General

Why I love being Catholic

Just a few days ago I was spending some quiet time in prayer and contemplation, as I do most days, and began thinking about all the reasons why I love being Catholic.  While I was not raised  with any particular religion in mind, I did gain some influence from both my Grandmothers.  My Grandmother on my Dad’s side was Baptist and  my Grandmother on my Mom’s side was Church of Christ.  I attended church with both my Grandmothers on multiple occasions when I was young and like I said, both influenced me in my young faith.  As both of my Grandmother’s belonged to Protestant churches they believed in salvation by faith alone.  From this standpoint, I firmly believe both of my Grandmothers did their very best to instill their faith in me and I’m very grateful.

Later in my life, perhaps in my mid twenties, a friend of mine convinced me to start attending a non-denominational Bible Church.  I went a few times, but remember a conversation I once had with him where he told me all I needed to do to get to heaven was to “drop to my knees and accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior”, that was it….I would be saved.  I thought to myself…wow, that’s easy.  Over the years this really began to weigh heavily on me.  How can it truly be this easy?  Once saved, always saved?

A few weeks later I attended a Sunday lecture at this same Bible Church.  The topic of conversation was about cults within society.  Naturally I expected them to discuss organizations such as the Freemasons, The Church of Scientology and perhaps The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  While these organizations were certainly discussed and I must admit the discussion was rather interesting, soon the topic of discussion came around to the Roman Catholic Church.  At this time of my life, actually well before this period I knew both in my mind and in my heart that the Catholic Church was the one true church started by Jesus Christ I had just been struggling to actually get there.  Nonetheless, after hearing the lecturer spew all his drivel about why the Roman Catholic Church was one of the largest cults operating in the world I vowed never to attend this Bible Church.  But I digress….

Allow me to revisit the “Once saved, always saved” concept I mentioned earlier.  When we reflect on the life of Jesus, His Ministry and especially His Passion…  all Christian faiths certainly understand the sacrifice, pain and suffering Our Lord experienced during His final hours on this earth.  Our own salvation can’t be as simple as just through faith alone.  Meaning, one can’t simply be assured of their salvation simply by falling to their knees and accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  Of course, on the contrary….many may believe the Catholic Church teaches the concept of “salvation by works” and this simply is not true.

The Catholic Church teaches that salvation comes through Jesus alone and is accessible through repentance, faith and baptism.  Repentance demonstrates our willingness to avoid the things that keep us from God.  Baptism renews us with the grace required to have the faith and to actually live it in our lives on a daily basis.  As we’re all sinners, or should I say repentant sinners it does require more effort on our part to remain in grace and this ladies and gentlemen is why I love being Catholic!  Of course, there are many, many more reasons why I love my Catholic faith and I’m sure I’ll share more of these reasons with you very soon.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

March 22, 2024 by General 0

Pipe Smoking Content

I’ve recently added a new category to this blog site titled “Pipe Smoking”.  To be clear, when I mention pipe smoking, I’m referring to tobacco pipe smoking and not any other form.  Anyway, the content posted there was imported from another blog site that I used to manage.  As my own pipe smoking is very much a part of my own Saintly Life, I decided I would move that content here and shut down the other website.

Now some may argue and suggest that any form of smoking can’t be considered very Catholic or Saintly.  While I can see the point with regards to cigarettes as most cigarette smokers I know simply use the cigarette as a means to consume nicotine.  But cigar and pipe smokers in my opinion use tobacco in a much different manner.  In other words, not all tobacco products are equal.

Unlike cigarettes, pipe and cigar smokers typically don’t inhale and again unlike cigarettes, pipe and cigar smoking isn’t addictive.  I can go days (or even weeks) at a time without smoking my pipe.  The tobacco used in pipe smoking isn’t loaded with hundreds of cancer causing chemicals like cigarettes.  Also the cost of pipe tobacco is much, much cheaper.

For me and others like me who enjoy smoking a pipe, the time spent is often contemplative.  I can load up my favorite pipe with a favorite blend of tobacco and spend the next 30-45 minutes in prayer or getting lost in reading a G.K. Chesterton book.

Speaking of G.K. Chesterton, pipe smoking has been enjoyed by many good Catholics such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Hilaire Belloc, Pope St. Pius X, St. Damian of Molokai, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and of course my favorite Catholic author, Mr. G.K. Chesterton himself.

While it’s been about 18 months since I’ve written any content specific to pipe smoking, I do plan to continue writing about it here.  This will include pipe and tobacco reviews and just anything else I can think of related to the hobby of pipe smoking.  You’ll find all that content under the Pipe Smoking section of the blog site.

Until next time….

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

February 27, 2024 by General Pipe Smoking 0

My First Traditional Latin Mass

I recently attended my first Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and absolutely loved it.  I loved it so much that I don’t have any plans on returning to my Novus Ordo parish.  At least for as long as my new FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter) is allowed to hold mass.  Why have I made this change?

First, let me make it clear that I have absolutely no negative feelings toward the Novus Ordo Mass.  I firmly believe it is a valid Mass and for the most part I also have truly loved the parish I’ve belonged to since 2009.  While some aspects of it, mainly the sheer size of the parish has made it harder for me being somewhat of an introvert.  In addition, I’ve always felt things were just a bit too modern for my tastes.

I’ve prayed a lot over the past few months about what all this means and what I should actually do about it and I believe the heavenly guidance I’ve been given is what has led to this change.

As I have shared in previous posts and have mentioned in my About page, I converted to Catholicism from a background of a mixture of Baptist, Church of Christ and non-denominational Bible Church upbringings.  But from a very early age I’ve always been drawn to the Catholic Church as I’ve known this was the church started by Jesus Christ.  It was just unfortunate that it took me over 40 years to make the decision to become Catholic.

When I made this decision, and one I believe was the most important decision I ever made in my entire life back in 2009, I knew very little about the Catholic Church and much of what I learned in the first few years (including RCIA) was from my local parish.  I only heard about TLM parishes a few years ago and much of that led me to believe they were not valid.  Of course, with more research and even more prayers I’ve since learned at least within the FSSP the mass is 100% valid and the FSSP parish I attend is just as much a part of the local diocese as the Novus Ordo parish.

As I’m still relatively new to the TLM, I’ll wait until I have more experience before speaking directly on the differences between TLM and NO masses.  But one of the things that inspired me to visit a TLM parish at this time as to do with tradition.

I’ve always considered myself a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to things in my life.  I love history, especially medieval history and hearing the mass in the same way that so many of our great saints heard it is very inspiring to me.

Again, while I firmly believe the Novus Ordo mass is 100% valid, if you have the opportunity to visit a Traditional Latin Mass parish I would encourage you to attend mass and experience the difference yourself.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

February 22, 2024 by General 0

33 Days to Morning Glory Completed

As mentioned in an earlier blog posting from a few weeks ago, I completed my 33 Days to Morning Glory “Do it Myself” retreat to prepare myself for my first Marian Consecration.  I completed the book right on schedule and after receiving Holy Communion on Sunday, 11 February, which also happened to be the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, I recited the consecration prayer of St. Maximilian Kolbe.  Once I arrived back home, I joined the Militia of the Immaculata. 

I truly can’t say enough about the book 33 Days to Morning Glory and encourage you to pick it up if you are considering your own Marian Consecration.  I plan to re-read my copy of 33 Days to Morning Glory each year to re-consecrate myself. 

Meanwhile, I’ll continue my daily routine of Praying the Rosary, read scripture, attend weekly Mass, participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (monthly) and dive deeper into the writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

February 12, 2024 by General 0

Catholic Planners/Organizers

Many years ago, before the age of the smartphone I couldn’t function in my professional and even private life without a good planner/organizer.  Back in the day my go-to brand was the FranklinPlanner.  Each year I would venture out to my local mall (which had a FranklinPlanner store) and obtain the necessary inserts for my binder for the new year.  I’m sure I wasn’t alone in this process.

As smartphones became more powerful, I slowly made the transition away from the clunky binder and just relied on the power of my phone to keep me organized.  In many ways, I could do just as much via my smartphone as I could do with my laptop.  I think it was 2007 or 2008 that I finally said goodbye to my FranklinPlanner binder.

Fast forward to the present day and now in my 4th year of retirement, while I still own and use a smartphone, I’ve found myself wanting a less complicated or more simplified way of organizing my life.  More importantly, in my daily prayer life I want a better way to grow in my faith.  While I realize there are many different smartphone apps available which provide some of the functions I’m looking for, while in prayer or meditation I really prefer not to use my electronic devices as they can easily become distractions to me.

I started looking into all the various planners and organizers available which also offered important prayer, meditation, Liturgical planning including feast days etc.  My research discovered two options with the first being The Saintmaker and the second the JMJ Daily Planner by TAN Books.  I read many reviews on each and watched a few YouTube videos as well.

Initially I was leaning towards the Saintmaker product, but realized the cost for a full one-year planner product would total $160.00 as they only provide a 90 day planner option.  In comparison, the JMJ Daily Planner is available for $26.95 for the full year.

Now I’m sure there are many, many benefits to the Saintmaker planner.  I’ve thoroughly researched their website and watched their training videos.  The Saintmaker product is obviously very well designed.  But for me, I just really don’t need that robust of a planning system so I ordered the JMJ Daily Planner from TAN Books.

The JMJ (Jesus, Mary & Joseph) 2024 planner is exactly what I need from a Catholic planner.  It features pages for me to plan my personal goals for the year, a collection of Catholic Prayers, list of Saint days, Holy days and holidays for the year, story and illustrations of each Saint of the week and daily calendar pages with plenty of space to journal or take notes or even record time specific information.  The size of the planner is 6 x 8.5 inches and has a leatherette cover.  The cost is also very affordable at just $26.95.  You can get yours directly from TAN Books or on Amazon.  At the time of this writing, Amazon has the JMJ 2024 planner at 36% off at $17.22.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

January 29, 2024 by General 0

33 Days to Morning Glory

The new year is off to a wonderful start.  I’m 18 days into my second Bible in a Year reading goal and 10 days into reading 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley and I’m absolutely loving this new journey.  It’s a journey I only wish I had started long ago.

Since committing to praying the rosary daily back on 28 October of 2019, I’ve personally felt the impact in my life.  Each and every day I devote the time necessary to recite this extremely important prayer and despite sickness, travel or other things that life can sometimes throw at you, I’ve not missed a single day.  Google tells me this is 1,543 consecutive days.  In these last 4 years, 2 months and 20 days I’ve witnessed the impact of this prayer not only in my life, but the life of my family.  I realized soon after the new year that it was time for me to take this to the next level.

I first heard about the book, 33 Days to Morning Glory last August when I was being prepped for my hernia surgery.  After changing into my gown, she noticed I was wearing my brown scapula which I really didn’t want to take off for the surgery.  She informed me that it was perfectly OK for me to keep it on and she also told me she was also a Catholic.  As I was waiting to be wheeled back to the OR, we got to talking and the subject of favorite Catholic books came up in conversation.  She had explained that she was in the process of reading 33 Days to Morning Glory as she herself was preparing for her own Marian Consecration.  I asked my wife to take a picture of the book so I would remember to order it. 

Unfortunately, in the days after my surgery and recovery at home I had forgotten about this little book.  It remained deeply imbedded in my brain until just a day or so before the new year.  I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the images from around the time of my surgery and found it.  I ordered it from Amazon that same day with the intention on starting my journey on 9 January to coincide with the Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day on 11 February. 

The book, 33 Days to Morning Glory is very excellently written in an easy-to-understand method with references back to the classic book on Marian consecration written by St. Louis de Montfort titled True Devotion to Mary but in a much easier to follow format.  During the 4 week do-it-yourself retreat, you’ll read testimony from what Fr. Michael refers to as the four giants of Marian consecration including St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa and Pope St. John Paul II. 

As I’m only on my 10th day, I would like to finish the book/retreat and will return at a later date to provide more details on my personal experience which I’ll write about here on my blog.  In the mean time, if you are interested in your own “Do-it-yourself” retreat for preparation for Marian Consecration, I recommend in purchasing 33 Days to Morning Glory.  The next starting point for the 33 days to consecration would be 20 February ending on the Feast Day of the The Annunciation 25 March.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

January 18, 2024 by General 1

2023 Bible in a Year–Complete

Great news!  Yes, I completed my 2023 Bible in a Year reading plan on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2023 right on schedule.  As I mentioned in my update on 7 September, 2023 was a most hectic year for me with some unexpected travel, sickness and of course the double hernia surgery in early August.  But I’m very happy to say that I didn’t miss a single day of my reading, devotion and prayer time.

I can’t say enough good things about the Father Mike Schmitz, Bible in a Year reading plan.  As I had mentioned in one of the first blog postings about wanting to try to read the Bible cover to cover during 2023, I had tried reading the Bible many times before.  But never had been successful until I heard about Father Mike’s reading plan.  For me, his reading plan provides the necessary structure in bite sized portions where I felt each and every day, just one step closer to achieving my goal and I did it!  As a matter of fact, it felt so good to accomplish this goal that on New Year’s Day, I started it all over again.  So yes, my goal for 2024 is to once again use the Father Mike Schmitz, Bible in a Year reading plan and do it all over again.

Just like rewatching a favorite movie a second time where you pickup things you didn’t see the first time, already in my 12th day I’m discovering tidbits of information which I didn’t understand the first time.  This time around I’m also dedicating additional time during the day to listen to his podcast episode of the day where Father Mike reads the scripture and provides additional context.  I’m finding this to be most beneficial to my overall Bible study.  I really wish I had done that last year.

I encourage everyone to check out the Father Mike Schmitz, Bible in a Year reading plan which you can register for here.  I would also encourage you to download the Ascension app where you’ll also find his daily podcast episodes.  For me, it works better to first read the daily plan and then listen to the podcast.  Give it a try!  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

January 12, 2024 by General 0

2023 Bible in a Year Progress

Despite having some unscheduled travel, sickness and surgery the past few months, today marks the 250th day of 2023 and the 250th consecutive day in which I’ve set down to read the daily readings in the Father Mike Schmitz, the Bible in a Year reading plan. 

There have been a few challenges thrown at me that could have derailed my efforts, but I’ve found a way to keep up with my daily readings. 

Back in early May both my wife and I came down with Covid.  While our symptoms were similar to the flu, I developed a deep chest cough and infection which eventually led to a bi-lateral inguinal hernia. 

Then before I could actually have the surgery, I had to fly to Texas unexpectedly to visit with my Dad who was hospitalized after a heart attack.  Needless to say, I found plenty of time at the hospital to read and pray and my dad was blessed with a speedy recovery and back home after about  a week in the hospital. 

Three weeks ago I had my surgery to repair the hernia and was back home resting later that evening.  Once again I found the daily readings and prayer to be most helpful in my recovery time. 

I look forward to the next 115 daily readings and the completion of reading the entire Bible in the year 2023. 

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

September 7, 2023 by General 1

Developing a Habit

A few days ago I mentioned my goal to read the Bible daily throughout 2023 and complete it all by the end of the year.  I also discussed where I had attempted reading the Bible many times throughout my life, even sometimes before I became a Catholic.  Each of these previous attempts simply failed because I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t allow enough time to develop it into a habit and a routine in my daily life.  Of course we can certainly spend a lot of time talking about bad habits, but for this writing I want to talk about developing good habits.

Experts who have devoted their life to studying human behavior refer to the 21/90 rule regarding habits.  Basically, it is understood that it takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to make it part of your daily life.  So as I apply the 21/90 rule to my 2023 Bible in a Year Plan I’ve certainly met the 21 day mark of creating the habit and I’m over half way to making it a part of my daily life.

Of course, being retired has its advantages.  Specifically to my daily Bible reading, I’ve blocked an hour in my morning to devote to reading the Bible and reciting my daily Rosary.  I find reciting the Holy Rosary immediately after my Bible reading to be the perfect time.  As a point of reference, I began reciting my daily Holy Rosary in the fall of 2019 and haven’t missed a single day since and based on the above mentioned 21/90 rule, I actually look forward to and even crave this very important part of my daily routine.

Finally, I believe the best advice I could offer to anyone who wants to develop habits for prayer and devotionals is to start off small.  What I mean by that is pick something such as reading the Bible, praying the Holy Rosary or even praying the Liturgy of the Hours and slowly work towards the time it takes to make it a daily habit. You’ll find that once it becomes a formed habit, it is much easier to introduce something else to your daily prayer life.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

February 20, 2023 by General 0

2023 Bible in a Year Plan

In all my 56 years, while I’ve tried several times, I’ve never actually read the Bible cover to cover.  Of course, I’ve read particular chapters/verses, but never with any success have I been able to complete the entire Bible.  As 2022 was coming to a close, I began thinking about some goals that I wanted to accomplish for 2023 and reading the Bible was at the top of my spiritual list.  I researched a few different options which I found online and decided that the Fr. Mike Schmitz: The Bible in a Year plan was the one that appealed to me the most.  I signed up via the Ascension website and within a few minutes had received the reading plan via email.

Today is the 48th day in the plan and I’m happy to report that I’ve been successful at finding 20-30 minutes each day to sit down and carefully read each of the daily readings.  The really wonderful thing about Fr. Mike’s plan is he also provides his Youtube video podcast series which follows the reading plan with a daily video.  While his series is designed to start on 1 January, you can begin your own journey to reading the entire Bible in a year at any time.  The Fr. Mike Schmitz: The Bible in a Year reading plan is absolutely free and may be obtained by registering here.  If you’re like me and have struggled to read the entire Bible, I believe this plan will help you and I highly encourage you to begin today.

Until next time…

Fratus tuus in Christo,

Jerry

February 17, 2023 by General 0