Tag: "salvation"

Lenten Reflection: What Is Salvation?
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Lenten Reflection: What Is Salvation?

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Shortly before his martyrdom, St. Paul penned a letter to his friend Timothy. The great apostle seems to have known that death was near, and his bittersweet words are imbued with a sense of urgency. St. Paul comforts and commends his young protégé, while exhorting him to sacrifice. “Do not be ashamed of the testimony […]

Just Say These Words and Walk on into Heaven
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Just Say These Words and Walk on into Heaven

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Why aren’t there some words – profound, insightful, loving, deep, meaningful, powerful words– which, when read, heard, or said will immediately and instantaneously make a person perfectly good in this life and remain so until they die, thus enjoying eternal glory in Heaven? Why cannot words such as these be written which, once read, change […]

A Great Mystery: Salvation Appears in the Jordan
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A Great Mystery: Salvation Appears in the Jordan

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When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” This […]

Consider Christ
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Consider Christ

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With today’s writing I want to speak to an audience I don’t normally speak to.  We “smart” Catholics like to look down on those who don’t do things the way we do.  We look down on those who aren’t there with us every Sunday at Mass.  This is the audience I’d like to speak to. […]

Purgatory Part 2: Salvation, Sanctification, and Atonement
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Purgatory Part 2: Salvation, Sanctification, and Atonement

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This is the second in a series in which I attempt to address the question, “What is purgatory, and why is it necessary?” by expanding on the simple answer that Purgatory is the state, place, or process by which a soul is purified for entrance into heaven. Part 1 can be found here. “The doctrine [of […]

The Mercy of God, Not the Merit of Man
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The Mercy of God, Not the Merit of Man

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The matter of grace is a real puzzle. There is obviously tension between the freedom of man and the providence of God, both of which are affirmed by the church. Right from the start, let me state that I do not think this enigma is fully solvable. Our minds are unfit to comprehend the interaction […]

All in the Family? Don't Take Faith for Granted
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All in the Family? Don’t Take Faith for Granted

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Last summer I went on a field trip.  I attended a three-day seminar on Christian-Jewish relations.  This happened at the Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  I arrived on Monday, checked into my dormitory on campus, and we all enjoyed kosher cuisine with other divinity and rabbinical students as we kibitzed about what Jews and […]

Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God in Christ
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Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God in Christ

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Saint Paul on God and love is simple for to the saint these are one and the same.  That is his statement to the Christians at Rome and he declares this squarely in the middle of his Epistle to the Romans, his 5,000-word tour de force on love, God, sin, death, resurrection, and the salvation […]