When we recite the Creed, we say that we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. That doesn’t just mean the Church on Earth, says St. Au– gustine: the angels above are also members, and we will all make up one eternal choir for the proper praise of God. The order of the Creed rightly demands that the Church be made subordinate to the Trinity—in the same way that a house is subordinate to whoever lives in it, the temple... Read more
The life of the believer is like day compared to the life of the unbeliever, says St. Augustine. But it’s like night compared to the enlightenment of the angels. That brilliant day is what we have to look forward to at the Resurrection. “In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying” (Ps. 77:2). We shouldn’t think “trouble” means some particular kind of thing. Anyone who has not yet made... Read more
We have all undoubtedly heard the catch phrase “the new evangelization” coined by our last three popes. For something to be new, there must have been something old before it, correct? Well, in this case, there certainly was. We could call this the “old” evangelization, and it goes back through the centuries all the way to Jesus himself. Eric Sammons examines the evangelization efforts of Jesus himself in his book The Old Evangelization: How to Spread the Faith Like Jesus... Read more
At the end of time, says St. Cyril of Alexandria, Christ will come in glory, and the saints and martyrs will receive their reward: the acknowledgment of Christ, and the praise of the angels. “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And every one who speaks a word against the Son... Read more
When Christ comes again, St. Cyril of Alexandria reminds us, it won’t be in the form of a poor carpenter. He will come in glory, surrounded by the angels. What a blessing it will be then to be called to inherit the kingdom that awaits us! And further, to set plainly before us the reward of our being willing to labor, he says: “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed... Read more
Zion—Jerusalem—is an image of the heavenly kingdom, says St. Augustine. The captivity of the earthly Jerusalem in Babylon is an image of our pilgrim– age here on earth; our friends the angels await us in the heavenly Jerusalem. “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream” (Ps. 126:1). By this he meant to say that we became joyful. When? “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion.” What is Zion? Jerusalem. The same is also... Read more
Review by Laura Socks The subsequent volumes of TAN’s The Story of Civilization by Phillip Campbell will be released over the next three years. The story continues with the release this summer of The Story of Civilization: VOLUME II – The Medieval World . Students will read all about the times after Constantine to the early days of the Renaissance. They will read of castles and knights, saints and monks, literature and architecture all from a trusted Catholic source. Anti-Catholic... Read more
Speaking of Jesus’ parable of the net, Origen explains that the promised sorting-out cannot happen till the end of time. Meanwhile, we should not be surprised to find evil lurking even in the Church. “Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will... Read more
Angels were treated like humans when they visited us, says Tertullian—eating, drinking, even having their feet washed. So it should not strike us as impossible that humans, after the resurrection, will be treated like angels. Our Lord puts an effective end to this discussion by declaring that they “are like angels in Heaven” (Matt. 22:30). “Like” in that we will not marry, because we will not die; like, too, of course, in that we will not have to yield to any... Read more
Eric Sammons is a former Evangelical, who entered the Catholic Church in 1993. He has been involved in Catholic evangelization efforts for more than two decades, including five years as a diocesan director of evangelization. He is the father of seven children, author of several books, and a professional writer/editor. His website “Swimming Upstream” can be found at ericsammons.com. Eric is also the author of the new book The Old Evangelization: How to Spread the Faith Like Jesus Did from... Read more
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