Do you have a Faith Story to tell?

We have an exciting opportunity to create new and innovative Catholic TV that helps those of us living family life in the work-a-day world know, love, and live our faith in the midst of the chaos. We have been offered a channel on the "Catholic YouTube" LoveToBeCatholic.com

Our Goal:
to create a pilot episode or two of a faith magazine (sort of like a news magazine, but faith oriented) and get funding (via advertising or grants) to continue creating it on a regular basis.

Want to bank-roll something this crazy? I'd love to hear from you!

We have a videographer who has volunteered to shoot and edit stories for us in the Ft. Collins, CO area. We are also looking for other videographers in other locations.

Regardless of where you are located, if you have a story that fits the following descriptions, or know some one who does (or simply has a wonderful story that defies description!), we'd love to hear about it.

Day in the life of:

• - Parents as kid's primary educator: homeschool, public school, and Catholic school families
  
• - stay at home mom or dad
  
• - priest, deacon, bishop, sister or brother
  
• - Catholic business person
  
• - ???
  

• - Disability and Faith
  
• - Choosing Life despite the challenges
  
• - Facing loss of miscarriage or infant death
  
• - Choosing the best good choice rather than the easy/obvious choice (teens or any age)
  
• - Invisible sacrifice for others that should be celebrated
  
• - Ministries that make a powerful contribution to the Body of Christ
  
• - Pilgrimage (perhaps one you've already made and have footage of, or one you'll be going on and could shoot footage with some camera training)
  
• - ??? other stories of God found in daily chaos of life?
  

Email me your stories to lamontglen@mac.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Blessings,
Patrick

Videographer Monk(ie) for Pilot Creation

We're looking for an actively Catholic videographer who can work with us to create a pilot or two of an expanded version of the Best Good Life. Applicants should be able to write, shoot and edit video "articles", integrate with Quicktime files, and then save as a web viewable format and upload.

We will be using this pilot series to seek funding for further episodes, so the winning applicant could eventually end up with a paying gig.

Please email Deacon Patrick with links to video samples. lamontglen@mac.com
This position will be open until filled.

And, if you are in a position to fund such a beastie, I'd love to chat! Grin.

Prayers for all at New Life Church and Youth with a Mission

Our hearts and prayers go out to all at Youth with a Mission in Arvada, CO and New Life Church in Colorado Springs, especially to those murdered, injured, their families, and the shooter(s).

Lord Jesus, you are might God and Prince of peace:
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are the Son of God and Son of Mary:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are Word made flesh and splendor of the Father:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We stand with you in sorrow, faith, hope, and love.
Amen.

Christ Amidst the Chaos

Choose the Best Good Video

The first in a planned series of videos exploring The Best Good Life!

Project Management Monk(ie)

Position Opening:
Project Management Disciple/Intern
Applications accepted through December 22, 2007
Interviews of finalists to be done by video chat after Epiphany.

Update (12-23-07):

We have stopped receiving applications for this position. Thank you to all who have participated!

Position Description:
Perfect for an older high school student (homeschool, Catholic, or public) or university student, this is a wonderful opportunity to gain real world job experience by doing real work in this hands-on internship for a shoe-string Catholic Ministry startup. If the blending of ministry and business language seems odd, it is intentional. weCatholic is a start-up Catholic ministry based on the vision of Deacon Patrick Jones, to whom this position reports.

Responsibilities of this person are varied and flexable, but will include the coordination of hiring other interns and then coordinating a variety of business related projects that will include a blend of theology, marketing, product development, business strategy, and more.

Patrick has been working on the vision of weCatholic for over three years. Because Patrick is brain injured, he focuses on concepts but can not handle the details involved in implementing. To understand more about Patrick, please see Brain Injury Chaplain.

While nothing can be promised, there is a strong potential that the right person could become a paid employee, though currently no one receives salary (we weren't kidding about the start-up -- we are completely self funded at the moment.) As products are produced by weCatholic and begin to turn a profit and/or we receive investment donations, paid positions will be among our first priorities, and priority will be given to those who have provided sweat equity. Learn more about weCatholic.

Job requirements:
-- strong initiative, independent and self-sufficient drive with strong self-confidence
-- reliable and clear communicator (verbal and written)
-- Own computer (Mac strongly preferred), with video chat capability
-- Computer skills, to include word processing, emailing, and online
-- High moral standards
-- Able to laugh at themselves
-- Able to understand and interact with a vision
-- Able to do the detailed and concrete work necessary to implement that vision 
-- Able to manage and coordinate others
-- Minimum age of 16
-- Actively Catholic (this will be verified by a call to your parish priest or deacon)
-- homeschool, Catholic school or public school applicants will all be considered
-- able to understand disability limits and seek creative ways to work beyond them
-- Work from home

Interested applicants please provide (by 12-22-07:
-- Name and contact information, and name and contact information for your parents (if under 18)
-- Answer the following in written or video (DVD) form (No audio only submissions will be accepted as Patrick can't listen to audio only):
-- Who/where are you on the road to Emmaus? (Luke 24:13-35) Tell us about your journey that brought you to where you are now.

Email your submissions in PDF form to Deacon Patrick at lamontglen@mac.com. Or, if sending a DVD, mail to:
Deacon Patrick Jones
PO Box 39
Green Mountain Falls, CO 80819

Old Love and New Love?

Articles like this one illustrate perfectly just how important it is to choose the best good rather than settle for any ol' good.

Boiled down to it's essence, the article says this:

"Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's husband, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, has a romance with another woman, and the former justice is thrilled — even visits with the new couple while they hold hands on the porch swing — because it is a relief to see her husband of 55 years so content."

Those are the "facts" of the article. From there the Ms. Zernike attempts to wax poetic about the nature of love, describing "young love" as seeking happiness and "old love" as seeking others' happiness. Ms. Zernike holds Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as a quintessential example of this. I will assume the "facts" about Justice O'Connor's love triangle are accurate (I have no idea if they are or not).

My response to this article? Absurd, absurd, absurd! First, I need to situate my comments because my only knowledge of the specific situation comes from this article and I do not know the people involved, so I speak of the moral truths involved here rather than the specific situation. Second, the challenges which Justice O'Connor faces with her husband and his Alzheimer's are tremendious. I have no idea what her burden's are or her capacity to recognize the moral issues involved here. Only God knows the moral culpability involved for each person in this situation.

Allow me to dissect this. I'll start with the "good" that does exist in this situation. Love. The need to be loved and to give love is a core human need. When we find such love, it is good. But is it the best good? Far from it in this case, based on what is known.

Here's one of the major blindness in our culture today. We confuse doing what is convenient and feels good for what is right. We hold on to this lesser good as a self-serving excuse for all sorts of immoral choices that are far from the Best Good we could be choosing -- the Good which upholds right relationship and promotes God's Kingdom being revealed here and now.

The sins involved are adultery and worse. Judge O'Conner appears to have abdicated her marriage vows (and turned against the sacrament of marriage if a Catholic marriage). Yes life looks different when illness or disability hits. How well I know! But the beauty of "old love" (what Pope Benedict refers to as God's love, sacrificial love, mature love in his first encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" is completely missed. I do not know the specific situation here, but from the outside it appears that Judge O'Conner is lazy and happy that someone else is loving her husband so she doesn't have to.

Far from an example of what love should look like as we age, it is a poor and twisted example of settling for far less than God calls us to.

True love is sacrificial. I see mainly selfishness here. I have seen couples age gracefully through amazingly debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's, cancer, stroke, and Alzheimer's, with one Lover serving their Beloved either at home or while they are in a nursing home. That is love and devotion. That is the best good. That is true love.

Monk(ie)s behind weCatholic

In various places I mention 'we' as if there is more than one person involved in weCatholic so far. Well, in addition to the communion of saints, to whom I turn daily for advice, and who, in return, receive endless entertainment at my foolery, I work with two flesh and blood lads who are generous and daft enough to give liberally of their time toward this endeavor to transform the world.

Additionally, various products are in various states of development and some have folks generously working with us on them.

The reality is that my gifts lie in playing with concepts and ideas and brining some semblance of order from the chaos (many would debate this bit!). That's it. Because of my brain injury I do not handle details well at all. If my computer doesn't do it at the push of a button, I am readily baffled. Hence the need for monk(ie)s besides myself, who can serve as blessed implementation managers so that the completely incoherent and non-concrete might become tangible and real.

If you are interested in becoming a weCatholic monk(ie), please see our Internship postings.

What Happened to the Homilies?

Homilies now appear at my parish's site, both as audio and (when I remember) as text. I preach once a month, so you'll get to hear from the rest of the lads for the balance.

Help Us Spread the Word!

weCatholic's Vision:
Empower people to know and love our Catholic faith amidst the chaos of daily life.

Sounds simple enough. And with all things truly simple, amazingly deep, broad, and transcendent.

How can I help?
- Strive to live the Best Good Life yourself -- people will notice a vigor and purpose to you and inquire.
- Email this blog to your friends, Catholic or not!
- Subscribe to our RSS feed
- Apply for an Internship
- Consider being a venture donor.

Venture Donor?
Aye. Perhaps now is the time to provide a bit of the bigger picture...
We believe the Catholic marketplace is largely undefined, unknown, and untapped. When Catholic companies try and 'crack' it they mostly fail because their products look like they are dusted off from a lost 1964 warehouse. When Protestant companies try and 'crack' the Catholic market, their schlep may look shiny and new but it just isn't Catholic.

We are not sure exactly how to crack the Catholic market, but we are confident we can do a better job than has been done. We've sought larger amounts of investment capital since early 2004 and, while we continue to do so. In the meantime, we've developed a veritible ecosystem of lay spirituality and supporting products -- just waiting for the resources to be developed (including TV, movies, books, and a variety of creative products).

Some of these products are relatively inexpensive to get out there. Would you prayerfully consider a donation to weCatholic to help us make this possible?

We are looking for an initial investment of $5,000 to launch 3-4 initial products. This can come from many people pooling together or a few or one person -- any and all of whom share our vision.

To Donate:
We are working on setting up PayPal as a simple way to donate. Until then, please use our email as a means of donation via PayPal. lamontglen@mac.com .