I Like Bein' a Catholic - Justin Stroh

An examination of the relationship between faith and science via quotes and pictures.

2009-11-11T09:34:00.001-06:00

Man is on a search to know his origin and his finality. God allows us discover the physical truth yet we know that our search must not end there. The inquiry is distinctively common and human. It is our common ground. God reveals to us that we are his, that he created us out of love, all of this to initiate a covenant with us! This is developed through the prophets, psalms the liturgy and wisdom sayings of the CHOSEN! The first three chapters of Genesis are structured to teach us all of this as well as the drama of sin and hope of salvation. These are the principle source of catechesis on these mysteries. (My paraphrasing of CCC 280-289)

Pensacola abortion clinic closes at end of pro-life campaign

2009-11-09T10:54:00.001-06:00

An abortion facility in Pensacola, Florida has announced that it will close, bringing joy to participants in the three 40 Days for Life prayer vigils at the site. One pro-life organizer said the closing was “an answer to prayer.”

The Community Healthcare Center, which was dually licensed as an abortion clinic and as a clinical laboratory, faced a $413,000 fine after the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) found its lab license had been expired for 413 days. The clinic was fined $1,000 for each day it was unlicensed, the Pensacola News Journal reports.

Instead of paying the fine, the abortion clinic decided to shut down, AHCA press secretary Tiffany Vause reported. (Click above link for more article...)

Spanish cloistered nuns see surge in vocations

2009-11-05T22:25:00.000-06:00

A 43 year-old prioresses has revolutionized an old Poor Clares convent in Spain, turning it onto a magnet for dozens of young professional women.

Sister Veronica joined the Poor Clares Convent of the Ascension founded in 1604 in Lerma (Spain) at at time when it was going through a vocations crisis. It was January 22, 1984, and Marijose Berzosa - Sr. Veronica's name prior to entering the convent - decided, at age 18, to leave behind a career in medicine, friends, nightlife and baketball.

"Nobody understood me. There were bets that it would not last, but they did not feel the force of the hurricane that drew me in," says Sr. Veronica. "I was a classic teenager looking for a way out ... and I made a decision in just 15 days." .... (See video below or click link above for more of the article)

Pharmaceutical company cites Vatican document to defend its use of aborted baby

2009-11-04T09:49:00.001-06:00

A pro-life group is criticizing pharmaceutical company Neocutis’ defense of its use of cells harvested from an aborted fetus in the development of burn treatments and anti-aging creams. While the company said it takes seriously concerns about the dignity of human life—going so far as to cite a Vatican document—the pro-life group is questioning Neocutis’ version of the facts.

Last week the organization Children of God for Life released a statement criticizing Neocutis’ use of cells harvested from an aborted fetus in the development of anti-aging creams. The group also called for a boycott. (Click title to read entire article)

Director of Planned Parenthood at 40 Days for Life Birthplace Resigns after Watching Abortion Ultrasound

2009-11-03T11:40:00.000-06:00

By Kathleen Gilbert

BRYAN, Texas, November 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The director of the Texas Planned Parenthood abortion mill where the 40 Days for Life campaign began has resigned, saying she experienced a conversion after watching an ultrasound video of a child being killed by abortion.

"I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Abby Johnson in an interview with local news network KBTX 3. ... (Click above for full article)

'We are never alone,' Pope exclaims on All Saints Day

2009-11-02T04:41:00.001-06:00

'We are never alone,' Pope exclaims on All Saints Day

Vatican City, Nov 1, 2009 / 09:58 am (CNA).- To the faithful gathered on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI presented the communion of saints, a “beautiful and comforting” reality that says “we are never alone.” In particular he held up the ancient cult of martyrs in the early Church, and in this Year for Priests, “the saintly priests, both those canonized…and those many more that are known to the Lord.” Pope Benedict also spoke of Monday’s commemoration of the faithful departed, also known as All Souls Day. "I would ask,” he said, “that this liturgical memory be lived in a genuine Christian spirit, that is, in light of the Paschal Mystery.” .... (Click link above for more)

Same-sex marriage law in D.C. could ‘suppress’ Catholic institutions, archdiocese warns

2009-11-01T07:37:00.001-06:00

Same-sex marriage law in D.C. could ‘suppress’ Catholic institutions, archdiocese warns

Pope Encourages the young to Evangelize through the Internet - Catholic Online

2009-10-31T09:18:00.001-05:00

Pope Encourages the young to Evangelize through the Internet - Catholic Online

It falls in particular to young people to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this 'digital continent.'

ROME (Catholic Online) - There is no question that the internet and the tools of the digital age present an extraordinary opportunity to the Church in this new missionary moment, the Third Christian Millennium. As in every age, the Church does not reject new technologies or new advances. Instead she seeks to ensure that they are placed at the service of the truth. The truth is a Person, Jesus Christ, who reveals the human face of God. (Click title for rest of article)

I love how the physical universe reflects the spiritual - check out the connections...

2009-10-29T09:18:00.003-05:00

The connections:

Watch the video then read ...

"We are all connected" = One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism

"Nature's Imagination"= The eternal memory of God reflected in all he has made

"Laws of Nature" = God is sacrificial love which orders the spiritual universe yet gives humanity the freedom and authority to govern it.

"Think about all of this" = We have a desire to return to the mystery we were created from

"The way those atoms are put together" = Creation - God has an infinite will that is accomplished through billions and billions of free wills – I call that Almighty!

“Made of star stuff” = We are made in the image and likeness of God

“For the universe to know itself” = The intellect, memory and will of man desires a relationship with the infinite intellect, memory and will of God.

“We’ve traveled this way before” = Man is on a pilgrimage throughout life that effects the entire universe Physical and spiritual. God is on a pilgrimage toward man.

“Elevating and Exhilarating” = Ecstasy in prayer

“Light bouncing around the room”= Omnipresence of God - it appears to be a mess to us, but we call is Divine Providence

“It’s all really, really there” = We can all make an act of faith, hope and love. Even if I do not believe though, God is really, really there.

“Inconceivable nature of nature” = Who can know the mind of God?

Do you know the Holy Spirit's plan for the NEW Millennium? Behold....

2009-10-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

John Pual II wrote an amazing letter about the new millenium called "NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE" YOU CAN READ IT! I know you CAN....

APOSTOLIC LETTER

NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE
OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS
CLERGY AND LAY FAITHFUL
AT THE CLOSE
OF THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000

To my Brother Bishops,
To Priests and Deacons,
Men and Women Religious
and all the Lay Faithful.

1. At the beginning of the new millennium, and at the close of the Great Jubilee during which we celebrated the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus and a new stage of the Church's journey begins, our hearts ring out with the words of Jesus when one day, after speaking to the crowds from Simon's boat, he invited the Apostle to "put out into the deep" for a catch: "Duc in altum" (Lk 5:4). Peter and his first companions trusted Christ's words, and cast the nets. "When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish" (Lk 5:6).

Duc in altum! These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever" (Heb 13:8).

The Church's joy was great this year, as she devoted herself to contemplating the face of her Bridegroom and Lord. She became more than ever a pilgrim people, led by him who is the "the great shepherd of the sheep" (Heb 13:20). .... Read it all: http://tinyurl.com/36a24

You too can carve a PRO-LIFE Pumpkin - Check this out!

2009-10-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

Make a statement this Eve of All Saints! Carve your convictions!

Pope: Tradition opens access to Scripture

2009-10-27T05:44:00.000-05:00

Bring the Bible into the life of the People of God that they may know how to face the unprecedented challenges that the modern age poses to the new evangelization. This is what Benedict XVI said in...

Anglican Bishop Confirms St. Therese is Behind Anglican Ordinariate

2009-10-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

Anglican Bishop Confirms St. Therese is Behind Anglican Ordinariate

Yesterday we conveyed the suspicion of former Episcopal and now Kansas City Catholic priest, Father Ernie Davis, that the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux was behind the Vatican’s move to provide a structure to welcome Anglicans into full communion. Now, the Anglican Catholic Bishop of Canada strongly confirms that thought.

Father Davis, who leads St. Therese Little Flower parish in Kansas City which hosts an Anglican Use community, wrote of the news from the Vatican:

Anglicans and Catholics flocked to visit the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux as they made a very recent pilgrimage to England. Her relics rested on her 2009 feast day at York Minster, the Cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of York. When I read about that, I told the people here at St. Therese Little Flower that she was working on something big. In other words, preparations for this Apostolic Constitution have been in process for 170 years, and some of the preparations have been made at levels that are higher than popes.

The Traditional Anglican Communion Bishop of Canada saw the claim and sent an email today to Father Davis with remarkable details of St. Therese’ intercession. Here’s the email: (Click link above)

As the seasons change so do our hearts...

2009-10-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

Here is a piece I will soon put on iTunes. God who is outside of time enters it and so the very essense of the seasons of nature become his instrument. So much so that his Bride the Church adapts seasons in her liturgy. Here is my reflection: "Outside of Time"

I'm the type of guy, who likes to pray the ROSARY!

2009-10-12T00:33:00.000-05:00

Yet Another Reason I Love Bein' a Catholic!

2009-10-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

Hey you! Stand up for your Catholic Faith! Stop waiting for someone else to be bold - YOU DO IT! Let us all lay down our lives for the Church - Just as Jesus did, just as St. Peter, Linus, Cletus, Clement, and Cornelius did! Hey you single men reading this; give up your lives for a greater purpose - see this video for more:

Virgin Clothed With the Sun!

2009-10-03T12:42:00.001-05:00

I composed this pieace of music about 15 years ago when the missionary image of Our Lady of Gaudelupe came to Lincoln, NE. The Video I put together last year to encourage those praying for the election. I post it again today to Honor Mary before the feast of the Holy Rosary. If you are in Faribault - Join the Rosary Rally at Central Park at 11:30am on Saturday, October 10. Come Holy Spirit, come throught the powerful intersesion of your most beloved spouse!

Virgin Clothed With the Sun - Video - Catholic Online

Shared via AddThis

What is up with the Catholic BIBLE?

2009-09-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

OK… did you know that the Catholic Bible has seven more books in the Old Testament than Bibles used in Protestant Christianity? Or is it, the Protestant Bible has seven less? What is going on here?

Take some time to watch this amazing video about the Bible’s History:

“Are you saved? Why this question is wrong…

2009-09-17T00:58:00.000-05:00

It is simply wrong to ask “Are you Saved?” Why? Because, it is asking a person to judge themselves… Jesus said, “Judge not, that you not be judged.” I believe this includes oneself.

If a person stands in this kind of judgment they may fail to see that Jesus’s greatest attribute is his Divine Mercy. He does not ask us to make lists of those who are saved or not saved, he asks us to love, to make sacrifices for those who are poor in material and poor in spirit. This includes those in our own homes and in our family.

Evangelization is not asking “are you saved?” It is loving one another and proclaiming the FREEDOM from sin in Christ by his Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.

To ask “are you saved?” insults the dignity of the conscience of the sinner and the saint. We are not called to determine this in a moment, we are called to entrust this to Our Lord, then to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him.

The Family and the Trinity

2009-09-15T21:40:00.000-05:00

From all eternity the Father has a perfect idea of himself, that idea is a person, it is the Son. The Son loves the Father and the Father loves the Son perfectly. That love is a person - the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. God is not in solitude but He is a communion of love. Each person of the Trinity empties himself out to the other in sacrifice.

Genesis points out that we are made in His Image- we see this most clearly in the family - A communion of love. The father in a family is like God the Father; the mother is like God the Son; the child is like God the Holy Spirit. The two shall become one and nine months later that one is born. They are one family yet three persons. The Family is the Smile of God!

This is why we baptize in the NAME (not names) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In baptism we are given a share in the life of the Blessed Trinity - He bestows on us the gift of eternal life.

The Triumph of the Cross

2009-09-14T07:16:00.000-05:00

This is the feast of victory! On this day let us all recall how sacrificial love is our call. Through his Passion Jesus as brought joy into the world - It is now Christmas every day with gifts everywhere to be found. Let us rejoice in the Lamb who paid a price set before time began.

From Morning Prayer:

"Eternal Son of the Father, you came to cast fire upon the Earth and you longed to see its flame kindled in the hearts of all men, grant that through holiness of life we may come to share in the undying light of your glory!"

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Peace be with you. Justin

Mary, Mary quite contrary? How to respond to claims that Catholic Marian devotion is evil or disordered...at least this is my take on it.

2009-09-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

How about that Eucharistic Moon?

2009-09-07T01:02:00.000-05:00

Wow - the last few days many have asked me this question... here is our universal Faith shining light upon each conscience! - Justin