Saturday, March 29, 2014
Pope Francis message of unity to Pentacostals.
Greetings and Salutations.
Once again, Pope Francis blows my mind. Here he sends a message of unity to a Pentacostal church. This is..... well, mind blowing.
Hopefully this sticks. Its time to end the divisions. Christ wanted a UNIFIED church. Here's our chance.
EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
Once again, Pope Francis blows my mind. Here he sends a message of unity to a Pentacostal church. This is..... well, mind blowing.
Hopefully this sticks. Its time to end the divisions. Christ wanted a UNIFIED church. Here's our chance.
EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
Pope Francis goes to confession...... publicly!! Is this Reality?
Greetings and Salutations.
For those of you who are not Catholic, this video might not seem like anything unusual. But as for me? Mind Blown. A Pope confessing, in public, in front of hundreds of parishioners? This has traditionally been done in private. Pope Francis is totally breaking with Catholic tradition here, and its not necessarily a bad thing.
EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
For those of you who are not Catholic, this video might not seem like anything unusual. But as for me? Mind Blown. A Pope confessing, in public, in front of hundreds of parishioners? This has traditionally been done in private. Pope Francis is totally breaking with Catholic tradition here, and its not necessarily a bad thing.
EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
Skyrim - Lindsey Stirling & Peter Hollens
Greetings and Salutations everyone.
As you can imagine, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the interwebz, and I came across this girl, Lindsey Stirling, a few weeks ago. Lovely girl, and really good violin player. The violin being one of my favorite instruments to listen to, I became a fan. However, this video TOTALLY sold me on this girl. Awesome musician, and a friggin GAMER GEEK TO BOOT!!! YEAH!! Skyrim just happens to be my favorite game right now, so this friggin ROCKS!!!
Subscribe to her page and check out some of her other work. She has all styles of music, and could probably use the views.
Til next time, EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
As you can imagine, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the interwebz, and I came across this girl, Lindsey Stirling, a few weeks ago. Lovely girl, and really good violin player. The violin being one of my favorite instruments to listen to, I became a fan. However, this video TOTALLY sold me on this girl. Awesome musician, and a friggin GAMER GEEK TO BOOT!!! YEAH!! Skyrim just happens to be my favorite game right now, so this friggin ROCKS!!!
Subscribe to her page and check out some of her other work. She has all styles of music, and could probably use the views.
Til next time, EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Catholic Apologetics: Evangelization.
Greetings and Salutations, ya'll.
Today's entry is a bit heavy, but still appropriate for our little blog here, so, let's jump right in. As a Catholic, I have never been trained to be a fire and brimstone evangelist. We do not stand on street corners and preach to the world. We do not go on TV and try convert people. In fact, we keep our worship quiet and humble. Even within the Catholic Mass. There are not many "AMENS" or "PRAISE JESUS" shouts. Catholics are very conservative with our worship. Why? Well, because it is how Jesus himself wanted us to be.
Matthew 6:1-6
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Prayer 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
We tend to love getting recognition for the things we do. However, this is a function of the ego, to get satisfaction in recognition.
This has nothing to do with God, who, after all, sees what we do, and knows what we truly feel.
We Catholics are called to evangelization through our actions, our lives, and our joy. I see it every day in my own life. I do not preach the gospel, or push the bible, or shove Jesus' name in people's faces. I don't even make a point to tell anyone that I am Catholic, or religious or what have you. Yet, people see me as a positive, respectable, man of God. They come to me with problems, and often times want to know how I manage to keep things together and positive. I tell them I really don't have things together, that it is a daily struggle for me, just as it is for everyone, but that I have some big time help. I don't do it alone. This usually sets the wheels in motion for them, and some even pursue it further right then and there. Some think about it and return to me later. Only when they ask for me to enter their lives do I proceed. There is no point in spreading the gospel of the Lord if it is not with Joy, and there is no Joy in forcing it on people. This is what is important. In the Bible, Jesus did not necessarily push his teachings on others either. An example is the prostitute who was to be stoned. Jesus interceded on her behalf, yet what did he say to her? He could have rebuked her for her sinful life, told her that is not the way, and gone into a long diatribe about how she would burn in hell if she did not turn her life over to God. He could have yelled and screamed and "spoken in tongues" (a topic for another post, by the way). But no. What did he say to her? He helps her up and simply says:
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and sin no more." (John 8:10)
Thats it. A kind gesture, and some warm words.
Jesus did this a lot.
Why do so many feel the need to do things differently? Even when Addressing the crowd who was trying to hurt this woman did Jesus not scream and shout. A simple request (Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.) is all he needed. Yet too often today, "Christian" evangelizers do more harm then good.
Between being judgmental, condescending, intrusive, angry, impatient, and holier then thou, many of these types push people further away from the Joy of the Gospel then towards it.
I should know. I spent 15 years "alone in the wilderness" because I did not want to associate myself with a religion that taught hate and judgment. Only recently did I discover that it is not the religion that preaches this, but the people within the religion who misinterpret the message. When we evangelize, we have to do so humbly, quietly, and with Joy. We do it not be speaking, but by example, by practicing what we preach. After all, as Christians, we have but two commandments to follow. Love God, and love each other as we love ourselves. Jesus himself sums up his entire teachings by the Golden Rule.
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12.
Bruce Lee once said "Your mind is like a garden. What yo plant will grow." He was talking about negative and positive thoughts. The same can be applied to evangelizing. So lets live our lives with the Joy of God, the humbleness of Jesus, and the radiance of the holy spirit. It is all the evangelizing we will ever have to do.
EXCELSIOR...... and God bless.
Today's entry is a bit heavy, but still appropriate for our little blog here, so, let's jump right in. As a Catholic, I have never been trained to be a fire and brimstone evangelist. We do not stand on street corners and preach to the world. We do not go on TV and try convert people. In fact, we keep our worship quiet and humble. Even within the Catholic Mass. There are not many "AMENS" or "PRAISE JESUS" shouts. Catholics are very conservative with our worship. Why? Well, because it is how Jesus himself wanted us to be.
Matthew 6:1-6
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Prayer 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
We tend to love getting recognition for the things we do. However, this is a function of the ego, to get satisfaction in recognition.
This has nothing to do with God, who, after all, sees what we do, and knows what we truly feel.
We Catholics are called to evangelization through our actions, our lives, and our joy. I see it every day in my own life. I do not preach the gospel, or push the bible, or shove Jesus' name in people's faces. I don't even make a point to tell anyone that I am Catholic, or religious or what have you. Yet, people see me as a positive, respectable, man of God. They come to me with problems, and often times want to know how I manage to keep things together and positive. I tell them I really don't have things together, that it is a daily struggle for me, just as it is for everyone, but that I have some big time help. I don't do it alone. This usually sets the wheels in motion for them, and some even pursue it further right then and there. Some think about it and return to me later. Only when they ask for me to enter their lives do I proceed. There is no point in spreading the gospel of the Lord if it is not with Joy, and there is no Joy in forcing it on people. This is what is important. In the Bible, Jesus did not necessarily push his teachings on others either. An example is the prostitute who was to be stoned. Jesus interceded on her behalf, yet what did he say to her? He could have rebuked her for her sinful life, told her that is not the way, and gone into a long diatribe about how she would burn in hell if she did not turn her life over to God. He could have yelled and screamed and "spoken in tongues" (a topic for another post, by the way). But no. What did he say to her? He helps her up and simply says:
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and sin no more." (John 8:10)
Thats it. A kind gesture, and some warm words.
Jesus did this a lot.
Why do so many feel the need to do things differently? Even when Addressing the crowd who was trying to hurt this woman did Jesus not scream and shout. A simple request (Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.) is all he needed. Yet too often today, "Christian" evangelizers do more harm then good.
Between being judgmental, condescending, intrusive, angry, impatient, and holier then thou, many of these types push people further away from the Joy of the Gospel then towards it.
I should know. I spent 15 years "alone in the wilderness" because I did not want to associate myself with a religion that taught hate and judgment. Only recently did I discover that it is not the religion that preaches this, but the people within the religion who misinterpret the message. When we evangelize, we have to do so humbly, quietly, and with Joy. We do it not be speaking, but by example, by practicing what we preach. After all, as Christians, we have but two commandments to follow. Love God, and love each other as we love ourselves. Jesus himself sums up his entire teachings by the Golden Rule.
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12.
Bruce Lee once said "Your mind is like a garden. What yo plant will grow." He was talking about negative and positive thoughts. The same can be applied to evangelizing. So lets live our lives with the Joy of God, the humbleness of Jesus, and the radiance of the holy spirit. It is all the evangelizing we will ever have to do.
EXCELSIOR...... and God bless.
Monday, March 24, 2014
A life worth writing about?
Greetings and Salutations.
Before we jump into this thing, let me think aloud for a moment.
I am starting a blog.
Me.
Johnny Matos.
What the heck am I going to write about?
I have never kept a journal. Diaries were as foreign to me as Sri Lanka. I never really even tell anyone about my day. I just never thought I had anything worth while to talk about.
However........ maybe I do have some interesting tales to tell. I mean, when I look back on it, I HAVE led a pretty interesting life.
Born in New York, raised in New Jersey, I moved to Florida to wrestle alligators, which I did for 6 years.
Before that, though, I worked at a funeral home. I picked up/delivered corpses, helped get them ready for the viewings, and helped with the burial. Lots of crazy stories will most likely pour from that particular job. I mean, in what other job is it considered a normal day to drive through the Burger King drive-through window, order your food, get it, and drive away eating your tasty burger while a dead body is strapped to a gurney right behind you?
Yeah, that job should provide me with quite a bit of material for this blog.
Like I said, I wrestled alligators for 6 years. An odd career choice to say the least for this New Yorker. Not just alligators, either. Snakes, lizards, tarantulas, and scorpions were common place at my home. As were the bites and injuries that came along with it. This is yet another time in my life which will likely yield a few gems for your reading pleasure, including meeting and marrying my wife, all while surrounded by alligators.
I even got to sing an Opera Aria, in full tuxedo, at a gala fund raiser, all while wrestling an 8 foot, 180 pound alligator!!
Lolwut!?!?
Love, marriage, and fatherhood (a story still being written) should yield some gems as well. As should my faith and my interests. As the title of this blog states, I am a geek. I am a Catholic. Quite a few seemingly contradictory ideas collide in my brain, but for some reason, they all seem to blend and mix harmoniously.
Perhaps I do indeed have a life worth writing about!!
Perhaps it will be a bit of therapy for me.
Maybe..... HOPEFULLY...... it will be as entertaining or enlightening for you, my dear readers, as it will be therapeutic for me.
And who knows, we might all, together, learn a few things along the way!!
Ok, maybe not, but here's hoping we can at least come out of this in one piece.
So, til next time, I say EXCELSIOR!!!!!!! And God bless.
Before we jump into this thing, let me think aloud for a moment.
I am starting a blog.
Me.
Johnny Matos.
What the heck am I going to write about?
I have never kept a journal. Diaries were as foreign to me as Sri Lanka. I never really even tell anyone about my day. I just never thought I had anything worth while to talk about.
However........ maybe I do have some interesting tales to tell. I mean, when I look back on it, I HAVE led a pretty interesting life.
Born in New York, raised in New Jersey, I moved to Florida to wrestle alligators, which I did for 6 years.
Before that, though, I worked at a funeral home. I picked up/delivered corpses, helped get them ready for the viewings, and helped with the burial. Lots of crazy stories will most likely pour from that particular job. I mean, in what other job is it considered a normal day to drive through the Burger King drive-through window, order your food, get it, and drive away eating your tasty burger while a dead body is strapped to a gurney right behind you?
Yeah, that job should provide me with quite a bit of material for this blog.
Like I said, I wrestled alligators for 6 years. An odd career choice to say the least for this New Yorker. Not just alligators, either. Snakes, lizards, tarantulas, and scorpions were common place at my home. As were the bites and injuries that came along with it. This is yet another time in my life which will likely yield a few gems for your reading pleasure, including meeting and marrying my wife, all while surrounded by alligators.
I even got to sing an Opera Aria, in full tuxedo, at a gala fund raiser, all while wrestling an 8 foot, 180 pound alligator!!
Lolwut!?!?
Love, marriage, and fatherhood (a story still being written) should yield some gems as well. As should my faith and my interests. As the title of this blog states, I am a geek. I am a Catholic. Quite a few seemingly contradictory ideas collide in my brain, but for some reason, they all seem to blend and mix harmoniously.
Perhaps I do indeed have a life worth writing about!!
Perhaps it will be a bit of therapy for me.
Maybe..... HOPEFULLY...... it will be as entertaining or enlightening for you, my dear readers, as it will be therapeutic for me.
And who knows, we might all, together, learn a few things along the way!!
Ok, maybe not, but here's hoping we can at least come out of this in one piece.
So, til next time, I say EXCELSIOR!!!!!!! And God bless.
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