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“We live in a world that is so focused on the self and individualism and each person making him- or herself their highest authority, that when you apply that sort of worldview and that sort of way of thinking to reading Scripture, then it very quickly becomes…all about me. And that’s entirely the wrong way to read Scripture…Especially as our culture has been influenced by the Protestant Reformation and Protestant Christianity, I think that we have lost our way in terms of how we are supposed to read Scripture,” said James L. Papandrea, Ph.D., a professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. Papandrea is the author of books, including “Reading Scripture Like the Early Church: Seven Insight...

Hey everybody, God rest Pope Benedict XVI. If you haven’t already done this, take a minute right now to pray for the repose of Benedict’s soul, and to pray in thanksgiving for both his life and the saving mystery of Jesus Christ, to which Benedict gave himself intellectually, pastorally, and spiritually. May perpetual light shine upon him. May he enter the eternal glory of the Lord, Jesus Christ. For many Catholics today, Benedict’s own words, preached at the funeral of Pope St. John Paul II, ring true: “Our hearts are full of sadness, yet at the same time of joyful hope and profound gratitude.” —I am writing this Tuesday Pillar Post from the airport, as I get ready to board a plane for Rome, where Ed and I will report on the mourning and funeral Mass of Benedict XVI, and spend some time i...

Benedict modeled a life dedicated to Christ and the Church in loving service. I first met Joseph Ratzinger when I was 15 years old. No, not in person, but I was given The Ratzinger Report by my pastor, Father Daniel Mahoney. He knew I was looking for answers. I had already devoured the Bible, the Catechism and several books on Church history, and I was learning more about the Byzantine and Tridentine liturgies. I was confused about what I saw in the Church, and how it didn’t line up with what I was learning. Father Mahoney thought Ratzinger could help sort it out. He was right. Even as a teenager, Ratzinger gave me assurance with his liturgical vision and rootedness in doctrine. As The Ratzinger Report related, the Church was going through a crisis following the Second Vatican Council, and...

The Mother of God is the singular, unique, unrepeatable, irreproachable saint who brought Jesus Christ, God himself, into the world and that’s why we celebrate her on the Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. But we can’t avoid an awkward fact that Protestant apologists love to bring up: In three of the Gospels, Jesus himself keeps her waiting outside and says that we are each meant to be his mother. Mark tells the story this way: “A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, ‘your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.’” Elsewhere, Mark names Jesus’s “brothers”, showing that these are not siblings but relatives, as the word was sometimes used then. The story continues: “And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Her...

The Turritopsis dohrnii is a tiny jellyfish that can age backward. When their survival is threatened by injury or starvation, they will transform themselves into a polyp — an early stage of development. Eventually, the polyps will bloom back into genetically identical jellyfish. Death will come for us all; however, the T. dohrnii isn’t the only animal that can delay it. Several animals continue moving or functioning briefly — after what seems like certain death.  1. Chickens (Credit:Majna/Shutterstock) Foundation repair In 1945, a chicken named Mike lived for 18 months after a botched beheading. Mike’s owner didn’t cut low enough on the chicken’s neck, which left some of his brain stem intact, enabling Mike to continue his life. The owner named him and cared for Mik...