Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 17

We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder

Today’s first reading at Mass was the story of Jacob’s Ladder. You remember the one–where he is traveling and he camps out by a shrine and take a rock from the shrine as a pillow? He dreams of a stairway to heaven with angels going up and down. He wakes up and calls the place [Read More...]

Is All Sin the Same?

Any kid in a half decent confirmation class will be able to tell you that all sin is not the same.

Can I Judge Another Person or Not?

In  Matthew 7. 1-5 Jesus says, Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no [Read More...]

Is Doctrine Divisive?

From time to time one hears from the progressives that “doctrine is divisive”. We’re to have “a pastoral approach” and not speak about doctrine and discipline in the church. This is a lie, and not even a very smart one, and yet it is amazing how many people fall for it. Rather than doctrine and [Read More...]

St John Fisher: A Lone Voice

Why was St John Fisher–the holy Bishop of Rochester– the only English bishop to stand up to Henry VIII? It is easy, with hindsight, to dismiss the other English bishops as cowards and compromisers. However it is not so easy. Consider the circumstances. First of all, they were in a completely new situation. Europe had [Read More...]

On Doctrine, Diamonds and Fluffernutters

Doctrine seems to be the church’s bad boy these days. We hear progressives play the victim and say, “But doctrine is so divisive! We need a pastoral approach! We need to reach out to the marginalized who have been alienated by strict doctrine and discipline!” To go off on a tangent for a moment, this [Read More...]

Faith, Grace and Good Works

An email came in the other day which showed some confusion about the role of grace, faith and good works in our salvation. The Catholic was worried because a friend said salvation was by grace alone. I think he confused this with the Protestant heresy that salvation is by faith alone. Then the Protestants protest [Read More...]

Some Straight Talk on Sex

This is the radical view of sexuality that is taught by the Catholic Church.

Growling the Gospel

What if we were to actually breathe as much hell fire into the world and growl out the gospel like we meant it?

On Priests, Cars and Cigars

My post about a priest and a sports car raised more comments over at Facebook than almost anything I have written in the past. The opinions were about 50-50. Many saying, “Go ahead Father. The people who care don’t matter and the people who matter don’t care.” Others were more cautious, saying that even if [Read More...]