It's sad when Evangelical Christians are more Catholic than Catholics...

I've never been a fan of Kirk Cameron. He's always annoyed me. I would have been a target audience for Tiger Beat when his photos were plastered allover the cover. But he's usually rubbed me the wrong way. When he became a born again Christian, it was only more ammunition for not liking the cut of his gib. When I had my own conversion, I still could not relate to him. He starred in those Left Behind movies which have a bit of anti-Catholicism in them. And when Kirk says the earth is only 6000 years old...facepalm!
But watch Kirk out Catholic a so called "Catholic" Piers Morgan when he defends traditional marriage and being pro-life. GO KIRK! You're gib isn't so annoying after all!

You know, I'm really fed up with these people who call themselves Catholic and use it as some kind of way to define themselves and then seem completely ignorant or downright hostile to what the Church teaches. Piers Morgan, Nancy Pelosi, Kathleen Sebelius et al have no right to define themselves as Catholic. I think it would have been funny if Kirk asked Piers something like;
"Aren't you Catholic?"
and Piers would respond,
"Well, yeah."
"Doesn't the Catholic Church believe in traditional marriage and the right to life?"
"Uh uh, but... 7 states have legalized gay marriage..."

But unfortunately if we keep having these nominal Catholics in the public square conveniently dressing themselves in the mantle of Catholicism while preaching the exact opposite of Church teaching, the public will have no idea what the Church stands for. Sad indeed.

Things I've learned as a Catholic: We win

It will be a long battle. We have everything against us. Popular culture is against us. The president is against us. We are hated throughout the world. But it doesn't matter. We win. The battle was won in heaven. As long as we stay true to God nothing can stop us.  Our biggest mission is to save souls. Clever soundbites would be nice. Fair media coverage would be nice. Rescinding the mandate would be nice. But we're battling something bigger than the government. We're battling Satan and he is not interested in sound logic and reason and in being fair. He is interested in destroying mankind. But we already know how it all ends up. We win. The gates of hell shall not prevail. God wins.

Things I've learned as a Catholic: The Church is always right...

Disclaimer: The Church is always right on faith and morals. The faith that has been deposited once and for all is free of errors. This is not to say that anything her members do outside of what she teaches on faith and morals will be free from error. The Church's only authority is on faith and morals and in that she is protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching error. So she will always be right when weighing in on any issue of faith and morals.

I had been meaning to write this post for quite a while because after fully coming into the Church 10 years ago, I've discovered that the Church is always right in matter of faith and morals and even when I ran into snags and disagreements with her, I've found that I have had to eat crow and that mother Church is always right. So I've been ruminating about this for a while but someone else beat me to it.
This timely article is much better at articulating how the Church is always right.
Time to Admit it: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control

Well Mr. President, you've really stepped in it...

One thing is certain about our current president and it's this: Don't underestimate him.  I've seen it countless times. People questioned his ability to get things done. They wasted time doing things like questioning his qualifications and his intelligence. They even questioned his citizenship. Make no mistake. He is very smart. Very shrewd. Very cunning and knows how to play people. He has since taking office, been able to get a lot of his agenda done for better or for worse and all the while his opponents and supporters underestimated him. There were plenty of legitimate reasons to oppose the president but instead his opponents built strawman to knock down and all the while the president was able to do some real damage.
But guess what? He's guilty of playing the underestimation game himself. For as smart as he is, I'm surprised. He's underestimated the Catholic Church. Big mistake. Never ever underestimate the Catholic Church. If the Roman Empire couldn't destroy us, what makes you think you can, Mr President? You think because you have some Catholics in your cabinet and you had some Catholics support you on other issues that we'd just lie down and swallow this HHS Mandate? You think because some of us don't follow the teaching of the Church that well, that that meant we'd be o.k. with you trying to change what our Church teaches on artificial contraception and abortion?
You see, you're not dealing with just ordinary everyday people. You're dealing with a supernatural entity. As much as even her own members have tried to destroy the Catholic Church, she still stands and she still continues to grow and she uses attacks against her for the greater good. She'll still be standing even when the U.S. has failed. She's outlasted all other empires and these attacks are nothing new. Been there, done that. You've helped to mobilize conservative, moderate and liberal Catholics to fight against this unconstitutional mandate. In fact, you've helped to mobilize people of varying faiths to fight you on this.
Check out this article here to see the gravity of what you've done Mr. President. You've really stepped in it.
Memo to Obama: You've got a problem

Please, let's band together and fight this attack on our religious liberty. This mandate doesn't only affect Catholics. Please sign the White House petition to rescind this mandate.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation and How going to Confession Heals.

I've seen non-Catholics make comments in reference to going to confession and how it's one of those "works" things and how this proves that Catholicism is a "works-based" religion. From the outside looking in, I suppose it looks like we Catholics can sin to our hearts content and then just go to confession and get clean and then sin again. My Atheist sister made that sort of snide remark and I had to correct her and explain that if a Catholic goes to confession without intending on changing their behavior then they would be lying and not getting any benefit from it.

My answer to other Christians who scoff at the idea of Catholics going to confession is, don't knock it until you've tried it. Confession is not some license to sin again.  As a matter of fact, not nearly enough Catholics take advantage of this wonderful Sacrament. It's a terrible shame because the graces you receive from going to confession are indescribable. Yes, it's hard to admit you've done wrong to a virtual stranger and sometimes, the priest isn't a virtual stranger. In a smaller parish they may even know your name. It doesn't matter either way. They are standing in for Jesus and acting in His name and that's who we're really confessing our sins to. The priest acts as a conduit of His graces. Receiving these graces is very healing and it has to be experienced to understand the magnitude of it's power.

Here's just one example of what I mean by this Sacraments power to heal. Several months ago, as I came to realize that my toddler son was on the Autism spectrum, I was in deep turmoil and not at all at peace. I was angry and in despair and to say I wasn't handling it with grace would be an understatement. I dragged myself to confession, talked to the priest, confessed my sins and then left and had an overwhelming supernatural kind of peace wash over me. Nothing changed. The priest didn't say anything enlightening. My son's condition didn't change. The circumstances were exactly the same after going to confession as they were before. But my attitude was completely different. I suddenly was handling it. I wasn't steeped in darkness. I felt peace and joy. There's no other reason other than the fact that I went to confession. My problems suddenly don't seem so overwhelming and insurmountable. I know of others who experience the same thing. So I take advantage of this Sacrament because I know it's doing something for me. Something that is supernatural and beyond my human comprehension. It's healing me. It's healing my wounded heart. All the puss and gunk gets washed off and disinfected and wrapped in fresh bandages. The wounds get redressed and overtime are completely healed. This is what going to confession does for me. Little by little, my soul is being healed and I'm better able to handle the crosses I have to carry. I have strength for the journey. This is how the Sacrament of Reconciliation heals and I'd be insane not to take advantage of this free healthcare. 

Why I need Religion

There's a video that's gone completely viral called Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus. There's been a ton of responses and especially good Catholic responses. So I won't go into a theological response to the video because it's been more than sufficiently responded to. Instead I'll just speak from my own experience of why I don't just love religion but I need religion. This religion: Catholicism.

You see, I come from a none religious background. I was baptized Catholic for mostly cultural and sentimental reasons and that was the last time my family stepped foot into a church unless it was for a wedding or funeral. Yet this simple act of  baptism put an indelible seal on me as a child of God and a seed was planted. I hungered for God and established a relationship with Him very early on in life. I had a diary which I wrote to Him. I was a bit fatalistic and had lots of fears. But I had no guidance. I was on my own and eventually dabbled in New Age and Occult. I unwittingly invited evil into my life and I witnessed it possibly destroy someone I deeply cared about.
Ultimately, I genuinely desired a relationship with God and even with Jesus but I saw many of things that Mr. Bethke saw and frankly, those things kept me away. There was a time in my life when I would have totally related to Mr. Bethke's message. But as a life long spiritual nomad, I was always searching for truth. I finally found it in Catholicism. I finally got over myself and realized, I'm not perfect and so I shouldn't expect anyone else to be perfect other than God. I had to do the unthinkable and conform. I had to let go of control which I didn't really have to begin with. Catholicism forces me to depend only on God and gives me the tools and a conduit of grace to do that. When I go to Mass, I'm not dependent on how good the priest's homily is. He isn't able to make himself all that important. Our religion dictates that he has the Liturgy to follow and he can't stray from that. The focus is always on Jesus. It doesn't matter how bad the music is or how uninspired the priest is. He could be speaking in Spanish for all I care. I'm there for one reason alone. For Jesus. I get to receive Him, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

I need this religion because I need to know that when I sin, once I hear the words "I absolve you from your sins..." that means I really am forgiven and I don't have to guess or wonder. I am free. My guilt is removed. Trust me, as a spiritual nomad, I felt guilt. This religion frees me from it.

I need this religion because when things are really bad I can go to an Adoration Chapel and spend time with Jesus. I can tell Him all my woes. I can cry. I can beg. I can just be quiet and feel His presence. I know that wherever there's a Catholic Church, there He is whether I "feel" it or not. (By the way, as far as big fancy Churches and Cathedrals go, why shouldn't Jesus be surrounded in the finest most beautiful surroundings? If you were building a house for God, would you put Him in a shed?)

I need this religion because when I struggle I can take comfort in the lives of the Saints who's solutions to life's problems were otherworldly and no easy quick fixes that promised something that couldn't be fulfilled. Their only solution was complete and utter dependence on God and living a life of heroic virtue up to the point of death and martyrdom. And they were witnesses of much joy and peace in spite of their hardships. Their promise was beyond this world. They always point to God and I need their friendship now as I know they are in heaven and are able to hear my prayers and take them up to God. I know they are there because of the canonization process which takes into account miraculous events as a sign from God that they are indeed partaking in the Heavenly banquet.

I need this religion because when I'm suffering, I take comfort in that Crucifix where the Lord is up there in a display of complete unconditional love for humanity. Nothing says I love you like the Crucifix does.

I need this religion because I need stability and clear cut answers on the biggest moral issues of the day and only one place offers that unchanging TRUTH no matter how unpopular and counter-cultural.

I need this religion because it was founded by the man on the Crucifix and He promised the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church and I believe Him. He started this Church and He said unless you eat His flesh and drink His blood, you have no life within you. By golly then, I will do what He says and eat His flesh and drink His blood. I will put my pride and ego away and humble myself  and do what He says. I trust in Him which means I HAVE to trust in His Church and the religion He started. Otherwise, that wouldn't be trust and you can't have a real relationship without TRUST.

I need this religion because I NEED JESUS. I need Him now more than ever. He's the only one that has brought me peace and comfort in difficult times and it's been through His Church that I've obtained these graces He offers through His sacraments. I experience joy when I should be feeling sorrow and I experience peace in a world of unrest.

I'm not going to let other sinners get in between my relationship with Jesus. I'm not going to let corrupt religious leaders get in the way between my relationship with Jesus. If one of those corrupt individuals is holding Jesus in his hands, nothing will stop me from receiving Him. How great our God is to not let any corrupt human stop us from receiving Him and His graces. I need those graces and I can only get all of them in one place. My religion, Catholicism, started by Christ. That's all I need to know and that's all I need.

I scream: He whispers.

Things are moving at a snails pace with my son's development. He's in early intervention. He's on a special diet. He's on special supplements. He's making progress here and there but it's not enough. I'm getting impatient. I want consistent regular words. I find myself wanting to pull my hair out. I find myself thoroughly frustrated. I find myself screaming in my head. Sometimes outside my head too. I beg the Lord to "fix" this. I plead and cry. I beat my chest and have a tantrum.

He whispers back. In between my screams I can hear His whispering. He says,
It's o.k. to be angry. It's o.k. I understand. But I can't fix this for you right now. 

He is up on the cross while I have my tantrum and He is whispering these words to me.
It's o.k. Go ahead. Let it out. Let it all out.

And I see Him up on that cross so I remember to offer it up to Him so that He's not alone and I'm not alone and we can share this moment together. I start to feel a little less sorry for myself maybe, if only for a moment.

Deep down I know why He's allowing this to happen. But I still find myself begging Him to take this cup away from me. I'm a child with an attention span of a gnat. I keep screaming and He keeps whispering back reminding me and just loving me. Before all this, I used to know only intellectually of His love. Most of the time, it was too abstract for me to really grasp. I had to be knocked off my feet to really understand how powerfully and intensely our God loves us. It may have broken me in two if I experienced it when all was hunky dory. Nowadays I'm vulnerable enough to let Him in. I'm vulnerable enough to scream at Him in anger.
FIX THIS PLEASE!!!
But through all my screaming, His whispers break through and shatter it all. He whispered the Universe into existence. My screams are no match. Praise God.