Posts tagged Catholic
SAVED - What Catholics Believe About Salvation
Anyone ever asked you if Catholics are saved? Or why they believe in grace and works? Or what they believe about whether or not people from other religions go to heaven? That and more from a talk I gave to our high school youth group. Any thoughts?
The Good Sheep
This Sunday’s Gospel reading is from John, where Jesus proclaims that he is the Good Shepherd. Take a look at it real quick. I’m sure your pastor is going to knock this one out of the park when he gives his homily, but I just wanted to share a little reflection to help get us ready for it. And my question is this – what makes good sheep?
Now, first of all, I’m just a kid from the suburbs, so I have no idea. But I grew up with the movieBabe and Lamb Chops on the TV, so I’m gonna give it my best shot.
Bah ram ewe, Indeed.
But the first thing I thought of was this – all sheep are alike. They may have different personalities. Indeed, usually this time of year my pastor talks about how the shepherd knows each of his sheep by name. But at the end of the day, they all make the same dumb mistakes. They all get scared. They all eventually run away.
But that’s not often the way we feel when we make our mistakes. When one of my students was struggling, maybe even failing, they would always feel like they were the only one not getting the concept. Like surely they were the moron in the class. I know it happens to me whenever I am in a spiritual funk. It seems like all my friends, all my coworkers, all the teens I minister to have this amazing relationship with God, and I’m just… struggling. They tweet about how beautiful and alive God is in their lives and follow up every good piece of news with God is so good, while deep down I’m kinda wondering if he really is. But the worst part about it is I convince myself that I’m the only one who feels distanced from God.
Take a look at a herd of sheep though. While maybe only one wanders off at a time, they all do it. Eventually one of them is going to see a grasshopper and think it’s a wolf and run the hell away. Don’t we all. So you may feel like you are the only one grinding out a relationship with God and spinning your wheels at that, it doesn’t mean you’re awful or a moron, it’s kinda just your turn. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Nowhere does Romans go on to say yeah but some have really fallen. It’s just simply, guess what – we’re all sheep, and eventually sheep do this. They struggle with the whole pasture thing. We like to pretend there are good sheep and bad sheep – the black sheep of the family. No, there’s not. Every single family member is a black sheep then. All have messed up.
Read the rest here!
A blessed Divine Mercy Sunday to all!
PASSIONate Love
A meditation I gave on the Passion of Jesus seen through the eyes of God the Father.
This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Let this help remind you what heaven saw when you hear it at Mass this Sunday!
The Devil is like a mad dog tied by a chain. Beyond the length of the chain he cannot catch hold of anyone. And you, therefore, keep your distance. If you get too close you will be caught. Remember, the Devil has only one door with which to enter into our soul: our will. There are no secret or hidden doors. No sin is a true sin if we have not willfully consented.
We Will Not Comply.
As Paul Elie notes, Percy also became Catholic because the Church stood above and apart from the present age, which he called the age of the “theorist-consumer.” In Percy’s view, rather than restricting people to the values of this world, the Church offered true freedom, satisfying community and real transcendence. Catholic Christianity did not deny the reality of the human experience of isolation, suffering and sadness, but spoke directly to it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is Emmanuel. In other words, God is with us, even in—and especially in—our isolation. And at the end of the day, because of the Incarnation, suffering and death do give way to life.
That’s pretty funny.
Have You Decided What You’re Giving Up For Lent?
Ash Wednesday is just around the corner. Do you know what you’re giving up for Lent yet? Here’s a list from Aggie Catholics of some more original things to fast from!
- Fast on bread and water on Fridays.
- Fast from TV.
- Fast from snacking or candy.
- Fast from the radio in your car.
- Fast from Facebook, Twitter, and/or the internet. (NOTE: if you do decide to fast from Facebook, we have some free profile pictures you can use to show others what you are doing) - one example is the pic below, for more click here.
- Fast from caffeine.
- Do not use seasoning on your food.
- Fast from speeding.
- Fast from sarcasm or gossip.
- Fast from envying what others have.
- Fast from being lazy or procrastination.
- Fast from not studying / working hard.
- Fast from complaining.
- Fast from some other bad habit.
And 20 more cool ideas over at Lifeteen!
It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek … The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution – when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain … But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.
And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death.
The contraception mandate debate in pictures.
Fr. Robert Barron: the HHS Mandate is Anti-Catholic & Un-American.
Real talk.
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