Pray For Anu Garg? You Betcha!

Remember me and my pal Anu Garg? We went around the block a few times. Well unlike all the other times I've posted about him and his A.Word.A.Day website, this time my hat is off to him. Maybe caught wind of today's readings.

Because Words Matter...

Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings differently arranged have different effects. —Blaise Pascal

Yesterday, I shared a post about catechizing the world. That "c" word is one I had never heard of before I was Catholic. It's a complicated sounding word that I probably could never get right during a spelling bee. But it doesn't have to be that fancy sounding,  because all it means is "sharing the Good News" and "teaching the Faith."

Because Love Went to Madrid, And Its Cup Runneth Over

May it find its way through to all the corners of the world. Thanks to Marc Barnes, you can see for yourself.

Postcards from WYD: Hey...I Know That "Kid!"

Remember I told you that Marc Barnes, aka "the Kid" , and blogger at BadCatholic, was in Madrid for World Youth Day? The proof is above. That photograph is one of 106 that Life Teen International has posted over on their Facebook page. Here's another with Marc and his buddies,

Want to Fight Truthiness? Come to the YIMCatholic Bookshelf. Please.

Sheesh! I wonder if the video below was done before or after the allegations of problems with the staff of Real Catholic TV came to light. It is so far off the deep end, as you'll see. Anyone with access to books can refute this asserted notion in under two minutes.

Thoughts on the Vicissitudes of Michael Voris & Co. UPDATED

Actually, I have none. Really. I mean stuff like this happens all the time to me. I'm a father of three children and they are all the time doing stuff that a) I don't know about; b) I don't approve of; and c) that I didn't teach them to do. Guess what? I love them anyway.

"The Kid" Goes to Madrid!

This past Saturday, I shared a little e-mail I received from someone who was converted and called to a vocation while attending World Youth Day back in 2005. Nobody read that post, which means it must have been a pretty important one. No one ever reads posts like those.

Remember that Confession Video by "the Kid?"

Great news...Marc Barnes, aka "the Kid,"from BadCatholic was awarded a $1000 scholarship from the i-Confess contest.  The contest was put on by the Diocese of Brooklyn in conjunction with both the Archdiocese of New York and Diocese of Rockville Centre. Great job Marc! Here are the Top Ten results,

For the Coolest Blog That Added YIMCatholic to Their Blog Roll

I mean seriously, my hearts goes all soft and warm when I see stuff like this. This is the New Evangelization in action. Would you believe coming out of Emmaus? John C.H.Wu and Dom Lou Tseng-Tsiang are smiling. Me too.

What does the post say? Dunno. But I can make out 2 Corinthians 4: 7-15.

Thank you TingTing Tse...you just made my day!

Would You Believe Because Rock Music and Theology are Compatible?

As regular readers know, I've shared music on the blog practically since Webster invited me aboard. I don't recall how it happened, but I remember when he posted a YouTube video in a post and I thought, "wow, that is cool. I wonder if Webster would let me post some music videos too?" We did a post together in January of last year, and by then the fledgling project got off the ground in earnest.

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident...

Frank likes to Rock! And I'm not alone. I'm on-board with Deacon Scott Dodge, see, and his Friday series of mega rock classics. In fact, he's taking requests. Go let him know what you would like to hear. Here is my suggestion for the day, and for this holiday weekend.

Social Networks and the Church

Is social media here to stay? Probably. Others, like Brandon Vogt, discuss this phenomenon at length. Matthew Warner wants more Catholics to be on-line, and authentic, too. Because when you get right down to it, social networks are about community.

Let Me Tell You About "Herding Dogs"

Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf 

Without a strong master, they are worthless. Destructive. Bored. Good for nothing but trouble. These descriptions, for those who have owned (or do own) herding dogs, would be the end of this post. Their experience with dogs like these would make the truth of these statements self-evident. Frank knows herding dogs.

For Archishop Fulton Sheen's Thoughts on Vatican II

The good folks over at Catholic Answers have the scoop:

Q: "Did Fulton Sheen support Vatican II? Sheen is a favorite of some who reject the Council, so a quote from him citing his support for Vatican II would be quite helpful for discussions with them."

Mr. John Corapi Goes. I Stay.

Hunter S. Thompson once remarked that, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." This seems like one of those times. Remember my post on what to do while Father John Corapi was on administrative leave? Well that leave has been indefinitely extended. Back in March I wrote,

To Join the Ayn Rand Busters? To Be A Hero? I'm In!

Hey, look at the calendar. The election cycle is coming around again! Time to check our brains at the door and just go with our gut feelings. Embrace fuzzy math concepts like 1 + 1 = 3.18275. Stuff like that.

Forget the real substantive issues we can actually do something about, like fixing Social Security's looming bankruptcy, and instead focus on bankrupting ourselves by bombing Yemen. Sweet!

Art and Baseball? It's All A Part of God's Plan

A friend of mine shared the following essay with me recently. She knows I'm a baseball fan, but I'm not sure if she realizes I'm a newbie writer. Either way, it's a good little piece written by the fellow you see in the photograph here.

R.A. Dickey, New York Mets

I have been a baseball player for twenty-eight years, the last fifteen of which I have had the blessing of playing professionally.

For Guerilla Catechesis Like This By Stephen Colbert

Ok, so I don't get to watch television much. I'm not saying I never watch television, but I rarely get to sit down and take in a show, you know, in its entirety. I'd rather be writing, or reading, or watching one of my children's ball games.

Today, though, I was reading Mark Shea's blog and saw this video clip of Stephen Colbert teaching a class on Free Will, Satan, Sin, and Hell, courtesy of an interview he was doing on his comedy show (the Colbert Report) with Professor Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University.

"Post-Rapture Scare" Music (Caritas in Veritate Edition)

—Feast of St. Rita 

Like a champion athelete that should retire when they are on top, I probably should have quit when I was ahead when it comes to the most recent Rapture scare. But the thing is, this isn't the first prediction of the end of the world and it won't be the last.

The Bible may not guarantee it, but I will. And we get to do this all over again in 2012 too? Sheesh! But wait a second; the Bible does guarantee something: there is no knowing when the end will come, so stop with the guessing already.

For Reasons Like Missed Raptures

Father Dwight Longenecker hits my interest in this event right on the head,

What interests me specifically about the recent high profile prediction of the Rapture is that I was brought up in a fundamentalist church where dispensationalism was the interpretative key. We had an awful lot of sermons on Bible prophecy and the 'end times'. We were taught that the Rapture was just around the corner, and although our pastor never set a date he always taught that it was 'just about to happen.' Other Christian teachers may correct this misinterpretation of the Bible and correct the theological errors or show the logic to be flawed, but it is really only the 2000 year, living tradition of the Catholic Church which can put such teaching into its true and rightful perspective.