"A Humble Servant's Catholic Blog"

Using pebbles or beads as tangible prayer minders was nothing new by the 9th century, when Monks had begun making a daily or weekly recitation of all 150 Psalms.  It made perfect sense, then, when the lay faithful, who wanted a way to participate in this pious practice, yet had difficulty learning the Psalms due to various reasons (e.g., widespread illiteracy), instead recited 150 prayers daily or weekly and kept track of them by means of pebbles or beads.  Eventually this practice evolved into beads being strung together on a cord.  The daily prayers would typically be the "Pater Noster" (the Lord's Prayer, found in Lk 11:2-4 or Mt 6:9-13) or the "Ave [Gratia Plena]" (the "Hail, Full of Grace" found in Lk 1:28, 41-42).  Gradually, the second half of what we know today as the "Hail Mary" was added, reflecting Lk 1:43 and passages regarding praying for one another (e.g., James 5:16).  This recitation of prayers on beads would eventually evolve...

- " If I touch the holy water font, it'll melt. " - " I better not go to confession because, if I enter the church, it may burn down! "   - " I'm just too 'dirty' to go before God right now...I need to clean up first. "   Whether they are an excuse to not go to church, or a genuine notion that someone actually has to 'get right with God' BEFORE they receive the Sacraments, these comments (paraphrased, but you are likely familiar with many variations of them) are wrong minded, backwards, and completely miss the purpose of the Sacraments.   You may have read in any number places, in any number of ways, that " the church is not a museum for saints; rather it is a hospital for sinners ".  And this is the truth of the matter.   We need not be "clean" in order to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (i.e., going to confession).  Reconciliation is given to us by Christ for exactly that purpose...to reconcile us to Hi...

Are you Church history buff looking for an opportunity to participate in the restoration of a historical Christian monument? Or an architectural history nerd who would love the opportunity to help restore the very last building design by the man behind Annunciation Catholic Church's bell tower? A philanthropist looking for a great cause to donate to for the betterment of society, history, and faith? Need to donate some money to a charitable organization for tax purposes, but want to find something really worthwhile? Or do you simply have some spare cash or other assets looking for a good place to go? Look no further! The " Hail, Full of Grace Capital Campaign " has exactly what you are looking for! From the campaign homepage, we learn that " Annunciation Catholic Church is a vibrant and historic parish community that dates back to 1869. For over 140 years, our church has been ministering to the needs of our greater Houston community. As the mother church...

A news story was released recently about a group of San Francisco Catholics petitioning to have Archbishop Cordileone ousted for creating “ an atmosphere of division and intolerance ”. You can read one of the covers of that story HERE for details. What I want to focus on are some of the complaints against the Archbishop. He is accused of setting “ a pastoral tone that is closer to persecution than evangelization ”. Evidence cited to support this is a morality clause that defines extra-marital sex and homosexual acts as “ gravely evil ”. The problem with the complaint, though, is that the Church has ALWAYS taught about grave evils, their dangers, the need to warn and rebuke our brothers about them, and that these specific acts are such (cff. 1Jn 1:19, 5:16; James 5:13-16, 19; Lev 19:17; Mt 7:5, 18:15-17; 1Cor 5:1-13; Gal 6:1-2; Lev 20:13; Rom 1:27; 1Cor 6:9-10; MT 5:28 ; etc.). Is it “ persecution ” to warn people about the gravity of certain sins? No. It’s an act of mercy to...

To understand why Catholics (and Lutherans, and some Episcopalians and Methodists, etc...) Batpize infants, 2 things need to be understood:  1) what the Church believes about Baptism, and 2) the Church's understanding of Original Sin.  I have posted quotes from the Early Church Fathers about what the earliest Christians believed about Baptism .  But in this article, I will stick strictly to Scripture. The Catholic position is that Baptism is: 1) a Sacrament which confers on us the Holy Spirit, 2) through which we are made members of Christ, and 3) Baptism saves us.   Baptism is sacramental (a visible sign, with an invisible grace, instituted by Christ) that confers the Holy Spirit, and washes away sin. “ I will sprinkle clean water upon you , and you shall be clean form all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.   A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you ; and I will take o...

Christ said, “ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.    And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven.     Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah .”   (Mt 23:8-10)   Usually when Catholics are being pointed to the fact that we call our Priests “father”, it is only verse 9 that we see, “And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven”.   For some reason, those who like to hone in on “ call no one your father ” are willing to make exceptions for “ teacher ” and “ instructor ”, unless they are only reading the KJV, which translates “ master ” in those instances.   But even those are willing to make exceptions for our biological fathers.   There is a problem there, however, because this passage makes no distinction between spiritual and biological fathers.   It simply says, “ c...

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:18-20) “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mk 16:15-16) “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Lk 10:16) “…The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles…Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he...

God has given me a most wonderful experience in growing closer to Him, and I simply must tell you about it. I had been feeling dull for some time, as though the world was honing away at my steel faster than God was sharpening it. I knew that it wasn’t a problem of God not keeping up, that it was with me; that I was becoming lazy in my faith life. Ever so gradually I had allowed myself to skip out on a prayer here, a prayer there, a mindful presence of the Lord from time to time. I was allowing myself to become too lax, too comfortable. It was nothing immediately noticeable, but looking back over the past couple years it was clear. I tried to get back into prayerful habits and exercises of piety, but continued to fail time after time. What I needed was a retreat. Just like the armies of man-made warfare who are too worn to continue, I was worn from spiritual warfare and needed to back off from the front lines and take time to heal, to rest, to revive, and to rekindle that deep...

Why is it important to know our faith?  Because we want to be with Jesus in eternity! 

Death . It’s one of those things that most people try not to think about. And if they are thinking about it, it’s usually not in a positive light. We tend to associate death with lament, angst, fear, horror, or some other negative emotion/feeling. And in reality, that seems very natural because humans were not originally created to die…it’s not part of the original design. Man was created to LIVE. But it is a reality that, from the first act of rebellion against our Creator, death entered the scene and it is appointed for all men to die a physical death ( cff. Rom 5:12-21, Hb 9:27 ).   So, is there a way to view death is a positive light? Is there anything good about death? Is there anything about death that we can look forward to? SURE! But let’s back up for a second and take a wider view before answering those questions. There are few things in life that are certain. Of those certainties are: 1 – Death. All men will die. There is nothing you can do to es...