The patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob, is in many ways a type of Joseph, the foster father of Jesus and the patron of the universal Church. The Mass readings from Genesis over the last couple of days call to mind parallels between the two Josephs. In his magnificent daily devotional series, In Conversation with […]
The Ascension of Jesus Christ was celebrated today in many dioceses around the world, although some still celebrate the feast on Ascension Thursday. Here’s a brief Q and A that explains a few key points about the doctrine. Why is the Ascension important? The Ascension of the resurrected body of Jesus into heaven is important for many reasons. […]
If the Apostles had fabricated the Easter account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, they wouldn’t have done this: the Gospels say that women were the first to discover the empty tomb of Christ, and to encounter him in his now glorified body. In fact, each of the four Gospels presents Mary Magdalene as the […]
In the last post, we noted powerful evidence for the empty tomb: enemy attestation. The religious authorities of Jerusalem and the early Church both agree: On Easter Sunday, the body of Jesus is not in the tomb. The question is: Why? Christians, of course, affirm the reason is the bodily Resurrection of the Lord. The […]
The Bible is refreshingly clear about what is at stake if the Resurrection of Jesus didn’t happen: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith…but Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 20). Today, Easter Sunday, is the first day of the Octave of […]
Even as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, this Holy Saturday is a good time to examine the reality of Jesus’ death and burial. It has become necessary to do this because both events have been denied by skeptics over the years. It is also important because, in order for […]
Luke’s Gospel tells us about the two criminals who were crucified on either side of Jesus: “Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, […]
When we set about creating The New Mass iPhone app, the very first person I called was Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa. He and I had met when we were presenters at a couple of conferences. He was also the only Canadian on the translating committee for the new English version of the Mass. Recently, […]
Today’s National Post ran a front-page story about the upcoming new English translation of the Mass: “Vatican’s new Mass ‘elitist’, priests say”. These priests are based in Ireland, and my own Irish eyes weren’t exactly smiling when I read their views. They are, in a word, wrong – on so many levels. Judging from the […]
When Saint Paul wrote (quoting an early creedal statement of the Church), that Jesus “was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4), what scriptures were in mind? For that matter, when Jesus himself predicted his suffering, death, burial, and Resurrection “on the third day” (cf. Mark 8:31; Matthew 16:21; […]