To date, none of us has had the opportunity to personally meet Fr. Richard Simon.  However, he has graciously granted us full permission to re-publish some of the things he has written and/or talked about.  If you ask us why he foolishly gave us his permission, we could only give the traditional Catholic answer that "it's a mystery" of which only God knows the answer.

I can only tell you why we wanted Fr. Simon.

In a nutshell....

As best as we prayerfully could discern, Fr. Simon's preaching and teaching appear to be 99.99% in accord with what the popes and bishops, thru the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, have been preaching and teaching for two thousand years.  We liked what we read and heard about the things Fr. Simon was telling his parishioners.  We thought the world might be interested in learning from him, too!

Why?  For what purpose?
 

Our Purpose & Mission

We are trying to provide a platform from which the Holy Spirit can use Fr. Simon as a tool to assist in the conversion of hearts, minds and souls to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

In particular, we hope this platform will help the Holy Spirit with our three-fold evangelical mission:
 

	to help transform good Catholics into better Catholics,
	to help invite lapsed and former Catholics back into the Roman Catholic Church, and
	to help enlighten non Catholics concerning the truth about the Roman Catholic Church.

Acting Locally to Evangelize Globally

For more than 40+ years (ever since the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965), the Popes and Bishops have repeated stated that the laity has a duty and responsibility to evangelize.  Just recently (at a meeting in Rome on September 11, 2008), the Pope told a group of Bishops from Paraguay that the laity needed to help evangelize.

In 2006, the world's population was about 6.59 billion people, of which 1.13 billion (or about 17.1%) were Roman Catholics.  Of those 6.6 billion on the planet, about 1.5 billion (about 22.7%) speak English as their native language (about 600 million) or as a second language (about 900 million).

In 2007, there were about 200 million Chinese school children who were learning English according to an article published in China Daily by Wang Ying on July 25, 2007. (NOTE: China Daily is one of China's top nine news portals at state level, boasts a loyal elite readership worldwide and serves as a cyber bridge connecting China and the world since its initial launch in 1995.) 

As of June 2008, about 1.46 billion people around the globe were using the internet - four (4) times the 360 million who were using the internet back in December 2000).

Long story short - the internet (aka The Devil's Playground) is a means to evangelize the world.
 

Our "Lazy Laity" Way To Evangelize

Most people are lazy and we, the members of The God Squad, are no different.  We have 101 reasons why we can not do something - especially our duty to help evangelize the world.  For example, 21% of the population of the USA lives in "rural areas" and Catholics there might say they have little or no opportunity to evangelize. Or, as many more Catholics might say, they have no formal education in bible studies, so how can they competently teach to bible to anyone?  There are at least 99 more reasons which we will not go into now.

All told, we think that we have derived one legitimate method in which the "lazy laity" can can work from home as a member of The God Squad team to fulfill part of their duty to help evangelize the world.
 

Preacher versus Teacher

In brief, we firmly believe that the Catholic clergy (bishops, priests and deacons) make the best evangelists.  Why?  Because the Catholic Church has only bestowed upon them (and not the laity) the faculties and power of priestly office.  As you might well know, only members of the clergy can give a homily at any Mass (shame on any parish priest to allow otherwise)!  Why?  Only the clergy is allowed, and only the clergy is authorized to teach, preach and interpret the Word of God.

St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans.  But, he was never ordained as a priest (because he thought he was unworthy to be a priest).  However, he was ordained as a deacon - so that he could have the full authority and power of the Catholic Church to teach and preach God's Word.

Without question, there are many lay members of the Catholic Church today (both men and women) who are renowned Bible scholars and many, many more great Bible teachers.  But, they still lack the power and authority to fully preach and interpret the Word of God - which evangelization often requires in today's ever changing world.

As stated above, we are only trying to provide a global internet platform from which the Holy Spirit can use Fr. Richard Simon's preaching and teaching as a tool to assist in the conversion of hearts, minds and souls to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
 

Why Fr. Richard Simon as a featured Preacher & Teacher?

Like you, the members of The God Squad team have never met Fr. Simon in person (nor do we ever expect to meet him during our short stay on Earth).  Many of us just stumbled upon him and were impressed by what he was saying - things the Catholic Church has been preaching and teaching for centuries.

As best that we "lazy laity" members of The God Squad team could/can discern, Fr. Richard Simon faithfully teaches and preaches exactly what the Roman Catholic Magisterium (the "official teaching authority" of popes and bishops) has been preaching teaching consistently for over two thousand years.

Frankly, you would not be on this web page, nor would you have read down this far, unless you were moved by the Holy Spirit after listening and/or reading what Fr. Simon had to said.

Correct?
 

Prayer - The Most Powerful Tool You Possess

In conclusion, the name of the game is "conversion of sinners" and the "salvation of souls" globally.  Period.

But, this can not be done without YOUR prayer - YOUR prayer to the Holy Spirit that Fr. Richard Simon can be used as a means (as an instrument or tool) to reach, touch and move hearts, minds and souls to God the Father thru His Son, Jesus Christ.  YOUR prayer that the Holy Spirit will assist:
 

	to help transform good Catholics into better Catholics,
	to help invite lapsed and former Catholics back into the Roman Catholic Church, and
	to help enlighten non Catholics concerning the truth about the Roman Catholic Church.

And YOUR prayer to the Holy Spirit to guide, protect, strengthen and enlighten Fr. Richard Simon so that he can discern and faithfully execute God's Will for him during the remainder of his mission here on earth.

As well as YOUR prayer to the Holy Spirit to guide, protect, strengthen and enlighten us, the lazy laity of The God Squad team that we, too, might discern and faithfully execute God's Will for us during the remainder of our mission here on earth.

Your Humble Servant,
Trying to serve the Sacred Heart, thru the Immaculate Heart,

Jim Frommeyer
Webmaster