Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 498

Long Hot Blessed Day in Goa

Today speaking five times for 1.5 hours each time to 2000 wonderful Indians. A new thing for me: speaking with a translator!

Record temperatures in India. I gave 5 talks in high 90's. I was drenched in sweat but I LOVE serving the Lord and his Church.

Same temperatures and schedule tomorrow.

The first pictures are from the seminar at Pilar Center during the day. The last two pictures are from the evening talk at St. Jerome's Church in Mapuca Goa.

Janet's ankle is getting better after her tumble down the stairs four days ago. I am so happy she is recovering quickly.

What Does Abortion Look Like?

Remember this when you support or talk to those pro-choice legislators and presidents.

Remember this when we choose to do nothing to defend innocent human life. What will God say at the great judgment if we remain silent in view of this holocaust!

Three pictures:

1: 9 weeks

2: 10 weeks

3: 3rd trimester girl with

head removed during a

partial birth abortion.

Shame on America!

Shame on our new president!

Shame on the Supreme Court!

Shame on our Congress!

Shame on us!

For more on this, visit www.PriestsForLife.com

Why No Baby Should be Aborted

This ad was produced by www.CatholicVote.org and airedg on BET Cable Network. Also, check out www.BlackGenocide.org which shows the most dangerous place for an African American to be is not on the streets of the inner city, but in the womb of their African American mother.

In fact, it was just reported that among blacks living in New York City, 6 out of 10 pregnancies end in abortion!

For more like this, read my article "Should This Baby Be Aborted? You Decide!"

Running and Fishing in Goa India; Upcoming 15 Talks in 3 Days! Yikes!

What a different world it is here is Goa India. Just proves that India is not JUST Bombay but has widely diverse areas and culture. Goa was converted by the Portuguese Catholics in the 1500's when St. Francis Xavier landed on their shores.

Everything here is clean and more organized and, in my estimation, beautiful. The people are exceedingly friendly with a large number of Christians with chapels and churches every block or two. We really love Goa.

Today I took off running to the point of land out into the ocean. I climbed the lookout point to see the ocean and city. Then through the little village areas with chickens, pigs and cows wandering among the rustic housing.

I arrived eventually on the beach which is much different than Mumbai. Here I met friendly fishermen who explained everything to me with long chats and I even helped them fish for a while.

Then I ran up to the street and got a drink of coconut water — he cut the coconut, gave me a straw and I drank it on the spot. Then through a unique construction site and back to our bungalow. Very fun and exciting!

You can see my run with map, pictures, story and videos here.

Already there are over 2,000 people registered in Goa for our Apologetics Conference. Many Catholics are being enticed out of the Church by sects, cults and local "church planters." I am here to help reverse the bleeding — strengthening the Catholics, teaching them to defend the faith and to bring the lost sheep home.

Janet's ankle is healing slowly from her fall down the stairs. Still unable to walk. Pray for us! More soon.

Was Jesus Nice?

People often criticize us if we speak the truth or step on someone's toes — usually if we are honest about sin or bad conduct.

Jesus was loving and kind. He would never . . .

Wait, was Jesus nice? How does "nice" relate to "love"?

A few weeks ago I ran to the Western Wall where the Temple once stood. It is the place where one of the stories took place.

Click here to read my whole article "Was Jesus Nice?"

A YouTube video that reaffirms my thoughts exactly.

BIG NEWS! George Weigel to Speak to our Group in Rome!

George Weigel, the biographer of Pope John Paul II, has agree to speak to our pilgrimage in Rome.

We arrive in Rome to share in the historical event of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II – AND YOU CAN BE THERE!

JOIN US — hear George Weigel, experience the Beatification, tour Rome, visit Assisi, audience with the Pope, enjoy the best food in the world and much more!

ACT FAST! Call Suzanne at 800-727-1999, extension 121 or write sparran@ctscentral.net. To see and print the brochure, click here.

A Video Glimpse into India and our Ministry here

Enjoy the movie and India. Let me know what you think. This is the most exotic country I've been to and most Americans can't even imagine.

I have been giving talks each day in standing-room-only parishes across Bombay and Pune. The thousands of people are then invited to the main event in Bombay on January 29-30 which is a huge auditorium which we hope to fill with 2,500 people for a two day Apologetics Conference.

Today we are flying to Goa further south for parish missions and a large conference of over 2,000 for a two-day Apologetics Conference. Stay tuned for more videos and updates. Please pray for us!

Another Interesting Run on the Beach

Another run on Juhu Beach along the Indian Ocean in Mumbai. Have to keep in shape, love the adventure, and love to share the world with my friends.

It was hot and the beach was crowded. Again, running 3.5 miles along the big public beach, I was the only white guy and with my Western running gear and my Tilley hat I draw a lot of stares.

Sad to see a used condom and hypodermic needle used for drugs. But I see this in Rome, America and other places too. It was interesting seeing all the fishing boats, the people finding clams and mussels in the sand and all the friendly young people who yell out, "Where are you from?" and "Welcome".

See run here

Needles & Condoms on the Beach

Another run on Juhu Beach along the Indian Ocean in Mumbai. Have to keep in shape, love the adventure, and love to share the world with my friends.

It was hot and the beach was crowded. Again, running 3.5 miles along the big public beach, I was the only white guy and with my Western running gear and my Tilley hat I draw a lot of stares.

Sad to see used condoms and hypodermic needles used for drugs. Worse yet is the unsupervised vagabond, filthy children as young as two scavenging along the trash on the beach for things to eat and play with.

See run here

"You are Peter" in Jesus' language of Aramaic

Since we will soon be in the land where all this took place — Israel — I thought you would find this interesting.

So, what did it sound like at Caesarea Philippi when Jesus renamed Simon and made him the foundation of the Church: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18)? Compare John 1:42.

You know of course, that Jesus did not speak English.  If most of us heard Him speak those words today we would have no clue what He was saying. Jesus spoke Aramaic and that language is still alive in very small communities in the Middle East.

What you see written to the right is Syriac Aramaic as written by my friend Efrem Nissan in Bethlehem. He is a Syrian Orthodox Christian. (Click on the text for a larger image.)

Now, not only can you see the script — which is close to what would have been written in the time of Jesus – but you can listen to it as well. I took this short video clip of Efrem reading the words you see written here. He read them on our pilgrimage. Listen for the word "kepha" twice. Kepha is the word "rock" in Aramaic.