Biblical authors (and other ancient Christians) have a habit of referring to the mysteries of the Christian faith by means of euphemism or code words. The Church began as a persecuted faith whose members were not always inclined to blab about their holiest rites and sacraments in a way that
There are two traditions—East and West—when it comes to the sacrament of Confirmation, and they show how doctrine can develop and unfold within the Church much as the branches on the mustard plant can develop from the seed in ways which, while different for different branches, retain the mustardiness of
One of the things that goes with being a writer, I have discovered, is that lots of people send you books, book announcements, and book review requests. Here’s a little item that just came in over the transom: THE NEW BIBLE COOKBOOK – TAKE GOD INSIDE YOUR BODY!! God’s Food for
In the wake of the mass slaughter at Virginia Tech, National Review‘s John Derbyshire labored to help grind the faces of survivors by writing: Where was the spirit of self-defense here? … It’s not like this was Rambo, hosing the place down with automatic weapons. He had two handguns for goodness’ sake—one of
The great blueprint for preserving the unity and catholicity of the Church is found in the epistle to the Romans. Many moderns have this rosy view of the New Testament Church as “all in one accord”. All those Bible characters in their togas were pretty much on the same page,
One often hears about the supposedly monolithic or totalitarian character of the Catholic Church. You know the drill. The Pope tells everybody what to think. Catholics all have to believe exactly the same thing. Freedom of thought is anathema for Catholics. Et Cetera. I heard much of this and believed
The unity of the Church is one of the great misunderstood notions of history. This is understandable because the unity of the Church is not a human idea but a mystery of revelation—one almost as profound as the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. Many modern people are sure they have
Recently a reader wrote me to say, “I read a story on the internet about a Catholic couple whose new baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and anencephaly (no brain). They chose to abort it. How on earth would you deal pastorally with such a horrible situation?” Such questions involve
Recently there was a sketch on Saturday Night Live featuring the character of an incredibly self-important secretary for some minor star (the sort of star who hosts low-rating game shows). The secretary is utterly oblivious to his client’s puny standing in the grand scheme of things and instead, basking in the reflected
One current notion is the idea that the Church is denying women their “rights” when it tells us, “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful” (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis). One need not seek
Within a few days of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp in the mid-second century, the members of his community sent a report to other Churches with a full eyewitness account. In the course of it, they not only described what they saw, but also revealed quite a bit to future
“Jesus came to give us moral guidance and, to prove he meant business, he let himself be killed and seen after death, so we would listen up and be good.” Not being raised in any particular religion myself, it wasn’t until later that I discovered this view of Jesus’ death
There is a curious idea among modern Christians concerning the relationship of the Old and New Testaments. It is the idea that Old Testament prophets all had a crystal clear understanding of every detail of the future life of Christ as they wrote and that their prophecies were all clear
Miryam of Nazareth would not, by most standards, seem to be a memorable person. She lived an obscure life. She is mentioned barely a handful of times in the documents of the Church her Son founded. She turns up briefly, playing a bit part in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and
“I think it’s important to distinguish between faith and religion,” said a man I know. “Religion too often is merely the perversion of faith.” We often hear such things said, usually as an argument for maintaining the supposed “wall of separation” between religion and politics that is supposed to be
Once, as I was waiting for Mass to begin, an acquaintance of mine came bustling up, sat down next to me and whispered excitedly, “Guess what I have?” She then produced from her pocket a little round box the size of a watch. It had a glass lid and in
In John 20:22-23 we find the record of the origins of the sacrament of Reconciliation: And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any,
In Hamlet, the gloomy Dane lives out a thoroughly pagan vendetta against his uncle Claudius, who has murdered his father. At one point, he discovers Claudius at his prayers and thinks to go and stab him to death. But in a move not exactly in keeping with Christian morality he opts
You could hardly find a better description of what is going on in the sacrament of Reconciliation than this passage from 1 Corinthians 5:17-21: Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from
One of the many Old Testament foreshadows of the New Testament is found in Exodus 15:26: If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give heed to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I
In the 1840s, John Henry Newman published his landmark Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine in which he proposed that 1. the doctrines of Christianity must grow and develop over time, and 2. the communion in which the doctrines of the early Church are most fully preserved and logically developed is
I am pleased to report that I never saw a single moment of Survivor. Nor shall I, apart from some sort of odd accident, see Chains of Love (which will feature men and women handcuffed together for days at a time), The Mole (where one person spies on friends) CBS’ Big Brother or Survivor II. It’s not really
Recently, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was taking questions from the audience at a campaign stop when he was asked by a little boy what he would do in case the earth was attacked by aliens from another planet. Everybody had a good laugh. A few months before that, Giuliani
Here’s an email about a website called “New Covenant Ministries” (a self described “No-nonsense, Honest, Direct, Prophetic, Apostolic, Priesthood of All Believers [Men and Women], Post-Trib, Sabbatarian, Messianic-Israelite, Patriarchal, Evangelical, Received Text, Johannine Tradition & Communion, End-Time Gatherers, New Birth, Holiness, Restorationist, New Covenant Torah, Non-Charismatic, and Sola Scriptura” group
As a guy who’s done a bit of chatting about the Catholic Faith with folks, one of the things that has struck me over the years is the sheer fecundity of the human mind in giving reasons not to be Catholic. To a young Catholic or a new convert, such overwhelming fertility
Advertisement
