When we inconvenience someone, we may feel like we are in their debt. If we find ourselves in that position, Fr. Mike Schmitz encourages us to apologize to that person, but even beyond that, to offer our gratitude in response to his or her forgiveness. We should especially respond this way when we offend our merciful God, who wants to forgive us our debt and help us move forward with grace.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
The Historic Turnpike Mass of 2016
With tons of time and not much to do, they did something incredible: they build an altar out of snow and had Mass on the side of the highway! Some people nicknamed the spot the St. John Paul the Great hillside chapel.
Bad weather can’t stop the Mass!
Click here for photos, links, and the lowdown.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Mercy
This excerpt comes from the book Beautiful Mercy by various authors, including Christopher West, who authored this part.
The Latin word for mercy, misericordia, means "a heart which gives itself to those in misery." Our world today exhibits a veritable desert of misery related to our failure to understand the true meaning of love and how our sexuality is meant to express that love. Pope Francis' oft-quoted description of the Church as "a field hospital after battle" couldn't be more fitting in our post-sexual revolution world.
When marriages are crumbling and children are growing up without both a mother and father; when idealized and hyper-eroticized images of the human body have become our cultural wallpaper and people are valued only if they are accordingly stimulating; when the gross distortions of hardcore pornography have become our main reference point for understanding sexual behavior, and sexual addiction masquerades under the banner of liberation; when the blessing of fertility is considered a curse to be eliminated and the innocent human life that springs from sexual union a threat to be exterminated; when governments institutionalize gender confusion and insist the sexual difference has no real meaning; when parents refuse to identify their children at birth so they can "choose their own gender identity" later in life; when society glorifies those who mutilate their bodies so they can "become" the other sex and vilifies those who raise warning flags; and when our Christian parents, teachers, pastors, and confessors are largely unable to respond to these challenges in any compelling way for lack of proper formation themselves, we are a deeply, deeply wounded people.
"I see clearly," said Pope Francis, "that the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds." And this means that "ministers of the Church must be ministers of mercy above all."
The Latin word for mercy, misericordia, means "a heart which gives itself to those in misery." Our world today exhibits a veritable desert of misery related to our failure to understand the true meaning of love and how our sexuality is meant to express that love. Pope Francis' oft-quoted description of the Church as "a field hospital after battle" couldn't be more fitting in our post-sexual revolution world.
When marriages are crumbling and children are growing up without both a mother and father; when idealized and hyper-eroticized images of the human body have become our cultural wallpaper and people are valued only if they are accordingly stimulating; when the gross distortions of hardcore pornography have become our main reference point for understanding sexual behavior, and sexual addiction masquerades under the banner of liberation; when the blessing of fertility is considered a curse to be eliminated and the innocent human life that springs from sexual union a threat to be exterminated; when governments institutionalize gender confusion and insist the sexual difference has no real meaning; when parents refuse to identify their children at birth so they can "choose their own gender identity" later in life; when society glorifies those who mutilate their bodies so they can "become" the other sex and vilifies those who raise warning flags; and when our Christian parents, teachers, pastors, and confessors are largely unable to respond to these challenges in any compelling way for lack of proper formation themselves, we are a deeply, deeply wounded people.
"I see clearly," said Pope Francis, "that the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds." And this means that "ministers of the Church must be ministers of mercy above all."
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Monday, January 11, 2016
Friday, January 8, 2016
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
On Fridays, we #FIGHTPORN
If you liked the previous blog post, here's a follow-up from Chiara. Again, be warned that she's raw and unfiltered in her writing, but the truth is being shared, so I'm posting it.
Wow. Serious holla at all of you good people. I am completely overwhelmed by the gracious responses I’ve received over the past several days (and words of affirmation are not one of my stronger love languages… sometimes I may struggle to convey my thanks in the moment, but I am truly grateful).
So here’s a picture of me repping #FighterFridays last week:
Interested in purchasing one of these super nifty t-shirts for yourself? Check out my friends over at Fight the New Drug & The Porn Effect.
http://store.fightthenewdrug.org/
https://shop.theporneffect.com/
A trendy photo filter is cool, but let’s be real: I don’t have the luxury of fighting the battle against pornography and masturbation just on Fridays. This #instagram post isn’t me being a “hip young activist” fighting to end hunger in rural Kenya. Because I assume that most “hip young activists” fighting to end hunger in rural Kenya are not in themselves a hungry Kenyan child. I, on the other hand, am addicted to porn. Contrary to your run-of-the-mill addict, my drug is dirt cheap and can thrive inside my own head. My brain is a never ending clip reel, just waiting to derail my sobriety at any given moment. Thanks, brain. You’re a real gem.
I assume most are familiar with the idea that we live in an oversexualized society: rape culture, unrealistic standards of beauty, and 12-year-olds doing it in the gym bathroom (some of you think I’m joking…). But to put it in perspective, let me enlighten you on what it’s like to live in this world as someone who gets turnt walking past an Abercrombie & Filth billboard.
Wow. Serious holla at all of you good people. I am completely overwhelmed by the gracious responses I’ve received over the past several days (and words of affirmation are not one of my stronger love languages… sometimes I may struggle to convey my thanks in the moment, but I am truly grateful).
So here’s a picture of me repping #FighterFridays last week:
Fighter Fridays
Interested in purchasing one of these super nifty t-shirts for yourself? Check out my friends over at Fight the New Drug & The Porn Effect.
http://store.fightthenewdrug.org/
https://shop.theporneffect.com/
A trendy photo filter is cool, but let’s be real: I don’t have the luxury of fighting the battle against pornography and masturbation just on Fridays. This #instagram post isn’t me being a “hip young activist” fighting to end hunger in rural Kenya. Because I assume that most “hip young activists” fighting to end hunger in rural Kenya are not in themselves a hungry Kenyan child. I, on the other hand, am addicted to porn. Contrary to your run-of-the-mill addict, my drug is dirt cheap and can thrive inside my own head. My brain is a never ending clip reel, just waiting to derail my sobriety at any given moment. Thanks, brain. You’re a real gem.
#Lovesies
I assume most are familiar with the idea that we live in an oversexualized society: rape culture, unrealistic standards of beauty, and 12-year-olds doing it in the gym bathroom (some of you think I’m joking…). But to put it in perspective, let me enlighten you on what it’s like to live in this world as someone who gets turnt walking past an Abercrombie & Filth billboard.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
A Horrible Idea
This is a blog post by a teen I knew as her youth minister in Seattle, current friend, and fellow fighter. It's raw, it's got a couple cuss words, and it approaches a difficult topic in a way you may not have heard before. Read on if you can relate.
If radical honesty isn’t your cup of tea, I won’t blame you for ignoring what I’m about to say.
In fact, this could all be a horrible idea, but I’m gonna say something, because most women aren’t saying anything (and I’m Italian, so vulnerability and speaking my mind are strong suits).
Here’s the story:
Imagine an 11-year-old girl, curious about the world, home alone with a computer. Have you ever gone to look something up, typed ONE wrong letter in the web address, and ended up seeing a lot “more” than you planned? Most people rapidly close the window and try again. Some people stop and look… especially curious 11-year-olds.
Then I looked again. And again.
Give me a few weeks, and I had developed a meticulous ritual of moving the Ethernet cable from our newer desktop computer to the ancient one we never used (but still had sitting out), booting it up, looking at pictures I didn’t understand (yet desperately pined to see), carefully deleting the browser history, powering down, and moving the Ethernet cable back into place. All this because somehow I knew it wouldn’t be kosher with the parentals.
This went on for years – no hyperbole. We’re talking 365 x 4 (at least). I only got caught once, and even then, mia famiglia didn’t realize the half of it. I managed to talk my way out pretty easily (what can I say – Italians are manipulative, too).
If somehow you haven’t gathered the gist of what I’m getting at, it’s this big ugly word that makes people feel uncomfortable.
Click here to continue reading.
If radical honesty isn’t your cup of tea, I won’t blame you for ignoring what I’m about to say.
In fact, this could all be a horrible idea, but I’m gonna say something, because most women aren’t saying anything (and I’m Italian, so vulnerability and speaking my mind are strong suits).
Here’s the story:
Imagine an 11-year-old girl, curious about the world, home alone with a computer. Have you ever gone to look something up, typed ONE wrong letter in the web address, and ended up seeing a lot “more” than you planned? Most people rapidly close the window and try again. Some people stop and look… especially curious 11-year-olds.
Then I looked again. And again.
Browser history –> DELETE
Give me a few weeks, and I had developed a meticulous ritual of moving the Ethernet cable from our newer desktop computer to the ancient one we never used (but still had sitting out), booting it up, looking at pictures I didn’t understand (yet desperately pined to see), carefully deleting the browser history, powering down, and moving the Ethernet cable back into place. All this because somehow I knew it wouldn’t be kosher with the parentals.
This went on for years – no hyperbole. We’re talking 365 x 4 (at least). I only got caught once, and even then, mia famiglia didn’t realize the half of it. I managed to talk my way out pretty easily (what can I say – Italians are manipulative, too).
If somehow you haven’t gathered the gist of what I’m getting at, it’s this big ugly word that makes people feel uncomfortable.
Click here to continue reading.
Friday, January 1, 2016
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