North of the Shire

Almost everyone in the Church, regardless of time in history or particular issue, has experienced frustration with the pace of the Church and often some of her Bishops.  Occasionally someone takes matters into their own hands beyond the proven ground of an apostolate and seeks to persuade or embarrass the Church into falling in line with their own time-table and perhaps even methodology.  Is this what has happened in the case of Randall Terry? Continue Reading »

I recently read an article from yet another Catholic who thinks that it is possible to accept/promote abortion for those who want it and yet remain Catholic in fidelity to the Church’s doctrine, and I waded through the heated sometimes vitriolic discussion in the comboxes. 

But what struck me was a theme that those who are uncompromising concerning abortion as well as contraception, just as the Church is uncompromising on those issues, are somehow Pharisees, and that Jesus condemned the Pharisees and taught compassion to the sinner. Continue Reading »

The following quotation is from the King James version of Scripture;

James 1:

3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

We have heard the proponents of Sola Scriptura argue from 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that because scripture tells us that the man who uses scripture as his guide, as his rule of faith, that he will be perfect, therefore scripture is teaching the doctrine of Sola Scriptura.

2 Timothy 3:

16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

By that same reasoning could we not then argue for Patience Alone, or Sola Patientia?

Far be it from me to create another Christian sect.  Actually, I heard this from a Catholic Apologist, John Martignoni, and thought it was an interesting way to point out the tendency to read way too much into that passage from 2 Timothy.  Suffice to say, scripture does not teach Sola Scriptura.

Here’s a post that I brought over from a blog I had started last year and abandoned. Continue Reading »

Although in our day and age, Christianity seems to want to sanitize itself of some of the messy and disturbing, even shocking realities of life and salvation, even to the point of denying the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, that verse above remains the truth.  I was reminded of it by this homily from Father Stephanos in which he makes an interesting point about the Transfiguration from Sunday March 8/9, that Moses and Elijah were in some sense handing off from the Old Covenant to the New ceremonially.  He mentions the killing that Moses and Elijah were obligated to be involved in and at first glance the homily is quite arresting, even shocking, bringing us back to real life.

Here is the Gospel reading from March 11/09,

It struck me on hearing the readings on Monday that if we take them all combined, particularly in this period of Lent, there is a clear scriptural message here that bears witness against the idea of Sola Fide.  When we read from James that faith without works is dead, it is the following that James is thinking of when he speaks of works. Continue Reading »

From WhippleshireBlog………

Deuteronomy 30: 15 - 20
15 “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.

16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.

17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

18 I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live,

20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”