Bl. Teresa of Calcutta preaches without words. (video)

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is one of the best ambassadors of Christianity.  Her life and deeds are convincing and compelling.  She is truly a missionary of charity.  As St. Francis of Assisi would say, "Preach the Gospel;  use words if necessary."  If she worked in a Muslim land, would she survive long enough to witness to the God of love?"

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/11/bl-teresa-of-calcutta-mother-of-poor.html

Revealing stats about blog posts

I finally got the blogger stats function to work and it was revealing. It showed what people wanted and made me think of what my blogging is about.

Top of the list is sex http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/05/theology-of-body-in-action-or-chastity.html It’s the strongest drive in humans so it is leveraged by businesses or by anyone who wants to get anything. Sex is not bad. In fact, it can be enjoyed without guilt.

Second is violence http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/06/video-muslim-justice-women-kicked.html I actually have a snuff post right here where you see a woman whacked literally with a hollowed block. It shows how a cult of so-called peace punishes the fairer sex for forgetting to feed a goat – at least that’s what was noted. I showed it to expose the lies about Islam; because, the father of lies is the devil. And in spiritual warfare, truth is the first casualty. I am not about to become a silent conspirator.

Third is abortion ads that made it through the media because of a technicality i.e. being part of a campaign http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/10/videos-dc-candidate-missy-smiths-ads-is.html I guess it is because the person is a public figure who had an abortion and regretted it. Perhaps, the viewers identified with her and saw what monstrosity this choice was all about – specially after seeing the babies. (Warning – the ad is graphic.)

Fourth is a social Venn diagram based on emotional dysfunction, intelligence, social ineptitude & possessiveness http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/01/social-venn-diagram-based-on-emotiional.html I guess people are interested about themselves naturally. Dale Carnegie wrote, “Talk to a man about himself and he will listen forever.”

The rest are tied: http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/07/revealing-patterns-of-behavior-by.html and most importantly http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/04/leave-islam-safely.html It is again about Islam – how it systematically enslaves and how to leave it.

Go therefore into liberal web sites and proclaim the truth

If you have a Facebook account, you can become a fan of the Huffington Post. Yes, you read it right – a fan of the most liberal web site in this political town. I did and as a fan, I posted links in their page or wall. Half of my posts stayed up; the others got taken down after someone from Planned Parenthood, I suspect, reported them. The thing is, this group has over 18,000 fans, so by the time my posting has been taken down, it received some exposure. And that is big because as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

Then, I go in their postings and put in my 2 cents – usually the dissenting opinion but hey, it’s fun. I get challenged a lot because of my thoughts, but I respond respectfully and reasonably. And that’s where the payoff comes because people who were previously misinformed get to see the truth. Some don’t want it but others do. I don’t go in there saying, “the Pope says so”; instead, I take the Abp. Chaput and Fr. Barron approach of conversing with the world, defending truths and rights in the public square with reason. My greatest win so far was when a furious pro-abort raised the question of a cancerous uterus that has a living fetus. I presented St. Thomas Aquinas’ principle of double effect assuring her that it is moral to remove the cancerous uterus despite the collateral damage to the fetus. And that changed her tone. She doesn’t bust my chops whenever she sees my comments.

I found out that these liberals don’t reject the Church or religion as much as the caricature of the Church or religion. So, when I share their values of advocating for the poor and the disenfranchised, they become more open to my point of view.

So far, the posts that I still have standing there are a graphic depiction of abortion, the latest “Right to Life” march in DC, the MSM biased reporting of it, a primer on the public option, Alveda King’s sharing about her abortion and a few more. These are powerful presentations that they allowed surprisingly.

Preaching to the choir and sharing within a nurturing community at my blog site and those of kindred spirits have its value and place. But I think there is a need to go beyond comfortable zones into the public square. There was news about the Pope encouraging priests and lay folks to blog and participate in the forum of ideas. I did and found it rewarding because, I saw their perspective as well and tended to demonize them less.

St. John Bosco said that he is willing to tip his berretta to the devil if the devil will allow him to snatch a soul from hell. The Huffington Post is an interesting place and definitely one where people can be snatched from falsity into truth.

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.

Opposition to Pro-Abortion Laws Gains More Support from Various Christian Groups

It's not a Catholic issue anymore.  And with support from the mainstream churches, the opposition to pro-abortion policies and laws has become a formidable force.  145 Christian leaders from various denominations have  united to oppose pro-abortion laws like those embedded in the health-care proposals.

Excerpt:

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: November 20, 2009

Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.


“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.
The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

Read full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/us/politics/20alliance.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss  or click here

Video: Garbage Children of Cebu, Philippines & link to Salesian Missions

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6NHuggG6vU or click here

To help contact the Salesian Missions: http://www.salesianmissions.org/

Video Description:
The misery of those who bring up their children on the garbage tips is shocking. The sole ray of hope on this burning Phillipine garbage tip is the German priest, Heinz Kulüke. He is, in fact, a university professor of philosophy -- however his encounters with the garbage people have changed his life. He works tirelessly to help the garbage people, as well as the girls in Cebu's red light district.

Blog: Family Planning, Ecumenism, Witnessing, Chances (running out of)

Family Planning (Rated M for married )
"Are you sticky?"  I ask my wife.  That refers to her vaginal discharge that indicates her fertility.  If it's watery and clear then she's not fertile but when it's cloudy and thick then chances are she's fertile.  I also track her last menstrual period and temperature.  If she's hot, warmer than usual, then she may be fertile.  All these indicators allow me to prevent pregnancy the natural way.  There are 2 things here.  First, there must be a good reason to avoid pregnancy and secondly, it must be done the right way.  With 4 kids and her age, I think responsible parenthood requires me to stop.  The right way is natural i.e. no vasectomy, no pills, no coitus interuptus.  That's God way.  BTW, if you want more details I advice you not to rely solely on my sharing here.  There are sites that treat this topic in  Cf. www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp/index.shtml

Ecumenism - the Return of the Anglicans and more
Remember the image of the wheel with the spokes?  The closer we move to the center, the closer we get to each other.  Compared to his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI did not reach out as much as he reached in -  focused and stayed with the truth that has been handed down by the apostles.  That is what is attracting the other Christians whose churches have started to veer away from that heritage.  People of goodwill who want to remain in the truth are seeing the Catholic church as a stable institution that stays the course.  This is not to discount the work of Vatican II who paved the way for this reconciliation by recognizing elements of truth and goodness in them and acknowledging sincerity in their intentions.  So, our fidelity to the Truth is the greatest service that we can give our separated brethren and the world.

Witnessing to Jesus (not taught)
Correct me if I am wrong but I have seen my kids religion books and have taught Sunday school myself but do not recall any lesson about how to talk to others about Jesus.  I got those from ecclesial movements and charismatic prayer groups.  But the point is why do we not teach our children to evangelize others, to share the gift of faith in Jesus?


Chances (running out of)
I shall not pass this way again...
"I expect to pass through this world but once. 
Any good thing,therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show 
to any fellow human being let me do it now. 
Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

Stephen Grellet, 1773-1855
French-born Quaker Minister

Video: 92 year old woman saved from mugging by witnessing about God.

Pauline Jacoby, a 92 year old woman about to be mugged was saved by talking to the robber about God.  She narrates the event in this video.




Source: http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=60928caa552278feef5e or click here

Video: The Fragrant Spirit of Life (Children in Uganda)

In the face of this suffering, all our religious differences fade into insignificance.
Love is all that matters. And it compels us to reach out to Sam and Ester.
And when do, we will discover that we touched Jesus who will touch us back.
(GUARANTEED)



source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v7ZQUzr0yo or click here

Video description:  One of two scenes....watch the follow up entitled "Sam and Esther Follow Up Story." This is a scene from the film "The Fragrant Spirit of Life," a San Damiano Foundation production released in 2008. We found Sam, Esther, and Jane outside the small village of Serere in eastern Uganda. They are being cared for through the amazing work of the nonprofit organization Village2Village (www.village2villageproject.org). Visit us at WWW.SANDAMIANOFOUNDATION.ORG

Video: "Comfort"

Click here to go to the source: http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=7b4dd4de9138d11a6364

What's wrong with comfort? Why move out of your comfort zone? If you're uncomfortable talking about Jesus, should you just remain silent and leave it to the priests?