faith formation: How to Have a Personal Relationship With Jesus?

Here is an excellent presentation on having a personal relationship with Christ.This is so key to the spiritual life. Many call themselves Catholic but have no relationship with God. They are neither hot nor cold. This you tube channel has a lot of good videos.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzV2YYCue4QaJNhm7uoYnZg

Christian Courage: All or Nothing: Sr. Clare Crockett

 The short and life of an amazing nun. Just her joy and affection for God is enough.

faith formation: What is Love? Love is Kind -- post 2

These few words from Fr. Goring add to my thoughts.

We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, now we will tackle kindness.

    1 Corinthians 13:4-74
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Kindness are acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, without expecting any praise or reward. Kindness is one of the main topics in the Bible, but seldom defined.

It is often used together with love in the Bible as "lovingkindness.":  Psalm 103:8
"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness."

In Book II of "Rhetoric", Aristotle defines kindness as "helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped."[Rhetoric, book 2, chapter 7]

We are kind when we are sympathetic to the other person's situation and take action. This is the meaning of the famous Good Samaritan parable.(Luke 10:30)

Kindness starts in our thoughts. Do we dwell on past hurts or seek revenge? Revenge is one of our strongest emotions. Keep an eye on that and you will grade your kindness. Revenge is not healthy for us it makes us spiritually sick

Christian Courage : The Shroud of Turin -- New Evidence

For those not familiar, the Shroud of Turin is a  linen cloth bearing the image of a man that is believed to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth. It has been investigated as a scientific mystery.

One still needs Faith, but pretty convincing.






Barrie Schwortz (who is Jewish) was the Official Documenting Photographer for the Shroud of Turin Research Project,
the team that conducted the first in-depth scientific examination of the Shroud in 1978.  Today, he plays an  influential  role  in  Shroud  research  and  education  as  the  editor  and  founder  of  the  internationally recognized Shroud of Turin Website (www.shroud.com), the oldest, largest and most extensive Shroud
resource  on  the  Internet,  with  more  than  ten  million  visitors  from  over  160  countries.


More in depth presentation. There is a lot more evidence than is presented in the above video.

Deposit of the Faith: The "Brothers" of Jesus?

In my series on the "Founding of Christendom," I have had to address those called "the brothers of the Lord." They are never referred to as children of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but brothers of Jesus. This has been a confusion for many of our Protestant separated brethren

It wasn't the place to go into the details in the history series. But I would like to address it here. 

from: catholic productions
Did Jesus Have Brothers? A Fresh Look at the Evidence

By Dr. Brant Pitre March 01, 2016

Here is Transcript of the video above

Founding of Christendom: Great Martyrs: St. Simon of Jerusalem and St. Ignatius of Antioch -- post 16

Just before St. John died, Rome got a new emperor, by the name of Trajan. He was a Spaniard, a general who led the armies in Spain, and numerous campaigns around the Empire in Europe. A disciplined military leader, still relatively honorable by pagan Rome standards. He is considered one of the "good" emperors.

He showed very little interest in Christians in the beginning of his reign, that changed near his end. He was more occupied in winning glory in the beginning of his rule. He, being a good general brought  a huge victory  to his new rule, by conquering  the lands of Romania, called Dacia. Romania had wealthy gold mines, which helped the economy. This was the first expansion of the empire in a hundred years. He started doing great civic projects, building stadiums and developing infrastructure. It looked like the empire was going to correct its decline.

There were two great martyrdoms that happened under the reign of Trajan, not to say there weren't other martyrs, but two stand out: St. Simon of Jerusalem, and St. Ignatius of Antioch.

The Romans had ignored Christians for a few years since the death of Emperor Domitian. His successor Nerva and then Trajan didn't see any urgency in addressing Christians. But in the far east of the empire there were flare ups. One such case was with St. Simon of Jerusalem, during the reign of Trajan.

St. Simon of Jerusalem

St. Simon was one of the "brothers" of the Lord. He was the son of Clopas. Clopas, who was the brother of St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary. St. Simon’s brother, St. James the Just, was bishop of Jerusalem before him. St. James, meeting martyrdom a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem, needed to be replaced in his bishop's office. His brother was chosen. Most likely Simon was already a helper of his brother, St. James,

Amazing World: Everything You know About the "Dark Ages" is Wrong

Amazing World: Why the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Don't Mix

 

Amazing World: Big Fat Nutrition Policy | Nina Teicholz

 

Deposit of the Faith: Why Do We Have to Go to Mass Every Sunday?

 

faith formation: St. Teresa of Avila's 7 Mansions - Marcel Dion & Fr. Mark Goring, CC

 

Deposit of the Faith,: Supernatural Life and Death

 

Deposit of the Faith: Spirtual but not Religious ?

 

Amazing World: The Mysterious Shade Balls

 Interesting ecological solution. Technology at the service of Man.

Deposit of the Faith: The Tranfiguration of Our Lord

 

This is a great feast day in the Catholic and  Orthodox Church. 

Icon of the Feast

In the icon of the Feast of the Transfiguration, Christ is the central figure (1.), appearing in a dominant position within a circular mandorla. He is clearly at the visual and theological center of the icon. His right hand is raised in blessing, and his left hand contains a scroll. The mandorla with its brilliant colors of white, gold, and blue represent the divine glory and light. The halo around the head of Christ is inscribed with the Greek words O on, meaning "The One Who is".

Amazing World: Sir Humphrey Explains Brexit

 A little humor in dreary times.

faith formation: When It's Time for Them to "Get a Life"

 Editor: Sloth has become a common problem in today's culture. The conveniences of life too easily obtained can stunt emotional growth. Here is a great article I found on the problem handled in very practical way. The website linked to at the top of the article has a lot of practical advice.
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loveandlogic.com   or their blog https://www.loveandlogic.com/blogs/our-blog

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By Jim Fay

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"What do I do? I'm at my wits end! My grown son still lives at home.

He won't respect any of our house rules. He doesn't clean up after himself. He just lounges around the house and never lifts a finger to do anything."

"And, worse yet, we can't seem to motivate him to get a job. He isn't even civil to us. When we try to tell him to treat us better and that he needs to get a job, he gets belligerent and tells us to get off his case."

You might be amazed at how often I hear about a situation such as this. Upon being asked about this problem, I usually inquire about who is subsidizing this irresponsible son's easy lifestyle. Whose food is he eating? Whose car is he driving? Whose utilities is he using? The answer is usually, "Well, ours, but..." This is often followed with a list of explanations, excuses, and reasons related to, "Well, he doesn't have the money to take care of himself" or "He has to save his money because he wants to buy a car."

Please tell me, readers, would you put up with this for one minute if it were anyone but your own child sucking off of your personal resources, while at the same time treating you with such disrespect? Of course not! You'd say, "Out! Get a life!" The answer is easy to see when it doesn't involve your own child.

A surefire way to cripple a person is to allow him/her to sponge off you. People who are warm, comfortable, protected, and well fed usually have little motivation to change their lifestyles.

Deposit of the Faith: Did Jesus Allow Divorce?

The Pharisees questioned Jesus when he taught on the permanence of marriage:

Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” (Matt. 19:3–8; cf. Mark 10:2–9; Luke 16:18)

Thus, Jesus re-established the permanence of marriage among his followers. He raised Christian marriage to the level of a sacrament and taught that sacramental marriages cannot be dissolved through divorce. This was part of Jesus’ fulfillment (or perfection) of the Old Law of which he said, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them”(Matt. 5:17).

An Exception to the Rule?

Some Christians hold that Jesus made an exception to the rule of permanence of marriage when he said that “whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery” (Matt. 19:9; cf. Matt. 5:31–32.) The word translated as “unchastity” here is the Greek word porneia (from which the word pornography is derived) and its literal meaning is debated among Scripture scholars. Full treatment of this topic is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say here the Catholic translation of the so-called "exceptive clauses" of Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 as "unless the marriage is unlawful" (i.e., invalid) is a good translation, although it is not a faithful word-for-word translation.

The word used in Greek is πορνεία (porneia), which means anything related to prostitutes and sexual immorality (wantonness, uncleanliness, impure thoughts, immodesty, bestiality, incest, etc.)  However, in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, πορνεία takes on a restricted meaning of incest or anything else that impedes the validity of any marriage (so-called diriment impediments).

Jesus’ and Paul’s constant and forceful teaching about the permanence of sacramental marriage as recorded elsewhere in Scripture makes it clear that Jesus was not making an exception in the case of valid, sacramental marriages. The constant teaching of the Catholic Church attests to this as well.

C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters Audiobook

Here is an audio reading the famous book "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, read by John Cleese.

The Screwtape Letters is a Christian apologetic novel by C. S. Lewis and dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien. It is written in a satirical style and while it is fictional in format, the plot and characters are used to address Christian theological issues, primarily those to do with temptation and resistance to it.

First published in February 1942, the story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter. The uncle's mentorship pertains to the nephew's responsibility in securing the damnation of a British man known only as "the Patient."

faith formation: Are We Becoming a Nation of Gollums?

 By Joseph Pearce

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As we watch our culture succumb to the power of Pride, we are witnessing the “gollumizing” of our brothers and sisters, as they shrivel into pathetic wrecks of the people they are meant to be. The only escape from this hell is rooted in heavenly love.

This week, I met a good friend of mine at a local restaurant, the first time we’d got together since before the onset of the pestilence. He is a Presbyterian pastor and a great lover of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was, in fact, Tolkien who had introduced us to each other, in the sense that we first met at a local Tolkien conference a few years ago.

Founding of Christendom: First Great Heresy--Gnosticism - post 15

Orthodox Christian Fathers of the Church hold that Simon Magnus--the magician was the founder of Gnosticism. The same magician rejected by St. Peter (Acts 8:9)-- Church Fathers such as Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius, described Simon Magnus, as the founder of Gnosticism. The early Church considered him as the first heretic, the "Father of Heresies".

Simone Magnus is hard to trace after the account in the Book of Acts. From what I could glean, there was an animosity developed between St. Peter and Magnus, Magnus probably felt insulted and embarrassed by St. Peter's rebuke.

Simon Manus seemed to follow Peter to Rome and by his magic tricks gained a following there.

This led to disputes between the followers of St. Peter, and Simon Magnus' followers, some becoming violent.

Founding of Christendom: Pope Clement- the 4th pope--92AD -- post 14

Martyrdom of Pope Clement

 

A man named Nerva was proclaimed by the senate soon after the death of Domitian as the new Emperor. His reign was short, about 2 years or so--from 96-98 AD. Emperor Nerva returned to the policy of toleration of Christains.

It was probably at this time pope Clement the first, who became pope about two years earlier in 92 AD, wrote his famous epistle to Corintians.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1010.htm

Clement's letter is one  of the oldest ancient Christian documents we have, aside from the writings of Paul and the Gospels. It was so important to early Christians that it was debated whether to include it in the New Testament. It was often read at Divine Liturgy, i.e. the Mass.

Amazing World: Back to Eden Documentary

Seriously this is worth watching. It is very inspiring. This has to be the most inspiring garden documentary ever. The main character Paul Gautschi is fascinating. It is a revolutionary way to garden and a step forward in environmental responsibility.

We have an earth problem in farming, the land is depleted of trace minerals and over chemicalized. 

"Back to Eden" is a documentary about American gardener and arborist Paul Gautschi that ignited the global gardening movement "Back to Eden Gardening."

Paul pioneered a no-dig gardening technique that implements wood chips in a vegetable garden and orchard to conserve water and regenerate soil that is capable of producing nutrient-rich food.

Back to Eden Gardening is a regenerative agriculture method since it rebuilds soil and restores soil biodiversity resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.

Back to Eden Gardening implements organic gardening principles and is considered one of the best sustainable permaculture methods for growing food. Watch BACK TO EDEN film streaming for free to learn how to grow your own food with less work! 

Christian Courage: Song of Bernadette

 I am not a fan of many religious films. I just don't think the quality is usually very good. But this one, about St. Bernadette is pretty good, although dated in style. Jennifer Jones won the Academy Award for this role in 1944.

 

St. Bernadette was a simple girl who had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The spot of the vision, Lourdes, has become a pilgrimage site. It is the most famous place for medical miracles. There is a hospital on the grounds staffed by doctors to examine any miracle claims. There have been some amazing miracles.

One was a woman Madame Bire in 1908 came there, blind because her optic nerve was withered; she regained her sight when the Blessed Sacrament passed. But when the Doctors inspected her eyes, they found she was able to see, even though the nerve was still withered-- to add to miracle, the nerve did recover within a few weeks. (cf. A PROTESTANT LOOKS AT LOURDES, By Ruth Cranston)

 

St. Bernadette's body remains incorrupt. It has not undergone decay.

faith formation: What is Love? Love is Patient-- post 1

Love is the goal of life--to love God and our neighbor. 

St. Paul defined it as we Christians should understand it. 

“Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury. Love does not rejoice over wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

 

Let’s examine each point

faith formation: St. John Paul II’s Message to Women Who Have Had An Abortion - Fr. Mark Goring, CC

 

faith formation: Pride and Duty

The devil tempts us by three main methods: Pleasure, Honor, and Power. Pride is part of all three. He focuses on our main weakness, which is sinful-pride. Other languages  have one word for sinful-pride and another for good-pride, but not in common conversational English. (We could call good-pride “magnanimity” and sinful-pride “hubris”; but we will stick to common language for now). 

In English we  tend to use the same words often with different meanings, depending on the context. Good-pride is the pride you have for your loved ones succeeding, one's country, or culture. It is “other minded” or “group minded.” But even these can become sinful, when brought to excess.

faith formation: Do the Opposite--"AGERE CONTRA"-- Spirituality 101; Fr. Mark Goring

 Here Fr. Goring explains a principle in the spiritual life of "AGERE CONTRA"--"To act against". A term in ascetical literature to describe the deliberate effort one must make to strive to overcome his evil tendencies, by doing the opposite of that to which he is sinfully inclined.

Amazing World: The incredible ibex defies gravity and climbs a dam

 Nature is so full of curious wonders. These mountain goats can scale a share cliff of a mountain dam.