Podcast #24 - The Feast of Saint Andrew

Silent (high school) Monks Singing Halleluia Chorus

Spanish RC bishops with Chutzpah!

Today the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish Episcopal Conference issued a statement saying that politicians who vote for a proposed law liberalizing abortion in Spain place themselves in an "objective state of sin and, while the situation lasts, may not be admitted to Holy Communion." [More]

A Parable of America?

My father gave me one dollar bill
Because I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
Because two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes -I guess he doesn’t know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just because he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head-
Too proud of me to speak!

Lobster Pot Audio

Previous podcasts from Lobster Pot Audio may be found by clicking here.

Podcast #23 - The parable of the salamander, salvation and the Messiah

Quote - Unquote

“The name of Jesus is a standard in battle, that is to say, in the fight against evil.” — St. Bernardine of Siena, OFM

One Heart

This trailor explaines itself well. As the person who sent it to me said, "it will put a lump in your throat." Indeed. GRL3 [click here]

Podcast #22 - Daniel and the Sovereignty of God

Podcast #21 - Guest Thanksgiving podcast from a sweet girl, pictured below, from Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom

Is it a wonder that Jesus loved children? GRL3

Podcast #20 - ‘How do we respond to a person or even ourselves when all or a part of the core faith cannot be believed?’

Jewish view of the afterlife and then let's hear from The Jew

I eagerly follow "Jew in the City" and the teachings she does. I have shared a few of those videos with you that visit the Lobster Pot.

If you have a heart for the Jewish people as I do one must hear this teaching with sadness. She is correct when she offers that there is an age to come. We as believing Christians learned that from our Jewish antecedents.

The sadness comes from the fact that there is no Savior mentioned - the King of the Jews does not receive any billing in the supporting cast. That is not a small omission. If you think of her, her name is Allison, pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, would make her Messiah more visible to her - or that her vision of Him would grow sharper, whichever the case may be. It was another Jew, Paul, that said, "...my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Jews is that they be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge." Romans 10:1-2.

Let's hear from yet another Jew in the City - Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. GRL3

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (The Gospel of John 14:2ff.

Quote and Unquote

Before prayer, endeavor to realize whose Presence you are approaching, and to whom you are about to speak. We can never fully understand how we ought to behave towards God, before whom the angles tremble.

-- St. Teresa of Avila

If only

It is now old news that Bishop Tobin of Providence RI has told Patrick Kennedy not to receive communion.

Here's a quote that sheds light on the news:

Then Archbishop Ratzinger (Now Pope Benedict XVI): (on his appointment as an Archbishop)

"The words of the Bible and of the Church rang in my ears, those sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread. Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not to have any problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible is an image I find repulsive."

Had the orthodox bishops of the Episcopal Church summoned the courage to confront heresy, cruelity and non-canonical decisions from the top we would be in a very different place as a denomination. GRL3

H/T Standing on my head, blog

Podcast #19 - Having the courage of a master teaching organ lessons - a parable

Interesting shift in demographics

12 Political Converts to Catholicism

Newt Gingrich's weekend conversion to Roman Catholicism got me thinking about how many Catholic converts from the worlds of politics and political commentary have been in the news in recent years. Here's a quick list I came up with:

Robert Bork
Sam Brownback
Jeb Bush
Laura Ingraham
Bobby Jindal
Lawrence Kudlow
Robert Novak
Ramesh Ponnuru

Notice that they're all conservative? A few of the influential opinion shapers on the right who died recently also were Catholic converts:

Richard John Neuhaus
Tony Snow
Paul Weyrich

The one high-profile Catholic convert on the left who occurred to me is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

At first blush, this wild political imbalance is none too surprising. Religious converts tend to be more orthodox, which means hewing closely to the church's conservative positions on social issues. But in the case of the Catholic Church, once so solidly identified with the Democratic Party, it's a reminder of just how a tradition's politics can shift.

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

The Perfect Size - Embracing Who You Are!

Check out this super article by my granddaughter, Hannah, a high school sophmore. This was published in the newspaper of her school. Great work, Hannah! GRL3

"The perfect size. We have all heard it before; that model you see on the cover of the newest magazine. You look at her and wish you could be like that, the perfect body, the perfect size. Is there really such a thing?

The media these days is pushing and advertising the idea to young women that if they don’t look like the “celebs,” they’re just not good enough. Throughout our childhood, we have grown up watching TV. Flipping through the channels, I began to notice a repeating pattern: “skinny, beautiful, skinny, perfect, skinny.” The thing is, it’s not reality. Not all women look like that; no woman is perfect. In fact, there is no perfect woman. And maybe that’s a good thing.

We are growing up in a generation where just about everything is based on looks. It’s a harsh reality that is changing the way people think about others and themselves. Why is it so important? What happened to “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”? A recent study by Dove shows that only 2 percent of women describe themselves as beautiful and 63 percent agree that society expects women to enhance their physical attractiveness. Being judged on something that you can’t change does take its toll. The pressure to become something you’re not is higher now than it ever was.

Feeling the need to be accepted, women are giving into pressure and taking extreme measures to fit in. This is leading into problems such as eating disorders. According to statistics, it is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder, of that number, 7 million are women. However, skinny does not always mean healthy. Someone who eats right in moderation and exercises regularly is healthier than someone who is super skinny who does not. Don’t judge a book by its cover; looking good on the outside does not mean everything on the inside is running well.

Another popular trend is surgery. Cosmetic surgery is being used to change the flaws. Some women are turning to plastic surgery to make enhancements on their body. Reasons behind this could relate to self esteem issues of just trying to look “better.”

Accepting who you are is all part of life. It’s important to understand that you are who you are and nobody can tell you what you should look like, or what you should change about your appearance. Accept your own personal beauty because you are one of a kind.

I think that instead of trying to fit in, trying to be perfect, trying to be something we’re not, we should work on embracing who we are. In case reality hasn’t hit you yet, you might as well, because it’s who you’re always going to be."

Quote - Unquote

Forward in Faith, the Anglo-Catholic group in England, believes up to 450 Anglican parishes are considering joining the exodus to Rome by accepting the invitation to Anglicans to "swim the Tiber". That is huge. It is huge even if exaggeration by 50%. GRL3

2012 anti-Christian and anti-Catholic

Father Barron gives one of his compelling film reviews. In this instance it is of the film 2012. He accurately proposes that the film is essentially anti-Christian and especially the Catholic expression of Christianity. I believe you will find his analysis interesting. GRL3

Podcast 18 - Apostasy or Faithfulness?