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.



Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Lessons from Rocky Balboa

Last Saturday night, my wife and daughter were out so the dogs and I watched the original Rocky movie from 1976. Something three guys (albeit two canines) could enjoy.

Although I've seen it before, one scene in particular struck me. It was the night before the big fight with Apollo Creed and Rocky was doubting his ability to compete, much less beat the champ. His comments that night were telling. He said, "I just want to go the distance with him. No one ever has. If I could just hear that final bell, then I know I've done something..."

As the fight wages on, Rocky is knocked down several times. In the second to last round, he goes down for the count only to rise at with one count to go before losing. He makes it to the final bell and although he lost the fight, he won his battle.

It amazes me how many times I get knocked down during life. No, they aren't always big blows, but if you live long enough you will have your shares of shots to the body and staggering right hooks. Do I always have the resiliency to stand up and take more?

As Rocky got up the final time, I thought of Jesus getting up after the third fall on the road to Calvary. We have a cross to bear during our journey of life. I can envision Jesus in our corner saying "Get up! Get up! I'm here with you."

My lesson learned from this 33-year old movie is that we need to fight until the final bell. Our nemesis may not be Apollo Creed. It may be the devil and all the doubts, hurdles, and temptations he throws in our paths. Like Job, we too will overcome as long as we have Jesus in our corner.

Vivat Jesus,

Dan

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Twitter for Faith

One of the cover stories in this month's National Catholic Register is using social media tools like Twitter to evangelize the Catholic faith. I have found a multitude of Catholic Twitter accounts and follow many of them.

If you would like to better learn how to effectively and efficiently use Twitter, I have a training to do just that. It's set up as a business teleseminar, however the same strategies may be used to advance your message of faith.

If you are interested in learning more about how to use Twitter and Facebook, click here.

Vivat Jesus,

Dan