+JMJ+ Howdy, y’all. I hope your Christmas and New Year’s were filled with joy or something close to it. Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I found a video about this feast by Dr. Brant Pitre—and if you’ve followed this blog for very long, you know how much I enjoy his work and sharing it with you. Video after the fold.
Continue reading “Happy Feast of The Baptism of the Lord”
+JMJ+ Yesterday I shared a couple of things about Ash Wednesday and Lent in the Church against the charge that they have pagan roots. Today I want to add more to that, some videos that I think are interesting and helpful. First, a video from Dr. Brant Pitre, then two by Fr. Mike Schmitz, and one by Fr. Chris Alar, three of my favorite Catholic teachers and speakers.
Continue reading “Ash Wednesday is almost here”
A few days ago I subscribed to the Mass Readings Explained by Dr. Brant Pitre (link at the end of this post). I’m posting a sample of the video about the Solemnity from that series below. Even this little sample will help you answer those who don’t understand that what the Church teaches about the Blessed Mother is important, and not only important but necessary. To understand (and also to protect) what the Church teaches about Jesus we must understand (and protect) what the Church teaches about the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Continue reading “Blessed Solemnity of the Mother of God, Happy New Year!”
How many times has some well-intentioned but woefully misinformed person said this to you: “The catholic church* added books to the Bible.” (There are links at the end of the post.)
Continue reading “About those “extra” books in Catholic Bibles”
Dr. Brant Pitre kicks off my new series, Books I Want Right Now. Dr. Pitre has become one of my favorite Catholic author-speaker-teachers and his new book is due out in August 2019,* Paul, a New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology. (Links at the end of this post.)
Protestants have tended to think of Paul as a proto-Protestant, because he rebuked Peter once, though they tend to ignore the fact that he submitted to Peter before he set out to preach. He allowed himself to be sent, in other words, by the Church which, yes, was already in existence before he was sent to preach and before he began to write probably the earliest of the New Testament writings. And because they misinterpret things he wrote about faith, grace and works. Paul was (and, as he is a saint and alive in Christ, is) Catholic and as far from being a Protestant as it is possible to be.**
Continue reading “Paul, a New Covenant Jew, by Brant Pitre, due August 2019”
We interrupt our reguarly scheduled programming to bring you this important announcement: There are no ascended masters. There is the Ascended Lord, the One Christ Jesus Who ascended into Heaven. He was begotten not made, True God and True Man, One in being with the Father, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died and was buried. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven, and no one—and I mean NO ONE—goes to the Father except through Him.
Continue reading “No, Jesus is NOT an Ascended Master”
Contrary to what many non-Catholic Christians charge, we do not honor Mary at the expense of Jesus. We do not give her too much honor thereby taking away from the honor due her Son, as if it were some zero sum game with only so much honor to go around. “Oh, no, I’ve given too much honor to Mary, now I don’t have enough left to give Jesus, oh, no!”
Continue reading “Queen Mother, Mary and Rachel”
May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in her honor I’ll be writing a brief blog post every day in May about some aspect of the Church’s teaching about her, or a book or video I’ve found interesting and helpful, or whatever else I can come up with. So it’s Something About Mary Every Day in May—except for the first few days of the month that I’ve already missed. (Cuz it wasn’t on my to-do list and if it’s not on there, it does not get done. Got my handy dandy liturgical calendar planner now so hopefully I can keep up, at least better than I have been. It’s already May, which is pretty late to buy a calendar, but I didn’t have one so I did. When I order next year’s, I’ll post a link to it.) Hey, I should’ve named this, Something About Mary (Almost) Every Day In May. Hmmm. Nah, too late to change the graphic. It takes me forever to do those things because I am sooo slllooowww. ;)
Continue reading “Something About Mary Every Day in May (except for the days I already missed)”
Peace be to you! Hope you had a very merry Christmas! Advent, Christmas, New Year’s, all passed me by, and the Jubilee of Mercy began, and I watched it all fly past as if I were Douglas Adams watching deadlines go whoosh. I’ve put off writing this, my 500th post for Catholic Heart and Mind because I wanted to write something Big and Important, something Significant. I’ve also been struggling to get back to reading and writing about Laudato Si’, but, to be honest, I’m feeling some real resistance to it. I’ll get over it and get back to it, eventually, or force myself to do it, but I haven’t yet. (I’ve also been really low on energy. The sarcoidosis has taken a toll the last couple of years, and reading and listening and taking a few notes is about all I’ve been good for. My dogs are exceedingly frustrated with me, I’ve been such a bore.) The result is that, for the longest, I haven’t written anything. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Funny how that works. Tonight I decided to go ahead and write a post instead of The Post and get on with it.
Just in case you’ve been burning with curiosity about what I’ve been doing with all this time on my hands–since I certainly haven’t been blogging–I’ll tell you: I’ve been delving into my theology studies and it’s been fascinating and inspiring. Been listening to a college level course by Dr. Brant Pitre, The Apostle Paul: Unlocking the Mysteries of His Theology, on MP3. It’s available on CD, too, but I’m the impatient type so I usually download these things so I can start digging in right away. The course is seventeen sessions, each one runs about an hour or more. I’m only on session thirteen right now, but most of the previous talks I’ve listened to two or three times.
In addition to the MP3 course on the Apostle Paul: Unlocking the Mysteries of His Theology, by Dr. Brant Pitre, I managed to get hold of three books he recommended:
And after watching a couple of videos (more about that later) featuring Dr. Michael S. Heiser and his work, I’ve decided to also read two of his books (for now):
The more I study about the angels, the more fascinated I become. Heiser is writing from a non-Catholic point of view, and I don’t know yet whether or not he includes the Church Fathers in his sources, but I still find his work very interesting. Danielou’s book certainly covers the Fathers; I’m not sure what all Prat or Schweitzer cover, but I’m hoping that Prat gets into the Fathers, at least a little. I’ll share more as I learn more.
Well, that’s more than enough about what I’ve been doing. Thanks for reading. May God bless you and yours in this new year!
Of all the things I’d hoped to do during Lent, I’ve managed only to prove to myself that I am even weaker than I already knew. But, lucky for you, I have also spent some time listening to an audio course in Spiritual Theology taught by Dr. Brant Pitre. It’s available in DVD, CD or MP3 formats. (I bought the MP3 set so I could download it immediately and have been listening to it on my iPhone in GoodReader.)
One of the earliest purchases I made after becoming attracted to the Catholic Church in the ’90s was Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange’s marvelous two-volume work, The Three Ages of the Interior Life. This was the first Christian work of its kind I had ever seen and I’m so glad I got it then in a clothbound edition. I have read and re-read Volume One, and have read Volume Two through at least once.
Why do I mention Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange’s book? Because Dr. Pitre uses it in his course! How exciting! For me, it is. (Stop looking at me like that. I know I’m a nerd. And you do, too, if you’ve even glanced at this site before. So there.) And that’s not all. Dr. Pitre uses several others that either I had in print or Kindle format, in my Verbum library or found online in PDF or other downloadable eBook formats for free. And, before you ask, of course I’ll give you links. Kind of me, yes? (Okay, my aforementioned weakness has engendered not quite enough humility in me. Yet.)
Video Introduction to Spiritual Theology Course
Sources used in the course include those in the list below. I’ve listed Kindle and print formats; eBook refers to various formats available mostly through the Internet Archive for free. On the course page there’s a link to a PDF outline of the course (scroll down). I strongly recommend that you download the outline even if only as a guide for your own study. What an amazing amount of teaching and work Dr. Pitre has put together for us! Btw, this is not a complete list. But if you get the free PDFs, Fr. Dubay’s Fire Within, and Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange’s books listed (PDFs or Kindle), then I reckon you’ll be fine. I also reckon you already have a good and well-worn Catholic Bible and, of course, a much dog-eared copy of the Catechism. (You do, don’t you?)
Notes
*The RSV is available in two different Catholic editions, the RSV-CE (Catholic Edition) and the RSV-SCE (Second Catholic Edition or RSV-2CE, 2nd Catholic Edition, I’ve seen it both ways). I use both because I like the SCE but the CE is available in interlinear format in my Verbum software. Can I read the interlinear Biblical Hebrew or Greek? Heck, no. But I like to explore and learn so I do use it. A little. I hope to learn to use it more as time goes on.
Another form of the RSV for Catholics is the Ignatius Study Bible RSV-SCE, but is only complete through the New Testament as of this writing. You can buy the NT in separate booklets or the whole NT in paperback, hardback or leatherbound. (Several books of the Old Testament are available now in booklet format, but I don’t know when the entire OT study edition will be available.) This is such a great study help because it’s the work of Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch.
Taking a break from collecting some thoughts for writing, watching this wonderful talk by Dr. Brant Pitre: Jesus & the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. This is a good video to watch during Lent, preparing for Passover. Will also be watching The Passion of the Christ with the study guide this time, a first for me.
Thank you for stopping by. Lent continues and I’m staying off of social media except for posting here at the blog and answering necessary emails. May this season of preparation bring you closer to our Lord. God bless you! Peace be with you.
PS: Hey, see that tabernacle? It’s empty during Dr. Pitre’s talk. Would that more parishes would take care to do this when holding non-liturgical events in the worship space, if no more suitable space is available, such as a parish hall.
A few days ago I listened to a great talk by Catholic Bible Scholar, author and speaker, Dr. Brant Pitre, entitled Jesus and the Mystery of the Kingdom. If you’ve encountered folks who try to tell you that Jesus never intended to found the Church, or that He never did found the Kingdom on earth, or that He never intended for there to be a visible Kingdom, or any number of other frequently heard but patently false objections, please listen to this talk. And share it with your friends and family. Listen to or download Dr. Brant Pitre’s Jesus and the Mystery of the Kingdom MP3.
Catholic Heart and Mind 