In September of 2020 I was encouraged by a friend to listen to a lecture by the late Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. on the state of American Protestantism. In his six-hour lecture, Fr. Hardon mentioned books that he had written which had gone out of print. One of them was called “Christianity in Conflict […]
A reflection on the Gospel reading for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Matthew 11:25-30 (NABRE) At that time Jesus exclaimed:“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,for although you have hidden these thingsfrom the wise and the learnedyou have revealed them to little ones.Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.All […]
When I felt the Holy Spirit calling me and my family to fully reconcile with the Roman Catholic Church, I sat down and made a list of all the things about Catholic Doctrine (as I understood it at the time) that I had a serious problem with. And trust me when I tell you, I […]
Stop me if you’ve heard (or preached) this sermon: “The reason we don’t have a crucifix in this church, glory to God, is because, hallelujah, Jesus is not on that cross anymore, amen?! (Amen!). No! Glory to God, Jesus rose again, and the cross is empty, amen?! (Amen!).” Dear friend, I hate to interrupt the […]
Before we jump in here, just a reminder that there are actually five great commission texts (at least) in the Gospels and Acts. This post is about the one in Matthew’s gospel. In my post surveying the Greek text of Mat. 28:19-20, I noted that I think Matthew 28:18 is actually a key to understanding the […]
Did you know that there are five texts in the New Testament that contain different facets of the “Great Commission” – and without each of them, there may be something lacking in our understanding of what Jesus wants to do through His Church? I have personally come to see all five texts together as a composite […]
We’re all familiar with “The Great Commission” in Matthew 28:18-20. Yes, that’s right, verses 18-20 (most people leave verse 18 off, though I think that’s the most important part – but that’s something covered at length in this post). What about verses 19 and 20? What do those two verses really say? What are the […]