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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A World Better Off Without Religion?

I once had a discussion with a friend of mine who believed that the world would be better off without any religion.   “ I think I figured it out ” , he said.   “[The one thing humans can] do away with that would make the world a much safer, brighter, happier, more progressive and innovative, and loving world [is religion]” .     Going with my own understanding of “religion” , I asked, “ How could the world be safer, brighter, happier, more progressive/innovative/loving by doing away with a relationship with our Creator? Seems like that would be a step in the opposite direction. ”   We ended up talking about several different topics at once ( whether we really know our Creator; whether He created evil/sin; the nature of free will; the state of humanity; etc. ) but the main focus was religion, and whether the world would be better off without it.     I said, “ Let’s make sure we are talking about the same thing:   ‘Religion’:   f...
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Why Do You Have So Many Kids?!

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-You know what causes that, right? -Did you guys plan it like that? -Will this be your last? -WOW, that's a lot of kids! -It's about time you got a pet. -You've got your hands full! -Are you Catholic, or Mormon? -That's just too many children! -How can you afford them all? -Won't that be a burden on society? -You need to get that "fixed". - What a beautiful family! This is just a sample of comments my wife and I (and other couples we know) have heard from friends, family, and perfect strangers over the years, beginning with our third child, believe it or not. (Isn't "three" supposed to be the new "two"?) I admit that I have made some of them myself, to other "large" families. I put "large" in quotations because, the fact is, families with more children than *I* am accustomed to aren't necessarily "large"; they're just families. But there is one question I have never be...
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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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Circumcision: Why Not? (with Briana Manthei)

“ Of course we are circumcising our son…the Bible says so! ” If you’ve read the Bible much, especially the Acts of the Apostles or Paul’s letters to the Romans and Galatians, you know that this statement makes no sense. But if you are anything like me and didn’t pay attention in Sunday school as a child, or never really read much of the Scriptures growing up, or didn’t pay attention when your parents or pastors were reading Scriptures to you, then you might identify with that statement. I’ll never forget the day that I learned just how ignorant I was about circumcision and Scripture. My wife and I were meeting with a Priest to talk about receiving the sacrament of Baptism for our soon-to-be-first-born baby. We had no idea if it was a boy or girl, and were preparing for either one. When my wife first asked me what I thought of circumcision, I expressed the same sentiment as in that first sentence. After all, the Bible could not be any clearer. God said: “ This is my covenan...
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Shaming the Pastor with a Same-Sex "Marriage" Argument?

A video was posted to Facebook which plays a clip of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd responding to a Christian Pastor who asked how the Prime Minister could justify his stance on Same-Sex "Marriage" while simultaneously identifying himself as a Christian. "Why", the Pastor wanted to know, "should Christians vote for [him]" when he holds values that are contrary to Christian belief. (The title of the video is "A Pastor Asks A Politician Why He Supports Gay Marriage. It Seems He Wasn't Prepared For His Reply" It can be found on YouTube quite easily.) Prime Minister Rudd responded, first by subjecting Christian Truth to his personal subjective opinions, and then avoided answering the question altogether by throwing out "strawmen" and resorting other fallacious reasoning tactics. While some same-sex "marriage" supporters will think he made some good points (and Christians will think otherwise), I'd like to give...
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Gay "Marriage" Won't Affect Me, so What's the Big Deal? (by Father Edwin Palka)

My wife brought home a Church bulletin from her trip to Florida, and showed me an article written by the Priest at the Parish where she attended Mass while she was away (St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church).  Admittedly, Briana and I have a particular fondness for this Priest...he celebrated our Marriage.  But that's not what made me want to post his article.  It is his plain and head-on way of addressing a real problem that every person, Catholic or not, is going to have to come to terms with, one way or another.  Without further ado, I am pleased to reproduce Father Edwin Palka's article.  From the Pastor: Gay "Marriage" Won't Affect Me, so What's the Big Deal?      The above question is being asked quite a bit right now by heterosexual people. Those needing to ask have unfortunately by and large embraced the falsehood that God made some people homosexual so they must act on their sexual urges. The rest of the ...
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