World Premier: Joe Catholic Media

Ok so the title sounds pretty extravagent. We are excited to post our first Joe Catholic YouTube video. Below you will find a video (approximately 15 minutes long) from the Joe Catholic meeting with Bishop Kevin Vann on July 23, 2011. The video includes a talk entitled "Gut Check," in which I explain how we can use the Joe Catholic logo to check the status of our spiritual game plans. The video also includes portions of Lindon Leners' Saint Talk on St. Maximillian Kolbe. Finally, the video includes our FAQ's of Faith section with Bishop Vann as our guest speaker, addressing the upcoming changes to the English translation of the Roman Missal.

The audio and video is a bit raw. While the KC meeting room we were in was nice, it had poor acoustics and even poorer lightening. Nevertheless, Tom Jaconette plowed through all of that to produce our first video. We hope to have more of our own videos in the future.

Catholic e-Books

Photo by libraryman

Today’s Tuesday Tech Talk focuses on e-books, the fastest growing sector in the publishing industry. Last year, e-book sales increased by 177%.  Amazon recently reported that e-book sales on their website exceeded regular books. Only recently have Catholic publishers and authors entered the world of e-book publishing in earnest.  The purpose of this post is to highlight the Catholic publishers and authors who are taking advantage of this new medium.

Ave Maria Press publishes their e-books and e-textbooks through Amazon and uses the Kindle format. Ave Maria was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross and specializes in textbooks and books on prayer and spirituality.

Ignatius Press publishes their own e-books and offers over 300 titles, including those written by popular authors like Father Larry Richards and Pope Benedict XVI. They offer their books in both .prc (Kindle) format and the standard epub format. Although, Ignatius Press gives instructions on downloading each of their e-books, it appears their Kindle format may not be compatible with the Kindle app for iPads and other devices.

Our Sunday Visitor also publishes their e-books in the Kindle format through Amazon. While they currently do not boast a large e-book collection, they do have some of the best prices.  The collection includes books from Father Benedict Groeschel, Scott Hahn and Patrick Madrid.

Scepter Publishers are making their e-books available through both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This means the books are available in the Kindle format and the epub format used by the Nook. Scepter’s e-books include many of the books written by and about St. Josemaría Escrivá. The library also includes books by James Stenson and Jacques Philippe.

TAN Books currently has a small collection of e-books, which may be downloaded directly from their online store. TAN is best known for their books on the lives of the saints. TAN makes their e-books available in several formats.

As sales of e-books continue to outpace paper books, Catholic publishers are sure to continue to provide more titles. The trend seems to be to outsource e-books sales to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and even iBooks on iTunes. The most common price mark for an average sized book is $9.99. Some of the smaller works are available for less.

Joe Catholic Meets With Bishop Vann

This morning, the Joe Catholic men's apostolate met with Bishop Kevin Vann, the bishop of the Ft. Worth diocese. The group visiting the bishop included eighteen men from St. Catherine, who were joined by seminarian James Wilcox, at the morning mass at St. Patrick's cathedral.

After mass, the group joined the bishop in the parish Knight's of Columbus hall. Don Gonzalez led the first discussion called "Gut Check," which was a talk on using the Joe Catholic logo as a means to reflect on the state of our spiritual lives. This brief talk was followed by Saint Talk, led by Lindon Leners. Lindon focused on the life and death of Maximilian Kolbe. Bishop Vann shared that he was present in Rome for St. Maximilian's canonization.

Finally, Bishop Vann spoke on the upcoming changes to the English translation of the Missal. He then allowed the group to ask him general questions about Catholicism. When the group was done asking questions, the bishop joined them for a group photo. After that, Bishop Vann led the group on a tour of the rectory.

Thanks to Tom Jaconette, we soon hope to have videos of the three talks and Q & A posted on the Joe Catholic YouTube channel.  Additionally, the videos will be embedded in upcoming posts detailing the talks. We also hope to post additional photos from the visit.

Tuesday Tech Talk: Tutorial on RSS Readers

If you have ever wondered how you can get updates on your favorite blogs like Joe Catholic, today's Tuesday Tech Talk will provide you with an easy way to subscribe to your favorite blogs, news sites or even regular websites.

The video below gives a clear (sometimes funny) tutorial for using an RSS reader to save you time from checking sites for updates. Depending on which reader you choose to use, they all come with their own variety of ways to organize your "feeds." For example, I have mine organized by topics: Catholicism, Debate, Tech and Writing.

At the bottom of the video, I have included a few Catholic blogs I follow.  This should give you a head start in collecting other good Catholic information. I find when I am on the go, this is the easiest way for me to incorporate some spiritual reading. I can even read them on my iPhone.

Bishop Kevin Vann's Blog: Shepherd of Fort Worth

Archbishop Timothy Dolan's Blog: The Gospel in the Digital Age

Taylor Marshall (guess blog on this site): Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall

Catholicism and Politics: The American Catholic

Catholic Views on Harry Potter

For years good Catholic men and women have disagreed about the popular Harry Potter series. The last of the Harry Potter movies opened at midnight today. Last week many news outlets reported that the Vatican had given the new movie a stamp of approval.  First of all, it wasn't the Holy Father who made the statement, but rather an article in the L'Osservatore Romano. Secondly, the article did not officially endorse the film on behalf of the Vatican, but instead only said that the movie promoted "friendship. altruism, loyalty and self-giving," which it viewed as attributes to value.

The problem with saying that the Catholic Church endorses or condemns Harry Potter or any other thing, is that the Church doesn't normally work that way. It's not some type of political party that maintains a platform with a checklist of pro's and con's. I can't count the number of times I've had non-Catholic and Catholic friends ask me "what's the Church's position on...?" Instead of looking for a laundry list of do's and don't's in the back of the Catechism, what we should do is a better job of forming our consciouses. This is precisely the mission of Joe Catholic, to help people learn their faith, so they can share it and defend it.

The principal instructors of the faith are not the priests and churches, but instead the parents. Parents are the ones who must discern if their children should or should not read or watch certain material. Furthermore, parents who are well formed in their faith are better armed to answer questions that children raise and, when necessary, to make the tough call to restrict access even when it's contrary to the pervading culture. I have some Catholic friends (who I respect) who allow their children to read and watch the Harry Potter books and movies. I have others, who I equally esteem, who do not permit their children.  Neither is wrong, but both are right.

Here are few other Catholic articles on Harry Potter (some for and some against):

The American Catholic: The Conclusion of Harry Potter (spoilers)

Catholic Answers: The Morals of Magic: Is Harry Potter Bad for Kids?

Catholic News Service: Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Dads.org: Harry Potter: An Entry Point into the World of the Occult/New Age Movement

National Catholic Register: Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series

Get Your Answer on Catholic Answers

Perhaps you have noticed the banner under the Joe Catholic logo from Catholic Answers. If you visit daily, you know that it changes each day. When you click on the banner you are taken to a page with questions that had previously been submitted to Catholic Answers. Before Catholic Answer existed as a radio program, it began as a series of written tracts created by Karl Keating in 1979. He wrote them in response to a Fundamentalist church that had left anti-Catholic leaflets on cars at a local San Diego parish during mass.

Eventually Keating wrote another series of tracts. Keating followed this up with a monthly newsletter in 1986. By 1988, Keating realized “real need for information on Catholic apologetics” and he quit his law practice and began work on a full-time apostolate. The apostolate grew quickly and the newsletter was soon replaced with This Rock, a 10-issue-a-year periodical. The magazine is arguably the best Catholic publication for the laity on the subject of apologetics and evangelization.

Catholic Answers also hosts one of the most comprehensive websites dedicated to providing solid catechesis. The site has a Library tab that contains a wealth of authentic Catholic material, including free tracts on frequent objections to Catholicism. The library also has Answer Guides, Special Reports, and online copies of some of their booklets. The site also contains an archive of This Rock back issues dating back to 1990 when the magazine was first published.

Catholic Answers also has an online store in which you can purchase books, CD’s and DVD’s of some of their speakers and writers. You can listen to Catholic Answers’ radio programming through the site. You can even schedule a Catholic cruise with members of the Catholic Answers team.

The one area that I think the site is lacking in is its forum where online discussions on various subjects take place. I don’t think the moderators are able to monitor well enough to respond to statements made by people who post who may not know what they are talking about. I would stay clear of this section if you are not firmly planted in your knowledge of Church teaching.

Overall the Catholic Answers website is a tremendous resource. I begin all of my research for presentations with a look at this site. I recommend you bookmark in your favorites.

iPieta: The Little Blue Book & More on Your Phone

In today’s Tuesday Tech Talk, I review the smart phone application iPieta.

Some of you may be familiar with the Pieta blue book that you see many people carrying with them, especially daily communicants. Like the paper version, iPieta contains a collection of traditional Catholic prayers, but this has much more than that. The application is organized into four categories: Bible, Calendar, Prayers and Veritas.

Bible

The bible section contains two choices of public domain bibles: the Douay-Rheims (old English) and the Latin Vulgate. Each of the bibles is indexed by the name of the books and you can simply scroll down and select the book you wish to read. The books are organized by chapters and when the book is opened the entire chapter is displayed. The bibles may be read in English, Latin or English-Latin. Although the application does not currently contain the NAB (used in daily readings for mass) or the popular RSV-CE, the developers are hoping to receive permission to include them in the future.

Calendar

The calendar has two options. You may select the Ordinary (or Novus Ordo) Calendar or the Extraordinary (or Traditional) Calendar. The application permits you to toggle between the calendars by shaking the device. The calendars distinguish the mass types (solemnity, feast, etc.) with different colors and fonts.

Prayers

iPieta literally has hundreds of prayers stored in it. It contains all of the traditional prayers and novenas most of us are familiar with. It also contains a vast library of lesser-known prayers. The prayers are indexed by topic and many are also available in audio format.

Veritas

To tell the truth, this is the section that makes this app unique and worth purchasing. This section is comprised of numerous spiritual writings from popes, saints and councils. Some of the more famous works include The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis, Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis De Sales and The Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas.

At $3.99 the iPieta application is a bargain. Is available in formats compatible with the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and the Android. It is also available in a Spanish version.

Father Larry Richards: "Be a Man!"

If you have listened to Relevant Radio or Guadalupe Radio Network or received a free CD from Catholicity, you may have heard Father Larry Richards preach and teach. Father Richards is a parish priest in the diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania. He is known for his direct, yet understandable preaching. He blends personal anecdotes and humor into his talks and homilies.

Father Richards recently published his first book, entitled Be a Man! The book earned the #1 bestseller for Ignatius Press in 2010. The book is a guide for teaching men to be authentic Christian men. Father Richards is also the founder of The Reason for Our Hope Foundation and often speaks at Catholic Men’s conferences (see the video above). Later this month, he will be the keynote speaker at the Guadalupe Radio Summer Speaker series.

If you would like a great resource to learn more about the sacrament of reconciliation, I recommend ordering the $1 CD recorded for Catholicity by Father Larry Richards.

Sower and Seeds

Some rights reserved by madison.murphy

It is human nature to tune out the familiar. This is certainly a possibility with the Parable of the Sower in today’s gospel. How many times have you left mass and a few hours later you can’t remember the priest’s homily, let alone the gospel reading?

I don’t intend to write about being distracted at mass, although that would be a good topic for a future post. Instead, I want to reflect on the meanings of today’s gospel. I believe there are two ways we can look at the parable. First, we can see ourselves as the seeds and how we respond to God’s word. Secondly, we can see ourselves as the sower who plants the seeds of Christ's goodness in the hearts of others.

We Are the Seeds

Jesus describes four types of seeds.  The first seeds fall on the pathway, which is so packed that the seed cannot penetrate the surface at all. These seeds represent those who are so closed off to hearing the word of God that they don’t let anything in. They want to do things their way. The second set of seeds fall upon shallow soil and do not take root so they whither when they sprout. A fellow debate coach shared Father Robert Vallee’s homily with me via email. Father Vallee, who is a professor of philosophy at St. John Vianney College Seminary, asserted these are the people who “get all excited about something and then, just as quickly, get bored and drop it.” Father Vallee pointed out in his homily that Christianity is not just an emotional search. Instead, it is also an intellectual one that requires we use reasoning, through faith, to permit ourselves to be properly formed and informed. The thorns choke out the third set of seeds. I think a lot of times we allow ourselves to be like these seeds. We hear the word of God and we believe, but we allow all the distractions of our life to get in the way of putting the gospel into action. Finally, the fourth set of seeds falls on good soil.  Like fertile soil, these Christians are those who are receptive to the word of God and allow it to form them and they in turn bear fruit by sharing what they have received.

We Are the Sower

The second lesson we can take from this parable is that we are also the sower. It is not enough to simply receive God’s word, we must also “bear much fruit” (John 15:8). Christ is calling us all to be his disciples and to evangelize “to all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This doesn’t mean that we all have to stand on street corners preaching or go minister to foreign lands, although some, like our daughter Tiffany, may be called to do that. Most of us are called to evangelize precisely where we are. Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta used to say “bloom where you are planted.” This is the essence of our response to the universal call to holiness: to share our faith, to share Christ with others in our ordinary every day interactions. I like what St. Josemaria Escriva said in The Way about discipleship: “Among those around you — apostolic soul — you are the stone fallen into the lake. With your word and your example you produce a first circle... and it another... and another, and another... Wider each time.
Now do you understand the greatness of your mission?”

What type of seeds are you sowing in your interactions at home and work?

Oops! I Forgot about God: Practicing the Presence of God

 All rights reserved by mj kidd

I will never forsake you or abandon you. (Hebrews 13:5) 

We've got to be convinced that God is always near us. We live as though he were far away, in the heavens high above, and we forget that he is also continually by our side. (The Way, #267)

Scripture and the writings of saints are filled with references to God’s promise to not forsake us. He may not leave us, but all too often I leave Him. I am not talking about the times I sin, but by getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, forgetting God. This can happen in both good times and bad, but for me it’s more likely to occur when things are going well.

One of the most difficult challenges I have encountered since returning to the Catholic Church, is staying in the presence of God. When I first read St. Paul’s challenge to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), I felt that was unrealistic for those of us who are not cloistered monks. I failed to understand the real meaning of that passage.

I have since learned that we are not necessarily called to fall on our knees and recite formal prayers, but we are called to make our lives prayerful. Furthermore, I believe we need to incorporate reminders in our days so we can see God is with us. This may mean praying aspirations at certain times of the day. It may mean placing a small paper clip cross on your desk, perhaps near your mouse, to serve as a reminder of the cross Christ died upon for our sins.

You can have fun with this practice. Don’t be afraid to let yourself find God in the little things. I was once driving to work and eating my breakfast on the go. As I ate my three strips of center cut bacon, I literally called out in the car, only a loving and caring God could make something taste so good.

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence has long been considered a great resource on this subject.

The Way: A Spiritual Guide

In the summer of 2003 I attended a Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat. Following the retreat, each CRHP team undergoes about a six-month period of spiritual formation. The Holy Spirit picked me to lead our team of men as lay director. God did not choose me because I had any special leadership qualities; there were certainly men more worthy than me. No, He chose me because I required the most work.

Each week leading up to the formation sessions, I would nervously comb through the CRHP handbook and surf the net for supporting resources. The more I learned, the more I discovered how little I knew about my Catholic faith. A funny thing happened along the way. As I did my research, I kept stumbling across the writings of St. Josemaría, in particular points from The Way.

The book consists of 999 spiritual points, which when read reflectively, are like mini-retreats. The book is organized into forty-six short chapters that cover a wide range of spiritual topics. Some include character, cheerfulness, formation, interior struggle and perseverance. The book also has a subject index and a scriptural reference index.

You can choose to read one point daily or read a chapter at a time. You should read the book as a spiritual guide; it’s not meant to be read like a novel. Sometimes, when I read a point, it is as if St. Josemaría was speaking to me as my spiritual director. The overall message of the book is that we are all children of God who are called to be holy in our everyday, ordinary lives.

The book is widely available at Catholic books stores, mainstream books stores and all of their website stores. You can also access it online at EscrivaWorks.

SOLT Releases Statement Incriminating Corapi

Both EWTN and Catholic World News are reporting that the religious society that Father Corapi belonged to has made a public statement that he "is not fit for public ministry." The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) issued a stern statement warning that Corapi was misleading his followers with "false statements and characterizations." The press release, which can be found in it's entirety on SOLT's website, spells out the measures SOLT took to conduct a fact-finding mission in accordance with Canon law. The SOLT document confirms that their investigation revealed that Corapi had indeed engaged in inappropriate behavior.

I don't feel it necessary to post a play by play account of what they uncovered. The links above can provide that information. Instead, I think it's time for Corapi's "followers," "fans," etc. to move on. I put myself in that camp. I had a bad feeling when Corapi came out swinging, but I held on to a sliver of hope that the allegations were false. This latest information eliminated that.

This entire scandal demonstrates that we should not place our faith in men (or women). Our faith should be placed in Christ Jesus and the teachings of the Church he founded to be His teaching authority on Earth. It is good that the Church has talented teachers and preachers. Most of them will live out their lives faithful to Christ and His teachings, but our faith is not dependent on their holiness. It is only dependent on the truth which is Jesus.

I will pray that Father Corapi gets help, that he returns to SOLT and spends the remainder of his life as a cloistered priest. I do not judge him, for we are all capable of falling. He himself had said that a number of times in his talks. If he doesn't repent and insists on continuing as the black sheep dog, I fear he will become a clerical version of Charlie Sheen.

I experienced these same feelings of betrayal and sadness when I first came back to the Church. I discovered that Father John Bertolucci, a great preacher, televangelist (sound familiar?) and promoter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the 1980's, had been forced to leave public ministry because of sexual abuse. I shared that with a friend who I knew from my years in the charismatic movement. He threw away all of his Bertolucci tapes. I don't think I will do that with Corapi's CD's. The teaching was sound, but like all of us are capable of, he fell short of executing it in his life. Father Corapi always said that God permits evil to exist in the world to draw out a greater good. I believe that. I don't know what the good that will come from this scandal, but I do know that all things are possible through Jesus, our Lord.

Need a Missal? There's an App for That!

Pope Benedict XVI & The New Evangelization
If  you have been watching the news recently, you may have heard or seen a story about Pope Benedict XVI sending out a tweet on his iPad. The secular press made a big deal out of this, but if you have been following his papacy, you know that Pope Benedict has been very supportive of using new media as part of the new evangelization. The Holy Father has already published a Vatican YouTube channel and an iPhone app. On the eve of the beatification of John Paul the Great, the Vatican even invited 150 Catholic bloggers to Rome for a special conference.


Tuesday Tech Talks
In that light, today I will begin a series of Tuesday Tech Talks dealing with the world of technology and its implications or application in our Catholic faith. Today I will review a Catholic smart phone application that works on the Android, Blackberry and iPhone/iPod/iPad. It's called the iBreviary and has been sanctioned by the Vatican. Several priests and even bishops use the application. Our own Bishop Kevin Vann of the Fort Worth diocese uses it when he travels.

There's an App for That!
The iBreviary application was developed by an Italian priest, Father Paolo Padrini, who according to USAToday is a consultant to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications. The application essentially has three components: Liturgy of the Hours, the Daily Missal and the Catholic Prayers/Rituals. The application is available in five languages (English, Latin, Italian, French and Spanish) which you can change on the application settings.

The Liturgy of the Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours is also known as the Divine Office or Breviary and is the "official prayer of the Church" (EWTN). It appears on the app menu as Breviary and contains a collection of prayers, psalms and readings used for allotted times of the day. As official representatives of the Church, clergy and religious are required to pray the Divine Office throughout each day. Laity, though not required, are encouraged to pray the "prayer of the Church." In fact many parishioners who attend daily mass will join their parish priests in praying the morning prayers. I know of at least one parishioner in our parish who uses iBreviary to join our pastor in morning prayer. You can join in the prayers anywhere you pray.

The Daily Missal
This portion of the application is listed on the menu as Missal and contains The Order of the Mass, Readings and Prayers, Preface and Eucharistic Prayer(s). This acts like the St. Joseph Missal or MTF missal to which you may be accustomed. Instead of using ribbons to mark your places, you simply update the app daily and use the button tabs on the application to advance to the next part of the mass. I personally use this for mass all the time. At first, I was concerned people were going to think I was texting during mass, but I got over that. I've had a few people ask me about using my phone in mass, but they were all curious if I had the readings on it; this gave me an opportunity to share the app with them.

Catholic Prayers/Rituals
This portion of the application contains a number of traditional Catholic prayers. Additionally, it contains supplemental prayers for the Breviary to cover special occasion like the Office for the Dead.

Recommendation
I recommend downloading the iBreviary app. First of all, it's a great value - it's free! Secondly, it's an especially useful tool if you are traveling. I like that you can change the font sizes on the screen to make it easier to read. It does have a few areas where it can improve. Using your network connection, you have to sync the app daily by tapping the Today tab. This can sometimes take a while. I have gotten into the habit of syncing it while I am getting ready for mass. I've also had a few occasions when the mass readings did not match up with those read at mass. Again, overall it's worth having on your smart phone.

Catholic American Founder

When we think of the 4^th of July, some of us think about more than grilling and fireworks. This is our nation’s birthday and marks the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Most people (I am being charitable here) can remember the names of a few of the signers. Most might recall John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Some might even remember that Benjamin Franklin signed the document. Some might even mistakenly think George Washington signed, but few will mention the name Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the sole Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Although few recall his name today, prior to his death in 1832, Charles Carroll was considered one of the most important founders of America. Carroll hailed from Maryland and came from a wealthy Catholic family.  Some historians credit Carroll for developing the concept of the Senate. Carroll was instrumental in legitimizing Catholicism during the early American Republic.  Charles Carroll also served in the U.S. Senate and was an early opponent of slavery.

His cousin John Carroll, for whom he is often mistaken, was the Archbishop of Maryland. Charles Carroll was the last surviving signer when he died in 1832.  The city of Carrollton, Maryland is named after him.

For more on Charles Carroll, I recommend reading American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll by Bradley J. Birzer or for a shorter read I recommend, Christopher Blosser’s post on The American Catholic.

31 Days with St. Ignatius

At the end of this month, we celebrate the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola. He is best known as the founder of the Society of Jesus, most commonly known as the Jesuits. Loyola Press sponsors a blog highlighting Ignatian Spirituality. Every year at this time, they begin a series called 31 Days with St. Ignatius. Even you have ever been curious about the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, this will act as a bit of preview.

This will also give you an opportunity to get to know some of the contributors to the site. St. Ignatius has had a tremendous influence on many people including other saints.

Perhaps by visiting this site you will be motivated to explore the 31 Days or even make an Ignatian retreat like those offered at a Jesuit Retreat House like Montserrat.

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Since the early days of Christianity men have asked, “Teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1) The purpose of this article is to set out some basic guidelines to help you begin a regiment of daily prayer. This will not be an exhaustive examination of the various forms of prayer, but rather a primer to either get you started or redirected in your daily prayer. I will write a future piece on the of types of prayer, but for now I will focus simply on personal prayer.

Why Pray?
Sometimes I hear men say, “I don’t pray, but I have a personal relationship with Christ.” How many strong relationships do you know where people don’t talk to each other? None. The same is true with our relationship with God and our prayer life. He wants to have a personal and intimate relationship with each and every one of us. Hearken back to when you first started dating your wife. You spent all the time you could with her, wanting to get to know her. You wrote love letters and talked on the phone for hours (Today, I'm sure it's tweeting, texting, IM'ing and chatting). This is precisely the type of intimacy that God wants with us. The way we achieve this is in conversation. Our conversation with God is prayer.

Fifteen Minutes
Based on the reading I have done, most spiritual directors recommend at least fifteen minutes of personal prayer a day. This was the case whether the priest was a Dominican, Franciscan, or Jesuit. There is nothing particularly special about 15 minutes; it is simply a reasonable amount of time to begin your personal prayer.

Make an Appointment with God
Conveniently most calendar planners and calendar applications break our days into fifteen or thirty minute increments. The first thing we should do is choose a time to pray. This should be a definite time dedicated only to prayer. I recommend scheduling it on your calendar; make an appointment with God. You need to decide what is the best time for prayer that you can find. For some (probably most) this will me first thing in the morning, before getting ready for the day. For others, it may mean arriving to work early, closing the door and praying. Still another may set aside time during lunch or before going to bed. Choosing the best time is just that – a personal choice. The important thing is to stick to that same time daily.

Pick a Prayer Place
Next, you should choose a place to pray. It should be one free of distractions and one that you know you can use daily. I have a friend who has turned a spare bedroom into her prayer room. Your place to pray may be the office or even your own den or breakfast nook when everyone else is still asleep. In theory, it could even be “the man cave.” Again, the choice is personal. What is most important is that you can consistently pray there without distractions.

A-C-T-S
Years ago a friend of mine, who teaches RCIA, taught me an easy acronym to help in praying: A-C-T-S. We begin with ADORATION. We spend time praising God. We need to get comfortable with this notion. Praising God is not limited to Pentecostal Protestants. Whether we know it or not, we already praise Him when we participate in mass and say “alleluia,” which means praise God. At the conclusion of the gospel reading we proclaim, “praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.” Next is CONTRITION, which means we are sorry. We spend time in prayer telling God we are sorry for offenses against Him and others. During this time, we reflect on areas in which we may have fallen short and surrender them to Him. We follow this with THANKSGIVING. We thank the Lord for all we have, for all He has given us. This may even mean praying for the challenges we are facing, praying to use those as opportunities to grow closer to Him. We conclude with SUPPLICATION, which is a fancy word for asking God for stuff. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask Him because nothing is too small or big to ask. The gospel tells us, “Ask and it will be given to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

We Must Also Listen
There is still a last part to prayer. It’s not part of ACTS, but it is vital. The one final part is L – listen. We men have trouble with this one. Like any other form of communication, prayer is a two-way street. Often when talking to our wives, she wants us to listen to her and we are off trying to figure out how to solve whatever problem she’s presenting. It’s the same challenge when we talk to God; we want to do all the talking but we also have to learn to listen. This is such a tough one, that I believe I will devote another post to just hearing and responding to God.

But I Can’t Pray
But you’re saying, I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t pray. Saint Josemaria said, “You say you do not know how to pray. Put yourself in the presence of God, and once you have said, 'Lord, I don't know how to pray!' rest assured that you have begun to do so.” (The Way, #90)

Happy praying. While you’re at it, pray for me, for those who read this blog and the men of Joe Catholic. God’s grace be with you all.

The History of Joe Catholic

About eight years ago a friend and I tried to form a men's small faith group (patterned after the St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers) in our parish and it failed.  Year after year some guy would come up to me after Mass and ask me when we were going to bring back the "Joseph's group."  I smiled nicely and said "we'll see," knowing well I was not interested in another failure.  A little over two years ago I relented and invited some of the male leaders in our church to discuss revamping the group.  (This idea was founded on John Maxwell's Law of Explosive Growth).  We kicked around format ideas and settled on a new name - Joe Catholic. I got the idea from Joe the Plumber in the recent presidential election. We also liked the name because we wanted to promote that we were just ordinary guys trying to learn our faith.

Joe Catholic now meets the fourth Saturday of each month, bright and early at 7:00AM.  Over forty men have attended at least one gathering and we consistently have fifteen or so at each get together.  We have settled on a three prong format: Catholic Toolbox, Saint Talk and FAQ of Faith.  Each session lasts about 15-20 minutes and they are non-sequential by design.  The Catholic Toolbox is normally a catechetical talk. Saint Talk covers the life of a saint whose feast we will celebrate during the month we are meeting. FAQ of Faith takes an apologetic approach to questions Catholics are often asked by their non-Catholic friends and family. We maintain a casual environment encouraging men to show up late if they have to and leave early when they need.  The bottom line is that we want to help men grow in their Catholic faith.

Last year, Bishop Kevin Vann invited us to the Fort Worth cathedral (St. Patrick) to celebrate mass with him and subsequently to present one of our meetings to him.  He has since taken in an interest in our little group and has asked for another visit.

This blog began as a supplement to the gatherings with resources for deeper study of the topics covered in the gathering. Now, we hope it will be an instrument to promote the apostolate on a wider scale, casting the net into deeper waters.

NOTE ON THE LOGO: The artisan's toolbox represents that we are all working men living ordinary lives.  The green book is the Catechism of the Catholic Church representing that we are loyal to the Church's teachings.  The black book is the Holy Bible to represent that we are men of the Word of God. The Rosary represents that we are men of prayer.  The hammer and rule are representative of traditional symbols of St. Joseph - the original Joe Catholic and our patron saint.