Palm Pilot

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The Feast of the Annunciation

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The Feast of the Annunciation where we celebrate the
"May it be done to me according to your word”
which gave birth to
"yet not My will, but Yours be done"

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Almost Catholic Answers

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As I recently posted, Rich Mullins, one of my heroes, was contemplating entering the Catholic church when our Lord took him home. God's timing on this, as most of His plans do, confused and bewildered me.

Why would you take him now?

Is this a sign you didn't want him to become Catholic?

Wouldn't his conversion helped the Church's message?

I got the best answer to this through Catholic Answers , and a show they did with another hero of mine (and fellow convert), Dr. Peter Kreeft. During the talk (What's Philosophy got to do with it?), Prof. Kreeft is asked a similar question, but on why he thought God took C.S. Lewis home before he could enter the Church (Lewis had been drawing closer to Rome, and much of his writing is quite Catholic, or at least lil "c" catholic). The good Professor's answer to the question was

"Because if he had been Catholic, Protestant's would never read him (Lewis), and Catholics already did"

Perfect!, and an answer easily adopted to my own questions about Rich Mullins. I myself only skimmed the Catholic authors until after my conversion began. Further, I went through my mental data base of famous Catholic converts (from G.K. Chesterton to Peter Kreeft to Scott Hahn ), and realized that all these folks did their major writings AFTER they converted, or like more recent converts like Newt Gingrich and Tony Blair, never wrote addressed theology much.

For example: I know that while I enjoyed reading earlier Thomas Merton, I rarely reccomend anything by him lest the other person pick up some of his later works.

listen to Dr. Kreeft's lecture and Q&A here
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How NOT to make friends, but influence people

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One of my nice new neighbors invited me to a St. Patty's Day gathering at their house recently, where silly me went and broke that social rule of not discussing religion or politics. First was my babbling on matters of faith, but mainly on the history of non-Irish Saint Patrick, as reading the lives of the saints if a hobby of mine. My info, as usual, might have made me seem a bit like Cliff from Cheers (ie. harmless, but a tad annoying).

Than came the double whammy of religion AND politics. One of the guests commented on my hobbling around (left my cane at home, as I still knock things over a bit),and while explaining my current condition, I also let it slip that I had no medical insurance. She foolishly said "well I'm sure Obama will get his bill passed soon", and I of course said "God, I hope not"

For better or worse, other guests overheard this and started listening "But wouldn't you like proper health care"

"Of course, I would love everyone to have access to responsible health care . . . but I'd rather be in constant pain for the rest of my life, than have our country keeps killing it's unborn".

well, there goes the neighborhood, and I do try to remember that it is a blessing that God made me as unlovable as I am, for if I thought for a second anyone, beneath heaven, could ever love this silly fool, I might learn to cater to the world in search of that love by making my rhetoric as pleasing as a sales pitch . . .but that's my day job (O:
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Pregnant Women Rock!!!

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following Jesus

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I only recently found out, although was not too surprised, that the late great Rich Mullins had taken RCIA and was walking towards Rome. Here is a quote from that time

"A lot of the stuff which I thought was so different between Protestants and Catholics [was] not, but at the end of going through an RCIA [Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults] course, I also realized that there are some real and significant differences. I'm not sure which side of the issues I come down on. My openness to Catholicism was very scary to me because, when you grow up in a church where they don't even put up a cross, many things were foreign to me. I went to an older Protestant gentleman that I've respected for years and years, and I asked him, "When does faithfulness to Jesus call us to lay aside our biases and when does it call us to stand beside them?"
His answer to me was that it is not about being Catholic or Protestant. It is about being faithful to Jesus. The issue is not about which church you go to, it is about following Jesus where He leads you".

Caitlin Jane "Unborn"

This Friday : A Bawlmer Gospel

Catholic Community of South Baltimore is hosting a spectacular and dramatic

presentation of scripture, light, and movement when Michael Reardon
prayerfully and powerfully proclaims
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
directed by Patrick Lane.

This is a contemporary translation of scripture, proclaimed in the oral
tradition of the early church, designed with music, lighting, and costuming.
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE -

Friday, March 12, 2010
7:00pm

ST MARY STAR of the SEA
Roman Catholic Church
1400 Riverside Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21230

A reception to meet the artists will follow the event
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Question o' the Day

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Q: What's the difference between a Protestant and the Pope?

A: The Pope doesn't think he's a Protestant

(O:
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Is it?

"When the dollar made with blood is spent,
When an enemy can't become a friend.
When the better man won't lend a hand,
Baby, this is how the world will end.

When a day of hope is a rarity,
Or a diplomat hasn't time to see
That a child lost is a true offense,
Baby, this is how the world will end.

CHORUS:
Bring a chair up to the table.
Bring a message to the crowd.
Where's a common trust to deliver us from the wretched and the proud?
Sing a tune about the promise.
Speak on that which we depend.
And if a certain light don't shine again,
Baby, this is how the world will end.

V2.
When the poorest kid is fending for himself,
Or the widow cries, but she gets no help.
When we know what's true, but we still pretend,
Baby, this is how the world will end.

CHORUS:
Bring a chair up to the table.
Bring a message to the crowd.
Where's a common trust to deliver us from the wretched and the proud?
Sing a tune about the promise.
Speak on that which we depend.
Now let that certain light come shinin' then,
Baby, we could change the world again.

But if that certain light don't shine again,
Baby, this is how the world will end."
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Treasure on Earth or in Heaven . . . Choose

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Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.

When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.

The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.’

Abraham replied, ‘My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.":
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So that's what they're singin'