By Teresa Lee

Why is the fundamental difference of the conception of grace between Catholics and Protestants crucial to understand?

Introduction Catholic and Protestant reformers of the 16th century disagree about man’s justification, namely, how grace, the gift of God won by Jesus’ sacrifice, works on the human soul[1]. Protestants believe grace covers up but does not remove sin. Luther sees “human nature or soul as dung-covered snow, so grace covers up our ugliness.” Catholics…

What is Man’s Final End?

Thomistic ethics best answers this question on Man’s Final End and how we arrive at this conclusion from a Catholic perspective. Thomistic ethics begins with the end in mind; and defines happiness as knowing, loving and serving God. We know this as this corresponds with our natural faculties/ Reason which enables us to…

Does God Exist? A debate by Trent Horn and Raphael Lataster

For our final exam of the Apologetics course, we were asked to critique this debate, “Does God Exist”, organized by Parousia Media and the University of Sydney’s Catholic Student’s society. Parousia Media is founded by Charbel Raish. Trent Horn took the position that God exists, and Raphael Lataster took the opposite stand. * Trent presented four…

Most persuasive Theistic arguments for the existence of God

The theistic argument that is most powerful or persuasive to a person depends on their spirituality type. The cosmological arguments would probably appeal better to Thomistic types (like my husband), while the Augustinian types (like myself) may prefer the argument from desire and design. For the Thomists, the argument from contingency appears convincing as the…

Why we need apologetics

This was my response to our first assignment regarding the importance of apologetics in the life of the Christian. *** Apologetics is important to us Christians as we are in the business of saving souls (God is the ultimate judge, but we are each other’s helpmates). As Christians, we desire the beatific vision of God…

Faith and Reason

My husband and I had a debate a while back about the need for philosophy when studying theology. Or rather, whether one needs philosophy to understand God and His plan for us. He argued that both are necessary, while I naively professed that theology alone was adequate (based on the philosophy majors that I encountered in…

Feast of the Miraculous Medal (Nov 27)

November 27 marks the feast of the Miraculous Medal (MM). I started wearing my first MM in May 2015 after my first Marian consecration and it has accompanied me throughout my stay in the U.S. where I received the biggest miracle of my Life -> 👧🏻. I was diagnosed with hormonal imbalance when I was 14…

Suffering well

I have a goddaughter who has a limited lifespan and I recently learned that a relative has Stage 4 cancer. To the world, it seems that any suffering is a tragedy and such news would be met with pity and horror. Without downplaying the gravity of such life situations, I would like to add that…

Eucharistic Congress 2017: Brandon Vogt on bringing lapsed Catholics to Church

We attended the Atlanta Eucharistic Congress today, for the second year running. Father Donald Calloway was the most prolific speaker last year. He captivated us with his powerful conversion story (thanks to Mother Mary) while pacing the stage and waving a rosary in hand. Enigmatic. Charismatic! This year’s highlight is a priest of the…

Discernment to be a priest

Takeaways from a farewell dinner with a dear friend who is completing his Ph.D. and embarking on priesthood: (1) the importance of a Marian devotion as a way to Jesus; (2) when you ask God for direction, He’ll give you clear signals but you must exercise fortitude to follow His will; (3) fast when discerning…

How can I become holy?

I have been randomly surfing YouTube to unwind and was prompted to watch this hidden gem — a video by Father Mike Schmitz of Ascension Presents on Padre Pio’s Secret to Holiness. This caught my eye as I first knew of Padre Pio after reading his autobiography as a teenager. He could fly! Bilocate! Had…