What Is the Brightest Idea Told To You in 2011?

IgnitumToday has begun hosting a "Socialis Saturday" to bring the writers and commenters together in one forum. Today's topic is

What is the brightest new idea

that you had this year that

you would give as advice

to someone else?

Join us!

IgnitumToday is the new name for Virtuous Planet. For those who do not know, VP faced legal problems if the name was not changed, so change it we did! Please follow us (again!) on Facebook and Twitter!

On Sundays I'm Shameless: FOLLOW ME! (I Changed My Twitter Handle Name Too)

Hey y'all! I've changed my Twitter handle from @juliemrobison to @thejulieview for FIVE reasons:

1. It connects my Twitter account more to my blog (The Corner With A View)
2. It takes out my last name, which I'll eventually change legally anyways
3. It has a nice ring to it, ja?
4. It is shorter, so people can say more to me (From 125 characters to 126! YEAH!)
5. Branding! I'm so savvy.

FOLLOW ME! 

Two of my siblings and me during intermission of another sister's play. We're a fun bunch. (Follow me.)

Also, if you read my blog but don't subscribe, could I make a request? Make yourself known and subscribe? I know you're out there. Yes, I'm talking to you.

I'm on Google Plus too.


More shamelessness:

Two more websites you should all read are The Imaginative Conservative and Virtuous Planet.

I'm one of the three Bright Maidens, which sponsors conversations on any topic pertaining to women, The Catholic Church, and fun times. Feel free to follow us too!
The Bright Maidens' Twitter Account 
The Bright Maidens' Facebook Fan Page 
My counterparts: Elizabeth is on the Twittah and so is Trista!

Thank you! Much obliged to you for humoring me, folks. Have a blessed Sunday!

Atheist Convert: R.J. Stove

I read this amazing testimony by R.J. Stove about his conversion to Catholicism on Why I'm Catholic, a site run by an awesome guy and fellow VP contributor Steven Lawson.

Stove is the son a prominent atheist, the late David Stove. He joined the Catholic Church in 2002. He lives in Melbourne, Australia. His website says he is an editor, writer, composer and narcissist, and features a quote by Paul Valery (French poet, essayist and philosopher): "A poem is never finished, it is only abandoned."

The first part of that sentence, I think, applies well to humans. We humans are not perfect, which would seem like a good finishing point. But even the word "perfect" could be exchanged for another attitude: we're never finished striving towards God, just as God is ever patient waiting for us to come back to him.

The second part of Valery's sentence, then, could juxtapose the difference between man and God: as man gives up, God never abandons us. Through the calm and storms of life, he uses our free will and decisions as a pathway for grace.

I tried to pick a favorite graf, but couldn't. I hope you consider Stove's conversion with an open mind and delight in his use of the English language. Read the article here.

My Interview on Pat Gohn's Among Women Podcast

The awesome Pat Gohn interviewed me for her Among Women podcast: Listen here!

Logic, Science and History Prevail!

I came across an amazing documentary called "180" paralleling the Holocaust and abortion. It is produced by Living Waters, a ministry run by Ray Comfort. Comfort was born a Jew, and, while he still identifies himself as such, is an Evangelical Christian pastor in California. Comfort begins the movie by discussing with people what they would do if in the kind of situations Nazi-occupied Germany put citizens in on a regular basis, and moving towards bigger life-centered questions of valuing all human life, or just some. It is well-worth a watch or two:



The Judgement Day portion was a little heavy-handed, and looking over Comfort's personal website and theology, I do not agree with many of his stances. For one, evolution may be a theory, but it is certainly a viable one on a micro-level, especially since we believe all things are possible with God! Nonetheless, Comfort seems to me to be a fantastic human being and follower of Christ, forwarding our Lord's message and commandments in this world. Living Waters has done a fantastic job with this production, and it well-deserves much praise and publicity.

The website is 180movie.com and heartchanger.com; the Facebook page is 180moviecom; the Twitter account is @180movie with a #180movie hashtag. The movie premiered on September 26, 2011 and has already been viewed over a million times! The film is offered for free on the website for sharing and viewing. They also welcome feedback.

Continue reading at Virtuous Planet >>>>>>>

How Catholics Read and Study the Bible

Let’s suspend disbelief in God for a moment.

To understand a Catholic studying the Bible, that disbelief in God must be suspended. We believe in God, even when we struggle or question. Our belief in God gives us reason to hope. Disbelief is not seen as enlightenment, but a serious internal struggle. I do not believe God is ever disproved; I believe he is replaced.

Replaced by what? Self is the first guess; then there are millions of other things which seek to fill crevices of the heart only God fully can. Each person grapples with the question of God, but in the Christian’s case, he or she can clearly point to a period in history when God revealed himself to man. Except in mythology, that had never happened before, and has not happened since. The Resurrection is a historical fact which cannot be ignored; as Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est, “being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a definite direction.”

Continue Reading at Virtuous Planet >>>>>>>

Stand By Your Man

Ladies, what would you say if

…your boyfriend told you he masturbates?
…your husband confessed his struggles with pornography?
…your brother is actively unchaste?

I have come to the understanding that many females are blissfully unaware of the sexual (and, thus, spiritual) struggles men encounter in daily life.

If you think your special male is different, you may be right, and you may be wrong. A quick glance over the culture and conversations with male friends, however, give me the confidence to say that majority of men folk would side with me.

Ladies, for many of you, the first response to any of the above may be disgust. We may take it personally. We might see all three as a defilement of the men we love. We might turn away, and reject the person.

But how does God see it? Man’s steady struggle for grace and holiness; a want and need for authentic love; an aching to be fulfilled.

Society’s consensus on all of the above is that these men are exhibiting a healthy sexuality and should not be deterred from their efforts. Catholicism responds that these men are participating in faux love, which may hinder their very ability to truly love in the future. Even if the right person comes along, she may not be their desired fantasy. This is a difficult pill to swallow for girls who grow up dreaming of a strong man to guide them, only to realize that he too is human, and in need of strength to guide him.

Holden needed guidance too!

I’m not going to rely on statistics for this piece, and I’m going to put the Church’s teachings aside for now. These struggles are real and are happening to real people, most likely very close to you. This is a lesson in how to love. This is not a theoretical argument for chastity, this a battle cry. It is uncharitable not to talk about it, letting the subjects fester, allowing people to suffer from lack of fellowship in a time of need.

Keep reading at Virtuous Pla.net>>>>>>>

God Needs You!

Last month, my boyfriend’s grandfather died. The beauty of our Catholic faith never felt more exposed to me than with the passing of another believing soul from earth into eternity. I could not turn a corner in the grandfather’s house without seeing a crucifix. The family physically came together in fellowship- to eat meals, participate in the sacraments together, laugh, mourn and celebrate the now-deceased and beloved man’s full life.

I felt blessed to be there, blessed to know him, and hope at his passing. When people say he is in a better place now, my boyfriend observed, how can they know? We cannot, and do not, though suspicions abound. It is in God’s mercy that we trust; it is in faith that we pray for his soul to find its eventual and eternal rest in Heaven.


At the funeral home, before the Mass, I sat next to my boyfriend’s mother. I asked her if she would like me to sit with their family or with my own. I’ll never forget the way she looked at me, and with her kind smile she said, “Oh, you should sit with us. [He] needs you. He needs you next to him. Isn’t it nice to be needed?”

Padre Pio said, “Pray, pray to the Lord with me, because the whole world needs prayer. And every day, when your heart especially feels the loneliness of life, pray. Pray to the Lord, because even God needs our prayers.”

I always wondered at that line: God needs our prayers? God needs us?

Read more at Virtuous Planet. >>>>>>>>

Serving With Mustard

I have a tennis ball shaped bruise on the side of my thigh. In grotesque literary fashion, I see the bruise as God’s grace literally leaving its imprint on me.

This was not the first time I have been hit with a ball: earlier in the set, I had been nailed in the stomach. I used to play lacrosse and soccer. I play kickball and SPUD with my family. I’m tough, but it still hurts.

Then there’s the metaphorical ball: the ball and chain effect of our fallen nature, giving us whip-lash as we attempt to control life’s adventures.

I can only imagine how fervently the saints are praying for us to let go and let God. “The world promises you comfort,” says Papa B., “but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

Yet, how many people shy away from the prospect of being made for more? How many of us remain stagnant? Does life happen to us, or do we make our own life happen?

Pope Benedict XVI: walking wisdom

Read more at Virtuous Planet >>>>>>

There is some blue sky! Let us chase it!

“Speak about Christ only when you are asked. But live so that people ask about Christ!” exclaimed Paul Claudel. Claudel, a 20th Century French poet, dramatist and diplomat, was a revert to his Roman Catholic faith. When he was 18 years old, he was an agnostic; then, during Christmas day Mass, he had a mystical vision. He reported that he heard voice say, “There is a God.”

Paul Claudel in 1927

Continue reading post at Virtuous Planet>>>>>

Hear Ye, Hear Ye: New Super Awesome Young Catholic Adult Website Launched

A brand spankin' new website for young (and the young-at-heart), joyful, orthodox Catholic adults launched today. It's called Virtuous Planet. Catchy, eh?

Bam. The bomb-diggity of logos.

The list of contributors is pretty rockin'-- for example, all three Bright Maidens are full-time writers! As if you could ever get enough of us.

At this time in VP history, I shall be posting on Fridays. Please feel free to e-mail me if you're interested in reading an article on something. I've already gotten a request for scapulars and for me to get my act together and publish my Catholic Sexuality series. But mostly for me to get my act together and stop leaving the state every other weekend for a college friend's wedding and other nonsense like that.

Here is THE website, THE Facebook page and THE Twitter handle.

Read. Like. Retweet. Repeat!

Also, check out my darling Anna's first published column in USA Today on the eve of WYD 2011: "For these millennials, faith trumps relativism"!

Today, I went to Mass on purpose and accidentally attended the Mass of Simple Profession of the 16 Dominican novices at St. Gertrude's on accident. Amazing to watch and partake in, blessed to have such men serving the Church, especially on this, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven - my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord! My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

(Will write on that later too...)

Happy Monday! Happy Assumption! Oh, happy day!