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Earlier in my priesthood, I pastorally ministered to a man who had cared for his adult son during his son’s battle with cancer. As I came to know the man, he shared with me the account of his son’s life and holy death. When the son was first diagnosed with cancer, no one realized how serious it was. As the medical team did more tests, it became clear that the cancer was terminal, and that the young man’s physical life was nearing its end. In response to this news, the father t …

The Leadership Roles in the Old Covenant In establishing his covenant with the Israelites, God also established three different leadership roles: priests, prophets, and kings. The role of the Israelite priests was to offer sacrifices as God described to Moses and his brother Aaron; Aaron and his descendants were to be the priests. The prophets were God’s spokesmen; he commissioned them to proclaim his laws and to warn the Israelites of the consequences when they violated these laws Beginn …

CHALLENGE: If what is ultimately important is our faith in God, there is no reason for the Church to have sacraments.DEFENSE: Interior dispositions like faith are not the only thing that is important. We are also physical beings. The Church has sacraments because they correspond to human nature and thus Christ instituted them.Every religion has certain rites it regards as sacred. Such rites are a human universal, found in every religion, in every culture, which means they are rooted in human nat …