{"id":8838,"date":"2012-01-02T13:55:03","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T19:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=8838"},"modified":"2012-01-02T13:55:03","modified_gmt":"2012-01-02T19:55:03","slug":"offering-the-first-and-the-best-of-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/01\/offering-the-first-and-the-best-of-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Offering the First and the Best of 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There is an abundance of speculation about this year, and like it or not, 2012 is here. Many joke around with the idea of the end of the world coming in 2012, and it seems as if proudly surviving countless prophecies of apocalyptic times before means it won\u2019t happen this time.<\/p>\n

\"\"I\u2019m not saying the end of the world is coming this December 21st, but this year will offer the Church an even greater opportunity to shine the light of Christ to a world in darkness. In many ways, the return of Christ on December 21st almost sounds more pleasant than the tribulations we will endure in 2012.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really common to hear Christians complain about how our society is loosing its moral foundations and forgetting all about God. While this is true, can we really be surprised? Did we really expect living the Christian lifestyle would be easy? Jesus did not give us a overly plush, comfy chair, Jesus commanded us to pick up our cross and follow him.<\/p>\n

Yes, there is a war of Christianity. The people of God have been under attack since the incident at the Tree of Life. Rather than complaining we\u2019re being picked on, this year provides the Church another opportunity to convert the world by the love of Jesus.<\/p>\n

It may sound strange that I Jesus\u2019 return would be more pleasant, but our soul thirst more deeply to be with Him above anything else. If we live in friendship with Him, our mortal end would only profit our souls.<\/p>\n

There are lives to be saved in the womb, and there are lives to be saved outside of the womb. There is work to do to help the world find peace today. There is work to do to take everyone we can with us to heaven.<\/p>\n

Through obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, we can do what He wants from us. 2012 will have it\u2019s trials, but no sacrifice or offering will go in vain. If you haven\u2019t already, I pray the entire church can bend its knees and pray to offer God our first and our best of this year. There is work to do, but we cannot do it alone. Take heart!<\/p>\n

\u00a0I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will\u00a0have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world.
\nJohn 16:33<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Happy New Year! May it be blessed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is an abundance of speculation about this year, and like it or not, 2012 is here. Many joke around with the idea of the end of the world coming in 2012, and it seems as if proudly surviving countless prophecies of apocalyptic times before means it won\u2019t happen this time. I\u2019m not saying the… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,90],"tags":[492,118,408,494,493],"class_list":["post-8838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-acnm","category-faith-blog","tag-apocalypse","tag-death","tag-new-year","tag-sacrafice","tag-the-end","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29107,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/2012-4th-quarter-austincnm-meet-up-dec-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":8838,"position":0},"title":"2012 4th Quarter AustinCNM Meet Up Dec 18","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"December 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Join us for the fourth quarter meet-up. When: December 18, 2012 Time: 7:00-9:00PM Where: St Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church\u00a0- Family Center,\u00a0126 W. Oltorf St.,\u00a0Austin, TX 78704 Whether you're a Catholic new media creator or supporter, come and join us for a night of community. Events like these are great opportunities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World and News"","block_context":{"text":"World and News","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ACNM-meetup1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ACNM-meetup1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24430,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/10\/two-guys-a-girl-and-a-catholic-podcast-episode-70-first-world-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":8838,"position":1},"title":"Two Guys a Girl and a Catholic Podcast Episode 70: First World Problems","author":"2GGCP","date":"October 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Episode 70 [powerpress] \u00a0 Current Events: \u25cf \u00a0Catching up with 2GG - Cristina new job; Jason - new house \u25cf \u00a0Remember the Alamo? http:\/\/www.kxan.com\/dpp\/news\/local\/austin\/alamo-moving-to-all- reserved-seating \u25cf \u00a0The Restless Heart movie is the true story of St. Augustine, who was a tremendous sinner who had a conversion to Christ. The movie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Two Guys, a Girl and a Catholic Podcast"","block_context":{"text":"Two Guys, a Girl and a Catholic Podcast","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/2guysagirl\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/2GGCP-LOGO2-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30708,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/merry-christmas-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":8838,"position":2},"title":"Merry Christmas 2012 From AustinCNM","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"December 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been a wonderful year here at Austin Catholic New Media, and we are grateful that you have joined us for this journey. Remember, December 25th is the only the first day of Christmas. Take time to celebrate this season. Rejoice and be glad for our Lord has come,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ACNM-Christmas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ACNM-Christmas.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14330,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/diocese-of-austin-chrism-mass-2012\/","url_meta":{"origin":8838,"position":3},"title":"Diocese of Austin Chrism Mass 2012","author":"Laura Gonzalez","date":"April 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, Bishop Joe V\u00e1squez lead the\u00a0Diocese\u00a0of Austin in this year's Chrism Mass\u00a0at St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock. The church was filled to its\u00a01,700 person capacity for this once-a-year liturgy, including approximately 500 catholic school students. For the past few weeks I've been surprised by how many practicing\u00a0Catholics are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/chrism-mass-1-215x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11962,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/i-kinda-3-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":8838,"position":4},"title":"I Kinda <3 Lent","author":"Rita Suva","date":"February 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Remember, man you are dust and to dust you will return.\" \u2013Roman Missal, Imposition of Ashes So, I\u2019m a little bit crazy. My favorite \u201cCatholic holiday\u201d is the Easter Triduum, but most especially within that, Good Friday. Yeah, the day Jesus Christ died. Most people think that it\u2019s just a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Ash-Wednesday-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30858,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/holy-innocents-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":8838,"position":5},"title":"Holy Innocents, Then and Now","author":"Rita Suva","date":"December 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The past few years a feast day in the Catholic Church I had paid little attention to began to stand out to me: The Feast of the Holy Innocents. I don't know why this Feast Day began to stand out to me a few years ago. Perhaps it is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Holy Innocents","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/holy-innocents-148x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}