The COG Catholic

https://smp9.simplex.im/a#alHpe6uAERQsXejHWQjJyVt8pfQhp9xcl-6R5PXsxe4

⛪ Tradition-minded, #Bible -believing #Catholic - #Christian convert; #TLM ; Former member of #COG ("Church of God" -- a.k.a. Armstrongism); CONTACT ME through the SimpleX link provided.

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Last Notes

2026-04-14 21:55:20 UTC

Drop a pic of your daily or regular prayin" #rosary in the comments.
Here's mine.
https://blossom.primal.net/794b4a0bf0d415778a89ee932c2710d7a55d2cb7bc6b50493876611df3a24906.jpg

2026-04-01 18:51:36 UTC

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Father, I saw your blog posts on your home page. I will be subscribing to the RSS feed. I liked the one about homilies.
Could you also cross-post to Nostr? (Via clients such as habla.news or Primal "articles"?)

2026-03-25 00:18:38 UTC

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I've grown in my appreciation of him a lot over the last year. Still only halfway through his Confessions. Still reading it. So good.

2026-03-24 14:45:21 UTC

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I met R. W. Schambach several years before he died. My employer at the time in East TX sold their property to Schambach who bought it to be his new world headquarters.
I could be wrong but I don't think his ministry still owns it.

2026-03-24 14:34:04 UTC

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... said none of the apostles.

2026-03-20 22:29:27 UTC

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🙏🙏

2026-03-20 18:06:23 UTC

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True, true.
And many Protestants who display manger scenes during Christmastime understand this concept at least for a season, annually. But how soon they forget.

2026-03-20 18:01:57 UTC

It's many times easier to believe one can randomly guess the seed phrase of Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin address in one try than to believe the physical cosmos came into existence from non-existence -- without an Uncaused Cause, an Uncreated Creator, outside of the cosmos.

2026-03-20 17:19:19 UTC

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I certainly do!

2026-03-20 16:30:17 UTC

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I guess I'm asking the purpose or meaning of those temporal things you just mentioned. All those things will soon (enough) come to an end. Will those things have served a purpose once they're all gone?
People don't go to hell for being good.
But neither is denying or rejecting one's Creator good. In fact it's horrifically ungrateful and pretentious (objectively speaking).
If spitting in the face of a stranger is bad, and spitting in the face of your mom or dad is much worse (it is), then doing so to the one who loved your very soul into existence warrants eternal consequences.
Hell, with its eternal hopelessness and despair, is for those who reject God, refuse to seek him, or in any other way definitively choose to be separated from him.
In the end, he grants what we ourselves choose, because love is not compulsory.

2026-03-20 16:06:47 UTC

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When all is said and done, when you and your wife and kids and friends are dead -- what will it all have meant? What do you see as life's meaning and purpose?

2026-03-20 15:31:37 UTC

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*If it's true that there is NOT a...

2026-03-20 14:54:49 UTC

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One hundred percent.

2026-03-20 14:53:32 UTC

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Yes, with their contradictory views, at most there can be only one true religion.
I'm sure most believe their own religion is true. But that doesn't mean one religion cannot be true.
Many but not all religious people are irrational actors. We also know many non-religious people are irrational.
The fact that some religious people are irrational does not preclude the existence of rational religious people.
If it's true that there is a "man in the sky" (a crudely inaccurate description of God), then the world is a horrific place with no meaning, which invites ever greater evils.
That world would not be a better place.

2026-03-20 14:03:21 UTC

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I did my best to keep it simple for anyone who thinks all religion is stupid.

2026-03-20 14:02:05 UTC

Singing songs of praise in a "worship service" is not the highest form of worship. It's not even necessarily worship in all cases.
Many contemporary love songs are at the same level of "praise," but do not constitute worship.
What is real worship? Sacrifice.
Hence, in continuity with ancient Israel's religion, we have the Holy *Sacrifice* of the Mass (a.k.a. "Divine Liturgy" in the East) -- forbidden to be offered to anyone other than God himself.
It's not a re-sacrificing of Christ, but an unbloody, sacramental re-presentation of his once-for-all sacrifice -- making it present to us and applying its effects.
(* Drums and guitars not required.)

2026-03-20 11:38:56 UTC

It's okay to make artwork out of clay or whittled from wood or fashioned of metal. We see it everywhere.
It doesn't somehow become an IDOL if *religious* art is carved or fashioned from these materials.
The point of the Commandment is that we should have no other "gods" but the one, true God.
Don't worship your Christian artwork, and you will be fine.

2026-03-20 11:26:11 UTC

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False religion is stupid. True religion is...true.

2026-03-18 14:10:31 UTC

If the religious Jews of today oppose the kingship of Jesus Christ, then we should treat them just like infidels, heretics, and pagans.
That is to say, we should love them, pray for them, and help them to convert and turn to Jesus.

2026-03-18 12:55:03 UTC

This morning I had a strong desire to pray the rosary well.
I noticed at the end of the third mystery, my tangle-free rosary had somehow become hopelessly tangled.
I couldn't fix it, but I didn't want to be distracted. And so I continued and finished well.
I still couldn't untangle it afterward, which is very frustrating, so I asked for Mary, Untier of Knots, to help. Then it just came loose.
She's not only Queen of Heaven and Earth; she is also our Mom.

2026-03-16 03:04:19 UTC

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You're right, except the verse does not demand that the bishop be married. Otherwise St. Paul himself would not qualify. Neither would Jesus -- the Bishop of our souls.
The verse means a bishop should be a one-woman man (same word used in verse 12). He can't be a womanizer or remarried or a polygamist.

2026-03-15 11:01:00 UTC

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Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

2026-03-09 23:28:49 UTC

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Best I can tell, Sage is a bot.

2026-03-06 15:12:27 UTC

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National repentance is the only sane "solution."
Christ is King.

2026-03-06 15:09:02 UTC

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Yet at first it's so hard. But worth the "pain."

2026-03-06 11:11:46 UTC

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😆
"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him" (Proverbs 26:4, KJV).

2026-03-06 03:21:51 UTC

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Poetry at least needs to rhyme, right? 😄

2026-03-06 03:12:54 UTC

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You're just taking a random jab at the bishop of Rome rather than addressing what was said. Weird response.
But of course Jesus is not the vicar of Christ; He IS the Christ.

2026-03-04 21:02:12 UTC

If the apostle Paul needs to tell Christians to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12), then how much more serious is the situation for souls who are not Christian?
Be converted -- and then evangelize!

2026-03-04 20:48:58 UTC

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This is how we can participate on Team Jesus.
St. Paul said to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"
(Philippians 2:12).

2026-03-04 20:38:25 UTC

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Yes, and since Jesus is doing the work for our salvation, we have to give him our sins every day so he can forgive and sanctify us.

2026-03-04 17:08:08 UTC

During times of distress and war and violence and instability, we don't need to freak out.
But the chaos can serve as an impetus for us to confess our sins (yes -- the sacrament of Confession!) and get right with God now before it's too late.
"Too late" can either be a nuclear end-of-the-world scenario... or something like clumsily falling off the ladder wrong when cleaning your gutters.
Be ready always.

2026-02-25 11:33:34 UTC

Before the 1960s and 70s, EVERY Catholic was a "Traditional Catholic," whether a good one or a bad one.
In the big picture, it's twisted to think that "modernized" Catholicism -- only about 60 years old -- is the norm, while "Traditional" Catholicism is the outlier. It's quite the opposite.

2026-02-23 12:32:56 UTC

An insightful prayer from my morning prayer book:
"Make me clearly understand that, if I wish to be completely converted to you, I can never make peace with my weaknesses, my faults, my self-love, my pride."
It's a mistake to neglect cooperating with God in the work of rooting out our sins, assuming they just magically go away when (as we may wish to believe) we go straight to heaven when we die.
Do what needs to be done now.

2026-02-21 04:17:48 UTC

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We don't try to rationalize with those who are irrational. But we reason with those who are reasonable.

2026-02-20 20:13:00 UTC

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Who, me? Why?

2026-02-20 14:38:07 UTC

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Since an atheist doesn't accept the authority of Scripture, Bible condemnations are utterly unhelpful in his or her case.
What we should provide in charity is sound reason they can follow.

2026-02-20 14:15:50 UTC

There are problems -- some greater, some smaller -- in fully siding with
* sedevacantism
* the #SSPX
* the modern Roman church of synodalism.
Best thing to do as lay people is to pray for clarity and resolution in the Church, and to live out the Faith of the saints and the perennial teachings of the Church.
📿 Pray the Rosary.
✝️ Read the Saints.
📚 Read the catechisms of Baltimore, Pius X, Trent, etc.
📖 Read the Bible.
🙏🙏🙏 Pray, pray, pray
Avoid the ditches of (1) rejecting the office of the papacy and the authority structure in the Body of Christ, and (2) embracing the spirit of the world, even if particular popes and bishops seems to do so at their own peril, deceiving even the very elect.

2026-02-17 15:38:53 UTC

IS ECUMENISM BAD?
It's good if it involves clarifications to promote understanding -- for example, explaining patiently and carefully to Muslims why our belief in the Trinity does not mean we are polytheists, or assuring Protestants that our veneration of Mary and the saints is fundamentally different than worship that is due to God alone.
Clarifying is always good.
A different kind of so-called "ecumenism" is bad if it involves compromising the integrity of the tenets of our Faith in order to make it compatible with, or blend with, conflicting faiths.
Fake unity serves no good purpose, and is in fact harmful.

2026-02-15 16:10:11 UTC

Jesus did not build his church to become a glorified Book club with live on-stage bands and breakout sessions.

2026-02-15 16:04:28 UTC

Christ is King, and Mary is his Queen Mother.

2026-02-14 23:59:11 UTC

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No! Only Jesus is our intercessor -- we don't need saints in heaven or on earth to pray for us!
Just kidding. I'm sorry. I can get carried away because I was very anti-Catholic, and now I'm very Catholic.
Actually my assigned penance at Confession was to pray for you, because I unnecessarily started a kerfuffle with you. Please do pray for me as well.
Best wishes to you in Christ, brother.

2026-02-14 20:40:17 UTC

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Of course I need the Great Physician. That's why I'm Catholic.
In fact, I'm going to Confession in just an hour or two from now because of Jesus our Healer's words:
*****
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained (John 20:22-23, KJV).
*****
Pray for me.
But I thought we were talking about, and agreeing about, images -- the difference between idols and Christian art.

2026-02-14 05:00:00 UTC

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Excellent! You must be Catholic? 😉

2026-02-13 19:23:51 UTC

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I like George. Always courteous and helpful.

2026-02-13 18:09:20 UTC

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Did you reply to the wrong post? You didn't say anything about my comment.
I assume we agree about images, because earlier you rightly explained that the images of the golden cherubim and the bronze serpent were not to be worshiped.

2026-02-13 12:27:14 UTC

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To summarize, isn't it fair to say that images are not evil in themselves, since God has commanded their use even in religious settings?
The evil is in worshiping them (or anything else). Only the one, true God is to be worshiped.
It would be absurd and superstitious to think that having Christian art -- whether two- or three-dimensional -- is actually idolatrous.

2026-02-13 01:19:34 UTC

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Exodus 25:18-19 (KJV):
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
*****
Numbers 21:8-9 (KJV):
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
*****
1 Kings 6:23,28-29 (KJV):
And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree....
And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
*****
Galatians 3:1 (RSV):
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

2026-02-12 00:59:20 UTC

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I probably should not have commented. Sorry.
The only reason I asked was that, at first glance, you seemed (I could be mistaken) to be equating any image with the practice of idolatry.
But you might not have meant that. I'm sure you don't believe a picture Bible is sinful because it may include scenes that include depictions of God.
I reacted because I know people who think all images representing God are bad (including in picture Bibles), which doesn't make sense to me if they are okay with images of other people.
So nevermind, I guess. 🙂

2026-02-11 22:57:05 UTC

A coworker said,
"Before my wife and I married, we agreed that if one of us later wanted to be with someone else, we would tell the other rather than cheat behind each other's backs."
Honorable?
Invalid!
A sacramental #marriage has no conditions, has no exception clauses.

2026-02-11 13:53:36 UTC

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Is it wrong to have images of ourselves, family, or loved ones?

2026-02-09 17:28:05 UTC

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Excellent follow-up is straight from Bishop Fellay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yE49EvD9o8

2026-02-09 15:42:48 UTC

An excellent explanation of the current and broader crisis in the Church:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGjKNusEcl8

2026-02-09 12:32:19 UTC

"[T]he love of riches is an insatiable hunger which so tortures the soul by the ardor of desire that it does not find solace even when it obtains what it covets. The acquisition of wealth causes great fatigue; the possession of it brings great fear; its loss occasions great sorrow."
(Ven. Raymond Jourdain)
#BTC #XMR #crypto

2026-02-05 19:24:21 UTC

I think of what it be like for me 50,000 years from now. Even just 50 years from now.
Will I care whether I stacked enough sats, or whether I was able to retire early, or whether I could convince friends to use Nostr and encrypted messengers?
No.
This life -- with all its sufferings and pleasures -- won't even be a drop in the bucket of eternity. Nothing about right now will matter in a million years except for one thing: whether I died in a state of grace with God.
That is the one memory that will either bless me in Heaven or haunt me in Hell.
Forever.

2026-02-03 17:40:27 UTC

A non-denominational preacher, whose biggest disagreement with Catholics centers around our "legalistic" view of #salvation, tells me an interesting view of his own.
He believes a true Christian is able to die in the act of adultery (committed freely, knowingly, and willfully) and still go to heaven -- so long as he has never "renounced Christ" or "lost hope."
Which is more "legalistic" -- his view or the correct understanding of mortal sin?

2026-02-02 19:32:07 UTC

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It's one hour for me to a diocesan TLM, and almost 45 min. to a very small SSPX.
I'm sorry for your situation. Is there one you can take a trip to for big days (e.g., Easter, Christmas, etc.)?
I'll pray for your situation tonight. Don't lose heart.

2026-02-02 11:29:57 UTC

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What I've seen is very much like a Protestant service -- to the eyes.
I try to go to the TLM as much as possible. People call it the "Mass of the ages" for a reason.
Interestingly, when I invited my Protestant cousin to attend a TLM (twice), what he saw led him to join OCIA this year. I will be his sponsor. Praise be to God.

2026-02-01 17:26:15 UTC

It's always weird going to a Novus Ordo Catholic parish (like I did today due to weather) while accustomed to the Traditional Latin Mass:
* Lady starts us off: "Good morning! Welcome to Mass!"
* Girl altar boy wearing bell-bottom jeans and athletic shoes
* All prayers said while facing us
* We jump Communion lines to avoid the unnecessary lady extraordinary minister of Holy Communion
* It's a logistical challenge to return to our original seating where our belongings are
* Plenty of piano recitals during Mass
* Gay-sounding showtunes
* Priest ends with "I'm sorry I don't have any dad jokes for you today to close us out"
* When it's over we file past the priest near the front door who frequently administers high fives instead of handshakes
I should have weathered the longer drive in the snowstorm.

2026-01-26 16:05:17 UTC

Why do some say that when Christians go to heaven, they are no longer concerned about earthly affairs and therefore don't pray for us?
Jesus was a man. He is now at the right hand of the Father in heaven, where he still cares about us and continues to intercede for us.
It's OK -- it's good -- to ask the #saints in heaven to pray for us, with us, in Jesus.
#CommunionOfSaints

2026-01-08 15:05:37 UTC

Through careful theologizing and precise explanations, Catholics and Protestants can find a way to agree that we are "saved by faith alone."
But that doesn't settle the matter. Select theologians agreeing on how it's possible to use the same words does not make the actual disagreement go away in real life.
Similarly, Christians and Muslims can rationalize that both worship the same God, but that doesn't translate into anything meaningful.
Whatever words might make us feel good, it still stands that obedience in the Christian life -- what we do -- is critical; and worshiping Jesus is critical.

2026-01-02 20:54:40 UTC

God is not old. He just always is.

2025-12-23 12:08:36 UTC

"Therefore, you correct little by little those who trespass, and remind and warn them of the things wherein they sin, that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord."
-- Wisdom 12:2

2025-12-23 12:06:52 UTC

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I shared that with a few friends. That's really good. Thanks.

2025-12-19 17:04:08 UTC

I tried to explain Christmas was pagan to my first grade teacher.
I've come a long way.
https://blossom.primal.net/f4606abb609744f38199dff6b7755738f91898bcc890019cf033df7c52d4f058.jpg

2025-12-18 10:12:41 UTC

Baptism does not take the place of grace. It IS grace -- and a channel OF grace.

2025-12-17 13:24:46 UTC

How can the Christian be assured of eternal life?
My old quasi-Christian church taught we needed to "qualify for entrance into God's kingdom" through a life of obedience.
But what was the standard for passing the qualification test? I never knew. It was disconcerting.
Now I know the plain truth. In the simplest terms: repent, be baptized, and believe the gospel; then be sure not to die in the state of mortal sin.
That doesn't necessarily make it easy, but it makes it clear.

2025-12-17 13:15:58 UTC

If we as Christians have eternal security (i.e., are "once saved always saved"), then why should we ask for God's forgiveness when we commit a new sin?
Isn't it already forgiven? What happens if we don't ask God to forgive us our trespasses from today?
Truth: The #eternalsecurity doctrine ends up nullifying the importance of daily repentance.
It would be a legalistic view of God if we think we can choose to turn away from him through intentional serious sin, but then say it doesn't really matter because I "accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior" when I was 14.
We have to name and claim our sins whenever we commit them so we can offer them to God -- so he can heal us and forgive us. Not just in the past, but now. Right now.
Jesus never tells us we no longer need to ask, seek, and knock. It's not one and done. He says we need to endure to the end.

2025-12-13 18:49:45 UTC

I still reflect on how shallow my former religion was:
🗓️ We emphasized that Saturday (definitely not Sunday) was the true day of worship.
🥩 Real Christians don't eat pork.
✝️ Easter is pagan, and you can't even fit 72 hours between Good Friday and Sunday morning.
🎄 Christmas is pagan, and December 25 was not Jesus' birthday anyhow.
🇺🇸 🇬🇧 You can't understand the Bible if you don't know the promises to Abraham are fulfilled in the Unites States and British Commonwealth.
☘️ The Trinity is false -- there are two God Beings: the Father and the Son.
🌫️ No one goes to heaven.
🔥 There is no everlasting hell.
📖 You would believe as we do if you just let the Bible interpret itself.
There were many more, but it was these kinds of things that made us stand out. These were the things true Christians believed; others were "counterfeit Christians."
It's extra sad when I see friends and family growing old with this kind of malnourished, non-salvific, false faith.
God have mercy on us all.

2025-12-11 18:41:13 UTC

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Beautiful.

2025-12-10 14:58:40 UTC

If the Church started as an acorn and over time grew to be a beautiful oak tree, it doesn't seem right 2000 years later to chop off limbs in a supposed effort to look more like an acorn or anything else.

2025-12-09 11:40:31 UTC

It might help us to see Christmas for what it is and to think of it accordingly if we stop using the word "Christmas" for a while - - and instead use a longer, more descriptive name, such as:
**The Feast of the Incarnation.**
It changes our perception for the better.
If we took it seriously, who then would ever listen to Mariah Carey singing "All I Want for the Feast of the Incarnation Is You"?

2025-12-06 17:03:53 UTC

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This is the first I've heard of Ventoy. I had to look it up -- it looks great! Thanks for mentioning it.

2025-12-06 16:44:52 UTC

If the Apostle Paul was #Protestant, he would have started his own church.

2025-12-04 01:54:51 UTC

Jesus did not die as our Substitute; he died as our Representative.
He did not suffer, die, and rise again *instead* of us.
All of us will suffer, carry our crosses, and die. But we must choose to do so in Christ.
Because if we are joined to Christ, then we will likewise be raised *with* him and *in* him.

2025-12-01 10:19:21 UTC

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Beautiful.
At our Latin Mass, sometimes we sit behind some screamin' kids. We have no children of our own, but we are not usually bothered by the cries and nose pickings and other distractions, because we are so happy young families are there.
I sense parents are more bothered by or worried about their own kids than the other parishioners are. To us it is the background noise of life.

2025-11-18 12:19:49 UTC

There is no Christmas without Jesus being born of his human mother, who of her own free will said, "Let it be done to me according to your word."
Mary's central role in our salvation must not be undermined.

2025-11-15 14:15:56 UTC

It's encouraging to hear that the OCIA class at the Cathedral in Toledo, OH, is the largest its been in decades.
Young based dudes are coming in.

2025-11-14 12:34:15 UTC

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I'm 51 years old, prospering and in good health. I have an awesome wife, and we have NO children.
(We're actually Catholic, so we don't contracept.)
I have no problem telling young couples to generously make babies. That's what we're supposed to do. It is a great blessing on so many levels.
I understand that when we are older and need assistance, my wifeand I will have no family to help us or care for us. And when one of us dies, the other will be all alone.
It's a cross from God we will bear. It will be okay. But one should never choose this path for the sake of fun now, for convenience now, for independence now.
That's a terrible trade-off you will regret if you had a choice.

2025-11-14 12:21:32 UTC

Use your imagination and consider what it will be like the moment after your death, even when your body is still warm.
It's the inevitable time when, ready or not, things get real -- when you know exactly what's up.
See yourself approaching your ultimate "Come to Jesus Moment," which is to say, your personal judgment.
Will you wish your priorities had been different, even moments before, while you were still breathing? Will you wish for a do-over?
At that point, there are no do-overs. No second chances. Hard stop.
Your do-overs and second chances are graciously given to you now, in this life. Make use of them, and don't turn back, because you never know when you'll get your toe tag.
Repent of sin and be baptized. Look to Jesus and follow where he leads. Not only can you avoid an unbearable eternity of regret and misery, but you can enjoy the free gift of peace and love and joy with your God and Father forever.

2025-11-14 03:18:46 UTC

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I will pray for his soul and for your consolation right now.

2025-11-10 16:58:35 UTC

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It goes very well with the bestselling "Ignatius Catholic Study Bible," which is a favorite amongst Bible-believing Catholics everywhere.

2025-11-10 16:56:15 UTC

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Funny, because I've been through many Catholic Bible studies.
Have you ever heard of the extremely popular Catholic podcast called "Bible in a Year"? You should check it out. It goes verse by verse through the word thing.

2025-11-10 11:09:11 UTC

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The Catholic Church has no problem with translating Scripture into different languages as long as they aren't heretical translations.
Translating into the common tongue is a good thing. There have always been Catholic translations of the Bible in many languages.
Remember that even the KJV came out *after* the Douay-Rheims
(Catholic English Bible) was published.
But even today I would condemn the Jehovah's Witness Bible (New World Translation), for example, and even stop its publication if I could -- not because I hate the Bible (quite the opposite), but because it is a bad and heretical translation of something holy.

2025-11-09 11:27:22 UTC

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I was a "King James Only" guy until I read the Protestant writer James R. White's book entitled "The King James Only Controversy" in the mid-1990s. It changed my whole view in one weekend. Really good.
Another helpful book is "Where We Got the Bible" by Rev. Henry Graham. It dispels the common Protestant fiction of how the Catholic Church opposed the translation of the Scriptures into the common tongue.

2025-11-09 03:11:57 UTC

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That's good. I've never experienced too many good Bible studies with Protestants and nondenominationals, because many traditional Catholic interpretations tend to be rejected by nondenominationals. I hope that hasn't been your experience.

2025-11-08 15:24:15 UTC

In doing good works, Catholics do not suffer from an irrational fear of possibly daring to earn their salvation.
They're just trying to do what Jesus said to do.
If they falter, they simply confess it and repent, and keep trying to live as Jesus taught us.

2025-11-08 11:01:35 UTC

Jesus will not be referring to our employer's HR policy handbook when we face our personal judgment.

2025-11-06 01:17:30 UTC

To me it's odd when I hear Protestant Christians say they love nothing more than talking with each other about the Bible.
I understand what they mean, and maybe some really love sharing their biblical studies, which is good.
Not to be nit-picky, but I'd say our focus in Christian fellowship ought to be on Jesus, on prayer, on the Church, on the sacraments, on our Christian journeys, etc.
In other words, not just a Book *about* spiritual things, but in the spiritual realities themselves.
If I'm at a restaurant, I might talk about and refer to the wonderful menu, but what I really want is to share and enjoy dinner itself.
Just trying to keep it real.

2025-11-04 22:45:16 UTC

Stay humble and stack #indulgences.

2025-11-03 22:31:24 UTC

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I do not 💯% disagree with that.
Arguments did and do help me, but beauty is much more powerful. It can't be argued against.

2025-10-25 23:10:40 UTC

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Blessed art thou among men.

2025-10-25 23:07:10 UTC

It is sobering to realize there are people in hell who have committed fewer and less-grave sins than us.
#GoToConfession

2025-10-24 13:52:31 UTC

If a man of God anoints someone and the person is healed, it's not the minister who healed the person; he was just God's instrument.
Every Christian understands this.
But many non-Catholics cannot comprehend the idea of receiving forgiveness of sins from a priest.
They CAN believe in restoring sight, cleansing leprosy, or raising the dead at the hands of a minister -- but NO WAY the invisible forgiveness of sin (because only God can do that!).
Yet it was the resurrected Jesus who delegated his apostles with this authority:
* * * * *
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23)

2025-10-21 21:03:26 UTC

The Church celebrates feast days that highlight plainly the realities of salvation in Christ, which could only be foreshadowed by the feasts of pre-Christian Israel in hidden, shadowy figures.
Christ has come! Christ is here!
Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is the Bread from Heaven. He has begun the harvest of souls. He is the Judge. He is our High Priest and atonement. He tabernacles with us yet today.
Celebrate like a believer, not as one still waiting for the Messiah!
#COG

2025-10-20 20:49:44 UTC

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I chose him because he was so early AND so Catholicky.
His writings helped make it plain to me that the early Church was Catholic. And he clearly did not teach sola scriptura.

2025-10-20 20:36:38 UTC

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He is my confirmation saint.
St. Ignatius, pray for us.

2025-10-20 18:11:52 UTC

#Hell includes, but is not merely, the absence of perfect happiness in God.
It is a place of despair and hopelessness, reserved for those who reject God's love even in his last breath.
But some people (many?) genuinely don't want the beatific vision in the next life. They insist they'd be happy enough without it.
That's a good reason God also provides, for good measure, the fires of hell -- external flames that cause forever-pain in both soul and body.
And even then you're getting off easier than you deserve, considering you're offending your literal Creator, who is infinitely good.
While you're still drawing breath, choose wisely.

2025-10-20 10:52:59 UTC

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Hopefully those modern Orthodox Christians will keep on that path and go all the way.

2025-10-19 03:16:13 UTC

"No Kings"?
Christ is King.
All knees, whether in heaven or hell, will bend to him.