De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The Scripture at Mass was deeply pedagogical with a really important message for each one of us. The First Reading speaks of the Covenant as it originally was convened between the Hebrew people and God in Exodus. By looking at the origins of the Covenental relationship, we can learn a great deal about our relationship with God today; consider the Psalm yesterday "Do not forget the works of the Lord!". The first reading was from Numbers 21:4b-9. The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Bible. It's name was taken from the census, or counting of the people, that takes place in chapters 1 and 26. The book was composed over a period of about 1,000 years. It tells the story of thirty-eight years of wandering in the desert from Sinai to the Plains of Moab just before the invasion of Canaan under Joshua. On a deeper level it is the story of how God acted in history to guide and protect His chosen people from Sinai ...

Father Kevin with Mary when she was born. From Father Kevin this Sunday: Dear Friends in Christ The Readings at Mass this Sunday speak about the universality of salvation; that is, how God intends everyone to be saved and reached Heaven. The Gospel in particular raises the question of who will be saved? This is a sensitive thought in an age where there is wide spread religion indifferentism and relativism. Many people in our society—even those who believe in God—hold the notion that one religion of philosophy of life is as good as another; the basic criterion for many nowadays is that my truth is as good as your truth . For the Christian, that cannot be so. We believe in one Person, Jesus Christ our Saviour, who is the unique revelation of God and is Himself The Way, the Truth and The Life, There is no salvation possible outside of Christ who is the one Saviour. However, this involves us often having to hold two truths in a kind of tension: the teaching of St. Paul that God ...

Following the ongoing discussion about the scandal of the crucifixion, and developing a proper understanding of just what this means, I have received another excellent comment from my interlocutor.  In an attempt to be as thorough as possible, and due to my answer exceeding the comment box character limit, I have posted my response to his or her latest erudite comment here. I trust it is not considered verbose, but rather a thorough exposition of the subject, which demonstrates my respect for his or her intelligent and pertinent questions. This is the latest response which can be read in context here : It seems to me that this account of the value and meaning of the life and death of the godman makes salvation out to be a matter not of objective propitiation for wrong done, but an act of inter-subjective communication which, in order to be effective, can only work on an individual-by-individual basis and demands in each case not only that there be one who wills the form of ...

No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass... then you see it! White shores... and beyond. A far green country, under a swift sunrise. (Gandalf the White to Pippin in The Return of the King). Losing a child is an impossible blow. When I lost my precious, precious daughter Ruth in July 2009, I called out to God in utter anguish. His response was immediate and overwhelming, to the extent that we were left in no doubt that He well knew what was going to happen and had put in motion hundreds of tiny events that would allow my wife, family, and I to, somehow, cope with the devastation. I have often thought that I should have documented these things. Some where tiny coincidences some huge miracles. One was that I was in my third year of a five year degree in theology. Just at the time all this happened, I was studying Moral Theology, the source of ...