April 2011
58 posts
lifetheseries-deactivated201107 asked: Hey Brother Mark,
Just need a prayer for faith.
Also, how did you receive your call? (If you don't mind sharing)
Just need a prayer for faith.
Also, how did you receive your call? (If you don't mind sharing)
March 2011
62 posts
5 ways to make your kids hate church →
2 tags
DeepSpace5 Crew Review Fest
Members of the Hip Hop Supercrew DeepSpace5 have been coming out with several EPs, and short digital albums as of late, that are worth looking up. If anybody didn’t know already DeepSpace 5 is by far one of the illest and hardest Positive Christian Hip Hop crews out there. I started out my Hip Hop Reviews and Recommendations with their latest crew album The Future Ain’t What It Used to...
“As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to...”
– Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island (via ggumption)
5 tags
Augustinian Nun chosen by Pope to write Good... →
The year Pope Benedict has chosen an Augustinian Contemplative Nun to write the official Stations for the Vatican for this Good Friday Stations of the Cross.
Pope Benedict XVI chose an Augustinian nun to author the texts for this year’s Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday, the Vatican announced March 25. Mother Maria Rita Piccione, a contemplative nun who leads the Federation of...
2 tags
Some Ill Positive Hip Hop last year
CAUTION: EXPLICIT CONTENT
I will mostly only review and recommend Hip Hop music that has no explicit content. There is a lot of positive and inspiring Hip Hop music out there that has profanity in it. So for all the minors out there, proceed with caution and your parent’s permission. I write about this, to indicate that there still is positive hip hop music that inspires me with touches of...
“A holy man pure in heart will not step aside from the truth for the sake of...”
– St. Augustine (via itiswellwithmysoul)
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3 points about a vocation →
Carlos Medina OSA is an Augustinian Student just younger then me. He is a blogger, though less frequent then me. He gave a vocation talk recently, and posted the text to his blog.
You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our Hearts are restless until they rest in you. Saint Augustine begins his Confessions with this prayer. In this short, beautiful line he expresses how God loves us into being...
I'm sorry I'm Catholic
Busted Halo has a piece by Amanda Farah talking about the irony we have for apologizing for who we are.
I get a lot of surprised reactions when it comes out that I am Catholic, and I often have to run damage control; this ranges from assuring whomever I’m talking to that he or she hasn’t offended me with an off-handed comment, or telling someone else that my social philosophies aren’t that...
College Student Starts Hope Movement on Web →
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Ruslan is Right Out Loud
Ruslan of theBREAX and Gallery Drive came with this heater. Apparently its an EP, but its got too much dope jammed in this one for that label. He carries the gusto and confidence over to his solo album, with plenty of beats and rhymes to rock a show. As he carries himself out loud on his collaborations, its about time I see some of that on his own project. Be sure to listen to these cuts: Hated...
“Today is the beginning of our salvation,
The revelation of the eternal mystery!...”
– Annunciation Troparion Tone IV, Annunciation Kontakion Tone VIII (via wordfaith)
2 tags
Shames Worthy with the Album
This one has been a long time coming. Shames Worthy, formerly known as Raphi, began in the Tunnel Rats. I saw him rock the crowd better then anybody else, and he came out with more styles on the mic then anybody. For those to young to remember, the Tunnel Rats revolutionized Gospel Hip Hop. They didn’t make music for people in the Church, they made music for the hip hop heads… They just...
Christians ask for clarity for Evangelical Pastor... →
Rob Bell, Evangelical Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Michigan, known for his cutting edge approach to ministry, and artistic multimedia approach to his publications… Is taking a lot of heat from other Evangelical Christians. His book asks a lot of questions, that seem to a lead a lot of room for Universal Salvation (get to heaven by being a nice person).
What I find incredibly illuminating...
1 tag
“Even today, the new evangelization needs well-trained, zealous and courageous...”
– Pope Benedict XVI, (CNA)
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11 crazy ways to remember Atheist Week →
Jeffrey Miller, The Curt Jester (former Atheist himself) comes up with an hilarious list of things Atheists can do to celebrate their Atheism.
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Return of the New from 1773 Live
Local hip hop enthusiast that I am (local in general when it comes to cuisine, brews, and music), I had to find some quality positive hip hop in the Chicago area. They had connections with Lightheaded and Sareem Poems, in addition to a free mixtape. That was enough for me to dig them. Their content gives you something to vibe out to, while keeping your life on the right track. For the person who...
1 tag
“Give me yourself, O my God, give yourself to me. Behold I love you, and if my...”
– St. Augustine
“You who are baptized: Conquer the darkness by the light of your candles, and the...”
– St Ephraem the Syrian (via my-crazy-catholic-life)
Means and Ends →
Mark Shea takes on do Evil Actions justify a Good End? Many people would say yes without question. I beg to differ.
There is something of our lust for power, that it can blind us from the harm it does to others. Most of all, we find very clever and manipulative ways of making ourselves out to be blameless in the midst of our guilt. It is as if we do not even believe that we can be forgiven or...
Strange Gods... →
The Anchoress, Elizabeth Scalia, takes on modern cult personality and idolatry on First Things. Some of the obsession with Obama and Palin have more to do with egoism then with other centered concern it appears. I found it thought provoking.
2 tags
LMNO with Theory Hazit are Determined to Fly
LMNO continues some of that raw Hip Hop, in his 10 for 2010 series of Albums, James Kelly. Theory Hazit has been one of the few explicitly Christian Emcees to get a collab with LMNO of this caliber. So far in this series, this was my favorite, halfway through, I would not be surprised to be further wowwed. Theory Hazit takes care of the beats on this one, and he has a knack for making the kind of...
“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I...”
– Augustine (via monergism)
So apparently St. Patrick was not a drunk, but a...
The above is a quote from a man I talked to on the phone the other day. He was part of an organization that had a product that would have helped with fundraising. With his sincere effort to connect with me, he made that statement. For those of you who do not know, I work at St. Patrick’s Parish in San Diego. If you watch the St. Patrick’s Day revelry that goes on in most places in this...
3 tags
Humble Modesto "This Is For"
I cannot say much on Humble Modesto. I saw he had a free album download via Audio Sketchbook Records. I was into Sojourn, Propaganda, CookBook & Uno Mas, and was checking out the website to find him. Humble Modesto has an early 90’s classic feel, mellow and reflective. Some of it feels like the sound you bump on your afternoon drive home from work, some old feel good music. It would not...
“It is only by means of men who have been touched by God that God can return to...”
– Pope Benedict XVI (via becket)
“Nothing conquers except truth and the victory of truth is love”
– St. Augustine (via crusadermaximus)
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Xperiment "Precipitation"
I discovered Xperiment through Humble Beast Records, and probably would not have noticed him but for that. I could not have identified him, but soon noticed that a lot of what had come out on Humble Beast was having a unique sound. As far as Braille was concerned, it was different from what I was used to. I then discovered that Xperiment was one of the finalists in the Red Bull Big Tune, that is...
3 tags
Trebles and Blues "The Blue Note"
Trebles and Blues first album “The Blue Note” is now available for Download on the website. You can also listen to all the tracks on the bandcamp page, as well as follow the download link. This is a hip hop instrumental album, making it significant enough for me. In trying to understand how hip hop differentiates itself from Pop Rap, you can listen to this as an example. I am finding...
“If you are what you should be, then you will set the world on fire.”
– St. Catherine of Siena (via supportgoodhabits)
“The Hugh Hefner culture insists that you become a real man by having an endless...”
– Fr. Ken Barker - his book ‘Young Men Rise Up’ (via thegiftofproclaiming)
“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is...”
– Mother Teresa
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Do not look miserable like the hypocrites →
I have been feeling on the edge of burn out. There has been a lot of good rewarding ministry. An 8th grade retreat, as well as a Senior Retreat in Malibu. There had been an awesome RCIA class on Prayer, and another awesome confirmation class on Chastity. A lot to be satisfied with in my life.
One of the causes of my stress is that people treat me like some kind of amazing celebrity, while i take...
lovingyouendlessly:
Psalms 46:2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.
Ash Wednesday, Iron Man, Paschal Mystery, and...
Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man, is changed in the Cave. The Terrorist group, the Ten Rings, captures him for a ransom… also with the hope that he will build them the weapon of destruction that they crave. Tony Stark is young, brilliant, and talented mind capable of filfilling their whim. Tony Stark, in the desert, business as usual, demonstrates his guns, drinks his Scotch, parties it up...
“You love God as much as you love the person you love least.”
– Dorthy Day (via deigratia21)
Giving up Tumblr for Lent?
This year I am not doing anything of the sort.
I am not giving up Tumblr, or Twitter, or Facebook, I almost always do. The fact is, I hardly go on, and I don’t see what decreasing my use of it will do (I can’t imagine how much more I can decrease all that stuff without just deleting my account.)
Instead I will post more actual blogs and reflections on Tumblr, particularly more hip...
