Because I had assumed that Christians were just this white bread, Moral Majority, faceless, conformist, mass, they all ruled the world, and that for me to be this rock and roll hipster rebel, I had to be different from them. And what Chesterton put forth, is that there is false rebellion and true rebellion, and the false rebellion is essentially to be a rebel without a cause. The rebelling for the sake of rebelling. True rebelling was the rebelling against the evil that has its grip on the world, so that the Christian is the true rebel. Chesterton also said this in Orthodoxy, when he said words to the effect that Christianity is the only religion where God, in order to be a King, must also be a rebel. And so reading that just opened up my mind, and at first I just thought, well Chesterton must have been the only salty Christian. (source)

Simple music forms faith. Good music is a distraction. So good music that lifts us up to heaven and God is bad. Instead, bad music is to be preferred because it brings God down to our level.

Faced with this very soul-draining stalement between contrasting theologies and contrasting views on Scripture, authority, sexuality, and a host of such issues, the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey N. Steenson, the active Bishop of the Rio Grande, will announce his intention to enter the Roman Catholic Church tomorrow.

Those who claim to be close to the bishop report that, in the face of these many problems and afflictions of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at large, Steenson has been telling friends for some time, "The answer is Benedict XVI."

In his own (public) words:

Regarding his move to the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop Steenson said, “I believe that the Lord now calls me in this direction. It amazes me, after all of these years, what a radical journey of faith this must necessarily be. To some it seems foolish; to others disloyal; to others an abandonment.”

I think most people agree that morality cannot be legislated.

Every law reflects some moral idea, every moral idea reflects some fundamental commitment, and every fundamental commitment is religious-it proposes a god. The Problem With Conservatism by J. Budziszewski

A controversial Catholic group is taking its critics to court in the latest escalation of the decades-long battle between the Legion of Christ and former members of the Legion, some of whom have accused its founder of sexual abuse.

Former members of the order, known as Legionaries, have formed an online community to discuss, among other things, the sexual abuse allegations against the founder, Father Marcial Maciel.

Last year, the Vatican asked Maciel to give up all of his ministry appearances following accusations that decades ago he molested young priests in training.

The Legion has filed a complaint against one of the organizations, Regain Inc., and its president, a former Legionary, John Paul Lennon.

Perfect contrition bestows the grace of justification on the mortal sinner even before the actual reception of the Sacrament of Penance (Sent. fidei proxima) -- Dr. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Dogma -- p. 428 TAN publishers

Discernment on the internet

John 14:6 “I am the truth the way and the life”

The Internet is a truly distributed medium of information interchange riddled with great treasures and great dangers. In seeking for opportunities to use this great resource one must lean heavily on their faith to determine what sites are and are not acceptable to visit. The catechism warns of the dangers of media:

CCC 2496

The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.

Still for those seeking the truth its radiance shines above the fray.

CCC 2500

... Truth is beautiful in itself ...

Seeking however is an active process as opposed to the passivity condemned in the Catechism. One must be ever active in forming their consciences according to the truths of the faith. It is especially important to inform oneself in dealing with the problems facing us today as you are most prone to find yourself defending the faith regarding those issues or directly dealing with them yourself. Regular spiritual reading, adult education, Bible studies and other learning of the faith should be a regular part of your Catholic life.

Naturally, learning more about our faith helps us long term but what about now? Well, prayer is always a good first step. As a matter of course I ask for Gods protection on a regular basis. We all do when we say the Lords Prayer -- "lead us not into temptation". Second, it never hurts to simply ask for guidance. Third asking that you FIND the answers you are looking for is simply affirming a promise given to us in Sacred Scripture.

Luke 11:10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Furthermore it is important to set your own boundaries based on what you know of your faith and of yourself. If you remove a potted plant from its pot, the soil will fall away exposing the roots and eventually killing the plant. Keeping the plant in the pot maintains a key parameter (boundaries) making growth possible. The key is to arm yourself and assure your growth as a Catholic before entering into the fray. Where we are in our journey determines whether we need to be replanted in a larger pot with greater freedom -- a freedom which comes only from increased knowledge of Christ.

Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God

As youth, our parents manage our input of information (a smaller pot) defining strong boundaries. The same holds true for ourselves as we grow in Christ.

A few simple boundaries can be defined to assist you in properly discerning information you encounter on the web. Always compare what you read to what the Church teaches. Every Catholic home should have a Bible and a Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you don't know what the Church teaches on a subject use the moment as a learning opportunity -- seek divinely guided answers where applicable. As time goes on you will find your decisions informed by knowledge of your faith even in seemingly innocuous matters. Equally important is to know your weaknesses. Regular confession of devotion will help you to better know yourself so that you can make an effort to avoid occasion of sin.

Matthew 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

There are a few practical considerations I would like to briefly mention. Even with the precautions of prayer, knowledge of your faith and practical action, Satan will do his best to ensnare you. A simple example I will give involved a fascination my son had with automated car washes. I innocently decided to do a Google search on car wash. The results I saw were staggering. I had to sift through pages of pornography links before I finally found what I was looking for, a video of an automated car wash in action. My world was intruded by evil. Rather than succumb to temptation it is better that we focus on the beauty and truth of our faith.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Additionally, parental controls are great especially in homes with children. There are many choices here and even a sub par one is a step in the right direction. The Vista operating system from Microsoft comes with parental controls built-in. Another filter I recommend is called the “eyes from heaven” control. Put a crucifix near your computer. This serves the purpose of helping remind you of whose commands you obey –

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Finally there is a great resource available for Catholics at CatholiCulture that rates web sites based on fidelity to the Magisterium.

1 Peter 1:22 "Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a (pure) heart."

Balancing technology with the spiritual life

In subsequent Digital Catholic articles I have indulged in the glory of reading numerous blogs and surfing through the near endless Catholic content on YouTube. In a perfect world each of us would schedule a sliver of time per day aimed at satisfying a positive spiritual need of learning something new about our faith. In reality though, we all know that a fine line can be crossed that sends us on a downward spiral. Tools that we once used to strengthen our faith we can find a constant distraction standing between us and our families, employers and worst of all, God.

There are multiple pitfalls with frequent input of information from the web. First is one of reduced attention span. Researchers have speculated about this in recent years enough to where studies have been done. Some have come back positive. Others negative. Still, we all suspect there is something to it. Web designers focus on attracting people to a site and more importantly in keeping people at the site. They know what the shortest attention spans are the ones they are aiming to grab. If they can keep them at their site, they can keep all of us. Thus our every move on the web is filled with encounters of fast content designed to have maximum impact. Over time we get used to these power packed pellets of information slamming our senses. Then, when we find something that we need to read, like the book of Romans, we find ourselves agitated that the good writer couldn't squeeze it into a pithy tagline or jazz it up with some JavaScript. The contrast heightens our very real loss of attention span.

The second pitfall is one of simple addiction. Employers became wise to this years ago and began blocking the common areas of addiction on the web. Pornography and gaming sites are the top problem areas. Further down the list however includes news. News is harmless right? Not when it consumes six hours a day at work or consumes the rare moments you have to talk with your children. Psychiatrists have even gone so far as to consider naming web surfing addition a disorder. Relationships and careers have been destroyed by online time. Another area that can suffer is our involvement in our local parish and community. It is a very real phenomenon and worth your time to consider whether you are at risk to have a problem with it.

I spend upwards of eight hours a day on a computer and I have felt the frustration of a decrease in my attention span and the strong urge to keep surfing even when deadlines are calling at work. Fortunately our faith is ripe with avenues to help us combat this whether it is becoming a problem or already is causing strife in our lives.

First off prayer is always the first step. In the case of reduced attention span I recommend increasing the amount of contemplative prayer in your life. Contemplative prayer requires patience which is the antithesis of the indulgent nature of online content. Second, since reading about your faith is often the reason a Catholic is online in the first place, I recommend a good old fashioned book: you know, those bindings filled with leaves of paper with text on them. Even better, we have the Bible which is well suited to that purpose. There is absolutely nothing wrong with reading Sacred Scripture in large blocks. Thirty minutes of reading the Bible is not only indulgenced, it is a way to develop a longer attention span and less directly a patient attitude in reading.

Addiction is a more difficult thing to deal with. For most of us, it simply requires better planning of our time and resources. Many effective amateur bloggers have blog time usually once or even a few times a day but the time they allocate to it is limited and they put a good bit of effort into controlling that time. After all, they have prayers to say, work to do, mouths to feed and stories to read at bedtime. The biggest key is developing a good sense of moderation. In addition, I have seen many people give up some segment of their online lives for Lent. This is an ideal way to discipline yourself at a very high level regarding your use of the Internet. If the level of difficulty in pulling oneself away is high then fasting is a good course of action as it in itself aims to tame the desires of the flesh and bring one in accordance with the will of God. Failing all of these seeking help from a priest or licensed professional may be in order.

The Internet is a truly dizzying place filled with caverns of knowledge about our faith. As with so many good things there is the possibility of taking it too far and causing problems in your life and with your relationship with God. With His help you can have a healthy balance of technology and life.

YouTube Evangelists

It sure seems that YouTube is in the news a lot recently. Google buys it for .65 billion. Telivision personalities like Steven Colbert develop larger followings by their regular clips on YouTube. Interestingly a not so new trend has also developed in the world of online video clips -- Evangelism. The first prominent example that I recall seeing was a stunning video titled Why am I Catholic. This video, of course, prompted responses from non-Catholics about all that was wrong with it but the message remains there for all to see. The Catholic Church presented in its full glory.

The movement seems to have begun as a grass roots movement. Excited lay Catholics are eager to get out the message about their fantastic faith. Several months back an atheist poster on YouTube posted a video titled "Blasphemy Challenge" which ventured to get folks to deny God and more specifically the Holy Spirit because, as the Bible says in Mark 3:29 (NAB) "But whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." This prompted a host of denial responses. Lo and behold Protestants and Catholics alike responded to the challenge but rather than deny their faith, they affirmed it.

The even more wonderful news is that this movement is not limited to the laity. Deacon Chris Decker from catholicunderground.com offered a Confessional Challenge which simply affirms our faith and challenges others to do the same. Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia made a splash in the media when he started posting Lenten reflections to YouTube and The Bishop's Conference in the Philippines has launched a video log "in answer to the call of the Holy Father 'to make the internet as a new forum for proclaiming the Gospel'". The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal helped begin an independent film company to respond to John Paul II's proclamation:

The film industry has become a universal medium exercising a profound influence on the development of people’s attitudes and choices, and possessing a remarkable ability to influence public opinion and culture across all social and political frontiers.

The company is responsible for the video Fishers of Men which is considered by some to be the best vocational video of our time.

YouTube quite simply has become a scratchpad for our culture. It isn't limited to just videos that people make in their homes and post on the web. Often times, incidents that occur in the news end up on YouTube for easy reference and reflection by others. A prime example of this in recent weeks was the appearance of Fr. Euteneur on the Sean Hannity show. His appearance on the show made a splash on the Internet and gave voice to the Church on the topic of contraception. To most of society the topic has been closed for years but here we had an avenue on a major news network and a topic that frayed nerves in our culture. Those who took the time to look into the incident further found commentary from Catholic blogs and others on the web eloquently expounding the teaching of the Church on openness to life.

Sometimes though, YouTube moments are not so public. They are not about famous people or to be directly confronting legions in organized movements. A touching example of this was seen by a YouTube poster who was curious about the Catholic faith. He posted a request on YouTube expressing interest in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Catholics responded by suggesting books that attended to his interests in the faith. The story is ongoing and as is true with many people seeking to convert to Catholicism, his family is offering much in the way of friction. Currently he is seeking to attend a good Catholic university.

YouTube is an open dialog and an opportunity in our diolog free society to engage in proclaiming the Truth. Whether it is priests and bishops shepherding their flock, lay Catholics responding to challenges against the faith or personal dialog with a curious youth, YouTube is changing the face of Evangelism by bringing the mission field even closer to your home. But where the tools change the mission is still the same. Evangelize.

Getting more out of St. Blogs

Many of us visit a handful of Catholic web sites and blogs on a regular basis in order to keep a finger on the pulse of modern day Catholic life. For me it started off with one or two blogs. My daily routine went something like this:

• Read the new posts.

• Realize halfway through the last one that I read it yesterday.

• Read the comments.

• Comment on a few things.

• Look at the clock.

• Be amazed at the passing time.

• Click on a random new blog in the blogroll in hopes that I would find something a little more my speed.

• Repeat.

It became cumbersome. I had read all about how great blogs were but here I was struggling to get it and spending way too much time trying to get it. According to CatholicBlogs.com there are at least 1000 blogs that are focused on Catholicism. A casual reader of Catholic blogs might find that a daunting set of sites to sift through. It’s easy to give up and write off the Catholic blogosphere as a colossal waste of time. With a little effort however, reading St. Blogs can become an integrated part of your day that takes mere minutes instead of hours to pursue.

First though, let’s discuss why St. Blogs is worth the effort to get to know. St. Blogs is a distributed community of Catholic believers. Chances are there is a sub-community of bloggers that is going through or has gone through some of the same trials in life you are going through. There are priests and religious, those in discernment, moms, dads, singles, students, professionals, scholars, apologists, musicians and even sports fanatics. It is almost a certainty that you fit in somewhere. Still surfing them one at a time is a hassle. Fortunately there are ways to deal with the volume. You can cover scores, even hundreds of blogs in just a few minutes a day.

Sailing the sea of Catholic bits

Back in the early 90's I worked for a radio station that had a big printer that I was supposed to cull stories from in order to have a news segment on my show. The printer was an AP feed that the station paid for. When a story went public the printer came alive. I could hear it regularly during my show. Normally I would grab about 15 feet of printed paper, circle the most interesting stories and summarize them during my segment. I had fresh news with a minimum of effort. This was syndication old school style. Today information on the Internet is syndicated by a technology called RSS which stands for Really Simple Syndication. There is no need for most of us to understand the details of RSS. We just need to know how to use it. Most blogs and news sites contain an RSS feed usually identified by a text link or standard image . The URL of the feed is a must have if you plan to use it. For example Mark Shea's blog "Catholic and Enjoying It!" has an RSS feed accessible by the following URL - http://markshea.blogspot.com/atom.xml. This link is indicated on Mark's blog by "Atom RSS Feed".

Now that I have the feed URL, what good does this do me?

Aggregators

In order to make RSS useful you need an aggregator. An aggregator is software analogous to the printed sheets in the radio station I used to work at. The software stores and organizes RSS feeds. In the case of the printer I had one feed -- AP. In an aggregator you are likely to have scores if not hundreds of feeds. On a regular basis the aggregator accesses various sites checking for new and updated information and letting you know about it. Desktop aggregators are usually more flexible and you can set them up to give you near real time access to information. When your favorite blogger posts his next diatribe you will know within minutes. Online versions are also available and are great if you access the Internet from a variety of computers.

Still, let’s say you only know of five blogs that you care to read. Why on earth would you want to go through the hassle of tracking them regularly with software? The answer is that you can now skim the headlines of all of these blogs at one time similar to my circling the headlines for my radio show. It is also useful in finding news stories and blogs that are more relevant to your interests. You can do this by adding more blog feeds or using RSS features attached to search engines and other tools. For example, to see what the world is saying about Catholicism, I use Google News search with the terms "Catholic Church", "Vatican" and "Benedict XVI" and then link in the RSS feeds to my aggregator. For local fare I search for "Diocese of Baton Rouge". If I want to find out what bloggers are saying about Catholics, I use Google Blog search with similar search terms. Finally, if I want to find out the latest on the “Motu Proprio” only from the voices in St. Blogs, I can use the CatholicBlogs.com search feature with that search term.

Go forth and learn

St. Blogs need not be a cumbersome and time consuming experience during your day. I have found the Catholic blogging community to be a great resource and a tremendous asset in my short few years as a newly minted Catholic. Be an informed Catholic. Familiarize yourselves with the new technology, find your niche and become part of the community. More importantly, go forth and learn more about your faith.

Resources

Google News – RSS enabled news search

Google Blog Search – RSS enabled blog search

CatholicBlogs.com – RSS enabled search for St. Blogs

Bloglines.com – Popular online aggregator

RSS Bandit - A simple desktop editor (requires Windows and .Net framework)

I met Bobby Jindal two years ago, and what impressed me the most above everything else was how sincere and openly he talked about his Christian faith. Louisiana needs more public servants that are willing to stand up and be unashamed of their faith in Jesus Christ. I am a Democrat, and I don't know about other parts of this state, but in Caldwell parish, we put a lot more stock in a man's character and values, than in an R or D by their name. Bobby Jindal has been unashamed to share his personal testimony with me, and in my opinion anyone who attacks Bobby's Christian testimony should sleep with a heavy conscience.

Steve May (D)
Caldwell Parish Sheriff

I am proud to be a Democrat, but I am disgusted by the Louisiana Democratic Party operatives' recent attacks on Bobby Jindal's Christian faith. Bobby has been one of the strongest defenders of family values and he has personally shared with me his commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. That's more important to me than any party label, and I am proud to stand with him.

Ben Nevers (D)
State Senator

I am supporting Bobby Jindal because he is a man of honesty and integrity; a Christian man who is sincerely concerned about all people from all walks of life. Bobby will bring a new vision to Louisiana, removing the negative image of the past and present regarding corrupt elected officials. With Bobby Jindal as our Governor, a positive light will shine on Louisiana as other states look on.

Wayne Jones (D)
St. John the Baptist Sheriff

I've visited and talked with Bobby Jindal on multiple occasions, and the petty party politics that the Democratic party is trying to use to criticize Bobby Jindal's personal decision to share his Christian faith is one of the lowest form of dirty political tricks I have ever seen. I'm not a Republican OR a Democrat. I am an Independent, but I'm a Christian and Louisianian first, and countless others in Northwest Louisiana share those same priorities. Its time our state expect more from its leaders, and we finally have a chance to change how the rest of the world looks at Louisiana if we elect Bobby as our next Governor. I hope the Democratic Party operatives who are attacking Bobby on his Christian beliefs pay a heavy price with the voters of this great state.

Chip Dickie (I)
Mayor of Oil City

This is not the Democratic Party that I agreed to join years ago. Anyone that believes it's a good idea to attack a man who is willing to share his Christian beliefs, is dead wrong. At a time when our state needs to come together, dirty campaign operatives are trying to divide us among religious lines. This attempt is despicable and I urge the Party's elected leaders to join me in denouncing this ad immediately."

Randy "Country" Seal (D)
Washington Parish Assessor
President of the Louisiana Assessors Association

As a Democratic Mayor in South Louisiana, I am calling on my colleagues and friends across this great state to demand that the Democratic Party in Baton Rouge cease and desist the attack ads on Bobby Jindal's Christian faith. I have heard Bobby Jindal give his personal testimony, and the idea of any person or organization stooping to this level has insulted the religions of all Louisianians. This is not an attack just on Bobby's Christian beliefs, but on ALL religious beliefs. I have seen dirty politics in the past, but this is a new low."

Raymond Harris (D)
Mayor of Franklin

I have had the privilege of hearing Bobby's Christian testimony first hand in my own parish, which makes these attacks by the Democratic Party's paid operatives inexcusable. As a Christian, I am personally offended by these tactics and the people of Louisiana should not accept this behavior. For the Democratic Party to alter Bobby's Christian writings is a desperate attempt for political gain, and is a new low in Louisiana politics."

Mike Grimmer (D)
Livingston Parish President

As a registered Democrat, I have not always followed party lines in voting. This gubernatorial election will also see me crossing the line and voting for Bobby Jindal for Governor. To be honest, I am ashamed of the Democratic party after the ads, attempting to smear Bobby's Christian faith, strong moral values, and character hit the air this week. I urge everyone to stop this king of low-down and shameful politicking by casting your vote for the most qualified and honest candidate in this campaign - Bobby Jindal.

Jack Hammons (D)
Mayor of Winnsboro