Servants of Christ: A Catholic Blog

   Merry Christmas! I hope you all had the opportunity to receive that gift of Christ in the Eucharist today.     Though all the festivities for the holiday are nice, it is important to remember that it is ultimately about Jesus.     I was at Christmas Mass earlier today, and the priest's homily really spoke to me. He said that whether or not you are a good gift giver doesn't matter so long as you give some of yourself with the gift. He quoted this from Pope Benedict. He went on to say that God gave humanity all he could in giving us His Son, and asked us a simple question: Do we accept His gift?    This was so interesting to me because he said something so short and simple, but it is extremely important. We need to accept the Lord in order to be saved. He gave everything for us. Will we accept his Christmas gift?

  I've been working on my apologetics skills recently, and found many good arguments against abortion in the Bible.    Abortion is the killing of a child in the mother's womb. Unfortunately, many people say that the child is not a person with rights whi le in the womb.    However, God is the source of life and every human being deserves human rights. It is important to know that the child is indeed alive in the womb and should be protected, not slaughtered.   I can find at least four very good arguments against abortion in the Bible, and though there are many more, I will just leave it at these for the time being.   One of these arguments is found in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, where it says, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you' (Jer 1:5).    So you see, it says plainly that the Lord knows and  consecrates a child even before it is in the womb. Have you met a Christian in the prop...

The third Sunday of Advent in the Roman Catholic calendar is Gaudete Sunday. Derived from the Latin introit antiphon "Rejoice (Gaudete) in the Lord always", Gaudete Sunday signifies a day of joyous anticipation as the celebration of Christmas approaches. Since this Sunday brings a lighter tone to the traditional Advent observance, the priest and deacon wear rose-colored vestments instead of the deeper violet/purple ones typical of Advent and Lent (more on that during when Lent comes around). This Sunday is also known as "Rose Sunday." The Advent theme centers on the anticipation of Jesus' coming in three ways: his initial arrival, his current presence, and his ultimate return. Gaudete Sunday's readings specifically focus on rejoicing in the Lord, delving into John the Baptist's mission and its connection to Advent. According to theologian Thomas Aquinas, happiness is humanity's ultimate goal—an eternal contemplation of God through the intellect. In c...

 Interesting biblical verse promoting the use of incense:  In the Revelation of John, incense symbolizes the prayers of the saints in heaven – the "golden bowl full of incense" are "the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:8, cf. Revelation 8:3) which infuse upwards towards the altar of God. I'm the head incenser at my church, so I thought this was cool.  Actually got this from Wikipedia of all places, but it is accurately represented: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_use_of_incense

 Just the other day, my friend Charlie joined me in co-writing the blog, which I am very grateful for. He is one of my closest friends and knows a whole lot about the Catholic faith. Welcome aboard Charlie!

  Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. We have the shortest Advent this year, with the fourth Sunday being on Christmas Eve.      Advent is a time of penance. Let us remember why Christ came into the world and what he had to go through to save us from our sins.     And when Christmas does come, please remember the true meaning of the holiday. It's not about Coca-Cola's Santa, or elves, snow, carols, or any of that (although there are some really good faith-based Christmas songs). However, it is about presents in a way. We received the gift of Jesus, who brought us the gift of salvation. You may have heard this thousands of times before, but it's true no doubt.      Have a nice Advent and please remember the true reason for the season.