BIG C CATHOLICS

Ever wonder which saint you most resemble? Are you a Joan of Arc or a Thomas Aquinas? A Thérèse of Liseux or a Francis of Assisi? Are you made for modernity like Thomas Merton or a "man for all seasons" like Thomas More? Find out HERE . Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate the merits of all the Saints who see you face to face in heaven, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we so earnestly long. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns together with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

This presentation by convert and apologist Steve Ray considers the difference(s) between Protestantism and the Catholic Church. He focuses on the development of the early Church, the canon of Sacred Scripture, and the centrality of Sacred Tradition. If you have an hour to spare, it is worth your time.

St. Thomas, in his Summa Theologica , gives five separate proofs for the existence of God. Unlike St. Anselm's proof, which deals with concepts, Aquinas' proofs rely on empirical facts - what we can observe. In these proofs we can see the influence of Aristotle and his doctrine of the Four Causes . l. The Proof from Motion We observe motion all around us. Whatever is in motion now was at rest until moved by something else, and that by something else, and so on. But if there were an infinite series of movers, all waiting to be moved by something else, then actual motion could never have started, and there would be no motion now. But there is motion now. So there must be a First Mover which is itself unmoved. This First Mover we call God. 2. The Proof from Efficient Cause Everything in the world has its efficient cause--its maker--and that maker has its maker, and so on. The coffee table was made by the carpenter, the carpenter by his or her parents, and on and on. But

"Philosophy is the handmaid en of the Sacred Science (Theology)" - St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas was the son of the Count of Aquino, born in the family castle in Lombardy near Naples. Educated by Benedictine monks at Monte Cassino and at the University of Naples, he secretly joined the Dominican friars in 1244. His family kidnapped and imprisoned him for a year to discourage his vocation. This failed. Thomas rejoined his order in 1245. He studied in Paris from 1245 to 1248 under Saint Albert the Great, and accompanied Albertus to Cologne. Ordained in 1250, he returned to Paris to teach theology. Thomas wrote commentaries on Aristotle and Lombard’s Sentences and some bible-related works. After receiving his doctorate he was recalled to Naples in 1272. There, Thomas was appointed regent of studies while working on the Summa Theologica . On December 6, 1273, Thomas experienced a Divine revelation. He abandoned the Summa , shortly thereafter, saying it was mere straw com