Apologetics For The Confused (MP3)

Confused

This is the second of two talks I gave during Lent at a parish in Los Angeles this year…

“Apologetics for the confused” (Download)

 

 

— Questions —

• What does IHS stand for?

• Who is your blog’s patron saint?

• How do you evangelize at work?

• How do I deal with my Mormon family attacking my Faith?

• What can I do about my niece who is drifting away from the Faith?

Guest Post: Seven Reasons Why I am Becoming Catholic

Just before Easter, I posted an article written by one of my friends on her one-year anniversary entering the Catholic Church. Now that we reach the end of the Easter Octave, here is another article which she wrote shortly before entering back in 2017…

Neophite

As the Easter season quickly approaches and thousands of adults around the world prepare for the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion), I thought it would be an appropriate time to explain why a person converts to the Catholic Church.

Of course, with hundreds of faith traditions and spiritual experiences, there could be hundreds of reasons, but I want to give you the top seven reasons why I left my life-long Protestant faith to become a member of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church (although that may describe it right there ☺).

1. Silence

I list this reason first because it was one of the first aspects of the Church that drew me in. When I refer to silence, I simultaneously refer to the feeling of peace within a soul. We live in a chaotic world, a world of incessant noise, a world pulling us in so many directions we sometimes don’t know which way is up. These noises and distractions make our souls crazy; our souls are crying out for inner peace, to just slow down and let God fill us in the silence.

When I first began attending Mass about two years ago, this phrase jumped out at me again and again, “Jesus said to his disciples, My peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.” How our souls yearn for this peace! Imagine how different our lives would be if we consistently let God give us His peace. One of the ways Catholics allow Christ to do this is in adoration. To kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and simply allow the silence to infiltrate our whole being is such an incredible gift; to allow the noises and distractions of the world fade away as we worship God in the quiet stillness of the Church. It feeds our hungry souls.  And amongst our busy lives, God reminds us: “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14)

I think St. Augustine perfectly described our yearning for the peace of God when he said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee.”

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How to argue…

Last week I watched Jordan Peterson being interviewed on Channel 4 by Cathy Newman. I say “interview”, but “debate” was closer to the fact:

Peterson chose his words carefully and responded to his interviewer’s questions. Newman, on the other hand, repeatedly twisted his words and ignored the thrust of his arguments. This video is well worth a watch in its entirety, just to see how arguments should be constructed.

I’ve started listening to his podcast and it’s a really interesting listen. Check it out 🙂

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