Month: January 2014

What Evangelical Catholics Can Learn from Protestants

Posted by | Jan 30, 2014 | |

First posted by me at Ignitum Today. The word “evangelical” is familiar to most Protestants, but it is an idea that more Catholics ought to be acquainted with as well. The title of George Weigel’s book Evangelical Catholicism communicates the intersection of these two seemingly disparate concepts immediately. The reality with too many with Catholics is a more privatized faith – Catholics, even if they attend regular Mass, leave their faith at the door. What we need is a missionary faith – exactly what the New Evangelization is calling for among Catholics. The fact is, Catholics would be wise to accept and put to use some of the evangelical tactics of the Protestants. Although Protestants lack the fullness of the faith we have as Catholics, they are miles ahead of us in the evangelical zeal with which they share their Christian faith. To this tune, I offer two ways Catholics can become more missionary oriented and evangelical both with their faith and their lives. Reading the Bible Regularly We should not look at the Bible only through the lens that is offered at Mass as dissected parts in the Missal. We have a real need to take the entirely of scripture from the Missal into our households. One only needs to read Psalm 119 once to figure out that our lives are dark and empty without the light of...

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Best Thomas Aquinas Memes

Posted by | Jan 28, 2014 | |

St. Thomas Aquinas has a special place in my heart a student of theology, as a convert, and a lover of Thomistic Philosophy. Anyone who follows me or knows me whatsoever knows I love memeing pictures. So here are a few of my favorites to celebrate his feast day.                    Which was your...

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Catholic Education: Free Online Courses

Posted by | Jan 22, 2014 | |

There is an amazing opportunity and growing phenomena that is called a “Massive Open Online Course” (MOOC). The MOOC idea is a couple of years old and started as a college experiment where the school offers an open, completely free, no obligations, no strings attached (get the point?) course to anyone. Holy Apostles College and Seminary (HACS) is offering this, and has ben the champion of the MOOC since Fall 2013. They are the only Catholic College or University to offer a MOOC. HACS, if you didn’t know, is one of two non-campus online school’s recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society. Case and point: you should sign up. February 3rd starts the new course for “New Atheism”, taught by Dr. Sebastian Mahfood. The course is 25 days long and if you decide you cannot finish the course there is no penalty. This is absolutely risk free and will benefit you Catholic faith and education greatly. Enrollment takes minutes and here’s how to sign up: 1. Go to HACSMOOC and find the course you want. I suggest the New Atheism course. Make sure to check the syllabus incase there are books to purchase. 2. Scroll to the bottom and click the hyperlink “Register for the MOOC here”. You will be taken to EventBrite to complete your registration. 3. Choose your course and the quantity (should be 1) the click “Register”. 4. Enter your information and finish. You will be emailed instructions. That’s it....

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Why I’m Not Watching the Super Bowl Halftime Show: Sex Wont Take Me To Paradise

Posted by | Jan 18, 2014 | |

Someone recently said, “What we once considered hardcore porn became softcore, and what was considered softcore is now the halftime show at the Super Bowl.” This is the sexualization of America. Can we have one national sporting event, one award show, that doesn’t involve half naked women with their butts hanging out of their shorts? Last year’s Super Bowl with Beyonce I couldn’t be sure if I was watching the Victoria Secret fashion extravaganza or a halftime show. It was awkward to watch with my wife especially with Beyonce seemingly making eye contact with me in a distant attempt at seduction through the camera lens. I can’t even imagine what it will be like to explain to my boys in a few years when we change the channel or leave the room to avoid the partial nudity. Incase you think I am talking in extremes, don’t you remember the Janet Jackson incident a full decade ago? Justin Timberlake walked over and ripped her breast cup right off her costume and stood there like: They “apologized” and said it was a “wardrobe malfunction”. Really? JT reached out and ripped her costume and they both just stood there like it was the finale. It was. It was awful. From then on, if you hadn’t noticed the Super Bowl people decided to stick with older bands to make sure that incident didn’t...

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Three Must See Conversion Movies

Three Must See Conversion Movies

Posted by | Jan 17, 2014 | |

Little secret: I joined the Air Force to save up money to go to acting and film school. Never happened. I saved money, but I ended up going through some big changes. I might not have gone to big lengths to be an actor but my love for film and stage has only grown. Movies and plays have a way of touching us, reminding us of what “human” is and sometimes doing a good job of downright dehumanizing us. Somewhere in that fray is the bottom line, the lesson, the take-away. These movies exhibit, for me and others, a...

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