Virtus In Medio Stat

THE GIFT, NOT THE WRAPPING PAPER, OF THE EUCHARIST Most of the parish mission talk tonight was spot on and excellently delivered. Then he had to do a little side eye towards my Trad friends. I can pick on them a little bit since I spent some time in that community,. But I'll sometimes defend them when the mood is right. Father made the point about some in the church who seem to get into more of a focus on how the liturgy is executed rather than what's really important. He goes on to say that it's like these folks have missed the gift and focused on the wrapping paper. Seems a bit unfair of a judgement to describe them all, but he might have a valid point too. If you know the community of the Holy Name of Jesus parish, you'd probably know that the vast majority of folks won't know what he is talking about. But with the sensitive ears of a former traditionalist, I know he's clearly talking about the liturgy war, so-called. Without really taking a defin...

From the Laurence Gonzaga archives... Sunday, February 1, 2009 Church and Society - Avery Cardinal Dulles Church and Society: The Laurence J. McGinley Lectures, 1988-2007 (Hardcover) Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ Chapter 38 - Who are saved? Sold at Amazon.com here. I went into B & N to read the next few chapters of a book I started there last month by Dinesh D'Souza, What's so Great about Christianity? But, alas, they are out of stock. So, this book caught my eye. I perused through the pages of the book, as well as the Table of contents, and this chapter caught my eye. I read through it and was thoroughly impressed by this theologian's brevity and clarity in presenting this topic. I think he makes very little of his own assertions, but did well to present the established and popular treatments of the issue, as the doctrine of "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" developed over the centuries. He goes through it chronologically. He points out that early on, the...

ALL PATHS LEAD TO THE ONE TRUE GOD?  Of course I didn't read the whole thing from Pope Francis to the Singaporean Junior College students.  Who has time for such things?  Aren't there already enough church documents?  So I searched for the word path and read the sentence in context.  In my view, it's problematic but I think there's enough substance there that's true that doesn't make me lose sleep over it.  I agree that all religions are in some sense a pathway to the true God. It's at least further along than being an atheist or an agnostic. Even those could be part of a pathway in a person's life towards God eventually.  I was raised Catholic to some degree, went to Catholic school, and got the early sacraments, but became an atheist, then became a theist, then became Catholic again, then Protestant, then Catholic again, then almost Sedevacantist, then Catholic again. But don't ask Gerry Matatics about that last step. :-)  Francis af...

A friend asked me recently what I would say to a room full of "rad-trads" if I had the opportunity to address them as a captive audience. I probably wouldn't bother with making any claims related to history or theology as so much of those topics have been exhausted in countless books. I suspect my friend wanted to hear a more psychological perspective on this. I 've said it several times this past year or so, and it's a claim that is readily dismissed by passionately committed traditionalist friends, but my observation over the last 18 years of the trad movement and individuals who have come and gone within their circles has been that it has mostly been driven by subjective socio-emotional dynamics and processes going on in that person's life at the time. Maybe "grace" is operating in there somewhere, but you can't really prove to me or anyone that it was leading you to the truthiest truth , or not.  Everyone always thinks they are in the right s...

WHILE THE CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE WAS NOT THE SPOTLIGHT OF THE APOLOGETICS CONFERENCE YESTERDAY ON REASONS TO BELIEVE... The Catholic representative, me, closed the conference with the point that you need to trust the messenger first before you even begin to digest, understand, and trust the message. If you are interested in my contribution to the apologetics conference yesterday I put together the time stamps of the topics as well as my questions and comments in the panel discussion below.  The Protestant presenters pointed out that the Bible was put together in the 3rd century. So, I put a little bow on it at the end without mentioning the Catholic Church, that you need to trust the group that put the Bible together in the third century, if you're going to trust what the Bible says today. REASONS TO BELIEVE Conference Symposia Covenant Church 1127 N. San Antonio Avenue, Ontario, CA April 13, 2024 ||||| 1:00-4:00PM Full Video:  https://www.facebook.com/symposiachurch...

Here are some notes on my view of why we study and do apologetics. I'm of course missing some pieces but I can build it out further later. Some important pillars in my observation and practice of apologetics since 2004 are outlined below with Scriptural refs. I hope this helps you.  Why Apologetics? Notes by Laurence Gonzaga 1. Be ready to give reason and defense of my faith. 1 Peter 3:14-16 English Standard Version 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 2. Someone can't just randomly understand all the Scriptures without an authoritative teacher, who knows the truth, and sen...

BE WATER, MY FRIEND  Watch this from Matt Fradd and Jimmy Akin on "Tough Love" in Apologetics:  https://youtu.be/73I8hCPI_eg?si=EgSU-A7CiUi7MwJj I tend to start off polite. But I also match their energy. If they come in hot, I might just respond with guns a blazing, or ignore them. Just depends. Everyone seems to have a preferred style and they want everyone else to be just like them bc they think their own style is always the best. If your intentions are good and pure, then maybe God will use you in the way he needs to for that other person. Let's not get too bogged down by technique. I think Bruce Lee's "be water my friend" approach is wise.  Some will disagree, I'm sure; that's fine.  You do you... Oh and, don't be too fooled by all the public facades of these professional Catholics; they ain't always as kind as their published personas appear to be. I know that from my own direct experience. I'm not a professional Catholic...