Speaking strictly hypothetically, I wonder if there is anything you could say or do that would be sufficient cause for others to stop calling you a “good Catholic,” or that would present a sufficient obstacle to actually bar you from…
Blog Archives
Habemus Episcopum
That did not take as long as I feared! Our dear Bishop Johnston was transferred to Kansas City last November by Pope Francis. We were very sorry to see him go, but in a certain way it seemed inevitable; he…
Tagged with: bishop rice, catholic, diocesan news, springfield-cape girardeau
Posted in Ecclesiology, Etc, Francis I
Posted in Ecclesiology, Etc, Francis I
Hear the one He sends
Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Luke 10:16, NABRE I came across this passage again in my regular reading today and it motivated this…
Yes, we have no bananas
Nobody’s perfect. That includes ministers of the local ecclesial communities and Catholic parishes. Some folks would have us believe that it is intolerable for any cleric ever to sin, and that those ministers who habitually do wrong prove that Christianity…
Tagged with: apologetics, ministerial scandals, morality, pastors, sin, truth
Posted in Apologetics, Catechism, Ecclesiology, Veritatis Splendor
Posted in Apologetics, Catechism, Ecclesiology, Veritatis Splendor
Newman QOTD
Here is an intriguing remark from Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman’s work An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent: [I]f it is the duty of the Church to act as “the pillar and ground of the Truth,” she…
Tagged with: apologetics, cardinal newman, infallibility, Protestantism
Posted in Apologetics, Ecclesiology, Protestantism
Posted in Apologetics, Ecclesiology, Protestantism
The Accidental Catholic
[Note: this is essentially the same article that I wrote for Called to Communion in 2011. I thought it might be helpful to post here too, at least as a backup copy. I have made a few alterations to chronological…
Tagged with: called to communion, conversion, noltie conundrum, Protestantism
Posted in Ecclesiology, Epistemology, Protestantism
Posted in Ecclesiology, Epistemology, Protestantism
Infallibility – Why it matters
The Catholic Church affirms that under certain conditions the Pope, the Bishops, and in a certain way the Church herself exercises a gift of infallibility. This is a stumbling block for most Protestants. Why is this dogma so important that…
Tagged with: apologetics, catechism, catholic, infallibility
Posted in Apologetics, Catechism, Ecclesiology, Faith, Infallibility
Posted in Apologetics, Catechism, Ecclesiology, Faith, Infallibility
Reconciliation and the Visible Church
The CCC says in §1445: Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God. Reconciliation with God and with the Church go together. You can’t have one without the other. Why is that? The answer, I think, is to…
Tagged with: body of Christ, Confession, forgiveness, invisible church, unity
Posted in Apologetics, Ecclesiology, Forgiveness, Penitence, Protestantism
Posted in Apologetics, Ecclesiology, Forgiveness, Penitence, Protestantism
The Woman of Revelation 12
A contentious subject betwixt Protestants and Catholics focuses on the identity of the Woman of Revelation 12: 1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a…
Tagged with: Lex orandi lex credendi, Mary, scripture, Tradition
Posted in Blessed Virgin, Ecclesiology, Faith Seeking Understanding, Scripture
Posted in Blessed Virgin, Ecclesiology, Faith Seeking Understanding, Scripture
The Saints Care
On a few occasions I have heard people suggest that even if the saints in heaven do hear our prayers, they do not care about what goes on down here: in other words, the point is that even if they…
Aquinas, Etc. 