The Name of Jesus

JESUS!

This is the holiest name of all! This is the name the drives out demons and cures illness. This is the name of the one who bought our redemption and a chance at salvation, all at the cost of his own life. But this life was not ended. Instead he defeated death and resurrected, making manifest what is to become of our own bodies and just how sacred they are!

But I sit and wonder how people are able to use such a name as an expletive. And I am baffled all the more at how one can even type it as such! Each time I read an email, blog, etc., where the person says, out of disgust, “Jesus Christ!” I sit baffled and saddened, as if the person is taking the name of our Savior, the second Person of the Trinity, and rubbing dirt all over it. Aren’t expletives meant to be dirty words used to express disgust or anger, or even to reference to “dirty” aspects of life? If this is so, how can we lower the name of our Savior, the Word made flesh, so much? Would that not be a contradiction to the Second Commandment?

I may be preaching to the choir here. Nonetheless, we have an obligation to evangelize and stand up for the name of Christ, our model. We all bear his name in calling ourselves Christian. How would you like your own personal name lowered to dirt?

Blessed be the name of Jesus!

Britney Spears mocks the Sacrament of Reconciliation

Above is a picture published on MTV.com taken from the album insert for Britney Spears’ new album Blackout. She is pictured in a confessional supposedly confessing her sins to a priest.

Thanks to Britney Spears and those who were behind the creation and publication of these images, our society has stooped to even lower. What has happened to showing reverence for the Sacred? Confession is a Sacrament in the Catholic Church and should be respected by all peoples. I would never condone any sacrilege in any other religion’s sanctuary, temple, etc.

The confessional is more than a room or space. It is a sacred place where the repentant Christian meets Christ himself to confess his/her sins. For the sake of those involved, I hope this is not an actual confessional shown in these photos. And I pray for the man who posed as the priest in these pictures.

Any action such as this is an insult to our Creator and the gifts he has given us!

I strongly urge anyone contemplating buying this album to rethink their purchase! It seems that supporting this album would be supporting everything in it, including the mockery of a Sacrament.

USA Today article

The USA Today published an article today by Henry G. Brinton, a Presbyterian pastor, on how the growth of non-denominational churches is breaking Christianity, and as a result our society, apart. Below are two quotes from the article, which can be found in its entirety at the following link: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/do-it-yourself-.html#more.

“I'm convinced that the Christian faith is becoming more like Wikipedia and less like Encyclopedia Britannica. Instead of time-tested religious insights, people are accepting ‘what others are saying.’”

“These independent (non-denominational) congregations are the bloggers of the Christian faith, speaking the truth as they see it. They have every right to do so, based on our nation's commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But given the fact that faith has long had a ‘binding’ effect on society (in fact, the word religion has the root meaning ‘to tie fast’), I worry that loss of trust in denominations is causing society to become ever more fractured. If we completely lose faith in institutions — denominations, newspapers, banks, companies, political parties — there will be very little to tie us together as a nation.”

Despite his ignorance of Catholicism in his article, Rev. Brinton makes a great point. We are forming our own churches and forms of worship to suit our own spirituality because we want to meet ourselves where we are instead of us meeting God where He is.

I am not saying that Protestant denominations cannot lead to salvation. Rather, I am saying that what is being embraced today is a relativistic Christianity, which will lead no where new or better. The fact of the matter is that all denominations have come from someone not being happy with his/her current church and trying to set it right by starting their own new church. But in the end, only one denomination traces all the way back to the Apostles—the universal Catholic Church. All other denominations stem from her.

If you don’t like the idea of denominations, why start a “non-denominational”. That today is a denomination in itself. Rather, why not join the one Church that is truly universal? And why not work to bring others into that Church?


N.B. I never claim to have the final word. I only pass on what I read or hear through the grace of the Holy Spirit. I post these as a catalyst to lead you to where the authority lies—Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium (Catechism of the Catholic Church, etc.)