I Can’t Afford Jesus

You might have noticed a change in the Catholic Family’s website recently. Our website has traditionally been a landing page for our audio podcast. Most of our traffic (i.e. listeners) comes through subscriptions to our podcast through iTunes and other RSS sources. But recently, Allyson and I decided to “up the ante” and create new types of content such as blog articles. This has shifted the purpose of the website from an ancillary to primary distribution source.

As part of this transformation, we decided to try some things that we hadn’t tried before. I recently went to OpenCa.mp, a conference having a mission,”to educate, foster a sense of community, and remove barriers for webmasters and web developers, bloggers, podcasters, and social media enthusiasts.” Needless to say, I came away a little overwhelmed with all of the information on SEO (search engine optimization), monetization, and leveraging social media. … Continue Reading

Was Jesus Green?

Often, I’ve wondered if Jesus was green. So I broke out my electronic bible the other day and started searching. Sure enough, there is tons of support for this theory. Here are twelve examples of green living from the Prince of Peas.

1. Jesus must have composted because he knew the value of fertile soil. “…other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty-fold and sixty-fold and a hundred-fold. (Mark 4:20)”
2. Jesus used homeopathic medicine “ As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Silo’am’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (John 9:6).”
3. Jesus was thrifty and grew his own food. “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.  And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. (John: 6:11)”
4. Jesus liked to eat good, wholesome, non-processed foods. “Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.(1 Corinthians 5:8).” … Continue Reading

Splinter of the Mind

Like most people, I try to relate the Sunday Mass readings  to my life. This week’s readings talk about Jesus coming to fulfill the law. I must confess that I was having trouble finding an application to my life after Saturday night vigil Mass. When I got home, Saturday night started to irritate me more than soothe and relax me.

I didn’t understand at first what was bugging me. “Why is our deacon so boring!” “Why was the Mass so long? Why did our priest  give us a second homily before the final prayer on the necessity of stewardship?” “Why is only 10% of the parish giving for the Diocesan Services Fund? Don’t they understand we have to pay the difference from our savings?” Other questions started popping in my head in rapid succession. “Why can’t people do what they say they are going to do?” “Why are the kids so lazy, unhelpful and mean to each other?” “Why do I bother asking for help around the house?” “Why does everyone take and not give?” “How much longer can I last?” In essence, ” Why is everyone an idiot except me?” And so I went to bed greatly agitated, unable to sleep, thinking about how I could get so far out of center from Jesus. What a pity party. … Continue Reading