Next in life.

As I move into the next stage in my life, I am returning to Religious Life. In that I just turned 50, there are no, non-contemplative, Religious Orders that I have been able to find, that have a Charism that fits with what I feel called to.

So, in order to correct to that problem, I have decided, after MUCH prayer and contemplation to open a new Order, one that accepts any Catholic male in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, from (edited to add) at least the age of 18 to …. They must be of 18 years of age, in communion with the Church, and healthy at the time of entry into the Order. There is no upper age limit, provided they meet those requirements.

You can read more about the Order here. It’s name is “The Order of Brothers of Reconciliation”, and it is a 501c3 compliant Kentucky Corporation, currently a Lay Order, pending approval by the Bishop of Lexington as a Religious Order. We live by a Rule of Life, give the vow of obedience, chastity and poverty, living in community but working “in the world”. The doors are open now for Postulates!

The Order of Brothers of Reconciliation

As my ever changing life continues to move forward, I have opened a new lay community that is pending approval and supervision of the Bishop of the Dioceses of Lexington Kentucky. This Order, The Order of Brothers of Reconciliation is open to all Catholic men eighteen years of age or older (no upper limit, except based on health and mental status, and the Canon of the Church) who are in communion with the Holy Roman Catholic Church and able to meet the requirements of Religious Life per the Canon of the Church.

To learn more about the new community and to express your interest, go to The Order of Brothers of Reconciliation’s web page and follow the links there.

We are also looking for US tax deductible donations, which you can find more information on here. Prayers for our growth and approval and supervision by the Bishop are greatly needed and accepted as well!

In Christ!

Meet the Saints: A Book Review

Over the past several years I have been very interested in the Saints of the Catholic Church. I have been wanting to know their history, how they became Saints, and a bit about them. I have read many books on individual Saints and a few on groups of Saints.

Most of those books put words into the mouths of the Saints, as well as feelings and thoughts, that I often felt the author had no way of knowing if it was true or not. Basically putting words into the mouth of the Saint where I felt they shouldn’t.

This book broke the mold I was seeing in the other books. The book takes 12 months of articles posted in a newsletter series called “Walking With the Saints”. It covers the lives of 37 Saints and what got them Sanctified.

It is an easy book to read, well written and informational. It appears to be factual without glorification. The result is well received by me, and I’m betting by you as well.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Meet the Saints. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

Email Accounts…

Since the Internet kicked in and emails became available, I have acquired and still use over 50 emails. This is a lot of work and a waste of time. It is time to pare them down to VERY few. I’m thinking three. One for my Paypal account, I belong to the Knights of Columbus and will keep that one, and one of my oldest accounts, my yahoo.com account. There may be a fourth in the near future, but possibly not.

Well, I will still have my work account at the VA, but about the only people that use that are those people at work….

So, in the very near future if you send an email to one of my accounts I am shutting down, you will receive, for a while, an auto response letting you know that that account will be deleted in the nearish future, please start using XYZ account from that point on…

Each day I am planning more and more “cut backs” to make life simpler and to free more time for reading, exercising, and Church, not necessarily in that order…

I STILL don’t get it…

Ok, when you go to any countries President/King/Queen/Religious Leaders/etc., you go in your “Sunday Best” as it use to be called. Well, everyone but the US sports teams of course… And possibly our President and his wife when they visit important people…

That said, Christians call God our King. So when we go to His house the Church, why are we no longer wearing our “Sunday Best”? Yes, I know, the important thing is to come to Church in the first place. I get that, and I understand that. BUT!! And that is a big BUT!!

But, you are going to visit and listen to your King. Wear your best cloths, even if they are not great, wear them. This normally doesn’t mean your rattiest shorts, beach flip flops, tank tops, holey blue jeans, etc. In today’s economy, at least here in the US, almost everyone has better cloths than what I just described.

When I was a child, in the 60s and 70s I don’t think I ever saw anyone go to Church in play cloths. Just today I saw someone at Church in her pajama bottoms and fluffy slippers! Yes, you read that right, in pajamas and slippers!! FLUFFY slippers!

Dressing down for God just doesn’t make since to me, although it shows to me further signs of secularization and further rot in our societies. Not a pretty sight in my eyes…

In Christ,

Don

Clement and the Early Church of Rome: On the Dating of Clement’s First Epistle to the Corinthians – A Book Review

I selected this book from the list available at the Reviewers section of The Catholic Company, as I am very interested in the foundations of the Catholic Church, and the early writings of the Church.

I highly recommend before acquiring or reading this book that you acquire and read a copy of the two letters sent by St. Clement to the Corinthians, as it will make the reading of this text mean more to you.

Over all the book was pretty good. Reverend Thomas J. Herron goes into great detail into the history of the time and the reasoning he has for dating the writings as he does. He has, what I believe to be, sound reasoning behind his though processes, and gives strong validation to those thoughts.

Why is this important? It provides a context to the extent of the Church at the time of Clement before and after he took over as the “Pope” (he was not called Pope in that time in history) of the Christian Church. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the foundations of the Christian and specifically the Catholic Faith.

It is a well written book, worth the read, but I’m not sure most lay people would want to acquire this book, unless they are historians.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Clement and the Early Church of Rome . They are also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.

NY Mosque Controversy…

While I am not overly happy that a Mosque is going to be built that close to a place that was destroyed, and in which many people were killed, by people claiming to be Muslim, I do feel that the right to purchase land, and build what you want there, be it religious or not, is your right. We should not be fighting this building, but rather, should be building a Christian Church across the street or in the same area with a “Rec area” as well. Have all faiths build a site there to bring faith back to the area.

I know this won’t sit well with many people, especially here in the US, but freedom of religion is a right given to us by our Constitution and something I hold close to my heart. Presuming that the owners are US Citizens, regardless of where they are getting the money to build it, that they are using local talent to build it, and they are obeying the laws of the US on the property, it is their right to do so.

Now, if we come to find that they are training terrorist there, or doing other illegal actions there, then the State should come in, close it down, confiscate it, if they legally can over the actions performed, and go from there.

Let’s all live in God, we appear to be praying to the same one, even if in different ways, and live in peace and love instead of in war!

Catching up with myself…

A very good friend of mine in California complained that all I write about now is related to religion… This post will have some of that too, but basically I will honor her request and update what has been going on this past 12 months or so…

Last year I was accepted into the Brothers and Sisters of Reconciliation as a Friar. I would have started my Seminary studies this past August (2009). Roughly in October of last year the Archbishop of Miami decided that the Order had not been set up properly or supervised by a (Arch)Bishop correctly and that the Order was to be closed effective immediately and that any and all vows given were to be released effectively immediately. I applied to two Franciscan Orders, both of which decided that I was too old. (Most Religious Orders stop accepting a person after they turn from 25 to 35, depending on the Order.)

During this time of discernment with the Orders, a VERY good lady friend (at the time), Debbie and I continued to talk about the possibility of getting together. About the time the Orders were starting to get back to me, Debbie and I decided to get married. The great day of our Marriage was March 4th, while I was visiting from Florida. I returned to Ashland in April, and we got married in her Church on May 15th. I now live with her in Ashland, KY.

(Very pretty up here, pretty much year around so far! People are friendly, and all speak English!)

At the end of April or beginning of May (can’t remember!!??) I began working at Crisp Dairy Treat so that I could continue to pay Child Support and other bills. I work as a short order cook, ice cream maker, and food issuer. (Hand food to the customers, and take their money. )

I have re-opened my martial arts school, Circular Wind Ryu, Inc. here in Kentucky and am open for business. I have also gotten more active, yet again, with Watkins and am selling those GREAT products! (Check out the products at http://www.watkinsonline.com and when you “sign up” use my Associate ID of 335373!!) I am also available to fix computers, install software and train people on how to use their computers and software. TDBell Enterprises, Inc., now a sub-unit of Circular Wind Ryu, Inc. is open for business in IT Operations, Business Operations and Business Plan Development consulting on an hourly basis. (http://www.tdbellenterprises.com)

I am aggressively looking for a job with at least a bit better pay, and mainly for one that has medical benefits. (I know, deep request in today’s world…) I am looking for a job in IT Management, Business Management, or IT technical areas. If you know of any such openings in the Ashland, KY/Huntington, WV area, let me know!

I am still very involved in a Secular yet Religious life, and very much still in love with the Church (Roman Catholic, but Christian faith in general), and still active in the Church. (As if you couldn’t gather from my post here…)

In Christ!