Do you really want to follow Church Teaching and be genuinely pro-life? Don’t be confused, fellow Catholics. If you are Catholic, you should live the Catholic life. That’s what our right-wing friends tell us. “You can’t be Catholic and go against Church Teaching.” Okay. But don’t be confused about what that means. Here’s a video all about that. Don’t Be Confused! I owe much love and gratitude to Professor Sixto Garcia for this piece. He heroically taught the truth for... Read more
The Gospel of Paul differs from the “good news” proclaimed by Jesus before his death and resurrection. What is the Gospel, anyway? Christians talk about the Gospel all the time, but many seem hard-pressed to say what it means. Try asking random Catholics and other Christians what “the Gospel” is. They get tongue-tied. Or instead, they offer theological anachronisms unknown to Jesus and his immediate followers. This post is not about the four canonical documents written by anonymous authors yet named after... Read more
When it comes to homosexuality, many Christians are being stupid and unfair to both Pope Francis and Saint Paul. Homosexuality and Pope Francis made the news. Both also fired the forge of animus belonging to so many Catholic fundamentalists. Repeatedly the Holy Father earns their ire, and recently, he has outdone himself. Francis seems to endorse same-sex civil unions. And people caught this on film. And the Francis hate-squad predictably reacted according to their unique brand of Christian “love.” When... Read more
Rising Cases of COVID-19 is a grim reminder of criminal negligence among leaders, both secular and clergy. Dear reader, I want you to imagine something terrible that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. It will be difficult, but a very fruitful exercise. When imagination is attuned to empathy, it can be profitable indeed. Imagine a child sick with coronavirus. Maybe your child. Or maybe your grandchild or godchild, or youngster relative. The child is placed on a ventilator. Do... Read more
Gentiles and the historical Paul mix well in imaginations colored by spurious facts, but not reality. We’ve been exploring the reality of Paul, the so-called “apostle to the Gentiles,” and his evangelization. Shockingly discomforting to our spurious familiarity, he didn’t really evangelize Gentiles. Instead, informed by Context Scholars Bruce Malina and John Pilch, we see that Paul was an apostle sent to Israelite émigrés living among non-Israelite majorities. He spread his Gospel through homophilous communication. Even simple math supports this. Despite clumsy... Read more
Math doesn’t lie about Paul’s evangelization. In yesterday’s post, we discussed the reliability of our assumptions about the historical Paul being “the Apostle to the Gentiles.” We considered whether Paul’s Gospel was really heterophilous, meaning that Paul evangelized peoples belonging to different education, beliefs, social status, and cultural makeup. But what if it wasn’t so? Contrary to spurious assumptions, what if Paul communicated in homophilous ways? In other words, what if Paul spread his Gospel to fellow Israelites, sharing his beliefs, education,... Read more
When it comes to reading Paul for cues about how to evangelize, Christians’ worst obstacle is their spurious familiarity. Paul evangelized. He spread the Gospel among the Gentiles because he was the Apostle to the Gentiles. I shouldn’t have to tell you that, right? It’s basic New Testament knowledge held by every Christian. We all know it. Got it in Sunday school. So we can drop that and move on. Except maybe we can’t move on. Perhaps our knowledge is spurious.... Read more
Give me more Mike Flanagan anything. The horror filmmaker doesn’t offer cheap chills and thrills—he challenges. I relish good films and artistic productions on all media, folks. And even homeless, I always welcome scary Halloween shows. So when a friend hooks you up with a little Netflix, spooky fun begins. Keep your pumpkin spice—give me the season of witches and ghosts. Especially when presented within another haunting entry from director Mike Flanagan and friends. The First Haunting In 2018, I... Read more
No more JPII saints. I am nauseated by them. As should you be. This isn’t just about Carlo Acutis. I have nothing against a boy who was obsessed with the consecrated species. But thank God for Garry Wills. I don’t know if I am willing to go as far as Wills does in his book “WHY PRIESTS: A FAILED TRADITION,” but I am getting there. Quickly. Thank you, Carlo. Thank you, ridiculous canonization process. Things have to change. Thankfully,... Read more
Gratitude saves even in the darkest days. Dark thoughts sometimes enter the head. When this happens, an exercise in gratitude is a beneficial prescription. Thérèse of Lisieux nailed it when she declared, “It all comes down to confidence and gratitude.” Dark thoughts are plentiful now. 210K dead. Gross dereliction from Governors, employers, and bishops. The threat of civil war grows, and environmental catastrophe looms. There are so many uncertainties about the future. Gratitude and Anger Sometimes I give you personal stories. So... Read more
Messy Inspirations
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