Vid/Blog: My 7 yr. old son says, "I don't believe in Santa"

My 7 year old boy says, "I don't believe in Santa."  I told him about the real St. Nicholas, a bishop who made toys and gave them to kids.  But I left it at that and talked about the real meaning of Christmas.  It is more entertaining to watch, so enjoy.


Hello God from Dan Stevers on Vimeo.

Direct link  http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2009/12/vidblog-my-7-yr-old-son-says-he-does.html

Video: Dads for Life - stories of fatherhood

A heartwarming video about fathers, for fathers. First produced for the Dads for Life movement by the National Family Council and Fathers Action Network to encourage fathers in Singapore to be more involved in their children's lives.





Direct link:  http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-dads-for-life-stories-of.html

Video: love from God shines in Rebecca St. James as she sings "Jesus, King of my heart."

The pure and vibrant love from God shines in Rebecca St. James as she sings, "Jesus, King of my heart."  This is the peace that the world cannot give, the liberation that goes to the soul.



Jesus, King of my heart
Father, my peace and my light
Spirit, the joy of my soul You are

Jesus, to you none compare
Father, I rest in Your care
Spirit, the hope of my heart You are

CHORUS:
The heavens declare You are God
And the mountains rejoice
The oceans cry Alleluia
As we worship You Lord
For this is our Song of Love

Jesus, You save my soul
I'll thank You forevermore
Jesus, the love of my life You are

CHORUS

Jesus, I am in awe
Of the love that You have shown
Jesus, how precious You are to me


Direct link :   http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-love-from-god-shines-in-rebecca.html

Blog: NY Chutzpah. NJ Turnpike. Buffalo Priests, JOY.

NJ Turnpike:
As I drove down the NJ Turnpike from Manhattan, I prayed the Rosary with my wife and 10, 7, 6 & 2 year old kids.  No one complained. Their praying voices were just music to my ears.  It was one of my greatest blessings and I thank God.  


NY Chutzpah:
They were charging $60 for parking near the convention center. I drove a few blocks away and found this place where they stacked 4 cars using hydraulics. That place charged $20.

The Blues & JOY:

A friend posted in FB that she is down.  So I hope this helps:  http://www.quotegarden.com/happiness.html

I get the blues myself and those remind me of what St. Augustine said:  "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee O My God."  And what JOY means i.e. J is Jesus 1st, O is others 2nd & Y is yourself last.

Buffalo priests:  cf. http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/

The Irish child abuse scandal has grown to a point that perhaps the only way to save the good clerics is to extract them there and replace them with "Buffalo priests" from Africa, Latin America and Asia.  Otherwise, there's a whole lot of ugly that can blow up anytime and that can result in the loss of faith or of lives. ( similar to the Buffalo soldiers at WWII)

Video: Not to render to Ceasar what is God's! Manhattan Declaration.

Mike Huckabee talks to Chuck Colson about the Manhattan Declaration, which is an official document composed by a group of 150 Christain leaders that are uniting against causes such as abortion, gay marriage and others.  These men of God will not be forced to cooperate with the sinful structures that the Obama administration and the current legislature are promoting.  Like MLK or Mahatma Gandhi, these leaders have the courage of their convictions to face the consequences of standing up to immorality, debauchery, depravity and evil that is corrupting the American soul and compromising its culture.  As the pilgrims have sought a new land where they can worship God freely, these men are taking back that land that is slowly falling into the clutches of evil.  These men are now being joined by hundreds of thousands of believers who are ready to engage in forms of civil disobedience and go to jail than to support and finance all forms of immorality.  Whether it is withholding taxes or engaging in massive demonstrations, the people of God are now set to stop America from being dragged into the depths of godlessness.  To join this historic stand for God and country, one can follow the link above to the Manhattan Declaration.




Or go to source: http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-not-to-render-to-ceasar-what-is.html

Blog: Abps. Tobin, Wuerl, Dolan, Burke lead the Church Against Gov't Sponsored Depravity & Debauchary

Mr. Buchanan combines the recent actions of American bishops as they protect the human community from the onslaught of various government sponsored programs and policies.

With the House debate on health care at its hottest, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a stunning ultimatum: Impose an absolute ban on tax funds for abortions, or we call for defeat of the Pelosi bill.

Message received. The Stupak Amendment, named for Bart Stupak of Michigan, was promptly passed, to the delight of pro-life Catholics and the astonished outrage of pro-abortion Democrats.

No member was more upset than Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, son of Edward Kennedy, who proceeded to bash the Church for imperiling the greatest advance for human rights in a generation.

As Rhode Island is our most Catholic state, Kennedy went silent and got this parting shot from Tobin: "Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church."

The clash was naturally national news. But Tobin's public chastisement of a Catholic who carries the most famous name in U.S. and Catholic politics is made more significant because it seems to reflect a new militancy in the hierarchy that has been absent for decades

Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., just informed the city council that, rather than recognize homosexual marriages and provide gays the rights and benefits of married couples, he will shut down all Catholic social institutions and let the city take them over. Civil disobedience may be in order here.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York sent an op-ed to The New York Times charging the paper with anti-Catholic bigotry and using a moral double standard when judging the Church.

Dolan singled out a "scurrilous ... diatribe" by Maureen Dowd "that rightly never would have passed muster with the editors had it so criticized an Islamic, Jewish or African-American" faith.  ... Dowd, said Dolan, reads like something out of the Menace, the anti-Catholic Know Nothing newspaper of the 1850s.

 The new spirit was first manifest last spring, when scores of bishops denounced Notre Dame for inviting Barack Obama, a NARAL icon, to give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree.

In his May address to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke said, "In a culture which embraces an agenda of death, Catholics and Catholic institutions are necessarily counter-cultural."

Our new battling bishops may be surprised to find they have a large cheering section among a heretofore silent and sullen faithful who have been desperate to find a few clerical champions.


Excerpts from Is the Church Militant Back?  by  Patrick J. Buchanan   11/27/2009  http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34595&page=10#c1

Blog: Making work meaningful and elevating it to the greatest of human activities

Chatting with a former pupil, I learned that he was living a life of quiet desperation.  He lost his family and is feeling like a robot who mechanically does nothing of consequence day after day.

To help, I searched the web and  tried to recall what I've learned about work but all those were about how things should be.  But most workers have little or no control over that.  So I thought of my own reasons and ways.

First I think of why I work.  A picture of my 4 little kids and wife can make anything bearable.

Then I think how it can get worse.  I look at what others do and things start to look better.  See http://blog.compassion.com/the-dignity-of-work/

Finally and most importantly, I make my work a prayer, an act of worship and adoration by offering it to God.  I pray a morning offering to start my day and short prayers during breaks like, "Lord I offer this to you."  And I know that I am like a monk who is constantly praying and in the process, doing the greatest thing that a man can do.