Why Catholic?

WHY CATHOLIC? has gone digital! Do you blog? Do you follow blogs? Are you on
Facebook? We Are!! For our blog, go to — http://whycatholic-louisville.blogspot.com/
—become a “follower” by clicking the Follow This Blog button in the lower right hand
corner. For Facebook, type Louisville Why Catholic in the search bar and “LIKE” us to
become a fan.


Confirmation: Sealed with the Spirit
What does the Holy Spirit look like and feel like in your mind and heart? Can you
see the connection between Baptism and Confirmation? This week our Why Catholic?
Small groups will be making that connection. God is always with us and Christ
claims you as His own. Are you ready to live out your promises and belong solely
to Him?.

Why Catholic groups start meeting the First Week of Lent

Why Catholic? Faith-sharing groups will begin meeting this week, except for the Friday morning group, which will begin meeting the following week (March 18). 

Please pray for the success of this program and for participants.

You can still sign up for Why Catholic this weekend 2/19 & 2/20

A testimony of faith, love and the Holy Spirit

Bob, Fr. Meinrad and Tina

What a week last week was for parishioners, Tina and Bob Searcy. The week began with the Searcy's making their final oblation as Benedictine Oblates of Saint Meinrad at the Archabbey Church in southern Indiana with Father Meinrad Brune, Oblate Director.

Tina and Bob had completed their novitiate period learning about Benedictine Spirituality last year. Their final oblation culminated their year of  learning, discenrment and finally their commitment to live their lives following the path of spirituality and holiness laid out by Saint Benedict.

Then during the week, Tina and Bob reflected and worked on a talk giving their personal testimony about why they are Catholic at yesterday's 11:30 AM Mass at All Saints. Tina and Bob's talk was part of the kickoff  campaign for the 'Why Catholic' program that will begin during Lent. It was easy to tell that Tina and Bob had done a lot of prayerful reflection and soul searching in preparing their testimony. It was evident that they were speaking from their hearts in witnessing their Catholic Faith

Tina and Bob detailed how their relationship began as pen pals in 1960. Their love story is testimony how the Holy Spirit works in our world. Bringing a young woman living in The Netherlands and a young man from California together first as pen pals, then to an altar in her home country, then back to California, and finally to their new home in Kentucky. It's a story that Hollywood could make a wonderful movie about.

Tina and Bob have given me permission to share their wonderful testimony to their Catholic faith that they gave yesterday at Mass. You may read it here. 

Just a reminder sign ups for the Why Catholic program are at both Masses this coming weekend, February 12-13.

If you are searching for a deeper, spiritual walk with the Lord...life as a Benedictine Oblate may be what you have been searching for. You can find more information about the Oblates here.  

Coming in Lent...small groups forming soon!

WHY CATHOLIC?

Why Catholic? Because...As Catholics it is our responsibility to grow in our knowledge and our faith formation of and for the Church. Why Catholic? Is a great process for individuals to increase their knowledge and to continue journeying alongside Christ with their fellow brothers and sisters. SIGN UP!!! 

For more information visit us online at www.archlou.org/whycatholic or contact Carl Fahringer at the parish office

Catholicism's scandal of ignorance

The blog from the Washington Post begins...

I am smarter than an atheist.

At least according to my test results at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, I am. I did score "better than 97% of the public," but I won't brag. After all, my 15-year-old daughter scored the same.

Neither of us is an expert in world religion, but we certainly are a family that takes our own Catholic faith seriously. I think any individual who takes faith seriously, whether an atheist or a practicing Catholic, would score well on the kinds of questions included in this poll.

A natural part of understanding any religion -- especially your own -- is to learn how it compares and contrasts with other systems of belief and what kind of answer it offers to other religions. Knowing the names and dates of particular religious figures and events is not at all the same thing as having faith, though.

As odd as it is to say such a thing, professed atheists tend to be passionate "non-believers." I wish everyone who calls himself "Catholic" would be as passionate.

As important as it is to learn about other religions for the sake of understanding other cultures, I would argue that it is even more important for people to understand their own religious beliefs -- to know what exactly it means when they call themselves Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu or Jewish. Real religion is so much more than cultural identity.

For me, the saddest part of the Pew Forum survey results is the abysmal ignorance of many Catholics with regard to the tenets of their own faith. Specifically, the fact that "45% of Catholics do not know that their church teaches that the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ" is a scandal.

This is especially pathetic because the Eucharist -- Christ's real presence under the appearance of bread and wine -- is one of the primary ways in which the Catholic Church differs from Protestant churches. Many converts to Catholicism, especially well studied ones, will tell you that it was the sacraments, and specifically the Eucharist, that drew them to the Catholic Church in the first place. God built us for union with him. We long for Christ, and it is in the sacraments that we find that union.

Continue to read...


BE PASSIONATE!

COMING TO ALL SAINTS 
LENT, 2011


FOR INFORMATION...
CALL CARL FAHRINGER OR DEACON GERRY  
502-477-6676/502-955-5366

Staff members from All Saints will attend ‘Why Catholic?’ meetings today

Father Scott, Deacon Gerry and members of the parish staff will join other staffs from the Archdiocese attending meetings today and Thursday introducing "Why Catholic"?  The aim of the "Why Catholic"  program is for us to renew our faith and understanding of what being Catholic is all about. The program will help us answer questions like: Aren't all religions the same? What makes us different? and Why do we do what we do?  Click on "Why Catholic" to read more.