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Here are artistic representations of two goddesses who are considered the Queen of Heaven and Goddesses.  The Buddhist/Taoist Kuan Yin (or Guan Yin) (觀音) And The Catholic depiction of Mary Note the similarities in representation.  This relates to a thread last week on the leftover, or accretional pagan beliefs or rituals that are still present in the Catholic church.  The Goddess of Mercy is a universal idol/icon in pagan belief systems. 

In my new book, Behold Your Mother: A Biblical and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrines, , I spend most of its pages in classic apologetic defense of Mary as Mother of God, defending her immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, assumption into heaven, her Queenship, and her role in GodÂ’s plan of salvation as Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix. But perhaps my most important contributions in the book may well be how I demonstrate each of these doctrines to be crucial for our spiritual lives and even our salvation.And I should note that this applies to all of the Marian doctrines. Not...

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A Bay Area church is now under fire over a controversial new policy saying only boys can be altar servers. The new practice is making waves at the century old church Star of the Sea. Since the ’70s, they’ve used altar girls during masses. The well-known Richmond District church also has a school serving about 230 kids. When the new priest banned girls from being altar servers, it generated outrage among parents and parishioners alike. The priest admits some parishioners even left the church. “It’s disturbing,” said churchgoer Connie Porciuncula. Star of the Sea School...

Featured Term selected at random:EMMAUS A village about seven miles from Jerusalem. It was on the road to Emmaus that two disciples met the risen Jesus and accompanied him to the village (Luke 24:13-35). Not until he broke bread at supper did they recognize him. then he disappeared and they hastened back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles of the encounter. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

After the apostles died, was the gospel hopelessly lost until the Reformation?That certainly seems to be a common assumption in some Protestant circles today. Thankfully, it is a false assumption.I’m not entirely sure where that misconception started. But one thing I do know: it did not come from the Protestant Reformers.The Reformers themselves (including Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and others) were convinced that their position was not only biblical, but also historical. In other words, they contended that both the apostles and the church fathers would have agreed with them on the heart of the gospel.For example, the second-generation Lutheran reformer, Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586), wrote a...

Fr. Mitch Pacwa holds this fascinating interview on his weekly "EWTN Live" show, with his special guest, former strident "Catholic-Basher" and Pentecostal ("Assembly of God") minister, "Tim Staples": EWTN LIVE - 2015.1.21 - Tim Staples.

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and...

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?-Psa. 139:7 In all Christian teaching certain basic truths are found, hidden at times, and rather assumed than asserted, but necessary to all truth as the primary colors are found in and necessary to the finished painting. Such a truth is the divine immanence. God dwells in His creation and is everywhere indivisibly present in all His works. This is boldly taught by prophet and apostle and is accepted by Christian theology generally. That is, it appears in the books, but for some reason it has...

Featured Term selected at random:HISTORY OF DOGMA The systematic presentation of the history of divine revelation since it was completed at the end of the apostolic age to the present time. This history comprehends the Church's identification of what was revealed in Sacred Scripture and tradition; formulation of God's word in creeds, definitions, and doctrinal terms; interpretation of what was revealed; growth in understanding its meaning; and defense of revealed truth against the intrusion of heresy. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

"That's My King" The late Dr. S. M. Lockeridge, a pastor from San Diego, California said these words in a sermon in Detroit in 1976: http://youtu.be/yzqTFNfeDnE

In comments at his Monday in-air interview that were totally ignored by the mainstream media, Pope Francis lamented the Western practice of imposing a homosexual agenda on other nations through foreign aid, which he called a form of “ideological colonization” and compared to the Nazi propaganda machine. Asked by a reporter to explain the phrase “ideological colonization,” the pope gave an example from 1995 when, he says, a minister of education in a poor area was told she could have a loan for building schools so long as the schools used a book that taught “gender theory.” "She said yes,...

Who Gets Hurt? At Least 50 Million, and Then Some! By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere’s a common “moral” standard that many like to employ today, especially regarding sexual matters, that goes something like this: “Two consenting adults can do what they please, as long as no one gets hurt.” But of course the sinners who talk like this seem to think that they get to determine if anyone gets hurt. Generally their notions of “no one” are very egocentric. But even there they are often quite wrong.Today, I marched with many who tried to give a voice to the at...

Archbishop Georg Gänswein says retired pope is not working behind-the-scenes with conservativesROME — A close aide to emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has denied the former pontiff is playing any behind-the-scenes role over the issue of Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, calling such reports a “pure invention.” The aide also dismissed suggestions that Benedict is a sort of “anti-pope” for conservatives upset with Francis, calling it “stupid and irresponsible,” and labeling such rumors a form of “theological arson.” Archbishop Georg Gänswein, prefect of the papal household and personal secretary of emeritus pope Benedict XVI, made the comments in an...

A number of thoughtful Evangelical commentators (captured here by my brave and faithful friend Owen Strachan) have responded pointedly to Elizabeth Dias's Time story, "Inside the Evangelical Fight Over Gay Marriage." They have demonstrated logically, theologically and philosophically why the movement to abandon Scripture's teaching on human sexuality in order to accommodate supposedly Evangelical advocates of normalizing same-sex "marriage" and attraction is an offense to God and the Gospel.At the Family Research Council, we have joined them in addressing the concerns of younger Evangelicals regarding homosexuality, in recognizing the uniqueness of male-female complementarity and in celebrating God's plan for sexual intimacy...

FULL TITLE: ‘Glamorization of promiscuity’ must end before abortion can, Cardinal O’Malley tells 11,000 at March for Life vigil Abortion will not end until the “glamorization of promiscuity” is reversed, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley told an overflow crowd of over 11,000 pro-life pilgrims attending the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Capitol’s Catholic Basilica Wednesday evening. “People who favor legal abortion claim they want to reduce the number of abortions. One of the logical ways to reduce the number of abortions would be to discourage the promiscuous behavior that is rampant in our culture,” he said in his homily...

Many Have Reduced Love to Kindness, and Kindness to Mere Affirmation – A Further Reflection on the Moral Troubles of our Time By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn yesterday’s post, there was a critique of a flawed moral perspective that sets up a false dichotomy between mercy  and moral teaching, and between love and the law. As noted yesterday, well-ordered love and mercy must be rooted in truth. The greatest mercy is to keep people out of Hell and to save them from all the suffering that comes from sin.Jesus exhibits this in His person, for He who is love insists on moral...

As a church history professor, I am sometimes asked how certain practices developed in church history. For example: When did the Roman Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) emphasis on praying to saints and venerating relics and icons begin? A somewhat obscure, but extremely helpful, book by John Calvin answers that question directly.In his work, A Treatise on Relics, Calvin utilizes his extensive knowledge of church history to demonstrate that prayers to the saints, prayers for the dead, the veneration of relics, the lighting of candles (in homage to the saints), and the veneration of icons are all rooted in Roman paganism. Such practices infiltrated...

Some words spring up as the fashion “du jour” and linger longer than others. There are annoyances like the overwrought “awesome” and now the incessant “iconic” which betray a weak understanding of the meaning of those words and a limited vocabulary. A little more irritating a few years ago was “gravitas” which appeared in an election campaign and still is used by pundits unable to identify its declension.On a somewhat loftier plane is misuse of “prophecy” to mean predicting. Columnists, statesmen, stock analysts are “prophetic.” True, Aquinas includes prediction as an aspect of what prophets do, but not exclusively...

If some one had told me a few years ago that he thought Herod at one time came near the kingdom of God, I should have been inclined to doubt it. I would have said, "I do not believe that the bloodthirsty wretch who took the life of John the Baptist ever had a serious thought in his life about his soul's welfare." I held that opinion because there is one scene recorded in Herod's life that I had overlooked. But some years ago, when I was going through the gospel of Mark, making a careful study of the book,...

Featured Term selected at random:CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL A historic monument of Catholic England, in County Kent, it is the burial place of some of the Church's greatest leaders. At first it was forbidden to bury within the cathedral precincts. The rule was changed when St. Cuthbert (d. 687), arranging his own burial, ordained that all archbishops could be buried within their own cathedral churches. St. Dunstan, St. Alphege, St. Anselm, St. Odo have their tombs within its walls. But the saint who is most responsible for Canterbury's prestige is St. Thomas à Becket, who was murdered by the agents of King...