Voting Right!

If you call yourself a Catholic, then vote like a Catholic.



Thank you Michael Voris and RealCatholicTV.com for having the courage to always speak the truth.

No Matter What

This is an awesome video tribute to the Catholic martyrs of the last century.



These heroes willingly gave their lives for their faith. When are the rest of us going to finally wake up and take a stand for our faith like these great men? What are we waiting for to follow their examples and truly live like a Catholic? The martyrs in this tribute sacrificed everything for Christ, yet how many of us are afraid to speak up out of political correctness or eagerly sell out our Catholic morals for the sake of personal financial gain?

God is calling you to live your faith to the end, no matter what.

A Faith Unshaken

This is an awesome video from CatholicMountain.com an online network for men of faith. This video contains a powerful message for all men in that God is calling us to

"Stand as a Brotherhood United, and live by a faith unshaken, to testify to the Truth."



Every Christian man needs to watch this video to remind themselves who we are and what we are called by God to do.

The Catholic Church and Homophobia

Since same sex marriage and bullying against gays have been in headlines lately, many people are quick to blame Christians and the Catholic Church especially for spreading intolerance and hate. In many heated discussions I have had with gay marriage advocates, their accusations of bigotry and homophobia are due to the fact that they have no moral, legal, or scientific basis for their argument to redefine marriage. However it is frustrating to constantly hear these lies from not only same sex marriage advocates like the very anti-Christian Human Rights Campaign, but also from those in the mainstream media.

Take a look at the video below from the National Organization of Marriage 2010 Summer for Marriage Tour and ask yourself who is displaying hate and intolerance. I am a supporter of the NOM and while I was not able to attend the rallies, I had several friends who did. I am very proud of the way they behaved in a dignified and respectful manner even while very hostile gay marriage advocates were screaming in their faces. But yet, Christians and the NOM are constantly painted as extremists, homophobes, and bigots by this anti-Christian culture.



Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island, recently released an article which I think all Christians should read and commit to memory. He clearly explains in a very pastoral manner why the Catholic Church is against homosexual behavior. Here are a few excerpts from the Bishop's article:
In addition, however, we preach the truth of the Gospel with such insistence precisely because we love other people, including those involved in these morally challenging situations. That means, then, that the preaching of the truth must always be infused with love, a gentle and compassionate love.
What parent, because they love their children, does not teach them about right and wrong, challenge their harmful behavior, and encourage them to live a better, more Christ-like life?
As I wrote to my correspondent, the fact that the Church has love and respect for homosexual persons does not mean that we can ignore the immorality of homosexual acts or the homosexual culture. Nor does our respect for homosexual persons mean that we should sit back silently while a highly-organized political movement seeks to hijack the institution of holy matrimony and change its definition as a union of man and woman – a definition that comes from God and has existed from the beginning of mankind.
You see, we speak about the immorality of homosexual acts and culture, not because we disdain persons of that orientation, but rather because we love and respect them; because we want them to embrace a better and more life-giving path; and because we want them to do what is good and holy in the sight of God. And what parent or grandparent would ever do less?
Please take the time to read the Bishop's entire article and spread it to others.  It's important that in this fight to save traditional marriage, we also do our best to communicate the Church's message of love to those who oppose us. Thank you Bishop Tobin for this outstanding article.

Bishop Tobin's article: Because We Love, We Preach the Truth 

Priest to Catholic voters: Stop being stupid!

My first reaction about this statement from Fr. Father Richard Perozich of San Diego is: WOW! This priest has some serious guts. Why can't more bishops and priests do what God called them to do and lead their flocks like this priest? Thank you Fr. Perozich for being a true priest of Christ and boldly telling Catholics everywhere what they should have been told long ago. Too many Catholics blindly follow Catholic-in-name-only politicians who promise economic prosperity and supposed "social justice". But the ultimate price for this is the lives of the unborn and the destruction of the family.

I have tried to stay away from politics in this blog, but as we approach election day, I felt I had to speak up. I am disgusted with moral decay of this nation. It causes me to fear greatly for the future of my children and grandchildren. I feel as if I don't even recognize this society any longer. In my 40 year life span, our society has declined to where human life holds little value and supporting traditional families is bigotry. Our nation was founded on Christian principles and Catholics are the largest religious denomination in this country. Yet we continue to vote for those who promote death and sexual immorality to our children. This is nothing short of insanity. We have politicians and huge corporations publicly supporting groups like Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign, which are responsible for promoting abortions, sexual immorality and anti-Christian bigotry. Yet we foolish Christians are afraid to speak up against this evil for fear of being "intolerant" or "bigotted" or "politically incorrect". We keep selling ourselves and our children's future to these politicians for promises of "hope", "change" and financial gain. Before you go and vote this season, read Fr. Richard Perozich's statement and then spend time thinking about what it means to vote as a Catholic should.

Thank you to Matt Abbot and RenewAmerica for spreading this important message.
Priest to Catholic voters: Stop being stupid!
Elections are coming up November 2, 2010. Catholics must engage in the political process to form a nation that reflects the values held by Christ's followers. Learn who you are and act like a Christian. 1 Peter 2.9 But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Your job is to announce to the whole world that Jesus is the anointed King of God's everlasting reign — and to offer all men His salvation given by grace and received by faith. One forum in which you do this is politics. Politics comes from the words pole and polarity. Poles are opposite ends of an idea, of a temporal structure, or of a force.
Catholics, even though we live in a country and are citizens of that country, have a higher calling and responsibility to God and to our neighbor to promote God's truth even when others hate it, reject it, and hate us for proclaiming it. We are citizens in an earthly realm, but more importantly we are citizens of the new kingdom of heaven with Jesus as the Lord, His laws as our prime way of life, and called to live them and to promote them even to unbelievers.
We live in a society where many people with power, possessions, and prestige are promoting ideas that are not founded in Christ. In order to promote their ideas over ours, they tell us we must stay in our churches, keep our religion to ourselves, and that their idea of separation of the church from the state (which does not exist in our American Constitution as they say it does) trumps any ideas we might have, so we have to shut up.
And Catholics sheepishly keep quiet and vote for men and women who promote evil.

12 Tips for Praying the Family Rosary Daily

I want to share this post from the blog Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall.  It provides parents, especially Dads, practical tips on getting your family to say a daily rosary together. I know from personal experience how much of a challenge this can be, especially with young children. However, I can't think of a better way for dads to strengthen and protect their families. I have posted the complete list below. Please also click here to visit Canterbury Tales to read the rest of this great article which gives more details on the enormous spiritual benefits of a daily family rosary.

Twelve Tips for Praying the Family Rosary Daily (Attention Catholic Dads)
  1. Pray using alternation (The father prays first half of Our Father and everyone else prays second half - same goes for Hail Mary and Glory be).
  2. Pray the Rosary after dinner but right before bed - this means homework needs to be finished before dinner. Homework kills the Rosary if you don't stay on top of it. You'll also need to say goodbye to watching prime time television - since this is the ideal window of praying together as a family.
  3. Pray the Holy Rosary always at the same place at the exact same time. Devotions become strong - even invincible - by constant custom and habit.
  4. Pray the Rosary in a special room and set up a little altar with a Bible on it, candles, a statue or image, holy water, or a relic.
  5. Dim the lights and light the candles when you begin. If you let the little ones light the candles - they will love it. Kids love fire. Make this a "special time" different from other times. We even burn incense on our domestic altar on feast days. (You can do this easily by placing a little metal screen over a votive candle and then by placing a few grains of incense on the screen. It's fast and easy. This way you don't have use charcoal.)
  6. Maybe begin with a hymn or Bible reading to slow things down and set the tone. 
  7. The father sets the example. I recommend that the father kneel for the whole Rosary. This communicates importance and solemnity to the Rosary. Children attach importance to what dad does, e.g. mowing lawn, going to work, driving the "dad car," etc.
  8. Make it a rule that the child who prays all the responses and volunteers to lead a mystery (10 beads) gets to stay up 10 minutes more than everyone that night - at our house this means you get to watch baseball or have a book read to you. This may be the most important tip. Kids under 7 or 8 need this sort of incentive. If you tell a 6 year old, pray the Rosary so that you receive grace and sanctity - they don't get it. If you say, pray the Rosary so that you can stay up and read a book with me - they'll hit their knees and pray like angels.
  9. The one who gets to stay up also gets to blow out the candle at the end. This gives another incentive to pray the prayers - especially for the younger ones. For some reason, blowing out the candle is a really big deal to younger children. (Kids love fire!!!). You'd be amazed how a four year old will attempt to stay still if he can only place a grain of incense on a flame or blow out a candle. (Did I mention that kids love fire?)
  10. End with invoking everyone's patron saint (your children's names, confirmation names, and other patrons). E.g. "Saint Thomas: pray for us. Saint Jude: pray for us. Saint Anne: pray for us." Always finish with St Joseph and then Holy Mary Mother of God. Then say "Sacred Heart of Jesus: have mercy on us," three times. If you're shooting for the plenary indulgence, make sure to pray an Our Father and Hail Mary for the Pope.
  11. If family Rosary is new, start with one decade for a week. Then go to three for a week. Then go to five decades on the third week. Then don't ever stop.
  12. After the daily Rosary is established in your home, have each child announce a mystery and pray the whole decade. This gives them confidence in praying and makes it natural. Plus, they'll learn to memorize all the mysteries of the Holy Rosary - which means they will have memorized the biblical account of Christ's life, death, and glory! This is why the Rosary is called "the Bible on beads."

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and Defending the Faith

Please watch this video below and you will understand why the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Servant of God is one of my heroes. I can only imagine how different our Church and our faith if more people displayed the same passion and courage in defending Catholicism as Archbishop Sheen. Please keep in your prayers his cause for canonization.

On a related note please pray for and support Archbishop John Neinstedt who has been attacked in the media lately for defending traditional marriage and refusing to give communion to gay protesters at a mass recently. It is a blessing to have bishops like this following in the footsteps of Archbishop Sheen in defending our Church from those who wish to replace the truth with false teachings.Let's not forget that it is not just the responsibility of bishops and priest to defend our faith. It is the duty of all of us lay Catholics as well. Pray that God will grant us the courage and grace to defend our faith in the appropriate way whenever we are faced with that challenge.

Thank you Micahel Voris and RealCatholicTV.com for the awesome story in this video.




Columbus Day

Every year at this time we are forced to endure political correctness run wild in the form of a barrage of attacks on Christopher Columbus. Unfortunately those behind this revisionist history have chosen to portray Columbus as some kind of blood thirsty genocidal tyrant who was single handedly responsible for the slave trade. In my opinion, political correctness is castrating this country and forcing us to be apologetic for any accomplishment in this history of this great nation.

I just want to add my two cents into this debate with this article by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. in defense of  Christopher Columbus.

In Defense of Christopher Columbus the Catholic

I will end this with a couple of quotes from the above article. Please read Fr. Hardon's article as it reveals the seldomly heard truth about Columbus.

Those who criticize Columbus for destroying, in their words, the precious culture of the American Indians, ignore the grim facts of pre-Columbian American history.
A fair example is the Aztec civilization in Mexico. Seemingly advanced in other ways, the Aztec religion sank to some of the worst excesses of superstition. It is so extreme as to be almost incomprehensible to us who are familiar with the barbarous atrocities of the concentration camp and nuclear war. 

Awesome Story About a Real Hero

This is an amazing and inspiring story about a real hero: Good Samaritan describes chase that led to girl's freedom. Yesterday's headlines included a story which is every parent's worst nightmare. An 8 year old girl was abducted by a stranger in Fresno, CA. Today's major story is about how a 29 year old man risked his own life to save that same girl from a predator. This hero,Victor Perez, credits God for putting allowing him to save this girl.
He quoted a relative who said divine providence might have stepped in. "God works in mysterious ways," Perez said.
God bless you Mr. Perez. You are a hero and an inspiration to us all. I feel as if I should come up with an award for him. Maybe something like the "Iron Works Iron Man" award? As for the predator that abducted and sexually assaulted this 8 year old girl, while I pray that God has mercy on your soul, I sincerely hope the justice system of California does not.




Dancing With Polar Opposites

I have to confess that I occasionally watch Dancing With the Stars with my wife. While I was watching the show's latest season premiere a couple of weeks ago, I observed something rather interesting about two contestants, former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, and MTV's Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. In these two men, we see the classic examples of one man striving to life his faith while the other is intoxicated on the unhealthy pleasures of this world.

For those who may not be familiar, Kurt Warner is the retired NFL quarterback who led the St. Louis Rams to become Superbowl Champions in 2000. He also led the Arizona Cardinals to their first Superbowl in 2008. Warner and his wife have 7 children and are devout Christians who have spoken out against issues such as embryonic stem cell research. They have spent a lot of time and resources helping the developmentally disabled and creating the First Things First Foundation which aids the poor and sick children and their families. Kurt Warner is a great example of what it means to use the talents and blessings given to us by God to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Warner is very outspoken about his faith and was once quoted as saying:
 "If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God's got to be at the center of it. Every time I hear a piece or read a story that doesn't have that, they're missing the whole lesson of who I am."


Calling Mike "The Situation Sorrentino a polar opposite is an understatement. He is cast member of The Jersey Shore. I have never seen it and refuse to watch it. I have heard enough about it to turn my stomach. This reality show, produced by the smut peddlers on MTV, portrays Sorrentino and his roommates in New Jersey living their lives centered on night clubs, partying, drinking, promiscuity, and countless hours in front of a mirror worshiping themselves. I have been tempted to watch the show just to see how many of the seven deadly sins they can commit in one episode. Just from what I have heard, lust, greed, pride, and sloth are regulars on the Jersey Shore. I know I shouldn't be judgmental, but this show has been all over the media, and just by reading these reports and looking at the pictures, I don't think I am very far off the mark on my assessment.

The Epidemic of Pornography

This is an article that I think all men need to read: Special Report: Confronting the Pornography Epidemic.

Written by Peter C. Kleponis, PhD., a licensed clinical therapist who specializes in helping marriages and families and pornography addiction recovery, it details the stark truth about the dangers of this type of adult entertainment. In the past 40 years, society has witnessed porn evolve from once being taboo to where porn has now exploded into the mainstream due in large part to the internet. Unfortunately many people, including some psychologists and counselors still think it is harmless entertainment. I personally find it hard to believe that there is no connection between the onslaught of porn over the last 40 years the the growing number of sex crimes and violent crimes in our country. It is just another way in which human life is devalued as it turns people into mere objects to be used for pleasure and then discarded for the next big thrill.

As the article correctly points out, porn use leads to addiction, and our culture needs to admit that and start treating it like any other addiction. It is a disease that slowly consumes and destroys men, women, families, and even children. Please take the time to read this article and pass it on to others. Since this filth is protected by the First Amendment, the best way we can fight is to spread the truth about this addiction. The information found here is crucial in educating ourselves and others about the dangers of this disease.

Encouraging our Priests

I want to spread the word about a great website and the wonderful work it is doing. EncouragePriests.org is a website and ministry created by Catholics Come Home which not only seeks to increase vocations, but also provides methods to encourage and thank the priests currently in the Church for everything they do. When we look at how our culture has become more hostile towards the Church and how thousands of innocent priests have also suffered because of the abuse scandal, the least we can do is to stop for a moment and thank our local priests. They are the unsung heroes whose tireless efforts and never ending work have brought countless people back to Christ. Please take a moment to visit the website and send a thank you to your local parish priest, and most important of all, remember them in your prayers.