Apologetics
« Previous EntriesApologetics 101: Don’t Lose Your Sense of Humor
Thursday, April 16th, 2009For those of you in need of a good laugh . . . watch how Stephen Colbert slices through author Bart Ehrman’s flimsy theories about contradictions in the Bible. The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Bart Ehrman colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest Colbert is more than a [...]
Protestant “Verses” Catholic?
Monday, August 18th, 2008A Catholic school teacher recently posed this question to me: “Protestants always have signs, t-shirts, and the like with John 3:16, so it seems that for them that is the one definitive verse of the Bible. If you had to sum up the Catholic faith in one Bible verse or passage, what would it be?” [...]
Christian, I Presume?
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008When I was in law school, I had a classmate named Barry (not his real name). At the time, I was not practicing the faith and by no means was a paragon of virtuous living. Despite my own low standards, I thought Barry’s carousing lifestyle crossed the bounds of propriety. He even confided to me [...]
The Beloved Disciple
Thursday, December 27th, 2007The Church has always identified the Apostle John as the author of the fourth Gospel and the beloved disciple described in that Gospel. This common belief is richly reflected in the Church’s liturgy. The universal Church today celebrates the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. The readings, prayers, and antiphons unmistakably reflect the belief of [...]
Are You My Mother?
Friday, December 14th, 2007One of my young son’s favorite books is the P.D. Eastman classic Are You My Mother? In this story, baby bird becomes separated from his mother and frantically goes in search of her. Along the way, he asks many creatures and even inanimate objects if they’re his mother, but none of them are. Finally, when [...]
Rise and Walk
Monday, December 10th, 2007Today’s Gospel at Mass was St. Luke’s account of the healing of the paralytic. One verse from that passage has always stood out to me: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘As for you, your sins are forgiven’” (Lk. 5:20). Jesus attributes the healing–physical and spiritual–of the paralytic to the faith of his four [...]
A Bishop’s Bishop
Friday, December 7th, 2007Today is the feast of St. Ambrose, a remarkable fourth-century bishop and saint, who is considered a “doctor of the Church” because of his excellence as a teacher of timeless Catholic truth. Many saints have their feast day on or at least near the day of their death, which is understood as the day they [...]
Iggy’s Top Ten
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007I’m especially partial to today’s saint, Ignatius of Antioch. I’m sure part of it is because it’s my birthday, so I’ve always claimed him as one of “my” saints. But even more, St. Ignatius, who is recalled in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer 1), is a vitally important witness to the faith of the Apostles, [...]
Looking for Answers
Monday, August 27th, 2007My algebra textbook in ninth grade had an answer key in the back that enabled me to check my answers upon completing my homework assignment. Most of the time, the answer key simply served to verify that in fact I had arrived at the correct answer. Sometimes, however, the answer given in the book was [...]
“Holy” Church
Friday, August 17th, 2007Last week I was involved in an online discussion with several Christians who have axes to grind with the Catholic Church. Every time I patiently answered one question, they would come up with five more. What a lot of it came down to was an assessment that the Catholic Church can’t be the true Church [...]
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