Virtus In Medio Stat

By: Laurence Gonzaga Published on Faithful Answers One of the most relevant and controversial topics among Christians is the issue of salvation. Many theological terms such as justification, salvation, sanctification, soteriology, atonement, propitiation , and expiation can easily confuse the untaught and unlearned. Other Christian communions also use these same terms but mean different things by them. So, I wanted to simply summarize this whole salvation business so you can get the facts down before you venture into a more in depth study of the issues. Salvation is a team effort. It is a work in progress, a joint project between you and God. Because of Adam’s original sin , we have a fallen nature. We have a propensity to sin, always. This attraction to the world, the flesh, and the Devil is called concupiscence . We are not born “basically good” as the humanists believe. Apart from God, we can do no civil or moral good on our own. Grace is the life of God operating in ou...

Crossing the Christian’s Boundaries By Laurence Gonzaga Hi Laurence - Had a question for you--- I have been reading a book on dealing with a loved with a mental health condition, and one of the things it talks about is the importance of boundaries -- to my uneducated mind on matters of psychology, i see there being a conflict with setting boundaries and that of basically Christ's all and totally giving example -- giving to the point of death. Do you have insights on how one may and must set appropriate boundaries on their relationships with people that does not necessarily set aside the example of Christ, or efforts to say, heroic virtue of serving another. [My only guess is that, when dealing with some people, by giving so much of oneself that it enables a person, and in no way helps them with their redemption or self improvement, etc...]. Appreciate if you can offer a few words of insight, I know you've studied psychology and theology so you could help me understand how t...

Our daily bread for our future life By: Laurence Gonzaga This past Thursday was the traditional Corpus Christi Feast, celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday ( New Advent ). It was a beautiful liturgy in the extraordinary form. My friends who have formed a beautiful choir sung the propers and ordinary for the Mass. I even joined in choir for the ordinary chants. Father’s homily was very much the same as today’s sermon for the “Second Sunday After Pentecost”. In summary, Father made the following points: 1)       Communion in the hand is not the universal norm. It was originally granted as an indult in the 70’s. 2)       The majority of bishops in the 70’s said that communion in the hand was not advisable and that it would lead to a loss of faith in the real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. (Father was referring to the document Memoriale Domini , 1969, and can be read here . The bishops never wanted communion ...