Yesterday was Epiphany Sunday. Although the Epiphany – the 12th Day of Christmas, celebrating the wise men’s visiting the infant Jesus – technically falls on Wednesday, we celebrate it on the nearest Sunday. I love the readings from yesterday’s Mass, because they tell a real story when you compare them. Here’s what I mean: I.… Continue reading The Gifts of the Magi
Author: Joe Heschmeyer
Protestantism, Church History, and Psychological Defects
Happy New Year Everyone! There’s an interesting dispute going on in the combox of one of my older posts, but I wanted to provide some background first. It seems to me that the average person sort of assumes that the Bible just showed up one day, or at least that the Apostles were passing out… Continue reading Protestantism, Church History, and Psychological Defects
Jesus and the Passover
Exodus 12 lays out the requirements of the Passover meal in great depth. It’s divided into two parts: (1) you sacrifice the lamb, and (2) you eat it. So, for example, Exodus 12:5-6 says that: The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the… Continue reading Jesus and the Passover
Malachi 1 and the Eucharist
After complaining of the insufficiency of the Jewish sacrifice in Malachi 1, God provides a fascinating foretaste of the New Covenant in Malachi 1:11: “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because… Continue reading Malachi 1 and the Eucharist
Happy Feast of the Holy Family!
Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Gospel for this Sunday is Luke 2:41-52: Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they… Continue reading Happy Feast of the Holy Family!
Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone’s having a wonderful Christmas, getting plenty of family time in, and all that. If you find yourself on the computer today, I’ve got a few suggestions: Pope Benedict’s Christmas Homily These homilies are always good. Here’s the full thing, and here’s a taste: The first thing we are told about the shepherds… Continue reading Merry Christmas!
Some Christmas Eve Humor
Gentleman Farmer at Glib & Superficial posted a terribly funny post on Santa by denomination: Catholic Santa brings toys to all the little girls and boys who wrote letters to Mrs. Claus, because her appeals to Santa are particularly efficacious. You never know to whom Anglican Santa will bring toys, because he suffers from multiple… Continue reading Some Christmas Eve Humor
The Healthcare Debacle Comes Home for Christmas
We can expect that today, along strict party lines (with Lieberman and Sanders voting as they caucus) the Democratic Party will pass a pretty shameful health bill. It’s shameful for a number of reasons, but here are a few. They’re more or less in their order of importance: First, it pays for abortions. Turns out… Continue reading The Healthcare Debacle Comes Home for Christmas
Simply Incredible!
A relatively short video (subtitled) on a couple of Eucharistic videos, with descriptions of the expert testimony. It’s just stunning. h/t Fr. Gregory at Subimonk.
The Unanimous Consent of the Fathers
I mentioned earlier that I’ve been a bit under-impressed with Keith Mathison’s The Shape of Sola Scriptura, and that he doesn’t seem to have a good grip on the topic he’s written a book on. The book attempts to take the creedal Protestant sola Scriptura view, and show its alleged superiority to both the Evangelical… Continue reading The Unanimous Consent of the Fathers