It’s no secret that to be a Christian is to have an obligation to care for the poor. This obligation comes directly from the teachings of Jesus, who said, “whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.” And so, throughout our history, the Church has cared for the poor, and exhorted her members to do the same. But the perennial question … Continue reading Charity and Justice
On September 29th of each year, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels. Although angels have been theologically out of fashion in recent years, they continue to play in important part in popular piety and spirituality. So what is an angel? There is so much misinformation and fanciful speculation about angels that a look at the Catholic understanding of these creatures might be … Continue reading Angels
I had a discussion recently with a group of people, after a Sunday mass, and they were trying to decide how long the season of Lent is. The obvious, traditional answer is 40 days. But is that exactly right? Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and concludes with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. So Good Friday and Holy Saturday are not part … Continue reading How Long is Lent?
One of the things critical to understanding Catholicism is that ours is an embodied and sacramental faith. Our Christianity isn’t just a head trip, or some intellectual construct; it permeates our physical reality, our world, and our own bodies. In our best moments, this challenges us to integrate body, mind, and spirit, and to put all of those in God’s service. But over 2000 years … Continue reading Feast of St. Januarius
Usually, in these Facts of Faith, I talk about something that’s real, factual, and a part of our Catholic life and culture. But sometimes it’s instructive to look not just at the facts, but at our legends and cultural heritage. Take, for example, the unicorn. For most of our history, unicorns weren’t considered mythological. In fact, the most ancient references we have to the aren’t … Continue reading Unicorns in the Bible?
Posted on BustedHalo.com: How does the Catholic Church define membership? Check it out. Continue reading Who’s a “Member” of the Church?
There’s an old aphorism that “clothes make the man.” I’m not sure that’s really true, but clothes often make it easier to identify who the man is. That’s certainly true for Catholic clergy, who are often identifiable by their distinctive collars. With some variations, roman collars are of basically three types: the most-popular “tab” collar with it’s white plastic insert, the neck-band white collar, and … Continue reading Roman Collars
