Apr 19 2013
A priest from the Archdiocese of Cape Town attended the recent training course for the Latin Mass in Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire, UK. More photos will follow, but here are a few from the organisers, used with the permission of Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.
Apr 12 2013
Adventists, and others such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and those groups continuing Herbert Armstrong’s legacy, often claim that Easter is derived from a pagan festival. In fact, there are two important points to raise in response to them – a) whether or not Easter is pagan, and, for the Armstrong followers, b) which days of the week the Crucifixion and Resurrection were.
Apr 12 2013
The late Adventist scholar Samuele Bacchiocchi was influenced by the teachings of Herbert Armstrong, and promoted the observance of Jewish holy days instead of Christian holy days. In his Endtime Issues #43 he rearranges the historical evidence to form a revised version of history to support his arguments. He beautifully provides us with a typical example of how historical evidence is misapplied.
Apr 09 2013
I don’t want to become a general Catholic blog, or go into (too much) general apologetics. I want my audience to be a) Catholics who need a defence of their faith specifically from Adventist arguments against Catholicism, and b) Adventists seriously interested in understanding Catholicism and why we don’t accept their arguments as sound. I have a few ideas I’m working on for future topics. For the few visitors I get, please mention what you think I could write posts on. Thanks.
Apr 02 2013
Mar 25 2013
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has delivered a national apology to victims of forced adoption practices that were in place in Australia from the late 1950s to the 1970s. I can imagine that one day humanity will say these words about abortion.
Mar 23 2013
I just found the Y-Jesus site, which has some good arguments as to why Jesus is God, and why Jesus actually did claim to be God. And then Dave Armstrong’s detailed argument, which I’ve mentioned before.
Mar 23 2013
Going through that blog, I rediscovered a post called “Technovirology in action” that showed how one can remove a virus (computer virus) from an infected file. The virus was W32.Rungbu, as named by Norton. Back then (May 2007) my Norton Antivirus was unable to remove the virus from the files. So I did something very dangerous, which you should not try at home – I turned the antivirus off, and removed the virus manually. A very entertaining process!
Mar 21 2013
The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople has invited Pope Francis to travel with him to the Holy Land next year to mark the 50th anniversary of the embrace between Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI, the pioneers of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. During their private meeting, Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis explored possible paths towards unity, including theological dialogue, environmental defense, and a visit to the Fanar, after going through proper diplomatic channels.
Mar 20 2013
Something I wanted to develop for sometime, because it is only partly dealt with in my post on Matthew 5, is whether or not the law has been fulfilled, and whether the heavens and earth have passed away. Teresa Beem goes further in her blog post The Sabbath, It is Finished. She also points to “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt 26:29) and shows when Jesus actually did do just that.
Mar 15 2013
God said to St Francis of Assisi, “Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins”. So, what needs repair?
Mar 14 2013
Will Pope Francis suppress the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, allowing us only the Ordinary Form, thereby reversing the much-needed liturgical reform? He has that authority. He can bind and loose with the authority given to Peter. But I don’t believe he will.
Mar 13 2013
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam. Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum Georgium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio. Qui sibi nomen imposuit Francisco.
Mar 12 2013
Over at WikiAnswers, someone asked how Pope Benedict XVI got his helicopter pilot’s licence. The answer given is quite correct – “By taking lessons, and then by taking the exam.” He was even allowed to fly the papal helicopter in the earlier days of his papacy.
Mar 06 2013
Pope Benedict also likes cats. Apparently Pope Paul VI had to be persuaded not to eat the frogs in this pond.
Mar 05 2013
My conclusion: It sounds to me as if this is a baby with a current and clearly documented HIV infection, which happens to be either extremely well suppressed and/or only minimally functional. I am of the opinion that this is not a conclusive case of a true cure. The word “cure” has been qualified with the word “functional”. We should be careful using words like “cure” in situations like this – the term “functional cure” is really just the use of “functional” as a weasel word to allow the term “cure” to get into the headlines.
Mar 04 2013
La Stampa has a lovely walk-through of how the new pope will be elected. Very educational. I didn’t know that the way things are done changes with the 34th ballot. Pope Benedict XVI changed the simple majority back to a 2/3 majority for all the ballots, though, so it could run well beyond 34.
Mar 03 2013
Liturgical dancing – abolish it! It looks silly. It looks like moon worship. It’s not Catholic. I hope Cardinal Arinze is elected pope. He’d be a good pope.
