My godson was preparing for his first confession last week.
His mother read to him about 20 different sins from an examination of conscience for kids
His mom said he sat there thinking very hard as she was reading them, but he didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but she kept going.
When she finished, he looked up and said "Wow. I've done all of those!"
From the mouth of children!
P.S. - as a follow up, I asked him how his first confession was. He told me, smiling ear to ear "I felt a LOT lighter"
A Pharisee
in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the
people, stood up, ordered the men to be put outside for a short time,and said to them,
“Fellow Israelites, be careful what you are about
to do to these men.Some time
ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone important, and about four hundred
men joined him, but he was killed, and all those who were loyal to him were
disbanded and came to nothing.
After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of
the census. He also drew people after him, but he too perished and all who were
loyal to him were scattered.
So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these
men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of
human origin, it will destroy itself.But if it
comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them”
Everyone, in the history of the UNIVERSE, who has ever gone up against Catholic nuns has lost in the end. There are still Catholic nuns serving all over the world, while those who have gone to battle with them are nothing more than a pile of dust.
If this picture is what is happening in your opponent's "locker room", know that you are definitely "on the wrong side of history"
President Obama, I do not say this sincerely - "good luck!"
A lot of times I post or talk about things that are wrong with the world, but I wanted today to share a story about something that was very VERY right
The funeral of Benjamin Zachary Durcholz.
Ben had a rare disease that usually takes the life of its victims around 13 or 14. Ben made it to 14, but at the end of last week, an infection took his life.
Ben's parents Chris and Annette had met with me and our music director, Mr. Edward Atkinson, several months ago to plan the funeral. They wanted it to be more traditional, and they asked for servers, incense, and a schola to sing sacred music at Mass.
The funeral this morning was one of the most beautiful things I've ever been a part of.
The Church was standing room only - a strong testimony in opposition to our culture of death that is starting to whisper that if a child has some sort of "genetic imperfection" parents might just want to go ahead and abort.
All of our high school servers were on Spring Break today and so they were almost all able to serve the funeral Mass today. Although Ben has been confined to a wheel chair, and has been unable to communicate for several years, the high school guys who serve at Mass all have felt a special closeness with Ben through the years, and that closeness was evidenced by the tears that were running down their faces throughout the Mass today.
The schola sang music that was not "gaudy" nor was it chosen to showcase their skills, it was simply beautiful. The musical pieces from the funeral today conveyed both the sadness of death, and the hope that intermingles in with sadness when someone dies as faithful and practicing Catholic.
Today I was able to be a part of something truly special - a special funeral for a special person, and I just wanted to pass on that I'm really thankful to have been a part of it.
I've mentioned before that I coached high school football for a few years. Part of coaching is going to coaching clinics.
Something fascinating happens at coaches clinics, a lot of the presentations are coaches telling their rival coaches how they do what they do.
"Here's the secret to what I do at school _______ that makes us so successful."
Does Coca-Cola do that with Pepsi, or vice versa?
"Here's the secret recipe, but we just wanted to let you in on it"??????
of course Coca-Cola doesn't do that
From a strategic standpoint, telling your rival coaches your strategies and tricks makes no sense.
The only way I could ever think to explain this crazy phenomenon was the realization that perhaps pride doesn't necessarily egg us on to seek to rule the world, but just to be thought very highly of by a small group of people.
At the top of the right hand side of this blog, you'll notice a new feature "My Twitter Feed"
I am finding it more and more difficult to sit down and write out lengthier commentary about things these days, particularly when there is so much to do in my priestly assignments. I DO find time to retweet things from really good sources and also I try to do some tweeting myself and so this "Twitter Feed" to the right will allow people who check in on the blog to keep up with what I've been up to, reflecting on, and engaging with most recently.
I hope this helps you in your effort to be part of the work of destroying the culture of death and instead building up a culture of life and a civilization of love!
