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The Holy Spirit cannot give different people different truths. Years ago, my husband and I were speaking with someone who is Protestant and my husband asked the person, "How do you know that your interpretation of Scripture is correct?" "The Holy Spirit tells me." "But, see, you and I disagree on what it says. I would say that my interpretation was guided by the Holy Spirit, too, but we can't both be right then. How do you know you are right?" "I just do." This isn't a good answer. There are numerous beliefs as to what Baptism is and what it does. The Holy Spirit cannot and will not guide people to different conclusions when it comes to matters of the Faith. Either one person is wrong, the other is, all are wrong, or one is right. What stands out to you in Scripture, what speaks to your soul a particular day, what moves you to contemplation, these are all things that the Holy Spirit can guide you to that may be different from one person to the next. But on what is the Truth of morality, doctrine, and interpretation of Scripture, these are not open to everyone having their own truth or the Holy Spirit sending mixed messages. Christ built one Church--He did not intend for numerous churches that believe different things. That is contrary to the what Jesus taught and what makes sense. He built ONE church upon the rock of Peter and He promised the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. He did not leave us to just figure it out the Faith on our own. No, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide, instruct, and protect His Church. Individual interpretation is dangerous and has led to numerous denominations and confusion, Catholic Pilgrims. There has to be an entity that is guided by the Advocate and it is always wise to start at the beginning and look to who has Apostolic succession. The Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and that is how we are assured of what is right when it comes to issues of morality, doctrine and Scriptural interpretation. It's not because I say so, it's because Christ's Church says so. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday.
Continue ReadingOne of the things that blew my mind when I was on the path to converting to Catholicism was the discovery that the Apostles did not have a compiled Bible to work with or refer to. I had never really wondered where we got the canon of Scripture. It fell out of the sky was my best guess. The head teacher, who I help, for OCIA, told the class this year, “The Bible does not insist upon itself.” Meaning, there’s not one letter or book that says, “This book is to be included one day in the canon of Scripture.” No letter or book insists that it must be included. If nothing in the Bible insists upon itself, that means that it had to be compiled. There had to be debates and arguments about what would be added and what wouldn’t. The compiled Bible didn’t come about until nearly 300 years after the last Apostle died. So, what did the Apostles do without Scripture? They didn’t have the New Testament. There are some who preach that Scripture alone is the only way we can know the truths of our Faith. But, today in our first reading from Acts, we see the Apostles and elders making a decision without a compiled Bible. What we see is the teaching authority—the Magisterium—of the Church at work. They decided with help from the Holy Spirit that Gentiles don’t have to be circumcised to be saved. Once they’ve made the decision, they write letters to believers in far off places, and send representatives to delivery the message. Scripture, the Magisterium, and Tradition: These are the pillars of the Catholic Church, Catholic Pilgrims. We are blessed to belong to the Church that recognizes the importance of all three. Have a blessed Sunday.
Continue ReadingPeople have asked over the years how Dustin and I knew each other was the one. Well, many moons ago at the turn of the century, I walked into AF ROTC for my first day. There across the classroom was the most handsome man in blues sitting there and something in me said, "There's your home." If you would believe it, I was engaged to another guy, but I had known for a while that it wasn't going to work. I just felt obligated to stick with the relationship. Eventually--obviously--I broke up with him and Dustin and I became friends. I was attracted to his intelligence and his willingness to have meaningful conversations. I'd never had that before with a guy. I was attracted to how good he was to me--except all the ruthless teasing. 😉 He was daring and adventurous, which meant life with him was never going to be boring. I saw all his potential and I knew that he would be a great dad, a great husband, and just a hard-working, good man. For him, I think what attracted him was the night we were all out with friends and I dumped the whole tray of my Burger King meal into my lap. It was then that he knew what I lacked in grace, I made up in laughs. Little did he know a life of my clumsy moments awaited him. He will also tell you that it brought him great joy to tease me. I couldn't help it and always took the bait, bantering back with a fiery passion. Lastly, I think what really sealed the deal for him was the day I couldn't get the camo face paint off my face but still went out in public. One Saturday, ROTC had a training night where we went out to a lake and had to complete a mission. We were all dressed in our BDUs and we had camo paint all over our faces. It was a fun night. Well, when I got home, I couldn't get it all off and it all smeared over my face in a pale green mess. The next morning, all the cadets had to go to a highway trash pickup and I showed up with my green face. Somebody took a picture and I was the only one who looked like a zombie that just crawled out of the ground. At that moment, Dustin knew that life with me would never be dull. 😎 But, above all, we have always felt like "home" to each other. Have a great weekend, Catholic Pilgrims.
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