everythingcatholic

September 16, 2008

Dear Friends In Christ,

Another day is here and we reach new people every day.  We are at 30 people as of today.  At this rate of 15 people a week we will be around 195 people by December 25, that is over a hundred more past our goal.  For those that just joined us, welcome, I have started a letter campaign to reach Catholics all over the country.  The goal is spreading Catholic Fellowship and offering people a place to be with Jesus.  Often times our lives get filled with the daily routine that we forget to bring Jesus into our lives.  My hope is that when you read this letter you think of Jesus and what he brings into your life.  The letter changes from day to day.  I write about what ever seems to be the Holy Spirits will.  It usually does not take long for each day I sit at this key board and the topic is already at my finger tips.

The other day I came upon an article about Nancy Pelosi, The speaker of the House.  Don’t worry, I am not getting political.  Believe me, she is the last lady that I want to talk about.  It is a sad statement that my brothers and sisters can be so divided by political lines that we often forget to ask for Jesus.  Here is the article I was reading. http://www.catholic-sf.org/FPArticle14b.htm  The article basically says that the Archbishop has not made a decision on denying communion to Ms. Pelosi.  I then wrote a statement yesterday on a Catholic site that stated the following:

 I look at it this way, right now she is receiving the body of Christ and she is a terrible speaker. Can you imagine what she would be like without the Body of Christ? Please, Archbishop I pray that she holds on to communion for the rest of us that must put up with her. 

Of course I was only kidding around.  Most of that statement is true though.  I truly feel that Jesus keeps her in check and that she would be better off then she would with out.  I was torn a new butt by the following which brings me to what I want to say today.

I’m sorry, Paul, I don’t understand why you are praying that Speaker Pelosi contine to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist.  When one is in a state of grave sin, receiving the Eucharist is a defilement of the Eucharist.  Why would you pray that that continue?  How does that benefit the community of believers? 

Everyone has there opinion, but this person immediately rushed to judgment that Pelosi is guilty of a grievous sin.  Ok, she made a mistake.  A sin is only a sin if you consciously do something.  I am giving Ms. Pelosi the benefit of the doubt which we should do as Catholics.  Catholic Fellowship is based on listening to your fellow brother and sister, and listening with an open heart before you shut the dang door in their face.  I do not care who the person is or what they stand for, Jesus would have listened and then he would have prayed.  I pray that the Archbishop makes the right decision.  It is his to make, not the public.  If she did wrong then He alone will make that decision after some serious talks with Jesus.  Who are we to rush to judgment?  What happened to , “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.  Psalms 95: 7-11 

As Catholics we owe it to our fellow Catholics to not to rush to judgment.  Jesus never did.  He hung around the sinners.  He ate with the tax collectors.  He felt they were the ones that needed his help the most.  We as Catholics should feel the same way.  We should still stand up for what we believe in, politically but do it with compassion and understanding.  Things are not always black and white.   Thanks for listening.

Spreading The News

As the summer wanes and fall takes over we must remind ourselves constantly that the days are becoming shorter.  Our mood sometimes goes with the season.  As it gets darker so does our personality.  Let’s spread the good news even more during this time.  My parish is having a fall festival.  I intend on being there making new friends. If we can not become missionaries in our own church how do we expect to go out into the world as examples in Christ?  Go to your church, make some new friends.  Fellow ship starts among our own.  Another idea with the holidays coming up, if you have students from colleges near by, invite a student over for Thanksgiving dinner. 

Updates:

Catholic America Today had some great people sign up to look at its many features.  Please feel free to do this while it is free.  We need the feed back and the help.  Catholicamericatoday.com  This will remain free till Oct. 1, God willing.  Pray for the message.

Here is a comment that I thank the Lord for.  It is good to know that people take the letters seriously.  How did the letter start?  It started with my father.  My cousins in Hawaii made the point, and my sister in California said that they would miss my father’s jokes.  He used to send jokes through email.  I have replaced his jokes with Catholic fellowship.

  Here is a letter from a dear friend in Illinois:

Dear Paul,

Thanks for the email. I have not had the chance to thank you personally for your daily message. It is very uplifting in my life so full of chaos. I try to remember that among the weeds there is a rose, you can only bloom when you are planted. So much has gone on in my life, so many new things I don’t know how to juggle. I take one day at a time, one hour and sometimes one minute at a time. This keeps me going!

Write me.  I would love to hear from all of you.  I hope all of you had a good day at work.  God Bless.

Vern Paul

Pray for the following brothers and sisters,

For St. Thomas Aquinas in Las Vegas that they may find their funding,

For a sister in New Mexico who has a son in Iraq,

For two priests in Illinois that have lost their way,

For a sister in Illinois whose boy friend is away and hopefully safe,

For that same sister that she may graduate,

For the brother who is lonely in California,

For the sister who has a daughter in Illinois and wants her to be safe,

For the brother who prays that all his problems may be resolved,

We ask all our brothers and sisters through out America, this great country of ours to pray for us.

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