Welcome Message

Welcome to my blog about Catholic life and family values.
This blog will center around the beauty of Catholicism and how to raise families, evangelize our faith, and fight the ongoing spritual battles that challenge us daily.

You are invited to share your wisdom on these pages with all the readers. Together we will address important life and faith issues and how to enhance our Catholic identity.

Key areas that you will find me addressing regularly will be about important Catholic doctrine and beliefs and how they help us raise strong Catholic Christian families. My hope is that you will learn, enjoy, and be challenged by my posts. You may be informed, amused, or even annoyed, but I hope it will in some way improve your Catholic faith.



Saturday, February 28, 2009

A Pro-Life Victory

Check out this great news from Rob K who is the founder of the Catholic Dads blog page to which I'm a contributor. The fight goes on...

Read the blog post here

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Book Review - Quiet Strength


Hey Dads, here's a great book to read. I just finished the book Quiet Strength by former Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy. Coach Dungy isn't Catholic but he has a very strong Christian faith that resonates throughout his book. In fact, more than football, Quiet Strength discusses issues dealing with being a loving husband, a strong father, a good son, and a great friend. In fact, one of his mentors is the Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll who is a strong Catholic.

How did it impact me? It led me back to a conversation my wife, Barb and I have been having for the past three years. Tony and his wife , Lauren have adopted two children in the past several years. Barb and I have discussed the same thing, but I was the one dragging my cold feet. Reading this book during my Holy Hours helped me see that God is telling me its time. So, we have contacted Catholic Community Services and have started down that path. I believe God put this book in my lap in part to lead me this way.

Great book - inspirational and powerful. Oh, by the way, if you're a football fan like me, there's plenty of that in there, too!

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Catholic non-Leadership on Pro-Life

I watched the State of the Union address by new President Barack Obama. Behind him for about 53 minutes were Vice-President Joe Biden and the too-often rising Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. You would think that as a Catholic I would be proud that two practicing Catholics were at the highest level of this government. That the #2 and #3 people politically in this country are Catholic!

Too bad they both overlook the teaching of their faith and have been stalwart champions for the pro-choice movement that continues to annihilate the unborn on our country.

Dear Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Ash Wednesday Memory

It was Ash Wednesday in 1981 and I was a junior in high school. I'll never forget the challenge given to my youth group at St. Augustine's by our pastor. He challenged us to wear a symbol of the Lenten season all 40 days everywhere we went - school, town, movies - everywhere.

We each received a fairly good sized thorn to pin on our shirts. The message was that Christ wore his crown of thorns on Good Friday, so we would show our support for his sacrifice visibly. We were charged to never forget wearing it.

We all got off to a great start. It was actually fun to "educate" our non-Catholic friends on why we were wearing a "tree" on our shirts. Nobody derided us; it was actually great dialogue. Since we did it as a fairly large group, there was a sense of team.

I'm sure the good priest knew what would happen next. I'm guessing it was part of the lesson. On occasion, each of us would forget to pin on our thorn. When this happened, one of us would tear off a small piece and share. By the end of the 40 days, all of our thorns were about 75% gone!

The lesson - we all shared our sacrifice with each other. Not only had we been a visible symbol for Jesus, we had also been support for each other. When one fell (or simply forgot), we were there to pick each other up. In retrospect, I suspect this was the biggest lesson of all.

I look back and think, "Maybe I should wear that thorn again." The reality is that without my team it wouldn't be the same. However, because of that team, the memory and the lesson will live forever.

Have a great Lent.

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy St. Valentines Day

With thanks to American Minute with Bill Federer

In the 3rd century, Emperor Claudius II was faced with defending the
Roman Empire from the invading Goths.

He believed single men made better soldiers so he temporarily forbade
marriage.

He also forced the Senate to deify the former Emperor Gallienus,
including him with the Roman gods to be worshipped.

Legend has it that Valentine was a bishop in Italy who risked the
Emperor's wrath by refusing to worship idols and for secretly
marrying young couples.

Saint Valentine was dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned
him to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off,
FEBRUARY 14, 269AD.

While awaiting execution, it is said he prayed for the jailers' sick
daughter, who miraculously recovered.

He wrote her a note and signed it, "from your Valentine."

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius designated February 14th as "Saint
Valentine's Day."

Signing an X for a kiss began in Medieval times where those who could
not write marked a criss-cross or "Christ's cross" in the presence of
witnesses and kissed it to show sincerity.

The X, or Chi symbol, was the Greek letter used to represent the name
of Christ, as X-Mas for Christmas, and was used as a written form of
the oath "So help me God."

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Thursday, February 12, 2009

In God We Trust

Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency. Please send this to every Christian you know so they can vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off the web page. Poll is still open so you can vote.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

Gladly, as you will see, the God side is winning big!

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Love of Neighbor Taught by a Dog

What an amazing feat this dog performed! How often do we do this for our brothers and sisters?