Pray for Oklahoma and Open Your Wallets

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma traveled to Moore Oklahoma to offer his assistance and prayers to the victims.

“I feel, as the archbishop, as a shepherd, I need to be there,” Archbishop Coakley told Catholic News Agency while on his way to the suburb of Oklahoma City on May 21.

“I'm not sure …there's anything very practical I can do when I arrive, other than to show my pastoral concern and support and give the assurance of my prayers to those who are indeed suffering.”

He added, “People are in such shock right now, we just want to accompany them in their suffering at this point.”

What we can do in addition to our prayers is open our wallets for those suffering.
Here's a link to Catholic Relief Services who will be there long after the storm is over.

Sex Abuse Scandal in Non-Catholic Non-Celibate Churches

Well, now,  that's a blog headline you don't see too often!
After the horrific sex abuse scandal of the past decade in the Catholic Church, involving less than 4 percent of the priesthood, the conventional wisdom was that sex abuse is the direct result of forced celibacy.  What doesn't get breathlessly reported by the media is the pedophile scandal and cover-ups that are occurring in the non-Catholic ecclesial bodies that do not hold to celibacy.
    How many of you know of the lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries? SGM is a large reformed Christian denomination that has been been supported by Dr. Albert Mohler, the un-official "pope" of the neo-reformed movement in America. The lawsuit was just dismissed because of a statue of limitations clause but the lawyers for the victims of pedophile abuse are still pursuing an appeal and criminal suit.  The reason this story peaked my interest is that the SGM denomination was started by two former Catholics, CJ Mahaney and Larry Tomczak .
    In 1975, I went to a "christian woodstock" called Jesus 75*. It was a huge Jesus festival of music and preaching and charismatic worship with rock bands that was held on a muddy farm in the middle of Pennsylvania.  I sat transfixed listening to the testimony and preaching of CJ Mahaney and Larry Tomczak. Both were still twenty-something Catholics at the time and had not yet left the Church and were popular speakers in the charismatic movement of the early 70's. Larry Tomczak was the author of Clap Your Hands, a testimony of his conversion which carried the imprimatur of his local bishop on the inside foreword! Sadly, by 1982, both had distanced themselves from Catholicism and founded a new church which came to be known as Covenant Life, a flagship church of the Sovereign Grace Ministry which grew to over 100 churches. CJ Mahaney adopted calvinism and the denomination became reformed. Larry Tomczak later had a falling out with CJ over doctrine and leadership styles and started his own church in a sadly not-uncommon scenario.
    In the lawsuit against CJ Mahaney and Larry Tomzcak and many other leaders in the SGM, there is revealed a consistent pattern of abuse and cover-up by the leadership. The majority of those accused of pedophile acts are married laymen in the Church, as well as married leaders in ministry! While the mainstream media essentially ignores this story, it is my hope that the leaders of the reformed movement in the US who supported SGM will now stand up and speak out against these abuses and cover ups. They certainly were not silent regarding the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

*The early 70's saw the start of many Christian music festivals featuring contemporary Christian artists and popular preachers and teachers. I saw Phil Keaggy perform Lion of Judah with Ted Sanquist for the very first time at Jesus 78 festival sitting in a muddy field.

Happy Pentecost!

Today the Universal Church celebrates the feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church! The novena of the apostles and the Blessed Mother was completed and the Holy Spirit filled them with power from on high. Without the empowerment from the third person of the Trinity, the Church would not have grown but instead, have been still born. The Holy Spirit took an upper room of quaking, shaking downtrodden men and women and started a fire that has continued to burn for 2000 years. May we all continue to daily pray for the Holy Spirit's power to come upon us as He first did with the apostles.

Breathe into me, Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy. Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy. Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy. 

(Saint Augustine)

First Smart Phone App Launched By Pope!

The Holy See has truly embraced the digital age to carry on the mission of the Church which is to evangelize in order to bring souls to heaven. Pope Benedict tweeted and now Pope Francis has an app for iOS and Android platforms that will communicate his messages, news, videos and information to encourage the faithful.
Here is a link to Missio, the free app. On Friday, Pope Francis using an iPad activated the app and around the world a push notification went out that the app was now live and active.
  Be the first one on your block to get the news direct from the Vatican! Jack Chick and the fundamentalists will have a field day with this one. Cue the scary music-   Imagine, that the pope (who is a Jesuit by the way,) can now send secret missives to his foot soldiers (Catholic automatons) to carry out his orders, assuming these foot soldiers have a Droid or iPhone!
   But seriously, I am so thankful that the Church is embracing the new digital technology to communicate the gospel to as many as possible and to provide catechesis (teaching) to the faithful. This app is just one more way to do just that. Non-Catholics are encouraged to download the app as well. He's everyone's pope, not all realize that yet.

Catholic Church Growing in the South

Here's an interesting article on the growth of the Catholic faith in the Protestant Southeastern US. (h/t NCR) There are many more priests in training in their seminaries proportionately than the size of their diocese compared with those in the north.  Religious orders are flourishing there as well.  One reason is that in the south, the Catholics are a minority and cannot take their faith for granted. Persecution and opposition historically has made the Church grow, not stagnate. In the Northern cities of the US, the majority of people were of the Catholic faith and there was no challenge or resistance to the faith. Therefore, it was easy to not have to share the faith or defend it .
  "In a region where churches sit on seemingly every street corner and billboards belt out Bible verses and calls for repentance, local Catholics say they have found fertile ground for the renewal of the Church.
“Our Protestant brothers and sisters have done us a great favor. Talking about faith here in the South is like eating, breathing, and sleeping,” said Randy Hain, a managing partner at Bell Oaks Executive Search in Atlanta and co-founder of The Integrated Catholic Life, an online magazine. “There’s an openness about faith here which makes it easier to be open about your faith if you’re Catholic.”

Let's pray that this growth will spread to the North. In my diocese, the bishop had to close 1/3 of the parishes because of  lack of priests and declining numbers of Catholics.We could use more priests and especially Catholics who are open to life.

Reason # 999 To Be Catholic: Novenas

Today, the day after the feast of the Ascension of our Lord we begin the nine days of waiting and prayer to the Holy Spirit. We do this because we remember the apostles and Mary tarrying in the Upper Room. This nine day period of prayer is called a novena, which is from the Latin meaning "nine." For the apostles, a period of prayer and waiting was nothing new for them. They were Jews and the Jews had a tradition of praying for seven days after someone had died, now called "sitting shiva."  Since the early Church was Jewish as was our Lord, the disciples and the Blessed Mother likely did not find it unusual to be asked to spend a period of time in prayer, in this case 9 days, until the Holy Spirit descended upon them.

     Why do we still pray novenas?  Because Catholicism is incarnational. We "bring to life" in our lives the events that occurred in salvation history. No, the priest doesn't re-crucify Jesus during the Mass. Jesus' once and for all sacrificial death on the cross is re-presented during the Mass and is offered to the Father. Catholicism is also rhythmical and follows the events of salvation history through the year.
-We celebrate advent in hopeful expectation of the birth of the savior.
-We repent and do penance for 40 days during Lent to prepare for the glorious resurrection.
-We celebrate Easter for a full 50 days until Pentecost.
-We pray expectantly for 9 days before Pentecost for the Holy Spirit to descend upon us and renew us.

Some may say:  "why do I need the Catholic Church to remind me to pray for more of the Holy Spirit in my life?"  Let me answer a question with a question. When was the last time you prayed for a full nine days for the Holy Spirit to fill you with more of  Him?  Sometimes, we need the Holy Spirit through the Church to nudge us a bit towards the goal - attaining heaven and bringing as many with us as possible!

So start your Novena to the Holy Spirit today and pray along with millions of souls across the earth who are spending the next nine days asking for renewal, refreshment and empowerment from on-high. Here's a link to a great novena to the Holy Spirit. Though I think novenas are a great reason to be Catholic, you actually don't need to be Catholic to pray one.

The Eucharist Brought This Evangelical Into the Church

This young lady grew up in an evangelical home, lost her way, then found it in the Catholic Church.
It was in the middle of the mass during the moment of consecration.

"I knew who Jesus was, I knew he died for our sins but I did not know He came down to be present in every Eucharist! I had no idea Catholic beliefs were different, that they believed they ate the real flesh and blood of Jesus Christ according to what He taught in John chapter 6. It didn’t disgust me, in fact it moved me in awe of His love.
When I saw that priest lift the wafer and say “hoc est corpus meum” I felt something special was going on. There was “shininess” to the air. That was the first time I felt…Him!"

Once again, the Eucharist leads someone home to the Church. Why do so many converts and reverts attribute their conversion to the discovery of the Eucharist? Because it is Jesus.  As Flannery O'Connor has said so eloquently, "If it's just a symbol, then the hell with it."

Take the Catholic IQ Test !

Christian LeBlanc, Catholic author and catechist recently sent me to a link on FB that has a test called the Catholic IQ test. It tests your knowledge of the history of the faith, the bible, the liturgy and the saints. Once you complete it, you are eligible to receive a free book called "Where We Got the Bible" by Right Reverend Henry G. Graham. This book is a classic gem of Catholic apologetics and every Catholic needs to read it and gain an understanding of where the Bible came from to share with our non-Catholic brethren.
   Check out the quiz, it does take awhile to complete but is worth the time and effort, then you receive a free book in the mail!  Enjoy

Our Ninth Anniversary in the Catholic Church

Anniversaries are important to us because they help us to commemorate life-changing events. When an anniversary comes up, our minds and hearts go back to that day and we once again re-live the events of that occasion. Today marks the ninth anniversary of our return to the Catholic Church. On April 30th, 2004, Deborah and I  returned to the church of our youth and "Crossed the Tiber."
      We now tend to describe the times of our life as BC (before Catholic) and AR (After Reversion to the Catholic Church) since it has been such a momentous change. As I have said before, our life is a series of conversions, or at least it should be. Saint Paul tells us - "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." My first conversion experience was my infant baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon me and washed me clean of original sin.  "Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated." (From the Catechism 1272) Unfortunately, I messed up pretty badly as a cradle Catholic at some point in my early adolescence giving into the temptations presented to me by the Age of Aquarius. Actually, up until 6th-7th grade, I prayed the rosary on occasion, went to mass weekly and confession every 6 months and would have considered myself loving God and my faith. That changed pretty quickly between 12 and 14 years of age. At 14 years of age, I experienced yet another conversion when I surrendered to Jesus, inviting him to be personal Lord and Savior and repenting of my sins. I then spent the next 31 years reading the bible almost daily, attending services 1-2 times per week and would have described myself as a fairly devout evangelical Christian. Then I saw The Passion of the Christ movie in 2004 and had yet another conversion which led to my reconciliation with the Church and convalidation (sacramentalization) of my marriage. This was probably the most life-changing conversion yet!
   Returning to the Catholic Church as an adult has been a sea change, as they say, and after 9 years still find myself in awe of the God who created the world yet humbles himself to come to us in the appearances of bread and wine. I can walk down my street to Saint Joseph the Worker parish (about 4/10ths of a mile)  any day of the week and allow this God to come into me and experience his life-changing grace.  I hope and pray for however much time left that He grants me, I will continue to be open to an on-going conversion of my mind, heart and soul.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace. 
St. Augustine 5th Century.

If there is anyone out there in cyber land reading this and would like to learn more about the Catholic faith please feel free to comment or you can write me confidentially at: dobrodoc1 (at) Gee mail (dot) Com.
God bless you!

Crossed the Tiber is 7 Years Old!

This weekend marked the 7th year since this blog was started. I never intended to blog about the faith and never had a blog before.  As a matter of fact, I did very little writing other than lyrics for songs or occasional lectures for medical residents. After being back in the Catholic Church for 2 years, I realized there was a tremendous amount of misinformation out there about the faith. The blog was originally started as a way to dispel some of the myths that denigrates the faith and highlight the beauty of Catholicism. I have written, as of today,  2208 posts seen on over a quarter of a million visits. I had no idea I'd still be doing this. See the very first post here. Kinda, dusty but still rings true.

     I, like many people at one time, thought you couldn't be a Catholic and Christian. What I have discovered, by the grace of God, is that the Church  is the normative way in which God intended for us to experience his grace and blessings won for us on the cross. To live the Catholic life fully is to experience more of God than I had ever encountered before. This grace is most profoundly available by rightly participating in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. Being a Christian is all about becoming closer to Jesus , becoming one with him, conforming ourselves to him and ultimately seeing our savior face to face. Our goal in this life is to get to heaven to spend eternity with God. The Church, as I have personally experienced, is the best vehicle to attain that goal. I hope that this blog has helped others, particularly non-Catholic Christians, to become aware of this often missed opportunity. If a friend won the million dollar lottery but didn't tell you about it or share anything with you, you would be understandably upset. That's how I felt when I discovered "this treasure that's always been at my feet given to me as a child."* (through baptism) I decided to not let others miss the treasure that is waiting for them and blogging has been a wonderful way to do that.

*From 'Late Have I Loved You", title track of  TheWay to Emmaus CD.