Des Moines Register publishes Quiner!

[This piece appeared in the Des Moines Register this morning.] THE DAY THE POPE CAME TO IOWA By Tom Quiner “Look at all those people down there!” said Pope John II from his helicopter. He saw long, winding rows of people in the fields at Living History Farms below. “They must be standing in line for…

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Dismiss the Catholic Church at your own risk

A guy sent me a Youtube link reporting on priest abuse.

I had posted an essay on the challenge of Catholic evangelization. The smug video was his response meant to say “conversation over.”

Catholic bashing is a blood sport amongst atheists, the political Left, media, academia, and Hollywood. Their attacks have grown increasingly uncharitable, doing tremendous damage to the Catholic “brand.”

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The challenge of Catholic evangelization

“Hey, would you like to go to church with me?”

What a nice, friendly way to be hospitable and evangelize your faith.

Protestants are much better at this than Catholics. Here’s the rub for Catholics: once they get their non-Catholic friends to Mass, they can’t let them go up for Communion. You have to be Catholic.

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Christ Our Life

I spent the weekend Facebooking and tweeting from the Christ Our Life Conference in Des Moines, Iowa.

What a weekend. I listened to top Catholic speakers peel back the depth and beauty of Catholic faith.

Here is a quick distillation of key ideas presented by these speakers:

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The dysfunctional family that is the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is a big, messy family.

I’m blogging live at the Christ Our Life Catholic Conference at Wells Fargo Arena. The arena is packed with the Catholic faithful from around the Midwest. I’m guessing there are about 7500 Catholics in attendance…

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The “fake church” supported by the State

“What was once a request to live and let live has now become a demand for approval. The ‘ruling class,’ those who shape public opinion in politics, in education, in communications, in entertainment, is using the civil law to impose its own form of morality on everyone.”

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I am attending a magnificent feast tonight

“So do you have big plans for the day?” the young young woman queried.

I was buying a cup of coffee at Starbucks. The barista was perky and engaging.

I quickly thought about my day. “Let’s see, I just finished my conference call. What else is going on?”

And then I remembered.

I looked at the young woman and told her I will be attending Mass tonight to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church.

She wasn’t quite sure how to handle that one. She didn’t respond and changed the subject back to the task at hand: “Do you need room for cream?”

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St. Padre Pio speaks

St. Padre Pio is an interesting character.
Non Catholics may simply not relate to the mystical abilities and experiences exhibited by the man. They include:

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Young actor proudly proclaims his Catholicism and love of G.K. Chesterton. You've got to meet this guy!

I met a young actor via Twitter. His name is Kaiser Johnson. What struck me were the three words he used in his profile to describe himself: Actor. Catholic. Chestertonian (aka as a fan of the writings of G. K. Chesterton). As a passionate Catholic and Chestertonian myself, and as one who has written nine faith-based theater pieces, I knew this was a guy I’d like to get to know. And I thought Quiner’s Diner readers would, too…

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