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"You probably think Santa Claus is real. Or that the Earth is flat. Maybe your ancestors thought Thor caused lightning and thunderstorms. Or that praying to a statue would bring healing. We have moved past that. Now, we live in an age of science. If you still believe in God, you must be a superstitious ignoramus."  This common attitude of internet atheists has led many away from faith. Believers must share the blame. A lot of Catholic Christians cannot give reasons for the hope that i …

Yep. There is bad news; and, if we really love others, we have an obligation not to hide it. Rather than just one part of the good news—“God loves you”—modern people need to hear a four-part gospel. In addition to the good news about God’s love, for instance, they need to hear about sin (even if we don’t use that word). Only when we have admitted that we have turned away from God and rejected his friendship can we understand that the fullness of the gospel is …

Lectio Divina Lectio (Latin for “reading”) is an ancient way of letting God’s words speak to you as personally and as uniquely as possible. Normally, this practice takes a scene from the scriptures and allows them to serve as an opportunity to see our own life’s journey as an extension of God’s activity in history. Try it in these steps:  Select a brief passage that draws you; perhaps this could be the Gospel reading for the Mass that day.  Con …

As we approach the unapproachable God, we have to pass through his Ten Commandments. We examine our conscience to unearth ways we have said “no” to God. This is a practice that should be done often, certainly weekly, if not daily! To know our sins is not easy and to name them is even more difficult, so it takes constant practice. It also requires the cultivation of humility and self-knowledge to be able not only to say, “I have greatly sinned” but “here is how and …

Christian apologetics arose during a time of persecution in the 200s . . . and not much has changed between then and the 2000s.  What Rome started then, the secular culture continues now, but often in even more vile and vicious ways. Whereas a person living in the second century was utterly convinced that something numinous governed the universe and that truth was both discoverable and demanding, modern man mocks both of those realities: if there is a god, he must be a moral monster for al …