Danny Manthei - A little about myself, my faith, and why I love the Cath...


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Pray for the Souls in Purgatory

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Purgatory is that state of final purification for the souls of the just, being made clean, before they enter into Heavenly bliss ( 2Samuel 12:13-14; 2Macc 12:46; Heb 12:22-23; 1Cor 3:13-15; Rev 21:27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030-1032 ).  Think of it as the “mudroom”, or a hot steaming shower, before showing up to the great marriage feast of Christ.  Except the water in this case is more like lava.   The souls in purgatory likely have some sense of joy or hope, because they know they are bound for Heaven.  But first they must undergo temporal punishments and be purged of their imperfections and worldly attachments.  And unless you and I are living in perfect holiness at the time of our death, we will need to be purged as well.  Mystics who have communicated with these souls reveal that this purification is extremely painful, as through a fire to which nothing on earth can compare (see, for example “ An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory ”, or ...
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The Dying Wish of my Brother, Danny Manthei

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My brother died on Sunday, August 10, 2014. Just a week prior, on the feast day of St. Alphonsus Liguori ( August 1 or 2, depending on the Liturgical calendar you use ), he wrote a letter which he intended for all the Catholics in his area to read or hear from their respective Priests. Part of his dying wish was that all Catholics would be encouraged to learn their faith more deeply and thoroughly in order to grow closer to God and prepare for our eternal destination. By this time, he had held a catechesis meeting with the local parishes, and led a discussion with a local Confirmation class, which I had the honor of sitting in and listening to. Shortly after writing this, on Tuesday, August 5, he had a friend record a video message in which he delivered a catechesis/apologetics lesson, followed by a Q&A session. I made minor edits [in brackets] to this letter, but the message was not changed in any way. This is my brother's death-bed letter: [Recipients' na...
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Is Ben Shapiro an Extreme, Judgmental Hypocrite?

I'll be perfectly honest. Until yesterday I didn't even know who Ben Shapiro was. Of course, I also don't watch television, listen to the radio very much, and I am married with 5 children. So, I don't know who a lot of people are. And in reality, I still don't know much about him, except for the tidbits that people have shown me in the past couple days. Here's what I DO know. Based on the little that was given to me, he has not said anything extreme, judgmental, or hypocritical enough for people to call him such. I moderate a couple FB pages, and one of the administrators of one of those pages posted a 4-minute video of Mr. Shapiro defending a baby's right to life. LINK to original VIDEO source No sooner that it was posted did people start rebuking his message. And it wasn't just pro-abortion folks doing so. It was pro-life Catholics. So, I decided I had better watch the video and find out what he said that had them in an uproar. After wat...
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Pulling Back on the Reins

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Have you ever felt like your life was in full gallop, heading in the right direction and with no obstacles in your way, only to suddenly have things screech to a halt? An image comes to mind of that picture of a person on what they think is their life journey, with nothing but the hill they climbed behind them, and the goal in front. Then a second picture shows a zoomed-out version, “God’s Plan” so it is called, with many more obstacles ahead, but the goal no less achievable. Have you ever been indignant about that sudden stillness, or the additional obstacles? We should be thankful for these times. These are times of reflection and assessment and can stop us from galloping over a cliff in some situations. I’ve got a real-life example for you. Things at work have been going great, and I truly believe it’s because I have been growing in my faith-life. I have an opportunity to go to Mass pretty much any morning that I want, and I have decided on a couple days per week in parti...
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To Give or Not to Give, and How to Do it Right: by Apprentice Blogger

Giving gifts thoughtlessly, or without consideration, is something we probably all have done. It seems like giving someone a gift that's "nice" or cheap, is a harmless act of charity, and the recipient will probably never know whether the giver has put much thought or effort into it. Some people don't even like giving gifts to others, yet they do it because they think they have to and therefore don't put much effort into it.  But, as they say, it's the thought that counts; and if your thought is, ''Do I have to give someone a gift?",  then how does that show that you love or care about the receiver of the gift?   It really doesn't.   When the occasion calls for giving your friend a gift, do so with love, and not with the desire to get the cheapest item available, or to reluctantly just get it over with. Don't buy them a $700 watch, but also don't buy a cheap dollar store item. And don't buy them a super-expensive gift they w...
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Coronavirus and an Opportunity for Greatness

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Before this pandemic hit our nation, I considered myself a good Christian. I give to the Church; I help others when I can; I give an honest day's work to provide for my family; I raise my children in the faith handed down to us by our Lord. But this pandemic has opened my eyes in the past couple weeks. My wife and I quickly realized that the burden that would hit us, as our state went on "lock-down", would impact other people as well...and probably hit them harder. After all, I have a job that allows me to work from home, so I won't lose a paycheck (yet). And despite the initial mob that emptied our local grocery store, we have a place nearby to buy the essentials and we are both capable of going shopping. ("Both capable of going shopping" is something I didn't realize I was taking for granted until recently.) And while it meant having six children at home, like wild rabbits being chased by a cage, we are more adjusted to that than most becaus...
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Did God Give us a Religion, or a Relationship?

I continue to see comments lately that pit “relationship” against “religion”, as though there’s a new trend with Christians trying to distance themselves from “rules” that they might be expected to follow. The latest I heard was " Religion gets you to church, but relationship helps you grow in your faith ".  Other examples are, “ Having a religion is against my relationship ”, or “ God gave me a relationship, not a religion to follow ”, or “ I have a personal relationship with Christ, I don’t need a religion’s rules to tell me what to do ”. There are various ways of saying it, but the main message is that “ Christ gave us a relationship with Him, not a religion to follow”, and it's an incredibly short-sighted and incorrect view of what Christ has given us.  The religion that Christ gave us to follow is a reflection of our relationship with Him .  "Religion", from the Latin "religio" means to  bind oneself  [to something]. In this case, our Christian ...
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