Be Yellow

Wonderful are thy works!

Ryan and Sarah — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:06:00 GMT

Twenty weeks, four dimensions, and two snapshots revealing pure light and the buoyancy of truth...

"If I say, 'Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to thee, the night is bright as the day; for darkness is as light with thee. For thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth." ~Psalm 139:11-15

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Ryan — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:46:00 GMT

I had the great privilege of spending part of my weekend with one of the greatest bible theologians of our time. His endless resources have been a huge blessing in my life, especially this year during my studies at the Denver Catholic Biblical School. On Friday night, the CBS gave their annual "Servant of the Word" Award to Dr. Scott Hahn. In his acceptance speech, he focused on what he called "the real servants of the Word": our priests. In the "Year for Priests," Archbishop Chaput commented that not a week goes by when he doesn't grab one of Hahn's books in preparation for homilies, speeches, and articles. I guess that makes Scott Hahn the servant of the real servants of the Word.

On Saturday, Hahn conducted a phenomenal workshop called "Letter and Spirit." He sharpened our focus on the connections between the Bible and Liturgy (particularly the Mass). He brilliantly demonstrated how an unbiased reading of the Bible reveals a story about the covenant family of God, and this story beautifully dances off the pages in the Mass. While he assured that he only scratched the surface of this topic, one day of listening to Dr. Hahn provided an ocean of understanding and graces to be unpacked for months.

If you've never read one of Dr. Hahn's books or listened to one of his talks, you have no idea what you're missing. As C.S. Lewis came from the outside (former atheist) to enlighten our minds on the truth of Christianity, God has blessed all Christians with the conversion of this former Protestant minister to Catholicism. Please see scotthahn.com for a list of publications from this prolific writer and speaker. He is also the founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, which offers free online bible courses!

I'd start with his conversion story, both in print (Rome Sweet Home) and on audio. I would also highly recommend the following:

The Fourth Cup (CD on finding the truth behind the Eucharist)

A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture.

And his new book Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots also sounds amazing!

Thank you Dr. Hahn! May God continue to bless your ministry and set afire the family of God through your work.

Media Malpractice

Ryan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:53:00 GMT

Last August, I shared my reflection after visiting Dachau Memorial Concentration Camp. In it, I wrote about the modern-day cover-up scheme used to hide the horrific reality of abortion, much the same way the media became a useful idiot for the Nazis. This cover-up never rears its ugly head more prominently than every January 22.

As hundreds of thousands march for life in Washington, the mainstream media shamelessly ignores it. Even worse, they report mind-boggling lies downplaying the numbers and pretending the pro-abort side is equally represented. The corruption gets worse every year, but with today's technology and Catholic media outlets (EWTN covers it live), the truth is becoming more accessible.

Watch this eye-opening video, or just the first 3 minutes, for all the proof you need.

If you cannot use the above player, watch the video here.

Also, you can't miss CNN's Rick Sanchez showing off his laughable journalistic integrity. In the future, I can see a group of college students getting a chuckle from this clip as they study propaganda videos covering up historic evils perpetrated by the Nazis and Planned Parenthood. As for now, this is no laughing matter.

If you cannot use the above player, watch the video here.

Any suggestions on a second career for Mr. Sanchez? Actuary? Umpire? Math Teacher? Judge? Replay-booth official? Oh, I've got it. Obama Adviser.

For more on the dangerous power of the media, I highly recommend the brilliant words of Archbishop Chaput.

Oakland A's hot prospect joins forces with "Angels"

Ryan — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:55:00 GMT

By all accounts, Arizona Fall League MVP Grant Desme was ready for a call from the big leagues. The Lord had something else in mind, and God bless Desme for answering this higher call. This story reminds me of Chase Hildenbrinck, a professional soccer player from Bloomington, IL, who also retired early for the priesthood.

[UPDATE: Also see the story of former Olympic speedskating prodigy Kirstin Holum!]

Michael O'Day/MLB.com

By Jane Lee, MLB.com

OAKLAND -- Grant Desme entered the 2009 season with an injury-prone past.

The A's prized prospect exited the season with a head-turning presence, accompanied by a bat that produced 31 home runs and a speedy 6-foot-2 frame that stole 40 bases in Class A ball -- making him the only player in Minor League Baseball to enjoy a 30-30 campaign.

An exceptional performance and MVP honors in the Arizona Fall League followed, so surely Desme was close to getting a call, most assumed -- if not for a trip to The Show, then at least for an invitation to Spring Training.

Yet, Desme insists he'd already received the call long before his final at-bat in the fall came and went -- the one that would take him to bigger and better places.

It just so happens it wasn't what the A's organization -- or anyone else, for that matter -- had in mind.

The call, Desme announced Friday, came in the form of priesthood in the Catholic church.

"Last year before the season started, I really had a strong feeling of a calling and a real strong desire to follow it," the 23-year-old said. "I just fought it."

Thus, Desme chose to play out the season as a test of sorts, "just hoping and praying about it."

"As the year went on," he said, "God blessed me. I had a better year than I could have imagined, but that reconfirmed my desire because I wasn't at peace with where I was at. I love the game, but I aspire to higher things.

"I thought, I'm doing well in baseball, but I really had to get down to the bottom of things -- what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. And I felt that while baseball is a good thing and I love playing, I thought it was selfish of me to be doing that when I really felt that God was calling me more, which took me awhile in my life to really trust and open up to it and aim full steam toward Him."

The telling result: A phone call on Thursday to relay his life-changing choice to A's general manager Billy Beane, who chose Desme as the club's second-round pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Beane's reaction to the news was "great," says Desme, who claimed to be even more taken aback than the team's head honcho during the conversation.

"I was surprised [Thursday] when I called Billy to inform him about my decision," Desme says. "I was interested to see how I was going to react, knowing that when that phone call was over I'd be done with baseball most likely for the rest of my life. I was able to experience a great amount of peace because of it.

"It just reconfirmed me of my decision, and it also made me realize that I had already detached myself from baseball awhile ago."

However, the numbers didn't show said feelings, and the A's were more than ready to start their No. 8 prospect -- recently deemed by Baseball America -- at Double-A Midland this season. After all, Desme's breakout year not only produced a .288 batting average and 89 RBIs, but also a clean bill of health for his ailing hamstring, wrist and shoulder.

"From a talent perspective," said Oakland's director of player personnel, Billy Owens, "it's pretty self-explanatory as for his numbers as to the type of player he is."

Adds A's scouting director Eric Kubota, who admitted to being in "disbelief" upon hearing the news: "I think people, in general, were just happy for Grant because he had an injury-free year for the first time. It really looked like, baseball-wise, he was on the fast track and going in the right direction."

He was, in fact, heading right where he needed to be -- despite not being where the baseball community wanted him to be.

"My injuries, I would say, would be the biggest blessing God's ever given me," he said. "For my entire life, baseball's been my life. I define myself as a baseball player, and when it was taken away from me, it was an eye-opener. It was a real shock that it could end. I realized that even if I played in the big leagues, it was still going to end, or it could end anytime you step on the field with an injury. I really started doing some soul searching of who I was and who I wanted to be, and this is where that's led me."

It's a place those close to Desme have come to embrace and appreciate, much to the outfielder's utmost appreciation.

"If that's what he wants to get into, then more power to him," said Daniel Haigwood, who played with Desme at Class A Stockton. "I have strong beliefs myself, so I think that shows how devoted he is to his religion. I'm sure he thought about it long and hard, and I really respect him for it."

Said a scout who's watched Desme since high school: "It was a little bit shocking since he was knocking on the big league door, but his faith has always been important to him, so in some ways it's not that shocking. I have a lot of respect for the young man."

Desme, a lifelong Catholic who grew up with a strong religious family in Bakersfield before attending Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, has just as much respect for the game he's walking away from -- the same game he credits with aiding in his decision.

"Whenever I was able to talk to someone about God, or help someone, that made coming to the ballpark more enjoyable," he said. "I looked forward to that.

"During my last game in the fall league, I hit a home run and proceeded to strike out twice, which was kind of ironic since that defined my career a bit. I knew there was a good chance it would be my last game, but there was no sad feeling. I figured whatever God wants is going to happen, and I'm going to pursue that."

So now, the brave Desme faces what he says is a 10-year path to becoming a priest while studying at St. Michael's Abbey in Orange County beginning in August.

"It's like I'm re-entering the Minor Leagues," he said.

And while Desme has yet to fully process his life without baseball, he's certain his future will not include regrets.

"I want to give my life completely to God out of love because of everything He's done for me," he said. "Something like this is even very little compared to what He's done for me."

Jane Roe: 37 Years Later

Ryan and Sarah — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:04:00 GMT

Today we mark a dark day. One of the darkest ever. Thirty-seven years ago today, the Supreme Court legalized the murder of the most innocent human beings among us.

So what is the infamous "Jane Roe" up to these days?

If you cannot use the above player, watch the video here.

As hundreds of thousands of people March for Life in Washington (and hundreds of media outlets shamelessly ignore them), I thought it was a good day to revisit a point Nicole made in her guest blog last April.

Roe v. Wade NEVER defines when life begins. Instead the court took what I have decided to call a "position of non-decision."   From the Roe v. Wade decision: "When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer." ...

While the court might not have had the info that they needed in 1973 to make a decision on when life begins, it is a different ball game now.   36 years of inquiry leave no doubt.

Case in point:
A few years after Roe (1981) a US Senate judiciary subcommittee received testimony from a collection of medical experts (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary Committee S-158, Report, 97th Congress, 1st Session, 1981)...

After reviewing the testimony, the official Senate report reached this conclusion:   "Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being - a being that is alive and is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this point in countless medical, biological, and scientific writings."

I go back and read the words: "When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer." My thought is this: At this point in the development of man's knowledge, we do know and is time for Roe v. Wade to be revisited accordingly. Let the highest court re-debate this, given the info they were lacking 36 years ago. To decide that abortion is legal because they do not know for sure when life begins is one thing. To decide it legal with the knowledge that life begins at conception is another.

Heaven-Sent Christmas Gift

Ryan and Sarah — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:25:00 GMT

I thought you might be interested in seeing my mom's reaction to her Christmas present...

If you cannot use the above player, watch here.

Wow. She didn't have quite the same reaction for the nice book we got her last year.

We are looking forward to more leaping for joy around July 12th. Praise be to God!

Dear Steubenville

Ryan and Sarah — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:08:00 GMT

Franciscan University

Advancement Department

1235 University Blvd.

Steubenville, OH 43952

To Whom It May Concern:

Please accept our gift in support of the holy mission of Franciscan University.

We are graduates of the University of Notre Dame. This money represents the donation amount required by our alma mater in order to qualify for the football ticket lottery. In years past, this donation was at the top of our priority list. However, since the inexcusable act of bestowing high honors upon the most anti-Christian leader and aggressive champion for child-killing in American history, our eyes have been opened. Furthermore, our subsequent research unveiled the reality that this event was far from being a gaffe made by an otherwise devout Catholic institution; rather, it was the culmination of a 46-year pact with the Enemy.

By the grace of God, the infiltration of the Church by those seeking to destroy her has now come into focus for us. The secularization of Catholic higher education has played no small role in undermining the Church’s sacred teachings and destroying our country’s social order. We now have a much greater appreciation for those few schools still deserving of the name Catholic, and we believe Franciscan University is leading the charge.

The approaching tidal wave of a Catholic sub-culture on fire for Christ and loyal to His Church’s teachings is truly inspiring! As this so-called “JPII Generation” of Catholics is formed in the splendor of truth, it is phenomenal to count the number of leading scholars educated in Steubenville. Personally, we have been directly impacted by the teachings of dozens of Franciscan graduates. Thank you for being a bright beacon of light to the world. May you remain anchored to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and further your holy mission in great service to humanity.

cc: Rev. Terence Henry, TOR
Rev. John Jenkins, CSC

The Gift of Traveling

Tony — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:11:00 GMT

Photo by Bob Jagendorf

I have spent a lifetime traveling to many places far and wide. I absolutely love the thrill of a new adventure and all the things that come with it: a new stamp in the passport, the boarding calls on a train or airplane, maps of new and untraveled cities, smells of exotic foods, and an unblazed trail longing for its first traveler. But you don’t have to jump on a plane to experience the traveling spirit. A new route to work, a new restaurant to go to, and a new book to read: these are all adventures for me. These are journeys that fill my desire to experience the world around me. Every day is an unwritten story, waiting to be experienced, and I love to fill these pages with new and exciting adventures of travel.

Having traveled extensively, there is one gift that is given almost unanimously to anyone who travels on the open road: the realization that life is so much easier when you stop trying to control everything and you learn to “just roll with it”.

Every traveler has received this gift: the ability to “just roll with it”. Try as you might, you can’t successfully plan every little detail, and you learn this within two minutes of being in a foreign country or to a new land. I don’t care how much you Google and how many people you talk to before you leave, nothing can prepare you for the experience of getting off of a plane in Santiago, Chile and having to navigate yourself to a host family that is 30 miles away. I spent a whole year of planning our bike trip across the country, reading tons of books, analyzing countless maps and routes, and talking to people who had done it, but that still didn’t prepare us for every CRAZY thing that happened along the way. You just have to roll with it. (A quick public shout-out to my phantom antagonist Greg Gomez who helped drive the trail van on the first day of the trip as we maneuvered in and out of 60 consecutive miles of inner city Los Angeles, complete with 340 stop signs, 82 traffic signals, and 12 traffic cops who were not too happy to see 8 cyclists and a 15 passenger van disrupting the flow of traffic. Try “planning” that day!)

This is the gift given to the traveler, to the pilgrim of many lands. And you don’t need to go to a different country to receive this gift. You just need to walk out your door and go do something you have never done before, casting aside all previous misconceptions and focusing on receiving the gift of that day, of that experience. You just need to have an experience where you roll with it. Or, in Greg Gomez’s case, you just need to volunteer to be a driver of a trail van on a cross-country bike trip.

In this Christmas season, I am reminded of the traveling adventures of the Holy Family. Do you think that Mary and Joseph were control-freaks? Do you think they had to have a plan before they acted? They were people who just rolled with it. They were people who said “YES!” first, and then figured out the details, instead of figuring out the details, and then saying “yes”.

Christ said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life span?”

I am convinced that Jesus learned this bit of wisdom from his parents.

If you start to learn to say “YES” before you have all the details planned, you will start to believe crazy things. You will start to believe you can travel to a foreign country without anyone else there to help you. You will start to believe that you can ride your bike across the country. You will start to believe you can learn to speak three different languages in less than a year. And after you do these things, then you will start to believe even CRAZIER things! You will start to believe that the blind can be healed. You will start to believe that faith can move mountains. You will start to believe that death is the beginning of eternal life.

This is the Joy of being Catholic: You get to say “YES” before you even know all the details. You just jump in. You just start living it. People who think that they need every question answered before they can live the Catholic Faith must not be people who have traveled. Experiencing and living the Catholic Faith is the ultimate journey, and you do not need to have everything planned before you begin the journey. You just need the resolve to bring it to completion.

I have so much to learn and explore about my Catholic Faith that I don’t have to travel to any other lands in my lifetime to fill my travel lust. I have an infinite realm of Catholic Life to explore. I am woefully ignorant of the Saints, and the only Latin that I can translate is “In Vino Veritas” (Wine reveals the Truth), and I only know this because it is in the movie “Tombstone”. But none of this prevents me from jumping in. None of this prevents me from experiencing the unlimited Joy that is offered on this playground. If you agree to abide by the rules of the playground attendant (Christ, acting through His Shepherds) you can hang out and play until your heart is content.

It truly is impossible to separate my desire to travel from my desire to live a Catholic Life. My Catholic Life motivates my desire to travel, and my travel motivates my desire to live a Catholic Life, because in the end, they are both about letting go and having the courage to say “YES!” first.

If you have the desire to travel, pursue it! Just beware: it may thrust you into a life that you never imagined.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Eternal Joy Re-run

Ryan — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:37:00 GMT

I didn't make a new Christmas video with my students this year, but I thought it would be worth posting this classic.

If you cannot use the above player, watch the video here.

Don't tell me that I can't tell you what to do

Tony — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:22:00 GMT

I have heard many arguments against the Pro-Life, Anti-Abortion cause. But there is one argument (and it is the one I hear most frequently) that makes no sense to anyone that analyzes the reality of their surroundings.

The argument I hear most often is this: “It is the woman’s body, and you can’t tell her what to do. She can do with it whatever she chooses, and no person and no government should be allowed to get in her way.”

This statement just does not stand up to the scrutiny of reality. We live in a country where there are hundreds of bodily and physical limitations imposed upon us by our government and our surroundings.

I can’t legally smoke cigarettes before I’m 18.

I can’t legally consume alcohol until I’m 21.

I can’t legally run a red light.

I can’t legally smoke in a bar in Indianapolis.

I can’t legally kill myself.

I can’t legally drive my car over the speed limit.

When is the last time you got pulled over by a Police Officer for going over the speed limit and said, “But officer, it is my car, and I can do whatever I want with it”?

I have traveled quite a bit in the last few months, and I have noticed a new announcement over the intercom that goes something like this: “Please be respectful to all security personnel. Any derogatory comments or looks that can be perceived as threatening will result in your immediate arrest.” I have yet to hear someone yell back at the intercom and say, “But it’s my face! I can make whatever looks I want to make! I don’t care if you perceive it as threatening. It is my body! I can do whatever I want!” Everybody just accepts this message with docility and continues hacking away on their Blackberries and iPhones. Since I have neither of these instruments of modernity, I continue to stare out the window and wonder where the people are who say that I (or the government) can’t tell you what you can and cannot do with your body.

Why can I tell you what you can and can’t do? Because what you do impacts me. Your second-hand smoke in the restaurant is choking my little sister. Your speeding on the interstate is threatening the safety of everyone else. Your pot-smoking habits are causing you to steal from my company so you can continue your addiction.

A question remains: Does abortion impact everyone else, or is it an isolated incidence that impacts only the mother bearing the child? You can do your own research on this one, but my research indicates that it impacts all of us. In many cases, it causes lasting anguish for the mother. It wounds and often divides families. It depresses those who work in the abortion mills. And more noticeably, it kills 4000 Americans every day.

Did anyone who watched the tragedies of September 11^th say, “This does not impact me”? Does anyone think that the 3,000 Americans who died on that day and all the subsequent reactions was a mere flippant event that has had no impact on their life? This death toll sparked an international response with seismic after-shocks that are still rumbling underneath our very feet. And yet, we have a September 11^th everyday as 4000 babies are aborted by a terrorist network so sly and so persistent that many have failed to even acknowledge its existence. It is easy to attack an unjust tyrant in a foreign country who has caused irreparable harm to our country by bombing our cities and buildings. It is very difficult to attack a tyrant that reigns in the darkness of our own hearts and minds by causing some of us to desire (and many of us to accept) the death of 4000 children every day.

Martin Luther King Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

We are all tied together. We are all dependent on one another, so don’t tell me that I can’t tell you what to do, because we need each other. We are all in the same boat, and I won’t permit you to recklessly shoot guns of your own choosing that will eventually sink our ship.

After making these points, I usually get the following argument: “Well, abortion isn’t the only evil. If you are so concerned about abortion, why are you not so concerned about the poor? If abortion is such a problem, then why not also complain about and fix the other social evils out there? If injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then why are you not trying to fix all injustices instead of focusing just on abortion?” But this is mistakenly equating “being concerned about” with “actively working to fix”. I am concerned about all instances of injustice, but I admittedly do not actively work to fix all these concerns at once. This is not a position of immorality or irrationality as much as it is a position of acceptance of my human limitations.

Do people begrudge Abraham Lincoln because he did not speak enough about childhood poverty and focused excessively on slavery and the integrity of the Union? Do people begrudge Martin Luther King Jr. because he spent more time marching to end segregation than he did for supporting improved healthcare? Do people begrudge Mother Theresa for spending more time caring for Lepers than she did for Cancer patients? A person is confined to his or her situation, and there are battles raging across the land for equality and a restoration of justice. The cry of justice from those who have been treated unjustly has continued through the ages, and nothing I can do will stop it in the foreseeable future. I can only tend to my little field and do the work that is appointed to me, and in my backyard, I hear the cry of 4000 Americans being killed every day. And I don’t think we should sit idly watching.

Truth always leaves a trail

Tony — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:00:00 GMT

A few years ago, I was given a random task that I did not ask for: I was appointed the Dean of Students at my school in Mississippi. That's right. It was my job to go around and bust students who had caused trouble, and this consisted of doing things like finding out who threw trash all over the courtyard, who put gum on the computer screen in the computer lab, and who left school for McDonald's and then came back to class. I was essentially a private investigator, and every day involved phone calls with students, parents, teachers, or employees at McDonald's to find the Truth. Of course, this responsibility immediately diminished my “street cred” with the student body, and eventually some students nicknamed me “Mr. Sneaky Sneaky”, but it was a great learning experience.

After 3 months of working on the job, I began to notice a curious phenomenon: I could almost always “solve” the crime. For about 90% of the cases, I was confident that I had discovered the Truth.

What I came to realize is that the Truth always leaves a trail. When I was hunting for the Truth in a given situation, there were always repercussions, consequences, and after-effects that lead back to what actually happened. Truth, in a very real sense, is concrete. It leaves an impact, an impression, on the very fabric of reality, on the very fabric of space-time. It distorts and alters things around it, just as a living tree distorts the ground as its roots disperse through the soil. When students made up lies about what had happened, it only took a little bit of investigation to discover that these were in fact lies and not the Truth because the after-effects couldn't be found. If a student truly went to McDonald's, but he told me he was just studying in the library, then I simply had to check the library logs of students who signed in. His act of going to the library would have left a trace, an imprint, but if no imprints could be found, then his story starts to get awfully suspicious. If there are no roots altering the soil, then there is no tree that is above the ground. So, I go to his car, have him open the front door, and I find a McDonald's bag. I tell him to take it out and open it up. Inside, there is a receipt with the time and date corresponding to his third period class. Case closed. The Truth has been discovered, and the lies have been rooted out.

Truth ALWAYS leaves a trail. It ALWAYS leaves an impact. It is real, and real things influence other real things. Anything that exists in this world, by the very fact that it exists, distorts other things around it. As a Dean of Students, I simply needed to find these disturbances, these impressions, in order to find the Truth. Follow the ripples in the wave back to the origin, and you will find the stone that was thrown in the water. Follow the trail of the consequences, and you will always be lead back to the Truth. You can tell me all you want about how abortion funding is not in the Health Care Reform Bill and that my tax dollars will not go to paying for abortions, and you can even have the President of the United States claim on national television that abortion will not be publicly funded, but I simply need to follow the ripples to see if this is true. Even the President of the United States cannot stop the altercation of the fabric of space-time, the very fabric of reality. A review of the House Bill (prior to the Stupak Amendment) shows that this claim is (was) false, and now I have to hear people in the Senate make the same absurd claims against reality. How boring.

This fundamental property of Truth helps to distinguish Truth from lies because lies, in the end, are not real. They don't exist. They are only an idea, a possibility that never existed, and if it never existed, it will not leave an imprint. If there are no ripples on the surface, then there was no stone thrown into the water.

Finding the Truth is infinitely more easy than finding a lie because Truth is real and a lie is not. Finding the Truth among so many lies is like finding the one living human being in a wax museum. If it is breathing, you found the human. There, that was easy. It may take you a while to actually find the breathing human, but the time it takes to find the human is not the point. It is the incredible ease with which one can distinguish between “Truth” and “lies” that is critically important. I can understand if you haven't “found the human” in the wax museum (sorting through 10,000 pages of the Health Care Reform Bill is no easy task), but I can't understand those who are staring at the human and the wax figure side by side and pondering which one is real.

We live in an age where rampant questioning abounds. Our society questions everything, so much so that it is much more “chic” to express uncertainty than it is to express belief. It is better for your social image if you claim to have no alliances than it is to stand your ground. A silent acceptance is more valued than vocal resolve. In all of this questioning, I think many people have lost both the ability and the desire to find the Truth. I can't explain to someone how to desire to find the Truth, but if you want the ability to find the Truth, you need only follow the ripples on the water.

Truth is real. Lies are imagined.

And real things always leave a trail.

Happy hunting.

What does it mean to be Catholic?

Ryan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:24:00 GMT

In case you missed it, Ted Kennedy's son Patrick has been mouthing off about the Catholic Church. Not surprising that a Kennedy is acting in defiance of the Church, I know. What is surprising? A Bishop is finally standing up to Camelot.

Congressman Kennedy, you're not in Boston anymore.

Meet one of my favorites: Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence. I've been following his column Without a Doubt for a while now, and it is one of the best I've found.

The feud started in late October when Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) ripped into Church leaders because of their stance against the current version of health care reform. Keep in mind the Bishops have been pushing for health care reform for two decades, but they aren't about to support a massive government takeover which forces taxpayers to pay for murder, contains rationing for the elderly, kicks wide open the door for euthanasia, has no conscience protections for health care workers, and does not even come close to being economically realistic or financially sustainable.

In typical Kennedy fashion, Patrick said, "I can't understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of our time... You mean to tell me the Catholic Church is going to be denying those people life-saving health care? I thought they were pro-life."

Well, he got the first part right (I can't understand). Clueless. Then again, you can kind of understand why he would be so confused given the Bishops' past "politically-correct" strategy with the Kennedy family which has obviously failed miserably.

Anyway, the war of words ended quickly with a PHENOMENAL letter from Bishop Tobin. I've bolded the highlights below, but I recommend the entire letter.

While it was written to Kennedy, it might as well have been written to any other Catholic-in-name-only politician (e.g., Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Kathleen Sebelius, etc.). It could also be addressed to any number of different renegade groups hijacking the Catholic name (e.g., Catholics United, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Catholics for Choice, etc.). Or how about any one of the sell-out, secularized, incoherently "Catholic" universities (e.g., Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, etc.).

Thank you Your Excellency. Thank you for showing us It's really not that complicated. May other Bishops follow your lead in clearing up the confusion!

Dear Congressman Kennedy:

“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)

Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of leadership.

For the moment I’d like to set aside the discussion of health care reform, as important and relevant as it is, and focus on one statement contained in your letter of October 29, 2009, in which you write, “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” That sentence certainly caught my attention and deserves a public response, lest it go unchallenged and lead others to believe it’s true. And it raises an important question: What does it mean to be a Catholic?

“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does. Although I wouldn’t choose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church. This principle is based on the Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the Church and is made more explicit in recent documents.

For example, the “Code of Canon Law” says, “Lay persons are bound by an obligation and possess the right to acquire a knowledge of Christian doctrine adapted to their capacity and condition so that they can live in accord with that doctrine.” (Canon 229, #1)

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” says this: “Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles, ‘He who hears you, hears me,’ the faithful receive with docility the teaching and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” (#87)

Or consider this statement of the Church: “It would be a mistake to confuse the proper autonomy exercised by Catholics in political life with the claim of a principle that prescinds from the moral and social teaching of the Church.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2002)

There’s lots of canonical and theological verbiage there, Congressman, but what it means is that if you don’t accept the teachings of the Church your communion with the Church is flawed, or in your own words, makes you “less of a Catholic.”

But let’s get down to a more practical question; let’s approach it this way: What does it mean, really, to be a Catholic? After all, being a Catholic has to mean something, right?

Well, in simple terms – and here I refer only to those more visible, structural elements of Church membership – being a Catholic means that you’re part of a faith community that possesses a clearly defined authority and doctrine, obligations and expectations. It means that you believe and accept the teachings of the Church, especially on essential matters of faith and morals; that you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish; that you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly; that you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially.

Congressman, I’m not sure whether or not you fulfill the basic requirements of being a Catholic, so let me ask: Do you accept the teachings of the Church on essential matters of faith and morals, including our stance on abortion? Do you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish? Do you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly? Do you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially?

In your letter you say that you “embrace your faith.” Terrific. But if you don’t fulfill the basic requirements of membership, what is it exactly that makes you a Catholic? Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?

Your letter also says that your faith “acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity.” Absolutely true. But in confronting your rejection of the Church’s teaching, we’re not dealing just with “an imperfect humanity” – as we do when we wrestle with sins such as anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty. We all struggle with those things, and often fail.

Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Tobin

Bishop of Providence

Catholics - Beware of "Second Collection" this Sunday

Ryan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:01:00 GMT

You might remember every year (on the Sunday before Thanksgiving) the USCCB collects money for its Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) in churches across the nation. Beware. If your parish participates this weekend, please think twice before giving to this organization. The CCHD has recently come under intense scrutiny upon the discovery that several of its beneficiaries carry out an extremely anti-life/anti-Catholic agenda. How this could occur is beyond me, but stranger things have happened.

For more information, see reformcchdnow.com, which includes a brief video summarizing the scandal.

The evidence is pretty intense, as major CCHD dollars have landed in the hands of those Campaigning for Human Development Destruction. The Bishops have posted a few initial responses to these allegations, but it seems to me they have a bit more explaining to do.

Since at this point too many unanswered questions remain, I will be placing this coupon in the second collection basket on Sunday.

Rockin' Denver

Ryan — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:53:00 GMT

Just wanted to post a few photos from this fall. In September we saw an incredible show at Red Rocks. The legendary venue is only 10 minutes from where we live, so we weren't going to miss The Killers coming to town. I was even able to talk Sarah into going on a school night. The boys from Vegas did not disappoint; this was one serious rock show. Outside of a Coldplay concert - probably the best I've ever seen!

Lead singer Brandon Flowers climbed the red rocks to the right of our seats.

Is there a more beautiful concert venue on the planet?

In October we took in some playoff baseball... another first for Sarah. It was a chilly night for Game 3 of the NLDS vs. the Phillies. Rockies first base coach GlenAllen Hill was eyeing Sarah's Cubby blanket.

Thank you to our friends Joe and Lisa for taking us!

We kicked off November with another concert, but The Killers were a tough act to follow. One of my favorites, David Gray, came to town. It was my 6th DG show, but certainly not the best. Not sure if I just haven't fallen in love with the new album yet or what. But he didn't seem to bring much energy this time, and he painfully altered most of his older songs. A new version of a classic is cool sometimes, but there's also a reason it was recorded in original form in the first place! To me, the genius of David Gray has been his simplicity and passion, but this tour features too many piped in tracks and processed sounds (voice echoes? seriously David?). Oh well, the finale was still the can't-miss classic Please Forgive Me - perhaps a plea for not bringing his best this time. He deserves a break indeed - all is forgiven.

This fall the Lord also surprised us with an improbable lottery win. That's right, he gave us a house - for 50% off! On our first week entering the Good Neighbor Next Door program for teachers, they pulled my name on a house they don't see in the program but every 3 years or so. We are still working through the red tape, but we hope to have a closing date soon. More pics to come, but here's one...

Sarah even got her red kitchen!

Welcome Tony!

Ryan and Sarah — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:39:00 GMT

As most of you know, BeYellow.org started as way to chronicle our adventures in Guatemala. It has taken a few unforeseen turns in direction since then, but somehow readership has remained fairly steady. We enjoy writing (mostly Ryan) and sharing our thoughts and lives with all of you, and this year the blog has become a tool for us to process some thinking on our Catholic identity and the battle for the soul of our culture.

In an effort to inject some new energy into the blog, we are pleased to welcome our good friend Tony Hollowell - an ACE teacher and truth soldier, turned cross-country cyclist, turned author, turned entrepreneur, turned education blogger, turned student of Spanish, Mexican food, and scuba diving. Tony has guest-blogged a couple posts in the past (his take on the ND scandal continues to light up our hits-meter), but he has agreed to contribute on a more permanent basis. We know he has much to add to our humble attempt at reflecting some light on the truth and exposing what it may - beauty, goodness, and evil.

We anxiously await Tony's first post from south of the border. Eres Amarillo!

Historic Pro-Life Amendment; But battle far from over

Ryan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:23:00 GMT

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Celebration over the dramatic victory of a pro-life amendment in the House health care bill late Saturday night was quickly dimmed by the passage of the bill, which not only presents a plethora of other dangers, but also could lose even the hard-won pro-life language in later proceedings.

At approximately 10:20 p.m. EST Saturday night, the U.S. House voted 240-194 to approve an amendment to H.R. 3962 that maintains long-standing federal policy on abortion by banning government-appropriated funds from covering elective abortions. Then, just before 11 p.m., House lawmakers voted 220-215 to pass the massive health care overhaul. One Republican voted for the bill.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins called the passage of the pro-life amendment "a huge pro-life victory" and congratulated the bipartisan effort against the bill's abortion coverage. "We applaud this House vote which prohibits the abortion industry from further profiting from taxpayers by using government funds to pay for the gruesome act of abortion," he said.

"Unfortunately, H.R. 3962 is a seriously flawed piece of legislation," said Perkins, who pointed out the bill's massive governmental power grab and open door to health care rationing, among other issues.

National Right to Life's Douglas Johnson agreed that the victory was not total. "Today's bipartisan House vote is a sharp blow to the White House's pro-abortion smuggling operation," he said.

"But we know that the White House and pro-abortion congressional Democratic leaders will keep trying to enact government funding of abortion, and will keep trying to conceal their true intentions, so there is a long battle ahead."

Pro-abort leaders across America flew into a rage as the pro-life Stupak amendment, unexpectedly approved for consideration Friday night, went on to gain an easy victory Saturday. Many pointed fingers at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCC, whose input several lawmakers relied on to discern solidly pro-life amendments for the bill.

"It is extremely unfortunate that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and anti-choice opponents were able to hijack the health care reform bill in their dedicated attempt to ban all legal abortion In the United States," said Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards in a statement late Saturday. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/planned-parenthood-condemns-passage-stupak-pitts-amendment-30821.htm

Yet various sources confirm that Pelosi's last-minute turnaround was not a true abandonment of her abortion allies, but a temporary concession to keep the struggling bill alive - with hopes that a subsequent bicameral version would scrap the pro-life language. There is a larger pro-abortion majority in the Senate, making it unlikely a similar pro-life scenario would play out on the Senate floor.

Some Democrat lawmakers have already vowed to pursue such a reversal.

"I feel certain [the Stupak amendment] will come out of the bill before it comes back from committee," pro-abortion California Democrat Lynn Woolsey told The Hill. "I will insist that it come out."

Ultimately pro-life leaders appeared to agree that the amendment, though important in its own right, put hardly a dent in an otherwise massively dangerous bill.

Noted FRC's Perkins: "The Speaker's bill still allows rationing of health care for seniors, raises health costs for families, mandates that families purchase under threat of fines and penalties, encourages counseling for assisted suicide in some states, does not offer broad conscience protections for health care workers and seeks to insert the federal government into all aspects of citizen's lives."

American Life League president Judie Brown had harsh words for the USCCB's cooperative attitude toward the legislation. While aggressively promoting the long-standing ban on federal abortion funding, the Conference has largely not questioned other dangerous aspects of President Obama's overhaul - a position Brown says risks making the bishops "political pawns in advancing a culture of death that treats human life as disposable."

"[The health bill's] instrumentalist approach to abortion will serve to enshrine in law grave injustices condemned unequivocally by the Catholic Church," she said. "Among these are rationed health care, In vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, human experimentation, euthanasia and birth control.

"Faithful Catholics have a responsibility to vigorously oppose abortion in healthcare, not negotiate the status quo."

A Promise was Made; Now it Must be Kept

Ryan and Sarah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:43:00 GMT

by Archbishop Charles Chaput

Eight weeks ago President Obama promised a joint session of Congress that “his” health-care plan would not include or provide public monies for abortion. This seemed persuasive because it made sense. As polling has shown, most Americans do not want abortion or its funding included in any publicly supported health plan.

The president's support for a federal “right” to abortion is a matter of record. Like it or not, voters can assume that he'll appoint judges who share that view. Therefore, the main concern of his “pro-choice” constituency is safe under his leadership. This is bad news for the rest of us, but it does give the White House room to compromise. Excluding abortion funding from the president's health-care efforts - I mean really excluding it and not sneaking it in under the cover of some bureaucratic shell game—would be an easy concession for Congress and the White House to make. It's a modest price to pay for Catholic and similar pro-life support, or at least their neutrality. It might also put some meat on the bones of Washington's talk about “common ground."

Eight weeks later, there is no “president's” plan. Instead, as of Nov. 1, Congress has produced five different proposals, including a merged House version totaling nearly 2,000 pages of complex and sweeping legislation. Few citizens have actually read the text. Even fewer really understand its implications. But all of the proposals have one thing in common: Not one of them lives up to the president's promise.

Let's remember that America's Catholic bishops have pushed for national health-care reform for decades, long before our mass media discovered it as a theme. The Church regards access to basic health-care services as a right, not a privilege. But to be legitimate, reform efforts need to respect the dignity of the whole human person from conception to natural death. That includes the unborn child, the immigrant and the elderly. Genuine reform also demands strong protections for the conscience rights of medical professionals and institutions. And it also requires that our ideals rest on a foundation of sound reasoning. In other words, real reform must be economically realistic and financially sustainable.

Since August, the U.S. bishops and their staff have worked tirelessly with members of Congress and the White House staff, trying to craft mutually acceptable health-care legislation. The Church in the United States wants to find the common ground that would enable Catholics to support Congress and the White House in ensuring access to basic health services for all our people. But every effort by concerned members of Congress to ensure morally acceptable legislation — despite the outstanding leadership of Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak — has been rebuffed, often with the kind of political doubletalk that seems deliberately designed to confuse.

Here's the result. On Oct. 28, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George and other leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB announced that all efforts to adequately revise current health-care proposals have failed. In other words, not one of the current legislative proposals offers legitimate “common ground” on the issues vital to Catholics. And to date, despite the president’s original promise, the White House has done nothing to fix that problem.

To put it bluntly: all of the health-care reform solutions currently facing Congress violate human dignity in potentially grievous ways. Unless these proposals are immediately changed to reflect the concerns of Congressman Stupak, other like-minded members of Congress, and leaders of the national Catholic community, Catholics need to vigorously oppose and help defeat this dangerous legislation.

Bishop Conley and I will speak directly to the people of the archdiocese on this urgent matter through a letter read at all Masses in all parishes this weekend, Nov. 7-8. Materials will be made available to all parishes outlining the vital issues that remain in the health-care reform debate, and urging parishioners to immediately contact their federal representatives.

The health-care reform debate has been dogged by a pattern of misleading, complex and at times flatly dishonest claims in Congress about the content of the 2,000-page legislation now taking final shape and nearing a vote. Don't be fooled. Contact your senators and representative. Demand that current health-care proposals be changed to respect Catholic and pro-life concerns. And equally important for all of us: We need to do it now.

ACTION ALERT

Vital background information on the current health-care debate can found at www.usccb.org/healthcare and www.archden.org.

Contact information for federal lawmakers can be found at www.nchla.org or www.usccb.org/action.

To send a pre-written, instant e-mail message to Congress go to www.usccb.org/action.

To call the U.S. Capitol switchboard, dial (202) 224-3121.

The Butterfly Circus

Ryan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Please treat yourself and watch this beautiful short film starring Eduardo Verastegui from Bella.

If you cannot use the above player, click here.

This is your idea of peace?

Ryan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:44:00 GMT

"The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing - direct murder by the mother herself."
~1979 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mother Teresa

"Reproductive health care is basic care. It is essential care and so it is at the center and at the heart of the plan that I propose."
~2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Barack Obama

And of course by "reproductive health care," our "peaceful" Nobel Laureate means this. (Warning: leads to graphic images recently published in the NY Times... shocking, I know!)

Most have questioned Obama's worthiness of this award based on the fact that he hasn't actually done anything yet. I disagree. He's done plenty! Here's just a small sampling:

Voted (as State Senator) four times against protecting children surviving attempted murder in the womb (2002-03). By the way, even NARAL was not against this Act.
Reversed the ban on using our tax dollars to fund the murders of children overseas. (Jan. 23, 2009)
Began the process of removing conscience-clause protections for health care workers wanting no part of legalized murder. (Feb. 27)
Reversed the ban on treating human beings as lab rats. (Mar. 10)
Gave $50M of our tax dollars to UNFPA - funding FORCED child-killing and sterilizations in China. (Mar. 26)
Appointed a pro-murder Supreme Court Justice. (May 26)
Called for an unlimited world-wide right to child-killing at the UN. (July 2)
Nominated to his cabinet the most active/powerful proponents of murder in the country. (Jan. - Pres.) This includes a long list of people who openly support child pornography, rationing health care for the elderly, euthanizing the disabled, eugenics, forced child-killing, and secret sterilizations; and have admitted to or been caught covering up statutory rape and illegal late-term murders. (Seem hard to believe? Look up for yourself some of these names: John Holdren, David Ogden, Kevin Jennings, Kathleen Sebelius, Robert Reich, Thomas Perelli, Ezekiel Emanuel, Elena Kagan, Dawn Johnsen, Ellen Moran, Melody Barnes, Melanne Verveer.)

If this is the Norwegian Nobel Committee's idea of peace, I'd hate to see their version of war.

Is this the "Ministry of Truth" spreading lies and the "Ministry of Peace" waging war? Was George Orwell 25 years off?

Dog Jersey?

Ryan — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:27:00 GMT

I'm just curious, Philly fans... did you buy your dog one of these?