FoundNation » Universal

I was fortunate to discover this group while listening to the Catholic Rockers podcast, produced by SQPN. In any event, as has been my experience with most “praise” Catholic musicians they bring every experience the Lord has allowed them to the table in his honor and leave nothing to be desired.

FoundNation is more than just a rap group. It is a group of men, driven by their Christian identity, to serve others, and make God known to them through their lives and their music.

This new group that spans to all the borders of the United States is not only bringing a new sound to Christian rap but is also setting a high bar for catholic rap. The 3 artists with the stage names of Thot, Dy-verse, and C2six have many years of ministry, from the local level of parish ministry with CCD and catechetical teachers to street ministry with gang intervention and street witnessing. After pursuing solo careers in the hip-hop world, they crossed paths through the indie Catholic rap label Phatmass, and quickly bonded as artists and friends. Desiring to bring change to the lives of individuals, their communities, and their own personal lives as they continuously sought to live out their Catholic-Christian faith, these young men became the group called FoundNation.

With their individual talents, they seek to bring light into a dark world, through rhymes, beats and songs. The sounds represented from the group come from “tha South” and also from a “latin” rap mixed with a “now-pop” sound, the music is definitely engineered for our street youth but enjoyable for all ages and backgrounds.

Check them out:

FoundNation » Universal.

 

Related articles

• Lecrae: Christian rap crossover (music-mix.ew.com)
• Christian Rap Is Attracting Teens To The Church (brucejcoleman.wordpress.com)
• Top Ten Christian Rappers You Need To Know (youthmin.org)
• 10 Best Christian Rap Songs (mademan.com)

Five Steps to Better Parenting

English: Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, and child Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The following is some good advice for parents:

• Make the most of our time together.  My son and I have been having great conversations on the way to lacrosse practice and when we throw the football in our front yard.  The important thing is to maximize every minute with our children as opportunities to share and guide them to good decisions in life.  Making family dinner time a priority is one way to help make this happen.  Know that efforts to get our attention are often potential cries for help.  They need us, but are we available?
• Listen before lecturing.  This is difficult for me!  The fastest way to have my son clam up is for me to cut him off with a “coaching moment.”  I can coach later, but I need to hear him out first and encourage him to share his thoughts.
• Be great Catholic role models.  It doesn’t get more basic than this, but do we realize how often our children are watching our every move?  They will love God, be excited about Mass and have devotion to our Catholic faith if we do.  They will likely pray faithfully if we do. They will be more likely to grow up following the Magisterium and staying out of the “Catholic cafeteria line” if we do.
• Honor the Sacrament of marriage.  Want to see our children get married and start great families some day?  Love our spouses and model the kind of marriage we want them to enjoy.  Show open affection, say “I love you” and make sure the kids know how much we honor and respect the person we have married.  We are dooming our kids to a marriageless future or possible divorce if they grow up in a home where the Sacrament of marriage is not treasured and valued.
• Tune out popular culture and “detach.”  Guess what?  If we are obsessed with American Idol, buying junk we don’t need and trying to keep up with the neighbors, our kids are likely to emulate our behavior.  I am beginning to feel that every minute spent in front of the TV or the computer is wasted time and a missed opportunity to interact with the family.  This may be the hardest thing on the list, but we can do a better job with our time and focus.

via Throwing the Football and Five Steps to Better Parenting : The Integrated Catholic Life.

Holy Communion | Catholic Memes

http://www.catholicmemes.com/what-others-think-i-do/holy-communion/

Beggars All: Ex Opere Operato baptismal regeneration is not Biblical!

 

I was looking over some blog post suggestions from Zemanta and came across the blog post linked below. This is a highly anti-Catholic blog and what they certainly got right is the unity of the authors in their anti-Catholicism. This type of unity against the Church is one, that for me, is a simple affirmation of her divine origin and the fact that she is the One True Church. Reminds me of 1 John 2:19:

They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us.

Anyway, here are a couple of paragraphs that I wanted to focus on and offer my opinion on – inline of course:

So, we are unified in the gospel and in Christ against the errors of the Roman Catholic Church [How do they know they are correct since their theology extends back just a few hundred years at most and much of what they profess is heresy that was already addressed years ago by the Church? But they are united – though not in Christ but against Him and His Holy Church (1 Tim 3:15).], and specifically here, ex opere operato and baptismal regeneration. Infant baptism is a secondary issue over which we can disagree about, and Evangelical Protestant churches are free to practice and teach their convictions about it and defend it biblically, but maintain gospel unity [This is contradictory in nature as the Sacrament of Baptism, its regenerative nature and its requirement for entrance into heaven is central to the Gospel – but yet the Evangelical ecclesiastical communities can continue to disagree. Well as long as they agree to attack the Church.] and fellowship in conferences and networks such at “together for the gospel” and “the gospel coalition”, but RC baptismal regeneration is a doctrine and practice that divides us and that doctrine is a heresy and contrary to justification by faith alone in the Scriptures. [If baptism does nothing then why does St. Paul equate it circumcision (Col 2:11-12) or our own co-burial with Christ (Rom 6:3-7) and St. Peter give us the very clear statement, “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21)? Then there is the last statement about justification by faith alone. Well St. James tells us with one of the most clear versus in Sacred Scripture that we are “justified by works AND NOT BY FAITH ALONE” (James 2:24). Insert a head scratch here.]

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the work of the priest [Actually what the Church teaches is that any person can baptize another so long as they use the proper form – Trinitarian formula – and matter – water – and have the proper intent. A valid baptism can even be performed by an atheist! This is because it is God  who does the washing by pouring out His grace into our hearts – our souls – cleansing us.] – performing the ceremony of baptism on the recipient (infants mostly, and adult converts who have never been baptized in the name of the Trinity, etc.) actually causes the person to be born again and confers grace on that person. They teach that the water of baptism literally washes their souls [This part is correct as we see in Jesus’ own words to Nicodemus (John 3:5). Now the next statement about the priests and use of Latin is wrong. the priest happens to be the normal means by which this is done because they share in the Divine priesthood of Christ and thus act in persona Christi so he wold be the most obvious , primary choice. The use of Latin – sounds nice but not required. I was baptized in Spanish and I have seen baptisms performed in English. Doesn’t matter in this case so long as the Holy Trinity is the formula.], when performed by the RC priest, when he says the words in Latin, “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit“. The Latin phrase, “ex opere operato” means “from the work, it works”, which is to say that the action and duty and performance of the ceremony actually does something [Again, the Church does not teach tat the ceremony does something – it is the form and matter that Jesus revealed to us that confers this grace upon  us Not by some magic spell but by the Grace of God who engages our physical and spiritual components directly as the water one the outside gives us a physical representation of what is going on on the inside.And this is done by God.]  to the recipient.

via Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Ex Opere Operato baptismal regeneration is not Biblical!

 

The target of anti-Catholic bigotry

 

English: Baptism of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, for the first time in my life, I really felt the heartache resulting from bigotry cause by irrational hatred based clearly on ignorance. What the hell is he talking about you ask?

Well, I was told – and made clear – by a close family member that they “completely and totally renounce anything Catholic.” And this even when they cannot defend their acceptance and adherence to sometimes heretical doctrines of men such as “Baptism is you getting wet and not required,” “Jesus is in my heart but especially not in the Sacrament of the Alter,” “Mary was just a vessel and not blessed” and so on.

You see, each of the items in the list and more are all refuted in the Bible, the sole rule of authority for most Protestants despite the Bible itself stating otherwise, and moreover are inventions of men trying to justify their own abandonment of the Church which through the Holy Spirit, as promised by Christ, is infallible and led to all truth. In this conversation truth was relative yet “my truth” held no value.

This pointed denial of the Church who gave this person the doctrines of Salvation by Grace, the Most Holy Trinity and even the Canon of Scripture, we shocking in their own professed willingness to take that position to hell if that is where it led. (Of course they were referring to the “hell” of the Catholic Church, which is apparently somehow different from their “hell.”)

Anyway, I just felt like a little rant before bed on this matter because I cannot recall ever feeling such hatred wrapped in a sweet presentation.

 

Former Benedict XVI Student: All [Irish] Bishops Appointed Before 2003 Should Step Down

This suggestion by Father Vincent Twomey of Ireland comes in response to an investigative report on the sex abuse scandal in County Cloyne. Fr. Twomey is joined in similar sentiment by the Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of the Archdiocese of Dublin who recently expressed his disappointment in his fellow Church leaders:

What do you do when you’ve got systems in place and somebody ignores them? — I find myself asking today, can I be proud of the Church that I’m a leader of? I have to be ashamed of this…

The Archbishop also suggested that despite the Vatican’s encouragement and desire to discover, report and prevent these abuses there were still many within Ireland and the Vatican itself that did and continue to do much to undermine the situation.

Related articles

• Mass Resignation of Irish Bishops Called For (frstephensmuts.wordpress.com)
• Ireland Denounces Vatican Over Abuse (time.com)
• Irish summon Vatican diplomat over abuse cover-up (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

The Opening Credits Sum Up the 2011 Film Adaptation of The Rite – “Suggested by Matt Baglio”

The Rite (2011 Film) Theatrical Poster via Wikipeda

In 2010 journalist Matt Baglio brought to the consciousness of modern American Catholics and secular persons the true story of Father Gary Thomas: the making of an exorcist. The sober and unapologetic chronicling quickly grabbed the attention of the masses spawning a second edition and now a major motion picture complete with all the fixings, trappings and Hollywood movie-making that makes honest works into mere sugar-coated happy endings void of life but full of the promise of money for exploitation. These are the basic sentiments for this film.

The opening credits perhaps spoke the most truth when the attribution to Matt Baglio’s book, The Rite, appeared on the screen reading, “suggested by the book…” This “suggestion” already clued me in. There was going to be more liberty taken with the screen rights of this film than I have seen before with concern for a film adaptation of true life events.

That said, I cannot completely knock the film as Anthony Hopkins turned in a great performance as Father Lucas as did the remainder of the cast. Furthermore, it would seem that the director was sincere enough in his approach to show some details that others may overlook, such as the robes of Father Xavier, a Dominican. But the story still felt pressured for Hollywood showmanship rather than the truth of Rite.

These disappointments came primarily in two flavors:

1. Changing all but the essence of the related primary characters of the book: Father Gary Thomas, Matt Baglio and Father Carmine in addition to altering the nature of their relationships.
2. Although the film’s protagonist elects to follow his vocation to the priesthood after having “found and accepted” the grace of faith via the disturbing events of the film’s climax, it does not excuse the fact that the director choose ignore major facts concerning the priestly vocation. For example, Father Gary Thomas was already a priest when he began his specialized training to become an exorcist. Next, the director chooses color completely outside the lines for the benefit of the narrative, completely destroying what made the book a stirring work, that is the acknowledgement that the Church and the priests therein are fully and completely representatives of Jesus Christ – the latter sharing in the High Priesthood of Our Blessed Lord. An untrained seminarian would have no place in the events depicted either on film and especially in the book. Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the soul of Michael would be no different than any lay person and thus would be an ineffective witness at commanding any demon to do anything in the name of Christ. (The Church has always taught that by virtue of the baptism into the Body of Christ, the laity has the ability and efficacious power of prayer when it comes to minor deliverance but never when there is explicit demonic activity especially that of possession.)

The lapse in acknowledge the necessity and authority of the priesthood is one that ruined the experience of the film for me as it did not reproduce the impact that the book did. Again, that does not take away from the fact that this is one of the few instances where the Church, the priesthood and even the interpretation of the unseen world were represented with some care.

In this vein I would like to address a couple of issues that were alluded to in the trailers and ominous poster featuring Anthony Hopkins and state outright that The Rite is not a scary at all. No this does not mean that you can watch the film with the entire film (the subject matter is not for the faint of heart) but that there is no sense of fright like that of The Exorcist or other films that dig into the mind to evoke the real sense of fear. What is done properly here reminds of the another, more “realistic” film on the topic of possession and exorcism, that of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, also based on real events.

Like Rose, The Rite, is successful setting the ambiance of danger, dread and despair. The cinematography, sound and editing come together effectively to produce that sense of foreboding necessary to engage the viewer and bring them into the journey. Once more, loose depiction of the priesthood and Michael’s struggle does a disservice – how much so depends on the level of knowledge of the viewer. There are also great “BAM!” moments in the film; (You know, the ones where you are watching the movie and there is an air of silence and then all of a sudden BAM! something jumps out at you.) enough that if I were to have taken my mother to see this in the theaters she would have screamed enough for all watching with us. (I love you mom!)

So to recap:

• The movie by itself is okay.
• It is a very liberal adaptation of the book.
• It plays fast and loose with the vocation of the priesthood and the necessity of the Sacrament of Holy Orders to truly combat the Enemy in such intimate confrontation.
• Finally, rent it first and come back here to buy it, especially of you like Anthony Hopkins!

You can purchase this DVD here.

I wrote this review of The Rite ( 2011 ) for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.

Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.

I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Child Murder for Money: America’s Abortion Industry

BloodMoney is a documentary film that exposes the truth behind the holocaust of abortion by taking an all-encompassing look at the business of abortion from the Pro Life perspective.

— BloodMoney DVD synopsis

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If ever there were a documentary produced in recent years that provided a fair view of the subject despite the acknowledging its makers’ own impartiality on the matter, it would be BloodMoney.

In this feature documentary, the viewer is provided with facts, not mere propaganda seeking to cover the truth or play some slight-of-hand trick with the fact that in America today – it is legal to hire a hitman. Not to take out your enemies but to destroy the life of an innocent child while still in the womb. Sadly, it is their own mothers and fathers that often seek out to hire contract killers known as abortionists.

Narrator Aleveda King, the niece of civil rights hero Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., provides a tempered and gentle voice that details the history and roots of the abortion industry from the Nazi-tied and racist eugenicist and Planned Parenthood founder Margret Sanger to the questionable, devastating decision of 1973’s Roe vs. Wade all the way to the resurgence of the Pro Life movement supported and maintained more and more by today’s youth (particularly women) and as always – the Catholic Church.

BloodMoney is indeed a must-have for every parish, school, college and family video library with pre-teens on up at least. This is truly a heart-felt master work of truth that speaks for itself. No smoke. No mirrors. Just the facts on the tragedy that is the Business of Abortion.

I wrote this review of BloodMoney for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.

Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.

I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

 

Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Mass during the Day

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

— Saint Peter on the Person on Christ, Matthew 16:16

Saints Peter and Paul are the founders of the Diocese of Rome. One was the Prince of the Apostles and the first Bishop of Rome, known as the office of the Papcy today, and the other was the majority author of the New Testament books and something of a travelling evangelical priest/bishop.

Catholic Culture wrote this short tidbit about these two great saints (more after the readings of course):

Veneration of the two great Apostles, Peter and Paul, has its roots in the very foundations of the Church. They are the solid rock on which the Church is built. They are at the origin of her faith and will forever remain her protectors and her guides. To them Rome owes her true greatness, for it was under God’s providential guidance that they were led to make the capital of the Empire, sanctified by their martyrdom, the center of the Christian world whence should radiate the preaching of the Gospel.

St. Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in A.D. 66 or 67. He was buried on the hill of the Vatican where recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of the basilica of St. Peter’s. St. Paul was beheaded in the via Ostia on the spot where now stands the basilica bearing his name. Down the centuries Christian people in their thousands have gone on pilgrimage to the tombs of these Apostles. In the second and third centuries the Roman Church already stood pre-eminent by reason of her apostolicity, the infallible truth of her teaching and her two great figures, Sts. Peter and Paul.

A plenary indulgence may be gained today by anyone who makes devout use of a religious article blessed by a bishop and who also recites any approved profession of faith (e.g. the Apostles Creed), as long as the usual conditions are satisfied.

Catholic Culture prepared this special section during the Year of St. Paul.

via Catholic Culture | Liturgical Year

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Read the Bible at Mass

First Reading: Acts 12:1-11

In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. –It was the feast of Unleavened Bread.–  He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter recovered his senses and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.”

Responsorial Psalm: 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (5) The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Second Reading: 2 Tm 4:6-8, 17-18

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Mt 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply:

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

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St. Peter

Peter’s original name was Simon. Christ Himself gave him the name Cephas or Peter when they first met and later confirmed it. This name change was meant to show both Peter’s rank as leader of the apostles and the outstanding trait of his character — Peter (in Hebrew Kephas) the Rock. Peter was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. Like his younger brother Andrew, he was a fisherman and dwelt at Capernaum. Peter’s house often became the scene of miracles, since the Master would stay there whenever He was teaching in that locality. Together with his brothers John and Andrew, Peter belonged to the first of Jesus’ disciples (John 1:40-50).

After the miraculous draught of fish on the Sea of Galilee, Peter received his definitive call and left wife, family, and occupation to take his place as leader of the Twelve. Thereafter we find him continually at Jesus’ side, whether it be as spokesman of the apostolic college (John 6:68; Matt. 16:16), or as one specially favored (e.g., at the restoration to life of Jairus’ daughter, at the transfiguration, during the agony in the garden). His sanguine temperament often led him into hasty, unpremeditated words and actions; his denial of Jesus during the passion was a salutary lesson. It accentuated a weakness in his character and made him humble.

After the ascension, Peter always took the leading role, exercising the office of chief shepherd that Christ had entrusted to him. He delivered the first sermon on Pentecost and received the first Gentiles into the Church (Cornelius; Acts 10:1). Paul went to Jerusalem “to see Peter.” After his miraculous deliverance from prison (Easter, 42 A.D.), Peter “went to a different place,” most probably to Rome. Details now become scanty; we hear of his presence at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1), and of his journey to Antioch (Gal. 2:11).

It is certain that Peter labored in Rome as an apostle, that he was the city’s first bishop, and that he died there as a martyr, bound to a cross (67 A.D.). According to tradition he also was the first bishop of Antioch. He is the author of two letters, the first Christian encyclicals. His burial place is Christendom’s most famous shrine, an edifice around whose dome are inscribed the words: Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam.

Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against frenzy; bakers; bridge builders; butchers; clock makers; cobblers; Exeter College Oxford; feet problems; fever; fishermen; harvesters; locksmiths; longevity; masons; net makers; papacy; Popes; ship builders; shipwrights; shoemakers; stone masons; Universal Church; watch makers; Poznan, Poland; Rome; Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi; Diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada; Diocese of Marquette, Michigan; Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island; Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Symbols: Two keys saltire; pastoral staff and two large keys; inverted cross; inverted cross and two keys saltire; crowing cock; fish; two swords; patriarchal cross and two keys saltire; two keys and a scroll; sword.
Often portrayed as: Bald man, often with a fringe of hair on the sides and a tuft on top; book; keys; man crucified head downwards; man holding a key or keys; man robed as a pope and bearing keys and a double-barred cross.

via Catholic Culture | Liturgical Year

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St. Paul

Paul, known as Saul (his Roman name) before his conversion, was born at Tarsus in the Roman province of Silicia about two or three years after the advent of the Redeemer. He was the son of Jewish parents who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, was reared according to the strict religious-nationalistic party of the Pharisees, and enjoyed the high distinction of Roman citizenship.

As a youth he went to Jerusalem to become immersed in the Law and had as a teacher the celebrated Gamaliel. He acquired skill as a tent-maker, a work he continued even as an apostle. At the time of Jesus’ ministry he no longer was at Jerusalem; neither did he see the Lord during His earthly-life. Upon returning to the Holy City, Paul discovered a flourishing Christian community and at once became its bitter opponent. When Stephen impugned Law and temple, Paul was one of the first at his stoning; thereafter his fiery personality would lead the persecution. Breathing threats of slaughter against the disciples of Jesus, he was hurrying to Damascus when the grace of God effected his conversion (about the year 34 A.D.; see January 25, Conversion of St. Paul).

After receiving baptism and making some initial attempts at preaching, Paul withdrew into the Arabian desert (c. 34-37 A.D.), where he prepared himself for his future mission. During this retreat he was favored with special revelations, Christ appearing to him personally. Upon his return to Damascus he began to preach but was forced to leave when the Jews sought to kill him. Then he went to Jerusalem “to see Peter.” Barnabas introduced him to the Christian community, but the hatred of the Jews again obliged him to take secret flight. The following years (38-42 A.D.) he spent at Tarsus until Barnabas brought him to the newly founded Christian community at Antioch, where both worked a year for the cause of Christ; in the year 44 he made another journey to Jerusalem with the money collected for that famine stricken community.

The first major missionary journey (45-48) began upon his return as he and Barnabas brought the Gospel to Cyprus and Asia Minor (Acts 13-14). The Council of Jerusalem occasioned Paul’s reappearance in Jerusalem (50). Spurred on by the decisions of the Council, he began the second missionary journey (51-53), traveling through Asia Minor and then crossing over to Europe and founding churches at Philippi, Thessalonia (his favorite), Berea, Athens, Corinth. He remained almost two years at Corinth, establishing a very flourishing and important community. In 54 he returned to Jerusalem for the fourth time.

Paul’s third missionary journey (54-58) took him to Ephesus, where he labored three years with good success; after visiting his European communities, he returned to Jerusalem for a fifth time (Pentecost, 58). There he was seized by the Jews and accused of condemning the Law. After being held as a prisoner for two years at Caesarea, he appealed to Caesar and was sent by sea to Rome (60 A.D.). Shipwrecked and delayed on the island of Malta, he arrived at Rome in the spring of 61 and passed the next two years in easy confinement before being released. The last years of the saint’s life were devoted to missionary excursions, probably including Spain, and to revisiting his first foundations. In 66 he returned to Rome, was taken prisoner, and beheaded a year later. His fourteen letters are a precious legacy; they afford a deep insight into a great soul.

Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against snakes; authors; Cursillo movement; evangelists; hailstorms; hospital public relations; journalists; lay people; missionary bishops; musicians; poisonous snakes; public relations personnel; public relations work; publishers; reporters; rope braiders; rope makers; saddlemakers; saddlers; snake bites; tent makers; writers; Malta; Rome; Poznan, Poland; newspaper editorial staff, Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Diocese of Covington, Kentucky; Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama; Diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada; Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island; Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Symbols: Book and sword, three fountains; two swords; scourge; serpent and a fire; armour of God; twelve scrolls with names of his Epistles; Phoenix; palm tree; shield of faith; sword; book.
Often portrayed as: Thin-faced elderly man with a high forehead, receding hairline and long pointed beard; man holding a sword and a book; man with 3 springs of water nearby;

Things to Do:

• From the Directory on Popular Piety, this feast is important because “it is always useful to teach the faithful to realize the importance and significance of the feasts of those Saints who have had a particular mission in the history of Salvation, or a singular relationship with Christ such as St. John the Baptist (24 June), St. Joseph (19 March), Sts. Peter and Paul (29 June), the Apostles and Evangelists, St. Mary Magdalen (22 July), St. Martha (29 July) and St. Stephen (26 December).”
• The Directory on Popular Piety also explains the devotion of the Christian Pilgrimage. During the Middle Ages in particular, “pilgrims came to Rome to venerate the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul (ad Limina Apostolorum), the catacombs and basilicas, in recognition of the service rendered to the universal Church by the successor of Peter.”
• Besides the recipes in our database, Cooking With the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf has seven recipes alone for the feast of St. Peter. This is a wonderful book, beautifully illustrated with art of the saints and the actual dishes. This would be a great addition to your liturgical year library.
• Learn more about St. Paul, read Paul of Tarsus

via Catholic Culture | Liturgical Year

Faith Aloud, a St. Louis-based religious group that advocates for abortion rights, began an online petition drive calling on Akin to apologize. The Rev. Krista Taves of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Chapel in Ellisville said Akin’s comment “shows how very little he knows about liberals, and how very little he knows about God.” “I’m a liberal because I love God and all God’s creation,” Taves said. “ I value equality, fairness and compassionate justice because my faith informs my politics.”

Faith Aloud, a St. Louis-based religious group that advocates for abortion rights, began an online petition drive calling on Akin to apologize.

The Rev. Krista Taves of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Chapel in Ellisville said Akin’s comment “shows how very little he knows about liberals, and how very little he knows about God.”

“I’m a liberal because I love God and all God’s creation,” Taves said. “ I value equality, fairness and compassionate justice because my faith informs my politics.”

Akin comments draw criticism from religious leaders

I love the quote above. It shows just how much certain “religious groups” know God so well that they support killing inutero but defend life after birth like there is some difference.

However, when you think about it. These people may very well know God better than all of us – especially the Church (you know Rome…). That is because their “God” is a deity of their own invention – their ego – themselves.

That said my God is creator of heaven and earth and “was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.”