Life Is Worth Living

Just wanted to share a link.  EWTN has released 24 hours of audio from Archbishop Fulton Sheen's 1950s radio show, Life Is Worth Living. It's MP3 format, so it should play in just about any audio program, or MP3 player.  http://www.bishopsheen.excerptsofinri.com/

So much to be thankful for

First of all, I want to do a shameless plug for my good friends over at Lectio Divina Catholic Books & Gifts in Winchester, VA.  They just recently relaunched their website, and it's much more dynamic, and they're working to get their entire inventory set up for ecommerce.  I am very humbled to have been a part of this project, and it was a great chance to use my tech savvy talents to help glorify God.  Please check them out, and give them your business.  These are good people, and having their testimony and the resources of their store available to me helped me immensely in my conversion to Catholicism. 

Yesterday we went for the ultrasound, and we saw our baby girl for the first time!  Yes, I said "girl".  The ultrasound tech was as close to 100% sure as she could be, but said to hang on the receipts just in case.  

Scriptural Rosary

Lately, I've taken to saying the full Rosary every day.  I shoot for doing the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries every day - on Thursdays, or if I know I'll be able to set aside time, I add the Luminous Mysteries in as well.  But one trouble I've always had with the Rosary was keeping focused - my mind tends to wander, and I wasn't mediating on these events in the life of Christ.

I found a really nice pocket Scriptural Rosary book, and that's done wonders.  The selection of verses from scripture really help me stay on task, and some have been very moving.  It only cost about $5 - if you have issues with your mind drifting, I highly recommend getting a similar book and keeping it with your Rosary!

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the heartbeat of our baby

It's been a busy couple of weeks at our household - Sharon's been battling morning sickness off and on, but appears to be just about over the worst of it.  I can tell from how tired she is that I'm definitely getting the much easier end of this baby making deal.  I can only imagine what a toll growing another human being can take on the body.

So much, so soon

I am a bit embarrassed by the fact that I haven't posted since May.  So much has happened in my life, and I had really hoped to be more active on this blog.  Sharing the good that has come with embracing Christ is important to me, and I feel a little guilty keeping it all to myself!

Embraced by the Spirit

It's been just over a month since I came into the Church, and I couldn't be happier with where I am at the moment.  I've heard of "convert zeal", and I'm sure that's a part of reason I feel so happy, but I think it's evolving into something much deeper than that.  There's just something about knowing you're exactly where God wants you to be - I definitely feel that at my parish.  I've made so many great friendships through my involvement with the Catholic Church.  The one I value most of all, however, is my friendship with Jesus Christ.

One of the happiest days of my life

It's hard to believe Easter Vigil has come and gone already.  And I'm now a member of the Catholic Church.  It's ironic - the first Catholic service I ever went too was Easter Vigil at Sacred Heart two years ago.  If you would've told me then that two years later I'd be coming into the Church myself, I would've said you were crazy.

Today's the big day!

Well, this is it.  I want to say today my journey ends, and I reach my destination, but I know it's only beginning.  I'm so excited about Easter Vigil, I can hardly contain myself.  There are so many thoughts I want to express right now, but I just can't seem to get them out in words, so I'm just going to ask all who read this to pray for me, and all who are coming into the Church tonight.  The adversary has been waging a full scale assault on the Church this Holy Week, and the faith of some has already been shaken.  The good news is, it's a desperation act.  He wouldn't go to these lengths if not for the fact that he know's he's already lost.  He's just trying to take as many souls down with him in defeat as he can.

Bless you all in your journeys as well.  Amen.

First confession follow-up

I went to confession yesterday, and it really want's that bad.  I found that I wasn't all that nervous,, but it was more like a feeling of intense anticipation that I really can't describe.  I went during regular hours, and made the offer to everyone that came in after me to get in front of me, since it was my first time and I might take a while.  One nice lady in her 60s said to take my time - she had converted when she was 19, and remembered the anxiety she had over her first confession, and that she'd be praying for me. 

First confession

Today comes a moment I've been simultaneously looking forward and dreading.  I'm making my first confession this morning.  Being a convert, I have to confess all my mortal sins going back to the age of reason (around 7 or 8).  I just turned 31 yesterday, and have been a heathen the vast majority of my life.  Soooo, that's a lot of sin to confess. 

Counting the days, counting my blessings

2010 is going to be a truly landmark year for me.  I'm getting married in June.  I'm going to be confirmed and come into communion with the Church at Easter.  It's amazing how those two things are so similar.

What a year this has been!

Hello to whomever stumbles across this blog!  It's been a while since I've posted.  It's been a combination of several factors.  Number one, I've been VERY busy with work, church, and family functions.  Second, I thought I didn't really have anything significant to post, but I've been doing some thinking, and I realized I'm wrong - I've got lots of WONDERFUL news to share!

The Fight For Life

Until earlier this year, I had a very different world view than what I had today.  I believed that a woman had the right to chose to do what she wished with her body, including abortion.  I felt that me, being a man, had no place telling anyone else what they could and could not do.  I said it's not a choice I'll ever have to make, so I turned a blind eye toward it, even though I knew it was wrong.  And I always knew it was wrong.

Why the Catholic Church?

One question I’ve heard from friends – and pondered myself a couple of times – is now that I’ve finally found my faith in God, why convert to Catholicism?  Wouldn’t I be just as happy in a Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, or some other denomination of Christianity?  The simple answer is no, I wouldn’t. 

I’ve been there before.  Granted, I haven’t tried every branch of Christianity out there,  But none of them quite range true with me.  I’d go to various churches, and never particularly enjoy it, no matter how much I tried.  And I’m not putting down any of those other branches, or anyone who follows them – they just didn’t work for me.

Basically, I feel like my faith has been a huge jigsaw puzzle.  Trying to work in before, in these churches that follow only the Bible, I only had maybe a third of the pieces.  But with Catholicism being so deeply rooted in the traditions that Jesus Christ and his Apostles began when they founded the church, I feel like I have most of the pieces now.  The rest are being filled in by my own belief and relationship with God, and that’s growing stronger every week.

The moment God revealed himself to me

I've been searching for God for years.  I don't know how long.  I had no doubt in the existence of God as a child, but as I got older, and realized the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus weren't real, I wondered if God and Jesus were also just constructs of my parents to keep me in line.

Neither of my parents were every particulary strong in faith.  Mom, every now and then, would decide we needed to be "good Christians" and go, and she and I went to a small independent bible based church.  Dad would go every now and then, but overall wasn't a fan.  I had no real religious compass to follow.  As I grew older and turned into a jaded teenager, I began to doubt the existence of God.  When I hit my 20s, I was positive God didn't exist.  I lived for myself today, rather than gambling that there was a Heaven.

Love for God is a gift, not a given

I was brought up in a non-denominational Bible based church, and it never felt right to me.  I tried branching out by going to Methodist and Baptist services, but they never worked either.  And the thing is, I really wanted it to.  I loved the ideas behind Christianity, but my skeptical mind wouldn't allow me to fully accept Jesus Christ into my heart.  But for some reason, it just didn't seem right to me.  Church was a hollow experience - I place I went to Sunday mornings for an hour or so.  I told myself I believed in God, but I really didn't.  At least, not in the true sense, which I'll explain in more detail later.