Today I paid a visit to my father?s grave and prayed for his soul. While I was there I visited the graves of several other family members and friends. While the thought of cemeteries and death may repulse some, I find it one of the most relaxing places on the earth. Want to know why?

As I drove to the cemetery I reminisced about all of the people and places that are no longer around: Stores that I shopped at with my parents, restaurants where we ate, people who lived on our block?almost all gone. Even the neighborhood isn?t what it used to be. It is a harsh reminder that everything in this life is temporary and that sometimes makes me sad.

On the other hand, when I walk around the cemetery I am comforted with the thought that everything in the next life is permanent. The thought of eternal happiness is very appealing to me. No job worries, no hunger, no sickness or pain?just eternal life and happiness with God. The ?trick? is to make sure we end up in the right place!

I don?t know about you, but that?s all the motivation I need!

Have you ever gotten angry thinking about how anyone could have tortured and put the Son of God to death? Imagine the cruelty of those people! What did Our Lord do to deserve such a horrible and painful death? You and I may sin from time to time, but we could never be responsible for anything that horrible. Unfortunately, the Church?s teaching on this matter may surprise you. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

We must regard as guilty all those who continue to relapse into their sins. Since our sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the Son of God anew in their hearts (for he is in them) and hold him up to contempt. And it can be seen that our crime in this case is greater in us than in the Jews. As for them, according to the witness of the Apostle, “None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (CCC 598)

Have you been to Confession lately?

The last recorded words of the Blessed Mother in Scripture provide excellent advice for keeping our spiritual lives on track. Her directions to the servers at Cana, ?Do whatever He tells you? (Jn 2:5), give us with the ultimate answer for keeping close to her Son.

Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church and still speaks through His Church today. If you need moral guidance, turn to the Church, remember Mary?s words and you?ll be fine. It really is that simple!

The Catholic Truth is inviting everyone to attend a live appearance by Jesus Christ on Friday, July 17. He will be appearing at your nearest Catholic Church or adoration chapel and the admission is free! Please try to attend Mass or visit Him in Eucharistic Adoration. There is no limit to the number of participants ? everyone is welcome!

If you plan to attend, please sign up for the event at our Facebook Fan Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Catholic-Truth/86942558870), send a message to us on Twitter (thecathtruth) or leave your comment on this blog post. We?re hoping for a great turnout!

I?ve gotten into the habit of kissing the crucifix each morning and thanking The Lord for the gift of another day. While it sounds like an obvious thing to do, I?m embarrassed to tell you how long it took for me to start this practice. For many years I would wake up grumbling about having to work for a living and I?d be willing to bet that I?m not alone.

Each new day is an opportunity to serve God. If you haven?t thanked Him for the gift of today, take a few seconds and do so now. If you are blessed with another day tomorrow ? say ?thank you?, surrender yourself to His will and offer up all of your works. Makes more sense than complaining, doesn?t it?

Let’s say you’re a Catholic who decides you want to learn more about your faith…where do you start? Reading books would be a good idea, but which ones? While it?s very difficult to choose 10 essential books for Catholics to read, I recently gave it a shot over at the Tiber River website. I deliberately chose books that were good for beginners, but would also benefit those who already had some knowledge of the Catholic Faith. I wasn?t sure about including the Fulton Sheen book because it might not appeal to everyone, but in the end I decided that it?s too powerful to exclude. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but I think it?s a good place to start. I didn?t include the Bible because it?s a given that every Catholic should be reading it along with any other books. Let me know what you think?

http://tiberriver.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/home.ViewReadingList/readinglist/23

It never ceases to amaze me how The Lord can take the simplest little action and use it to bear an abundance of fruit. Last week, I decided to join the Facebook group of Presentation Ministries, a Catholic lay association founded by the late Fr. Al Lauer (if you?re not familiar with them, check out their website at http://www.presentationministries.org). I used to listen to Fr. Al?s Daily Bread broadcasts on the radio and they really helped me grow closer to Christ. So, when I saw Presentation Ministries on Facebook, a spirit of nostalgia came over me (maybe it was actually another ?Spirit?) and I joined their group and wrote a note on their ?wall? explaining how they helped me in the past. I then discovered that I was able to download archived broadcasts of Fr. Al?s daily radio programs and proceeded to do so.

The next day, I received an email from Jerry Kohlbrand of Presentation Ministries thanking me for the post and expressing his approval with The Catholic Truth?s website. We exchanged a few more emails and we decided to speak on the phone. Jerry?s enthusiasm and powerful witness greatly inspired me that evening. Additionally, he discussed how the social networking site Twitter has greatly helped Presentation Ministries in expanding their outreach. We prayed together over the phone and I had a really good feeling when I hung up.

The following day, I decided to put the Catholic Truth on Twitter (http://twitter.com/thecathtruth) even though I was very unfamiliar with its operation. One thing led to another and we?ve been attracting followers and ?tweeting away?! I?m finding it to be a very effective evangelization tool and it?s helping us to reach a new audience.

Later that evening, I noticed that an old elementary school classmate of mine had also joined Presentation Ministries on Facebook. She was going through a tough time and I was happy that she joined their group. I don?t know how she discovered them, but I assume that she saw them listed on my Facebook page.

To summarize, because I decided to join this group on Facebook:

– I?ve been able to listen to archived broadcasts of Fr. Al?s very inspirational Daily Bread programs.

– I?ve met Jerry, a brother in Christ, who gave me a renewed enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel.

– My classmate will benefit from some good spiritual help at a time when she truly needs it.

– The Catholic Truth is now spreading the ?Good News? on Twitter.

If you feel inspired or called to do something in your own life, don?t write it off. It just may be the prompting of the Holy Spirit. God may be waiting to take your little action and produce more fruit than you can imagine!

As a Catholic evangelist/apologist, one of the most difficult tasks that I face is explaining our Faith to other Catholics. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to a talk given by Fr. Jim Dever, the chaplain for La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA. He spoke of the challenges involved in teaching young Catholics about the Church. His talk was both sad and enlightening, as he revealed the way most young people view the Church. Artificial birth control, premarital sex, gay ?marriage?, and staying home from Sunday Mass are viewed as being perfectly acceptable to most of the Catholic students that Fr. Jim speaks with at La Salle.

While it?s sad to hear this, it?s a reality that we must accept and it?s not just confined to today?s youth. I work with numerous Catholics who feel the same way about many of these issues. Telling them that missing Sunday Mass is a mortal sin won?t mean a thing to most of these folks. How then, do we reach them?

For one thing, Fr. Jim recommends that we listen to them. We need to hear why they believe as they do. Then we can better formulate our explanations to suit their needs. We need to be able to explain why the Catholic Church condemns premarital sex, artificial birth control and embryonic stem cell research. Gone are the days where everyone follows Church teaching because ?that?s what you do?. Many of today?s Catholics want explanations and the good news is that the explanations do exist.

Once we know how these individuals feel, we can do some research and find out why the Church teaches as they do. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a great starting point for your research. We can then present logical explanations for the teachings of the Church. Sometimes people will listen and sometimes they won?t, but we can?t get discouraged. Above all, we must never compromise Church teaching in order to appease them. Remember that when reaching out to sinners, Jesus never said that ?it?s ok to keep sinning?, saying instead ?go and sin no more?.

One of the mistakes that we often make is to assume that the Saints constantly walked around with hands folded in prayer and were recognizable by the halos that encircled their heads. By doing this, we disassociate our lives from theirs and sometimes forget that we are all called to be Saints.

St. Benedict, whose feast we celebrate today, struggled with the same temptations facing many of us. In fact, he once suffered a violent temptation of the flesh where he vividly imagined a woman he had seen and had great difficulty suppressing his desires for her. Just before giving in to his temptation, he removed his habit and jumped into a thick thorn bush, rolling around until his entire body was lacerated. As a result, he was never again tormented by this temptation.

While I don?t necessarily recommend Benedict?s extreme solution, it is important that we find ways to counter our worldly temptations. We are constantly bombarded with images and products that could seriously jeopardize our salvation if we?re not careful. Like St. Benedict, it?s important to recognize temptation when it occurs and take the appropriate measures. When feeling tempted, immediately say a prayer and if you?re still in trouble?you could always look for a thorn bush!