Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. (Saint Anthony of Padua, +1231)
Year: 2025
Apologetics 101, Question 4: Life, Soul and Substance
Recently, Catholic Insight posted a thoughtful note from Carl Sundell on the essential questions we should be prepared to answer about our faith. This list of questions was likely meant to inspire readers to find and research their own answers to these questions. There are over 2,000 years of resources one could sift through in[…]
Pope Benedict and Anthony of Padua
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 10 February 2010 Saint Anthony of Padua Dear Brothers and Sisters, Two weeks ago I presented St Francis of Assisi. This morning I would like to speak of another saint who belonged to the first generation of the Friars Minor: Anthony of Padua, or of Lisbon, as[…]
Saint Anthony of Padua…or Lisbon
Saint Anthony of Padua is usually named historically after the city-state in northeastern Italy where he died after his brief but full life at the age of 35 in 1231. But he is also claimed by the Portuguese, who call him Anthony of Lisbon, where he was born in 1195, as Fernando Martins. There has[…]
What is ‘Natural Theology’?
Natural theology is an attempt to prove, by the use of reason alone, that the claims of revealed religion are plausible. One of the great teachers of natural theology was the 13th Century Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas. He offered, without reference to scripture, five famous proofs for the existence of God in his book Summa[…]
News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit[…]
Pope Benedict and Saint Barnabas
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday, 31 January 2007 Barnabas, Silas (also called Silvanus), and Apollos Dear Brothers and Sisters, Continuing our journey among the protagonists who were the first to spread Christianity, today let us turn our attention to some of St Paul’s other collaborators. We must recognize that the Apostle is an eloquent[…]
Saint Barnabas and Keeping up the Good Fight of the Faith
It is fitting that we celebrate the Apostle Barnabas, the ‘son of consolation’, or the ‘son of encouragement’, in this season of the Holy Spirit. For the Hebraic terminus of his name, the navi (consolation, or even prophet) after the bar (son) is one of the titles of the Third Person of the Trinity, the consoler, advocate and guide.[…]
Pope Benedict and Saint Ephraim the Deacon
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 28 November 2007 Saint Ephrem Dear Brothers and Sisters, Common opinion today supposes Christianity to be a European religion which subsequently exported the culture of this Continent to other countries. But the reality is far more complex since the roots of the Christian religion are found[…]
Saint Columbkille, the Irish Apostle of Scotland
If you will forgive a little parochialism, today is the feast of Saint Columbkille (521-597), also called Columba, who is not celebrated in the universal calendar, but happens to be the patron my own diocese. He also hails originally from where my father’s family is from in Ireland, Donegal on the wild west coast of[…]