The Catholic Answer Bible (OSV) and This Rock Magazine (Catholic Answers) were used extensively in the making of this page.
Apologetics
I believe that we as Catholics are called to share the truth of our faith. To do that we must first know it and live it. With a history of 2,000 years we can learn something new everyday about this Jesus of Nazareth and this church he formed.To know him is to love him.The best way to get to know him is by prayer the way to understand his ways is by study.
Always be ready to give a explanation to anyone
who ask you for a reason, for your hope
(1st Peter 3;15)
my online life
Pope John Paul II, a few years ago called on all Christians to evangilize the internet.There is so much bad on the net. We are called on by the succesor of St.Peter to take to the internet and make it our own so many people can be reached, many who might never have been reached if not for this resource.This is just my little way of helping Mother Church defend herself and helping those with questions find answers
The Church was gathered and the faith believed before ever any part of the New Testament was even put into writing , and what writing was or is true scripture is known by the work of the Church even Luther and Tyndale must believe that.
Hail full of grace the Lord is with you
blessed art thou amongst women, when we hear this reading from Luke at Mass we
generally picture the angel hovering over Mary as if he is making a
proclamation. The language used would suggest otherwise. The “Vines Expository Dictionary”
states that the word Chairo is the Greek word translated into the English ‘hail”;
the “Vines” goes on to say that this word is used in the Gospels as a
salutation. Salutations were used for royalty, such as “Hail King of the Jews”
or “Hail Caesar,” by usage of the word Chairo it is implied that Gabriel was
more likely in a kneeling position when he addressed Mary as “Hail full of
grace.” The angel wasn’t making a proclamation he was showing Mary homage. This
is the only time in the New Testament where an angel interacts with a human and
the angel is the one giving the honor, instead of receiving it. According to Catholic apologist Tim Staples,
the Greek words used for “Hail full of grace” were Kecharitomene, Staples
explains that the word is a perfect passive participle of charitoo, meaning to fill or endow with grace. Mary wasn’t
she who had been graced, and she was more then just highly favored, Mary was “full”
of grace. You and I have been graced and we are highly favored at times, but we are not full of grace. Imagine walking out of the confessional doing your
penance and then receiving the Eucharist immediately afterwards, this is the
closest that you and I will ever come to being full of grace. Now imagine Mary
being in that state her whole life; twenty four hours a day seven days a week.
One of the sadist verses in the bible is
in the book of Judges; speaking of Samson scripture says “and he did not realize
that the Lord had left him.” Think about that “the Lord had left him” imagine
how heart wrenching that must have been when he finally did realize it. If that
is one of the sadist verses then Luke 1 has to be one of the most joyous. “The
Lord is with you” imagine the joy you would fill if you heard these words being
spoken directly to you. Now imagine that it is an angel who is saying them. “Hail
full of grace, the Lord is with you” Gabriel wasn’t telling Mary she was full
of grace; he was in awe of her being full of grace. Gabriel had seen Abraham
and Moses and Elijah he had witness the holiness of Sarah and Rachael, but he
had never seen a creature that was “full of grace” and remain in that state. When
Gabriel became aware that he was going to visit one that was full of grace, the
words “the Lord is with you” were a natural response. To be full of grace the
Lord must be with this woman, for she has been perfected in grace, Gods master
piece.
Blessed are you among woman. Eve was
blessed with pureness she was truly blessed. Born sinless Eve was the example
of what all women were suppose to be, when we think of women who were blessed
Eve must come to mind. But envy got in the way for she wanted to be like God.
Blessed was Sarah to have given birth in her old age, but only after he had a lapse
of faith and had given her servant girl to her husband. Rachael the matriarch
of the twelve tribes of Israel
was also blessed but she too had sinned, for jealousy had filled her heart
towards her sister. All of these great women had been blessed, but there was
only one who was to be called “blessed of all women” for only this one had not sinned,
the bible records the sin of all of these women except the one that was “full
of grace,” for there was no sin to record. There was only one woman whose voice
alone would cause the babe to leap within his mothers womb, only one that the
angels would show homage, only one that would be worthy of the highest honor
possible, to be called Mother of the word made flesh.
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Gabriel
never tells Mary she is blessed because of that which is in her womb, instead
he tells her that her seed is blessed because it, is in her womb. Of all women possible
it is her that has been chosen, it is her womb that contains the Holy One. Mary
was not made holy because of the prize she carried for nine months no she was
made holy before that. Just as the Ark of the Covenant was consecrated and made
holy before the contents were placed within it so too was Mary the New Ark,
consecrated and made holy before the living word was placed into her womb. Here
we have a woman full of grace and then “Grace” himself is seated into her womb,
I would imagine her soul overflowed with grace.
What was to become of this woman, who so
much honor and respect had been bestowed upon? Revelations tell us of a woman
in heaven clothed with the sun (son) with a crown upon her head, an image of a
queen, our queen. Why does John use this image of a queen when referring to
Mary? It is because of an ancient tradition in Israel, the tradition of the Gevirah,
the Queen Mother. King Solomon instituted the honor of the queen mother for
Bathsheba his own mother and this continued with succeeding Davidic kings. We
can see how it was perfected by the “King of Kings” who fulfilled the role of
the Davidic kingship. Like all other Kings in the Davidic line this one too
would have his mother setting at his side as he reigned in his glory. Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, and who is it that sits at Christ right hand? John and James requested this spot, but our Lord told them that the spot was not his to give, in the davidic kingdom the Queen Mother sits at the right hand, and Christ fullfilled the Davidic kingship perfectly. We that
are blessed to be a part of “The Kingdom” are set apart as the only heirs to
have a spotless King and Queen presiding over our homeland. Christ is our King
and Mary our Queen, and we the lowly peasants are adopted sons of the Father; that makes Christ our brother. If Christ is our brother, then what is our relationship to His mother? That would make us adopted children of Mary. We the people within the kingdom
reflect the type of royalty that sits upon the throne, may our lives give honor
and glory to our Blessed Lord and our Blessed Mother, our king and queen. Amen
Born
and raised in the Baptist faith, I watched as the church of my youth under went
division. One week we were Missionary Baptist the next week we were Southern
Baptist; it ripped our tiny church apart. My
brother was a Deacon at our Church; my mother had taught Sunday school and my
sister in-law had taught youth group, as for me I sat there week after week filling a spot in the pew. After the death
of my Father, less then a month after my 15th birthday, I decided it
was time for me to quit “Church”. I didn’t like it, and never felt that I was truely a part of that church. There always seem to be something missing.
There was so much infighting within our small church. I don’t think anyone knew
where the authority was; that’s the problem with “bible only” folks, with a
church of 200 people you have 200 people reigning as the authority, and sole interpreter
of scripture. The pastor might be a nice guy but if his interpretation of
scripture is different then yours then he’s wrong, and looked upon with suspicion.
There was just too much chaos, listening to the pastor read from the book of
Acts and talk about the Church that Christ had formed and the people listening
and following the teachings of the Apostles seem so different then our church.
The Apostles had laid hands on men and ordained them, in my church we voted on
who was going to be our pastor, I don’t recall ever reading in the bible where
the congregation hand picked their own pastor; something was amiss. Figuring
that all of Christianity was in the same position that we were in I gave up. Like
most poor kids that grew up in the 70s and 80s I turned to alcohol and drugs
when I was 15. One night while in an alcohol and drug induced haze I met the
girl I would eventually marry. Lori came from a large Catholic family, and had
invited me to Christmas midnight mass two weeks after we met. The only thing I
knew about Catholics was that they were not Christians and they had a strange attraction
to Mary. Catholics had Mary statues in their yards and spoke in a strange language;
they did things different from us Christians. As I walked up the front steps of
the gothic style Church at midnight I was a little nervous; would I
understand what they were saying, I knew they knelt and wondered what was I
suppose to do during that time. As we walked into the church I was immediately
in awe, the smell of incense, the candles, the statues, and all the people. We
had arrived about forty five minutes early. Why? What do we do for forty five minutes?
As we entered the pew Lori knelt and began to pray, I had never dated a girl
who had prayed in front of me, was I in over my head? Then I sense it, the
presence there was something in here that wasn’t in my old church, there was a
holy presence. I had never felt the presence of Christ like I did that night. I
was hooked. I had never witnessed the liturgy before, I was blown away, in my
church we prayed but this was different, the priest was actually talking to God
not at him or about him, but directly to him. I needed to slow down I wasn’t
the church going type I was the funny guy, the party guy. I wasn’t ready to
give that up even though I knew at that first mass that some day I would become
a part of all of this. Lori
and I were married a few years after high school, the drugs and alcohol
continued and Lori became lax in her faith; mainly due to me not wanting to get
up on Sunday mornings, because of a Saturday night hangover. We attended Mass
on Easter, Palm Sunday, and Midnight Mass Christmas eve. My
Mother died New Years Eve 93, I immediately felt her prayers, but still I ran,
God hounded me, trying to save me from myself, but I refused to listen I just wasn’t ready. January
1990 God done the only thing he could have to get me off drugs, he gave me a
son. A month after the birth of our first child I walked away from the drugs and a few
friends walked away from me. That’s the way it works, you want to loose friends
get married, you want to loose more, have kids, you want to see them all walk
away dedicate your life to Christ. Taylor
Nicole came kicking and screaming into the world in 1994, and it seemed that my
mother’s prayers were now being combined with my mother in-laws prayers. In
1995 I began to feel that God was once again calling me, why didn’t he understand
that I wasn’t ready for this, I complained “lord I’m not the kind of guy you
need leave me alone please” apparently there are times when God doesn't listen also; thanks be to God. During
the time between 93 and mid 95 I had three different jobs, two factories I had
worked at, had closed and I had begun working at a third. At the first factory
I had worked with my mothers assistant pastor (yea God's like that) and at the second factory God has placed me
on afternoons working with James, who just happen to be a Jehovah’s Witness (talk about God having a sense of humor.) Things
were heating up, God was now sending in troops. I
started working at the Pottery in 95 and you guessed it, this time God put me
beside a Pentecostal preacher, the factory known for its good ole boys was the
last place one expects to encounter the almighty. I stumbled upon a prayer
meeting one day while at lunch; invited to “hang out” and eat lunch with the
guys I accepted and began meeting everyday with my new friends. God had done it
he had finally got me to listen. I started reading my bible and was starting to
get excited. My new friends were great, we prayed together sometimes right in
the main isle, when one of us had a problem the other guys would come together
and pray about it. My new Christian friends were teaching me that I needed to
sit under a good bible preacher, I needed to join a church and I needed a study
bible. I had been using the Living Bible that my mother in-law had given us as
a wedding gift. I was naïve, and when I went to a used book store and bought a
New American Catholic study bible, my new friends were not impressed, and when
I told them that I had found a church and was going to join they were
dumbfounded. They had done everything in their might to get me to see the
errors of tradition, and liturgy. Some of my “new friends” even proclaimed that
the Pope was the antichrist and that the church was the great whore of Babylon. I
was confused, these guys had been so supportive but now they seemed to be angry
that I was joining a church the very thing they had recommended. I started to
wonder, what if these guys are right maybe the Catholic Church isn’t for me. One
day as I was rummaging through one of our closets I came across a book that had
been tossed in there while moving into the house in 1990. I looked at the cover
and I recognized it as "the other" book that my mother in-law had given us as a
wedding gift. God has impeccable timing, “The Faith of Millions” was my first
experience with Catholic apologetics as I began reading the book my mind came
alive it made so much sense, I had never understood anything this much in my
life. I started to subscribe to “this Rock Magazine” and apologetics became my
passion. I decided to join the RCIA classes, my new friends were concerned, one
of them even came to one of the classes in the hope of “saving” me from Rome. The night I was to
be baptized, I searched the pews for some support from my “new friends” to my disappointment
none had shown up, this was one of the most important moments in my life, and
no one from the prayer meetings at work had cared enough to show up. It was at
this point that I knew my life was going to get tougher. I
had helped Lori walk away from her faith and that was going to come back to haunt me.
The closer I got to God the further away I got from my wife. With my “new” friends
unwilling to listen to me discuss my “Catholic” faith and my old friends gone,
I entered into a very dark place. Lori and I both were terribly lonely, she
wondered why we just couldn’t go back to the way it had been, and I didn’t
understand what the big deal was, why wouldn’t she come to Mass with us, after
all it was her faith, she had introduced me to it. I think we both felt
betrayed. Lori wasn’t interested in hearing about my new found faith, and I wasn’t
willing to discuss anything else but my faith; our marriage suffered. At one
point we had called the realtor to put our house up for sale and had even
looked at separate apartments, divorce lurked around the corner. We just didn’t
see anyway other way out. I desperately needed someone to talk too I was
bursting with joy but I couldn’t show it at home, it was just too painful. It
was during this time that God introduced me to a few of His friends, the
saints. I
began devouring the lives of the saints, and it wasn’t long until I saw how
easy I had it, I wasn’t being threatened with death I was being lead through the
desert. These great saints had died for their faith I was getting a little sand
in my shoes. God was using me to forge this path for my family, and I had to
stay the course. Adam
and I had been going to Mass by ourselves for about three years (Lori and
Taylor went with us on “special days”,) and then God sent us Father Ted. Father Ted
was a priest fresh out of seminary, the whole parish fell in love with him,
Lori included. We began attending Mass together as a family for the first time.
Father opened up a perpetual adoration chapel, and to my surprise Lori signed up
before I did. It was announced one Sunday that the church was in need of Religious
ed teachers, and again to my surprise Lori suggested we take the job; I have
continued to teach religious Education the last five years with Adam at my
side. Today we attended Mass as a family every Sunday, and the first thing we
do if we are going out of town for the weekend, is to find a Church so that we can
go to Mass. God is good. Looking back I see Gods hand at work during our entire
marriage, in 21 years of marriage we have never lived more then five minutes from our parish. Both kids have served at the Altar, and Lori and I both attended Christ Renews His Parish retreat weekends, while life can be difficult living with a
convert, Lori seems to have accepted my flaws and over enthusiasm the same way
she always has, with patience and love. I have been a Catholic for 12 years now and I
still feel that joy I felt that first Easter Vigil when I received my first
Eucharist. I thank God daily that he heard the prayers of two worried mothers,
and continues to listen to them to this day. Without their prayers it’s hard
telling how far the two of us would have strayed. I thank God for remembering
this little Baptist kid and for helping him swim the Tiber to make it home, to
the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. To be a part of the Church and to
receive the Eucharist when I’m in a state of grace is my passion, and the cause
of my joy. Another
factory has shut down and God has me going in a different direction, it is not
a path that I would have chosen for myself; Gods ways are not mans ways. As I go down this path I
know that my wife, my family, my parish and two very special mothers are
praying for me, and I know that one day as a result of their prayers I will
graduate from nursing school and look back, and once again see the hand of God at work, just as
it has been my entire life. Thanks be to God, for his mercy indures forever Amen.
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Tony Alamo, this guy is a
piece of work. Alamo is a protestant pastor on
par with Jack Chick and Chicks favorite nut job Alberto Rivera. Even most Protestants are weary about him, guys like Alamo give all Christians a bad name. Alamo has been accused of child abuse, tax evasion, he
was wanted in two states, is accused of running a child porn site from his
compound, and has publicly stated that he believes girls as young as 10 years
of age should be married off. All of that doesn’t matter to anti-Catholics they still
love him. For the Rome haters Alamo is just the
victim of the Vatican’s
attempt to “get him.” Of course the Vatican was responsible for John F.
Kennedy’s assignation. Anyone who knew too much about Mr. Kennedy’s
assassination was taken care of too. When America
cried out for an investigation, Chief Justice Earl Warren (a member of the Vatican’s
secretive Knights of Columbus) was recruited to do the investigation. The Vatican’s
secretive Knights of Columbus really? As a third order Knight of Columbus I
wasn’t aware that we were a “secretive organization” here all this time I was
under the impression that we were just a bunch of Catholic men trying our best
to live the gospel in our daily lives. I guess all the charity work my fellow
Knights do is a smoke screen for our real work, collaborating with the Jesuits
and executing United States
presidents. Catholics who know their faith find all of this laughable. How I
wish the Vatican was the
well oiled machine that nut jobs like Alamo
think it is. If this was the case then we wouldn’t have to deal with all the
liturgical abuses we find in America
today, the crazy dancing and hand waving, the lay people giving homilies, and
yes even the holding hands thingy. If the Vatican had the authority that the
haters imagine then all of our American bishops would be cracking down on these
renegade priest who allow and even promote disobedience within our churches. Gone
would be the flighty music you find in some parishes, there would not have been
any sex scandals had seminaries listened to Rome and excluded homosexuals from the seminaries.
How I would love for Rome
to have the authority those outside the church thinks she has. But back to the
Knights, the next time I wonder up to our local Knights of Columbus I’ll have
to bring up the fact that we are a secretive Vatican
organization. I suppose if I want to sit back to catch a Notre dame game and
drink a cold brew with my fellow knights I had better learn the “secretive
handshake.” The actual reason the
Knights were founded was to render financial aid to members and their families.
Mutual aid and assistance are offered to sick, disabled and needy members and
their families. Social and intellectual fellowship is promoted among members
and their families through educational, charitable, religious, social welfare,
war relief and public relief works. In short men were going off to war and
dying and their families faced hardships, the knights offer great life
insurance which is the main reason a lot of Catholic men join them, plain and
simple. If your in the Kokomo
area contact me, I’ll take ya up for a visit and you can see for your self just
how secretive we really are.
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