David Ancell's Virtual Home

Lunch Break: Lesser Known Sins, Part 2: Calumny, Detraction, and Rash Judgment

  /   Monday, June 23, 2014   /   Comments(0)

I’ve posted another Lunch Break edition of my podcast.

You can download it here.

We often hear people talk about gossip, but actually, you won’t find the word in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church.  What you will find are calumny, detraction, and rash judgment.  There may be other circumstances in which talking about other people is sinful, but we’ve definitely crossed the line when we are attacking the character of another without justifying cause.  I talk about those thing in this podcast.  Here’s one take-home point:  just because something is true doesn’t mean we automatically have the right to tell everyone we know.

Category: Podcasts


Where Are We?

  /   Thursday, June 19, 2014   /   Comments(0)

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I were on vacation visiting family.  As we always like to do when we visit this city, we took a walk through the attractive/upscale shopping and dining area.  It’s just a beautiful place to take a walk.  This time, I noticed something I didn’t remember seeing before.

Down one street I found the Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist.  Across the street from there was a Unity Temple.  The Christian Scientists were a sect founded by a woman named Mary Baker Eddy based on some supposed insight on healing.  They are the ones who don’t believe in the use of medicine.  The Unity Temple is some kind of church that seeks a “unity” and “peace and harmony” that doesn’t appear to be based on anything but just letting people believe whatever they believe.  Their web site, which I won’t link to here, has as a principle that we create our life experience through our own thoughts.

From that location, I decided to search for the nearest Catholic Church.  This would be a place that could really use a place to encounter our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.  To my dismay, I found that the nearest Catholic Church was the Cathedral four miles away.  It’s not too far, but it’s not too close either.  So, I had to ask, where are we?

Why aren’t we there?  It just reminded me more that we need to be where the people are, trying in whatever way we can to bring people to an encounter with Our Lord.  If someone doesn’t help feed the hungry, they will seek whatever food they can find.  Sadly, that food will never satisfy like the fullness of truth.  Just imagine if there were a church or chapel there where people could stop and pray in the presence of the Eucharist.  Maybe they could go to Confession and be reconciled with God.  We could even leave some materials where interested people could discover the Catholic faith.

One place where evangelization is badly needed is simply among where ordinary activity of people takes place.  We should be there, not to try to shove something down their throats, but to engage them, inform them, and ultimately challenge them to explore the truth.  If other groups are there, why aren’t we?

Category: Catholic, Response


Lunch Break: Lesser Known Sins, Part 1: Sins of Thought

  /   Wednesday, June 18, 2014   /   Comments(0)

I’ve posted another Lunch Break edition of my podcast.

Download it here.

In this podcast, I decided to go back to a more serious note and talk about lesser known sins.  There are sins that I don’t hear a lot of people talk about or seem to know about, and I want to talk about them here.  In this episode, I’m talking about sins of thought and how they are committed, as well as how a bad thought might not be a sin if consent of the will is not given.

Category: Podcasts


Lunch Break: Immersing Our Children in the Faith

  /   Tuesday, June 10, 2014   /   Comments(0)

I’ve posted another Lunch Break edition of the podcast.

Download it here.

I’m not an expert on teaching children by any means.  Most catechesis I’ve done is with adults.  However, I’ve learned a thing or two having a toddler, and it’s actually fascinating and fun.  Here is how we’ve begun immersing the toddler in the faith.  We want him to know that this isn’t just something we do on the side, but it’s the center of our lives.

Category: Podcasts


Lunch Break: What About Evil and Corruption?

  /   Tuesday, June 03, 2014   /   Comments(0)

I have posted another Lunch Break episode.

Download it here.

This is the last part of the miniseries, if you call it that, that I did on how God can be known. I’ve heard people talk about the problem of evil or corruption in the Church as an obstacle to belief in God. However, this really can be an argument for, rather than against, Christianity. We are saved by the Cross of Christ.  Evil is the result of our rebellion against God. The Scriptures are full of examples of rebellion even among God’s chosen people and sometimes their leaders. However, in the end, God wins. To look only at the evil and corruption is to take a cynical, one-sided view. Look at the saints and what they did with the help of God’s grace!

Category: Podcasts


           



David's Pages

RSS Feed
Atom Feed

Archives