Christ Remains Inviolate

Last updated on: May 6, 2019 at 3:05 am By Henry Karlson

Naïve piety and superstition both cause great confusion concerning the eucharist, as we find those who follow one or the other, or both, think they can actually harm the body of Christ. Eucharistic sacrilege, the intentional dishonoring of Christ, does not harm Christ himself, but the person committing the abuse. On the other hand, when something accidental happens to the eucharistic bread, such as when it crumbles and someone steps on the crumbs, what Hugh of St. Victor said applies:... Read more

The Myrrh Bearing Women, The First To Preach The Resurrection of Christ

Last updated on: May 5, 2019 at 5:27 am By Henry Karlson

The second Sunday of Eastertide in the Byzantine tradition is the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. On it, this Eastern tradition commemorates the remarkable witness of the women who followed Christ. In many ways, their story shows us something which is proven true throughout history: the women who followed Jesus were braver and more devout than their male counterparts, and yet their voice, their fidelity was often ignored. The myrrh bearing women were the women who followed after Christ, who... Read more

Being a Prominent Scholar Or Theologian Does Not Give One Authority To Denounce The Pope

Last updated on: May 3, 2019 at 10:10 am By Henry Karlson

Being a famous scholar or theologian, offering invaluable works that help promote and develop Christian theology, does not make someone free from error. Many great theologians have ended up being schismatic, if not outright heretical. Despite what personal failures which might leady some scholars and theologians to eventually hold erroneous if not outright dangerous views, their works often remain invaluable to the Christian faith, so that Christians can and should learn from them, though with care so as not to... Read more

Attacking Pope Francis, Far-Right Nationalists Reject Basic Catholic Principles

Last updated on: May 4, 2019 at 2:36 am By Henry Karlson

The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, in May 2019, will be having a plenary session on “Nation, State, and Nationhood,” examining the history and problems of nationalism, as their concept note explains: The world is facing today a growing threat of nationalist revival. Exclusivist national ideology leads to mutual rejection and enduring conflicts. Yet humanity has learned from its history that nations can coexist, cooperate and prosper together when they put their potential in common. Right-wing writers, like the disgraced... Read more

Don’t Limit God By A Lack Of Imagination

Last updated on: April 29, 2019 at 3:15 am By Henry Karlson

Étienne Tempier, in his famous condemnations of 1277, denounced the notion that God could not have made many different worlds other than our own. According to the logic of some, it made sense that there was one God, and that one God would make only one world. And yet, those like Tempier believed such assertion said too much, that it ended up limiting God, making him follow what seems as logically necessary from a limited human perspective. One great theological... Read more

The Transcendent Glory Of The Eighth Day

Last updated on: April 28, 2019 at 4:17 am By Henry Karlson

The eighth day. The day after the Sabbath, the seventh day. The eighth day, the day on which Christ rose from the grave. The new and everlasting day. Just as eight follows seven, so the day after the sabbath rest, the day on which Christ rose from the dead, can be said to be the glorious eighth day. It was also the first day of a new week. Until Christ, the end was represented by the Sabbath rest, a rest... Read more

Understanding the Resurrection

Last updated on: April 25, 2019 at 3:04 am By Henry Karlson

In 19th and early 20th century Russian philosophy, the writings of Nikolai Fedorov offered an interesting, albeit mistaken, idea concerning the resurrection of the dead: he thought God had given the task for humanity to establish the means by which the resurrection of the dead would be established. Jesus represented what was possible for the rest of us, and so we should likewise find the means, through science, to bring back all the dead. It would be a revivification or... Read more

Easter Worshipers

Last updated on: April 23, 2019 at 7:44 am By Henry Karlson

It’s a strange thing. When Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and others referred to those killed by terrorist bombs in Sri Lanka as “Easter worshipers,” some people became more concerned with the words “Easter worshipers” than they are with the attack itself. They have shown themselves to be more interested in making a political attack against Obama and Clinton than showing sympathy to those who were killed. They act like the term “Easter worshiper” is not only strange, but intended as... Read more

Earth Day and the Resurrection

Last updated on: April 22, 2019 at 3:06 am By Henry Karlson

This year, 2019, Earth Day is the day after the celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. There is something very fitting to this. Christ rose from the dead and shared his saving grace to all things. The earth and all that is on it has been damaged by the sin of humanity. Christ’s resurrection from the dead brings grace to the earth which will allow it to come back to its original purity before being taken into eternity (and... Read more

Christ Is Risen And All Things Are Changed

Last updated on: April 21, 2019 at 2:54 am By Henry Karlson

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:1-5 RSV). In the new beginning is the Word, the Word who had become... Read more

What does "Barnabas" mean?