Is Your Facebook Feed the Sea of Galilee or the Dead Sea?

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I don’t have non-Catholic and secular Facebook friends merely because I want to proselytize them (although I try to answer any questions they have about my faith, and I’m delighted when I hear that they have learned something about the Church through me!). Instead, I have non-Catholic and secular Facebook friends because I like them, and find them interesting — and yes, I learn from them. Of course I do.

Read the rest at the Register. 

P.S.:  I heartily recommend the book I mention, Peter Kreeft’s Your Questions, God’s Answers. I’ve been reading a section a day with the kids ages 9 and up, and it does a good job of answering questions, reviewing stuff they already know, or opening up discussions about things they really wonder about. (And the rule is always: let the discussion happen! Doesn’t matter if it sticks to the original topic or not. If they ask a question about God, then right now is the right time to answer it, period.)

The segments are short enough to read in five minutes or less. It’s intended for teenagers and is slightly goofy but not pandering. It’s theologically meaty and profusely studded with scriptural references, but written in a clear and chatty style that is easy to understand. Not every last section is a whizz bang success, but it’s a painless way to keep a regular conversation about God open, and some of the discussions we’ve had have been really memorable.

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Knock knock! Who’s there? A Catholic.

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As an evangelist, I’m laboring under a triple whammy: I’m a New Englander, I’m shy, and I’m a Catholic. (Also I was in my pajamas, but so is half the country.) All three together mean that I’m entirely focused on closing the door as quickly as I can and getting back to my comfortable, private living room. I have almost zero inclination to tell a stranger, “Hey, have you heard about this magnificent truth which will transform you life? Let me tell you .  .  .”

But that is what the Pope (and all the Popes since Peter, for goodness’ sake) has been telling us to do: not to be content with hunkering down and preserving the Faith within our fortress, but to actively go out and spread the Good News.

Read the rest at the Register.

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New Evanglization WIN: A Cosmological Proof for the Existence of God . . . in comic book form

Got a few minutes? Take your teenagers , or your skeptical, meme-educated internet friend, or yourself through this simple, graphic explanation for why it’s perfectly reasonable to think that God must exist, and what kind of being we mean when we say “God”: Why God Exists: A Rational proof in graphic art form. It makes a heavy topic clear, and is written by a fellow who is thoroughly familiar with the dark alleys and dead ends that pass for logic on the internet. Here’s a little excerpt, where he’s narrowing in on the idea of an uncreated being:

He clears up common misunderstandings (Medieval people were gullible morons, right?) and defines poorly understood words (metaphysics means crystals and smudge pots, doesn’t it?). And it’s funny:

And yes, he covers the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This here’s the new evangelization, folks. Well done! More like this, please.