September 21, 2016: Feast Day of St. Matthew

September 21, 2016: Feast Day of St. Matthew

Information on this Apostle here.

10 Ways to Share your Catholic Faith!

10 Ways to Share your Catholic Faith!

Talking about your Catholic Faith can be difficult at best. In today's world, not living like everyone else makes you a target for ridicule and ostracism. But many of us desperately want to share our deeply held beliefs with others. How can we do it? Here's a top 10 list:

1) Know your Faith
Not knowing your faith automatically makes people question your beliefs and makes it unlikely they will follow you. As we will discuss later, and as Thomas a Kempis points out in his book "Imitation of Christ", more important than being knowledgeable is being holy. Plus, no one likes a "know-it-all". But you know things you love, so if you love your faith, take time to know it. People will definitely have questions if you present yourself as a Catholic. Try to take statements they make as questions even if that's not how they were intended. And then answer with love and kindness.

2) Be a nice person
No matter how great a message you are sharing, no one will listen unless you are a nice person that people actually like. I've never yet heard someone say "wow, that guy has such compelling information. So much so I am powerless to oppose it despite the fact that I really dislike him as a person. I will follow this person wherever he goes, however unpalatable he may be!" In other words, be a decent human being and people are much more likely to care what you have to say.

3) Be compassionate and empathetic
This is very important. Realize that not everyone is on the same path. Many have veered so far from the path of goodness, you seem like a strange and mysterious being to them. Realize that to many, the things you say are absolutely foreign and possibly ridiculous. You may not get the response you are hoping for. That's why we need a heavy dose of compassion and empathy. Realize that people come from thousands of different backgrounds and situations. They are possibly just as passionate about their beliefs as you are about yours. So give people leeway and be very gentle and understanding.

4) Know your Goal
Realize that your goal isn't to browbeat people into submission. Rather, it is to portray the love of Christ in a way that compels that person to follow him. Your score is not being kept. God only measures how much love you are giving out.

5) It's in God's hands
Related to the last point, don't take the world personally. As Mark Twain pointed out, the world owes you nothing, it was here before you. People are people and you can only do so much. Ultimately everything goes back to God. He is fully in control. Don't give up and despair, don't label the whole world as evil or irredeemable. Redemption is God's job, not yours.

6) Don't be a broken record
You should try as best you can to remain interesting. Don't be that guy who erupts into a predictable speech every time something comes up. People will stop listening. Choose your words wisely and try to be interesting and different.

7) Be Holy
As Thomas a Kempis points out, holiness is more important than any other characteristic. He says there is no point in knowing the contents of every book in the world if you do not have love. This essentially echos the words of St. Paul who says that without love we are like clanging gongs - just lots of noise, even if we are the world's greatest scholar. So always strive for holiness. Plus someone observing a holy person will be much more attracted than observing someone who just talks a lot.

8) Prayer and Fasting
Related to #7, prayer and fasting is essential. This will increase our holiness and closeness to God. We will keep focused on what's important and be able to identify our flaws and need for improvement. We can easily become proud. We can use these opportunities to improve in that regard.

9) Love
Most importantly you must have love. Love for everyone you communicate with. Ultimately if the people you talk to are mere objects to prove to yourself how good and holy you are, then you are doing it wrong. Your main goal is to love the people you encounter. It is with this true love that you will bring them close to Love himself, God.

10) Zeal
This is the opposite of laziness and fear. Zeal is what makes us speak up, to be bold when it is needed, to be strong and to have courage when presenting the Gospel. Jesus wants us to be bold like the apostles were after they encountered the risen Jesus. Don't hide and be afraid. Instead, get out there and be bold!

I hope these 10 suggestions help you on your journey. If you have your own suggestions, please share them below!

Jill Soloway - Gone Completely Off the Deep End

So Jill Soloway had some of the most extreme comments about Trump ever during the Emmas. First of all, it's at the Emmy's, where they honor TV shows. It's not the Nobel Prize Ceremony or something, it's not MENSA, it's a TV show gala.

So she gets up on stage after winning the Emmy, and well, there's no point in me just paraphrasing what she said, it's best if I give you the quote:

"Jews were other-ized in Nazi Germany to gain political power for Hitler, and right now Donald Trump is doing the same thing. He's other-izing people. He calls women pigs if they don't look like beauty pageant contestants. He blames Muslims and Mexicans for our problems. He makes fun of disabled people. This is other-izing with a capital 'O'. It has been used in our history before to start and win wars. He needs to be called out at every chance he gets for being one of the most dangerous monsters to ever approach our lifetimes. He's a complete dangerous monster, and at any moment that I have to call out Trump for being an inheritor to Hitler, I will."

So many things wrong with these stupid pronouncements. Pretty much the entire thing is false on every point.

1. "Otherizing" is not a word. It's called othering. This person clearly doesn't know English.
2. He doesn't call all women pigs, or even a majority, he has probably called one or two women pigs. Big deal. Perhaps they were pigs. He probably meant they were mean or just bad people. But even if not, who cares, has this person never called someone a name in her entire life? She is as we speak calling Trump a monster.
3. Not all Muslims are terrorists but almost all terrorists are Muslims. Denying this fact is denying reality. Does this woman have her head int eh sand? Is terrorism not a huge problem? Obviously it is. So if Trump says it's a problem when it in fact is a problem, what's the problem? Oh, he's calling out Islam? Remind me Ms. Indignant Soloway, how many Muslim countries are showing your TV shows about transgenderism and gay themes?
4. In terms of the one Mexican comment Trump made when he talked about rapists and murderers, he didn't specifically say all Mexicans are these things. He just said sometimes illegal immigrants are criminals. This is obviously true. The comments may have been poorly thought out, but it's not like he continuously says it. He said that once and not again. Get over it.
5. Then she just keeps calling him the most dangerous monster in their lifetimes. Really?? He's worse than all those murderous dictators? He's worse than serial killers? I guess this is what you call him when you disagree with him.
6. She also calls him Hitler. As Ezra Levant points out on the Rebel.media, saying this only diminishes what Hitler was. She downplays what the Jews went through.
7. Clearly Jill Soloway is looking for attention and can't tolerate anyone who dares disagree with her. I'm not saying Trump is the best thing ever, but I don't have to compare him to Hitler!

Thanks for reading.

September 20: Feast Day of Korean Martyrs

September 20: Feast Day of the Korean Martyrs

Celebrated in the Catholic Church

The Korean martyrs of 1839, 1846, and 1867 were canonized in Korea in 1984 by Pope John Paul II.

For more information, go here.

What Religion is Kevin James?

Kevin James is a Roman Catholic Christian.

Kevin James, the beloved actor from the TV show King of Queens and from such movies as Paul Blart Mall Cop and Grownups is a devout Catholic.

James who was born Kevin George Knipfing on April 26, 1965, was married in 2004 to Steffiana de la Cruz and has 2 daughters and a son. He was born and raised a Catholic and continues to practice.

A few years ago, I saw a post from one of my favorite radio and publishing entities - Catholic Answers - that Kevin was there visiting the studio.

Here's an article which talks about Kevin's Catholicism.

Kevin starts his new show today called "Kevin Can Wait" where he plays a retired cop who has to postpone his life of leisure to take care of his grown family.

In this article, Kevin says: "I was born and raised Catholic and absolutely love my faith and learn more and more about it all the time. It’s nice to have that going into whatever you do, whatever part of life you take upon yourself."

I'm glad we have someone like Kevin James in TV shows and movies.

Alleluia Mother Teresa is Canonized!

Congratulations Mother Teresa on your Canonization. I'm sure you can see this from heaven!

Pride of Scientists (especially Atheists)

I realized something as I was watching a video today. Atheist scientists act with such confidence in everything they say that if a religious person acted a quarter as cocky and self-assured they would be lambasted for their pride and hubris.

Now I should also be specific. The most brilliant minds, even when they were agnostic, did not speak like this. I'm talking about mid-level scientists. They have just enough knowledge to feel like they are better than everyone else, without the lessons in humility that come from religion. This is because they view religion as completely worthless at best and thus ignore it. Then, because they have nothing to follow, they revert to a primitive non-religious attitude which religion sets about to correct.

What scientists have wrong is that religion is not about science any more than music is. It's about morals and spirituality. But scientists feel they don't need these things. Because of this, there is nothing stopping them from living according to their base desires such as anger, pettiness, and yes, pride.

Look how many scientists, who know absolutely nothing about religion, tell everyone religion is harmful and they should stop following it. This would be like a poet declaring science has no purpose simply because he doesn't understand.

But here's the thing. Religion is far more important than science, even though science is very important. Think about it. What causes problems in our world? Anger, jealousy, attachment to sin such as gluttony, lust, etc. If we could have a world where everyone loved and cared for one another and treated them with respect, that would solve so many things.

Atheist scientists who have nothing to offer in this area, rather than stay out of the conversation altogether, force everyone else to listen to their ideas on them. Yet, no religious person in a million years would be conceited enough for force everyone to listen to their opinions about science.

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Today, Friday, June 3, 2016

Today is the feast day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is when we celebrate Christ's love for us which flows from his heart.

Throwback Thursday: Printing Press

Gutenberg's Printing Press: CYAN (Catholic Young Adults of Newfoundland)

Interesting information

The Truth About Daycare - NC Register

Definitely agree - daycares are nothing but early indoctrination stations.

Telling Government to do something ISN'T charity

You can argue whether or not the government has a positive impact on our society. But what cannot be argued from a Catholic perspective is that demanding the government do something isn't charity. Again, one could argue that we should try to influence the government to do the "right thing" but that doesn't fulfill your obligation to be charitable.

Of course, a much superior way of helping people rather than wasting your time demanding some faceless institution do it, is to just get off your lazy behind and go out there and help someone. In fact, this traditionally worked much better. Think about it. Say your brother is on hard times, tell me what's preferable:

A) Going out with a placard demanding higher social assistance or EI payments? Writing letters to MPs telling them about your brother? I mean most people don't even do that much but just assume.

B) Inviting your brother to live with you while he gets back on his feet, helping pay his bills, and also helping him find a job, driving him around etc.

Obviously B is much superior. But people don't even bother to lift a finger to help their neighbor or family member anymore. I hear the stories all the time. People will say "my mom needs help" "my brother needs help" but they don't even consider helping that person themselves.

You might be thinking, but how can I personally provide medical care? I'm not a doctor. Well maybe instead of wasting time you could have spent more time making money or had a better paying job and then you could afford these services (assuming you live in a free society where this is legal unlike Canada). I find people don't take personal responsibility anymore. They just offload it onto everyone else.

So instead of wasting countless hours trying to get the government to do something, follow one of the corporal works of mercy and help someone out yourself!

Canada's healthcare system is immoral

Just another example of Canada's immoral healthcare system. One of the only countries where seeking private healthcare is ILLEGAL. It's immoral if you are not allowed to take care of yourself or others.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-veteran-norwegian-denied-care-camp-hill-1.3611528

Harambe the Gorilla killed: A Catholic response

Harambe the Gorilla was killed the other day at the Cincinnati zoo after a kid fell in. The gorilla didn't seem to really be doing much in terms of threatening the boy but was nonetheless shot by security personnel fearing the beast would kill the boy.

Now of course the keyboard warriors of the world are all up in arms, demanding justice for this animal. I like animals. I think the silver back gorilla is an amazing creature and very interesting to watch. But no animal is equal in value to a human being. On one of the Youtube channels to which I subscribe, the guy said we should have let whatever happen to the kid because the gorilla is more valuable since there are fewer gorillas than people.

But this attitude is anti-Christian. Christ did not die to save gorillas or any other non-human animal. Sure, Harambe seemed peaceful enough, but an ape that size can kill a child in an instant. Would every be praising slow-acting security guards who let that happen? I doubt it.

Catholicism's pre-eminent theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine did not even think animals had any rights per se. The only reason we had a moral imperative to treat animals in a non-cruel way, according to these thinkers, was if there was a danger the cruelty could carry over into our relationship to humans. It wasn't because the animals were so special.

Since animal souls do not survive death, they do not have eternal value. God created them to serve humanity, not the other way around. While some people bemoan the fact that there are 7 billion humans, we are not vermin or a parasite or a disease, but in fact, each one of us is loved by God, even those who hate humans.

When I see animals and nature, I am awed by God's greatness. But I can never forget that only we can spend eternity with God in heaven. Incidentally, the Christian viewpoint about animals is similar to atheists' view of human beings, i.e. we are just one of many species and deserve no special attention. Also, life is about obtaining pleasure whatever the cost, and human life is expendable if it serves the greater good. Atheists will point to the inquisition or the Crusades as examples of Christians not valuing human life, but in a "good" day atheistic regimes of the 20th century could cause more harm than those two Christian events combined, assuming they were exactly as they are popularly caricatured to have been.

It's sad that Harambe had to be killed, but it's better to kill 1000 gorillas than to let one boy die.

Taylor Marshall is Worried about Pope Francis - So are Many Others

Prominent Catholic Writer Taylor Marshall: “I feel dizzy as a Catholic”.

 

Taylor Marshall, a well-known Catholic writer, with popular books, blogs, and webcasts, says since the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, he has been dizzy as a Catholic. He clarifies, “I’m not sick to my stomach. But I’m dizzy.” In a nice way, he says he has to pray 10 times harder for Pope Francis, recognising the dangers.

 

And he’s right. For traditional and observant Catholics, Pope Francis has been a cause for concern. He is something of a loose cannon. He makes random, off-the-cuff comments all the time which lead to huge amounts of ambiguity, which the media uses to its advantage to promote its progressive agenda. Many traditional Catholics immediately jump in to defend what the pope says, no matter what. I get the feeling that they would defend literally anything he says, never criticizing it, even in its delivery, and automatically blame the media for distorting it.

 

I get that the media distorts what the pope says, but to uncritically endorse everything the pope says is imprudent, in my opinion. The pope is only guaranteed infallibility in matters of faith and morals when speaking ex cathedra. That doesn’t preclude him saying things that make no sense, are ambiguous, or downright wrong. It’s also my opinion the pope should recognize the power his words have and that not everyone understands infallibility and he should thus be very sparing in making public statements. Maybe he should consider issuing only official statements as opposed to commenting, off-the-cuff, on controversial issues from airplanes.

 

I think the pope is trying to reach out to the public, however I think this is a bad strategy. Although he has been faithful on many topics, on others it seems he is trying to offer an olive branch by issuing vague and unclear statements to placate progressives. Recently he made a shocking statement comparing l.S.l.S. trying to spread its power to Jesus sending forth the twelve apostles. Again, maybe he just meant lslam in general  is a religion seeking converts like Christianity but this obviously leads to confusion, if not anger. I believe a review team of orthodox priests or bishops would help greatly in avoiding this incidences.

 

I can see why Taylor Marshall feels fearful about this papacy. All traditional Catholics do. Catholicism has a brand. If you ask a person on the street what Catholicism means, they will (hopefully) say people observing a high moral standard, unity in belief, nuns wearing habits, large families, going to confession, and other stereotypes. In movies, the Church is usually portrayed as a place people go in times in turmoil, where they can sit silently and pray when Mass is not underway. The church is always portrayed as having traditional architecture, along with statues, holy images, and incense. Gregorian chant is sung. These things are important because they set the Church apart, they turn our gaze to heavenly things. People enter a unique and sacred realm.

 

Instead of trying to be “hip” or unnecessarily controversial or edgy, the Church and the pope should draw upon the immense treasury of Catholic teaching and writing from the past two millennia. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and it might be a good idea for the current pope to speak publicly a little less. Let’s all pray for Pope Francis.

CBC pushing agendas

Here's the deal: CBC needs to go. They've become nothing but a progressivist mouth piece. When they're not mocking or bashing Christians, and praising Muslims, they are promoting their agendas of gender-destruction and the advancement of the culture of death.

Then they get people like Neil MacDonald to do journalism-free hit pieces. Recently he wrote a real winner which ostensibly was about criticizing Trump, but went on to endlessly and pointlessly bash anyone he felt belong to the "right wing", you know that catch-all phrase for anything lefties don't like. I mean seriously, what does Trump have to do with young earth creationists? You better ask MacDonald.

So why should Canadians be forced to pay for this shoddy, extremely biased drivel? I, unlike leftists, am in favour of free speech, so by all means keep up your online, radio, and television presence but don't force everyone else to pay for it under the false pretense that it is somehow objective or necessary for Canadians. In fact, it is a cesspool of journalism's worst.

Frustrated

I'm feeling frustrated. I was going to make a video about my last blog, but nothing seemed to work... Programs didn't work, couldn't get anything going. Oh well. Maybe some other time readers.