Kreeft on 7 Ways to Turn Catholics into PHONEYS

A wonderful video!

7 Tendencies the Devil Might Use to Destroy the Culture

Dr. Peter Kreeft stood before an audience so large it threatened to cause Franciscan University’s Christ the King Chapel to burst at the seams.

Kreeft’s lecture, “How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis,” drew hundreds of Franciscan students, faculty, and guests to hear the Boston College philosophy professor—who has published over 63 books—speak on the fate of the Church. November 17, 2011
 
Kreeft used a seven-letter acronym, PHONEYS, to highlight society’s biggest problems
Politicization
Happy talk
Organizationalism
Neoworship
Egalitarianism
Yuppiedom
Spirituality

With deadpan humor and a collection of “Kreeft-isms,” he explained the challenges they present to the Church.

Beginning with politicization, Kreeft described the tendency Americans have to confuse politics for religion. He drew awareness to the trend of defining oneself by politics instead of religion, saying, “We have persuaded many of them to judge their faith by the standard of ‘political correctness’ rather than vice versa.”

Kreeft’s principle of happy talk raised the ante on the average ignorance-is-bliss mentality. He pointed out that Catholics must first return to being Catholic, and correct their own practices before projecting to non-Catholics. “Catholics abort, contracept, sodomize, fornicate, divorce, and sexually abuse,” he said, “at almost exactly the same rate as non-Catholics. Amid this devastation, keep them happy talking. Keep them saying ‘Peace, Peace,’ when there is no peace." He wants Catholics to take responsibility for their behavior, make a conscious effort to change it, and to acknowledge that blame can't be placed entirely on the secular world.

Peter Kreeft addresses a packed Christ the King Chapel.

Kreeft also stated that Catholics suffer from organizationalism, causing them to regard everything—including the Church—as business ventures. This is especially bad, he noted, because people have lost sight of the role of the Church, and instead focused on the goals of business. “They must worship success, not sanctity," he said, "and fear failure, not sin."

Neoworship - The worship of the new and fashionable. Substituting what is true for what is new. Getting Catholics to dismiss all the strongest weapons heaven has provided for them . . . referring to it as "pre-Vatican II."
His list is wonderful ending with the wonderful observation that Jesus Christ is "pre-Vatican II."
Neoworship is believing the big media-mouth!

Describing society's misguided translation of egalitarianism, Kreeft pointed out that “sexism” has persuaded men and women to perceive each other as equal, when they should instead be considered beautifully inferior to each other. He believes in the importance of regarding men and women as separate and unequal, and in acknowledging the positive impact of the differences that define each. According to Kreeft, society's deterioration of egalitarianism fosters “the difference between the beauty of black and the beauty of white reduced to a boring grey.”
I love how he states that males are far superior to females in being male. And, females are far superior to males in being female.


Regarding his final topic—yuppiedom—Kreeft described a generation that prides itself on not being prideful, saying, “Let them feel superior about not feeling superior, judgmental about not being judgmental.”

Spirituality -

During the question-and-answer portion of the evening, Kreeft told of the time he took a Muslim student to Mass; the student later asked Kreeft questions about what he had seen. A discussion about the Eucharist—a concept the Catholic educator assumed his Muslim pupil wouldn’t comprehend—became an eye-opening situation when the student’s repeated question,

"Do you really believe that the wafer is the body of your God?" 

This led Kreeft to say,

“Yes, I really believe that I am consuming the body of Christ. Do you find that impossible to understand?”

Kreeft was left in awe by the Muslim’s response: His struggle was not in comprehending that Catholics thought they were ingesting God. An understanding of how they didn’t fall to their knees, unable to return to their feet after receiving communion, however, eluded him.

Ending his lecture with a short phrase that holds the potential to defeat the culture war, Kreeft said,    “Simply put, be real. Don’t be a PHONEY. Be a saint.”

Kreeft’s lecture was sponsored by Franciscan University's Advancement Office and Residence Life Office as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series, which features leaders who are recognized for exemplary service to the Church and society. Find out more about the Distinguished Speakers Series.

source: http://franciscan.edu/News/2011/Kreeft-Captures-Crowd-With-Quick-Witted-Reality-Check/

Map of Canada

My friend, Nina, sent this to me today. I think it is wonderful!  Thank you, sweet friend!

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being asked a question by his little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what Canada looked like.

He tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country.

Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country today."

 After  a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the  map, correctly  fitted and taped together.
The father was surprised and  asked how she had finished so  quickly.
"Oh,"  she said, "on  the other side of the paper is a picture of  Jesus.
When I  got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then  our country just came together."

So . . . . when we get Jesus back where He belongs, our country will come together.

Lenten Prayer Before the Crucifix - A Plenary Indulgence

A plenary indulgence is offered on Fridays in Lent (like today) for the Christian faithful who piously pray the below prayer in front of a Crucifix, after Communion:

BEHOLD, O good and sweetest Jesus,
I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight,
and with the most fervent desire of my soul
I pray and beseech Thee
to impress upon my heart
lively sentiments of faith,
hope and charity,
with true repentance for my sins
and a most firm desire of amendment:
whilst with deep affection and grief of soul
I consider within myself
and mentally contemplate Thy five most precious Wounds,
having before mine eyes that which David, the prophet,
long ago spoke in Thine own person concerning Thee,
my Jesus: “They have pierced My hands and My feet,
they have numbered all My bones.”

The indulgence is just icing on an the cake. It's a beautiful prayerful meditation on the Cross anyway.

  The usual conditions for the granting of a plenary indulgence apply:

N20. §1. To gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to excluding all attachment to sin, even venial sin, it is necessary to perform the indulgenced work and fulfill the following three conditions:

sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. 

§2. A single sacramental confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences; but Holy Communion must be received and prayer for the intention of the Holy Father must be recited for the gaining of each plenary indulgence. 

§ 3. The three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work; it is, however, fitting that Communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Holy Father be said on the same day the work is performed. 

§4. If the full disposition is lacking, or if the work and the three prescribed conditions are not fulfilled, saving the provisions given in Norm 24 and in Norm 25 regarding those who are “impeded,” the indulgence will only be partial. 

§5. The condition of praying for the intention of the Holy Father is fully satisfied by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary; nevertheless, one has the option of reciting any other prayer according to individual piety and devotion, if recited for this intention.

Thank you to: Shameless Popery (where I found this as it is passed along to brother and sister Catholics)

Amazing Lectures - Christendom College

I just found a great resource:  Extra-Campus Lectures by Christendom College.
Christendom's faculty members are frequently invited to speak at other campuses, conferences, and community gatherings. Find these lectures here.

You will also find: Major Speakers Program by Christendom College. 
 The Christendom College Major Speakers Program is an important aspect of the academic life at the College, offering the students and community an opportunity for cultural, intellectual, and spiritual enrichment beyond the classroom. The Major Speakers Program offers the students expanded opportunities to gain greater insights and depth of understanding of important issues, and to interact personally with a wide range of men and women who are shapers and critics of our society. At least two major speakers are hosted by the College each semester.

Look for this, also: Pope Benedict XVI (2006) by Christendom College  

Christendom College's 17th annual Summer Institute was held July 28-29, 2006 at its Front Royal, Virginia, campus. The conference, entitled "Pope Benedict XVI: A New Pontificate," featured guest speakers Francis Cardinal Arinze, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, and others. Over four hundred people came to hear inspiring talks on various themes relating to the thoughts and writings of the newly elected pontiff.

My son is doing a research paper on St. Paul so this was an amazing find!  
St. Paul: His Spiritual and Scriptural Contributions to the Church (2009) by Christendom College

And, last, but not least:  Guest Lectures by Christendom College
As a Catholic liberal arts collge, Christendom's essential purpose is to place students on the path to Christian wisdom, a wisdom born from the contemplation and love of both natural and divinely revealed truth. The activities, events, community and spiritual life on campus also foster the cultivation of wisdom, helping students to form the moral virtues, the habits of Christian living, which will enable them to order properly the goods and things of the body and the higher goods and things of the soul. In support of the every-day academic life, the President's Office, Career Development, Student Life, and various student organizations invite men and women to speak on various topics. Find these lectures here.

Christendom College is the Catholic College of Virginia where...

• Catholicism is the "air that we breathe"
• Academic excellence takes the Magisterium as its guide
• Education is a personal experience guided by top-notch professors who truly care about the students' learning
• Catholic culture is taught, lived, and loved
• Students earn B.A. degrees in Classics, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science and Economics, and Theology as well as M.A. degrees in Theology
• Parents can feel assured that their children will grow in the knowledge, love, and practice of the Catholic Faith
• Students can continue to follow their vocation to holiness

Christendom College is a four-year coeducational Roman Catholic Liberal Arts College with undergraduate and graduate programs offered on three campuses in Front Royal and Alexandria, Virginia, and Rome, Italy.

Bishop Lori's testimony durign the House Committee on Oversight's hearing on Religious Liberty

That Tiny Little Pencil Mark or the Stroke of One Small Key

When they came for the apostrophe in Presidents’ Day, I didn’t say anything, because I wasn’t a president.

When they came for the distinction between “its” and “it’s,” I didn’t speak up, because not many people know the difference anyway.*

When they took the commas from the magazine cover story about “Rachel Ray—on Cooking Her Family and Her Dog,” I laughed half a cup of coffee through my nose, but failed otherwise to protest.

But when I objected to the misprint that confused the meanings of ‘homoousion’ and ‘homoiousion,’ they said it was all Greek to them;**

And when I insisted there was an eternity of difference between “He’ll be my comfort and my joy” and “Hell be my comfort and my joy,” there wasn’t a soul left that gave a damn.

by D. Powlett-Jones

**Homoousion; Homoiousion

(Greek: of the same substance; like in substance)
Two words used attributively of Christ; the former by the Council of Nicaea (325) which declared that Christ was consubstantial and, consequently, coeternal and coequal with the Father, in order to offset the use of the latter by a sect of the Arians which maintained that Christ, although He was not a creature, was not of one and the same substance as the Father, that He had a beginning and was only like unto the Father. (New Catholic Dictionary)

Notes:
*slightly abridged by Soutenus
H/T Lisa Salinas (thank you!)
TimesUnion.com Daniel Nester  See the UPDATE: @ Timesunion.com about the magazine cover

B16 & Psalm 22

February 8, 2012  During the general audience, Benedict XVI spoke to some 4,000 pilgrims about the suffering of Jesus on the Cross. During the pope's appeal after the catechesis, he expressed his closeness to those who were suffering from the large snowstorm that hit Europe last week, killing hundreds and leaving many without energy. 
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I want to reflect with you on the cry of Jesus from the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  This cry comes after a three-hour period when there was darkness over the whole land.  Darkness is an ambivalent symbol in the Bible – while it is frequently a sign of the power of evil, it can also serve to express a mysterious divine presence. Just as Moses was covered in the dark cloud when God appeared to him on the mountain, so Jesus on Calvary is wrapped in darkness.

Even though the Father appears to be absent, in a mysterious way his loving gaze is focused upon the Son’s loving sacrifice on the Cross.  It is important to realize that Jesus’ cry of anguish is not an expression of despair:  on the contrary, this opening verse of Psalm twenty-two conveys the entire content of the psalm, it expresses the confidence of the people of Israel that despite all the adversity they are experiencing, God remains present among them, he hears and answers his people’s cry.  This prayer of the dying Jesus teaches us to pray with confidence for all our brothers and sisters who are suffering, that they too may know the love of God who never abandons them.

I greet all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including groups from England, Ireland, Norway and the United States of America.  I extend a special welcome to the many students who are here, and I pray that your studies may serve to deepen your knowledge and love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Whatever darkness you experience in your lives, may you always remain firm in faith, hope and love.  May God bless all of you!

FULL TEXT OF CATECHESIS above

SOURCE: Romereports.com