Category: Get Fed

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The Catholic Bible – The First Printed Book?

Did you know that when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, the first book he published was the Catholic Bible?

Before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the Western world, books were hard to find and highly valuable. Bibles were handwritten by monks and usually only clergy were able to own them. But the printing press allowed vendors to mass-produce books, newspapers, and magazines, making books and information cheaper and more accessible to everyone.

When Gutenberg created this revolutionary piece of technology, the first book he printed to distribute throughout the world was the Catholic Bible. Of all the works Gutenberg could have printed, why the Catholic Bible?

Little is known about Gutenberg other than the fact that he invented the printing press in Europe around 1450 and was a devout Catholic. After designing the printing press, he borrowed money to mass-produce Catholic bibles that could be sent throughout the world. It is believed that Gutenberg printed 180 copies of this bible, known as the Gutenberg Bible.

Many scholars note that what stands out about the Gutenberg Bible is how intricate and delicate this publication is, having been printed with high-quality materials. Today, only forty-nine copies of the Gutenberg Bible have survived.

So why is this bible so important to us? It’s important because the printing press helped spread information and ideas in a way that was not possible before. Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg, the fundamental teachings of Catholicism were able to flourish during this time.

//The Catholic Company//

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Can You Have Mass Without Music?

Sacred music isn’t required for a valid Mass, so why is it so important?

For a Mass to be valid, there must be a priest, candles, a crucifix, bread and wine to consecrate, and various other objects that you see at every Mass you’ve been to. Music is not absolutely necessary for a valid Mass, which is why there isn’t always music at a daily Mass. However, the Church places a huge value on music in the liturgy because music adds so much to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In her book Music and Meaning in the Mass, Annamaria Cardinalli shares her love for music and how it enhances the Mass. She explains that there is a certain level of mysticism that liturgical musicians bring to the sacred liturgy. According to Cardinalli, musicians help prepare the souls of the congregation for communion.

Since the graces that we receive from the Mass rely on our openness to accepting those graces, Cardinalli emphasizes that sacred music helps Catholics raise their minds to holy realities. Cardinelli encourages liturgical musicians:

When your music at Mass influences the readiness of our souls, by stirring within us a deeper grasp of what is taking place on the altar, your welcoming of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament has glorious repercussions! Imagine the increase in His grace that could be poured out on the whole world through those souls your music prepares to receive Him with love!

Sacred music plays a vital role in the Mass because it helps us focus on God’s gift to us—His Son in the Eucharist.

//The Catholic Company//

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Why do Catholics Have a Longer Bible?

Have you noticed that the Catholic Bible has more books than the Protestant version?

It’s true. We do have a longer Bible, with seven more books, because we use a different translation. While our Protestant brothers and sisters’ Bible is based on the Hebrew translation, we use the Greek translation, known as the Septuagint, which includes more books.

Many Protestants say that their version is the correct one and is not “missing books.” They have several arguments for this. One of the arguments claims that there were “400 Silent Years” between the time of Malachi (their last book) and the time of Jesus. In other words, they say that there were no divinely-inspired prophetic utterances during this period.

In his book, The Bible Is A Catholic Book, Catholic Answers apologist Jimmy Akin explains what’s wrong with this argument. First, he says, there’s no evidence that all of the books of the Old Testament were written before 400 B.C. Jimmy also says that, while each book of the Bible is divinely inspired, a writer did not have to be an official prophet to pen a divinely-inspired book:

While all of the biblical authors were divinely inspired, this didn’t mean that they functioned in society as prophets. Psalms and Proverbs attribute many passages to David and Solomon, but they were kings, not prophets. The truth is, we don’t know who wrote many Old Testament books, including all the historical ones (Joshua to 2 Chronicles), and it’s just supposition to claim that they were written by prophets. We also have no evidence that New Testament authors like Mark and Luke ever received prophetic revelations.

While there may not have been any prophets between the time of Malachi and Jesus, that doesn’t mean that God didn’t give any revelations to the writers of the remaining books in the Old Testament, which is just one of the reasons why the Catholic Church recognizes that these additional books are also divinely inspired.

//The Catholic Company//

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Why are We Catholic AND Christian?

Have you ever wondered how we became known as “Catholics” and “Christians”?

Before they were called Christians or Catholics, Jesus’ earliest disciples were known as “People of the Way.” This is likely because Jesus called Himself “the way, the truth, and the light” (John 14:6). Many names were used to describe the followers of Jesus in the early days before the term “Christians” stuck.

Acts Chapter 9, the story of St. Paul’s conversion, says, “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way… he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”

Later, the “People of the Way” would come to be universally known as “Christians.” The name “Christian” comes from the Greek word Christianos, which means “Follower of Christ.”

So how did Christians become known as “Catholics”?

The Greek word for “church” is katholikos, which translates to “universal.” The word “catholic” comes from katholikos. Since the true Church is universal, “making disciples of all nations” as Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19), the precise wording “Catholic Church” is fitting. It simply affirms that she is the “Universal Church,” the true Church established by Christ.

So, we are “Christians”—those who follow Christ—and we are also “Catholic,” that is, members of the one universal and undivided Church united throughout the whole world thanks to the evangelization of the Apostles and their successors.

//The Catholic Company//

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Are You Saved?

“Are You Saved?”

When they find out you’re a Catholic, has someone ever asked you, “Are you saved?” Here’s how to respond.

Has anyone ever told you that as long as you profess Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are “saved” and definitely going to Heaven?

It is true that the first step to our salvation is accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior through the sacrament of baptism, but our road to salvation does not end there.

In his book Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons For Faith, Hope, and Love, Trent Horn—an apologist for Catholic Answers and convert to the Faith—explains that salvation doesn’t take place in a single moment. Getting to Heaven is a process that we must cooperate with every day. Trent explains salvation with this analogy:

Imagine you are caught in a storm at sea with some friends and your boat is sinking. You hear a broadcast on your radio, telling you that if you want to be saved you must put on life jackets, report to your position, and wait for help to arrive. You then put on the life jackets and dive into the water…A few days later a rescue boat finds you, pulls you onto the deck, and you breathe a sigh of relief. “Saved!” But when exactly were you saved? Was it when you set foot on the rescue boat? Or was it when you made the initial radio call? The Bible teaches that salvation is a process that begins in the past through faith, continues throughout our lives in the present, and ends with our future eternal glory in heaven.

Jesus Himself said that “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Salvation requires perseverance in faith. We need to receive God’s grace and repent of our sins continually in order to lead holier lives and prepare our hearts for Heaven. So when someone asks, “Are you saved?” you can respond, “I have been saved, I am being saved, and I hope to be saved.” That’s the true answer!

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The Patron Saint of Televisions and Computer Screens – Saint Clare of Assisi

St. Clare of Assisi is a beloved Italian saint who was born in 1193 to an aristocratic family. She later renounced her wealthy status to follow St. Francis of Assisi’s call to embrace a lifestyle of humility and poverty. She spent several months at different monastic communities before joining other sisters in a small convent at the Church of San Damiano, given to them by Francis’s Order of Friars Minor.

St. Clare was the superior of the convent of San Damiano while still practicing the virtues of humility, charity, piety, and penitence. She cared for the sick sisters and took up basic chores such as cooking and cleaning. Her devotion to the Eucharist was so great that she performed two miracles. On two different occasions, Saracen mercenaries were about to attack the convent and impose a siege on Assisi. St. Clare simply showed the invaders the Blessed Sacrament, and they ceased in their efforts. These miracles led to her canonization in 1255.

Later in her life, St. Clare became too sick to attend Mass, and she was incredibly disappointed. It is believed that one day, she was lying in her bed when a large image appeared across her wall, as if it were a television screen. The image showed her the Mass, so St. Clare was able to watch Mass from her own bed and make an Act of Spiritual Communion. When the television was invented in the 1950s, Pope Pius XII named St. Clare the patron saint of televisions and screens, since she watched television before anyone had likely thought of the concept!

We honor St. Clare because she devoted her life to the wholehearted pursuit of Christ. We may not be called to enter a monastery or convent, but we still serve others as St. Clare did. We can imitate her virtues by visiting the lonely, caring for the sick, or doing our menial tasks with love and without complaint.

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What happened to the True Cross?

How did the Church find the relics from Jesus’ crucifixion?

Have you ever wondered what happened to Jesus’ cross? Known as “the True Cross,” for hundreds of years this highly-venerated relic was thought to be lost.

Anti-Christian Romans sought to dispel any effort to spread the Good News; that included destroying objects from Jesus’s crucifixion. According to tradition, the True Cross was buried in the ground with the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus.

Almost 300 years later, after the Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, he sent his mother, St. Helena, to the Holy Land in search of the True Cross. According to legend, St. Helena followed in Jesus’ footsteps by performing corporal works of mercy—such as feeding the hungry and visiting the sick—on her way to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy Land, some legends say a commoner led her to the True Cross, while others believe that St. Judas Cyriacus helped her find it.

St. Helena found all three crosses buried in the ground, but wasn’t sure which one belonged to Jesus. There are many different legends about how St. Helena and the bishop of Jerusalem confirmed which one was the True Cross. One myth claims the bishop of Jerusalem had an ill woman touch all three crosses. As soon as the woman touched the True Cross, she was healed.

Upon discovering the True Cross, St. Helena ordered a church to be constructed on the site where she found it This church is known as the Church of the Resurrection, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. St. Helena brought a piece of the True Cross back to the empire’s capital city, Constantinople, and left another part at the Church of the Resurrection, where Christians made a yearly pilgrimage to see the relic.

Throughout the next thousand years, the piece of the True Cross at the Church of the Resurrection changed hands many times. It was captured in 614 by the Sassanid emperor, and then restored to Jerusalem by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. Later, when the Islamic rulers took Jerusalem at the beginning of the 11th century, Greek Orthodox Christians protected and hid the relic of the True Cross, a small piece of wood embedded in a gold cross.

This relic was restored to the Church of the Resurrection when Europeans in the First Crusade captured Jerusalem. Finally, in 1187, it was captured by Saladin, the leader of the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in Levant. This piece of the True Cross has never returned and was last seen in the city of Damascus.

The piece of the True Cross that was preserved in Constantinople was shared among the Venetians and the new Eastern Roman Empire. However, threatened with bankruptcy, this new empire decided to sell the relics. St. Louis, King of France, bought several pieces of the True Cross and preserved them in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Most of these relics disappeared during the French Revolution. All that remain are a few fragments and a Holy Nail; these are preserved with the other relics in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.

//The Catholic Company//

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Get Fed –

Are all sins equal?

What’s the difference between mortal and venial sin?
Many Protestants believe that all sins are equal before God. Catholics, on the other hand, recognize that there are different kinds of sin. A venial sin is a sin that hurts your relationship with God, while a mortal sin completely breaks your relationship with God. The Church teaches that if you do not confess a mortal sin, you could go to hell.

Protestants will often quote James 2:10 to support their point: “For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” However, in his book With One Accord: Affirming Catholic Teaching Using Protestant Principles, Douglas M. Beaumont explains the real meaning of this verse and the Church’s teachings on sin.

Beaumont affirms that common sense tells us all sins aren’t equal. When someone breaks a law, they are a lawbreaker, but the consequence of their action depends on how severe their offense was. Someone who drives five miles over the speed limit is not going to have the same sentence as someone who robbed a bank.

There are several Bible verses that indicate that there is a difference between mortal and venial sin. In 1 John 5:16-17, St. John warns that even though all wrongdoing is sin, not all sins are “deadly.” Therefore, not all sins are equal.

Beaumont explains how some sins we commit are wrong, but do not separate us from God, while others are in fact more severe and completely break our relationship with Christ, and we need to seek reconciliation in order to come back to Him.

The Catholic teaching on mortal and venial sins is not only supported by Scripture, it is also fundamental to understanding our relationship with God and our salvation.

If you are looking for explanations about the Catholic faith to refute common Protestant misunderstandings, check out Douglas M. Beaumont’s With One Accord, sold here.