"A Humble Servant's Catholic Blog"

Admonishing the Sinner is not “Judging”...it is an Act of Mercy. "…first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye ." (Mt 7:5) “…If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone…But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you…if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church…”(Mt 18:15-17) “You shall not hate your brother in your heart: You shall in any case rebuke your neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Lev 19:17) “My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20) “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual should recall him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, ...

That appears to be one stance amongst promoters of keeping religion out of the “marriage business”.   I say “appears” because I had to tie a couple statements together to draw that conclusion.  At any rate, Catholics should be prepared to logically and intelligibly talk about this when it comes up, so here are the paraphrased statements, with my own remarks to each: - Gay couples can already adopt, so opposing SSM doesn’t affect how children are raised.   If the Church wants to make a stand against something that will affect children, it should be standing against divorce.   Regardless, the Church should not claim moral authority on the well-being of children. First of all, just because a same-sex couple CAN adopt and WANTS to adopt does not logicaly mean that this is what's BEST for children...and science does not support any such notion ( source below ).  Secondly, the Church DOES stand against divorce.   In fact, in its 2,000 year history, the...

[65] “After we have thus washed the one who has believed and has assented, we lead him to where those who are called brethren are gathered, offering prayers in common and heartily for ourselves and for the one who has been illuminated, and for all others everywhere, so that we may be accounted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, to be found keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an eternal salvation. Having concluded the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then there is brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of water and of watered wine; and taking them, he gives praise and glory to the Father of all, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and he himself gives thanks at some length in order that these things may be deemed worthy. When the prayers and the thanksgiving are completed, all the people present call out their assent, saying: “Amen!” Amen in the Hebrew language signifies so be it . After the president ...

Well, it’s not one of the most common questions that Catholics get asked, but it’s closely related to a very common question, and in reality, it is the more appropriate form of that more common question [why do you “worship” Mary?]. First and foremost, let’s clear the air really quickly: 1) Catholics do NOT* worship Mary. (*In truth, we need to define “worship” (latria, dulia, hyper-dulia) if we are going to address this more deeply than what I’ll cover here. But for purposes of talking to normal people with a normal vocabulary in post-18 th century English speaking dialog…no, we do not worship Mary.) 2) Asking for prayers from the “dead” is NOT the same as asking prayers from those who have passed on before us…at least according to Jesus and Paul and John. In Scripture, the “dead” are those damned, or otherwise “dead” or not with us and might be used as mediums (see Deut 18:10-11) while the others are referred to as “saints” or children of God, or members of Christ...

“Love desires knowledge, and knowledge serves love.” (Frank Sheed, from a speech in 1957) When we “love” someone (“love” being the action word, not the fuzzy feeling), what do we want of them? What do we desire of those we love? Probably many things, but I'd say primarily it could be boiled down to “getting to know”, or “knowing” them. Getting to know, and knowing, them serves the love we have for them. And the more we love them, the more we want to know them...and the more we know them, the more we understand of them to love, so to speak. I believe this is mostly true of just about anyone. So, how much desire do we have to know God? Can our hunger for “knowing” God be any indicator for how much we “love” Him? Or what of our efforts to “know” Him? And if there is any truth to what this suggests, then how shall we go about getting to know Him, if we realize we have not done a fair job in doing so? Allow me for a moment to turn “knowledge” into “food”, and a “hung...

Senator Diane Savino, on December 2, 2009, gave a speech at a Senate hearing in support of redefining “Marriage” to include same sex couples.  I watched her video and noted each point she made ( in orange italics ), and have addressed each one respectively. In the responses, the bolded blue quotes are from the OSV article linked below. I have also provided the video to Senator Savino's speech for context. “ … tens of thousands of lives hanging in the balance … ” -The argument begins with an emotional plea with absolutely no justification or support. How exactly are lives hanging in the balance? Is not being married detrimental to a person? I’d like to see some credible evidence for this assertion. This is an appeal to emotion with no substance to back it up. " [This is about] fairness and equality…people of right age, sound mind… who choose to live together….and want protection that gov’t grants to the married… ” - Redefining “Marriage” is NOT an issue of ...

What did the Early Christians Believe?                                                             Baptism:  Baptism by Blood (Martyrdom) (part1) "We have, indeed, a second [baptismal] font which is one with the former [water baptism]: namely, that of blood, of which the Lord says: ‘I am to be baptized with a baptism’ [Luke 12:50], when he had already been baptized. He had come through water and blood, as John wrote [1 John 5:6], so that he might be baptized with water and glorified with blood. . . . This is the baptism which replaces that of the fountain, when it has not been received, and restores it when it has been lost" (Tertullian, Ba...

Not often, but on occasion, one might be digging deep into the Old Testament Scriptures to defend their Christian beliefs only to hear, "but that's in the old law...it doesn't matter anymore" (or something kinda like that).  So what do you do?    Well, the first thing to recognize is that, while the Old Testament does contain some old laws that we are no longer bound to (like splitting the calf in half, and laying its parts across from one another and waking through them when making an oath), they are STILL the Word of God...they are STILL Scripture.  And we also need to be mindful of the fact that , even ignoring the many instances where Jesus and other NT figures quote from the Old, the New Testament does have a bit to say about these.   So, let's observe what the NT Scriptures tell us about the Scriptures themselves. Scripture says, “ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training...

What did the Early Christians Believe? Authority of the Bishop “For Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the will of the Father, just as the bishops, who have been appointed throughout the world, are the will of Jesus Christ. [4,1] It is fitting, therefore, that you should live in harmony with the will of the bishop – as indeed, you do.” (Ignatius of Antioch, 110 AD, Letter to the Ephesians, [3,2] and [4,1] ) “Let us be careful, then, if we would be submissive to God, not to oppose the bishop.” (ibid. [5,3] ) “ I will [send you further doctrinal explanations] especially if the Lord should reveal to me that all of you to a man, through grace derived from the Name, join in the common meeting in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the family of David according to the flesh [ see Rom 1:3 ], the Son of Man and the Son of God, so that you give ear to the bishop and to the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one Bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the a...

What Does the Bible say about Celibacy? "To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion" (1Cor 7:8-9) "Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. . . those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. . . . The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband" (1Cor 7:27-34). "If such is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry” (Mt 19:10) "Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is grante...

Someone once shared a quote after a bit of “fraternal correction” that was going on: “ The purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticize others. ” (Dalai Lama) True to a point…but is that ALL? In other words, is the Dalai Lama saying this to the extent that we should not correct sin? I doubt it. And even if he is, are his words TRUE? I believe he shares that same view that Christ and the Apostles taught (though I may be wrong), that somewhat deeper view; one by which we not only learn to control ourselves, but cooperate with God’s grace and grow in holiness and to help our brethren to do the same. I think there are some who might read these words of the Dalai Lama and misunderstand them for a rebuke against correcting one another. I don’t think this is that is his message, and more importantly, I think we should focus on what Christ had to say (He is God after all). Msgr. Charles Pope explains, “far from forbidding the correction of the sinner [Jesus, in Lk 6:36-38] ...

In Timothy 3:15, we see Paul explaining to Timothy that, should Paul be delayed, he writes to Timothy so that one may know how to conduct himself in “the Church…which is the pillar and bulwark of Truth”.   But which Church was he talking about?   Obviously he is talking about God’s Church, since he says, “…the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of truth…” (1Tim3:15)   But what did this Church look like?   Was it an invisible body of all believers?   Was it a visible Church?   Could it be both rather than either/or? Firstly, we Catholics believe the Church is One …meaning Christ founded one Church and intended it to remain as such.   (Jn 10:16, Jn 17:17-23, Eph 4:3-6, Rom 12:5, Rom 15:5, Rom 16:17, 1Cor 1:10, 1Cor 12:13, Phil 2:2, Col 3:15, etc…) Catholics believe the Church that Paul is talking about in 1Tim 3:15 has both visible and invisible aspects. For example, in the verses immediately pr...

Mike Gendron will be quoted in black; my responses will be in red . Deception will always be exposed by Truth. Have you ever realized that you could be deceived and not even be aware of it? Those who are deceived will never know it unless they are confronted with the truth. Many go to their grave deceived about the most important issue we all face, and that is, locating the narrow road that leads to eternal life. Who are you trusting to show you the way and the truth to eternal life? What is your source for truth? Is it absolutely trustworthy? Will it protect you from the schemes and lies of the master deceiver?    The prophet Jeremiah gave us wise counsel for choosing whom we should trust. He said if you trust in man you will be cursed liked a bush in the parched places of the desert. But if you trust in God you will be blessed. You will be like a tree planted by water always bearing fruit, whose leaves are always green. No worries or fears will come upon you in a year of...