'Pastoral' - not where men are men and the sheep are nervous.

There's a state where men are men and the sheep are nervous.  But we'll leave that to show that anyone with a staff can be a shepherd.  To lead people, one needs to be a good shepherd like Jesus who would search for the lost sheep then carry it on his shoulders when it's too tired to walk back.

Tax collectors and whores were like lost sheep and Jesus went after them. He drank with Matthew and allowed Mary to touch him by letting her wipe his feet with her hair. But after that, he asked them to change, “Follow me.  Sin no more.”  He didn't stop at the drinking and touching.  This is his way of shepherding  – his pastoral method. And while the first part is easy, popular and politically savvy, the follow through is the one that saves.

Some church leaders today get stuck in the first step – seeing, hearing and doing no evil.  But they conveniently justify their inaction as being pastoral to the detriment of the sinner and those affected by his actions. Consider the 60 million children in the US who were brutally slaughtered in their mothers' wombs because, the supporters and legislators of abortion laws are permitted by their pastors to receive Holy Communion.
If these pols are ignorant about their responsibilities to defend life, how pastoral is it to tacitly look the other way?  If these pols knew the errors of their ways, how pastoral is it to simply let them be?  Either way is to grease the slippery slope to eternal perdition. And with the condemned will be their pastors who were too distracted to notice, too preoccupied to understand,  too lazy to correct, too timid to confront or too scared to discipline.

The pastoral way of the Incarnate God is loving because it is real; and to be real is to be truthful. It does not call evil - good and good - evil.  To be loving without upholding the truth is to be like a dotting parent who spoils the child into a brat. Yet, it proclaims the truth in love.  To uphold the truth without love is to forget that the law was for man and not man for the law.

Even if it was just you, He still would have died to save your soul. He is your personal Savior.

Even if it was just you, He still would have died to save your soul. He is your personal Savior.



source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXBQNFwJ8wo or click here

Blog: Granny goes back to Church after reading this story

For whatever reason, my late grandma stopped going to church while I was growing up.  When I entered the seminary after high school, I sent to her a story and that changed the rest of her life.

This was from the "5 Minutes a Day" book of meditations.  There was an old woman who went to church daily all year round.  On one harsh winter day, she was the only one there.  After Mass, the priest asked her how she managed to get to the church when all others stayed away.  She said, "I just say to myself, one more step for Jesus."

After reading that letter, my granny became a daily communicant and her disposition became a lot better.

When I entered the seminary, I told myself that if I can save even just one soul by becoming a priest, then it would be all worth it.  Even if I did not make it to the priesthood, I think that this is the Lord's gift to me for giving it a try.

Video: the Greatest Woman for all time

Source http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2009/12/video-greatest-woman-for-all-time.html

Dec. 8 is the feast of her immaculate conception.

Music Video: Randy Travis - Three Wooden Crosses

A song about a hooker, a preacher and a farmer who were in a fatal traffic accident.  An inspiring presentation of God's Providence and the meaning of life.  Enjoy.  Ric

Click here for source or type http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_I-sTv6NV0

Video: Basic Christianity (What God did for us all.)

Click here for source or type http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sTy26XYyN4

In a poignant and powerful metaphor, this video presents the basic message about the Christian God and what He did to save everyone.

Cross on devil's cape

Back when I was a novice, I was cleaning the study hall when my Novice Master pointed to the lopsided crucifix at the center of the hall. "That's how much he means to you." he said as he walked out in disgust.
Yesterday, we went to an amusement park and almost had a perfect family day. It was ruined by a stage show "Disco Inferno" where the demons had huge crosses on their capes. I wanted to walk out but my wife wanted to finish the show, after all the demons already took off the capes. This morning I am writing to everyone who can stop or change this.
Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, obeyed the Heavenly Father to the point to dying on a cross as a restitution for our disobedience. Because of that, we all can become children of God once again and inherit eternal life. And even if you were the only person around, Jesus would become a man to carry & die on that cross. He is your personal Savior. That is how the cross has become a symbol of God's great love - that He would give up His only Son to pay for our sins.