Real Catholic Blog

Despite the best efforts of atheists, the U.S. Postal Service in May approved the issuance of a commerative Mother Teresa stamp. Finally, last Sunday, at a ceremony at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., exactly 13 years after she died on September 5, 1997, the USPS released the stamp. More than 145,000 people signed a nationwide online petition organized by CatholicVote.org to stiffen the spine of the USPS — and it worked. 

Now, let’s go out and buy as many as we can (see American Papist)! What better way to prove we were right, to show America how dear this woman was to all the world and to honor this saintly nun (CatholicVoteAction.org Blog). What better way to show our country the strength and grace of The Catholic Church and to spread the good message of The Church as exemplified by the life of Mother Teresa? As far as a simple, conventional method that’s every bit as powerful as anything in this Internet driven, social media crazed culture . . . nothing!

Worth every cent . . . and then some! The Mother Teresa stamp now is available from the U.S. Postal Service. Time to buy them up!

A recent Wall Street Journal article chronicled the problem evangelical churches are having keeping young members. It’s an interesting turn of media events, so to speak: After years of pounding the Catholic Church for its declining attendance at the expense of rising protestant churches with charismatic pastors, now it seems the media is examining the flight of young evangelicals to other churches.

It’s important for Catholics to understand why this is happening. While many of our dioceses went through (or are still in) a period of “hipness” to ”attract” young people, that’s exactly what drove them away — a lack of substance. While trying to be “relevant” to the young (and even not so young) the Church watered down the Mass and its emphasis on certain Church teachings. While evangelicals got a bump for a number of years by its sheer emotional pull, people soon find out that after a service, when the “alleluias” are over, there isn’t much there, there.

The American Church must never forget the substance and challenge of The Faith. For too long “Modern” Catholicism focused on emotion, not substance. But emotion does have a place — as a tool, not an end. It’s a lesson the Church in America has had to learn the hard way. Sadly, some still have not learned. Perhaps, this new exodus from the evangelical movement will give Catholic dioceses an opening to present the Truth to those so desperately seeking it.

As usual, Michael Voris at RealCatholicTV gets to the heart of the matter. Please take a view and let us know what you think.

Can the Catholic Church learn from the exodus of many from evangelical “mega churches”? 

It’s no secret I’ve become a big Michael Voris fan. It’s hard not to be. He’s bold, he’s aggressive and he’s right. He’s not afraid to confront the evils facing The Church within and beyond its walls. If he seems to focus on the former it’s because it’s the greater threat, as it is with any force trying to bring down an institution.

This week, the founder of RealCatholicTV.com started a series on progressives within The Church and goes into detail about their history, their aims and their motivation. They’ve already brought certain Christian denominations into irrelevancy, thus the schism we’ve seen in the Episcopal Church and the flight of many to the Evangelical movement. Now they want the Catholic Church to turn into nothing more than a social or community club that mires itself in moral equivalency.

For another lane on the same road, read George Neumayr’s piece in the latest issue of The American Spectator. It reveals the media and the political left’s assault on The Church and the Pope. 

Please watch the first two parts of the series. Think about what he says. Then, let me know what you think.

In the begining . . . . Progressives were innocuous.

Now, they have infested themselves in The Church for the purpose of ending it as we know it.

Catholics Come Home posted the video below on its YouTube Channel. It’s entitled, “The Bible proves Catholic beliefs that most protestants deny.” Although it is short, it is powerful, and debunks a few of the primary objections some protestants have toward Catholicism.

Of course, the fact that Catholic teaching comes from the Bible (and not from “some old men in Rome”) should not come as a surprise to anyone. Still, some people (Catholic and protestant) have been conditioned to believe otherwise. But, the fact is, every teaching of the Catholic Church is grounded in Scripture. Otherwise, we could not be one, true, apostolic, universal church. As CCH explains, the video proves Catholic teachings, using Biblical passages, that most protestants deny, including: 

Peter was the first Pope, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession, The Bible alone is not sufficient, and justification by faith and works.

It should be noted that Catholics do consider protestants our separated brothers and sisters. And anyone who is Baptized “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” and believes in Jesus Christ is considered a Christian. But it is within the Catholic faith that the fullness of God’s revealed truth is found.

This video is a great primer on apologetics. Always remember, everything we believe is the Truth and it is the Truth because it is directly from Scripture. 

We’re expecting a lot of new visitors today and over the next week as we are finished with our “soft launch” phase and fully into formal, grand opening launch! We’ve contacted thousands by e-mail and social networking sites since yesterday since Saturday. So, if this is your first visit to RealCatholicBlog, or if you haven’t been back in a few weeks since our soft opening, and want to get to know us better, feel free to visit our very first post, a welcome statement, from our first day, July 31. Additionally, be sure to check out the entire blog, including our About page, Blog Contributors page, and About RealCatholic/Ave Maria at the top of the home page to get a further sense of our mission, history and background. 

We think you’ve landed in the right place and look forward to you joining with us to create a vibrant, growing online community of fellowship and faith in which to further understand the Catholic Church and spread the Gospel.

May the Lord’s Peace and Blessings be upon you always!

Despite the promises of the ”new face of communism” in countries such as China and Vietnam, where freedoms allegedly are granted and the societies gradually gain freedom, communism remains the same ideological dictatorship as it ever was, no matter the country, no matter the so-called modernization of it. Deacon Keith Fournier, of the Diocese of Richmond, Va., has written a piece for Catholic Online (Catholic.org)  that documents the absolute oppression of Catholic priests in Vietnam — physical attacks, arrests and mock trials leading to imprisonment or worse. Yet, our government and the international community does nothing, and even warms up relations with this dictatorship.

Deacon Fournier writes that this hostility is the “New Vietnam War,” but that this “Christianphobia” manifests itself in the West as well — including America — in the anti-life and anti-family movements, as well as in physically dangerous situations in the Middle East and Asia:

“Christianophobia” is a word coined by the Holy See to explain this growing anti-Christian sentiment in our age. It is spreading in the European community, in America and throughout the entire world. It is now showing its violent propensities in Vietnam. …

Over the last few years we have witnessed the evil inflicted against Christians in Iraq, the anti-Christian hostility spreading throughout the entire Middle East, the attacks against Christians in Asia and, in particular, the deadly violence in India. We have seen this evil “Christianophobia” spread into countless other places through the less blatant but still insidious anti-Christian ideology fueling so much of the anti-life, anti-family and anti- freedom ideologies of the declining West.

Sadly, we did not rise up the way we could or should when our brethren were attacked in Iraq. Nor did we act when they killed our brethren in India! We have done little to truly expose the dangers faced by Christians in the land where Jesus walked. In short, we Christians have failed in our watch.

We have another chance now. Ironically it comes in the Nation which so many of us, particularly Americans, still remember with regret, no matter which “side” of the failed Vietnam War we stood on, the Nation of Vietnam. That was then and this is now. There is a new Vietnam War being waged. They are attacking Catholic priests and seeking to silence the voice of authentic liberation, the Catholic Church. We must not fail this time.

Indeed, fail we must not. Pray we must. We also must not be afraid to educate our fellow citizens, Catholic and otherwise, including our elected representatives in Washington, to stand up to this persecution of priests in Vietnam.

Where do you belong? Do you know someone who is longing to belong? Maybe they won’t admit it, but deep down they know it. You know it, too. Encourage whoever it is to return to the Catholic Church. Share this video with him or her, or them. Perhaps the people you share this with will see themselves in these testimonials and again realize the Peace that comes when walking through the doors of the Catholic Church. It is called “Testimonials” and is the third of three videos from Catholics Come Home. (Click here to view and share “Epic” and here to view and share “Movie.”)

People feel the Peace and Love that embrace them when coming home to the Catholic Church.

What if your life was a movie . . . what would you like edited out of it? Or placed into it? It’s a moot point because we can’t change the past. But we can re-establish a relationship with God, our Father. If you know any Catholics who have left the faith, you know they must be in some type of spiritual pain. Bring them home, where, with a renewed faith, all is possible and true hope exists. Share this two-minute Catholics Come Home video with them, entitled, ”Movie.” (To learn more about CCH, please see this previous post and view and share the video there, entitled, “Epic.”)

Just as a good movie needs a good director, a good life needs good direction. Do you know someone whose needs to come home to the Catholic Church?