“Carnival” – Can I Celebrate?

This morning as I opened my Facebook account, it read "Celebrate, it's carnival." Having read this, my mind immediately recollect an event that happened in 2015. A few days before Ash Wednesday, I witnessed a heated argument between to priests, a Brazilian and a Polish, regarding the celebration of Carnival as Christians. Before going to …

Lent, A Season of Grace

In my ministry as a priest and an educator, I have become more aware of the search of young people for some form of spirituality and the desire to live a meaningful life. This is not merely the desire of young people alone, it is the desire of every human person. This Lenten season will be …

NUMBERS – “The Book of Censuses”

1. Introduction The fourth book of Moses, Numbers, also does not have much to offer the modern reader. As its name implies, it is a detailed census report of the twelve tribes of Israel, along with a checklist of the dates prescribed for certain sacrifices and festivals, a survey of the boundaries between the grazing …

Leviticus “The Book of Holiness”

In the book of Genesis the man who loses his relationship with God, and thereby the secret of his life, is proclaimed with the salvation through his exit from the bondage of the devil – the true Pharaoh – to set forth toward the eternal Canaan, via the wilderness of this world, in the book …

The Reality of the Miracles of Jesus

In the Bible, the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—record miracles that Jesus worked when he was on the earth. He healed leprosy, blindness, and many other diseases. He multiplied five loaves and two fish. He cast out demons. He walked on water. He raised the dead. These are all extraordinary records, but at the …

Mysticism and Philosophy

1. INTRODUCTION Under the influence of William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience, heavily centred on people's conversion experiences, most philosophers' interest in mysticism has been in distinctive, allegedly knowledge-granting “mystical experiences.” Philosophers have focused on such topics as the classification of mystical experiences, their nature in different religions and mystical traditions, to what extent …

Veneration of Saints

On the eve of the Solemnity of All Saints, I feel it is opportune to talk about "Veneration of Saints" within the Roman Catholic Church. In addition to calling upon the saints in intercessions, many Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches venerate and honour the saints through icons and images, special prayers and other devotions. Veneration …

Can Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is an annual holiday, celebrated each year on October 31, that has roots in age-old European traditions. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honour all …

Joshua, the Legendary War Hero

Joshua is the central figure in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. According to the books of Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he was Moses' assistant and became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses. According to the Hebrew Bible, Joshua was one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore …

Moses “The Unlikely Hero”

Moses’ story is told in the Book of Exodus, but it starts in Genesis with the story of Abraham and his family with whom God makes a covenant. Generations later the Biblical Moses draws the extended family together in the form of a nation with a structure and code of law, given to him on …