Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 504

Try To Catch Us Now!

NOTICE: On our 34th anniversary Janet and I were notified to our great joy that grandchild #9 is on the way.

Jesse and Anna are overjoyed to announce they are pregnant. They are delighted and we are full of joy!

Celebrating Today!

Today Janet and I have been married 34 years – and loving it! First best decision of my life. (The second was for our family to become Catholic.)

Janet is the best friend, partner, lover, gift, and mother to my children that God could have ever dreamt up. Thank you God and thank you Janet.

And thanks to her parents for raising her so well and letting that young punk kid (me at 21years old) marry her :-)

Today we will celebrate by going to Mass, then staying home and cooking dinner together along with a bottle of Amarone Italian wine and watching an old movie (back when they still knew how to make them).

New Catholic Scripture Study (CSS) Bible

And lots of other good things to buy for Christmas!

Free shipping on some orders. Visit Steve's Store here.

Liz Lev on Benedict's "Light of the World" and Condoms

In the recent edition of Zenit.org, my good friend in Rome, Liz Lev, wrote an astute review of Pope Benedict's interview in the new book Light of the World. She hits the nail on the head — as usual!

ROME, DEC. 2, 2010 (Zenit.org).- I'd like to thank the New York Times and other secular media for helping me get my priorities straight. I had no plans to read right away Benedict XVI's new book-length interview with Peter Seewald, as I was buried under final exams. I was saving the book for quieter times.

But between the international headlines generated by the New York Times and Associated Press reports, I stopped everything I was doing and picked up "Light of the World." It was the best thing I did this semester, as his message of hope in the face of tremendous challenges offers calm amid chaos.

Not surprisingly, the secular media got the Pope's message wrong. One would think with all the expensive educations milling around these news conglomerates, someone might have taken a class in reading comprehension. Ironically, the Associated Press claimed: "Pope's remarks on condoms sow widespread confusion." I would have gone with "Journalist illiteracy wreaks pandemonium."

The point of contention is in Chapter 11, when the Pope speaks hypothetically of a prostitute using a condom as a sign of an awakening of his moral conscience. This tiny paragraph has now spawned novels — proving the Pope's point in the preceding lines, that "concentrating on condoms alone banalizes sexuality."

His remarks make perfect sense, the only mystery being why Catholics would look to the secular media for interpretation of the Pope's teaching, especially those outlets that had spent most of this year trying relentlessly yet unsuccessfully to accuse him of complicity in the sex abuse crisis.

To read the whole review click here. For the Video Intro to the book, click below.

For Family (and probably a very few others)

We went to a short play "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" in a small town here in Michigan. My son and his daughter Maria Faustina (my granddaughter :-) were in the play.

I couldn't help myself — making a small iMovie of it with my iPhone. For those who don't hate family videos, here it is … (from proud grandpa)

Muslims Slaughter Iraqi Catholics during Mass

Gruesome pictures, treacherous story, gut-wrenching funerals.

For those who still think Islam is a peaceful, tolerant religion here is a rude awakening. This is what often happens when Islam predominates in a country. They are quiet when in the minority, but watch out … especially Christians!

To see the pictures and read the story of the murdered young priests, click here. Wake up America! Wake up Christians!

You may also want to read my past blog warning Europe and America about Islam. It is entitled Prepare for the Skyline of the Future.

From Patrick Coffin, host of Catholic Answers Live:

"On Wednesday, Dec 8 you will hear the interview I did yesterday with the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church, from Lebanon, who has jurisdiction over the Cathedral where the martyrs were murdered.  Amazing man, and very articulate about what's at stake, what's in store for the Christians in the Middle East, and why political correctness is killing us.

The story is shocking, and one is stunned at the courage of those who remain.  The other shock is how little the western media seems to care – the Baghdad event featured the wrong victims!  If a Christian gave a Muslim a paper cut, the NYT would run it above the fold with "gruesome" photos for days.  The age of martyrs will proceed apace as long as Islamists roam the earth unchallenged.

Group Picture of our St. Paul Cruise

Thought you might like to see the group of wonderful pilgrims who joined us for our Footprints of St. Paul Pilgrimage & Cruise through Turkey, Greece and Italy.

We are in front of the Celsius Library in Ephesus, the third largest library in the world in it's day, right across the street from the two-story brothel.

We have another St. Paul Pilgrimage & Cruise planned for March 2012.

Click the image for a LARGER picture.

Free Holy Heroes CD

From my friend, and founder of Catholic Scripture Study, Gail Buckley:

My friends Kerri and Ken Davison, are making a great offer that I want to pass on to you, especially those of you who have children or grandchildren or friends with children or grandchildren :)  They are offering a FREE CD on their Holy Heroes website: www.freeglorystories.com – all you pay is the shipping.

Their Holy Heroes apostolate is family-owned and loyal to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.  They have a great assortment of CDs. DVDs, games, coloring books, prayers, music, bibles, tee shirts, etc. for children and families.  This is a great  (and fun) way to help your children learn and grow in their Catholic faith."

Click here or on the image below.

My Friend Peter Williamson on Journey Home

Peter Williamson is a convert to the Catholic Church and now a Scripture scholar who teaches at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit Michigan. Recently he was with Marcus Grodi on the EWTN's The Journey Home.

Peter wrote, "A little over a week ago I told the story of my becoming a Catholic on The Journey Home.  The Lord really seemed to anoint the interview, and I've gotten a rather extraordinary response from complete strangers, as well as distant acquaintances.

I think it may be pretty helpful to evangelical Protestants considering the Catholic Church.

Muslim Student …

… reveals the real intent behind her hajib.

Muslim Student's True Opinion

Neoconservative thinker David Horowitz was put on the spot by a Muslim student during a speech at the University of California San Diego. His comeback revealed her true goal.