Faithful Friday: Martha of Bethany

July 29, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…” (Luke 10:41). This is probably not what Martha expected she would be known for, on the off chance she expected to be remembered at all.

Faithful Friday: Mary Magdalene

July 22, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Among all the women in the Bible, none remain so controversial as Mary Magdalene, a mysterious female disciple who was very close to Jesus, almost as close as the Twelve.

Faithful Friday: St. Bonaventure

July 15, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Many may know Saint Bonaventure’s name, but few know his story. This pious Franciscan monk was born in 1221 in Bagnoregio, Italy. He was initially baptized as John, but changed his name to Bonaventure when he joined the Franciscans. During a bout of severe illness in his youth, Bonaventure’s mother asked for the intercession of the recently canonized Saint Francis of Assisi.

Faithful Friday: St. Kilian

July 8, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

St. Kilian (sometimes spelled “Killian” or “Cillian”) was born in the mid 600s in Ireland. He became a missionary and a traveling bishop in the custom of the Irish Church…

Faithful Friday: Junipero Serra

July 1, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

If you’ve ever heard the Ink Spots’ 1940 hit “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano”, you have St. Junipero Serra to thank. Junipero was born Miquel Serra on Majorca, an island off the coast of Spain. He joined the Franciscan monks…

Time is But the Livestream I Go a-Programming In

June 30, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

Someone near and dear to my pancreas gave (“gifted” is not a verb) me one of those clever aluminum MeWatches that claim to make one’s life more interesting in many ways and which come without any instructions because not sending instructions with a product is such a cool thing now.

Faithful Friday: Theodore Beza

June 24, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Theodore Beza was one of the lesser known Reformed theologians of the first hundred years of the Reformation, however, his influence on the Reformed movement cannot be denied.

Faithful Friday: Dr. J. Vernon McGee

June 17, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

John Vernon McGee was born in 1904 in Hillsboro, Texas. His family moved to Tennessee when his father died in 1918. Vernon, as he was known, graduated college then seminary, then became the pastor of a church first in Decatur, Georgia, and afterward in Cleburne, Texas. It was there that Vernon met his future wife, Ruth Inez Jordan.

Faithful Friday: Ephrem the Syrian

June 10, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Ephrem the Syrian was born in Nisibis, in the province of Mesopotamia (now Nusaybin, Turkey, lying 166 miles from Mosul, Iraq) in approximately 306 AD… Ephrem was baptized as a youth and began right away in building up the Body of Christ in Nisibis as a deacon. It is also highly likely that he was a “son of the Covenant,” an early type of friar or lay brother. As a deacon, he used his gift as a poet and composer to write instructional hymns, teaching the people to confront heresy through song.

Faithful Friday: Justin Martyr

June 3, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Justin Martyr was an early Christian apologist, born about the year 100 AD. He was a student of philosophy and was converted circa 130 AD in part by the witness of martyrs going joyfully to their deaths.

Pre-Existing Conditions

May 28, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

The topic of trust came up the other day when one of the prisoners I visit each week remarked on the challenge of knowing how to find reliable information about the Virus-of-Many-Names.

Faithful Friday: Augustine of Canterbury

May 27, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Nothing is known of the youth of the Apostle to the English. What we do know is that he was born sometime in the sixth century and was probably upper-class Roman. He was close friends with Pope Gregory the Great, and his mission to Britain was by the Pope’s specific request…

Of Tales and Theatre

May 21, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

With the ongoing direction of turning Disney’s cartoon classic movies into live action adaptations, some that work, others that don’t, many seem to forget that live action fairy tales were the norm when Disney was doing animated movies. One of these was a mini series put together and hosted by Shelley Duvall; another was put together and hosted by Shirley Temple.

Faithful Friday: Lydia of Philippi

May 20, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Lydia of Philippi is one of the comparatively few women mentioned by name in the Acts of the Apostles, but very little is known about her. Acts 16:11ff tells us that Lydia sold purple cloth, that she was from Thyatira, and she was a believer who took Paul, Silas, and Luke into her home when they arrived in Philippi.

Glitter Force: Faith in a Happy Ending

May 19, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

At first, Emily is delighted; a real pixie, just like in her favorite fairy tales! Then she learns that Candy has been sent to find the “Glitter Force” a group of mighty warriors who will defend earth, and Candy’s homeland, Jubiland (which we hope is badly translated) against the forces of evil, represented by an evil Jester, the Big Bad Wolf, a Witch, an Ogre, and the big bad, Emperor Nogo.

Faithful Friday: The Children of Fatima

May 13, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

on May 13th, 1917, three children tending sheep outside of Fatima, Portugal were visited by the Virgin Mary. Over the next several months, Mary appeared to the children on the 13th of every month to deliver visions of future events, including the end of World War I, the beginning of another war, and other important events in their future.

Faithful Friday: Saint Dominic Savio

May 6, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Dominic Savio was born to Carlo (or Charles) and Brigitta Savio on April 2, 1842, one of ten children. At age seven, Dominic wrote down four resolutions, the fourth of which was “Death before sin.”

Faithful Friday: Joseph of Arimathea

April 29, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Joseph of Arimathea was a man who followed Jesus Christ from a distance. He was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, the leaders of the Jewish community.

Not Just Another Article on Tolkien

April 23, 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

Why does the modern Christian world entertain this preoccupation with The Lord of the Rings and its companions? Why this total and unconditional surrender of article topics to the man of Middle Earth, great though he is?

Faithful Friday: St. Theodore of Sykeon

April 22, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

St. Theodore of Sykeon’s mother Mary was given a vision of a star, coming down from Heaven and entering her womb. His father Cosmas and various holy men interpreted Mary’s vision to mean the newly conceived child was to be a holy man of God.