Faith & Family Live is featuring the article I wrote on the good things about Protestantism.

Protestantism has so much truth and a great many good things; it is clear that, in spite of the sad divisions between Christians, God continues to work through all Christians to bring Christ to the ends of the Earth.

Have a blessed Holy Tuesday!

I am heartily enjoying “Render Unto Caesar” by Archbishop Chaput.  His style is conversational, his humor is charming, and he likes Christopher Dawson, which shows that he has good taste.  I read the following statement just after hearing the disheartening news that the healthcare bill had passed in the US House, and, for a moment, I wanted to protest.  Here’s what Chaput writes:

“We’re here for a reason: to change the world, for the sake of the world, in the name of Jesus Christ.  The work belongs to us.  Nobody will do it for us.  And, the idea that we can accomplish it without engaging in a hands-on way the laws, the structures, the public policies, the habits of mind, and the root causes that sustain injustice in our country is a delusion. (Render Unto Caesar, 46)

I wanted to protest because I had been “engaging in a hands-on way” for a number of years and had just seen my side lose yet again, and I felt tired.  I worked as a pro-life lobbyist in the Texas Capitol during the 2007 session and watched as nearly all of our lovely bills died in the backwater of committee wrangling.  I dutifully placed my phone calls to my US Congressman and Senator as new issues arose.  I voted in the Presidential Primary and attended the caucus, only to see my candidate lose.  To be honest, I am weary of engaging in the political side of American civil society and am tempted to simply check out.

Recently, however, Devin and I had a great conversation with friends of ours, during which we all expressed similar sentiments.  We feel disaffected with national politics and don’t see any merit to our ongoing efforts.  Yet, I walked away from the conversation feeling encouraged.  Because our friends made the very good point that we should refocus our efforts on the local political arena; rather than pouring our energies into national politics, from which we feel increasingly disconnected, we should work hard to see good candidates elected to the Austin School Board and City Council.  Our City Council budgets thousands of dollars to help fund Planned Parenthood–that should stop.  Our School Board encourages schools to implement Planned Parenthood “sex ed” curriculum”–that should stop.

I am not sure how I will become more involved in local politics, but I think I should try.  Archbishop Chaput is right.  The barbarians (in the sense used by Fr. John Courtney Murray) might have won great victories and overrun our city walls.  But, turnabout is fair play,

Sweet Adele.  You have made me a mother again, and I am so very grateful for you.

Do you know that you were hidden in my heart months before I met you?  In March 2009, your father and I began to feel very strongly that Our Lord had a daughter for us, before I became pregnant with Edmund and before we met you.  At that time, we commenced a search for little girls to adopt, hoping to find the one that God had for our family.  But, none of our searches were fruitful and, when, I became pregnant with your brother, we assumed that we had mis-perceived the will of God.

Adele's Advocacy Team (caseworkers and CASA workers)

But, we had indeed heard His voice.  We were just a little too early in our timing.  I met you for the first time at the Market.  And, then, nine months later, we were all together at the Market again, eating gelato and celebrating the consummation of your adoption.  Nine months from first meeting to adoption consummation, precious princess.

Thank you, Lord, for another Rose for Your garden.  She is a beautiful one.

My latest article is up on Fathers for Good.

I offer an idea on how fathers can “get to know” God the Father and some short, practical tips gleaned from Christ’s words about he and his Father.

When Christ’s accusers came to arrest him and the Apostles all fled, he stood and faced them courageously, teaching us that there are times when fathers must stand and fight. When he was brought before Herod and mocked, he made no answer, teaching us that silence carries with it strength. When he fell three times carrying his Cross up the hill and got up again each time, he showed us how we are to persevere even in the face of insurmountable obstacles. And when Christ was finally nailed to the Cross for our salvation, we learn that fathers must be willing to selflessly sacrifice for the good of others, even to the point of death.

First St. Thomas More with (future son-in-law) Will Roper on marrying More’s daughter and then after Rich leaves in disgrace, More with family and Roper on why More won’t have Rich arrested.

• Following the Vatican News feed (in English) @news_va_en #

Apologies for this: I just found 10 comments in the wordpress spam box which were valid comments from you.

I don’t know why it is doing this but will try to fix it. Thanks for your patience. Email me at devinsrose@gmail.com if you ever comment and it doesn’t show up within a short period of time.

The latest class on reasons for the Catholic Faith covered the Protestant Reformation. I opened it up right away to questions, so the topics bounced around quite a bit.

My biggest surprise was that people didn’t realize that Christians who go to “non-denominational” churches are Protestant. I think that they thought that they were literally non-denominational, but the reality is that every Christian belongs to one Christian tradition or another, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, or another offshoot of one of those.

You can read my lecture notes, check out additional links to resources, and listen to the podcast on my main site.

You can also subscribe to all the podcasts via iTunes or subscribe with Google reader or another feed service.

You can listen to the podcast here as well:

Direct link to this mp3

The diagrams referred to:

Church diagram

Diagram of Protestant denominations

The overview document’s text:

The Protestant Reformation: A group of semi-independent movements that sought reform in the Catholic Church in the 1500s but which ultimately broke away in schism from her.
Four Main Movements: Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist), Anglican, Anabaptist
Major Players:

1. Martin Luther, German, Catholic priest of the Augustinian order who unintentionally sparked the Lutheran movement of what became the Protestant Reformation in 1517.
2. Ulrich Zwingli, Swiss, Catholic priest who around 1519 wanted to reform the morals of the Church (and her leaders) back “to the simple ways of the Apostolic times.” Influenced Calvin and therefore the Reformed movement of Protestantism
3. King Henry VIII, English, in 1517 was happily married to Catherine of Aragon and a faithful Catholic; when no male heir came by 1527 he was having affairs and began trying to get an annulment of the marriage from Pope Clement VII so he could marry Anne Boleyn; ended up causing the Anglican Protestant schism from the Church
4. John Calvin, French,  “second generation” Reformer after Luther and Zwingli, starting around 1536, became the most influential of all the Reformers and became the leader of the Reformed movement of Protestantism
5. 5. Anabaptist, aka the “Radical Reformers”, not any one dominant leader or instigator, rejected all tradition, interpreted the Bible first in an anarchic light and rejected fundamental dogmas of the Church (e.g. Christ’s divinity), later led to several Protestant pacifist movements and influenced the other three main Protestant movements

Major Doctrines: sola Scriptura (the Bible alone is the sole infallible authority), sola Fide (we are made righteous before God (“justified”) by faith alone

…your friends make a blog post about finalizing your daughter’s adoption before you do!

And we are glad they did because it might be a little while before we can make a bigger post. For now, enjoy the photos Sara took. Here’s one I copied:

Adopted!

I’m totally stealing all of Tim’s posts and reposting them here.

James was raised Catholic and left the church when he was 19, having some objections about certain doctrines that appeared to be incompatible with Scripture. But not one to shy away from any theological or intellectual discussion, I wasn’t surprised that he chose a seat at a table with two obviously Catholic guests at this coffee house.

We exchanged the usual pleasantries and launched into a discussion that while neither of us could forget it, we also found that we could not later recall all the specifics. James discussed his background with the church, his passion for the Catholic church when he was growing up, and the reasons why he left. The discussion was spirited, passionate, and sincere amongst the four of us involved. We discussed what it means to be “saved”, and I remember feeling like all of us had been challenged. I hadn’t ever seen my husband quite so emotional or flustered. But I remember walking away from that discussion the distinct impression that the bulk of the challenge was ours.

They made a lot of good points, I said as we returned to the truck. A lot of them. He didn’t disagree.

We talked about it for the remainder of our drive. We knew it was something we had to look into if we were going to be intellectually and spiritually honest.

via lattes & rainy days: becoming catholic: part 1.