Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver Colorado recently addressed a group gathered in a in Sydney, Australia. The topic was, “Mission Possible: This Double Life Will Self-Destruct.” In a chillingly honest fashion, Archbishop Chaput shares his thoughts on our lives today, as Catholics, and how we ought to realize our need to live wholly and completely for Christ.

We can't live a half-way Christianity. The organizers of tonight's event were right [those who named it ‘Mission Possible: This Double Life Will Self-Destruct’]. Every double life will inevitably self-destruct. The question then becomes: How are we going to live in this world? How can we lead a Christian life in a secular age? We can't really answer that question until we get some things straight about what it means to be a Christian. And that means first getting some things straight about Jesus Christ.

This is another one of the by-products of our secular age: we don't really quite know what to think about Jesus anymore. A few years before he became Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote something that is unfortunately very true. He wrote: "Today in broad circles, even among believers, an image has prevailed of a Jesus who demands nothing, never scolds, who accepts everyone and everything, who no longer does anything but affirm us. . . . The figure is transformed from the 'Lord' (a word that is avoided) into a man who is nothing more than the advocate of all men." 

We all know people -- friends or family members or both -- who think about Jesus in these terms. It's hard to avoid. Our culture has given Jesus a make-over. We've remade him in the image and likeness of secular compassion. Today He's not the Lord, the Son of God, but more like an enlightened humanist nice guy.

This is, very much, the message in Catholic radio host, author, and speaker Teresa Tomeo’s new book, “Newsflash! My Surprising Journey from Secular Anchor to Media Evangelist.” Teresa did her best to live a half-way Christianity and found the great many ways in which such a life will self-destruct.

Planning a wedding is surely one of the most romantic and exciting times in people’s lives. From the moment a couple gets engaged to the moment they say “I do”, couples are fully submerged in planning for the big day. Furthermore, the excitement of engagement prevents many from realizing that there are other events that must be planned during the engagement period. This can be extremely stressful and time consuming, particularly in today’s day and age where couples are both working and/or going to school full time.

As a full time wedding coordinator who realizes the complexity of planning big events, it is no surprise to me when married couples approach me after the fact and say, “I wish I would have hired a wedding planner when I was getting married!”  And you may ask, why?

“For the Catholic there is no room for cowardice," says Frank Dado.  “Cowardice is the opposite of the moral virtue of fortitude.  Cowards are weak in difficult times and inconsistent in the pursuit of good.  They are unable to resist temptation and easily succumb to sin.  They fear death, trials, and persecutions.  It is from either pride or cowardice that sin takes hold and grows.  A Catholic coward will quickly become a Judas and sell-out his faith, his church, and his people.” 

Most Chaldeans are secure about their faith.  A legacy of courage in the throngs of tragic trials and persecution has proven Chaldeans do not break easy.  “Evil has tried to penetrate the church walls of Chaldeans since the early formation of the church.  The walls remain.  Our church leaders are assassinated, thinking the flock will scatter.  We do not,” says Dado defiantly.   “Evil has now changed its strategy.  It can not break Chaldeans, so it is trying to melt us.”

Dado refers to the slow burn Chaldeans endure in the West.  “Forced to flee Iraq, rather than convert from their faith, Chaldeans now have to contend with the steady fire of Western sin.”  Western society and culture continues to promote forbidden deeds as trendy, modern, progressive, or hip.  Dado says Chaldeans are afraid to take action against what they know is immoral and evil.  “Instead children call their parents boaters and misguidedly run into the arms of evil thinking it is cool or that they will be accepted.”

The pressure to remain silent or tolerate evil is real.  Schools and college campuses have long used humiliation and shame to force Catholics and other pious groups into silence.  This is why Dado considers them cowards.  He says the cowards have been frightened into obeying what they know to be wrong. 

Michigan, USA – The Church of Transfiguration in Southfield, formerly St. Michaels hosts the Southfield 40 Days for Life kick-off campaign.  The 40Days for life team invites the public to join the prayer effort as the prayer group gathers at 6:45 p.m. today, Tuesday, September 24th to help put an end to abortion. 

From September 24 - November 2, our community will be one of more than 170 cities in 45 states joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history -- the 40 Days for Life campaign.

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil, and 40 days of community outreach.  Chaldeans4Life help lead the effort in the Chaldean community.  Group leaders say the are praying that, with God's help, their groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city -- and throughout America.

Chaldeans interested in becoming part of the growing movement are encouraged to take a stand for life. 

A great way to strengthen your Chaldean speaking skills is to speak to your pet in Chaldean.  Domesticated animals distinguish body language and then associate a sound to the expected behavior.  In short, animals, like humans can learn different languages. 

Combined with behavioral modification techniques your family pet can learn a long list of Chaldean commands.   However, the commands have to be combined with reinforcement.  The model is similar to the work of famed psychologist B.F. Skinner. 

The following video clips of Sheero demonstrate how positive reinforcement paired with the Chaldean language can help your family pet learn your language.

Located a little more than 10 miles or 15 kilometers from Mosul there stands a, “Hill of Stones.”   For many Westerners this would seem to be an uninspiring and gloomy place to live.  However, to many Chaldeans the rich and fertile land of Tel-Kepe (Telkaif), Iraq was once a wondrous place of adventure, peace, and communal living.  In contrast to its name Tel-Kepe (The Hill of Stones) the region was quite fertile making many Chaldeans rural farmers living off the land and mastering the science of agriculture in some of the harshest of conditions.

A very high majority of the inhabitants of Tel-Kepe were Chaldean Catholics.  Indigenous people of the region who were converted to Christianity by Mar Addai and Mar Mari, disciples of St. Thomas and later merged with the Roman Catholic Church in the seventh century.  

 The fertile lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris were the home land of rich and complex societies.   The word 'Mesopotamia' is Greek meaning ‘land between the rivers’ derived from Greek mesos (middle) and potamos (river), thus 'land between the rivers'.

Flowing south out of Turkey, the Tigris and Euphrates are 250 miles apart.  The Euphrates runs south and east for 800 miles and the Tigris flows south for 550 miles. The two rivers join and stretch to the Persian Gulf as the Shatt al Arab.  The area that now comprises most all of modern Iraq and part of Syria. 

Mesopotamia's richness attracted neighbors and its history is a pattern of infiltration and invasion. Although there were meager rainfalls in most of the region, the land was well irrigated by canals.  The fertile soil yielded rich food and heavy crops of date palms, useful fiber, wood, and fodder. Both rivers have fish, and the southern marshes contain wildfowl.    Being a land of plenty, commerce, and strategic worth the river valleys and plains of Mesopotamia were often attacked from the rivers, the northern and eastern hills, the Arabian Desert, and Syrian plains. 

Most of the conflicts were internal to the region and small skirmishes between warring tribes and factions.  It was not until Persia (Iran) invaded and defeated the Chaldeans, the last rulers of the region, that the area is forever lost to foreigners. 

"Sometimes healthy competition for what we want turns into a problematic desire to have something merely because a rival already has it. This is not just based on what we want, but also on what we don’t want our perceived rival to have,” writes author, Susan, Barash in her book “Tripping the Prom Queen: The truth about Women and Rivalry.” 

Seventy percent of the five hundred women interviewed said they were familiar with the concept Barash writes about.  Barash is a professor of gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College in New York and became fascinated by women's relationship. Can sisters, mothers and best friends be jealous and supportive at the same time? In fact she found that rivalry and envy often pervades female relationships.

The women were interviewed on female competition.  The study revealed that many women are competitively mean.   In her book, Barash outlines why women compete with each other differently than men do with other men and why women often want to sabotage powerful female rivals.

Michigan, USA - No one would dare refute that Chaldeans often come from large families.  The Chaldean culture values the importance of family virtues and cooperation.   Chaldeans often hold large family gatherings, dinners, and celebrations.  

One family is taking the family gathering up a few notches.  The Yaldo(o|u) family is hosting their 2008 family reunion at Camp Chaldean in Michigan beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 27.  Nearly a thousand family members are expected to attend the family gathering. 

Saher Yaldo, a leading community entrepreneur and committed volunteer for the Chaldean Voice radio station has been instrumental in the reunion.  “We invite everyone with Yaldo(o|u) blood pulsing through their veins.  This includes all children and grandchildren whose mother or father are Yaldo(o|u), says Saher.

“Guests are also welcome to invite close friends and relatives as well. We will be holding a special Mass for all our guests led by Fr. Basel Yaldo of St. George Church at 4 p.m. and we have games, gifts, and more as well.”