Did Jesus Oppose Animal Sacrifice?

Michelangelo, Sacrifice of Noah, Sistine Chapel ceiling (1512)

A Protestant website suggests that Jesus hated the Jewish sacrificial system. This claim is obviously false, given that (1) God established the Jewish sacrificial system; (2) Jesus personally participated in it; and (3) the sacrificial system reached its apex on Calvary, when Jesus became our Sacrificial offering.

Abbot Christian de Chergé on Islam and Terrorism

The awful terrorist attacks unfolding right now in Paris recall for me the martyrdom, at the hands of Islamic extremists, of a group of French monks living in Algeria. The abbot of those monks prepared for his death with a shocking, thought-provoking “Last Testament.” It’s worth the read.

Did St. Josaphat Die in Vain?

Józef Simmler, Martyrdom of Jozafat Kuncewicz in Vitebsk in 1623 (1861)

  392 years ago today, Saint Josaphat, an Eastern Catholic bishop in Ukraine, was dragged out of his rectory and murdered by the Eastern Orthodox townspeople that he was trying to lead back into union with the Roman Catholic Church. The Church does not hesitate, in her prayers, to say that he poured out his… Continue reading Did St. Josaphat Die in Vain?

Did St. Paul Use the Deuterocanon?

Giovanni Martinelli, Death Comes to the Banquet Table (Memento Mori) (1635)

The Catholic Deuterocanon – the set of seven books accepted by Catholics and rejected by Protestants – clearly teaches the morality of praying to the Saints and praying for the souls of the deceased. But can we trust that the Deuterocanon is canonical? Evidence from Romans 9 — a favorite passage amongst many Protestants — strongly points to a “yes” answer.

Be Bartimaeus.

El Greco, Christ Healing the Blind (1575)

Be Bartimaeus.

The Gospel presents Bartimaeus to us to show us that this is what it looks like to follow Jesus. This is what we’re called to. So what can we learn from him? I would propose three things: (1) see your blindness; (2) beg boldly; and (3) make Jesus’ Way your way.