archive for the “church/religion” category
A pathetic excuse for a prayer, before a NASCRAP race that was near Nashville, Tennessee:
In Panama City Rescue Mission, I just heard Kenneth Copeland, on his television show, Believer’s Voice of Victory, on Trinity Broadcasting Network, claim:
“Jesus laid aside His deity and His godliness to become man.“
So … Jesus the Christ, who said that He and the Father are One, and who was crucified then rose from death wasn’t divine?
~SUCH A RIDICULOUS, OLD HERESY~
Anyone who would claim this should not claim to be a Christian disciple and should not televise his heresy on a “Christian” television network.
Human impossibility amplifies God’s glory.
When we are up against the wall, when our resources are gone and our hope is dwindling and the odds are mounted high all around us, God gets to step in. – wisdom from Jon Acuff, excerpted from his weblog, Stuff Christians Like
The first Celtic monasteries were merely settlements where the priests and laity, men, women, and children — lived together as a clan. Later, actual monasteries of monks and nuns were formed, and later the cloistered life was developed. The desire for extreme austerity, in contrast to licentious hedonism of continental Europe, has been a hallmark of Irish monasticism to today. The eremitical life was regarded as the height of monasticism, and the means of perfection have been austerity, poverty, obedience, celibacy, fasting, prayer vigils, and hard work.
Irish monks are famous for preserving literature, history, and philosophy from ancient civilizations in Asia Minor and Europe by copying and translating ancient documents and literature in addition to copying contemporary manuscripts of various genres. In the Dark Ages, the monastic scribes preserved Western history in their scriptoria by diligently copying by hand, with quill and ink, borrowed and acquired scrolls and books.
Irish monks and friars have also gained renown by leaving their cloisters to re-evangelize continental Europe and proselytize in Africa and the Americas.
God wants to help us as we grow toward wholeness.. We have to meet Him half way, and we do that by using to the fullest the tools He’s given us. Then He will indeed give what is needed and fill in what is lacking.
So check your “business plan” first and assure yourself that you’ve used everything that God put in your tool box. Then pray. You’ll be amazed at how God helps those who help themselves. — Father Paul Pecchie
Our religious practices are means to an end and only that, and they have legitimacy only to the extent that they help us build a pure and trusting heart that does the deeds of love.
This brings us to today’s question: Are you just hanging out or hiding in your church and your religious practices? Or are you being transformed? Is your heart being reshaped or are you just treading water? – Father Paul Pecchie
for an F.S.U. course:
A brief on religion pertaining to U.S. Hispanics may easily be begun by noting that most Hispanics in the U.S. share Roman Catholicism as a faith tradition. Surveys of U.S. Hispanics find that membership in the Roman Catholic Church is an important part of many U.S. Hispanics’ self-identity. Lands that were colonized by Spanish Roman Catholics tend to have population majorities which are Roman Catholic. The U.S.A. is an exception, as it does not have a Roman Catholic majority component of its population. However, most Hispanics in the U.S., like the majority of Hispanics in Latin American nations, self-identify as Roman Catholic when surveyed for church affiliation or religious practices. An estimate is that two-thirds of U.S. Hispanics are Roman Catholic and fifteen percent are evangelical Protestant. About eight percent of Hispanics report that they are atheistic or agnostic. About one percent claim to have a non-Christian faith tradition (Pew, 2008). »→
Today we remember that Dr. Martin Luther King was gunned-down on April 4, 1968 and that the crucified and buried Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, rose with God’s power to show us that divine life transcends bodily death. Remember that though our bodies may be killed, our souls, our inmost selves, live on — with God or apart from him.
from Saint Paul’s letter to the Galatians (chapter 6):
“And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”
“for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
It is easy to get wrapped up in some good aspect of the church (apologetics, politics, you name it) and miss the core — that it’s about Jesus. Then, all of a sudden, church becomes all about that lesser thing, and not about Christ. ~ Josiah Bancroft
It is necessary to avoid the secularization of the clergy and the clericalization of the laity. – Pope Benedict 16
“I would have been hard, rough and ill-tempered were it not for God’s grace. . . It is not sufficient for me to love God if I do not love my neighbor. I belong to God and to the poor.” ~ Saint Vincent de Paul
“It seems to me that the vocation ‘crisis’ is precipitated and continued by people who want to change the Church’s agenda, by people who do not support orthodox candidates loyal to the magisterial teaching of the pope and bishops, and by people who actually discourage viable candidates from seeking priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines these ministries. »→
An Italian priest, Fr Paolo Padrini, has created the iBreviary application for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s an digital version of the Office of Readings, the Liturgy of the Hours, Holy Mass scripture readings and common prayers that you’d find in a breviary. »→
When I went to Baguio City for Christmas eve Holy Mass celebrated by the bishop, I did not expect to hear heresy spouted from a lector/commentator before Mass when I wished to pray in peace.
“Sambuhay: A Pastoral Service of Pauline Priests and Brothers,” is a four-page, pulp-paper, weekly missalette published by the Society of Saint Paul’s Philippine-Macau Province. In the Christmas edition is the following:
“Introduction (Read before the start of the Mass) … Tonight we are witnesses to an event that no one ever dared to imagine. The almighty and powerful God divests himself of his divinity and makes himself small.” »→
Sunday morning in Sagada we arose early in Olahbinan Resthouse and walked down the lane to Yoghurt House for a delicious, filling breakfast of ham, vegetable and cheese omelets, pancakes and mountain tea. Afterward we tried to find AA batteries, razors and shaving cream in the convenience stores along the main road. I had brought my trusty Braun, but Dominic wanted a disposable razor and a can of foam. »→
Nick and his younger sisters came uphill from their humble home in Baguio Gold neighborhood hours ahead of the 4:30 Mass time at Turning Point/Fatima Hill. I think that they wanted the opportunity to watch cartoons on TV or DVD for a while before we departed for Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. »→




