Friday, May 25, 2007

Here are some Thomases if you know what I mean

"I am sorry Catholic kids do not make a school
Catholic, what makes a school Catholic is the people that teach their (being in
good standing with the Vatican) and the people that attend the school actually
believe what the Church teaches...so far ND is batting 0-2.Hence it is catholic
with a small c and not a BIG C as say Franciscan Univ. is!!!
"


I was rather surprised to read that as a "devout"
catholic you would be proud of ND...which we all know is only catholic in name
and not much else..sorry to burst your bubble!


These are some of the comments that were left on my Mother's Blog after she posted about my Brother's graduation from Our Lady's University (ND). First of all talking about the comment in the blue who are you to criticize? Maybe we should remove the log from our own eyes before trying to remove the splinter from our neighbor's (BIBLE!). I am very surprised by this comment because it is apparent that this person has never been to Notre Dame.


The first time I ever went there was three years ago and the presence of Our Lady was so strong that when we left I was positive we had forgotten someone. And the students are very devote Catholics. My mother wanted to say the Rosary at the Grotto and told my brother she was going. My brother told her to wait just a second ran down the hall and invited around ten of his friends to come with her. It was freezing rain out, there was strong bitter winds, but they still agreed to go. They went to the Grotto and when they had finished she was about to get up to rush to shelter thoroughly soaked and longing for warmth. Then she noticed the students, every single one of them were still kneeling, eyes closed, just praying and remained so for a few more minutes.


Needless to say she was quite impressed with the devotedness of the students. Quite frankly I would run to the nearest building after the last amen, I am not that strong. Furthermore, and I quote the Valedictorian Speech from Mike's Graduation;

"After reading about students at other universities placing
cars on top of
buildings, I expected similar rebelliousness here. And,
during my
freshman year, I heard about students climbing atop our very own
Stepan
Center. Yet, I soon discovered the uniqueness of rebellion at Notre
Dame. Instead of placing large items atop Stepan or any other
building, I
heard of numerous friends ascending our geodesic and decidedly
un-golden dome…
to… pray the rosary. “What?” I asked. I likewise
was taken aback
when I noticed in my dorm that the most popular weekend spot
was the chapel for
Sunday night Mass. The University’s faith
foundation was instrumental in
my decision to come here, though only after
arriving as a student did I start to
realize the distinctiveness of this
place and the role faith plays in that
distinctiveness."

Need I continue? Oh by the way he is becoming a priest.
ahhh, a charismatic catholic, thanks that explains it all!
Honestly, we need to stick together as the one Holy catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. There was one more comment on my mother's blog being prejudice against charismatic Catholics. Well, correct me if I am mistaken but I believe the Apostles were Charismatic, praying in tongues in the upper room. I have been a Charismatic Catholic all my life and did not now it was a "new" thing to the Church until recently. I am surprised that the Church would be afraid of her past.

3 comments:

Scott M. Frey said...

I hope you don't let the critics out there get you too riled up Jamees! There's plenty of criticism to be found online... I am glad to see such a young person so strong in his faith...

I am curious, what is this "charismatic" stuff you are talking about...

Thanks Man and congrats to Mike. Notre dame sounds awesome but I must confess I am a Michigan fan and a Wisconsin fan, don't hold it against me! lol

peace

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

Thanks for your wonderful post.
It's been almost 20 years since I was there, and the devotion of the students is SO strong--your examples were perfect. I'd be proud if any of my children were to attend this University. It's not just about the football.

James Bogdan said...

I won't hold it against you don't worry, and I am not ignoring your question about Charismatic I am trying to find a way to explain it to you, so here is a link to a passage written by Father Ed Fride about Charismatic Catholics and I hope it helps. If you have any questions then just ask and I'll try to answer them. http://www.rc.net/lansing/ctk/welcome/charismatic1.doc

No it's not all about football, but that is a big factor:)