The Sacredness of Life and the Real Presence

The Sacredness of Life and the Real Presence
from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey

According to recent statistics, over one billion people use the Internet. The Internet grew out of a government experiment. In the 1960’s, the U.S. Department of Defense wanted to create a computer network that would continue to function in the event of a disaster, such as a nuclear war. Their work gave birth to the Internet. And the result has been explosive.

The Internet has changed the way we live, not just locally, but globally. Information, business, travel, and personal communication are no longer the same. People can shop on line for anything from books to baked goods. Hassling other bargain hunters in crowded stores, standing in line to purchase sports tickets or theater tickets, and browsing through a library are all rapidly receding into the past. Even banking is conducted on line.

Today many people sit in front of their computer. They live in a virtual world. They fade out of the real world. Because of modern technology, they can watch movies without ever going to a cinema. They can listen to music all alone on their iPod.

Technology that connects us also disconnects. We too easily forgo the many opportunities simply to be with other people. We lose the human touch. Surrounded by things, we become lonely. Perhaps this is part of the reason instant messaging, chat rooms, cell phones are so popular. We are a people constantly reaching out to stay connected. We need a sense of personal presence. And the deepest longing that we have for personal presence is fulfilled in the Eucharist.

The Eucharist as meal; the Eucharist as Sacrifice; the Eucharist as eschatological anticipation: all these dimensions of the Eucharist come together in the Real Presence. Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428 A.D.) gives witness to the consistent faith of the Church in the Real Presence. He says, "The Lord did not say: This is a symbol of my body, and this is a symbol of my blood, but rather: This is my body and my blood. He teaches us not to look to the nature of what lies before us and is perceived by the senses, because the giving of thanks and the words spoken over it have changed it into flesh and blood" ( Epistle to Magnus, 6).

It is the reality of the Lord’s Presence that takes the Eucharist out of the category of mere symbolism and makes the Eucharist the Mystery of Divine Presence. Not only while Mass is celebrated and the Sacrifice is offered, not only when Holy Communion is received, but Christ remains with us in the Eucharist reserved in our churches. He is Emmanuel, that is, "God with us." Day after day, Jesus builds up His Church by his Eucharistic presence. As St. Paul teaches, "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1Cor 10:17). In the mystery of the Eucharist, Jesus draws us into the communion of divine life that is the Church. He prays at every Eucharist, as he prayed at the Last Supper, "Even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17:21). He makes our life sacred with the Presence of God.

It is especially in the Eucharist that we come face to face with the immeasurable treasure of divine love. Our communion with the Lord in the Eucharist through the reception of Holy Communion and through adoration is the true source of the unselfish love that transforms our personal lives and society as well. In the Eucharist, Jesus fulfills the longing of every disciple first expressed by the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. "They pressed him to stay with them saying, ‘It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over’" (Lk 24:29). In the Eucharist, the Lord stays with us. Day and night the Lord is in our midst. He dwells with us, full of grace and truth. "Therefore both public and private devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist even outside Mass should be vigorously promoted, for by means of it the faithful give adoration to Christ, truly and really present, the ‘High Priest of the good things to come’ and Redeemer of the whole world" (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 134). The worship of the Eucharist outside the Sacrifice of the Mass is closely linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It is not a devotion separated from the Sacrifice of the Mass, but a deepening of the very mystery of our redemption. In those parishes where there is regular adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, parish life is enriched, families are drawn together and vocations increase.

Because of the loss of the sense of the sacred in our world, we need to work at cultivating a lively awareness of Christ's Real Presence. Every parish, every Catholic, should set time aside to worship and adore our Eucharistic Lord. This is why it is most expedient that the Blessed Sacrament be reserved in every parish in a place of prominence. The placing of the tabernacle in a place clearly visible to the faithful who enter the church already draws us into that communion of love that takes places in the celebration of Mass and continues in our daily life. The arrangement of our churches should reflect our belief that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen!

Likewise, our conduct should always reflect our faith. The reverence we show to the Blessed Sacrament by the positioning of the tabernacle in our churches, by our silence and prayer, and by the gesture of genuflection before the tabernacle—a custom lamentably lost in some places—lifts us beyond the profane into the awareness of the mystery of God among us.

Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament is an authentic expression of faith in the Eucharist. It helps us recover the sense of the sacred in the liturgy and also in life. By adoring the Most Blessed Sacrament, we come to know not simply intellectually but experientially the meaning of Jesus’ final words in Matthew’s gospel: "Behold, I am with you always, even until the end of time" (Mt 28:20). Thus, we become aware of how sacred all life truly is.

Where Have All the True Men Gone?

The "Other" Vocations Crisis
by Kenneth Henderson

What does it mean to be a man? We live in a time when the meaning of what it means to be a True Man has all but been lost. The vast majority of men are searching for meaning in their lives but don’t know where to find it. Many seek it in success, money, possessions and sex. Sadly, no man can ever find himself or the meaning of his life in these things.

We hear about the vocations crisis and how we need good priest to come into the Church, but there is another "Vocations Crisis" that is probably doing even more harm to our Church than the lack of priests; the “Other” Vocations Crisis is the crisis of Husbands and Fathers.

Of course this crisis is nothing new; it has been going on for a long time, ever since Adam failed to protect Eve from the temptations of the devil in fact. He froze in the face of danger and thereby exhibited a flaw that all men would deal with for many years to come…passivity. But there have been times in history when husbands and fathers where more in tune with what it means to be a True Man, to be a True Husband, True Father…a True Knight for the Kingdom of God. Arguably, the 20^th Century saw the greatest increase in this crisis in all of history.

God created man for a purpose; to be the head of his family, to lead his family to God and protect his family from the dangers of the world, the flesh and the devil. This purpose requires that men strive to live lives of heroic honor, virtue and purity, in an impure world. However, the 20^th century could also be labeled the most impure society in all of history.

Modern Men started to loose their sense of purpose early on in the beginning of the 20^th century with the feminist movement wanting to equalize the roles of men and women. Later with the introduction of contraception and the “free love” movement that followed in the 60s more and more men became enslaved to a sense of false manhood, a manhood based primarily on financial success and sexual prowess. Isn’t it ironic that in an attempt to equalize the roles, the feminist movement played a major role in the most intense period ever for the objectification of women? Women are valued less now for true womanhood than ever. With the onslaught of pornography, more and more women are falling victim to the mindset that to find love is to be sexually desirable. But I digress and this is a topic for yet another time.

Men are just as much to blame if not more so for this “vocations” crisis. We have abdicated our roles due, yet again, to passivity; the very same flaw that our first parent Adam displayed. We live in a time when false men are fighting false battles, because they have no idea what it means to be a true man; many display swaggering machismo to compensate for a loss of their true sense of purpose.

Man and woman are not to only ones to blame here. Remember that the serpent was also present in the garden, just as he is present today, and with a renewed intensity. The devil has one goal in mind; to destroy humanity. He is also a great strategist and he knows that to defeat any foe, you must take out its leader. Man was created by God to be the “head” of the family, while woman was created to be the “heart.” When the head is cut off from the body, the body dies. Our society is filled with many dead bodies.

The evil one knows the easiest way to render a man helpless, to cut him off from the body; by attacking him with lust and enslaving man to the sins of the flesh. This is why our society is the most sexually immoral society ever. With the easy accessibility of porn on the internet, Satan has been able to enslave more men to sex than ever before. St. Thomas Aquinas said that when man gives into the sins of the flesh, his intellect becomes darkened. So much so that even simple truths can not be understood. Many men are living lives in the darkness. This is why men have been abandoning their families in record numbers, if not by outright abandonment, then by passivity, leaving their families like a body without a head. As The Irish philosopher Edmund Burke observed, all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Sadly this problem is passed on to the next generation because sons will often follow in the footsteps of their fathers. Only when a man comes to recognize his weakness and call upon the grace of God can he begin to break this generational curse.

More men in the middle ages knew their true purpose in the family than many men do today. They practiced the "Code of Chivalry" in which they knew that the key to true manhood was to place women above themselves; to serve and honor women and protect them, especially their wives. They also knew that it took a knight to raise a knight. They knew that the only way to ensure that their sons would be worthy to lead their own families was to strive to be a role model for a life of virtue. They also knew that they where instrumental in determining the fate of their daughters and strove to be the model of the man that their daughters would one day marry. Now while not all men of that period lived this ideal, many did and many also knew the supreme importance of spiritual headship. They understood the importance of being the primary instructor of the faith for their children. This can be seen exemplified in the life of St. Thomas Moore, who placed the welfare and salvation of his wife and children as most important job of his life, even above that of Lord High Chancellor of England...second most powerful man in all of England.

St. Thomas Moore knew that to be a man of heroic honor, virtue and purity, he must also be a man of prayer and a man who defends the supreme Truths of the Catholic faith. He knew that only by centering his life on Jesus Christ and our Lord’s presence in the Holy Eucharist could he have the strength to be the True Man that God created him to be. St. Thomas knew that this meant great sacrifice and was not willing to compromise on any of his beliefs, even if it meant losing his own head...defending the sanctity of marriage. King Henry the VIII had Thomas beheaded because Thomas would not support his decision to go against the Church and divorce his wife. St. Thomas Moore is a model for own times, and there are many others like him. His example shows us the answer for the “vocations” crisis of fatherhood…in fact the priestly and religious vocations crisis as well, because when fathers begin to model the Truths of the faith, then their children will be more inclined to do so as well.

Adapted from a talk given by Kenneth Henderson at the 3^rd Annual Hudson Valley Catholic Conference on July 21^st, 2007

Which religion is the right religion?

By Rod Dreher DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Originally published July 26, 2007

Is the pope Catholic? I ask because the recent foofarah over Benedict XVI's statement that the Roman Catholic Church is the only Christian ecclesial body that possesses the fullness of truth scandalized quite a few folks, even some Catholics.

Well, what did they expect? It's the pope's job to explain and defend Catholic teaching, which makes unique and exclusive truth claims. It would be logically inconsistent for the pope to affirm Catholic teaching while asserting that churches proclaiming contradictory things are equally correct.

Benedict said nothing new. He reaffirmed the Catholic position that Christ's saving work can occur among non-Catholic Christians, despite rejecting Roman orthodoxy. What caused the most consternation was the pontiff's point that Protestant churches aren't proper churches at all.

Defending the faith
Undiplomatic? Sure. But Benedict was clarifying an important point of Catholic theology: that you cannot have a real church without a valid Eucharist. You can't have a valid Eucharist without a sacramentally legitimate priesthood. And you can't have that in ecclesial bodies that have severed the line of apostolic succession, as Protestant communions have.

You don't have to agree, but this is what Catholicism teaches. And this is why Metropolitan Kirill, leader of the ecumenical office of the Russian Orthodox Church - which Catholicism theologically qualifies as a church, though "defective" inasmuch as it is not in full communion with Rome - welcomed Benedict's directive as an "honest statement." Better to know where we really stand with one another, Kirill rightly said, than to gloss over fundamental theological differences for the sake of making nicey-nice.

The angry reaction, especially from some Catholics, shows why Benedict's statement was necessary.

An earnest journey
When I endeavored to convert to Catholicism as a young man, the priest and the nun leading our class spent week after week encouraging us to talk about our feelings, and nothing but.

Sick of this cotton-candy catechism, I went to a crusty old Irish priest in an inner-city parish. "When I get t'roo wit' ye, lad, ye might not want to be a Catlick," Father Moloney said. "But ye'll know what a Catlick is!"
That good priest respected me and the Catholic faith enough to give me the straight dope. Later, when I was received into the Roman church, I knew what was expected of me and why it mattered.

Years later, after a prolonged spiritual crisis, I lost my Catholic faith and am now a communicant of the Orthodox Church. Rather than be offended that Benedict considers my church to be theologically defective - as Orthodoxy in turn regards Catholicism - I rejoice that the Bishop of Rome is far too serious a man to sugarcoat important truths.

Build on honesty
Good relations among believers must be built, but only on a foundation of honesty. It does not follow that acknowledging theological differences - particularly the exclusive correctness of one church or religion - therefore requires a program enacting political or social superiority. In fact, the Second Vatican Council proclaimed that religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Acknowledging that people have a right to be wrong about God is a moral breakthrough for humanity, an idea that should be spread.

It's wrong and dangerous, though, to expect a religious believer to affirm that all beliefs about God could be equally true - which is what Benedict's critics really demand. To do so would be to empty religion of its deepest meaning - to turn it into something that's merely socially or personally useful.That's where American religion is headed, however. Several years ago, researchers with the University of North Carolina's National Study of Youth and Religion polled American teenagers and found that faith was important to them. But it's faith not in established religion but rather in what NYSR's social scientists termed "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, as researchers explain, teaches that a vaguely defined God exists, cares about us and wants us to be good, nice and fair. You don't need to get too involved with God, absent a problem or crisis. The point of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. Good people go to heaven.

Train up a child
Whatever that relativist mush is, it has little to do with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or any traditional religion. Researchers concluded that either American youths don't know their traditions' teaching, or don't much care. Strikingly, they found that many teenagers interviewed had never discussed theology with an adult. The theological content of our faiths is fast eroding because of the lazy indifference of older generations to whom the traditions were delivered.

Benedict knows how critical this is. Count me on the side of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who aren't afraid to say - respectfully - that I'm wrong about God. At least they understand what's at stake.

Social Networking Sites are Porn Directories According to a ChristiaNet.com Study - Christian Newswire

Social Networking Sites are Porn Directories According to a ChristiaNet.com Study - Christian Newswire

MEDIA ADVISORY, July 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- ChristiaNet.com, the world's largest Christian portal with twelve million monthly page loads, recently talked with a parent who surfed through several pages of one of the largest social networking sites. "Thinking these sites were kid safe websites, I clicked on a picture that leads to a blog. I never expected to see hard core porn images. There was no censorship what-so-ever," stated Mary, the concerned parent. "I never had to enter a login or register. I just clicked my way through offensive material! As a Christian, mother, wife, and woman, I would never again visit a site like this, nor would I allow my husband or children to participate."

To substantiate claims from this and other pro-active parents, ChristiaNet conducted their own test. The results revealed that with surprising ease, children can access pornography through these advertised kid safe websites. Ten user profiles were accessed on one of the most popular sites and 186 pornographic images, 52 counts of cursing, 14 links to porn directories, and multiple references to drugs, racism, Satanism, and violence were found.

Many parents may be unaware that their children have access to hard pornography through seemingly innocent social websites. The number of pre-teens, teens and young adults using social networking online is increasing by 160,000 users daily - according to web news sources. Social networking sites are a place where users may post personal information about themselves including photos, videos and music. Users can send mail, instant messages and write comments on each other's pages. If parents believe that children are safe from adult content within the cyberspace walls of the largest social networks which promote to children and teens, they may want to take an eye-opening look at the reality of what's posted on these pages.

In an effort to educate parents about social networking sites, ChristiaNet's president, Bill Cooper advised, "Parents should place the home computer in an open area within the house and install monitoring software to keep tabs on what children are seeing. As much as we want agencies that promote to children to act with responsibility, it's ultimately up to parents to control what their children are being exposed to."

To combat unsafe social networks, ChristiaNet has just released its Free Christian Penpals. Using the latest Internet technology, ChristiaNet has made it simple to chat and make new friends in a safe family friendly environment.

The Great Mystery of Marriage: A "Foretaste of Heaven" or Satan's Battleground?

Possibly one of the most beautiful gifts that God has given to humanity is the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Sadly, it is also the most attacked and profaned by Satan. Many people have very little understanding of just how important and holy the gift of marriage is. This can explain why many do not see the importance of saving the gift of sexuality for after they are married, why so many marriages end in divorce and why there is an increased push for homosexual unions. At the root of this problem is a lack of understanding of just what a sacrament is... [Read More]

The Power of Kindness and Humility

Christ teaches us that we are to respond to any attack or wrong done to us with kindness. Pagans exchange an attack with a counter-attack. Christians know by humility that we are all capable of horrendeous wrongs and that we must appeal to the grace of God to bring a kind act to our brothers and sisters. It is easy to love your friends...but it is not so easy to love your enemies. But Jesus told us that we MUST love our enemies. That one act of kindness, offered up to God, can counter many grieveous sins. An act of kindness done through the grace of God can even counter the effects and temptations to act out in impurity. Acting out of kindness and humility toward someone who you feel has wronged you can be an act of mortification that is more powerful than fasting for a day.

Not only that, but when we repay an unkind act against ourselves with an act of kindness...conversions happen. More people have converted to Catholicism because of a kind act than by any other means. St. Francis de Sales said: "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

St. Terese the Little Flower showed us that we can do great things for God if we just offer up all our little sufferings. That includes offering up our petty grievences against our friends and enemies.

It is only by kindness that we can lead each other to holiness. That is our purpose...to Know God, to Love God, and to Serve God. To know God is to recognize Him in every single human being on this planet. Friends, family and enemies. To love God is to Love one another as HE loves us. To Serve God is to do the Will of the Father...I don't believe the Will of the Father includes being unkind to people we feel have wronged us. On the contray it REQUIRES us to repay an unkind act toward us with a prayer for that person and an act of kindness in return.

Think of what an incredible place this world could be if EVERY Christian, or if even 10% of ALL Christians were to behave in this manner.

Think about it...and do it...by the Grace of Almighty God!

Lust is a root from which many weeds spread

From Spiritdaily.com
April 26, 2007

Is there something stubborn in your life that you can't rid? Are you mysteriously plagued? Are you "blocked" on the way to sanctity?

The answer may be in lust -- not just sexual lust, but lust in many "mysterious" manifestations.

While we think of it sexually, lust means overly wanting anything. It means concentrating on the worldly. It means letting the self and its flesh rule -- blocking the spirit.

Lust is the intensity of carnality, and it can cause many effects that we usually don't associate with it.

Lust is a root from which many weeds spread.

Many things stem from this cardinal sin -- especially anger. As long as we lust, we will not be able to rid our souls of the anger that constrains us from loving each other the way Jesus directed. When we lack love, we get mad (witness Virginia Tech).

Lust feeds anger and anger feeds lust, in a cycle that is vicious. When we have lust, it takes up space that should be filled with love. It crowds love out of the picture!

Lust is self-consumption. Lust focuses on self. Lust puts self above God. Lust is carnal. Lust is worldly. Lust binds us to the earth. Lust over-attaches us. Lust is what causes the devastation in relationships. Lust is the flesh winning over the spirit. Lust is greed. Lust is materialism. Lust is competition. Lust is criticality. Call it a "root-demon" because there is the stain of Satan as long as we have desires that are uncontrolled or bad habits that we do not correct.

There is "lust" for recognition. There is lust for material things. There is lust for food. There is lust for sex. There is blood-lust. We crave, we hunger, we covet, we yearn, and from this comes anger and deeper sin.

We should crave and hunger and crave for God alone.

Lust means an uncontrolled desire and on earth we see that the key to happiness often resides in discipline.

If you have problems loving others, or in finding peace, ask the Holy Spirit to shine His Light into your soul and reveal any lust that needs to be cast out. You may be amazed at what happens! Isolate the lust, confess it to a priest, and then work tirelessly at removing it from your thought process. The results will transform you. They will be miraculous.

Instead of lusting for everything to go "right" -- according to your plan -- offer any suffering for your sanctification. This is very powerful! Don't let your will interfere with your holiness. Adopt God's Will, remove carnality, and you will find the harmony of being.

What is your being? Who are you? What is in your heart? You can not ask yourself more important questions.

For what is in your heart will determine where you go first in the afterlife.

When you die you will go to where you soul fits.

Is it full of lusts and dark? It will feel most comfortable in a place of darkness. Is it gray? It will gravitate toward grayness. Or is it white and free of lust and ready to meld into God's Light?

Choose lustrous -- not lust!

When we die, we will not feel comfortable remaining in the Presence of God unless our souls are white.

This means that it is important for us each day to say, "Lord, where do I need to be corrected? Please correct me where that need is."

Only through His Light will we know where we have gray areas.

Often, they are not what we expect. When we die, we will see shortcomings that we never recognized as shortcomings unless we pray now on earth for revelation of where the shortcoming are.

We will die with the same bad habits and so should purge these these beforehand.

Sanctify! You will go where your soul melds. Fear not the initial sting of the "bleach." If you are wearing dirty clothes, or even have a spot, you will not want to go to a wedding, and the same is true at death with a blotch on the spirit and entrance into Heaven.

Through prayer, through true conversion (changing the soul), and through the Eucharist (coupled with Confession) do we find permanent correction which leads to permanent happiness.

"Podcasting for Purity" - What is Truth?

Living as a True Knight means living as a True Man of God. One of the most important, if not the most important principles that we must do to live lives of Heroic Honor, Virtue and Integrity in an Impure World is to live a life of Truth. But what is Truth?

Visit "Podcasting for Purity" to listen to this weeks episode!

PureHeart Podcast debuts!

Cyndi Kane of TwoEdgeTalk.com and Kenneth Henderson of TrueKnights.org discuss how we can live God's will and Proclaim the Splendor of God's Truth for Sexuality and expose the Lies of Satan!

Visit PureHeart Podcast

Reflection on the Mass Readings: Sunday April 15, 2007

This Sunday's Gospel: John 20:19-31 The Risen Lord's Message of Healing and Forgiveness!

The Risen Christ fulfilled His promise to his disciples when He said in John 14:16-17 that He would send the Holy Spirit by breathing that very same Holy Spirit upon them. This life-bringing, truth-revealing, sin-convicting, comfort-giving Spirit is also a Spirit of mercy and forgiveness. Just as we receive God's forgiveness for our sins, so we are exhorted and given the grace to forgive those who sin against us. If we refuse to forgive others, we will miss the great blessing of freedom that God offers to us freely. With forgiveness comes freedom, He want's us to experience the emotional healing that comes only from working through our anger and hurt by releasing it to God.

It is by the Holy Spirit of God that our addictions, emotional scars and hurts can be healed and our painful past redeemed. Yet, many of us doubt the promise of Christ, just as Thomas did. He refused to believe in Jesus' resurrection until he saw and felt the risen Christ with his own eyes and hands. When we struggle with addictions and emotional scars, we often experience doubts. We have a very hard time believing that God is at work in our life when we don't see immediate changes or miraculous results. Recovering from any addiction or healing past hurts can be a painstaking process without much to show for it at first. Even when evidence of God's power is not immediate, we must persevere in faith, then we will experience the peace that comes from trusting God with our present struggles and our unknown future.* The apostle Saint Paul, summed this whole process up in Hebrews 12:1-14 when he said:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us ² while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. ³ Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. ⁵ You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; ⁶ for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." ⁷ Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards. ⁹ Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness.¹¹ At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. ¹² So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. ¹³ Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed. ¹⁴ Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

"Podcasting for Purity" is back!

I have resumed "Podcasting for Purity."

Check out the latest episode:

A Call for Warriors of Prayer!

"I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men: ...that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all piety and chastity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, Who wills that all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

--1 Timothy 2:1-4

This is a a call for intercessors and prayer warriors around the world to support the work of True Knights in a battle for souls. True Knights needs a support system. We are seeking individuals, prayer groups, orders, parishes, dioceses and associations who will commit to faithfully pray for the mission of True Knights, our families, those being helped by this ministry and all those whose lives are affected, darkened and enslaved by the sin of unchastity and impurity.

Prayer is the foundation of all our work here at True Knights and we agree with Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who said that “Everything starts from prayer.” And we know that no effort is an anointed effort without prayer. That’s why I need to know you are praying with us and our apostolic outreach. We know that if we are doing God’s will, then He will anoint our efforts and provide for all our needs. Even our financial ones. It’s that simple.

Pray as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you. - St. Francis of Assisi

[Read the Entire Article]

Pornography Addiction: How to Win the War against Satan's Attack on the Family (Part II)

from CatholicDaily.org
written by Kenneth Henderson, TrueKnights.org

Saturday, March 24, 2007

How did we stray so far, so fast? Why is pornography allowed to intrude into so many marriages? The main reason I see is we have been duped by society and the Great Deceiver. We have been lied to and told that we need this "toxic waste" in our lives or we are not normal. I'd liken it to being lost and thirsty in a desert and discovering someone living alongside a beautiful stream but using it as a toilet, or serving a wonderful meal for dinner each evening, but adding a small amount of rat poison to it. Either way, it's deadly...

[ Read the full article ]

Discuss this Article on the True Knights Forum

Pornography Addiction: How to Win the War against Satan's Attack on the Family (Part I)

from CatholicDaily.org
written by Kenneth Henderson, TrueKnights.org

Friday, March 23, 2007

One of the prime objectives of the True Knights apostolate is to help men break free of the slavery of pornography addiction. Addiction to pornography and lust are destroying men and their families in greater numbers than alcohol or drug addiction. In fact, it is physically more addictive than cocaine and imprints the mind with images that are nearly impossible to erase. The real problem is...it's a silent killer. It kills your soul before you or anyone else knows it! Studies show that 1 out of every 4 men are addicted to or have a problem with pornography and 1 in 5 Christian men, of all denominations admitted to having a problem with pornography. These were just the men who admitted it...

[ Read the full article ]

Discuss this Article on the True Knights Forum

Pornographic Exploitation is "Free Speech?"

A news story just broke today reporting that a Federal Judge had just struck down an Internet Pornography Law. (Read the story here on Reuters and Associated Press). The 1998 law was designed to block children from viewing Internet pornography. The Judge stated that the violates the U.S. Constitution's free speech protections. The challenge was brought up by the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU), which had argued that the provisions of the Child Online Protection Act were too restrictive.

This just infuriates me. Our society is so careful about protecting our so-called "free speech" that we are neglecting to see the incredible harm we are doing to ourselves and future generations.

Interestingly enough in an unrelated story by Zenit.org today with an interview with Melinda Tankard Reist (Dealing Girls a Raw and Racy Deal), the founding director of Women's Forum Australia, stated that our culture is harming our young girls with the message that the must be sexual to be accepted. This is a direct result of the unfettered "pornization" of our culture. Melinda stated:

"The problem of the premature sexualizing of girls is one of the most serious issues confronting us as a society at the present time. Girls are being turned into sexual objects earlier and earlier.

The messages they receive through popular culture is that to be attractive, to be accepted, you have to dress and behave in a sexual manner. There are now lingerie clothing lines for preteen girls, and bras for girls under 10, T-shirts with sexual slogans, and even a pole dancing kit complete with a DVD that features "sexy dance tracks" for 6-year-olds."

She goes on to say that:

"The barrage of sexual images in popular culture cannot be justified on "free speech" grounds when it is causing so much damage to vulnerable children who need protection...Online networks of pedophiles also use "free speech" arguments when trading in images of children being raped."

So, we live in a culture where the Law protect a pornographers "rights" to exploit other human beings and feed this sickening garbage to our children.

I have to agree with what Melinda said at the end of her interview:

"We need a new global movement prepared to stand up against corporations, advertisers, the sex industry, the makers of violent video games and demeaning music clip and Internet sites. We need the same momentum as we've seen drive recent movements against global warming and world poverty propel a new movement for fighting our toxic cultural environment."

We have so many in our society who are ready to stand up and get indignant about "global warming" or "world hunger" but very little ready to stand up against the real and destructive "Plague of Pornography!"

Dear God help us...We Must Wake Up!

_________________________________________________________

Update: The government is expected to appeal the ruling, and the case may return eventually to the Supreme Court.

To contact respectfully the US District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania:

United States District Court
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Office of the Clerk of Court
U.S. Courthouse
601 Market Street, Room 2609
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1797
Phone: (215) 597-7704
Fax: (215) 597-6390

E-mail: PAED_clerksoffice@paed.uscourts.gov

To write a letter to the Governor send to:
Governor Edward G. Rendell's Office
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

To telephone the Governor call:
(717) 787-2500.
E-mail: PAED_clerksoffice@paed.uscourts.gov

A copy of Judge Reed's ruling can be found here:
http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/07D0346P.pdf


Discuss this Article on the True Knights Forum

Very Important: Interview with Bishop Robert Finn on "Pornography's Death Grip!"

I was very pleased to read the Zenit.org interview with Bishop Robert Finn as a followup to his pastoral letter this morning. He had some very important and wise words to say about the problem of the continued "pornization" of our culture. In his first response the Bishop had these words to say:

"Pornography is a most pernicious symptom of this decline in the awareness of human dignity. Because of its ready availability, it has become so widespread -- touching young people barely beyond the age of reason -- that it is pandemic. Because of its addictive nature, I doubt that we as a global society have the will or the means to significantly inhibit the presence or availability of pornography. Yet, we should not give up on this effort to limit pornography. We have to persevere in this. As the Church, what we can and must do is try to recapture hearts, and fortify souls by deep conversion, the growth of the interior life, and the practice of the virtues."

It is going to take a huge effort on the part of all evangelist to address this issue, but we must. That is exactly what we here at True Knights are trying to do. But much more help is needed. We must do everything we can to help counter the effect that this has had on our culture: education, prayer, fasting and evangelization are all required in this battle. Saint Thomas Aquinas said that when man gives into the sins of the flesh his intellect becomes darkened, so much so that even simple truth cannot be understood. Is it any wonder that it is so difficult to share the Truth of the Gospel with people? Why so many are closed off to hearing the Truth? The collective "intellect" of our culture is becoming increasingly darker and darker. In fact Bishop Finn said this:

"I fear we have already crossed over. We are -- as you suggest -- numb to many of the destructive images, and this requires more and more images and more revealing images. The hunger for this gratification seems insatiable. The question is: Can the conversion that we sometimes experience, with the help of supernatural grace, in the heart of individuals, take place culturally?"

I pray it can...we must all pray everyday for the conversion of our whole culture. What is needed now is divine intervention.

Dear Heavenly Father, you and you alone know the hearts of all men and women. Help us, all of us seek out the only thing that can make us complete. As Saint Augustine said so many years ago...You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You! Lord our entire culture is restless. Satan is luring us to our deaths with his poison. Help us to open our eyes so that we may see the lies that Satan seeks to imprison all of our souls for eternity in the depths of Hell. We pray for the purity, holiness and heroic efforts of everyone who seeks to bring your words of Truth to a dying world. We ask for your mercy, your love and your abundant grace. In Christ name we pray, Amen.

Read the Interview with Bishop Finn from Zenit News here:
Pornography's Death Grip

Read Bishop Robert Finn's Pastoral Letter:
"Blessed Are the Pure in Heart"

Related Article in this weeks Nation Catholic Register:
Kansas City Bishop Takes on Porn Goliath

Discuss this Article on the True Knights Forum

Ken Henderson, Founder of True Knights on "Kresta in the Afternoon" on Ave Maria Radio March 21st at 4:30PM EST

I will be Al Kresta's guest this afternoon (March 21st, 2007) at 4:30pm EST on his show "Kresta in the Afternoon". We will be talking about the ways in which God has most changed my life for a book that he is putting together from guests interviews! Wow...I could talk about this for days, it will be a challenge to keep it down to only 30mins...Heh!

ALL GLORY GOES TO GOD!

Please pray for me and be sure to tune in on your local Ave Maria Radio Affiliate station.

You can also listen ONLINE at: Ave Maria Radio

What is Truth?

I want to welcome you to the "NEW" True Knights Blog. I hope you like the new look and I intend to make frequent use of this new blog.

A lot has been happening here at True Knights in the past few weeks and I sense that the battle is about to intensify. What battle you may be asking? The battle for the human soul. The battle that every man and woman faces everyday. Now you may be thinking that this battle has been going on for thousands of years. While that is true, I would argue that mankind has not seen a more intense onslaught by the forces of darkness against mankind, purity, Truth and God Himself.

In the next few posts I want to explore the nature of this battle and explain why I think that this battle has reached a new and unprecedented height...more than ever before! The Truth is under greater and greater attack everyday. The attack on the truth of human life with abortion, contraception and euthanasia; the attack on the sanctity of the most intimate of all human relationships, holy matrimony with such distortions of truth as homosexual unions and the attack on the holy gift of human sexuality with the onslaught of pornography.

Truth has become relevant. Man has always sought to define truth in relation to his own selfish, prideful desires. Yet, by doing so we further separate ourselves from the source of all truth...God himself.

Let me just leave you with this quote from a book I have been reading called "Boundaries" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend:

"Knowing the truth about God and his property puts limits on you and shows you his boundaries. Realizing the truth of his unchangeable reality helps you to define yourself in relation to him. When he says that you will reap what you sow (Gal. 6:7), for example, you either define yourself in relation to that reality, or continue to get injured if you try to go against it. To be in touch with God's truth is to be in touch with reality, and to live in accord with that reality makes for a better life (Ps. 119:2, 45).

Satan is the great distorter of reality. Recall in the garden when he tempted Eve to question God's boundaries and his truth. The consequences were disastrous.

There is always safety in the truth, whether it be knowing God's truth or knowing the truth about yourself. Many people live scattered and tumultuous lives trying to live outside of their own boundaries, not accepting and expressing the truth of who they are. Honesty about who you are gives you the biblical value of integrity, or oneness."

Truth is unchangeable...truth frees us from the darkness...the Truth is a light that illuminates the lies of the darkness.

Jesus Christ is that light...the Way, the Truth and the Life!