Conversion stories have always interested me. As a convert myself I’m always intrigued but what brings people of other faiths to the Catholic Church. In his latest book How God Hauled Me Kicking and Screaming Into the Catholic Church, Kevin Lowry tells his story…and what a story it is. Kevin is the son of a Presbyterian minister. He was a decent student and as high school draws to a close Kevin is faced with a decision on college. His father,... Read more
Why didn’t God prevent evil? Couldn’t God have made creation so that evil never happened? Yes, he could have, says St. Justin Martyr. But God knew that creation would be better if both we and the angels had free will. Couldn’t God have cut off the serpent in the beginning, so that he never existed, rather than saying, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed” (Gen. 3:15)? Couldn’t he have created a multi-... Read more
Review by Michele Craig Having fallen in love with Saint Pope John Paul II, I hang on his every word! But, being a mere mortal-sometimes I do not know exactly what he is saying (but I know it is good!), so rather than struggling through his Theology of the Body (which is on my book shelf), I have read every other possible writer’s Theology of the Body to ease my understanding. So, I consider myself a bit of an expert... Read more
Reason tells us God is our Ruler Against heretics who claimed that angels or a sub-divine creator made the universe without knowing about the Supreme God, St. Irenaeus says that no intelligent being can be so ignorant. All beings with reason know that there is a God, and that he is our Ruler. And how could either the angels or the supposed creator of the world have been ignorant of the Supreme God? They were his property, and his crea-... Read more
God was in charge of creation Some heretics have believed that the devil and his angels created the world against the wishes of the good God. St. Irenaeus says they’re suggesting that God is less competent than a good foreman at a construction site. Now, some say that the world was formed by angels, or by some other maker of it, against the will of the supreme Father. But they’re wrong, first of all, in this main point: when they say that... Read more
Ralph Martin has been a leader in renewal movements in the Catholic Church for many years. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he did graduate work in philosophy at Princeton University and holds an MA in Theology from Sacred Heart School of Theology in the Archdiocese of Detroit, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) from the... Read more
02Day and night St. Gregory the Great sees an image of Satan in the “day” and “night” that Job curses. Satan is a false day, promising us the light but actually leading us into the darkness of death. “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, ‘A man-child is conceived’” ( Job 3:3). Satan presents himself as the “day,” in that he seduces us with prosperity. And his end is in the darkness of the “night,” because... Read more
The right and left hands of God The heavenly host stands at the right and left hands of God. One side is the good angels, says St. Gregory the Great, and one side is the evil angels. Both serve God, though the evil ones are working for their own evil purposes. “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of Heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left” (1 Kings 22:19). What is the... Read more
Light and darkness Genesis 1:4 says that “God separated the light from the darkness”; St. Augustine suggests that it refers to the separation of the good angels from the evil an– gels. But even if that’s not what the original author intended, he says, describing the one group as “light” and the other as “darkness” is still accurate. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” ( James 4:6). One group lives in the Heaven of heavens; the... Read more
This week Emmaus Road Publishing is sponsoring the giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one copy of The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin (you can read my review here). I use Rafflecopter to run my giveaways which makes it simple for you and me! Enter below. The contest starts at midnight tonight EST and will end 12 AM EST 10/07 with a winner being announced later that day. a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more
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