In what seems to be a never-ending battle these days between objective truth and subjective truth, and reality vs alternative realities, religion is now fully on the table of truth mongering, along with just about every other discourse out there. And as wonderful as this may sound to the world of subjective truth, the claim…
Gospel Reflection — Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 — The Eucharist and Catechism
To start this Gospel reflection, I had originally planned on reiterating, yet again, the statistic that only 30% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; and I believe that if we can align Catholics with understanding and accepting the Eucharist, it could solve many other matters throughout the Catholic Church…
Gospel Reflection — John 20:19-23, John 15:26-27, John 16:12-15
In the 2008 documentary, “Religious”, Bill Maher, who is well known for his show “Real Time with Bill Maher”, embarks on journey – albeit a rather tongue-in-cheek one — throughout the US, the Holy Land, and the Vatican to get answers to questions that skeptics and seekers have been asking for centuries about Christian theology…
A Short Response to Non-Believer “Mic Drop” Memes About God and Christianity
Like anyone else who spends some time in the social media world, I (unfortunately) get a daily dose of arguments about social issues – including, and no surprise, *religion*: you know, the hot button topic that is mostly a hot button topic because we adults need better training on how to debate hot button topics….
Recommended Reading: “Coming Soon” by Michael Barber
When I was 16 – in the days of VCRs, VHS tapes, movie rental stories, and sleepovers at my friends’ houses – one of my friends and I decided to rent a couple of movies one Friday night; and because we were both fairly good Catholic boys who, to our other friends’ surprise, enjoyed going…
Gospel Reflection — John 17:11-19
This was an extra eventful week in my Catholic faith journey, from fellowshipping with some outstanding Catholics growing in their own journey as well, to a Wednesday evening Mass that sort of flipped the script on my original plans for the evening, though in a positively extraordinary way. What I thought I was going to…
A Response to “Neuroscience versus Freewill”
Many Catholics are aware of, or have read, a well-crafted, encyclical letter by Pope John Paul II called ‘Fides et Ratio” (Faith and Reason): This document, now considered a staple in how the Catholic Church answers skeptics (some of whom view this subject as “when worlds collide”), is an effective primer for reconciling faith and…
Gospel Reflection — John 15:9-17
When I was 15 years-old and had a year of guitar lessons under my belt, I daydreamed – just about every day — about playing in a band, living the rock star dream that so many other aspiring musicians wish could come to fruition. After all, it was 1988, and I was quickly turning into…
A Short Response to “Why can’t women become Catholic priests?”
“Why can’t women become Catholic Priests?” For those of old enough to remember Billy Joel — a boomer generation musician, and the only reason one of my drill sergeants in the Army would ever appear to be in a good mood (He was a die-hard fan) – had a big hit in the late 80’s…
A Short Response to “Why is God ‘jealous'”?
“If God is only here for us, then why would he get jealous?” Because this is a personification of something that cannot quite be personified. God is anthropomorphized (meaning, made to appear human-like) as a way that we humans, created in HIs image, can connect with God’s revelations to humanity. As for God being “jealous”, this…