The Key to Harmonizing the Gospels’ Easter Accounts

Given the centrality of the Resurrection, it can be troubling for Christians that there are so many seeming discrepancies in how the four Gospel writers describe exactly what happened on Easter morning: they seem to fundamentally disagree with one another on who went to the Tomb and what they saw.  For example, Matthew and Mark… Continue reading The Key to Harmonizing the Gospels’ Easter Accounts

St. John and St. Peter: Love and the Church

At Men’s Group on Wednesday, Fr. Kelly talked briefly about the roles played by John and by Peter in the early Church. Peter is the “Ecclesiastical Disciple,” the one on whom Christ entrusts authority of the Church, who He generally leaves in charge. It’s Peter that Christ builds His Church upon, calls to be the… Continue reading St. John and St. Peter: Love and the Church

Can Christ’s Glorified Body be in Locked Rooms and in the Eucharist?

In Luke 24, we hear how, on Easter Day, Jesus made Himself visible to two travelers on the road to Emmaus and then, after breaking Bread and giving it to them, He disappeared.  And in John 20:19, in one of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, we hear: On the evening of that first day of the week,… Continue reading Can Christ’s Glorified Body be in Locked Rooms and in the Eucharist?

Why (and How) Catholics Pray to Saints

A non-Catholic friend of mine who’d been following the news about JPII’s beatification wanted to know how prayer to saints worked.  Specifically, he asked: (1) Can you pray to any Saint you want? (2) Do you have to wait until they’re canonized? (3) Is it form prayers or extemporaneous? (4) Doesn’t this violate Christ as Sole Mediator… Continue reading Why (and How) Catholics Pray to Saints

Adam’s Rib and the Side of Christ

I originally posted this yesterday, but I think it got lost between the post on bin Laden and the LDS post I put up right after it:I heard something this past weekend I’d never noticed before, about how the wound on Christ’s side ties in with the rib taken from Adam. To put it into some context, yesterday was… Continue reading Adam’s Rib and the Side of Christ

A Hilarious Way of Proving Baptismal Regeneration

So, there’s a Lutheran Youtube channel, “Lutheran Satire,” run by a conservative Lutheran (LCMS) named Hans Fiene, and it’s hysterical.  While presented pretty tongue-in-cheek, the clips often make serious points on everything from theological liberalism to Evangelicalism, points on which we Catholics can readily assent to.  A few weeks ago, he posted what may be his best… Continue reading A Hilarious Way of Proving Baptismal Regeneration

Coming to Know the Resurrected Jesus Christ

First off, credit where credit is due: yesterday was Fr. Kelly’s first Easter Mass as a priest, and he hadn’t prepared a homily.  He learned from a priest in seminary that the less you try and prepare things (like homilies) yourself, the more room you leave for the Holy Spirit to work through you.  He… Continue reading Coming to Know the Resurrected Jesus Christ

Happy Good Friday!

Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?He grew up like a sapling before Him, like a shoot from the parched earth; There was in Him no stately bearing to make us look at Him, nor appearance that would attract us to Him. He was spurned… Continue reading Happy Good Friday!

The Eucharist, the Passion of Christ, and Anti-Semitism

I realized after I wrote this that today is not only the middle of Holy Week, but the 122nd anniversary of the birth of Hitler. Given that, today’s post is all the more fitting: I. Whose Fault was the Death of Christ? St. Matthew’s Gospel has a sentence that’s generated quite a bit of controversy.… Continue reading The Eucharist, the Passion of Christ, and Anti-Semitism

Three Points You May Have Missed from John 9

The Sunday Gospels in Lent are some of the most important, moving parts of Scripture, hands down.  There’s a lot to say on last Sunday’s Gospel (the raising of Lazarus from John 11), but the Gospel from the Sunday before that (John 9:1-41) has a number of great moments which really stand out. (1) The… Continue reading Three Points You May Have Missed from John 9