Justin

Catholic, Husband, Father, Teacher, Engineer, Designer, Maker.

[Dr Jordan B Peterson @jordanbpeterson]

I just watched @BishopBarron's first Thomas Aquinas lecture for @petersonacademy.

He's one of the best lecturers I've ever heard.

He's engaging and coherent, well-armed with stories, an effective synthesizer, and able to shift up and down levels of analysis with ease ("here's the social impact; here's the theological significance; here's the historical context, etc.).

I've interviewed him, and we have spent time together, and that was all exceedingly worthwhile. But a full lecture requires a different skill set, and not many people have it.

He captured my attention, despite my current difficulty with pain. And I learned a lot.

He's also eminently likeable.

It's a privilege to have the Bishop's lectures on Peterson Academy.

[Justin @Justin_Spaeth]

@KatiePMcGrady Thank you Katie. I will think of you and your sister when I pray the LOTH. Praise be to God!

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

Both Steven Pinker and Michael Shermer reveal that they have no idea how to read the Bible.

First, they fail to make the elementary distinction that Biblical theologian William Placher insisted upon, namely, that not everything that is in the Bible is what the Bible teaches ...

It is a commonplace of Biblical interpretation that there are elements in Scripture that reflect cultural practices of the time but are not the stuff of revelation.

Secondly, they neglect the fundamental moral framework that emerges from attending, not to features of particular narratives taken out of context, but rather to the overarching patterns, themes, and trajectories of the Bible as a whole.

Who can seriously doubt that the exhortations to worship God, to respect parents and authorities, not to kill, steal, or commit adultery, to love one’s neighbor as oneself, to care for the weakest and most forgotten, to sympathize with the victim, to turn the other cheek, to respect the dignity and freedom of the individual, etc., have been bequeathed to us from the Bible?

It is simply the case that we cannot understand Western morality apart from the Scriptures.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

In the era of #ArtificialIntelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human. We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace. #MagnificaHumanitas
https://t.co/6i9MWs6LJl

[Justin @Justin_Spaeth]

@TheGreatB00ks Just finished the Wingfeather saga with my oldest (10). Highly recommend! We are reading the Gospel of Matthew now. Its our first time through this together.

[Justin @Justin_Spaeth]

@theisabelb There is little else more important than this very basic parenting gift (I almost said task! ha!). I love reading to my kids! I look forward to it every night and miss it when my wife gets to. We priorities prayer over reading (prayer first), but this is essential education.

[Father John LoCoco @Father_LoCoco]

18 seminaries represented
450 seminarians and priests
1 Champion will emerge 🏆

[Cardinal Dolan @CardinalDolan]

I’m going to start something new the next couple of weeks: “Worth Recovering!” In other words, devotions, practices, and some of the essentials of Catholic life that we’ve lost track of over the last decades. Let’s start with one of the basics: the Sign of the Cross. @thegnewsroom

[The Biblical Man @Biblicalman]

Joseph of Arimathea took down a corpse.

Hands still sticky with blood.

Skin already cold.

Touched death. Held it. Wrapped it.

Became ceremonially unclean for Passover.

For a dead man.

Here's what most Christians miss about the burial of Jesus:

Joseph was a wealthy man. A member of the Sanhedrin. A respected Jew.

And Passover was 3 hours away.

The holiest day of the year.

But he climbed Golgotha anyway.

Jewish law was clear:

Touch a dead body = unclean for 7 days.

Can't worship. Can't celebrate. Can't enter the temple.

Joseph knew this.

He'd spent his entire life following these laws.

But Jesus was still hanging on that cross.

Picture it:

The crowds are gone. The soldiers drunk. The women weeping.

Joseph approaches Pilate—the man who just murdered his Lord—and asks permission.

"Can I have the body?"

Pilate grants it.

Now Joseph has to actually DO it.

He walks to Golgotha.

Blood-soaked dirt. The smell of death. Three crosses against the sky.

Jesus in the middle.

Still.

Finally still.

Joseph climbs the ladder.

Grabs the first nail.

Pulls.

Feel the weight of that moment.

God's body in your arms.

The blood isn't dry yet.

It stains his expensive robes.

His hands.

Under his fingernails.

He can taste the iron in the air.

This is what obedience looks like.

Messy. Expensive. Permanent.

Nicodemus shows up.

Another secret disciple. Another Sanhedrin member.

He brings 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes.

That's about $150,000 worth of burial spices in today's money.

Two wealthy men. Two cowards until now.

Finally brave when it's already too late.

They work fast.

Sabbath is coming. They have maybe 3 hours.

Wrap the body. Pour the spices. Seal the tomb.

The sun is setting.

Joseph is now officially unclean.

Can't celebrate Passover tomorrow.

Can't enter the temple for a week.

Think about what he just gave up:

His ceremonial purity.

His Passover celebration.

His reputation (everyone saw him bury a "blasphemer").

His position (the Sanhedrin won't forget this).

His safety (Romans might come for disciples next).

All for a dead man.

But here's what most Christians miss:

Joseph didn't do this expecting resurrection.

He did it expecting NOTHING.

Jesus was dead. Gone. Finished.

This wasn't faith in resurrection.

This was love for a corpse.

That's the part that wrecks me.

Joseph touched death—literally—knowing it meant giving up everything.

Not because Jesus promised him anything.

But because Jesus deserved honor even in death.

Modern Christianity wants clean obedience.

Safe obedience.

Obedience that doesn't cost you Passover.

But Joseph shows us something different:

True discipleship gets your hands dirty.

You want to follow Jesus?

Then stop avoiding the messy parts.

Stop waiting for clean opportunities.

Stop demanding that obedience be convenient.

Joseph climbed Golgotha when everyone else went home.

He wrapped a corpse when he could've stayed clean.

He missed the holiest day of his life to honor a dead "criminal."

He risked everything when there was no visible reward.

That's not religion.

That's worship.

The twist?

Three days later, that tomb was empty.

Joseph gave his grave to Jesus.

Jesus left it empty.

Forever.

Joseph thought he was burying God.

He was actually setting the stage for resurrection.

Your messy obedience?

God's using it too.

Even when you can't see it.

So here's the question:

What are you avoiding because it's too messy?

What obedience are you postponing because it's inconvenient?

What grave are you unwilling to give?

Joseph of Arimathea held death in his arms.

Got blood on his hands.

Missed Passover.

Lost his reputation.

And earned his name in all four Gospels.

Religion says "stay clean."

Discipleship says "get dirty."

Joseph chose discipleship.

What are you choosing?

—TBM

[Dan McLaughlin @baseballcrank]

Pictured: former death row inmates following their release.

[Pope Francis – ARCHIVE @Pontifex266Arch]

Let’s #PrayTogether for the peoples of Türkiye and Syria hard hit by the earthquakes that have caused thousands of deaths and injuries. I thank those who are working to provide relief, and I encourage everyone to offer their solidarity.

[Lila Rose @LilaGraceRose]

The greatest privilege today for a child in modern America is to be born to a mother and father who are married

[Sachin Jose @Sachinettiyil]

The Nazis killed Czeslawa Kwoka, a Polish Catholic girl, in 1943 at Auschwitz. According to the photographer, before this photograph was taken, the girl dried her tears and the blood from the cut on her lip.

[IKE Brewers Podcast @IKE_Brewers]

Happy 89th Birthday, Bob Uecker🎂

One of the best to ever do it. Some of the best calls in baseball history. Thankful for all the memories🥂

[Lila Rose @LilaGraceRose]

Today we remember the 6 million Jews that perished at the hands of a dehumanizing ideology that said an entire group of people had no human rights.

We must apply the lessons of history to save every life we can, & give every human the respect they deserve.
#HolocaustMemorialDay

[Lila Rose @LilaGraceRose]

When sex is treated not as an act of lifelong love that can bring sacred new life into the world, but as self centered and trivial momentary pleasure, we create a culture that demands abortion.

[Dcn. Garlick, Chancellor 🇻🇦 @HarrisonGarlic1]

Yesterday, I took my family to a diner in small town Oklahoma.

We were a family of six in a small diner, but the kids behaved well. Next to us was an ancient looking man, alone, wearing a “Vietnam Combat Vet” hat.

As we packed up to leave, the elderly man waved me over… 1/4🧵

[Dcn. Garlick, Chancellor 🇻🇦 @HarrisonGarlic1]

With my infant in tow, I had to get quite close to be able to hear him.

With teary eyes, he pointed to my family and said, “this is what I fought in the war for.”

The immediate solemnity of the moment was staggering, palpable.

I grasped his arm, looked him in eyes… 2/4 🧵

[Sr. Mary Joseph Calore, SSCJ @sscjusa]

@amyklobuchar For 50 years, the grassroots resistance movement to the greatest crime against humanity-abortion, has built up momentum until now we're in a post Roe era! Lives are being saved; humanity-accorded dignity; women-spared the horror of post abortion trauma. What's not to celebrate!