Category: Catholicism

TEA: How to read the Bible like a Catholic (St. Ignatius)

Leave a comment

Bible Rosary

During Lent, I gave two talks at St. Ignatius Catholic parish in Los Angeles. Here is the first talk I gave on reading Sacred Scripture:

“How to read the Bible like a Catholic” (Download)

Q&A (Download)

 

— Questions —

• What does Jesus mean when he says that, to be his disciple, we must “hate mother and father”?

• What is apologetics?

• What kind of Bible would you recommend?

• If I want to read a book of the Bible, where should I start?

• Why do some people leave the Catholic Faith?

Guest Post: Seven Reasons Why I am Becoming Catholic

6 comments

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.”

Read more

TEA: Entrepreneurial Faith (San Antonio)

5 comments

Entrepreneur

Last week I was in San Antonio giving my “Entrepreneurial Faith” talk to the YCP chapter there.

“Entrepreneurial Faith” (Download)

Q&A (Download)

 

— Questions —

• You’re an British Catholic. How is that possible?!

• What did you read which led you back into the Catholic Faith?

• How can I put the gift of writing to the service of the Church?
(Just as I was about the answer this question, there was a thunderclap outside!)

Are you in San Antonio on Tuesday? I am!

Leave a comment

I’ve just finished being interviewed on The Jennifer Fulwiler Show. Jen was kind enough to advertise my speaking engagement in San Antonio this Tuesday. I will be speaking on “Entrepreneurial Faith” to the Young Catholic Professional (YCP) group.

The event will be at Holy Rosary Church on Camino Santa Maria Street, 6-9pm. So, if you’re in the area and in your 20’s or 30’s, please feel free to come along – I’d love to meet you!

Screen Shot 2018-04-02 at 3.11.49 PM

Guest Post: 7 Things I learned as a Neophyte

Leave a comment

A friend of my posted the following text on her Facebook wall today. I thought it was so good I asked her if I could publish it here on the blog. One year since what she calls “the best day of my life”, here is her reflection on the seven things she learned as a Neophyte…

Neophite Group

To put it in simple terms, a Neophyte is a new convert to a religion. New Advent describes Neophyte as originating from the word neophytoi meaning the newly planted and incorporated with the mystic Body of Christ. I converted to the Catholic Church from Protestantism last Easter, and have decided to do a bit of reflection on my last year. It has been filled with revelation after revelation but here are the top seven that have had the most impact on me.

1. Hungering for the Eucharist

To put it simply, hungering for the Eucharist is a real thing. To some that may sound crazy or impossible and to others, you may know exactly what I mean. For those reading this who aren’t Catholic, the Eucharist is what we call the transformation of the communion bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Early Church Father, St. Justin Martyr, writes in A.D. 151:

“For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and has both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food that has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus.” [First Apology 66]

For further reference, read John 6 and watch “The Hour That Will Change Your Life.”

After partaking in my First Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil and the weeks following, I was somewhat stunned to find that I hungered for more of the Eucharist. I yearned for His Body and Blood, the peace that it brought, my human weaknesses obliterated by His strength, His divine life inside of me. This surreal and transcendent feeling is one I could never fully describe but pray all will come to experience.

Read more

1 … 78 79 80 81 82 … 321