I pray your Christmas is a blessed one. I am so very thankful for my wife and children, God has been so good to me, much better than I deserve.  From our family to yours… Merry Christmas!

May God Bless You

Joe McClane

Many well intentioned Christians believe that St. Paul teaches the doctrine of Sola Fide, or “Faith Alone”, in the book Romans.  In fact this book served as the spark that ignited the protestant revolution across Europe in the fifteen hundreds. Martin Luther even went so far as to ADD a word to his translation of Romans 3:28 ([28] For we hold that a man is justified by faith [ALONE] apart from works of law.). Even though the word “alone” is no where found in the Greek manuscripts of Romans, Luther felt this was the “sense” in which Paul intended, therefore, Luther felt justified in including it. Interestingly, the only place where the words “faith” and “alone” DO OCCURE together in the Greek are found in James 2:24 ([24] You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.). The epistle of “straw” is what Luther called it… what I personally find fascinating is that both James 2 & Romans 4 are quoting the same passage from Genesis 15:5–7 (RSVCE) ^5″ And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Was it really not until Genesis 15 when Abraham had “saving faith”? Was that ALL he needed in order to be “justified”? Didn’t Abram have “faith” in God when he left his home and set out to a land he had never been to, in Genesis 12… first? Didn’t Abram have “faith” in God, trusting him to provide for his family, when he reached the “promised” land, found it plagued with a famine, and had to go to Egypt for refuge, also in Genesis 12? Or how about when Lot, his Nephew, asked for the choice land, leaving the the arid desert to Abram… was it his “faith” that he exhibited when he went about the land setting up alters and offering sacrifice to God, thanking Him for the future fulfillment of the promise, in Genesis 13? Ok, what about when Abram set out to rescue the selfish Lot from the War Lords, did he not have “faith” that God would protect him when he charged head long into the fight in Genesis 14? Oh, and offering a tithe to the “Priest Of God most high”, was that also his “faith” exhibited in his actions, trusting God for the blessing, in Genesis 14? Boy, for someone who didn’t have a “saving faith” until Genesis 15… he sure DID an awful lot in “faith” first!

So, did St. Paul really believe, and teach, that you need ONLY to have “faith” in order to be justified?   Take a look at the following verses, they certainly seem to suggest it.

Romans 8:[38] For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
[39] nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:[9] because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[10] For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.

It’s interesting to me… IF St. Paul really held to the doctrine of Sola Fide, then should he have written Romans 8:38 & 39 more along the lines of, “nor idolatry, nor adultery, nor murder, nor slander, nor drunkenness? etc. etc? What can separate us from the love of God? Surly nothing from His part but, notice St. Paul says nothing about those sins which WE commit!  To be sure… we MUST have faith! We MUST confess it with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts!  Then what do we do? We… do as St. Paul teaches us in Romans, 13:[9] “The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Doesn’t this bring to mind St. Paul’s famous chapter on love?  1 Corinthians 13:[2] “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” At any rate… I am digressing!  IF I had written the book of Romans and I believed in the doctrine of Sola Fida, then I do not think that I would have ever written the following verses. I would not have wanted to confuse the reader/hearer on what Martin Luther felt was such a clear teaching with these “confusing” statements!

Verses I would NEVER have written IF I believed in Sola Fide: 

Romans 2: [6] For he will render to every man according to his works:

Romans 2:[13] For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Romans 6:[15]What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! [16] Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Romans 8:[15] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
[16] it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
[17] and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
[18] I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 11:[18] do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. [19] You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” [20] That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. [21] For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. [22] Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.

Romans 14:[10]Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;

Romans 15:[18] For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed,

Question XXVIII

Of the virginity of the mother of god

(In Four Articles.)

We now have to consider the virginity of the Mother of God; concerning which there are four points of inquiry: (1) Whether she was a virgin in conceiving? (2) Whether she was a virgin in His Birth? (3) Whether she remained a virgin after His Birth? (4) Whether she took a vow of virginity?

First Article: Whether the Mother of God was a virgin in conceiving Christ?

Second Article: Whether Christ’s Mother was a virgin in His birth?

Third Article: Whether Christ’s Mother remained a virgin after His birth?

Forth Article: Whether the Mother of God took a vow of virginity?

Source: Thomas Aquinas, S., & Fathers of the English Dominican Province. (2009). Summa theologica (Complete English ed.). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

First Article

Whether the Mother of God was a virgin in conceiving Christ?

We proceed thus to the First Article:—

Objection 1. It seems that the Mother of God was not a virgin in conceiving Christ. For no child having father and mother is conceived by a virgin mother. But Christ is said to have had not only a mother, but also a father, according to Luke 2:33: His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning Him: and further on (48) in the same chapter she says: Behold I and thy father (Vulg., thy father and I) have sought Thee sorrowing. Therefore Christ was not conceived of a virgin mother.

Obj. 2. Further (Matth. 1) it is proved that Christ was the Son of Abraham and David, through Joseph being descended from David. But this proof would have availed nothing if Joseph were not the father of Christ. Therefore it seems that Christ’s Mother conceived Him of the seed of Joseph; and consequently that she was not a virgin in conceiving Him.

Obj. 3. Further, it is written (Gal. 4:4): God sent His Son, made of a woman. But according to the customary mode of speaking, the term woman applies to one who is known of a man. Therefore Christ was not conceived by a virgin mother.

Obj. 4. Further, things of the same species have the same mode of generation: since generation is specified by its terminus, just as are other motions. But Christ belonged to the same species as other men, according to Phil. 2:7: Being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. Since therefore other men are begotten of the mingling of male and female, it seems that Christ was begotten in the same manner; and that consequently He was not conceived of a virgin mother.

Obj. 5. Further, every natural form has its determinate matter, outside which it cannot be. But the matter of human form appears to be the semen of male and female. If therefore Christ’s body was not conceived of the semen of male and female, it would not have been truly a human body; which cannot be asserted. It seems therefore that He was not conceived of a virgin mother.

On the contrary, It is written (Isa. 7:14): Behold a virgin shall conceive.

I answer that, We must confess simply that the mother of Christ was a virgin in conceiving: for to deny this belongs to the heresy of the Ebionites and Cerinthus, who held Christ to be a mere man, and maintained that He was born of both sexes.

It is fitting for four reasons that Christ should be born of a virgin. First, in order to maintain the dignity of the Father Who sent Him. For since Christ is the true and natural Son of God, it was not fitting that He should have another father than God: lest the dignity belonging to God be transferred to another.

Secondly, this was befitting to a property of the Son Himself, Who is sent. For He is the Word of God: and the word is conceived without any interior corruption: indeed, interior corruption is incompatible with perfect conception of the word. Since therefore flesh was so assumed by the Word of God, as to be the flesh of the Word of God, it was fitting that it also should be conceived without corruption of the mother.

Thirdly, this was befitting to the dignity of Christ’s humanity in which there could be no sin, since by it the sin of the world was taken away, according to John 1:29: Behold the Lamb of God (i.e., the Lamb without stain) Who taketh away the sin of the world. Now it was not possible in a nature already corrupt, for flesh to be born from sexual intercourse without incurring the infection of original sin. Whence Augustine says (De Nup. et Concup. i.): In that union—viz., the marriage of Mary and Joseph—the nuptial intercourse alone was lacking: because in sinful flesh this could not be without fleshly concupiscence which arises from sin, and without which He wished to be conceived, Who was to be without sin.

Fourthly, on account of the very end of the Incarnation of Christ, which was that men might be born again as sons of God, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13)—i.e., of the power of God—of which fact the very conception of Christ was to appear as an exemplar. Whence Augustine says (De Sanct. Virg.): It behoved that our Head, by a notable miracle, should be born, after the flesh, of a virgin, that He might thereby signify that His members would be born, after the Spirit, of a virgin Church.

Reply Obj. 1. As Bede says on Luke 1:33: Joseph is called the father of the Saviour, not that he really was His father, as the Photinians pretended: but that he was considered by men to be so, for the safeguarding of Mary’s good name. Wherefore Luke adds (3:23): Being, as it was supposed, the son of Joseph.

Or, according to Augustine (De Bono Conjug.; cf. De Cons. Evang. ii.), Joseph is called the father of Christ just as he is called the husband of Mary, without fleshly mingling, by the mere bond of marriage: being thereby united to Him much more closely than if he were adopted from another family. Consequently that Christ was not begotten of Joseph by fleshly union is no reason why Joseph should not be called His father; since he would be the father even of an adopted son not born of his wife.

Reply Obj. 2. As Jerome says on Matth. 1:18: Though Joseph was not the father of Our Lord and Saviour, the order of His genealogy is traced down to Joseph—first, because the Scriptures are not wont to trace the female line in genealogies: secondly, Mary and Joseph were of the same tribe; wherefore by law he was bound to take her as being of his kin. Likewise, as Augustine says (De Nup. et Concup. i.), it was befitting to trace that genealogy down to Joseph, lest in that marriage any slight should be offered to the male sex, which is indeed the stronger: for truth suffered nothing thereby, since both Joseph and Mary were of the family of David.

Reply Obj. 3. As the gloss says on this passage, the word ‘mulier’ is here used instead of ‘femina,’ according to the custom of the Hebrew tongue: which applies the term signifying woman to those of the female sex who are virgins.

Reply Obj. 4. This argument is true of those things which come into existence by the way of nature: since nature, just as it is fixed to one particular effect, so it is determinate to one mode of producing that effect. But as the supernatural power of God extends to the infinite: just as it is not determinate to one effect, so neither is it determinate to one mode of producing any effect whatever. Consequently, just as it was possible for the first man to be produced, by the Divine power, from the slime of the earth, so too was it possible for Christ’s body to be made, by Divine power, from a virgin without the seed of the male.

Reply Obj. 5. According to the Philosopher (De Gener. Animal. i., ii., iv.), in conception the seed of the male is not by way of matter, but by way of agent: and the female alone supplies the matter. Wherefore though the seed of the male was lacking in Christ’s conception, it does not follow that due matter was lacking.

But if the seed of the male were the matter of the fœtus in animal conception, it is nevertheless manifest that it is not a matter remaining under one form, but subject to transformation. And though the natural power cannot transmute other than determinate matter to a determinate form; nevertheless the Divine power, which is infinite, can transmute all matter to any form whatsoever. Consequently, just as it transmuted the slime of the earth into Adam’s body, so could it transmute the matter supplied by His Mother into Christ’s body, even though it were not the sufficient matter for a natural conception.

Second Article

Whether Christ’s Mother was a virgin in His birth?

We proceed thus to the Second Article:—

Objection 1. It seems that Christ’s Mother was not a virgin in His Birth. For Ambrose says on Luke 2:23: He Who sanctified a strange womb, for the birth of a prophet, He it is Who opened His Mother’s womb, that He might go forth unspotted. But opening of the womb excludes virginity. Therefore Christ’s Mother was not a virgin in His Birth.

Obj. 2. Further, nothing should have taken place in the mystery of Christ, which would make His body to seem unreal. Now it seems to pertain not to a true but to an unreal body, to be able to go through a closed passage; since two bodies cannot be in one place at the same time. It was therefore unfitting that Christ’s body should come forth from His Mother’s closed womb: and consequently that she should remain a virgin in giving birth to Him.

Obj. 3. Further, as Gregory says in the Homily for the Octave of Easter, that by entering after His Resurrection where the disciples were gathered, the doors being shut, Our Lord showed that His body was the same in nature but differed in glory: so that it seems that to go through a closed passage pertains to a glorified body. But Christ’s body was not glorified in its conception, but was passible, having the likeness of sinful flesh, as the Apostle says (Rom. 8:3). Therefore He did not come forth through the closed womb of the Virgin.

On the contrary, In a sermon of the Council of Ephesus (P. III., C. ix.) it is said: After giving birth, nature knows not a virgin: but grace enhances her fruitfulness, and effects her motherhood, while in no way does it injure her virginity. Therefore Christ’s Mother was a virgin also in giving birth to Him.

I answer that, Without any doubt whatever we must assert that the Mother of Christ was a virgin even in His Birth: for the prophet says not only: Behold a virgin shall conceive, but adds: and shall bear a son. This indeed was befitting for three reasons. First, because this was in keeping with a property of Him whose Birth is in question, for He is the Word of God. For the word is not only conceived in the mind without corruption, but also proceeds from the mind without corruption. Wherefore in order to show that body to be the body of the very Word of God, it was fitting that it should be born of a virgin incorrupt. Whence in the sermon of the Council of Ephesus (quoted above) we read: Whosoever brings forth mere flesh, ceases to be a virgin. But since she gave birth to the Word made flesh, God safeguarded her virginity so as to manifest His Word, by which Word He thus manifested Himself: for neither does our word, when brought forth, corrupt the mind; nor does God, the substantial Word, deigning to be born, destroy virginity.

Secondly, this is fitting as regards the effect of Christ’s Incarnation: since He came for this purpose, that He might take away our corruption. Wherefore it is unfitting that in His Birth He should corrupt His Mother’s virginity. Thus Augustine says in a sermon on the Nativity of Our Lord: It was not right that He Who came to heal corruption, should by His advent violate integrity.

Thirdly, it was fitting that He Who commanded us to honour our father and mother should not in His Birth lessen the honour due to His Mother.

Reply Obj. 1. Ambrose says this in expounding the evangelist’s quotation from the Law: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. This, says Bede, is said in regard to the wonted manner of birth; not that we are to believe that Our Lord in coming forth violated the abode of her sacred womb, which His entrance therein had hallowed. Wherefore the opening here spoken of does not imply the unlocking of the enclosure of virginal purity; but the mere coming forth of the infant from the maternal womb.

Reply Obj. 2. Christ wished so to show the reality of His body, as to manifest His Godhead at the same time. For this reason He mingled wondrous with lowly things. Wherefore, to show that His body was real, He was born of a woman. But in order to manifest His Godhead, He was born of a virgin, for such a Birth befits a God, as Ambrose says in the Christmas hymn.

Reply Obj. 3. Some have held that Christ, in His Birth, assumed the gift of subtlety, when He came forth from the closed womb of a virgin; and that He assumed the gift of agility when with dry feet He walked on the sea. But this is not consistent with what has been decided above (Q. XIV.). For these gifts of a glorified body result from an overflow of the soul’s glory on to the body, as we shall explain further on, in treating of glorified bodies (Suppl., Q. LXXXII.): and it has been said above (Q. XIII., A. 3 ad 1; Q. XVI., A. 1 ad 2) that before His Passion Christ allowed His flesh to do and to suffer what was proper to it (Dasmacene, De Fid. Orth. iii.): nor was there such an overflow of glory from His soul on to His body.

We must therefore say that all these things took place miraculously by Divine power. Whence Augustine says (Sup. Joan., Tract. 121): To the substance of a body in which was the Godhead, closed doors were no obstacle. For truly He had power to enter in by doors not open, in whose Birth His Mother’s virginity remained inviolate. And Dionysius says in an epistle (Ad Caium iv.) that Christ excelled man in doing that which is proper to man: this is shown in His supernatural conception, of a virgin, and in the unstable waters bearing the weight of earthly feet.

Third Article

Whether Christ’s Mother remained a virgin after His birth?

We proceed thus to the Third Article:—

Objection 1. It seems that Christ’s Mother did not remain a virgin after His Birth. For it is written (Matth. 1:18): Before Joseph and Mary came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Now the evangelist would not have said this,—before they came together,—unless he were certain of their subsequent coming together; for no one says of one who does not eventually dine, before he dined (cf. Jerome, Contra Helvid.). It seems, therefore, that the Blessed Virgin subsequently had intercourse with Joseph; and consequently that she did not remain a virgin after (Christ’s) Birth.

Obj. 2. Further, in the same passage (Matth. 1:20) are related the words of the angel to Joseph: Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. But marriage is consummated by carnal intercourse. Therefore it seems that this must have at some time taken place between Mary and Joseph: and that, consequently she did not remain a virgin after (Christ’s) Birth.

Obj. 3. Further, again in the same passage a little further on (24, 25) we read: And (Joseph) took unto him his wife; and he knew her not till she brought forth her first-born Son. Now this conjunction till is wont to designate a fixed time, on the completion of which that takes place which previously had not taken place. And the verb knew refers here to knowledge by intercourse (cf. Jerome, Contra Helvid.); just as (Gen. 4:1) it is said that Adam knew his wife. Therefore it seems that after (Christ’s) Birth, the Blessed Virgin was known by Joseph; and, consequently, that she did not remain a virgin after the Birth (of Christ).

Obj. 4. Further, first-born can only be said of one who has brothers afterwards: wherefore (Rom. 8:29): Whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of His Son; that He might be the first-born among many brethren. But the evangelist calls Christ the first-born by His Mother. Therefore she had other children after Christ. And therefore it seems that Christ’s Mother did not remain a virgin after His Birth.

Obj. 5. Further, it is written (John 2:12): After this He went down to Capharnaum, He—that is, Christ—and His Mother and His brethren. But brethren are those who are begotten of the same parent. Therefore it seems that the Blessed Virgin had other sons after Christ.

Obj. 6. Further, it is written (Matth. 27:55, 56): There were there—that is, by the cross of Christ—many women afar off, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him; among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Now this Mary who is called the mother of James and Joseph seems to have been also the Mother of Christ; for it is written (John 19:25) that there stood by the cross of Jesus, Mary His Mother. Therefore it seems that Christ’s Mother did not remain a virgin after His Birth.

On the contrary, It is written (Ezech. 44:2): This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it; because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it. Expounding these words, Augustine says in a sermon (De Annunt. Dom. iii.): What means this closed gate in the House of the Lord, except that Mary is to be ever inviolate? What does it mean that ‘no man shall pass through it,’ save that Joseph shall not know her? And what is this—‘The Lord alone enters in and goeth out by it,’ except that the Holy Ghost shall impregnate her, and that the Lord of angels shall be born of her? And what means this—‘it shall be shut for evermore,’ but that Mary is a virgin before His Birth, a virgin in His Birth, and a virgin after His Birth?

I answer that, Without any hesitation we must abhor the error of Helvidius, who dared to assert that Christ’s Mother, after His Birth, was carnally known by Joseph, and bore other children. For, in the first place, this is derogatory to Christ’s perfection: for as He is in His Godhead the Only-Begotten of the Father, being thus His Son in every respect perfect, so it was becoming that He should be the only-begotten son of His Mother, as being her perfect offspring.

Secondly, this error is an insult to the Holy Ghost, whose shrine was the virginal womb, wherein He had formed the flesh of Christ: wherefore it was unbecoming that it should be desecrated by intercourse with man.

Thirdly, this is derogatory to the dignity and holiness of God’s Mother: for thus she would seem to be most ungrateful, were she not content with such a Son; and were she, of her own accord, by carnal intercourse to forfeit that virginity which had been miraculously preserved in her.

Fourthly, it would be tantamount to an imputation of extreme presumption in Joseph, to assume that he attempted to violate her whom by the angel’s revelation he knew to have conceived by the Holy Ghost.

We must therefore simply assert that the Mother of God, as she was a virgin in conceiving Him and a virgin in giving Him birth, so did she remain a virgin ever afterwards.

Reply Obj. 1. As Jerome says (in answer to Helvidius): Although this particle ‘before’ often indicates a subsequent event, yet we must observe that it not infrequently points merely to some thing previously in the mind: nor is there need that what was in the mind take place eventually, since something may occur to prevent its happening. Thus if a man say: ‘Before I dined in the port, I set sail,’ we do not understand him to have dined in port after he set sail: but that his mind was set on dining in port. In like manner the evangelist says: Before they came together Mary was found with child, of the Holy Ghost, not that they came together afterwards: but that, when it seemed that they would come together, this was forestalled through her conceiving by the Holy Ghost, the result being that afterwards they did not come together.

Reply Obj. 2. As Augustine says (De Nup. et Concup. i.): The Mother of God is called (Joseph’s) wife from the first promise of her espousals, whom he had not known nor ever was to know by carnal intercourse. For, as Ambrose says on Luke 1:27: The fact of her marriage is declared, not to insinuate the loss of virginity, but to witness to the reality of the union.

Reply Obj. 3. Some have said that this is not to be understood of carnal knowledge, but of acquaintance. Thus Chrysostom says (Op. imp. in Matth.) that Joseph did not know her, until she gave birth, being unaware of her dignity: but after she had given birth, then did he know her. Because by reason of her child she surpassed the whole world in beauty and dignity: since she alone in the narrow abode of her womb received Him whom the whole world cannot contain.

Others again refer this to knowledge by sight. For as, while Moses was speaking with God, his face was so bright that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold it; so Mary, while being overshadowed by the brightness of the power of the Most-High, could not be gazed on by Joseph, until she gave birth. But afterwards she is acknowledged by Joseph, by looking on her face, not by lustful contact.

Jerome, however, grants that this is to be understood of knowledge by intercourse; but he observes that before or until has a twofold sense in Scripture. For sometimes it indicates a fixed time, as Gal. 3:19: The law was set because of transgressions, until the seed should come, to whom He made the promise. On the other hand, it sometimes indicates an indefinite time, as in Ps. 122:2: Our eyes are unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us; from which it is not to be gathered that our eyes are turned from God as soon as His mercy has been obtained. In this sense those things are indicated of which we might doubt if they had not been written down: while others are left out to be supplied by our understanding. Thus the evangelist says that the Mother of God was not known by her husband until she gave birth, that we may be given to understand that still less did he know her afterwards (Adversus Helvid. v.).

Reply Obj. 4. The Scriptures are wont to designate as the first-born, not only a child who is followed by others, but also the one that is born first. Otherwise, if a child were not first born unless followed by others, the first-fruits would not be due as long as there was no further produce (Jerome, Adversus Helvid. x.): which is clearly false, since according to the law the first-fruits had to be redeemed within a month (Num. 18:16).

Reply Obj. 5. Some, as Jerome says on Matth. 12:49, 50, suppose that the brethren of the Lord were Joseph’s sons by another wife. But we understand the brethren of the Lord to be not sons of Joseph, but cousins of the Saviour, the sons of Mary, His Mother’s sister. For Scripture speaks of brethren in four senses; namely, those who are united by being of the same parents, of the same nation, of the same family, by common affection. Wherefore the brethren of the Lord are so called, not by birth, as being born of the same mother; but by relationship, as being blood-relations of His. But Joseph, as Jerome says against Helvidius (xix.) is rather to be believed to have remained a virgin, since he is not said to have had another wife, and a holy man does not live otherwise than chastely.

Reply Obj. 6. Mary who is called the mother of James and Joseph is not to be taken for the Mother of Our Lord, who is not wont to be named in the Gospels save under this designation of her dignity—the Mother of Jesus. This Mary is to be taken for the wife of Alphæus, whose son was James the less, known as the brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19).

Fourth Article

Whether the Mother of God took a vow of virginity?

We proceed thus to the Fourth Article:—

Objection 1. It seems that the Mother of God did not take a vow of virginity. For it is written (Deut. 7:14): No one shall be barren among you of either sex. But sterility is a consequence of virginity. Therefore the keeping of virginity was contrary to the commandment of the Old Law. But before Christ was born the Old Law was still in force. Therefore at that time the Blessed Virgin could not lawfully take a vow of virginity.

Obj. 2. Further, the Apostle says (1 Cor. 7:25): Concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord; but I give counsel. But the perfection of the counsels was to take its beginning from Christ, Who is the end of the Law, as the Apostle says (Rom. 10:4). It was not therefore becoming that the Virgin should take a vow of virginity.

Obj. 3. Further, the gloss of Jerome (Augustine) says on 1 Tim. 5:12, that for those who are vowed to virginity, it is reprehensible not only to marry, but also to desire to be married. But the Mother of Christ committed no sin for which she could be reprehended, as stated above (Q. XXVII., A. 4). Since therefore she was espoused, as related by Luke (1:27), it seems that she did not take a vow of virginity.

On the contrary, Augustine says (De Sanct. Virg. iv.): Mary answered the announcing angel: ‘How shall this be done, because I know not man?’ She would not have said this unless she had already vowed her virginity to God.

I answer that, As we have stated in the Second Part (II.-II., Q. LXXXVIII., A. 6), works of perfection are more praiseworthy when performed in fulfilment of a vow. Now it is clear that for reasons already given (AA. 1, 2, 3) virginity had a special place in the Mother of God. It was therefore fitting that her virginity should be consecrated to God by vow. Nevertheless because, while the Law was in force both men and women were bound to attend to the duty of begetting, since the worship of God was spread according to carnal origin, until Christ was born of that people; the Mother of God is not believed to have taken an absolute vow of virginity, before being espoused to Joseph, although she desired to do so, yet yielding her own will to God’s judgment. Afterwards, however, having taken a husband, according as the custom of the time required, together with him she took a vow of virginity.

Reply Obj. 1. Because it seemed to be forbidden by the law not to take the necessary steps for leaving a posterity on earth, therefore the Mother of God did not vow virginity absolutely, but under the condition that it were pleasing to God. When, however, she knew that it was acceptable to God, she made the vow absolute, before the angel’s Annunciation.

Reply Obj. 2. Just as the fulness of grace was in Christ perfectly, yet some beginning of this fulness preceded in His Mother; so also the observance of the counsels, which is an effect of God’s grace, began its perfection in Christ, but was begun after a fashion in His Virgin Mother.

Reply Obj. 3. These words of the Apostle are to be understood of those who vow chastity absolutely. Christ’s Mother did not do this until she was espoused to Joseph. After her espousals, however, by their common consent she took a vow of virginity together with her spouse.

Every man is called by God to be a leader, protector and provider for those whom God has placed into his care and custody.  How often do we stop and contemplate this universal calling? I was blessed to give a talk on “Providing” at an “Into The WIld Weekend” hosted by The King’s Men. It was a phenomenal experience and I recommend one to every man! In my study on “providing” I focused on our Lord and what he provided us… a Church, a family… His very life poured out in the sacraments!  If Christ was eager to DIE to provide this to us… the question struck me… what are we willing to DIE to provide to those whom God has given us care over? You can find more info on TKM HERE.  You can download my talk outline HERE.

Did you know that Jesus was not the first in scripture to under go a “Passion”? Jesus was not the first to cross the Kidron Valley at night, not the first to climb the Mount of Olives in sorrow, nor the first “shepherd” to be struck so that the sheep might scatter!  Have you ever heard of the passion of King David? Read 2 Samuel 15 through 20… below are a few of the highlights!

Remember when Absolom, David’s son, tried his “palace coop?” He gathered an army and David’s closest advisers then “slept” with his father’s wives out in the open for all to see, making the stament that “he who has the king’s wives IS the king!”,  David, not wanting to engage in battle with his son, gathered his court and fled the city.

• Like Peter who swore he would DIE with Jesus…
• It’tai said to David 2 Sam 15: [21] But It’tai answered the king, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”
• Like Jesus David and his court crossed the Brook Kidron weeping!
• 2 Sam 15:[23] And all the country wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people passed on toward the wilderness.
• Like Jesus who took the 3 up the mount of Olives…
• 2 Sam 15: [30] But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered; and all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.
• Like Jesus who’s disciple, friend and adviser betrayed him… so to with David…
• 2 Sam 15:[31] And it was told David, “Ahith’ophel is among the conspirators with Ab’salom.” And David said, “O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahith’ophel into foolishness.”
• Like Judas who hatched the plan to lead the LARGE cohort out AT NIGHT to strike the Shepherd, scatter the flock, and arrest Jesus…. so to Ahithophel hatched the plan…
• 2 Sam 17:[1] Moreover Ahith’ophel said to Ab’salom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue David tonight.
• [2] I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged, and throw him into a panic; and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down the king only,
• [3] and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace.”
• [4] And the advice pleased Ab’salom and all the elders of Israel.
• Like Judas… when the plan back fired… he set his affairs in order and hung himself!
• 2 Sam 17: [23] When Ahith’ophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and went off home to his own city. And he set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
• Like Jesus who took the abuse, insults, blows, and more… and did NOT return evil for evil… so too David opens NOT his mouth!
• 2 Sam 16:[5] When King David came to Bahu’rim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shim’e-i, the son of Gera; and as he came he cursed continually.
• [6] And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
• [7] And Shim’e-i said as he cursed, “Begone, begone, you man of blood, you worthless fellow!
• [11] And David said to Abi’shai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has bidden him.
• [12] It may be that the LORD will look upon my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for this cursing of me today.”

“From Slavery to Sonship”

Joe McClane

The Inheritance

St Luke 15:1: And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; 12: and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them.

I too took my inheritance from my father in an untimely fashion. It was 1980 and my father, who was serving in the Army, had just been stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.  I was six years old, and I began to recognize the very peculiar and confusing behavior he had towards my mother.  At the time I didn’t understand what he was doing, but I knew that the way he was treating her was just not right.

What I didn’t know was that my father was addicted to pornography, and sexual promiscuity, and he imposed this world-view upon my mother, treating her like an object of use instead of a person.  Needless to say, this kind of abuse led to a divorce leaving my sister and me hurt, confused, and bewildered. All we wanted was our parents together under the same roof, even if they were always at each others’ throats. My father always complained that my mother didn’t “meet his needs,” but it was still far better than living through divorce.

I recall the pain and loss of my father’s constant presence in my life, and when I did see him I recall the further pain of witnessing his “new-found” relationships. “Who were all these women?” I thought. “Why are you so familiar with them?” I wondered. “They are NOT my mother!” I raged.

Then there was all the sexual paraphernalia I found around my father, including that classic resource “The Joy of Sex” with all its detailed illustrations that I so often perused at 7, 8, and 9 years old.  It was by this time I had my own “stash” of porn to draw upon.  I will never forget when, as a student at Stahl Elementary, just down the road from Madison High School, that a friend and I were caught hoarding a “Hustler” magazine.

My mother worked hard, busting her butt, just to provide for my sister and me, and this was not necessarily the proudest day in her life. Although she told me it was wrong, I never heard why it was wrong. Sure it felt dirty, but dirty felt so good! “Why is it wrong?”, I wondered,  I even remember sitting in Sunday School, at MacArthur Park Church of Christ, and hearing them say that “pre-marital” sex was wrong; “really?”, I thought… “why? “, “Well, it’s in the bible” they would say,  ”it’s the bible that says it’s wrong”.  ”Ok… why?”  Even if they tried to answer the question, and I have no doubt that they did, it surely didn’t take.

It was at this time that my mother’s third husband, Wes, entered our lives.  Wes was a hard working man but had some real struggles with cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and oh yes… porn.  By ten years old I had found his stash of VHS tapes and began watching them almost daily.  Masturbation had taken root and I was not seeking “our daily bread,” rather, I was after “my daily indulgence.”

My entire sexual formation was based on my father’s and stepfather’s lifestyle with a steady stream of pornography.  All I ever knew about sexuality, love, romance, the value of women and relationships, was based on what I was watching on the TV and finding in the magazines late at night with a flashlight in my bed.  I absolutely thought this is what “making love” was all about, and what women were “good” for.  This was the inheritance I took from my father at so young an age.

The Squandering
Vs. 13: Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. 14: And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. 

By the time I was a teenager it was my mission in life to have as many sexual relationships as possible before graduating.  You see I was trying to impress my father;  he had countless girlfriends so I would have countless more.  I wanted to show my father that I was becoming the man who is “made in HIS image & likeness” and  I desperately wanted him to be proud of me.

So I too didn’t see women as human persons; no, to me they were like commodities to be consumed.  They existed to please me, to meet “my needs”, not unlike a can of Coke, when after I have consumed it, I crush the can and toss it in the garbage.  As a senior in high school I took full advantage of the young, innocent girls, who really wanted to impress me, you know… to show me they could “meet my needs”. They wanted love, affirmation, acceptance, and security, and all I wanted was their flesh. I convinced one girl to give to me what should have been saved for the man whom God had destined for her in covenant marriage, her virginity!  But,  not many days later, I was no longer interested in her. Like the images on the porn tapes, it served its purpose and I was already bored with her and looking to my next conquest.

In 1991 the first Gulf war broke out and I was “gung-ho,” and but because the “Uncle-Sam” won’t take a seventeen-year-old kid with out a parents consent, I had to do some convincing to get my mother’s permission. I was eager to prove myself to my father, it was simple: my father served in the Army, so I would serve in the Marine Corps. I’ll never forget the day that SSgt. Simmons came and picked me up from my mother’s apartment and shipped me off to boot camp in San Diego, CA. My father didn’t think I had what it took to finish boot camp, so he refused to put the “My Son is a US Marine” sticker on his truck until I’d “earned the title”.  Don’t get me wrong: my father loved me and my sister, very much, but I think deep down he longed for his son to do better, to be better, than he was, even if he was unable to tell me what he felt it in his heart. My father went out of his way to show his love for us; it’s just that his world-view, his concupiscence, kept getting in the way.

After three months of blood, sweat, and tears, literally, my parents looked on in amazement as their vastly skinnier, son stood tall in his dress blues, when he received Marine Corps boot-camp’s highest award, the recognition as Company Honor-man.  I graduated number one out of four hundred and fifty US Marines; I had earned “the title”, I was now Lance Corporal Joseph McClane!

Even though the Marines gave me discipline and some honor, my world-view hadn’t changed in the slightest. In fact, it only grew more intense in the Corps.  From California to Tennessee, with a brief excursion to New Orleans and the Mardi Gras of ’93, I was “free” to do as I pleased. The Corps was not going to be my “mommy & daddy.” So long as I did my job, they were not going to tell me what “not” to do. Sure there was a price to pay if I got caught, but drinking, bar fights, strip clubs, porn, and chasing women was a pastime for the vast majority of the “Devil-Dogs” in my unit. Perverse sexual conquest was all but encouraged by training instructors and senior enlisted folks at every stop along the way. Better than winning the lottery, I received my permanent duty-station orders that sent me to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.  Like  dropping the wolf in a pen full of helpless sheep, I was let loose in a paradise full of scantly clad women.

Just a few summers prior, back in ’89, I lived my with father in Stuttgart, Germany for 3 months where I saw his second wife leave, and his latest mistress try to hide her affair from her husband.  This was par for the course, but what was new, was my father and I sharing porn for a brief time. I think it bothered him internally, although we never spoke openly about it, somehow knowing that this is just not what a “father” is supposed to do.

This kind of sharing developed into a mentoring relationship while I was serving in Hawaii. I was eager to impress my father with all of my tales of womanizing and wanted him to know that his son was a “chip off the ol’ block”.  I recall the long phone calls and his advice on how too keep one girlfriend from finding out about the other, and how to prevent venereal diseases from spreading and ruining the “party.”  I earnestly desired to live up to my father’s expectations of my “sex-life”, and did so to the fullest extent possible.

There was one young girl that stands out however. She was eighteen and living with her sister and her sister’s husband who was a Staff-Sergeant attached to my unit. He and I worked second and third shift, and we got to know one another pretty well. He began inviting me over to his house for dinner and to hang out on the weekends. Taking full advantage of the situation I began sleeping with his sister-law, and even his wife on one occasion; as usual I grew bored pretty quickly.  As “luck” would have it, my roommate got to know this girl as well, so I dumped her, giving him a chance to step in, giving me an easy out, allowing me to move on to “bigger and better” prey.

It was a about a month later that I received the phone call; it was  her on the other end.  ”Hey, I’m pregnant” she said, her voice trembling, “and am not sure if it’s yours or Mike’s… I’m scared and I’m not sure what to do. I think I want to get an abortion!” I listened to how nervous she was, my mind racing, trying to think of what to say, wondering how I would get out of this mess. “Wow, you have got to be kidding me”, I thought, “there is no way I want to be tied down with this chick.” I quickly responded “yes… an abortion, that sounds like a good idea; do you need money for that? Tell you what, I will drive you there!”  I checked her into the clinic and waited with her until the nurse called her name.  I watched her go around the corner then I immediately got up, left the clinic, and walked across the street to the Honolulu mall where I started scoping out the girls in the food court.

As I was trying to work my “magic,” getting the “digits” from one girl, there was another girl lying naked on her back, feet propped up, crying, while the baby in her womb was sucked out, torn limb from limb. Because I was too cowardly to be the man God created me to be, this girl was all alone in the world, feeling desperate, and with no “choice”! I murdered that child all while setting my “hooks” into my next victim.  Needless to say, I no longer wanted to serve my country in honor and integrity as much as I wanted to serve myself in indulgence.

Upon my discharge from the Marines, I returned home to San Antonio and quickly fell into a deep depression. I spent all my time and money on alcohol, strip clubs, and pornography, gaining lots of weight and searching for new purpose in life.  Besides a stop over in Dallas, I ended up at my sister’s house in Oklahoma City.  She was trying to help me find a “new-way”, to give me a fresh start.  She found a radio broadcasting school nearby, and thought that I would be perfect for it.  It sounded great, and I was thinking “yeah, chicks dig the cool DJ… I will hit it big, a great job, lots of pay, and lots of women!” But, ten months, seven thousand dollars, and a hundred and fifty “no-thank-yous” from radio stations across the USA, and I was selling my car so I could buy a train ticket to Boston.  My father was living in New Hampshire with his latest girlfriend, and I felt like this would give me a fresh, clean, start to a new life.   It didn’t take long after moving in to find my father’s porn stash, and I started using and abusing as often as possible.  It took offering to work for free before I was able to land a couple of radio gigs in southern New Hampshire. One of them was as the news director at WHOB 106.3 in Nashua. It was a good first  radio job, and I was having lots of fun as the “side-kick” in the morning drive slot.

It was late summer of 97 and I was at my very first live, remote, broadcast, from a pizza joint in Nashua, when “she” showed up to introduce herself.  She had been calling into the show and we were beginning to talk off the air as well. I was enjoying our conversations… trying to make myself sound like the “hip” radio guy as much as possible.  I know she sounded so cute over the phone but, I was caught off guard when I first laid eyes on her. She was stunning, and I knew… right then and there… that I wanted to marry her.

I tried my best to “seal the deal” and as fast as I could.  I wish I could say that my radio career worked out with great success but it didn’t.  I had to make a choice… follow the radio jobs, or follow this woman.  By the end of that year I was working for a local telecommunications company trying to survive on only eight bucks an hour. When I finally did get on my knee, and present the ring, I was able to work my way up to project manager, which included a decent pay raise.  Like music to my ears Michelle said “yes,” and I was a very happy man.

“If we’re going to get married,” she said with some hesitancy, anticipating a negative response, “you’re going to have to become a Catholic.”  ”Catholic?” I thought, “Really?”  I grew up in the Church of Christ, and they (some not all) think all Catholics are going to hell, so this should have been a big deal to me. However, it wasn’t.  I had fallen away as a teenager, and didn’t really care what religion I was.  I felt all religions were the same,  so… “sure, I’ll become Catholic!” I signed up for RCIA classes at the Cathedral in downtown Manchester.  They were very nice people who tolerated me, my crazy world view, foul mouth and twisted since of humor, all without making me feel like the biggest sinner on the planet.

But it was one night that stands out the most. I was sitting there listening to the facilitator read the “beatitudes” in St Matthew’s Gospel chapter five, thinking to myself just how “true” this rings! “Jesus is talking about seeking holiness here,” I said to myself, “and I am everything opposite of these beatitudes. I mean I’m not ‘free’ to live, or seek, holiness!”

You see,  I knew what I would do that very night as soon as I  got back to the apartment.  By now, I had high-speed-internet-access, all the porn I wanted was just a mouse click away.  That was my reality, certainly not seeking holiness.  I would take every opportunity to indulge in lust, listening to the radio, watching TV or even just replaying all the images in my mind… I was a slave to my passions.   But, there, in that class… It was a moment of clarity for me. My next thought was, “It’s a good thing I have a long life to live. Maybe someday I will be able to seek holiness, maybe someday I will be ‘free.’“ I still thank God that I was not run over by the proverbial truck after that night, that a chance at conversion could still be realized.

The Low Point

Vs. 15: So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine.  16: And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. 
The priest who married us tried very hard to set us straight, but I had convinced Michelle that we should live together first, and we were surely living as man and wife,  just without all that “commitment of the will, heart, and self” stuff would have gotten in the way of my desire to  have “my needs” met.

It was a busy couple of years completing RCIA, receiving the Sacraments, planning the wedding, getting married, buying our first house, then having Michelle’s mother, sister, and both brothers move in just months after signing on the dotted line.  Yeah… good times!

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed and feeling very crowded.  My work environment lent itself to my perverse lifestyle, and I was living like a drunken sailor, gone out-of-control, on shore leave at Mardi Gras, and no one was very happy about it.  I railed against my in-laws, yelling at them constantly, disrespecting them, and making them feel so unwelcome in my home.

Then, one spring day, in 2002, I was laid off from work. Not only was I not bringing home love, charity, and integrity, but now, I was not brining home a paycheck either. Couple this with the many instances my wife had caught me using the porn, and she had enough. She wrote it out on a piece of paper, “You take this, I’ll take that; we’re done, I want a divorce”!

The Turn
Vs. 17: But when he came to himself he said, `How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!  18: I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;  19: I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘ 

My whole world was crashing down around me.  I had lost my job, was losing my house, and now my marriage too. I had nothing left, nowhere to turn, and nothing to hope for.

Feeling totally lost, and desperate,  I turned to the one person who I was sure would not be there for me. I mean, I was never there for Him so why would He give me the “time of day”?  I opened up the bible I was given in RCIA class to St. Matthew chapter five and began reading those beatitudes. I didn’t know what else to do,  I had no idea what to expect, so I just read them over and over again.  My heart began to fill up with so much emotion and desperation, I was overcome with a great urge to get on my knees.

The Confession
Vs. 20: And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.  21: And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 

I got down on my knees and I said, “God, I can not do this… you’re going to have to do this.”  I cannot explain how, but in that instant God allowed me to mystically understand things that I didn’t understand the very instant before. It was like the “scales” fell from my eyes. The moment before, I would have rationalized with you, “we were all born sexual beings, pre-marital sex, masturbation, fornication, porn, ‘free-love’… it’s all natural, everyone does it! Yes of course we practice contraception, its irresponsible not to! I mean, after all, its her body, and who are you, God, to tell her what to do with it?!?”

In that miraculous instant of time, God allowed me another wonderful moment of great clarity, and I no longer wanted to make excuses for my selfish ways. Not knowing exactly how I understood for the first time in my life that I had to maintain sexual integrity and practice chastity. For the first day, since I was about ten years old, I would not masturbate.

The “novelty” that women were not objects to be consumed but made in the image and likeness of God himself to be truly loved and cherished– this idea both confused me and mystified me.  My marriage was permanent, and worth saving, worth working for, yes, even worth suffering for, and I would need to beg my wife to stay and work it out.

The last, but certainly not the least, gift I was given that day was an insatiable thirst and hunger to know God.  In the moment before, I turned to my bible out of desperation but now, in this moment, I could not get enough of God’s word and I had to have more!

I’d had a personal encounter with the Living God but, I had no clue who He was. I was sent on a journey of discovery that would lead me back to the Catholic Church through the graces I had received in the sacraments.

The Restoration

Vs. 22: But the father said to his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet;  23: and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry;  24: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry. 

A few weeks later I entered the confessional, begging God for mercy for decades of debauchery, abortion, and licentious behavior, not expecting to really receive it but, as I kneeled there, I heard the voice of Christ, through the person of the priest come through the screen saying the most beautiful words I had ever heard… “I absolve you of all your sins!”

How many times have I prayed for forgiveness, on my knees even, in solitude of my bedroom, but have never heard God’s voice?  Every time I watched porn, masturbated, or slept with a woman, I was seeking satisfaction but only and every time I  found shame. No matter how many times I “confessed” it privately, I never found God’s mercy, never receiving the assurance I so desperately desired.  But, here, in this confessional, I came as a slave wallowing in the mud with the pigs, and my Father restored my dignity as a son of the Most High God!  I was lost, but now was found! I was dead, but am alive again!  God clothed me in His mercy, and I was a slave no longer.  Now, I am truly free to pursue holiness, to live the beatitudes, now I realize that I was not born to lust, but to truly love; for Christ came to set us free from sin and death.

Over the course of the next several years our Lord would lead me to His cross, teaching me the vital tools of virtue, chastity, continence, and objectivity, so that I may combat my temptations with a healthy Christian response.  I learned to avert my eyes, cut off the avenues of lust, and avoid the near occasions of sin, praying to Our Lady for help, and reminding myself of the dignity, value, and gift, of women.

I developed the skill to never allow a temptation to enter my thoughts without a fight.  God is truly good, He has blessed me with a beautiful, loving and patient wife and 5 rambunctious and wonderful children. In spite of my unworthiness, I’m so blessed to spend my days sharing the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic faith with others in my work at Fullness Of Truth Catholic Evangelization Ministries. It never ceases to amaze me how God has opened so many doors, real opportunities, to be used by Him, for His glory, in the lives of other men who have, and still do, struggle with sexual sin.

Sharing my testimony with others has even changed my life and relationship with my father. Unbeknownst to me at the time, back in 2002, the same year God brought me to my knees, my father also had an encounter with Christ, giving his life to Jesus.  Given the way in which he had lived his life, it would take some time before my sister and I would realize the fruits of his transformation.  I had received many letters over the years from him but there was one that stands out the most.  He hand wrote a letter asking me to forgive him for the sins he committed and for the effects they have wrought in my life.  I wasn’t even the only one, he also wrote to my sister and my mother, as well as others, asking each of them for their forgiveness. I knew at that point he was no longer the same man however, it would be a talk I gave in July of 2008 at men’s conference, on this journey, that would change our relationship forever. After hearing my testimony my father wrote to me, “it was like getting to know you for the first time, son… I am so proud of you!”

The cycle of sin handed on from one generation to the next will end with me! My father inherited pornography addiction and sexual license from his father, and me from him. We once talked of conquest together… now, thanks be to God, we talk of what we both now love most… Jesus Christ!  I have drawn the “line in the sand” and have declared “this far and no further!” My sons will not inherit this from me… they will not find porn in my home! My daughters will know that they are precious in my eyes and daughters of the Most High God, never to be used as objects rather to be truly loved and deeply understood. Although my father is not Catholic (in deed he is a deeply committed Christian) we have much in common and God is leading us on a journey together towards the day when we shall sit together at the same table, the wedding feast of the lamb!

Temptations will come, and I may fall again, but God in His infinite wisdom has given us the remedy to the wounds we  receive in spiritual combat…. the sacraments.  What a gift we have in reconciliation, to experience our Father running to meet us on the road, falling upon our neck, and lifting us up from feeding the swine to feasting at His table in His kingdom as His sons!  Don’t waste another moment of your life living in your sins, cut off from the life of God, repent and confess, for “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (St. Luke 15:10)!

Notes: Verses taken from Revised Standard Translations. Emphasis added.

CLICK HERE for more information or to register!

During the Advent Season, Christians everywhere turn their hearts toward the feast day of Our Lord’s birth. It is often the only time of the year that many Christians will pay any attention to the Mother of Jesus, His first disciple, Mary, Our Mother. In this LIVE webinar, we will look at why the Catholic Church seems to place so much emphasis on Mary’s role in Salvation History and why she is the ideal model for evangelizing the world for her Son, Jesus Christ. In addition to music by Justin Stroh and more, the keynote presentations will be delivered by Dr. Michael Barber (Professor of Scripture at John Paul The Great University), Dr. John Bergsma (Professor of Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville) and John W. Garcia (Events Director at St. Joseph Communications). Don’t miss it! Invite a friend!

Who is the first person in the Bible to be called the “son of God”? If you answered Jesus, you would be incorrect. Actually, that title was bestowed on an individual about 1000 years before Christ was conceived.

2 Samuel 7:[11] from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.

[12] When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

[13] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

[14] I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;

[16] And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.’”

Maybe I’m too much of a Catholic Bible geek but, I found this absolutely fascinating because of the rich typology at play here in the Old Testament. Did you catch the three elements? One, God will raise up David’s son. Two, God will establish his kingdom forever and three, he will be a “son of God”!  God is fulfilling, partially at least, the covenant oath He swore to Abraham in Genesis 22, all Nations (same word as Gentiles) shall be blessed through him and his seed.  Sarah really did bare kings to the world after all. So why is this so cool? Now fast forward and read the Gospel of St. Luke.

St. Luke 1: [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

[33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Wow! Did you catch that? The same three elements are at play… He will be both the son of David and the Son of God, and, He will inherit the Kingdom of His father David and that kingdom will have no end.   So the kingdom Jesus established was actually begun with David and Solomon and brought to its perfection in Jesus.  ”Ok, that’s neat and all but, why is that important?” I hear ya… more bible geek stuff but, how does it apply?

Well, I’m in the process of writing a book about my “personal” relationship with Jesus the King of the Universe.  During my conversion to the Church I had a personal encounter with Christ. Christ made himself known to me in a deep and profound way on a Spring day in 2002. I knelt down and had the proverbial ”let-go-and-let-God” moment.  When I got off my knees I was a changed man. I couldn’t explain it, it was completely foreign to me and it took some time, and witness, to prove to my wife that I had been transformed. I didn’t hear voices or see any visions… not the simple… God simply allowed me to mysticaly experience his presence and opened my eyes to my own sin. I had a real, personal, encounter with the living God, however, there was one thing I knew for sure… I didn’t have a clue who He was!  Yes, I had been to Sunday School growing up, yes, I had been through RCIA in the Church however, I knew I knew nothing of who this God was… only that he loved me enough to not give up on me.  God placed on my heart that day a deep and unquenching desire to get to know him.   It set me on a journey of discovery that led me back home in the Catholic Church.  (Want to hear a fuller version of that story? Click HERE.)

Ok, before I get too carried away, let’s get back to David and Jesus.  Part of what I hope to accomplish in the book is to show the correlation between the structure of David’s kingdom and that of our Lord Jesus Christ. In my journey to the Church I struggled with the Pope, Mary, the Bishops, Priests and the Eucharist to name a few.  I simply couldn’t see the “Catholic” structure or hierarchy in the Bible… at least not until I discovered how to read the bible in a typological sense (check out “A Father Who Keeps His Promises” by Dr. Scott Hahn). What I discovered was the Old and New Testaments fit perfectly together.

Let me show you a few examples of how Jesus has perfected the kingdom of David. We will look at the structure, key components, of the Kingdom God established with David in 2 Sam. 7. These same characteristics will come to their perfection in the Kingdom of Jesus as described in the New Testament. Oh, and before I do that, did I mention to you that David’s Dynasty was the longest in human history? Yes, its true, a son of David sat on the throne of the kingdom of David longer than any other dynasty anywhere else in the world at any point in history.  David’s kingdom also receives high marks for the least amount of assignation attempts on the sitting king.  Oh yes, bible geek stuff… I love it!

David’s kingdom possessed 12 ministers of the court that ruled over Israel and provided food. When Solomon ascended to the throne of his father David,  he did a few things that were interesting, one of which was that he reinstated the 12 Princes of Israel (more on this in a minute).

1 Kings 4:[7] Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each man had to make provision for one month in the year.

Now, look back to Exodus 24, Moses set up 12 Princes/priests to offer 12 sacrifices on 12 pillars. Moses took the blood from the 12 and thew it on the alter of God and then sprinkled it upon the people saying “behold the blood of the covenant!” Joshua too will lead the people with these 12 Princes, crossing the Jordan river and marching on Jericho.  So too does Jesus set up his 12 Princes to serve in HIS court and RULE over the people and provide them FOOD.

Matthew 14:[19] Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. [20] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

Luke 22:[19] And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [20] And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Matthew 19:[28] Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

What is this food that the King gives to His 12 to distribute to His household? The bread of life! Like the 12 Priests under Moses who offered sacrifice for the people, so do the 12 under Jesus. Like the 12 under Joshua who lead the people into the promised land, so do the 12 under Jesus lead us into the promised land (heaven). Like the 12 under the son of David, who serve in the court of the King, providing food for the house of the king, the people, and ruling over Israel, so do the 12 under Jesus sit on 12 thrones, ruling over Israel and feeding His house!

David’s kingdom possessed 1 man which bore the “keys of the kingdom” of the house of the King. This “over-the-house”, or chief steward/prime minister, wore the keys upon his shoulder so that all in the kingdom would know that that man was second in charge and answered only to the King himself.  This man posses incredible authority, bestowed up him by the King, so long as he occupies the office of the Chief steward. Once he dies, or is deposed, he is replaced with another.  The Prime Minister was so vital to the kingdom that he was to serve as a “father” to the people, a “pappa” of sorts.   This was also seen in the role of Joseph in Egypt back in Genesis. Let’s first look at the account of Joseph and then at the Kingdom of David.

Genesis 41:[39] So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are;

[40] you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”

[41] And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

[42] Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

[43] and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.

[44] Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

 

 Isaiah 22:[15] Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him:

[19] I will thrust you from your office, and you will be cast down from your station.

[20] In that day I will call my servant Eli’akim the son of Hilki’ah,

[21] and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

[22] And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

So it would appear that Solomon was instituting this office in the Kingdom of David, modeled after the Kingdom of Egypt (1 Kings 4:5). So, does Jesus also have a Chief Steward, a Over-The-house, a  Prime Minister, who will be bear the “keys of the kingdom”? Let’s take a look.

Matthew 16:[18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.

[19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

 

Luke 22:[31] “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

[32] but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.”

 

John 21:[15] When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

[16] A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

[17] He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Just as Solomon, the wise man who built the House of God upon the “even shetiyah” (lierally the foundation stone) appointed a Chief Steward who bore his keys, how much more the King of Kings, one greater than Solomon (Luke 11:31), who built HIS house upon the foundation stone of Peter, also appoint a Chief Steward who bares the keys of HIS kingdom? Just as the “Prime Minister” of the kingdom of David was to be a “father” to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so too will the “Prime Minister” of the kingdom of Jesus be a “Pappa” (a “Pope” in Italian), a father, to the inhabitants of the NEW Jerusalem which is the Church of the Lamb of God (Hebrews 12).

David’s kingdom possessed a Queen who was the mediator of the people to the King. Question? Which of King Solomon’s 1000 wives was the Queen? Or any other son of David for that matter? None is the answer!  Polygamy is riddled with complications, a by-product when you pervert the natural order and intent of God’s design for marriage, and therefore choosing the Queen among the thousands of wives and concubines of the King would only start a civil war among the family.  So, who got to be Queen? The Mother of the King is who!  The Mother of Solomon was the first to posses the office, yes I said office, of “The Great Lady” which continued all the way until the Babylonian exile in 597 BC (c.f. Jer. 13:18, the Queen is also dethroned due to her role in the disobedience of the people). The Queen Mother would sit at the right hand of the King and mediate between the people and the King, her son. (I would recommend you read “Queen Mother” by Dr. Edward Sri (HERE) and “Hail Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God,” by Dr. Scott Hahn (HERE). Both are FANTASTIC resources to help you see just how scripturally sound Catholic teaching is on Mary.  You might also want to check out the stuff I’ve recorded on Mary and the saints listed on my Apologetics pageHERE. )

1 Kings 2:[17] And he said, “Pray ask King Solomon — he will not refuse you — to give me Ab’ishag the Shu’nammite as my wife.”

[18] Bathshe’ba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”

[19]So Bathshe’ba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adoni’jah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right.

[20] Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother; for I will not refuse you.”

[21] She said, “Let Ab’ishag the Shu’nammite be given to Adoni’jah your brother as his wife.”

Is it just me, or do you find that truly remarkable? The King of the kingdom bows down to his mother, has a throne brought in  for her (same Hebrew word for the kings throne is used for her’s… both are thrones!) and then SHE sits at the KINGS right hand!  That is huge! Even though the Queen’s request is not granted in this example, it still goes to show how the “Great Lady” is fulfilling her role as the mediator between the people and her son the King (want to know why the request wasn’t granted? Well, in a nut-shell, Adoni’jah was trying to pull a fast one… he who has the Kings wives IS the King! Bathsheba tried to warn him but, he didn’t listen.). Ok, so what do you think the chances are that Jesus will have a Queen Mother of his very own?  I’ll give you 3 guesses and the first two won’t count!

Luke 1:[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

[27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

[28] And he came to her and said, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

 

Revelation 12:[1] And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;

[5] she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne

[13] And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child.

[14] But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, …

[17] Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. …

Doesn’t it just make sense that the King of the Kingdom would have for His Queen His own Mother? If its true for Solomon, how much more of Jesus? Mary is the Mother of the male child who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who will “…be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). So the Angel of God, Gabriel, declares Mary to be “The Full of Grace” (or the “Hail, O favored one” as my RSV translation renders it), a declaration of her position in the Kingdom of her son.  This is a title, Mary is the NEW “Great Lady” who will intercede on behalf of her son, the King.

John 6:[1] On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

[2] Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.

[3] When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

[4] And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

[5] His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.“

Unlike the request Bathsheba makes on behalf of Adoni’jah, this request made by Mary, the King grants. Jesus not only gives them wine but, He does so in great abundance… the choicest of wines!  Take a minute to reread John 1 & 2… notice the props and the players on the stage.  By the time you reach the wedding feast of Cana where are you? On the 7th day of a new creation. What is going on? A marriage feast. Who are the only people named in this scene? Jesus and Mary. What does Jesus call Mary? Woman.  Does this remind you of anything? Yes, Genesis 1 & 2 perhaps?  Its a NEW creation culminating in a NEW marriage feast with a NEW Adam and Eve. Just like the first wedding feast pointed to the “hour” that Adam and “Woman” would be tested in a garden, so too does this NEW wedding feast point forward to the “hour” when the New Adam and “Woman” would be tested also in a garden, the garden of Calvary.  Unlike the first Adam, who sinned saved his flesh and gave up his soul, the NEW Adam will give up His flesh and save our souls by entrusting His to His Father!

Do you see the design? The intent? The purpose with which God has written salvation history? If Jesus is the Son of God, the Son of David, then he posses the Kingdom of David in perfection. If David’s Kingdom has 12 ministers who feed the people fo the house of the King, so too does Jesus have 12 Priests who give His body and His blood as FOOD for the people in His house (John 6:55). If David’s kingdom had 1 man over the 12, who possessed the “keys of his kingdom” and was a father to his people, so too does Jesus have 1 man over the 12, who possesses the “keys of the kingdom” and is the father to His people. If David’s kingdom has a Queen Mother who sits at the right hand of the king, mediating on behalf of the people, so too does Jesus have a Queen Mother interceding for “…her offspring, … those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. …” (Rev. 12:17).

Why? Because Jesus truly is the Son of God and there is one more perfect than the Son of David, Solomon, here, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Just think about that for a moment… you have a personal relationship with the King of the Universe. If you love Him; won’t you love His Ministers and Queen too? To plagiarize Dr. John Bergsma (Professor of Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville OH), If you will follow Jesus, as His beloved disciple, then you must also take his mother into your home (John 19:26-27) and follow Peter (John 21:19-25).   It’s true, we have a very personal relationship with Jesus but, let us not forget that he is the King of the Universe whose court is in session and whose minsters He appointed to rule over us. Let us also remember that we have a Queen Mother who never ceases to intercede on our behalf to her Son, the King. May Mary whisper your name into the ear of her Son!  Now go and follow Him!

“The Law Of Love: Linking the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Calvary”

I want to thank the men of the “Catholic Men’s Retreat” of Wyoming for inviting me to speak to them about one my favorite subjects… typology!  In this series of 6 lectures we attempted to examine the question… why did Jesus have to suffer and die just to redeem us from our sin? If Jesus is God, then why not just “will” our redemption? To go through so much for us, the mocking, the stripes of the scourging, the crown of thorns, the out-pouring of his blood, being cut off from his people and nailed to a tree… there must have been a very good reason. In seeking the answer to this question we endeavor to become the “Man in the Garden!”

Testimonial:

Thank you for one of the most inspirational weekends of my life. You are much than “entertaining.” I learned more about the bible in one weekend than my whole life. I enjoyed our conversations  through out the whole trip. God bless you and your family. Thank you for everything you have done for me and the men at our retreat. When I get the pictures I will send them to you.

Kenny,

The Talks:

The Intro Talk – “Why the Cross?“:

Download MP3 , Download Outline

The Theme Song – “Make Us Courageous” (Orig. by Casting Crowns):

Download MP3

Talk 1- “The Coward Of The Garden“:

Download MP3  , Download Outline

Talk 2 – “A New Adam, A New Creation, A New Lamb” :

Download MP3  , Download Outline

Talk 3 – “A Savior Is Born, A Priest King Has Come“:

Download MP3  , Download Outline Note: The last half of the audio didn’t record through my H2, so I pulled the audio from a video source but the quality was not as good.

Talk 4 – “Its A New Garden“:

Download MP3  , Download Outline

Talk 5 – “The Law Of Love: The Total Self-Gift“:

Download MP3  , Download Outline

Resources used in preparing for these talks:

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church – HERE
• Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, of the Bible – HERE
• A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God’s Covenant Love in Scripture, Dr. Scott Hahn - HERE
• Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfillment of God’s Saving Promises (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library), Dr. Scott Hahn – HERE
• Understanding the Scriptures, Dr. Scott Hahn – HERE
• MORE Books from Dr. Scott Hahn – HERE
• Lectures on the Book of Exodus by Dr. Scott Hahn – HERE
• The Splendor of the Church: Audio Study from the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology- HERE
• Also check out the other great courses – FREE – HERE
• The Institute of Catholic Culture Lectures – HERE
• Jesus And The Jewish Roots Of The Eucharist, Dr. Brant Pitre – HERE
• MOUNTAINS AND MEDIATORS: A SURVEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT [VOLUME 1], Dr. John Bergsma – HERE
• MOUNTAINS AND MEDIATORS: A SURVEY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT [VOLUME 2], Dr. John Bergsma – HERE
• More great resources from Dr John Bergsma – HERE
• The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (New Studies in Biblical Theology), GK Beale – HERE
• From Shadows to Reality: Studies in the Biblical Typology of the Fathers, Cardinal Jean Danielou – HERE
• Lectures on the Gospel of John  - “The Word Became Flesh”, Dr. Hahn, Dr. Pitre, Dr. Barber & Dr Bergsma – Here
• Lectures on the Book of Revelation – “The Mystery Unveiled”, Dr. Hahn, Dr. Pitre, Dr. Barber & Dr Bergsma - Here
• Lectures on the Gospel of Matthew – “Thy Kingdom Come”, Dr. Hahn, Dr. Barber & Dr Bergsma - Here
• The Targums – HERE