Tag: featured

I’m baaaaaaack…

Leave a comment

So it’s 2015, which means my sabbatical is over and I’m back blogging! The posts over the next few days are going to be pretty light as I’m working on a few special blogging projects:

1. I am completing a series of posts concerning abortion, which I’m posting to coincide with the March For Life later this month.

2. Next, I have a series of guest posts on the subject of sex for the Goretti Group that I’m just finishing off which will be published in a few weeks.

3. Finally, I’m recording a video series on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. You’ll be hearing more about all these projects over the next couple of weeks…

The break was good, but it’s good to be back. Happy New Year everyone 🙂

2015

Quick Apology: Making present again?

2 comments

I’m going to take a break from my “Quick Apology” series concerning Mary and Saintly Intercession. Today’s “Quick Apology” will be a very brief and concern the Eucharistic liturgy…

Objection

The Catholic Church teaches that, in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Calvary is made present again. In response to this, some Protestants object in this way:

“How can you say the sacrifice of calvary is made present again? The Epistle to the Hebrews says that His sacrifice was once for all. He’s no longer bleeding…”

Obviously, there is a lot that could be said in response to this, but how might we respond briefly?

Response

In reply to this objection, sometimes I challenge Evangelicals over the very language they use in talking about salvation. Don’t they often talk about “being washed in the blood”, upon accepting Christ as their personal Lord and saviour? However, given the objection they raised above, isn’t there a problem? Hasn’t Jesus stopped bleeding? Wasn’t His sacrifice 2,000 years ago?

When Evangelicals talk about “being washed in the blood”, they’re talking about the the grace of the cross being applied to their souls in time in a real, substantial way. Given this, is the idea of the Eucharist being a participation in Calvary really that alien?

The Passion

The Torah and Injil are for mankind!

Leave a comment

I’ve often been told that the Torah and the Injil were only for the Jews. However, two problems:

  1. The Qur’an never explicitly tells the Jews to follow the Injil, only the Christians
  2. The Qur’an actually describes both as “guidance for mankind”, even if the translations often try to obscure this:

The Pickthall translation doesn’t hide it:

He hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture with truth, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, even as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel. Aforetime, for a guidance to mankind; and hath revealed the Criterion (of right and wrong). Lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, theirs will be a heavy doom. Allah is Mighty, Able to Requite (the wrong). – Qur’an 3:3

“Master, it is good for us to be here…”

2 comments

Tonight, after Benediction, I felt drawn to tarry in the church a while longer than usual. Soon there were only one or two other people left in the church.

While sitting there, I felt a deep, tremendous peace; a peace I haven’t felt in some time.

As I sat there, just enjoying the moment, I was reminded of something that my patron Saint, St. Peter, said at the Transfiguration when he beheld the Jesus’ glory:

“Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” – Luke 9:33

I know there’s a lot of theological significance in what Peter is saying here, but sitting in that church tonight I understood those words in a slightly different light. Peter was seeing the beauty of the Lord and wanted to prolong that mountaintop experience. He didn’t want to go back down the mountain just yet – he wanted to setup camp for a little while…

After Benediction, I, too, wanted to prolong the experience, remain in my pew and maybe setup camp for a little while…

The purpose of getting to higher ground isn’t so we can just enjoy the view, it’s so that, when we come back down from the mountain, we can approach the terrain ahead with a new perspective and with confidence.

1 … 83 84 85 86 87 … 137