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When Immigration Goes Bad

  When immigrants appear at the border, Church leaders urge us to welcome them. Invoking the parable of the Good Samaritan, and reminding us that we are all neighbors, they invite us to ask ourselves: “How can we help them?” That’s a good question: a question that Christians should ask. But it is not the only relevant question. We might also ask: “Why are they here?” “What do they want?” The recent video footage from the Spanish territory, Ceuto, illustrates the need to ask all three questions. Ceuto exposes the failure of the one-dimensional response. Just try asking all three key questions about Ceuto: 1. How can we help? In Ceuto, where the number of migrants swarming in overnight nearly equaled the population of the little Spanish enclave, the answer is straightforward. Ordinarily, we would say that the residents could not welcome the immigrants without sacrificing the well-being of their own community. In this case – however - the calculation was even simpler. The p...
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Different Bibles - Why?

Brothers and sisters in Christ....      We often run up against an interesting question as Christians, today: Why Do Protestant and Catholic Bibles Differ?     And the answer is simpler than you might imagine:     There are different Christian Bibles, Protestant and Catholic, because of Martin Luther. He made the changes himself that caused the split, by moving seven Old Testament books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and 1 and 2 Maccabees) into a separate appendix called the Apocrypha.      He did this on his own recognizance, standing on his personal  opinion that they were not divinely inspired scripture equal to the Hebrew canon, though he considered them good and useful for reading. Reasons for Luther's Decision Hebrew Canon: Luther thought everyone should go by the ancient Jewish canon called the Masoretic text, which excluded these books because they were written in Greek rather than Hebrew.  ...
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Serving God When Others Hate You

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  Lesson: The Joy of True Service Introduction      True service requires us to change how we think about rewards, our purpose, and especially criticisms . Drawing from the writings of St. Paul, and the Gospel of John, this lesson explains what it means to be a servant of God.      We reflect on the meaning of true service, emphasizing that genuine dedication requires self-sacrifice and joy, rather than seeking human applause.      It encourages believers to work solely for God and trust in His divine reward, and to use criticism or ingratitude from others to learn - instead of trying to match it with combativeness. 1. The Principle of Generous Sowing Scripture teaches that our input directly determines our output. The Law of the Harvest : He who sows little reaps little; he who sows abundantly reaps abundantly. The Condition of the Heart : Giving must come from the heart, never out of obligation, guilt, unwilling...
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Thats Not In The Bible!

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ....      Catholics often hear, “That’s not in the Bible!” from non-Catholics.  It is one of the favorite expressions of anti-Catholics, in particular.      But before jumping up in reaction at hearing this, the Catholic should directly ask a deeper question: "Does the Bible itself teach that every Christian belief must be found explicitly in its pages?" THE CLAIM 💬"That’s Not in the Bible.”      Many Protestant Christians argue that if a teaching is not stated clearly and rendered explicity in the Bible, then Christians should not believe it.  This has been their go-to for five centuries, and this idea is called sola scriptura ( Latin for, "by scripture alone").      It  is   most intensely and strictly emphasized by Baptists, non-denominational Evangelicals, Reformed/Presbyterian churches, and the Churches of Christ.      They claim to weigh everything aga...
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Protestant Myth #1: Democracy and Liberty

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MYTH #1: The Protestant Reformation Birthed Democracy and Liberty. THE PROPAGANDA SPIN: Luther and Calvin awakened the conscience of man, liberating Europe from monarchy and tyranny. CATHOLIC REALITY:      The main problem here is it just is not true. There is a half truth, in that the Reformation pushed people away from The Church, so they could, "do their own thing."      But one cannot say that the movement singlehandedly made democracy and liberty the new standard. Quite the opposite, in fact - as we shall see. 🟦 The Catholic Defense of Ordered Freedom     It should be recognized that Catholic theology recognizes both the dignity of the individual and the authority of the common good. This never has changed as a source of doctrine, despite the occasional human 'bad actor' in the mix. Gaudium et Spes teaches that true liberty is “freedom from slavery to sin and to self.” (GS §17).     The Church has upheld subsidiarity long befo...
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