The Power of Prayer

Do you believe in the power of prayer? I tend to have my own relationship with God and his many followers, and of course Jesus Christ. I don't wear it on my sleeve. We have our own personal thing gong on. But when friends and loved ones get into some kind of trouble I always find myself having a personal conversation with some folks in the form of a prayer.

I pray to my mom who died in 1992, my dad who died in 2003, and my grandparents on both sides that passed decades ago. I fully believe that there is a heaven, I fully believe that that is where I too some day will go, and I fully believe that family always watches over you. Ergo, they hear my little prayers for people I love on the radar. I like to think of it as my angels network. Sometimes I have them on speed dial and keep calling them when someone is really in trouble. It's what I do privately to myself.

Many a night years ago, when one of my little girls was sick, I would stay up holding them or watching them closely. As I paced in nervousness that a worried dad will do I prayed for my babies to get well to anyone and all that would listen. Did it work? I have no clue. But I still have five daughters to be thankful for on this earth.

Faith is a funny thing. You can wear it like a shield to insult the masses or you can use it for what it was intended for. Love of another person on this earth. Give faith a chance and you might just be surprised.

Some people may never understand this concept of the power of prayer. I'm not one to argue with them. It's my personal faith. And that is never going to change. I wear that part of my life like a blanket that keeps me warm and I like it.

Papamoka

Atheist and God

I’m confused about the understanding of what a true Atheist is. An Atheist is someone that does not believe in God and that life is just a biological experiment. We are all test tube babies made from another test tube baby and there is no significance to our lives other than to be a larger part of the living world that we exist in.

I disagree with the theory that there is no God. I bare no ill will to my friends that partake in the theory that God does not exist. For the most part I congratulate them on thinking out what is a very difficult theory. The end of that theory is that we are here now and worm food in the end. It does have one simple flaw.

Hope.

Hope is an amazing virtue of the human race. We can have hope that our children will grow up to be better than we as their parents could ever be. We can have hope that our parents will live longer than the average expectancy for a human being. We can have hope for numerous reasons and inside that envelope of the definition of hope is the thought process of prayer and guidance from God.

Many times in my life I have asked God for help to understand the things going on in my life. It is when I am at my weakest point that I need my faith the most because that is the last point of hope for me. I would like to think that I promote my sense of hope on others but I may be lacking the skills to do so. I’m not a preacher but I am someone that tries to make a difference in every life I touch. No matter how small a difference

I’m not a bible thumper and never want to be one. I just come to odds when someone that once believed in God is suddenly detriment to the theory that I can still have my faith in God.

The saving grace in this whole dilemma is that I am thankful that I live in a country where I can not be prosecuted for my religious beliefs and neither can my friends for their lack of belief. That is the beauty of America.

God Bless America!!!!

Papamoka

Do you believe in prayer?

My father in law Ted was rushed to the hospital with a serious breathing problem tonight and I happen to be someone that believes in a "Please God" prayer. He has been in physical distress for some time now but the hospital events are happening more often.

If my wife lost her Dad, it would destroy her right now and that would not be a good thing. She's a tough woman but her Daddy is her world. Say a prayer or think of Ted and ask that he be okay. We both know that he will not be with us much longer but please God don't let it be today.

Thank you!

No Thanks Pastor Hagee

As a Catholic I take serious offense to the accusations of Pastor Hagee who is a buddy to John McCain in the latest race for President of all of the United States of America. While the main stream media has been attacking Barack Obama with his association with Reverend Wright they have taken a pass on the McCain/Hagee connection. As a voter I was just as ticked off at the racist comments by Reverend Wright as most people should be and I was glad to see Obama distance himself emphatically from those thoughts. It was a wise move for someone that wants to represent all of the people of America.

John McCain has no problem other than saying he does not agree with Pastor Hagee but is not refuting his endorsement. When questioned he pulls out an attack on Obama and Wright which I find interesting in the fact that he isn’t willing to face the facts behind Hagee. It comes down to more or less blaming your association to someone else to deflect attention and blaming a tree for jumping out in front of your car. Damn those jumping trees and ecologist for it!

Just for giggles I watched one of Pastor Hagee’s television broadcasts and frankly I wasn’t surprised to hear and see what he had to say. Things I have never herd from any of my Catholic priest during Mass in my entire life. Counterfeit Christians was his topic for the days broadcast and in it he referenced my faith in terms not labeling the Catholic faith as directly linked to Satan but we pretty much have Satan as the basis of our faith. He rambled on about fearing God and that runs counter to my faith and understanding of a loving God. Fearing God is far more important in Pastor Hagee’s thought process if it instills fear in his flock to blindly follow him. Then he went on about the direct connection from a child’s bottom and the brain which was his direct reference of spare the rod and spoil the child aka child abuse.

What surprised me with his sermon was the continual thought that fear of God, fear of Jesus not loving you, fear of not being part of his flock was the only message he had to sell. Then the commercials came on and the guy has books and videos and all kinds of self serving profit making devices working for him to sell God to the people. With the commercial break over he goes on to tell us that following his true spirit with God is the only way to go and that you no longer have free will. Doing God’s will is your only path and those that do not follow that path will never see the gates of heaven. Sounds like a radical terrorist statement to me but I could be wrong. What happened to free will? In my opinion, Hagee equates free will to how much he can fleece from his flock and that is what he is all about. Money first, God second. Someone has to pay for the multi million dollar operation he has built based on fear and Catholic bashing.

Pastor Hagee is nothing more than a guy making a dollar off of the fear of many lost souls. I’m not questioning his followers faith in God or their following of Jesus Christ, I am questioning the false thoughts of a man at the pulpit. Anyone that tells you that his Jesus or his God is better than yours is someone to be very skeptical of. In the words of Pastor Hagee, the devil will unleash many false prophets and that pretty much puts him in the hate game. Go sell your hate aka used cars (no offense to used car sales people) somewhere else Pastor.

In Pastor Hagee’s apology to the media on all of the coverage of his Catholic bashing, I’m sure coverage on the blogosphere at sites like this he absolutely denied that he has ever had a message of hate against Catholics. See the post and video that I put up earlier and judge for yourself. Or you could click here for the video. He refers to the Catholic Church and Hitler in the first few minutes of the video. Hitler only proposed doing what the Roman Church has done for eight hundred years but just more efficiently. In his apology he immediately refers to most Catholics as charity grubbing unclean people in need of his divine intervention five days a week. Well thank you Pastor Hagee! We are an unwashed and unclean people, all of us Catholics. That was very big of you but Catholic Charities all across America works seven days a week and it never ends year to year.

For the record, if Pastor Hagee wants to come after my faith, my church, my church leaders, I will be at their back to defend the Catholic faith. I’m an American Catholic Renegade and my faith is the foundation for my existence. We American Catholic’s have pretty much had enough of money grabbing self righteous idiots declaring that they have intimate knowledge of what God or Jesus Christ is to the modern man. Attack our church doctrine and you attack our purpose for existing on this planet that is never about ourselves. When your declare my God and my Jesus Christ, two of the same religious entities, not accepting me or my children into heaven then you are a false prophet from any religious perspective known to man. Some would call Pastor Hagee a Christian Jihadist. I would have to agree with that. I would prefer the term that John Hagee is a Christian Terrorist. You will never see the gates of heaven if your check does not clear.

Why does John McCain still consider this man worthy to associate his name with by the Hagee endorsement? When asked about it he points the finger elsewhere because his own thoughts betray him for the price of a few votes.

Anyone that calls themselves an American Catholic is not about hate or any form of screw you because you think xyz on any issue. John McCain by not speaking up for Catholics and all of the behind the scene charities that we do is spitting in our faces and does not deserve even one Catholics vote.

If you think McCain would not sell his own soul for the White House then check out what the Gun Toting Liberal has in his latest piece. Rod Parsley, another religious fanatic preaching the end of Islam. McCain has no problem with his endorsement either!

Papamoka

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Life After Death Or?

Questions and curriosity about Death are not morbid as much as they are simply human nature.

One of the things that I have always been personally curious about is the question of life after death. Being a somewhat religious man… aka Catholic, I believe that there is life after this world. Having gone to my share of funerals in my life it has always been a question in the back of my head especially when the calling hours were for someone I deeply loved in my life.

I lost my mother when she was only sixty-one. She was a wonderful and amazing human being that raised not only my six brothers and sisters but some would say my father as well. In her life she experienced so many wonderful things and passed on that knowledge to everyone that would care to listen. Being her baby boy I listened a lot and learned even more because of it. Even though she has passed on I still dream of her on occasion and it brings a calmness to my spirit.

I lost my father to Alzheimer’s disease and I can hope to God that I do not follow in his footsteps. Dad was my best friend for life and losing your friend that way is horrible to go through and I’m sure it was no picnic for him. I could see the fear in his eyes when his memory was totally gone and even his first born visiting him terrified him because he could not remember him. That was the last time he recited any of his children’s names. Even though Dad has passed on I still dream of him from time to time and in those dreams there is hope and my best friends guidance.

If you asked me if I believe in Angel’s or Ghost’s or the paranormal I would have to say yes. Do I believe in life after death, yes I do. With that being said I’ve looked into some online research of other people discussing these subjects and compiled some links that I thought people might enjoy looking into. They run the spectrum of Near Death Experiences to Out of Body Experiences to Ghost’s and Angel’s. As time goes by I will be adding to the links and adding subjects to the pages like Prophet’s, Poltergeists‘, Visionaries, Psychic’s and other related topics.

If you have a few minutes then please check out my latest online project called Life After Death Or? If you enjoy it for what it is then visit the sponsors and drop a comment or two on the pages.

Papamoka

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Pope Benedict’s Shoes

Picture courtesy of the Vatican

One of the things that I love about the Catholic faith is the work that the church does for not just the poor and homeless in America but around the world. Pick a city in America and many of the charitable organizations that are providing many of the basic services to be a human being are provided through churches. Not just the Catholic church but many others as well.

Here in Worcester the Catholic church subsidizes many programs for families from day care so a single mother can work, to providing meals for the homeless and the elderly. There isn’t a sign bragging about it, they just do it. Not for just a day or a week, they provide free services to the poorest amongst us year round.

What it costs the Catholic church to do this amazing work for their fellow man will never be known. When they serve a hot meal to someone that his homeless they do not need or ask for payment. When they deliver a meal to a shut in elderly person and spend the time it takes to eat the meal with the shut in they do not need or ask for payment. Caring for our fellow man is the path that the faithful follow and the many volunteers that provide many of the services of the church do it not for a paycheck but for their faith.

Over at the Washington Post they have this uplifting story on just another Catholic following his faith…

Homeless Get to Walk in the Pope's Shoes
The Associated Press
Monday, September 24, 2007; 6:05 PM

MINNEAPOLIS -- Some homeless Minneapolis residents are walking in the pope's shoes. That's after two big boxes from Rome arrived at Sharing and Caring Hands, a homeless mission in downtown Minneapolis. Recently, the Rev. Joseph Johnson, the rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul gave some friends from the Vatican a tour of the facility while they were visiting the Twin Cities.

Sharing and Caring Hands has an on-site shoe room, but director Mary Jo Copeland didn't know what was in the big boxes when they arrived.

"Father (Johnson) says, 'That's from the Pope.' I said, `What do you mean? The Pope,'" said Copeland.

She opened them to find several dozen pairs of handmade Italian shoes to give to the poor. - Washington Post

If you read the whole piece then you would have to sit back and say to yourself…Wow! My first thought was that he is no longer walking in the shadows of the footsteps of John Paul II. He is walking in the footsteps of Peter and in doing so on the same path as Jesus Christ. When is the last time you heard of some President, King, or Queen doing something like that? Auctioned off for charity does not count.

Thank you Benedict XVI for bringing the humility of Catholicism back to this faithful son of the church. While it is easy to scream about the evils of the church in the past, nobody in the Catholic church is screaming at the top of their lungs what good the church does day in and day out. The mission of the church continues as it should and the simple act of boxing up some shoes and shipping them to America from Rome for the homeless speaks volumes.

Papamoka

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Fred Thompson Anti Church Going Kills his Campaign

I’m so sorry for saying this but Fred Thompson just ended his campaign with this one speech politically. Not being a political genius, even I know that the worst thing to say while campaigning for the highest office in the land is to state that you do not attend church even somewhat regularly is a NO NO! Somebody fire off a flare because the Thompson campaign just sank on its maiden voyage.

Did anyone tell the actor and former United States Republican Senator that our nation is kind of religious? Did anyone tell him that he should be courting the Evangelicals and religious right who are still seeking a candidate to back? Umm, I’m guessing and I could be wrong but he just popped the Fred Thompson is us balloon or the me too Fred for President grass roots campaign.

Baptist, Lutheran and Protestant Ministers across the bible belt are admonishing themselves for stating out loud “Holy… and it begins with an F and ends with UCK and it isn’t FIRETRUCK!

Over at the Washington Post they have a little bit more to say about this issue regarding Fred Thompson and his run for President…

'Right With God' But Not Churchgoer Says Thompson

Chalk it up as another quirk of the 2008 GOP presidential field: The top-tier Repubican who entered the race as the supposed godsend for socially conservative voters in the Bible Belt who are dissatisfied with the other candidates is someone who does not attend church on a regular basis.

Asked about his religious beliefs during an appearance before about 500 Republicans in South Carolina yesterday, Fred Thompson said he attends church when he visits his mother in Tennessee but does not belong to a church or attend regularly at his home in McLean, Va., just outside Washington. The actor and former senator, who was baptized in the Church of Christ, said he gained his values from "sitting around the kitchen table" and said he did not plan to speak about his religious beliefs on the stump. "I know that I'm right with God and the people I love," he said, according to Bloomberg News Service. It's "just the way I am not to talk about some of these things." - Washington Post

Freddie can kiss Iowa goodbye and New Hampshire. For that matter most of the South Bible voters goodbye during the primary elections. Me thinks he surrounded himself with bad folks and advice or his own revelation was the first and last nail in the coffin of his campaign.

I’m a realist and for that matter honest with myself and the working of our nation. America is a very religious nation and that is a fact no matter how you psychologically try to break it down. Republican or Democrat we believe in God and worship regullarly, well most of us do and that is what it is. In elections, the majority rules. Politics is about surviving in the media and one mistake can end your campaign and Fred Thompson just stepped on the foundation of not just Republican voters lives but many Democrat voters as well.

Common sense would tell any campaign to look at Main Street America and see that on every other corner is a church. Hello Freddie? The life of any candidate for President is or should not be an open book in my opinion. If the former Senator had said simply that his religious belief was not up for discussion that would have been appropriate. He didn’t. Nobody in America has to defend their religion and yet in politics you have to take a stand and Fred Thompson chose his ground. It probably will not work out well for him in the Republican primaries but he was the one that spoke on his religious commitment.

I find it ironic that the people that want to run our nation have to run from their belief in God at all. In my life, in my faith, I find it to be my own comfort and saving grace when I need it most. For the record, if anyone asked me about my church going activities I would have told them that that is between my God and I and not for publication.

America has freedom of religion. In politics however there is no freedom of religion. Bad move Fred.

Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring It ON!

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God

Faith in America is not the same as your faith in God. The two things do not mix or even come close to one another’s ability to be more righteous. America is an ongoing experiment and your faith in God is what it is. For some people it is a shield to wear proudly and be comfortable in. For others it is a slap to mans logical ability to find scientific reason behind the facts that we simply exist.

I’m not a bible thumping moron that swears that if you do not believe in my church then you are damned to hell forever and then ten days more. That is not what a loving God would ever do but it is what men will do to one another. There is a very large difference between the two points of ideology.

I can understand the points of people that become atheist and I bare no ill will towards them. Their journey through life is no different from yours or mine and it is a trail they must travel. Free will is what it is and if they choose not to accept the possibility of a higher being then they still have free will. I honestly don’t think that God would look on them worse for their mistakes in life any more than he or she would look at your life or mine.

I have a strong faith in God and I don’t see God as a man or a woman. I see God as total love and acceptance for all of our faults. Some people tell us to fear God and I do not. Some people tell us of the wrath of God but I do not fear that either. Some people look to Jesus as the savior of the Christian faith and he is that to them. Jesus message is no different than that of Mohamed, Buddha or any prophet that walked the earth. In the Christian faith he is the son of God but then again we all are and Jesus did not discriminate.

Jesus showed his love to people not accepted without any reservations because he knew the heart of them. Our lot in life does not matter but how we act today will be our lot in life today to face tomorrow. We can live in fear of our Arab, Suni, Iraqi, Iranian, Lebanese, or Syrian brothers or we can continue to fight for another thousand years over who’s God is greater?

Anger and hate have no place in religion. You can not go to church or the Mosque on Sunday with a clean heart and on Monday declare war on one another.

Forgiveness in America is lost. We have lost our way. We need to get back to being the shining light of the world. That is where America should be. We need to find our way. With God’s grace we can but it will take time.

Papamoka

Al Sharpton once more opens mouth and inserts foot…

I’m just trying to figure out how it is okay for Al Sharpton to denounce an entire religious community based on any history of that religion. In the logic he is using to attack the Mormon faith is similar to attacking the Catholic faith for the Inquisition. His attacking of the choice of religion for Mitt Romney is way out of bounds and questioning the entire Mormon religion of not truly believing in God is wrong. Then again this is the Reverend Al Sharpton and he comes out with his collar on and his bible prominently displayed so that makes it okay to accuse an entire people of being Godless?

I’m just curious how it is okay for Sharpton to say something so stupid and it passes as just Al being Al and yet Don Imus was canned for uttering racist remarks concerning the Rutgers Girl Basketball Team? Both of them made it clear in their individual statements that they are clearly racist. And yet the main stream media flocks to Reverend Sharpton every single time there is a racial issue? For that matter who in the African American community made this man the spokesman for all African Americans?

Romney and Sharpton Clash Over Mormonism
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 10, 2007

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and civil rights activist Al Sharpton traded angry, racially charged accusations yesterday, with Romney alleging that Sharpton had uttered "bigoted" comments about Mormonism.

On the campaign trail in Iowa, Romney was asked about Sharpton's comment during a debate Monday that "those of us who believe in God" will defeat Romney. The former Massachusetts governor told reporters that such a comment "shows that bigotry still exists in some corners."

Sharpton angrily denied Romney's charge in a telephone interview yesterday, and he accused Romney of stoking a verbal war with him to gain support among conservatives.
Sharpton said his comments have been taken out of their original context -- a debate about religion with journalist Christopher Hitchens, who Sharpton said had suggested that Mormonism once advocated segregation. - Washington Post

Who in the media is going to take up the charge to demand that Sharpton be fired from his congregation and radio show? Anybody out there in the press or on the radio feel free to volunteer for this politically correct mission. We can’t have a man that is the self declared voice of all African Americans demanding the firing of Don Imus one week and the next week he is calling the people of the Mormon faith infidels and heathens. Is there anyone out there in the main stream media willing to take the Reverend Al Sharpton down off of his pulpit?

We are a nation of many cultures, races, religions and classes. It is what it is. It is far too easy to point out the obvious fact that Al Sharpton is a racist bigot because that is what pays his mortgage and puts food on his table. Selling the hate message and convincing people that they are still oppressed puts the butter on his bread.

Much like the days of old in Northern Ireland where Protestant and Catholic would rather kill one another than tolerate the existence of the other it gets old fast. There is only the matter of time and future generations to wipe out the instilled hatred message of people like Sharpton that refuse to give up the fight that is almost extinct in America. Racism in America isn’t dead but this is 2007 and not 1967.

The main stream media needs to stop being so damn lazy and instead of knocking on Al Sharptons door every time there is a race issue they should seek out the local community leaders and not the ambulance chaser that the Reverend truly is.

Papamoka

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Easter Is here, He has Risen

Religion is a funny thing. You have to believe in the unknown and accept it on faith. I appreciate all religions because I honestly believe that God accepts us all no matter what faith we follow. We are all of his children and that is what it is.

In the road of life your faith in God will be tested over and over again and you have to have the faith that the challenges presented to you are not just yours alone to get through. Your faith in your God is the same as the Muslim, the Hindu and the Jew. There is no one true God politically, but there is the God of your world that makes you act and behave as a believer in his message. Love of one self should be extended to your fellow man.

In the Christian faith, Jesus died on the cross with great pain and agony for all of our sins. He never asked us to be perfect or without sin. He simply gave his life for ours. That is a hero of our times to appreciate and glorify.

Celebrate life as it is where you are and be thankful for all the gifts you have as a person. Please do not forget that the gifts you have, some people do not. Compassion and forgiveness are part of the Easter and Passover season of holidays.

Talking to God is only a few muscle reactions from your mouth and voice box. Thanking him or her for the bounty you have is not a lot to ask.

Enjoy the festivities that are what Easter is all about, love of family. Partake of it and rejoice in the bounty that has been bestowed on your family.

For Christians it is far to easy to lose the message of Jesus Christ with the marketing of candy and Easter baskets. This is the time to appreciate his sacrifice for us as well.

Shut the damn computer off too! It is Easter Sunday...

Papamoka