Praise the Lord, Football Season is Here!

Time for an excellent diversion from all the trials of life...

Official program of the XX WYD 2005

Official program of the XX WYD 2005

THANK YOU!!!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our 30 day appeal in which we asked the readers of this blog and Amy's Open Book to consider buying one copy of her excellent book Here. Now. A Catholic Guide to the Good Life.and of my How To Get The Most Out Of The Eucharist on a number of those days you were able to push both books to the top of Amazon's Catholic bestseller's list!

We appreciate all those who have ordered the books through their local bookstores, or from Our Sunday Visitor directly. The boost in sales has been noted by the publisher.

So far we can only track sales made through Amazon and based on those figures we will sending $269.85 to Food for the Poor. I am still hoping and praying that we can raise that number to $2,000 by the end of September when we will receive royalty payments and a quarterly statement from Amazon. So continue to order books, any books using a link from this or Amy's page and you will be contributing to this effort!

Thanks a billion for all that you have done and we ask for you continued support by recommending the books to your pastor, DRE, RCIA leader, friends (both Catholic and non-Catholic). THANK YOU!

Amy in the News

Sprinkling Holy Water on 'The Da Vinci Code' - New York Times

WANE-TV Coverage You Can Count On: Local Author May Help Shape Future Movie

Good Reading: Award Winning Books The-Tidings.com

HoustonChronicle.com - Da Vinci Code won't translate easily to big screen

'Da Vinci' film: What role for religion? - Arts & Leisure - International Herald Tribune

Remember You are a Sinner

The greatest crisis in the Church today is the loss of consciousness of our own sins. Reform will begin not when we see ourselves as different from the world but accept that we are part of the fallen nature of the world and need Christ to save us!



Then, we will fulfill the law of Christ not to judge...and the sins of others will not give us pause to rejoice but rather to mourn our own sinfulness.



From The Desert Fathers: Selected Sayings:



"At that time a meeting was held at Sketis about a brother who had sinned. The Fathers spoke, but Abba Pior kept silent. Later, he got up and went out. He took a sack and filled it with sand and carried it on his shoulder; then he put a little sand into a small bag that he carried in front of him. When the Fathers asked him what this meant he said, 'In this sack which contains much sand, are my sins which are many; I have put them behind me so that I might not be troubled about them and so that I might not weep. And behold, here are the little sins of my brother which are in front of me, and I spend my time judging them. This is not right. Rather, I ought to carry my sins in front of me and concern myself with them, begging God to forgive me.' The Fathers stood up and said, 'Verily, this is the way of salvation.'"

Behind the News--A Mystical Experience?

You've heard about Susan Torres who on life support gave birth to a child...what you haven't heard is this...Susan Torres' Husband and Parents Reveal Strange Happening on Night of Susan's Tragic Collapse:

The words that both Sonny and Jason believe they heard, before the
life-affirming story of Susan ever reached the ears of a journalist or a
newsman, are the following:

You and others will tell the world of a fight to save a precious life, not to change hardened hearts, but to give hope to those who believe, so that they know that there is more than what they see and hear. Let them come and see for themselves.

Sonny's voice shook as he read the paper on which he had written those
words. "I have a hard time reading the paper--At any other time I would have
thought I was a crazy person having a dream," he said. "But the way this has
taken off, I really question that now."

Thanks to Todd!

Native American Mascots

I regularly walk the grounds of a beautiful convent of the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters on the grounds one will find statues of Our Lady and traditional Catholic images dotted throughout. The sisters are gracious and very helpful, but sadly they are an aging community.



I find their website interesting. An image of Mary in a medal and a "dream catcher" are featured. It made me think of the recent NCAA ruling banning Native American mascots from post-season games--one wonders why "only post season games"? Should we as Catholics be using the spirituality of other religions to promote our faith? Or is part of being a Catholic the assimilation of other faiths into the truth that Christ brings to all religions?