this has been making it's rounds...

...so I'm sure a bunch of y'all have already seen it. But it's a video that was put on youtube 10 days ago and got a huge response from a ton of people. It's a guy telling us why he hates religion, but loves Jesus. It's a really cool video...

...but I don't really agree with all of it.

So then there's this really awesome blog I love to read, written by this college student, Marc, who lived here and went to the church we go to until he went to Franciscan University. And he wrote a great response to this video, from a Catholic's perspective (go and read it, esp. if you're Catholic!)

And Marc found this video response to the above video. So if you don't feel like reading that entire, long post...then here's what I believe in a nutshell...

Radiance ~ Week 3

Yes, Radiance is still going over at BTW. It's week three and here's 1 of the two questions...
Simply what you believe and what you base those beliefs on?
Gab was right. I believe exactly what she believes (in the matter of religion and stuff)...and what Trini believes...and what every other good, real Catholic should believe on the face of the earth. I could post the creed for y'all, but Gab already did that for you, so I think you get it. I believe in 7 sacraments; I believe that the Pope is biblical; I believe that Mary is without sin; and I believe that there's a God out there who created us and who loves us like no other. I know that a lot of y'all don't agree with me on all this stuff...so I won't go on and say everything I believe in. The things I listed above are just a couple of things that I think are true. But mostly, Nana, I believe in Jesus Christ. And I love Him, and adore Him, and want to go to Heaven to be with Him. I think you can relate. ;)
Ok. Second question:If you could tell every person in the world one thing what would it be?
Oh, wow. Umm...I couldn't tell you anything for sure. It might end up being something like...
"JESUS ROCKS!"
...or...
"Children are BLESSINGS"
...or...
"Abortion KILLS"
...or...
"There's a God out there that LOVES YOU"
As I said...I couldn't tell you for sure what I'd say, Nana. :P

Wow. That was fun.

And no, I don't mean *just* fun...I mean fun as in "incredibly awesome, wonderfully exciting, and altogether fantastic". Guys, this conference was AMAZING.

Ok, so it looks kind of boring from the link I put up here, maybe...and, I'll admit, the only speaker/singer I had ever heard of before that was there was Audrey Assad...but still. The talks were meant for teens which means they were more fun, more relatable, and more interesting. For any of you Catholics--YOU. SHOULD. GO.

I really didn't take many pictures. In fact, I think I took 3 in all. And all of them were of the stage when no one was on it. I just didn't feel like getting out my iPod with people all around me, and music playing, and stuff like that. So I didn't.

But, for me, the weekend was WONDERFUL. Literally. Full of wonder. Guys, have you ever just really thought how our God is so big, so powerful, and so...modern? I mean, I guess to some people he seems like an old-fashioned god--you know, one that only grandmas and stuff worship. But he's not. And I think that's one of the things that really hit me this weekend. He's a God that loves any kind of worship. Not just hymns and stuff. So we can sing as loud as we can (even if we're horrible singers), we can dance to Christian rock music, and we can have fun while we're still praising Our Lord. I was thinking while the music was playing how God might be smiling down on us. You know, kind of just looking down and smiling and nodding. And how his love was just like radiating through our voices and the music. That's what it was. It was God. And it. Was. Awesome.

So just one more thing I don't want you to forget. And if you agree, feel free to comment and tell me so. ;)

~Vivi~

Radiance Giveaway at By The Way

Come and join Nana at By the Way in her giveaway! It's gonna be tons of fun...

So here's the question for Week 1:

When did you first give your life to Jesus? How did He reach out to you? What was your first response?

Ok...umm...quite complicated question. ;) I think I was...4 maybe (?) when I "invited Jesus into my heart". But since then, I've changed. I'm a new person; I'm Catholic; and I believe different things now. I couldn't say there's an official time and hour that I gave my life to Jesus. But since I became Catholic and really started to understand my faith, I think I've been a lot closer to Him.

How did he reach out to me...hmm...well, I think He, first of all, comforted me. I was at a point in my life where I knew my old church super well, had a lot of friends there, and most definitely didn't want to change churches. It was really hard. But he helped me through it, and now I'm so glad we did it.

I think I just started getting excited. I had kind of 'known' what I was supposed to believe before, but once we converted I started actually realizing the truth my new faith had. I actually believed instead of just knowing what to believe. Because then I understood why what I believed was true. I could have 'proof' for my beliefs.

We've gone back to that year a lot, thanking God that we converted when we did. Because we needed our strong faith for that next summer, and the following year. Because, some of you will remember, just 10 months afterwards, Opa fell, was hospitalized, and died. Then Aunt Monica, Dad, and I all had surgery in the course of 4 months...it was just a mess.

So...yeah. Told ya it was complicated. :P

Our Lady of Fatima...

Today's the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima!

For those that don't know what that is...

The story of Fatima is about three children: Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta

They have a vision of Our Lady...and nobody believes them. So they kind of get in trouble.

They're supposed to meet with Mary every month. And everyone's mad at them...especially the government.

Still nobody believes them, so they ask the lady for a sign. And she says that she'll give one in October...

Well, October comes and all the parents and friends and people don't believe that a sign will actually happen. A ton of people make a pilgrimage to where the three children said they met with Our Lady. And she gives them a sign.

First, the sun gets bigger and bigger and looks like it's dropping down to earth. People thought the end of the world was coming. And also, the rain stopped and everyone's clothes were dry.

Later on, Jacinta dies from a disease or something...Lucia lives the longest and becomes a nun. I think she died a couple years ago. I'm not really sure.

(P. S. I'm doing this from memory, so all my facts may not be completely right. :P)

But anyway...if you want to know more about it, but don't want to read a book on it, they made a movie in 2009. Here's the trailer:

Happy Feast Day!