This Sunday, you’ll hear the wander Jews in the desert announce their preference for the security of slavery in Egypt over the uncertainty of following Moses (and God) in the Exodus, and you’ll hear the followers of Jesus in John 6 prefer free bread over saving truths. It’s easy to condemn these people, but are we really so different?
Tag: liturgical year
Felix Roma: The Role of Rome in the True Church
“O happy Rome, stained purple with the precious blood of so many princes!
You excel all the beauty of the world, not by your own glory,
but by the merits of the saints whose throats you cut with bloody swords.”
Three Rome-themed mini-posts to commemorate Sts. Peter and Paul: (I) the necessity of being united with the Roman Church, (II) the Roman Church not being the Seat of the Antichrist, and (III) an exciting new Catholic podcast centered around Rome.
Mary’s Foretaste of the Resurrection
Did the Virgin Mary know about the Resurrection before it happened? There’s a gap of thirty years, called the “silent years” of Jesus, in which Scripture simply doesn’t tell us what happened between Jesus’ infancy and the beginning of His public ministry. But there’s one interruption to this silence, a single event that Scripture records from… Continue reading Mary’s Foretaste of the Resurrection
The Attraction of a Priestly Life Well Lived
Zbigniew Kotyłły, John Paul II (2012) This year, Holy Thursday falls on the tenth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. Each year on Holy Thursday, the saintly pope would write a letter to his priests, in honor of Christ’s institution of the priesthood at the Last Supper. The last of these letters,… Continue reading The Attraction of a Priestly Life Well Lived
The Most Important Moment in History: Why the Incarnation Matters
Today is the Feast of the Annunciation, which celebrates the Angel Gabriel’s message to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It also celebrates the Incarnation, which is brought about through Mary’s faith-filled response (“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word,” Luke 1:38). This is the greatest event… Continue reading The Most Important Moment in History: Why the Incarnation Matters
6 Early Christian Controversies That Protestantism Can’t Explain
Woodcut of St. Patrick, Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) In an article entitled Saint Patrick the Baptist?, Stephen R. Button tries to claim St. Patrick for Evangelical Protestantism… or at least disassociate him from Roman Catholicism. Button is hardly alone: you can find similar attempts by Don Boys and others, some of them dating back several decades. The argument tends… Continue reading 6 Early Christian Controversies That Protestantism Can’t Explain
Happy Celibacy Awareness Day!
Valentine’s Day card from 1909 Happy St. Valentine’s Day, the one day a year in which all Americans, regardless of religion, build their lives around the Traditional Latin Mass calendar. For those of us using the Ordinary Form calendar, today is the Memorial of Saints Cyril and Methodius, not St. Valentine, a little something I like… Continue reading Happy Celibacy Awareness Day!
How the Catholic Church Helped Save Hanukkah
Here’s a piece that I wrote for ChurchPOP on the Catholic connection to Hanukkah. It’s called How the Catholic Church Saved Hanukkah. Here’s how it begins: Tuesday night marked the beginning of Hanukkah. As BuzzFeed recently demonstrated, a lot of Christians are ignorant as to what Hanukkah is. That’s a shame, not least of all… Continue reading How the Catholic Church Helped Save Hanukkah
Pope Victor and the Second-Century Papacy
Pope St. Victor I In October, I wrote about a fascinating conflict in the first-century church of Corinth. When a dispute broke out within their church, they wrote to Rome. Pope Clement wrote back, issued some orders, and resolved the dispute. Under any circumstances, this would be interesting, because it shows the way that papal… Continue reading Pope Victor and the Second-Century Papacy
O Antiphons for the Advent Home Stretch
I interrupt the 10-part series on Campion’s arguments against the Reformation to bring you a few resources for your Advent season. This evening begins the first of what are called the “O Antiphons,” a series of short ancient prayers, traditionally prayed during Vespers. Praying and reflecting upon these prayers is a great way of preparing… Continue reading O Antiphons for the Advent Home Stretch