29 10, 2015

How Long Is Eternity?

By |2015-10-29T21:04:57+00:00October 29th, 2015|Theology|

Welcome to Virginia Beach, home of America's friendliest people and worst drivers.  (Well, that's my assessment, but it's a great place to be, all things considered.)  This is a military area known as the "Redneck Riviera."  The entire metropolitan area is a waterland of fresh and salty rivers containing about ten 100,000-person-cities collectively known as Tidewater or Hampton Roads. It's  home to the Atlantic Fleet of the Navy, countless other military bases and real-life heroes they make movies about (literally.)  But not every soldier comes back home to Hampton Roads... So, where do all the dead soldiers and normal civilians go?  100% of them ultimately go to heaven or hell.  Do they all go to heaven?  No.  "Small is the gate and [...]

28 10, 2015

Eucharistic Procession 2015

By |2015-10-28T23:32:17+00:00October 28th, 2015|Life|

Friends helped me make this 1 minute video of our Eucharistic Procession on the boardwalk of Virginia Beach.  This Eucharistic Procession was spearheaded by my pastor and continued by him and many others the past few years.  Special thanks to Mike Cistola, Keith Forrest and especially John and Rich at Tele-Video Productions of Virginia Beach.  Our goal is to see these in every city, especially on the East Coast, so please post this on social media and share it with your pastors.  It's great evidence what one pastor can do to fire up a whole city. https://vimeo.com/143667007 Make sure to watch it in HD.

8 10, 2015

Marriage Prep and “Annulments”

By |2015-11-02T02:19:05+00:00October 8th, 2015|Theology|

The basics of annulments can teach us a lot about the beauty of marriage.  The first thing to realize about an annulment is that it is not a Catholic divorce.  The starting point for why divorce does not exist in the Catholic Church is simple:  Jesus said: But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. ’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. ’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.—Mark 10:6-9.  No man (not even a priest or bishop [...]

6 10, 2015

FOCUS Breakout Sessions

By |2015-10-06T22:04:58+00:00October 6th, 2015|Life|

If you want to see something new and serious from me, see here.  But, on my Evernote,  I recently looked at this satire that my teammate and I had made a decade ago for an upcoming conference while working for FOCUS (also in Virginia, where I am now—but back in 2004.)   Forgive a few inside jokes, but here's our FOCUS conference breakout-session title suggestions, mostly still valid suggestions for the next one: Protestants: Friend or Foe? Rainforest Decline: Ecoterrorism and the Catholic. How I made it to Life on the Rock. Dare We Hope that All Be Saved? Why Lord of the Rings was, like, totally Catholic. Fashion Tips for the New Evangelization FACT: What it originally stood for. Christendom vs. [...]

4 10, 2015

Battle of Lepanto

By |2019-04-10T16:16:08+00:00October 4th, 2015|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

Today is the 444th year after the battle of Lepanto, the most important naval battle in history.  Without it, Muslim Turks would have taken over Italy in 1571.  Because of the Mother of God's role in this naval battle, Pope St. Pius V asked that every first Sunday in October be thenceforth remembered and honored as the Feast of the Holy Rosary.  The full story of the naval battle is at Catholic Answers, but this homily ties in the current battle in the Church, and the victory that will come through the Rosary:

3 10, 2015

Incarnation Meditation

By |2015-10-03T08:41:41+00:00October 3rd, 2015|Theology|

  “One will be sent in the flesh,” thundered the most beautiful Trinity to the angels and all the courts of heaven eons ago. In perfect harmony they rejoiced. But later, they wondered if anyone but a lowly archangel like Raphael (still more glorious than a burning star) could dare condescend again to take flesh as Raphael did for Tobit. Their best guess for the new assignment was Gabriel. God said “Gabriel will go…but in spirit as preparation. One much higher than he will become flesh.” “But how?” the angels wondered, “A cherubim's eyes would melt the trees and mountains. No human warrior's body could even instantaneously hold the power [...]

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