NaPro Technology: Morally acceptable medical treatment for infertility

The two videos below provide testimonials on NaPro Technology and the Creighton Model of natural family planning. NaPro Technology is a system of treatments for infertility and other reproductive health issues that aims to treat the underlying cause of the problem. The Creighton Model is a method of charting a woman's cycle in order to postpone or achieve pregnancy, that can also help doctors to diagnose underlying medical issues. The two methods work together, and are fully in accord with Catholic teaching on sexuality and openness to life (as opposed to IVF and contraception, both of which separate reproduction from the marital act).





To learn more about NaPro Technology and the Creighton Model, including finding a doctor who is trained in these methods, go to fertilitycare.org.

Trent Horn answers atheist objections

Trent Horn of Catholic Answers has a series of short videos addressing atheist objections to Christianity, to promote his new book Answering Atheism:

"I believe in one less God than you":



"There's no evidence for the existence of God":



"You don't need God to be a good person":



"Evolution explains life without God":



"The universe has always existed":



The Problem of Evil:




You can find more videos from Catholic Answers on their YouTube channel.

Church leaders confront "virtual reality"

A fitting topic for a Catholic blog:

Jennifer Fulwiler on Atheism, Science, and Belief in God

Catholic blogger Jennifer Fulwiler posted on her blog today about the Explore God campaign which is being heavily promoted in and around Austin, Texas. This campaign appears to be designed to lead people to Christianity, mostly from a non-denominational or inter-denominational Protestant perspective, though I found some information on the site that is somewhat Catholic-friendly.

Jennifer mentions that, to her surprise, she is featured in one of the videos on the Explore God web site. In the video she talks about how she came to Christianity from atheism. Here is the video:



And please do take the time to read Jennifer's blog post if you get a chance. She make some great points about what it really means to have proof of the truth of Christianity.

Jimmy Akin on the Transfiguration

In this video, Jimmy Akin (of Catholic Answers) tells us about the Transfiguration, which he calls "the strangest event in Jesus's life":

Homily on Homosexuality by Fr. John Hollowell

Here is a good homily on homosexuality by Fr. John Hollowell:



Fr. Hollowell is also working on a professionally-produced video on this subject, titled "Unnatural Law?".

Join Pope Francis in Fasting and Praying for Peace in Syria

Pope Francis invites us to participate in a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria, to be observed on Saturday, September 7, 2013. Here is a quote from Pope Francis:

To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.

Here are links for more information:

Full Text of Address by Pope Francis

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Joins Pope Francis’s Call for Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace in Syria

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - Issues and Action - Syria

Catholic News Agency: Pope’s Vigil for Syrian Peace Expected to be Biggest in Decades

Premiere Episode of EWTN News Nightly

I'm sorry for the very infrequent posting over the past few months. I can't promise that I will post more frequently over the next few months, but try to do my best, as my schedule permits.

But I do have a video to share today. It is the premiere episode of EWTN's new program EWTN News Nightly with Colleen Carroll Campbell:



You can read Deacon Greg Kandra's review of this episode on his blog The Deacon's Bench. And you can find more episodes of EWTN programs on EWTN's YouTube channel.

World Youth Day 2013 - Catechesis and Mass with Cardinal Dolan

From World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, via Salt + Light TV:



(If there is no sound, please adjust the volume control at the bottom of the video frame. When I first started playing the video, the sound was all the way to zero for some reason.)

World Youth Day 2013 - Live Video Coverage

World Youth Day events begin today, as Pope Francis arrives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for World Youth Day 2013. Salt & Light TV has live coverage:

http://wydcentral.org/live/

You can also see live coverage and related programming on EWTN; here is their World Youth Day page:

http://www.ewtn.com/rio2013/index.asp

(Right now, I am not seeing any of the text on EWTN's World Youth Day page, but it was there earlier today. If the problem is on their end, hopefully they will get it fixed soon. UPDATE: It appears that my ad-blocking extensions in Firefox and Chrome were hiding some of the text on that EWTN site. If you are seeing big blank spaces where you should see text on that site, try disabling your ad-blocking extension.)