Perhaps the single most misdirected and misunderstood idea that many non-Catholics have about the Catholic Church is that we worship Mary as we do God. Let me make this very clear before we move forward. Catholics believe that God alone is worthy of worship. We do not, in any way, shape, or form, worship Mary. She is not God, nor is she some Catholic goddess. She is not the Christian version of Venus. She does not wield any power like... Read more
On August 15th, the Catholic Church will celebrate one of its oldest and most important feast days: The Assumption of Mary. This feast day celebrates the end of Mary’s life on Earth when God, the Father, took her into Heaven, body and soul together. Much like the Immaculate Conception and Mary’s perpetual virginity, you won’t find this event in the Bible. The belief in Mary’s assumption is a part of our Tradition that has survived since the age of the... Read more
Whenever we talk about Mary, we address her with many different titles: Mother of Jesus, Mother of God, Holy Mary, Blessed Mother. However, out of all these, the one most often heard across Catholic (and Protestant) aisles is The Virgin Mary. Virtually every person that claims the Christian faith accepts that Mary miraculously conceived Christ as a virgin. Yet, it is widely believed across every Protestant denomination that after Mary gave birth to Jesus, she was free to give herself... Read more
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece dealing with the current trend of Catholic laity calling for certain politicians and public figures to be denied the Eucharist. I took a stance against this action, citing that by doing so we encroach on the territory of Church authority. I received a great deal of supportive messages after publishing that blog. And I also heard from a few dissenters who felt it should be our Christian duty to deny the Eucharist... Read more
During my days as a Southern Baptist, my opinion of Mary, the Blessed Virgin, was the same as every other Protestant. I saw her as just another character in the Bible, one who was given a particular task, and when God was finished with her, she faded into the background with the rest of the crowd. She lived her life as a normal woman, giving herself fully to her husband Joseph, and birthing other, less divine, children. And I also... Read more
“I am and always will be the optimist, the hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”—The Eleventh Doctor The above passage is one of my favorite quotes from Doctor Who. There’s nothing exactly profound about it, but that’s often what’s so genius about The Doctor. In the past, I struggled with being an optimist. I always preferred to see myself as a realist. Life is what it is, and it’s best to accept it and deal with... Read more
I hear a lot of talk these days from laymen and women in the Catholic blogosphere who would like to see the Eucharist withheld from certain politicians because of their stance on certain social issues. I won’t disagree that many politicians who claim to follow the Catholic faith are guilty of promoting ideas and actions that are expressly contrary to Church teaching. However, as lay Catholics, we have zero authority on who should and should not receive. That power lies... Read more
Since becoming mobile, my one-year-old son has developed a rather terrifying habit of climbing up and diving off anything he can get a leg up on. Of course, I’m always right there to catch him before he face-plants in to the carpet, in which he repays me with heart melting laughter and a goofy smile. My son is pure boy, so we’ve done this song and dance multiple times. Recently, however, as he and I were playing in the living... Read more
With my recent pieces on divorce, I’ve used the word “adultery” a great bit. Within the context, however, I discussed the adultery that comes after a divorce when either party attempts to start a new relationship. I’d like now to discuss adultery in the way that we normally see it–as infidelity in a marriage, or cheating. Adultery is everywhere and is seemingly always on our minds. Scour the magazine racks at the grocery store and there’s guaranteed to be a... Read more
In my last essay, I discussed how divorce is pretty much never okay. Since then, some questions have been raised to me about Paul’s teachings on divorce, and I’d like to address them now. Before I dig into the scripture, however, I’d like to express my bewilderment at how many Christians are so quick to come to the defense of divorce. Take for example this article. The author, although condemning divorce to some degree, comments that people use divorce as... Read more
Mackerel Snapper
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