Christ's Resurection is not a Theory

Benedict XVI says Christ's Resurrection is not a fairy tail. Many people need to experience Christ. As a deacon or as a lay Catholic, each of us are called to help.

It is only through the Holy Spirit that one can say: "Christ is Lord!". It is through the Holy Spirit that we encounter Christ in the flesh and come to know that he is not make believe. In encounter with Christ, in His true presence, we say "Alleluia! Give thanks to the Risen Lord!".

The Holy Spirit is working constantly. It is our call to work with Him. Lets invite someone, a friend, acquaintance, family, or stranger, into this encounter. Pentecost is coming for everyone.

God Bless.

The blind guy

Ok. So its been bothering me since Thursday night's class. I could not put it down, and this morning I finally came up with the words. I'm talking about the "Prisoners and the Hats" logic problem.

I'll quote it here for followers of this blog, but all my fellow aspirants know it too well:

Of three prisoners in a certain jail, one had normal vision, the second had only one eye, and the third was totally blind. The jailor told the prisoners that, from three white hats and two red hats, he would select three and put them on the prisoners' heads. None of the prisoners could see what color hat he wore. The jailor offered freedom to the prisoner with normal vision if he could tell what color hat he wore. To prevent a lucky guess, the jailor threatened ten additional years of incarceration for any incorrect answer. The prisoner with normal vision looked at the other prisoners and said that he could not tell what color hat he wore. The jailor made the same offer to the one-eyed prisoner. The second prisoner said he could not tell what hat he wore, either. The jailer did not bother making the offer to the blind prisoner, but he agreed to extend the same terms to that prisoner when he made the request. The blind prsoner answered the question correctly in the following way:

"Although I am devoid of sight, from what my friends have said, I know my hat is _______."

What color hat was the blind prisoner wearing, and how did he know?

So, we get this question in a class on Introductory Theology. What for? I think because the interesting part of this problem is not what color hat the blind guy was wearing, nor how did he know. The interesting part is the language and construct of the explanation. There are many aspects to the theologian's job, as we have learned. One aspect is to re-explain theology using contemporary language. Basically, to explain how we know what we know in a clearly and accessibly. So, can an explanation of how the blind guy knows the color of his hat be made simple, straight-forward and accessible? I had to try and now offer it to you, my fellow kindergarten theologians, for critique. So, here we go:

Before the first prisoner speaks, all three consider the different combinations of 3 white and 2 red hats on three heads. There are 6 different combinations. They all know the first prisoner would be 100% certain of the color of his hat only if both of the other prisoners are wearing red hats. Only in that case, would he be certain he is wearing white. So, when he could not tell which color hat he had on, both of the remaining prisoners knew for certain that at least one of them is wearing a white hat (both are not wearing red).

Now, with the knowledge that at least one of these last two prisoners are wearing a white hat, they realize together that the second prisoner would be certain of the color of his hat only if the third prisoner is wearing a red hat. The second prisoner is not certain, so the blind guy is not wearing a red hat. He is wearing white.


Is that any good?

Hey Paulus, What's with the beard?

First let me regress back to my young teenage years. During one lent I picked up the bible and said, "Whatever I open to is what I will read for Lent". The book opened to Job. Yup the book of Job. At that time in my life I knew Job was one of the books in the Bible, but for me I never read it. So the book of Job was it. That was my focus for that particular lent. After reading it I was disturbed and frighten by what I read. For the next two Lents I re-read Job, each time frustrated at trying to find the message in the Book. One day I asked my dad about the book. I told him I was confused about what kind of God we believe in. My father, wanting me to come to my own understanding of Job, recommended that I keep reading the book of Job sections at a time and always remember to trust in God and stay faithful. Over the next couple of years I came to an understanding of the story of Job. There are a few interesting sub stories such as Satan's important question, Does man have a free will to worship God? Job's faithfullness to God even in anguish and desolation, the three friends who in trying to defend God's actions actually misrepresented God, and the mystery of suffering. So into my young adult years as a tradition I read Job each lent. Somewhere along the way I shifted to Bishop Fulton Sheen's Lenten meditations and the little Black book as my traditional reading during lent. Then when I retired from the military I found myself being asked by my parish's men's group to play the part of Peter in the Local community's Living Last Supper dramatization. To keep focused on the Lenten season, and the walk Jesus was and is making, I decided to grow a beard and let my hair grow out for the play instead of wearing a fake beard. The whole experience of reciting the lines and focusing on the Apostles and what they could have been thinking during Jesus' last hours is very humbling. Each day during Lent I see and feel the beard and know something is different. The facial reminder keeps me focused on my daily Lenten journey. I've been a part of this production and very special group of men for five years now. The Dramatization takes place each year Monday through Wednesday of Holy Week 7pm at St. Dorothea Church in Eatontown, NJ

O Captain! My Captain!

O Captain! My Captain! - From this day forward, O Captain! My Captain! is the official title given our theology facilitator. The words come from a poem by Walt Whitman. The poem is below.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done.The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of read,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up – for you the flag is flung – for you the bugle trills,For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores a-crowding,For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Here Captain! dear father!This arm beneath your head!It is some dream that on the deck,You’ve fallen cold and dead.My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;Exult O shores, and ring O bells!But I with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.- Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Tonight, my wife and three daughters are all participating in "Jack Frost," the annual middle school lock in at our parish. Please remember them in your prayers. My wife is an adult volunteer, my oldest daughter is the middle school youth minister, my middle daughter is part of the team, and my youngest is participating. This is how we keep the flame of the faith alive.

D6 Crew Blog Feed now available

Hey everybody - A new feature has been added so you can easily follow the activities of our blog. To the right are pull down menus for our feed that can be added to your Internet browser. The browser will keep track of our blog and notify you when a new postings have been made. ENJOY.

Chapel in the Mall reaches 1 year Anniversary

I was sitting down this evening relaxing for a moment before evening prayer and I started reading this Month's St. Anthony Messenger. In there was an article on a chapel located in an Erie Pennsylvania mall. The chapel has been there a year now and has flourished. After I read the article, I researched it a bit on the Internet. You can click on the link and hear a video by Bishop Donald W. Trautman. Very interesting especially in this year of St. Paul. St. Paul brought the Gospel to the market place and so it is with this Pennsylvania Diocese. Just click on the post's title and it will take you to the video webpage. The video is a year old but still good.

D6 Retreat ends...The group closes out the weekend

Well it was Sunday morning and there was ruffled acitivity. Eileen and I were up early about 5am to spend some time in the Blessed Sacrament room and to take in our last few hours of the retreat. Margaret was down early this morning and joined us for coffee. I should say I had coffee, Margaret had tea, and Eileen had soda. Everyone seemed to arrive around the table for breakfast a little early today. While at breakfast the hot topic was the upcoming snow storm. The kids in us were hoping to get snowed in. The adults in us were calculating how long we could stay before heading back home. After breakfast we had a special morning prayer in which we offered up intentions and prayers for our group and the special relationships we started to form this weekend. After the cars were packed, the group mulled around sensing that each of us did not want to end this lovely weekend. But in the end we couple by couple said our goodbyes to the retreat weekend with hugs and kisses. Looking forward to the next time we can all be together.

D6 Retreat continues

All the activity of friday evening was just unimaginable. The closeness of Evening Prayer, group sharing, movie night, and the rest was like we were all home and family was getting together for the weekend. We all slept with the Angels Friday night. In the morning Luan led us in a discussion of the Theology of Relaxation. You can tell he led the session since he was still in his bedroom attire. If you lclick on the picture to the left, making it larger, you can see the background of the laptop. We had this up throughout the weekend to remind us of Sean and Mary Kay and Jim and Debbie who were unable to make it up this weekend. We had a robust schedule set for Saturday, but like all plans (you know the saying we plan God laughs). The group went nowhere as we were all rivited around the table sharing stories about families, joys, sorrows, fears, dreams, etc. The stories ran the whole gambit of emotions. The group even called the Murphy's and the Neubauer's talking and singing (if you can call it that) old irish songs. We ended up doing exacting what God had intented. I am trying to post a photo album of the retreat. Also I believe I fixed the comment enabling feature. God bless

Luan is in.

Luan is old gaelic for "warrior".

D6 Crew Retreat - Movie Night

The crew arrived safely at Wing House late Friday afternoon. First let me say, Wing House was graciously offered to us for a weekend by the owners Skip and Mary Buckman. The house, other then being a wonderful second home for this special couple, holds retreats throughout the year. Mary runs a ministry called On Angel's Wings, which provides a special outreach to expectent mothers and children. Mary joined Fr. John Campoli of His Love Ministies and together they manage a multitude of outreach programs around the world. http://www.hisloveministries.com/ . The evening started out with group fellowship. As is the tradition with our group food was plenty. We moved to the library for evening prayer. We designated the library as our adoration room, which has a tabranacle and Eucharist for personal prayer and holy adoration. Paul Franklin led evening prayer. After prayer we again assembled around the table and polished off A FEW tomato pies (Friday you know). We finally moved to the living room for movie night. We watched Fireproof a movie dealing with marraige. After the movie we shared our thoughts on relationships and the sacrament of marriage. Most started retiring around midnight. More to follow

D6 Crew Weekend Retreat Starts

Eileen and I arrived up at Wing House in the Mt. Pocono area of Pennsylvania around 11:30 to prepare for the retreat. The early afternoon finds us relaxing in front of the fire waiting for the crew to arrive. We will have more later - blessings

Deacon Aspirants Want to Know

The aspirants would like to introduce our new class celebrities. Tom Murphy is in the same class as the D6 crew and works very hard. We were shocked when we arrived at class to see photos of our classmate on the front page of the diocese's weekly newspaper. Most of us work hard over the weekends in our studies assuming our other classmates do the same. We now think that is not the case for Tom. I guess Tom likes the party life as much as his studies. Hopefully all know we are kidding with our classmate. Tom and his wife Effie were part of the Diocese's World Marriage Day at the Breaker's Hotel in Spring Lake. For those aspirants that would like signed copies of the newspaper Tom will have them available at Thursday's class.

The Journey to the Lakes

It was one of those trips reminiscent of my youth. My son was graduating from Naval Basic Training and the family decided it would be different if we drove out to Chicago instead of flying. I was pumped. For days I was telling my daughters of the traveling adventures of my youth. A good ole Catholic family, large of course, there were nine of us and a huge red station wagon. As the older ones gained their licenses a caravan of cars was formed. Later trailers were attached with all the fixings. We had CBs, for those of you who remember the initial CBs for private use you had to have your call letters visible on your vehicle. We had the stickers from every campground and city we visited. We even belong to the Winnebago travel club. In our youth we ran free in the mountains and along the beaches without seeing our parents for hours. For the kids it was great, but in reality, for our parents, there had to be some type of elevated stress level that we as children were unaware of.

With all this filling my head and the heads of my daughters, we planned the trip. The day of our trip arrived and like days of old we headed out at 2am in the morning. As we left the driveway, it was snowing and the roads were icy. In the back of my mind I’m thinking this is dumb. It was exactly as I remember as a youth As we headed out we immediately began our traveling prayers asking for a safe journey for us and all those traveling. After the initial prayers, we begin and successfully complete the Rosary. By now, everyone is starting to settle in for the journey thinking only of when we will stop for breakfast. I then played the electronic version of Morning Prayer. By the time prayer was complete I could hear the heavy breathing starting in my daughters and Eileen making sure I am ok driving. I was happy, first phase of the trip complete and no problems. 225 miles down and 120 miles to go until are gas fill up.
Then it happened. A quiet voice from the back seat saying, “Dad I’m sorry but I have to go to the bathroom”. Now remembering my youth journeys, everything happens at the gas fill up stop. You eat, go to the bathroom, stretch, make calls etc. The only rule was that it all had to happen when you stop for gas. My initial thought was man 120 miles to go before gas. My second thought was that is a stupid rule. We started looking for a place to stop for restrooms. It was in retrospect a great stop. As we pulled back out onto the highway the car doesn’t feel right. It was pulling to the right and shaking. We blew a tire and the second was leaking. We looked back and thanked God that we were not going down the road at seventy miles an hour where an accident could have happen. We immediately got back to a rest area. Since it was 5:30am in the morning I replaced the spare with a donut and filled the other with air. We started looking for service stations to replace the tires. Four tires later and over three hours behind schedule we again headed west. The rest of the day went pretty well. The roads were in great shape and the sun was shining. In the afternoon the girls had a Top Gun type of experience. We were traveling past a military air base and the jets were swarming all over the area skies. The girls quickly remembered the actors from Top Gun and reenacted the roles of Maverick and Goose trying to find and shoot down the jets. Watching them it was comical and I enjoyed their reenactment very much. Towards late afternoon we were traveling through South Bend, ID area where Eileen and the girls witnessed their first lake effect snow. Out of nowhere we were suddenly riding in small blizzard like conditions. You could see the road in front of you, but everything else was blanked out with fog and snow. We drove for about a half hour in this condition when, as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. The sun was again out and the road clear. The girls thought it was the spookiest thing. One more time, as it was dark, a lake effect snow was upon us. Again as quickly as it came it was gone. We arrived in Great Lakes, IL around 7:30pm. We arrived safe under God’s care and protection. More to write later...

Divine Office - Liturgy of the Hours

There were discussions in our group about electronic Liturgy of the Hours. I have been using a site http://www.divineoffice.org/ for my electronic prayers. I had been using them when traveling on the train to NY in the mornings. The podcast or feed was the best I've heard. The prayers are said in a traditional communion setting with music and songs. At times the psalms are sung. The only downside was they only did morning prayer, which at the time was ok. Recently they updated their site and now they have the Divine Office, Morning and Evening prayer. I continue to download the podcast and listen to it while saying my office. It just gives me another way to experience my daily prayer life. I tried to place the link for daily feeds but it would only allow a few days and not in order. The link is listed above and also in the links section. You will have to navigate from there but it is well worth it. Any questions or you need help just email me. God bless

Receiving what He is sending

The scriptures were written with inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Shouldn't you be reading them with the Holy Spirit?

Repent and Believe - Daily Conversion is Necessary

I was saddened on Friday when, after hearing a middle of the road say nothing type Inaugural speech from our new President on how we have many challenges ahead and the road will be difficult both home and aboard, the President choose quickly to sign a policy lifting the ban on federal tax dollars to support international abortion groups. What I especially found difficult was he did it right after the 36th annual March for Life Rally in Washington D.C. It discouraged me so much that I sent an email to some of my closest friends complaining. Something I don’t normally do. I sat and wondered how, with all these educated people, on at least Inaugural Day, say they owed everything to God their Divine Maker and how, if we hold true to our founding fathers original documents, we will again be a great nation. I believe we are still a great nation and that it became great because the founding fathers placed God at the forefront and with God’s assistance these God fearing men wrote these beautiful documents and formed a great nation.

With this on my mind, I struggled through my Evening Prayer time on Friday and Morning Prayer on Saturday. Finally while meditating on the Sunday scriptures a peace came over me. I came to some understanding of repent and believe and that daily conversion is necessary for salvation especially in these difficult times. The scripture readings for the 3rd Sunday in ordinary time (cycle B – Jonah 3:1-5, 10, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, and the Gospel Mark 1:14 – 20) all speak to repentance, belief, and conversion. In these readings, focus on the words repent and believe. Repent means to examine yourself to see where you have separated yourself from God or weakened your relationship with Him (sin). Believe means simply not only say the words or phrases of our faith, but to think about and understand what those words or phrases mean. With Jesus’ words on repentance and belief he was making disciples out of each one of us. When He made disciples out of people He did not just say, go and preach the Good News. It wasn’t a onetime conversion of faith. Jesus invited them to be with Him, eat with Him, travel with Him, and pray with Him. This daily interaction with Jesus helped the disciples through their struggles and to their daily conversion and understanding of Christ in their lives.

Since we are disciples (priests) by our baptism we need to examine our lives daily; repent and believe. Being a disciple is not a onetime conversion of faith (experience). Because if it were people would become stale or cold, we need to hear Jesus’ message again and again REPENT AND BELIEVE.

Though we have real hard challenges ahead of us nobody should think that these are the most important things. The most important thing is the salvation of souls. A single soul is everything. Everything else is small in comparison. Someday the United States along with all other nations or countries will be non-existent. You and I, we will be beginning our eternal existence with God. In our second reading from Corinthians Paul says, “weeping as not weeping, rejoicing as not rejoicing, using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.” The message is that good , bad, or indifferent this time, this era will pass, and though we must live, work, and participate fully in its events remember we live in this world but are not of this world. What counts for us as Disciples of Christ is our love and treatment of our fellow man. Living the Beatitudes enables us to achieve the salvation of souls. Living the Beatitudes brings us all into the presence of God. Where is there a better place to be?

Though recent events are discouraging, with prayer and the grace and mercy of God, we the Disciples of Christ by our actions will make this world a better place.

Pilot Sully the Good Shepherd

The Governor of NY called it “A miracle on the Hudson”; the mayor called him a “hero” and has offered Pilot Chesley “Sully” B. Sullenberger III the keys to the City of New York. On January 15, 2009 a commercial airliner plane flight # 1549 was heading for Charlotte, NC when it is believed a flock of geese may have struck the two engines of the commercial airliner forcing and emergency landing. Pilot Sullenberger was now faced with the dilemma of how to land his jet safely and protect of lives of his passengers and crewmembers. While air traffic controllers provided several options to either return to the airport or land at Teterboro airport in New Jersey, Sullenberger knew his only option was to land the plane in the Hudson River.

Was it a miracle or was it his faith that allowed him to remain calm with his crewmembers and passengers when he indicated just before impact to “brace for impact because we’re going down”. Pilot Sully, a career pilot with the love and passion of flying had been an employee of US Airways for 29 years and even started his own consulting business for the safety of others.

Is not the real underlying story here, Pilot Sully stands here before us in faith and principal, who took personal responsibility to protect and serve the needs of others before thinking of himself? Pilot Scully actions were that of the “Good Shepherd” as he remained focus on the safety of others during this frightening and unimaginable experience to land his aircraft as quickly and safely as possible. Making sure to the best of his ability that every passengers and crewmember were removed from the plane before disembarking the aircraft himself.

While not knowing his religious background, God had to have provided his “belief in faith” to be able to bring all those who were on that flight home safely and to be reunited with their loved ones. Our reflection on this story is to not only see the “miracle” that has happened here, but the works of God and how by having faith within ourselves and believing in Him, all good deeds are possible. God Bless you always Pilot Sully, for you shall have your reward in Heaven.


Deac#6

Article Posting

Brothers - The blog site is set up right now to view the last 12 blog posts. All the blog posts that are created will reside in the left column listed by date present to past. If we want to change this format it can be discussed on our next trip to class

FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) means no freedom for all!

The crew knows that through contacts and involvement in different ministries I am able to participate in Mass at different churches in my area. Today, I had the pleasure of hearing a homily that was both prudent to say and wonderful to the ear and soul of the human person. The priest spoke on the two reading today (1Samuel 3:3b – 10; 19 and 1 Corinthians 6:13c – 15a, 17 – 20) and how God is calling us to service. He used the analogy of the cell phone, which most of us have now a days and our ability to look at the phone and know who is trying to communicate with us. It also gives us an option to speak with that person, or put them to voice mail and maybe listen to it later.
The priest went on to say, if God was calling would we answer the call, or let it go to voice mail so we can get a good night’s sleep. In his homily, he moved from our responsibility to be a servant of God (Here I am Lord, I’ve come to do your will) to our responsibility to promote life and the support of the Right to Life movement and the devastating effects that FOCA www.respectlifetoday.com/article_detail48.php will bring to our great country. His statement was FOCA (the Freedom of Choice Act) is really NO FREEDOM FOR ALL. This act will strip away our ability to provide health and welfare services to human beings in a way that stays true to our beliefs and moral values as a Catholic Church. This act takes dead aim at our hospitals, orphanages, adoption agencies, Right to Life services that the Catholic Church provides in a loving and caring way. FOCA will take away funding and aid because we hold a different and higher value on life and moral standards. He went on to say, “How does this Act stand up to our American creed of Home of the free and land of the brave. Where are the guiding principles found in the Declaration of Independence where it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness?
For a country that seemingly prides itself on ridding discrimination, it will actively discriminate against people who believe that life at any stage is valuable and important not only to society, but to our salvation as a people. I highly encourage you to read the article provided by the link to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ campaign to oppose FOCA. Pray on it and use your right as an American citizen to write your public officials stating your opposition to this un-American and devastating law.

Duck Hunting

One of the guys was supposed to go duck hunting Friday morning. It was cold enough for me, without standing around in the open. This was his third hunting trip. I hope you bag one this time, Lou! Let us know that you got back safe and sound.

God's Moon Rising

It was about 9:50pm when the crew broke loose from the Pastoral Center on Thursday night heading back to the shore area. We just finished our first session on World Religions. First up was Buddhism. It was a great night and the information was very informative. On our drive back, we all commented on the overly large bright yellow moon that seemed to be touching the earth on the eastern horizon. What a sight it was. I was amazed once again at God’s creation. I was up early the next day getting ready for work and the first sight I take in is the moon once again, but this time sitting high and bright in the early morning sky. God’s love and creation is all around us for our human enjoyment and spiritual growth and closeness to God.

Agenzia Fides - Reports 20 Church workers slain in 2008

I read this report online. first time I've read it. I really wasn't aware that the annual report existed for public view. The short article and link to the document is given below. As we offer our intentions during morning and evening prayer let us remember those who have given their life in God's service.

December 30, 2008
The Fides news service has released a list of 20 priests, religious, and lay catechists who were killed while serving on Church assignments in 2008. The list is headed by Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of the Chaldean diocese of Mosul, Iraq. Fides shows 8 Church workers killed in Asia (Iraq, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nepal); 5 in the Americas (Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil); 5 in Africa (Kenya, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, and Congo); and 2 in Europe (Russia).
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
The names of Catholics killed while on mission in 2008 (Fides)