Pokemon Go is bringing people to church...and other places

The news has been non-stop about the newest craze Pokemon-Go that is sweeping the nation.  Bizarre stories of people landing in emergency rooms with injuries because they aren't looking where they are going, dead bodies being found, people assaulted/robbed and sacred places like churches, cemeteries and holocaust museums being used as mobile gaming places with seemingly no thought or sign of respect for the private property these people are invading in their quest for entertainment. 

Saint Mary's Parish in Newington, CT has become a hot spot for Pokemon-Go gamers to battle monsters beside a statue of Saint Mary. 

The parish posted this notice on their Facebook page...

The parish priest posted this notice on the door of the parish...

...inviting people to pray a Hail Mary and "Ask her to help you and guide you! She's got your back!" 

The priest notice on the door seems a contradiction to the Facebook post promising to arrest anyone "youth or adult" who trespasses on parish property.

(For a live stream news of this story go HERE-at the 1:14 mark) 

Police are telling people the obvious...

But people don't seem to listen, they are too caught up in fictional reality and self entertainment that they care about little else.

But its not all bad news!  Some churches are happy to have the gamers chasing fictional monsters inside their churches and on their property. 

Quote from The Babylon Bee: U.S.—Hit mobile game Pokémon GO has taken the world by storm, and churches are benefiting handsomely from the augmented reality phenomenon.
According to a survey of America’s churches, 82% reported a substantial spike in attendance as Pokémon GO trainers wandered on and around their properties in order to take advantage of game-boosting Pokéstop buffs and rare Pokémon scattered about their campuses.
“We just open the doors and let them wander in unaware,” one pastor said. “Then, when they’re busy catching a Pokémon or taking advantage of our Pokéstop module, we lock the doors behind them and fire up the worship songs. Poor guys don’t know what hit ’em until it’s too late.”
Other churches reported using strategies like holding special community groups focused on helping players catch rare and high-level Pokémon in their area, promising in-game items and buffs for players who make a decision for Christ, and shutting down Sunday services to allow members and visitors more time to catch the virtual pocket monsters.
Another pastor was just happy the Christian message was being heard, no matter what the means. “We’re excited that people are encountering the gospel through—wait, hang on, there’s a Charmander over there—gotta go!”

Wow. I have no idea what the "Christian message" being heard was in that pastor's church, but I am guessing its nothing like the message Christ intended us to hear.

I have no idea what "survey" was taken (as no source was sited) that shows such a statistic. Who did the polling for that and where?  

Is this really how pastors want to get people to come to church?  To chase monsters then leave for the next stop on their monster scavenger hunt?  

I don't get it. I just don't get it. 


In Christ and not playing Pokemon-Go,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 


Links: 
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=600729186755226&id=175541472607335

https://www.facebook.com/Saint-Mary-Church-Newington-CT-103726839706793/

http://www.wfsb.com/category/216668/wfsb-eyewitness-news-livestream-1

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pokemon-go-virtual-real-worlds-collide-holocaust-museum-injuries-robberies/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/07/08/pokemon-gos-unexpected-side-effect-injuries/

http://county10.com/201021174044426240

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-co-pokemon-robbery-20160712-story.html

http://q13fox.com/2016/07/12/pokemon-go-players-unwelcome-at-arlington-holocaust-museums/

http://babylonbee.com/news/church-attendance-spikes-nationwide-influx-pokemon-players/

Priest on cell phone while hearing confessions...

Yeah, you heard that right.

On Monday night, my children and I went to a local parish for Confession. There were two women before us and soon after our arrival several other people came in. When our turn came I went in first and everything was as usual- not so for my children. 

My youngest went right after me and after a few moments everyone in the pews could hear a cell phone going off.  I didn’t pay much attention to it because I thought it was coming from downstairs in the parish hall, but when my daughter came out her eyes were huge and she gave me ‘that look’ and whispered “Did you hear the cell phone?”

I nodded and shushed her, but she continued, “Father’s cell phone went off when I was confessing and I didn’t know if I should keep talking or let him finish with his call.”

My mouth dropped open.

I simply could not believe a priest would bother taking his cell phone into the Confessional with him, but since I had just confessed my own sins I didn’t want to create new ones by getting angry about it.  I shrugged it off as “He must have forgotten to turn it off” and I let it go.

My eldest daughter went in, came out, prayed and we all left the parish.  Once in the car, my youngest brought up the cell phone ringing during her confession and my eldest responded, “You think that is bad, Father was TEXTING during my confession.”

I hit the breaks on the car and turned around with a “WHAT?”

“Yeah,” she said, “I was confessing and I could see him through the screen texting on his phone the whole time.  I don’t think he really heard anything I said, he just kept mumbling “ahem, yep” and stuff like that.”

I was appalled and very, very disappointed in this priest whom I have known for a few years now and had never seen such behavior from him.

When I voiced my unhappiness at what he’d done, my oldest (always a glass half full girl) said “Don’t worry Mom, maybe he was just multi-tasking, he is busy you know.”

My youngest pipes up “Yeah, it could have been an emergency phone call  too.”

Multi-tasking?  Emergency cell phone calls in the Confessional?

In my opinion, there is NO good reason for ANY priest hearing confessions to be taking phone calls or texting people.  It's just wrong and I am considering writing to his Bishop about it.

Is this the best our clergy can offer us these days?  Is this what we want to teach the next generation about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Confessional?

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner


UPDATE:
A few things...

1) This is a GOOD PRIEST who did something he shouldn't.  It was a mistake, that doesn't make him a horrid priest, just a human one who made a bad choice.  Pray for him and others like him.

2) A forum discussion from Catholic Answers in 2010 was brought to my attention and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERY CATHOLIC LISTEN TO THIS:

http://www.romans10seventeen.org/audio-files/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.mp3

links:
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=459158

http://www.audiosancto.org/sermon/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.html

http://www.romans10seventeen.org/audio-files/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.mp3

Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?

I have gotten several requests from churches for permission to use my "Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?" Youtube video. I am happy to allow churches to share this video with their parishes and congregations.


Happy Holy Week and God bless!

Catholic Ordinary Time

Oh the green of Ordinary Time. For non-Catholics that may not make any sense, but Catholics know what I am referring to. I'd like to share some thoughts on Ordinary Time today. Personally, I love Ordinary Time. Many people can't wait for Advent and Lent etc., and I too love those times of year, but for me I worship best in church during Ordinary Time. There are not so many distractions during Ordinary Time- maybe I have a short attention span or something. During Advent it's often hard to set aside all the hype over the season and focus on why we even have an Advent season. That's not to say I don't get the warm fuzzies and excitement of Advent, I do. But I also know myself well enough to know that I am not as focused at mass during these times as I am during Ordinary Time. I belong to a small parish church with many members (that is to say our church is small but our membership is not). Most of these folks don't always attend a weekly Sunday mass during Ordinary Time, but come on the holidays. When this happens people are standing OUTSIDE listening to mass because there are just no seats for them. Clearly my parish needs to expand our church, but that is getting away from my thoughts on Ordinary Time. I have divided feelings over some of these Catholics who show up only for Christmas and Easter. On the one hand, I am pleased that they still attend mass and know how important Advent, Lent and Easter (etc) are. On the other hand... I can't help but wonder (yeah it's none of my business I know and I am not judging them as I don't know their lives, but I can't help but wonder...) why they don't feel the desire and need to attend mass all year? Or for whatever reason they have. Maybe it's because I am a convert and still often feel overwhelmed with the joy of finally being Catholic and able to participate in the Sacraments. And it's not just me, even my kids love the sacraments and will often argue on the way to Penance (Confession) who gets to confess first (thus giving them something else to confess)! We love our faith and our Church and all it's Sacraments. I just can't seem to understand some Catholics who only go to mass for "special" holy days and not during Ordinary Time. I know several parents in my parish who only attend mass during their children's time in Religious Education classes (AKA: 'Confraternity of Christian Doctrine or 'CCD' as it's better known). I think they are missing out on the specialness of mass during Ordinary Time. I love the holy days, don't get me wrong, but there is something special to me about Ordinary Time. I absolutely love late spring thru summer in my parish. There is a sense of completeness after Lent and Easter and the children's First Holy Communion. All the hustle and bustle is behind us for a while. This is when I can really deepen my prayer life and enjoy mass to the fullest without distractions. Just the parking alone during Advent or Easter is a distraction in my parish, not to mention the attempt to find a seat for yourself and your children! If you are parking half a mile down the street because your parish parking lot is over flowing and you have to hike to mass, then stand against a wall or outside in the cold because there are no seats left, how much are you able to put that aside and really focus on God and worship? For me, not very much. I know some people probably have no problems with that, but for me it's a distraction and mass is too important to me, to be distracted like that. So admittedly, I often get frustrated with myself for not putting these type of things aside and giving my all at mass as I should. Something I clearly have to work on. So Ordinary Time is a welcome time for me and my family as they seem to share a few of my views on this. So I hope those Catholics who don't attend weekly mass during Ordinary Time will come back to the Church and enjoy mass during a more peaceful, less stressful time of year. Come to mass during Ordinary Time and see what you've been missing!

Abiding in Christ

We've all heard that Jesus is the Vine and believers are the branches and that we must 'abide' in the vine. How does a person "abide" in the vine; that is to say, how do Christians abide in Jesus Christ our Savior? Do we abide by having faith? We all need faith in our daily journey towards our heavenly reward but that's not it. Do you abide by prayer? Prayer is important, no doubt about it. We need prayer but that's not exactly it either. Do we abide by participating in our faith? Now we're getting closer to the answer. In John 15 Jesus tells us He is The Vine and that we are the branches and that we must bear good fruit (good works) to remain part of The Vine. If we fail in this, holy scripture says the branch will be cut out and tossed into the fire. In Matt. 25:31-46 Jesus talks about the Sheep & the Goats. What separated the Sheep from the Goats was their works. The Sheep did good works, they fed the hungry and clothed the naked and visited those in prison and gave water to those who were thirsty. The Goats did none of these things, they were devoid of good works and Jesus said to them "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."-(Matt.31:45-46). Clearly we need not only to have faith but to act out our faith with good deeds. Jesus is saying you can't sit in the boat and say you have faith, you need to take action and show your faith as Peter did when he stepped out of the boat onto the water. When Peter wavered in his faith, his actions began to sink him but Jesus was there beside him. Jesus is still here beside us now, offering us support when we waver and fall short. One place to find this support is in our sacraments, namely Penance (Confession). If you fall, go to Confession and make things right again. We need to hold tight to our faith and bear good fruit so that we are not cut off and tossed into the fire. We should desire to abide in Christ above all things and live our lives pleasing to God. Not just our words but also by our actions (deeds or works). Jesus says the way to abide in him is by Holy Communion (John 6:56). If we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood we abide in Christ. This is the very core of our Catholic mass. This is why attending mass is so very important for Catholics. The sacraments are vital to us abiding in Jesus Christ. These are not to be taken lightly or treated as valueless 'options' to take or leave. For Catholics they are essential. Attending mass is essential. Going to Confession is essential. We need to understand the sacraments and their importance to us and our Lord. If we fail to abide in Christ we will have put our very salvation in jeopardy. He is The Vine and we are the Branches only if we abide in Him.

John 15
The True Vine
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

----

John 6:50 "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."

Christians And Same Sex Marriage

So many Christian's and their denominations are struggling with the issue of same sex marriage and relationships. Why? The bible is clear on this. It has nothing to do with "homophobia" or being "biased" or wanting to make some people into "second class citizens". God, not man, decides what is sin and what is not. Man has the choice to accept the Word of God or reject it. The scriptures list what God calls sin. For Christians, Catholics and Protestants alike we proclaim Christ as our Savior and follow our Lord and his teachings to the best of our abilities. There are many laws in the bible, but on the issue of same sex marriage we need to look at Moral Law and the institution of marriage in the bible between men and women, not people of the same sex. We look to God's Word because we are Christians and the bible is a wonderful tool- gift really- to be used in teaching God's will for us and our lives. Should we thump non-Christians over the head with our bibles? No. They have the choice and free will to accept or reject God's teachings. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, we have made our choice and must adhere to the Word of God in all things in our lives.
Why do some Christians think that the Moral Laws of the Old Testament where tossed out by Jesus Christ in the New Testament? Did Jesus ever say that adultery, fornication and/or sexual immorality etc., are A-Okay under the New Covenant? No, he did not. So that tells us that ALL those things (Moral Law) still apply today for believers. It is still wrong to rape, murder, commit incest, adultery, fornication and all forms of sexual immorality as defined by God (man didn't decide what was immoral, God did). The liberal (religious, not political) argument that is spewed out about Leviticus Moral laws only apply to Jews is a house built on sand with the tide coming in.
The Moral Laws include (but are not limited to) not murdering, raping, stealing, fornicating, incest, sex with animals and more, those things are still wrong. The liberal religious thinking that gay relationships are okay after Jesus came is absurd. You can't pick one Old Testament sexual abomination and say "This one is OK now, but all the others are still abominations." Either they ALL are or they are not. Is it OK for a father to have sex with his daughter now? Is it OK for a brother to have sex with his sister in law now? Is it OK for siblings to have sex now? All of these are listed in Lev.18 as wrong, sinful and you can't pick one out of this list and stamp it as "good" while rejecting the rest as still wrong. That is ridiculous. All the sexual immorality abominations in Lev.18 are still abominations in the New Testament. Jesus never said "Oh and by the way, all those sexual abominations in Lev. still hold true except for the "man with man" one, you can do that all ya want now." That is not biblical no matter how people try to twist the Word of God or justify their actions. God will not be mocked and the Truth will always be the Truth. That will not change no matter who says what.
The Word of God is built on the Rock of Truth, not the sand of the liberal religious wishing to rewrite the Word. The Old and New Testaments up hold Moral Law, all Moral Law.
Romans 1:24 "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."
Also, 1 Cor.5 addresses the issue of the sexually immoral (in all its forms) within the church and what the church is told to do about these people (vs 13). The strawman that some attempt to build (that we've all heard a thousand times) is "well you eat shellfish! blah, blah, blah" (referencing dietary laws placed on the Jews under the Old Covenant). Apparently these people can't grasp the difference between dietary laws and Moral Law (and Jesus knew it too when he said "Are you so dull?"). Jesus was clear on the dietary law in the New Testament.
Mark 7:18 "Are you so dull?" he [Jesus] asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.") 20He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"
The next strawman that gets tossed out by some is "Monogamous gay love is OK with Jesus". Where did that come from? Certainly not God or the bible in any verses we can find. Monogamy has nothing to do with it. The sin is the same if you have one partner or a hundred! It's the relationship that is wrong. That's a bit like saying a father who has four daughters isn't wrong if he has sex with only one of them, but if he has sex with all of them then its wrong. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. The relationship is immoral. That is the sin according to scriptures. The amount of times the act happens is just how many times you need to repent of the same sin. That is The Word of God, no one has to accept it for their lives, Christianity isn't forced on anyone. But if you claim to be a Christian then you must accept and believe the Word of God taught by Christ our Savior. That is how we follow Christ and become Christians by believing the Word and accepting it as the Word of our God and Savior.
If we do not repent or accept God's teaching then God is not our Father but Satan is. Satan is the one rejecting the Word and deceiving people. Jesus came and gave us the gift of salvation. We have free will to reject that gift, but in order to receive that gift we must not deny the Word of God. Repentance is part of our relationship with our Father- but not our whole relationship. If you don't accept what God calls sin and you don't repent of all the things He tells us are sin (God decides what is sin, not man) then we are not being Christians following our Lord and Savior. We are less than true Christians if we only adhere to what we want to accept. God never gave us multiple choice on sins. He declares what is sin and we (Christians) must believe Him. Who are we to tell God He is wrong? The bible is clear on Moral Law, it stands today the same as yesterday and generations ago. God never changed Moral Law, what was wrong before is still wrong now.

Are the Seven Catholic Sacraments Biblical?

A Baptist once asked me "Are the seven Catholic Sacraments biblical?". My response is "Absolutely!". First let's look at what those seven sacraments are. They are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing the Sick (Extreme Unction), Holy Orders and Matrimony. Now let's discuss what a "sacrament" is.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1084 (in part) "...The sacraments are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature. By the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they make present efficaciously the grace that they signify." And #1116 "Sacraments are "powers that comes forth" from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are "the masterworks of God" in the new and everlasting covenant."
The sacraments are gifts from God and all were instituted by Jesus Christ. No man on earth, not even a Pope can change a sacrament because he has no authority to do so. Christ instituted them and so they stand until He comes again exactly how he founded them. To alter them would make it invalid. For example, a valid baptism is done with water. If the water element was changed to orange juice it would invalidate the Sacrament of Baptism. Christ instituted the element of water for Baptism and man cannot change that. Time to get back to the original question from the Baptist "Are the seven Catholic Sacraments biblical?". Yes, they are and while there are many scriptures for the sacraments I will give a few for each but these are by no means the only scriptures available for each of the sacraments.
Baptism
-Matt.3:16 "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."
-Matt. 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
-Mk 1:8 "I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
-John 3:5 "Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."
Confirmation-John 14:16 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—"
-Acts 2:4 "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
-Heb.6:2 "instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment."
Eucharist
-Matt.26-29 "26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
-Luke 24:35 "Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread."
-John 6: 51 "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
-John 6 "53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."
Penance-Matt. 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
-John 20:21-23 "Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Anointing the Sick (Extreme Unction)
-John 5:14:15 "Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well."
-James 5:14 "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord."
Matrimony-Matt.19:10-11 The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry." 11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given."
-Eph. 5:31-32 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church."
Holy Orders
-Acts 13:2-3 "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off."
-1 Tim. 4:14 "Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you."
-1 Tim. 4:16 "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
There is my answer to the Baptist about the Seven Biblical Sacraments of the Catholic Church. All found in Holy Sacred Scripture, all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.