What’s Coming Next?

My apologies for not posting anything the past week.  Since I don’t have sponsors, paid advertisements and/or endorsements (hint hint, wink nudge) I don’t feel too guilty.  Actually, I was out of town visiting my very elderly grandmother and some of my extended family with my wife and children, computer time was very limited. TrueManhood.com has definitely been on my mind, but not a priority because much needed time with them was taking precedence.  So, since I haven’t written anything lately, I wanted to let everyone know what they can expect in the coming days.

Depending on what I see/hear about/come across/etc. “out there” in regards to TrueManhood, I’ll be posting whatever I think is worthy of a post.  Besides those stories, you can expect something on the following topics soon:

• Struggling with Lenten devotions, the struggle of Lent (general) and the tough days during Holy Week.
• Major League Baseball, Opening Day Special
• Holy Thursday – The Vortex, “Judas Today”
• An article about “supertaskers”
• A post about an irate hockey coach.  Temper, temper.
• A Dating Article
• A Eucharistic Miracle Video
• Plenty of other great stuff!

Until the next post, keep fighting the good fight!

Man up!

Pontius Pilate, What You Did Was NOT Manly

I thought several times throughout Holy Week, as well as when I watched “The Passion of the Christ” on Friday night, that Pontius Pilate (pronounced pon-chus pi-lot) was not manly in his decisions to condemn Jesus to death.  He tried, yes, at first, to tell the people that Jesus had done nothing wrong.  Where he went wrong was when he worried about what sort of uprising the Jewish high priests would start and what the people would do.  He let self-preservation win out over justice. 

He’s infamously remembered by Catholics in our Creed (our profession of faith) “…He (Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate…“.  This is because Pilate had the power to prevent Christ’s horrible torture, scourging, carrying of His cross and His death, but failed to act; all out of fear.  He was a coward.  Even the movie “The Passion of the Christ” (picture above from a scene with Pilate and Jesus) shows Pilate’s wife as a hero and a servant, with compassion and deep sorrow while Pilate simply looks on, worried about himself.  Pilate leaves us with a good example of what not to do. 

Christ tells us that we’ll be persecuted because of Him, because we follow Him and because we love Him.  We should be ready and prepared to persevere.  We prepare for this by training (prayer and fasting, mostly).  When it comes down to it, who will you side with?  Will you take the easy way out and deny Christ or will you stand firm in your beliefs, in your faith and in HIS love and witness for Jesus?  Only time will tell. 

Again, society tells men that we must look out for ourselves and self-preservation.  Christ, the Church and TrueManhood.com say something different.  We all say “defend Christ, defend Mother Church, defend Truth” – God will provide for us and will raise us up on the last day.  A True Man does this.  A man like Pontius Pilate doesn’t.  What kind of man are you?

Man up!

Opening Day (Holy Week)…Opening Day (MLB)

April 6th, 2009… opening day for two important institutions.  One, as you will read quite obviously, is much more important than the other.  [The other simply lasts much longer than the first.]

The first “opening day” is Monday of Holy Week– the week leading up to the Triduum and Easter Sunday.  Technically, Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday.  Holy week signifies a time in our lives where we remember (commemorate) Christ’s passion, death and resurrection from the dead.  It’s  incredibly important.  Easter begs us to ask the ever-philosophical “chicken or the egg” question – is Christmas or Easter more important?  I won’t get into that here.  Easter, whether more/less important than Christmas, is incredibly important for us because it signifies the culmination of salvation history in Christ’s conquering of death on the cross.  Christ – the ultimate servant leader.  I encourage everyone to make special time this week to take part in the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday – actually one continuous liturgy).  Open your heart and your mind to what God is calling you to.  The end of Lent can still be a fruitful time for you.  Give it a great deal and you’ll receive a great deal in return.

The other institution (although, a bit difficult to talk about following that Holy Week piece) is Major League Baseball.  MLB has been a part of my life since birth.  Now, I’m not trying to convince the baseball-haters of the world that baseball is a great sport – heaven knows that soccer fans won’t convince me that soccer is a great sport – I simply want to call to mind that opening day for the 2009 season is today.  This marks a special day for baseball fans everywhere when we know that basketball is ending soon 🙂 and we have sunny summer days at the ballpark to look forward to.  Double-plays, stolen bases and home-runs.

A thought… if the Pirates win today, I suggest that they end the season early and end their pitiful 16-year streak of playing sub-.500 baseball.  It would be a great thing for us Pirates fans to have a “winning season”.  Just kidding – I guess. 

Either way – Man up!