Infamous Catholic, Nancy Pelosi, speaks to the Girl Scouts on Capital Hill.

In my recent post I questioned whether or not Catholics should purchase Girl Scout cookies in light of the connection between the national organization and Planned Parenthood. As much as I hate to report it, additional information has surfaced regarding this connection and the secular agenda of the Girl Scouts organization. This saddens me, as I am an ardent advocate of scouting – both of my sons are Eagle scouts – and the character it builds within our girls and boys. While the Boy Scouts have remained loyal to their values of God and country, the times they are a changing within the national Girl Scouts organization.

Kathleen Sebelius, HHS Secretary, speaks at the 100th Anniversary celebration on Capital Hill.

On February 1st the Girl Scouts celebrated their 100th Anniversary on Capital Hill in the Cannon Caucus Room. As examples of the role models embraced by Girl Scouts, infamous “Catholic” Senate minority leader Nancy Pelosi and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, whose organization is behind the push to provide free contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in all of our nation’s health care plans, both addressed the gathering. This assembly of liberal congresswomen gathered to address the Girl Scouts is not surprising considering the roster of pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage speakers who addressed the national convention last November.

As I dig deeper into the facts surrounding the agenda of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), as a Catholic I am increasingly concerned about the values our daughters are being exposed to. I want to encourage all Catholic parents, especially those who have daughters enrolled in the Girl Scouts, to learn more about their pro-choice agenda. I strongly suggest that you to read this informative article by Mary Hasson of the Catholic News Agency, The Catholic Church and the Girl Scouts: A scandalous mess.

Finally, I hope Catholic parents will tune in to Women of Grace on EWTN this Friday, February 24th, to learn more about the Girl Scouts from a Catholic perspective. If you can’t watch the show on TV, you can view it right here on the Women of Grace website. We all need to be educated about what our children are learning from the organizations we entrust them to, if for no other reason than to closely monitor their activities and the messages they communicate to our impressionable children.

Christine and I hosted a SuperBowl party this year. We had about 30 people attend and everyone had a wonderful time. Christine started the party with her Wii dance game, which a few people really enjoyed. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of this…great fun! She then set up shop upstairs to paint the faces of the young people who came with their parents. She kept busy through most of the game. She had a TV in the kitchen so she wouldn’t miss any of the commercials.

The football fans mostly stayed down in the man cave to watch the game on one of two screens. Of course we have a screen at the bar, as well as the big screen on the other end of the room. In spite of the fact that the Patriots lost the game (I believe I was the only Patriots fan in the group), the day couldn’t have turned out better. Great food, plenty of liquid refreshments and good friends always make for a winning party.

Now that seems like a silly question, doesn’t it? I know at our parish there are several girls selling the delightful cookies every year at this time following Mass. How can one turn down these sweet young girls, even if the cookies are not on your diet? (I personally love the Samoas the best). Imagine my surprise when I learned today that this national organization partners with Planned Parenthood who distributes materials teaching that abortions are not all that bad!

Granted, I may be a little late learning about this issue but I really haven’t been spending much time lately reading the news or following the buzz on Google+. Could this really be as bad as it appears or is it just “right wing” propaganda blown out of proportion? I decided to investigate.

First, I came across this video featuring the  CEO of the Girl Scouts on the Today show. Yep, it’s true. The Girl Scouts organization does, indeed, partner with Planned Parenthood to “educate” girls on sexual matters.

Wow! As a Catholic I can’t think of a worse organization than Planned Parenthood to be teaching young girls about matters of human sexuality. Birth control, abortion and dealing with “hotness” are all topics taught by Planned Parenthood. Ok, so I dug around some more and found the following information concern this partnership between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood:

HonestGirlScouts.com is a website dedicated to exposing the Girl Scouts’ entanglement with a number of organizations we as Catholics would not want to be affiliated with. I’m often skeptical of sites like this, thinking they are more sensational in their claims than they are factual. However, if you follow the links you’ll see that the claims revealed seem to be credible and, in fact, quite scary.

I also checked out what my Catholic friends on Google+ were posting about this and found links to articles that were enlightening. Here’s a couple of them:

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/25/fact-girls-scouts-have-documented-ties-to-planned-parenthood/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/16/say-no-to-girl-scout-cookies/

There are many more. And, of course, there are also many people who are not happy about this negative publicity for the Girl Scouts. They are primarily those who support birth control and the type of sex education that promotes it. They could care less about what the Catholic Church teaches on the topic…they are the pro-choice liberals who generally believe the Church is living in the dark ages. Here are a couple of those links to their opinions to provide another perspective on the matter. Of course, this is not a Catholic perspective, nor is it mine. Nothing like coming out against Girl Scouts, birth control, abortion and Planned Parenthood to get people riled up! Such is life within today’s culture of death:

http://www.athensreport.com/girl-scout-cookie-boycotters-make-me-want-more-cookies/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/103583939320326217147/posts/7DKLxRPokuH

So there you have it. What do you think? Should Catholics allow Girl Scouts to sell cookies in the parish narthex after Mass now that we all know of the national organization’s affiliations? Would we be unfairly punishing these sweet young girls by boycotting their sweet treats on grounds of higher moral principle? Does it matter that most of the profit of the cookies go into the pockets of a very large national organization who fosters relationships with the likes of the nation’s largest abortion provider? Or should we just look the other way and buy a couple of boxes to make the young girls selling them happy? What’s our responsibility as Catholics in this matter? I’d love to know your thoughts.

Update: Read my comment below for information which I understand is sent by the Diocese of Knoxville to those who contact the Diocese concerning the connection between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood.

Yesterday was a chilly day, but the turnout for the annual Rosary for Life was nothing short of heartwarming. The cold didn’t deter hundreds of people from coming to Tyson Park off Concord Street in Knoxville, across from the infamous Volunteer Women’s Medical Center where abortions are routinely performed. This is the site for many peaceful demonstrations sponsored by the Diocese of Knoxville in witness to the sanctity of life, including the annual 40 Days for Life where a group meets daily at the site. Here’s the link to my photos from the event. A slideshow of all the photos can be found at the bottom of the post.

Yesterday’s prayers were expected to be led by Bishop Richard Stika, however a death in his family called him away to the funeral. In his place, Cardinal Justin Rigali presided. He retired last year and moved to Knoxville to take up his residence.

We are so blessed to have Cardinal Rigali in the area as he is still active and participates in many events around the diocese.In fact, Cardinal Rigali joined Bishop Stika for the ground breaking ceremony for the new parish life center being constructed at our parish this past September. We are all so happy to have Bishop Stika’s mentor live out his retirement within our diocese.

Rosary for Life Slideshow

Today we celebrated the Solemnity of Christ the King. On our way to Mass, Christine and I confirmed our intention to begin a new ministry that we’ve been talking about for a few years now. We decided that today we would begin visiting the local nursing home after Mass to visit some elderly residents who had no regular visitors. This has been a long time coming and today was the day we would finally begin.

We knew that today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew was the story of Christ the King coming in judgement. In this reading Jesus gives us the key to understanding what we must do as Christians to truly serve Him (Matthew 25:31-46). He proclaims:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me. Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

We hadn’t really thought about the connection of this gospel reading to our decision to visit the nursing home residents until our visiting priest, Fr. Augustine, made it clear in his homily that we are all called to be servants of those who live on the fringes of society. We are all called to imitate and serve Christ by serving those who have no one. We looked at each other, knowing that God was confirming our decision to begin our regular visits to the nursing home. Listen to this wonderful excerpt from Fr. Augustine’s homily that confirmed our decision::

Listen to Fr. Augustine’s entire homily below:

Service as Obligation, Joy or Both?
So often we think of service as a duty, an obligation that we must meet to be a good Christian. Most of us often feel guilty because we know we should be doing more, but in our busy lives we never seem to find the time for those who need us most. Perhaps we think that we need to travel to a foreign country to serve the poor and we just never seem to get around to doing that. Often our idea of service is that it’s going to take a major effort if it’s going to be worthwhile. Let’s face it, most of us just don’t have time for another big commitment in our lives. We have good intentions but we set our sights too high and never get around to doing anything at all. Or maybe we just procrastinate – with good intentions, of course – and never seem to make the next step to even do the most simple act of service. I know that’s how I was; it’s how we both were. We had good intentions, but lacked execution. One of these days we’d get around to doing more…that’s what we told ourselves.

Many people believe that the Christian obligation to serve the poor & needy is a solemn duty and a sort of burden. Many of us consider the call to service as something we simply have no time for. After all, who needs one more thing added to our already long to-do list? I put money in the collection plate every week, right? God should understand that I’m too busy to be personally involved in serving others. However, we all know – at least intellectually - that our individual service is a fundamental requirement of our Christian faith. This is made perfectly clear in today’s gospel reading.

The problem with our notion of service is that we often fail to understand that when we serve we are filled with God’s grace and His pure joy. The reality is that we discover true happiness in our acts of service. We lose sight of this other side of the coin of obligation. God blesses our efforts to serve him, no matter how small. When we pay a visit to someone on the fringe of society we encounter Christ in that moment. And when we encounter the risen Christ we inevitably experience joy, as He is Joy itself. Through these encounters we learn that our search for true happiness is fulfilled only in the service of others. It’s never found in the pursuit of material goods or wealth. True happiness and joy are found when we step outside ourselves and serve others. Service is both an obligation and the experience of joy.

Our Visit With Christ
We experienced this joy when we visited our local nursing home to visit two ladies that seldom have visitors. Christine had inquired earlier in the week if we would be welcome to come visit some of the residents who could use some company. Management was very happy to have us come and welcomed us to do so at any time. When we arrived we asked the nurses who might most need to see someone…a resident who didn’t get any visitors. One of the nurses said that she thought Miss Elizabeth could use a visit and she escorted us to her room to make the introduction. Miss Elizabeth was asked if she’s like to have a visitor and she readily consented. We took a seat and the nurse left us with her. We introduced ourselves and began with small talk, asking her about herself and her family. Before you knew it she was telling us about her hobbies of making porcelain dolls and growing plants & flowers. We spent about 30 minutes with Miss Elizabeth and you could tell she was so happy to have someone to talk to. We promised we would be back again next week and headed back to the nurses station to see who else might enjoy some visitors.

This time the nurse took us to see Miss Anna, a widow who had been in the home for almost 2 years. Miss Anna was a lovely woman who lit up when asked if she wanted some company. We sat down and she told us all about her husband, her faith and her family. She shared story after story of things that had happened to her throughout her life, including relating a near death experience. While we were visiting, her “boyfriend” stopped by in his wheelchair to visit for about 15 minutes. He was also happy to have the company.

We learned that Miss Anna was formerly a Catholic, but left the church when she married her husband, who was a lay preacher for the Church of Christ. Apparently she would have stayed Catholic, but for a bad experience with a priest who condemned her for marrying outside the Church. So sad. However, she seemed to be interested in the possibility of meeting with a priest again and, perhaps, exploring a renewal of her Catholic faith. One never knows where these conversations will lead. Regardless of whether or not that happens, I can tell you that Christine and I will be returning to visit Miss Anna again next week to enjoy her company and do whatever we are inspired to do to help her in any way we can.

Look Around, There’s Plenty of Need in Your Neighborhood
I’m sharing this reflection not because I want you to think that Christine and I are somehow special for our decision to finally act upon something we’ve known for some time we should be doing. No, I’m sharing it because I want you to have the experience of the joy that comes with encountering Christ in those He calls us to serve. It could be anyone in need of companionship. Perhaps it’s the widow down the street, or sharing a cup of coffee with a young man in town who’s been out of work for a long time. Maybe it’s reading to someone who is losing their sight. If you just look around your town – very close to your home – you’ll find plenty of need. There’s no need to travel to another country. There are people who need you around every corner and in serving them you’ll encounter the risen Christ. He’s there waiting for you to come by and He will most certainly reward you with His joy when you do.

Take Jesus’ invitation to serve Him to heart. You’ll be amazed at how a little time spent serving others will make such a difference in their lives, and in yours. In fact, it may well change your life forever. Isn’t it worth a try?

Christina King hosts a weekly radio show called Embracing Your Greatness on Radio Maria in the Greater Chicago area. She called yesterday morning to see if I’d be willing to be on the show as her guest to talk about technology and The New Evangelization. She didn’t need to ask twice. My favorite thing to talk about is technology and my second favorite thing is using it as a tool for faith formation. The full audio from the show can be played below:

I really appreciate Christina thinking of me for the show. For your viewing pleasure, she also managed to capture the last half of the show on Ustream. I’m going to have to show her how to do a Google Hangout for her next show. That would be very cool.

I’ve been anticipating this amazing DVD series on the Catholic Church by Fr. Robert Barron ever since I saw the first trailer over a year ago. It is one of the best examples of using media for The New Evangelization to share the truth of the Gospel and the true Church established by Jesus Christ himself two thousand years ago.

This six DVD set arrived today along with the study guide and workbook. We plan to watch the entire series over the long Labor Day weekend.

We’re thinking that we just may host a regular gathering at the house to view and discuss this powerful series. I believe this is definitely something that must be shared with all Catholics as well as with those who know little about our faith. I am so excited to finally have these materials in my hot little hands!

Video trailer

Fr. Barron has given the Church a wonderful gift in the form of this amazing documentary on our faith. Follow this link for more info and to order your copy of this six DVD set for The New Evangelization: http://www.catholicismseries.com/

This week I was invited to speak at Notre Dame High School’s Senior Class Retreat. Notre Dame is the Catholic High School in Chattanooga, TN and the Dominican Sisters asked me to do two 45 minute talks on love and forgiveness.

The theme of the retreat was Isaiah 42:16, “I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These things I do for them, and I will not forsake them.”

I received the following simple outline from Sr. Anna regarding the topics on which she wanted me to speak. Clearly the Lord was going to have to compose this talk for me! Thankfully I had lots of notes from my two TOB immersion courses to help put together the talks.

Talk 1: The journey now: what is love?
· False images of love
· True image of love – the only thing that will make us happy (even NOW, as a 2nd semester senior)
· Love of self, others, God
· Rules of loving, aids to love

Talk 1 Audio – the recording of my first talk and the written notes I prepared.

Talk 2: The journey behind: forgiveness/healing of memories
· The basics on sin: it isn’t a matter of having been caught or simply broken a rule, but of being paralyzed, blind, in darkness. (Examples.)
· We must allow the Lord to show us where we have been wounded
· He is the one who heals, but He will not force Himself upon us
· How He untwists our distortions, brokenness – confession, taking new steps to love

Talk 2 Audio - the recording of my second talk and the written notes I prepared.

Other than teaching Theology of the Body for Teens to our high school CCD class at my parish, this was the first time I had been asked to speak on TOB to a group of teens. I felt quite overwhelmed to give my first public talk, especially since the two weeks preceding the event we would be in Daytona for business during Bike Week. This is always a crazy time of year and we return exhausted and in need of serious R&R. This time I would not have the luxury of resting upon our return. I would have to finalize two talks and then present them just a few days after we got home.  I was praying for strength, courage and grace to get me through. I also had the prayers of the Dominican Sisters supporting me, so I knew I’d be alright.

Upon arriving at the conference center where the retreat was being held, I learned that the class size was over 130 students. In addition to this large group, the entire religious education department was on hand, as was Notre Dame’s principal. Talk about intimidating! I said a few prayers and pulled myself together. I knew everything was going to be alright. I was at peace. My wife Christine had accompanied me and was a source of great comfort and support. She is such a fan of mine and she was right there to encourage and reassure me.

We joined the group for lunch, so I got to meet the adults and some of the teens. I also snapped several photos of the group, which always puts everyone a bit more at ease…at least it puts me at ease. These teens were already totally relaxed and quite the rowdy group!

Following lunch I gave my first talk, which I thought went quite well. Only a few people in the audience were sleeping, but it was right after lunch.☺ Following my talk they had a couple of hours for outdoor activity and were able to release some of their energy playing frisbee, tag and just hanging with their friends. I shot a bunch more photos and prepared mentally for talk #2.

I believe my 2nd talk went quite well, although it was perhaps a bit long with the examination of conscience, as I seemed to have more of the teens’ attention, especially as I related my story of two failed marriages and God’s love and forgiveness in spite of the many mistakes I’ve made in my life. Teens really seem to enjoy hearing these stories and I felt blessed to have had an opportunity to share mine with them. I also took them through an exercise to help prepare them for the Sacrament of Reconciliation immediately following the talk and led them through an Examination of Conscience. I was happy to see so many of them in line for confession when we went down to the chapel to prayerfully prepare for Mass.

The highlight of this day for me was the celebration of Mass by Fr. John O’Neill. It was St. Patrick’s Day and there was something very special about having this Irish priest celebrate Mass for us. Fr. O’Neill was an accomplished missionary surgeon prior to joining the priesthood and in his homily he shared his story with us. What an incredible man of God and what a wonderful way to conclude a perfect day.

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to share some of my knowledge of Theology of the Body with these high school seniors and their teachers. As I was preparing my talks I realized that I truly was comfortable speaking about TOB thanks to my study at the Theology of the Body Institute under Dr. Janet Smith and Christopher West. What a blessing it was to take my newly acquired knowledge and use it to communicate God’s love and forgiveness to the youth who are the future of our Church. God is good…all the time.

Knoxville pro-life advocates stood vigil this Monday, Feb 14, from 12noon to 1pm at the Planned Parenthood facility at 710 N. Cherry St. in solidarity with this national hour of awarness “Vigil for Victims.”

Here’s a photo slideshow from the Knoxville vigil.

Message from David Bereit, National Director, 40 Days for Life:
Are you sick and tired of Planned Parenthood getting $363 MILLION of taxpayer funding a year — while aiding and abetting illegal underage sex trafficking? Then let’s take a public stand Monday to tell Congress: “NO MORE TAX $ for Planned Parenthood!” This Monday, February 14, 40 Days for Life is helping to coordinate “Vigils for Victims” that will be held outside Planned Parenthood offices coast-to-coast from Noon to 1 PM in each U.S. Time Zone.

Here’s what going on …

For the last two weeks, the national media has been abuzz with the shocking story of the undercover sting operation that caught abortion giant Planned Parenthood red-handed in the despicable act of aiding and abetting sex trafficking and prostitution of girls as young as 14.

Numerous undercover videos have now been released, documenting Planned Parenthood workers at multiple locations across several states assuring an undercover investigator posing as a pimp that the organization would secretly provide abortions and other services to underage victims of human trafficking, facilitating their exploitation.

Federal law is clear: “Sex trafficking of minors is a  federal crime and punishable by imprisonment for 10 years to life.” (18 U.S. Code 1591) Additionally, ”any person who aids abets, or counsels a federal crime to be committed may be punished as if they had committed the crime themselves.” (18 U.S. Code 2)

The institution-wide scandal has now reached the highest levels at Planned Parenthood, with top executives making the appalling claim that their workers who were caught on video facilitating underage sex slavery “responded professionally.”

After receiving a record $363 MILLION in taxpayer funds last year, Planned Parenthood’s president Cecile Richards then had the audacity to send out an urgent appeal for abortion advocates to contact Congress — so the organization can rake in even MORE of your hard-earned tax dollars! And if that wasn’t enough, now Planned Parenthood is  attempting to hijack Valentine’s Day as a marketing gimmick to expand its harmful agenda, shove condoms into the hands of young children, and lure even more vulnerable victims into its facilities.

*** ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! ***

It is vital for us to act swiftly and take a public stand against Planned Parenthood’s harmful agenda – raising awareness in the communities where we live, and calling upon Congress to IMMEDIATELY strip the abortion chain of all tax funding.

This Monday, February 14, you can help make that happen by holding a one-hour “Vigil for Victims” during the Noon hour in the public right-of-way outside the Planned Parenthood office nearest to you. This requires rapid action on all our parts, but will show Planned Parenthood — and the media — the power of pro-life America to bring about vital change! No experience is required! Find out exactly what to do by visiting: http://www.ExposePlannedParenthood.com/vigil

Together, we really can make a difference! Let’s act quickly to make sure Planned Parenthood is held fully accountable for its willingness to aid and abet underage sex trafficking, and let’s tell Congress that the time has come to DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD!

For Life,

David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life

Listen to the 90 minute recording of the January 11th unPLANNED webcast with Abby Johnson hosted by David Bereit, National Director of 40 Days for Life. unPLANNED is a new book from Ignatius Press that was published on the 11th in which Abby reveals the inside secrets of the abortion industry. Listen here:

The following is an excerpt from an email sent by 40 Days for Life announcing the event:

“On January 11, 2011, former Planned Parenthood director and 2008 “employee of the year” Abby Johnson will FINALLY be able to reveal all the secrets from behind the closed doors of the abortion business … and why she left to join the pro-life movement! After winning the legal battle against a massive Planned Parenthood lawsuit and restraining order — which was intended to silence her — Abby is finally able to blow the whistle on her former employer and reveal ALL the shocking details of her conversion.

Abby’s entire story has never been revealed publicly … UNTIL NOW! On Tuesday, January 11, Abby’s story will be released to the world in a landmark book, UNPLANNED, published jointly by Tyndale House, Focus on the Family, and Ignatius Press. It’s going to be huge!

During the webcast, you will discover …

* What initially attracted Abby to volunteer and then work for Planned Parenthood — America’s largest abortion chain — even after being raised in a faithful Christian home
* The hidden personal secret that Abby had kept buried for years – The shocking discovery that suddenly caused Abby to question everything Planned Parenthood had told her over eight years – Planned Parenthood’s confidential plans to expand its biggest money-maker — abortion — all across America
* The abortion industry’s furious reaction when Abby decided to quit her job and join local and national pro-life efforts.
* What Abby’s court battle brought to light about Planned Parenthood’s REAL agenda
* The single most effective way to reduce Planned parenthood’s abortion business and change the hearts and minds of clinic workers.”

The first is a short eleven minute video by Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI. You’ll find the video below in its entirety. In “Flame” Rob speaks about three different types of love found in the Hebrew language: Raya, Ahava and Dod. He dramatically shows us that these three flames – or types of love – are meant to burn together to create the “big flame” found in the Song of Songs.

The second film is a documentary from Grassroots Films called “The Human Experience.” In this incredible 90 minute film you’ll journey with two brothers seeking the meaning of life among the homeless in New York City, among Peruvian orphans, and among the lepers of Ghana, Africa. The central message of this award winning film is that every single human person, no matter his lot in life, is beautiful. Order this film from the Grassroots website. View the official trailer below:

I recently had a discussion with a Roman Catholic priest regarding the nature of our resurrected bodies. He claimed that in the resurrection we will be bodiless, like the angels. He went on to state that as pure spirits we will not recognize one another.

As a TOB Immersion Course grad, this made no sense to me. After all, are not our bodies created in the image of God? Are we not all created as individuals and do we not retain our identities – in a perfected and glorified form, of course – throughout all eternity? Do we not profess to believe in the resurrection of the body at every Mass?

Of course this priest believes in the resurrection, but he was claiming that the nature of our resurrected bodies would be such that we will not be able to identify family and friends in heaven. He believes that our glorified bodies will essentially be spiritual and will not contain the identifiable characteristics our mortal bodies have. Here is his explanation in an email exchange that followed our discussion:

“When the Church talks of the “SPIRIT” she does not mean MORTAL or material bodies. Spirits are are Formless. The symbol of the Holy Spirit is a dove; but that does not mean that Spirit is a dove. After his death and resurrection, Jesus was in a different FORM that made it easy for him to appear to appear anywhere to his disciples; but hard for them to IDENTFY or RECOGNIZE him until he showed them his scars of the nails or they recognized him at the breaking of the scriptures or when he reminded them what was written in the Scripture about him (Ref. the two disciples to Emmaus). In fact, some of the Apostles who went back to their former life of fishing thought he was a ghost when he suddenly revealed himself to them. “Our resurrection, like his own…” means that those who die in Christ will rise with him and he will GLORIFY OUR MORTAL BODIES like his body which was GLORIFIED by the FATHER. Why? Because Jesus GLORIFIED THE FATHER ON THE CROSS BY DOING THE WILL OF THE FATHER.  Therefore those who are baptized in Christ and marked with the sign of faith will have their earthly bodies GLORIFIED if they do the will of GOD. From the Scripture and the teachings of the Magesterium, I only know for sure that three personalities ascended to heaven both body and the soul. Id est, Prophet Elijah, B. V. Mary, and Jesus. Not even the holy Apostles or the saints were given the priviledge of ascension. They when they died they spirits or souls went to heaven but their earthly bodies were buried here own earth. “Remember man, you are ash and unto ash you shall return”. So, if our MORTAL (perishable) bodies are to become unto ash or buried in the soil, how do you say again that “we” shall have our mortal bodies in heaven as they were here on earth?”

My reaction to the question he poses in the last sentence of his explanation is based on what I find in Article 205 of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Article 205. What happens to our body and our soul after death?
(Summary of the Catechism paragraphs 992-1004 and 1016-1018)
“After death, which is the separation of the body and the soul, the body becomes corrupt while the soul, which is immortal, goes to meet the judgment of God and awaits its reunion with the body when it will rise transformed at the time of the return of the Lord. How the resurrection of the body will come about exceeds the possibilities of our imagination and understanding.”

As the Catechism teaches, we don’t know HOW the soul will be joined with our transformed bodies, as this knowledge “exceeds the possibilities of our imagination and understanding.” All we know is THAT it is going to happen by the power of the Holy Spirit. Is his argument that Jesus was unrecognizable to his disciples after his resurrection a valid basis for the idea that we will not recognize one another in heaven? Or does this mean that, like the Risen Lord, we will be able to appear differently to others depending on the context of the situation? For example, I may appear one way to my mother and a different way to someone I meet later in life.

I did a quick search and found the following passage from “The Catholic Catechism” written by Fr. John A Hardon, SJ, who I understand was one of the foremost authorities on the Catechism and served as a consultant to Pope John Paul II for the drafting of today’s Catechism. On page 265 he makes his belief absolutely clear that we do retain our identities in heaven: “The common teaching is that while in one sense we shall be drastically changed at the resurrection, we shall nevertheless still be essentially the same persons we were before. In heaven we shall not lose our identity.”

Having provided this background, I thought I’d ask my TOB friends what they understand to be the truth about the nature of our resurrected bodies and ask that you share supporting references from Scripture, the Catechism, or from Pope John Paul II’s “Man and Woman He Created Them.” My initial reaction is that his idea that we will be bodiless, like angels, is bordering on heresy. If his teaching is heretical, I need to know that. If not, I need to understand what I’m not understanding.

Please leave your comments so we can get some good discussion going on this matter. I’d especially like to hear from the priests who have taken the TOB course. God’s blessings to all of you!

I was blessed to attend Diocesan Day at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville yesterday. The event was hosted by Knoxville’s Bishop Richard Stika and featured special guest Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia. Bishop Stika is a longtime friend of Cardinal Rigali, both having roots in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

I shot several photos throughout the day and you’re welcome to use them as you see fit. All I ask is that you provide attribution to ParishGeeks.com if you do.

Selectively view and download photos from our Flickr library. Follow this link and click on the photo of your choice to display a larger image. Then click the “Actions” drop down menu directly above the image and click “All Sizes” to select the photo size you wish to download. Download the image using the download link above the photo.

Video
I also captured some video of Bishop Stika’s “State of the Diocese” address, as well as the next presentation, which was a dialogue between the Bishop and the Cardinal. While the video image is ok for having been captured with my Droid Incredible, the audio is somewhat difficult to hear. I apologize for that, but thought some of you might just decide to bear with it to hear Cardinal Rigali’s inspirational stories about serving as the English translator to, I believe, three different Popes. I’ve embedded these videos below:

Bishop Stika’s “State of the Diocese” Address

Dialogue: Bishop Stika and Cardinal Rigali

I’ve just added an A/V Briefs page to this site. I plan to update this video and audio journal regularly if you want to keep up with my travels and activities. I hope to keep it both informative and entertaining.

All from my Droid Incredible. It’s an awesome phone.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Enthroned as King and Head of our Home

What a summer! I just had to write this short reflection on how the Holy Spirit has been moving through our lives in ways I would never have imagined.

It all began with our decision to enthrone the Sacred Heart of Jesus as King and Head of our home. The decision to formally enthrone the Sacred Heart in our home came about in June when our parish, St. Mary’s in Athens, TN, enthroned the Sacred Heart as King and Head of our parish (audio recording and photos here). Since making the decision to enthrone the Sacred Heart in our home, God has opened his floodgates of grace and has provided many opportunities for us to grow in faith and help others to do the same.

For example, He planted the seeds several months ago and now the Holy Spirit has made it possible for us to teach “Theology of the Body for Teens” to our high school CCD students this Fall. He also switched up my summer travel plans to provide the opportunity for me to participate in a 5-day immersion course at the Theology of the Body Institute, starting next Sunday. Life is truly full of surprises when you actively seeking to do God’s will. Wonderful surprises.

I was originally planning to attend Gnomedex (a geekfest in Seattle), but struggled with attending after learning that one of the presenters would be pornographer Violet Blue. I finally decided not to attend and wrote the event organizer, Chris Pirillo, to let him know why I was pulling out of the conference. Chris refunded my non-refundable registration fee, which was totally unexpected.

God had other plans for me. He led me to a 30-hour course taught by Dr. Janet Smith at the Black Rock Retreat Center outside of Philadelphia. This course will provide an in-depth study of the Theology of the Body to more fully prepare us to teach this profound subject to high school teens. Talk about ironic. From Violet Blue to an immersion course on Theology of the Body!

And then there’s the CNMC! When I decided to attend just before the event sold out, I wasn’t sure how worthwhile it would be. I was looking forward to seeing SQPN friends that I hadn’t seen for a couple of years, but I really brought no big expectations to the event. I sponsored one of the coffee breaks as ParishGeeks.com and figured I’d at least hand out a few cards and brochures promoting our website services.

Well, the Sacred Heart of Jesus was at work once again. Christine and I had just completed our Novena in preparation for the Enthronement the day before I left for Boston. We had to complete the Novena early due to my travel plans. I had absolutely no idea how incredible the event would be, how my photos would turn out to be so highly praised and how happy I would make so many people with them. As the “unofficial photographer” for the event, I could not have been happier. I told @geerlingguy from the Archdiocese of St. Louis that the Holy Spirit took the photos, I just pushed the button.

God’s grace is beyond our understanding. We have to be willing to accept it when it comes, and that means changing ourselves – and sometimes our plans – to be more of what He’s calling us to be. In doing so we find true happiness.

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus watch over you and provide you with every spiritual blessing. Amen.

Fr. Roderick Vonhögen is interviewed on the floor of the Catholic New Media Celebration by Friar Roderick of Air Maria. Fr. Roderick shares how he started SQPN, the Catholic new media network behind CNMC.

Photos from the Catholic New Media Celebration. Feel free to use these photos with attribution to ParishGeeks.com. (high resolution images available by request)

Afternoon Sessions

Morning Sessions

Friday Meet & Greet

You’ll find additional images from CNMC at The Catholic Media Group on Flickr.

Attention Catholic geeks, we want to recruit you as a Parish Geek! We’re seeking contributors who would like to write an occasional how-to article or share some geeky information you think no parish should be without.

One of the goals of this site is to be a resource for those who want to build and manage their own websites, particularly using WordPress.

You can register here and send me an email describing the type of information you’d like to share. I’ll then promote you to a Contributor and you’ll be able to create posts on this site. We’d love to have you join us.

My wife and I are preparing to teach a Theology of the Body for Teens course to our high school CCD class this Fall. Knowing that we’re in desperate need of a crash course to help us do justice to this deep and beautiful topic, I was blessed to discover a live streaming option for the sold-out, first ever Theology of the Body Congress that took place in Philadelphia this week.

While looking for resources on TOB, I stumbled upon an option to subscribe to the live video stream of the keynote speakers and panels at the Congress. I was particularly pleased to learn that my friend, Lisa Hendey, would be moderating the panel on “Theology of the Body and Pastoral Ministry.”

While I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the live stream from the Congress, I feel that for my $89 I should have been able to view recordings of the speakers at any time during the event. Unfortunately, there were no provisions made for this. Due to a schedule conflict I ended up missing Dr. Janet Smith’s talk, as well as the panel on Same Sex Marriage.  In this age of TIVO and UStream I’m just not accustomed to having to plan my viewing schedule around an event’s live broadcast schedule. The beauty of digital video recording is that you can view it on YOUR SCHEDULE.

Having said that, I was extremely impressed by the speakers I was able to watch. I now have a much better appreciation for how much we don’t know about this incredibly deep subject, yet listening to the speakers has given me more confidence in our ability to teach the course well. The speakers also revealed several great resources to help us along the way. I’d love to attend the 5-day immersion course taking place at the TOB Institute in August, but I don’t believe my schedule will permit. Perhaps I’ll be able to make it next time it’s offered. [UPDATE: I will be attending the immersion course after all! I'm so excited to have this opportunity to really dig in to the TOB teachings. God is good.]

I’m  amazed at how powerfully God is moving through his people via Pope John Paul II’s teachings on the Theology of the Body. I really had no idea how big this was when we signed up to teach the course. I feel so blessed to be able to be among those chosen to catechize the teachings of TOB. Thanks be to God.

ParishGeeks.com is a sponsor of the Catholic New Media Celebration (CNMC) taking place in Boston next week. The event is organized by SQPN, a leading Catholic new media network founded by Dutch priest, Fr. Roderick Vonhögen. Boston’s Cardinal O’Malley will be on hand for the event, as well as several Catholic bloggers and new media leaders. It’s going to be a day of inspiration, learning and fellowship for anyone interested in Catholic new media.

I’m very excited to be attending this year. If you’re not able to attend, plan to watch the event live on August 6. In the meantime, take a look at what’s on now.