• Is Nothing Sacred?

We say that anything goes in the name of tolerance, and then get upset when people do or say strange things. It is almost humorous that the same pundits who have been telling us all how immoral we Christians are find themselves being devoured by the forces that they themselves set in motion.- RKIA

• How Can You be Monotheistic and Believe in the Trinity?

In other words, the devil insists that two things can be perfectly united only by one thing devouring the other. Two unique and separate things cannot be perfectly one and perfectly other. In our limited existence that may be true...- RKIA

• I Heard thar Constantine Started the Papacy...

Irenaeus states that the Church of Rome was the preeminent Church of Christianity a full two hundred years before Constantine. So much for the myth of Constantine making the bishop of Rome the Pope.-RKIA

The history of the papacy is a catalogue of saints and sinners, of the strong and the weak. Its history reflects the life of its first incumbent who at one time Jesus called the rock and at another time called Satan. (Matt. 16:23) - RKIA

• What is "Inspired" About a Genealogy?

• Speaking Truth to Power

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 14

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 13

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 12

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 11

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 10

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 9

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 8
• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 7
• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 6
• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 5

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 4

Caesarea Marittima is of incalculable importance in the history of the world and of Christianity... When you see Caesarea, you are seeing the springboard of Christianity. Caesarea flourished as the capital of a Byzantine Christian Holy Land for another 600 years. - RKIA

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 3
• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 2

A pilgrimage is motivated by a desire to draw nearer to the Lord by drawing near to the places where the Lord appeared among us. God is everywhere, it is true, but to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land is to “read” what Fr. Bargil Pixner described as the Fifth Gospel – the Gospel of the Land. - RKIA

• The Rev. Know-it-All’s Guide to the Holy Land - Part 1
• Why was St. Paul such a chauvinist? - Part 2
• Why was St. Paul such a chauvinist? 
• Can we show a little love for Humanae Vitae?
• Of Martyrs and the state

"'...between 2001 and 2011 the number of Christians born in Britain fell by 5.3 million — about 10,000 a week. If that rate of decline continues, the mission of St Augustine to the English, together with that of the Irish saints to the Scots, will come to an end in 2067.'  By providing a church that will allow you the relationship you desire, Henry killed the church in England. Still he got what he wanted. - RKIA  

• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 13
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 12
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 11
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 10

• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 9
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 8
• Interrupting the narrative with a few thoughts on ...
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 7

• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 6
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 5

...the First Temple, built in 957 BC by King Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba and replaced Mishkan Tent (the Tabernacle) constructed in the Sinai Desert by Moses. The new Temple, was an amazing structure. - RKIA

Judas Maccabaeus, (Maccabeus is a nickname that means “Hammer” because he hammered the Greeks) re-dedicated the Temple in 165 BC. The feast remembering the restoration of the Temple is called Hanukkah. - RKIA

• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 4
• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 3

• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules? - Part 2

Again, natural law is the fulfillment of our humanity, not a limit on our freedom. If our Christian theory is correct, that man is made in the image and likeness of God, then we are human only to the degree that we reflect the divine nature. If God is the author of life, then the murderer diminishes the divine image in himself, and is thus less fully human. - RKIA

• Didn't Jesus do away with all the rules?

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 14 (and last)

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 13

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 12

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 11

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 10

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 9

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 8

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 7

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 6

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 5

• Musings of an aging pastor...

The person who comes to mass rarely yet demands the sacrament services of the church has killed the church as we knew Her. The church that was just down the block when you needed Her is already dead.  We killed Her by neglect.  - RKIA

• What Does Jesus Mean by, "Sanctify Them in the Truth?"

• The Life of St. Paul Confuses Me. Can You Make Any Sense of It?

• Isn't the Bible self-contradictory?  - Part 5

• Isn't the Bible self-contradictory?  - Part 4

• Isn't the Bible self-contradictory?  - Part 3

My absolute favorite Egyptian deity is Tawaret, the goddess of childbirth and fertility who has the front of a hippopotamus, the back of a crocodile and the attributes of a cat. If that doesn’t say “Worship me!”, what does? - RKIA

The quote from the first letter to Timothy mentioned above says that “the Law is good, if one uses it legitimately” Notice “law” and “legitimately”. This is exactly what the text says. The word for law is “nomos” and the word for legitimately is “nomimos.”  The law is just that: law. It doesn’t save you. It instructs you. It reins you in. - RKIA

• Isn't the Bible self-contradictory?  - Part 2

The question is this: if one pours water from a clay pitcher into the unclean clay bowl, can the ritual impurity that infests the clay bowl travel up the stream of water and defile the clay pitcher so that it too must be broken? The Pharisees said no, the Qumran loonies said yes and St. Paul said, “Are you for real?” -RKIA

This is what Jesus looked like, meek and humble of heart. The word humble in the text is an interesting word. It is “tapeinos” and means “undistinguished.” -RKIA

• Isn't the Bible self-contradictory?  - Part 1

Scripture is clear. We are to be generous to our fellow man, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to see the common humanity that we share and to see the divine image in those around us. - RKIA

• Isn't religion the cause of all wars?

• Thoughts on the decline of a lilac bush...

Recently there was a gala to raise funds for the New York Metropolitan Opera. The theme was, “Heavenly Bodies, the Catholic Imagination.”  Models dressed in revealing parodies of clerical vestments.  There was a work of art, a “bondage mask” covered with rosaries on display. Once again, the enlightened laugh at the faith. What hurts is that enlightened sophisticates claiming the title of Catholic joined in the fun - RKIA

• What do you think of a married priesthood - part 2

There is a reason that we insist on marriages taking place in church. There are altars in churches and altars are where sacrifices are made.- RKIA

• An aside on this Easter day

...That’s what makes up the image, faint burn marks that rest on the top fibrils of the top fibers of the cloth. Take a razor blade, scrape the cloth and the image disappears. - RKIA

• What do you think of a married priesthood?

Six separate times the Bible forbids monkeying around with boundary stones. When the Bible says something six times, I’d pay attention.  - RKIA

• Do people still believe that Shroud thing?

Dr. Michael Tite was able to raise one million pounds from anonymous businessmen for a job well done in debunking the shroud and with this money was able to provide a nice post for himself at the British Museum. - RKIA

• You don't really believe that Resurrection  stuff do you?

• Some Thoughts about a culture descending into violence

As long as we persist in teaching children that we are just another animal with no eternal destiny, the downward spiral will continue - RKIA. 

• Did the Syrophoenician woman teach Jesus to be tolerant?

He (Jesus) wanted this woman to know how much her daughter’s healing really meant to her. Would she humiliate herself for the love of her daughter or would her ethnic pride be more important to her? - RKIA

• How can you remain Catholic? part 4

• How can you remain Catholic? part 3

• How can you remain Catholic? part 2

• In these enlightened times, how can you remain Catholic?

• Some Thoughts on the Feast of St. Thomas Becket

When the Sadducees were asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” they shouted, “We have no king but Caesar.”  I guess we are there in the crowd with them. We have no king but the media. God help us. - RKIA

• Isn't the Nativity story just mythology? - part 2

"Part of our disdain was to smirk at how people before us were so very gullible. They believed in miracles and the Bible and a lot of other myths that were really just the same as every other mythological religion."  - RKIA

• Isn't the Nativity story just mythology? - part 1

 "The Enlightenment was all about free individual thought, experience, and empirical knowledge. Religious orthodoxy was particularly mistrusted by the philosophers of the enlightenment." - RKIA

• Didn't we do away with Hell? part 3

"The first step to heaven is the confession of sin. The word confess means to admit or agree... We are agreeing with God’s opinion that we are not perfect. We have failed. We are sinners." - RKIA   

Satan in the Inferno is trapped in the frozen central zone in the Ninth Circle of Hell, Canto XXXIV (Gustave Doré), Wikipedia commons, public domain

• Didn't we do away with hell? part 2, Labels: Hamartia, Sin
• Didn't we do away with hell?
• What have you got against Jews?, Labels: Israel, Judaism, Pharisee, Talmud, Tanakh

• Shouldn't my brother go to this family wedding?

"... a wonderful destination wedding planned in a grove of sacred oak trees...The ceremony will be performed by a local druid, or shaman and it is just a perfect fit for the young couple." - RKIA

• Did you see the debate with Hitchens - Part 2
• Did you see the debate with Hitchens - Part 1

• A guest article re: parking
• What about the doxology? Labels: Doxology, Our Father, sola scriptura
• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 10, Labels: satan, Screwtape Letters, the devil

"Science itself is a belief system. This year’s science books will be tomorrow’s trash. It is the nature of science to replace itself, yet people constantly say ridiculous things like, 'Science has proven….' or 'Religion is just a way to answer questions that science has not yet answered.'" - RKIA

• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 9

"Tolerance is no longer enough. The truly good person must now joyfully endorse what in other time was thought ghoulishly unnatural." - RKIA

• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 8, Letter to Dan J. Russ, continued…
• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 7, Letter to Dan J. Russ, continued. Labels: forgiveness, Lord's Prayer, Our Father
• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? -- part 6, Letter to Dan J. Russ continued...(“Give us this day our daily bread” part 2) Labels: C. S. Lewis, Lord's Prayer, Our Father, Screwtape Letters
• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 5, Letter to Dan J. Russ continued...
• “Give us this day our daily bread.”  
• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 4, Letter to Dan J. Russ continued… Labels: Angels, Lord's Prayer, Our Father

• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 3, Letter to Dan J. Russ “The Dangers of the Lord’s Prayer” continued…“Thy will be done.” Labels: freedom, Lord's Prayer

God who set the stars ablaze is not impressed by a candle. He is impressed by the soul that loves him, the heart on fire with love that lit the candle symbolizes. - RKIA

• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous? - part 2, Letter to Dan J. Russ “The Dangers of the Lord’s Prayer” continued… Labels: Lord's Prayer, Our Father
• What do you mean the "Our Father" is dangerous?

• Do people still believe the Shroud of Turin is real? part 2, Labels: Gospel of the Hebrews, Image of Edessa, Mandylion, Shroud of Turin
• Do people still believe the Shroud of Turin is real? Labels: Shroud of Turin

• Does God create some to be eternally damned? Labels: free will, freedom
• Letter to Hiram “Hi” Horst - postcript

It is curious that people can wrap their minds around the defense of home, family and country, but not the defense of religious and intellectual liberty. - RKIA

• Thoughts on Prayer Breakfast - part 3, Labels: Crusades, Inquisition, Islam, Jihad, Religious Wars
• Thoughts on the National Prayer Breakfast - part 2, Labels: abrogation, child sacrifice, Crusades, Jihad

• Thoughts on the President's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, Labels: Crusades, Inquisition, Islam
• Don't we need abortion and contraception? -- part 2, Labels: abortion, contraception, death spiral, over population

Population doesn’t cause the struggle for resources. Population creates resources and in itself is a resource -    RKIA

Wars are the lust for power and for the ability to over consume. War wastes the world’s resources. Hunger doesn’t cause war, war causes hunger. War is caused by people wanting the stuff I have. War is theft on the grand scale. - RKIA

• Don't we need abortion and contraception because of over population?

By 2050 the great bulk of humanity will have never seen a live chicken or cow or horse or goat, much less know how to raise one. No, they will all go to university in the big city ... assuming that it will be the duties of lesser minds to milk cows and plant corn -RKIA

We are increasingly incompetent in the skills that we daily depend on, things like how to grow a tomato or build a chair. - RKIA

• Aren't all religions the same?
• Letter to Bonnie Ann Twerp: Bishop Bonny and the Magic Kool Aid (continued)

"As the entire world urbanizes, as our food supply is increasing grown by machines on factory farms, there is less and less need to disrupt our self-centered existences by putting up with the care and feeding of children. There is simply no good reason to have large families, unless of course we love children. Therein lies the rub. We don’t love children. We prefer pets..." - RKIA

• Did you see what Bishop Bonny said? - part 2, Letter to Bonnie Ann Tuerp: Bishop Bonny and the Magic Kool-Aid
• Did you see what Bishop Bonny said?
• A holiday re-run: "I've had enough", From June 15, 2012

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 4

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 3

• Advice to a young seminarian - part 2

"People will quote the letter to the Hebrews saying that Christ is the great high priest and we have no more need of priests ... [s]o why are you claiming to be a priest? " - RKIA

• Advice to a new semiarian

"That was about 50 years ago. It was a very different world, but I must admit, the Lord has not changed one little bit. He has been faithful." - RKIA

• A modest proposal...

"I think I see some light at the end of the tunnel. Remember when I talked about those youth rallies on the Puerto Rican west side..." - RKIA

• Overcoming an early '70's Seminary Education

"To find out that God was real and that Jesus loved them broke the cycle of poverty and violence for many of them." - RKIA

• And where did that get us?

"We moan about the lack of vocations, and as I mentioned last time I wrote, why would we expect children to choose religious vocations when there are no children" - RKIA

• Blame Humanae Vitae

Humanae Vitae, the letter written by Pope Paul VI on July 25, 1968 in which he re-asserted the Catholic Church’s prohibition of artificial birth control, despite the contrary advice of A PANEL OF EXPERTS!!

"Selfless priests and selfless nuns have always been at the heart of the church. The John Paul’s, the Padre Pio's, the Mother Teresa’s and Francis Cabrini’s have made the church a blessing for the world. Where are the new priests and nuns that the world so needs?" - RKIA

• How many Catholics are there in the

• Things seemed better in the old days...

• How do I answer those who say that Science has proven there is no God?

• The Wonderful World of Words - part 7

• The Wonderful World of Words - part 6

• The Wonderful World of Words - part 5

• The Wonderful World of Words - part 4

• The Wonderful World of Words - part 3

• The Wonderful World of Words - part 2 Labels: aspergil, Hosana, language
• The Wonderful World of Words - part 1
• How can "love" be sinful? Labels: adultery, cohabitation

“If the modern world wants to live in a Hollywood fantasy, I wish them luck, but you can’t live in a hedonist fantasy and be a Catholic at the same time." - RKIA

• Galileo? Schmalileo! Labels: Copernicus,

You like science? Science is an unmitigated good? Tell that to the dead and wounded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tell that to the ghosts of the Nazi Holocaust, the Nazis were very scientific. They made a true science of genocide. Science unleashed without a soul is not necessarily a blessing. - RKIA

• “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, it's going to rain (LK 12:54)

"It seems the Church flourishes in persecution. I believe that He may just bless us with real suffering, it seems to have already begun..." - RKIA

• Communication in an era devoid of beauty

"Young people get enough ugly in the world. It’s time to start offering them something better." - RKIA

• Why should I bother with Mass?
• What's on the horizon?

"Real estate, the most valuable possession most people have, becomes worthless; in fact, it becomes a liability." - RKIA

• When we were too cool to be pious...
• Seminary days... Oh the memories... Oh the blasphemies...

• RKIA on Materialism  and The Decline in Religious Observance. 

• And Another Thing...

• When Asked About a Gift, The Reverend Rants About Money. A reader asks for a recommendation for a gift, the Rev answers,"you want truth! You can't handle the truth!

I wish it said “NICE.”  Nice is a lot better than truth. I like being liked, and speaking the truth always puts one at risk of not being perceived as NICE.  No matter how polite one is about it, the truth is never what another really wants to hear.- RKIA

• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... Conclusion
• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 18

• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 17

• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 16, Labels: Arianism, Clovis I, Council of Toledo, Reccared I, Visigoths
• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 15
• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 14

• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 13, Labels: Arianism, Augustine, Visigoths
• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 12, Labels: Edict of Thessalonica, Julian the Apostate, Theodosius

• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 11, Labels: Arianism, Gnosticdism, Julian the Apostate, Marcion of Sinope, Montanism
• A Rabbi asks a priest a question... part 10, Labels: Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine,

• A rabbi asks a priest a question...part 9, Labels: Aurelian., Claudius, Diocletian, Domition, Herod Agrippa. bar Kochba revolt, Kitos rebellion, Marcus Aurelius, Nero, Trajan, Valerian
• A rabbi asks a priest a question...part 8, Labels: Aelia Capitolina, Babylonian Talmud, Dr. Rodney Stark, Tisha b’Av

• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 7 Continued from Last week…Labels: bar Kochba, Josephus, Rabbinic Phariseeism, Tisha b’Av, Yom Kippur
• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 6 Continued from last week… Labels: Halakhic law, Noahite Law
• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 5 Labels: booths, Essenes, Gamaliel, Passover,Pesach, Pharisee, Sadducees, Shavuot, Sukkot

• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 4, Labels: Essenes, Heordians, Josephus, Pharisee, Sadducees, Zealots
• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 3, Labels: Promised Land, Rabbinic Phariseeism,

• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 2, Labels: Abraham, Exodus, Israel, Judaism, Messianic expectation
• A rabbi asks a priest a question... part 1, Labels: Israel, Judaism, Nostra Aetatae
• Isn't the Nativity story just mythology? - part 3

• Letter to Paul Grimage continued:
• Are Scripture and Tradition reliable?

• It's Christmas, can't you lighten up?

"The important thing to remember here is that Christmas did NOT originate as a distraction to the Roman Saturnalia or the feast of the unconquered sun. Saturnalia was celebrated originally for only one day on December 17^th and when it expanded in later times, it was definitely over by the 23^rd which was the feast of the Sigilaria..."  - RKIA

• Can my pastor turn his back to me?

• Letter to Lee Turjiste - part 6,

• Letter to Lee Turjiste - part 5,

"The old wine of the covenant of God with Abraham and Moses is better and Jesus claimed to be the fullness of that covenant. He was warning that the new wine of the Pharisees would burst the wineskin of Israel." - RKIA

• Letter to Lee Turjiste - part 4

• Letter to Lee Turjiste - part 3
• Letter to Lee Turjiste, continued... part 2

• Is the microphone or the piano more important for Mass?

"What do I think essential for worship?  Bread, wine and a humble heart." - RKIA

• Should I baptize my heathen neighbor's child?

• What do you think of the new Pope?
• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - part 18 and last

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? - part 17

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? - Part 16
• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? - part 15

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? - part 14

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? - part 13
• Is Charistmatic Renewal for real? - part 12

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - part 11

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? -  part 10
• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real? -  part 9

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - part 8
• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - part 7

"Such phrases as 'Are you saved?' and 'Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?' are understood more in terms of Reformation legalism than Biblical conversion." - RKIA

"To be washed in the Divine Presence is a fearful thing. It is not some kind of merit badge or graduation ceremony. It is a like the wrestling match between Jacob and the angel of God.  There is joy, but it is hardly an entertainment." - RKIA

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - part 6
• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - part 5

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - Part 4

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - Part 3

• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - Part 2
• Is Charismatic Renewal for Real?  - Part 1

• How do Hebrew Scriptures show Jesus as the Messiah? -- part 2

• How do Hebrew Scriptures show Jesus as the Messiah?
• Why didn't God make Eve First?

• How does a Catholic respond to, "Are you saved"? -- part 2

• How does a Catholic respond to, "Are you saved"?

• Why the opposition to same sex "marriage"? -- part 2
• Why the opposition to same sex "marriage"?

• What can Christians do that atheists can't?
• Who is in charge when there is no pope? Epilogue

• Who is in charge when there is no pope? Part 5
• Who is in charge when there is no pope? Part 4

• Who's in charge when there is no pope? Part 3

• Who's in charge when there is no pope? Part 2

• Who's in charge when there is no pope?

• So, what is your solution?

• Why aren't our plans working?- part 10

• Why aren't our plans working?- part 9

• Why aren't our plans working?- part 8

• Why aren't our plans working?- part 7

"If there really is a hell and if God is so good and so loving, how can he send anyone there? The answer is very simple. He doesn’t send us to hell. He finds us there." - RKIA
 

• Why aren't our plans working?- part 6

• Why aren't our plans working?- part 5
• Why aren't our plans working out? -part 4

• A rant on "De-vangelism"
• To the Rev KIA, "You, sir, are no scholar!"

"Accurate memories of important things can endure for centuries if they are about memories of those who are dear to us. Accurate tradition is the result of love..." - RKIA

• Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25?

"It was always thought that a prophet died on the anniversary of his conception and so, Jesus dying on the Passover, meant that he would have been conceived on the Passover and thus born nine months after Passover" - RKIA

• Can you recommend a good Catholic University? Labels: academic freedom, Catholic education, same sex marriage, tolerance

• Should I go to my cousin's wedding?
• Conservative, liberal, orthodox what does ​​​​​​​it all mean? Can’t we all just get along?
• Wars of Religious -- again
• Is Rabbi Lefkowitz for real? Labels: Liberalism, Orthodoxy, Rabbi Lefkowitz ​​​​​​​

"The rabbi is ultra-orthodox, a Lubavitcher Hasid, and a friend and disciple of the late Rebbe Menachem Schneerson. Most people would think such a friendship a bit unlikely, but a true disciple of the late Rebbe would not. The longing for heaven, the hope of messiah and a sense of orthodoxy are matter enough for friendship." - RKIA

• Can you explain papal infallibility? Labels: apostles, infallibility, tradition
• What's with the synod? Has teaching

• How's that Religious Ed program working

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 16 (and last)
• A reflection on priestly life -- part 15

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 14, Labels: baptism, communion, confirmation, first communion
• A reflection on priestly life -- part 13, Labels: baptism, communion, confirmation
• A reflection on priestly life -- part 12, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 11, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 10 Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 9, Labels: catechesis, evangelization
• A Reflection on priestly life -- part 8, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 7, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 6, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 5, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 4 Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 3, Letter

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 2,

• A reflection on priestly life -- part 1
• Why focus on Christ on the cross, He rose didn't He?
• What is your problem with same-sex "marriage"?, Labels: Humanae Vitae, marriage, same sex marriage
• Where is Heaven? Labels: black holes, holographic theory, Isabel Piczek, Shroud of Turin, Stephen Hawking, String Theory

"There is supernatural and natural reality that intersect, quite wondrously in the human person. So where is heaven?" - RKIA

• What's with the "Laying on of Hands?"

• You don't expect people to be heroic do you?,
  Labels: Cardinal Kasper, ex cathedra

"My life has been irradiated by heroes, like the heroes who have children when it is not convenient or cost effective, heroes who have been imprisoned by resisting the murder of the unborn. Heroes surround me. A hero is nothing more than an ordinary man or woman who cannot talk himself out of doing the right thing."- RKIA

• Let me talk a bit about funerals...
• RKIA Explains the Mass -- part 6
• RKIA Explains the Mass -- part 5, The Mass explained. Letter to Churchill Lafemme continued) Now on to the Mass!, Labels: bible, Liturgy, Mass, Psalms

• RKIA Explains the Mass -- part 4, Labels: Liturgy, synagogue, tabernacle, Temple
• RKIA explains the Mass -- part 3, Smells and

• RKIA Explains the Mass -- part 2, Episode 2:

• RKIA Explains the Mass - part 1, Labels: Buenos Aires, Eucharistic Miracle, Lanciano, Liturgy, Mass, Real Presence, Sokolka

• What do you have to say about Bishop Olson? part 2, Labels: Bishop Olson, Liturgical movement,

• What do you have to say about Bishop Olson?
• We have lost our minds.., Labels: abortion, contraception, hierarchy, Vatican II

• Sex, the Devil and the Second Vatican Council, Labels: demonic, devil, Paul VI, Rembert Weakland,

"The banality that afflicted the liturgy immediately following the council was stupefying. From stupefying it went to horrifying." - RKIA

• Isn't it great that Pope Francis is letting us vote on truth? Labels: abortion, birth control, cohabitation, contraception, Paul VI, Pope Francis, same sex marriage, Sensus Fidelium
• Do I need to confess sins for which I have no remorse? Labels: metanoia, repentence,confession
• Do Catholics worship idols? Labels: graven images, iconoclasm, idolatry. idols

• Of butterflies and monsters -- part 2, Letter to Ms. Ann Salting continued
• Of butterflies and monsters -- part 1, Labels: Liturgy, monster priests, Pope Francis, tradition
• Why name him Jesus and not Emmanuel?
• What's your take on the Duck People?

• Why the new translation of the Mass? - part 10
• Why the new translation of the Mass?  -part 9

"In ancient Greek the word is 'mysterion'. It means a secret, or a secret ritual.  It has to do with the word 'mys,' a thing whispered. Webster also mentions that a mystery can refer to 'a secret religious rite believed (as in Eleusinian and Mithraic cults) to impart enduring bliss to the initiate.'"  - RKIA

• Why the new translation of the Mass?  -part 8
• An aside about Creeds

• Why change the translation of the mass?  - part 7
• Why change the translation of the Mass?  - part 6
• Why change the translation of the Mass?  - part 5, Labels: creed, faith, translation
• Why change the translation of the Mass?  - part 4

• Why change the translation of the Mass?  - part 3, Labels: spirit, translation

• Why change the translation of the Mass? -  part 2 Labels: dynamic equivalence, translation
• Why change the translation of the Mass? Labels: Roman Missal, translation
• RKIA's Guide to behavior in a Catholic Church - part 7
• RKIA's Guide to behavior in a Catholic Church - part 6

• RKIA's Guide to behavior in a Catholic Church - part 5

• RKIA's Guide to behavior in a Catholic Church - part 4, The Odor of Sanctity
• RKIA's Guide to behavior in a Catholic Church - part 3, More talk about shutting up.
• RKIA's Guide to behavior in a Catholic Church - part 2, Labels: Church, Real Presence
• RKIA's Guide to Behavior in a Catholic Church -  part 1

• Rev. Know it All's "Guide to Reading the Bible, That Big Book on the Coffee Table.” Part 13 and last, Whose your daddy? More problems with scrolls
• Rev. Know it All's "Guide to Reading the Bible, That Big Book on the Coffee Table.” ... part 12, Roll  out the Bible, or The Sola Scriptura Polka, Labels: bible, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Sola Scriptura
• Rev. Know it All's "Guide to Reading the Bible, That Big Book on the Coffee Table.” ... part 11, The perennial question: Why did Catholics add 7 Books to the Bible?
• Rev. Know it All's "Guide to Reading the Bible, That Big Book on the Coffee Table.” ... part 10, Labels: Great Adventure, Jeff Cavins, sola scriptura

• Rev. Know it All's "Guide to Reading the Bible, That Big Book on the Coffee Table.” ... part 9, The House of David, or Families; Everybody's got one, Labels: bible, Brothers of the Lord, The Twelve
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 8," Go make what out of who?”,  Labels: bible, translation
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 7, It’s not meant to confuse you, but it’s very confusing..., Can't tell your players without a score card
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 6b, “Tradition! (Cue the sound of klezmer music, as in Fiddler on the Roof) Tradition !”, Labels: Anabaptist, tradition
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible -- part 6, “Tradition! (Cue the sound of klezmer music, as in Fiddler on the Roof) Tradition!”, Labels: apologetics, scripture, tradition

• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 5 “Keeping it all in the  family or Charity beigns at home”,  Labels: bible, Corrie ten Boom, Genesis
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible -- part 4,  “Numbers don't lie! (Though they do sometimes get creative)”, Labels: gematria, Methuselah
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 3, Couldn't St. Matthew add? I thought he worked for the Internal Revenue service before Jesus recruited him.
• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 2,  You shouldnt Judge a Bible by its cover, Labels: apostles, Clement, Irenaeus, scripture

• RKIA's Guide to Reading the Bible... part 1, Who did the sons of Adam and Eve marry? Labels: bible, Luther, works of the law
• Atlas Shrugged... I just shake my head, Labels: Ayn Rand,  Objectivism
• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27)

• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27) 

• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27)

• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27)

• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27)

• Why aren't our plans working? -- part 3
• Why aren't our plans working? -- part 2

** The Rev-Know-it-All on the State of Catholic Education, A full compilation, (Letters to Frieda Begue, Why Aren't Our Plans Working, Complete from Parts 1-11 in PDF)

• Why aren't our plans working?
• Why give to the Church?

"...a young man who signs up for the priesthood in these times is one of the most heroic people you are ever going to meet. He may be weak and flawed and even a little odd, but he is not doing it for the perks, the prestige or the pay. He is doing it because he loves Christ and the Church." - RKIA

• Where was God then...?

"... look at Jesus of Nazareth, not a general, not a clergyman, not a rich man but a poor carpenter betrayed by His friends abandoned by His own, murdered by an unjust and oppressive regime. That’s who we believe God is." - RKIA

• Are dead babies in my cola?
• Did you learn anything from the elections?
• On separation of Church and State...

"God alone as I understand him. Every man his own pope! Let me coin a word. I shall call this American religion “autopapism.” America is the first and the greatest autopapist country, leading the world into a kind of sacred anarchy, in which people are free to be spiritual as they define it." - RKIA

• Of tattoos and a loss of faith....

• Are tattoos immoral?

"If it is true that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, why have so many decided to smear graffiti on the walls?" - RKIA

• Three questions from the Rabbi .... part 5
• Three questions from the Rabbi .... part 4
• Three questions from the Rabbi .... part 3

• Three questions from the Rabbi -- part 2
• Three questions from the Rabbi -- part 1
• Didn't they take that out of the Bible?...part 2
• Didn't they take that out of the Bible?

• C'mon... you know it is just bread and wine!
• Why do you always talk about being German?

"...we are all human. Humans are capable of great good, of great heroism and also of great brutality and great dishonesty." - RKIA

• Of chicken sandwiches and societal decay....part 2
• Of chicken sandwiches and societal decay...
• What's a Catholic funeral like?

• Why does God seem so needy?
• Starting Over... A reaction and response
• A look at same-sex unions -- part 4
• A look at same-sex unions -- part 3

" When Jesus said he would make us fishers of men he didn’t mention that we would be the bait." - RKIA

• A look at same-sex unions -- part 2
• A look at same-sex unions -- part 1
• We are starting over....
• Letter to Charlene Law.... part 11 and last

"Christians believe that the phrase “God is Father” as expressed in the Lord’s prayer, the Our Father, is the summit of Christian faith." -RKIA

• Letter to Charlene Law - part 10
• Letter to Charlene Law - part 9
• Letter to Charlene Law - part 8

"The myth is that the aggressive West invaded the Islamic world which was minding it’s own business. Quite the opposite is true. The Crusades were a response to the Islamic invasion of Europe and the whole Christian world." - RKIA

• Letter to Charlene Law - part 7
• Letter to Charlene Law - part 6

"We have definite archeological evidence for slavery going back to 8,000 B.C. and at the date of the present writing, there are numerically more slaves than at any other time in history." - RKIA

• Letter to Charlene Law - part 5
• Letter to Charlene Law - part 4
• Letter to Charlene Law - part 3
• Letter to Charlene Law - part 2
• ** The Rev-Know-it-All looks into Isalm, A full compilation, (Letters to Charlene Law- complete from parts 1 - 11 in PDF)

• Where do Muslims and the Muslim religion come from?
• Letter to Helena Hahn Basquette - part 4
• Letter to Helena Hahn Basquette - part 3
• Letter to Helena Hahn Basquette - part 2
• How dare the Bishops demand religious liberty...

• Letter to PennyQuostal, part 6
• A Call for action
• Letter to Penny Quostal, part 5
• Letter to Penny Quostal, part 4

• Letter to Penny Quostal, part 3
• Letter from Penny Quostal - part 2
• What happens at an Ordination?
• Why the new translation of the Mass? ...part 11 Final thoughts

• Who did Adam & Eve's children marry?
• What do I tell my son about Santa Claus?
• Farewell to a wonderful priest...

"He is such a fine priest and such a hard worker, thus it was inevitable that his bishop would want him back."
- RKIA

• Why priestly celibacy? (part 2)

• Why priestly celibacy? (part 1)
• Will my late husband know me in heaven? 
• Can I own a Canadian?
• How far does a father's "Headship" over his daughter

• Is it OK to let the kids go out for Halloween?

"An unhealthy fixation on things occult seems to be growing, not on the part of children but on the part of parents and older siblings. It is as if parents are refusing to grow up." - RKIA

"Grown ups should act like grown ups and make it a children's holiday once again. Pop for the good stuff, like Almond Joys and Reese's peanut butter cups.  This year I think I'm going to dress up as a priest." - RKIA

• How can a loving God allow suffering?

"In this sad and broken world suffering is the price of love. If you cannot understand that, you have never really loved anyone but yourself." - RKIA

• Isn't the Catholic view of marriage and morality just outmoded?
• A rant on weddings...

• What's with kneeling for communion?

"Well, that is precisely what Mass is: a time machine that takes us back to Calvary" - RKIA

• Aren't only Catholics saved?
• Do you believe in miracles? (part 2)
• Is there any real proof of miracles?

• Do you really believe that transubstantiation stuff?

• Isn't religion the cause of all wars?
• Is there a document that says we must respect priests?

"First, the simple answer to your question: Yes." - RKIA

• Why does God give children diseases?

"How can He be all-caring, all-powerful, all-knowing and I’m still a mess? My answer, which I hope is the Catholic answer, would be a question..."- RKIA

• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27)

• A short history of the Hootenanny Mass & other absurdities (parts 1-27)

• And now for Heaven....
• Letter to Fleming N. Ferneau continued: Purgatory
• Didn't we do away with hell?
• What about women's ordination?
• Why do I have to go to Mass on Sunday?

• Doesn't Jesus forbid oaths?
• What about the promises of St. Fidgetta?
• Why do you worship graven images?
• Where do I find Marian devotion in Scripture?

• Should they be allowed to build a mosque at Ground Zero?
• What was the inquisition and did it really use torture?
• How can you believe in miracles?
• Why would that bishop wear a Cappa Magna?
• What do you mean, "The Church is the mother of the Bible?"

• Finally, we get to the Jesuits!
• Monks and nuns...
• Titles in the Church (part 3)
• Titles in the Church (part 2)

• What's with all the titles in the Church?

“We point to the tradition of that very great and very ancient and universally known Church, which was founded and established at Rome, by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul. We point, I say, to the tradition which this Church has from the Apostles...which comes down to our time through the succession of her bishops.... " - St Irenaeus of Lyon, Adversus Haereses

• Did Mary have other children?
• Who wrote the Bible?
• Why do we worship on Sunday?

• What is the 3rd force opposing Christianity?
• Is "defend" the faith the same as "witness" to the faith?

"We moderns are so narcissistic that we refuse to believe that anyone can be different from us. Islam has a different moral system than that of Christianity. In this case, to defend the faith is first to enunciate that difference clearly. So let the enunciating begin! "- RKIA

• Don't you like the Mass of Vatican II?
• But I like "joyful" music at Mass
• Isn't all music suitable for Mass?

• What's with this "Holy Fire" nonsense?
• Setting the Times straight
• Do you really think Jesus rose from the dead?

• Notes from my family...
• The Reverend reviews the Shack
• Why do Catholics call priests "Father"?
• Why did they take away the Holy Water?
• Does the Q document prove that Jesus never a Church hierarchy? (part 2)

• Does the Q document prove that Jesus never a Church hierarchy? (part 1)
• Do you think you're better than us Rev. Grumpy Pants?
• How do you feel about Eucharistic Adoration?
• Why can't "domestic partners" receive Communion?

• Why are they "rolling back the reforms"?

"[I]nnovations are to have some place when pastorally appropriate.... In other words, my dear, you have been lied to." - RKIA

• Shouldn't the church sell everything and give it the poor?

"It is interesting to read the story in John 12 that, once, a woman poured expensive perfume, valued at about sixteen thousand dollars!!! ($16,000.00 = 300 denarii, or 300 days’ wages for an unskilled worker at minimum wage.) on Jesus’ feet. Judas said that it should have been sold and the money given to the poor. So, you are not alone in your sentiments."  - RKIA
 

"I am not making pig’s ear salad up. It is a Vietnamese specialty and everyone seems to have a unique recipe for it..." -RKIA

Photo: Vietnamese-Style Spicy Pig Ear Salad from food52.com

• Shouldn't Mass be more excititng, like a mega-churh service?
• I believe in God, but why should I believe in Jesus?

My question is this: “Why do you think your god is God?" - RKIA

• Do you believe in Karma?

"Anger and bitterness are funny things. We cling to resentments as if they were treasure. We simmer and stew enjoying our well deserved anger at some imagined slight or offense." - RKIA