I have been busy

although that is not an excuse, just a fact. One fact that owns my life at the moment. BUT...I do know that the day will come when the kids will be gone and my days will be my own again. I won't know what to do with myself.

I need to back tract about a month. I never got a hance to write about the weekend that Keith Moore came to town.

Keith is a musician and song writer. Extremely talented. Theological in his lyrics and unique in his music.

I met him last summer while attending the Defending the Faith Conference at Franciscan University in Steubenville OH. He was invited up to the stage to play a song by one of the speakers, Jeff Cavins. Keith played only one song, yet I was hooked from the first notes. I had to buy his Soul CD while at the bookstore, and literally ran into him there. He signed it for me and we chatted for a few moments. I ran into him several times during the weekend, and had a chance to talk to him and his wife Renee. We talked about conversion, (Keith was a convert to the Catholic Church), we talked about faith, and we talked about youth. I knew from those conversations that I wanted, needed to get him to Powhatan and to St. John's. I didn't know how to do it. I knew nothing aboaut how the trip would work, what we would do, I just knew he had to come. Keith put me into with Christine and we began to iron out the details.

Fast foward to March of 09. After many trials and complications thrown at me from Satan himslef, it was finally time to get Keith from the airport. I still had no idea what to expect but the Holy Spirit had been in control from the very begining, and I wasn't about to interfere with his plans now.

That evening Keith played for a Mexican adn Music fundraiser that we had. We were raising money for the Summer Youth Connference trip. There was about 120 people there that night to listen to Keith tell his sotry and sing his songs. It was an amazing night. Keith's performance was better than I would have even hoped for. The next morning, after Mass, Keith also played for the older RE kids. Again the kids and teachers had a great time and really got was Keith was talking aboout. One last short talk (no guitar) with the RCIA class before we headed back to the airport. It was a short trip, but very powerful and very spiritual.

You are Peter.....

I have learned the significance of Jesus's act of renaming Peter and giving him the keys to the kingdom by reading and listening to Steve Ray. I found this post from Steve's blog that not only shows what the text looked like written in Aramaic, but has a video of it spoken in Aramic also. It gives me goose bumps to listen to it and picture Jesus with Peter in Casarea Phillipi. What a huge impact one act had on Christianity and Universal (Catholic) church. Check out Steve's blog for the picture of the written verse... http://blog.catholic-convert.com/?p=1929




“You are Peter” in Jesus’ language of Aramaic March 4, 2008 at 6:18 am · Filed under Artifacts & Biblical History, Israel and Middle East, Jesus/Godhead, Papacy & Catholic Hierarchy

So, what did it sound like at Caesarea Philippi when Jesus renamed Simon and made him the foundation of the Church: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18)?

You know of course, that Jesus did not speak English If most of us heard Him speak those words today we would have no clue what He was saying. Jesus spoke Aramaic and that language is still alive in very small communities in the Middle East.

What you see written to the right is Syriac Aramaic as written by my friend Efrem Nissan in Bethlehem. He is a Syrian Orthodox Christian.

Now, not only can you see the script — which is close to what would have been written in the time of Jesus – but you can listen to it as well. I took this short video clip of Efrem reading the words you see written here. Listen for the word "kepha" which is the word "rock" in Aramaic. (YouTube has been slow and a problem lately. If it doesn't work, visit back.)

Fully God, Fully Man

Yeah yeah....it has taken me awhile to get back here. So sue me. Not a problem because except for my house I have nothing. Lost a big chunk of our retirement. It is ok though, I am putting in my garden and buying some chickens so I will at least have chicken and spinach quiche!

I posted this quote from Father Groeschel on Facebook....


“God is pure spirit, but he loved us so much that he sent us the revelation of himself in Jesus. So we can know God through Jesus, who had a body just like us. He got hungry, tired, and maybe even cranky. He suffered bodily pains. Now God has a face. And the way we can come to Christ is through our bodies. That’s why we celebrate the Sacraments. Sacraments are, after all, concrete tangible ways to God.”

Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR and Bert Ghezzi
Every Day Encounters with God: What our experinces teach us about the Divine, The Word Among Us Press


Zach was showing me the "Catholic" peace sign...one finger for fully God, and one for fully Man....