[pullquote] The question: Hi, I am researching the topic of marriage according to the scriptures. My question is: What constitutes marriage? Before you answer I want you to know that I am aware of how this question is not easy to answer. I have been researching it for days now and still have not been able […]
Shrovetide and The International Pancake Day Race!
March 5, 2014 by
The day before Ash Wednesday has many different names and traditions, to include Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras. However, there is one fairly recent pre-Ash Wednesday tradition that actually takes place right here in Kansas. It began in England with the observation of Shrove Tuesday. This tradition is what we know today as the International Pancake […]
When Is It Okay To “Draw The Line”?
November 20, 2013 by
This post began with a friend of mine who has recently cut ties with somebody who has caused her pain for her entire life. Her “VERY Christian mother” has called her “cold-hearted” and “evil” for this. She also revealed that her mother continuously helps people who have repeatedly hurt their family, knowing that this will be the result. She is “absolutely miserable” doing […]
Catholic Q&A: Why Bother Being Catholic
November 14, 2013 by
The following question was forwarded to me by a priest friend of mine. Q: Obviously, Catholics believe it to turn to body and blood. . . . However . . . what difference does it make? . . . If non-Catholics can make it to heaven without eating the bread of life [which we believe], then […]
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”: Reverence and Respect for God’s Name
October 19, 2013 by
I’ll establish some light-hearted context by noting a few of my pet peeves with grammar and punctuation. 1) I can’t stand when people mix “your” and “you’re” up. 2) If you want to make something plural, even if it’s an acronym, you DON’T put an apostrophe, i.e., you wouldn’t write “We should go get a few beer’s tonight.” […]
Q: Should women cover their heads in church and where did that tradition come from? Is this practice even appropriate?
September 12, 2013 by
A: The tradition of head coverings for women has its roots in St. Paul, who writes both that women ought to pray with their heads covered, and men with their heads uncovered, owing to the very imagery of our bodies as images of Christ and the Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:2ff). As late as the […]
Old Testament Proscriptions, The Levitical Law, and the New Covenant
July 17, 2013 by
I was reading a piece over at the Friendly Atheist, written by the daughter of prominent Christian evangelist Matt Slick, founder of CARM.org, a christian (but not Catholic, and at times Anti-Catholic apologetic website – I could write a whole web-site dedicated to refuting that stuff, but others already have.). The author of the piece, […]
Q: Does God Want Only A Contrite Heart?
March 8, 2013 by
A reader asks: I . . . came across the daily readings. They seem to contradict themselves. . . . Hosea 6:1-6: The last couple versus are, “what am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? For your love is like morning mist, like the dew the quickly […]
What are Marian apparitions? What do I have to believe about them? What if they are on a grilled cheese sandwich?
October 27, 2012 by
A Marian apparition is a purported miraculous appearance of Mary on Earth. They are not a new phenomenon. “Throughout the ages, there have been so-called ‘private’ revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to […]