I think stories like this need to be heard more often for a couple of reasons…
Firstly, I have been told many times by pro-choice friends that the abortion debate is over, abortion is legal now and that’s never going to change. I’m told that nobody’s opinion is going to be swayed on the matter. However, this is something which Patricia’s story clearly disproves.
The other reason why I think stories like this are important is that they remind us of the forgiveness, goodness and grace of God. They show us that it doesn’t matter how dire the situation or how dark our past, Jesus actively seeks out those who are hurting, to heal their wounds and to do something beautiful.
So with that in mind, please share this video on social media to remind the world that (a) the abortion debate is not over and (b) there’s nowhere that God’s grace cannot reach.
Here’s a video of when a Baptist visited a Catholic Church and spoke to the priest. It’s actually much more constructive than implied by the title of the video:
In some circles, it’s very popular to complain about those in leadership, especially our bishops. A while ago I came across this challenging quotation from Archbishop Chaput, one which I think is well worthy of meditation:
It is the vocation of every Catholic to work in advancing the Kingdom. Therefore, prior to unleashing unbridled vitriol against the shepherds, I must first ask myself if I have been truly steadfast in contending for the Faith.
A few years ago I was looking after the speakers at Steubenville and got to hear Fr. Mike Schmitz speak. I recently discovered he has some very nice-looking, entertaining videos:
