"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
I’ve finally managed to carve out some time this weekend to do some proper writing so I should posts of greater substance coming out next week. Until then, enjoy the conversion story I found on To See Jesus:
The article Conversion Story first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
Last week Patrick Vanderpool‘s new book, Traditions of Men, landed on my doorstep! I had been doing pretty well on my reading list so I figured I sneak in another book which wasn’t on my 2013 canon 😉
I’m currently finishing off Philosophy for Dummies, but once that is done I’ll be reading Traditions of Men and I’ll endevour to put up a review shortly afterwards.
The article New Book Has Arrived! first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
Do Catholics know the Bible?
I remember the first time I heard the Bible at Mass. By that, I don’t mean the first time I heard a Reading from Scripture in the Liturgy of the Word. No, I’m referring to the first time I heard some words from the lips of the priest and thought to myself “Hey, that’s straight from Scripture”.
Now, I knew some of the more prominent features of the liturgy such as the Gloria, Sanctus and Kyrie came from Scripture, but I thought that was pretty much it. It turns out I was very wrong…
So when was the first time I “heard the Bible at Mass”? Well, I was an altar server and went to wash the priest’s hands prior to the Eucharistic prayer. The priest came forward and, as I poured water over his hands, he said the words “Lord, wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin”. I recognized those words! I had been reading through the book of Psalms at the time and recognized the verse from Psalm 51:
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin – Psalm 51:2
Sound familiar? 🙂
After that experience, I began to pay closer attention to the words of the Mass. Again and again I found that virtually everything that was said came from Scripture. In fact, now whenever I have non-Catholic Christians attend Mass with me, I invite them to keep a tally of the number of Scripture quotations or Biblical allusions they hear.
So do Catholics know the Bible? Well, maybe better than they think…
I’m still thinking about my conversation with an atheist this weekend. Try as I might, I was unable to convince him that “faith” and “reason” aren’t enemies. I needed backup. Where was Peter Kreeft when I needed him?!
Christopher Hitchens vs William Lane Craig debate the question: “Does God Exist?”
“After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan’s temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he’ll have an incentive to leave you alone.”
– St. Ignatius of Loyola
(Thanks to Anh for this one)
Yesterday I posted a video of some Dominican Nuns reacting to Pope Francis’ election. Here is the other video which I really wanted to post during my Lenten blog fast:
For those of you who don’t live in the US, the chap on the right is Penn Jillette, one half of the magic group “Penn & Teller” and a vocal atheist. I’m pretty sure everyone knows the guy on the right, the former British tabloid writer and editor, Piers Morgan.
Until recently I had no idea that Piers called himself a Catholic, but when Pope Benedict resigned he became incredibly vocal about it, tweeting and saying many things that would give a first year theologian a rather impressive aneurism.
I love the way it takes an Atheist such as Penn to explain to a professed Catholic such as Piers the basics of Catholicism…