Catholic Mormon Podcast

Finally...  that's about the only reasonable title we could come up with for this show.As mentioned in the podcast, here is the link to Skype. Please let us know what you think by leaving a FREE voice mail using Skype.  Our screenname is 'catholicmormon' and we look forward to hearing from you!As always, you can also email us at catholicmormon@gmail.com Thanks again to everyone who has stuck with us over the months and years and a huge welcome to all the new listeners of the CMP! 

In an effort to ensure that those who remained subscribed to the CMP know that there is some action on the website, I wanted to put out this brief audio update.  Thought I'd also share a recent picture of the kids helping mommy...Thanks again for staying subscribed!--rob

Well, the political season here in the good ole US of A is heating up... already.  Is it me or does this 'season' seem to be starting earlier and earlier every cycle? While Sarah and I haven't yet recorded our next show, we've been kicking around some ideas and with the flurry of Presidential bids being announced, I thought I'd throw out my two cents and see what all of you out there are thinkingâ  As you obviously gathered by the title of this posting and the graphic, I'm going to share some thoughts on the Presidential campaign of Mitt Romney (www.mittromney.com) which he announced today, February 13, 2007.  I donât think itâs a big surprise that Mitt is LDS, right?  You knew thatâ  or did you?  I actually started writing this blog post prior to his formal announcement and speculated as to how (or if, for that matter) the media would make a big deal about his LDS faith.  Well, Mitt beat me to the posting and USA Today newspaper has already answered my question to some degree.  Iâm actually writing this post from snowed in St. Louisâ and wondering if Iâm going to be able to get home to Cleveland tomorrow relatively on time - one can only hope!  This morning, I was very surprised to see a picture of Mitt and his Mormon faith on the cover page of the newspaper as I rolled out of bed and grabbed the paper that had been slid under my hotel door during the night.  Now granted, I didnât have any time today to watch the news on tv or gather any other sources, but that one event said to me that this will be 'an issueâ that will be discussed in the media.  Letâs face it, ânewsâ has become more about sensationalism than facts (at least in my opinion) and to that end, Iâm fairly certain there will not be any shortage of âsensationalâ stories should they decide to dig into Mittâs family history and faith.  The big question is, how will Mitt address this and will this attention be a good thing or a bad thing for the LDS church?  How will exaggerations or misrepresentations be addressed by church leadership?  Should they be addressed by Church leadership? Now, as a voter Iâm going to share some thoughts with you in the hope of generating a good and open discussion on whatâs in a vote.  As a general political philosophy, Sarah and I tend to side more often with Republicans than Democrats â So, I guess that makes us conservatives in nature and superseding all of that, weâre Catholics who make decisions based on principles.  No, we didnât vote for John Kerry because heâs Catholic, actually, we didnât vote for him at all.  In our opinion, he lacked personal ethics and consistency toward his faith given some of his political positions â not the lease of which is his stance on abortion!  Iâm sorry, but I couldnât buy the idea that Iâm Catholic, but will choose to live my (political) life in a manner inconsistent with my Catholic faith.  You are the sum of all your parts â mind, body, history, faith, goals, blab la bla.  Are Sarah and I the only ones who see this as a MAJOR issue of personal integrity that should carry over to oneâs political career? OK, so now we have Mitt Romney in the race for the White House.  True that his values are much more in line with those of Sarah and I in terms of the value  of life, economic policy and the role of individuals verses âbig governmentâ.  Great.  Butâ  there is that religion issue.  Clearly Mitt would disagree with Sarah and I on the issue of whoâs faith is established by God.  Technically, we donât disagree a little â we disagree a lot!  Our faiths in the bluntest of terms are mutually exclusive â there is no shade of one in the other.  Itâs either Catholic 100% right or LDS 100% right.  Either Our Lordâs Church has had an unbroken line of succession and the keys of Godâs kingdom have been passed down through the Chair of Peter OR God took the keys away shortly after the death of the last of the twelve original Apostles and restored His Church through Joseph Smithâ  black   or    white   âperiod.  As a voter, Iâm now presented with the question of how much I should value the personal religion of a political candidate.  True, I like what he stands for on the political issues.  Iâm sure heâs a good, well intentioned, honest man.  Iâm not questioning that at all.  However, after having studied and experienced the LDS religion, I have formed opinions which (if I am to be consistent in my overall principles for living my life in an integrated fashion with my religion) should also be considered with casting my support for one man.  Call it what you want, Iâm not bashing on Mitt or the LDS religion, but I will probably be looking for another candidate to vote for during this election season should he get the Republican nomination.  I simply cannot bring myself to vote for a person who holds such different views of who God is and holds very different opinions on Christianity. I suspect this will be a major MAJOR issue has his political opponents trickle information to the media.  Itâs going to be interesting to see what the media picks up on and how he responds, but one thing is now clear to me â this will come up. What are your thoughts â is this a big deal to you?  Do you think it will be a big deal in the media?  Do you think itâs even fair for us to consider the faith of a man when choosing a leaderâ   

ooohhh boy has it been a long time... and ooooh boy oh boy has that come across loud and clear in the posts from the previous show (and gmail). OK, now for the reason... Well, truth be told, there isn't a good one. I guess you could say that we burned ourselves out in the first year, flickered through most of 2006 and now we find ourselves plopped smack dab at the start of 2007. I know this probably isn't the reason some of you may have been looking for or whatever the case may be, but it's the truth.  That said, Sarah and I do feel very bad about 'leaving you hanging' and going AWOL for so long (including Christmas...).So, this presents us with a few questions that we (y'all too!) need to answer... First, is the CMP worth continuing in it's current or some new form? I tend to think it is, but needs to change form to something easier to produce. Secondly, is there any new or broader perspective that we should introduce such as a side-bar focus on other faiths? The second question is a little tougher as it may expand our audience participation, but sacrifice this little niche that we've carved out for ourselves, not to mention that neither Sarah nor I really know enough to put half-way decent content together.  I, personally, vote for keeping the CMP focused on C and M for the P...but who knows, maybe others want to know a little more about J, I, L, B, or other religions...  (incase anyone was wondering, I had in mind Judaism, Islam, Lutheran and Baptist in mind when I wrote the letters...)At this point, there are a few truths I know.  First, there's no question about our faith.  Please don't mistake the absence of the show for anything other than a lapse of passion to produce it coupled with a need to focus on our family.  Second, the supportive emails and posts on the blog are greatly appreciated and partially responsible for us wanting to 'do something' once again!  Third, we miss you guys...  honestly, it's like something has been missing in our lives too.  However, this time around I'm going to try to maintain more of a balance in show related activities and family related activities.  Looking back at some of the posts from previous shows, it was obvious that I suffered from CBPS - Constant Blog Posting Syndrom.  Seriously...  what the heck was I doing posting at all hours of the day and night???  loco...  Now, I'm out of CBPS rehab and going to get my feet wet again.So, what do ya think?  Willing to give the CMP another try?Take care and thanks for sticking with us...  --rob

First, where the heck did summer go???  Jeez o man, we cannot believe the leaves are starting to turn already!  You'll probably find this show a little more 'raw' when compared to a typical show.  In the interest of time, we've decided to keep some of the 'screw ups' that we would have otherwise edited out...  hope it isn't terribly distracting!  We hope you agree this is a great show, it's packed with your emails and our responses...  this was truely a listener inspired show, thank you!!!Here's the link to Sarah's eBay storeOn another note, let us never forget 9/11 (a very moving clip at the end of the podcast titled 'Silent Night 9-11'

Thanks for all of the emails and posts on the web site over the past several weeks.  It felt really good to turn out a new show and get some of the podcast rust off of us that has developed.  Please continue to send us your conversion stories, thoughts & reactions to topics discussed along with anything else you would like to contribute!

Hey Gang - Inspiration has struck...  Sarah and I decided to do something a little different this time. We recorded this show using GarageBand on her MacBook outside.  Hopefully the sound quality is acceptable and I'm wondering if anyone can confirm that those are frogs in the background.  Honest, we have no clue!  Thanks to everyone who has posted on the web site and sent emails.  As we mentioned a few shows ago, it's your questions and thoughts that are going to shape the show and determine how often they come out for the most part!  Below is an Amazon link to the book recommended by Jason as part of his email on favorite Saints...

Hey Gang, the well is dry currently for July's Conversion Cast. Will this be the first month without one??? Who's going to answer the call??? Don't just expect the other lister to send in theirs!!!On a brighter note, we have received a great Saint related email for our next show, thanks to Jason for stepping up!Thanks gang for your help, we all benefit.--rob

Hey Gang - thanks for sticking with us.  This was a fun show to produce as we worked our way through a couple emails and ended up spending a good amount of time talking about one perticular email of a couple in the early stages of working out this religion thing...  it brought back a ton of memories!Also in this show, I mentioned video podcast Mormon Cast.  It's a weekly video podcast that presents a variety of topics from cooking to LDS movies...  well produced.  Check out the website at www.mormoncast.org **CALL FOR CONTENT***For shows planned in July, we're looking for you to contribute in a couple specific topics.  The first will deal with Patron Saints.  Who is your Patron Saint and why?  Tell us a little about this person and why they are so special to you.  The second topic will deal with the topic of Exorcism.  Not sure how deep or where this one will go, but it should be interesting!!!Thanks to all who visit the website and have voted for us at Podcast Alley!

A rainbow is seen in the sky as the Pope Benedict XVI pays his respect to the victims of the former Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, southern Poland May 28, 2006. Calling himself 'a son of Germany,' Pope Benedict prayed at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz on Sunday and asked why God was silent when 1.5 million victims, mostly Jews, died in this 'valley of darkness.' REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Notes and other stuff coming soon...

Although I'm sure some of you have already seen this video from our website, I thought it would be nice to share with all and the timing couldn't be better, right?Sarah and I are so happy on this day when those of you who have walked the long journey through the RCIA classess with curiosity, excitement, perseverance and prayer. TODAY IS THE BIG PAYOFF!In this video, you see Sarah come into the Catholic Church along with several of the friends we came to know so well during the classes. Although the shots don't really show her face too often, you can sorta figure it out. She took on the name 'Anne'. Father Tom presided over the Mass (and married us as a little side note).Please share your experience with us!!! If you were received into the church this year, tell us about your experience, was it what you had hoped it would be? How did you feel receiving Our Lord during Communion for the first time? We REALLY want to hear what it was for you...send pictures...voice mails...emails...anything. Welcome Home...

Looks like Apple's imaging product 'Shake' was used for developing some special effects shots in an upcoming movie about the life of Joseph Smith.  http://www.apple.com/pro/film/rowland/ I'm always amazed at the advancements in digital special effects.  I'll have to look for a release date - if anyone knows anything else, I'd love to hear from you!

Here's a special CMP that I had to get out to everyone. Ray provided a wonderful reversion story and I accidently didn't include it in April's show. It's good... real good and something that anyone who has gone down the road of a mixed faith relationship can associate with. The original text of his story can be found HERE. As I mentioned in the beginning, I tried my best to translate his post for ease of reading in the show (and I hope I did a good job).After listening to this show, you'll understand the picture a little better, but it is just one of many examples of how Sarah is a little more laid back than Rob.

Hey Gang we hope you enjoyed this month's conversion stories and we're really looking forward to the feedback we (hopefully) will receive to the many LDS questions we presented throughout the podcast. In this show we also mentioned two new Catholic podcasts that we subscribe to and really enjoy. They are:The Catholic Adventurer Podcast and The Catholic Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Podcast Music played during the conversion story was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. Many thanks to Jim Farley for his beautiful songs Silver and New Beginnings. Jim's website can be found HERE