We could already tell from his new web project, Joe’s People, that Joe Geisler has some bold ideas about the New Evangelization, but on April 1st Joe revealed his most ambitious project to date to ACNM. Because I was not scheduled to post April 1st, here are completely “factual” details. Geisler is planning to produce a… [Read More]
WANTED Concerned Catholic Voters: Inquire Within
One of the most attractive virtues of the church is our conviction to keep the word of Christ alive and relevant to our issues today. One of the most controversial virtues of the church is our conviction to keep the word of Christ alive and relevant to our issues today. Brace yourselves Catholics of Austin,… [Read More]
Catholicism 101 Part I: A Sacramental World
Fallowing the advice of a fellow ACNM contributor, in this post I am going to talk a little bit about my conversion and the differences I see between Catholic and most Protestant theologies. Obviously this will take more than a single post. In fact I am uncertain how many posts I eventually make about this…. [Read More]
Lent: Walking in the wilderness
Unfortunately I didn’t take the time with God to work out the post I was planning this week. After Ash Wednesday, God and I became busy working on many other issues I needed to address. Finally last night God smacked me and said “hey dummy… since you are busy with your Lenten discipline why not… [Read More]
Zombie Survival Guide: Phase 2 Fighting Back!
If you haven’t heard the news today, our world is on the verge of becoming a desolate wasteland. We have been steadily losing faith in our ideals, our institutions, and even our loving creator. Our hope for the future has been shaken by too many missteps and false positives. Division and misunderstanding has eroded the… [Read More]
Zombie Survival Guide; Phase 1 Don’t Get Bitten
A few weeks ago on our way to our monthly gaming event two of my roommates began to discuss at length the most pressing issue of our time. Of course, I speak of the impending Zombie apocalypse. Perhaps this doom is not the primary concern of all of my readers. If you are not fully… [Read More]
Batman vs The Savior We Need
As a newly converted Catholic, I get asked some pesky questions. Cradle Catholics seem to expect me to have taken the time to have a defense for everything or at least some insight into the differences in theology. Once a deacon asked me how I had made it over the ‘Marian Bridge’. The truth is… [Read More]
Marry Christmas!
For many years in the church I grew up in, we would build/perform a simulation/reenactment of the first advent. The plot should have be no surprise to anyone here. A group of humble shepherds gets startled by a chorus of angles who prompt them to seek a new born in the land of… [Read More]
On a Mission from Grace
My conversion to Catholicism occurred about eight years after the events I described in Grace Made Man. Only 3 short months after I was confirmed, God’s providence allowed me to serve with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and the Missionaries de Christe in Honduras. This would become my greatest lesson in community to date…. [Read More]
Prescription Strength Grace
Over thanksgiving I came down with a pretty nasty cold. My family treated me in their characteristically sympathetic manner. They griped at me for not doing more cardio. Bedside manner aside, I know my family is correct. In the three years I’ve been Catholic I’ve lost about 100 pounds (cardio). This process has proven to… [Read More]
The House That Grace Builds
In the third grade, my English teacher asked us to write a paper defining love in 500 words. I put all of my third grade wisdom and discipline into the task. I dug down deep to find profound truths and carefully crafted them into intricate yet elementary sentences. When I at last I presented my… [Read More]
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES; or. . Happy Halloween; no just. . RUN FOR YOUR LIVES
Welcome class. My name is professor Taran Heindrich. I am founder of the Austin Institute for the study of the dark forces. This semester I will be teaching you my own patented techniques for aggressive spiritual combat. I would like to begin my classes by saying …RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! Evil is coming for you!… [Read More]
Grace Made Man
I didn’t get here on my own. Many people have helped me out. I owe everything I have to the grace of others. Evidently I am unique from every political pundit around these days. I was raised with the good values. I am bright. I am hardworking. I grew up in the land of the… [Read More]
Moral Voting in Four Prayerful Steps
I am arrogant, opinionated, and rude. It has come to my attention, in this election season, that many Catholics have committed the unforgivable sin of expressing opinions that are not my own. I am infuriated that I have to write this. What is wrong with you heathens? The choice this election is as clear as… [Read More]
Hes Calling You!
Hello! I’m glad we had this chance to chat, you know the your Diocese has been talking about you. They have a few questions to ask. How is the holy spirit working in your life? What are special gifts Christ has hidden inside of you? How have you received Christ‘s personal invitation to serve the… [Read More]
Blessed Is The Peacemaker; Everyday-Saint Mary Berwick
“War should belong to the tragic past, to history” -St. John Paul II’s words have helped inform and inspire a generation. That is always good to have the words of saints like St. Paul close at hand. But the message of church requires more voices than just our clergy to deliver it. While John Pauls… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 8
Mission El Salvador Day 8 For our last full day in El Salvador I returned once more to the construction site. There was a foundation still to be dug and I was determined to see it as complete as possible before I left. Others returned to the daycare to get one last day with the… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 7
Mission El Salvador Day 7 Early in the morning of the seventh day of El Salvador I spent delivering supplies to a school in one of the Villages we have worked with here in El Salvador. Meghan delivered supplies to the school and day care in the other. Once again I would like to thank… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 6
Mission El Salvador Day 6 On our sixth morning in El Salvador we made a visit to the grave of former Archbishop of El Salvador Oscar Romero. Romero’s presence is still very much alive in El Salvador today. His grave had been decorated with Balloons and streamers to celebrate his 95 birthday, which is in… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 5
Mission El Salvador Day 5 On our fifth day of the El Salvador mission we acted much more like tourists than missionaries. We drove to Antigua Guatemala, did some quick shopping and then found the Monastery turned hotel turned (five star) restaurant to eat some really good food (and use a good restroom). I’m not… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 4
Mission El Salvador Day 4 For my fourth day in El Salvador, I changed things up yet again and spent most of the day following the project FIAT (Faith In Action Together) nurse as she made her daily rounds. Nurses in El Salvador give a new meaning to the phrase “general specialist.” The Nurse spent… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 3
Mission El Salvador Day 3: For the third day I changed villages and jobs. Instead of working construction I worked with the kids at one of the day cares that Sister Gloria started. Like all good students of Catholic Social Teaching Sister Gloria didn’t simply decide she wanted to build a day care and then… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 2
Mission El Salvador Day 2: The missioners in El Salvador truly run the gamut of ages, sexes, professions and experience with mission work. Every night Sister Gloria makes a list of the sites that need workers and what roles (construction or child play) each site needs. She then allows the missioners to assign themselves to… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 1
Mission El Salvador Day 1 Most of the first day was spent getting to El Salvador. My journey started at 5 am Austin time and didn’t pass through customs until 1 pm El Salvadoran time. El Salvador has had a little less than half a day to open my eyes. This was far more abundance… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 0
Young Adult Mission to El Salvador Day 0 My next couple posts are going to be different. They are going to be shorter. They will come in more rapid succession. My spelling may be worse (not that it wasn’t bad enough already). Oh yes and after this one, they will be coming from El… [Read More]
The Healers Presence; Everyday-Saint Beth Odom
“Christ has no body now on earth but yours…” -St. Teresa of Avila understood that Christ today speaks to us through his followers. That is why I collect so many quotes from saints like Teresa of Avila. But if we believe that Christ is still speaking today why limit ourselves to saints of the 16th… [Read More]
What I Wanna Be; Everyday-Saint Raymond Sanders
“You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.” -St. Thérèse of Lisieux St. Thérèse understood our faith must be at the center of everything in our lives. That is why studying how the saints like Thérèse lived can be a vital part of understanding how God… [Read More]
How to Run a Parish; Everday-Saint Dolores Martello
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” -St Francis St. Francis understood the way we live our lives is a better catechist than the words we say. That is one reason to study saints like St. Francis. But these shouldn’t be our only models. The gospel of a man born in… [Read More]
Jesus, The Visitation and Justin Bieber
On Wednesday May 30th, frantic officials in Oslo Norway called in the red cross to curtail growing hysteria which left 19 hospitalized and 49 injured. This was not an earthquake or a terrorist attack. Norway had been ravaged by the kind of mindless hoards whom could have only resulted from the dreaded free Justin Bieber… [Read More]
