A big part of the New Evangelization is the restatement of the obvious. Catholic convert Don Smith gives fantastic advice for identifying and seizing important evangelistic moments.
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Fr. Stephen on Religious Liberty. Religious liberty – free exercise rather than mere freedom to worship – is the first and primary human right
“But when he knows that he is not only worse than all those in the world, but is also guilty before all people, on behalf of all and for all, for all human sins, the world’s and each person’s, only then will the goal of our unity be achieved. […] Only then will our hearts be moved to a love that is infinite, universal, and knows no satiety.” (4.1.2) – Dostoevsky, “Brothers Karamazov”
Our trivializations of human dignity and human sexuality have far darker consequences than we are willing to admit. Pray for those victimized directly by the sex trade and indirectly by…….us.
by our selfish hedonism
by our private acti
ons that “aren’t hurting any one”
by our sexualization of children
by our careless and thoughtless devaluation of human life and dignity
by our neglect of the health and welfare of real people in our communities
by our foolish belief that we can have a hook-up culture of contraception, abortion, sterilization, pornography, sexualization of the youth, etc….. and yet somehow avoid pedophilia, rape, prostitution, and sex trafficking.
by our sexualization of children
by our careless and thoughtless devaluation of human life and dignity
by our neglect of the health and welfare of real people in our communities
by our foolish belief that we can have a hook-up culture of contraception, abortion, sterilization, pornography, sexualization of the youth, etc….. and yet somehow avoid pedophilia, rape, prostitution, and sex trafficking.
We reap what we sow. None of us can presume to think that this is not our problem.
Our Faith on Tap group watched this chilling documentary last night. Not for young eyes, but the information is important.
From the documentary website:
“Modern slavery.” It sounds like a paradox. Hasn’t humanity progressed? Didn’t we leave slavery dead on the battlefields of the American Civil War? Didn’t social reformers like Lincoln and Wilberforce legislate against such cruelty over a hundred years ago? So we had thought. But, with over 27 million enslaved people in the world, human trafficking is once again the battlefront of the century.
Regardless of nationality, victims are systematically stripped of their identity, battered into gruesome submission, and made to perform humiliating sexual acts on up to 40 strangers every night. Most are held in dingy apartments and brothels, forced to take heavy doses of illegal drugs, and monitored very closely. Victims are often thrown into such ghastly oppression at 13 years old. Some are abducted outright, while others are lured out of poverty, romantically seduced, or sold by their families.
Nefarious, Merchant of Souls, is a hard-hitting documentary that exposes the disturbing trends in modern sex slavery. From the very first scene, Nefarious ushers you into the nightmare of sex slavery that hundreds of thousands experience daily. You’ll see where slaves are sold (often in developed, affluent countries), where they work, and where they are confined. You’ll hear first-hand interviews with real victims and traffickers, along with expert analysis from international humanitarian leaders.
From initial recruitment to victim liberation—and everything in between—the previously veiled underworld of sex slavery is uncovered in the groundbreaking, tell-all Nefarious, Merchant of Souls.
My wife Teresa, our friend Mary Clare Piecynski, and I were interviewed last year by my father, Marcus Grodi, on the experience of living the faith encountered by young adults in the Catholic church today. I hope you enjoy!
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In this special 3-part video, Marcus Grodi interviews three Catholic young adults on the experiences and struggles faced by young Catholics in trying to live out their faith in the 21st century.
About the Guests:
JonMarc and Teresa Grodi are recent newlyweds and more recent parents (since this interview was recorded last year) who studied and were involved with campus ministry at Bowling Green State University and the St. Thomas More University Parish. JonMarc has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and he works full-time as the Communications Coordinator for the Coming Home Network International, freelances as a web-designer, and blogs at www.restatementoftheobvious.com. In addition to being a full-time mom, Teresa has a master’s degree in History and freelances as a writer and copy-editor. Both help to run a local “Faith on Tap” group and occasionally speak at Catholic events.
Mary Clare Piecynski is a life-long Catholic and staff member of the Coming Home Network International. Mary Clare graduated from Ave Maria University in 2005 with a degree in Theology. She works with lay men and women, young adults, and spouses of clergy who are on the journey to the Catholic Church, along with coordinating the CHNetwork’s monthly newsletter. Mary Clare assisted for several years with RCIA, takes part in various Catholic young adult activities in her area, and is privileged to be a Big Sister with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
Here is another among the many excellent videos by Fr. Robert Barron. The video clarifies the common but (I think) often misused or misunderstood term “faith”.
This particular video caught my eye and then my immense interest and excitement upon watching because Fr. Barron beautifully and concisely explains faith as it needs to be explained to the modern mind, for whom the word has so much baggage that it almost loses all meaning.
Using human relationships as an analogy, Fr. Barron shows how faith is not only normal but necessary in our relationships with both the human and the divine . In his example, Fr. Barron explains that while we can and do use our reason to learn much about another person, there is a whole world of knowledge about that person we will never know without them telling us: their thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, desires, goals, etc. To know a person on this level we must listen to them speak and at some point make the choice to trust what they say. Without this trust, human relationships are impossible. ( I once used a very similar example and line of thought in a talk I gave to high schoolers about the nature of faith. Great minds think alike, and mediocre minds, like mine, sometimes get lucky.)
This is insightful because faith is seldom thought of or talked about in a relational sense. Often faith is reduced by both believers and nonbelievers to being blind belief, superstition, or a mere wager on God’s potential existence based on the probabilities of risk and reward. But this is simply not what Catholics mean by religious faith.
In article 26 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church it states, “faith is man’s response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man”. Humans cannot initiate faith on our own (as they could if faith simply were an act of blind belief or a bet). Rather, faith is a relational response to God. God reveals himself and it is our decision to trust this revelation and act upon it which constitutes faith.
I think this idea of faith clarifies and makes sense out of a term that is often used quite vaguely. However, I think it is also challenging. It implies that faith really is about an encounter with God, a relationship with God. It is about trusting and obeying a live author who entered His own story in the person of Jesus Christ and remains present and approachable in prayer and in the sacraments of the Church.
If, contrary to its detractors, faith is not mere blind belief, superstition, or a cosmic wager, but rather a “yes” to the God who reveals Himself to us in Christ, the Word, through the natural world, art, beauty, the Church, the sacraments, and in our own hearts, there are important questions to be pondered by believers and non-believers alike.
Have I rejected or feared “faith” because I thought it was superstition or a blind jump? Am I open enough to Truth that I would accept and put faith in God if I really did encounter Him? Have I really sought God Himself or rather just some mental proposition about God? Though I purport to “believe”, have I avoided this kind of faith in God for fear that He may not really be there? Have I avoided this kind of faith in God for fear that He really might be there after all, and want more from me than I am willing to give?
Here are a couple of my articles that ask and ponder similar questions:
Eucharistic Adoration: Alone with the Perilous Question
Two Fears – The Reasons We Avoid Discovering Whether God Is Really There
The com-box is open. I would love to know your thoughts!