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Discipleship

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
Jan 12 2014
Love0

I Hear Voices!

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Source: zengardner.com

Source: zengardner.com

I have a confession to make…I hear voices. I swear, I hear voices all the time. Now you tell people that you hear voices these days, and they are probably going dress you up in a very special kind of jacket, lock you up in a room with padded walls and put you on some heavy medication. Our modern world is not so accepting of people who hear voices.

And yet, when you think about it, we all have lots of voices running through our heads every day. We still hear the voice of our parents and the things that they taught us, the messages and lessons that they wanted us to have for life. We can still hear the voice of our favorite teacher or our favorite coach challenging us to be better and to try harder. Maybe we can hear the voice of a colleague, a supervisor, or even a friend, trying to give us some good advice. Read More

Aug 18 2013
Love0

Fire Changes Everything!

Posted by | Discipleship | 3 Comments
bpr.berkeley.edu

Reference: bpr.berkeley.edu

In the summer of 1988, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming caught on fire. The fires began in June and continued to burn until November. In the end, 1.2 million acres were scorched, leaving the impression that the world’s first national park had been destroyed. But the doom and gloom prophesies about the destruction of Yellowstone proved to be wrong. What many failed to understand was that fire, even a fire of this magnitude, was necessary to maintain the overall health of Yellowstone’s ecosystem. The Lodgepole pine tree pine cones are sealed with a waxy resin, and only open once temperatures reach above 113 degrees. In other words, the trees need the heat of those fires in order to reproduce. The 1988 fires undeniably changed everything about Yellowstone’s landscape, but it didn’t destroy the park. Read More

Aug 07 2013
Love0

The New “Me”

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There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting. ~Buddha

It’s funny how the voice of the Lord is heard in different ways by different people. But what’s most important is that we are able to actually “hear” that voice, and act on it. 

Over the past several months, I have been moving toward following that voice. So far, I have avoided the mistake of not starting. That is why that you are viewing this blog on my new website. I took that leap of faith in following my calling to go out and become “available” to the world. It was a calling to go out and evangelize by using my God-given gifts to serve the Lord by serving others. It is an opportunity to share my stories, songs, and teachings with my fellow Catholic-Christians.  Read More

May 02 2013
Love0

The Greatest Gift Ever!

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What does Jesus really ask of us as one of his followers? Are there certain requirements that we need to have? Are there a number of hoops that we need to jump through? Actually, God’s requirement is simple: love God and love each other. This sounds simple, but are we really doing this? Read More

Mar 07 2013
Love0

Listen Up!

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As you may have known from my previous posts, I had taken a retreat a couple of weeks ago to spend some time with the Lord. I needed to sort things out, and the best way to do that was through silence, solitude, and prayer. With all of the stuff that is going on in my life, I needed to stop what I was doing and listen for the voice of the Lord and to find where God was calling me.

Nov 15 2012
Love0

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

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A little girl was standing with her grandfather by an old-fashioned open water well. They had just lowered a bucket and had drawn some water to drink. She asked her grandfather, “Where does God live?” The old man picked up the little girl and held her over the open well. “Look down at the water, and tell me what you see.” “I see myself,” the girl said. “That’s where God lives,” said the old man, “He lives in you.” Read More

Sep 20 2012
Love0

Are You Living the Gospel?

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When you think of religion in Asia, one automatically thinks of Buddhism and Confucianism. You can imagine how surprised I was when I found out that in South Korea today, a tiny fraction of the population is Confucian, 26% is Buddhist, and 26% is Christian – 10% of whom are Catholic. The means that Christianity is tied, numerically speaking, as the largest religion in that Asian nation. This is truly remarkable considering that Christianity was introduced there just over 200 years ago, and the first native-born priest was ordained only in 1846.

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Jul 31 2012
Love0

Mission Trip 2012: Winnebago, Nebraska

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Last week, my wife and I (and two additional chaperones) took 14 teens from our parish on our annual Summer Mission Trip.  This summer, we chose to go to a Native American Reservation in Winnebago, Nebraska.
 
It was in Winnebago where we lived in community with other teens from Nebraska, Missouri, California and Massachusetts at St. Augustine’s Indian Mission. The Winnebago Reservation is home to the Ho-Chunk tribe, and was founded in 1909 by Saint Catherine Drexel.  She actually had walked on the grounds where we walked, and we all thought that was really cool. Read More