Pope Leo's XIV Prayer Intentions for 2026

January For prayer with the Word of God
That praying with Scripture may nourish our lives, give hope to our communities, and help build a fraternal and missionary Church.
February For children with incurable diseases
That children suffering from incurable illnesses and their families receive proper care and support, and never lose strength or hope.
March For disarmament and peace
That nations move toward effective disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament, choosing dialogue and diplomacy over violence.
April For priests in crisis
That priests experiencing vocational crisis may receive accompaniment, and that communities support them with understanding and prayer.
May That everyone might have food
That all may commit to avoiding food waste and ensuring access to quality food for everyone.
June For the values of sports
That sports promote peace, encounter, dialogue, respect, solidarity, and personal growth.
July For respect for human life
That human life may be respected and protected at every stage, recognized as a gift from God.
August For evangelization in the city
That new and creative ways of proclaiming the Gospel emerge in cities marked by anonymity and loneliness.
September For the care of water
That water be managed justly and sustainably, so all may have equal access to this vital resource.
October For mental health ministry
That mental health ministry be established throughout the Church, overcoming stigma and discrimination.
November For the proper use of wealth
That wealth be used for the common good and solidarity, resisting selfishness.
December For single-parent families
That families missing a mother or father find support in the Church and strength in faith during difficult times.

Memorize Jonah through Song!

 Click here to play the "Jonah" playlist.

Tip 1. I would start with Song 5 - Jonah Chapter 2, so you geta feel of how cool some of the songs are.
Tip 2. I would listen to one chapter a week, 3X a day and the other chapters 1 time. You will then, in a month, be well versed in Jonah. 

PROBLEM - With this particular version of Jonah, it mispronounces "Nineveh" every time. You have been warned. I am using AI to do this project. It is not perfect, but it is a start.

I am working my way through the New Testament and will post the books of the Bible as Song as I finish them.

In theory, if you memorize 1 chapter a week [52 weeks in a year, 199 chapters of the New Testament], you can have the New Testament memorized in 4 years! 

God bless you.

Memorize the Books of the Bible!

 Click Below! 7 Songs to help you memorize the books of the Bible!

Memorize the Books of the Bible!

Discipleship and Our Three Vocations

GospelLK 14:25-33

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090819.cfm

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

For background information consult 

Pray, Fast, and Give Alms in Lent

Above in Luke Jesus gives us three disqualifying factors of discipleship.

1. If we love ourselves or others more than we love Jesus
2. If we don't carry our cross
3. If we don't renounce our possessions

This reading seems tied into Jesus' command to pray, fast, and give alms (see above link)

The easiest one to see is the renunciation of our possessions or conquering of Lust of the Eyes - this one goes with giving alms.

The next one would be the love of ourselves and those closest to us, this would deal with the Lust of the Flesh - which is conquered by fasting. 

Finally, the Pride of Life is conquered by carrying our cross. Pride makes us want to do our own will, but as Jesus said before carrying His cross - not My will, but thy will be done. This pride can only be mastered through prayer.

IN BRIEF

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. - Cutting your ties from earthly relations so as to bind yourself to heavenly ones - through fasting

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.- Insisting on your own will in imitation of the Devil is only solved through prayer
In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” - We cannot serve two masters, both Christ and money/possessions. A time will come when we will be leaving our possessions anyway in death, so why let them tie us down to this world. Cut the strings to that our hearts and minds can possess heavenly treasures.

Some References to the Trinity?

I am totally speculating here. I would definitely NOT use these as in any apologetic argument. I am simply putting these here as a reminder for me to maybe later put them in my apologetic/catechetical/spiritual/application Bible.

EXAMPLE 1
As the spiritual leader in my home (not a very good one). I sometimes bless my children before bed as my father/mother blessed me;

"God bless you with a happy life, a happy death, and peace in mind."

Someone suggested that I use the prayer from Numbers 6:24-26 (RSV;SCE)

 The LORD bless you and keep you: 
 The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: 
 The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. 

I noticed that it mentioned the LORD (Yahweh) three times. I wonder if this is a little reference to the Trinity?

I remembered what the Catechism of the Catholic Church said:
CCC 1078 Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father; his blessing is both word [Jesus is the WORD] and gift [The Holy Spirit is the Gift of the Father].

Then I noticed how in verse 25 it mentions the face of the LORD and I thought of course of Jesus's face. (It does mention his face again in 26 [countenance], so that kind of throws a wrench in the whole deal). But the triple reference made me think of the Trinity.

 The LORD [Father] bless you and keep you: 
 The LORD [Son] make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: 
 The LORD [Holy Spirit] lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. 

EXAMPLE 2
While reading Genesis 1:27 I thought of something similar.

So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God he created him; 
male and female he created them.

Why the triple reference to one event. Then I remembered the Catechism:
CCC 292 The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit,  inseparably one with that of the Father. This creative cooperation is clearly affirmed in the Church’s rule of faith: “There exists but one God … he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom,” “by the Son and the Spirit” who, so to speak, are “his hands.” Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity.

So again, speculating...

So God [Father] created man in his own image, 
in the image of God he [Son] created him; 
male and female he[Holy Spirit] created them.

EXAMPLE 3

Mark 1:1-3
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, 
who shall prepare your way; (Micah 3:1)
the voice of one crying in the wilderness: (Isaiah 40:3)
Prepare the way of the Lord, 
make his paths straight—”

Again, speculating... but it does mention a road/path three times.

“Behold, I send my messenger [John the Baptist] before your face, 
who shall prepare your [Father] way; (Micah 3:1)
the voice of one crying in the wilderness: (Isaiah 40:3)
Prepare the way of the Lord [Son] , 
make his [Holy Spirit] paths straight—”

Done. Unless you have seen some others, I would be curious.

Genesis 3:21 - God Clothes Our First Parents and Us.

In Genesis 3:21 we read this:
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them. (RSV:SCE)

The setting of this event is The Garden of Eden. This is after they have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, realized that they were naked and then clothed themselves with fig leaves.

Just thinking this through a little, you never see any art-work of this event. God provides garments of skins. Where did he get them? Were they donated by some animal? Probably not.

It would seem that God himself provides the sacrifice (Genesis 22:7) and spills the blood of this animal in The Garden to cloth our first parents.

We now fast-forward to Our Dear Lord and see how this is taken up and fulfilled in Himself.

John 19:41 Now in the place where he [Jesus] was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid.

Now I am sure that there is also some significance to Jesus sweating blood in the Garden of Olives and a hundred more connections but I am just pointing out this one.

St. Paul makes the next two connections:
Romans 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

In conclusion, just as an animal was sacrificed in The Garden of Eden to clothe our first parents, so Christ is sacrificed in a garden to clothe us.

See also Romans 13:14 and Colossians 3:12

The Greatest Gift You Can Give For Christmas

Christmas is kind of funny because it is the only birthday where the person whose birthday we are celebrating doesn't get gifts. Are far as friends and relatives are concerned some people go into debt to get someone the ultimate gift.

But what is the greatest gift that you can give anyone ever? Consider that whatever you buy at the corner store, Walmart, or the BMW store will satisfy a person only for so long. That LEGO that you son NEEDS will only be pleasing for days or years. Is there anything that you can give someone that will help them forever. Yes.

WHAT MAKES SOMETHING THE ULTIMATE GIFT?

That which brings about the greatest happiness, even if it hurts. Let me give you an example: A person has a terrible disease and you pay for them to fly to a country where they can treat the problem and undergo multiple painful surgeries with the hope of being cured. YOU are the one who paid for the doctor to cut on them, and I bet they would thank you for the opportunity with the final result of being cured in mind. YET, you would hurt financially from the expenses, they would hurt physically and yet both would be rewarded; you with the satisfaction that helped your friend and they with the healing and the comfort of having such a good friend.

THE ULTIMATE GIFT!!!

That is you, being in a right relationship with God, and being a channel of grace for that person to help them get to heaven.

WHY IS THIS THE BEST GIFT?

Not only will you have a sure hope for heaven, but you will be a good example for whomever you meet and a place where people can come in contact with God. uncle Frank might have bought them a car, yes, but you with your prayers, good example, and counsel helped get them to see the face of God forever. I am not saying that Uncle Frank's car isn't important. It is important and thanks be to  God for that, but the car will probably need replacing someday. The blessing that you can be to someone can pave the road to eternity which will last forever.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

#1 Believe what God says. God went through the trouble of becoming man, dying for our sins, rising, and sending the Holy Spirit to start the Catholic Church to help you get to heaven. If you have trouble believing - beg God for the grace to believe. "God help me believe!"
#2 Get right with God. Go to Confession often (once a month at least, or every two weeks to be in line for any indulgence). Saying you are sorry is the first step in fixing any relationship.
#3 Do what God says - be concerned with pleasing God first. Your new girlfriend isn't the one who decides if you get into heaven or not. The world and world governments change laws all the time. Follow God's laws, those are the ones that matter first.
#4 Pray and talk to God. Don't have time? Prioritise. Put God before all else. Don't know what to say? Learn how to pray by praying the Psalms in the Bible or other good Catholic prayer books, or just talk to God like I am talking to you now. Just talk. But make sure you have some time for a little silence so you can listen as well.

HEY - My 4 points are like the 4 parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Creed, Sacraments, Commandments, Prayer.

Then you will be a blessing to everyone, especially to those whom you love; through your prayers, works, and joys.

Merry Christmas!

Gluttony Part 1

(A summary of Adolphe Tanquerey's section on gluttony in his book, The Spiritual Life) 

St. Gregory Said:

Unless we first tame the enemy dwelling within us (gluttony) we have not even stood up to engage in the spiritual combat. 

St. Paul said:

For many walk…that are enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction and whose god is their belly. Philippians 3:18, 19

A simple definition of gluttony is - eating for its own sake

Delight to excess in 4 ways

Eating when there is no need

Seeking delicacies

Gorging oneself with food

Eating with eagerness or greed (like an animal)

Gluttony is malicious because it makes:

The soul a slave to the body

Man like a brute animal

His intellectual life weak

His moral life weak

A path to voluptuous pleasure

Gluttony is grievous when:

A) we can’t fulfill our duties

Injury to health

Cause of useless expenses

Can’t provide for the family

Violate laws of fast and abstinence

B) the cause other grievous faults

Lust of other senses

Intemperance of speech

Gluttony is venial when you:

Overeat but not gravely

Overeating to show a friend you enjoy their food.

It is an obstacle to perfection because it causes:

A spirit of immortification

Weakened will

A development for love for sensual pleasure

A source of being too talkative

Some Remedies to overcome Gluttony

Principle – the pleasure of eating is not an end in itself but a means to an end.

Reason alone tells us that we should only eat what is necessary for the body but Faith tells us – pleasure of eating and drinking must be sanctified by three things:

1. Purity of intention
2. Moderation
3. Mortification

A) Intention

Gratitude - we should give thanks for what we have received

Humility – we don’t deserve it because of our sins

Love – we renew our strength at the service of God and our neighbor's soul.

Whether you eat or drink…do all to the glory of God. – St. Paul

B) Moderation

Acquire strength needed to fulfill our duties in life

Avoid excess that might compromise health

Leave the table with sprightliness and vigor

C) Mortification

Eating something we dislike

Taking no meal without the element of mortification

Forego certain foods we like

NOTE - These are just little notes that I have started carrying with me to help avoid this sin.

The Root of Every Heresy

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme." said Wittreich.

Reading Genesis 1-3, implied is the first heresy proposed by the devil, taught convincingly by Eve, and obeyed by Adam.

How did this come about and how does every heresy follow this pattern.

We begin with Adam who created first by God in Genesis 2 and given the commandment. 

Genesis 2:16 And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.

Only after this does God make eve from Adam's side. 

When we hear this commandment spoken by Eve to the serpent she says Genesis 3:3 "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die."

Now GOING BY THE TEXT ALONE (yet not sola scriptura), Adam was the only one who heard the commandment so it must have been he that spoke it to her. Adam is the first prophet. Yet, there is that added part "don't touch it even." Now here is not the place to get into the legitimacy of Adam adding to the rules that God set down. He very well may have had the authority to do that. Jesus told us to fast, but the Church says what days, how, and for how long and She can do that because Jesus gave her that authority. So let's say that Adam has that authority to put a type of (verbal) wall around the tree so as to ensure the safety. 

But look what happens, Eve begins listening to another voice (the devil's) and believes that the NEW message she is now receiving is true and the old one is false. She then becomes a prophet for the devil and begins preaching his message. We know this because Genesis 3:17 "And to Adam he[God] said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife," 

When was that? When did he listen to his wife? There is some conversation that is lost to us.

She does this because she thinks that the message is good. But by believing this message and rejecting the original one she is suggesting that Adam is in fact a false prophet who represents a false god. 

ALL OF THIS HAPPENS EVERY TIME SOMEONE LEAVES THE CHURCH.
The Church is the legitimate authority given to us by Jesus through the Apostles and passed on by apostolic succession until our day. The members believe the message that the Church proposes for belief. Yet one day an outside voice suggests to someone. "the church is holding you back with xyz, if you follow me I will really free you and teach you the truth." 

So they leave and we can see by the fruit that it produces that it only leads to ruin and division.

Ecclesiastes says as much when it says there is nothing new under the sun.

Cool NEW Product! Church History Timeline Banner!!!

I have produced a HUGE banner of Catholic Church History. It is 5ft X 17ft. That is HUGE! Why would I want such a thing? The only reason you ask that question is because you have yet to see it.

I have it officially advertised here: catholictimelinebanner

So here is my schpeal, my talk, so to speak

What happens when you requestion the high school students to
"go stand in front of it."

How can you visibly represent that the Catholic Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic? A Catholic History Timeline Banner - that is how.

• It is neatly divided into 13 sections for easy memorization of major time periods. 
• It has all the major characters from every age and is appropriate to follow along with any Church history text. 
• One of the problems with studying History is that you get lost in the details and forget the big picture. This is your solution to that problem. 
• Each century includes an inspirational quote from someone from that time period.
• Big beautiful pictures attract the eye from afar beckoning you to come closer and immerse yourself in the story of the Body of Christ; the Church. 

  

  Students actually looking at it.

So check out the website, give me a call, if you are local or afar we will make arrangements to get a better look at it. Then consider getting one for your home, school, church, library, or seminary. It is guaranteed to attract attention.

God love you.

"Reading" the Bible from Cover to Cover

I have always been impressed whenever I had met two groups of people. 

The First Group - People who read the same books every year. They say, "O I read the Lord of the Rings every year," or, "Every year I reread Orthodoxy by Chesterton." They read them, I imagine because they get to visit an old friend(s) and get new things out of them.

The Second Group - People who have read the entire Bible. I have been challenged a few times read the Bible from cover to cover, and there is Leviticus. 'sigh'

Then I found Jeff Cavins and the Great Adventure Bible Timeline Program found HERE . Jeff only covers the 14 books that tell the story. He also shows how the other books fit into the context of these 14. For example, many of the Psalms were written by King David yet they are 4 books away from each other, or that you read Ruth in the context of the Judges. It is an excellent program and I can't recommend it enough.

But had I still read ALL the books? - well I was sure that I read most, or at least heard most. Had I? I thought why am I giving this any second thought at all - Dude just read it already! I hate reading. But I LOVE listening. so I forced myself and listened all the way through an audio Bible. Last year it took from the end of December through February. 

THE PAY OFF - Now while some of it I knew immediately I had NEVER listened to, e.g. all the names in Ezra, Nehemiah., other parts kind of surprised me, and other parts were very familiar. 

• The pay off came when I went to church and heard the readings, I had just read all of them, so they were like, friends ( I would think - I just listened to this). 
• When someone said - I was just reading Job, or Ezekiel, or whoever - I could say - I just read that too. 
• I got to hear those Old Testament quotes in context that are quoted in the New Testament. 
• The worst enemy of the Israelites were themselves, yes they were attacked by others, but if you were trying to live the law of Moses and be faithful. Good Luck, because most of your fellow Israelites are barely interested. 
• God is not mean, or a jerk, or vengeful. God is a living Father who has to deal with barbarians. I know my ancestors were barbarians - but everyone's ancestors are barbarians, even the Israelites. And as we all know - barbarians are hard to work with, and they only understand a certain type of language. God was speaking to them on their level. Also, most of those "angry" prophetic letters are all written to the same group of people. We only hear them one after another and it feels like it takes forever to get through them.

So I am interested in what YOU have to say -

Do you have a book you reread every year?

Have you read the Bible cover to cover? What were the benefits / drawbacks?

Comment below:

What Does the Word Lent Mean and Why Do We Give Up Stuff?

Lent is from the Anglo-Saxon word lengten,  which means - spring. This makes sense because of the season of the year it takes place.

Why 40 Days? The 40 days are in imitation of Jesus who was fasting in the desert for 40 days. But why was Jesus in the desert for 40 days? He did this to imitate the Israelites who were in the desert for 40 years. Why were the Israelites in the desert for 40 years?

Lots of questions huh.

The Israelites had been in bondage and just passed through Red Sea (Which St. Paul says is a type for Baptism 1 Corinthians 10:2) and were traveling through the desert, headed toward the promised land,

Now this signifies our own journey from the bondage of sin (Egypt) through this world (Desert) to heaven (Promised Land).

Their journey through the desert was originally planned to have only taken 1 year. But when it came time for the Israelites to enter, they no longer had faith in God and were afraid of the Cannanites that lived there. For this reason, God had them wander in the desert for 40 years as a punishment. During this time, the generation that didn't want to go in would be killed and a new generation would be raised up that wanted to enter into the Promised Land.

St. Paul talks about this when he says:

• Romans 6:6  We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 
• Ephesians 4:22-24  Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts,  23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  24 and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
• Colossians 3:9-10  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices  10 and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  

We are to do the same thing, during our time here on earth we are to crucify our old selves and raise up a new - only by the grace of God.

Now Jesus was doing several things in the desert, but one of them was encountering the devil (as Israel did) and vanquish him with the word of God. Not with lasers out of his eyes, no super-powers, no miracles, just plain old faithfulness. Amazing how boring it sounds to defeat the devil. He was also showing us, in part, how to treat this world, this journey. During that time he fasted from the earthly comforts of food, shelter, and companionship to show us that our sole purpose for this world is transitory. We are just passing through. Our consolations should not be in this world, but in our Heavenly Father. THEREFORE Lent is a renewing of our efforts to prepare ourselves for Heaven.

Now Jesus didn't HAVE to die to some old way of living and sin, but he does it because that is what WE need to do, and he calls us to imitate Him.

Answering - Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics Chapter 4 (Pt 1)

Chapter 4 – Sola Scriptura Versus Tradition – Part 2

The Issue: Catholics offer some examples of tradition that is found in the New Testament and this chapter addresses those verses offered as proofs.

The Facts: Let’s see what he has to say.

1.   (65) Matthew 2:23 - He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazorean."

The issue – Catholics point to this verse which claims that Jesus is fulfilling an oracle of the prophets. But when the Old Testament writing are searched there is no prophecy given it writing, but there was an oral prophecy, which is what the verse suggests, that was in circulation at the time of Jesus and that is what is being fulfilled here.

He Asks – He suggests that the town of Nazareth in Biblical times was infamous for being associated with sinners. This makes some sense because Philip asks the question John 1:46 – can anything good come out of Nazareth? So in Jesus’ day being called a Nazorean would be associated with being despised and hated. The prophets in the Old Testament do tell us that the Messiah would be despised and hated and Jesus is partially fulfilling this by living in a despised and hated town.

I Respond – It is as simple as this – A prophetic statement has been made – It can’t be found written – therefore it must be in oral. It is authoritative because it comes from God so it must be believed. That is what we call Oral Tradition. We don’t have to do mental gymnastics over the character of the town of Nazareth, find that character in the Old Testament applied to the Messiah, and then apply it to Jesus. The Catholic apologist is simply trying to point out that there are authoritative statements made by God that might not be written down.

·       (67) He Asks – ‘Did you know that Nazarene was a term of scorn back in biblical times, indicating “one who is despised”?’

I would say  - I know that now.

·       (67) He Asks – Since numerous Old Testament passages indicate that the Messiah would be a despised character, can you see that possibility that Matthew’s use of Nazarene in reference to the Messiah was intended to give the substance of many Old Testament prophecies and not a direct quote from a single prophet?

I would say – I hear what your saying but I think here the Scriptures are clear. A prophetic statement has been made – It can’t be found written – therefore it must be in oral. It is authoritative because it comes from God so it must be believed. That is what we call Oral Tradition. To bring this into modern times let’s say Jesus He went and dwelt in a town called Gloucester, Massachusetts, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Gloucesterite? ( I might be butchering that one)." Hey, Gloucester is known for its fisherman, let’s see what the Old Testament says about fisherman. It says God would some day call many fisherman as fulfilled by Jesus. Therefore it doesn’t need to say explicitly by any one prophet in the Old Testament that He shall be called a Gloucesterite.

I just say stick with the word of God.

2.   (68) Matthew 23:2, 3   saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.   Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.

The issue – Catholics point out these verses to non-Catholics because of the term “the chair of Moses.” Just from the context we can tell that this is a place of authority. Historically it was a physical seat in a synagogue. The idea of the “chair of Moses” is not found in the Old Testament. Now I have never used this verse to prove Sacred Tradition, but I have used it to prove just plain old oral tradition. Not everything was written down.

·        (70) He Asks – “Since Jesus in this same Gospel of Matthew indicates that tradition can be wrong and lead people astray – and since He places God’s Word over tradition (Matthew 15:6) – is it not unwise to argue for the authority of tradition from Matthew 23:2, 3?”

I Respond – I don’t think so, for two reasons. The first is that Jesus condemns the traditions of man that nullify the Word of God. We agree and do that as well. The second is that Matthew himself is only writing down a portion of his experience with Jesus. Think of this, Matthew spent three years of his life with Jesus, and yet his Gospel can be read in about 2 hours. We know Jesus said more, because of the other Gospels. We know that there is more important information to be known because of the teachings of St. Paul and the other inspired writers. Dare we say that is all that there is, how can we be so sure?

I would follow up with – Would you be obedient to Jesus’ words here is they were in your hearing? “Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you” Would you do that? If you say no, then we disobey Jesus. If you say yes, then you are subjecting yourself to an authority, namely the Pharisees, whose position has no Biblical basis. There are no Pharisees in the Old Testament mentioned. Yet Jesus recognizes them as those who are to be obeyed, yet not imitated.

·       (71) He Asks – “Did you know that synagogue worship first emerged in postexilic times, long after the time of Moses?” (Meaning synagogues weren’t probably invented until after the Jews returned from their exile in Babylon 500 years before Jesus.

I respond – Yes, I know that now.

·       (71) He Asks – “Since historically the “chair of Moses” in the synagogue came into use far after the actual time of Moses, is it not clear that the reference to this chair cannot be cited in support of an oral tradition that goes back to Moses?”

I Respond – It doesn’t matter if it goes back to the time of Moses or not, my point in bringing up the “chair of Moses” was that there was an idea of this in the first century that is not written about in the Old Testament, yet existed obviously in Old Testament times. What I am trying to show you is that there ideas that were lived out by the Jews that were not explicitly written down before Jesus yet they had a place in the lives of the Jewish people in Jesus’ day.

I Would Ask – If you agree to this then why couldn’t that be true about the apostles day? There were things they did and taught that were legitimate, but didn’t make it into the pages of Scripture, yet made it into the lives of the first Christians.

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Answering Dr. Ron Rhodes Concerning Why We Have More Books In Our Bibles.

Chapter 2 - The Apocrypha – Does It Belong In The Bible?

All quotes are from "Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics" by Dr. Ron Rhodes

A Step-by-Step guide to sharing the Good News with Catholics

The (numbers in parenthesis refer to page numbers in the book)

The Issue: Catholics have 7 more books in their Bibles than non-Catholics. Catholics say that they belong in the Bible, while non-Catholics say that they do not.

The Facts: In Jesus’ day there were several groups of Jews – Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Jews that lived in Palestine and Jews that lived outside of Palestine – who while they agreed on major doctrinal issues disagreed on others, like which books belonged in the Bible. This issue was not settled in Jesus’ day. Jesus comes and preaches the Gospel which is then partially written down and discussed by the various New Testament authors. These books and letters were distributed to their audience, then copied and made available for other Christian communities to read. At the same time other authors began to write who were not apostles, some were legitimate and others were not.  In time the apostles died leaving their authority to other worthy men. In first quarter of the second century (135 A.D.) the Jews, zealous concerning a new religious leader in their midst (Bar Kokhba), closed the Hebrew canon and condemned the beliefs of the Christians. Meanwhile the true and false writings concerning Christ continued to circulate. No counsel was held to judge the legitimacy about certain books because from the year 65 to 313 A.D. Christianity was illegal under Roman law.  Yet in that period many individual Christians had drawn up lists of books that they believed were inspired by God. While there were core books that everyone listed, there were other books from both the Old and New Testament that were disputed. Finally at the local counsels of Rome (382), Hippo (393), and Carthage (397), Catholic bishops (for all Christians were Catholic at this time, except for the Arians) recognized 73 books that made up the Old and New Testament. This was the list that everyone accepted. In 1431 a council was held in Florence, Italy that reaffirmed that those 73 books were in fact inspired.

Years later in 1517 Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic Church, he removed from the Old Testament books that Jews in his day did not have in their Bibles ( these are the 7 books of the Old Testament their are - Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (a.k.a Sirach), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees. Many do not know that he also wanted to remove Hebrews, James, and Revelation from the New Testament as well.

                In response to his protests, the Catholic Church once again held a council, this time in the city of Trent (1545-1563) where they re-reaffirmed that it is 73 books that belong in the Bible.

The Misconception: In 1545 the Catholic Church added 7 books to the Old Testament to support its teachings.        

1.       Apocryphal Books Do Not Claim To Be Inspired

·         He Asks – What does it say to you that not a single apocryphal book claims to have been inspired by God?

I Respond – It doesn’t say much considering most of the books of the Bible don’t claim to be inspired by God.

I Would Ask – If a book does in fact claim to be inspired by God like the Book of Mormon, does that mean that it is inspired? – Obviously not. What happened was that the same Holy Spirit who had inspired men in the 300’s to say officially that the New Testament books were inspired, also lead the same men to say that those 7 books in the Old Testament were inspired as well. So if you trust them with their decision of the New Testament books, why not trust them with their decision of the Old Testament books as well. The opposite is true also – if they got it wrong about the Old Testament, maybe they got it wrong about the New Testament.

·         He Asks – If the apocryphal books are inspired, why weren’t the writers of these books confirmed by divine miracles like the Old and New Testament writers?

He then sites 1 Kings 18 – which is the story of when Elijah confronted Ahab about who the Israelites were going to serve – God or Baal. Fire then falls from heaven and consumes the sacrifice which Elijah has made in front of many witnesses proving that God and not Baal is the true God.

Honestly I thought this question was confusing because it either means that a book much contain miracles to prove that it is inspired, or the writer of the book worked miracles.

I Respond - If a book must contain miracles to be inspired, then books like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Philemon are out. If a book must have been written by someone who performed miracles then St. Luke is out because no miracles are attributed to him. If you need miracles in those seven books, then Tobit and the Maccabbees have those in them.

·         He Asks – If the apocryphal books are inspired, why didn’t they contain predictive prophecy like the Old and New Testament books?

I Respond – Many Old and New Testament book don’t contain predictive prophecy does that negate their inspiration?

I Would Ask – If it did contain prophecy would that make it inspired? If they say yes then read

Wisdom 2:12 ¹² Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. ¹³ He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. ¹⁴ To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, ¹⁵ Because his life is not like other men's, and different are his ways. ¹⁶ He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. ¹⁷ Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. ¹⁸ For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. ¹⁹ With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. ²⁰ Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him."

2.       New Testament Writers Do Not Quote The Apocrypha

Introduction – Dr. Rhodes begins on faulty footing when he says, “Jesus and the disciples virtually ignore these books-something that would not have been the case if they had considered them to be inspired.”

I Respond – There are several problems with this argument. The first is that just because a book is quoted in the New Testament doesn’t mean that it is inspired. The second is that the pagan poet Epimenides and the Book of Enoch are both quoted in the New Testament does that mean that they are inspired? No. Likewise just because these 7 books are not quoted doesn’t imply that they aren’t inspired or else Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum and Zephaniah – because these books that are accepted by everyone are not quoted in the New Testament as well – would call their inspiration into question.

·         (34)He Asks - What do you think that suggests to you that the New Testament writers often quoted from the Old Testament, but never quoted from an apocryphal book?

I Respond – I would answer that I guess God didn’t want them quoted in the New Testament along with many other books from the Old Testament. (See my response in the introduction to this section)

·         (35)He Asks – In view of the fact that the New Testament writers virtually ignored the Apocrypha, do you think that they viewed it as Scripture?

I Respond - I can’t say for sure – they do allude to them many times in their writings – I would even ask if they thought that their own writings were inspired. I don’t imagine that they did. What I do know is that the Church that Christ gave us with His own authority recognized in the late 300 which books, were and were not inspired and it is was those 73 (not 66) books that made up the Bible for everyone until the Martin Luther threw them out.

3.       Many Church Fathers Denied The Apocrypha

Introduction – Dr. Rhodes begin by saying, “certain church fathers spoke approvingly of the Apocrypha.”

I Respond – not only did they disagree about the Old Testament books, but they disagreed about the New Testament books as well. This debate would continue until the late 300’s. The reason that this issue wasn’t settled officially by the church until the late 300’s is because they had been persecuted more most of that time by the Roman government. Many Church Fathers gave lists of books that they considered inspired. Some Old Testament books and New Testament books were called into question, but with the councils of Rome in the 380’s, Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397 (all of which accepted those 73 books that we have today) – the question was settled.

So calling into question what the early Church Fathers thought was inspired also kind of backfires because it was at those same councils that the New Testament canon was recognized officially as well.

4.       Early Christian Evidence Argues Against The Apocrypha

In this section Dr. Rhodes gives us an example of a church father who outright denied all of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament. This doesn’t turn out to be a true as he probably would have hoped. Dr. Rhodes quotes Eusebius who is quoting Melito of Sardis who says this:

‘Accordingly when I went East and came to the place where these things were preached and done, I learned accurately the books of the Old Testament, and send them to you as written below. Their names are as follows: Of Moses, five books: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy; Jesus Nave, Judges, Ruth; of Kings, four books; of Chronicles, two; the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, Wisdom also, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job; of Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah; of the twelve prophets, one book ; Daniel, Ezekiel, Esdras. From which also I have made the extracts, dividing them into six books. Such are the words of Melito.’ (Eusebius, Church History, Book 4 Ch 26:14)

Dr. Rhodes then goes on to say, “Notice that Melito affirmed all the Old Testament books except the Book of Esther, but did not mention a single apocryphal book (RFS p.36).” The problem can be seen with the emboldened and underlined word Wisdom. This refers to the Wisdom of Solomon – one of the ‘apocryphal’ books that Melito is supposedly not mentioning. Now the fact that Melito doesn’t mention Esther ( a book everyone today has in their Bibles), just goes to show that in Melito’s time (170 A.D.), the debate still continued about which books should go in the Bible.

5.       The Early Jews Of Palestine Rejected The Apocrypha

Dr. Rhodes tries to make that case that because the Jews after Jesus’ day rejected the apocrypha, we should reject it as well. It should be noted that these same Jews rejected the New Testament books as well, so should we do the same?

6.       There Are Historical Errors In The Apocrypha

·         (37)He Asks – Does God make mistakes?

I Respond - Nope

·         (37)He Asks – Do books inspired by God contain mistakes?

I Respond - Nope

·         (37-38)He Asks – Did you know that history and archeology are true friends of the Old and New Testament because they verify numerous customs, places, names, and events in Bible times?

I Respond - Yep

·         (38)He Asks – Did you know, by contrast, that the apocryphal books contain many historical errors?

I Respond – No they don’t.

                He suggests - pointing out some historical difficulties in the book of Tobit

I would follow up - Many people say that there are historical problems with the New Testament and other Old Testament books. While this has been the claim, God’s word throughout time has always proven to be true, and this has been confirmed through archeology and the discovery of other ancient texts. Like Cardinal Newman said, "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."

The ancient times were just as complicated as things are today, and we only get to see a small fraction of this history through the little texts that remain. Therefore while at times things seem to contradict, it is our lack of information that might be the problem, not the text.

Something else to consider is that we believe that only the original works of the authors are inspired by God. Copyists do make errors, which very well may be the case in the book of Tobit.

Finally I would say this – If God appeared to the person and assured them that it was inspired and reliable, then would the person still doubt because of the current history, or would they trust God? Hopefully they would trust God. We believe that God has spoken through the Church and revealed which books are inspired both Old and New and we have faith that what he is given is infallible.

·          (38)He Asks – What does that tell you regarding whether the Apocrypha is inspired by God?

I Respond – I believe that it is inspired

7.       The Apocrypha Contains Unbiblical Doctrines

·         (38-39)He Asks – Since we know that the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God and that the Apocrypha clearly contradicts the Old and New Testaments at numerous points, what can we conclude about the Apocrypha?

I Respond – Catholics agree that the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, but no part of the Bible contradicts any other part of the Bible. Now what is happening is that these Biblical teaching found in these 7 books of the Old Testament are contradicting Dr. Rhodes private interpretation on the New and Old Testament, therefore he sees a contradiction where there really is none. Let’s examine the ones presented:

I will answer these questions below later.

8.       The Septuagint Argument Is Flawed

9.       The Catacombs Argument Is Not Convincing

10.    The Church Council Argument Is Not Convincing

11.    The Qumran Argument Is Not Convincing

12.    Tests Of Canonicity

13.    Hebrews 11:35 – A Citation From The Apocrypha