Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Cordial Catholic

Home
Catholic

2017-03-28T11:21:00-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If the Church is a Field Hospital, Lent is Our Medicine

Last updated on: March 28, 2017 at 11:21 am By K. Albert Little

Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis likened the Catholic Church to a field hospital. Rather than a stuffy religious organization, the Holy Father urged us to view the Church as a kind of guerrilla movement—tending to the sick and wounded on the battlefield. Frankly, this sounds an awful lot like the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed. I have a feeling Pope Francis is on to something. A wise, non-Catholic friend of mine, once remarked that if the Church truly is like... Read more

2017-03-28T06:06:33-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How an Evangelical Learned to Love the Saints

Last updated on: March 28, 2017 at 6:06 am By K. Albert Little

I didn’t know about the saints until my thirties but I came by my ignorance honestly. As an Evangelical we didn’t talk about the saints. If we did, it was to condemn those idol-worshiping Catholics who named and adorned their places of worship with statues of these long dead heretics. Who prayed to mere men and women in the place of Christ. Who worshiped the dead. (We were rather crude in our assessment.) Now, as a Catholic, I find myself enamored... Read more

2017-07-27T14:42:19-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Shouldn’t Christian Unity Be More Important Than We Make It?

Last updated on: July 27, 2017 at 2:42 pm By K. Albert Little

When Jesus prayed, in the Gospel of John, for all future Christians he prayed, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” (John 17:21a) This kind of closeness—this kind of unity—is difficult to imagine. God, as we understand Him, is triune: Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit existing in one and the same Being. One beautiful old hymn reminds us, “The Godhead, three-in-one.” This is a closeness... Read more

2017-07-27T14:43:07-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

You “Cultural Catholics” Are Killing Me

Last updated on: July 27, 2017 at 2:43 pm By K. Albert Little

As I stood in what seemed like the longest line on earth—penance for something, somewhere, I’m sure—I couldn’t help but notice the exaggerated golden crucifix hanging around the neck of the nearest cashier. The cashier who ever… so… slowly bagged item after agonizing item for the shoppers ahead of me as if she were a robot whose batteries were just… about… fully… drained. In the twelve eternal minutes I spent waiting, I rolled my eyes so many times I’d be surprised if... Read more

2017-03-08T10:39:59-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s Lent: Prepare to be Tempted

Last updated on: March 8, 2017 at 10:39 am By K. Albert Little

One of the ever-bearing gifts of the Catholic Church is incredible depth of her teaching. Spanning over two thousand years the Church boasts incredible thinkers from Augustine to Aquinas; from Henri Nouwen to Cardinal Newman; from St. Francis of Assisi to, one of my personal favourites, St. Francis de Sales. Living and writing some 400 years ago, St. Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva at a time of crisis for the Christian Church. He stands out for his poignant responses to the... Read more

2017-03-04T14:56:49-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Creflo Dollar Made Me a Catholic

Last updated on: March 4, 2017 at 2:56 pm By K. Albert Little

The prosperity Gospel movement is bizarre given that Jesus was unequivocal about wealth but, like the secular spirituality of many popular American celebrities, the movement soldiers on. While it might be a stretch to say that someone like Creflo Dollar made me a Catholic it would be accurate to say that the possibility of theological interpretations like Dollar’s are, in large part, what’s driven me in my search for deeper truth. A search which has landed me on the... Read more

2017-03-01T21:15:58-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why Abstinence from Meat on Fridays Makes Sense

Last updated on: March 1, 2017 at 9:15 pm By K. Albert Little

In a Church that celebrates the Rosary, changes its liturgical vestments for every season, and upholds a historic teaching of the Real Presence in the Communion celebration it’s not a stretch to call Catholicism a physical faith. That physicality, among other things, remains a serious draw for converts like myself—the tug of a faith which emphasises not just the head and the heart but the hands, too. So it makes sense, especially during the Lenten period, that Catholics are called to... Read more

2017-02-28T21:19:23-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m Giving Up Complaining for Lent (and I Already Hate It)

Last updated on: February 28, 2017 at 9:19 pm By K. Albert Little

Every Lent, for the past several years, I’ve given up complaining. It’s liberating. And soul-making. And hard. Complaining is one of those things that just doesn’t seem very Christian. Complaint is the salve of the soul, said no saint ever. And although a fairly sufficient argument could be made that Job, one of the most famous characters in the Old Testament, was a voracious complainer he was, likewise, roundly rebuked. By the Almighty, nonetheless. No, complaining does no good. It solves no problems,... Read more

2017-02-20T13:55:07-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is the Church Just an Invisible Collection of Believers?

Last updated on: February 20, 2017 at 1:55 pm By K. Albert Little

As an Evangelical Christian I understood the “Body of Christ” or “the Church” (capital C) to be an invisible collection of believers. The idea was beautiful, really, because it meant that somehow all Christians across the whole world no matter how important or obscure were connected by Christ into one universal Church. But this isn’t how it was understood by Early Christians and when I found that out I was a little alarmed, disappointed, and completely unprepared for what came... Read more

2017-02-17T08:04:21-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I Don’t Know How I Lived Without Coffee

Last updated on: February 17, 2017 at 8:04 am By K. Albert Little

Somewhere in those early days of university I made a definitive choice not to drink coffee. It wasn’t hard; anytime I even caught a whiff of the stuff it turned my stomach. It smelled disgusting. I had no interest. But I set my sights against it regardless. While many of my friends were pulling all-nighters and buoying themselves through their early morning classes with caffeine I was groggily drinking my orange juice or plain old water. Even when my good friend James... Read more

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The queen of Ethiopia in the time of the early church was …

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bernice Hatshepsut Esther Candace

Support this
Column

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Appearances Christian Living Explaining the Faith Podcast Tough Questions Uncategorized Why I'm Catholic

Select a Month January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 July 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Catholic