De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Today is the first day of a New Year. I want to thank everyone who has read my blog in 2013, and hope you will continue to visit in 2014. I like New Year, it is a good opportunity to take stock and make an assessment about what was good and bad in the last twelve months, and try to pledge that the next twelve months will be better. I can think of no better way to start the New Year, than with a beautiful reflection such as the one the Church gives us today: The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, one of the most ancient Marian feast days of the Catholic Church. In today's Office of Readings  there is this wonderful excerpt from a letter of St Athanasius: The Word took to himself the sons of Abraham, says the Apostle, and so had to be like his brothers in all things. He had then to take a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence: she is to provide him with a body of his own, to be offered for our sake. Scripture records her giving birth, and says: She w...

Earlier this week I posted some thoughts on the subject of how Jesus saves us . This prompted a commenter to ask the pertinent question of why the 'saving' had to happen through the death of God's Son. I posted an answer in the comment section, but, as it was quite long, I thought it might be worth re-posting it here. As a result of our sins we have distorted God into either a cruel tyrant or a permissive, non-demanding force of love or simply into the non-existent sanction of an oppressive morality--to mention just a few of the many possibilities. In rescuing us, God responded to our needs. He took into consideration our distortions of His divine reality, our suspicions, mistrust, and aggressiveness towards the Divine. In the state of sinfulness we needed more than just moral exhortation and a divine offer of grace to convert us. God's grace had to provide us with convincing and tangible evidence for the reality of His infinite compassion and of His hol...