My Godson with Father Libby and Bishop Hebda in May 2010

Talk about pressure! I pray daily for my Godchildren and also for the graces to be a good Godfather and/or sponsor. I think it's important to let them know I'm paying attention to what they are doing and to let them know I'm always there for them. It is also important to be a good example in all walks of life. I know he's young now, but he won't always be, and it will be important for him to have people in his life he can count on. I hope to be one of those people!

Thanks Be to God I can call on his patron saint St. John Bosco for help and to also pray for both of us! St. John Bosco, Pray for Us!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Side Entrance (7 altar boys for a week night mass!*)

Sitting surprisingly still during the First Reading

My son Luke (he's in the middle) very excited after Mass with his cousin and one of his friends

The whole crew!

*Okay, five of the seven were siblings, but still, not bad right?

I received the email below with information about the events and with some disappointing news as well. A local funeral home received "angry calls" and now won't be participating in the event. Let this be a reminder that abortion and the need to protect life isn't just happenening somewhere else, but also right in our own backyard!

Defending life is important and prayers are needed to continue to have the strength to protect the unborn.

To mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, GTARTL has planned a memorial procession and service for Sunday, January 22.

http://record-eagle.com/friday/x897043835/Groups-mark-Roe-Wade-anniversary

It appears that the article above has created quite a stir from the “other side”. Funeral home fielded several angry calls yesterday from people threatening to pull business, slander their name, and finally have protestors along the route to throw eggs at the hearse and those involved. As a result, they have pulled their services from our memorial.

I feel that this is the time to stand strong, bold and mourn the lives of 54 million that are not here! God calls us to speak for the weak.

I ask all of you for prayers for peace and safety for this memorial and help getting the word out!

Line Up:
12:45-1:25 at St. Francis Church - 1025 S. Union, Traverse City
Procession:
Leaving promptly at 1:30
St. Francis 1025 S. Union, Traverse City to Oakwood Catholic Cemetery, 1325 E. 8th Street
Brief Service:
2:15-2:30 - At Tomb for the Unborn

REMINDER: The Respect Life presentation on The Theology of the Body beginning at 3:00 at Immaculate Conception Church, 205 N. Division. A light food reception will follow.

http://www.respectlifegaylord.com/2012/01/6th-annual-respect-life-presentation-sunday-january-22-2012/

Here is a great prayer I found at Catholic Online...

To Protect Life

Loving God, I thank you for the gift of life you gave and continue to give to me and to all of us.
Merciful God, I ask your pardon and forgiveness for my own failure and the failure of all people to respect and foster all forms of life in our universe.

Gracious God, I pray that with your grace, I and all people will reverence, protect, and promote all life and that we will be especially sensitive to the life of the unborn, the abused, neglected, disabled, and the elderly. I pray, too, that all who make decisions about life in any form will do so with wisdom, love, and courage.

Living God, I praise and glorify you as Father, Source of all life, as Son, Savior of our lives, and as Spirit, Sanctifier of our lives.

Amen.

Sister Mary Margaret Johanning, S.S.N.D.
Nihil Obstat: Joseph F. Martino Imprimatur: Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua Archbishop of Philadelphia, June 1994

Remember to pray for the unborn, but also the people defending and protecting life, in today's world they need it!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us!

Here's the latest on the fallout from the two press releases above for RealCatholicTV.com and Michael Voris from LifeSiteNews.com titled Archdiocesan canon lawyers differ on asking RealCatholicTV.com to drop 'Catholic' name. Many readers have commented and share their opinions on the subject as well.

Here's the latest video response from Michael Voris...

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Bishop Hebda's Christmas Message he talks about a similar tradition...

Each year as Christmas approached, the Sisters would construct a nativity scene out of whatever discarded items they could find and this always included an empty box placed where we would normally put the manger. All during Advent, when no one else was looking, the individual Sisters would put a single piece of straw in the box, representing some act of charity that they had accomplished that day. By the time that the community gathered for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the box would inevitably be overflowing with straw signifying the anonymous works of charity that the Sisters had embraced to prepare for the coming of the Christ child.

I’ve often tried to emulate the Sisters’ Advent practice, but more often than not have found my manger lacking in straw. When I mentioned this to the Sisters, they suggested that I broaden the project, inserting a straw not only for each act of charity, but also for each instance of gratitude.

I might have to join the kids next year during Advent as we prepare for Christmas. As we celebrate the Christmas Season it's important to look back with gratitude on the many blessings of the past year and carry that into the new year. Merry Christmas!

Read Bishop Hebda's Christmas Message at The Diocese of Gaylord

Photo from medjugorje.ws

The first is Fiat Voluntas Dei written by seminarians of the Diocese of Gaylord. Recent posts have shared photos from their trip to Rome with Bishop Hebda, the famous "Spaghetti Bowl", thanksgiving, and the loss of Monsignor William Lyons.

The second is a blog and soon-to-be publication Vox Christi. Vox Christi is a new quarterly publication of the seminarians of Kenrick – Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Their website says...

Vox Christi seeks to share with the world the spiritual, the academic and the artistic fruits of our community to people of all ages and academic abilities in a manner that assists in building up the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Please keep all seminarians in your prayers as they are challenged everyday on the path to priesthood!

The interview by Jim Graves is well worth reading as Bishop Sample talks about his life's journey and the road that has led him to being the Shepherd of Catholics in the Diocese of Marquette. If you don't know anything about Bishop Sample, read the article below and you'll see why so many Catholics love him.

Read Lost Generations at The Catholic World Report

The interview is also the focus of this video called "A Bishop and Vatican II" from RealCatholicTV's Michael Voris and how "Catholics do not know the faith".

Click here to view the embedded video.

Please keep Bishop Sample in your prayers, and if you can, send an extra Rosary or two his way.

Forty Hour Devotions for our Diocese Anniversary! (Note: December 6-8 at St. Francis in Traverse City, click the link below for the schedule)
www.dioceseofgaylord.org/inside/40-hour-devotions-646/

Check this video out -- Lift the City - a Catholic Eucharistic flash mob (Note: Pretty cool!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ5aYoSr3Hg

Topic 25: Marriage (Note: This is very well done!)
www.opusdei.us/art.php?p=46194

Praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
www.jimmyakin.org/2011/12/praying-for-the-holy-souls-in-purgatory.html

Grand Opening of Holy Rosary Books & Gifts tonight! My wife even won a door prize! A great new Catholic Bookstore in Northern Michigan! (Note: I'll be posting more about this soon, here and at the Holy Rosary Website)