Prayer Request

Please pray for my friends Carrie and Erin (newly betrothed) as they travel to and from Chicago over the next week.

May good St. Christopher protect them from all natural and supernatural harm as they travel. May the forces of nature act with benevolence, and may the designs of wicked men be thwarted.

School of Love

Mr & Mrs Anderson give CUA commencement address. Together they called the graduates to give God permission to enter into their lives and direct their vocation. While also challenging them to build families to change the world. A tall order, that requires the commitment and leadership of Catholic Dad's, and men who will some day find themselves as such. Read the address for yourself here.

Father John Corapi Parathyroid Update - EWTN's Life on The Rock

Father John Corapi

It's all been true! Straight from Father Corapi's mouth on EWTN's Life on the Rock. He has a Parathyroid Tumor with no cancer in it.

Praise The Lord! No Cancer!


Here it is! The latest post concerning Father John Corapi's phone call on EWTN's Life on the Rock revealing every little detail you have been craving.


Here is how it all started.

Father John Corapi has a parathyroid tumor! This post confirmed the email floating in cyber space.

Original Father John Corapi Post Concerning His Tumor Here: This is the Fr. Corapi's email asking for prayers.

Let's us pray:

Memorare, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo, quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia, tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia, esse derelictum. Ego tali animatus confidentia, ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater, curro, ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despicere; sed audi propitia et exaudi.

Amen.

California Supreme Court Outlaws Democracy

In case you have not heard, the Supreme Politburo Court for the Peoples Republic of California has ruled that the people in the state do not have the right to create a law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. What's more it was the ruling of only 4 people that essentially created new law - not our legislators, not the people. The good news (as you can see in the link below) is that this thing is not over. Because of this lawsuit, the initiative process to change the state Constitution was already well under way and we should reverse this improper ruling shortly. Read more below.

California Catholic Daily - “This battle is not over”

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Law Center characterized the high court’s decision as “outrageous.” Said Thompson, “The California Supreme Court took judicial activism to a whole new level. When four judges can overturn the vote of the people protecting marriage, the Constitution’s guarantee of a Republican form of government becomes meaningless. This battle is not over.”

Charles LiMandri, West Coast director for the Thomas More Law Center in San Diego, said he was confident the Protect Marriage Initiative, which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman, would qualify for the November ballot. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of the National Organization for Marriage and the many groups that have supported it, like the Thomas More Law Center, the courts will not have the final say on marriage in California -- the people will in November,” said LiMandri.

As for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (appropriate first name) and his vow to oppose a constitutional amendment - I guess the Kennedy's have finally gotten to him. Anyone have the stomach for another recall?

Cross posted at Kyrie Eleison

Why Pray The Rosary

In response to Dutchman's outstanding (imho) post on prayer (the post immediately prior to this one), Santiago Chiva de Agustín pointed us to a video that I have posted here. It is in Spanish with English subtitles. It is powerful - at least I found it so. Check it out.

If you are not praying the rosary, start today.
If you need guidance check out this link to the Rosary Center.

Thoughts on Prayer

Having grown up in a secular home, I was never taught to pray and only came to this habit after becoming Catholic when I was twenty-three. So, largely because of being self-taught, I have had to think about prayer, learn how it works, develop my own ways and habits. This process has, perhaps, given me a different perspective on prayer than those who have grown up with the habit. These are some things I have learned about prayer:

• Pray every day. When I received my instruction in the faith from Father Frank Kane he told me that Catholics are obliged to pray every day. He told me that Saint Augustine thought that the faithful were minimally required to say two Our Fathers and two Hail Marys every day. So that was where I began.

• Pray when all else has failed. Once, when I was working in a print-shop downtown, I was having a tough time running a really old press, a Multi 1250. On my lunch break I went to the bookstore run by the Daughters of Saint Paul to pick up a book I had ordered. When I got there, one of the sisters asked me why I looked so down. When I told her that I was having trouble running a press, she asked what kind of press, and it turned out that she had also run the very same press for the Daughters’ print shop at their mother house. She then went through the possible causes of my problem (worn in-feed rollers, inadequate buckle, incorrect stop-finger timing, etc.). When, at last, we had gone over everything that could have been out of adjustment and ruled them out as the cause of my problems, she shook her head and said, “That’s when I try a prayer to Saint Paul!” And you know what? She was absolutely right! By the simple act of turning your problems over to Our Heavenly Father, you will find yourself more clear-headed, more at-ease, once again ready to face your travail.

• Pray for your own causes. One day I found a pamphlet on an empty seat on the #36/Broadway bus. It showed an ordinary man in silhouette next to the headline: “REMEMBER ... This Unknown Communist has a SOUL” It urged you to wear the Green Scapular and pray for the conversion of Godless Communists the world around. It occurred to me then, that once I had been that Unknown Communist, and that whoever had left that flyer on the seat had been praying for me. I resolved then to pray each day for the conversion of Godless Communists each day. You should take up a cause as well! I suppose there is nothing wrong with taking up a big one, (like an end to abortion, or the conversion of the Jews, or the souls in Purgatory) but you should give consideration to a group that needs God’s grace and is pretty much neglected. Praying for the conversion of Godless Communists probably peaked-out in 1953 and I might just be the last one left Is anyone praying for the conversion of the Tuvinians? Start praying for them and you might just be the only one!

• Pray because no one else will. I used to see a guy where he worked downtown. (Let’s call him “Will.”) He was always very good at his job and, since he was more helpful than anyone else there, I always went to him. After using him for about fifteen years, I saw him on the street. Will told me that he had taken early retirement from his job (he was in his early fifties) and moving to a different city in order to get away from his crack dealer. It turned out that he had been addicted to crack cocaine for eleven years! I wished him the best of luck, gave him my e-mail address, and told him that I would pray for him. He told me that he was an atheist, and didn’t believe in prayer, but he thanked me for it anyway. I haven’t heard from him since. Recently I asked one of his co-workers if any of them knew how Will was doing. She was very cagey until she realized that I knew Will’s secret, but then she admitted that no one had heard from him since he had left town. “That’s a shame,” I said, “I pray for him every day, you know.”

The woman was astonished, “You do? I had no idea that you were such good friends with him.”

“I’m not,” I admitted, “But if I don’t pray for him, who will?”

“Nobody.”

• Pray because people ask you to. I was at work one day when I got a package of Green Scapulars in the mail. I’m like a kid on Christmas morning when something comes for me in the mail, so I opened it right away. One of my clients was there and, when he saw the scapulars, he asked what they were. I explained that wearing a scapular was like wearing a prayer, that the Green Scapular was like a prayer for conversion, and that I often gave Green Scapulars to people needing conversion. He then asked, “If I took one, would you pray for me?”

“Sure!” I gave him a scapular, but immediately I regretted it. You see — I didn’t much care for the fellow. In fact, without breaking into a sweat, I could probably make a list of 500 people who I would rather see in Heaven than this fellow. I agonized over it for days. I really did not want to pray for him, but I also couldn’t see how I could refuse. It became clear to me that, as a Christian, I was obliged to pray for anyone who asked me to if their request was reasonable.

Now, from time-to-time, that fellow will ask me if I still pray for him. I’m proud to be able to tell him that I haven’t missed a day.

• Prayer must be a real conversation with God or it’s pointless. If you’re saying the same thing day after day, then you’re doing something wrong. You should be thinking about what you are saying and open to the thoughts that God will put upon your heart. You need to ask yourself constantly if you really want what you are praying for or if you are just going through the motions. You need to ask yourself if there are things you should be doing in addition to prayer to address a certain situation. Perhaps you have neglected to thank God for some particular grace that has come your way? Your prayers should not be a laundry list!

• The saints are your friends, treat them that way. They are people just like you, with their own concerns and interests. Do you think if you just pick the name of a saint out of a hat, that he will be any more interested in your problems than some name you pick out of the phone book? When a saint is made “patron” of a particular thing, this is just a rough guide. Both Dymphna and Drogo are patrons of mental health, but Dymphna’s concern seems to be with people who are genuinely disordered, whereas Drogo is more concerned with emotional distress. Read the lives of the saints and make friends with them.

• Wear your prayers. Praying for conversions? Get that Green Scapular! Worried about your kids? Wear that Saint Joseph medal. Find yourself tempted by vice? A Saint Benedict medal will be a constant reminder that you need not face temptation alone.

• Let your kids see you pray. I start the day each morning by ironing a shirt and saying my prayers. I expect anyone in the room with me to join me when I say a Hail Mary or Our Father. My kids hear me run through the list of those whose conversions I am praying for and my son often joins me at the end saying “... and Godless Communists the world around. May the love of Jesus enter into their hearts.” My youngest daughter loved to have her toes played with when she was an infant, so I began saying my after-dinner Rosary on her toes. She loved it, and the others saw that praying was an ordinary part of life, not something apart from life.

• Do not neglect the Rosary. Marshal Foch said it all:

“I think that I did not miss a single day in reciting [the Rosary], including the most terrible times of battle when I had no rest night or day. How often did I see her manifest intercession in the decisions which I made in choosing a precise tactic. Take, then, the advice of an old soldier seasoned by experience: Do not neglect the recitation of the Rosary for any reason.”

• Pray for the unknown intentions of others. I say three Hail Marys every morning for the intentions of the Pope and an Our Father for the intentions of the Catholic Dads!

"How Many Children Do You Want?"

I'm curious to get some perspectives from others in Catholic Dads-Land:

How do you respond to the question, "How many children do you want?"

Having four kids under six, we get this question not infrequently, as I'm sure many of you do as well. Our kneejerk response is usually something along the lines of, "As many as God gives us," or, "I don't know, but we're open to a large family."

While these responses honestly reflect our attitude toward family life, I'm not sure how cogent they are to the ears of someone who thinks the notion that using contraception is a bad idea is akin to the notion that using soap is a bad idea.

Any thoughts?

[Cross-posted at Lunch Break]

Young Men, Rise Up!

While I'm plugging books, I was present at the launch of Fr Ken Barker's new book "Young Men, Rise Up!" recently. I thought that Bishop Porteous summarised the state of 'manhood' today very well in his address. Here is a snippet, the full text is linked.

"Manhood and masculinity have come under some scrutiny and challenge in recent decades. Who cannot forget the rather gross charge of being a “male chauvinist pig”? Still today the word, “patriarchal”, is seen as a pejorative term. Many charges were being made about the male character – most emphasising dullness and insensitivity.

A good deal of this challenge to the character of men was prompted by the feminist movement and its desire to achieve equity with men in social and economic status. Indeed there was a need for some revision of the standing of women in society in the light of significant social changes that have occurred over recent times.

However, the effort to promote the cause of women was often prosecuted by means of a denigration of manhood. There was a time when the worst possible person to be was a white heterosexual male!

In the face of, at times, a relentless stream of criticism, some men responded by seeking a redefined shape to manhood. So the “sensitive new age guy” was born. Men were told that they needed to be re-constructed. Another expression of a reconstituted manhood that developed more recently was the amorphous masculinity of the “metro-sexual”. But these new incarnations of masculinity quickly proved to be unsatisfactory to women. It was an emasculated manhood that was weak and unattractive. (Click here for more....)

New Members

We have two new members to welcome.

First we have Johnny Richmond from Young Family Man. Johnny writes:

"Just joined the catholic faith with my wife and know I can use all the help I can get raising a 3 year old girl, 20 month old son and one due in September. Catholic Dads seems like a good place to get guidance and help if needed."

Next we have Matthew Doyle from Lacrimarum Valle. Matthew writes:

"I am a Catholic Dad. My blog touches on this fact. Although I welcome contributions from my wife, she is too busy being a mum to blog, and hence the blog continues to be my baby!"

Welcome, gentlemen.