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Where does the name 'Christ' come from?

In ancient times, oil was often used to annoint new kings. A king was therefore known as an "annointed one."

In Hebrew, "annointed one" is messiah. In time, the great king that was to save the Jews came to be known as The Messiah.

In the Greek, this translates as o Christos, the Christ.

So the apostles went out and preached about the Christ, the Messiah, the annointed one.

However, some people began to confuse the greek word Christos with a similar greek word, Chrestos (which meant only "good man").

Because of this, it seems that preachers of the Gospel began to drop the "the" and use simply "Christ," more like a name. This helped listeners to realize that it was not simply a description about some hypothetical good man, but was an actual name for an actual man.

Hence, Jesus the Christ became simply Jesus Christ. (It is also sometimes written as Christ Jesus - which also makes sense.)

Another factor that played into this usage over time was that there is not an equivalent "the" in Latin. So when all of the scripture was translated to Latin and then to other languages, Jesus Christ - without the "the" - was found more often.

And that's how Jesus of Nazareth, the annointed one, the messiah came to be known, at least namely, as Jesus Christ.

What is an alb?

An alb is one of the basic liturgical vestments that a Catholic priest wears. It is the large plain garment made of white linen that is worn over their clothes or cassock and under other special vestments. Usually, it is worn with a belt, or cincture, around the waist.

Adopted from the long linen tunics that the ancient Romans wore, it is said to be the oldest liturgical vestment used by the early Christians. It was primarily used in the celebration of the Eucharist, but, over time, has become a common vestment used in all Christian celebrations by clergy and laypersons alike - especially priests, deacons, and alter servers.

What is the Holy See?

"Where is this Holy Sea, that I might swim in it?"

Sounds like fun. However, it's not that kind of sea.

"Holy See" actually comes from the Latin, Sancta Sedes, which also means Holy Chair.

It is short for "Holy Apostolic See."

Basically, it is referring to the supreme "seat" of holy apostolic authority: the bishop of Rome, the Pope.

And it's not talking about his actual physical seat, or chair, that he sits down on and has a back and four legs. It's referring to his authoritative position, the office of Bishop of Rome.

In the past, the Holy See also referred to other episcopal sees (i.e. other Catholic bishops and their office). So generally speaking, the Holy See could also refer to the office of a bishop, all of the bishops together, or any other reference to apostolic authority.

But, specifically and most commonly, the term is understood to refer to the office of the Pope, "together with the various ecclesiastical authorities who constitute the central administration" (www.newadvent.org), also known as the "Vatican".

Did the Catholic Church chain Bibles up?

You bet they did!

The real question is why did they do it?

Many today look back and view this chaining of the Bible as a bad thing. It usually accompanies accusations that the Catholic Church was keeping the Bible away from the people. That they didn't want people to read it for themselves.

Ironically, it was actually the exact opposite.

These Bibles were chained up in public, often out in front of the Church. It would be a pretty silly thing to chain up a bible and leave it out in front of the Church if they didn't want anyone to read it. Wouldn't you think? It seems that locking it away somewhere in a room or a box would work much better.

When we go to the grocery store checkout stand and pay for our groceries, there is usually a little pen there for everyone to use to write with. Often times this pen is chained to the checkout stand.

Is that because they don't want anyone to use it? Or is that because they want it to be available for everyone to use it?

It was precisely because they wanted everyone to have access to the Bible that they left it out where everyone could read it! But precisely because they wanted it to still be around for everyone to read, they had to chain it to something to keep it from walking off.

Keep in mind, this is back before the printing press. Books, particularly the Bible, were very expensive because they were all hand copied. They could cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in today's currency.

Nobody in their right mind would leave something that expensive just sitting around for anyone to take. So the Church did what it could to make it available - and keep it available.

What are the sacraments?

In the Catholic Church we have 7 sacraments.

CCC 1210
Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.

The sacraments are:

1. Baptism (aka being born again, the first sacrament, door of the sacraments, seal of God, water of eternal life)

CCC 1213

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word."

2. Confirmation (aka unction, sealing, chrism)

CCC 1285

Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."

3. Holy Eucharist (aka Communion, The Lord's Supper)

CCC 1322-1324

The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"

The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."

4. Confession (aka Reconciliation, Penance)

CCC 1420-1422
Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and it remains "hidden with Christ in God." We are still in our "earthly tent," subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.

The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

"Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."

5. Anointing of the Sick (aka Last rites, extreme unction)

CCC 1499

"By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ."

6. Holy Orders

CCC 1533-1536

Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ's disciples, a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world. They confer the graces needed for the life according to the Spirit during this life as pilgrims on the march towards the homeland.

Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God.

Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and Confirmation for the common priesthood of all the faithful can receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated in Christ's name "to feed the Church by the word and grace of God." On their part, "Christian spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and dignity of their state by a special sacrament."

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

7. Matrimony (aka Marriage, gettin' hitched, tying the knot, becoming one flesh)

CCC 1601-1602

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church.

Did Jesus drink alcohol?

For the first 1800-1900 years of Christianity, drinking alcohol in moderation was one more way to enjoy God's gifts. But a movement in the social politic of America in the early 1900's suddenly changed some protestant denominations stance on alcohol consumption.

These groups began teaching that drinking alcohol was always or almost always a sin. This was a huge change from historical Christianity.

As a result of this new teaching, we had a lot of people twisting scripture to try and support this idea that Jesus didn't drink alcohol and that the word "wine" in scripture is actually referring to grape juice.

But this is in no way supported by scripture, history, or logic.

The Jews, prior to Jesus' birth, had always considered "wine" to be fermented (alcoholic) grape juice. And it was certainly a part of many activities, including weddings, and it was definitely used in the passover celebration.

When Jesus came along there is no indication that He changed or condemned any of these existing practices. In fact, he seems to have encouraged them. His first miracle was turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-11). And again, the wine that these Jews would have been drinking was fermented, alcoholic wine - not grape juice. And then of course Jesus used wine when he celebrated passover with his apostles and instituted the Eucharist.

Another point to remember is that back then people had no way of preserving juice. They had no preservatives or other modern processes to keep grape juice from fermenting. So once they harvested the grapes for the year and stored the juice in skins, the fermentation process naturally began. If you put juice in a container and leave it alone for a few months what do you get? Fermented, alcoholic wine. That's what you get.

The passover feast occurred 6-7 months after the grape harvest. By then the grape juice was surely a nice shiraz, or a pinot. So it would have been impossible to not have alcoholic wine for the passover and really for any occasion during the large part of any year.

And even in scripture the apostles themselves are mistakenly accused of being drunk on wine (Acts 2:13-15). First, this seems to infer that it's not unreasonable to think the apostles may have been drinking alcoholic wine. And second, Peter responds to the accusers, not by saying that they didn't drink alcohol or that it was bad. He responds by saying basically, "hey, we're not drunk, it's too early to be drinking wine." The implication is obviously that the apostles did drink alcoholic wine, it was just too early in the day to have done so - and they certainly weren't drunk.

And the constant teaching of the Church is consistent with all of this. Drinking wine can be a good and holy thing.

All that being said, the Church has also always taught that abuse of alcohol or anything else to the point of impairing your judgment is a serious sin. Just as some groups have taken the use of alcohol to an extreme by prohibiting it, it is just as incorrect and even more dangerous to take it to the other extreme of abusing it.

Many Catholics take the Church's acceptance of the use of alcohol as a license to get drunk. This couldn't be further from the truth and is a sin of grave matter. I've heard many a Catholic respond to negative inferences of getting drunk by saying, "Oh, I'm Catholic...so it's cool."

No, it's not cool. And it's not Catholic.

It's another one of those things where a little common sense goes a long way.

Do Catholics worship Mary?

Semantics and misinformation: the source of most confusion on any Catholic teaching.

In this case, it basically comes down to how one defines the word "worship."

But let's be clear. When someone charges the Catholic Church with "worshiping Mary," they are usually implying that Catholics put Mary on par with God. This couldn't be further from the truth. And to any Catholic that truly understands their faith, this sounds as heretical to them as to anyone.

Unfortunately, this charge is most often used by people who dislike the Catholic Church and are trying to add more confusion and damage the image of the Church.

If they were truly seeking understanding on the matter they would easily find a very reasonable truth, perhaps very different than the misinformation they've been told in the past.

First, let's try to define the word "worship."

In our culture and language, worship is often understood to be "reverence offered to a divine being."

In this sense, worship is only for God. Catholics say AMEN! Offering this kind of reverence to Mary or anyone else as being divine would be heresy to a Catholic.

However, another common definition is "extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem." In this sense, not only is worshiping someone or something other than God not a bad thing, it would be an entirely Christian thing to do.

Surely it is a good thing to give respect where respect is due. It is good to honor our parents and heroes. It is good to admire those that inspire us to be better people. It is good to remember those great examples that have gone before us. That is a part of building up the Body of Christ.

And certainly many people cherish and honor that old pocket watch passed down from their grandfather, the string of pearls from their great-great aunt, or the book of hymns their mother sung from every morning when they were growing up.

Are they worshiping these things though?

Are we worshiping our heroes when we honor and respect them as they return home from war? Or when we place flowers and kneel at the grave of a loved one? Or when we look to the sky and ask our deceased grandmother to help us out in a hard time? Or when we give someone an award or title to recognize their accomplishment?

Again, that depends on how you define the word "worship."

The traditional Catholic understanding of worship would be more like: homage paid to God, to Jesus Christ, to His saints, to the beings or even to the objects which have a special relation to God (www.newadvent.com).

So in this sense, it's not a bad thing when worship includes all of these other people and things. It's a good thing. It's a natural and human thing.

Some say, "but that's idolatry!"

Hardly so. It's no more idolatry than cherishing your grandfather's old pocket watch, admiring an uncle, or keeping a picture in your wallet of someone you care about.

Here's the big difference. If we cherish a watch simply because it is a watch, it's ours, and it does things for us - that's idolatry. When our focus in life is to possess a huge house, nice car, and fashionable clothes - that's idolatry.

But when we are thankful for these things because we see God's hand in them, because they remind us of the love of someone special, because they build us up - that is worship. And it's actually, indirectly, worship of God.

When we love our neighbor, we love God. When we respect and admire all things that are good, we respect and admire God. It is all a form of worship, but only because of their relation to God. That's the key.

To further clarify this, Catholics differentiate between a few "levels" of worship.

There is supreme, sovereign worship and adoration of God alone. This is known as latria. If this is given to any creature or thing aside from God, it is idolatry. All other forms of worship serve this in some way.

Then there is worship that honors and venerates martyrs, angels, saints, and things associated with them. This is known as dulia. This is simply the honor and respect that we owe to those that have served God in great ways. Its purpose is to honor God by honoring what He's done through His creation.

Further, because Mary is the first among the saints, playing a unique role in the history of salvation, the veneration and honoring of Mary is known as hyperdulia. This is to recognize her as above other saints, while she is still infinitely small next to God. But because God chose to use her in such a special way and she responded, Catholics recognize that.

The key is to see it all for what it is and to not get caught up in the semantics. All of these forms of worship bring honor to God. They are connected, just as creation is connected to its Creator.

And we should want to worship the creator in every way that we can. So a big part of that is properly respecting and honoring His creation - especially where it has served Him greatest.

And certainly if the angel Gabriel greets Mary, "Hail, full of grace," (Luke 1:28) then we should recognize her with the same reverence and respect - call it worship or not.

The red candle near the altar

It's quite beautiful how many ornate, interesting, priceless things can be found in Catholic Churches. But the meaning behind all of them is actually the most beautiful part.

A fairly simple, but yet important, one of these symbolic things is that of the red candle found near the tabernacle (which is usually found behind the altar, but has been moved to other areas in many churches now).

This candle, when lit, is what tells us that the nearby tabernacle currently contains the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist (prompting genuflection and reverence).

If it is not lit, that means that the tabernacle is empty (therefore genuflection is not appropriate).

So look for the red candle first. It will tell you one of the most important pieces of information you need to know when entering a Catholic church.

Pavlov's Catholic: Genuflecting

I was at a movie theater looking for a seat. I eyed some open chairs past a row of people.

As I approached the row of chairs, I felt this overwhelming urge to drop down to one knee and make the sign of the cross. Luckily, I stopped before embarrassing myself too much.

But it made me think.

It's understandable to naturally do something that I've been doing my entire natural life. But have I become so conditioned as to do it without reflecting as to why I'm doing it?

Ivan Pavlov, who won the Nobel Prize in physiology in 1904, is probably most famous today for his experiments concerning conditional reflex. Basically, that with proper conditioning he could get a dog to begin salivating by using only familiar sounds (which the dog associated with food) without ever giving it actual food.

From that, the phrase "Pavlov's dog" has emerged to describe somebody who has been conditioned to respond to certain stimuli without really using their reason or critical thinking in the situation.

To many of us Catholics this sounds a bit too familiar. Hence, we approach a row of chairs or a pew and we automatically genuflect.

But what are we genuflecting to?

No, not the back (or front) of the Church. No, not the altar or a crucifix either. And hopefully not to a movie screen!

We genuflect to the Eucharist - to God made present body, blood, soul and divinity.

Most of us and our parents grew up in churches where the Eucharist was still kept in a tabernacle behind the altar. So we rightfully genuflect (towards the Eucharist) as we enter and leave the pew.

Now-a-days, many churches have removed the tabernacle from behind the altar to another part of the church. But Pavlov's Catholics just keeps right on genuflecting. Why though?

It's actually very sad that in our Catholic culture we have become so conditioned that we have no idea why we are doing what we are doing. And, in my experience, I see it in 99% of the people at every parish I've visited that has removed the tabernacle from behind the altar.

Catholics mindlessly genuflecting...to what? It appears that they really don't know.

Next time you go to a parish, don't mindlessly genuflect to nothing. A bow towards the altar is appropriate if the tabernacle has been moved elsewhere. And then when you are walking past the tabernacle, wherever it may be in your church building, genuflect there if appropriate. For you are in the presence of God in the flesh.

But most of all, remember to reflect when you genuflect.

Why do Catholic bishops wear funny hats?

No, it's not so we can tell which piece they are on the chess board. Although, that does help doesn't it?

As far as we can remember, hats (or headdresses) have been part of human culture. We just seem to like to wear things on our heads.

Throughout history, hats have been used to help identify people. Whether it's as a member of a certain team, a rank in the military, or a special occasion, it says something about that person and what they're doing.

Especially large hats usually signaled a sign of authority or importance. Kings would wear huge, elaborate crowns. The captain of the ship had the tallest hat. The bishops of the Church are no different.

That tall hat that bishops wear is called a "miter" (or mitre). In the Greek and Latin it is called "mitra" which means crown.

They often look funny in today's fashions, especially to those that haven't seen them before. But this practice seems to actually go back to the apostles themselves - and actually before that.

We see that even in the old testament, the Jewish leaders - the high priests - were required to be set apart by what they wore, and particularly by wearing miters (Exodus 29:6, Leviticus 8:9, Exodus 28:3-4, Ex. 39:28).

There is also evidence from early Christian writers (Tertullian, Eusebius, Epiphanius and Hegesippus) that the apostles themselves wore miters.

Of course, these miters have changed in design and appearance throughout history. But each design served this purpose of setting apart the bishop as somebody important. And not because personally he's better than everybody else, but because he has been set apart to play a special role in the administration of Christ's Church. He has been chosen by the Church and by God to hold certain authority through his apostolic succession.

The Catholic Church is a visible Church led by visible people. The bishop's miter is one of the ways that we can identify and recognize our visible leaders, the bishops - in real life, and yes, even in a game of chess.

Are Catholics required to go to mass on Sunday?

The short answer: Yes. (CCC 2041-2042)

And not only are we required to go, but it is considered a grave matter of sin if we do not go (and otherwise reasonably could have gone).

From the beginning, the Church has always seen this as the primary fulfillment of the 3rd commandment: Keep holy the sabbath day.

Many will read the 3rd commandment out of context in today's present culture and interpret for themselves that it simply means to make sure and do holy things on Sunday. Not only does this not make sense, it is not the way that the apostles interpreted it either.

God commands us to be holy everyday - not just on the sabbath. And it would be a pretty useless commandment if it actually meant to just be extra holy on Sunday.

What is truly meant by "keeping the sabbath holy" is to actually participate in the most fundamental of Christian celebrations - the mass.

CCC 2181:

"The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin."

So it's important. And this is not up for interpretation, as some Catholics might argue. If you are Catholic, you are obliged to go to mass every Sunday - not just Sundays where you wake up early enough, it's convenient, or you are in town visiting mom and dad.

And there's a special obligation for parents to take their kids and any other dependents under their care.

There's no question that a lot of Catholics don't attend mass as they should. I suppose it is partially because they are unaware that it's a requirement, but I think the heart of the problem is that most Catholics take for granted what happens at the mass. I know I often do.

But then I think about what happens at each and every mass. And I realize that this is the most deliberately specific thing that Jesus gave Christians to do after he left. And I contemplate that we truly, physically receive the body and blood of Christ...of God. And I consider that communion with God is the ultimate goal of my life.

Then I can't wait to go.

What is a Christian?

We hear the word Christian used a lot these days in so many different contexts.

We hear politicians talk about having "Christian values." We hear that this country was founded on "Christian principles."

When somebody does something wrong somebody might say, "well that wasn't very Christian of them, was it?"

We hear thousands of disagreeing denominations claiming that they are the "true Christian church" or the "first Christian church." And we hear about "Christian fellowships" or "Christian communities."

"Are they Christians?"

"Are you a Christian?"

"Well, I was raised Christian, but I don't really go to Church" or "Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I think I can believe whatever I want" or "well...I believe in the Bible, so yeah."

So what is it? What is a Christian? Who are the Christians?

Webster's dictionary has over ten definitions of "Christian" that would support each of the uses in the above statements. So it's not much help at all.

This is not a new problem though. The early Christians faced similar challenges.

There were numerous sects in the first few centuries that held conflicting ideas about what was true Christianity. And these were important issues - such as the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the monotheism of the Trinity, and whether or not matter was good or evil. These were foundational issues that defined the Christian Church and still do to this day.

In all cases, however, these early Christians discerned the answers to these conflicting interpretations by turning to the leaders appointed by the apostles themselves - to the Church. The main way that early Christians could tell what was true Christianity from what was false was by examining the source and verifying if it had apostolic authority.

Those with apostolic succession (the Bishops) would get together in councils to clarify issues. At these councils they used reason and the Tradition of faith handed down from Jesus' apostles (with some help from the Holy Spirit) to discern the Truth on a matter (if possible at that time). And just as Christian doctrine had to develop then, so it continues today through the same apostolic succession in the Catholic Church.

The only way that the early Church could remain unified and meaningfully definable at all was to appeal to an authority that Jesus left in charge - His apostles and their successors. Otherwise there would have been constant division and disagreement. Nobody would have known who was really a Christian and who was not.

This is much the situation we find ourselves in today.

It is not clear enough to simply say that I believe in a book or a man. For how do you interpret that book? Where is this man? And what did he believe? What did he do?

To many, Christianity has become a philosophy. A sociological movement. A family tradition. A synonym for "good." A mood. A book. A fellowship. A personal ideal.

In all of this confusion, we cannot appeal to our own authority to decide such a matter - for we have none. It is that apostolic authority in the Catholic Church that is the only thing that can rightfully define what is Christian - for there is nothing else to appeal to.

So, if Christian's are followers of Christ, and Christ founded a Church, then it would seem to me that a "Christian" would be defined as a member of this Church.

And this very same Church proclaims that one must be validly baptized to be "incorporated into the Church" (CCC 1213).

So it would seem that a "Christian" is someone who is validly baptized.

Now, how good or bad of a Christian that person is, that is something entirely different.

Are Catholics Christian?

I know this sounds like a silly question to a lot of people, but unfortunately a lot of people in this world don't know the answer. Personally, I've encountered many protestants (and even some Catholics) that thought that Catholics were not Christian.

I'm not sure why though. I think some Catholics have just been really, really poorly catechized and some others have been influenced by some very anti-Catholic groups who spread misinformation.

So let's set the record straight. Christianity started about 2000 years ago with a man (who was also God) - Jesus Christ. This man, Jesus, started a single Church with his apostles.

Where is this Church today?

The line of authority of those same apostles (in particular, the head of the apostles, Peter) can literally be traced to the leaders of the present day Catholic Church. In other words, the apostles of Jesus were the first leaders of the Catholic Church.

For over 1000 years there was only this one Church - the Catholic Church.

In the year 1054, a schism occurred in the Church. The "eastern" part of the Church split off and is known today as the Eastern Orthodox church.

And it wasn't until almost 1500 years after Jesus founded his Church that any "denomination" appeared on the scene. This was what is known as the protestant reformation, where some Catholics decided to break off from the Catholic Church and start their own churches.

Protestants are "protesting." That's where they get their name. So what are they protesting? They are protesting the Catholic Church - the original Church that Jesus founded.

So the answer to the question is a resounding yes. And not only are Catholics Christians, they were the first Christians.

Why do we wear ashes on Ash Wednesday?

Many people, including Catholics themselves, have no idea why we walk around on Ash Wednesday with dirty black smudges on our foreheads.

First, it's not a smudge. It's supposed to be a cross drawn with ash. However, some of the people administering the ashes are a little better artists than others. Either way, it gets the job done.

Second, the ashes represent our mortality and are an outward sign of our sinfulness.

But why would anyone want to be reminded of this?

Perhaps because it's true. We are indeed mortal - we are dust, and to dust we shall return (Gen 3:19). We are sinful too. And in a world that constantly says "if it feels good, do it" and suggests that a guilty conscience is just one more thing we need a prescription for, we definitely need this healthy dose of reality.

There is something much more important that must go along with this, though. It always helps to put everything we do in the Church in context with the most important event - the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Easter.

In this case, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and that preparation for Easter. And real preparation for Easter isn't done with travel plans, promotion of the Sunday afternoon meal, and a resolution to eat less chocolate; it's done in your soul.

When we look in the mirror on Ash Wednesday and see that black smudge on our forehead, we should be reminded that no matter what we are still sinners in need of constant conversion. It is the Church calling us back once again to the graces of our baptism, to do penance, and amend our lives as we approach the greatest celebration in the Church - Easter.

So don't wear your ashes proudly, but make sure you wear them...and wear them humbly.

Holy Moly! What is Holy Moly?

Conventionally used as an exclamation of astonishment, the phrase "holy moly" has long been official slang of the English language. I'm pretty sure "moly" isn't a real word, at least not in this context...it was only born to serve as the rhyming partner to the word "holy" in this famous expression.

The root of the expression has always been "holy", and I've decided to give a little more meaning to the rest of the expression. Moly - stuff that's neat to know.

So this blog is simply a place to find your daily dose of Holy Moly - a two minute blurb on something about the Catholic faith that might be neat to know. I hope you get half as much out of reading them as I believe I'll get out of writing them.