Life Imagine the Potential

Another great commercial spot in the "Life Imagine the Potential" series that gained a lot of attention during the election with their first spot that featured Barack Obama. Great work Catholicvote.org and Grassroots films.





Be sure to share this video all over!

Theology of the Body on Nightline

UPDATED

YOU CAN READ MY FOLLOW UP ARTICLE WITH THE FULL DETAILS OF THE WHOLE WEST STORY BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

Christopher West was on ABC's Nightline on Thursday night in a feature about the Theology of the Body. Other than a few misquotes and misinterpretations the story was fairly well done and hopefully will open the door to allow others to peak in and see what this is all about.

I have long believed that the Theology of the Body is a avenue for evangelization. It's teachings are not merely about sex and do not only apply to married couples. It is in fact a look into the deep mystery of God's love and plan for creation. By coming to know the principles in the Theology of the Body people can come to understand and know themselves and God's plan.

I've already seen more than a few people exclaim that this story will just lead to misunderstanding and people not getting the full picture, etc. The truth is that if people leave it at what they saw on ABC they will miss 99.9 percent of what TOB teaches and what West is trying to proclaim. However, those people also will most likely forget what they saw/heard. However, I can imagine that many people were intrigued enough to take a closer look.

Once you open the door to this vault of truth that is held in the TOB, you will not be able to leave and you will walk around awhile, I believe in my heart of hearts that if you walk around this vault, conversion of heart and mind is bound to come.

Certainly, it is impossible to grow a field of grain from six minutes of planting - which is how long the story ran - however, if that six minutes of planting sprouts even one more row of crop just think of how much more seed will be scattered in the future?

I'm including here a link to the print and video story. I'm also including a link to a blog by my friend Todd Lemieux thanking West for unlocking this vault for so many of us. I also include a link from the Theology of the Body Institute which clears up some of the errors in the story in order to help clear up any misconceptions.

I encourage you to watch the story and share it with as many people as you can. Perhaps you can open the door for someone else who might be able to come inside. Or perhaps you can scatter some seed in your family or community.

Check out the links below for more and come back here to comment on the question below.

Watch the feature story here
Read the TOB Institute's Response and Clarifications here
Read Todd Lemieux's blog thanking Christopher West for his work here
For more resources on Theology of the Body check out Catholic Exchange here

Click on the comments button below and let me know your thoughts on the story... did this help or hurt in spreading the Gospel message contained in Theology of the Body?

YOU CAN READ MY FOLLOW UP ARTICLE WITH THE FULL DETAILS OF THE WHOLE WEST STORY BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

Where the Cash Flow (rubber) Meets the Road - TRUST

My wife and I live on a very meager budget. I'm a youth minister and she stays at home with our daughter. We know that she could work and we would have a lot more to go around - but we feel strongly that this is the life God is calling us to and that this is the type of lifestyle we want for our children. That being said - we live with less than most people and are fine living that way. Still, even living simply there isn't much left at the end of each month. We are constantly placing our trust in God - knowing that he will provide a way where there seems to be no way.

We believe strongly that God is calling us to trust him in all things and to know that he will indeed provide for our needs. Still, there is such difficulty in doing this when the rubber meets the road.

It is easy to place our trust in God on payday or when we get a nice tax return or I get a good speaking stipend, etc. It is when things get tight that it gets difficult. It is also ironic that it is always when things get tight that something unexpected happens and we have to rely on God to help us figure out where the funds for the latest "emergency" expenditure is going to come from.

The other irony is that every time I write or speak on Trust, I am thrown another situation in which I need to trust God even more with my life, my family, my job, or my finances. Last week I wrote a five part series on trust, based on retreats I've lead on trust.

In that series I spoke about tragedy and loss and how it teaches us to rely on God, I spoke of leaning into God more with our lives, and coming to a place of faith where - like Horatio Spafford who penned the words to the hymn "It is Well" - we can truly know that all is well in ever circumstance that we face. I shared how understanding the promise we have in God is important in order to find the hope that enables us to trust. Lastly, I shared that God only has good in mind for us and that though difficult things happen, it is never His plan to hurt us - he truly only has good in mind for us at all times.

So last night when after two days of pain my wife and I came to terms with the fact that she had to get to a dentist immediately I began to worry. Of course I was up all night trying to figure out how in the world I would pay for this. How will I cover what could be an enormous expense?

This morning I still had not put my worry to rest and I was frantically trying to figure out a solution - truth be told I still don't know the solution. I do know that my wife is feeling better after getting an emergency dental procedure that she needed. I am grateful that the procedure was done and that it didn't cost as much as I thought it might.

What I do know is that in the midst of my worry and scrambling - I heard that still small voice in my ear whispering "how much time do you add to your life by worrying?" (cf Matt 6:27) In that moment I felt as if God was saying - "go take care of your wife - get her cared for and I will do the rest."

So we took her in, she is doing much better and I feel at peace knowing that she is well - I also know in my heart of hearts that it will be well and God will figure out where the funds are coming from to pay for her care. After all - look at the birds of the air - they do not toil, right? (Matt. 6)

In our learning to trust God with our lives - we must never forget that each day we need to take one step closer and closer to trusing Him with our whole being. No matter what circumstances arise in our lives - we must not lose sight of our goal of being in complete union with God. If we are to achieve this union than indeed we must first work towards complete reliance.

Athanasius and the Incarnation

Athanasius and the Incarnation

"You can keep it all. Give me full, red blooded Catholicism. Give me the incarnation--Athanasius' incarnation, and let me be transformed right down to the very deep and dark and dirty parts of me..."

Fr. Dwight Longenecker is fast becoming one of my favorite bloggers. The depth of his words pierce through the shallow layers of my "spirituality" and open the doors to the darkest parts of my heart.
Here Fr. Longenecker gives a great reflection on the Incarnation and parallels today's pop-spirituality with the heretical claims against Christ's divinity and humanity.

Read this profound blog in its entirety here:
Athanasius and the Incarnation

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Check out what I just bought: THE iBible is Here!

Ok I have to give credit to www.toddislove.com for finding this first. I could have just put up a link back to his site but I just had to have this on my blog. So be sure to visit him after you're done watching here and checking out the rest of my blog :).

I Only Have Good in Mind for You

This is Part Five in my series on Trust - please read the rest of the posts here:

Part One - "Waking Up to our Need for God"
Part Two - "Lean Into God"
Part Three - "It is Well"
Part Four - "Understanding God's Plan"

I Only Have Good in Mind for You
If there is any obstacle to our trust in God that is universal it is that we struggle with trusting in His love for us. For some this struggle comes from their own insecurities, for others this struggle comes from their life experience of not being able to trust their parents or others in their lives, for others it is a lack of trust that comes from their experience with the Church growing up. Either way this lack of trust in God's love will undoubtedly eat away at us and in time our faith in God, ourselves, and others will decay.

The great lie that Satan has been telling us since the fall of man is that God is holding out on us, that he is hiding something from us, that he is using us, that he doesn't really care, that he wants us to suffer, that he likes seeing us struggle, and the list goes on. Picture the scene in the Garden of Eden. How did the serpent get Eve to eat the apple? The same way he gets us to sin or to stop trusting God’s will in our lives. By placing doubt there, by making us question God’s love for us.

I can imagine the conversation:

“So Eve, I see you are eating of the fruit of all of these trees but that one. Why don’t you try the fruit on that tree? It looks so good.”

Eve replies, “Because Adam said that God told us not to eat of the tree of knowledge. So we don’t eat of that one, but we can eat everything else.”

Here comes old slimy again, “How do you know that God told Adam that? Are you sure Adam is telling the truth? And even if he is telling the truth, why do you think God would want you not to eat of that tree?”

Eve retorts uncomfortably, “Well because he said it wouldn’t be good for us
to…”

Cut off by the serpent, “I see, God doesn’t want you to have it all, he doesn’t want you to be truly happy. He knows that this tree is the one that gives you power, and control, and enjoyment. I mean Eve you agree that the fruit on that tree does look really, really, really, really delectable right?”

“Well, it does look pretty good.”

“Then why would God not let you eat of it, I mean he does want you to be happy right? He does want you to enjoy things, and you agree that this fruit looks so good. The only thing I can think is that God doesn’t truly love you. If he truly loved you he wouldn’t hold out on you, he wouldn’t keep you from true enjoyment.”

And with that sin entered the world.

Man has been falling into this same trap ever since. It is our doubt in God’s true and undying love for us that causes us to mistrust him and to sin. It is the basic human condition. I can see it already in my daughter. She is only seventeen months old and yet she can’t fathom why I don’t want her to have my coffee. She’ll shout, “Hot!” but then she still reaches out for it and whines for it. I can imagine her thoughts,

“If it isn’t good for me to have then why do you and Mommy seem so happy when you are drinking it, and why are you pining for coffee the rest of the day when you don't drink it?”

Are we not the same with God?

Why can’t I have this?
Why can’t I do that?
Why don’t you let me have fun?
Why do I have to struggle?
Why am I so broke?
Why can’t I get that job?

Yet God is crying out in answer to us, “I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU! I want only good for you. I have only good things in mind for you.” When we doubt God we mistrust his love for us, we mistrust his desire for our good. Even most of our sin has to do with mistrust of God’s love for us. Since sin is basically nothing more than taking what we want rather than receiving the gift that God has for us.

Since that very moment of the fall, God has been desperately trying to join man back to himself. Look all through scripture and you will find a God saying, I love you, TRUST IN ME!

Today look at your relationship with God and your life. Are you truly trusting in His will, in His plan? Do you truly believe in your heart of hearts that God has only good in mind for you?

#1stFriday - Calling all Catholics to Prayer

Originally Posted on April 2nd, 2009 - Reposting as it is May 1st and #1stFriday again!


To My Brother's and Sisters in Christ,

I was thinking today of how we Catholics on Twitter need to unite in prayer for one another and be available for prayer for others. What a difference we could make by interceding for one another on a regular basis. As a start I propose that we take advantage of 1st Friday observances. Many of us attend Adoration, a special Mass, Rosary group, and other observances of 1st Friday in our parishes.

What I would like to propose is that on every 1st Friday we post our prayer requests/intentions with the hashtag #1stFriday - be sure to use the number 1 as #FirstFriday - spelled out is already used by other groups who do art gatherings, etc. Then when you are going to go to Adoration or whatever you do on 1stFriday you can do a search for #1stFriday to find other people's prayer requests and take them with you.

Intercessory prayer is a very powerful gift that God has given us, this is one step in allowing prayer to transform our world.

1. Each #1stFriday - post your prayer requests with the hashtag #1stFriday (anyone can do this - you do not have to be Catholic -we just want to pray for you) - Note you could add your petitions on the day before in order to ensure that early Mass attendees can take the prayers with them.
2. Before you go to 1stFriday Mass or Adoration, etc, run a search in http://search.twitter.com for #1stFriday - you can either print out the prayers or just remember them as you head out. Here is a link to the RSS feed for the search http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%231stfriday

3. Offer these petitions and pray for one another.
4. Spread this message to all the Catholics you know on Twitter. If folks follow through on this I will set up a website for people who are not on Twitter to post but for now let's get #1stFriday's moving on Twitter... tell all the #catholics out there!

Your brother in Christ,
Chris Faddis