Skeptical Faith

Google Image S i eres como yo, para cuando llega el 26 de diciembre ya estás harto de la temporada navideña. Después de todo, las decoraciones de Navidad han estado puestas por al menos mes y medio. Personalmente, estoy listo para guardar los adornos hasta el próximo año. Así que, en lugar de escribir sobre la Navidad, quiero escribir sobre un personaje bíblico que creo que recibe poca atención, incluso entre nosotros los católicos que estamos enamorados de los santos. Hoy es la fiesta de San Esteban, cuya historia se encuentra en los capítulos 6 y 7 de los Hechos de los Apóstoles. Hereo de la iglesia primitiva No es un santo que haya sido declarado como tal únicamente por la Iglesia Católica. Fue un héroe de la iglesia primitiva, dando su vida por su fe justo cuando la iglesia estaba comenzando. Si no estás familiarizado con los Hechos de los Apóstoles, por cierto, te recomiendo mucho leerlo o releerlo. Creo que es el más fácil l leer entre todos los libros de la Biblia, y entre lo...

Google Image If you’re like me, you’ve had enough of the Christmas season by the time Dec. 26 rolls around. After all, Christmas decorations have been up for at least a month and a half. Personally, I’m ready to put the holiday stuff away until next year. So, instead of writing about Christmas, I want to write about a biblical character that I believe gets short shrift, even among us Catholics who are enamored of saints. Today is the Feast of St. Stephen, whose story can be found in Chapters 6 and 7 of the Acts of the Apostles. He’s not a saint who has been merely declared so by the Catholic Church. He was a hero of the early church, having given his life for his faith just as the church was getting off the ground. The Easiest Read If you’re not familiar with the Acts of the Apostles, by the way, I highly recommend reading, or re-reading it. I believe it’s the easiest to read among all the books of the Bible, and among the most interesting. It was written by St. Luke, who also wr...

Google Image “Sooooo, you had excruciating pain in your chest and abdomen. “We think you had a myocardial infarction (sounding like something for which you should at least say “excuse me.”) Tests show that you have blocked arteries. We want to do a c oronary artery bypass graft .” The most intelligent thing I can think of to say is “huh?” You can’t say what you’re thinking: “Oh, this is going to hurt.” “Yes,” they continue, “we cut open your chest, hook up your heart to a machine to keep it pumping, take blood vessels from your leg, and use them to make a bypass around the blocked artery or arteries.” Open My Chest? “Wait,” I say, “you’re going to cut open my chest? What do you do about my breastbone?” “Oh, we saw right through that.” Like that makes me feel better. I’m picturing surgeons going to Home Depot and looking over the latest Poulan or Milwaukee saws and trying them out on a tree in their back yard. I had what most of us call one or more heart atta...