Witness, NM

A beginning of the year reflection The Eucharist is the same as it was almost two thousand years ago, and for that reason I believe that it is in our interest, now more than ever, to take it as seriously as they did in the first millennia of the Church. The Eucharist does something tangible…

An end of the year reflection The Mysteries, or Sacraments, of the Church are not a magic trick nor can be understood through the Roman Catholic lens of transubstantiation. The bread and wine are not changed into anything; it is not a transformation that is taking place, rather, it is a revelation of the underlying…

Nothing Bad Ever Happens in Winter I turned sixteen in a Holiday Inn overlooking I-85 in Commerce, Ga fourteen years ago. I was starting my sophomore year at Jefferson High School wearing a Georgia bulldogs brand polo shirt and flip-flops I bought at Jay’s department store so that I had something clean for my first…

Finding peace in a peaceful world “In time past, when heresies prevailed, many chose death through martyrdom and various tortures. Now, when we through the grace of Christ live in a time of profound and perfect peace, we learn for sure that cross and death consist in nothing else than complete mortification of self-will. He…

Drawing from the deepest well “Therefore, I say and testify to in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind. They are darkened in their understanding, cut off from God’s life because of their ignorance and because of the hardening of their…

Credit where credit is due Bello, Robert. “Lecture Series on Rome.” Western Civilization I, June/July, 2023, Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque. Campbell, Phillip. “The History of Beards in Western Christendom” — Unam Sanctam Catholicam. unamsanctamcatholicam.com/2022/09/the-history-of-beards-in-western-christendom. Acc 4 Apr. 2024. Chrysostom, John. “Eight Orations Against Judaizing Christians.” Ccjr.us, 19 Dec. 2008, ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/primary-texts-from-the-history-of-the-relationship/chrysostom#homily3. Acc 4 Apr.…

Landing the plane Throughout the first millennium of the early Church, there was a distinct effort to differentiate itself from its Jewish roots, evident in the celebration of the Eucharist using leavened bread. This practice, rooted in theological and cultural distinctions, played a significant role in shaping the divergence between Christendom in the East and…

Diverging Customs and Cultures Now that we have some historical and political context with a theological background to help understand the widening berth between the Western and Eastern Churches, we will dive in closer to their respective cultural practices. We have established that the widening chasm between Christendom was not merely theological but rooted in…

A Final History Project [Writer’s Note: This is my final project from my time at a junior college. I’ll be starting at University in a few months. I’m tired. I’m tapped. I spent a lot of time researching this and basically blew my fuse box back in April. I’ll start writing again at some point,…