5 ways to put “becoming a saint” at the top of your to-do list

Jean-Rémy Duboc  \  March 9th, 2011  \  , ,
5 ways to put “becoming a saint” at the top of your to-do list

When taking new resolutions or starting anything, it helps to be a little pragmatic, almost materialistic: how much is it going to cost? How long will it take? etc. It’s no good to be all pie in the sky if you don’t actually do anything concrete.
But as Christians, especially as Catholics, all our work down here has only one purpose: becoming saints. So this should be our #1 priority, and our productivity system need to be ordered towards that one goal. But how does it work?
Let me suggest 5 ways to walk order our productivity system towards sainthood, because after all, if we’re thriving for anything else, are we really productive catholics?

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Coping with stressful changes, your vocation, and the real reason why you need a productivity system

Jean-Rémy Duboc  \  June 22nd, 2010  \  , , ,

We live in difficult times, and stressful changes are sometimes imposed on us by people and circumstances. Sometimes, too, we choose to changes our life, it gets difficult, and we feel like we’re biting more than we can chew.
These scary times might contain a hidden treasure, offering us the opportunity to think back about what truly matters, find the real function of a productivity system, and make our vocation a real thing.

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Episode #19: Mary and Prayer

Dean Soto  \  January 8th, 2010  \  ,

Hey everyone! I had an epiphany (no pun intended) this advent season that has literally changed my life, and also how I get things done throughout the day. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so you’ll need to check out the video, but it’s somewhat along the lines of the Getting Things Done [...]

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Episode #15: Get the Liturgy of the Hours in Your Inbox

Dean Soto  \  December 7th, 2009  \  ,

So, as I mention in the video, one of my most popular posts to date is on how to get the entire Catholic liturgical calendar into your Gmail account.  Well, leveraging off of that same concept, I thought that it would be cool to try and do something similar with the Liturgy of the Hours.  So, using the awesome Universalis site, I tried to find a way to get their RSS feeds to be sent to my inbox so I didn’t have to spend the 5 seconds it takes to bring up Netvibes (yes, I am retarded and lazy, i know).  All in all, I figured out that it is indeed possible to get the Liturgy of the Hours sent to you via email for FREE.  It only takes a little bit to set up, minus the time it takes to watch my tutorial video.

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Impassibility of the Resurrected Body

Dean Soto  \  October 27th, 2009  \ 
Impassibility of the Resurrected Body

Wow.  Trust me, you are not alone in wondering what the heck the title of this post means.  I don’t usually do this on Productive Catholic, but @HumanaeVitae suggested that I try this post last night when I got writer’s block and couldn’t think of a good post.  The question of impassibility is in various places of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, but as my friend pointed out Question 82 of the supplement to the Summa is where the meat is.  Rather than writing a whole treatise on the concept (since that has already been done by St. Thomas) I though that I’d make a short video that detailed my thoughts on the subject.  In short, you will see that the problem of impassibility is nothing a little alcohol can’t fix.

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You Are Not a Theologian, and That’s Okay!

Dean Soto  \  September 14th, 2009  \ 
You Are Not a Theologian, and That’s Okay!

One of the things that bothers me so much about all of us Catholics is our false view of how we are to become saintly.  The majority of practicing Catholics seem to spend most of their time trying to be theologians and philosophers, rather than being who they were naturally created to be.  Well, I have news for all of my brethren and sistren: the saints were saints because they did what God created them to do, not because they were theologians.

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Help the Church by Tithing Smarter

Dean Soto  \  August 26th, 2009  \ 
Help the Church by Tithing Smarter

What do you do when you see that your parish is wasting the money that you tithed on things that don’t effectively bring the gospel to those who need it?  How can you ensure that ministries that you support get the necessary funds to stay alive?  What if your parish is missing out on an opportunity to win more souls for Christ?  The answers to these questions – and many others – can only be resolved by out-of-the-box tithing Catholics like you.

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How to Easily Add the Catholic Liturgical Calendar to Google Calendar

Dean Soto  \  August 7th, 2009  \  ,
How to Easily Add the Catholic Liturgical Calendar to Google Calendar

Updated for 2011!

Big thank you to Catholic Faith Education for providing this update on their site: “Very easy to do indeed and in only a few clicks. Note that the Universalis Web site has been redesigned since this blog article was written and the link to the yearly calendar is now situated on the left hand side and not at the top of the page as indicated in the article.”

One of the staples of Catholicism is its liturgical calendar. The Catholic liturgical calendar takes us on a journey through the life of Christ, the saints, and the Church every year – and helps to share in the joys and sorrow that are intrinsic to the human experience. Wouldn’t it be nice to have access to the liturgical calendar in your Google Calendar without having to input each day yourself? Well it’s possible, and very easy!

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6 Steps to Developing a Successful Youth Ministry Program

Dean Soto  \  July 29th, 2009  \ 
6 Steps to Developing a Successful Youth Ministry Program

Nothing sparks a fire in the life of a parish quite like a thriving youth ministry program.  Unfortunately, many churches – although their heart may be in the right place – have no idea how to develop a lively program that lasts.  Well, if you are a youth leader, pastor, or a Catholic that wants to help turn your parish’s dull and dying youth ministry program around – you are in luck.  Here are some tips that will turn your program from drab to fab!

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3 Ways for Families to Get the Most from Mass

Dean Soto  \  July 23rd, 2009  \ 
3 Ways for Families to Get the Most from Mass

Becoming a parent definitely changes the rules when it came to Mass attendance.  Often, you are likely to find yourself focused on your children rather than on the celebration.  While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, it is probably not the best situation to be in.  How can you make the most of Mass and take care of your family at the same time?  Here are some tips that should help.

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