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Time for another ELCA "conversation," this time regarding "who is welcome" to Holy Communion. An innocuous-sounding invitation to participate came out a few weeks ago, and and similar notice appears again in the Summer 2014 Seeds for the Parish, now appearing in snail boxes across the ELCA but not yet on its website. Resources for the conversation will be available at www.elca.org/worship "by mid-August," but so far not yet. Over at lutheranforum.org, Paul Hinlicky will have none of this innocuousness in yesterday's post The Truth about "Radical Hospitality". At its conclusion, he invites readers (I would presume ELCA clergy and...

Featured Term (selected at random:IMITATION OF SAINTS The practice of striving to put into practice in one's own life the virtues that the saints practiced in theirs. This is one of the reasons why the Church canonizes saints, to give the faithful secure patterns of holiness in every period of Christian history and on every level of human society. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

This coming August 22, the Feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven will be celebrated throughout the world. Deepertruth will focus this Tuesday on this most important topic. The Marian teaching “Queen of Heaven” is steeped in Old Testament tradition. There are those who misunderstand this teaching and will even claim it is Pagan. Nothing can be furthest from the truth. Some will surely want to raise the scripture coming from Jeremiah 7:16-18, “You, now, do not intercede for this people; raise not in their behalf a pleading prayer! Do not urge me, for I will not listen to you. Do...

The Perfect Revival? By Julio Severo Brazil has experienced an explosive growth of Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal (neo-charismatic) churches. Large crowds of poor people have been attending these churches looking for answers for their physical, material and spiritual needs. The Brazilian Catholic Church, plagued by the Liberation Theology, has been worried about this growth. And even mainline Brazilian Protestant churches, similarly plagued by Protestant versions of the Liberation Theology, have been worried. International onlookers see such growth as a phenomenon or even evidence of “revival.” Yet, Brazilian Calvinist critics question that if it were genuine, Brazil would not have now...

Featured Term (selected at random:DRY MASS A shortened form of the Mass, customary in the Middle Ages, in which the Offertory, Canon, and Communion were omitted. It was used on a variety of occasions, such as when a second Mass on the same day was forbidden; at a pilgrimage; when a priest who was still fasting was not available; on board ship in stormy weather, then called a "naval Mass"; and during hunting expeditions, called a hunter's Mass. It survives among certain priest-monks who say a Dry Mass of Our Lady, and in the ceremony for the blessing of Palms...

Featured Term (selected at random:ACACIANS Heretical sect named after Acacius of Caesarea (d. 366), who refused to accept the Nicene term homoousios (one in being with) the Father in reference to Christ. They claimed that Christ was merely homoios (like) the Father. Also called Semi-Arians and Homoeans. According to St. Jerome the leader of the Acacians was nominated Felix, the antipope, in 358. In the next century another Acacius, who was Patriarch of Constantinople (471-89), provoked the Acacian Schism with Rome by his compromise with the monophysites. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary,...

Courage and Encourage FR. JOHN HARVEYCourage is the Catholic Church's only pontifically approved ministry which is specifically committed to providing spiritual support for persons with same-sex attraction who are striving to live chastely, offering help to grow in understanding with others toward living more fully the Church's teachings. Notice to Reader: "The Boards of both CERC Canada and CERC USA are aware that the topic of homosexuality is a controversial one that deeply affects the personal lives of many North Americans. Both Boards strongly reiterate the Catechism's teaching that people who self-identify as gays and lesbians must be treated...

"Reforms", the magical magic word was actively worked from Vienna's archbishop in this interview. "Changes" and "pace of change" would also be the "hot potatoes" like the approval of remarried divorcees to Communion and the abolition of priestly celibacy, says the Cardinal. With the only restriction of the little word "perhaps". Schönborn, is so certain of the papal reforms that he spoke of "signs and wonders" that will be "done" by Pope Francis.

Gary Sinise – actor, director, bass player, patriot, philanthropist and convert to Catholicism – was a surprise guest at the Knights of Columbus’ annual convention in Orlando earlier this month. The person who was most surprised about being there may have been Gary Sinise himself. He confessed that “he and his family weren’t part of any religion” until his wife returned to her mother’s abandoned Catholic roots in 2000 and he subsequently slow-walked his way to Confirmation in 2010. He recounted his initial shock and eventual support of his wife’s decision in an interview several years ago. He’d been filming...

Featured Term (selected at random:VICAR CAPITLAR A cleric appointed by the cathedral chapter to administer a vacant episcopal diocese. The bishop's ordinary spiritual and temporal jurisdiction becomes the responsibility of the chapter when a vacancy occurs. But the chapter in turn must elect a vicar to assume this authority within a specified short period of time. when a diocese has no chapter, the board of consulters or its equivalent elects an administrator. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

A Newfoundland homosexual group filed a hate crimes complaint under the Criminal Code with the police last week after a local magazine published an opinion piece urging Christians to promote the Scriptural teachings on the sinfulness of homosexuality, abortion, and other acts against a secularist establishment. The Newfoundland Herald published the piece by US columnist and constitutional lawyer Matt Barber as a letter to the editor in its August 3-9 issue. Western Pride NL activist Kyle Curley, who filed the complaint, alleged in an interview with CBC that the piece was “a rallying call for people to stand against LGBT...

One of the favorite taunts of the New Atheists is that religious people believe in an “invisible friend.” They are implying, of course, that religion is little more than a pathetic exercise in wishful thinking, a reversion to childish patterns of projection and self-protection. It is well past time, they say, for believers to grow up, leave their cherished fantasies behind, and face the real world. In offering this characterization, the New Atheists are showing themselves to be disciples of the old atheists such as Feuerbach, Marx, Comte, and Freud, all of whom made more or less similar observations. Well,...

Featured Term (selected at random:MATERIALLY EVIL Something that is objectively a moral evil, and therefore sinful, but a person does it either without knowing it is wrong, or under duress and without internal consent to the evil. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

1 Timothy 5:17, James 5:14-15, and other verses refer to the (ordained) ministerial priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 refers to the "priesthood" of the laity. The ministers handle preaching and the Sacraments. The laity simply participate. Scripture makes a strong distinction.ierateuma/hierateuma (lay priesthood, Greek, Strong's #2406) [1 Peter 2:9, Lexicon] sacerdotium (lay priesthood, Latin) [1 Peter 2:9] presbuteroi/presbyteros (ministerial priesthood, Greek, Strong's #4245) [1 Timothy 5:17, James 5:14-15, Lexicon] presbyteri/presbyteros (ministerial priesthood, Latin) [1 Timothy 5:17, James 5:14-15] —Follow me, Answering Protestants, and Catholic Analysis on Twitter, Like Answering Protestants and Catholic Analysis on Facebook, Add Answering Protestants and Catholic Analysis...

Featured Term (selected at random:GLEBE  A land permanently assigned for maintaining a parish. A glebe house is a parsonage or manse.All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:JUS JURANDUM A sworn oath. Any one of the oaths that the Church at times requires of the faithful, and especially of her priests. Such was the Oath Against Modernism, required of those teaching in seminaries, prescribed by Pope St. Pius X. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

Featured Term (selected at random:BULLARIUM  Various private collections of papal bulls and other pontifical documents. The authority of bullaria is simply that of the individual documents. The best known are those published by Cherubini in 1586; the "Luxembourg Bullarium," said to have been printed at Geneva (1527-30); the "Roman Bullarium," published by Mainardi (1733-62); and the "Turin Bullarium" (1857-85). (Etym. Latin bulla, seal.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

This ongoing series on the Reformation of Pope Francis began in September of 2013 with a thesis and a prophecy. The thesis was that Pope Francis means to remake the Catholic Church in his image; a feat that no previous Pope has dared to exercise to this extent. The prophecy was that the Papacy and Reformation of Pope Francis will be exercised through three personal ideologies of his that I called ‘windows’; those three being (1) Rejectionism; (2) Indifferentism, and (3) Inclusivism. For those new to this series, should know that these are not slam pieces. While it is true...

St. John Vianney, Priests, and God’s Armor Kathleen Beckman “When people want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest; for when there is no priest, there is no sacrifice: and when there is no sacrifice, there is no religion.”— St. John VianneySt. John Vianney exemplifies a life of sacrificial love, holy boldness and courageous perseverance. His example is absolutely relevant to our day and age. Twenty years ago on pilgrimage to Catholic shrines in France, our group visited the famous village of Ars. Our priest celebrated holy Mass in the same crypt that St. John Vianney offered Mass...

Featured Term (selected at random:WINGED OX A symbol of St. Luke the Evangelist, anticipated by Ezekiel. The ox, recognized as the animal of sacrifice, was applied to St. Luke because his Gospel emphasizes the atonement made by Christ's sacrifice of himself on the Cross. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.