The right to life.

Pardon my deviating from our normal reading list, but with one book per month there's alot of down time. Actually, this post is about a short book that I read the other day. It's called "Mama! Why did you kill us?".

This is a true story of a Catholic woman who was haunted by the souls of the seven infants she had aborted during her married life. The story also shows her contrition and atonement and of God's mercy.

Originally I wanted our book club to read this during the month of January (05). It seemed a reasonable subject considering the right to life march happens in late January.

The impression I got from reading it seemed to be more about the haunting and the guilt that this woman experienced verses the peace found in God's mercy. It did make me think about the soul of an unborn child. It also made me think about the influence that our friends can have on us, both good and bad.

Our society says that an unborn child is not a person. How sad. We are all created in God's image and likeness. We have been given an eternal soul. During Christmas we are reminded of God's great love for us, so much so that He sent His only Son to us (John 3:16).

This book was short (50 pages) and to the point. It was disturbing though, so I'm not sure I would recommend it, but it does compell me to pray for those thinking of abortion and for the poor souls of aborted children.

Jesus Christ is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

A couple things on my mind. On Tuesday, December 21, the kids at St. Martin's school put on their Christmas play. It was really nice. Of course, I was very interested in watching the kindergardener's perform as my daughter is in that class. They sang a song which had a lyric "He is the reason....Jesus Christ is the reason for the season".

Wow, how true!

Last night (or first thing this morning depending on how you look at it), I went to midnight mass at St. Martin's. I went by myself, that is to say, without my wife and kids (they were all asleep). You could hear Christmas carols outside the walls of the church. It was a cold, clear winter night and St. Martin's church was packed! It warmed my heart to see the church filled to capacity. Standing room only! Father Dan delivered a home run homily too!

I was somewhat saddend on Christmas morning however, to see plenty of room in church at the 10am mass. I was actually surprised. I thought my family and I might have to stand up through mass, but we didn't. There was plenty of room at the inn this morning (if you know what I mean).

What a gift it is to celebrate Christmas. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son (John 3:16). How awesome is that?!! He gave His life for us! For our sins. For our salvation!

I am so grateful and feel so unworthy. I hope and pray for an increase in faith. For my own faith and the faith of my family, our community and the whole world!

Jesus Christ came for us. He is the reason for the season. This is why we celebrate Christmas! God bless you all and merry Christmas.

Confessions of a Roman Catholic

As a cradle Catholic, often times I've just accepted my faith without knowing the scriptural basis for many of my beliefs. Over time, many of my non-catholic friends would ask questions about Catholicism and I (regrettably, more often than not) was unable to answer them convincingly.

Over the past year, I started reading books with Christian inspiration and informational themes. The 'Confessions of a Roman Catholic' by Paul Whitcombe was one of these books.

This short booklet (55 pages) explores the conversion of a Protestant minister to the Catholic faith. It is a short and easy read and I found it very informational.

It was very comforting to read about a person with so much scriptural knowledge who was not Catholic and became Catholic after years of careful examination of scripture, comparative religious studies and prayer.

As you read this book, do any author's doubts sound familiar? Have you ever struggled with your faith?

I know I did. For many years, I, like many (so called) Catholics, did not really believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Only after careful reading and meditating on John 6: 25-71, prayer during Eucharistic adoration, discussions with parish priests, readings of various conversion stories (such as 'Confessions of a Roman Catholic') and other informational sources (e.g. 'Eucharistic Quizzes') did it finally make sense to me! Jesus Christ is TRULY PRESENT in the blessed sacrament!

The St. Martin's book club meets on the first Thursday of every month, from 8pm - 9pm in the 6th grade classroom of the school. All are welcome, even if you haven't read the book. Our next meeting is Thursday, January 6th. We will begin with a prayer, then discuss this book (Confessions of a Roman Catholic). We'll hand out our book for January at that time ("Fatima's Message For Our Times", and "I Wait For You") and then discuss what books we should read for the month of February.

Please feel free to post your thoughts on this book here, or any book you may have read that you feel is worth reading as a group.

Have a merry Christmas and may God bless you!