Showing results by author "James Nugent"

In January 2014 I stumbled upon an announcement that the South Sound Estuary Association was looking for volunteer beach naturalist. For $50 I would receive training in beach ecosystems and marine biology. In return I was expected to provide 15 hours of volunteer service to the general public on the local beaches.

There are many guides and books that give excellent wisdom for those who would seek to make an offering of their lives to God. Still there is little practical information about how about how to go about the day to day business of being a Benedictine Oblate. This audiobook is an attempt to give practical suggestions to the beginner and the "expert". However, if what you do, gets you closer to God every day, then don't change a thing. But if you need new materials, new practices, new ideas or attitudes; then just consider listening to this audiobook.

Catholic Christians have a different attitude toward pain, even if it is part of the natural dying process. This little booklet is an attempt to illuminate the Catholic Christian way of facing pain and transform it into a useful and productive time in life. It is a frank discussion. If you have not evolved in your relationship with Jesus, you may find this discussion hard to understand or even offensive. Still, if you listen and then pray you will understand. With understanding may come peace and joy.

The Scripture said something like, “pray always.” I pondered the issue for a while and then gave up. It was a strange concept. How could a person pray all the minutes of the day? What was prayer anyway, and how could you do it and know that God was really there? It was a bit of a mystery to me which I would not resolve for another 25 years. 

If a Catholic couple chooses to avail themselves of the spiritual resources available to a Catholic married couple; the relationship will last a life time and thrive while doing it. A failure of a marriage is directly related to the spiritual heath of the individuals involved. Even if only one of the parties embraces the spiritual principals the marriage can be saved.

From time to time all of us have social conflicts. Sometimes we are invited to dance with people who have more external power than us, for example, a supervisor or an elder sibling or parent. Sometimes we might be invited to struggle with someone we don’t care so much about; like a stranger or acquaintance or a distant in-law. In either case the choice to engage or abstain is ours. If we engage, it is important to do our best to leave our dance partner some dignity and show some respect.

For a modern culture that does not highly value life, it is paradoxical that we don't want to talk about the dying process or the possibility of an afterlife. Catholics sometime suffer from the same hesitation about talking about death. Yet the Roman Catholic religion and culture are a constant preparation for that moment when we must trust Jesus for our salvation. All the rituals and sacraments, prepare our minds and hearts for that thing from which there is no escape.

For twenty years I searched for my perfect true love. I failed miserably until I asked God to help. Miracles do really happen!

I went to learn more about Esperanto, a language that was invented 126 years ago. In the end I found hope for the future.

Congratulations. You have completed a graduate program, and you have decided to serve the needs of students. You will soon learn that it takes tact and skill to be a good school counselor. It also will take some personal fortitude and perhaps a bit of luck in order to be successful and thrive in your chosen field. They probably never mentioned the above to you, but it will be okay if you keep your wits about you.

In the still and cool hours before sunrise I have learned a few things about myself and God. It is my hope to share them with you, as I share the experiences which take place in my orange 15' kayak. Take what you like and forget the rest.

There is too much intentional and mistaken misinformation in our present culture about the purposes and practices of modern Catholicism. This had led to endless bigotry and needless hate speech and deeds against Christ's original Church. This little audiobook is an attempt to explain to fellow Christians what it really means to be Roman Catholic. It is not a debate. It's an honest attempt on my part to share. It is not an attempt to convert you to joining the more than 1.2 billion Christians who call themselves Catholic.

What follows is a frank discussion about the Catholic view of sin. It can be painful to engage in such a discussion. If we are honest, we are all involved in some aspect of sin. Thankfully Christians have a way out of the destruction, guilt, and misery which sin inflicts on every sinner.

With the popularity of the first book, The Good News About Being Catholic, I was destined to produce a second book. The first book was inspired by conversations I had during a two-week trip to a southern university in the US. The lack of accurate information and the bigotry I encountered by the well-meaning Christians and others along the way was shocking to me.

Be that as it may, I decided to write this short piece on the psychological healing aspects of the Sacrament of Confession, now called Reconciliation.

Someone might ask, "Why all the prayer?" I pray a minimum of 10 times a day because it is the right thing to do, and it does incredibly good things to me. I pray at other times and other ways; however, prayers of thanksgiving seem to be among the most powerful, for effective and happy living. Here is my story.

It took the full six weeks for us to move. I took 33 Ford Focus carloads and four full pickup trucks to move all our stuff to our new apartment. I also sent seven pickup trucks to the junk man and numerous carloads of stuff to neighbors and friends. This is the story of a very physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenging time. It took an additional six weeks before we were actually comfortably established in our new luxury apartment. Overall, I would not change a thing.

In the beginning I used to let my Protestant friends off the hook. They would bash Catholicism while I would say nothing. Then one day after a friend made a particularly bigoted comment I realized that my friend really didn't know any better and he was being thoughtless and hurtful.

An Extraordinary Eucharistic Visitor is a lay minister who serves a unique ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. We are lay ministers whom are trained and commissioned to take the real presence of Jesus our savior to the homebound and the sick. In accordance with the guidelines and laws of the Roman Catholic Church; The Extraordinary Eucharistic Visitor takes custody of the Holy Sacrament.

I am a devout Roman Catholic. There are at least 21 different sects of Catholicism which claim a union with the Pope. This means that they accept the Pope as the final authority as Christ's representative on Earth. Roman Catholics comprise about 1.2 billion people. I was baptized as an infant, raised in a Catholic home, pray daily, and will die with the Last Rites. It has been a good sacramental life filled with the joy of knowing my savior (Jesus) and the promise of spending an eternity with our loving creator.

In Catholic tradition, there are numerous forms of prayer. All of them are valid and productive and suited to the temperaments of different people. There is a common denominator in many of these holy methods and techniques of prayer. We are spending time with our loving creator. We are trying to have a sacred conversation. And when we manage to slow up enough to listen; prayer becomes a two way conversation.