Archives for June 2015

7 Quick Takes Friday (set #173)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: The latest issue of New Evangelists Monthly awaits your perusal. Ascension Press has launched an excellent new video evangelism initiative. Congressman Sean Duffy makes an impassioned pro-life plea. Taylor Marshall explains five common apologetical mistakes. The 2015 graduation speech that should have been given. Watch as a fan catches a foul baseball from a totally new vantage point. Tomorrowland, at least it looked like it might have been good.

— 1 —

New Evangelists Monthly

Issue #30, June 2012, of New Evangelists Monthly is ready for your enjoyment! Scores of faithful Catholic bloggers have contributed their very best pieces from May. Contributing authors this month include: Stephen Korsman, Nancy Shuman, Adam Crawford, David Wong, Kathleen Laplante, Cindy Hurla, Dave Wanat, Dn. Scott Dodge, Ellen Gable Hrkach, Larry Peterson, Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah, Matthew Coffin, Lisa Laverty, Roxane Salonen, Carolyn Astfalk, Melanie Jean Juneau, Monica McConkey, Bonnie Way, Christian LeBlanc, Barbara Hosbach, Rick Becker, Sr. Margaret Obrovac, Morgan McFarlin, Matt Nelson, Virginia Lieto, Birgit Jones, Matthew Bellisario, Matthew Plese, Tony Agnesi, Connie Rossini, Blythe Kaufman, Margaret Felice, John Schroeder, John Kenkel, Chibuzor Ogamba, Jamie Jo, Sarah Thèrése, Chris Capolino, Robert Collins, Ruth Ann Pilney, Jenn Tatum, Melissa Overmyer, Molly Oshatz, Fr. Tucker Cordani, Shannon Ball, Faith Flaherty, Tracy Smith, Rich Maffeo, Reese Cumming, Rose O’Donnell, Michael Seagriff, Fr. Ben Hadrich, Rita Buettner, RJ Martin, David Torkington, Anita Moore, Shannon Vandaveer, MC, George Sipe, Sr. Maresa Lilley, Lyn Mettler, Leslie Klinger, Laura Peredo, Lianna Mueller, Jessica and Manny Archuleta, Bartimaeus Timeo, Joseph Shaw, Sue Elvis, Lisa Ponchak, Tami Schuelke, Jennifer Hansen, Drusilla, Larry T, Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, Tom Perna, Kathleen S, Paul Roy, Brian Gill, Denise Hunnell, Amy Parris, Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Susan Fox, Tara, Ruth Curcuru, Joe LaCombe, Kim Padan, Emily Borman, Dennis McGeehan, Julian Barkin, Matt McCormick, Fr. Richard Delillio and Fr. Errol Fernandes.

This monthly “meta-magazine” showcases faithful Catholicism from theology to family life and “everything in between.” Enjoy it now at NewEvangelists.org.

Read Now

— 2 —

Ascension Press is an extraordinary developer of superb, engaging catechetical materials. Truly excellent.

Their latest initiative is Ascension Presents which they describe as “an evangelistic platform bringing entertaining, faith-filled, and dynamic presenters straight to your newsfeed. By providing engaging content for our audience that reflects the good, the true and the beautiful we hope to bring their hearts closer to Christ.”

Go to their website and check it out. This is really good stuff.

— 3 —

It is difficult to know how strongly congressmen feel toward their position on abortion (pro-abortion or pro-life). Some seem to have adopted their position because their party told them to and they don’t care enough to differ. Here is one pro-life Republican (Rep. Sean Duffy) who cares passionately:

— 4 —

Taylor Marshall explains five common mistakes we make when explaining our faith:

— 5 —

Graduations are over and their speeches are already forgotten. They were forgettable, being mostly patronizing fluff. Various people have taken a crack at writing what should have been said. Here is one for this year from (Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post columnist) George Will that is excellent:

— 6 —

A fan at a baseball game catches a foul ball. It happens all the time, but this time the guy was wearing a head-mounted camera. Watch as he snags the ball:

— 7 —

Bill Whittle saw Tomorrowland. It had such potential, but alas turns out to be little more than plot-less, poorly acted, liberal propaganda piece. Sigh.


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was begun by Jennifer Fulwiler and is now continued by Kelly Mantoan. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Kelly for hosting this project!

New Evangelists Monthly – June 2015, Issue #30

 Loading InLinkz ...

From the archive (set #7)

Archive

Tomorrow is time for New Evangelists Monthly to begin a new edition. Today, I would like to bring to your attention 3 original, brief essays that you may have missed. If you don’t have time to read all three, I especially recommend the first one — The Last Supper.


Last Supper

What was it like to be at the last supper? Image not history, but events as they unfold. It is Thursday, just before dinner. Our Lord is tired but there will be no rest. For the most part, His ministry is over and the foundation of His Church laid. Time is now short. There will be no sleep tonight. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus will pray, be betrayed and condemned by religious leaders. He will stand before Pilate and Herod. By morning Pilate’s “sentence” will be swiftly and zealously carried out. Tomorrow afternoon He will be dead.

…read it all:   The Last Supper


Road Trip Of Life

Analogies can be a good way to understand broad concepts and their constituent parts. In this one, I compare life and salvation to a road trip. Image that your are the driver of a car that can easily “go the distance.” The destination is heaven but every journey will be unique. The car is not a remotely controlled vehicle, but may be freely driven by you in any direction you wish. Your trip had a starting point and will end at a specific time unknown to you.

…read it all:   Road trip of life


Juicy Gossip

People have the right to their own good name. Reputations are built slowly over a long period of time and people place a very high value on their “public image.” Unlike other treasures, a good name continues even after death. However, what takes a lifetime to build can be damaged by the unjust and unauthorized disclosure by someone else. It does not matter that the disclosure is truthful.

…read it all:   Juicy Gossip

Elsewhere: criticizing the pope

Elsewhere

The Holy Father is Christ’s vicar on Earth. He is the successor of Peter and is due our utmost respect. We should also recognize the significant sacrifice that he makes in accepting the office and the burden placed on his shoulders by such enormous responsibility.

He is also human, and except when formally speaking on matters of faith and morals with the intention of declaring infallible doctrine, may error. Even so, in charity and caution, it is usually unwise to be critical of the pope for many reasons (the first of which is you are probably wrong).

In the case of Pope Francis in particular, much of what is reported has been distorted, taken out of context, or severely twisted. I have found much of what he says goes under-reported and is actually (as one might expect from the pope) very good and worthy of thoughtful reflection.

Unfortunately, there are other times where his actions (or inaction) are problematic. Indications are we may be headed for very, very rough waters this fall as the synod on the family continues. So, what is a faithful Catholic to do? Is it wrong to speak-up or wrong to remain silent?

Steve Skojec looks at this in a recent piece on his popular blog 1 Peter 5:

I take serious issue, however, with the implication that anyone who engages in any sort of papal criticism is somehow a “spiritual pornographer” or, by insinuation,’virulently anti-Catholic.” These labels make faithful Catholics – priests and laity alike – afraid to speak the truth. Whether this is because they will lose family and friends, their jobs, or their funding, they are put in a position where voicing their thoughtful concerns becomes a serious liability. It has a stifling effect on much-needed conversation from the very people who are most qualified to offer more light than heat: parish priests, knowledgeable Catholic writers, and perhaps most especially, trained theologians in academia. These last, if they are faithful enough to Rome to have taken the oath of fidelity to the Magisterium, find themselves over a barrel: they are obligated to defend the faith, but how can they do so when it means addressing their concerns about the pope? Under accusations such as those popularized by Church Militant and others, they can lose their mandatum to teach the faith to the very students who will soon find themselves in the heart of the growing crisis.

Being afraid to speak the truth in times like these is a very dangerous thing indeed.

In response to the argument itself, the assertion that a person exposed to papal criticism will feel that they have no choice but to leave the Church, develop a schismatic mentality, or become an apostate simply does not follow. On the contrary, I’ve heard from people who are so distressed by the normalcy bias that they’re seeing when faced with troubling words or actions on the part of the pope that they have given voice to their own desire to leave the Church, or not to join it as they had previously intended. They want to know that what they’re thinking – that there are real problems being manifested that go against their understanding of Catholicism – doesn’t make them crazy. It’s absurd to believe that reassuring these people by asserting the unchanging truths of the faith – and contrasting them, when necessary, against the present situation – would somehow have a deleterious effect.

Put more simply: we didn’t make this mess, but pretending it doesn’t exist isn’t going to make it go away. Want people to stay faithful? Help them to see how what’s happening doesn’t mean Catholicism is false, but rather, is suffering exactly as we were always told it would. Show them what is true, and what the limits and boundaries of assent require. Give them a path forward, not out.

To that end, we need to look to our Church’s history. Would we say that the bishops of the Third Council of Constantinople, which posthumously anathematized Pope Honorius I for heresy, were “spiritual pornographers” or scandalizers of the faithful? Would we make such claims about the Theology faculty at the University of Paris who opposed the heresies in the personal sermons of Pope John XXII – or King Philip VI, who forbade them from being taught?

Taken further, would we make such claims about St. Paul, who publicly reprimanded the very first pope, the one chosen by Christ Himself?

There is a lot more in this thought provoking piece: Can a Catholic Criticize the Pope?. Also take a look at the many comments (over 180 as I write this).

show