Last week I shared some of my Protestant Christian upbringing, and my desire to share with you more of the spiritual riches of the Catholic Christian Faith. We begin with prayer.       As a child I was taught to pray by saying grace at meals, memorizing the Lord’s Prayer (the “Our Father”), by how we prayed at church, by reading prayers, and just speaking my own words to God. I don’t remember any teaching in either my Christian home or at Christian colleges, on how to pray, kinds of prayer, stages of prayer, or growth in prayer.       That’s sad. Because from the Jewish tradition before us, and after 2000 years of Christian experience, Christianity has a vast knowledge and experience of prayer.       St. Teresa of Jesus (AD 1515-1582), of Avila, Spain, is a Doctor of the Church and outstanding teacher of prayer. She describes prayer as “nothing less than an intimate sharing between friends.”  ...

      I, Dibby, would like to further introduce the Christian community of California City with more of the riches and depths of the Catholic Faith. But I know well the blocks in some quarters to hearing something that is from the Catholic Christian Faith.       So I think it’s time for a bit of my own personal testimony. We all like stories, and testimonies of what the Lord has done in our lives, right? So here goes.       I grew up in a Christian home, parents and grandparents Presbyterian and Evangelical ministers, missionaries and teachers in England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, and the USA. My BA degree in Religious Studies came from a good Evangelical school (Westmont College, Santa Barbara), with course work at two other Presbyterian schools. I especially took classes on “Reformation” Theology, so knew where the “errors” of Roman Catholicism lay. My English minister father had always been quite c...

        Last week we looked at the life of St. Matthias from the Bible, tradition, and Church history. St. Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot as the 12th Apostle after Jesus had ascended into Heaven and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:12-26). In addition to what we know of his life and ministry, St. Matthias left some writings.       We know of a “Gospel of Matthias,” but it either hasn’t survived, or has not yet been identified. The book is mentioned by Origen, St. Eusebius, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Bede. It also appears in two list of books from the 6th and 7th Centuries. It may be apocryphal, written by another using Matthias’ name; but we don’t know.       Then there is a book called, “Traditions of Matthias.” Although the full text has been lost to history, St. Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-211/216), writing circa AD 210, gives us three quotes from what probably was origin...

        In the Bible, Acts 1:12-26, relates how St. Peter, based upon prophetic words in the Psalms, led the 11 Apostles to replace the 12th Apostle with St. Matthias (after Judas Iscariot’s defection). This occurred after Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven and before Pentecost.       St. Matthias is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. So does history or tradition tell us anything about who he was?       Yes. First, his name in Hebrew purportedly means the “Gift of Yahweh,” or (per St. Arator, died about 550) the “small one of Yahweh.” “Small” was understood to reflect his humility.       The tradition from the Eastern Church tells us St. Matthias was born in Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah. Apparently as a youth or young man, he studied the Law under St. Simeon, the one who received the Christ child when He came into the Temple as an infant (Luke 2:25-35). As Scripture implies Simeon w...

      Someone posted a question on social media last week: Is there any proof that Jesus actually rose from the dead?       Sometimes you just want to chuckle at people’s ignorance. Oh, the amount of proof is astonishing! How many people saw Him! How many testified that it was Jesus indeed! People even came back from the dead to give testimony to Jesus!       Jesus Christ, as resurrected, appeared to Mary Magdalene (Mt. 28:9-10, Jn. 20:11-17 – an “idle tale” Peter says, Lk. 24:11) and to the other women.       To Simon Peter (who must have swallowed his words; Lk. 24:34; I Cor. 15:5).       To the 11 Apostles (Lk 24:36-49; Jn. 20:19-23, 26-29; I Cor. 15:5), when Jesus ate some fish and had them touch Him to prove He was real flesh and not a ghost, even rebuking them for their unbelief and hardness of heart (Mk. 16:14).       To two disciples on the ...