November 2011

Today is the Feast Day of the Apostle, St Andrew, brother of St. Peter. I wrote this in 2000 after a night of fishing with Jewish fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. Since today I am discussing St. Andrew with Drew Mariana of Relevant Radio, thought I would share this story with you again. To [...]

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The danger of scapegoating the Church is that is has given society an excuse not to address the problem in schools, day care, the family and other institutions. Read the article HERE. What about in Protestant churches? HERE An Atheist speaks out on the priestly scandal HERE Another article about abuse in Protestant circles HERE

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We went to 7 AM Mass on Sunday – not to our usual parish. I could see that some liked the Missal changes and some did not. I sure did, the priest did not. He expected us to follow the new words but he didn’t — he improvised his wording. I know because I followed [...]

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Catholic Courses

by Steve Ray on November 29, 2011

I have been using the Teaching Company and their Great Courses for several years now. Most of them are very good. But when it comes to the Christian Faith and the Catholic Church I dare you to find one that is truly Christian or Catholic. Now they have a competitor: Catholic Courses. Joseph Pearce is [...]

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Muslim Prayer on Airplane

by Steve Ray on November 28, 2011

On a recent flight on Royal Brunei Airlines I was intrigued when they began to pray an Islamic prayer in Malay over the intercom system. You will hear it below – even making out the name Allah. The prayer was in written form on the TV screen in front of each seat. Can you imagine [...]

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Interesting article for those who think the Catholic Church is shrinking in the USA. It is not. Click here for the article and the statistics.

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A book and a review evaluate the sad but predictable situation. The Zenit article begins: 1. Churches do have an active engagement with teens, but many of the young people do not grow up to be faithful adult followers of Christ. 2. There are a variety of reasons people drop out, so it is important [...]

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Updated Grandkids Picture :-) Count ‘em

by Steve Ray on November 24, 2011

Another reason I am thankful on Thanksgiving. Here is an updated picture of Janet and I with our grandchildren. Look what we got started 35 years ago. Blessed be God the Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ forever!

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I spent two years of my life writing my book St. John’s Gospel: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary. It was one of the “richest” periods of my life and I put on scuba gear and dove into that profound Gospel written by the very old man (almost 100 years old) who had laid his [...]

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Converts keep pouring into the Church. What a great time to be Catholic! This is a guest post by Jason Kettinger. For the past ten years Jason Kettinger was a member of the Presbyterian Church in America. He received baptism in 2001, and spent his college days as a fruitful member of Reformed University Fellowship, [...]

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Why a Torn Meniscus in my Knew Made Me Happy!

by Steve Ray on November 22, 2011

UPDATE: After good news – replacing bad news – about my knees earlier this week I ran four miles today with no pain. What a great Thanksgiving Day! The meniscus is cartilage in the knee that acts as a shock absorber. Without it we have bone on bone. A torn meniscus is damage to the [...]

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Questions I Answered on Catholic Answers Live

by Steve Ray on November 22, 2011

Monday night’s show was a Q&A for Non-Catholics. You can listen on line here. More info and other listening options here. 1. To join the Catholic Church in good faith, do I have to believe everything in the Catechism? 2. Why are the bodies of dead popes on display at the Vatican? 3. My Catholic [...]

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Church’s Name: Sad or Humorous?

by Steve Ray on November 22, 2011

I was driving down the road the other day and had to turn around and get a picture of this sign (click on the picture for a larger image). I had to chuckle when i thought how silly such denominationalism is — and the series of infighting and splits that must have brought this name [...]

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I was on Drew Mariani’s show on Relevant Radio Friday (archived show here) and had an amazing call from a woman with an honest and questioning heart. Here is her e-mail sent later to me: (Picture: Mary of Nazareth from Church of Annunciation in Nazareth) “It was absolutely providential that I called in to Drew’s [...]

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38,000 Protestant Denominations

by Steve Ray on November 20, 2011

Prominent Protestant Church historian Mark Noll has written a helpful introduction to Protestantism entitled Protestantism, A Very Short Introduction in a series of books published by Oxford University Press in London England. I have posted similar facts in the past, based on the two-volume World Christian Encyclopedia. The same facts are available from other resources [...]

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Grandkids Learn the Beatitudes – What Fun!

by Steve Ray on November 19, 2011

Fr. Scott Courtney (far right), frequent Spiritual Director on our pilgrimages, stayed at our house Friday night after arriving to go to the University of Michigan vs. Nebraska football game with friends. While at our house we were again blessed by his love for Our Lord and the Bible. Here is a short video of [...]

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