Joe Paprocki, D.Min., is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press in Chicago. He has over 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Joe is the author of numerous books on pastoral ministry and catechesis, including The Bible Blueprint, Living the Mass, and bestsellers The Catechist's Toolbox and A Well-Built Faith (all from Loyola Press).

	December 28th, 2011 Are the infancy narratives really the true story of Jesus’ birth or did the gospel writers invent them? As Catholics, we don’t believe that ANYTHING in the Bible is invented. Rather, everything in the Bible is inspired. In other words, God is the author of the Bible and human authors wrote the Scriptures down under ...
	May 27th, 2011 Why did God tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Abraham is considered our father in faith by three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. So, let’s begin there. Abraham (or Abram, as we first encounter him) is a central figure in the story of ...
	May 20th, 2011 Why does Jesus ask Peter “do you love me?” three times? Jesus did not ask Peter this question 3 times because he was hard of hearing or slow to comprehend Peter's answers! The fact that Jesus asks Peter this question - "do you love me?" ...
	May 13th, 2011 Can you give me some well-known stories from the Acts of the Apostles? The Acts of the Apostles, which is a sequel to Luke’s Gospel, is an action-packed thriller, to borrow from today’s vernacular. It’s hard to imagine reading the Acts of the Apostles and NOT coming away ...
	May 6th, 2011 What does numerology have to do with the Bible? The biblical authors loved numbers. Some numbers are good. Some are bad. Some numbers are repeated so often that we can rightly become a bit suspicious. For example, you might be surprised to know that ...
	April 29th, 2011 If we believe that Jesus was sinless how do you explain him angrily driving the moneychangers out of the temple? John’s Gospel describes Jesus forming a “whip of cords” (John 2:15) and using it to drive out them out of the temple. How can we reconcile Jesus’ apparent anger with the notion of anger being ...
	March 18th, 2011 What do we know about Joseph, Mary’s betrothed and how do we know it? The bible doesn’t say much. Indeed, Joseph is a quiet man in the Gospels, included in several stories in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels (which both include genealogies tracing Joseph’s lineage to King David) and briefly mentioned in John’s Gospel. No ...
	March 9th, 2011 I get the idea of ashes on Ash Wednesday and in scripture but what’s the sackcloth all about? While many Christians wear ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, few, if any, don sackcloth! And yet, the two are often mentioned in the same breath in Scripture (1Mac 3:47; Esther 4:3-4; Is 58:5; ...
	March 4th, 2011 What is the significance of mountains in the bible? First of all, mountains are mentioned frequently in the Bible because mountains dotted the landscape of biblical regions. In other words, while mountains have a significant symbolic value in the Bible, they first and foremost ...
	February 25th, 2011 Who was Moses and what is his importance for Christians? When it comes to important people in the Old Testament, Moses is “Da Man!” Says who? Well, start with the Bible itself as it characterizes Moses at the time of his death: “Since then no ...
	February 4th, 2011 What is the Promised Land? Ownership of land was very important in biblical times. Heck, it still is! Who doesn’t think that they’ve “made it” when they finally purchase their first home? To own property is to reach a degree ...
	January 14th, 2011 Isn’t there some scriptural evidence that women served as Deacons in the early church? What we find in the New Testament is a reference to a woman named Phoebe as “minister of the church at Cenchreae” (Romans 16:1) The Greek word used here for minister is diakonos which ...
	January 7th, 2011 Some folks have been saying that the 3 wise men don’t exist…true? First of all, we don't know exactly how many wise men visited the newborn king! This is one of those assumptions made by people throughout the ages that is not specifically mentioned in the Bible ...
	November 12th, 2010 Is there anyone in scripture who was known to have the stigmata? Stigmata, from the Greek word for "marks" or "signs," refers to the physical manifestations of the wounds of Jesus on the hands, feet, side, and brow, accompanied by intense suffering. These are called visible stigmata. ...
	November 5th, 2010 What do the signs of the Apocalypse mean? An apocalypse is a revelation or prophecy about the ultimate divine purpose. As such, the word apocalypse is associated with the end of the world, when God's ultimate purpose will be revealed. Contrary to popular ...
	October 29th, 2010 Can the 7 deadly sins be found in scripture? The 7 Deadly or Capital Sins are not found in a list, per se, in the Bible, but rather are part of Church Tradition, dating back to the early Church and especially St. John Cassian ...
	October 15th, 2010 Why are there people in the Gospel with no name (such as the Rich Young Man or the Samaritan Women)? Names play an important role in the Gospels. While major characters such as the Apostles, Mary and Joseph, King Herod and Pontius Pilate are named, when it comes to more minor characters, we don’t always ...
	September 24th, 2010 Where does the church get some of the legendary stories of St. Joseph? Question: Where does the church get some of the legendary stories of St. Joseph such as the wooden stick that blooms for Joseph but not others? Many Catholic churches have altars (or at least statues) on ...
	September 17th, 2010 Is the Beloved Disciple a homosexual reference? Q: Why does the author of John's gospel use the term "the disciple whom Jesus loved?" Is this a homosexual reference? One of the more mysterious characteristics of John’s Gospel is his reference to ...
	September 3rd, 2010 Can you tell me about women who served the early church that St Paul and others mention by name? As is true today, women played an important part in serving the early Church. Scripture itself refers to many such women by name, beginning with Luke’s Gospel which tells us about the women who ...