To Pray for Rihanna and the Farmer

Rihanna showing too much skin? So says an Irish farmer. Around his neck of the woods he's known as "the Christian." Rihanna & Co. wanted to shoot a music video on his property, and he agreed until he saw how scantily clad she was. Here's the scoop,

For Thoughts from the Guide for Catechists, With a Little Help From My Friends

The next time the Easter Vigil rolls around, I will have been a Catholic 4 full years. But those of you who have followed my conversion story know that I sat in the pews with my wife, and later with my children, for close to 18 years, and that I started exploring the faith in earnest in the Fall of 2006.

Eventually, around the Summer of 2007, I read The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton's conversion story that was published in 1948. It turns out that 1948 is also the year that Lou Tseng-Tsiang published his Ways of Confucius and of Christ, and his friend John C. H. Wu published his From Confucianism to Catholicism a year later in 1949. More on this synchronicity shortly.

Because of a Marine in Charge of Justice and Peace

Originally published on February 10, 2010.

Before I was a Catholic, yet seriously considering  the idea of becoming one, my wife made a suggestion to me.  My daughter was preparing for her First Communion and while the children were being prepared, there was someone speaking to the parents in the parish hall in the interim.  My wife said he was a very good speaker and that I might enjoy what this person had to say. I was dubious, to say the least.

Because Yes, Baseball and Faith Are Compatible

H/T to Our Sunday Visitor for catching this ground ball and throwing it to me on second base. I first learned of Florida Marlins manager Jack MeKeon's piety while watching  the video Champions of Faith with my children a few years back.

Cautionary Thoughts on Rebellion, Circa 1665

A few thoughts on the character of a rebel found in a new addition to the YIMCatholic Bookshelf. I found this in the first few pages of a compilation of quotations published in 1827 by John Timbs. Entitled, Laconics: or, The Best Words from the Best Authors, the following thoughts are those of one Samuel Butler.

Butler (1612-1680) was an author, poet, and satirist in his day. He is best known for the poem "Hudibras," which was directed at lampooning the Puritans. What follows though are from his character sketches that were published long after his death in the year 1759. Compiled in a volume entitled The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr Samuel Butler, behold "The Rebel".

Because These Words Paul Wrote Are Worthy of Shakespeare

Especially compared to the weak tea of the speech heard 'round the world yesterday.

Of course, this passage from his second letter to the Corinthians isn't just some dramatic idea that the Apostle Paul dreamed up. They are after all an account of his personal experience witnessing for Christ.

But they are more than that too. They are the words of God in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Because Good Friends Are Golden

A few days back, it was the Feast Day of St. Barnabas. You may or may not recall that he was St. Paul's companion on his first mission trip. They were fast friends in the faith, traveling hither and yon spreading the Good News together to the Gentiles.

You can learn more about Barnabas over at the Catholic Encyclopedia. The record shows that at some point, the two went their separate ways. Perhaps it was a falling out, but perhaps it was just that they were called in different directions by the same Spirit that brought them together in the first place.

For Stuff Non-Catholics Say About the Church Like This

No, this isn't  a photograph of Karl Marx. That's Walter Bagehot, former editor of the Economist and a fellow who could write his fanny off. I stumbled upon what follows while tracking down a quote attributed to Blaise Pascal. I've become something of an unbeliever in the attributions for quotes that can so easily be found on the internet these days. I want to see the footnotes, or the original text nowadays.

So I was snooping around the electronic shelves of Google Books and found the quote, "All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room," buried in an article written by Bagehot that was published in an astonishing place.

To Pray For the Victory Over Terrorism

Surely I'm not the only one to notice that on Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, 2011, Blessed Pope John Paull II was beatified and Osama Bin Laden was killed. Is it a miracle? Is it a coincidence? I have no idea.

Perhaps it was a miracle, the first one since our late Pope was officially recognized as a saint. I don't know the answer. Here is how I feel about the news of Bin Laden's death though,

I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Because My Boys Needed to Know About Hildegard of Bingen

-Feast of St. Lydwine 

I received a note the other day in my e-mail inbox informing me of a movie that would soon be released on DVD. I noted the title of the film and realized that it was still playing in one of the theaters in our town.

The movie I'm referring to is Visions: From the Life of Hildegard of Bingen.

Because Martin Luther King Jr. Died For Truth On This Day in 1968

On this day in the year 1968, at 6:01 PM, in my home state, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed by a man named James Earl Ray. I was 4 1/2 years old.

We as a nation lost a great man that day. We killed a great man that day. He was martyred for the beliefs that we all knew were true.

The day before he was assassinated, he preached a sermon known as the I've Been to the Mountaintop speech. Here is a clip from his last speech,

Because the Disciples Were Just Like You (Friday Funnies)

Let me start this post with a hat-tip to Brandon Vogt, convert and Catholic blogger over at The Thin Veil. You may recall that Brandon hosted one of our book club meetings once.

He posted a link on his Facebook page today to a blog of a fellow named Don Miller who, you guessed it, I had never heard of before today. This is reason #1367 for why I didn't give up Facebook for Lent.

Because of the Way This Desert Father Handled a Calumny

—Feast of St. Joseph  

There are scandals, and rumors of scandals and there always will be. To be tainted by scandal, whether you are wrongly accused or guilty, is really a no-win situation. How does one take on the burden of this situation?

Christ was wrongly accused and He barely said a word to defend himself. But others have been wrongly accused and have borne their accusations in a similar manner.

For the Faith and Witness of Stan Musial

Feast of St. Onesimus  

I saw a press release today from the Catholic News Service about three Catholics who were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.

Pardon me if I ignore the other two, because as a baseball dad, the only part of the announcement that I saw was the one that was about the Hall of Famer. Stan "the Man" Musial was one of the honorees!

For Faith in Action: Thomas Merton's Letter to a 6th Grader

—Feast of St. Catherine de Ricci 

I don't exactly remember where I found what follows, so forgive me for not providing footnotes. I was reading Jesuit Fr. Jim Martin's, recent blog post reflecting on today's gospel reading. The reading from Sirach applies as well.

The message is simple, yet paradoxically difficult, like most of the tenets of our faith. As Father Jim notes, it is simply "be kind." Simple, but my kids (and I) are still working on doing this so it is not easy!

While pondering this message,  the memory of this kind letter written by Fr. Louis (Thomas Merton) to a school child popped into my head. 

For All the Saints: Paul of the Shipwreck

I first posted this on this day last year. But it is such a great story, about St. Paul, and written by an inspired eyewitness, St. Luke, that it is worth another look.

How can something good come from something tragic? This is a mystery to us all. We see the devastation and the loss of life, and we wonder, Why Lord? Can anything good come from natural disasters? It’s the riddle of our lives as bit players on the stage when we all believe we are the lead role in the play.

For Thoughts Like These by George Santayana

—Feast of St. Jerome Emiliani 

Let me preface this post with an acknowledgement of the fact that philosopher George Santayana died as an atheist. But as an atheist, Santayana put pen to paper on some Catholic ideas that lack only one thing, really. And that one thing is the simple faith of a child in order to believe them.

As minds of adults go, George had an intellect that was top notch. But as Our Lord said,

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

For His Majesty's Secret Service: Henry Morse, SJ

—Feast of St. Henry Morse, SJ 

Last October, I wrote of the martyrs of Douai College. The graduates of that institution were sent on one way missions to minister to the faithful of England, where Catholicism had been outlawed. The tip for that story came to me from the good folks over at Universalis, where I go to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. And that is where I bumped into the fascinating story of a Jesuit martyr named Henry Morse.

For Faith In Action: Patton, the Priest, and the Power of Prayer

-Feast of St. Sebastian 

I've been a bit martial in this space lately. Don't let it scare you. Yesterday, in a post on the Jesus Prayer, I mentioned that in combat, there is no time for analysis or planning. True, to a point. 

But in leading up to the fighting, there is time for this activity. Sometimes hours, days, and even weeks of it. It is vital to the success of military operations that this time be used wisely. And as this story will attest to, here also, the power of prayer is necessary. We may have forgotten how powerful prayer is.

Because These Catholic Chaplains Were Awarded the Medal of Honor

This photograph is for all of you who get really persnickety about the altar, vestments, and such ancillary things like that. This is Major Charles Watters, U.S. Army, celebrating Mass out in the field for the troops. The altar is a couple of ammo boxes sitting on top of two water cans.

Though there are no relics of saints embedded in this altar, what matters most, Our Lord and Savior, will be there with His men soon. I attended services just like this one, even when I wasn't a Catholic. Because beggars can't be choosers, see?