http://cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog Chuck's Catholic Site: The Blog Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:20:01 -0600 http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=0c8c33773ff1af3d66a9cec2aa46a645_4af8e9e7 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:19:51 -0600 Jesus told the apostles you will be lead where you do not wish to go. Sometimes God will lead us down a path that we ourselves would not have chosen, but if we stay the course that road will end in Grace. You may encounter bumps along the way, but God will lead you and protect you if you stay the course. http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=d50de069f9e5fb63b279f2af6f47f100_49aad8c8 Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:49:44 -0600 Today in Sunday Religious education we had a quick lesson, and then we had a review and took questions from the kids. These 6th graders are a inquisitive bunch. I love answering their question as much as they love asking them. 6th graders are always trying to find ways around things. The question are usually filled with, what if. We adults need to be more like these kids. By that, I mean we need to seek answers. It seems that after confirmation adults seem to think that we have arrived, all of our learning is over. Nothing could be further from the truth. With a Church history of 2,000 years we could learn something everyday about our faith. The Bible says seek and you will find. We need to seek more. We need to become as children. When I look into the faces of these 6th graders I see future priest, nuns, monks, and even future catechist. Someday one of these kids are going to be teaching my grand kids the faith. As teachers of the faith we must guide these young people to see that the church is theirs and that they need to take a active role in it. Do I have all the answers? Not even close. I try to learn something new everyday about my faith and draw closer to my Lord. When I watch a student contemplate the things they have just heard, it makes me realize that I need to constantly be contemplating the things of the Lord. Lent has arrived once again, and what better time to look deep within myself and correct my faults. My prayer is that by Easter, I will have cleared out enough cobwebs to see clearly the areas in which I need to grow. I pray that I will seek answers to my question with the same urgency that the 6th graders do. May God's grace be with us all, this Lenten season. http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=e3212ea7204d0da0ad24bbe3aafd3eb5_4599637c Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:39:40 -0600 http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=6079f7b31bc45efd07cd5100482844d0_454e8bfe Sun, 05 Nov 2006 19:12:30 -0600 Today at Mass, we sang the Magnificat. This is Mary's response to Elizabeth. The Magnificat can be found in Luke chapter 1 verse 46-55. This is how it goes, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever. As we sang the words, rejoices in God my Savior, I just happen to look over at our statue of the Pieta. The Pieta is a statue with Mary holding Jesus in her arms right after he has been taken down from the cross. I wonder if Mary's Magnificat went through her mind at that moment. 33 years ago she had sang out loud and rejoiced in the fact that God had given her a son and not just any son but His Son. I wonder if her soul rejoiced in God at that moment. I bet it did, I think she knew. The Bible is clear that Mary Magdalene, the Apostles and a few other followers were not expecting to see Jesus again. But it never mentions his mother being shocked to see Him after the Crucifixion. I think at the moment of His death I think Mary felt a great sorrow and a tremendous loss, but I also think she felt joy. I think she believed that her son was indeed God. I don't think that her knowing that eased the pain of her only son dying. Have any of you ever had a child go through surgery or suffer a serous injury? Most of us break down at the moment we are told they are going to be alright. That's the way it was for me, as soon as the nurse came out and said my son had made it through the surgery, I broke down. I think the magnitude of knowing what just happened and what could have happened hits you. I think she knew at that moment how every parent feels when they lose a child. So many question arise just from one little glance at a statue. I thank God for giving his Church the wisdom to realize the importance of art just as he used it in the Temple. May the Holy Mother of God pray for us all the days of our lives http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=7e1536282a2e15e256bdb3fdd1b393cf_454e8196 Sun, 05 Nov 2006 18:28:06 -0600 The weekend of Nov. 4-5 2006 will mark a historic moment in the History of Protestant Christianity. The U.S. Episcopal Church is installing the first female presiding bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Nevada bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will be the head pastor and chief administrator of the two-million-member U.S. Episcopal Church, and she will represent the American church around the world. The Episcopal Church is deeply divided on issues of gay marriage, and the ordination of gay bishops. Many believe that U.S. conservatives will not be part of a denomination that holds views they believe are contrary to Scripture and church teaching. Liberals it seems would rather see their church die then to back off their views. Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay priest who was ordained a Bishop on Halloween night 2003, has this to say about Scripture: "Some of the folks, who are arguing against this, particularly on biblical grounds, are trying to take us to a place, in terms of our own study of scripture that has never been our tradition. It's the tradition of some other denominations, but it's never been the Anglican tradition to take scripture literally. We take it seriously. But we've never taken it literally. It's the Word of God, not the words of God." Now wait a minute here, lets look at this closely, "It's the Word of God, not the words of God" I was under the impression that the Bible is called the Word of God because it is the words of God. So for 2,000 years the "word of God" was considered to be the "words of God" inspired by the Holy Spirit, but now because they don't line up with our politically correctness now "word of God" is just a title? It is going to be interesting to watch this unfold. I wonder what the reformers would think about this? The weight of this problem is huge, because there is no definitive voice in the Episcopal Church, there is no one who has the authority to say this is not going to happen. Today we have 33,000 different denomination because of doctrinal issue such as this one. What will those in the Episcopal Church do who oppose women ordinations and Gay Bishops? They will do what protestantism has always done, they will break off from the U.S. Episcopal Church and form their own or they will merge with another branch. My prayer are with those who stick to the belief that the Word of God is just that, God's word. http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=68ab70a9bf3bfeb6fe2a32f3bdf9f6b5_4519abdb Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:38:19 -0500 Check this out, there is a group out there called, Rapture Notification Service. For a small fee they will notify you 30 minutes before the rapture takes place so you can make peace with God. Well isn't that special. Peter couldn't do it heck even Christ couldn't tell ya when the end was coming, but at Rapture Notification Service we have all the answers. You will recieve a fancy Rapture card, and yes they do take visa, mastercard, and americanexpress, which by the way, at the rapture you will want to leave home with out it. I know, I know, you think I'm making this up but for those of you who have nothing better to do then read my sloppy written blog, check it out for your self https://www.rapturenotification.com/splashPage.hg People are either stupid or guliable. Stupid to think I'm going to use my Mastercard to sign up for this ripoff. Some are goofy enough to do it. I would hope that none are goofy enough to think this is for real, but you never know, do you. I remember back in the 70s when we were all buying "pet rocks". For you younger ones out there who had heard about these "rocks" from your parents and thought they were messing with your minds, nope it was for real, I had one. Somebody went out in their driveway got a rock glued some eyeballs on it and sold it to my mother. I also had " Pet sea monkeys", a spring, although we called it a slinky. I used to buy 10 cent bubble gum and throw away 5 baseball cards now worth thousands of dollars. Come to thank of it, sign me up, maybe a rapture card will give my great grandkids a good laugh 70 years down the road, if nothing else they might be able to trade it in for a piece of bubble gum. Until next time my praying two legged friends May God grant us his grace so that we may laugh at our self and once in a while at those along side of us, the Peace of Christ be with you http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=870f06d5f8095cedc7210f31c49f793c_44f1e882 Sun, 27 Aug 2006 13:46:26 -0500 Hello, my fellow Catholics; I am terrible about saying thank you to God. I would imagine most of us are. Take for example a recent prayer request, my cousin was thought to have cancer in her thyroid and in her lungs. The thyroid can be removed without much trouble I am told. I went to my adoration hour and I wrote her name in the book for prayer request, I knelt down and said a few prayers for her my main prayer was for her lungs to be clear and cancer free, a few days later I got a call that they were indeed free of cancer. For two days I went about my merrily way, until it hit me that I had not said thank you to my Creator for his answer to my prayer. I suppose there is just some times when I know he is going to answer it, so after I pray, I don't dwell on it anymore. I know that through the years there have been many times when God has answered my prayers and it has slipped my mind to say thank you, when I realize this I compare myself to the ungrateful servant because there are a lot of similarities. So this is my promise to God our Father that I will try harder to see my blessings, and to all my brothers and sisters, especially St. Michael, Saint Rita, St Anthony, St's. Jerome, Clare, Patrick, Joan of Arch, Rose, Lucy and the many other saints I call on to pray for my family, I say thank you, for always being there for me, your presence in my life is always welcome and always a blessing. Almighty Father the next time I kneel in prayer and I have a request, I promise to try harder to remember to say thank you when your answer arrives; yes Lord, even if it's in the form of a no. For any time the Great God of the universe answers one of my feeble prayers even if it's no, I am still blessed that he has made the time to answer me at all. One request before I go, [you knew there would be] please help me to become more grateful, and by the way thanks for listening. With Love Your spoiled rotten kid http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=ae4add8f365412594086ff763e734720_449765db Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:04:59 -0500 The Feast of Corpus Christi is a special feast day in our parish. We have a Eucharistic procession through the neighborhood with the Eucharist under a canopy, incense, song, the Knights of Columbus in full dress, and just about every altar server we have, it truly is a wonderful sight. This year was a little more special; it was my 16-year-old sons first time serving at Mass as a Guardian of the Sacred Mysteries (High School male, altar server), it just happen to be on Fathers Day, and it fell on June 18, my mothers birth day. Growing up, Mom was the spiritual head of the family, she passed away in 93, my son was almost 4 years old at the time. As a parent I tend to want my kids involved in the parish, it alway broke my heart that my son was not interested in altar serving. God only knows, why I backed off and didn't push him to do it. Today I glad I didn't push, because this was his own decision; I'm sure a Grandmothers prayer might have had something to do with it. Truth be known, it was probably the prayers of both his Grandmothers. Thanks be to God for a mothers prayer. About two weeks after I had mentioned to our priest to keep Adam in mind for the guardians my son came home and told me he was joining, so thanks be to God for the prayers of a parish priest also. The reason I decided to write this, is to give hope to my fellow parents, who are in the same position I was, there is hope, some times we parents need to get out of Gods way and let him do his work. I know it's hard, and I struggle daily with it, I like to be involved in my kid's lives, and there can come a time when we get in Gods way as he is trying to work. I wonder if pride is the reason for it, maybe we think we can do a better job then God or maybe it's a control issue I don't know. This I do know, if God can get it through my thick scull to move over, he can get it through anyone's head. I'm just thankful he cares enough to do it. If you would like to see a picture of the procession, I have a couple of them on my home page, my son is the one in the glasses, please keep him in your prayers, as he serves the Church. May Almighty God bless our children with a abundance of faith http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=c0c3ad92ff4c9f7459ee475cee17600a_448c6211 Sun, 11 Jun 2006 13:33:53 -0500 I have heard people say that the papacy, is not ordained from God and that at one time there were as many as three popes at one time. Three really? Wow! Actually there were three men claiming to be Pope at one time, no big deal everyone knew there was only one Pope. Just as, in the presidential elections Al Gore and George Bush both claimed to have won the election, therefore both claimed the presidency. No American thought we had two presidents, we all knew there was only one. Some think if we had more then one man claiming the chair of Peter today, it would shake the foundation of the Catholic Church and bring it to its knees. How many of you think this to be true? Let's take a look and see just how damaging this would be in today's high tech world, where information is at the tip of your fingertips. During the middle ages, people had no phones; there were no computers, no email, news traveled rather slowly, unlike today when we find out the news minutes after it happens. So I understand how people could think it would have a deep effect upon us Catholics in this day and age. Many more of us would know of "competition for the Papacy" we would learn of it quicker and it would have a greater effect. Would you agree so far? Ok, since we are agreed then let us take a look at a few Popes that I, a Catholic, have never heard of until very recently. I would imagine 95% of Catholics have never heard of these "popes", and probable 99% of the non-Catholic world. Keep in mind this is suppose to cripple the Catholic Church. Remember the lovable, and saintly Pope John Paul II, well it appears that he had some competition. American Earl Pulvermacher (Puis XIII), was born in 1918, Pulvermacher entered the Order of Capuchins in 1942 and was ordained in 1946 and then went on to spend many years working as a priest in Japan and Australia. For Pulvermacher things began to go wrong in the Catholic Church after the death of Pius XII and then the election of John XXIII in 1958, sound familiar. Earl is a real "it all went wrong at Vatican II kind of guy". Eventually Pulvermacher discovered a few fellow dissenters and in October 1998 a conclave was organized to elect a new Pope. This conclave differed in several respects to the ones we normally associate with the election of Popes. Instead of being held in Rome this alternative conclave was held in Montana, How about that, the good ole U.S.A. will be famous for holding a papal election. Well maybe not, you see most of the electors phoned in their votes, I'm wondering if they were wearing, scull caps or Stetsons? The result of the conclave was the election of Pulvermacher, imagine that. They even had the white smoke to announce to the world that a new Pope had been chosen; I doubt his neighbors even paid much attention, let alone the whole world. That one really brought us to our knees and by the way, if you would like a "papal blessings" just drive out to Springdale, Washington, you'll find the papal throne of Earl "Pius XIII" out there on the west coast. Another "modern Pope" that rocked the world was Michel Collin. Collin was a Catholic Priest and a member of the Order of the Sacred Heart. He was dismissed from the order and excommunicated from the Church in 1951 after declaring himself to be Pope Clement XV in 1950, that must have been some breakfast that morning, " mmm great cornflakes, I think I'll proclaim myself Pope this morning. Collin established himself and the headquarters of his movement at St. Jovite, Canada. Among Clement XV's supporters was a group called International Get Acquainted Program, a UFO cult. Yes, you guessed it, he did predict the end of the world, it seems that all the UFO cults do that. Clements date? February 20th 1969, oh these crazy UFO cults and their doomsday predictions, they always seem to be a little off do they not.. Collins resigned from his "papal throne" in 1968 and died in 1974, lets us pray he repented of his errors and awaits us in heaven. Then there is Chester Olszewski of Pennsylvania, a defrocked Episcopalian priest who became Pope Peter II in 1980. I have always wondered why we never had a Peter II, I guess I'm just ignorant because we not only had one we have had several, Pierre Henri Bubois of Brussels, claimed to be a modern day Pope Peter, another still is the German Julius Tischler and yet another is Maurice Achieri of Le Perreux, France who became a "Pope" in 1995. Francis Konrad Schuckardt of Spokane, Washington, declared himself Hadrian VII in 1984, and then there is Pope Valeriano who was declared Pope in 1995 by his followers or follower. Pope Benedict the XVI was a exciting election for me, the first time a conclave was held since my becoming Catholic what a exciting time, but even "Gregory XIX" or Reinaldus Michael Benjamins conclave tops that conclave of Benedict for Gregory was crowned by angels in 1993 how about that angels? Then there is Clemente Dominguez y Gomez, a Spaniard who took the pontifical name Gregory XVII. Gomez was born in Seville on the 23rd April 1946. My all time favorite American Pope, and you thought an American had never been elected, is David Bawden of Kansas who became Pope Michael I in 1990. Michael even has his own Website, were you can read his papal encyclicals. He is even mentioned in the Bible as the end times Pope, now I know for 2,000 years we had all thought that Daniel 12: 1 referred to Michael the Arch Angel but apparently we were all wrong. I'm sure you will all be glad to know that the "holy Fathers" (Michael) intentions for the month of June; is that the Holy Ghost will inspire all people to come to a knowledge and acceptance of the truth. Lets pray that his intentions are heard then maybe just maybe, "pope" Michael will come back home to Rome, were he truly belongs, because to be honest I just can't stand the thought of a Pope living in Kansas. So there ya go, some modern claimants to the Papal throne, I wonder if Benedict realizes he has so much competition for the Job. Even with all of our modern communications the vast majority has never heard of these "men" so I can't see how three men claiming to be Pope 500 years ago, in a age devoid of modern communication could have been such a big deal, when today we have so many claimants to the See of Peter and no-one seems to take notice. A wise man once said, "how can you, the enemies of the Church, expect to bring about her demise from the outside, when we ourselves have not been able to do it from within during that last 2,000 years? Thanks be to God, for Pope Benedict, a true and lovable Pope and a worthy successor of St. Peter as the Vicar of Christ. To all those who follow these other (Popes) there is only one Vicar of Christ, and that is the successor of St. Peter, his name is Benedict XVI, he resides in Rome and has been selected by the Holy Spirit to guide the faithful so whether it's pride, a problem with obedience or to much ambition, you are being ask to repent and return to the one true Church of Christ, and to a end your prodigal journey. Your eternity and the eternity of your followers and your own future generations depend on it. To set your self apart from the Body of Christ is to be Anti-Christ. My dear brothers please come home; we await you with open arms. http://www.cmj459.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=c46b248ac8335d1ddd219c5342a3e3fb_4485ea24 Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:48:36 -0500 Hello friends, today I think I'll ramble about the "The first Church of Chuck". In my Parish, (St. Patrick) we have three beloved priest, all three are very Holy Men. For about 2 years we had everything any Parish could have wanted. We have Perpetual Adoration, great homilies, a little Latin, some chanting, and three, very personal priests, that's just the beginning I could go on but I'll stop. Now in the "First Church of Chuck" life would be like this for years to come. Father Ted would be ours and ours alone, Father Randy would live here so long he'd start considering himself a "North Ender", and Father Thom would not be "shared" with the Poor Clares, he would be ours exclusively.. That is how the "first Church of Chuck" would be ran, so it is no wonder that Christ in his great wisdom founded his own Church instead of letting me do it. You see in the Church that Jesus formed; things are looked at a little differently then they are in the "first Church of Chuck". Things like, the needs of others, there are a lot of seminarians out there who need Priest like Father Randy to teach them, and we need priest like Father Randy teaching this new breed, so no matter how much I'm going to miss him I understand, after all God in his loving mercy has answered our prayers for vocations, now he needs our lovable Father Randy to do what he does best and that is to teach. Now what about Father Thom, he seems to be spending a lot of time with those Nuns. In the "First Church of Chuck" he would be sitting around waiting for me to call him, just in case "I" need anything. Christ doesn't do things like that. For all those times the Poor Clares have prayed for my families needs and God has heard them, I am grateful. I prayed that "My Ladies" would be taken care of; I just didn't realize that I would have to give up something for it to happen. Then the Holy Spirit talks to me and says; "just like they didn't expect you knocking on their door during the night begging for their prayers because your niece's new born daughter was being taken off life support." Yea I'd forgotten about that one, ok, ok, so we'll share Father Thom with them, they deserve it for all they have done for me, and by the way my niece's daughter was miraculously cured by the time I got home from the Poor Clares (a 10 minute drive) that was about 8 years ago. My dear Father Ted(I prayed that we would get him and God answered) in the "first Church of Chuck" he would be hidden in the attic, out of sight from the Bishop., and all of the other lay people. What scares me about Father Ted is he is the best keep secret in the diocese. I don't want others finding out just how good he really is, I'm afraid they'll all want him and I'm just not ready to share him. Yea, yea I know we're a universal Church blah, blah, blah, but the "first Church of Chuck" is all about me remember me, it's my church, me, me, me. Ok so my daughter goes to St. Joan of Arch School and they have been really good to us Pickards. Ok, so there are some good points about sharing Father Ted my daughter will be around him more which is good, because he is a great mentor and a good example of holiness. So what about the priest leaving St. Joan, well lets see, Father Brian I don't know that well, but I know people who love him and will miss him greatly. Father O'Keefe, him I do know, he is my confessor, and he did save my marriage at one point in time, so yea I'm kinda fond of him. So in the closet he goes, I might need him in the future. But in Christ Church he is being lead another direction, maybe somewhere there is a marriage in need of saving, maybe one that will produce some more of those future priest we have all been praying for and seem to be getting lately. So I guess in the end it's probably good that the Holy Spirit doesn't ask for my advice when guiding the Church, and it's good that the Church is not a democracy because I think there may be some of you out there who feel as I first felt when I was told my priest were to be "shared" with others. I'm sure we would have voted for our will be done, instead of God's will be done, because that's how democratic Churches work. Have you ever wondered why we have over 33,000 different Christian denominations out there? Well it's because 33,000 different groups decided to form their own church and voted that their will be done. I'm a convert and I'm kind of new at this priest moving around business, so if I act a little testy during all of this, please gently correct me because as usual I'm just being my childish self. Please pray for St. Patrick and St. Joan of Arch Church, that we will support Father Ted in the new Direction that the Holy Spirit is taken us, may Father Thom strengthen the prayer lives of the Poor Clares as well as us at St. Pats, and may Father Randy's influence be upon this new generation of priest coming out of the seminaries. If my son ever decides to become a priest I want Father Randy teaching him. I want to thank the "three Amigos" for their devotion to their vocation, you three will never know how much you are loved, thank you. My fellow Catholics if you ever see the "first Church of Chuck" on a building, stop in and kick my butt back home to Rome, because that is where I and every follower of Christ belong. Please continue to pray for Vocations to the Holy Priesthood. (Serra Prayer for Vocations) O God, Who wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he be converted and live, grant we beseech You through the intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, Saint Joseph, her spouse, Blessed Junipero Serra, and all the saints, an increase of laborers for your Church, fellow laborers with Christ to spend and consume themselves for souls, through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.