Mike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada HomepageMike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada

Catholicism

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Can I disagree with Church teaching?

This past January brought big news for the Church in Alberta – Pope Francis accepted the retirement of Bishop Fred Henry (for health reasons) and appointed Bishop William McGrattan (currently Bishop of Peterborough, Ontario) to take his place leading the diocese of Calgary.  At the time of this announcement, many articles were written that praised the work Bishop Henry did in nearly twenty years leading Calgary Catholics, and others which described him as a dinosaur from a bygone era.

There was also much commentary (particularly from the secular media) hoping that Bishop McGrattan might be the one to finally bring Church teaching in line with modern times.  There’ve been interviews with”ordinary” Catholics regarding their take on how they didn’t like how outspoken Bishop Henry has been in in defending Catholic positions on controversial issues.

These interviews bring up an interesting question when considering ‘ordinary’ Catholics whose issue is less with a particular Bishop, and more with some aspect of Church teaching (usually a moral issue).  It’s really a simple question: can one be Catholic and still have disagreements with what the Church believes? [Read more…] about Can I disagree with Church teaching?

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Battle on the Front Lines Part II: Know Your Enemies

War in the twenty-first century is significantly different than it was in the past.  Not only has technology evolved but so has the field of battle.   Where in the past the field of battle was clearly marked out with armies standing on opposite ends – often in uniform bearing the insignia of their country or their leader… today, these battles have moved into more populated areas using subversive tactics.  While this isn’t the moment to argue the morality of pre-emptive strikes or covert operations, let’s just say that in this arena, it is a much greater challenge to tell friend from foe.  This is why there seems to be so much more collateral damage – civilian casualties – on both sides in any conflict.

Yesterday, reflecting on the battlefields of years past,  I wrote about the spiritual battle that comes hand in hand with following Jesus.  And I think we have a lot in common with the way that wars are fought today: it’s difficult to tell who our enemies are.   Gratefully, these enemies haven’t changed much – and the narrative of Jesus’ own temptation by the Devil (Matthew 4:1-11) presented us an unholy trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil himself against whom we Christians are called to fight.

[Read more…] about Battle on the Front Lines Part II: Know Your Enemies

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Unfolding Scripture Part 2: What does the Church Say?

Photo credit: Skeggzatori on Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo credit: Skeggzatori on Flickr (Creative Commons)

I had the privilege of sharing a study on the Gospel of Mark with a group of students at one of my high schools.  To set the stage for this study, I began by giving them an overview of the Bible as well as three claims Catholics place on what we read in Scripture.  Here’s the second half of that conversation, completing what I said about what the Bible is & where it came from.

What do Catholics believe about the Bible?

A lot, actually. [Read more…] about Unfolding Scripture Part 2: What does the Church Say?

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Unfolding Scripture Part 1: What is the Bible and Where is it From?

Unfolding-Scripture-300x200
Photo Credit: Ryk Neething on Flickr (Creative Commons)

         

In the winter of 2014, I had the privilege of going on a journey through the Gospel of Mark with a group of students at one of my high schools.  To set the stage for this study, I began by giving them an overview of the Bible as well as three claims Catholics place on what we read in Scripture.  Here’s the first half of that conversation:

At New Year’s, people of faith will often make a resolution to work their way through the Bible over the course of the coming year.  And while these resolutions are sincere, that experience often hits a wall sometime in February or March when these people hit the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: books of the law which can be for many a difficult read.  The reason for this is that the Bible is not like any other book: reading it from cover to cover does give you a clear, narrative story; and as a reference book or textbook it can be difficult to understand.   [Read more…] about Unfolding Scripture Part 1: What is the Bible and Where is it From?