Catechesis and Cafeteria Catholicism (by Danny Manthei)


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Refuting Mike Gendron's "Are Catholics Deceived?"

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...
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The Dying Wish of my Brother, Danny Manthei

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My brother died on Sunday, August 10, 2014. Just a week prior, on the feast day of St. Alphonsus Liguori ( August 1 or 2, depending on the Liturgical calendar you use ), he wrote a letter which he intended for all the Catholics in his area to read or hear from their respective Priests. Part of his dying wish was that all Catholics would be encouraged to learn their faith more deeply and thoroughly in order to grow closer to God and prepare for our eternal destination. By this time, he had held a catechesis meeting with the local parishes, and led a discussion with a local Confirmation class, which I had the honor of sitting in and listening to. Shortly after writing this, on Tuesday, August 5, he had a friend record a video message in which he delivered a catechesis/apologetics lesson, followed by a Q&A session. I made minor edits [in brackets] to this letter, but the message was not changed in any way. This is my brother's death-bed letter: [Recipients' na...
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One Church: Working Toward Unity in the Body of Christ

I once listened to a talk by John Martignoni of the Bible Christian Society called "One Church". If I had to pick a single message during my life where I really felt God was calling me to take a role in working to heal the divisions that have taken place in His Body, the Church (Eph 1:22-23), I would have to say that it spoke the loudest to me through that talk. I've listened to it several times, and I will post a link to it below, but here I am going to do my best to re-present it in writing*. From it, I want to share what I believe should be important to every Christian: unity in the Body of Christ. In Jn 14:6, Christ tells us, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me ". Jesus is telling us two important things here. 1) There is ONE truth. 2) The truth is a Person...Christ. We know this isn't the first time the Jews had heard something like this, because John writes, " Then Jesus said to the ...
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Did God Give us a Religion, or a Relationship?

I continue to see comments lately that pit “relationship” against “religion”, as though there’s a new trend with Christians trying to distance themselves from “rules” that they might be expected to follow. The latest I heard was " Religion gets you to church, but relationship helps you grow in your faith ".  Other examples are, “ Having a religion is against my relationship ”, or “ God gave me a relationship, not a religion to follow ”, or “ I have a personal relationship with Christ, I don’t need a religion’s rules to tell me what to do ”. There are various ways of saying it, but the main message is that “ Christ gave us a relationship with Him, not a religion to follow”, and it's an incredibly short-sighted and incorrect view of what Christ has given us.  The religion that Christ gave us to follow is a reflection of our relationship with Him .  "Religion", from the Latin "religio" means to  bind oneself  [to something]. In this case, our Christian ...
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Why is there Temporal Punishment for Sin; Didn't Jesus Pay Our Debt?

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I was discussing Penance, purgatory, and indulgences (among many other topics) with a friend, and the topic of temporal punishment came up. Temporal punishment happens to be closely linked to indulgences, which happen to be linked to the effects of Sacramental Penance, so it was only natural that it be next in line for discussion. In case you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about: " An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven ..." ( CCC 1471 , emphasis mine). Anyone not familiar with that might respond with, " Whoa! Hold up there on the 'temporal punishment'! What's that all about? " I'll explain what it's all about, but you can also get a good idea by reading the very short Catechism paragraphs 1471-1473, especially in light of the three paragraphs immediately preceding those, and 1478-79. ( HERE's that link.) Anyway, my friend actually read ...
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To Veil, or not to Veil: *IS* That the Question?

Well, for starters, no, it isn't. "Veil" is the wrong word altogether, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the traditional Catholic discipline where women assist at/participate in Mass with their heads "covered", to use the words of the old Canon. You see, the old Canon Law 1262 § 2 stated that women " shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed ", but there was never a specification as to what that cover could be. So, the more appropriate question would be: "to cover, or not to cover?". But to answer my own question, again, no it's not the question. I think a better question would be, " why DON'T you cover? " or " why DO you? ". But, since " veil " has a nicer ring to it and it's a familiar term to many, I went ahead and used " veil " in my questions. A little background before going further: In 1983, the Church released a new Code of Canon La...
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To Give or Not to Give, and How to Do it Right: by Apprentice Blogger

Giving gifts thoughtlessly, or without consideration, is something we probably all have done. It seems like giving someone a gift that's "nice" or cheap, is a harmless act of charity, and the recipient will probably never know whether the giver has put much thought or effort into it. Some people don't even like giving gifts to others, yet they do it because they think they have to and therefore don't put much effort into it.  But, as they say, it's the thought that counts; and if your thought is, ''Do I have to give someone a gift?",  then how does that show that you love or care about the receiver of the gift?   It really doesn't.   When the occasion calls for giving your friend a gift, do so with love, and not with the desire to get the cheapest item available, or to reluctantly just get it over with. Don't buy them a $700 watch, but also don't buy a cheap dollar store item. And don't buy them a super-expensive gift they w...
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