In the aftermath of certain types of sins, we can be tempted to close off parts of ourselves: for instance, you sin sexually, and you start to think that your masculinity/femininity (or your body more broadly) is evil. But that’s not what Christianity teaches. We need to remember that sin is a perversion of something good, and our hatred of sin shouldn’t lead us into a hatred of the underlying good, and that God doesn’t just want to heal you when you fall, He wants to heal you where you fall.
Tag: Jesus
Why Celebrate the “Sacred Heart”?
Why do Catholics celebrate the “Sacred Heart of Jesus” today, and what does it have to do with (a) the Jansenist heresy, and (b) Christ’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Happy Easter to Those Who Screwed Up Lent (And Those Who Didn’t)!
Did your Lent not go as planned? Did you make a lot of resolutions and then mostly fail at them? Or maybe you failed to even make any Lenten resolutions, and sort of wandered your way into Easter. Well, if that sounds like you, St. John Chrysostom has a message for you.
Why “One Fewer God” is a Terrible Argument for Atheism
If you’ve spent any time reading Christian-atheist dialogues and debates, chances are you’ve come across the “one fewer god” argument (sometimes less grammatically called the “one less god” argument). The most famous articulation of it is from the late historian Stephen Henry Roberts, who said: I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe… Continue reading Why “One Fewer God” is a Terrible Argument for Atheism
Why the Seemingly Anti-Marian Passages in the Bible?
There are a couple of passages which, every time they come up in the Readings at Mass, admittedly make me cringe a little. The first is from Luke 8:19-21 (we just heard the parallel version from Matt. 12:46-50 at Mass on Tuesday): Then his mother and his brethren came to him, but they could not… Continue reading Why the Seemingly Anti-Marian Passages in the Bible?
The Hidden Eucharistic Meaning of “Not by Bread Alone”
In Matthew 4:4, Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” What does this have to do with the Eucharist?
You may be inclined to say “NOTHING, He’s talking about reading the Bible,” or even “IT DISPROVES THE EUCHARIST, because it shows He uses eating imagery when He just means belief or Bible reading.” But those answers are Biblically ignorant, since they’re ignoring the context of Jesus’ Old Testament quotation. It turns out, there’s a Eucharistic dimension to His Scriptural quotations here that almost everyone misses.
What are the “7 Sorrows of Mary”?
Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows, one of the strangest titles for the Virgin Mary. Why do we call her that? Because of her “Seven Sorrows.” And what are those? Seven moments in which she was invited to share in her Son’s suffering. Even Protestants who don’t normally have any sort of devotion to Mary should be able to appreciate the Scriptural foundation of this devotion. The Seven Sorrows are…
Don’t Half-@$$ Christianity
Modern moralism preaches that, if you want to go to Heaven, it’s important to try to be basically a good person. Jesus Christ preaches something altogether different. Here’s why halfhearted Christianity is worse than paganism, and what you can do about it.
Why is Christ the “Last Adam”?
St. Paul refers to Jesus as “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). What are the two ways in which we can we speak of Jesus as the new (or last) Adam? And who is His Eve?
Why is Sin Such Damned Fun?
We’re about to enter into Good Friday, the day on which Jesus died for our sins. So what’s the deal with sin? It’s very easy to think of sin as fun, and virtue as sort of missing out on the fun for the sake of some future reward: a sort of Mardi Gras v. Lent contrast. Why IS such (literally) damned fun? And how do we respond to the charge that we’re just anti-fun?