My wonderful girlfriend is coming back to the Catholic Church and will be (re)received on November 14th. Please keep her in your prayers as she starts preparations to return to the Sacramental life of the Church. Wish her well if you get the chance.
I think we can all agree that the election, 9 days away, is extremely important to determine the direction the country is going. I am starting a novena to the Holy Spirit for the presidential election and I urge all of you to pray especially hard leading up to the election. The decisions we make on Nov 2nd will impact the direction of our country and the world in major ways. It is an awesome responsibility, especially as Catholics, since we are called to vote according to the teachings of the Church.
A good friend and website contributor has written an excellent commentary on Halloween from a Catholic perspective.
Image from: SpookySites.Com.
Robert Novak, an excellent writer and Jewish convert to Catholicism, has written a timely piece called Kerry Losing Points With Catholics. Novak briefly addresses Kerry’s “litmus test” for federal judge appointees which, as former ambassador to the Vatican and former Democratic Boston mayor Raymond Flynn so publically noted is a promise to: “only support people to the Federal Judiciary who support killing unborn children.” There you have it: only pro-abortion people to the judiciary. I am no fan of Bush in general, but could never under any circumstance vote for Kerry. Apart from any other policy, his “litmus test” would be a disaster for the protection of the unborn.
I have refrained from blogging on the whole Anglican crisis for a variety of reasons. Although I am still interested in the outcome, since I’m no longer Anglican, I wanted to move on. However, I have many Anglican friends whom I wish the best and still have a respect for the best of the Anglicanism’s past (like C.S. Lewis, the great hymn writers, etc.). Here is Yahoo! News’ summary of the Windsor report and it doesn’t look good for the Christian wing of the Anglican communion. Given that the Episcopal presiding “bishop” seems to like what the report has to say, it’s even more bad news for traditionalists. Anglicanism was founded as a state compromise and now faithful Christians within Anglicanism are finding the long held Truth that the Gospel can never be a state compromise. Maybe this report will be different in practice, but as it stands it appears “official” Anglicanism at least is doomed. As a new convert to Catholicism, I can tell my fellow Anglican travelers that the waters of the Tiber are quite nice this time of year (I’ve heard the same thing about the Bosphorus). For those Anglicans not geographically inclined, it means that the the Catholic and/or Orthodox Churches are waiting.
Knowing where a candidate really stands can sometimes be very tough. In elections, all candidates “spin” things one way or another. It’s very hard for the average person to get adequate information. This is especially important for Catholics since we must make an informed vote in accord with Church teaching. To help with that, the US Council of Bishops has released: Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility. All American Catholics should first consult this guide. Secondly, all Catholics must learn where a particular candidate stands on those foundational issues. I’ve found a good site that provides excellent information on making an informed vote: Project VoteSmart. This site has information on candidates from the President on down and includes for each candidate (where possible): a questionaire on important issues, his or her voting record, public statements, endorsements, and the person’s rating by special interest groups. This information should help anyone to make an informed choice amidst the spin from all the candidates. For example, in spite of John Kerry’s efforts to appear more “moderate” on the abortion issue, from 1996-2004 he has received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL and a 0% rating from National Right to Life. As Catholics, we should check the facts, make an informed decision, and above all PRAY!
I recently picked up a little card put out by the Diocese of Columbus about "Nurturing, Protecting, and Defending human life." I have always been pro-life, but considered the issue relatively unimportant to my everyday life. Submitting to the Catholic Faith, however, meant becoming strongly pro-life. This doesn’t mean becoming a Republican foot soldier, but rather being committed to standing up strongly for life in all ways. What amazed me about this little card was that it recognizes that the fight for life is far more than just a political issue, but a spiritual and intellectual one as well. These 6 recommendations come from the Dept. of Social Concerns from the Diocese of Columbus: 1) Give praise and thanks for the gift of life 2) Fast and abstain on all Fridays 3) Become well informed (i.e. about the Church’s teachings) 4) Become an active participant in one or more life issues and caring services 5) Communicate with your elected officials 6) Encourage a federal ban on partial birth abortions. I like this approach alot: we must attack our culture of death spiritually and politically. Politically we need to protect the most vulnerable like the unborn and without the grace of God, hearts can never change.
My brother and I have uploaded our guide to Christmas on our website ChurchYear.net. We don’t advocate the Christmas in October approach, but it’s always best to work ahead so everything can be ready for the season.
Tree clipart from Kid’s Domain.
The Church year was revolutionary for me. The idea that we can orient our lives around Christ and the Kingdom of God forever changed my way of looking at and living religious practice. My brother and I setup a website devoted to the Church year several months back. In order to provide the best information and resources we work a little ahead. We recently completed our page for Advent and are working on Christmas.
Today my local coffeeshop finally received the one type of coffee I ask about every year in late September/early October: pumpkin spice flavored beans. When you add half and half and sweetener, it’s like pumpkin pie in a cup. I know this is one of the very little things in life, but I look forward to it every year and it brings, especially in relationship to its significance in the grand scheme of things, an inordinate amount of joy. The more I experience the little things in life, the more I realize how much this holds true in general.
image from: ClipsAhoy.com
Since my friend Charles has already blogged on this topic and I agree with his commentary, I won’t use up too much bandwidth. Here is my dilemma: what is someone who could never endorse Kerry’s views on life, but finds it hard to vote for Bush either because of Iraq (even though he thinks Bush is a decent, principled man) to do? I’m considering a third party. Right now I’m looking at Joe Schriner. Believe it or not, I also like Pat Buchanan alot, but since he’s not running I don’t feel that I should write him in. Time is running out.
Today I had the pleasure of participating in the Rosary Walk for Peace, sponsored St. Mary Catholic Church (not my parish). I have never done a Catholic, public recitation of the rosary before, let alone one that involved a procession. It was an amazing experience, one that will stick with me forever: the cool October air, the changing colored leaves, walking around town reciting the Our Fathers, Hail Marys, Glorias, and Fatima Prayers led by the Cross, a statue of the Blessed Virgin, a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an icon, and a banner. The group was quite diverse, young and old, ethnic and white, those in suits and those in jeans. They passed out roses to everyone, which made for a beautiful and fragrant event! The amazing thing was that this group of people all gathered together to show their devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and their belief in God’s grace in their lives and the life of the world. It was fun to see the faces of the people in the cars as we walked by them too. I live in a very Protestant area and I’m sure many thought it was a little odd and probably quite intriguing too. We ended the rosary walk with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It was an amazing day I won’t forget. I’m so thankful that God has blessed me with moments like these in my journey closer to him.
Image of Our Lady of Fatima from http://web.cheapnet.it/ivanao/gallery.html
