Is counseling necessary, helpful, or harmful? It depends. In this podcast, Deacon Tim walks us through some questions and answers we should consider when finding a counselor. If you are Catholic and interested in finding more information on Catholic counseling, here's a resource:
Society of Catholic Social Scientists.
To play the podcast, click here: the_pitfalls_of_counseling


Here is a report from the gathering of Catholic bishops in Rome which is focused on promoting the Bible:
Bishop Antons Justs of Jelgava, Latvia, spoke about these martyrs before the general congregation of the synod, which is dedicated to "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church." His address brought tears from some of those present.
His speech, delivered in the company of Benedict XVI, was dedicated to the martyrs of the 20th century who were killed in the Soviet Union: "priests, men, and women who died by proclaiming the Word of God."
"I remember our Latvian priest, Viktors," he said, according to the summary of his address provided by the Vatican, "who during the Soviet regime in Latvia was arrested for possessing the holy Bible. In the eyes of the Soviet agents the holy Scriptures were an antirevolutionary book. The agents threw the holy Scriptures on the floor and ordered the priest to step on it. The priest refused and instead knelt down and kissed the book.
"For this gesture the priest was condemned to 10 years of hard labor in Siberia. Ten years later when the priest returned to his parish and celebrated the holy Mass, he read the Gospel. Then he lifted up the lectionary and said: 'The Word of God!' The people cried and thanked God. They did not dare to applaud him, because that would be understood as another provocation."
Posted by: Deacon Tim | October 14, 2008 at 10:32 AM