Will you be a prayer warrior for our VBS youth group?

I am recruiting YOU to join in and be a prayer warrior for our vacation bible school mission trip next week to Martin County, KY. This is their second trip to the area as this video from last year's trip captures.



Please respond in the comment section of this post leaving your (first) name and where you are at so I can inform the kids that we have people praying for them from all over.

Scapegoating run amok

A great piece, using René Girard, by Athos HERE.

Is this an example of meeting people where they are at?

"Geffen Records, whose roster of stars has included Guns n' Roses, Elton John, Donna Summer and Snoop Dogg," said Mark Brown in the Guardian, has just "signed a new artist and just in time for Christmas a new CD entitled, Alma Mater.

For Ordering a Life Wisely - St. Thomas Aquinas

O merciful God, grant that I may
desire ardently,
search prudently,
recognize truly,
and bring to perfect completion
whatever is pleasing to You
for the praise and glory of Your name.

Put my life in good order, O my God

Grant that I may know
what You require me to do.

Bestow upon me
the power to accomplish your will,
as is necessary and fitting
for the salvation of my soul.

Grant to me, O Lord my God,
that I may not falter in times
of prosperity or adversity,
so that I may not be exalted in the former,
nor dejected in the latter.

May I not rejoice in anything
unless it leads me to You;
may I not be saddened by anything
unless it turns me from You.

May I desire to please no one,
nor fear to displease anyone,
but You.

May all transitory things, O Lord,
be worthless to me
and may all things eternal
be ever cherished by me.

May any joy without You
be burdensome for me
and may I not desire anything else
besides You.

May all work, O Lord
delight me when done for Your sake.
and may all repose not centered in You
be ever wearisome for me.

Grant unto me, my God,
that I may direct my heart to You
and that in my failures
I may ever feel remorse for my sins
and never lose the resolve to change.

O Lord my God, make me
submissive without protest,
poor without discouragement,
chaste without regret,
patient without complaint,
humble without posturing,
cheerful without frivolity,
mature without gloom,
and quick-witted without flippancy.

O Lord my God, let me
fear You without losing hope,
be truthful without guile,
do good works without presumption,
rebuke my neighbor without haughtiness,
and -- without hypocrisy --
strengthen him by word and example.

Give to me, O Lord God,
a watchful heart,
which no capricious thought
can lure away from You.

Give to me,
a noble heart,
which no unworthy desire can debase.

Give to me
a resolute heart,
which no evil intention can divert.

Give to me
a stalwart heart,
which no tribulation can overcome.

Give to me
a temperate heart,
which no violent passion can enslave.

Give to me, O Lord my God,
understanding of You,
diligence in seeking You,
wisdom in finding You,
discourse ever pleasing to You,
perseverance in waiting for You,
and confidence in finally embracing You.

Grant
that with Your hardships
I may be burdened in reparation here,
that Your benefits
I may use in gratitude upon the way,
that in Your joys
I may delight by glorifying You
in the Kingdom of Heaven.

You Who live and reign,
God, world without end.

Amen.

Okay and all good but could you help me with this verse?

O Lord my God, let me
fear You without losing hope,
be truthful without guile,
do good works without presumption,
rebuke my neighbor without haughtiness,
and -- without hypocrisy --
strengthen him by word and example.

I thought this was all about ordering my life wisely not my neighbors... It would seem that I need to forever revert back to the top before talkin' to my neighbor.

Glass Coffins - Yeah, That's the Ticket

Saint Catherine Labouré

While some wax rhapsodic on the "eternal" appeal of vampires (good grief, yawn), others have a fine suggestion on how to keep the kids quiet during Mass (or the plethora of Protestant worship experiences): Glass coffins!

Come to think of it, I'll bet they would do wonders to megachurch attendance (downward), prosperity gospel lite worship centers (do you see him "taking it with him" anywhere, eh, pal?), and youth fellowship programs (o God, o God, we're all going to die!).

I also suggest several key members of Congress and the current Administration be sat real near one too, just for good measure ...

Pilgrimage to Purgatory

Map of Station Island, Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland - 1666

With bare feet, they shuffle around the island muttering prayers; pain and suffering writ on their faces and a rainstorm breaking over them.

An ancient pilgrimage set in what medieval Christians called “the ends of the world” is undergoing a revival in Ireland as economic woes prompt a spiritual reawakening.

St Patrick’s Purgatory, on Station Island, a rocky islet in the midst of Lough Derg, was once Christendom’s premier pilgrimage. Its renown was based on the belief that it was a gateway to the next world and a place where penance could be matched to any sin.

Now that the material world of the Celtic “tiger” economy lies in ruins, the annual pilgrimage season is providing evidence that Ireland is returning to its roots as an island of saints and scholars. More >>

What if...

... that image hovered over the skyline of our own souls.

3 questions you face during a Cursillo weekend:
Where do you spend your time?
Where do you spend your money?
And what do you think most about?

Friars on Foot Thru Virginia Pt 2

Here's an update to Brother Aramis's story (below):

The pilgrimage was the idea of four young friars just finishing their training in Chicago and working toward taking lifelong vows. Seeking to emulate the wanderings of their founder, Saint Francis of Assisi, they wanted to journey together as a fraternity, ministering to one another and to strangers, while depending on God for every meal and place to sleep....

They tried to live by the ascetic rules Jesus laid out for his 12 disciples: "Take nothing for the journey -- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic." The less they brought, they reasoned, the more room they could leave for God. The friars did make a few modifications, carrying a toothbrush, a wool blanket, water and a change of underwear ("a summer essential," one explained), as well as one cellphone in case of emergency.

Some rules, however, had to be made on the fly. They had agreed not to carry any money, but just minutes into their first day, strangers were pressing dollar bills into their hands. So they made a pact to spend what they received each day on food, often high-protein Clif bars, and to give the rest to the needy ... More>>

Computers & 'Soft Despotism'

... the computer comes to represent an ideal, in light of which real thinking perversely begins to look deficient. Thus, when the postindustrial visionary reasons from the fact that complex systems involve "the interaction of too many variables for the mind to hold in correct order simultaneously" to the conclusion that "one has to use algorithms, rather than intuitive judgments, in making decisions," he argues from the fact that the mind does not do what a computer does to an assertion about the incompetence of the mind. This seems to express an irrational prejudice against people.

- Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft [171]

Seeing Clearly - Catholicism

Man, oh man. When Jeff Miller (the 'Curt Jester') is right, he is right. In his words, One of the joys of being Catholic is that you can see reality more clearly and don't have to pretend to not see the obvious. Though it is a bittersweet joy since seeing this reality is rather frustrating when so many are comfortably ignoring it.

Incredulity Notwithstanding

For the record: the Top 10 Misconceptions About The Catholic Church. [ht: Spirit Daily]

Reverence (?) You decide? Pastor decide? Oh, what the heck?

A little sampling of reverence in the house of the Lord.

Revenge on Ghost-boxes!

A fascinating study of the diminishing supply of petroleum and its benefits (!) is Christopher Steiner's $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better. Not only will Mom-and-Pop stores begin to ascend again as gas prices make travel less tenable, but the "big-box" stores ('Ghost-boxes', Steiner calls them) will stand vacant after $14 per/gallon gasoline.

See here for a Forbes review, "Revenge on the Big Box."

Mary - Mother of the Son

While recovering sight in my left eye with its recently reattached retina, I am reading Mark Shea's first volume in his Marian trilogy, Mary – Mother of the Son. I cannot speak highly enough about it.

Shea deals with the usual criticisms and misunderstandings between Catholics and Protestants regarding Our Lady (from the uber-Catholic haters like Jack Chick to the mildly disdainful Evangelicals). Then he really goes to work on the "pseudo-knowledge" sorts like Dan Brown who see all Christian faith as a derivative of pagan religions and conspiracies keeping this Gnosis from us by the "evil" Catholic Church.

Shea does all of the above not with a caustic defensiveness, but with a Chestertonian wit and brimming faith which, by definition, has sought understanding and found it in Mother Church's patrimony.

So Mary, Mother of the Son is not merely a defense of Marian devotion. It is an excellent little book that helps move converts and wannabee converts from the road-map learning of catechesis to the more mature, Spirit-led faith seeking understanding realms of mystagogy.

Thumbs up!

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Look Ma, Landing-gear Up

Check-list? We don't need no steeenkin' check-list, or wheels down, either. BTW, what's with all the beeping? Maybe it was trying to remind us of ...

All 4 1 & 1 4 All

The Four M(ass')keteers

St Augustine & the Sacraments

Many Protestant Christians like to claim and quote from Saint Augustine. Fine and dandy. Dave Armstrong has compiled something helpful in the following: St. Augustine's Acceptance of the Seven Catholic Sacraments.

Michael Voris - Manhood

Here is an opportunity to extricate the concept of manhood from the gutter by Michael Voris in a short video entitled simply, Real men.

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

Saint Mary Magdalene