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In Romans 3:23, St. Paul famously declared, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” and Romans 3:10 adds, “None is righteous, no not one.” In light of these Scripture verses, our Protestant friends will say, Mary couldn’t have been sinless as Catholics believe she was. She must have been a sinner like every other human being, and needed redemptio …

THE PROTESTANT CHALLENGE: How can the Catholic Church teach that some Christians have more authority than others when Scripture says that we’re all one in Christ?  The Catechism teaches that in the Church there are “hierarchy and laity” (873), and that the Lord wills such differences between the members of his body. Paragraphs 874 and 877 speak of the Church as having a “variety of offices” and being …

Spiritual or Religious?  Challenge: I consider myself spiritual rather than religious. Why isn’t that enough?  Defense: Because God loves you and wants even better things for you.  When people say they are spiritual rather than religious, they frequently mean that, although they don’t practice a specific religion, they recognize there is more to the world than matter, that it has a spiritual dimension. This is good! But it doesn’t go very far. Wouldn’t it …

The two main characteristics of charity are to do good for one’s beloved and to live in union with him or her. Using images drawn from friendship as well as marriage, Jesus tries to tell us how closely united with us he longs to be. It was to the end of this unity that he became eternally united to us by taking a human nature. The goal of this section is to pray and reflect through the meaning of the Incarnation and the presence of the Holy Spirit—in our lives and …

As the Christian faith spread, its members encountered new challenges, and the early Church began to develop an extensive apologetic literature, directed both externally—to non-Christians—and internally—to deal with apologetic issues among those professing to be Christian. Early Apologists and their Critics: Beginning in the second century, a group of Christian authors known specifically as “apologists” began to appear. They also had critics. One of the most prominent second century apologists w …