Come On In

Finding God in the marketplace is very difficult for most of us because we are easily distracted by the mundane or profane (from the Latin meaning “outside the temple”). A sacred place, like anything sacred, is something set apart or different from what is normal for us. When we

Tinfoil Hats Not Required

Saint Irenaeus, who grew up in Smyrna (not Tennessee), near Ephesus, in the area which is now western Turkey, was the Bishop of Lyons in southern France in the early second century, is considered a Father of the Church, and was mentored by people who knew the first disciples, including the Apostolic Father, Saint Polycarp, who was the Apostle John’s disciple. Recall that Jesus the Christ called James and John “Sons of Thunder,” who were the sons of Zebedee. That might explain the confidence he felt to write five treatises in Greek on detecting and debunking heresies, which is commonly entitled in Latin as “Adversus haereses” (Refutation of Heresies), and according to the translation of its title, devoted to the “Detection and Overthrow of the False Knowledge.”

Irenaeus studied Gnostics’ writings in depth, and refuted them in meticulously painstaking detail. Gnosticism, which arose in Irenaeus’ era, was considered

Merry Christ Mass!!

Merry Christ Mass. Or if you prefer… Merry Christmas!

Some assert that no Mass is needed, that perhaps the day of the celebration of the LORD’s birth should be called “Christ Day.”

However, an examination of the origin and derivation of the word – its etymology – reveals something entirely fascinating.

First, it should be understood that