The Early Church Fathers

Last year, I put together a comprehensive reading plan of the three programs that I've been following in my collective Catholic study: The Bible in a Year, the Catechism in a Year, and the Rosary in a Year. It's a very handy spreadsheet, but I added something of my own: the writings of the Early Church Fathers, starting with the Didache, the first-century catechism of the faith. I finished three volumes of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, and read through Clement of Rome, Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, The Shepherd of Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, and the majority of Tertullian's works. All the aforementioned writers (except Tertullian) are now recognized as saints by the Catholic Church. Yes, it's a lot. But I learned a whole lot about the beliefs and teachings of the early Church in the process. I'm now working on Volume 4, which will conclude the writings of Tertullian along with Minucius Felix, Commodian, and the first and second parts of Origen's works; that should take me through to April.

So, what have I learned from these men? Well, first of all, they were Catholic. They taught the hierarchical structure of the Church, the real presence of the Eucharist, the primacy of the See of Peter, salvific baptism, the importance of Mary, the Trinity, the importance of relics and honoring the saints...it's all there. It's been said that 'to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant', and Cardinal Newman was correct. There simply is no distinctly Protestant doctrine anywhere to be found in the early centuries of Christianity.

The second thing is that these men were committed to the faith; many of them (most of them, in fact) were martyred for the faith. Ignatius of Antioch wrote his seven letters on his way to Rome to be killed in the arena by wild animals; Polycarp's martyrdom is recounted in one of these oldest documents (he was burned at the stake). But they refused to compromise what they had been taught; Ignatius, Clement of Rome, and Polycarp were immediate successors and students of the Apostles themselves, so their words have a lot of weight when it comes to understanding what the early Church believed.

Third, the doctrines they taught, while not formally codified as dogma, still show how the Church developed and understood those dogmas. For example, while the Trinity was not formally defined and codified until the Nicene Council in 325, it was still clearly taught earlier than that:

Our teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born for this purpose, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the times of Tiberius Caesar; and that we reasonably worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove.” Justin Martyr, First Apology, 13 (A.D. 155).

“[T]he ever-truthful God, hast fore-ordained, hast revealed beforehand to me, and now hast fulfilled. Wherefore also I praise Thee for all things, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, with whom, to Thee, and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to all coming ages. Amen.” Martyrdom of Polycarp 14 (A.D. 157).

“For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, ‘Let Us make man after Our image and likeness;’ He taking from Himself the substance of the creatures [formed], and the pattern of things made, and the type of all the adornments in the world.” Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4,20:1 (A.D. 180).

“Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is said. Now, observe, my assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other. This statement is taken in a wrong sense by every uneducated as well as every perversely disposed person, as if it predicated a diversity, in such a sense as to imply a separation among the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit…Happily the Lord Himself employs this expression of the person of the Paraclete, so as to signify not a division or severance, but a disposition (of mutual relations in the Godhead); for He says, ‘I will pray the Father, and He shall send you another Comforter. … even the Spirit of truth,’ thus making the Paraclete distinct from Himself, even as we say that the Son is also distinct from the Father; so that He showed a third degree in the Paraclete, as we believe the second degree is in the Son, by reason of the order observed in the Economy.” Tertullian, Against Praxeas, 9 (A.D. 213).

As a Catholic online, I do get into a lot of discussions about the faith on different sites, and it's good to know that I'm not alone in standing up for these truths; I'm standing on the shoulders of giants who literally gave their lives in the pursuit of the truth. And that's why I am, and always will remain, Catholic.

Habemus Episcopum!

Well, that was quite the experience. Today was a huge day here on Prince Edward Island, at least for the Catholic part of the island. Today, our new bishop was installed. The prior bishop retired at the height of COVID due to age and cancer, and we've been without a bishop for over two years.

So, as of right now, that is over. Bishop Joseph Dabrowski is officially the Bishop of Charlottetown and all of Prince Edward Island. And my wife and I got to be there, with great seats.

 Bishop Dabrowski is Polish, and the mass was livestreamed so his parents back home could watch it happen. Here's the livestream replay:

How good were the seats? The video starts at 7:30; my wife and I are in the very first shot, behind the Filipino nun (there were two nuns in front of us, but one is hidden behind the man in the next row). Beside us is one of the deacons from our old parish in Ontario and his wife; they know the Bishop well, and wanted to be here for the mass.

The coolest thing about this for us is that Bishop Dabrowski was the auxiliary bishop in our old diocese, the Diocese of London, Ontario. In fact, he confirmed our oldest boy six years ago. So, it was great to see him attain this position; from what we can tell, he is definitely worthy of the post. I pray that our faith is not misplaced.

After the mass, we got to meet the Bishop, and while he didn't remember us (no surprise there), he was very pleasant and said he'd be happy to come to our farm (we grow potatoes, which apparently are a big deal in Poland). Deacon Richard took the picture below for us.

So, plenty of prayers for our new bishop; may God guide him and strengthen him in these trying times, and may he remain faithful to the teachings of the Apostles. We really, really need that today.

The Simple Things

For Lent, we are supposed to either give something up, or make some sort of change from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. For most years, I've given up chocolate. It's simple, and yet it's hard. You don't realize how much something like chocolate is a part of your life until you give it up for nearly seven weeks.

But this year, Dannielle asked me to do something different. I tend to be less than attentive to the family, especially the kids, when I've had a long day at work or I'm just tired, and my go-to for winding down is the computer. Writing, watching videos, reading, whatever. It gets my mind back on track. But it comes with the cost of not spending enough time with my kids.

So, this year, that's what I'm doing. I'm doing more with the family, and less on my own. At least, until they go to bed. Then, it's my time to do whatever I want.

Of course, there are other things that need to be done; tax season is upon us, and I'm the person who does our family's taxes. So, that's got to be taken care of, the sooner the better. And there's a farm to deal with; spring is approaching, so we need to have things figured out by then. That's coming along, albeit slowly. There's a lot of stuff to sort through when planning a big garden like this one. But I will get it done.

But tonight, Dannielle brought home a puzzle from her shopping trip to town. It's a 400-piece Cars puzzle starring Lightning McQueen and his friends. Mommy was going to do the puzzle with him after supper, but he started on it before we sat down to eat, and once I was done eating he insisted that Daddy was going to help him.

I would have been fine if the puzzle was on a table. But no, it was on the living room floor. So, my creaky old bones got down on the floor beside him, and we worked on that puzzle for nearly two hours. My knees are still pissed off at me. Still, it was a nice evening with my son, and he was happy. That's what matters in the end.

And now, I'm going to book a knee replacement surgery. If you'll excuse me...

While I'm doing that, you might want to check out my newest book, Crystal Lilac, now available in e-book and paperback formats at an Amazon website near you. Check it out, and enjoy!

Bible Study

I know, it's not exactly a writing topic. But it is a topic of interest to a lot of people. Since I'm Catholic, I look for Catholic Bible studies. Yes, they exist, and yes, they are awesome. The most well-known one among Catholic circles these days is the Great Adventure Bible Timeline series, which breaks the Bible into two sets of books: Narrative and supplemental. The narrative books tell the main story from Genesis to Acts; the supplemental books enhance the story, but aren't necessarily the plotline of the story. That's not to say they aren't important books; they are. But how may people have tried to read the Bible from start to finish and gotten stuck halfway through Exodus or the first few pages of Leviticus? that's what the GABT seeks to avoid. And it does a good job.

However, that series costs money. Lots of it, in fact; it's a set of videos and printing materials, so there's quite the start-up cost to get going. A similar study program that is available for free is the Agape Bible Study webpage, with dozens of Bible studies covering more than half the Old Testament and all of the New Testament. Lots and lots of stuff there, so it's worth checking out.

Another thing I found on their website just the other day is the Sunday Readings list. Now, those are easy enough to find; there are hundreds of sites that list the Sunday readings, including official church sites. But the Agape list isn't just the readings; it's also a study guide to the week's readings and how they connect and fit into the Church's teachings. That is a great resource, and one I'm definitely going to make use of here at home.

Check them out, and see the amazing stuff that's available for Bible study. You won't regret it.

Bible in a Year

This is posting after midnight, but it still counts.

Doing an annual read-through of the Bible is an interesting challenge. There are a few reading plans out there, some of which are pretty straightforward, where you just start at Genesis and slog through all the way to Revelation. The one I've used for the past six years breaks the Bible up into three parts, reading a section of each part daily; the OT history and prophets, the psalms and wisdom books, and the New Testament. It's worked well, but there are times when it wears a bit thin, and the going gets tough. Particularly when you repeat it every year.

This year, I'm doing it differently. I'm not simply pulling out a Bible and reading it. I'm listening to it instead. It's a podcast by Father Mike Schmitz, available on YouTube, and it's got a great method of breaking down the Bible where the narrative story is the focus. Fourteen books are the main focus of the study: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, Luke, and Acts. If you read those 14 books, you get the story of salvation as presented in the Bible.

The other fifty-nine books are being read as well, but in context with the primary fourteen books. The reading plan follows the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, which divides the Bible up into twelve historical periods: the Early World (Gen 1-11), the Patriarchs (the rest of Genesis), Egypt and Exodus, Desert Wanderings (Numbers), Conquest and Judges, Royal Kingdom (1 & 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11), Divided Kingdom (1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17), Exile (2 Kings 18-25), Return (Ezra & Nehemiah), Maccabean Revolt, Messianic Fulfillment (Luke), and The Church (Acts).

I started the podcast a little late; I listened to the introductory posts first, then the first day's readings yesterday on my way home from work. It covered Genesis 1 & 2 and Psalm 19. It's only twenty minutes, but Father Mike had some great insights into how to understand the first two chapters of Genesis and the story of Creation. I highly recommend this, and I'm only going into day two today.

Here's the link to the reading plan: https://ascensionpress.com/pages/biy-registration

The podcast is available on YouTube or on the Ascension Press website. Here's the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QzUlsjD3k3UnRBLz_Y3DYQGv-mQAqy0

Always Learning

There's an old saying, 'when you stop learning, you start dying.' I love to learn. I wasn't always keen on doing new things, but I always loved learning something new. I've gotten better at the 'new things' part (I'm living on a farm and raising chickens and vegetables, for Pete's sake), but that love of learning never, ever went away.

I mentioned yesterday that I'm going to pick up my French again after a whole bunch of years. It should be easy going at first, since I still have the basics buried deep in my psyche. I'm sure it will get tougher as I go, but I'll get it done.

I'm also doing some Latin, which I've done on-and-off for over thirty years, without ever really getting deep into it. It's too bad; that's a lot of years when I could have been reading the classics in their original language. After I get the Latin done, I'll move onto Greek so I can do the rest of the classics.

And of course, I've always loved history. There's just something about history that speaks to me like nothing else does. So, when I found a Youtube series that covers World History, I had to check it out. It's by Crash Course, and it covers 42 lessons from the agricultural revolution to modern globalism. I'm thinking it will be a good homeschooling course, although I'll have to see a few more videos before I'm certain.

Finally, I'm resuming my annual Bible study. I've read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year since 2016. This year, I'm taking a different approach, using Fr. Mike Schmitz's 'Bible in a Year' program. It's a different method, since it involves reading the Bible chronologically instead of from front to back. It focuses on the narrative story in the Bible, from Genesis to Acts, while sprinkling in psalms, prophets and New Testament writings in their historical context. I'm looking forward to it. And since it's podcasts, I can listen to it in the car on the way to and from work. Time saver!

I'm also beginning to study the Early Church Fathers, the successors to the Apostles. Learning about how they understood the teachings of the early Church is an invaluable resource to understanding Christianity as it was meant to be. I've got five books of them on my bookshelf, big thick books with tiny writing that cover the first three centuries of Christian history. It's a great set, and I've got quite a few more books to go before I complete it.

Then there's the gardening and farming that I'm learning about. I'm going to be working hard this spring to get these bigger gardens going. There's a learning curve involved, and I'm doing everything I can to make that curve smaller. We'll see the results in the summer and fall.

These are just some of the learning examples I'm focusing on in 2023. And I'm also going to be doing some teaching. My son, Tanner, and some of his friends are interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons. I'm going to be teaching them how it's done, old-school. Tanner is quite excited, and if all goes well, we might have our first game this weekend. We shall see.

All this learning has a purpose, of course. It's going to help me with my writing, as well as teaching my kids and (eventually) grandkids. And, who knows? They might decide to follow us into a farming life. I certainly hope so; I planted those trees in the back yard for them. I hope they'll get to enjoy them.

Take Me to Church

Well, finally!

Yes, the Diocese of London has finally given grudging permission for Catholics to go back to mass, albeit with a boatload of restrictions, guidelines, and recommendations. We're dipping our toes back in the sacraments, but after three months of this nonsense, it's about damn time.

I don't make much of an issue on this blog about my faith, because I haven't felt it was the right place for it. I've shared my opinions on other blogs and websites, under anonymity; in today's cancel culture, not giving people the opportunity to doxx you is wise. My purpose for this blog, though, is to advertise my books and share my 'safe' thoughts with people on topics that I like, such as writing, gaming, music, etc. So, this is a bit of a stretch for me in terms of blogging. So be it; it's time.

I'm not happy with the way things have gone in the Church over the past few years. Or decades, for that matter. There's been too much bad and not enough good from the people who are supposed to be working toward the more good and less bad side of things. Couple that with the lack of teaching of the faith, and that's a recipe for a disaster of biblical proportions.

I'm doing my part to talk about my faith in my books; if you've read even the sample chapter on Amazon for Arrival, you'll know that it's a book about Christian Crusaders who are transported to a fantasy world, where they get to tame a wild land and spread the faith like missionaries. I did that for a couple of reasons. First, the original inspiration for the story comes from my study of old-school gaming, particularly Dungeons & Dragons and its predecessor, Chainmail. That's a medieval war game which happened to include a section of adding magic and monsters to your battles with pikemen and knights.

Second, I want to present the faith of the Church in a positive light, something which is sorely lacking in the world; the Church is treated negatively in all forms of pop culture, from the laughably inaccurate DaVinci Code to the depiction of priests as adulterous lechers on television shows. It's frustrating for me, as a practicing, believing Catholic. So, I decided to write something that showed the Church in a positive light instead.

Now, that might turn some people away, but that's the way it goes; you can't write something that everyone will like. Even God didn't manage that one. So, I'll just write and write and do my best to make it a good story, and hopefully other people will enjoy it, and see the Church in a different way. If I can accomplish that, then I've done something good.

I've linked Arrival above; its sequel book, The Devil's Playground, has a similar treatment of the Church and the Crusaders. Check them both out, and let me know what you think!