Saint Francis DeSales Prayer Card Free !

St. Francis DeSales was used by God to bring 60,000 ex-Catholics back to the Catholic faith in the 17th century. He used eloquent preaching as well as hand-written tracts which he slipped under doors of the people of Switzerland.  He is my "go to saint" when I need prayer support for a particular issue related to sharing the Catholic faith.
   I have made a prayer card which you can download and laminate if you wish. Share them with your friends, and  use them as bookmarks to remind you to pray.

Here is the link to print them out

God bless!

Rich Mullins Intended to Convert to Catholicism

See this link to read a letter from Father Matt, a close friend of Rich Mullins.

One Billion Stories

Seth J. DeMoor has started an online apostolate called One Billion Stories. His premise is that there are 1 billion Catholics on the earth and each one has a unique story. He has literally taken to the streets on his bike with a video camera to record these stories of how God has worked in a person's life through His Church.  Each day he has posted a new video or content based on his interviews.
   Once again, the young people are really taking to heart Pope John Paul 2 and Pope Benedict's admonition to become a part of the New Evangelization. Check out his website, keep them in prayer and send a few quid if you can.
Also, if you want, you can have content from his website automatically delivered to your tweet, facebook or other social media using this tool here: Dlvr.it
If we don't take advantage of these opportunities to share our faith, you know someone else will!


Intro Video from OneBillionStories.com on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Galileo!

Today is the 447th birthday of Galileo Galilei. When his name is mentioned, we often hear about the anti-science posture of the Church and the way in which it tortured this seeker of truth. It's pretty easy to quickly make some assumptions about the Catholic Church if we accept as true, the stories, or myths of Galileo.
    Surely the  Church has apologized for some ways in which it responded to Galileo but it is important to note what the Church was responding to. It was not his scientific theories as much as his assertions that the Word of God as expressed in scripture was incorrect. The whole story is rather complicated and I really don't have the background to get into it on my own, but I refer you to an article in Catholic Answers that gives a nice explanation of the controversy.

"I"Pologetics and "I"vangelism

The new social media (Twitter, Facebook,  etc) and the portable devices to access it are major boons to assist the New Evangelization. With the portability of the Iphone and Droid and other smart phones, we are no longer "tied" to a computer and digital camera or video equipment to do blog posts, Tweets, or VLog updates.
      Hopefully this will increase the number of Catholics who harness this media to share the Catholic faith. Let's face it, if we don't evangelize, someone else will. We have already seen the darkest uses of the internet, now we can fight the good faith with these great tools God has given us access to. If Saint Paul and St Peter had access to computers and smart-phones and  facebook type social media, you can be sure they would be getting the word out there with them.
     Yesterday I was looking for information regarding using an external microphone into an iphone for enhanced sound quality when making music videos. I found a  young tech guy's blog called  "Life is a Prayer."
I immediately thought "this sounds kinda' Catholic, and upon reading his bio, it turns out, that Jeff Geerling is a Catholic who spreads the faith not only on Catholic podcasts, websites, but for the St. Louis Archdiocese.
He is a full-time employee of that archdiocese promoting social media and using it for the Church.

May the Lord grant us the wisdom to understand, appreciate and utilize the new media for His glory. 

St. Francis DeSales, intercede for us that we too would be able to share the Catholic faith as you did with as many as God calls us to.

Confession App for IPhone + The Media Goes Wild

The iPhone App for preparing for the sacrament is a great tool to assist Catholics who benefit from a careful examination of conscience. When I heard about it 2 weeks ago I downloaded it and found it to be very helpful. My wife who isn't a gadget queen immediately wanted it, so she's using my ipod touch before confession.
Fighting over the ipod, because of a great app to help us grow in holiness. An interesting situation!
   I can see how it can help Catholics who haven't made use of the sacrament in a long time. It has the act of contrition(in several varieties) , how to proceed, and the best part is the customizable examination of conscience. Even if you are not Catholic, the examination of conscience can be a blessing.
   Though the media has been having a field day misconstruing its purpose, it still once again shows that anything that is done by the Universal Church makes the press. To me, the fact that a little application for the iPhone gets national press in the MSM  is very interesting. Maybe some lapsed Catholics will be "poked" by the Holy Spirit into checking it out.

I always say, "A Catholic without confession is like a stalled car needing a major oil change! " (or somethin' like that)

A New Catholic "New Evangelization" Site

To See Jesus is a Catholic internet apostolate that attempts to show people Jesus through the Gospel of Luke as well as His impact in the lives of those He touches. There are short testimonies posted on their site as well as on u tube.
This is wonderful example of the New Evangelization that our Holy Father, the late John Paul 2 spoke about as well as the great use of the new media to promote the fullness of truth in the Catholic faith.
You can send a link to this site by e mail to your friends through a link on their page .

"An old proverb says: "Success is not one of the names of God." New Evangelization must surrender to the mystery of the grain of mustard seed and not be so pretentious as to believe to immediately produce a large tree. We either live too much in the security of the already existing large tree or in the impatience of having a greater, more vital tree—instead we must accept the mystery that the Church is at the same time a large tree and a very small grain. In the history of salvation it is always Good Friday and Easter Sunday at the same time ...."
Pope Benedict the 16th