Jesus says “take up your cross and follow me,” “if you love me, you will obey my commandments,” and told the Apostles to teach all disciples “to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Concrete. Precise. Demanding. Strong.
Unfortunately, many modern Christians have reduced this to “do you love Jesus?” And if the answer is “yes,” they act as if most or all of everything else is just a matter of opinion and taste—as if one’s “love” for Jesus is at root an emotional exchange of some kind.
Amorphous. Vague. Sentimental. Weak.
A substitution of the Gospel with an anti-Gospel.
Absurd and inhuman violence is spreading ferociously through the sacred places of the Christian East, profaned by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives, which are considered at most collateral damage of self-interest. But no gain can be worth the life of the weakest, children, or families. No cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.
Even today there are tombs to be opened, and often the stones sealing them are so heavy and so closely guarded that they seem to be immovable. Some weigh heavily on the human heart, such as mistrust, fear, selfishness and resentment; others, stemming from these inner struggles, sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations. Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them! #Easter
@JoshuaTCharles Take courage—at least in my case—that very nuance (sparked by my wife’s true love in sharing your posts with me in a lost time) is what led me to convert from Protestantism. Pax et oratio.
@JoshuaTCharles I often contemplate—and strive to honor—the invisible reality that’s far closer than we can grasp while on earth… It must ring out with fresh waves of joy at such lucid insight and Faith-filled integrity, the kind you bring through your work here.
An absolutely fantastic book showing the deeply biblical roots of Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist.
I am so thankful for the Fathers, Saints, theologians, and biblical scholars like Dr. Brant Pitre, who opened my eyes to THE LORD in the Eucharist.
The most precious gift!
We live as if life were never enough. We rush to produce, to prove ourselves, to keep up. But the Gospel teaches us that knowing how to stop is an act of trust that we must learn to perform. Life does not always depend on what we do, but also in knowing how to let go of what we have been able to do. #GeneralAudience
I was chosen, without any merit of my own. Now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for He wants us all to be united in one family.
The word 'Conservative' is as bad (or almost as bad) as the word 'Progressive'. And it is bad for the same reason. It is bad because it introduces a test other than the test of right and wrong; of what we want or what we do not want.
@thewaronbeauty Modern cinema usually would rather see everyone devoured before turning to Christ or anyone that does is made to look extreme..bumbling around feverishly like the village idiot but found this interesting about the original Nosferatu—
https://t.co/BQbEMYnfrM