This week, in addition to being the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the 40th annual March for Life, is also the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It’s fitting that these two events should overlap, since the pro-life movement seems to have done more to draw together Catholics and Protestants, particularly Evangelicals, than… Continue reading The Untold Story of the Ecumenism of the Trenches
Tag: apologetics
Why March for Life?
For priests, religious, and seminarians, each morning begins the same way, with the praying of the Invitatory Psalm, the opening prayer of the first Hour of the day in the Liturgy of the Hours. Typically, that Psalm is Psalm 95. The version in the Breviary concludes this way: Offering to Molech (1897) Today, listen to… Continue reading Why March for Life?
The Cross, the Church, and the Mystery of Suffering
On the most beautiful things about Catholicism is that it gives meaning to suffering in a way that no other system does. No system explains suffering as well as religion does, no world religion explains it as well as Christianity, and no Christian denomination explains it as well as the Catholic Church does. Within an… Continue reading The Cross, the Church, and the Mystery of Suffering
Science v. Religion on When Life Begins
One of the looming questions in the abortion debate relates to when human life begins. From a scientific perspective, this question has been solved for centuries, thanks in part to the work of a seventeenth-century Italian scientist by the name of Francesco Redi. And it’s left the opponents of the scientific view appealing lamely to outdated… Continue reading Science v. Religion on When Life Begins
Mormonism and the Martyrdom of St. Stephen
St. Stephen’s martyrdom, which we celebrate today, includes a valuable gem in discussing prayer with the LDS, better known as the Mormons. Mormons refuse to pray to Jesus, because they don’t see prayer to Him in the New Testament: So, it is abundantly clear in Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount that we are instructed,… Continue reading Mormonism and the Martyrdom of St. Stephen
It’s Time to Kill Santa
Thomas Nast, Santa Claus (1881) Today is Christmas Eve, and we’re at a turning point in the year. For Catholics, the Christmas season begins tomorrow with the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. For secular culture, the Christmas season ends tomorrow, having begun last month around Thanksgiving. At the heart of this debate over… Continue reading It’s Time to Kill Santa
Is Marian Devotion Dangerous?
Scripture prophesies and prescribes Marian devotion, and a careful reading of the New and Old Testament together shows that Mary is given a pride of place rarely (if ever) found in Protestant denominations. But that is not the end of the story. Protestants examining this evidence will sometimes be intellectually convinced, but will encounter a… Continue reading Is Marian Devotion Dangerous?
Does the Glorified Body of Christ Have Blood?
One of the strangest beliefs that I’ve come across through this blog is the idea that the glorified Body of Jesus Christ contains Flesh and Bones, but no Blood. I first came across it in a reader comment; since then, I’ve heard this view advanced by several Protestant apologetics websites, like the popular Calvinist apologetics… Continue reading Does the Glorified Body of Christ Have Blood?
Consecrating Our Lives to God
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman For those of us prone to daydream, the Offertory seems to be the slowest part of the Mass. After the proclamation of the Gospel and the homily, but before the Eucharistic Prayer, there’s a pause in the action, in which the priest stops to receive the bread and wine, and… Continue reading Consecrating Our Lives to God
Two More Reformation Day Ironies
Last year, I compiled a list of three Reformation Day ironies. In a nutshell, they were that Reformation: (1) is celebrated by making graven images of Reformers who hated images;(2) is intended to Christianize a “pagan” holiday, yet is celebrated by many of the same Evangelicals who refuse to celebrate Christmas for fear that it’s… Continue reading Two More Reformation Day Ironies