Compliance? Or Surrender?

From a recent post by Matthew Kelly:

“I've done a lot of work over the past twenty years or so in addiction recovery centers... Very often these people are compliant. They do everything they need to do so that, at the end of the twenty-one days or the fourteen days or the thirty days, the judge will let them out. They're compliant, but they're unlikely to really deal with their addiction. Because in order to really deal with addiction, we have to go way beyond compliance to surrender.  The people who successfully recover from addiction, the people who successfully and sustainably deal with addiction in their lives… surrender.”

Matthew then suggests that, similarly, as Catholics, we can be compliant. Going to church on Sunday, giving generously, helping the poor, helping those in need, but it may be just compliance. Instead, he counsels, God is calling me to surrender; to discern what God is inviting me to do; to say “yes” to his invitation to go deeper in my relationship with him.

In Christ, Ken.

That a human being’s life begins at conception isn’t religious dogma. It’s scientific fact.

Three facts about tell us human life begins at conception: The unborn child:

1.   Takes in nutrients and grows via cellular reproduction.

2.   Is the offspring of human parents and has human DNA.

3.   Is a human organism like you or me whereas sperm, egg, and body cells are merely human tissue and do not have any rights.

You, me, infants, and the unborn are all human organisms because we all have an intrinsic capacity to develop as organisms - a capacity that mere body cells don’t have.

In Christ, Ken.

Relativism Rebuttals II

Relativism is defined as any doctrine which denies the existence of absolute values.  Following are some more self-refuting relativist notions and how you might respond:

 "It’s arrogant to say your religion is true."

•      If this belief of yours is true, aren’t you being arrogant to say so?

      "Your being judgmental and bigoted when you say that what someone is doing is wrong."

•      If true, why are you telling me what I’m doing is wrong?

      “You’re being intolerant for not accepting someone’s belief as equally true.

•      Why are you intolerant of my belief that I don’t have to accept someone’s belief as equally true?

 In Christ, Ken.

[Taken from a presentation by Karlo Broussard]

Relativism Rebuttals

Relativism is defined as any doctrine which denies the existence of absolute values.  Following are some self-refuting relativist notions and how you might respond:

·      “There is no absolute truth.” 

o  Is this statement absolutely true?

·      “Everything we believe is culturally conditioned.” 

o  Is this belief of yours culturally conditioned?

·      “We should accept everyone’s beliefs and opinions as equally valid.”

o  Even my belief that we shouldn’t accept everyone’s belief as equal and valid?

·      “Don’t tell other people how to live – just love one another.”

          o  By this statement aren’t you telling me how to live?

 In Christ, Ken.

[Taken from a presentation by Karlo Broussard]

Why Evangelize Fellow Catholics?

The Pew Research Forum report America’s Changing Religious Landscape,points out the following:

• for every Catholic convert, 6 Catholics leave. A higher rate than any other denomination. 
• 13% of all Americans self-describe as “former Catholic.”
• In 2007 23.9% of Americans were Catholic. In 2014, 20.8%. “Unaffiliated” went from 16.1% to 22.8%.
• 71% of Catholics who become Protestant say the most important reason was “spiritual needs were not being met.”
• 71% of Catholics who become unaffiliated say they “just drifted away.”

In Christ, Ken.

News on Lemaitre

Last time we read about the priest-scientist, Father Georges Lemaître. One day after submitting the article I saw this news report:

Einstein and Fr. Lemaître

The International Astronomical Union has voted in favor of a recommendation to rename the Hubble Law the “Hubble-Lemaître Law,” in order to acknowledge the contributions of the Belgian priest and astronomer Georges Lemaître to the scientific theory of the expansion of the universe.

“To honor the intellectual integrity and the supremely significant discovery by Georges Lemaître, the IAU is pleased to recommend that the expansion of the universe be referred to as the Hubble–Lemaître Law,” the association stated Oct. 29.  Among the resolution’s desires was “to honor the intellectual integrity of Georges Lemaître that made him value more the progress of science rather than his own visibility.”

The IAU is an international organization of professional astronomers and is the internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies.

Catholic and Scientist - Not an Oxymoron

A popular myth is the absurd notion that Catholics are anti-science. Not true, and the data proves it. For example, Jesuit priests and brothers have contributed so much to the study of earthquakes, the study of seismology is often referred to as "the Jesuit science." 

Einstein and Fr. Lemaître

And in 1916, Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity, confirming the widely held view that the universe was eternally old and would go on forever, stable and unchanging. But then in 1927, a young Cambridge priest-scientist named Fr. Georges Lemaître came up with a new alternative. His calculations suggested the universe may actually be expanding, having originated from a single minuscule point. He called his theory “the hypothesis of the primeval atom,” but it later became known, derogatorily, as the big bang theory. ¹

The total list of Catholic priest/scientists and mathematicians would be impossible to put together. However, Angelo Stagnaro has compiled a list of 244 Catholic priests, brothers, bishops, abbots, cardinals, popes and, in at least four cases, saints, who have made major contributions to science. These men are specifically cleric-scientists and mathematicians and not lay Catholic scientists. If you would like a copy, click here.

In Christ, Ken.

1.    Vogt, Brandon. Why I Am Catholic