Jimmy Akin | Blogs | National Catholic Register | NCRegister.com

Jimmy Akin Blogs National Catholic Register NCRegister.com:

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant pastor or seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith. Eventually, he was compelled in conscience to enter the Catholic Church, which he did in 1992. His conversion story, 'A Triumph and a Tragedy,' is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is a Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to This Rock magazine, and a weekly guest on 'Catholic Answers Live.'"

I found Jimmy Akin's story in Surprised By Truth so powerful and heart felt. I've been pleased to see that is he has been able to do the foot work we all wish we could do in order to get to the truth surrounding the most recent and most devastating of the scandals to come to light. With the media and some bitter ex-Catholics nipping at his heels, the Holy Father has been the bulls eye of a media attack that seems determined not to rest until they rock the Vatican. What better time to be submerged in the suffering that sin brings than Lent, right? Well, we all share in this suffering and we all need to be offering our penances for those who have been real victims and for the Holy Father as he faces the wicked furry of those who hate the Catholic Church.

Click the title of this post to go to his article.

The Sign of the Cross at the Olympics

I saw this when it happened and wondered if I had really seen what I thought I had seen. I'm so proud of this Catholic Convert and her beautiful testimony. Page down to the video.

This Is A Dark Hour In History

Father Jay Scott Newman explains why the recent passage of the health-care bill was a great defeat for those who defend unborn life against "the murderous abomination" of abortion. Listen to this courageous priest's eloquent, powerful sermon and share it far and wide. In it, he names and denounces the "grave injustice" which has been enshrined in law and the "false Catholicisms which are helping to destroy our nation by building lies into laws."

This post was swiped off Patrick Madrid's blog.

Restoration Not Reformation - RealCatholic TV

I'm going to start featuring some videos from an organization called RealCatholic TV. When the title includes their name, just click the title and you will be taken to the video. Check out this video called Restoration Not Reformation.

The Company You Keep

It is better to be alone, than in the wrong company.
Tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are.
If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl.
But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights.
A mirror reflects a mans face, but what he is really like is shown by the
kind of friends he chooses.
The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you
closely associate for the good and the bad.
The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve
Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity.
An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with
negative thinking and negative acting people.
As you grow, your associates will change.
Some of your friends will not want you to go on.
They will want you to stay where they are.
Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl.
Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream.
Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider This:
Never receive counsel from unproductive people.
Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing
to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how.
Not everyone has a right to speak into your life.
You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person. Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere.
With some people you spend an evening; with others you invest it.
Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life.
Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships.

Or in other words: Psalms 1

Urgent Prayer Is Needed

We know the Fire Fighter that was involved in this accident. Please keep all these folks in your prayers.

Here is an updated story. Please keep Lorri and Ernie in your prayers.

Maxine Sums Up The Health Care Bill

Let me get this straight. We're going to be gifted with a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president who also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.

What could possibly go wrong?

I Want One Of These Along the I10

I've heard that Obama is watching Facebook and other social networks for those who are not in agreement with him. Well, HERE I AM! I'm a pro-life Catholic and I vote and I blog and I talk - a lot!

Thanks, again, Mim!

St. Joseph Pray For Justin and Sarah

Please keep Justin and Sarah in your prayers. Justin got laid off today. With a brand new baby and all the expense of that, they need prayers. Thanks everyone.

Update: Thank you so much for your prayers! Justin got a job yesterday! Just another instance of God knowing what He's doing while we trail along behind wondering what He has up His sleeve. God is so good! Thanks again!

One Way To Quiet A Crying Baby

This is one way to quiet a crying baby, but some special help is required.

The Resilient Church

"“…Crises are what drive the Church. ‘The best indicator that Christianity is about to experience a vast expansion is a widespread conviction that the religion is doomed or in its closing days.’ Over and over again, the doubters have confidently predicted the end of the Church, only to be overwhelmed at the next moment by a sudden burst of Christian energy.”

Mike Aquilina
The Resilient Church, The Word Among Us Press"

Christians Pay A Terrible Price For Not Converting To The Religion Of Peace

Most of us have absolutely no idea what it means to suffer for our faith. But in some countries this story is anything but rare.

Give Your Whole Life For Love

"“To some degree, the Christian life begins with the Crucifixion. It is the gateway to everything else. Accepting the Crucifixion is the first step toward trusting that with Jesus, to die is to rise again. Accepting the Crucifixion is agreeing with your whole person that you want to at least become willing to give your whole life for love.”

Liz Kelly
May Crowning, Mass, and Merton: 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic, Loyola Press"

Courage

"“Courage means strength or fortitude in danger, but also in the daily round and challenges of life. It might take more courage just to get up on certain days than it would to face a great danger. Difficulties, setback, misunderstandings, failures, deep hurts – all of these require courage.”

Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.
The Virtue Driven Life, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division"

This Weekend In Pictures

Proof that Jacob does wake up now and then. This was taken after his bath. He hates baths and diaper changes. He wants to be snuggled up all warm in a blankie. He has the most beautiful blue eyes.

Gabriel on his way home from the Apple Juice Saloon. (Backyardagains Fans will get that one.)

Our favorite Leprechaun, Isaac on St. Patrick's Day. That's his lucky shirt, don't ye know.

And as promised, Jacob, palming the basketball, with a bit of help from Nana and Mama.

Christ Has Dirt On His Knees

"“See Jesus on the ground in the Garden of Olives understanding what his love is costing him. He shows us we must embrace the everyday battle that is prayer, and keep praying and never stop. The image is unforgettable: God is not distant. Christ has dirt on his knees. He knows anxiety. So we can follow him, he is praying in the garden. We must awake through prayer.”

Carmen Acevedo Butcher
Following Christ: A Lenten Reader to Stretch Your Soul, Paraclete Press"

Finally, A Voice of Reason

Bill Donohue from CNN wrote this editorial which is right on. To expect that the Church would have responded in 1970 the way we would respond today is anachronistic. It took a lot of courage for Mr. Donohue to be a voice of reason at a time when it's far more PC to publicly castigate the Church for being the only place that has failed our children. Truth is, they are in far more danger in school than in your local Parish.

The Priest Scandal Goes Global

There has never been a time in history when the Church has been more humbled, embarrassed or scrutinized as in the past decade. As if to finish the past ten years with a crescendo, the Church is being publically castigated for the unthinkable crimes of its wayward Priests.

This last siege of revelations has been the hardest for me to bear. Irish Priests; there in the place where JP2 said that “to be Irish is to be Catholic”; there where my Patron Saint labored to bring the gospel to those farthest from grace, we see Catholic Priests use the same hands that elevate the Lord Jesus for His followers to Adore, to commit the most heinous sins known to man against the most precious and innocent of mankind – children.

The world has a right to call Catholics, and especially Catholic Priests, to a higher standard of behavior than any other religions organization in existence. This is Christ’s Church! This is where He comes in the Mass to meet with His people! This is the faith preserved and protected for two thousand years by His own promise and power! These are the Sacraments that He designed to enable us to be Holy! How dare these men use their position of honor to destroy these innocent young people.

I know all too well that this is not a strictly Catholic problem. No one who knows me dares to go there with me. But the world does have the right to expect us to treat each other with respect and to wage war against our passions. They also have the right to expect us to act swiftly and severely against those who would victimize the innocent. This is not the 60s and we know better than to send a pedophile Priest to a therapist a few times and expect them to never molest a child again. History has shown us that once a pedophile, always a pedophile. It’s time to take a strong hand against those who would sin so gravely against children that they lose their innocence and their faith.

Scripture says “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes. If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hand and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.”

I’ve been reading the stories and listening to the interviews with some of these folks and I can tell you, unless there is serious repentance on the part of the Priest involved, there is a hot spot in hell reserved for those who destroy the lives and faith of children in the name of His Church.

Likewise, I beg our Bishops to act swiftly and with Fatherly protection of our children. We now know enough about this disorder to know that the only right action is to protect children from those who are not able to control this disordered passion.

Before someone points a finger and calls me merciless or bitter, I also beg our people to pray for our Priests. They have surrendered their lives to Christ as His representatives to His children. Their lives are not their own. Few of us are willing to make such a sacrifice. They need our prayers and our sacrifices. Satan hates them and wants nothing more than to cause them to fall. Who stands in the gap and fights for them with their prayers? It better be the people in the pews who are so quick to criticize and condemn. And you only have to read the Out of Darkness series on this blog to know that I believe that the secret to healing for every victim of sexual abuse is forgiveness. If you are a victim of sexual abuse, please read the whole series from the beginning. There is hope for healing and it’s not found in years on a couch and it’s definitely not found through separation from Christ and His Church.

If you are a Catholic and this situation makes you sad and sick, take this Lenten season to offer prayer and sacrifice for the purification of the Church and the protection of our Priests from the snares of the Devil. Be one standing in the gap and supporting your Priests in the spiritual warfare that is their lives.

Lord have mercy on us all.

This Is Called Pushing Your Luck

St. Patrick's Breastplate

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ at my right,
Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

Traditional Irish Blessing - E-Water

Traditional Irish Blessing - E-Water

Thank you, Mim. This brings back beautiful memories!

Click the link and enjoy!

St. Patrick, Pray For Us

"“Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.” St. Patrick, Bishop of Ireland

Leonard Foley, O.F.M.
Saint of the Day, St. Anthony Messenger Press"

Media Draws A Bead On The Pope

Jimmy Aken does his homework and addresses the recent scandal in the German Church that the media is trying to leave of Pope Benedict's front door.

More Jacob Pictures

This is my favorite. What an angel.

What's that flashing thing, Mommy?

Warm blankets, dry diapers, yummy milk, mama close by. Such are the dreams of a new born.

Moochies for mama.

Rest in Him

"“Let everything you do be done for God, both deeds and words; and refer all that is yours to Christ; and constantly turn your soul to God; and lean your thought on the power of Christ, as if in some harbor by the divine light of the Savior it were resting from all talk and action.” St. Clement of Alexandria

Scott Hahn & Mike Aquilina
Living the Mysteries: A Guide for Unfinished Christians, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division"

Jacob Pictures

One of his few waking moments.
Them are some mighty big feet!

And those are actually his hands. I want to find a tiny basketball and take a picture of him palming the ball.

Sitting up and "watching" movies with us.

After getting his tummy full.

This Too Shall Pass

This video is amazing. One of my mom's favorite sayings was "This too shall pass" which is the title of gthis video. They say they did it in one take. Watch and be amazed.

Lenten Prayer (stolen from Patrick Madrid's blog)

Click image for larger view.

Jesus Weeps

“We can’t complain that God doesn’t understand, that he’s too powerful to know what it feels like to be a simple grieving human. God understands our sorrow on the deepest and most personal level: so much so, that God himself wept for our grief…In those two words, ‘Jesus wept,’ we have one of the greatest mysteries in the Bible, but also one of the greatest consolations. God really does understand what it’s like. Jesus weeps with us.”

Mike Aquilina
Why Me? When Bad Things Happen, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

Sarah, Justin and Jacob's last 24 hours.

It was a long and painful labor. Sixteen hours of contractions with only two centimeters of progress. Finally she opted for an epidural. That made things more bearable, but the next time they checked her she had made no progress. So the decision was made that she would have a c-section. She was too exhausted to push the hair out of her face let alone push a baby out.


The thing I will always remember is how the two of them move in unison. They are one person. They are a living image of what marriage should be. Their lives absolutely scream "redemption" to the world. I snapped this picture after many hours of contractions that were endured in unison.

See, these two are no strangers to hospitals or pain. Justin's kidneys failed completely only a couple of months after they started dating. He ended up on dialysis for the next couple of years and eventually received a kidney from his sister, Elizabeth. He has spent a lot of time in the hospital and has been very sick during those years. I've seen Sarah take care of him and monitor his medication and help him in situations that would have scared most women off. But she hung in there because Justin was worth it.

This week their roles were reversed. Sarah was the patient and Justin the care giver. The tenderness with which he cared for Sarah made me so grateful they found each other. Justin was there for her every step of the way.

This morning at 12:24 a.m., Jacob was released from Sarah's womb after considerable tugging. He had become lodged in her pelvis so tightly that his head looked like a telescope. His shoulders were far too big to pass through and the long labor had compressed him so tightly that he was downright alien in appearance.

So apparently the decision to go for the c-section was unavoidable and thanks be to God the solution to the problem. They are both recovering nicely and Justin is now doting on them both.

I spent the day with them today. It was nice to be able to hold him and get to know him. He's having trouble with nursing, so I'd ask your prayers that he gets the hang of them soon. I'm off to bed early tonight. I got home this morning at 4 a.m. and slept only till 9ish, so I need to catch up.

Thanks again for all your prayers. I can see the hand of God guiding the decisions that were made and the miracle that is new life.

The Stethescope

Click here.

Jacob Lee Cooper Is Here!

At a whopping 8 lbs and 1 oz, 21.25 inches long, Jacob Lee finally arrived via c-section last evening, or actually very early this morning about 12:15 a.m. It was very apparent by the shape of his head and size of his shoulders that labor was futile and actually could have been harmful if it had continued. He could descend no further and had to take the back door out.

Sarah and Justin are exhausted, but thrilled with their little dude. We are all going nuts trying to figure out how to get to the hospital and back since the girls and I only have one car right now and Kim went home to take care of her boys last night and took my car keys! The things that happen when you're stressed and exhausted.

I will upload a slew of picture this evening, if possible. He's a cutie pie and he has a healthy set of lungs. He was expressing his displeasure with the nursing staff last night with gusto!

Thank you so much for all your prayers. I'll be updating as soon as I can have some time with the laptop.

Give Me Jesus

You can have all this world; give me Jesus!

Here is a Leader

"“Here is a leader we can follow into our afflictions. We can take up our cross and follow him because he has been there before us. By faith, not by sight, we can embrace troubles as he did, knowing that this is the path of glory.”

Father Michael Scanlan, TOR
The Truth About Trouble, Servant Books"

Please Pray for Sarah, Jacob and Justin

My daughter Sarah is 40+ weeks pregnant and reeeeeealy anxious to be done. She and her hubby, Justin, are going in today to determine if their little Jacob is ready to be delivered. Please pray for them all as they enter this phase of their lives. Please, Lord, give them a safe delivery.

I'll keep you posted as I can.

Update: They will be inducing Wednesday morning. I'll try to update when I can. Please keep them in your prayers. Thank you!