Long time no blogging....

Some of you may be wondering where I have been all of this time. Truth be told, I have not been feeling that much inspiration to blog as of late. Instead, during this Advent, I am focusing more on my own spiritual growth as oppose to the apologetics nature that this blog has undertaken.

With that being said, I am definitely interested in the following topics. You can expect to hear more about them later...most likely after Christmas and New Year.....

• Fulfullment of All Desire - Ralph Martin
• Personal Ordinates for the Anglican Church
• Great Schism

If I do not write again before 2010....

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year....God bless

Standing Ovation for Bishop Tobin of Rhode Island

Bishop Tobin of Rhode Island has banned Congressman Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion. The media is having a field day with this one. (The fact that the media is having a field day with this is very unfortunate because that means that they are not used to the Catholic Bishops exercising their authority to ban pro-choice politicians from the Communion Table. It is common knowledge that there are plenty of outspoken pro-choice Catholic politicians that should be banned from receiving Communion)

I have the utmost respect for Bishop Tobin and his decision against Congressman Kennedy. This action of the Church is not dissimilar to St. Paul's actions regarding the Church in Corinth where an openly sinful man was expelled from the community due to his actions 1 Cor 5:1-13. Congressman Kennedy has been put outside of the Grace received from the Lord's Supper. More than anything, this is an act of love of the Church.

The Church, by expelling him from the Eucharistic Table, is showing the world and all faithful Catholics the difference between right and wrong. Congressman Kennedy has a very poor view of Catholic Teaching regarding life. As a politician, he causes confusion (scandal) amongst the faithful because he is a publicly pro-choice Catholic. Some may get the impression that it is legitmate to be Catholic and Pro-Choice. Bishop Tobin has made it perfectly clear that this is not permisable.

My hope and prayer is that more Bishops would follow Bishop Tobin's lead and start sending clear messages to pro-choice Catholic politicians and the rest of the world, that to be pro-choice and Catholic is ridiculous. My prayer is also for my pro-choice Catholic brothers and sisters, that they would reconsider the teachings of Christ as it relates to the sanctity of life.

God bless...

Reformation Sunday :- One Protestant Minister's Perspective

Believe it or not, I have spent most of my life as a Protestant, and I had no idea that there was a such thing as Reformation Day, until now. Reformation Day is the annual celebration commemorating the day when Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis, which most believe was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation (or Protestant Revolt...depending on your view).

A friend of mine recently sent me an article that a Protestant pastor published regarding his thoughts on Reformation Day. Stanley Hauerwas is a Duke Divinity School professor and Protestant Minister. Some of his thoughts are below:

Reformation names the disunity in which we currently stand. We who remain in the Protestant tradition want to say that Reformation was a success. But when we make Reformation a success, it only ends up killing us. After all, the very name ‘Protestantism’ is meant to denote a reform movement of protest within the Church Catholic. When Protestantism becomes an end in itself, which it certainly has through the mainstream denominations in America, it becomes anathema. If we no longer have broken hearts at the church’s division, then we cannot help but unfaithfully celebrate Reformation Sunday.

...

I often point out that at least Catholics have the magisterial office of the Bishop of Rome to remind them that disunity is a sin. You should not overlook the significance that in several important documents of late, John Paul II has confessed the Catholic sin for the Reformation. Where are the Protestants capable of doing likewise? We Protestants feel no sin for the disunity of the Reformation. We would not know how to confess our sin for the continuing disunity of the Reformation. We would not know how to do that because we have no experience of unity.

You can read the whole sermon at Stanley Hauerwas on Reformation Sunday.

So what do you think? Is Stanley Hauerwas position regarding Refomation Sunday an accurate one? Is Reformation Sunday something that should be celebrated, or is it something that all Christians should look back on with shame? Are you still broken-hearted over the disunity within the Body of Christ - the Church? If not, why not? Is there still hope for reunification of the Church?

God bless...

Discuss: Catholics and Protestants - Why the distinction?

In a previous comment, someone asked the question:

isn't that (Catholicism) another denomination of Christianity?

also...

why is it always Catholic and everything else...instead of another denomination of Christianity?

These are great questions. I think what is at the heart of these questions is a true desire to know and understand why the line is drawn between Catholicism and Protestantism. Sure, there are lines drawn between various Protestant denominations, but there is a true and undeniable distinction between Catholics and Protestants. This distinction sometimes leads people to believe that one or the other, or perhaps even both, are not Christian at all.

The point of this discussion is to talk about why is there such a distinction. Why is it always Catholics and everyone else? To kick things off, I would like to start by offering a possible explanation...

The term Protestant literally means, someone who protests. Well, what is a Protestant protesting against? Protestants are actually people who protest against the Catholic Church. In one way or another, they do not accept the teachings of the Catholic Church. As a matter of fact, most Protestants denominations, identify themselves as to how much or how little their belief system aligns with the belief system of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the standard that many denominations measure against. For that reason, the comparison is always Catholics and Protestants, as oppose to Baptists and Catholics, when talking about Christianity.

Thoughts?

Non-Catholics know about the Church Fathers?

Okay, I have to admit. I am always shocked to hear about someone who is not Catholic, yet they know about the Apostalic and Church Fathers. Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Polycarp....if you would have asked me who these folks were when I was a Protestant, I couldn't have told you. More than that, I wouldn't have cared. Of course, my feelings have completely changed.

These men is part of the reason why you call yourself a Christian today. They fertilized the soil of Christianity with their blood and converted a pagan Roman Empire. For almost 400 years, it was illegal to be a Christian and Christians could be executed without a second thought. That did not deter the faith of these men.

Not to mention, many of them are only one degree separated from the Apostles themselves. That is right. Polycarp, for instance, was made the Bishop of the Church in Smyrna by St. John. (Click here for a really great video, by Non-Catholics, on the ordination and martyrdom of Polycarp) Clement of Rome was probably baptized by St. Peter. Clement of Rome also became the 4th Bishop of Rome, Peter of course being the first. (FYI - Bishop of Rome = Pope). Why so many Bishops of Rome in such a short span of time? Remember, Christians were being martyred for the faith left and right.

Another great fact about these individuals, and many more, is that today, we can still hear their voices through their writings. Do you want to know what they were taught by the Apostles? Do you want to know what they believed? Do you want to know what they thought the appropriate age for Baptism is? Do you want to know how they were taught to worship God? It is all there. Or, it is all here rather:

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/

Question for you, for anyone? How important is it to you that your faith resembles the faith of these that were taught by the Apostles? Is it important or not important at all? If not, why not? If you found out that they believed something that completely contradicts what you believe, would you be shocked? Would you investigate why they might believe this? Would you consider looking at other Apostalic Fathers and figure out if that particular belief was shared? Would you be willing to change your belief to match theirs?

God bless...

Denominational Family Tree

Fr. Dwight Longenecker on Married Catholic Clergy

I have been a fan of Fr. Dwight Longenecker ever since I read More Christianity, and listening to his conversion story on the Journey Home with Marcus Grodi, where he told the story of how he went from a married Anglican priest to a married Catholic Priest.

Recently he published an article sharing his thoughts on the discipline (not dogma / doctrine) of the Catholic Church regarding married priests. I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine regarding this discipline, and thought that Fr. Longenecker's post was quite timely.

If you can spare a couple of minutes, I would highly suggest the read.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker on Married Catholic Clergy

Excerpt:

From time to time I am asked to justify or explain the fact that I am a married man with four children, and also a Catholic priest. There are strong feelings in the 'celibate priests' debate on both sides, and people expect me to have all the answers. I hate to disillusion those who wish to recruit me for either side of the debate. My own views are a mixture of common sense and loyalty to the traditions and teachings of Mother Church....