Sunday, March 13, 2005

Blogging for God

From The Miami Herald.com:





In the virtual pews of the Christian blogging world, you'll come across everything from lapsed and relapsed Catholics to cheeky seminary students. Navigating the spiritual Web can be overwhelming -- at www.blogs4god.com/linker/index.php, you can connect to 1,230 Christian blogs. So, for those who missed the 2005 Catholic Blog Awards, here are several popular Christian blogs.



• amywelborn.typepad.com/openbook. Catholic scholar, columnist and speaker Amy Welborn was named ''Best Overall'' and ''Most Informative'' by judges of this year's Catholic blog awards.

Mel Gibson's Message to Schiavo Parents: "Hammer God with Prayers"

He gets it, "God has put himself into our hands"...think about that when you receive the Eucharist today.



Also encouragement from Fr. Tom, a former classmate of mine.



From TCPalm : Mel Gibson asks for prayer for Terri Schiavo:



"The family was buoyed by a call from Gibson, who subsequently issued a two-sentence statement voicing his support for the Schindlers' efforts to keep their daughter alive.



'He told me we should never, ever, ever give up,' said Bob Schindler, who talked to 'The Passion of the Christ' director Friday. 'He said to hammer God with prayers and hammer him hard...



...Saturday's gathering was hopeful.



"We will be written into the history books, because we will be successful in the end," Thomas Euteneuer, a Catholic priest who heads the anti-abortion group Human Life International, told the crowd.

Miraculous Image?

The cover of my new book includes the art of Carol Elder Napoli. It is a piece that I purchased at Mayfaire in Lakeland quite a few years ago. At the time when I only had a small stations of the cross book that I had co-authored with Amy, I told Carol that I intended to use the image on the cover of a future book. Years passed and the cover design on my new book was desided upon...one that would focus on the a "host" being offered to a communicant. But that never happened even though the design was fairly simple. One day the designer and I were talking about the cover and Carol's painting popped into my head. I found it at home, brought it in and Tyler the designer scanned it and then tried the image on his cover design. The results were amazing!

The original piece which now hangs in my office is small, probably 3" by 4"--the reproduction on the cover is much larger, but what has struck everyone from the designer to the production people to the artist herself is how vibrant the colors reproduced on the cover. Those of us who work on such things know that art on screen seldom translates to print...but in this case it did.

I can't help but think that Carol's painting in itself will help a lot of people to get more out of the Eucharist just by meditating on her painting and why she did the piece in the first place(which she tells us at the end of the book).

Pope John Paul will Leave Hospital Tonight

Gives Angelus message today...



FromTop News Article | Reuters.com:



'Dear brothers and sisters, welcome, thank you for your visit,' he said in clear Italian.



In Polish he then greeted pilgrims from his birthplace in the southern town of Wadowice, bringing tears to their eyes.



He concluded his brief appearance by saying in Italian: 'Greetings in Christ. A good Sunday and good rest of the week to everyone.'



The Pope has been in hospital since Feb. 24 when he underwent a tracheotomy, an operation to open an airway and relieve severe breathing problems.



Minutes after he appeared at the hospital window, the Vatican issued a surprise announcement saying the Pope would leave hospital Sunday evening and continue his convalescence at the Vatican."

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Pope Inspires Fellow Sufferers

From Centre Daily Times | 03/12/2005 | A divine inspiration:

"As the pontiff endures his latest hospitalization, Romanowski is offering her own marathon of rosary prayers from her Philadelphia rowhouse.

Romanowski, 90, who has severe arthritis, sat in her living room last week and, in her native Polish, described her deepest wishes. They were translated by her daughter and prayer partner, Theresa.

'Whenever she feels worse, because she has good days and bad days, she always thinks about him because he's carrying his cross, and she wants to carry the cross of Christ with him,' Theresa Romanowski said. 'She wishes she could take his pain more for herself.'

The Catholic faithful always have felt a close spiritual bond to their pope. But the Roman- owskis and others say this pope, with his mounting infirmities, is uplifting them in new ways."

Some Good Quotes

Paraphrased Newman:

"People prefer their preferences to the truth."

St. Augustine:

"Love of self till God is forgotten or love of God till self is forgotten."

Archbishop Bruno Forte:

"Life is either a pilgrimage or a foretaste of death."

Not Even for One Million Dollars

He turns it down. Now given that his contention is that she mentioned once while they were watching television together that she would never want to be in that state...something that just about anyone would say when they are healthy and young--it makes you wonder what his motivation is.



From Businessman Offers $1 Million to Keep Terri Schiavo Alive:



"We are here today to announce that our client, Robert Herring, Sr., is making an offer to Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, which could save Terri's life.



Terri Schiavo is currently in a coma in Florida. Michael Schiavo has asked the court for permission to disconnect her feeding tube, which would result in her death. Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schiavo, have opposed the request. After a long court battle the court has set March 18, 2005 for the removal of Terri's feeding tube."