A Week In The Life Of A Priest

A great video from Down Under:

The Church and New Media

The Church and New Media is an important book coming out in August 2011, edited by Brandon Vogt. The book has 12 contributors that highlight different ways in which the Church uses new media to bring the Good News to the world. It has a forward by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, of Boston, and an afterword by Archbishop Dolan, of New York. Some of the contributors include Mark Shea, Fr. Robert Barron, and Thomas Peters. I am humbled to also be one of the 12.

A new website and video have been launched to announce the book.

Did I mention you can also follow on Twitter and Facebook?
You better be able to with a book like this.

Another great thing about this book - 100% of the royalties from The Church and New Media will help establish computer labs throughout schools in the Archdiocese of Mombasa, Kenya.

If you need one more reason to read the book. 5 of the 12 contributors are Aggies:

• Jen Fulwiler
• Taylor Marshall
• Shawn Carney
• Matt Warner
• Me

The Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and Evangelization

This is a video of a presentation I made at St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock last month.

An Atheist Tells Us How To Evangelize

This video of Penn Gillette, an atheist and a comedian/entertainer/magician, who records some thoughts after a show he does in Vegas, several years ago.

He encounters a Christian man who comes to evangelize him (Penn calls is "proselytizing", but it is really evangelizing). The man left an impression on Penn that lasts.

In turn, this video has made a profound impact on the way I evangelize. This is the money quote:

"If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell, and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward - and atheists who think that people shouldn’t proselytize ‘just leave me alone, keep your religion to yourself,’ - how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?"

"How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that?"

I mention this when I talk about evangelization.

Watch Penn for yourself:

Two Reasons Same-Sex Marriage Is Gaining Ground

Catholics have not done a good (or even adequate) job of addressing the attacks on marriage. These attacks continue to grow stronger and without an understanding of how to defend marriage and the reasons behind the break-down of marriage, we will continue to see our culture slide into the anti-marriage mentality. Before I get into the reasons why same-sex marriage is gaining ground we need to explore some of the fundamental reasons why same-sex "marriages" are not good for those in them or society.

WHAT MARRIAGE IS.
Marriage is the basic cultural building block of society. One man, one woman, and their children unite as a family - every bit of evidence shows that families thrive in monogamous and stable homes with two biological parents of opposite sexes who remain married. This means that there is less poverty, crime, strife, etc. in homes where marriages do well. This is because the mother and father of children cannot be replaced. Two fathers or two mothers cannot provide what one mother and one father can. The role of the father can't be replaced by a woman and the role of the mother can't be replaced by a man. Studies back up this claim. Thus, same-sex couples can never provide all that children need to thrive. When families suffer the rest of our culture suffers.

Furthermore, same-sex relationships are not the same as male-female ones. While a same-sex couple might have strong affectionate feelings for one another, nature shows us they cannot bond as a married couple can. They cannot procreate and their bodies are not made to compliment one another. Think of this - a male or female by themselves is incapable of creating human life. They need the other. Thus, our bodies are incomplete without the opposite sex.

NOT ABOUT LOVE.
True love is to choose what is best for the other regardless of the cost to myself. This means same-sex relationships can never have loving sexual relationships. This is because the true act of sex is about giving yourself away, but in same-sex relationships you can't do this because the body isn't made to be given to someone of the same sex. A married couple can say, with their bodies, I want to create life and bond with you. I want to be one with you. This is impossible with same-sex couples, because while the body might still be saying this, the act itself is ordered toward selfish pleasure - not creating life or bonding the couple as one flesh.

NOT ABOUT EQUALITY.
Many people say that same-sex couples "deserve" the "right" to marry and that those that oppose them are merely bigots who want stamp out the rights of others. This isn't the case. The Catholic Church consistently teaches the respect of others, regardless of sexual orientation. It also teaches us to love and serve all. But, we must also work for truth and the common good. This means while we fight against same-sex marriage, we do not fight against individuals.

That being said, marriage laws are by definition discriminatory. They discriminate FOR families (not against non-married persons) in order to build up what is good for society. Where do children thrive? In the traditional family. If we tear that down, then society will suffer. Thus, the government needs to help support this building up of what is good for society.

Thus, marriage is about more than two people who have good feelings for one another. It is about the good of society - which is why the government got involved in it in the first place.

Some may argue that a same-sex couple should be able to do things such as share property rights, visit in the hospital, etc. But, all of these legal hurdles can already be overcome with current laws and a few documents.

So, what they are really looking for is social acceptance of their behavior. This is why the Catholic Church is enemy #1 for advocates of same-sex marriage. They cast us as homophobic, archaic, and mean-spirited. Which is not the truth.

Catholics need to fight such lies. But, to do so we need to know where it all comes from.
----
My thesis is that there are two main cultural culprits that have gotten us to where we are today:

1. Contraception
2. Pornography

REASON #1 - CONTRACEPTION - THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE:

Contraception has caused a number of cultural issues, not the least of is the fundamental re-orienting of the purpose of sex for the majority of people. What is the purpose of sex to modern man? Pleasure. This contraceptive mentality has changed us as a people. Sex is for pleasure however we can get it and is what we wish it to be. Sex is not for making babies or for bringing two spouses together. It is purely a selfish act of fulfilling a 'need', not a giving of self to another.

Contraception makes us turn inward, rather than outward - it perpetuates this selfishness on our part. It also sees marriage as an optional social construct (an attitude which harms women and children most of all)

This mentality is tearing apart our culture. I have seen it time and time again. It happens when sex between two people becomes about me rather than you. Thus the fruits of contraception include:

• Divorce rate doubled between 1965-1975 from 25% to 50%
• One demographer has shown that access to the pill paralleled the increase to the divorce rate
• 41% of births are to unwed mothers in 2008 (72% of black babies)
• 41% of pregnancies end in abortion in New York City
• 50% of marriages end in divorce.

Now pick one of these that is good for our culture.

When sex isn't about babies or bonding, then it becomes selfish. Once this happens, the family breaks down. Once the family breaks down, society breaks down.

REASON #2 - PORNOGRAPHY - THE DEATH OF MARRIAGE:

If contraception weakened marriage, pornography is killing it. More and more marriages are being ravaged by pornography and the trend will not slow down anytime soon. With 80% of young men and 33% of young women regularly using porn, more people will be unable to really love another person. Why? Take a look at this:

• Shown to devalue the other person and sex within marriage.
• Porn creates fantasies that real persons can't live up to.
• Porn sets up sexual habits or addictions that create "boredom" with only one other person.
• Porn creates distrust within marriage and is cheating on your spouse.
• Sexual satisfaction is decreased significantly.
• Porn strips sex of love and makes it about using others and objectifying them.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. It gets much worse when you really crack open the stats.

Suffice it to say, porn kills marriages. Thus, it is destroying our culture. But, at the root of porn is the contraceptive mentality that sex is about ME.

HOW CONTRACEPTION AND PORN LEAD TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE:

How does it all fit together? Well, it is quite simple.

1. Contraception strips sex of it's intended purpose - babies and bonding.
2. Pornography re-defines sex into pleasure alone.
3. Thus, once someone has bought into contraception and pornography, they won't be able to argue that same-sex relationships are wrong, because there is nothing left to argue about. Who are they to tell someone what they are doing is wrong? Who are they to say someone shouldn't have pleasure when having sex?

We have given away too much. The stakes are too high. So, what do we do?

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news is that there is THE Good News - the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christ CAN restores hearts.
Christ CAN forgive sin.
Christ CAN change our culture.

But, we have to do our part. This is the action plan.

• We have to pray for our culture and for all people.
• We can't see anyone as the "enemy".
• We have to educate ourselves.
• We have to speak up and fight back.
• We have to vote our morals and faith.
• We have to evangelize others so God can change their hearts.

This battle for our culture is not lost yet.

Further reading:
**What is Wrong With Porn?
**Contraception - What the Church Teaches.
**"Same Sex Marriage: Why Not?"
**The Debate about "Same-Sex Marriage"
**Special Report on Gay Marriage

Are You A Trader?

Not a "traitor", but a "trader".
Great call to go out.

FYI - This isn't a Catholic group, but what a great message.

Come and Kneel Before Him Now...

A Eucharistic flash mob.
How can you share your faith today?

National TV and Radio Programs to Feature Aggie Catholics

Fr. David Konderla and myself (Marcel LeJeune) will have four different appearances on Radio / TV in the next two weeks. I hope you can join us for as many as possible. Here is the schedule (all times are CST).

1. Fr. David will be on Catholicism Live!, Wednesday, June 15th from 8-9pm, to discuss "Surviving College as a Catholic". Click here to find out local listings (San Antonio area) or to listen online. Hosting the show is Aggie Catholic, Arland Nichols '03! This is both a local radio and TV show.
   
2. I will be on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo (EWTN and Ave Maria Radio) on Thursday, June 16th from 8:15-8:45am. The Show will be on "Evangelizing College Students". You can listen locally on RED-C Radio, on another radio station that carries Ave Maria or EWTN, or online here.
   
3. I will be on Catholic Answers Live (EWTN and Sirius Satellite Radio) on Friday, June 17 from 6-7pm. The topic is "Evangelizing the College Campus". Catholic Answers is the most listened-to Catholic radio program in the country. You can listen locally on RED-C Radio, on another radio station that carries EWTN, shortwave radio, Sirius Satellite radio or online here.
   
4. I will be on Life on The Rock, with John Thorkelson (one of our students), on EWTN TV and radio on Thursday, June 23 at 9-10pm. We will be talking about St. Mary's and campus ministry. You can listen locally on RED-C Radio, or you can watch / listen here or on any EWTN station.

I hope you can join us for as many of these programs as possible. Please pray for St. Mary's and for other campus ministries!

Forgiveness Changes The World

Imagine watching your family murdered in front of you, while you are tied up and forced to watch. How hard would it be to forgive them?
This woman not only forgave them, she now teaches others to do the same - all for the name of Jesus.

On Oct. 24, 1993, Barankitse was working for the Catholic bishop of Ruyigi, in eastern Burundi, Africa, when ethnic Tutsis stormed the bishops residence, killing 72 Hutus. Amid the chaos and confusion, Barankitse managed to save 25 children and, driven by hope, thoughts of peace and a calling straight from God, set out to provide a safe haven for the youngest survivors of unspeakable violence.

What began in 1993 as a home for the 25 orphaned children who survived the attack, Maison Shalom—or "House of Peace"—has grown into a multi-functional service agency helping heal and support 30,000 young people and families.

She is a living hero of the faith.

Find out more at her website.
Did I mention she has won international acclaim for her work? Including the Opus Prize?

The Opus Prize is given annually to recognize unsung heroes of any faith tradition, anywhere in the world, solving today’s most persistent social problems. This $1 million faith-based humanitarian award is one of the world’s largest faith-based, humanitarian awards for social innovation.

Opus Prize winners combine an entrepreneurial spirit with an abiding faith to combat seemingly intractable global issues like poverty, illiteracy, hunger, disease, and injustice. Opus Prize winners demonstrate that change is possible, empowering and inspiring all of us.

A longer video is below:


Pray for forgiveness.

Young Adult? Catholic? Live in Diocese of Austin?

If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you might be interested in this message from some young adult Catholic in the Austin Diocese who are looking for like-minded people to help them with a New Media project benefiting the Church. I met some of the people who are organizing this effort after a talk I gave in Round Rock, TX a few weeks ago:

Thanks again for the wonderful talk you gave on evangelization the other day at St. Williams, it was extremely energizing. In that vein we here at Austin Catholic New Media would love to give the students at St. Mary's an additional venue to evangelize. One of the missions of ACNM is to create a "home base" for the people of the Austin Diocese, where they can get local Catholic content that is produced within our own Diocese. We are looking for additional voices to add to our stable of bloggers and podcasters. Would it be possible for you to reach out to the students at St. Mary's and see if there would be any interested in participating as contributors to ACNM? We are interested in either blog contributors, new podcasters, You Tube vlogs, or any other way the young adults at A&M might feel called to share. Lastly I would ask that you pray for us and our mission, we are all very passionate about spreading God word in the digital continent, but won't be able to do it without spiritual support.

Please pray for them. Also, if you are interested in helping them in any way or contributing to their project, then you can contact them here.

Pope Talks About The New Evangelization

The New Evangelization is an effort to re-evangelize peoples and cultures that were once Catholic. The Pope talks about the Church's efforts in achieving this below: